Council lavishes praise on members of Navan Road Club

Navan Road Club members were honoured at a civic reception hosted by Navan Town Council on Tuesday night of last week in recognition of the fundraising efforts of the club over the years. Leisure organiser Larry Clarke accepted the award on behalf of the club members from Mayor Cllr Joe Reilly who paid tribute to the club for their tireless fundraising efforts over the years for many worthy charities. "They are a brilliant group of people. They personify all that is best in a community-based club. They enjoy themselves and, in doing so, they also look after the community. Larry Clarke is recognised as the face of the club. He is a gentleman and a scholar," said Cllr Reilly. In accepting the award, Mr Clarke, who has been a member of the Navan Road Club for 45 years, said: "I am delighted to receive this award tonight on behalf of the club members and I dedicate this occasion especially to the club members who have fundraised for the various charities over the years and also to our members who have passed away. It's a tremendous privilege to be honoured by your own people in the town and it is very hard to express in words what this means to myself and everybody in Navan Road Club." Navan Road Club was founded in 1953 and Mr Clarke told the gathering how their first big milestone in fundraising was in 1978 when Tommy Flanagan and the late Leo Collins took part in a four-day cycle from Mizen Head to Malin Head, raising £28,000 for the ISPCC - a phenomenal amount of money for that time. In 1999, PJ Nolan and John Nolan cycled across America, a distance of €3,000 miles in 21 days, to raise funds for Meath Rehab and Meath Women's Aid. In 1983, club members took part in a sponsored cycle for Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, which continued for 21 years. The Rooskey two-day spin organised by Padraig Brown was another big event that lasted eight years and raised substantial funds for various charities. Popular club member Noel Collier also took part in the Dublin City Marathon four times and raised funds for MIDWAY, where he attends. The 'Race across America' was organised by Alan Heary in 2008, who also organised the 'Race Around Ireland' last year to benefit the Ciaran Maree Cancer Fund. This event will also take place this year. Since 2004, club members have travelled the world to raise funds for the ARC Cancer Support Centre and, to date, have raised €173,800 for the centre, which caters for people with cancer and their families and friends. Club members have cycled in Cuba, South Africa, California, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Dubai for the cause. Mr Clarke congratulated all involved in Navan Road Club and thanked Cllr Reilly and members of the town council for the presentation, which he said "will long be remembered in the history of Navan Road Club". The Shamrock Festival Committee will be the next group to be honoured by a civic reception in Navan. Cllr Reilly said that, when he became mayor, one of the things he wanted to do was to give recognition to groups and individuals in the town who have quietly worked for their community without praise or recognition. "I wanted to provide a civic reception for them for the town to say thank you. The second thing was to open the town hall to the people of Navan. Through the civic reception, several hundred people have been to the town hall and in the chamber, who otherwise would not have been."