Offaly town set to welcome 'Push for Paul' fund-raising team this evening

The novel “Push For Paul” fundraiser is in aid of Paul Murphy who is living with mitochondrial myopathy, a condition which is very similar to motor neurone disease.

The team will be greeted in Tullamore by supporters, including the Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council, Cllr Eddie Fitzpatrick.

Paul, who now lives with his family near Killarney, Co. Kerry is wheelchair bound and lives with impaired motor skills.

In 2023, a group of Paul's friends, including Geashill based businessman, Matthew Farrelly, started on a fundraising journey to make Paul's family home more accessible but also to raise awareness around the accessibility issues that wheelchair users encounter on a daily basis.

It is intended that the push will also raise awareness of the work of the Irish Wheelchair Association, Matthew Farrelly told the Tribune.

The “Push for Paul” event will see friends push a wheelchair all the way from Drogheda in county Louth to Killarney in county Kerry, a 350km trek.

The push, featuring a teddy in a wheelchair, started on Sunday, April 21 next, and finishes in Killarney Racecourse the following Saturday, April 27.

The push will involve relays from Drogheda to Trim, Trim to Tullamore, Tullamore to Nenagh, Nenagh to Adare, Adare to Castleisland and finally from Castleisland to Killarney.

Recently, a no uniform day was held by the students of the Sacred Heart School in Tullamore to raise awareness and funds for the event and Matthew would particularly like to thank the members of the student council who organised and encouraged donations for the event: “ Young teenagers, in particular, sometimes get negative press from society but in my experience with this event, I cannot say enough good things about the young kids from the Sacred Heart School. The way they organised and conducted the event, they should be extremely proud and they are a credit to themselves, their parents, and their teachers and as an organising committee, we are very grateful to them for the work they have put in over the last couple of weeks.  

It is hoped that similar awareness days will take place in Banagher and Edenderry in the coming weeks.

To date, organisers of the “Push for Paul” have been overwhelmed by the support they have received from the general public and the business community.

“Paul and his wife, Linda are delighted with the support as are their children, Harry and Sadie,” outlined Matthew and they too, are completely overwhelmed by the generosity of people; Ireland is still a fantastic country to live in with a brilliant community spirit.

The Murphy family have extended thanks to all those involved in organising the campaign and in providing financial and other support.

You can donate to the “Push for Paul” fundraiser on the idonate page at  www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/apushforpaul  or if you would like to get involved from a corporate perspective, sponsor a virtual spoke, one of our stages or get involved as an overall sponsor, please don’t hesitate to contact Matthew on 087 7658970. All social media platforms are covering the fundraiser as well under the #pushforpaul slogan.