Mayo GAA club raise over €90,000 in fundraiser
BALLA GAA Club have announced that over €90,000 was raised in last weekend’s hugely successful Lip Sync Battle fundraiser in Breaffy House Resort.
Over 700 people got to witness 16 very talented local acts grace the stage, miming and dancing to some of the world’s best-known performers, all to raise money for the development of a new GAA pitch for the club.
The likes of Dolly Parton and Kenny Rodgers (Padraic Cuffe and Paul Galvin), Miley Cyrus (Walter Doherty), Freddy Mercury and Queen (Derek Duffy), Bewitched (Francis Gormally, Derek Duffy, MJ Canavan and Bryan Ralph), Cyndi Lauper (Geraldine Surdival) and Meatloaf & Cher (Mark O’Malley and Olive Lafferty) all graced the stage on the night, along with many more.
But in the end, it was Bruno Mars, AKA Declan Biggins and his sidekicks, who won the hearts of the crowd and the judges on the night – comprised of French Toast and Cowboy Lavin of Hardy Bucks fame, local singer Sharon Cuffe and Balla senior joint-captain Ger Flanagan.
Club treasurer Niall Broderick praised all involved on the night.
“We were absolutely blown away by the support we have received by our club members, volunteers, and concert goers on the night,” he said. “The amount of work that the performers and organisers put in to this event showed on stage last Friday night and we feel it really couldn’t have gone any better.
“The generosity of all the businesses who supported our 16 acts and the event itself was just incredible. We had great support from all the local businesses in the area, in Mayo, and we also had people donating from all over the world.
“Our club is growing at a rate of knots and this money will instrumental in cementing our young boys and girls future as we set about constructing our new pitch.”
The judges on the night had some tough decisions to make after seeing some incredible performances from Robbie Williams (Robert Fletcher), Abba (Bernie McGreal, Eamon McGreal, Chloe O’Brien and Lisa Lally), the Jackson 5 (Mattie Flanagan, Jack Harte, JP O’Reilly, Ryan Fadden and Val Roughneen), Liam Gallagher (Tommy Monaghan) and Michael Jackson himself (Diarmuid Costello).
Likewise, the Spice Girls (David Monaghan, Eoin O’Sullivan, Fergal Fitzpatrick, Tommy Sheridan, Danny Roche), Garth Brooks (Niall Broderick) and Avril Lavigne (Dec Dawson) all blew the crowd away.
MC Ollie Turner of Galway Bay FM orchestrated a sensational show with his quick wit’ and turn of phrase, while huge praise must also go to show producers Granted Productions.
Club chairman James Armstrong expressed his thanks to all involved.
“We would like to sincerely thank all who made the night possible,” he said. “A massive thank you to our main sponsor, Errigal Construction Specialists, to Breaffy House Resort for hosting the evening, and to all our club members who really put their shoulder to the wheel on the night.
“We look forward to the bright future an event like this has guaranteed.”