OLOL spelling out support!

For the Ballymoney school is justifiably proud of one its former pupils who is currently in France with the Northern Ireland football team for the 2016 European Championships - none other than Rasharkin’s Chris Baird.

Head of the school’s PE department, Brendan Kirgan told the Times: “Christopher came to Our Lady of Lourdes in 1993/94 around the time that I started here.

“We always stayed in touch over the years and because we always like to acknowledge all our kids who do well in sport, we thought it would be nice to acknowledge Chris being in the Northern Ireland team which has qualified for the Euros.

“We have lots of soccer teams in school, the girls also play soccer so there is a great buzz around the school with a past pupil representing Northern Ireland in the Euros.

“Myself and Miss McAllister from the PE department decided that one day, instead of having assembly, we would take the Key Stage Three pupils out and spell out Chris’s name to show our support.

“Chris’s wife has sent him the picture out in France and she is delighted with it.

“Since we put it on the school’s Facebook page, it has attracted 500 likes and has been retweeted.

“We also then took our Under 15 soccer team and our Year 8 and 9 netball and camogie teams out around Ballymoney town to the billboards and bus shelters where Chris’s picture is on display to show our support for him.”