DR PÁDRAIG Carney – Mayo’s Flying Doctor in the fabulous 1950s – will make a special appearance in Swinford on Sunday for a poignant ceremony rededicating the pitch after the late Garda Robert McCallion.
The Swinford man died through injuries inflicted upon him while he was on duty in Letterkenny on April 7th, 2009. The Mayo and Donegal senior teams will play a challenge match after the rededication ceremony.
“For the McCallion family it is going to be a poignant day,” said the club and Mayo PRO Aidan McLoughlin. “They are delighted the club has done this but at the same time, they will be very emotional because they know Robbie won’t have a chance to play on the pitch but obviously that can’t happen. The tragedy is still very recent. He was my best friend and I would have played with him the whole way up through until he died.
“All of the work that has gone into it and what is happening on Sunday is just our mark of respect to Robbie as a person and a footballer. He played at every age level for Swinford from age eight up. He made his senior debut in 1999 and was a Mayo junior player. He was the stand-out player on our team; no disrespect to David Heaney but he probably would have stood out more than David at times for us.
“When he was stationed in Letterkenny, he used to travel up and down for matches. Even the Tuesday night before he died, he was in Swinford for training and one of the boys said to him, ‘You are hardly going back tonight?’ And he said: ‘Sure I have to, duty calls’.”
Robbie’s father is a former Garda Sergeant and his brother John is in the force. He continued to play with Swinford despite having to travel between his club and his work in Letterkenny.”
Carney, who moved to California in the 1950s, is an iconic figure in Mayo. A Swinford native, he performed the opening of the original pitch in 1979.
A game between Swinford and a Garda selection is scheduled for 12.30pm. It coincides with the beginning of the championship in New York. When McLoughlin met Donegal manager Jim McGuinness before the Mayo-Donegal league tie, the latter recalled meeting McCallion. “He told me he had met him a number of years ago before he was Donegal manager and said he was a lovely lad. He was delighted Donegal were asked to play.”
