Donagh nets place on national squad
A NENAGH teenager with a love for angling has just succeeded in being selected to fish for Ireland in a world competition for the second successive year.
Donagh McSherry, a 19-year-old Leaving Certificate student at Nenagh CBS, has been chosen to compete for his country at the World Coarse Angling Championship being held in Portugal in August.
Donagh is a highly skillful angler, having already fished for Ireland on the Under 20 squad at the world championships held in Slovenia last year.
He is the only angler in Munster on the team of five youths on this year’s Under 20 squad that is currently in training on Irish lakes and canals in preparation for the major event, when Ireland will take on the top teams from all over the world in two months from now.
The young Nenagh man was literally born into angling, being the son of Kevin and Lorraine McSherry, proprietors of the Open Season angling and outdoor pursuits store in Pearse Street, Nenagh, where Donagh himself proffers sound advice on tactics to employ and the gear to use to catch fish.
The Nenagh CBS student was introduced to angling by his father at a very early age. “I was literally hooked from about the age of eight when my dad took me out on Lough Derg and I caught my first pike in Scariff Harbour,” Donagh reveals.
He fished for every species as a youngster but as he entered his teenage years he began to specialise in coarse fishing. He started entering coarse fishing matches around the country and quickly became quite successful.
ADDICTIVE
“Coarse fishing is very addictive really,” he says. “There are a lot of things you have to figure out and it came be very technical, which is part of the attraction.”
Donagh will be busy this month trying to juggle sitting his Leaving Certificate with training sessions that are being staged in preparation for the big event. Once the exams are over at the end of June the fishing sessions will ramp up as the start date for the world competition gets closer.
Meanwhile, the one big problem for the team travelling to Portugal is that they have received no official State funding to compete in the competition. That puts a big extra pressure on the squad and their parents who are now on a campaign to seek public support to help fund the team.
Open Season and a number of other firms and individuals have already rowed in to help the team financially. But with costs of up to €4,000 required to get each angler to the competition, it’s not easy to generate all the required cash needed.
There’s flights and accommodation to be paid for, not to mention the specialist equipment the team members will require as they target some fish species they would not encounter in Ireland.
HOW TO SUPPORT
Donagh is one of four members of the Ireland Youth Team that will be competing for the second successive year. If you wish to support him and his fellow team members you can do so by visiting the Open Season website (OpenSeason.ie) or by calling into the store to make a donation, or join the draw that has been organised. All details are available in-store.