Paddy remembered at charity football tournament

ORGANISERS of a Northside charity football tournament, dedicated to the memory of a local man, have expressed delight after exceeding their fundraising target.

The inaugural

‘Play for Paddy’ tournament, held to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society and St Francis Hospice, Raheny, took place last Saturday week (June 22) at Dublin Indoor Football in Santry.

Paddy Delahunty, from Artane, recently died of cancer at a very young age. As he was a dedicated Shamrock Rovers and football fan, his family and friends felt there was no better way to remember him while also raising funds for charity.

Sixteen teams took part in the tournament with a very impressive standard on display.

The weather was good too and the tournament provided a great day out for all the family. Aside from the football there was plenty to do with a dedicated children’s entertainment area organised which included a Magic Show, balloon animals, music games and face-painting.

Pizzas and ice-creams were available to make sure that nobody went hungry throughout the day, while the crew from the FM104 Beetle Bugs also paid a visit and entertained everyone with giveaways, treats and games.

The event was widely supported with over 30 sponsors providing raffle prizes, donations, food, treats and even an online tournament solution to run the event.

With Shamrock Rovers the headline sponsor, teams from all over Dublin were eager to pit their wits against the famous Hoops. High quality football and some Goal of the Season contenders was the order of the day.

In the end, it was Killester-based

‘Hairoil FC’ who emerged victorious and it was widely agreed that they set the very high standard for the event.

Before the final the eagerly awaited raffle draw with 35 prizes on offer took place. Afterwards those in attendance moved on to Paddy’s favourite local in Artane, The Ardlea Inn, where more money was raised from a silent auction.

Eamon Moore, a spokesperson for the Play for Paddy team, said initially they were hoping to raise around e5,000.

“Following a fantastic effort by everyone involved, over

?¬7,000 was raised,

? Mr Moore told Northside People.

“The Play for Paddy team would like to thank everyone who played a part in making the first tournament an overwhelming success, and we are already looking forward to next year’s event.

“We were overwhelmed by the support for this event and it is a testament to the person that Paddy was.

?

For more information on the inaugural Play for Paddy, visit www.playforpaddy.com or www.facebook.com/playforpaddy: