Longford Review of the Year May 2024: Heroic Longford minors crowned Leinster champions and Edgeworthstown hosts National Famine Commemoration

Longford beat Dubs to win Leinster title

There were celebrations in May when the courageous Longford minors caused a major upset and were crowned Leinster champions.
The team displayed a remarkable resistance to battle their way into contention and then edge out Dublin on a score of 0-15 to 1-10 after extra time.
Longford were tested and were trailing by four points at the break (1-4 to 0-3).
But the young Longford team dug deep to ensure they were crowned the Leinster minor football champions for the first time since 2010.
Despite the sensational win over Dublin in the group stage, Enda McGahern’s gutsy side were cast as underdogs yet again, but they showed a serious bite to conquer their illustrious opponents for the second time in the provincial competition.
It took nerves of steel from the outstanding captain Mark Cooney to fire over the equalising point from a pressure long range free in the third minute of stoppage time to leave the sides all square (0-10 to 1-7) at the end of normal time.
There was over 20 minutes of extra-time required to determine the eventual outcome and Dublin were unable to match the fierce intensity of so resilient Longford who eventually came out on top in the fading light, much to the sheer delight of their vociferous supporters who comprised the vast majority of the estimated 1,500 attendance.

While commanding centre-half-back Mark Cooney was a deserving winner of the TG4 man of the match award, this was an overall tremendous team effort.
Dublin were looking good when they led by two points in extra-time (1-10 to 0-11) but Longford somehow found the energy to dominate the remainder of this amazing match with Cian O’Donnell landing a couple of terrific points when it mattered most.

National Famine event

The hosting of the National Famine Commemoration in Edgeworthstown in May brought a lot of national focus on county Longford.
The day of the event on May 19 was a culmination of a week of activity across county Longford in the run up to the official function.
Longford County Council Cathaoirleach, Cllr Tom Murray described the famine as a black chapter in Irish history, but said it was important we marked these events with significant occasions and we continue to remember those who died.

Lidl Ballymahon plan

Supermarket giant Lidl announced in May that it would be submitting a planning application for the construction of a new store in Ballymahon.
They said the proposed store would be located at Main Street/Church View Backlands, Ballymahon (including the rear of former St Matthew’s National School, Nally Tyres /Circle K and adjoining lands).
Lidl’s stated their intention to open in Ballymahon was down to the growing prosperity of the south Longford town.

St Christopher's ballot

Strike action at St Christopher's Services moved a step closer in early-May when an an overwhelming majority of staff voted in favour of strike action.
The threatened strike centred on the failure of the HSE to sanction incremental pay rises.
A notice of industrial action was served on the management on May 7 , but it was later postponed to allow for WRC talks.