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By Corporal (AR) Francis Harrigan
(Chartered Physiotherapist and Founder, Harrigan Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic - Athy, Rathangan and Enniscorthy)
This October, I will run the 2025 Dublin Marathon to raise €3,000 for St Michael’s Branch of the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel (ONE) in Athy, County Kildare.
The O.N.E. charity and our local St Michael’s Branch is a lifeline for Irish Defence Forces veterans: providing shelter, advocacy and hope for those facing homelessness, isolation or the struggle to rebuild life after service.
Right now, that lifeline is under serious threat.
The Athy branch no longer has a home on Duke Street (Main Street Athy). The team is fighting to return to its former headquarters, once a place where veterans could drop in for warmth, advice and friendship.
Without €3,000 in urgent community support, that move-back cannot happen. The doors will stay closed and South Kildare will lose its only dedicated veteran support hub.
Branch Chairman Kevin Carton has appealed to the community:
- “We’ve helped countless veterans find their feet again, but without fresh funding we simply can’t reopen our doors. We need the community’s support now more than ever"
- "We’re also seeking new volunteers; both ex-service personnel and Friends of O.N.E. (civilian volunteers) to join us at St Michael’s Branch in Athy and help keep this vital work alive”
Since 2020, I’ve been proud to raise vital funds for O.N.E. St Michael’s Athy through a series of endurance events from marathons, ultra-marathon events to ultra-distance cycling challenges each kilometre driven by the same goal: to keep this essential veterans’ lifeline alive. This year’s Dublin Marathon is my next step in that ongoing mission.
As someone currently serving as a Corporal in the Defence Forces Reserve, first volunteering in 2002, this cause is deeply personal. Both my father and grandfather each gave 34 years as Non-Commissioned Officers in the Permanent Defence Force. Service runs in our blood and I cannot stand by while a veterans’ support centre in my local town disappears.
I’ve learned that endurance, teamwork and purpose carry people through the hardest seasons, lessons forged in uniform and refined through years serving the community as a Physiotherapist. Running this marathon is my way of giving back to those who carried that same spirit long before me.
I’m honoured to be joined by Áine Lennon a very supportive friend, recreational runner and tennis player. I greatly appreciate her support and encouragement with this fund raiser for O.N.E.
Your donation will go directly towards bringing St Michael’s Branch home to Main Street Athy, keeping its doors open, paying essential bills and ensuring that no Irish veteran is left behind .