Tour de Force is a group of approximately 50 members of An Garda Síochána based in Dublin, and their friends and family, who take part in an annual sponsored cycle in aid of various local, national, and international charities. This year, the gardaí and their friends will cycle between Dublin and Westport and all the funds raised will go to the Mayo branch of the Cystic Fibrosis Association. In particular, the money raised this year will go towards the development of the special CF Unit at Mayo General Hospital.
The tour was launched last week by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his fellow Mayo man, Deputy Garda Commissioner Nacie Rice, a native of Castlebar.
Deirdre Gill, a native of Lecanvey in Westport and based in the Garda HQ in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, is one of the main organisers of this year’s event. “We are really looking forward to this year’s cycle,” she said. “We’ll be arriving in Westport on Thursday, June 16, at around 4.30pm and we are really hopeful that there’ll be a big turn out to greet the cyclists.”
