“HOT DIGGIGTY DOG” DOMHNALL VISITS CULLYBACKEY ARMY CADETS

The young cadets from Cullybackey had the great pleasure of a visit from their sponsor unit the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, nicknamed the “Micks”, who travelled all the way from their base in Aldershot, Hampshire.

The cadets were all looking forward to meeting the star of the regiment the 3 year old Irish Wolfhound, Domhnall who is the 11th mascot of the regiment and who even has his own twitter account!

The Cullybackey cadets were all very excited to meet this famous animal but were first treated to a demonstration by PT Instructor Robert Richie on the kit which is required to be worn during operations.  This was passed round and tried on and agreed by all to be quite heavy.

Then it was the turn of the recent Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition participants, cadets Ellen McCaw, Andriy McClenaghan & Joel Roxborough, to give their presentation on “Team Building” to Captain James Parke who also kindly agreed to act as their assessor and offered them advice on future expeditions.

He finally gave all the cadets a brief history of the Irish Guards which will come in useful for those who are representing Cullybackey Detachment in the Mini Micks Competition this September.

Captain Parke said “I believe this is a great youth organisation for all young people and we, the Irish Guards, are privileged to have such a good detachment her in Cullybackey wearing the cap star of our regiment. To show our regard for the Irish Guards cadets they are affectionately known in the Regiment as the “Mini Micks”.

Domhnall then made his grand entrance and everyone got a photo of the “most patted” dog in Northern Ireland.  We would like to thank Captain James Parke and his team for their visit and look forward to seeing them all again in the near future.