Our first nominee of this year is Killeens man Mark McGloughlin who last month turned the village orange when he brought the ‘Cycle Against Suicide’ to Blarney. Mark told The Muskerry News, “I first came across Cycle Against Suicide in April 2013 when I cycled for one day with them in May 2013, going from Cork to Mallow and on to Killarney. I originally went along because I fancied the challenge of a long cycle. However, at the break in Mallow, I realised that there was a lot more to this event than just a day cycling. I was completely blown away by the speakers who addressed our group, all speaking openly about the subjects of mental health and suicide. I decided at that very moment that I would do more than just one day next year. Fast forward a year to April 2014 and I found myself on my bicycle in RTE Donnybrook, getting ready to start a 1,400km journey around Ireland lasting two weeks with CAS, working with them to break the cycle of suicide in Ireland. During that 2-week trip I met and spoke with dozens of amazing people and everyone had their own story of why they were there. Some of the stories were sad, some were even tragic but each one was uplifting and I realised that the message ‘it’s OK not to feel OK, and it’s absolutely OK to ask for help’ needed to be heard in my own community. Like so many people, I had witnessed mental health issues and suicide in my own circles, so a few days into the cycle, I found Jim Breen in the peloton and I told him I wanted to bring an event to Blarney. It hardly took him a minute to hear my case, and he agreed on the spot. Blarney would have an event in 2015. Despite being assigned the most challenging date in the calendar, January 17, I found it was easy to rally up support from the local community and our amazing committee pulled out all the stops to bring what I really think was an amazing event home. Many people have told me since that they are glad that we did. So am I.” See page 36 of this months edition for more on this unique event.
