Defence Forces Charity Gun Push to take place in Athlone

A charity gun push will take place in Athlone on Friday, May 6 in aid of the Ukrainian Refugee Appeal and the Defence Forces Benevolent Fund.

Gunners of all ranks in 2 Brigade Artillery Regiment (2 BAR) based in Costume Barracks Athlone will push a 105 Heavy Artillery Gun weighing 1.5 tonnes from Athlone to Ballymahon, Longford, Mullingar and back to Athlone for two worthy causes.

The following is the route and approximate time of arrivals for each location;

1. Ballymahon - ETA 09.30am - Route from the Bridge to the Church.

2. Longford - ETA 10.30am - Route Market Square to Connolly Barracks.

3. Mullingar - ETA 13.30pm - Barrack Street to Newbury Hotel, stopping at the Joe Dolan Statue as a collection Point.

4. Athlone - ETA 15.00pm - Stopping at Golden Island Shopping Centre & Bank of Ireland returning to barracks at 16.30.

Everyone is invited to come out and support them and encourage the 'Gunners' to keep the Gun moving.

Regt Sgt Major Lloyd Murphy said, "As our citizens and country move into a new phase post Covid, we in 2 Brigade Artillery decided to get back into our local communities and create awareness and raise funds for two noble charities."

"Using some of the key ingredients of soldiering - teamwork, leadership, fitness, resilience, and with the ethos and values of our Defence Forces as the driving force, our Regiment will conduct a charity event, pushing a 105 Heavy Artillery Gun, weighing 1.5 Ton, from Costume Barracks Athlone to Mullingar, via Ballymahon, Longford Town, and back again to Athlone."

Sgt Major Murphy added, "With support from Westmeath County Council and our comrades in An Garda Síochána in support, we will start our journey at 9.30am and finish at approximately 4.30 back in Costume Barracks Athlone.

"We invite the local communities to come out and join us, families, schools, work colleagues. If the weather is inclement we will get wet, but like everything we do in our Defence Forces, the discipline of the mission dictates we will start and finish regardless of weather, time or terrain."

The Defence Forces are also currently recruiting.