Down Syndrome Ireland

Down Syndrome Ireland "Share the Journey" as they become the beneficiary of this Year's Tour de Munster

13 April 2010

The Tour de Munster, an annual four day charity cycle which sees amateur cyclists cycling over 600km around the six counties of Munster, has announced Down Syndrome Ireland (Munster branches) as the chosen beneficiary of this year's cycle.

Michael O'Gorman of DSI Munster says "We are delighted to have been selected as the chosen beneficiary for this year's Tour de Munster. This is a great opportunity for the Munster branches of Down Syndrome Ireland to work together on a project which will achieve great awareness for DSI and at the same time will raise vital funds for our organisation. Our goal in DSI is to assist children born with Down Syndrome to be as independent as possible. To achieve this it is imperative that when they are young they have access to speech therapy and occupational therapy and as they grow older we want to help them with other areas of their lives such as independent living and employment opportunities. The objective is to ensure that each individual is developed to his/her full potential and to help people with Down Syndrome make their own futures as bright and independent as possible. This all takes funds and through the great work of the Tour de Munster cyclists more young people with Down Syndrome will be helped in a practical way."

Tour de Munster Organiser Paul Sheridan says; "This year's tour is a very special one as it marks the tenth year of the Tour. We are also planning on slightly changing the route of the tour taking in more of Co. Waterford and Co. Clare as well as moving overnight stops to larger towns to accommodate a larger number of participants. Every year we choose our charities carefully. Michael O' Gorman, who has a son David with Down Syndrome, approached us in 2007 as he was a committee member in the Cork branch of Down Syndrome Ireland and wanted to see if the Tour de Munster could help. He drove the Tour van in 2009 to get a better insight into the event and is now overseeing the operations of the six Munster branches in relation to the Tour."

"We are pleased to have such a worthy charity as beneficiary and already we have increased our own knowledge of DSI and the issues that parents and children with Down Syndrome face.  For example,  I was amazed to learn that one baby out of 600 born in Ireland is born with Down Syndrome and in total over 5,000 people in Ireland have Down Syndrome. We are delighted to be in a position to help, not only through the money we hope to raise, but also by raising awareness"

Media partners for this year's event are the Irish Examiner, Red  FM and Spin South West.This year's Tour de Munster begins on August 12th and continues over four days until August 15th. For up to date information and developments on the Tour please log onto www.tourdemunster.ie or you can follow the Tour on twitter @tourdemunster.  For further information on Down Syndrome Ireland please see www.downsyndrome.ie

ENDS