PIETA House and Electric Ireland are encouraging the people of Kerry to share ‘One Sunrise Together’ on May 8 for Darkness into Light.

Pieta and Electric Ireland urge people to sign up at darknessintolight.ie and take part in a special Darkness Into Light Sunrise on May 8th.

This year, participants can walk, run, swim, hike, bike or simply share One Sunrise Together for Darkness Into Light, as organised walks are not possible due to Covid-19 restrictions.

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Over a year on from when the country went into lockdown, Pieta’s services are in demand more than ever and they need the public’s support.

Electric Ireland is proud to support Pieta for a ninth year and together with Pieta are encouraging people to register at www.darknessintolight.ie to take part in a special Darkness into Light that can unite us all whilst still staying physically apart.

By taking part in Darkness Into Light, participants will unite in every corner of Ireland to help shine a light on suicide and self-harm while raising vital funds for Pieta’s lifesaving services.

Last year when it wasn’t possible to all walk together for Darkness into Light, Pieta faced a funding crisis, but Ireland came together as one community and got behind the event, with hundreds of thousands rising at dawn and sharing sunrise moments from across the country.

The support that shone through was nothing short of amazing with over €4 million  raised following a tremendous public fundraising effort to ensure Pieta could continue to deliver their services through 2020.

Pieta’s counselling services have remained available throughout lockdown with phone, video and face-to-face appointments, in 2020, Pieta delivered over 52,000 hours of therapy and answered over 70,000 calls and texts for help through their 24/7 crisis helpline.

Every single person faces challenges and Pieta worked with well-known ambassadors, including Miriam O’Callaghan, Donal Ryan and Oliver Dingley who shared  Sunrise Notes, detailing how they have found light in the dark, especially over the last 12 months. Sunrise Notes from the ambassadors are available to read at https://www.electricireland.ie/sunrise-notes.

Pieta is also encouraging the nation to take pen to paper to write their own Sunrise Note and share their stories of finding hope in the darkness online using the hashtag, #DIL2021. The concept of writing and sharing a heartfelt note will help normalise the challenges people have been facing this year, bringing people together through shared experiences of finding light in the darkness.

THE Darkness Into Light Tralee walk may have taken place three weeks ago, but the funds are still coming in.

On Friday, the organisers and Con O’Connor of Pieta House were in High Street to collect a cheque for €600 from physiotherapist, Corinne Evans.

Corinne, who has taken part in the Tralee walk since it started three years ago, wanted to do something extra to help raise funds.

“We decided to donate all the cash takings from the day before the walk (Friday, May 10) to Darkness Into Light,” said Corinne.

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“We put a video announcing that on Facebook the night before and having seen that, we had people just knocking on the door and giving us €5 and €10 notes. One woman travelled in from Listowel and gave €50.”

“My mom and my sister do it with me every year. My mom said to me ‘I intend to be doing this until I’m put in the grave’,” added Corinne, who thanked everyone for their donations.

Con O’Connor thanked Corinne and the staff at her practice, who also took part in the walk. “We meet Corinne every year at the walk and her support is appreciated. To give up a day’s takings is a wonderful gesture and not many businesses would do that,” said Con.

IT’S set to be a huge and wonderful event in the early hours of Saturday morning, as a massive crowd is expected at CBS The Green for Tralee Darkness Into Light.

There are five walks taking place at 4.15am across the county in Tralee, Killarney, Listowel, Dingle and Cahersiveen and preparations are in place for a special morning in aid of Pieta House to raise funds for suicide prevention and awareness.

Tralee organiser, Colin ‘Poshey’ Aherne, says there are over 1,600 people registered to take part in the Tralee event so far, but people can also register on the night/morning.

Registration opens at 2am at CBS until 3.45am sharp. T-shirts are limited though, due to high volume of interest. Participants are advised to come early to ensure parking which is available at the Aquadome car park, Brandon carpark, Omniplex car park and beside the Rose Hotel.

Colin is asking that people listen to the stewards, enjoy the experience, take loads of photos and don’t forget to set the alarm clocks later!

THE Darkness Into Light Tralee event was officially launched on Tuesday evening at Pieta House in Moyderwell.

A number of people gathered at the centre to hear about the event which takes place at 4.15am on May 7 from CBS The Green.

Among those attending were Elma Walsh, mother of Donal Walsh and Dr Eddie Murphy clinical psychologist, and the doctor on the well known RTE show, Operation Transformation, who was special guest on the night and praised the work of the Pieta House service.

“It’s a pleasure to support such a great support service as Pieta House. Working in mental health I understand the challenges which people face and having drop-in, self referral services is vital. The success of the Darkness into Light is testament to the need for these real services,” said Dr Murphy.

“Improvements in Ireland’s health system are needed, particularly in the area of mental health,.I’m running for Seanad Éireann on the NUI panel to make this a priority,” he added.

Nora Conway, Manager of the Pieta House Tralee centre, thanked Colin ‘Poshey’ Aherne and his team for their work.

“A sincere thank you to you Colin and your committee members for all the work that you are doing in helping promoting Pieta Kerry. A sincere thank you to all our volunteers and all of the people throughout Kerry who will support our Darkness Into Light 5k walk or run on May 7. The centre here in Kerry is a credit to the people of Kerry’s generosity and goodwill in ensuring together we reduce deaths by suicide and move people from self harm to self care. It is crucial to create awareness and get the message to all corners of Kerry that we now have Pieta House in Kerry,” she said.

Pieta House Kerry provides one to one counselling free of charge for people who have attempted suicide, people who have suicidal ideation and people who engage in self harm.  Pieta House is encouraging people not to be afraid to ask for help. They are a professional counselling services with ten years experience in the area of suicide and self harm.

The referral pathway is very simple one can make an appointment for themselves or can ask a friend or loved one to make an appointment on their behalf.

Pieta House Kerry can be contacted at 0667163660 28 Moyderwell Tralee Co. Kerry.

To register for the event on May 7, see the details below.