Latest news with #LittleBlueHeroes
Irish Independent
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
See photos as Tipperary's Little Blue Heroes meet Taoiseach at Dáil amid joyful scenes
The Little Blue Heroes are children with illnesses or disabilities who are made honorary gardaí for the day. On Tuesday, local TD Michael Murphy said he was delighted to invite seven Little Blue Heroes from Tipperaryto be honoured as VIP guests to Leinster House. The day out included a meet and greet with Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy. 'Everyone was so happy to see them and they created an amazing atmosphere wherever they went,' said Deputy Murphy. 'Thank you to An Garda Síochána Tipperary and the staff at Leinster House who helped in making this an unforgettable day for all involved. Little Blues Heros, I salute you. You are all inspirational. 'It's about giving them a day to remember. A memorable day. And you saw the joy on their faces here today,' added Deputy Murphy. 'A very, very special day. A very emotional day for me as well to be quite honest. To see the joy on their faces.' An Taoiseach Michéal Martin welcomed the Little Blue Heroes to the Dáil, where Deputies gave them a big wave as they watched proceedings from the gallery. 'I know you had a busy morning, with the Garda escort, and were greeted by the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan, the Ceann Comhairle, and Deputy Michael Murphy,' the Taoiseach told the entourage from Tipperary. 'Also, I was delighted to attend the Little Blue Heroes ball in Killarney earlier this month, and I want to thank the organisation, and thank all those who support their organisation for their extraordinary work, that they do for children and families. 'And in particular to pay a very warm tribute to An Garda Síochána. This entire charity emanated from a number of gardaí and retired gardaí. 'Their voluntarism is second to none and they reflect the degree to which An Garda Síochána are embedded in every community in this country. And thanks be to god, we are fortunate that they are, giving us the police force that we have.' Little Blue Heroes Foundation, established in 2017, is a not-for-profit registered charity voluntarily led by Garda members, retired Garda members and civic minded people from communities. The charity employs one person from the community to operate the day to day administration of the charity. ADVERTISEMENT The group is independent of An Garda Síochána, and is funded entirely by donations and fundraising - they receive no money from state funding or directly from An Garda Síochána. 'Little Blue Heroes Foundation's vision is to support families of children with serious illnesses in Ireland while empowering the lives of children through positive community engagement,' said a spokesperson. 'Our mission is to provide practical and financial support to families of children who have serious illnesses in Ireland while granting the wish of the children we support to become honorary gardaí to empower the child and foster positive engagement with An Garda Síochána.'
The Journal
24-06-2025
- Health
- The Journal
Group of Little Blue Heroes visit Leinster House
A GROUP OF Little Blue Heroes was welcomed to Leinster House by Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy today. The Little Blue Heroes Foundation, which is funded entirely by donations and fundraising, was established in 2017. It was set up to support families of children with serious illness, both practically and financially. The foundation is a not-for-profit registered charity voluntarily led by Garda members, retired Garda members and civic-minded people from communities. It grants the wish of children supported by the foundation to become 'Honorary Gardaí', which is says empowers the children and 'fosters positive engagement' with the policing authority. Today, two of the children arrived at Leinster House on miniature roads policing motor bikes while others were dressed in Garda uniforms. Advertisement Among those to travel from Co Tipperary was honorary Garda Joey Moss, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The event was organised by Murphy and South Tipperary TD Michael Murphy. The seven heroes were accompanied by garda members from Clonmel Station and Pearse Street Station including Superintendent Niall O'Connell, Sergeant Kieran O'Regan, Garda Fiona Gleeson, Garda Eoin Philpott and Garda Marie Casey. Mr Murphy said: 'Today was a special day for me, an opportunity to host the Little Blue Heroes from South Tipperary. 'And in particular to promote, at a national level, the 671 honorary guards, sadly 83 of those have passed away. 'Today we had seven Little Blue Heroes, regrettably a further four couldn't travel. 'For me it was about giving them a day to remember, it's about promoting the foundation, and to showcase Leinster House and all that is good about it. 'It's a very memorable day and one I won't forget, particularly their seven heroes and their families.'
BreakingNews.ie
24-06-2025
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Little Blue Heroes welcomed to Leinster House
A group of Little Blue Heroes was welcomed to Leinster House by Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy on Tuesday. The Little Blue Heroes Foundation, which is funded entirely by donations and fundraising, was established in 2017. Advertisement It was set up to support families of children with serious illness, both practically and financially. The foundation is a not-for-profit registered charity voluntarily led by Garda members, retired Garda members and civic-minded people from communities. Two of the children arrived at Leinster House on miniature roads policing motor bikes while others were dressed in Garda uniforms. Among those to travel from Co Tipperary was honorary Garda Joey Moss, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Advertisement The event was organised by Ms Murphy and South Tipperary TD Michael Murphy. The seven heroes were accompanied by garda members from Clonmel Station and Pearse Street Station including Superintendent Niall O'Connell, Sergeant Kieran O'Regan, Garda Fiona Gleeson, Garda Eoin Philpott and Garda Marie Casey. Mr Murphy said: 'Today was a special day for me, an opportunity to host the Little Blue Heroes from South Tipperary. 'And in particular to promote, at a national level, the 671 honorary guards, sadly 83 of those have passed away. Advertisement 'Today we had seven Little Blue Heroes, regrettably a further four couldn't travel. 'For me it was about giving them a day to remember, it's about promoting the foundation, and to showcase Leinster House and all that is good about it. 'It's a very memorable day and one I won't forget, particularly their seven heroes and their families.'
RTÉ News
24-06-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
Little Blue heroes to get VIP treatment at Leinster House
Leinster House will play host to a group of very special VIP guests from Co Tipperary later today, with nine Little Blue Heroes arriving for a tour. One of those is six-year-old Honorary Garda Joey Moss, who has been part of the Little Blue Heroes Foundation for the last three years. Little Blue Heroes was set up in 2017 to support families of children with serious illnesses, both practically and financially, as well as empowering children through positive community engagement. The charity is voluntarily led by serving garda members, retired garda members and others in the community. Honorary Garda Joey will travel to Dublin with his mother Dervla Anderson. He was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and had undergone two surgeries before he was three years old. Shortly before his third birthday, Joey was due to undergo another procedure, however a complication meant it did not go ahead. "We went in for his final stage of surgery, but unfortunately they realised that Joey had pulmonary hypertension, so they were unable to go ahead with the last stage of surgery and it was a bit upsetting because we had hoped to have his third birthday party a few weeks later," Dervla explained. As he could not celebrate his birthday properly that year, Dervla reached out to local gardaí in Clonmel to see if they could send a patrol car to their house to surprise him as he was "obsessed with the emergency services". She said they obliged with a "show" for Joey, which included a number of emergency vehicles, and then went one better by putting him forward to become a Little Blue Hero. "He was actually presented with his own special garda car, and for his fourth birthday they came again and repeated what they had done the previous year, but this time the Little Blue Heroes came with the motorbike. So, they have absolutely been phenomenal to us as a family and Joey especially", she added. Joey takes his role as an honorary garda very seriously. "I have to help people, and I have to show respect. I have to wear my uniform and I'm happy that I have to wear my uniform and the reason I became a garda is because of my open-heart surgery and I was so surprised when they came for my birthday," he said. He said that being an Honorary Garda is "cool" and that he really enjoys wearing his uniform and going out on the beat. When asked if being garda was something he'd like to do when he's older, Joey said: "That was my dream." Today's event at Leinster House was arranged by Clonmel Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy and will see the honorary gardaí from South Tipperary greeted by Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy and Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan.
The Irish Sun
19-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
Bumblebee 1000's Talladega Nights roadtrip raises €231,458 for Little Blue Heroes charity
BUMBLEBEE 1000 came, we saw, and we conquered, plus we raised €231,458 for the Little Blue Heroes charity. Our latest supercar roadtrip, Talladega Nights, took place over the weekend and this was our biggest event to date with over 100 vehicles taking part. Advertisement 9 RED ALERT: The LaFerrari was a very rare sight on Irish roads so as you can imagine this €3m hypercar was a massive hit with spectators Credit: Jacob Liggett 9 THE FAST AND THE LUXURIOUS: Audi R8 V10 arriving with a beautiful Rolls Royce Cullinan following closely behind Credit: Jacob Liggett 9 FLAME THROWER: This 1,100bhp Nissan R35 GT-R shoots massive flamse for fun Credit: Jacob Liggett On the start line at Barberstown Castle we had one of the fastest and most expensive hypercars in the world — a 1,600bhp Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+. This Bugatti, worth over €5million, is a limited-edition variant of the Chiron that has an incredible top speed of 490.484kph. And taking part in the full roadtrip was a 950bhp LaFerrari, one of only 499 in the world, that's powered by a 6.3-litre V12 and uses F1-derived tech. It was a sight to behold to see this stunning red €3m hypercar cruising the streets of Ireland alongside other beautiful Ferraris like the SF90, the 296 GTB, the F8 and the 458. Advertisement 9 NOT SO MELLOW YELLOW: Two amazing Lamborghini Aventadors and the one in the foreground is a super rare SVJ model Credit: Jacob Liggett 9 GO AHEAD, MAC MY DAY: Stunning McLaren 765 LT, its twin-turbo V8 produces 765bhp, making it the most powerful LT ever made Credit: Jacob Liggett 9 THERE'S THE STIG: Irish Sun Motoring Editor Darren Liggett - AKA The Ligg Credit: Jacob Liggett As always Bumblebee 1000 events raise money for the incredible Little Blue Heroes. Advertisement It is voluntarily led by Garda members, provides vital support to the families of sick kids in Ireland and now Bumblebee 1000 has raised over €840,107 for this incredible charity. I joined the action in a 727bhp M5 super saloon thanks to my friends at BMW Ireland and was dressed as the Irish Sun's tamed Motoring Editor The Ligg. But if I had a euro for every time someone commented, 'There's The Stig' as I drove by, I would have easily covered my fuel bill for the weekend. Most read in Motors Road Test And it's always fun at all the fuel stops to take selfies with all the spectators and all the wonderful Little Blue Heroes I meet along the way. Advertisement Part of our three-day road trip took us through the stunning scenery of the Ring of Kerry. The hills were literally alive with the sound of supercars, and to see and hear over 100 of them roar down through Moll's Gap in sunshine was breathtaking. And I'm sure the thousands who turned out to see their favourite cars were blown away with the sheer amount of rare machines like the limited edition Lamborghini Aventador SVJ 63. It's so rare there are only 63 of them made, and the amazing silver model on the trip was also right-hand drive — only a handful of them are in existence. Advertisement 9 MOUNTAIN MADNESS: On Saturday the hills were alive to the sound of supercars as Bumblebee took on the Ring of Kerry and stunning scenery through Moll's Gap Credit: Jacob Liggett 9 BEEM MACHINES: BMWs were out in force with M3s, M4s including a rare M4 CS model, pictured above, and at least nine M5s Credit: Jacob Liggett 9 THE MAGIC NUMBERS; Stunning Lamborghini Aventador 63 is one of only 63 in the world Credit: Jacob Liggett The finish lines on a Bumblebee 1000 road trip always draw the biggest crowds and on Friday at the Neil Armstrong Way in Kerry the turnout was incredible. Advertisement While on Saturday at the Lewis Road Car Park in Killarney, the whole town turned out to see us arrive and join in the party atmosphere. But we saved the best to last as on Sunday when we pulled into the Portlaoise Plaza it was packed with spectators who got to see the finest collection of supercars ever in Ireland at one time. Read more on the Irish Sun For more info head over to or find them on , Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Advertisement
