Blue Demons plan a great night of celebration to mark 60th anniversary

It will be a big evening on Saturday at Silversprings Hotel when Blue Demons celebrate their 60th anniversary with a Gala Dinner.

Demons are the most successful club in Irish basketball at Super League level and for club chairman Michael O’Leary it has been his life for many years.

“I started with De Paul Boy’s club playing in the Summer Leagues of 1974 and 20 years later I became chairman and was there until 2012,” Michael said.

O’Leary did take a five-year break from the chairman’s role but, incredibly, he has served the club for 26 years in this position, an amazing feat in such a demanding role.

Over 200 guests will assemble for the gala Dinner and O’Leary believes it is a celebration of a wonderful group of people who he has soldiered with during his tenure at the club.

“It is an opportunity to celebrate 60 years and I suppose we are very conscious of the fact that our 50th anniversary dinner was a huge success and then we lost some key people in the last decade.

“Amazingly we still have some founding members with us, but the reality is that time waits for nobody and its inevitable that we are going to lose more members as the club matures,” added O’Leary.

INFLUENTIAL

Blue Demons plan to make some presentations on the night as O’Leary explained.

“We struggled with finding a name, but we came to a decision that a Blue Demons Players Club would be launched and 21 players will be named on the night to be the first to go into this category.

“To be honest, we want to recognise what these lads done for our club, some bigger than others, but all coming under one umbrella.

“Looking at the link you could start with Noel McCarthy who played with John Cooney and he played with Mono McCarthy and the link goes right on to players like Shane Coughlan.” 

The special presentation on the evening will be the naming of a member who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

This is a very prestigious award to the hierarchy of our club and that’s for people who have made significant contributions over a long period.” 

The relationship with UCC and the Mardyke Arena is crucial to Blue Demons as O’Leary paid tribute to all concerned.

“Our partnership with UCC has been an integral part of making us one of the most successful clubs in Irish basketball and over the last 25 years we have had some magnificent success at Super League level.

“Many thanks to Christine Moloney and the staff at the Mardyke Arena for their cooperation and help over many years and long may our partnership grow to further success.” 

On a final note, the club chairman is delighted that two prominent stalwarts will be presented with life awards.

“We lost our president, John Coughlan, and didn’t replace him but we luckily still have two men in Jim Dineen and Michael O’Sullivan. We decided to inaugurate them both as honorary life vice-presidents. It will be a great night for both these gentleman and their families who have given their lives to our club.”