Sunday 28th September saw participants from Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Tipperary gather for the Galtee Mór NCBI (National Council for the Blind) charity walk. A day which had started with grey skies and drizzling rain became a positive delight as the clouds parted revealing blissful sunshine — the God’s smiled on us. The group made their way up to the top of Galtee Mór taking some two hours under the guidance and supervision of Matt Joy.

As well as being run to raise funds for NCBI, the occasion provided a great opportunity to involve a mixture of sighted and vision impaired walkers in taking on the challenge together. Once at the top of Galtee Mór everyone enjoyed the respite, breaking open their stock of refreshments and relaxing in the warmth of the sunshine. The descent from the summit was much easier and once back at the car park we made our way to Kilcoran Lodge Hotel for the celebratory dinner.

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the event for their commitment to raising the registration fee through personal donations or sponsorship. Also I would like to acknowledge and thank the following for their support and assistance in putting the event together: William Kinane of McMahon’s Shoe Stores for publicizing the event, John Gerard Dwyer for advice and direction, Matt Joy and Michael Sutton for leading the walk and the guides for the vision impaired participants (Aisling Brown, Michael Sutton and Michael McGrath). Many thanks also to Michael Heffernan, unofficial photographer for the event who captured those magic moments and Kilcoran Lodge Hotel for prompt attention and a hearty meal which everyone enjoyed.

I am sure that everyone will be delighted to know that a cheque for €2,000 raised from the event winged its way to the NCBI in recent days, so well done friends! Finally, a native of the area informed me that the Bansha Beagles had an annual walk of Galtee Mór some thirty years ago and queried would this be a reincarnation of the event. At this point all I can say is that if anyone is interested in participating next year please ring 086 3151771 — Gerard Shanahan.