840 
“Lakers is the best place in the world,” the lad tells us, “and it welcomes
Finlay helped Mary Robinson get elected as President of Ireland and was Chief Executive of Barnardos in Ireland, as well as having a hand in the dropping of the
Fergus Finlay at Lakers’ Bray HQ
et up in 1989 by parents as a basketball get-together for their 
kids, Lakers has grown into perhaps Ireland’s largest hang-out for those with learning disabilities.
et up in 1989 by parents as a basketball get-together for their 
kids, Lakers has grown into perhaps Ireland’s largest hang-out for those with learning disabilities.It certainly seems to be the friendliest, and coolest.
Just ask local hero Pierce Cahill.
“Lakers is the best place in the world,” the lad tells us, “and it welcomes 
everyone. We do lots of amazing, fun things together…”
everyone. We do lots of amazing, fun things together…”Which just about sums it up for Fergus Finlay too, the man who has helmed Lakers through many changes in recent years. And someone who knows that the only true disability in life is a bad attitude…
Finlay helped Mary Robinson get elected as President of Ireland and was Chief Executive of Barnardos in Ireland, as well as having a hand in the dropping of the 
constitutional ban on divorce in 1996 and helping to organise the visit of the Special Olympics to Ireland, whilst also being listed by The Sunday Business Post as ‘one of the greatest backroom operators of Irish political history, a strategist, tactician and media briefer par excellence‘. The former Labour party member has also written a series of books, and currently has a regular column in The Irish Examiner.
So, running a happy house such as Lakers’ HQ on Eglington Road in Bray should be well within his capabilities. And he was the certainly right man to steer the ship out of troubled waters when Lakers lost their original HQ to a fire in October 2018 – a tragedy that brought them to a bigger, better home at The St Andrews Centre.
Pic: Annie Thompson
