Talking to Joe

For the past five years, born and bred Mullingar man Joe Duffy has worked as the national fundraising co-ordinator for the Galway-based National Breast Cancer Research Institute (NBCRI).It's a difficult job, when you consider the times we live in, but if there's anyone with the temperament and experience to stick it out it's Joe, who spent over two decades as an active member of Mullingar Lions Club.It was with the local branch of the international charitable organisation that he first became familiar with the work of the NBCRI.Joe came across the work of the Institute in 1995, after the Lions Club held a breast cancer awareness evening in Mullingar. After a fellow Lion suggested that the branch look at fundraising options to assist the fight against breast cancer, Joe went to the Institute, and met with then Director, Professor Fred Given."I was very impressed with what they do down there," Joe told the Westmeath Examiner. "And any doctor I've talked to has been full of praise for the Institute."So along with fellow Mullingar man Gerry O'Reilly, Joe helped to devise the very first Into the West Cycle Challenge - now sponsored by Canada Life - from Mullingar to Galway. The first challenge raised €13,000 for the NBCRI, and the event has gone from strength to strength over the past seventeen years.After the inaugural challenge, Joe suggested other fundraising initiatives to the NBCRI, culminating in his current role as National Fundraising Co-ordinator."Professor Michael Kerin, who is the current Director of the Institute, asked me to come on board in that role, and I've been there for around six years," he said, explaining why above all other causes, he aligned himself to the NBCRI."I was a member of the Lions Club in Mullingar for 24 years, and during that time, I was struck by the number of people I met who were touched in some way by breast cancer."I took a shine to the Institute, and have great admiration for the work they do."A native of St. Brigid's Terrace, Mullingar, Joe is a son of Paddy and the late Maura Duffy, and the eldest of eight children. He attended primary and secondary school at St. Mary's CBS, Mullingar, and after finishing his Leaving Cert, went to train as a clerk with An Post in Galway.He spent thirty-six years with An Post, working in Navan and Limerick, before returning to Mullingar and working in various capacities until 2006, when he retired after 36 years.An ardent supporter of and former player with Mullingar Rugby Club, Joe never really became engrossed in any other sport until he developed a passion for cycling during the 1980s."I had finished with the rugby, and my brother John was one of the founding members of what was then Mullingar Cycling Club, a great club with people like Johnny Hanniffy and Albert Morris at the helm," Joe said."I used to drive John to races, and I got involved after a while."In terms of actually cycling, I wasn't that much of an active member for the first number of years."The club went into a bit of a low ebb during the mid-1980s, and Joe, along with several other prominent members, was among those tasked with keeping it alive.He has held various posts with Mullingar Cycling Club, and later again with Lakeside Wheelers, the name which the club adopted during the 1990s."When we remodelled as Lakeside Wheelers, we had a public meeting, and new jerseys to go along with the new name," he recalled. "Most importantly, we had a number of very good people who were willing to drive it on."Into the 2000s, Joe maintained his love of leisure cycling, and is an active member of the club. He is in awe of the people who brought Lakeside Wheelers to the point where it won the national Cycling Club of the Year Award in 2009, boasting 260 members.On Friday last, he was the race director for the Expert Mullingar Criterium - the popular event which was a staple of the annual Mullingar Cycling Club calendar during the 1980s, and given new life by the Wheelers last year."They really are a great bunch of people," Joe said, describing his fellow Wheelers. "We're very lucky to have the likes of people like Shay O'Toole, who has tremendous organisational abilities and energies."Despite being intimately involved with the cut and thrust of the Mullingar Criterium, Joe has never had a taste for the competitive side of cycling."I've always been a fan of leisure cycling. I've never competed," he said. "I have cycled abroad a number of times, for various touring events."I've cycled from Malin Head to Mizen Head a number of times, and in the U.S., across California and Georgia. That was absolutely fabulous."One of his most memorable touring events took place in Sweden four years ago, when Joe and seven fellow Wheelers joined 16,000 other cyclists in a tour of the Scandinavian country, along the shores of its second largest lake, Lake Vättern.The spin through central and southern Sweden lasted eleven hours, and went throughout the night, covering three hundred kilometres."It wasn't too cold, thankfully. It was during the summer, so we didn't have to put up with the Swedish winter!" he said.Joe is happy that with the creation of a "cycling hub" in Mullingar, interest in the sport is increasing rapidly."You can only commend the county council, people like the County Manager, Danny McLoughlin, Maurice Stenson, and [former Mullingar Area Director of Services] George Lambden, who put so much work into the promotion of cycling in Mullingar," he continued."We get great support from Westmeath Sports' Partnership also, and the Gardaí; all of these come together to help us out, especially for the Criterium."Cycling is a wonderful sport, and should be promoted. It's much better than jogging, and the beauty of it is that it can involve all ages."We have people in the club who are in their 60s and 70s."Married to Geraldine, a Sligo native, for the past 33 years, Joe lives at Highfield, Ballinderry, and has two sons, Gordon and Barry. He is as passionate about rugby as he is about cycling, and was very proud to see a former Mullingar clubman, Joe Schmidt, lead Leinster to victory in the Heineken Cup this year.He also follows the progress of town and county hurling and football teams, having played a bit of junior football for Mullingar Shamrocks during his younger days. Recalling fond memories of athletics and soccer street leagues in Mullingar, Joe describes the town as "a great place to grow up in"."I remember Mullingar when it was a very small place," he said. "I have very positive memories of those times."It has changed dramatically over the years, but I think for the greater part they were positive changes."