By Aoife Doherty

THE McGettigan family home was full of laughter, smiles and memories on Tuesday afternoon.

Family members, sporting their Donegal jerseys, gathered at their Ard O’Donnell home to deck their house in green and gold.

And taking pride of place is a Donegal flag belonging to Eugene McGettigan, whose death last August brought deep sadness to his family and many friends.

Eugene was a proud father to three sons, Ryan, Barry and Rory.

Speaking to the Donegal News, Eugene’s son, Ryan, pictured below, spoke fondly of his father and told how he was known by so many wherever he went.

Ryan McGettigan looks at his father’s flag proudly on display at the McGettigan home in the Burma. Photo: Brian McDaid

“He was a proud Letterkenny man,” Ryan began.

“Wherever he went he would always seem to be the centre of attention. He would try to be in any photo opportunity if there was a cup or anything.”

In 2011, Eugene moved away from his beloved Letterkenny to Dubai to manage one of the McGettigan hotels. When he lived there he was always concerned about what was happening in Donegal, and whether the team were doing well or not.

The flag that hangs in front of the house is one that held great importance to Eugene.

“It was one he took with him whenever the team was doing well,” said Ryan.

The late Eugene McGettigan.

When asked what Eugene would be doing ahead of this year’s final, Ryan laughed, saying: “He would be trying to get a free ticket somewhere,” but according to Ryan “he would probably end up in a corporate box or hospitality”.

Eugene loved to see his county doing well and enjoyed going to the big games. He even made the long journey back from Dubai specially for the All-Ireland final back in 2012.

“He didn’t make the final in 2014 so maybe he was the lucky charm,” joked Ryan.

He was also in attendance at the 1992 final. Many of the players involved in that team were friends of Eugene’s.

After an 11-year stint in Dubai, Eugene returned to Donegal and began driving American tourists around Ireland. Ryan spoke about how even then he was always trying to showcase the county which he was so proud of.

“If he got any opportunity he would try to bring them up here even if it wasn’t part of the rota that the Americans signed up for,” recalled Ryan.

Ryan said his dad loved to compare the top tourist spots to the ones here in Donegal.

“He would say Kerry National Park has nothing on Glenveagh National Park.”

Eugene was a great ambassador for the county. Donegal was always number one to him.