Rugby wives lead the charge for breast cancer charity

HUNDREDS of women wearing pink shirts led by well-known Munster rugby stars wives will walk across the historic bridge linking Ballina and Killaloe to raise money for breast cancer on June 19.

Nicola, Olive and Michelle, wives of former Lions captain Keith Wood, Anthony Foley and current Munster manager Shaun Payne, are appealing to everyone in Clare and Tipperary to get behind the initiative.
It is expected that up to 1,000 women, including stylist Barbara McMahon, will participate in 10k Pink Ribbon Walk by the Lough in an effort to raise up to €100,000 for Action Breast Cancer.
Scariff native Olive Foley said a number of women travelled to Kells last year for the inaugural Pink Ribbon Action Breast Cancer Walk and feels there is a need to do something similar in the Mid-West.
“It will be a fantastic day out for all and instead of red, for a change, women will all be donning pink shirts for the day. It will be an amazing spectacle on the day to have hundreds of women wearing pink shirts walking across the Shannon and along by this picturesque route.
“Beyond the Kells and Ballina-Killaloe events, the idea is that this walk will go nationwide next year, with a walk in each province in aid of Action Breast Cancer annually.
“Irish, and indeed Munster people are great at ‘walking the walk’ and that’s what we are looking for them to do with us again on June 19 next and there’s no better cause,” she said.
Barbra McMahon said it is a privilege to lend her support for this event, considering 250 women across the Mid-West were diagnosed with the disease in 2007 and 30,000 seek the support of Action Breast Cancer annually.
“Breast cancer is one of the biggest concerns for women’s health. There are two outstanding reasons for supporting the Walk by the Lough. One is that it will raise much-needed funds for Action Breast Cancer and the other is that it will do much in this region to raise awareness of breast cancer and hopefully lead to intervention and timely detection,” she said.
The Walk by the Lough takes its lead from the Irish Pink Ribbon Walk in Kells last year, which was organised by Penny McGowan, mother of co-ordinator of the Ballina-Killaloe event, Sara McGowan.
“My mother was inspired by similar fundraising events across the UK, which raise £100,000 annually under the Pink Ribbon banner for cancer awareness and support and got a team together to organise last year’s walk in Kells.
“Eight members of what is now our committee travelled up to Kells as the ‘Munster Team’ for that walk and vowed on the way home that we would like to replicate in Ballina-Killaloe what they achieved, and here we are,” Sara added.
The 10km walk will commence at 2.30pm at the Lakeside Hotel, Ballina, before crossing the River Shannon, traversing through scenic Clare coutryside and then finishing back at the hotel.
The walk route will be well stewarded and is supported by local gardaí and the Killaloe search and rescue services. Action Breast Cancer reaches 30,000 women annually and offers support through the 24-hour phone helpline, patient grants, one-to-one counselling and breast cancer awareness education programmes.
Registration forms are available at public libraries in Clare, Limerick and Tipperary.
For further information, including online registration, fitness tips and fundraising ideas or to help with volunteering on the day, log onto www.killlaloepinkribbonwalk.com, email killaloepinkribbon@gmail.com or telephone 085 2020434.