TAKE A GOOD long look at the picture at the top of this story.
After tomorrow evening, James Daly’s beard will be no more.
To honour the memory of his late wife, Ann, a charity match – All in for Ann- featuring the cream of Ladies Gaelic Football will be held in Dromintee tomorrow (7pm).
And Daly has pledged to shave off his beard later in the night to raise funds for cancer research.
70 players have committed to the event as rival All-Ireland final managers Eamonn Ryan (Cork) and Gregory McGonigle (Dublin) team up to take charge of one team, with Daly in charge of their opponents.
After the game, a bumper raffle will take place in a nearby marquee, with a host of stunning prizes up for grabs.
“Marty Morrissey will be there to do MC,” Daly revealed.
“We have a big marquee and we’re going straight in there for live music from 8.30 until the wee hours of the morning.
“I’m having the beard shaved and my daughters, Katie and Megan, are having their hair cut and that will be donated to the Little Princess Trust (a charity that provides real hair wigs to boys and girls across the UK and Ireland who have lost their hair through cancer treatment).
“My son, Ryan, is getting his hair dyed. It’s hard to get a 16-year-old to get his hair cut!” James smiled.
“Then we’ll have a raffle and lots of very good prizes, followed by an auction.
“We have two pairs of authentic rugby boots from Ronan O’Gara and Brian O’Driscoll, a signed Jamie Heaslip training jersey, a signed 2015 Kilkenny hurley, U2 tickets and a package to the Manchester derby.”
All proceeds are going to Cancer Focus Northern Ireland, whose resources are channeled towards cancer research and breast cancer awareness.
In July 2014, James lost his wife Ann following an eight-year battle with cancer.
Naturally, her memory will burn brightly this weekend but James is determined to ensure that the night is a celebration of Ann’s life.
“No doubt, it will about all of the good things.
“It’s also a huge coming together by the community to put this together.
“The money we’ve got already is unbelievable, there’s more to come and we’re very happy with that.
“It’s been a hectic couple of weeks, dotting the t’s and crossing the i’s.
“It’s been that busy, you’re just flying, going from one thing to the next.
“Tomorrow is going to be tough but this whole thing has been about keeping her name alive, for the last 15 months.
“It ends tomorrow night and there will not be as much talk about Ann maybe ever again – that’s a tough time.
“It’s been a hard time but like everything else, you feel sorry for yourself but there’s always someone worse off. There’s a great buzz and we’re expecting a big crowd for the game.”
Mayo superstar Cora Staunton will play in the game while the female ‘Gooch’, Kerry’s Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh, has also committed her services along with Kingdom teammate Bernie Breen.
Another Mayo player, Fiona McHale, is also travelling to Armagh, along with Galway’s Sinead Burke, Sligo goalkeeper Noelle Gormley, and a host of Ulster players including Armagh’s Caroline O’Hanlon and Sinead McCleary, Gemma Begley from Tyrone, the Hegartys from Donegal and Karen Guthrie.
They bloody well better offer him more than a one year deal! He’s been brilliant after the turmoil of the Keane tenure, also I imagine Friendy is a big part of why players would join.
The IRFU need to cop on and tie down the good coaches to long term contracts. Oh and sign the players too. Stop importing players for 2 seasons and promote from within
I hope the IRFU find the funds to keep him longer. Nigel Carolan would be another option.
@Con Cussed: yeah Nigel is an option, but the question remains whether his preference is hands on coaching rather than top management. His track record has been good enough for years to have had Head Coach job offers elswere, but he’s stayed in Galway. My feeling is he loves what he does and isn’t interested in the politics of the top job, could be 100% wrong of course. Jimmy Duffy is established too. Shame the timing was out for Dan McFarland, because he would fit back in perfectly. All the above is conjecture of course, first preference is to keep Friendy. Love what he’s doing and especially the contagious positive vibe he exudes from every pore…..
Suspect Friend will be returning to Australia at the end of the current season. He was very annoyed about the failure to win the game vs Munster last weekend off that final scrum and his pique at his onfield leaders botching (yet again) an end of game opportunity was noticeable. I wonder if he feels he’s taken them as far as he can. I do hope he stays. He’s a great man manager, but a 1 year contract extension offer would force him to look elsewhere, and will the IRFU offer him a 2 year contract – I doubt it.
@David Finn: If the IRFU are serious they have to stop these 1-2 year deals. It gives the wrong message to those receiving them. Keep Friendly at Connacht or resign. The politics at the IRFU does not help in these situations.