Mountmellick Development Association (MDA) honours Laois Association, Dublin.
Saturday 12th April 2025 saw the unveiling of the permanent exhibition of The Healion Cup at the MDA premises in tribute to the 4 people from Mountmellick who have held the position of Chairman in the 75-year history of the Laois Association, Dublin. Also honoured was Paddy Rustchitzko who captained the Laois Team in the 1949 Senior Hurling Final which brought about the establishment of the Association in Dublin.
Mr. Paddy Buggy, Manager, MDA welcomed the attendance to the event on behalf of the MDA Board, and invited Mr. Gerry Thompson, current Chairman of the Association, to act as Master of Ceremonies for the event.
Chairman Gerry provided a brief history of the Association explaining it celebrated the 75th anniversary last year – an organisation that was inspired by the achievement of the 1949 team in reaching the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final, lead by Mountmellick man, Paddy Rustchitzko.
He then introduced Paddy Rustchitzko’s daughter, Mrs Maura Reddan who spoke about her memories of her father, and the Polish origins of the Rustchitzko family when her great-grandfather first came to Mountmellick.
The Chairman then moved to speak about the 4 people from the town who had been Association chairmen. He explained that the Cup being exhibited was once used in Association social activities in Dublin in decades past, has been refurbished and renamed after the first person from Mountmellick to hold the office of Chairman, Colm Healion. In the early 1950’s, Colm met a driving force in the then Laoismen’s Association, Bridie Mulhall (from Ballylinan), they married and so began a lifetime of volunteering & service to the Association. Colm held virtually every officer role in the Association over a 70-year period and was Chairman for several years in the early 80’s. Colm continued to serve as the Association’s Membership Officer right up to 2018. He and Bridie were presented with the Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Association’s 70th Anniversary celebrations in April 2019 (the Award has been presented to recipients on only 4 occasions). Sadly, Colm’s beloved Bridie passed away in November that year followed by Colm himself the following March (2020). The Healion’s family was represented at the event by their three daughters, Maura, Terri & Mel. Terri spoke of how pleased their father and mother would be about this exhibition and how much she & her sisters appreciated the honour being bestowed by the MDA and the Association.
Chairman Gerry then spoke of the second person from Mountmellick to hold the office of Chairman, Joe Dunne. Born on the family farm in Lower Forest, The Bay, Mountmellick, before a lifelong career in Guinness’s began in 1942, where he rose to the role of Skipper on a famous Guinness barge, The Killiney, and from there to Supervisor, Guinness Cross Channel. He retired at age 56 in 1975. Like Colm, Joe served in many Officer roles in the Association and was Chairman on several occasions throughout the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. He too made a huge contribution to the development and prosperity of the Association in these decades, ably supported throughout by his wife of 40 years, Marie (Burrows) also from Mountmellick. He passed away in January 2000, aged 80. While none of the Association’s current Officers /Committee served with Joe, his beloved Marie continued her involvement with the Association right up to shortly before her death in July 2019. Their son, Jim (and current Association member) had wished to be present, but the date clashed with another family commitment. Jim’s cousins, Breda Reddin and Andy Dunne (Joe’s niece & nephew) repesented the Dunne family. Breda spoke on behalf of Jim Dunne expressing appreciation for this honour for the family.
In introducing Joe Dowling, Association Chairman Gerry spoke of Joe being from the well-known Dowling business family in O’Moore Street. Joe’s successful career in An Garda Siochana ultimately brought him to Dublin where he served in various ranks until his retirement in1999 as Chief Superintendent, Community Relations. A barrister and law lecturer, Joe also served for many years as Trustee and as Chairman of the Board of TRUST – the Alice Leahy Charity for homeless people. His service to the Laois Association began at the end of the 90’s / early 2000’s with his involvement in the fund-raising for the Dunamaise Theatre & Arts Centre which ultimately fused into the Laois Association. Joe was Association Chairman in 2005 / 2006 and oversaw the introduction of the Association’s Student Bursary which provided 3-year financial support for a student selected for each of the years 2005 to 2007. It was the single biggest financial commitment undertaken by the Association.
Joe recalled his memories of being brought to Croke Park as a small boy for that now famous All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final in 1949. He remembers his father hiring a hackney car to bring him & his brothers to matches including the All Ireland. And as he was the youngest and smallest, generally there was space for him, although he was regularly prevailed upon to sing on these journeys! He spoke of his passion for GAA throughout his life and up to recently being accompanied to Laois matches by fellow Association members including the great Laois star, Fintan Walsh (RIP).
In introducing Sandy Metcalfe, the 4th former Chairman being honoured, Gerry mentioned Sandy also grew up in O’Moore Street (across the street from Joe!). Son of another respected Mountmellick business family – his mother ran a drapery / grocery shop while his father was a builder. His entire 50+ career was in the corporate world – most of the first 30 years in senior management positions in banking & financial services in various parts of the country before arriving in Dublin in 1989. In the subsequent 20 plus years of his career, as a qualified Performance Coach & Master Tutor, he established a number of companies providing management consultancy and people-performance education services. Like Joe, Sandy’s involvement in the Dunamaise fundraising resulted in him joining the Laois Association in 1999. As Chairman in 2001/2, he was the first Association Chairman to be invited to address a Laois County Council meeting in the Council Chamber at which he was presented with the Association’s Chain of Office. In his 25 years service to the Association, he developed the Association’s Mission Statement for the New Millennium, has been Newsletter Editor for over 15 years, worked on the event organising committees for all 4 of our Anniversary Celebrations, helped develop the Association’s Bursary Project, and also, the Lifetime Achievement Award. Gerry then recalled that over 20 years ago saw Sandy’s elevation to Honorary Life President of the Association. Therein lies another story – which brings us right back to … Colm Healion. At the AGM Sandy was proposed by Colm and unanimously elected. As Gerry commented … “As a Mountrath man, I couldn’t but be impressed in seeing how ‘the Mountmellick Mafia’ operates”!!
Sandy expressed his Appreciation to current Chairman Gerry for his words, and for his very successful leadership of the Association over the past 12 years. Sandy thanked all those present – MDA guests, Laois Association members, and members of his extended family for their support on what was a very special day for him. He paid tribute to the Mountmellick Development Association for being such a shining example of volunteerism at its very best in the success achieved by the current and previous Boards and Management Teams over the past forty plus years. He expressed his pride that his family name would now be part of this permanent exhibition and extended his appreciation to the Board Directors & Manager of the MDA for this initiative. He then invited the gathering to join the Healion daughters & himself as President of the Association in unveiling the permanent exhibition of the Healion Cup.
