Meath father cycles 2,100km across Europe with dad (70) and brother to support Down Syndrome Centre

Irish Independent

a day ago

Today marks the eighteenth day on the road for Niall Kenny (41), who lives in Ashbourne, his brother Gavin Kenny (35) and their dad Kevin Kenny (70), who are cycling to raise funds for two charities – the Down Syndrome Centre in Ireland and the Children's Rehabilitation Centre Natália in Hlohovec, Slovakia.
Niall's 3-year-old daughter, Saoirse, who has Down Syndrome, inspired her father, grandfather and uncle to cycle from Ireland to Slovakia – a home country of Niall's wife, Zuzanna Kenny.
The launch of their journey took place on July 14 at the Down Syndrome Centre in Swords, which Saoirse visits every week.
'She gets much-needed therapy there – speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, group therapy. It's an amazing place,' he told the Irish Independent.
"The support we've received from them has been life-changing – not just for Saoirse, but for our whole family.'
Several public representatives attended the launch, including Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien and Slovak ambassador to Ireland Andrej Droba.
People's support allows the cyclists to 'raise awareness and money' for two centres, which are not funded by the Irish and Slovak governments, he said.
'I've had those conversations with the [representatives] in the centre in Swords and the TDs. We've raised the [lack of funding] with them.
"Because when we moved to Ashbourne in October, our daughter had no services for eight months, because it took eight months to get plugged into the local child disability network team.
'At three years old, it's massive, you miss those milestones. So every week, she's been going to the Down Syndrome Centre in Swords and getting those therapies, getting the attention, in terms of learning the signs, learning to speak, to do things like open her buttons and zip up her jacket.
"No services for eight months is a big deal. The Down Syndrome Centre really provide amazing support. Two women in particular - Triona Coussen in the Down Syndrome Centre, she's a beating heart at that place, and she's an amazing woman.
"And then her counterpart, they're very similar. They've never met in person, but they've had lots of phone calls and emails - Katharina in Hlohovec, she's just an amazing human being.
"We're doing the cycle, we finish the cycle, but their work continues. They're just amazing people. They do so much for our families.'
The family, who have now cycled more than 1,800km across seven countries, set off from Dublin on July 16, taking a ferry from Dublin Port to Wales and then from Dover, England, to Calais, France.
They started cycling on July 17, travelling through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Slovakia, with plans to cycle through parts of Hungary in the next three days.
Their trip is fully self-funded, allowing them to donate all funds from their fundraiser to charities.
While cycling through Belgium, they visited the island of Ireland Peace Park in Mesen, where they planted a flower from Saoirse as a 'little memory of the trip', Mr Kenny said, describing it as 'really emotional'.
Meanwhile, they came across several challenges due to the floods in Austria.
'In Austria, it rained for eight hours the whole day, and we did a 140-kilometre cycle in the rain. It was relentless, biblical. We were really soaked through. The Danube River was floating in parts. We had to go around, take detours. And by the end of this day, we were all freezing cold and wet.
"This woman came up to us and just asked: 'Where do we come from?' My dad says Ireland. Her jaw dropped. And that's kind of experience we've been getting a lot, people shaking our hands and giving us donations, and then we put them through online.
'But she gave my dad a big hug when he told her that he was doing a cycle for his grand-daughter. She gave him dried banana, some chocolate and a drink.
'The standout thing for us is this kindness of strangers that we've been experiencing. The trip is self-funded – we pay for all hotels, all food and bike equipment.
'We don't set any money off anyone. Everything goes to the charities, and every penny that's raised is [split] 50/50 between two charities. But we have had some people buy us coffees when we've looked pretty miserable,' he said.
Also in Austria, Niall's cousin, Fergal Henry (52) from Sligo, joined his family to cycle 750km with them.
The family reached Bratislava on Wednesday, where they were greeted by the Irish ambassador to Slovakia, Dermot McGauran.
'Both embassies have really supported us. That's brought the embassies and countries closer together in some ways.'
The father of two, originally from Baconstown, said he has been planning the trip with his father Kevin, who is from Cavan, for quite some time.
"My dad's 70 years old, cycling across Europe. That's mad. Myself and dad always talked about cycling across Europe together,' said Niall.
"Last year, he fell off his bike in Ireland, and he fractured his hip and shoulder.
'He was recovering, and we started planning in January, seven months before a trip.'
After cycling for over 1,800km, cyclists are now heading towards their final destination – Veľké Slemence on the Slovak and Ukrainian border.
'The idea is to go from one side of the European Union to the other and connect the two charities,' said Niall.
"We've gone up 11,000 metres. One goal was to cycle higher than the elevation of Everest, which we did. As of today, we've crossed the Danube 13 times. It's been amazing so far.'
Originally from Baconstown, Co Meath, he said the support from their family, friends, and communities in Ashbourne and Swords has been 'amazing'.
His wife and son, Christopher (8), who is currently visiting his grandmother in Slovakia, are set to join their family on the road for the last days of the trip.
'Every day I've been cycling, I get closer to [my son]. Yesterday was amazing, he met us on the edge of town in Nitra."
Despite tiredness, the cyclists are in good spirits with three more days on the road.
"We've all picked up injuries. We're all insect-bitten and sunburnt. I picked up an ear infection along the way. I went to a GP in Germany, and he heard what we're doing, and he just said: 'No charge for you, sir'. But we're all grand, we're good.
'We're continuing today, but everyone's in good spirits. We all rested yesterday, and we finish on Monday.'