Air Corps to push a plane through Westmeath and beyond

The Irish Air Corps today undertake a 40 hour charity non-stop marathon that will pass through several Westmeath towns and villages over the course of the next two days. 

The Air Corps are pushing a light aircraft from Baldonnel to Galway to raise awareness for organ donation and support for a national commemorative garden to organ donors.

The planned route will see the push start at Baldonnel at 8pm Thursday evening and go through the night to Leixlip, Maynooth, Kilcock, Enfield, Clonard, and Kinnegad for 7am. It will then travel to Milltownpass, Rochfortbridge, Tyrrellspass, Kilbeggan, Horseleap, and reach Moate (it is planned) for 4pm. From there the journey continues onto Athlone, arriving about 5.30pm.

From Athlone it will pass through the small villages of Kielty, Cornafulla, Doohan, Ballydangan to Ballinasloe (arrival time approximately 1am Saturday). From Ballinasloe, it travels through the night, arriving in Loughrea about 7am, then to Craughwell, Derrydonnell Beg, on to Oranmore, and arriving in Galway City for 2.30pm. The final destination is Quincentennial Park, Salthill, 3pm.

This garden, called Circle of Life, will be in Quincentennial Park, Salthill, and is being developed by Strange Boat Donor Foundation, in partnership with Galway City Council.

In 2012 the Air Corps, which provides an international air ambulance service for the people of Ireland, completed 99 air ambulance missions, including national, international and transatlantic transfers of patients, of which 20 related directly to organ donation. Irish children requiring transplants are included in the UK’s donor pool and so rely on the speedy transport of the Air Corps when they receive a call to the UK for a transplant.