Railway Union are delighted to nominate two people jointly – Mick Dempsey and Charlie Hurley – for the Evening Herald Personality of the Month…
Between them they have over 110 years service to Railway Union. Mick has recently turned 80 and has had 60 years service to Railway, having been club captain, coach, president. He also represented Leinster Juniors in his day. Charlie recently turned 70 and has over 50 years service to Railway also having been club captain, coach and president.
Mick is originally from Terenure and Charlie from Skibbereen in Cork. Both of them played well in to their 40’s. Both Mick and Charlie have been instrumental in developing the Youths section of railway over the years and have both coached a number of the senior players, coaches and committee. Both Mick and Charlie can be found each weekend at the side of the pitch supporting Railway. Mick’s booming voice has been heard by all and sundry at railway and there is not a Railway person who is not familiar with his catch cry; ‘THE BALL RAILWAY, THE BALL’.
While Mick is the vocal one, Charlie is the one to offer his pearls of wisdom to the players in the bar after the match. Charlie is a philosopher of the game and has often told us why he loves the game of rugby. He explains that Rugby is a game for everyone, you have the big lumps who can play prop, you have the tall skinny lads who can play lock, you have the hard fit lads who play back row, you have the small whippets who play scrum half, you have thinkers that play out half and the speedsters who can play in the outside backs.
These two gentlemen have been the cornerstones of Railway Union for a century and continue to attend matches and play an active part on the club’s Rugby Committee and were both recently made the inaugural Railway Union legends. They have made an unprecedented contribution to Railway Union and indeed Leinster Rugby.
This is a truly remarkable achievement for two outstanding Rugby men.
