Hi Everyone,   Unaccustomed as I am to raising money (or walking), we got a little bad news recently when our very good friend Tomy was diagnosed with MND. While we were all wallowing in the depths and consoling each other, Tony decided he would walk from Donegal to west Cork to raise money for MND research. The medication he is taking now was developed in the 1970s and is not very successful. Only 1 in every 100,000 is affected, so there is not a rush of drug companies trying to develop treatment.   As well as being the best man I have ever known, Tony is the parish priest in Mount Merrion/Kilmacud/Clonskeagh. While he was chaplain in UCD he was instrumental in setting up UCD Volunteers overseas and I can’t begin to tell you the good work he personally did on the ground in Haiti and Niger after catastrophes in both those places.   Unfortunately, Tony’s condition has already progressed to such an extent that he will not be doing any of the walking, but he has a a team of people who will be walking on his behalf. Under the banner of “Walk while you can”, my family and myself will be walking from Shannon to Limerick on July 27th.   Now to the business end. I am appealing to you to donate whatever you can in the knowledge that every cent will go to MND research – there will be no admin deductions or travel allowances or any of that stuff. Every euro counts so we welcome whatever amount you feel you can donate. I give to charity when I can, like everyone else, but this is very personal to me, and if you knew the man you would understand why.   www.Wwyc.ie   There is an inspirational podcast of him speaking to Ryan Tubridy recently. I would urge everyone to listen to it, particularly if you think you have problems in your life. His perspective, his humour and his humanity is awe inspiring.( Just search for Tony Coote on the RTE website)   Please forward this to anyone you think it might interest.