A tribute to Mono

0
2015

Waking up this morning to a plethora of notifications about the tragic news of Mono stunned me!

A text from PJ Gallagher and a shuffle through Twitter, tears began streaming down my face.

Everyone involved at Bohemians Football Club are in mourning today as long time clubman Derek Monaghan has passed away.

Over the space of the last decade, I have had the pleasure of knowing him. Perhaps not as well as others, but anyone who had the pleasure of his company was the better for it.

As Bohs fan all my life and with an interest in radio sports broadcasting, I became involved in my local community radio station when I was 15. At the time, the FAI would not have give me a media pass.

An email to the club led to help from Derek, who’d just wave me into Dalymount on Friday nights. When the club were last crowned League of Ireland Champions, he made sure I was looked after for post match interviews and general access.

To get a true sense of what Derek meant to everyone, a scroll through Twitter will tell you all you needed to know about the man.

Whether it was with the club shop, sourcing tickets for fans, helping arrange big birthdays in the clubs bars,  and Christmas parties for kids, there was very little that he was not involved in.

Senior team kitman Colly aptly put it, that he was heartbeat of the club.

The club has seen plenty of dark times in the past decade, however a beaming smile as bright as the ancient Dalyer floodlights greeted everyone coming through the turnstiles at Dalymount whether he knew you or not.

A true Bohemian, it is hard to quantify just how big his loss to the club is.

The first thing I thought about waking up to this tragic news, was his very young family, to them I offer my most sincere condolences.

Mono thank you for everything! RIP

 

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