Six brave men to undertake Mizen to Malin tractor run to aid Mayo charities
Six brave men - four from Mayo, one from Galway and one from Donegal - will begin their arduous 710 km charity tractor run from Mizen Head to Malin Head on Wednesday, January 29.
Dominick McGreal, Westport, Philip Hastings, Westport, David Hastings, Westport, Jamie Langan, Galway, Tomás O’Malley, Westport, and Philip Robb, Donegal, hope to complete the journey by Sunday, February 2.
This will be an endurance test for all involved as their mode of transport will be six Massey Ferguson 135s without cabins.
The group are organising the tractor run in order to raise much needed funds for the Gena Heraty Haiti Fund, Mayo Roscommon Hospice and the Daisy Lodge, Cong, for Cancer Fund for children.
The tractor run was organised to remember John O’Malley, who died almost 20 years ago.
John O’Malley, Carramore, Liscarney, Westport went to his eternal rest on March 8, 2005, after a brave battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 51 years old.
His death left a huge void in his family and in the local community and beyond where he worked as an agricultural contractor.
Approaching the 20th anniversary of his passing many ideas have been floated on how best to remember John.
His son, Tomás, and a group of his friends have come together to organise this Tractor Run in his honour.
John had huge respect for his neighbour, Gena Heraty, in her tireless work for the people of Haiti.
This sponsored tractor run will benefit three charities, and every Euro raised goes straight to charity as drivers and committee members are bearing their own costs for the event.
A Massey Ferguson 135 was the first tractor John bought, followed by a fleet of David Browns and later by many CASE IHs, all bought from his great friends, Tom and Thomas Jennings of CFM in Castlebar.
Ciaran Nolan of Beirne Express, Westport, will transport the tractors to Mizen Head and then the hard work begins for the six hardy warriors.
The fund will remain open for a month following the conclusion of the Tractor Run, just in case any of the lads will get lost en route. So many people have worked very hard to organise this event.
To each and everyone of them the organisers are very grateful. This, by its nature, is a once-off event and we won’t be asking for funding again.
They are deeply indebted to everyone that has already donated and to those that will do so in the coming weeks.
You can donate via their online fundraising page - https://www.idonate.ie/crowdfunder/MizentoMalinTractorRun - and for updates along the way, find them on Facebook at https://fb.me/e/7tBGwB8zx.
An account has been established in the Westport Credit Union “Mizen to Malin Tractor Run” is the name of the account
IBAN number is: IE88WECI99217312241688
BIC number is: WECIIE21
Cheques can be made payable to “Mizen to Malin Tractor Run” or by using: “Mizen to Malin Tractor Run I donate."