'I'm going to admit something I've never told anyone before,' says Darren Hassett

I’m going to admit something I’ve never told anyone before.

Jesus, I love a good game of bingo.

The anticipation.

The hope.

The money that could make all your troubles go away for that week.

And then the frustration, the annoyance.

And the inevitable: “I’m never going again, I’m sick of it. I never win anything.” And then there’s the same auld shower who win every week.

You know them, the lucky ones.

They’re called: “She’s very lucky.” Or the other name they go by: “He’s very lucky.”

Begrudgery is Irish people’s worst character trait, but we’re just so damn good at it.

One of the things I love about working in the local papers is seeing the great work that people in communities, villages and towns across Tipperary do in their areas.

The selflessness of the volunteers, the committees, and the hours, days and weeks they give to local events or causes, it’s one of the more special aspects of rural Ireland.

It would make your heart soar. A perfect example of that is the fact that Boherlahan Bingo Night returned on Monday, June 17. 

I remember going to the Bingo Night in the Parish Hall as a boy and often won a line or two.

I would go with my Dad and would eat Cheese and Onion Taytos and drink cans of Coke or 7Up that Bobby Gleeson would be selling at the tuck shop.

I always loved going, not least cause you wouldn’t get home until after 10pm so you got to stay up late.

We would also go to Cashel Bingo on the Saturday night in Halla na Féile but it never felt the same as Boherlahan did.

When we were bold kids living on St Joseph’s Avenue we would often go up outside the hall on Monday nights and shout “CHECK” to cause the inevitable, “False alarm!” during the game.

We used to think it was hilarious as we’d leg it into the schoolyard for cover, but looking back now it was not our finest hour. Still, good, clean fun; unless you were waiting on one number for a full house.

Anyway, in 2020 Covid-19 put a stop to most things and one of the casualties was the Boherlahan Bingo on a Monday night.

Fast-forward four years and the whispers of the bingo returning had begun to make their way around the village and a new committee was formed to set it up again.

I was told a public notice was coming a few weeks out from the re-launch night. And one did eventually come...

I managed to get the notice into the paper in the Tipperary Star, but couldn’t get it into The Nationalist in time.

My sister Jacqueline Fogarty, who is on the newly-formed Boherlahan Bingo Committee, was very late sending me the notice.

Jacqueline is never on time for anything...

But it went up online and nearly 700 people read the article on tipperarylive.ie.

And my father’s response to that was: “Christ, the hall can only take 250.”

Nevertheless, the first night was a huge success with a massive attendance and popular publican Tony Lacey was a consummate professional at calling the numbers.

When he played hurling, Tony always liked the ball straight into his hand or it was no good to him.

Well, it turns out calling the numbers in the Parish Hall on a Monday night suits him down to the ground.

It takes incredible commitment to take on re-launching a bingo like those volunteers in Boherlahan did and all involved - including my sister - deserve huge credit for their efforts to get it up and running again.

When money and cash prizes are involved things have to be run right.

Tradition is important and with the bingo back, it’s comforting to know it’s there again, it’s something to do, somewhere to go on a Monday night, to have a chat and meet a few familiar faces.