A prisoner who ran a marathon - inside the walls of a jail - has handed over a cheque for more than €10,000 to charity.
Pat Scanlan (43), who is serving a seven-year sentence for a drugs offence, completed 682 laps of Limerick prison yard earlier this year to raise money for the Chernobyl Children's Project.
Yesterday, he was in the office of prison governor, Mr Pat Laffan, to hand over a cheque for €10,080 to Ms Adi Roche, director of the Chernobyl project. "We had an extraordinary day. Pat is an inspiration who proves that the impossible is possible when the proper support is in place," Ms Roche said. "The authorities at Limerick Prison also deserve huge credit for allowing Pat to reach his full potential."
During his fund-raising drive, Scanlon received letters of support from a host of celebrities including singer Daniel O'Donnell and athlete Sonia O'Sullivan.
Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, came when he opened a letter and discovered a cheque for £500 from Lord Jeffrey Archer. It is believed that Archer - who is serving four years in an English prison for contempt of court - read about Scanlan's marathon effort in British newspapers. All the money raised in the marathon fund-raising drive will go towards building a kitchen and a domestic science unit at an orphanage in Kletsk, Belarus, and the project will be known as "Pat's Gift".
Scanlan has said he wants to become a humanitarian aid worker and plans to visit the orphanage in Belarus to view the fruits of his marathon efforts.
"I thinks this experience will change his life completely," Ms Roche said." When Pat comes out of prison, he will feel that he has really made a difference and his example is an inspiration to all of us at the Chernobyl project." Donations can be made to Bank of Ireland account No. 85537148.