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Locals meet President McAleese
20.11.09
TWO local men, Seamus
Doherty from Buncrana and Albert Doherty from
Quigley’s Point, met President Mary McAleese at a
reception in Áras an Uachtaráin last week to mark
the 25th anniversary of development agency Self Help
Africa.
President Mary McAleese commended the charity for
its great work, and said that organisations like
Self Help Africa did Ireland great credit on the
international stage.
Albert Doherty, who has run a hugely successful
charity boat race for Self Help Africa on Lough
Foyle, said that the reception at Áras an Uachtaráin
was a great occasion for Self Help Africa, and would
allow the organisation to build on the foundations
of its first quarter century, in the years ahead. |
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The Lough Foyle
sponsored boat race is now in its fourth year and
raised more than €16,000 in its latest edition. “As
well as donations and suchlike we raised a good bit
from the sales of DVDs of the race,” Albert said
last week. “The DVD was recorded and produced by
James Cavanagh from Gleneely and I presented a copy
of it to President McAleese – |
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you never now, maybe
she’ll take part in the row next year,” he quipped.
“I was honoured to meet the President and I must say
that I found her very down to earth indeed,” Albert
continued. “She was very nice and we got chatting
about boating and fishing.”
Copies of the Foyle Boat Race DVD are still
available from Albert and can be got by contacting
him on 93 83360. |
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Buncrana’s Seamus
Doherty is a long-standing supporter of the charity,
and co-ordinates fund-raising collections on behalf
of Self Help Africa across County Donegal.
With Ellen McDermott from Culdaff, Albert travelled
with Self Help Africa to Uganda recently to see at
first hand the work that the organisation has been
doing in the country and while there he met up with
some of the |
students and teachers from Precious College in
Kampala who visited Donegal in July.
Self Help Africa Chief Executive Ray Jordan said
that the spectre of famine was again threatening
Ethiopia and other African countries, and that this
reality should remind everyone that while a great
deal had been achieved in the past quarter century,
there was a great deal more work yet to be done if
Africa was to be able to feed itself.”
(Inishowen Independent) |
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