Moate park to be named in honour of slain soldier

The new town park in Moate is to be named in honour of the late Private Paddy Kelly, who gave his life in the line of duty 25 years ago this December. While the motion put forward jointly by Moate Cllrs Joe Whelan and Tom Allen will be voted on at this afternoon"s Athlone area meeting it is expected to get the seal of approval from the other councillors. Cllr Whelan explained this week that the idea of naming the park after the late Paddy Kelly and in honour of all deceased members of the Defence Forces from the Moate area originated from ONE member and member of the Moate Tidy Towns Committee John Gorman. Cllr Whelan then raised the issue with the Kelly family and the Army, who approved of the idea. He then spoke to Cllr Allen, who agreed that this would be a fitting tribute to the late Paddy Kelly, who was killed while on duty in Ballinamore 25 years ago. He was fatally shot during the rescue of supermarket boss Don Tidey just before Christmas 1983. 'Paddy was a wonderful guy. He was a lovely, quiet person. He lost his life in the name of peace. He was the only Irish soldier who lost his life in this country in the present days. He deserves it, it"s a lovely tribute to him,' said John Gorman. He added that the Army had been very good to Paddy Kelly, naming a square in Custume Barracks in his honour, but he thought it was fitting that the town he lived in and where his family grew up should pay tribute to him also. He added that the people of Moate would agree wholeheartedly with the idea of calling the town park the Paddy Kelly Memorial Park. Cllr Joe Whelan said Moate was very conscious of the sacrifice Paddy Kelly made for the defence and security of this country and said both he and Cllr Tom Allen thought this was a fitting tribute. He added that he hoped to commence negotiations as to what would be a fitting memorial to Paddy Kelly and also hoped to have a stone in honour of all those who served in the Defence Forces from the Moate area. Cllr Tom Allen said Paddy Kelly was very well known in the town of Moate, as was his wife and the Bradley family. He said the naming of the park in honour of Paddy Kelly was a very fitting tribute to Paddy and his family and said he was fully supportive of the idea. Private Kelly"s son Andrew, who was just eleven weeks old when his father was killed, followed in his father"s footsteps in joining the Army and is currently on an overseas mission in Chad.