Shane Lowry and Seamus Coleman among the thousands to send man with autism birthday cards after public appeal

A young man with autism was overwhelmed to receive over 4,000 birthday cards after his mum made a public appeal to help him celebrate turning 30.

An outpouring of public generosity led to the delivery by An Post of thousands of cards to Barry Connolly from all over the country and as far away as the UK, Dubai and Australia.