Helping to keep Loughrea club running in the rigth direction

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

IF there is one man who has embodied the community spirit of Loughrea Athletic Club over the decades it has been TJ Beatty. Although no longer involved in the executive runnings of the fellowship, he continues to play a leading role as underlined by his latest venture.

On Friday, October 28, Loughrea AC will marry two very important events at the Lough Rea Hotel. The first is that it will launch its latest fundraiser, a new monthly draw designed to generate the necessary finance to re-develop the club’s facilities at its Bushfield Complex near Bullaun.

The first winning ticket is to be drawn on the evening by one of their own, no less than former World Champion race-walker Olive Loughnane, and, afterwards, the club will celebrate the achievements of Loughnane by presenting her with a compilation booklet of her many achievements.

This is where TJ Beatty comes in as he is currently producing the tome on the feats of one of Loughrea’s greatest sporting heroes – for it has had many, from Ciaran Fitzgerald (rugby) to Therese Maher (camogie) – and he is very excited about the endeavour.

“It will be a permanent record of all the things Olive has done and the focus of the book is all about Olive,” he enthuses. “I have some photographs from years gone by where she would have competed in cross country when she was younger and then she took up the race walking and I also have pictures from back then.

“I was actually saying to one of the lads up in the printers this morning that I am not sure how many Ireland has had but there are only a handful of people from this country who have competed in four Olympic Games. And she is one of them. I mean, to be in four Olympic Games is no mean feat.”

Added to this, despite all her success, Loughnane has never forgot her roots and Beatty highlights that whenever the club calls on her to help them out in some shape or form, she rarely, if ever, refuses.

“She will always come back and help you out because she recognises that it was the club which supported her in the early years. She is really a committed club member and we actually had a function some time ago where we made her a life member of the club.”

Along with inviting the local community to come and meet Olive and get their booklet autographed, Beatty says he intends to host an exhibition of press cuttings and photographs of her achievements in the Lough Rea Hotel on the evening.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.