Sunshine sparkles for the Aidan Atkins Memorial Trophy

Thu, 26 Jun, 2025 - 18:05

Ray Scott, Tramore GC

Glorious sunshine and a beautifully manicured Tramore Golf Club provide the perfect combination for over two hundred golfers to take to the fairways for the inaugural Aidan Atkins Memorial Trophy in aid of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust.

The event was the brainchild of Brian Atkins, whose brother Aidan died while working in Germany back January, and aided by some of his friends, they put together the event to honour his memory and in gratitude for the support and help that was provided by the Trust to help bring Aidan home.

In the week that marked the twelfth anniversary of the passing of Kevin Bell, who was tragically killed by a hit and run driver in New York, the work of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust is back in the spotlight after Aidan’s repatriation and indeed of renowned local photographer Leo Murphy who passed away in Mallorca recently. It also served as a reminder to my family as the Trust was instrumental in helping repatriate my own brother following his death in the US five years ago.

Following the death of Kevin Bell, his neighbours and friends at home and abroad rallied around the family and in the space of a week had raised £150,000 to help pay for the repatriation. A week after his funeral the family heard of another boy killed in Thailand and they used the excess funds to pay for his journey home and another lad from Sligo who died in Las Vegas was also repatriated using the excess funds and the Trust was born.

To date, the Trust has repatriated over 2163 people from all over the world and in 2025 alone there have been over five people brought home each week.

For Brian Atkins and his family, the Trust were a godsend.

“Aidan was working for a company called CCS in Frankfurt, Germany and went back after the Christmas holidays,” he recalls.

“He died on site on January 9th and being in Germany, it is notoriously difficult to try a get a body released. It took us nearly three weeks, dealing with autopsies, the police and other authorities. So that’s why we are here today, if we can go forward and help another family!” “We are humbled by the reaction and support we’ve had from both sponsors and participants especially CCS group who have been very good to the family.” They have also had support from many local companies and organisations including Falconers Funeral Directors and RIP Ireland.” And while the participants were all playing golf, Brian’s thoughts were not that far away from the All Ireland Minor Hurling final.

Tom Corcoran, Kevin Flanagan, President, Tramore Golf Club, John Coughlan and Ray Scott.

“Aidan would have been more interested in the minor final. We are all involved with Erin’s Own and there’s a lad from the club Jamie Shanahan and Aidan loved him. He would have been home for that game!” They set a target of 40 teams and have been blown away with the response so they are hoping to raise in excess of €10,000 from the entries, sponsorships and other initiatives.

“We have been overwhelmed by the turnout and are hoping to make this an annual event,” said Brian.

After a wonderful day out, the standard of golf also reached big heights with the winning score of 54.7 coming from the Faithlegg duo of Philip Mahony and Ian Kenny helped by Rob Cunningham of Tramore and Patrick Glavin of Melbourne GC.