Thousands turnout for Darkness into Light events

Ciara Galvin

PEOPLE all across Mayo got out of their beds in the early hours of Saturday morning last to take part in Pieta House’s Darkness into Light 5k walks.
This year the number of events in Mayo grew to five with Claremorris and Erris hosting their first event, joining Ballina, Westport and Shrule.
 
Claremorris
Over 1,000 gathered at Claremorris athletics track to take part in the unique event which is aimed at raising awareness of suicide prevention and self harm and also to raise some much- needed funds for Pieta House.
The crowd was led off off by pipers from the track after Fr Peter Gannon read out a letter from Pieta House founder Joan Freeman. Walkers were then met with a choir passing the Church and were welcomed back to the track by drummers, while DJ Michael Guilfoyle provided some entertainment after the walk.
Speaking to The Mayo News about the event, committee member Bernie Mullen said it was a ‘fantastic morning’.
“People came from Kiltimagh, Castlebar, Cloonfad, Dunmore and we’ll definitely be holding the event from now on. It’s been amazing to read all the comments on Facebook. I’m so proud of it,” said Ms Mullen.
Bernie and her brother James Mooney said the event would not have been possible without the help of local businesses, Jim Ryan for the use of the track, Claremorris Men’s Shed, photographers on the night Helen Reape and Jason Nolan, the local boxing club and local clubs and organisations for coming on board with the event.
“The support has been immense. You didn’t have to ask people for help, nothing was a problem,” noted James.

Erris
Over 600 people turned out in Erris for the first event and organiser Linda Talbot said she was ‘overjoyed’ with the turnout. “We didn’t know how it was going to go but the feedback has just been amazing. Something was badly needed in Erris and we had children aged seven to people in their 80s. We had a great committee and group and we were expecting such big numbers, we were expecting 300,” said Linda, adding that everyone has lost someone.

Shrule
Rita Davin, organiser of the Darkness into Light event in Shrule says the event was a ‘great success’ with numbers attending reaching between 800 and 950 on Saturday morning.
“The stewards and committee were fantastic and we hope to continue with the event every year,” said Rita.

Westport
In Westport approximately 1,700 people made their way to Westport House for the walk which was led by Mayo footballer Aidan O’Shea and Fr Charlie McDonnell. The crowd was piped off once again by the Clew Bay Pipe Band. Westport organiser Maeve Gallagher said the event is ‘getting bigger and better every year’.“We didn’t think it would be as big this year. It’s a bitter sweet kind of thing. The theme this year was gratitude and we decided to extend this to first responders, many of whom help with stewarding each year. As always we thank the businesses of Castlebar, Westport and Achill,” said Maeve.

Ballina
Organisers of the Ballina event said between 1,700 and 2,000 people took to the streets of the north Mayo capital. This was the third event in Ballina with thousands being raised for the charity as a result. The event has recorded an increase of participants year on year thanks to the work of local organisers and support from businesses.