Walking on Cars fall in to help Dingle Bay Rovers

DINGLE Bay Rovers’ efforts to expand their facilities at Gallarus have received a huge boost from local band Walking on Cars whose offer of guest list passes to their sold out concert in Dublin’s 3 Arena has generated nationwide demand for tickets for a fundraising draw being held by the club.

The expanding soccer club, which now has seven junior teams, is outgrowing its existing facilities at Gallarus where persistent rain left the pitch water-logged and unplayable for seven weeks last year. The lack of adequate facilities also meant that a summer camp – which attracted 60 young players in 2015 – couldn’t be held this year because the club was forced to give the over-played pitch ‘a rest’.

The club is very grateful to Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne Principal Pádraig Firtéar who has allowed Dingle Bay Rovers’ Junior Academy use school playing facilities. However, the long-term solution is to buy a field beside the club’s grounds in Gallarus so they can develop a training pitch and a pitch for the junior players – but for this they need money.

The club started a local prize draw for their junior pitch development fund and then Walking on Cars stepped in to give the effort a shot in the arm.

The band’s frontman, Pa Sheehy, who played with Dingle Bay Rovers and regularly attends matches, topped up the fundraising draw with a first prize of two guest -list passes to Walking on Cars’ 3 Arena concert on November 12; the winners will also get to meet the band and stay in the five-star Fitzwilliam Hotel in Dublin.

Other prizes include signed Walking on Cars T-shirts and CDs, three months membership of the West Kerry Fitness Gym, an interior design consultation with Kenny Murphy of Dingle Kreations, and €100 vouchers for Garvey’s SuperValu in Dingle and Vincent Murphy’s Sports in Castleisland.

The draw was doing well before Walking on Cars’ intervention but now demand has really taken off. Tickets are available locally and, for those not lucky enough to live in West Kerry, they’re available online from dinglebayrovers.com/competition. The draw will be held on November 1.

Danny Ó Ciobháin dodges a hard tackle from his Limerick opponent in the Dingle Bay Rovers Juniors match against Carew Park, Limerick, at Gallarus on Saturday.