Reflections at first light
THE traditional Darkness into Light five-kilometre walks may have fallen by the wayside at the weekend – but its message has never been more important, and the people of Kerry did their bit to keep that message alight.
The cancellation of the walks – which are the main source of fundraising for Pieta House – has been a hammer blow to the suicide and self-harm-prevention charity, to the tune of €6.5m. Staff salaries have been cut by 30 per cent, while almost 30 clinical support workers have been made redundant.
However, a Late Late Show appeal managed to raise some €2m, while people were encourage to get up at 5.30am to watch the sunrise from their homes on Saturday.
Among those to mark the occasion were the O’Carroll family from Killarney, whose son and brother, Nathan, died by suicide in late 2007.
‘Nathan’s Walk – Darkness Into Light’ is the longest-running such event outside of Dublin, and Nathan’s father, Denis, explained that they marked what should have been the 2020 walk with a photo shoot near
Ross Castle.
“We had about 30 people there between my family, friends, neighbours, and eight Gardaí, and it was all held with social distancing regulations,” Denis said. “My wife, Marie, and our four boys were with us.
“The idea only really came together last week, but so far we’ve managed to raise around €6,000, and the fund-raising link is still open. A lot of that came from one very generous sponsor and many other donations.
“It was very different to what would usually take place from Killarney Racecourse, with Ross Castle being part of the route. But it was still very nice to mark the day.
“It has to be very important. Pieta House will be needed after this lock-down more than ever. The message that ‘It’s okay not to be okay’ still stands, it hasn’t gone away during the lockdown. If anything, it is even more important.”
Denis added that the 2020 walk has been deferred, and it is hoped it will take place in October instead.
You can still donate to Nathan’s Walk at www.darknessintolight.ie/fundraiser/ nathanswalkkillarneydil.
You can donate to Pieta House by visiting https://www. pieta.ie/support-our-work/donate/.