£40,000 raised from charity event for injured County Derry siblings

A fundraiser which was held for a brother and a sister who were knocked down after stepping off their school bus has raised £40,000.

The local GAA community across Counties Antrim and Derry came out in their droves on Sunday morning to show their support to Mary and Fintan O’Neill’s family and friends.

It is thought that over 1,000 people attended the Big Breakfast which was organised by the siblings’ GAA Club, Kickham’s GAC in Creggan.

The St Patrick’s College, Maghera pupils were struck by a car after getting off their bus on the Staffordstown Road outside Toomebridge on Tuesday, January 17.

While 14 year-old Fintan is recovering well, his sister, Mary (11) remains in a serious condition in hospital.  On Sunday morning, Fintan attended the fundraiser with his family.

All proceeds from the event will be split between the O’Neill family, the A&E Department, Antrim Area Hospital and the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

Last night, Kickham’s GAC club chairman, Tony McCollum described the support for the Big Breakfast as ‘unbelievable’.

“Where do you even start to say thanks? We are totally gobsmacked, to raise £40,000 is just unbelievable. Before the doors even opened on Sunday morning, there were two of our own teams waiting to get in and that really set the tone for the rest of the morning,” said Tonyre

He added: “There was a massive turnout, at times there were people queuing outside, maybe 40/50 people deep.  All the food was donated to us, we had enough food for over 1,000 people but at 1.15pm we were completely out of bacon.  The crowd of people was non-stop but all our volunteers were fantastic, I don’t know how they managed it, but they fed over 1,000 people,” said Tony.

Mr McCollum added: “The O’Neill family are just as shocked as we are. We had thought that if we managed to raise £15,000, we would be doing well so we are completely blown away. We had people from right across the country attend. I have said from the start that when in the time of crisis, the GAA community really pulls together and Sunday was evidence of that.

“On behalf of the O’Neill family and Kickham's GAC, I would like to thank every single person who lent their support to the fundraiser- everyone who attended, all the local businesses who donated so generously and of course our wonderful team of volunteers, this wouldn’t have been possible without you at all. Your kindness will never be forgotten,” said Mr McCollum.