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PICTURE SPECIAL: PIX JOE BOLAND/NORTHWESTNEWSPIX: Donegal County Council honoured Finn Harps Football Club with a civic reception this evening in the County House, Lifford.
This reception was hosted to mark not only Finn Harps promotion to the premier division of the League of Ireland but also to acknowledge their outstanding contribution to the community through their many programmes and initiatives.
Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council Cllr. Ciaran Brogan expressed his delight at being in a position to recognise and honour the many achievements and outstanding contributions of Finn Harps Football Club to, not only Ballybofey and Stranorlar, but to the entire county.
“Finn Harps Football Club have a Senior Team, an under 19 and an under 17 team, they have an academy with 130 children registered and they reach as many as 5,000 children through their schools programme. Finn Harps Football Club is an exemplar of how sport can be used as a tool to reach out and touch the lives of children and young people throughout our communities,” he said.
“The Finn Harps Road Safety Schools Art Competition has become an annual event in the road safety calendar in Donegal with up to 400 children entering the competition each year. This competition has helped the Council along with the Donegal Road Safety Working Group to put road safety at the top of the agenda for children and young people.
“This year again, the Finn Harps Football Club are ahead of the curve with their Eat Right, Play Right schools programme which they are delivering in association with Donegal Sports Partnership and which is the first of it’s kind in the country.
“Finn Harps generates approximately €305,000 for the local economy annually and this year it will be closer to €500,000. They make a huge contribution to the local economy in Ballybofey and Stranorlar with 4,000 people in town for the recent Derry City match and 1,500 people on average attending their home games every second week.
“Finn Harps is a fan owned club and their supporters is at the heart of all their achievements and I am delighted, on behalf of the elected members of Donegal County Council and the management and staff of the Council to recognise and honour both their sporting achievements and their outstanding contribution to our community.”