Cancer centre to open in Kilkee

THE West Clare Mini Marathon Cancer Centre in Kilkee will be opened on Sunday, November 15 at 6pm. The official opening will be performed by Kilkee parish priest, Fr Gerry Kenny, along with Fr Michael Casey and Fr Pat Culligan.

Bernie Gibson, late of Corry Lane, Kilkee and Craughwell, Galway, left her two-bedroom house to the mini-marathon committee, chaired by Willie McGrath, when she passed away in September of last year.
The house will be used as an office for the mini-marathon fundraising committee, while professional counselling services, including bereavement counselling, medical and alternative therapy care will also be provided in the house, which is located just around the corner from the Bank of Ireland branch in Kilkee.
Details will be available in the coming weeks about the registration evenings for the 2010 mini-marathon, which will be held on Sunday, January 31.
Next year’s route will be from Kilrush to Kilkee. With regard to the 2010 mini-marathon, Willie told The Clare Champion that runners must have registered and have collected money if they are to participate.
“When runners or walkers get their card, they will receive a number, which they will have to wear in the mini-marathon,” the committee chairman explained.
Meanwhile, a fundraising event will be held in the Belbridge House Hotel on Saturday, November 14, in aid of the mini-marathon fund. Tickets are available in the Miltown and Quilty areas and are being sold door to door.
The annual mini-marathon has raised in excess of €1 million, which has been put towards the provision of cancer care, since the event was first held in 1998.
“I’m continuously encouraging different groups out there, the younger people especially, to get involved. They may not necessarily want to participate in the mini-marathon but they can do whatever they want fundraising wise and we will help them along every way possible, as long as we see it going back in,” Willie stated.
“This is the one thing, I think, that has made the mini-marathon. When families see the help they get they’re prepared to put something together and put something back into the fund, so that it’s there for the next family,” he added.