Singing sensation drops into care home

He arrived shortly after 4pm and stayed for over an hour, meeting and greeting the huge number of residents who came down to the dayroom for his arrival.

They were joined by staff, relatives and friends of the home. This was the second visit of a home-grown singing star to the care facility, arranged by the care homes activities co-ordinator, Ruth Heaney.

Daniel O’Donnel visited the home in July of this year.

Ruth said: “I believe where there’s a will, there’s a way. I noticed on a trip to the Millennium Forum with the residents in October, that The Priests were performing in December, so I set about trying to contact them to ask if they would visit since they would be in the area that day and Fr Martin said yes!

“I knew that the O’Hagan’s were from Derry originally, and I discovered after some research that their mother was in our facility for care in years past, and so I knew that they would have an active interest in the visit when asked.”

The residents and all present had what was described by one as a ‘magical afternoon,’ and collectively thanked Fr Martin for taking the time to sing as he was performing in the Millennium Forum that evening.

Ruth Heaney was also thanked for brainstorming and organising the event. It has been quite a year for the Residents Louise McCloskey the Home Manager commented: “We have had a brilliant year of activities thanks to Ruth’s hard work and determination. Who knows who we will have next, maybe Beyonce.”