Sympathy:

We were saddened to hear of the death of Joe Canning, formerly of Bohey, who passed away at his residence in Mullingar yesterday, Tuesday 2nd June. Joe was a member of the Gortletteragh 1970 Senior champions team and had been looking forward to the planned reunion. We extend our sympathy to his wife Rose and all the family. Ar dheis De go raibh a n-anam dílis. 

 

 

Reminder – Healthy Club Step Challenge START:

The Healthy Club Step Challenge is starting – for all those who have registered to take part please note this challenge has been rescheduled and starts today Wednesday 3rd June and will run until Tuesday 30th June. 

 

Catching up with our fellow club men around the world:

Continuing our contact with some of our expats to see how they are doing during the pandemic. We hope ye enjoy their words as much as we did.

Darren McGrath, Perth, Australia.

Thanks Mary and the club for getting in touch to see how life is going in Perth, Australia. I suppose things are slowly getting back to normal in Perth. Bars and restaurants are opened again but are limited to 20 people at a time, with a 90 minute time restriction. The only way to get a pint is to have a sit down meal with it ! But it’s a step in the right direction.

Work – My job wasn’t affected too much due to the fact that I work in mining and we are classed as an essential service. So mining didn’t slow down and machines still need fixing so that was a positive for me. Travelling to work now is slightly different. I call a taxi / Uber to pick me up to go to the airport and you sit in the back with a mask on for the duration of the trip. At the airports now we all line up and get examined by a medical team for symptoms of Covid-19 and also get blood taken. If the blood results come back positive you can’t get on the plane and have to go for further examination and isolation. So no working until you’re cleared but I haven’t failed any, Thank God. On the plane it’s the same story. Masks are optional so no one is allowed to sit next to you anymore (with any luck they will keep it that way !!). On site we are no longer allowed to work in large groups. You are paired up with one other person and that’s it, you are swinging spanners with each other for the few weeks until the swing is over. 

This year I had a lot planned. Trip to Ireland in April to see Kevin’s new arrival, Shay McGrath, along with the rest of the family and friends. Couple of weddings (one in Italy) and there were plans to spend a couple of weeks cutting rushes. But might have to sweet talk Seanie into doing that for me……….or maybe a few of the footballers are bored, they might volunteer !!

I hung up the boots in 2011 when I first came to Australia so my football now is ‘motorbike’ racing. I have been competing in the Western Australian road racing championship and this year competing in the Australian championship. I spent the last two years planning this and now due to Covid-19 it’s no longer going ahead (Seanie and Mary are delighted !), so it’s disappointing for me but everyone is in the same boat.

That’s about the height of it here in WA. I hope everyone is well at home in Gortletteragh and I’ll hopefully see you all soon. Just want to wish Shauna McGrath in NY all the best, she contracted Covid-19 a few weeks ago and luckily she made a quick recovery and is now safe and sound. And sending our congratulations to my good friend David Egan who got engaged to Claire Burke.

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