Published: Wednesday, 14th July, 2010 5:00pm
A road to remember...
by Brian O'LoughlinCharity fundraiser this Saturday, July 17
Team Ireland (from left) Ronan Fitzpatrick, Mark O'Keefe, Fiona Shannon and John Foley.
Pic by==: 97
A road trip of 4001 miles will either put you off long journeys for life, or whet your appetite for adventure...
In the case of Killygarry man Ronan Fitzpatrick, it's the latter and he's now planning an even longer run, to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia in a Ford Transit van.
Ronan is part of Team Ireland, who are helping the Christina Noble Children's Foundation, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Adventures for Development by undertaking the trip. So how did he get this idea into his head?
He laughs and denies that he's to blame, and instead points the finger at a friend from Cork who studied architecture with him in Belfast. The pair of them and three others did that 4001-mile journey ("exactly 4001 miles, door to door") in January this year. It was a field trip from the University of Ulster in Belfast to Porto, the second largest city in Portugal, and their transport that time was Ronan's 2002 Volvo S60.
The rest of their class flew down, but the lads "took a notion" and decided to drive.
They had a great time, especially on the way back via the eastern border of France, where they stopped to admire the works of architect Le Corbusier including the Church of St. Pierre in St. Etienne and La Tourette.
It was the spontaneity of having the car that appealed to Ronan, which is grand in the relative safety and convenience of the EU where there are no border checks or visas and there is a network of motorways and fuels stations.
Driving to Mongolia won't be so easy - Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman can testify to that having completed their journey for the book and TV series Long Way Round. Team Ireland aren't going all the way round though, as their vehicle and all the equipment they carry on board (winches, tools, containers for the 120 litres of diesel they'll always have on board...) will remain in Mongolia when the lads will hand it over to Adventures for Development, which works with underprivileged children there.
Hopefully the Transit, a 2002 long wheelbase model, will make it the 10000 or so miles from Dublin to London, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and finally Mongolia.
The further east the lads go, the more difficult the terrain they'll have to cope with.
Ronan says Mongolia has only 80km of Tarmac roads, and often the dirt tracks they'll be following split into five or six alternative routes, which makes navigation particularly challenging.
The Transit they bought is an ex-British Rail vehicle that has been well serviced through its working life. It's a fairly simple vehicle too and Ronan, as the chief mechanic on the team, is confident he'll be able to keep it running - with the help of the Hayes manual ("the first thing we bought; we'll have it learned off by heart").
The lads have already spent more than €1000 each on visas and travel documentation, and are funding all other expenses, including the flights back home, from their own resources so that all funds raised go to the charities. The teams involved in the event expect to raise about £500000 in total.
Ronan and Team Ireland have found that companies here have been generous "as long as you're not asking for cash". What they have asked for, and received, is sponsorship from: Woodford Motor Factors, Universal Graphics, Mr. Bullbar.ie, Norfolkline Ferries, O'Neills, Conlon's Coaches, Clones, the Meadow View and the Imperial.
This Saturday, July 17 Ronan is hosting a fundraising event in the Meadow View and he and his team-mates would appreciate as much support as they can get.
He describes it as "a bit of a mixed bag really, everything from head-shaving to traditional music - Anything Goes is the title".
Anything goes on the journey to Mongolia too.
Best of luck Team Ireland.
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