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Martin Moore (right) and his wife Deirdre (third from right) present a donation of €4,000 to teacher Aoife O’Connor for St Ita’s and St Joseph’s School. Also included is Acting Principal Eileen O’Shea and members of the Student Council. Photo by Dermot Crean
THE students and staff at St Ita’s and St Joseph’s School in Balloonagh were delighted this week when a local family made a kind-hearted donation to the facility.
Martin Moore and his wife Deirdre from Caherslee, presented the money at the school – which caters for young people with special needs – on Friday morning, in front of all the students.
So why did they decide to make this generous gesture?
“Well I got certain monies as a bequest, so I looked around and asked ‘who can I help?’,” said Martin. “I wanted to help the education of younger people and in particular people in most need of assistance. This would be something very close to myself and Deirdre’s heart and the person that gave the bequest as well,” he said.
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“I know Aoife [O’Connor, teacher] from running and I know the good work which is done in the school and we’re delighted to be here this morning. It was very touching for us. Hopefully we’ll be able to do something else in the future,” he said.
Acting Principal, Eileen O’Shea, thanked Martin and Deirdre for the donation.
“We’re delighted as it will help to defray the costs of the many excursions the students go on, which is a big drain on our resources. It takes the pressure off and we can go more places with the children,” said Eileen.
The school also received €110,000 from the Ring of Kerry Cycle earlier this month, which will be put to good use.
“We’re still in the process of finishing off the multi-sensory room and play area and we hope to go ahead now and build a woodwork room. Hopefully we’ll get more funding for that,” said Eileen. If anyone would like to donate or hold a fundraiser for the school, get in contact with the school by calling 066-7125237.
