Farewell to Paddy, a photographer of the highest calibre

AFTER-MATCH trophy presentations are a common occurrence at this time of year, along with the obligatory few words from the successful team captain. It’s an opportunity for people who worked so hard behind the scenes to be thanked, and it’s important and indeed fitting that their efforts are acknowledged in front of a decent audience.

And while it may be one of the most over-used phrases in sport, it is still true to say that a team is only as strong as its weakest link.

By the same token, you know you are on to a winner when the line-up you have assembled boasts talent and the right attitude in equal measure. Putting this newspaper together week after week is very much a team effort also, and the same principles apply in terms of the personnel involved.

All it takes is for just one person to stop pulling their weight and the entire operation comes to a grinding halt.

I passed a milestone during the summer, on August 16 to be exact, as that Tuesday marked the 25th anniversary of my entry into full-time employment with People Newspapers.

And I write this column with a degree of poignancy because we lost one of the strongest members of our own team to a richly-deserved retirement yesterday.

For 23 of those 25 years I have had the good fortune to work with our New Ross-based photographer, Paddy Delaney, and it was an absolute pleasure to do so.

I wouldn’t expect readers to think a great deal about the various stages involved in the publication of a newspaper when they sit down to devour the latest issue every Tuesday.

However, anyone with a background in journalism will appreciate the amount of time involved in finalising the markings, that is, working out who is going where from the reporting and photography pools.

This is a time-consuming exercise which is often made even harder in sport when venues published in the paper are altered before the weekend. This is an all-too regular occurrence in fact, and late changes are a nightmare as they often create the need for resources to be re-jigged at the last minute.

Co-operation is key as a result, and in that regard I was lucky to have such an obliging work colleague as Paddy Delaney.

He never grumbled (well, he never really meant it if he did complain!), even though his location on Barrowside ensured that I often dispatched him to places like Dungarvan, Nenagh, Waterford and Kilkenny to cover matches.

Paddy would be the first to admit that he’s not a big sports fan, but he was always willing to do the needful and the quality of his work was of the highest calibre.

It was a sad moment in Grantstown last Sunday morning when Paddy took his last-ever photograph of a succcessful G.A.A. team for this newspaper, namely the Crossabeg-Ballymurn Under-14 crew after their victory over St. Anne’s.

I know that he’s now looking forward to spending some leisurely hours on the golf course, and he will also have more time for his regular trips to the bookies.

He might even develop a greater interest in soccer given that his brother’s grandson, Ryan Delaney, left Wexford Youths earlier in the year and is now plying his trade at a much higher level with Burton Albion in England.

Whatever the future holds for Paddy, I want to avail of the public opportunity this column bestows on me to wish him a very happy retirement and to thank him sincerely for his co-operation and friendship for the best part of the last quarter of a century. It was a pleasure and a privilege Paddy, and I wish you well as we bid farewell to one of the key members of our sports team.

Finally, and on a very sad note, a brave battle against serious illness came to an end late last week when Niamh Cleary (nee Furlong) of Harriestown, Ballymitty, passed away.

Niamh’s uncle, Brendan, is another one of my colleagues here, while her father, Tony, is a friend of long standing and a fellow programme collector.

My thoughts are with Tony, Angela and the extended family at this difficult time.