1,100km charity cycle takes on Patrick’s Hill

A group of cyclists, travelling across 21 counties in a week to raise €35,000 for their charity partners, will arrive at Cork on Tuesday, with Patrick’s Hill being one of their toughest challenges.

The cyclists are all employees of the Dalata Hotel Group, Ireland’s largest hotel operator, which owns the Maldron and Clayton hotels, and they are part of the group’s ‘Digs Deep’ initiative, which has raised more than €2 million for charity over the past eight years.

This year, a team of Dalata employees has embarked on a gruelling 1,100 kilometre cycle, crossing 21 counties in aid of the group’s charity partners, The Marie Keating Foundation, Air Ambulance NI and Leukaemia Care.

The funds raised will support the early detection of cancer in Ireland, contribute to efforts offering urgent care for people with serious injuries in Northern Ireland, and provide crucial assistance to patients in need of Car-T treatment, a life-saving cancer immunotherapy delivered in a small number of UK hospitals.

The journey, at 1,100 kilometres one of the longest charity cycles in Ireland, will not be easy, with Derry’s Sperrin Mountains and Cork’s Patrick’s Hill providing particular challenges to participating cyclists.

The group set out from the Maldron Hotel at Dublin Airport on Thursday morning and will stop by several of Dalata’s hotels along the way, including the Clayton Hotel in Cork on Tuesday, heading on then to finish on Thursday, September 19, at the Clayton Hotel Ballsbridge in Dublin.

Niall Macklin, Dalata Hotel Group head of acquisitions and cycle team leader, said he swears every year will be his last time doing the cycle but finds it hard to stop when the funds raised go to such important causes.

“I’m excited to keep the momentum going for the rest of the month as we work together to raise funds and create awareness,” he said.

Liz Yeates, CEO of the Marie Keating Foundation, said funds already raised have significantly enhanced the charity’s capacity to deliver essential cancer education and support.

To support the fundraising efforts, see idonate.ie/event/greatdalatacycle2024