Ballybunion get the people out again – in ‘walk’ to Croke Park
150 WALKERS TO CLOCK UP 273KMS AROUND RESORT ON SATURDAY IN COVID-RESPONSIBLE EVENT FOR PIETA HOUSE
NO championship this year? Ballybunion ain’t havin’ it. Starved of sporting and community activities these past ten weeks, the people of the coastal resort are lighting out en-mass for the GAA Mecca that is Croker on Saturday next, May 23.
But being the responsible citizens they are, they’re not actually going to the capital.
Instead, as part of a new fundraiser for Pieta House, townspeople are set to walk the equivalent distance of BallyB to Dublin 3 – in a series of relays within the 5km restriction zone around the resort.
And since the organisers John Dee, John Farrell, Grainne Toomey , Bríd Griffin and Mairead O’Neill got the word out, the response has been nothing less than ‘unreal’, Mairead said.
Given the seemingly unending restrictions, it cannot come soon enough for people – all eager to get out together, safely, as a community to raise money for one vital cause.
“The response has been unreal, we’ve up to 150 now who are going to do it, and it’s a case of the more the merrier,” Mairead said.
“It’s our way of marking the championship this year. Even if we can’t physically get to Croke Park we can at least mark it this way by walking the equivalent 273kms as a community!” Mairead said.
But there’s no danger Ballybunion might transgress the new laws in doing so.
“It will be done in a relay from early on Saturday morning with walkers leaving from the SuperValu carpark.
“They will be going in different directions around the town as well because of social distancing.
“Meanwhile, every child that does it will get a certificate at a later stage, and there will even be a prize for the youngest participant,” Mairead said.
“It was to have been from dawn until dusk, but we have so many walkers now we are thinking about extending the timesheet.”
Gráinne has set to a GoFundMe page for donations.
It is €20 per adult to take part, €5 per child and €30 per family.
And there are even members of the diaspora from Australia to America – and even Cork! – set to participate from the comfort of their own far-away homes during the event.
Contact by mobile, or WhatsApp Bríd on (087) 668 6027 or Máiréad on (086) 393 7654.