Last Friday, 14 November will be a day to remember for one young Mullingar girl, who was visited by Ireland head coach, Joe Schmidt and members of the Ireland Rugby squad, while on a brief stay at Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin.
In what was a precautionary visit to the hospital, 8-year-old Laoise Quinn from Greenpark Meadows was the envy of all her school friends at Taughmon National School on Monday morning of this week, as she recounted the tale of her surprise visitor to her peers.
A daughter of Stephen and Emer Quinn, Laoise is a big sporting enthusiast.
The Irish team were taking time out of their preparations for Sunday’s game to make the special visit. They spent a number of hours visiting children at their bedside in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, Renal and Neurosurgery wards.
No stranger to Mullingar, Joe Schmidt has strong rugby ties to Mullingar, having spent a period of time in the early 1990’s coaching Mullingar RFC and Wilson’s Hospital School.
“We hadn’t been expecting any visitors, so when we heard Joe Schmidt and a few of the Ireland players were visiting, we all got a bit excited,” enthused Emer, who spoke of how much time Joe Schmidt gave to his encounter with her daughter. “The fact that she was from Mullingar was a bonus and he told her of his ties with Mullingar. He really brightened up the children’s ward and added a bit of distraction to the place,” said Emer.
