My Name is Eamonn Murtagh. I live in Dowth in the historical Boyne Valley region just outside Drogheda. On Sunday 21st 2009 I was forty. I have a very good friend of mine Brendan Greene who was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease a few years back. When I realised that Global Motor Neurone Awareness Day was on the 21st June, I decided to have a fundraising party for Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association. The IMNDA were using the day to organise Drink Tea for MND. I am not a tea drinker but have taken great interest in Beer over the last 20 or so years. So I decided to hold my 40th birthday a day earlier on the 20th June and asked people to come and Drink Beer for IMNDA. I decided to try a jukebox style fundraiser. I had loads of Vinyl records from the 70’s and 80’s and so decided that I would get a turntable and charge people to play their favourite records. A friend of mine Jim Agnew was a DJ in the 80’s on a local station and he provided some great records and also the turntable. I asked for €2 for a song and also €2 for a beer or even a cup of tea. Note : it was 5 euro for a Chris De Burgh or Pet Shop Boys song.



My two daughters, Niamh and Laura made pipe cleaner flowers and sold them from a tray. They also stuck lollipops to a couple of small trees and sold them to kids. We had a BBQ and we partied through the evening and into my birthday. I didn’t ask for presents I asked people to drop a donation into the buckets. My family members asked local businesses for spot prizes for a raffle and my daughters and nieces sold ticket on the day. Old 70’s / 80’s classics played well into the night and once the Champagne was drunk and the cake eaten we all headed off to bed.

Before the day itself I had been given cheques and cash donations totalling nearly two thousand euro. My employer Panda made a very generous donation as did Phil Reilly of Shannon Homes, Paul Connor Photography, The Punt Bar in Drogheda, A&S Finnegan Cleaning Services and Camplex. Panda staff were very generous and I got cheque and money transfers from friends who could not make it on the day. Tesco, Heineken, Brenda’s Bakery, Sharper Image, Newgrange Crystal, Harvey Norman and friends donated prizes to the raffle.

When we counted the donations made on the day, the money from the flowers and lollipops, the raffle money, the jukebox money and added it to the previous donations we had a total of €4,093.

I would like to take everyone who donated money or an item for the raffle, Mags, Ailish, Anne, Paddy, Jim, Cormac, Brian, Mickey, Ann, Phyllis, Betty and all my friends who came on the day and the IMNDA for the support they give Brendan and his family.

p.s. Chris De Burgh’s Best Moves record was saved from the hammer by a €50 donation and yes I did play some tracks off it.