I listened to this song today “The Homes of Donegal” by the brilliant Paul Brady.
I turned it up full in my Citroen Berlingo Van. It took me to the Donegal International Rally the first year James Cullen won the event and RPM had the brilliant idea of running this song over the footage of the rally heading through the Ramelton Town stage.
From then it has been my Donegal Rally Anthem on good days and on very sad days.
I’ve just stepped in to see you all
I’ll only stay awhile
And I want to see how you’re getting on
I want to see you smile
And I’m happy to be back again
And greet you big and small There’s no place in the world just like the Homes of Donegal.
It’s at times like these that it’s very difficult to know where to turn when the sad and sudden news filtered through on Thursday that we had lost one of Ireland’s best rally drivers.. I only met him in person once and at a football match of all places where and his navigator at the time Paul Nagle turned up in Co Donegal. They both were at the Letterkenny Community Centre on the Thursday night before the Donegal International Rally in 2019 and went into the group as a super sub for the team photo.
Craig didn’t take to the pitch that night, word was that he was meeting up with the late Manus Kelly and Donaill Barrett later that evening ahead of the start of the Rally the following morning. Pitch side I got team photos, I took a few photos of Craig and Paul with Oisin Kelly from Highland Radio, then one with them with Kevin Bradley who was just elected to Donegal County Council. He was also elected Deputy Mayor of Letterkenny the previous week and the last photo before he departed was with Conor Curley before. Craig slipped away that evening.
The Late Craig Green with co-driver Paul Nagle and Cllr Kevin Bradley in 2019 Photo Brian McDaid.
It was one of those evenings that I had regrets that I didn’t tell this ambassador for Ireland on the world rallying stage how much I watched and admired his progress over the years. I’m just a typical Irish man that waits till it’s too late to express my pride in this Waterford driver’s progress at world level.
To see the name Breen sitting in the top three of a WRC rally leaderboard from rallies from all corners of the world and the tricolour sitting beside his name was so powerful when you would pull up the live results of one of the rallies on your phone.
Paul Nagle with the navigators at the charity football match Photo Brian McDaid.
The Late Craig Breen with fellow rally drivers at the Letterkenny Community Centre before the Donegal International Rally in 2029 photo Brian Mc Daid.
This week I’m sitting waiting on the lights to go to green on the Pearse Road and I’m looking down into the football pitch in the community centre where different groups of people meet up to play football be it a five a side game after work on the astroturf to league games right through to charity games where players fit into a one size fits all football shirts all for a good cause.
It’s times like this when something like this happens this week and you rewind back to a time when you met people you admired from afar and you were together and you focused sharply on that moment.
Down in the community centre that evening for that charity game which was in aid of The Bumbleance service that look after and transport children in their time of illness. The boys lined up for a photo and because Craig Breen wasn’t going to be playing in the game he was a wee bit reluctant to go into the photo, but thankfully we managed to convince him to stand in at the back.
And when we had the photo taken I asked the players to record their name and where they were from on to a video I did on my phone. I listened back to the many different accents of one of the boys as they introduced themselves. One of the drivers let on that he was Ken Block, who as it happens was in Donegal that weekend to compete in the rally. Merian Evan was there from Wales and in the middle Craig Breen quietly gave his name and his home. Waterford.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1473137136162123
Craig Breen won the circuit of Ireland back to back in 2015 and 2016 in a Peugeot and a Citroen respectively. Ireland was important to Craig and a lot of people like myself were never lucky enough to see him on the world stage but we were always routing for him when his name would flash up in World Rally updates climbing the leaderboard or leading the event from the start. And we were to find out once when he was a guest presenter when he wasn’t competing or maybe went out of a rally he surprised everyone when ask if he had a choice what would be his favourite car and his favourite rally it was nostalgia that was on his mind that he name the Metro 6R4 as his all time favourite car and then said he would ‘take her to the hills’ it would have to be Donegal.
“Donegal?” the other presenter asked in amazement, in the whole world. She reminded him again. Defintely Craig Breen replied and went on to list all the world rally drivers that came to Ireland and how the Citroen team that he was then a part of still go one about the weekend they spent in Donegal and the night they had after the rally in the Errigal Hotel when Sebastian Leob competed in Donegal.
Craig was only a young man but I feel as if I know him for the longest time as we watched him go through the lows and celebrate the highs in a great rallying career.
Conor Curley gets his photo taken with Craig Green and Paul Nagle in 2019 at the Community Centre in Letterkenny. Photo Brian McDaid.
I think the tribute that former fellow world rally driver Jari Matti Lativala team manager of Toyota posted up sums up Craig Breen so well.
Craig shared the same passion as me, loved old rally cars, and driving with them. With Craig, we never talked about new cars, just going through memories from 90s rallying, which has given us so many smiles, energy and love for the sport.
Craig did what he wanted to do the most in life: drive a rally car. I have seen videos when he was a young boy playing with a pedal car and pretending to be a rally driver. This just tells us the true passion for the sport!
Life feels unfair after the loss of Craig, and it is difficult to accept, but we can not decide our days on earth. Life goes on, and every morning, there is a new day, but Craig will stay with us in the stories wherever we go in the Rally world.
Rest in peace my friend.
