VIDEO: Deirdre O’Reilly fundraising golf classic

Blarney Golf Men’s Club who ran a fundraising golf classic in conjunction with the Evening Echo for journalist Deirdre O’Reilly from Bandon, Co Cork who suffered a massive stroke on December 22, 2013. 

The 44-year-old mum of two young daughters has been left with severe speech difficulties and paralysis on her right side as a result.

She has had extensive rehabilitation at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoighre but will require further rehabilitation into the future.

As a reporter with the Evening Echo, Deirdre spearheaded the newspaper’s fundraising efforts for the fantastic works of The Friends of Marymount Hospice, the Cope Foundation, Cork Simon and the Children’s Leukaemia Unit at the Mercy Hospital - raking in €1 million for the causes.

She judged entries for the Lord Mayor’s Voluntary and Community Awards, and for the Cork City Garda Youth Awards. She was also on the organising committee for the Lord Mayor’s St Patrick’s Night ball in City Hall in 2004.

The funds being raised will provide Deirdre with a home adapted for her needs. The cost of renovation and adapting will be approximately €210,000.