DESPITE the wind and rain, Miriam O’Callaghan managed to look summery at the launch of the 26th annual Bloomsday Messenger Bike Rally in aid of the Irish Youth Foundation.
The 26th annual event will see hundreds of Dubliners take to bikes of all shapes and sizes on Friday, June 7, to celebrate Bloomsday and James Joyce’s masterpiece, ‘Ulysses’.
The Irish Youth Foundation and Brennans Bread will get on their bikes and don their boaters once again this year to journey through Joycean Dublin for the 26th annual bike rally, which has gone from strength to strength over the past two decades and promises to be an even more exciting event this year.
Broadcaster Miriam joined James Joyce himself and bike rally marshall Graham Wilkinson in launching the 26th annual event at St Stephen’s Green, which will once again raise much-needed funds for the Irish Youth Foundation-supported CLAY Youth Project in Crumlin, and their fantastic Employability Programme which supports young people who are outside employment and outside education or training systems.
The demand that CLAY has experienced since setting up this part-time employability programme in 2017 continues to exceed all expectations and is a clear indicator that the service is desperately needed within the community.
The annual bike rally, sponsored by Brennans Bread, raised €50,000 in 2018 and has raised €1.1 million to date for Irish Youth Foundation-supported projects around the country, working to create positive differences in the lives of children and young people facing adversity.
On Friday, June 7, marshall Graham Wilkinson will give over 150 cyclists their countdown at St Stephen’s Green, some dressed in their finest Edwardian attire, before setting off to tour the city, stopping along the way for tipples, snifters and perhaps a plate or two of nutty gizzards, including a break for the annual rousing rendition of Molly Malone on the steps of the Mansion House.
Over 300 guests will then welcome the rally back to The Round Room at the Mansion House for a fun-filled lunch and charity auction, with all proceeds going to the Irish Youth Foundation projects.