Cycling legend Seán Kelly helps to launch Down Syndrome fundraiser at 25th Tour de Munster
Mr Kelly, one of most successful road cyclists of the 1980s and one of the finest classics riders of all time, led more than 100 participants off from Cork's famous English Market on the 600km four-day tour of the province.
They will visit all six of its counties before rolling back into Cork on Sunday to face the gruelling climb up the steep St Patrick's Hill to mark the grand finish.
Since its launch in 2001, cyclists taking part in the various Tour de Munster events have raised more than €5m for DSI's Munster branches, which DSI says has made 'a meaningful and lasting impact' on the lives of children and adults with Down syndrome throughout the region.
(Left to right) Claire Wright of Down Syndrome Ireland, Paul Sheridan, founder of the Tour de Munster; Jeni Kiely; Lord Mayor of Cork Fergal Dennehy; Cycling legend Seán Kelly; Cial Casserly, and Tara Casserly, chairperson of Down Syndrome Cork, at the official start of the 25th annual Tour de Munster. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan / OSM PHOTO
Tour founder, Paul Sheridan, said reaching the 25th anniversary of the event is a huge milestone for everyone involved.
'It's a testament to the dedication and heart that surrounds this event,' he said.
'Taking on the Tour de Munster requires real commitment, with months of training, fundraising, and preparing for four challenging days on the road.
Noel Day (left) from Glanmire, and Ger Brickley (right) from Blarney at the official start of the 25th annual Tour de Munster, marking the cycle's silver anniversary in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland Munster branches. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan / OSM PHOTO
'But what keeps the wheels turning is the incredible spirit behind it all.
'The support from the public means everything; it lifts our cyclists mile after mile.
'Every cent raised goes directly to the Munster branches of Down Syndrome Ireland, making a genuine impact where it's needed most.
Jeni and Joey Kiely from Carrigaline at the official start of the 25th annual Tour de Munster. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan / OSM PHOTO
'We're asking the people of Munster to rally behind us once again by cheering us on, donate if you can, and help us continue making a real difference together.'
Tara Casserly, the chairperson of Down Syndrome Cork - Field of Dreams branch, said they are honoured to be part of the Tour de Munster's 25th anniversary celebrations.
(Left to right) Mike Forde, Carrigtwohill, Catherine Cashman, Midleton, Tod McCarthy, Skibbereen, and Maria O'Neill, Aghada, at the official start of the 25th annual Tour de Munster. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan / OSM PHOTO
'Each year, this event brings such positive energy to our community, and seeing the cyclists make that final climb up St Patrick's Hill is always a moving moment,' she said.
'At Down Syndrome Cork - Field of Dreams, we deeply appreciate the dedication and generosity that fuels this Tour.
(Left to right) Leah, Conor, Jean, Avril, and Michael Mallon from Bishopstown at the official start of the 25th annual Tour de Munster. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan / OSM PHOTO
"The impact it has on our members' lives is enormous, and we'd love the people of Cork to come to Patrick's Hill next Sunday and help us to cheer everyone on.'
You can support the Tour de Munster fundraiser by donating at idonate.ie.
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The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Down GAA lead tributes to ‘our favourite son' & two-time All-Ireland winner who was ‘about greater glory' after death
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The 42
9 hours ago
- The 42
'Massive addition to any team' - The former Down duo now in Galway Cork All-Ireland final clash
WHEN DOWN LOST their All-Ireland intermediate camogie semi-final this year, former player Fionnuala Carr thought of two forwards who could have made a difference. Relegated from senior for the 2025 season, Down were closing in on a swift return to camogie's top tier. Kerry, who had defeated them by two points in the group stage of this year's championship, stood in their way. 60 minutes from a trip to Croke Park and a chance to reclaim their senior status. However, the result remained the same in their final-four clash as the Kingdom prevailed by 3-12 to 0-16. The margin of their defeat was five points, an amount that Sorcha McCartan and Niamh Mallon could certainly have accounted for. But with Mallon now suiting up for Galway and McCartan a firmly established member of the Cork forward line, Down were forced to play without their assistance. It's been that way for a while now as the pair continue their camogie journeys away from home. They faced off in the 2023 championship when Mallon scored 10 points in a 3-19 to 1-10 Group 1 defeat to Cork. And they were on opposite sides for last year's All-Ireland final too in their respective Cork and Galway colours. They'll do it all again this weekend too. 'They make a big difference to the teams that they play in [now],' Carr explains. 'So, you can imagine the difference that they would make to the likes of a Down team who are quite young. 'Niamh Mallon is worth at least five, six points. Sorcha could chip in with two or three and that's a ten-point swing in a game. Not only their scoring capabilities but also their work rate and their physicality as well.' Fionnuala Carr in action for Down in 2019. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO Carr shared a dressing room with McCartan and Mallon before her retirement from inter-county camogie in 2021. Their ability was obvious from the start. All three were key players on the Down team that won the 2020 All-Ireland intermediate final. Their final against Antrim was played in December that year on account of the schedule reshuffle caused by the Covid pandemic, and Cavan's Breffni Park hosted the occasion. Carr wasn't offended that her county didn't get to celebrate the end of a 22-year wait for All-Ireland intermediate success in Croke Park. She was just grateful to be able to play, and avenge the hurt of their 2018 All-Ireland final defeat to Cork. 'We had been knocking on the door the year before. We had reached an All-Ireland final in 2018, completely unknown to even ourselves, to be honest. Then in 2019, we didn't perform in an All-Ireland semi-final. 'And then in 2020, we all regrouped. It was the year of Covid, so we did a lot of work on our own with gyms and fitness. We noticed that year that we were very physically fit and very physically strong. 'We had Sorcha, we had my sister, Sara-Louise [Graffin], and we had Aimee McAleenan in a half-forward line. Sorcha must be 5'10″, or 11″. Sara-Louise is 5'9″, or 5'10″, and Aimee must be 5'8″. Advertisement 'So, they're all strong girls and very athletic. Then you had Niamh Mallon in the full-forward line, and she was your target woman.' Mallon finished that All-Ireland final with 2-3 from play, scooping the Player of the Match award in the process. Six years before that, she captained Down to a junior All-Ireland title at just 19 years of age, but Mallon was already an experienced player for Down. Carr reckons she was on the squad for three or four seasons at that point, displaying skills and mental fortitude that belied her young age. Mallon's talent was widely known within Down camogie circles from early doors. Carr can still remember the first murmurings of 'a young girl from Portaferry' who was about to make a splash in the game. 'I think Niamh was maybe only 16 at the time and you're sort of wondering, 'Does she cut it? Will she be able for the physicality? Will she commit?' 'There's so many young talented people out there but they don't commit and give the dedication whereas Niamh ticked every single box that you would want in a player. 'She's so committed and dedicated to what she does. She gives the best out of herself all the time. She's never done practicing. She's in the wall ball all the time. 'She came in then and she didn't look out of place at all. After a year or two, she was becoming one of your main focal points in an attack at 18 years of age in a senior camogie team which is no mean feat to be honest.' McCartan comes from a dual-code background, but at one stage, football was her primary sport. A daughter of 1994 All-Ireland winner Greg, she broke through to the Down senior ladies team before an opportunity with the county's camogie team materialised. In a 2021 interview published on the RTÉ Sport website, McCartan explained that watching Down compete in the 2018 All-Ireland final planted the seed in her mind. And when then-Down camogie manager Martina Rooney invited her in the following season, she decided to take a chance. 'At that point football was No 1 still. I went and gave it a go and I just seen the attitude that everyone brought. I was just like, 'this is serious. If I want to be involved, I have to be serious and I have to put it as a priority'. So then I did.' Sorcha McCartan during the 2019 All-Ireland intermediate semi-final against Westmeath. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO Similar to her transition into the current Cork team, McCartan nailed her audition with Down. Carr, of course, was looking on in awe at her development from a talented dual-code specialist to a vital part of the Down attack. 'Sorcha was very young when she came into our team. Down were competing then at an intermediate level and were there or thereabouts. 'And getting a bonus addition like Sorcha makes a difference in being a one-point defeat or a one-point win.' It was a combination of work and university commitments that sent McCartan and Mallon down diverging paths. McCartan initially relocated to Cork to complete a college internship with the biomedical company Stryker. She maintained her commitment to Down for the 2021 campaign and that long-awaited return to the senior championship, but the arrangement was unsustainable. Along with changing county colours, she transferred from her local Castlewellan club to the famous St Finbarr's in Cork city. This Sunday, she will feature in her third consecutive All-Ireland final with Cork. She posted 1-1 in their 2023 triumph over Waterford and added two points off the bench when they went back-to-back last year against Galway. As Cork chase the elusive three-in-a-row this weekend, McCartan continues to bolster Ger Manley's attack. Niamh Mallon also tried to make it work when she moved to Galway for work as a sports scientist with Orreco in 2018. She called time on that challenging commute last year as she linked up with Cathal Murray's squad after joining the Sarsfields club. Niamh Mallon collecting the Player of the Match award after the 2020 All-Ireland intermediate final. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO Her debut season ended with All-Star selection, a fitting tribute to her 1-21 in five championship matches including an All-Ireland final appearance which yielded one point from play. But speaking to the media recently, she admitted to struggling in a new team environment last year. She insisted that the cause was internal, rather than the product of any hostility from the those around her. 'I think that comes just from seeing the likes of the Corks and Kilkenny's and the Galways always competing at inter-county level,' says Carr. 'While it is very competitive at intermediate and you don't get an easy game, you always wonder could you have made the step up? When you are there you're seeing people who have multiple All-stars or All-Ireland medals and you're kind of looking at them in awe. 'Her being able to go in and hold her own against them and become a really important big game player. In last year's all-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary (1-3), she actually won the game for them in the end. She was exceptional. 'And then this year she got that all-important goal [against Tipperary in All-Ireland semi-final].' The record currently reads McCartan 1-0 Mallon in All-Ireland finals as the Cork-Galway rivalry heads for another exciting chapter. Carr will be in Croke Park on Sunday, looking on proudly at her former teammates proving their worth among the best camogie players in the country. Talents that were forged in Down are now deservedly being showcased on the biggest stage. 'Niamh is just a once-in-a-generation talent, she's so accurate and she's so brave.. Sorcha is a great target person there in the edge of the square for Cork. She's so physically strong and she's actually deceptively quick. So she's a handful for any full-back.' *****
RTÉ News
10 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Niamh Mallon hopes 'matured' Galway can upset Cork
Since joining the Galway senior panel at the beginning of 2024, Niamh Mallon has had a rollercoaster ride in the maroon jersey. The Portaferry, County Down native has added huge quality to the Maroons' forward line and will undoubtedly be one of their key players at Croke Park in Sunday's Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie final against Cork (5.15pm, live on RTÉ2). Ahead of the clash with the champions, Mallon is eagerly anticipating the opportunity of being involved in camogie's biggest occasion for the second year in a row. "We're really looking forward to it," she says. "It's been a long 12 months since we were in this position. An awful lot of work has gone in from everyone on and off the field. We can't wait to just get out on the pitch at this stage. "I definitely feel like we're in a really good place as a group. We've been able to build as we've gone through the championship. We managed to go straight through to a semi-final, and we put in a really good performance (against Tipperary) that day. I think that performance has put us in a really good place coming into Sunday now." Mallon feels that Galway's championship run has allowed the team to gel and that the Tribe County have played with more cohesion as the season has progressed. "In our last two games in particular, I think we've come on a lot. We were playing against two very strong teams in Waterford and Tipp. The Waterford game was a straight shootout for a semi-final, and we played really well that day in bad conditions. Then we had the Tipp game, and I think that was our best performance of the year to be honest. It's definitely given us a confidence boost as a team." When an opportunity arose seven years ago to work in Orreco, a sports technology company based in Galway city, Mallon made the move west, where she has since settled full time. "I came to Galway in the summer of 2018; I started working for Orreco in Galway city and I've been here since. During Covid, I moved back home to Portaferry and was working from home, but after that I came back down to Galway again. Work is always busy, but it's good." She continued to make the long commute north to represent her native Down, for whom she was a star player for 13 years. They won the All-Ireland intermediate championship in 2020 (Cork attacker Sorcha McCartan, also a former Down player, alongside her in attack that day) and Mallon maintained her spectacular scoring rate as the Mourne outfit maintained their senior status over the next few years. At the beginning of 2024, however, with the long return trips for training and matches having taken their toll, she decided to link up with Cathal Murray's Galway squad. Mallon has thoroughly enjoyed the experience and is a key member of the side. "I'm very grateful to everybody for welcoming me in with open arms, to be honest. I'm very fortunate that people have been so welcoming to me here, and I definitely don't take that for granted. I've enjoyed this year even more than last year, I think I'm more settled here now and more familiar with everything." The success of her move to Galway was underlined when she was awarded her first All-Star at the end of last season. From a team point of view, however, the year ended on a disappointing note, as the Tribe were edged out by Cork in the All-Ireland final. Twelve months on, they face the same opponents in the O'Duffy Cup decider, and Cork are as formidable as ever, chasing a third title on the trot and having beaten Galway by 11 points in the Very League Division 1A final in April. "They are a serious side, nobody's doubting that. But we'll take a lot of learnings from last year's final, and the league final. Hopefully, we'll be able to right a few wrongs. But look, we're under no illusions about the task that's in front of us. "We have a bit of extra more motivation after the league final, and we've done a huge block of work since then. We're definitely in a better place as a squad heading into Sunday now. A lot of players have had more game time since then and really stepped up. The league final was a big learning curve, but we feel we can use those learnings going into Sunday." Mallon was given in a new role in 2025, lining out in the half-forward line, a tactic first utilised in last year's final. While the position is a relatively new one, she has enjoyed the switch and the opportunity to be more involved in play. "It's definitely something different, and it's taken some getting used to. I haven't played much in the half-forward line during my career, I've played nearly all of it inside. So, yeah, it's different, in some ways you're more involved, you get your hands on the ball that bit more. There's a bit more work involved in some ways too, but that's just part of it. I'm really enjoying playing there." As well as working with Orreco, Mallon is part of the Galway senior football set-up, where has operated as team nutritionist for the last two seasons. She is very happy to be a part of Pádraic Joyce's backroom team and is learning a lot from the role. "It's been really enjoyable. I've definitely learned a lot from the experience. It's been challenging in ways; ultimately, it's a high-performance environment. They demand the best in everything and you're just trying to add some value to it. You're always trying to add something that might give the lads an extra couple of percent on the day of a game." It has certainly been a big 12 months in Mallon's life. Getting married to her partner, Cushendall hurler Dominic Delargy in a gap week in the middle of the league, winning her first All-Star, and playing in her first All-Ireland senior final. There could hardly be a better way to cap it all off than to lift the O'Duffy Cup at Croke Park this weekend at the second time of asking. "It's been a whirlwind couple of years, and to get over the line on Sunday would be absolutely massive. But look, its massive for everyone; the players and management and everyone involved in the group. I think a lot of the girls have matured in the last 12 months, and hopefully we can finish it off now."
