A GoFundMe fundraising drive for a south Roscommon family benefitted this week by a €500 donation from the recent Ireland West Foal Championship and Sale. Fourteen-year-old schoolgirl Saoirse Murphy has travelled to Germany for proton therapy treatment after a malignant brain tumour was discovered when she became ill in July and her mother Fiona is undergoing chemotherapy following her breast cancer diagnosis in April.

“We always pick a charity and do a donation each year. A couple of months ago I saw a post on Facebook for this particular GoFundMe cause, I think it mentioned about the child going horseriding and earmarked it. Then I saw an article in the Roscommon Herald so when we had such a good day and there was such goodwill, we decided we will do the donation now,” said Sinéad Slattery Hanley.