BY MICHAEL BRESLIN
When does a piece of silly recreation help build Peace and reconciliation? When it involves teams from neighbouring cross-border communities co-operating together to promote a positive image of the Border area.
Hence some of the most respectable members of the Belleek and Ballyshannon. communities donned silly costumes, flung themselves over foam-covered slides and obstacles, and scaled the dizzy heights of inflatable fun to take part in 'It's a Knockout' organised by the Belleek-Erne Partnership at the Lakeside Centre, Ballyshannon..
The event attracted almost 800 people, and the organisers said they were delighted with the way it went off.
Those taking part were firefighters, estate agents, newsagents, publicans, town Councillors, footballer's, hoteliers, and grocers as never seen before.
The skills, teamwork and experience of the joint Belleek and Ballyshannon. firefighters' team won out in the end, and they extinguished all opposition to take the Gold Medal, an impressive trophy and a bottle of Champagne, as Ballyshannon. and Belleek Knockout Champions of 2007.
They also recorded the best times this season for many of the games. After all these are men and women who are well used to working with water, foam and at great heights.
A spokeswoman for the organisers suggested: "It should be reassuring to us all to know that we have Firefighters of such calibre in our community. 'If you ever have a fire in a bouncy castle, you know who to call!'
Coming a credible second were the Hotel Carlton and Freeburn's Grocers while Erne Gaels Ladies and the Fiddlestone Pub took third place.
The St John Ambulance Service were on standby but had to deal with only two minor injuries, twisted ankles from over enthusiastic competitors.
'Strengthening Cross Border Communities' is a project of Belleek Erne Partnership and is part financed by the European Union through the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by the Cross Border Consortium.
For the past two and a half years, the businesses of Belleek and Ballyshannon. worked closely together to deliver a joint marketing and retail programme. Through their efforts, this project came about to bring the benefits of co-operation to the wider community.
Last week's event is one of several events planned over the next year to counteract the often negative image of the Border area. The next event is a joint Halloween celebration.
The 2008, It's a Knockout will be held in May in Belleek, so there will be one more opportunity for teams to challenge the Fire and Rescue Service for the title of Knockout Champions of Ballyshannon. and Belleek.
