Let's call it serendipity folks. The venues were planned, the task was simple, launch this years Meath Ladies LGFC championships. But chance and fate added it's own little twist. I mean what's easier than banging a few fixtures together and emailing them to the teams concerned and the interested media. Really? Then you never met Padraig. Thanks to Padraig McDermott's ability to panel beat and copper fasten 38 different teams into four separate championships across a busy calendar, young ladies and their followers will be guaranteed meaningful football into October.

Try doing it sometime, your computer might blow a gasket but people like Padraig give of their time to do this. Serendipity, ah yes, that's where Anne Dungan, Paul Jones and Jimmy Duff come in. They too give. Arriving at a sun drenched Bective Abbey for the launch, the trio cajoled and coaxed the cream of our youth into various poses festooned with cups, balls and wearing their club gear. The colour of the teams matched Bective's own kaleidoscope. With clockwork efficiency the trio got the ladies to smile and the message out.

Serendipity again!  It was all our privilege to be at historic Bective Abbey, a treasure, the Boyne eternally slipping by and over the old wall, a hundred Friesian cattle marched two by two to see us gather. Time stood still, nine hundred years bridged. An old legacy bequeathed to the coming generation. Sean Boylan was there to launch the event. We have Tara Hill, we the famed Boyne, we have Fairyhouse and we have Sean. All define the great Royal county. Time and time again the girls and their mentors asked Sean to pose. Smilingly, the great man took it in his stride.

The sun was lowering in the sky as we returned to Dunganny for the launch. The car park was packed. A crowd were already in situation for a club match. Like the nearby Boyne, the lifeblood of the county flows on and on. Inside the hard working committee fed us all. Then the large crowd was addressed by Meath LGFC chairman Fearghal Harney. Welcoming the assembled gathering, Fearghal acknowledged the hard work of all concerned getting this massive project of the ground. He also thanked the main sponsor Masita for their unwavering support. In football terms, ladies football is at late teenage years, full of promise and already a body of fine achievement.  Sponsors like LIDL and Masita get it. They deserve credit for catching this rising tide.

The chairman welcomed Sean on to the rostrum announcing that Sean was also Ambassador for Meath ladies football. Like a favorite jumper, Boylan fits the mood so easy. You know you are in the presence of a great but you also feel he's your mate. Sean touched on the sacred bonds that define the Irish as a unique race. He spoke about our own language, our own games and our own long ties to the past and history. Quoting an old Apache saying "we are what we are, but we are also what we were", you could hear a pin drop in the room.

Warming to the topic, Boylan spotted Bunty Dempsey in the room. He recalled her father the great Meath centre back of 1949 known as Stonewall Dixon. That resonated with me. I'm a Mayo man and we had a centre back in 1950 known as The Horse Dixon. Those Dixon boys with nick names like that weren't the type of guys who would allow you loiter with intent around their patch. It was that kind of night. But Sean kept it current too. Citing how his club Dunboyne Ladies blended their senior and Junior teams with promising younger players, he noted how the baton and flame were passed on.

Meath '49 begot Meath '67 and Meath '67 begot Meath '87/88 and so on. Hence the Dixon connection. The Saw Doctors sang about Small Town Hero's, but big towns and small villages also have heroes. Sean's point was simple but important. We are lucky. We as a nation have direct access to our GAA heroes. I could have listened to the great man all night. He pointed out that our young ladies have no fear, they, by playing football, they grow into fine adults, they make decisions in the heat of battle on a pitch that endows their life skills in decision making away from the pitch. Their game is honest, not yet tainted by tiresome tactics and a win at all costs. And most of all, they enjoy it. Sean emphasized that football with out fun is purgatory.

Fearghal wrapped the night up with an announcement that the Green Stars will play the Club All Stars on May 22nd in Ashbourne. It is hoped Sean Boylan will manage one team and Darragh Maloney the other. All funds raised will go to charity. Chairman Harney closed the night with this point. Ladies football wants to give back to the community. It's a noble ambition. And a good crowd in Ashbourne are guaranteed to see the cream of the Royal counties finest footballers.

Driving away from Dunganny finally I hope that we are facing into summer after an eternal winter/spring. Recalling Sean Boylan's words I stopped at Tara Hill on the way home. It was dusk . The new moon hung in the background as voices and shadows called out on the historic mounds. "We are what we are and we are what we were". The past merged into the present. We are lucky to have such people, such fine ladies and damn good footballers. Sean Boylan's imprimatur will advance the cause.

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