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At ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Damien Martin, Jim Breen and Inspector Noel Mostyn. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
AROUND 700 hundred cyclists made Mercy Mounthawk their destination on Sunday as the secondary school hosted the Cycle Against Suicide participants.
This is the third year of Cycle Against Suicide, which is an event that intends raise awareness of the mental health issues in each town it travels through with the message “it’s ok not to feel ok and it’s absolutely ok to ask for help”
The riders took off from Limerick city on Sunday at 8:30am and arrived at their destination, 100 kilometres later just after 6pm.
The route took the cyclists on the coast road by Glin in Co Limerick, going through Tarbert and Listowel, finishing in Tralee.
There is a mammoth effort gone in behind the scenes during the cycle, with anything up to 100 volunteers pitching in making sure it all runs smoothly.
It is the brainchild of Jim Breen, who at every finish gives a rousing motivational speech on the problem of depression.
“We’ve done a lot of work here in Tralee with the school. It’s emotional when you come in to your home town and get a greeting from the street,” said Jim Breen.
“It was a great day with fantastic atmosphere and welcomes everywhere we went,” said Jim Breen.
“People are beginning to feel they’ve achieved something today. People want to hear the message we’re spreading, as you can see by the amount of people who took part and by the amount who were waiting for us to arrive,” said Jim Breen.
Limerick to Tralee, represented the half way point of the cycle. It all began on Monday April 27 in Belfast and will finish on Sunday May 10 at RTE studies in Dublin.
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At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Evan Doody, Amy Maher, Unity Ankomah and Joe Hoare. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Eleanor O’Grady, Cathal Sheehan, Conor O’Brien, Niall Buckley and Graham Nelligan. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left, front, Sam O’Callaghan, Ellen O’Connell and Shelly McKenna. Back: Adele Hennessey, Olamidee Adebay and Tara O’Halloran. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Emma McCarthy, Mark O’Connor and Marcus O’Brien. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Laura Harty, Katie Crowe, Sarah Ferguson, Dorcas Oyewand. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Jim Cadogan, Timothy Grimes, Danny Sheehy, Luke O’Carroll and Dara O’Keeffe. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Nick Mizehi, Juliet Trafney, Osaz Odiahi, Junior Bio, Cara Quinlivan. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Excitement builds with the riders only minutes away. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Derek Feeley, John Laide and Eoin Mullins. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Louise Geoghegan, Ger Mannion and Caroline Costello. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Sadhbh Brosnan, Ronan Redican, Shane Kissane, Tom Kissane and in front, Eamon Kissane. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Christy Bannon, Caroline Keane, Brendan Keane and in front, John Keane. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Claire Feehan, Paul Sheehan, Mick Duffy, John Sheehan and Aine Sheehan. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Tom Healy, Joseph McDade and Killian O’Riordan. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Sean O’Donoghue, Niall O’Mahony and Tomas O’Connor. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Aisling, Brendan, Killian and Aoife Barrow. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Martin Hayes, Vera Murphy, Michelle Darcy, Michael Murphy and Kevin Cooper. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Dave Kenyon, Jack Walsh, Brian Mulvanny and John Walsh. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
At the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ event in Mercy Mounthawk were, from left: Darren Norton, John Kennedy and Dessie Callan. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
