A Civic Reception was held by the members of Arklow Municipal District on Wednesday (November 16th) to honour Arklow Geraldines Ballymoney GAA Football Club.
The reception, which took place in the offices of Arklow Municipal District, was held to acknowledge both the intermediate and minor teams who won their county championships this year. The intermediate team won by beating Ballinacor in the last 30 seconds of extra time.
Cllr Pat Kennedy, Cathaoirleach of Arklow Municipal District, welcomed around 60 representatives from both the minor and the intermediate teams, pointing out that this was a great achievement for the club to win these two county competitions.
He said that AGB would not be the team they are without having their youth development programme in place for the last number of years which had now resulted in the club winning back-to-back minor titles. He also congratulated all the backroom staff involved with both teams.
Cllr Kennedy also welcomed some officials from the Ballincor team, which is his own local football club.
The Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council, Cllr Pat Fitzgerald, also congratulated the two teams saying: “As Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council I want to congratulate the AGB club on their sporting achievements over the last year. The successes this year are the result of a huge commitment by players, officials and management of the teams. The victories in the intermediate and minor football championships brought a lot of joy to supporters and gave a great uplift to the area.”
He added: “It is my hope that the club will be in contention to take the Miley Cup back to Arklow in the coming years. In all sports, there has to be losers and I want to commend Ballinacor for their sporting attitude at the end of the game when victory was snatched from their grasp.”
Mr Jimmy Dunne, Club Secretary, Arklow Geraldines Ballymoney, also spoke and referred to the fact that both victories were achieved by the footballers of AGB, saying its spin-off effects are far more wide-ranging then that of a sporting accolade. He said valuable business had and continues to be generated for hotels, pubs, garages and bus hire companies. He also mentioned that the wins for the club had resulted in raising the morale of the town of Arklow.
Mr John Murphy, Club Chairperson, thanked the teams, officials and members for their commitment and hard work over the year. He paid tribute to the Ballincor team who showed dignity as they absorbed the loss in the final. He also thanked the Members of Arklow Municipal District for hosting the event.
Both teams were presented with an engraved plaque to commemorate the occasion.
