Six-year-old Ben donates birthday money to Ballinrobe Town Hall

GENEROSITY Six year-old Ben Heneghan getting into the festive spirit at the Ballinrobe Christmas Markets.

Ciara Galvin

A SIX-year-old Ballinrobe boy has donated some of his birthday money towards the rebuilding of Ballinrobe’s Town Hall.
The incredibly kind donation was made by Ben Heneghan, son of Nick and Cliona Heneghan. Ben, a Senior Infants pupil in St Joseph’s PS, made the donation recently after receiving money for his sixth birthday in September.
Dublin native Cliona, who is married to Kilmaine native Nick, told The Mayo News that Ben’s decision came after he walked past a sign at the proposed site of the new build on the Neale Road.
“We were walking past a poster for the Town Hall, and he asked what it was. I explained, and said it would be for him and his friends in the future and mentioned what types of things would be held there. He asked when it would be built, and I explained to him about the fundraising,” said Cliona.

Big-hearted boy
Cliona went on to explain that Ben wanted to donate all his birthday money to the fundraising campaign, but his parents decided that €10 would be appropriate.
“He said, ‘I got so many moneys for my birthday and if I give it, the Town Hall will be built quicker’,” she revealed, adding that her son ‘got the concept’ of fundraising immediately.
“If it’s for him and his friends, he thought he should give towards it. We said ‘okay’ thinking he would balk when it came to giving it, but he was quite happy to give it to Clare O’Neill [Town Hall committee member].”
This isn’t Ben’s first act of kindness, during the summer he put on plastic gloves and went around his estate collecting plastic that had blown in off the Clonbur Road. “He said, ‘It’s our estate, we have to mind it’,” Cliona explained, adding with a laugh that her son will probably be telling his whole class he ‘built’ the Town Hall with his birthday money.
Who knows, perhaps word of Ben’s act of generosity will spread and prompt similar actions among all age groups in Ballinrobe.

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www.ballinrobetownhall.com