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POST MATCH DINNER
Our Team Sponsors Kerry Group hosted a
banquet for the players and their guests, their parents and County Board
Officers and the team management at Jury’s Hotel, Ballsbridge on Sunday night. President Elect of the GAA, Seán Kelly, the
Minister for Tourism and Sport, John O’Donoghue T.D., Dr. Dermot Clifford,
Archbishop of Cashel, Bishop Bill Murphy, Mícheál Ó’Muirceartaigh and our
public representatives from Kerry were among the guests.
Chairman of Kerry Group, Denis Brosnan, thanked
the players for their commitment to the team and urged them to look forward to
2003. He paid special tribute to the
Ó’Sé family and sympathised with them on the death of Mícheál during the
summer. He concluded by saying that we
certainly do not begrudge Armagh winning their first All-Ireland.
Seán Kelly stated that the reopening of
Croke Park brought great games this summer and this Kerry Team played the best
football that was seen in twenty years. He urged the players to look forward to
next year, which would be a very special year for Kerry as we celebrate the
centenary of winning our first All-Ireland Football title. He reminded them
that Kerry won the All-Ireland title in the centenary year of the GAA in 1984
and also the first All-Ireland of the new millennium two years ago.
He
thanked the players for their dedication, the County Board Officers for their
diligence and our excellent sponsors Kerry Group for their support. He stressed that there has always been a
very close affinity between Kerry and Armagh and that while we are disappointed
at losing to them in the final we heartily congratulate them on their victory.
Sean Walsh, Chairman of Kerry County Board
thanked Kerry Group for their support and stressed that we are very fortunate
to have them as our sponsors. He said
this today was about the players. He
reminded them that they had turned around what could have been a dreadful year
for them and that everybody associated with them should feel proud of what they
had done. He thanked their parents and told them that they should feel very
proud of their sons, he thanked Páidí ÓSé, the selectors, the team physio,
Mícheál Lynch, Masseur, John Kelly, the team doctors, Dr. Dave Geaney and Dr.
Michael Finnerty and Vincent Linnane and Brian O’Keeffe who looked after the
players gear.
He
paid tribute to the office staff at The Pavilion for their hard work with
tickets. County Secretary Tony O’Keeffe, the chairman said was for the past
seventeen years one of the best and most efficient administrators in the GAA
and the way in which the arrangements for the All-Ireland Final were undertaken
was clear proof of his brilliant organisational ability.
He
paid special tribute to the Ó’Sé family and welcomed specially Joan Ó’Sé,
mother of Darragh, Tomás and Marc to the function. In conclusion he
congratulated Armagh on winning the All-Ireland and was he sure that Kerry
would be back again next year to challenge for the 2003 All-Ireland title.
Later in the evening there was a very
special welcome for Séamus Mallon, former Deputy First Minister of the Northern
Ireland Assembly, who was needless to say a very proud Armagh supporter on
Sunday night. Séamus spent some time talking informally with the players and
guests at the function.
