This article is from page 6 of the 2009-06-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
TONY Mulcahy was overjoyed at becoming the mayor of Clare, but the icing wasn’t put on the cake until his daughter Coleen scooped gold in the Munster finals of the Special Olym- pics two days later.
It was a particularly joyous week- end for the first citizen and his fami- ly. On Friday afternoon Mr Mulcahy (50) was elected mayor of the county, while his proud family sat in the gal- lery of the council chamber. A per- fect weekend was sealed on Sunday when Coleen (17) won gold in the 25 metres run in the Mardyke in Cork.
Coleen, who is Tony and Carmel’s youngest daughter, has global devel- opmental delay. She has won several medals in Special Olympics over the past few years. She was overjoyed to win the gold last week, with her club Shannon Flyers Special Olympics.
“We had a wedding on Sunday so we weren’t there. I met her coming off the bus and she threw the two arms around me. There was fierce excitement to see her win the gold. It was a fantastic achievement,’ said sXe
His own achievement was remark- able, but he was modest in his reflec- tion of it. “The greater success would be hers. A lot of work goes into it and they have a great club and are very professional at what they do,” he said.
The support between them is mu- tual as Coleen has a huge interest
in her father’s political career. She regularly attends functions with him and she stole the show by making a speech after Tony topped the poll in the Shannon Town Council election count – at St Tola’s National School – earlier this month.
‘She loves the occasion, the excite- ment and all that goes with it,” said Nour lanoe
“She is very special to us. There is huge commitment from those in- volved in the Special Olympics. The way it has worked out has been tre- mendous. They are out there every Saturday morning training and this is a great return for them. They work very hard,” he added.
The club won six gold, one silver and three bronze medals at the games
and the success means that Coleen and some of her team mates will compete in the national games next year. No doubt her proud daddy will support her every step of the way!