Donegal gets behind beautiful game for charity

A big-hearted Donegal man celebrated a milestone birthday by organising a charity football match in aid of a cause “very close to his heart.”

Buncrana's Neil McLaughlin (Barr) who turned 40 on January 2 and raised a staggering €4050 in aid of  CMRF Crumlin said he was “overwhelmed, delighted and thankful” to everyone in the community who supported the event. 

CMRF Crumlin provides vital funding for Children's Health Ireland (CHI) Crumlin (previously known as Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin) and the National Children's Research Centre, to “enable little patients to have the best outcomes possible.”

Speaking to the Donegal Live following the presentation of the cheque to CMRF Crumlin, Neil said: “For my big birthday, we organised a charity football match with all proceeds going to CMRF Crumlin, a very worthy cause and one which is very, very close to my heart.

“I am absolutely delighted we were able to raise more than €4,000. We could not have done it without the help of people like John Doherty, who facilitated the event in the Druminderry Community Centre. 

“Our team, BARRcelona played The Ship, a team from the Laurentic Bar, which also provided the refreshments, so a big 'thank you' to them. I also want to thank two top class musicians, Bernard Doherty and John McGeoghan for the fabulous music, which added to what was a brilliant day and night of craic.

“We could not have had the event without the sponsorship of  McLaughlin & Taylor Drying Lining Limited, which provided the great football shirts and massive thanks to the man in the middle, referee on the day, Billy Porter. That is not to mention each and every member of the community who came out on the day to support us. There were too many people to mention individually but my heartfelt thanks to all of the businesses for donating all the fantastic prizes for the raffle and all the donations we received,” said Neil.