Irish Examiner
Tuesday 4 September 2012
Tubs to fly south for charity mile-naire fundraiser
By Eoin English
Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy is heading to Cork to be part of an event in memory of a champion motorcycle racer.
Tubs has agreed o host the Who Wants to be a Millionaire-style fundraiser in a city-centre pub next month to help his RTE colleague Jacqui Hurley’s bucklet list initiative in memory of her only brother, Sean.
The 25-year-old motorcycle racer from Ballinhassig in Co Cork died in a motorbike crash near his home Nov 30 last year.
Two days before the accident, he drew up a bucket list of personal goals which included becoming a millionaire, taking part in a triathlon, running a pub, owning a racetrack, and running in the Cork City Marathon.
After his death, Jacqui and her family vowed to fulfil his list in his honour, and raise money for the Centre for Cardiac Risk in Younger Persons, based in Tallaght Hospital.
They have already completed a duathlon and the Monstermac Triathlon.
Last June, Jacqui and her husband Shane McMahon ran the final leg of the Cork city marathon, with almost 70 family members and friends, the day after they tied the knot.
And Jacqui’s parents Mairead and Dave, and Sean’s girlfriend Sinead O’Donovan, ticked another item off Sean’s list at the weekend by running a sweet shop at Mondello race track.
Now they are turning their attention to the Who Wants to be a Thousandaire night in Cork on October 1.
“One of the items on the list was that Sean wanted to be a millionaire,” Jacqui said. “But since there’s a recession we thought it’d be more appropriate to aim lower, so we’re running a Who Wants to Be a Thousandaire night in Reardens.”
Jacqui, co-presenter of RTE Radio One’s Sunday Sport, was in Rearden’s bar on Washington Street last night to promote the event and confirmed Tubs had agreed to host it: “Ryan was a great support after Sean’s death … I did an interview with him afterwards and he said shout if there was anything he could ever do to help.
“So when I mentioned this to him, he jumped at it. He’s been great.”
Tickets, priced €10, are now on sale from the bar and from www.cry.ie.
Tubridy also plans to broadcast his 2fm show from Clonakilty the following morning.
Jacqui said her family would continue ticking items off Sean’s bucket list over the coming months.
They have raised about €10,000 already to help fund cardiac screening programmes to help save young lives.