Nicolas Roche, after finishing a stage at this year’s Tour de France.
TOUR DE FRANCE cyclist Nicolas Roche will be in town to help raise funds for the Donal Walsh LiveLife Foundation on Monday.
Roche will be appearing at the Fels Point Hotel from 7pm.
First, fans will get a chance to grab a photo and an autograph during a meet and greet, this will then be folllowed by an interview with Radio Kerry’s, Weeshie Fogerty.
People will also get a chance to put Nicolas through his paces with an open floor question and answer session. There will also be a raffle and auction for Nicholas Roche-related memorabilia with all the proceeds going to the LiveLife Foundation.
It has been a busy week for Roche, who, on Tuesday, competed for Ireland in the final day of the World Championships in Spain, helping the Irish team to a top ten finish.
On Wednesday it was announced he would be joining the very successful Sky Team, where he will ride alongside current Tour de France winner, Chris Froome.
Nicolas, son of former Tour de France winner, Stephen Roche, is the latest in a long line of international sports stars such as Dan Carter and Paul O’Connell, to show his support for the Donal Walsh LiveLife Foundation.
Fr Sean Hanafin with Elma and Fionnbar Walsh and Tom Foley just before the start of the journey to take Donal Walsh’s anti-suicide message, written on the scroll, to Rome. Photo by Dermot Crean
AN epic journey began on Wednesday that will see cyclists bring Donal Walsh’s anti-suicide message all the way to the Rome on July 5.
A large crowd gathered at St John’s Church to see Tom Foley, Tralee, Maurice Brosnan from Scartaglin and Tony Galwey, Currow, off on the first step of the ‘Home To Rome’ journey to Castleisland, where they left the scroll in Pieta House overnight.
In a short ceremony inside the church, Tom Foley received the scroll containing Donal’s message, from Fr Sean Hanafin. A lone piper then led out those present and Daniel Cournane, whom Donal coached at Tralee Rugby Club, did the Haka to send the cyclists on their way.
The large crowd then followed the cyclists, accompanied on the bike by Donal’s father Fionnbar, to Donal’s final resting place in Rath Cemetery. There was a minute’s silence and the release of 16 red balloons to signify each year of Donal’s life before his family handed over the scroll to the cyclists who will carry it to Rome.
Then began their 2,060km journey to the Eternal City.
I asked Tom Foley, originally from the Mitchels area, if he was ready for the long road ahead.
“Yes. I’m as ready as I can be I suppose. The cycling is a bit new to me, I’ve done about eight marathons since last October and now I’ve jumped on the bike for something new,” he said.
Tom Foley, Caroline McConnell with Donal Walsh’s parents Elma and Fionnbar Walsh before the handing over of Donal’s message in a scroll at St John’s Church on Wedneday afternoon. Photo by Dermot Crean
“I’m doing a full charity year for the Kerry Hospice and a I saw a notice for this event so I’m always looking for a challenge,” he added. Tom and the cyclists will also be joined by Caroline McConnell from Tralee who is a medic on the trip.
In between there will be stop offs in Cashel, Kilkenny, Carlow and Rosslare (where they take the ferry to Cherbourg). Along the journey to Rosslare, the trio will be joined by 22 other cyclists before taking the ferry .
They’ll then cross France into Italy and to Pisa where the cyclists will be joined by Donal’s mother Elma on July 2. She will accompany them on the last leg to Rome.
They arrive in Rome on July 5, where we will be met by Italian cyclists who will guide them to the Vatican. There, they will be welcomed in Rome by Laura Ellard a native of Carlow along with other Irish living in Rome. Elma will then deliver the scroll to the Vatican, thus completing this epic journey.
In the video below, we see a lone piper leading Tom Foley out of St John’s, Daniel Cournane doing the haka and Tom Foley being joined by Fionnbar Walsh on the journey out of St John’s Church grounds.
