*Peadar White. Photograph: Páraic McMahon.
PEADAR WHITE is back on the bike this Friday for his annual static cycle in aid of Samaritans.
Born and reared at The Halfway House in Ennis, Peader is well known in motoring circles but his impact in raising funds for Samaritans sees him frequently recognised all over the county town.
Having volunteered with Samaritans for fifteen years, Peadar decided in 2007 that he could offer even more help to the organisation by completing a fundraiser. “The first one we did we did four countries in four days, after that we did a Morris Minor to Monte Carlo and back, then we settled down and said we’d do a cycle in the square,” he recalled.
Co-operation of the Ennis Municipal District in facilitating the cycle was acknowledged by Peadar. The Height on O’Connell Street has been his regular posting but this will be his first time in the setting since the conclusion of the public realm works. “We did the top of Parnell Street last year and it was fabulous, they have given us a new spot now over beside the Monument so if it gets warm on the day we can go into the sprinkler,” he quipped.
Commencing at 9am, Friday’s cycle continues until 6pm with Peader on the bike for fifty minutes each hour. “They told me to get off the bike because at eighty two years of age they’ve told me to slow down, I like to do the hour because you are kept going. I train every evening for half an hour, I used to do an hour but I was told to get off the bike. I enjoy doing it, the one thing I want this year is for someone to ring Samaritans and say ‘thanks, we’ve listened to you’ because there has been so many (deaths). I’m here in The Halfway since 1944, we never heard of anyone dying by suicide, if we did it wasn’t known, Samaritans is so established now that you can go into the Kilrush Rd to their office and arrange to speak to somebody, the people you are speaking to will listen, they don’t advise you and that was my biggest problem when I joined as a volunteer, ‘shut your mouth and listen’, you’re listening to someone speaking, you would be tempted to say ‘I’d do this or I’d do that’ but you don’t”.
Last year, Peadar’s cycle raised over €2,200 while over the course of the cycle the total figure brought in is in the region of €28,500. Samaritans volunteers will also be present this Friday for members of the public who may wish to speak to them privately.
Often involved in slagging and banter, he said there is great input from the public on the day. “The biggest laugh we had when people were out on the street walking, there was a group of Americans doing a walking tour two years ago, the Director of Samaritans said to me to tell them what we do, I did it in full flight, one of them asked a question and I said ‘by the way if President Trump rings we will listen to him’ and there was big jeers over that”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Peadar admitted that he is surprised with the amount of people who recognise him from the annual cycle. “No later than last Saturday, I was at the shop in Turnpike, this mat came up on a person and I held it for her, she turned around and said ‘you’re the guy that does the cycle in the square, fair play to you’, it is a morale booster for us, I enjoy it, apart from what we’re doing the craic with people and knowing me of old and what I’m capable of. I said to Mary (O’Donovan) that I was giving it up this year because I got the COVID in 2020 and where did it get me only the legs, last year when I finished I literally fell off the back so I said that’s it, I was thinking when I went home and I got an osteopath, when you get to a certain age and I’ve had various heart attacks, prostate cancer but thank God. She told me what to do so I’ve been up on the bike nearly nine months, I had it in the garage at home and I converted it into an art room so the television is in front of the bike and I just peddle away. I was using a walking stick, I still have it and bring it as a back-up but once I’m up on the bike I’m flying it. I’ll just get up and go Friday, if I do one good one a year that is enough”.
His great-great grandfather was a steam engineer who worked on The West Clare Railway, his great-grandfather and grandfather also worked on steam engines and its full steam ahead for Peadar with Friday’s cycle. Donations can be accepted on the day at the O’Connell Monument this Friday.
Samaritans’ Ennis branch answers over 30,000 calls for help each year, offering a listening ear to anyone struggling to cope, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, their free helpline can be contacted on 116 123.
