Date: 30 June 2005
The Marine Institute's Turloch Smith, MacDara O' Cuaig and Robert Bunn aim to raise €20,000 towards the Carna lifeboat fund. As the three fishery scientists gear up to compete in the Triathlon Chonamara this Saturday, 2nd July, they have already raised in the region of €15,000, exceeding their original €8,000 target and setting a new ambitious target of €20,000.
The Triathlon Chonamara, consists of a 750m sea swim, 40 km cycle and 8 km run, and is part of a campaign to raise €250,000 to establish a lifeboat in Carna. Land for the permanent station has already been donated locally, and the registered charity aims to fund building the station, providing the boat and engine and training and maintenance etc. The campaign is organised by a committee, set up following a tragedy last September, in which four fishermen died when their fishing trawler, the St Oliver, ran aground off the Muighinis coast.
Turloch Smith, Robert Bunn and Macdara Ó Cuaig knew and worked with the fishermen lost in the St Oliver tragedy, and hope that participation in this charity event in their memory will help to prevent a re-occurrence of such a tragedy. They feel strongly that this is an especially good cause and are delighted with the support received from the Marine Institute. The Institute has supported the team by initially, pledging to match the team's original €4,000 target, and increasing its donation to €6,000 in light of the success of the fundraising drive to date.
To help the triathletes reach their €20k target, send donations by cheque/postal order made out to "Triathlon Chonamara" to:
Marine Institute Triathlon Team,
Marine Institute,
Galway Technology Park,
Parkmore,
Galway.
OR contact the team members to pledge your donation:
Turloch 087 2076152; MacDara 087 2075988; Robert 087 6306731;
The charity's bank account details are: Triathlon Chonamara, Bank of Ireland, Eyre Square, Galway. Account no: 82301076 Sort Code: 90 38 16 087 6306731.
For more information visit www.marine.ie
or www.triathlonchonamara.com
Ends
For more information contact Lisa Fitzpatrick Tel. 091 730 428/ 087 293 746