Athlone bridge goes green and red in support of Mayo
Mayo's quest to end the 70-year wait for Sam Maguire is being backed in Athlone, with the town's railway bridge turning green and red ahead of tomorrow’s All Ireland final!
The Saw Doctors' Green and Red of Mayo reverberated around Croke Park after the semi-final win over Dublin, and those colours will now shine down upon the broad majestic Shannon thanks to a lighting initiative by Irish Rail and Westmeath County Council.
Local councillor Aengus O'Rourke said he was delighted the Mayo colours would be on prominent display in Athlone, as he had fielded numerous requests from local people asking for this to be done.
"I've been blown away by the response to it. I think this match, more than ever, has captured people's imagination," said Cllr O'Rourke.
"People see this as a really good opportunity, hopefully, for Mayo to finally do it. Now I've had a few Tyrone people wagging their finger at me, too, but I expected that!
"Part of Athlone is in Connacht and I'm hoping that if it's a Mayo victory the team might do the traditional trip through the town, and over the town bridge, afterwards and that they would see the White Bridge (railway bridge) lit up in their honour."
Irish Rail spokesperson Barry Kenny explained that a new lighting system which had been installed on the White Bridge in conjunction with Westmeath County Council last year had allowed for the display of colours to mark significant events.
These have ranged from our national flag colours, to the global greening on St Patrick's Day, to charity awareness initiatives.
"Given the excitement around Mayo's All-Ireland final appearance this weekend, as they chase the long-coveted prize of the All Ireland senior football title, ourselves and Westmeath County Council have lit up White Bridge in the Mayo colours across this weekend," said Mr Kenny.
"We hope that the Mayo supporters travelling with us on sold-out trains this Saturday are able to symbolically cross the Shannon on their return on Saturday night with their county colours shining brightly from White (or temporarily Green and Red) Bridge."