Pulling together to beat suicide Camán Till Dawn to help youths

THE suicides of three former members of a juvenile GAA club in Cork has inspired a community to pull together to raise aware of mental health issues.

A group of GAA players in Carrigtwohill will get together this weekend to ‘puck’ sliotars from dusk to dawn in a bid to raise awareness and funds for suicide prevention charity, Pieta House.

The novel event has gained the support of well-known personalities such as Seán Óg Ó h’Ailpín, Brendan Maher and Minister Simon Coveney Carraig Óg PRO David Sullivan said:

“Sadly, three former members of Carrigtwohill Juvenile GAA Club have died by suicide during the last three years.” “The idea for the event was conceived on a dark winter’s night at a committee meeting in the club rooms, with a lone senior hurler in the adjacent ball alley pucking a sliotar as the meeting progressed, not long after the death of a young man by suicide.” “The key focus of this event is something that is close to the hearts of many people in Carrigtwohill and much further afield,” Mr Sullivan added.

The ‘Camán Till Dawn overnight ‘puckathon’ by Carrigtwohill Juvenile GAA Club takes place this Bank Holiday Sunday.

Participants in ‘Camán Till Dawn’ will continuously “puck” their sliotars from dusk, 9:45 pm, until dawn 5:17 am on Monday morning at the club’s grounds in West End, Carrigtwohill.

The event will kick off at 7pm on Sunday evening, with music, food and face painting. There also might be well-known members of the GAA community in attendance.

All funds from the event will go directly to the Cork branch of Pieta House.

“The GAA is so well known for raising funds for its own ends that it is a great initiative to utilise the organisation as a vehicle to raise funds for charity,” Mr Sullivan said, adding that Pieta House relies on approximately €8.7m in donations per year.

Local Councillor Anthony Barry praised the “wonderful initiative.” “The whole community has been affected by suicide and it's great the juvenile club has taken this initiative on themselves, to raise awareness. They’re really after creating a wonderful buzz.” ‘Camán Till Dawn’ has been copyrighted and trademarked and Mr O’Sullivan says he hopes the event will be the first of many across the country.

The event has also gained support from a few well-known faces like Seán Óg Ó h’Ailpín, Brendan Maher and Simon Coveney among the many personalities lending their support of the event via brief video clips.

These videos can be viewed here: http://www.www.facebook.com/camantilldawn Donations to the event can be made on the club’s fundraising website at http://www.gofundme.com/caman.