Ronan Clancy proves top fundraiser for brain disease charity following marathon success
RONAN CLANCY raised more than £26k for the National Brain Appeal after completing the London Marathon in his mother's honour.
The London Irish man took part in the event on Sunday, April 27 in support of his mother, Vicky, who was diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer's at the age of 67.
The Clancy family received the news just months before their father, Dermot, was killed in a tragic accident.
Ronan Clancy completed the London Marathon in three hours for The National Brain Appeal. (Pic: Marie Mangan)
Prior to the race, the 42-year-old, who is a lifelong runner, said he wanted to use the challenge to raise vital funds for research and support that will change the lives of people affected by devastating brain diseases.
Mr Clancy, who is Executive Director at the Clancy Group firm, founded by his Co Clare-born grandfather in 1958, completed the marathon in an impressive three hours and 28 seconds.
'It was amazing,' he said after the event, 'definitely my best marathon experience.'
He added: 'It was bit too warm and sunny to push myself for a personal best but I am still absolutely delighted.'
Ronan Clancy pictured after completing the London Marathon on Sunday, April 27, 2025
The National Brain Appeal have since confirmed that Mr Clancy was not only their fastest runner on the day, but also their highest fundraiser having received donations of more than £26,837 at the last count.
Claire Wood Hill, Chief Executive at The National Brain Appeal, said: 'Ronan was not only the fastest of all of our runners, he is also our top fundraiser, with £26,837 raised.
'We are incredibly grateful to him and hope his legs aren't too sore.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
33 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Pat Dolan: Heimar Hallgrimsson is set apart by his emotional intelligence
Luxembourg is one of the richest countries in the world, nice place to go, but do you know what, we have a job to do. That is what has been important about Heimir Hallgrimsson, he recognises that when you are employed as an Irish manager - and it is the same in any sport - it is a results-oriented job. We know he is not one of the sexy managers around Europe, he is never likely to get a Premier League job but for me his biggest strength has been his emotional intelligence, that is having the ability to control your emotions and not get too up or too down. And if you want the shorthand, catchy phrase, emotional intelligence is thinking that so-and is a gobsh!te but not telling him... So in terms of Emotional Intelligence he would be top of the class in the Premier League and that is a big boost when he is the Irish manager. Because basically these players know that win, lose or draw, there will be logic in his reactions. That and a total commitment to not try and fool the Irish public that we have to play like Brazil but manage the bleeding obvious and understand we must work to our strengths. Just look at England last Saturday, going to Andorra ranked 173 in the world - only marginally higher than my aunt Dora - and they got themselves into a real pickle and left with a lot of more questions than answers. Compared to Andorra, Luxembourg are ranked at 91 and they are a far better team than that number suggests, they are almost world beaters among the minnows! And if you don't believe me just ask Sweden who went to Luxembourg in March and got beaten 1-0. Heimir Hallgrimsson knows therefore that this match is important to continue the feelgood factor around a camp that is quietly building an identity that will dictate how successful we can be and part of that identity is being humble and being honest enough to admit if we are horrible to play against but winning games we are doing something right. Sometimes when you have a population that is the size of Ireland's, that's the reality of not just football but life because there is nothing wrong with being the best version of yourself. Not because of ability but because of a desperation and hunger to succeed, that's what Heimar Hallgrimsson has beneath that calm demeanour - and he has that in bucketloads. All the nonsense about Ireland teams having to play beautiful football was just so full of dishonesty, confusion, doubt because in modern football you have to pass the football, you have to keep it, they are the basics. But what defines success is what you do with possession. Just look at England in the RCDE stadium in Andorra, they had 83 per cent possession yet there was no feelgood factor coming off the pitch. With Ireland we tend to get our feelgood from what we do with the ball in terms of scoring goals, creating and stopping goals and this makes the difference between a successful team and one that's not. This is what going to Luxembourg is about; the first aim is to start with a clean sheet and while we might not have kept a clean sheet in our last four games and only kept one in our last six. But when you have goalkeeping talent as good as ours, where Caoimhin Kelleher and Gavin Bazunu are such shining lights and we have got lots of others coming through. For any Irish football team having a good keeper and a good defence is absolutely vital. And when you look at a player who is such a monster of an individual and a monster of a man like Jake O'Brien who has yet to be tested as a first choice in the team, it gives you even more hope. What character Jake has on display, he has just turned 24 years-of-age and after starting with Youghal United and Lakewood Athletic he got a break following starring at Cork City. Moving to Crystal Palace his career never really took off as an Eagle and the games he played were on loan to Swindon Town and in Belgium where he won his first trophy - clinching promotion to their top flight - which, in turn, got him a big move to Lyon. Now an Everton player, there was an initially sticky period at the Toffees, remember he is 6'6" and was seen primarily as a centre-half at first but it wasn't until David Moyes found a place for him at right-back that he ended the season in great form and great shape. That's why it is clear that whilst everyone loves to tell us we haven't the players, the fact is that Jake O'Brien has simply yet to establish himself in the Irish team, exposes that myth. You don't have to have world class players as an Irish manager to build an organised and competitive team and, do you know what, over-achievement is what every Irish team needs to achieve. When you look at the options we have at the top of the pitch where, obviously, Troy Parrott and Evan Ferguson will feature and where Adam Idah got the nod against Senegal, we are a fortunate country. I love Adam Idah, I just wish that when you see him interviewed that there is more joy and energy in his answers and maybe Heimir Hallgrimsson's calm and honest approach to managing Ireland is sometimes the difference between succeeding and failing at the job. He is not talking about how good the players might become but, clearly, making them better and turning Adah into not just a young player with potential but a good one. Adam is still only 24 and after a tough time at Norwich City it is not easy going to Celtic as there is so much focus and pressure. We should be celebrating this young Irishman who has won two league titles, an SFA cup and a League with Celtic, that's not you look at potential there is Troy Parrott who had a decent time in Holland with AZ Alkmaar. And then Evan Ferguson who is such a decent young man and decent player but who hasn't had a decent time anywhere is still only 20 years of age and yet he has already got 21 caps and already got five goals for his country. Take out Robbie Keane and you haven't had many international goals at 20 years of age. That's why Heimir Hallgrimsson is getting more from Evan is going to be crucial. And wouldn't it be great if this started against Luxembourg because we don't need Evan to get back to being a '€100m' he produces the form that makes him worth half that money that will do! I also said last week what a massive fan I am of Killian Phillips, the King of Kilbarrack. - wouldn't it be great if he gave Roddy Doyle something to write about. When we talk of the Jake O'Briens and Killian Phillips, they don't just have the character and the physicality, two things that the Ireland team used to be famous for. That's why what I want to see in Luxembourg this evening, not just a clean sheet and physicality - and while Heimir Hallgrimsson has said we will never be the best team in the world - let's use that strength and physicality in our play. Because whether you are Real Madrid or Barcelona or Youghal United or Kilbarrack Utd, a set-piece goal counts for just as much as the sensational ones that Troy Parrott, Evan Ferguson and Adam Ida can deliver for their country. There is a job to be done tonight and we have got to make sure that we, once again, become that Ireland team that finds a way to get the job done.
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Preview: Fresh faces jostle for a chance in Luxembourg
The mere mention of Luxembourg is enough to send shivers down the spines of Republic of Ireland supporters, but the last time these countries met actually went pretty well for the Boys in Green. Goals from Shane Duffy, Chiedozie Ogbene and Callum Robinson helped Stephen Kenny' men to a 3-0 away win in their final game of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, as a rocky year ended on a genuine high. "There's more to come," Kenny declared afterwards. Alas, it proved to be one of the sweeter moments of his tenure. Kenny was always trying to escape the shadow of his lowest moment in charge: the 1-0 loss to Luxembourg at Aviva Stadium earlier in that campaign. With no supporters present due to Covid restrictions, Gerson Rodrigues lashed home the only goal of the game. That was in March 2021, four years and three years ago. Much has changed. Heimir Hallgrimsson is the man holding the reins now, and he's been happy to praise a lot of the work Kenny did; chiefly his willingness to blood young talent. "It was a big, brave decision to do that as we're benefiting from a lot of players who now have 20-plus caps for Ireland," Hallgrimsson said a couple of weeks ago. The Icelander is a cool customer. He exudes the calm of an outsider; someone not emotionally invested in the politics of Irish football and thick-skinned enough to block out the noise. He's also got enough decent results under his belt now to kindle that most delicate of flames among Ireland fans: belief. Friday's 1-1 draw against an admittedly weakened Senegal offered more positives after March's Nations League promotion/relegation play-off slaying of Bulgaria. All roads, of course, lead to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers which begin with a September double-header against Hungary (home) and Armenia (away). "Everybody's fit... everybody wants to play," Hallgrimsson confirmed yesterday. That includes Bosun Lawal who was added to the squad on Monday. The 22-year-old Stoke City man, blighted by injuries last season, can operate as a defensive midfielder or centre-back. He was called in because Josh Honohan and Jack Taylor were slight doubts after Friday's 1-1 draw against Senegal. Both players trained on Monday. Taylor, Kasey McAteer and Killian Phillips all got runouts four days ago, with Hallgrimsson promising to give other fresh faces a shot tonight. Troy Parrott sat out the Senegal game as he recovered from a bug but is in line to get some minutes, while the likes of Jake O'Brien, Evan Ferguson and Festy Ebosele will hope for involvement from the start. Meanwhile Shamrock Rovers defender Honohan and imposing Reims 21-year-old John Joe Patrick Finn are sure to be anxiously waiting for the nod to potentially make their senior debuts. Hallgrimsson has been talking up Luxembourg's threat, pointing to their 1-0 friendly win against Sweden in March. However all is not serene in the opposition camp. They were poor in a defeat 1-0 to Slovenia last Friday, but that was overshadowed by supporter protests against the selection of Rodrigues, the matchwinner in Dublin. In April, an appeals court upheld an 18-month suspended prison sentence Rodrigues on multiple cases of assault against his ex-partner, former Miss Luxembourg Emilie Boland. The Luxembourg Football Federation issued a statement apologising for the removal of protest banners by stewards at Stade de Luxembourg during the game, saying: "Dialogue, listening, and transparency remain fundamental values of the federation." Further protests are expected tonight. "It's not a distraction, no," manager Luc Holtz said in a tetchy pre-match press conference. "The focus is on the pitch and everything outside the pitch does not distract the team and has not distracted the team." On the pitch it's been largely underwhelming bar that surprise win against the Swedes. Luxembourg only have two clean sheet in their their last 13 matches, and they're finding goals hard to come by too. Holtz's team have lost three of their last five home clashes so they look vulnerable here. Hallgrimsson insisted he'd value a quality performance over a positive result, though both would be ideal as Ireland look to get into the habit of winning football matches. "For all of us, it's important to win the game, even though in a friendly I would pick performance above winning," the boss added. "If we have a good performance, if we continue to improve in what we are doing, even though we are unlucky and lose the game, I would probably take that more than a win if we are continuing to develop the team." There's a growing body of evidence that these Irish players are buying into the head coach's vision. It helps that Hallgrimsson has shown himself to be canny and astute, his tactical tweaks playing to the strengths of the assets he has at his disposal. Tonight is about getting a glimpse at hungry fringe men while further honing Hallgrimsson's preferred shape. There's no more trial runs after this, as Ireland enter a condensed qualification campaign desperate for early momentum to further embolden those daring to believe something special could happen on the road to Canada, Mexico and the USA.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
At a time when the boom is even boomer, this statistic should mortify us
I've written before about Ireland's unknown knowns, our singular talent for wilful absent-mindedness. We have been very good at rendering invisible what is in front of our eyes. And we have not lost the knack. We're doing it now with a reality to which our history should make us especially sensitive: hunger. At the start of this century, one child in every six growing up in Ireland sometimes went to bed hungry because there was not enough food in the house. Now, when (to adopt Bertie Ahern's neologism) the boom is even boomer, this mortifying statistic has changed radically. We've managed to get it up almost to one child in every five. And for children in the poorest third of families, we're closing in on one in four. According to the comprehensive Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study published last week, 15 per cent of Irish kids in the lowest income families sometimes went to bed hungry in 2002. Twenty years later (2022 is the latest year of the analysis), that metric had risen to 24 per cent. If you missed this news, you probably shouldn't blame yourself. The HBSC report got extensive coverage for its findings on whether children were feeling 'low' or drinking alcohol, smoking dope or using condoms if they had sex. The data on hunger was largely ignored, meriting at best a glancing reference. It is not hard to understand why: it induces a kind of cognitive dissonance. It does not fit in the frame of contemporary Irish reality. READ MORE There is something viscerally shaming about the thought of a child going to bed hungry. It reeks of Oliver Twist or, closer to home, of Angela's Ashes, where 'the children slurp the porridge and complain that they didn't get enough, they're starving with the hunger'. We have confined it in public consciousness to misery lit. It is a terrain most of us visit as psychological tourists, slumming it in a dark past to make us feel better about our present state of plenty. By my count, the word 'hungry' has been used 17 times in the Dáil this year. Some of the speakers were using it metaphorically ('Our airports need to be hungry for this business …') Most of the references to human bodily hunger were, entirely justifiably, to the terrible events in Gaza . There was only one real allusion to hunger in Ireland and that was one that placed it firmly in the realm of history. Danny Healy-Rae , summoning the folk memory of his native Kerry, told the Dáil, 'I know what hunger is from my grandfather and grandmother telling me of when people were hungry here, what they went through and what they had to go through when they did not have anything to eat. They were poorer times. Gladly, that is not the case here in Ireland today. There is no one hungry like that, or there need not and should not be.' This last sentence is telling. It is entirely true that no child need or should be hungry in an Ireland awash with money. But it is all too easy to slip from saying that there is no reason for something to be happening to the assumption that it could not be happening. Yet we know it is. In 2022, a study conducted by Amárach Research for Barnardos found that 17 per cent of Irish parents, and 25 per cent of those who were not working outside the home, reported not being able to provide their children 'with a sufficiently nutritious diet, quality and quantity, which you would ideally like' . This is not about parental fecklessness: in the same study, one in five Irish parents reported skipping or skimping on their own meals so they could feed their kids. [ More parents going without to feed their children, say Barnardos Opens in new window ] The last government's Task Force on Food Poverty notes that while 'for some people food skills and a lack of access to shops or equipment play a part', the basic problem is lack of money: 'For most people, the main cause of food poverty is low income in relation to their household costs – not inability to manage money or food.' The Barnardos study also showed that many of us, even if we are not directly suffering food poverty in our own families, know children who are doing so. Asked, 'Do you have any first-hand experience of children where the impact of not having sufficient nutritious food has been evident to you?', almost one in three Irish people said they did. What they noticed in these children were bad impacts on their physical, cognitive, social and educational development. Yet there is no common public language even to name this knowledge. An official study of two areas, one in Dublin, the other in rural Ireland, for the Department of Social Protection in 2023, noted that 'food poverty, as a specific term, is not used in or by the community. Food insecurity is acknowledged but again not a common phrase in conversations'. Ironically, that report has now itself disappeared from the department's website, as has the Action Plan based on it. Under ' The Action Plan on Food Poverty and the associated research report are available ', it now says 'Item was unpublished or removed.' [ 'It's kind of become our daughter's cheat meal': The view on new hot school meals programme Opens in new window ] In spite of this apparently deliberate un-knowing, there has been some real progress in recent years. The Hot School Meals scheme has been gradually rolled out and from this year covers all primary schools. A pilot scheme to continue to provide food to these pupils during the school holidays will start this summer. But there's still a huge gap in provision for older children and young people. The stark fact is that there are students sitting Junior and Leaving Cert exams today who went to bed hungry last night. Much of this injustice could be removed almost instantly if the Government would do what it has been talking about for more than a decade: introduce a second level of child benefit targeted at those most in need. But it won't do that until we decide to know what we know.
