DONEGAL:THE GREEN and gold in the hills of Donegal had an extra special lustre about them yesterday when the county won its second All-Ireland senior football title at Croke Park.
Throughout the county thousands who couldn’t get tickets for the game were on the streets celebrating within minutes of Michael Murphy accepting the Sam Maguire in Dublin.
Car horns tooted and thousands from across Northern Ireland who spent the weekend in Donegal to share the thrill of the atmosphere joined with locals in the celebration.
Bundoran mayor and hotel manager Philip McGlynn said: “There wasn’t a spare hotel room in the county over the weekend; so many visitors wanted to be here for the atmosphere.” By last night the party was in full swing as fans forgot the recession in one of Ireland’s worst-hit unemployment areas.
Folk who flew home from all over the world – some even failing to get tickets for Croke Park and watching on television screens instead – changed their flights back to the US and Australia to enjoy the craic for the next week as Sam and the team prepare, starting this evening, to visit every village and town in the county.
Many were already recalling a month of hangovers when Donegal won the All-Ireland in 1992.
Extra bunting and flags were raised alongside those already fluttering from every pole and landmark in the county.
Among the most festive areas in the county yesterday was Ballyshannon, one of the towns hardest hit by the recession with the loss of about 700 jobs in the last decade.
A 15sq m television screen was erected in the centre of the town so entire families who couldn’t be in Dublin were able, in a way, to enjoy the game in the open air with music and treats similar to those in Croke Park.
The screen was erected by the town council in partnership with local businesses after a woman, Alison Dolan, inquired on Facebook if the GAA was preparing something in the football ground for families to enjoy the biggest sporting moment in the county for 20 years. In Lifford, celebrating homecomers drove past a 100m boardwalk carrying the names of every player on Jim McGuinness’s squad. In surfers’ paradise Rossnowlagh, the late-September weather didn’t stop fans celebrating the win with a barbecue.
Donegal county mayor Frank McBrearty said he will be proposing a motion at the October council meeting to hold a civic celebration for the team later this year.
He said: “I am mayor for the greatest ever year in Donegal sport. I am a very proud Donegal man.”