Our motoring column comes from Roscommon this week as we try to track down Mr. Donegal!
The mystery tour starts at 6am on Sunday morning from Letterkenny. The man we were looking for was on the road an hour before that to reach his destination before 8am for the first of two early morning meetings.
I know before I reached Roscommon that our man will not have that much to say to me especially about himself. He will be more interested in getting his team organised.
Less than a month ago his team were taking a completely different set of orders from him! Today he will introduce his crew to a bigger team and he then will blend completely into the background and will take up one of the positions as one of the team.
When we get as far as Roscommon a big catering geezer is steaming away in the corner of a country shop. Lines of paper cups are stacked high, help is on hand but most there are making their own brew. The deli has four on duty and is stacked high with “ready to go” breakfast baps.
Early start for the Sligo Stage Rally on Sunday. Photo Brian McDaid
There’s a bit of a backlog on the till but they are still getting through the line of customers. Half way up the line Mr. Donegal himself is chatting shop, rallying that is and everyone seems to know him.
Come on boys, line up there to we get a photo, he says as some of the Donegal boys wipe the sleep out of their eyes and manage a smile.
Mr. Donegal, Eamon McGee
Two competitors that will battle it out for the honours today in Sligo are both formers winners of the Donegal International. Declan Boyle and eventually winner today Sam Moffett both have won the Donegal rally in the past which was managed by Clerk of the Course, Gweedore’s Eamon McGee.
Eamon Mc Gee receiving instructions on Sunday as he gives a hand at the Sligo Rally. Photo Brian McDaid
Today he is in Sligo helping out in the background. Competitors that have taken part in the Donegal rally are down with him to give a hand with the marshalling of the event. After Eamon gets them introduced to the organisers Eamon himself will also don a safety bib to marshal himself and will look after “control out” on stage 3, 6, and 9.
Meet the Healys
At least three generations of the Healy family were on duty in the family run shop in Rosscomon for the early morning rush hour. It’s a shop, a deli, a filling station and a motor-works. A picture on the shops social media page previewed this morning, showing one of the youngest members of the family, Dylan sitting on pallet loads of supplies for the forthcoming event.
Dylan at his family run shop Healys which had a bumper day as they worked together with the Rally in Sligo at the weekend.
Frank Healy the man that took over the business in 1985 is into his number plates and has a receipt in the form of number plates on his wall from his travels on the wall of his business in North Roscommon.
Number plates from all over the world on that wall of our office for a day at Healy’s Shop at the Sligo Stages Rally on Sunday. Photo Brian McDaid
Our meeting place in Roscommon was in a small town called Ballyfarnon and Frank Healy’s garage is proudly called Ballyfarnon Motor Works. It’s great for me as a Donegal man to listen to people in Roscommon and Sligo talking with so high regard for the Donegal Rally, some of them look forward more to it than their own event. Some of them would even rather go to the Donegal rally than go on a foreign holiday in the sun.
Trying to get a word with Eamon McGee is not easy. Eamon is known for this gesture of giving up his time the length of Ireland and he encourages Donegal Club Members, marshals and competitors to do the same. Quietly he is in building mode for next June for the 2018 Donegal Rally.
Today Eamon was more interested in highlighting crews driving down from Donegal to do their stint of marshalling at the Sligo Rally than talking about himself. I could see him raking stock how Roscommon were doing with its part with neighbours Sligo to help them out on their home event.
That family run business did not hike up the prices for the rally weekend and judging by the word of thanks on Facebook on Sunday night they were more than happy with their interaction with the rally ones. It’s was the same on the stages of the Sligo Rally people with great pride along the stages young and old out watching and running the event.
Eamon McGee met me on a wet Sunday morning. The Sligo rally is a one day event and the Donegal is three days and by now the biggest in Ireland. So much can be seen by stepping back a bit from the Donegal for a day and going to a neighbouring event, granted this is on a smaller scale but we can learn so much about ourselves. There is a lot of support and sponsors of the Donegal rally who end up stepping back when the public focus on the elements that have nothing to do with rallying in Donegal, a crowd that only want to piggyback on the real supporters that come to the Donegal Rally.
The people that do the complaining in public have very little knowledge of motorsport and also need a crowd for a reaction.
Takes ownership
Meanwhile Sligo owns its rally and are very proud of it. I talked to spectators on Sunday who made their way through the fields with their boxes of tea and sandwiches and rally programmes to watch the event.
Liam Deveney who was in Sligo to watch the Sligo Stages Rally on Sunday Photo Brian McDaid
Pat Burns who lived along on of the stages asked me if I would like a cup of tea and ended up landing out with a fry which I enjoyed so much from my make shift dinning table, a fence post! While the food was delicious the gesture was the one that got me. I have been offered cups of tea before in Co. Donegal at the rally from someone that knows me, but this was special, this is what Irish people are famous for all over the world.
Glenties man Declan Boyle did not win the Sligo rally as I thought he would, he was leading the event until he got a puncture and went out.
Declan and Brian Boyle who are leading the rally in Sligo to a puncture put them out of the event. Photo Brian McDaid
Gweedore’s Eamon McGee didn’t even see the rally at the point he was marshalling from but both are part of one of the biggest teams to come out of our county and are looking at the bigger picture and are building again to “Destination Donegal” for the rally in June.
And finally… well done PA!
A word of congratulations to local man Peter McLean better known as Pa. He was telling me that he is racking up the miles and is just 6 short of his age for the total amount of 5ks he has completed as a late starter to running and cycling scene.
I have two photos included of him one from Saturday’s Park 5k at the weekend in Letterkenny. I have also a picture of him from one of his bad hair days at St. Eunan’s College. Well done lad.
Happy motoring folks.
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