With the cheque for €2893.20 from the Paul Behan Darts Classic, left to right: Cepta (finance manager Our Lady’s Hospice, Blackrock), Christy Murphy, Joe Corri and Joe Sadler.
A benefit night took place in Clanna Gael on October 4th to raise funds for Our Lady’s Hospice in Blackrock. The Darts Classic was set up in honour of Paul Behan, a local resident who tragically passed away on July 7th at the age of 27.
The tournament kicked off on that particular Saturday night at 8.30pm with 32 teams of three competing. With each player paying €10 a head, a guaranteed €960 was already secured for the hospice. Entertainment on the night was provided by DJ Ger McGuinness, and a raffle took place featuring spot prizes from local pubs, restaurants and other businesses.
There were some big-hitting prizes on offer at the raffle, including two tickets for the Game of Thrones tour in Belfast, worth €55 each. 50 yards of carpet was donated to the night by Anto Roche, along with a €60 voucher from Mamma Mia Deli Cafe of Grattan Street.
Food for the night was provided by Joe and Catherine from The Bridge Cafe in Ringsend, with the hot food supplied cold by Corrigan’s butchers.
NewsFour spoke to Joe Corri, Paul Behan’s uncle, who was immensely grateful to all of the sponsors of the event, which included Mira Mira, John Clarke’s pub, Borza’s chipper, Sandymount House and The Vintage among many, many others.
“Everything was sponsored,” Corri told NewsFour. “There was no cost involved for Ger McGuinness or anything. We had to get the dartboards through Dave Tansey, who organises darts events. Joe McDonagh provided the transport, and collected the dartboards, and we got our stage off Ringsend Community Centre. Thanks to Dermot, manager of Clanna Gael, and all the ticket sellers and bar workers.”
The chief organisers of the event were Joe himself, along with Christy Murphy, proprietor of the Loughlinstown Inn pub, Dave Tansey, Dermot Chamberlain, Mick Behan, John Behan and Joe McDonagh, who was also responsible for setting up the dartboards.
The tournament will now be an annual event, given its success on the night, and will henceforth be known as The Perpetual Trophy.
Coming in first place in the competition was the Loughlinstown Inn, with the Tuesday team coming in second. The pub will be organising the tournament next time around, to which Corri said, “we shouldn’t have bothered going into town for the trophies. We should have just had them delivered to the Loughlinstown Inn!”
In addition to this, a five-a-side football tournament also took place in Ringsend Park in September to honour Paul and raise money for Our Lady’s Hospice. The tournament was set up by New Ireland Assurance of Dawson Street, for whom Paul worked, with each player’s t-shirt emblazoned with the name “Behaner”, as he was affectionately known.
“Blackrock Hospice is only partially funded by the HSE and they depend on fundraisers,” Corri said. “So it was a big ‘thank you’ to the hospice for looking after Paul. It was a great day.”
By Craig Kinsella
