This article is from page 22 of the 2007-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 22 JPG
TWO local heroes who have raised thousands for cancer have been nominated for the People of the Year awards
Ballyea man Tony Griffin was nominated alongside Clare 250 Mile Cycle founder John Dunne as one of Ennis Town Council’s nominees for We Comre Nise 8K 6 he
The 2006 hurling all-star last week completed an epic and often arduous 7000km cycle across Canada.
Griffin completed the Irish leg of his journey when he cycled first from Dublin to Athlone and then back to Ennis last Sunday.
Thousands lined O’Connell Street in Ennis town centre on the day to welcome Griffin home.
Through his endeavours with the Tony Griffin foundation, the 26- year-old hopes to raise one million for the Irish Cancer Society, Ovarian Cancer Canada and the Lance Arm- strong Foundation.
He reflected last week on the amaz- ing level of support he had received from the general public.
“The people were absolutely bril- liant. The response we got from strangers was amazing. It was just very heart warming to have com- plete strangers coming up to you, it would leave you with a new outlook on life”.
Griffin’s fellow nominee for the People of the Year is another cyclist.
John Dunne founded the Clare 250 Mile Cycle in 1979 and it has since grown into one of the largest charity event is in the country. The two-day event which takes place in June regu-
larly attracts over 100 participants. Money raised from the event goes towards helping cancer sufferers and the area of cancer research. In recent years some of the funding has been
allocated towards the construction of a dedicated Clare 250 cancer centre in Ballygriffey Ruan.
Both Griffin and Dunne were put forward for the award at the July monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council.
Independent councillor Frankie Neylon said both men deserved rec- ognition for their immense fundrais- ing efforts.
“IT recommend we put forward Tony Griffin and John Dunne. They have done tremendous work and fundrais- ing and I think they would be worthy recipients’.
The People of the Year awards provide an unique opportunity for the Irish public on both sides of the border to honour outstanding con- tributions by individuals to life on the island. This includes those peo- ple that have raised money for vital services for people with disabilities, older people, carers and other mar- ginalized groups.
Awards are given in many diverse categories to a mixture of high pro- file figures and the unsung heroes of local communities.
This year’s awards will be held on September 8 in the City West Hotel, Dublin and will be televised live on 0 SaF