Daniel and Majella announced as joint patrons of Relay For Life Donegal

Steadfast supporters of Relay for Life, Daniel and Majella O’Donnell, have been announced as the new joint patrons of this year’s event in Donegal.

Singing legend Daniel has been a patron of the cause from very early days, and will now be joined by his wife Majella, who is a cancer survivor and Global Hero of Hope for Relay for Life. Majella famously raised €700,000 for the Irish Cancer Society when she made the brave decision to have her head shaved live on The Late Late Show following her diagnosis in 2013.

Daniel & Majella O’Donnell will be in attendance over the weekend of Relay For Life 2024, which returns to the ATU Letterkenny campus on the 25th and 26th of May 2024.

Relay for Life Donegal has raised a staggering €1,675,000 for the Irish Cancer Society since it began in 2011.

Relay For Life Donegal held their first Team Captains Meeting last night in the Mount Errigal Hotel with a great turnout of 27 Teams represented, both returning Teams and new first time Teams coming along to hear what Relay For Life involves. 

MC for the night Charlie Collins set the scene for what it involves and new Chairman, Seamus Devine, formally welcomed everyone to the event. Seamus thanked Daniel and Majella for their invaluable and ongoing assistance over the years and said that he looked forward to meeting them again this year.

One of the highlights of the evening was the very informative and enjoyable on stage chat that Charlie Collins hosted with a number of last year’s Team Captains.

Anne Marie Gallagher and Amanda Dowds (Team Optum Ireland Superheroes), Cathal Curran (Team Kernans) and Sandra McMonagle (Team ATU Nursing Department) discussed why they have been involved in past Relays and why it means so much to them. Charlie, in his usual calm, relaxing and probing way, ensured that the crowd present got a wide perspective of what Relay involves from a Team view.

Ena Barrett, representing the Irish Cancer Society, guided everyone through the various services that are provided by the Irish Cancer Society in Donegal and highlighted that in 2023, over €279,000 was spent directly in the county by the Irish Cancer Society, up from 2022’s figure of €252,000.

She outlined the various supports that are provided – these include the Information & Support Services (Freephone 1800 200700), the unique Night Nursing Service, Volunteer Driving supports and Travel2Care programme, Counselling, Research and Financial Supports available.

Sarah Marie McDevitt, Charlie Quinn & Davy Cowan entertained the crowd with ideas on FUNdraising that Teams have been doing in the past and as part of their presentation they had a couple of “willing volunteers” up on stage gathering potatoes!!!

One of the aims at Relay For Life Donegal is to improve education about Cancer and Tracey McBride and Mary McDermott highlighted last year’s “Roll Call for Relay” which was run in conjunction with Highland Radio and the Lee Gooch show. It is going to be run again this year and will be launched shortly. They asked for everyone to encourage their children to participate and to ask their schools to get involved.

Chairman, Seamus Devine, spoke about one of his main goals for this year’s event – seeing as many Survivors as possible on the pitch at this year’s event. He informed those present that the committee will be hosting meetings in Donegal Town, Buncrana, Gweedore and Letterkenny in early April and further details will be announced shortly.

He hopes that as a result, an extra 20 Survivors from each area will come along to the ATU for the opening ceremony on Saturday 25th May and make this year’s event memorable.

Cynthia Furey, a committee member and herself a Survivor, spoke about her Cancer Journey and highlighted the importance of early detection.

Other speakers on the night included Donal Kavanagh (speaking about the wonderful Survivors Choir – always looking for new members) and Mary Friel (talked about the Luminaria Service and the sale of Candle bags, further details will be announced in due course).

A special word of thanks goes out to the Mount Errigal Hotel for always generously hosting the meetings, to Charlie Collins for being the perfect MC, to Clive Wasson Photography for ensuring everyone is smiling in the photos and to Highland Radio, Donegal Daily and the local media for their coverage.

For more, follow the Relay For Life Donegal Facebook page here.

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