A VISUALLY-impaired 17-year-old Leaving Cert student from Bantry is to be first student under 18 to be accompanied by a guide dog trained by Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind to an Irish school this September.
Yesterday, chief executive of the association, Pádraig Mallon, said: “We are very excited about this. It is a first and the training has been going very well with the dog and the boy. Before now, all people who are accompanied by our trained dogs have been 18 or over.”
The student is part of the first group of children to be trained with a guide dog by the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.
Last year, the charity trained 183 dogs – the highest annual total to date.
New figures show that the Cork-based charity also managed to buck the recession by increasing the funding it received from the public. The figures show that the amount it received from voluntary income last year increased from €2.2 million to €2.3 million.
Former Ireland soccer captain Roy Keane has helped increase the charity’s profile since taking on the role of the charity’s ambassador 10 years ago.
Mr Mallon said yesterday: “We are very pleased with last year. They are challenging times and we are 40 per cent down in funding from 2008. Last year, the situation stabilised.”
However, he said the charity is depending on legacies to break even and the amount received in legacies last year was €482,000. In total last year, the charity – which employs 55 – received €4 million, including €1 million in grant income. Mr Mallon said: “We were just about break even for last year and 80 per cent of the money we receive is from fundraising.”
