Over 250 people came together in Lough Erne Resort on Friday night to celebrate 30 years of Cross Community Rowing at the Boat Club. This project was started after the Enniskillen Bomb when pupils from St Michael’s College came to row at Portora for the first time. This was the start of the journey to the Club becoming the fully inclusive Club that it is now.
The 1st part of the night saw 2 new boats bearing the names of Gerry Murphy and ERBC parent support group being blessed and dedicated by Dean Kenneth Hall and Fr McEntee. It was great to see so many of Gerry’s family there to see him honoured for all the work he does for the Club. Many of the rowers from 1988 made the journey to celebrate the occasion, from as far away as California. One of these rowers Mark Hallett died recently and he along with Oliver Og Scallon and Debbie Allen were remembered on the night.
The guest speaker Peter Sheridan CEO of cooperation Ireland spoke about the importance of working together and finding things in common. Robert Northridge talked about how the project came about and why it has proven to be so successful. There was a collection for Action Mental Health’s Boost programme which works with young people 16-25 with Mental Health difficulties and a presentation of £800 was made to Caroline Ferguson from the charity.
