Bressie and team rise to challenge

People don’t realise just how big the lakes on the Shannon are, Niall ‘Bressie’ Breslin told the Westmeath Examiner on Monday, following a week of recovery after the Rising Challenge, a fundraiser for the charity A Lust For Life.

Niall is co-founder of the charity, and he and 10 others took part in the gruelling ‘The Rising 2024’ Challenge for youth mental health, which concluded on Carrauntoohil, on Sunday week last, September 15.

Niall had company from Mullingar for the challenge – Ray Carolan, Joan Nangle, Paul Boyce, Colin Clarke, and Howard Brunton, who provided boat support, as well as Tiktok stars Tadhg and Derry Fleming, artist Joe Caslin, fitness influencer and teacher Caroline McKenna for the final day. Explaining just how hard it was, Niall said: “The difficult part is the Shannon. I don’t know if people realise how big the lakes are – Lough Ree, Lough Derg, Lough Allen. It depends what mood you get them in, and we got them in good and bad moods.

“We had a rough enough day on Lough Ree, but we had boat support this time, we had safety boats, which was huge help. It was incredibly physically demanding, but I think what took it out of most people was the bike, the 170k bike ride, because it was very rough, very windy, very, very hilly, about 1200m of climbing, so we didn’t expect that.

“There were a few people falling off and one guy broke his collarbone, so we had an interesting cycle. Then the climb was like a gift. I’ve climbed Carrauntoohil three times [before] and I wasn’t able to see my hand because of the mist, but this time we could see as far as Dingle from the top of the mountain.

“Just as we got to the top, the clouds lifted, and it was very special, an emotional moment for everybody.”

Niall paid tribute to the group who did the challenge with him. They had started at the north end of the River Shannon, kayaked to the other end, then cycled more than 160km from Limerick to Killarney, and then hiked to the top of Carrauntoohil.

“This is a very special group of guys and girl – we’re on the way to €200,000, which is an incredible result for us.

Bernie Keogh, MD of A Lust for Life said their goal this year was to raise more than the €158,000 generated in 2023: “The Rising 2024 aims to expand A Lust For Life’s school mental health programmes, which have already reached 100,000 children in 4,000 classrooms across Ireland. We want to reach our goal of being in every primary school in Ireland and begin to build our secondary schools programme. Every child and young person deserves to grow up understanding their minds and how to cope when things are tough. And we’re determined to meet this vastly unmet need.”

Niall added: “It was is more than just a physical challenge. It’s about creating a movement for mental health, not just for today, but for the future. Our youth deserve to grow up with the skills to manage their mental health, and we can’t wait for a crisis to act. The time is now, and we are rising together.”