LION KING WILLIE JOHN McBRIDE DUE IN TOWN FOR COLERAINE INST CHARITY MEMORIAL DINNER

LION KING WILLIE JOHN McBRIDE DUE IN TOWN FOR COLERAINE INST CHARITY
MEMORIAL DINNER

British and Irish Lions rugby legend Willie John Bride will be the
principal speaker at a unique memorial dinner being held at Coleraine
Academical Institution on Saturday 13 September.

It is 25 years since “Inst” became the first Irish school to play
rugby in Japan when a 21-player First XV squad and three coaches
embarked on the groundbreaking tour to the Far East.

Sadly in 2007, Oliver Turkington – generally regarded as the stand-out
player on the four-game trip – died aged 35 after a long battle with
cancer.

“Bringing the squad back together to mark the 25th anniversary of the
tour was an obvious thing to do,” said current CAI First XV coach
Richard Beggs who, as a 16-year-old, travelled to Japan with the 1989
squad as an outside half. “But the evening will now have much
greater meaning as we have decided it will be an open charity event
held in Oliver’s memory. Everyone who wants to come along will be made
very welcome.

“Following consultation with the Turkington family, half of the money
raised will be donated to Cancer Research UK with the remainder going
towards rugby development at the school. I hope very much that the
public, both in and around Coleraine and much further beyond, will get
behind us and buy tickets in large numbers.”

In a real coup for the school, the great Willie John McBride – who
remains the most capped British and Irish Lions Test player in history
– has agreed to give an address.

“My son Paul was a boarder at Coleraine Inst and was the tour captain
in Japan, so I could hardly say no!” Willie John joked.

“More seriously, Oliver Turkington was a close friend of Paul’s and I
got to know him very well personally over many years. He was a fine
young man and he fought cancer with incredible bravery and remarkable
good humour.

“Oliver’s death was a desperately sad event for everyone, and I think
it is a wonderful credit to him that his old teammates are reuniting
to celebrate his life, share tales and raise some money for good
causes in so doing. I’m sure it will be a tremendous evening.”

Bruce Turkington, Oliver’s younger brother, said that he and his
family had no hesitation in throwing their full support behind the
event.

“I know Oliver would have been delighted – and probably a little
embarrassed – to know that his friends were getting together in his
name,” said Bruce.

“A lot of effort has already gone into the planning and I know many
different elements are being worked on to ensure everyone has a
memorable time. I was particularly amused to be told that it won’t be
a black tie dinner as Oliver had a tendency to be a bit scruffy.
Quite right too.

“As a family, we are all really looking forward to it and to doing
what we can to make the evening a success.”

Ticket details for the Oliver Turkington Memorial Dinner will be
announced next month.