City striker O'Hanlon is huge hit at Darrara NS

DARRARA NS had a special visitor last week as Cork City striker Josh O’Hanlon officially opened the school’s Active Walkway.

City recently held a kit-design competition, Take Pride In Your Jersey, in conjunction with club partners Clonakilty Blackpudding and Darrara sixth-class pupil Katelyn Coakley was one of the ten winners. Her entry featured a sausage motif on the collar and cuffs with a slogan on the front: ‘We are all unique – just like each individual sausage’.

For that, she won a Clonakilty hamper as well as a visit to the school by a player. Striker O’Hanlon was that player and he spoke to the pupils and answered their questions as well as signing autographs and posing for photos before cutting the ribbon on the walkway.

‘Everyone was very excited,’ said Darrara principal Bláthnaid Breslin.

‘The walkway is part of a healthy initiative, it’s a 500-metre lap around the school and the pupils run on it for ten minutes at the end of lunch.

‘They add up their distances each day and the goal before the end of term is to complete the distance to Syria, which ties in with the global situation and showing solidarity with refugees.

‘Josh launched that and the kids were able to get tickets for the match against Derry City last Monday for a euro, so there was huge interest. The fact that they won just added to it all and they were able to recount every kick to us when we came back in after the bank holiday on Tuesday.’