Bill Squires Gannon statue officially unveiled in Kildare Town
Sunday morning in the Square in Kildare town was a morning to behold with former star players ten a penny.
The occasion was the official unveiling of the Bill Squires Gannon sculpture by none other than the President of the GAA, Larry McCarthy, with a helping hand from the Deputy Lord Mayor Joe Neville, along with All-Ireland U14 winning captain Katie Ray.
Among the attendance were many captains who have lifted the Sam Maguire Cup, all following on from Squires who was the first man to lift Sam back in 1928.
John O'Leary, former Dublin great, along with his fellow county man Sean Doherty (remember him?), the great Tony McTeague of Offaly (as good a free taker as ever graced the green grass of Croker); add in Tommy Dowd of The Royal County, a man who buried The Lilies on more than one occasion; Joe Cassells was also there as was Offaly's Richie Connor, to name just a few.
Our own greats were also present, Glenn Ryan, Anthony Rainbow, Johnny Doyle amongst them.
Have to say to see these lads greet one another, to see the camaraderie between them, to see them clap and hug one another in real and genuine admiration was just brilliant.
A big thanks to the organising committee who finally got this project over the line. Many, or practically all, who initially came up with the idea of this plan did not live to see their project bear fruit, but no double they were all looking on from the heights.
The one thing that really stood out for me though was here we were, rightly unveiling a monument to honour a man who did his county so proud by lifting the Sam Maguire but the fact that we are still waiting for his Kildare successor to follow suit.
In a few years time, it will be the 100 anniversary of Bill Squires' great achievement.
Will we still be waiting for Sam not just to be present but to make Lilywhite Land his home for a 12 month stay?
All the work that has gone on down the years, all the effort that has been made; all the mighty players that have donned the white since, but still no Sam in Kildare.
Glenn, Micko and the boys came so close back in '98 — and even that is now coming up to 25 years.
The time to stop the drought has long passed!
One of the members of the committee that brought the project to a conclusion was that great GAA man Lorcán O'Rourke. Unfortunately Lorcán was not present on Sunday. We wish Lorcán a speedy recovery and hopefully he will be up and back among us sooner rather than later.