Claremorris goes green for Ireland

THE Town Hall in Claremorris has rocked to many different rhythms over the years and last Thursday morning it throbbed to the beat of football mad youngsters who gathered to watch the Republic of Ireland’s opening match at the Women’s World Cup.
They cheered, screamed and roared as the Irish women took their place among the nations of the earth on the biggest stage of all.
Proudly watching it all unfold was the Mayo Under-12 girls soccer manager Edel Mullin, and although the result didn’t go Ireland’s way against the host nation, Australia, the excitement, fun and enjoyment generated in the tiered seats in Claremorris will last a lifetime.
“It was amazing,” Edel told The Mayo News. “We had a hundred kids there from Claremorris who were totally invested in the fortunes of a women’s Irish team and that in itself is brilliant.
“Then, over the weekend we held a blitz here in Claremorris for the kids and each team was named after one of the players on the Irish team, so we had ‘Team Katie [McCabe]’ and ‘Team Niamh [Fahy]’ and so on.
“We had pictures of each of the players and went around to the teams before the blitz started and showed them the girls they were representing. The kids absolutely loved it and to see them identifying with the players was brilliant,” explained the Kilmaine native, who works as a teacher in Ballinrobe Community School.
However, that level of support and recognition wasn’t always available for the girls in green as the Mullin family are well aware of.
“My sister Emma played for Ireland a few years ago and we’d go to the games with just a handful of fans there supporting them. Now, Ireland play in front of thousands in Tallaght Stadium and on Thursday morning they ran out in front of more than 75,000 fans in Sydney and millions watching on television around the world.”
In Claremorris the occasion meant more than the result itself. It was the springboard for dreams and a portal towards the future.
“We could always dream, but now young girls here in Mayo can literally see dreams come true. That’s what the World Cup is doing. It is giving girls the opportunity to see people like themselves on a global stage. It will have a massive knock-on effect in the coming years,” she declared.
However, there was one tiny tinge of sadness in Edel’s family circle on Thursday morning. Aoife Mannion, the Manchester United star who has featured in these pages previously, missed the World Cup with a knee injury.
The talented centre-half, who has strong roots in Kilmaine, has struck up a friendship with Edel’s daughter, Bonnie, recently and they would have loved to see the woman with a Gortjordan mother strut her stuff on the global stage.
“Bonnie drew a picture of Aoife some time ago and one way or another she heard about it and sent Bonnie one of her match-day shirts.
“Then, last year we went over to see Aoife play and she came over after the game and gave Bonnie her boots. The excitement levels knew no bounds. 
“Then, at Christmas we got a call from Aoife saying she was up in the pitch in Gortjordan and would Bonnie come up for a kick-about. It was amazing watching the two of them out on the pitch in the long grass in the middle of winter kicking ball together, but that’s the type of woman Aoife is.
“They say you should never meet your heroes but Bonnie wouldn’t agree with that,” said Edel.
Now, all eyes turn towards tomorrow’s World Cup match between the Irish women and Canada in Perth before the girls in green take on Nigeria next Monday in Brisbane. It promises to be a special week in Australia and back in Claremorris the dream factory will continue to create the sparkle which just might shine on a future World Cup stage.
Those who dare to dream now have a pathway to the stars.