On the 24th October, the Kerry Association London hosted the Sam Maguire and Tom Markham cups along with members of the winning senior and minor teams. The event was attended by the Irish Ambassador Dan Mulhall, Minister for Diaspora Jimmy Deenihan, Mayor of Kerry John Brassil and the greater Kerry London community.
The evening began with the procession of the cups escorted by Kerry team members Kieran O’Leary, Barry John Walsh and the association’s Chairman Danny Sullivan and Secretary Tara Cronin. The cups entered the Bentley Suite of the Crown Moran, Cricklewood to the song Fields of Glory performed by the talented Barry Owen. After the presentation of the cups, the Chairman of the association Danny Sullivan welcomed the 300 strong crowd to the event and expressed his pride for the Kerry team and his love of his Kerry London community.
Kerry player Aidan O’Mahony kindly donated the boots he wore during the All Ireland final. Unfortunately the player was unable to attend but sent a message that was read out by his teammate Barry John Walsh. The association Chairman Danny Sullivan then took to the floor to auction off the boots which went for an estimated £25,000 thanks to the generosity of a handful of Kerry London businessmen. The proceeds will go to the Killarney based charity Home from Home.
As dinner was served to the attendees speeches were given by the Irish Ambassador Dan Mulhall and Minister for Diaspora Jimmy Deenihan.
The crowd were then treated to a strong hearted thank you from the members of the Kerry team and Kerry County board members Jack O’Connor and Ger Galvin.
Tara Cronin, Secretary of the Kerry Association London said; “It is a great honour to host the members of the Kerry team along with their hard working management to London. I believe it is important that we show our support for our boys after an exciting and hard All Ireland campaign. I have to say as a proud Crokes woman, it is fantastic to have Kieran O’Leary as a guest at our event this year. It is with great pride that I congratulate them on all their efforts and we look forward to welcoming them to London next year with the Sam Maguire and Tom Markham cups under their arm again.”
It was also a night of great celebration for this year’s Kerry Person of the Year John Griffin. Mr Griffin was presented with the Denis Reidy Memorial shield by outgoing Kerry Person of the Year Shelagh O’Connor. Mr Griffin, whose father hails from Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry, was selected by the Kerry Association London’s Person of the Year sub–committee in recognition of his life time achievements and great support of the Irish at both home and abroad.
During his acceptance speech the new Kerry Person of the year acknowledged the Minister of the Diaspora and spoke of the influence his latest venture Irish TV would have on Ireland.
John Griffin, Kerry Person of the Year said; “We need to get rid of the Diaspora. We don’t need people leaving Ireland. We want them to stay and make them a living. It shouldn’t be necessary for them to have to go abroad. I hope to a part of the solution and I know we are all here because our parents had to leave Ireland because there were no jobs.