Council Chair hosts reception for Irish Triple Jump Champion Conall Mahon
5th April 2023
Recently the Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Barry McElduff, hosted a reception for Irish Triple Jump Champion, Conall Mahon. The following is the Chair’s speech:
As Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, I am delighted to welcome you all here to The Townhall, Enniskillen for this reception in honour of Irish Triple Jump champion, Conall Mahon.
Conall, I understand your interest in athletics started in your first year at St Michael’s College, Enniskillen under the coaching of your PE teacher Francie Shaw. During your time at the school, you captained Fermanagh to the UK Sports Hall Athletics Finals in Birmingham, represented the North of Ireland and Ulster in the Triple Jump and won numerous Ulster and All Ireland medals.
You then attended university at NUI Galway where you continued your success under Tir Chonaill Athletics Club and current club coach, David Doherty. You won three university triple jump titles, a National Under 23 title and five 3rd place finishes at the National Senior Championships, both indoor and outdoor. You also represented Ireland at the University Celtic Internationals on two occasions.
It was in 2021 that you won your first ever Senior All Ireland title with a jump of 14.38m. In June 2022 you travelled to the Morton Stadium, Santry to seek to retain the title. I understand the weather was not good for the triple jump with rain causing puddles accompanied by high winds for the first three jumps.
However, you were fortunate that conditions changed. You were in second place before your final jump and, I am told you like to be under a certain amount of pressure when you jump, so this too was in your favour. Going into the final jump you were determined to succeed and you certainly found the strength and power to jump a personal best of 14.68m and draw level with Jai Benson. As your 2nd jump was the best, you claimed Gold by 2cm, securing back to back titles.
In August 2022 you led the Tir Chonaill Athletics Team to Division 1 title success in the Athletics Association of Ireland League final earning promotion to the Premier League for the first time since the 1980s.
Your success has continued in 2023 as you have jumped to new lengths with a 14.70m personal best in the Triple Jump, breaking the Club record. You also achieved Silver at the recent National Indoor Athletics Championships.
I understand that you also have your sights set on earning a place in the Irish team for the European Games which are taking place in Poland during the Summer as well as retaining your National title.
Whilst training and competing, you attained a BSC in Earth and Ocean Science and a Masters in Renewable Energy. You also currently work as an Energy Policy Analyst in Dublin which I understand involves analysing directives and documents and you apply this same approach to your training videos, always striving to achieve the best.
I would like to commend the two coaches who have been part of your athletics journey, Francie Shaw and David Doherty, for recognising your talent and giving you the opportunity, support and inspiration to be successful and achieve your dreams.
Conall, you approach your training and competitions with determination to be in good shape, a desire to win and with analytical expertise to continually seek to find where you can improve. These qualities have paid dividends as you continue to compete and be successful at the highest levels.
I hope you are proud of your achievements to date. You have certainly done you family, your former school, your Club, your County and your District proud.
On behalf of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, and on my own behalf, I congratulate you on your outstanding success and I wish you every success in your future athletic and career endeavours. I am confident that you will continue to be successful.
Thank you.