Like the Louth footballers, Boyne Valley Opel in Drogheda enjoyed a very successful 2007. Company director Gerry Ryan explains more. Established in November 2006 at Drogheda Retail Park, Boyne Valley Motor Group recently celebrated its first year in business. In that short time, the Group has achieved high sales of new and used cars and gained a reputation for reliability, quality and excellence. As well as being main Opel dealers, Boyne Valley Motor Group also hold the franchise for Saab in Co. Louth. "We're very pleased with how the first year went for us, and we intend to build on that success in 2008," explains Gerry Ryan, who is a director of the company along with Dave Byrne and Karl Cunningham. "The three of us had all worked for Crossan Opel in Dublin for many years, and when we decided to go out of our own, we identified Drogheda as an ideal place to set up an Opel dealership. There was clearly an opening for us in Drogheda and we are delighted we took the decision to locate our premises there. "As well as serving the needs of all Opel drivers in Co. Louth, we also have a lot of customers from nearby Co. Meath and North Co. Dublin." Situated at the Donore Exit of Drogheda Retail Park, just of the M1 motorway, Boyne Valley Motor Group's premises is within easy reach of the major population centres of the North East, with Dublin Airport, Dundalk and Navan being just 20 minutes away. Parking and traffic are not an issue in this ultra-modern Retail Park which boasts many more leading outlets and brands. On it's opening last year, Boyne Valley Motor Group became Opel dealers and it subsequently added the Saab franchise last May. Both dealerships have proven to be extremely successful with sales of new Opel models being particularly good. "All of the best known Opel brands are selling well for us," Gerry says. "The Corsa, Astra and Vectra have been performing extremely well with the Astra Sport Hatch model being one of our best sellers. We're eagerly looking forward to the arrival of new Antara 4x4, which replaces the old Frontera. We've received a lot of enquiries about it and the early indications are that it will be a big hit with motorists in the North East." Boyne Valley Motor Group's premises consist of two impressive showrooms, a state-of-the-art seven-bay workshop and a full parts department. The company's spare parts and accident repair centre ensures that your Opel or Saab remains so with supply of genuine parts and repairs to brand standard. Boyne Valley Motor Group also offers a selection of quality used cars, all of which are prepared to the exact standards of the unrivalled Network Q used car programme. The 15-strong team at Boyne Valley is dedicated to providing the highest level of service available in the motor industry, ensuring its customers enjoy the experience of a no nonsense quality dealership. Boyne Valley's opening hours is from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and from 10am to 4pm on Saturday. Gerry explains that the unusually long opening hours on Saturday are designed to suit the needs of commuters. "Whereas most other garages only open until lunchtime on a Saturday, we are opened until 4pm. This is to cater for commuters who wouldn't normally get the opportunity to leave their car in for a service or for repairs on a week day." Opel has forged strong links with the GAA through its sponsorship of the GPA's awards scheme. The Opel Gaelic Players' awards scheme rewards excellence at senior inter-county level and further enhances the profile of players and the games themselves through the Opel Gaelic Player of the Month awards, the establishment of the annual Gaelic Players' Team of the Year awards and the individual Player of the Year awards in both football and hurling. "The GPA's Gala Awards Night, featuring the Opel Player Awards with attendances of approximately 1,300, is now established as the most significant and high-profile social event in the GAA calendar. The Gala Event, the largest annual gathering of inter-county players, is now a televised event and features by far the most lucrative awards scheme for GAA players. At this year's awards ceremony at Dublin's CityWest Hotel, Kerry's Marc O Se was honoured with the Footballer of the Year award, while the hurling award went to Waterford's Dan Shanahan. As part of their prize, both winners drove away in new Opel cars. The three directors of Boyne Valley Motor Group - Gerry Ryan, Dave Byrne and Karl Cunningham - each have many years of experience in car sales. Dubliner Gerry and Meathman Dave, but now live in Drogheda and Tara, Co. Meath respectively. Karl is a native of Drogheda. All three take a keen interest in the GAA and were delighted with Louth's progress this year. Under the guidance of Eamonn McEneaney, the Wee County footballers needed three attempts to see off the challenge of Wicklow before losing narrowly to Wexford in the Leinster championship semi-final. The subsequent withdrawal of a number of key players suggested that Louth's involvement in the All-Ireland qualifiers would be short lived, but against all predictions, they beat Limerick and Kildare before losing narrowly to eventual All-Ireland finalists Cork. The 1-16 to 1-10 victory over Kildare in Newbridge was unquestionably the highlight of Louth's year. Kildare led by 0-3 to 0-2 after 15 minutes, but the game took a decided swing in Louth's favour in the second quarter when they scored six points without reply to ease into a 0-8 to 0-3 lead. The Lilywhites were rattled and they needed defenders Emmet Bolton and Eamonn Callaghan to come forward and supply two precious points. But the Wee County finished the half strongly, adding two further points, to take a 0-10 to 0-5 advantage into the interval. On the resumption, Kildare quickly reduced the deficit to a goal. However, Louth responded with three more points on the trot to lead by 0-13 to 0-7 at the three-quarter way stage The visitors led by double scores, 0-16 to 0-8, with only a few minutes left but then a quick 1-2 from John Doyle brought Kildare back to within three points. When it was announced that there would be five added minutes, the home support sensed that Kildare could yet get something from the game, but Louth were not to be denied and they sealed a memorable victory with a last-gasp goal from Paddy Keenan. Next year, Louth will face Leinster kingpins Dublin in their championship opener and that is a game Gerry is eagerly looking forward to for obvious reasons. "Louth were very impressive this year and they'll have no fears whatsoever of playing Dublin in Croke Park. There will be plenty of interest around here in the game and may the best team win," he concludes. Tweet

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