BLADE OF GLORY! — CLONES PARALYMPIAN SHANE MCLOUGHLIN’S GUINNESS WORLD RECORD

By Veronica Corr

Clones man Seamus McLoughlin spoke to The Northern Standard on Monday to discuss his impending entry into the Guinness Book of World Records with a Truck Pull. As the first Paralympian to pull a 45-foot truck, weighing 18 tonnes, a distance of 25 metres, Shane succeeded in creating an new Guinness World Record. The video of the new world record was filmed at McArdle Skeath’s Hollystown depot in Dublin 15. McArdle Skeath sponsored the lorry that was pulled. Michael and Eamonn McArdle were there on The Diamond in Clones on Monday for a photo opportunity with Shane — the man of the moment. Minister Heather Humphreys, who had addressed an event on The Diamond moments earlier, was on hand to congratulate strongman Shane on his Guinness World Record.

Councillor Sean Gilliland, acted as a witness to the World Record and in the meeting that preceded the interview, a vote of congratulations to Shane, proposed by him and adopted by Ballybay/Clones Municipal District. Shane told this reporter what inspired him to do the truck pull: “There’s a family from Clones who are going through a terrible time. I decided to raise some money for them by pulling a truck. I’d never done it before, but I saw strongmen doing it. I said to myself, ‘if they can do it, I can do it.’ Having thought about it for a day or two, Shane started attending the StrengthShed in Smithborough and started training for his epic task. By way of preparation, Shane pulled trucks behind closed…