This article is from page 28 of the 2007-08-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 28 JPG
THERE was a feel of little France about Killaloe at the weekend when cycle star, Sean Kelly, led a team of cyclists out of the town for the Tour de Munster.
The team of cyclists were starting the second day of the seventh annual Tour de Munster, where a team of ‘leisure’ cyclists take on a demand- ing and challenging four-day 600km charity cycle.
The ride took the peddlers through all the counties of Munster with all funds raised going directly to the
Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ire- land (CFAI) which will benefit spe- cific Cystic Fibrosis (CF) projects throughout Munster including “Build4Life’, a major fund-raising drive to build a new dedicated CF unit at Cork University Hospital.
The first stage of the tour took the eroup from Cork into County Water- ford for a big climb at the Vee and through Tipperary and Limerick to Killaloe.
They spent the night at the Lakeside Hotel, before renowned international cyclist Sean Kelly will officially lead them off again.
The aim of the 2007 Tour de Mun- Ster 1s to raise €80,000 towards the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ire- land. The association is a voluntary, non-profitable, charitable organisa- tion, set up to increase knowledge and awareness of Cystic Fibrosis and to give advice and support to people with CF and their families. Martin Cahill of CFA Ireland said, “At present there are over 1,100 CF sufferers in Ireland and while there has been a welcome increase in the life expectancy of people with CF over the years, the demand for the services of our association has also
increased dramatically during this time. As we are totally dependent on voluntary donations and fundraising to provide services, we were delight- ed to be asked by Tour de Munster to be the beneficiary of this year’s fund- raising cycle.”
Taking part from Clare were cy- clists John Casey from Quin and John McDonnell of Wine Australia in Ballyvaughan.