Lip Sync – The Talk of the Town

High levels of audience participation played a huge part in the success of the Castleisland AFC Lip Sync Battle on Friday night. ©Photograph: John Reidy

Patrick O’Rourke one of the masterminds behind Friday night’s hugely successful Lip Sync Battle at Castleisland Community Centre. ©Photograph: John Reidy

Castleisland Community Centre staff members, Trevor Farrelly and Claudia Seier on duty at the Castleisland AFC Lip Sync Battle on Friday night. ©Photograph: John Reidy

Castleisland AFC members, Ben Cooney (left) and Danny Hickey on programme selling duty at the Castleisland AFC Lip Sync Battle on Friday night. ©Photograph: John Reidy

Castleisland AFC members get the house rocking on Friday night. Included are, from left: Michael Brosnan, Patrick O’Connor, Derry Fleming, Jack Flynn, Maurice O’Donoghue and Tim O’Donoghue. ©Photograph: John Reidy

German visitors, Clara Benne, Hannover (left) and Linda Arneth, Munich at Castleisland Community Centre for the Castleisland AFC Lip Sync Battle on Friday night. ©Photograph: John Reidy

Eileen and Peter Carty with Mark O’Mahony at the Castleisland AFC Lip Sync Battle on Friday night. ©Photograph: John Reidy

MC Alan Shortt introducing Kerry GAA and dancing with the Stars hero, Aidan O’Mahony to the 1,200 strong crowd at the Castleisland AFC Lip Sync Battle on Friday night. ©Photograph: John Reidy

All hands on Deck: Castleisland AFC members: John Mitchell (left) pictured with: Seán Gallagher, Jennifer O’Sullivan-Coffey and John Coffey ‘doing the door’ at the Castleisland AFC Lip Sync Battle on Friday night. ©Photograph: John Reidy

The way Castleisland AFC went about its business with its Lip Sync Battle at the local community centre on Friday night is the talk of this and surrounding parishes.

Almost 1,200 people packed the centre with atmosphere, colour and excitement and in anticipation of a great night’s entertainment. They got what they went for – in spades.

The club put down a marker with this event that it knows what it wants and it knows how to get it.

An Outstanding Success

Though the financial figures from the night are still unofficial and not yet final, it would appear that the night was an outstanding success from that point also.

In the course of the information night staged by the club and its artificial pitch co-developer, Castleisland Community College, on February 19^th last, Patrick O’Rourke emphasised the importance for the project to have ‘money of its own’ in order to be able to draw on whatever grants are available to an undertaking of its nature.

Stand as a Monument

Friday night was a great boon to the community entertainment starved population of the area. It provided all the fun one could have on a night out. But the business side of the venture will stand as a monument to those who put their backs into the organisational side of it and to the people who gave their time to their community through participation.

Yet again, it proved that a community pulling together can rise itself to heights like these. We’ve had nights of dancing and boxing last year and they made their own high water marks.

Repeat Next Year

Friday night’s event took it to another level. To a level which assured the achievement of the goal of having the pitch of their dreams sooner rather that later.

And it is quite possible that we could see a repeat next year. A spokesman said that he and his fellow organisers will need to become reacquainted with their families before they look and further into the future. But he said that a repeat has not been ruled out.

Paternal Role

I was curious as to how Georgie O’Callaghan felt about the night and its consequences. He couldn’t praise it highly enough in the ten minutes or so that we spoke. He was full of praise for MC Alan Shortt and for special guest, Aidan O’Mahony. That’s something.

It is a mark of Georgie’s increasingly paternal role in local soccer affairs that all those involved in Friday night’s masterpiece of local enterprise all came up through the age ranks under his care and perfectionist outlook. Credit where it’s due and all that.

You can catch up on all the videos from the night with a click on: https://www.facebook.com/LipSyncCastleisland

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