The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Strictly fun allowed at Ballyheigue’s big night
MONTHS of hard week and training behind the scenes came to fruition on Saturday evening as Ballyheigue GAA toasted another hugely successful night out.
The night in question was, of course, the much-anticipated ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, which aimed to help raise funds for the running of the club.
Now into its second year, it seemed a tall order to try and improve on last year’s event.
But the club’s PRO, Risteárd Ó Fuaráin, spoke to The Kerryman on Monday afternoon and was beaming when asked how the night had gone.
“Brilliant, it was absolutely brilliant. It was just an excellent night from start to finish. It was very well run, everything ran like clockwork,” he said.
“As Pat Shortt would say, it was a great turnout. It’s a massive undertaking by everyone, an event like this. A massive amount of work goes into it, not just behind the scenes but the dancers too; they had six weeks of a hard slog. So, a lot of work, but it’s worth it in the end because it’s a good fundraiser,” he added.
The judges on the night were Sharon Feelan, Caroline McEnery, John Brassil TD and Kerry footballer Paul Murphy, himself a winner of the Rathmore Strictly Come Dancing event in the past.
After 12 couples took to the floor and danced their socks off, the hardest decision of them all, once again, was how to pick a winner from the pack.
Ultimately there were two votes and two winners; the people’s vote or public vote was awarded to Gráinne Dowling and Kieran O’Sullivan, while the judges vote went to Annie Galwey and Daniel Collins.
As to whether they’ll return to complete the trilogy of events next year, Risteárd joked that he and the rest of the organisers must copy the Bishops and have a conclave meeting to decide.