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Thousands turn out for Killaloe Pink Ribbon Walk 2015 Thousands turn out for Killaloe Pink Ribbon Walk 2015

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PHOTOS & VIDEO Killaloe Pink Ribbon Walk 2015

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Pictured: Katriona Dillon Mulcahy, Event Organiser, Niamh Briggs, Ambassador for Killaloe Pink Ribbon Walk 2015 &  Irish Ladies Rugby Team Captain, Rebecca Lloyd, Project Manager and Carmell DeMello, Chairperson. Picture by: Dolf Patijn.

Pink with a Purpose is the only way to describe the sea of pink that descended on the twin villages of Ballina and Killaloe on Sunday last for the 6th Annual Killaloe Pink Ribbon Walk 2015, in Aid of Action Breast Cancer. This year proved to be the biggest to date, with over with well over 1000 Walkers and crowds in excess of 1600 there on the day! Over two hundred of which were flying the flag of “Team Bernie” under the banner of Warrior no worrier, in memory of Bernie McGinn of Roscrea, who passed away from Ovarian Cancer earlier this year.

Niamh Briggs, Captain of the Irish Ladies Rugby Team, is this years Killaloe Pink Ribbon Ambassador, and she led out the army of pink on the 10K Walk: “It is an honor to be asked to support such an amazing charity. It’s so important to spread the good word, fight the fight and someday they will find a cure”. The first to cross the finish line with a time of 45.02 was Martin Pearl of Ballina/Killaloe and right behind him was the first lady to pass the line, Mairead O’Callighan of Effin. Both were presented their medals by Mr. Aiden McGinn, husband of the late Bernie McGinn of Roscrea. The Breda Barret Mamorial trophy was sent back to Roscrea this year to salute the effort “Team Bernie” has made as a team. 


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Carmell DeMello, Chairperson of the event, added: “I am absolutely thrilled with today’s turnout. It is such an amazing cause, and I’m very proud of the residents of the town for all their effort in making today what it is”. Once again the locals outdid themselves with dressing shop windows, flying flags, and balloons blowing in the wind. Pink bras swung proudly across  the bridge joining the two counties in one fight.

The funds from today’s walk go directly to Action Breast Cancer, a programme of the Irish Cancer Society that supports vital services. Those services include the National Cancer Freefone Helpline (1800 200 700) staffed by specialist cancer care nurses, available to speak to anyone concerned about cancer or who require more information. In 2011, specialist cancer nurses supported 22,120 callers to the National Cancer Helpline. A total of 741 of these calls came from the Mid West region of Clare, Limerick and Tipperary.

The Society’s advocacy service provides a voice for women with breast cancer in Ireland, while financial assistance is also available for those experiencing difficulties as a result of their cancer diagnosis. Other vital services include; health promotion, providing community and workplace programmes on breast cancer awareness and early detection, night nursing for critically ill patients – 8,110 nights of care were provided to 2,014 families in 2011, 996 nights of which were provided to the mid-west region, booklets and fact-sheets, with over 688,266 cancer information booklets and fact-sheets being given to people concerned about cancer across the country in 2011 with 58,553 distributed in the Mid-West region. 

Check out the official Pink Ribbon Walk website here

Check out the Pink Ribbon Walks Facebook  page here

Check out the Pink Ribbon Walks Twitter here

Read more about the Killaloe Pink Ribbon Walks here

Photos by Dolf Patijn ILoveLimerick.com 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.