FORMER COUNTY HURLER PADDY QUINN WILL LIFT THE ROOF WHEN WEXFORD END THEIR FAMINE Finance has become an integral part of the G.A.A. in this day and age. The National League are sponsored by Church & General while Bank of Ireland and Guinness sponsor the Football and Hurling Championships respectively. Preparing and turning out teams at all levels has become an expensive business. Hence clubs and County Boards need monetary aid. One wonders how long it will be before individual players are being sponsored, but that's a question for another day. Those who lend their support to the small rural club deserve tremendous praise. The National Championships wouldn't cease to exist without the help of the corporates. Cork would still field their teams without Barry's Tea. But your rural club could go under, were it not for the likes of Paddy Quinn of P.J. Quinn Ltd. Roofing and Cladding, Old Ross, Co. Wexford. Of course, Paddy, an ex-county hurler, would not be in a position to provide this support of Horeswood were it not for the success of his business. He began working with Keenans of Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow, before establishing P.J. Quinn Ltd. Roofing and Cladding in 1974, along with his wife Patricia. The current Board of Management consists of Paddy as Managing Director, Patricia as Director and Financial Controller. Eddie Kent as Chief Estimator, Declan Quinn as Quantity Surveyor and Robert Rae as Contracts Manager. Declan Quinn (27) is a son of Paddy's and Patricia's. They have two more children. Sandra (21) qualified from Leeds University last year with a degree in Sports and Leisure Management and has stayed in the city to work there. Pat (13) will be attending the local CBS at the start of the school year. P.J. Quinn Ltd. Roofing and Cladding began life on a small scale. "There were only a few of us here then", explains Paddy. Now we employ somewhere in the region of 55 people. We work all over the country and have developed into one of the biggest roofing and cladding contractors in the country". What a transformation. And what, pray tell, are the reasons for such success? "I would put it down to good service, attention to detail and always being available to the client". In fact, if there is any company that knows how to pamper a client, how to be amenable to his or her whims, it's P.J. Quinn Ltd. Roofing and Cladding. Unlike most other roofing contractors, Paddy and Patricia Quinn's brainchild provides an after-sales service. "If something goes wrong, we'll fix it, no matter how long it is since our work was done". A good, diligent workforce has also contributed significantly to the major development which has taken place at P.J. Quinn Ltd. Roofing and Cladding. "We would like to think that we look after our employees well. They reciprocate by giving their all. A good staff is important when it comes to running a successful business. I can't be everywhere so they have to be able to work on their own initiative a lot of the time. I have to be able to trust them and fortunately I can". The company has been based in the same premises in Old Ross (just outside New Ross) since its establishment in 1974, not that it looks the same. "The premises has grown all the time. At the moment we are expanding the office here. Hopefully, we will continue to grow as the years go on". P.J. Quinn Ltd. Roofing and Cladding's list of clients is impressive. Their biggest contract was on the Team Aer Lingus building at Dublin Airport. Some of the other customers include Del Computers (Limerick), Louisiana Pacific (Waterford), Wyeth International (Askeaton), Medite Europe (Clonmel), Dunnes Shopping Centre (Clondalkin), Blackrock Shopping Centre (Blackrock), Bausch & Lamb (Waterford), Norton Health Care (Waterford), Clonmel Shopping Centre (Clonmel), ESB Warehouse (Blanchardstown) and the Old Belvedere Rugby Club (Dublin). And that's just a sample! It is this sort of business which enables Paddy to buy jerseys for the Horeswood Minor side which won the county football Championship this year. Does he expect to get anything back for his generosity? Does he see it as a form of advertising? "Definitely not. I did it because I played with the club myself and I could help. I am doing it for the love of the club". Paddy attended the Minor final and in which Horeswood defeated Gusserane and was greatly impressed by the talent on view, but not unsurprised. "There have always been good underage teams in Horeswood but they just don't seem to progress when it comes to the adult level. Hopefully this will change in the near future". The future businessman won a juvenile hurling medal with Horeswood in 1958 and an Intermediate memento in 1964. Such was his talent that he came to the notice of the county selectors in the mid-sixties, just prior to Wexford's last All-Ireland victory in 1968. "The highlight of my short intercounty career was playing in the final of the Wembley tournament against Cork. Although we lost it was a great feeling to play hurling in Wembley Stadium against a side of the calibre of Cork. "I remember big Lar Foley marking me one day in Croke Park and I never got a look of it. That was a tough day to be sure". Despite missing out on the annexing of the Liam McCarthy in 1968 as a player, Paddy drew great satisfaction from watching the purple and yellow come good. "It was a tremendous occasion. The celebration afterwards were great. Of course, nobody would have thought at the time that it was going to be the county's last win. To put it into perspective, I remember a fella reminding me when Nelson Mandela was released from jail, that the year he was interned was the last time Wexford won an All-Ireland". Indeed he's out a few years now, has become President of South Africa and yet, nothing has changed in the Model County. So what is the problem? "The talent is in the county. I think the problem is that we have loads of good hurlers but no team. Wexford line out with 15 individuals. And yet we are not all that far behind. We could have beaten Offaly and they made a show of Kilkenny. "At this stage, I think Offaly will win the All-Ireland handily, which will make us look even better. I don't think Clare are good enough, although I'd love to see them win". Wouldn't we all. Paddy is currently Chairman of the John F. Kennedy Trust in New Ross. The John F. Kennedy Trust is a charitable trust, dedicated to the cultural, economic and environmental development of New Ross, Co. Wexford, the ancestral Irish home of the Kennedy family. The trust aims to establish an internationally important educational and cultural visitor centre on the dockside in New Ross, which will play an integral role in Ireland's regional tourism. This "Spirit of Ireland" centre will evoke the character and achievement of Irish men and women at home and overseas and will illuminate the ideals, life story and legacy of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The centre will carry the visitor through time, from the forging of Christian Ireland in the 5th century, through the turbulence of the middle age down to the present day. Focusing on the dispersal of Irish people around the world, the stories of individual men and women - educators, legislators, writers, political leaders, labourers and soldiers will be told. Individuals creating new lives for themselves and shaping our modern world. The Kennedy story lies in this rich matrix of Irish achievement. Visitors will be able to meet present day Irish achievers in the Hall of Fame and in the resource area explore the highways and byways of Irish history using the latest interactive multimedia techniques. "We plan to raise money to set up a major tourist centre in the town. It will talk about the achievements of the Irish abroad, from the monks spreading the gospels to John F. Kennedy becoming President of America. The whole thing is going to cost £4.5 million so we are going to be kept very busy with this". Not too busy to follow the fortunes of Horeswood and Wexford however. They will always come first. Taken from Hogan Stand Magazine 11th August, 1995 Tweet

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