Westport’s Darkness into Light a great success

LET THERE BE LIGHT?Over 800 people gathered at 4am on Saturday morning for the Darkness into Light Pieta House walk which took place at Westport House.?Pic: Conor McKeown.

Westport’s Darkness into Light event a great success with 800 participants


Record increase for suicide prevention event 

Ciara Galvin
ciaragalvin@mayonews.ie

“An emotional occasion filled with a sense of camaraderie”.  
That was how organisers of this year’s second annual Pieta House Darkness into Light event in Westport described the five kilometre walk/run.
Maeve Gallagher, along with her Achill native husband Alan, helped organise the suicide awareness raising event which saw approximately 800 people from across the county take part in the 4am event. With 350 people taking part in the first event last year, Maeve and Alan were thrilled at this year’s turnout.
“Last year there were 11 online registrations for the event and this year there were 350 so we had an idea it was going to be a great deal bigger,” explained Maeve.

Raw emotion
Describing the atmosphere of the event, Maeve explained the raw emotion teamed with a sense of camaraderie lead to a very memorable event.
“Everyone who was at Westport House Saturday morning had something in common, either being a survivor or being affected by suicide. There were very mixed emotions and a feeling that everybody was looking out for each other,” she acknowledged.
With great support from businesses and volunteers, both Alan and Maeve commended the businesses and volunteers of the county for making the event a ‘great success’.
“Electric Ireland sponsored this year, and representative and Castlebar native John Cunningham gave some great encourraging words before the walk,” said Maeve.
Reiterating their gratitude, the Kildare-based couple thanked the people of Mayo for coming out in their hundreds in admittedly ‘terrible weather’.

‘Get up and go’
Speaking to The Mayo News Robeen native Colette Conroy said she could tell it meant a lot to people who attended the event. Running it for both personal and professional reasons, the psychology graduate said the letter read out from Pieta House CEO Joan Freeman gave people the ‘get up and go’ before the run.
“It went really well, although it was a little rainy it was nice when it brightened up at the end,” said Colette.
Sadly anti-suicide campaigner and Kerry teenager, Donal Walsh, lost his battle with cancer on Sunday last. The 16-year old came to national prominence after writing a letter to a national paper detailing his battle with cancer for the third time and talking about his anger at teenagers who choose to end their own lives. The HSE have commissioned a suicide awareness video featuring Donal which will be distributed to schools across the country later this year.