'The relief is tremendous' - Kind-hearted Dublin fans reunite councillor with phone

A Donegal county councillor has expressed his gratitude to two Dublin GAA supporters who reunited him with his phone last week in the capital.

Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh - whose nephew Rory played midfield for Donegal in the 2012 All-Ireland success - was at Croke Park for the All-Ireland quarter-final. Cllr Kavanagh watched on as the Donegal side managed by Jim McGuinness defeated Monaghan 1-26 to 1-20 before Tyrone got the better of Dublin on a 0-23 to 0-16 scoreline.

However, Cllr Kavanagh from Letterkenny realised afterwards he misplaced his phone and later in the week wrote to the Irish Times to tell the story, explaining that thanks to Dublin supporters, named Jimmy and Antoinette, he had a “tremendous” relief.

“Sir, – Last Saturday I attended the football championship quarter-finals in Croke Park and, at some point, I lost my iPhone,” Cllr Kavanagh wrote. “I only noticed at full-time and having searched in the immediate vicinity of my seat without success, I held little hope of ever seeing it again.

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“However, a few calls to my missing iPhone by a friend who was by now on a bus home, and I discovered that it was alive and well and in the possession of a lovely woman in Tallaght who had found it leaving the stadium and took it home with her and waited on someone to call.

“I then just had to get there and that was where Jimmy came in, a staunch Dublin GAA man who was now aware of my problem. He rang an Uber for me and paid for it from his own account. I refunded him with what cash I had, which didn’t meet the full cost of the taxi, but that was the least of his worries – he just wanted to help.

“So, a trip to Tallaght and a meeting with the lovely Antoinette, who waited at home until I got there – she was heading out for the night – and I was reunited with my phone. The relief is tremendous.

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“There is just so much dependence on phones now, not least that the tickets for the two games on Sunday were on it as well as bank cards etc. We hear so much bad news, but I just wanted to share that there are still an awful lot of decent people around and I had the pleasure of meeting two of the very best on Saturday night.

“So thank you Antoinette and thank you Jimmy. Up the Dubs, Donegal for Sam; and Antoinette and Jimmy: I owe you a few drinks if you want to join me for the celebrations in Tír Conaill.”