Ballincollig Basketball

Arena: NBA finals, basketball’s influence on other sports, coaching in the future Ciaran O'Sullivan posts up with Maurice Brosnan on this week's Arena.

Poet and Mental Health Awareness Advocate Daragh Fleming is Cork Person of the Month for May

Acclaimed poet, author, and mental health advocate, Daragh Fleming, has been named Cork Person of the Month for May in recognition of his work promoting mental health awareness through the power of poetry and digital storytelling.

From Glounthaune, Daragh’s work has resonated deeply across Ireland and beyond. He is most widely recognised for his viral poem, If I Ever Have Boys, a poignant exploration of masculinity and vulnerability. Its companion piece, If I Ever Have Girls, further showcased his ability to tackle complex themes of gender and empowerment.

A prolific writer, Daragh has published several works, including his debut non-fiction collection, Lonely Boy, and his 2025 collection of essays, A Brief Inhalation. His award-winning blog, Thoughts Too Big, and podcast, Thoughts Too Loud, which blend humour with sharp observations on daily life, serve as vital resources to those navigating their own mental health journeys,

Daragh is also a prominent public speaker on the topic of mental health, having spoken at festivals, schools, universities and workplaces. He gave an award-nominated TEDx Talk on the benefits of creativity on mental health in 2023, and has also spoken at UCC, Amazon, and the West Cork Literary Festival.

Awards Organiser Manus O’Callaghan praised Fleming’s impact: “Daragh represents a vital new voice in Cork’s literary scene. His moving If I Ever Have Boys and his wider advocacy for mental health awareness, has touched the hearts of people across the city and county. We’re proud to honour his work and his commitment to mental health awareness through this Cork Person of the Month award.”

Daragh Fleming’s name will now go forward alongside the other monthly winners for possible selection as Cork Person of the Year at the annual Gala Awards Lunch in January 2027.

Best of luck to everyone doing their state exams over the next two weeks

Congrats lads .Thank you to the Board for organising another great day of 🏀.

Ballincollig Basketball u16 winners in our 3x3 today Basketball Ireland

🚨🚨🚨SPONSOR APPRECIATION🚨🚨🚨

We stopped by Ballincollig Credit Union today to present them with a signed poster from our historic season. It’s been an incredible partnership with an organisation that truly believes in supporting and lifting the local community.

We couldn’t ask for better supporters both for the club and for Ballincollig as a whole. Huge thanks to everyone at Ballincollig Credit Union for backing the journey.

It takes a Village 🙏

🚨🚨🚨COACH OF THE YEAR🚨🚨🚨

Congratulations to Ciarán O’ Sullivan on his Coach of the year award at the Basketball Ireland awards ceremony last night. Ciarán lead the team as a player coach along with his assistant Matt Hall & team Manager TJ McMahon to a historic season for Ballincollig, a season we will never forget. National cup champions 🏆✅ Regular season champions 🏆✅ Dominos Superleague champions 🏆✅ we are so proud of Ciarán & his achievements not only this season but in his lifetime commitment to Ballincollig basketball, and the hard work showed off more than ever this season. 🖤❤️

Thanks to all who attended our Junior Awards on Sunday. Well done to all our young ballers and congratulations to our player of the year recipients:

U12 Girls - Amelia
U12 Boys - Ciaran
U13-Boys - Alex

Great to see such an incredible turnout for girls basketball today at Parochial Hall.

Ballincollig’s U10 girls were outstanding all day - great energy, teamwork, effort, and smiles from start to finish. Really proud of how much this group has grown together over the season.

Days like today are a brilliant reminder of how strong girls basketball is becoming in Cork. 💪🚀 Well done girls 👏🏀

Congratulations to our own Clodagh who has been awarded the CLBB personality of the year! A Player, coach, ref, table official and committee member for Ballincollig and CLBB and in her spare time she likes to watch a bit of basketball ! Well done Clodagh