This article is from page 14 of the 2011-05-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
CLOSE to 550 people turned up in the early hours of Saturday morning to see dawn break over the Lees Road sports and amenity park in Ennis at a walk aimed at raising greater awareness of suicide.
The ‘Darkness into Light’ walk and run, organised by suicide crisis centre Pieta House, got underway at 4.30am with participants following a 5km route through a forest path lit by electronic candles. The walk finished at around 6am as the sun began to rise.
Coordinator Tom McEvoy hailed the walk as a great success and said Pieta House plan to hold the nationwide event on annual basis in Ennis.
He said, “We’re weren’t sure what kind of turnout we would have but it went beyond anything we could have anticipated. No wind, no rain and a fantastic dawn.”
There was an early start for many of those who took part with participants traveling to Ennis from Kilrush, Miltown Malbay and Scariff to make the 4.30am start time. And according to Tom, some of those who walked and ran, did not get any night’s sleep beforehand. “We had people who came straight from night clubs, people who were at the Rose of Clare. We had one man who ran in his suit and black tie. We had a massive cross section of the community taking part.” The opening address was delivered by Tom, while there was also contributions from Pieta House member, Noleen Devlin and Ennis Parish administrator Fr Tom Hogan. One participant described the walk a “very emotional occasion”. Tom, whose brother died as a result of suicide in 2007, said there was a positive response to the event. He said, “The first runner to complete the course, Frank Landy, said he’d done a lot of 5km and 10km runs but that this was the most memorable event he said he’d taken part in. He said normally he’s used to dodging runners but this time he was dodging trees.” Tom also thanked all participants and volounteers.