Brave Mairéad’s positive step
Popular Nenagh businesswoman Mairéad Gill is hoping for widespread local support for a series fundraisers in aid of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Maireád, who opened the award-winning Peppermill restaurant with her husband Robert in 2000, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease almost 18 months ago.
She is determined to do something positive about her situation, and is to that end featuring in a sponsored walk around Nenagh on April 3 - the same weekend that former broadcaster Charlie Bird hopes to climb Croagh Patrick for the IMNDA and Pieta House.
The walk will be the first of three ‘Motor with Maireád’ local events in support of the motor neurone charity, which is 80% reliant on fundraising to deliver its services to people living with the incurable condition. There are also plans for an auction night at Reidy’s of Newtown in the late spring and a concert at St Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh in early autumn.
“It's just a way of raising money,” Mairéad said of her goal for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.
“They're a phenomenal organisation, they really are; you can ring them at any time of the day or night.”
DIAGNOSIS
August 24, 2020 is a date that the Gill family will never forget. That was the day when Maireád was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the Galway Clinic.
She had known for some time before then that something was not right. She noticed it with her breathing and with her hands. “I was being treated for asthma and arthritis. I knew there was something,” Mairéad said.
2020 had been a year of visits to various consultants, and then having to come to terms with the diagnosis. Robert spoke of the difficulty in broaching it with family and friends.
“But then when it came out, everybody was fantastic,” he said. “All the letters and texts and calls from everybody and anybody, people you didn't know. The whole town - every business person in Nenagh.”
“I think I've had letters from every person I know in Nenagh, and from people I didn't know,” Mairéad added, praising the warmth of support she has been receiving.
Since diagnosis, Mairéad has been attending neurologist Professor Orla Hardiman at Beaumont Hospital every month. She is regularly seen by occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech therapists.
“The HSE are amazing,” Mairéad said of the services that are available to her. She spoke particularly highly of John Healy, her occupational therapist in Nenagh, along with chief district health nurse Margaret Gleeson, and physio Rachel Spillane, who comes to Mairéad’s home at Newtown to do mobility exercises with her.
‘A VERY HARSH DISEASE’
An increasingly prevalent condition, motor neurone disease now directly affects over 400 people in Ireland at any given time, around 20 of whom are in the north Tipperary area.
“It is tough because your muscles are going, one after the other,” Mairéad said of her experience of the disease. “My hands went first, and my breathing went, and my legs are weak now...
“But my hearing, my eyes, my voice is fine. I can still eat, I can still go out for dinner. But it is a very harsh disease. With cancer, you can fight it, you’ve got something to do.”
Mairéad has been in the restaurant business for almost 40 years. Née Cadell, her family has a proud tradition in hospitality in Nenagh that dates back to the 1860s. She began working at the Hibernian Inn on Pearse St in 1983, and went on to open the Peppermill and Pepe’s restaurants on Kenyon St with Robert.
Their son Peter is continuing that tradition in the restaurant business with his partner Nikolina, while their daughter Gemma, who got married last summer, is an accountant.
Mairéad spoke of the emotional support provided by her family and friends, and the practical support of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Its services include one nurse based in each of the four provinces, people who travel great distances to help Mairéad when called upon.
NENAGH WALK
In many ways like Charlie Bird, whose Croagh Patrick event takes place on the Saturday, Mairéad wants to raise awareness as well as funding for motor neurone disease when she sets out on her mobility scooter on Sunday afternoon, April 3. She's hoping to be joined by a large group in travelling a 5km route around Nenagh.
Sponsorship cards will be available at Pepe's and the Peppermill, or by contacting Albert Purcell - 087 2430546.
Further details will be publicised in the coming weeks.
Mairéad revealed that she is also participating in motor neurone research with Prof Hardiman, a leading neurologist, who has been awarded for her work with people living with the disease.
Talking about the amount of new research in this field, Mairéad hoped that campaigns she and others are highlighting this year will go some way towards perhaps finding a cure for motor neurone disease.
“The amount of research being done on this disease is amazing,” she said. “They really are putting so much into research and you'd love to support it. It won't be any good to me but it will be good to somebody.”