Galway's 'Tiny Dancer' Lily-Mae Morrison was presented with a cheque for €95,000 at a special fundraising night held in Monroe's Live, Dominick Street recently.
The cheque, the proceeds of the charity single, 'Tiny Dancer', will be divided between the Sunni Mae Trust and the Neuroblastoma Society, and was presented to Lily-Mae and Stephen Smith of the Neuroblastoma charity.
Lily-Mae has just returned from London where she has undergone groundbreaking treatment to combat the rare form of cancer.
The 'Tiny Dancer' single, a cover of the 1971 Elton John hit, brought together a 'who's who' of Irish music and featured Declan O'Rourke, Mary Black Paddy Casey and Mundy among others. While it just missed out on the coveted Christmas number one slot, it was the highest selling single in Irish chart history to reacher number two at Christmas and received an endorsement from Elton John.
Producer Stephen Macken, who conceived and co-ordinated the charity single, said Friday's event at Monroe's Live was the culmination of a year's work.
“We've raised money way beyond my expectations. I really only thought we'd break even and the benefit would be publicity, but €95,000 for Lily-Mae and for other children with neuroblastoma – I really couldn't be happier,” he said.
Lily-Mae's mother, Judith Sibley, was delighted with the support they have received from the public.
“When Stephen first had the idea of 'Tiny Dancer', we never thought we'd raise anything like this amount of money, so to raise €95,000 is just utterly incredible. We're so delighted.”
