Paul Nagle - Civic Reception
Posted: March 2, 2010 4:04 PM
At a Civic Reception in the Council Chambers on Friday 26th of February, Killarney Town Council honoured local man Paul Nagle for his achievement in winning the Intercontinental Rally Championship as co-driver with Dungannon’s Kris Meeke.
Competing in the Peugeot UK Rally Team, Kris and Paul took overall wins in the Brazil, Azores, Ypres & San Remo Rallies which, together with points finishes on the other rounds of the Championship, meant they had built up an unassailable lead even before the final round in Scotland, where they were once again fastest overall.
Speaking at the Civic Reception, Mayor of Killarney Michael Gleeson recalled the many local teams and individuals who had excelled at top level in a wide variety of sports and he congratulated Paul on joining the ranks of these illustrious men and women who had brought honour to their native Town, County and Country.
He recalled the long history of rallying in Killarney, going back to the days of the Circuit of Ireland in the town each Easter.
He recalled too that the Council had in the past hosted a Civic Reception for the great Billy Coleman who, by his achievements in rallying, had done so much to inspire young competitors, not only in Cork and Kerry but throughout the whole of Ireland.
Councillors Donal Grady and Niall O’Callaghan also spoke of the commercial value of rallying to the town and said that, as a community and as a local authority, everybody should be doing their utmost to ensure that the Rally of The Lakes continues to be run and to make a major contribution to the commercial life of the town each May.
Among the presentations made by the Mayor to Paul was a pen crafted in Arbutus Wood, now a very rare tree in Ireland, surviving only in Killarney and near Lough Gill in County Sligo.
Paul, in reply, thanked the Mayor for the honour afforded to him by the Council and also thanked all those who had supported him over the past number of years in his rallying career.
It was, he said, an honour to represent Killarney and Ireland at rallies throughout the world.
He acknowledged the tremendous support of Peugeot UK, whose professional approach contributed in a major way to the team’s success in 2009 and he looked forward to the challenge of defending the title in 2010, starting with Rally Brazil,
Rally Argentina will follow on from Brazil before the Championship moves back across the Atlantic to the European rounds.
He acknowledged that defending a title in any sport is always difficult but was happy that with 100% commitment from Peugeot UK, the back up team and the crew itself they could look forward to the season ahead with confidence.
Diarmuid Cronin, Killarney and District Motor Club Chairman, spoke of the Club’s pride in what Paul had achieved.
He noted that among those at the reception were three of the people who had founded KDMC 33 years ago and he expressed the hope that there would always be people who would ensure that the Club continued to remain at the forefront of Irish Rallying and capable of organising top class events even in the current challenging times.
Mike Marshall, one of the founder members of KDMC, spoke of how they had watched Paul Nagle rise through the ranks of rallying, achieving success after success but always striving to reach even greater goals.
He said that with the support of a major manufacture such as Peugeot, there was no reason to believe that Kris and Paul would not continue to rank among the worlds top teams.
While there was no reason to believe that Peugeot had any plans to withdraw from rallying, it was certain that there were other manufactures who are very conscious of what the Irish pair had achieved in their first professional season and who would be very happy to have such a talented duo on their books.
The Peugeot UK team are unlikely to appear on any event in Ireland this year, but there are still moves afoot to see if they can include the Rally of the Lakes in the year’s programme, but this is largely dependant on contractual obligations, availability of a car, and of course funding.
Event Postponed to Friday 26 Feb 10
Posted: March 2, 2010 4:02 PM
Event Postponed to Friday 26 Feb 10
Killarney Town Council Civic Reception for Paul Nagle - (Fri) 29 Feb 10
Posted: January 26, 2010 1:14 PM
Killarney Town Council are hosting a civic reception to honour the achievements of Paul Nagle in 2009,this will be held this Friday evening in Killarney.
Later in the night
Killarney & District Motor Club are celebrating the outstanding achievements of several of its members in the 2009 season with a presentation night at Darby o Gills at 9pm.
Light refreshments,
All are welcome.
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