Leading role in Winter Olympics

THE son of a former resident of Mosside has written himself into the history books by representing Canada in the torch relay prior to the opening of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Darren Wesley Murphy covered a distance of 300 metres and described the experience as “one of the greatest thrills of my life.”

He and his Canadian wife, Julie, have been involved in the preparations for the Olympics for the last two and a half years.

Darren’s parents both originate from this area.

Albert and Florence (known to their friends in Canada as Al and Flo) emigrated to Canada in 1972 and have lived in the Toronto region ever since.

Al is the son of the late Charlie and Minnie Murphy from Mosside who ran the Post Office in the village for many years, subsequently taken over by another son, James.

Flo’s parents were the late Moore and Lavinia McMullan from Ballycastle.

Many residents of Mosside and further afield will remember Albert as an excellent footballer who played junior soccer for Mosside and other local teams.

Darren and Julie are no strangers to the sporting world as they both were involved in the preparations for the Commonwealth Games in England in 2002.

Before returning to Canada they spent sometime visiting family and friends in the North Antrim area.

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