LOUTH SHOULD BACK LILYWHITES

‘Dundalk has represented the country with style, integrity and decency’

FORGET about rivalries in Drogheda, Dundalk and Ardee and get back the Lilywhites!

That’s the view of former Mountjoy governor John Lonergan who addressed last week’s PPN awards.

‘I know about the competition between the two big towns, but Dundalk FC has achieved a lot and brought international focus on Ireland.

‘If you said 40 years ago this would happen people would have said ‘get a life’ but Dundalk has represented the country with style, integrity and decency and have punched beyond their weight,’ he stated.

‘ They are a credit to Louth, themselves and their families and you should feel proud if you’re from Drogheda or Ardee and say fair play to them. It just shows what is possible.’

A Bansha man, he is inspired by the words of Canon Hayes, the former PP of his native area, who once said community was ‘a social mix of equals where everybody has a place.’

As he looked around the room, he spoke of that ‘sense of place’ and told his audience to be proud of where they come from and never deny your roots.

‘ The more active your community is, the better we are.

‘During the Celtic Tiger people were too busy and we disconnected. We need to reach out to other people and invite them into the community.’

He said the need to ‘give generously’ was there and ‘only when you want thanks for something will your become a misery.’

The modern world was not easy and he feels passionately about many aspects.

‘We can’t rest easy when people are lying on a trolley in a cold corridor in their last days. It is a human right to be treated decently.’

In praising the role of volunteers and community, he said the greatest gift one can get is that years from now someone will step forward and say that you helped them once.

‘Remember, every single creation, every vision, came from one person, one idea. Why can’t that be you.’ life