There’s gold in them Donegal flags for Tuam!

It is hard to imagine that a North Galway company would part and parcel of Donegal’s bid to win the All-Ireland title today.

But a flag-making industry in Tuam has received the contract to print as many Donegal flags as possible in advance of the biggest football event of the year.

Irish Wholesale Flags is based in the N17 Business Park in Tuam but they have been commissioned by flag-sellers in Donegal to pull out all the stops.

The flag manufacturing company was established in 2011 in Tuam but the owner Keith Costello has been involved in the sale of flags since Galway were last in the All-Ireland final in 2001.

“I remember being in Ballinasloe and selling around 30 to 40 flags at the time which was good. It was from there that I got into the business,” Keith told The Connacht Tribune.

Keith Costello, who is from Tuam, then got a grant from Galway Enterprise Board which allowed him to establish his flag manufacturing business which has proved a major success.

At the moment the company employs a staff of four but there is the potential that this can be increased in the future.

“I was hoping that we would get a bit of business from Mayo if they beat Kerry but when they didn’t we were somewhat deflated.

“Then when Donegal beat Dublin, I did not expect that we would receive anything like the orders we have taken in from flag sellers. Basically our products will be appearing on Jones’ Road on the way to Croke Park on All-Ireland final day.

“We had to work last weekend to get out the orders. It was great because we never expected to receive the amount of orders from Donegal,” Keith Costello admitted.

The company supplies bunting for all of the major events including the Galway Oyster Festival, the Fleadh Ceol in Sligo, the Clifden Arts Festival and even the Volvo Ocean Race.

Keith Costello said that they were now one of the biggest suppliers of flags and bunting in the country and were in the process of expanding.

“We have been quite busy but the order from Donegal really surprised us. If Dublin had beaten them, then we probably would not have benefited to the same degree,” Keith said.