The men and women of the 117 IrishPolBatt serving with the UNIFIL multinational peacekeeping force in south Lebanon were amongst thousands of people at home and abroad who turned out to do a virtual GOAL Mile today (Christmas Day) in support millions of vulnerable people all over the world.
The members of the battalion, who are under the command of Lt. Col. Fred O’Donovan, did their GOAL Mile early Christmas morning.
Lt. Col O’Donovan said: “This is a Christmas Day like no other as COVID-19 impacts all over the globe. Members of the 117 Battalion are not home this Christmas with our families as we continue our tour of duty here in south Lebanon.
"But we were delighted to do our GOAL Mile today, and to support the vulnerable communities GOAL supports in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.”
Traditionally, communities gather in large numbers at 170 locations around Ireland every Christmas to walk, run or jog a GOAL Mile to support vulnerable communities in the 13 countries in which GOAL works in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
However, this year due to COVID-19 the GOAL Mile went virtual, with young and old registering in their thousands to do their mile at a time and place of their choosing and most importantly within their own safe social bubbles.
Those in Ireland who turned out to do a GOAL Mile were lots of sports stars including running legend and GOAL Ambassador Eamonn Coghlan and Operation Transformation psycologist Dr. Eddie Murphy.
Also doing the GOAL Mile today were an Irish family scattered around the world who were unable to travel home for the festive season due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Twenty members of the Flanagan’s aged from 85 to five years based in Ireland, Thailand, Australia, Germany and the UK walked a mile at 10 a.m Irish time to stand in solidarity with the millions of people GOAL supports.
Family spokesperson, Niamh Flanagan, Assistant Professor in Applied Social Studies in Maynooth University, and the only one of four siblings who lives in Ireland, said doing the GOAL Mile today was really special.
The family connected by zoom on their ipads and smart phones as they did their miles together across their various time zones.
Niamh and her family were joined in Dublin by her mother, Máirín (85) and her aunts. Also taking part were her brother Donal and his family in London; Ronan and his family in Perth; Angela and her family in Cologne and brother-in-law Peter Tarleton and his wife Nok in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Said Niamh: “Every Christmas at least some of our family are together to celebrate in Ireland, and in recent years we have built the wonderful tradition of doing a GOAL Mile on Christmas day. It is always a special time when we get out together as a family and do something for others.”
“When it became clear that this year family members would not be able to travel home to Ireland for Christmas due to COVID-19 we got creative about how we could carry on the GOAL Mile tradition. We were thrilled to see that GOAL announced the GOAL Mile was going virtually so we hatched a plan!”
GOAL CEO, Siobhan Walsh, paid a heartfelt thanks to all those who did their GOAL Mile today. And she reminded supporters that it is still not too late to register at www.goalmile.org to do a virtual GOAL Mile at some stage over the holiday period.
She said: “I want to extend a world of thanks to each and every person in Ireland and across the world for uniting as one global family this Christmas to make a difference. Thank you for your humanity.”
She added: “This year has seen all of our lives upheaved in ways unimaginable just 12 months ago. The impact of COVID-19 has been profound in the 13 countries in which GOAL works, exacerbated by the unresolved humanitarian issues that plague progress including climate change, global hunger, access to clean water, basic medical care, and sustainable livelihoods.”
“Since March, our teams have implemented a wide range of activities to reach over 17 million people with COVID-19 awareness and supports. This would not have been possible without the generous support of the people of Ireland.”
"Whilst this Christmas we are all being asked to keep apart, I am so happy that so many stood together today doing a mile in solidarity for GOAL. The pandemic means the GOAL Mile is more important than ever as we work to rebuild communities shattered by disease, conflict and climate change."
