Council to honour rugby legend McBride
Newtownabbey Borough Council is to name the sports hall at Sixmile Leisure Centre, Ballyclare in honour of rugby legend Willie John McBride.
Dr McBride (74), who lives in the town, earned 63 caps for Ireland and played 17 test matches for the British and Irish Lions. He was inducted into the Newtownabbey Sporting Hall of Fame in 2002 and serves as chairman of the local authority’s Sports Awards Committee.
At their monthly meeting on Monday night (January 26), local councillors unanimously agreed a proposal from UUP Cllr Fraser Agnew that the facility should be named the ‘W. J. McBride Sports Hall’.
Describing Dr McBride as “a great ambassador for Newtownabbey”, Cllr Agnew said it was “only right that the council should pay tribute to him in this way.”