We were very proud to get the news during the past week that local lad, Jack Barrett has been selected for the Irish national Taekwondo team. What makes this news doubly special is that he is the second member of the Barrett family to be selected to represent Ireland in the European Championships in Croatia. His brother Cian was selected some time ago.
What a great honour this is, not only for the boys and their family, but for the parish as a whole. Cian started Taekwondo when he was just 6, under the tutelage of Master Mark Buckley, Cork ITA. Cian credits Taekwondo, not only with boosting his confidence in himself, but with teaching him life lessons such as respect, discipline, hard work and integrity. He has learned a lot from both losing and winning and is now proud to be competing at the highest level in the sport.
Cian’s brother Jack started Taekwondo at just 5 years of age. Jack was always a very active child and the classes instilled great discipline in him. He also learned many life lessons including respect and integrity from participating in the sport. Now at age 15, he has achieved success in being selected to represent his country at Taekwondo. He achieved this with the help of his trainer and with the help of his Dad at home.
We are very proud of the achievements of both Cian and Jack. They are both also members of Granard Gaels, who have given them great support.