MARY COWEN took a rare step into the limelight yesterday to take part in the second annual Anam Cara “A Balloon to Remember” campaign on All Souls Day.
The Taoiseach’s wife is a patron of Anam Cara, which provides support to bereaved families who have lost a child. People from all over braved torrential rain to converge on Lloyd Town Park in Tullamore, Co Offaly, for the release of thousands of pink and blue balloons, representing lost children and siblings.
Mrs Cowen praised all of those involved with Anam Cara. “It’s frightening when you look at the statistics in Ireland and realise that over 1,900 families every year will suffer the loss of a son or daughter.
“Anam Cara will not take away the unbearable grief that those parents will suffer, but when parents are ready to talk about their loss, when they feel nobody in the ‘real’ world understands what they are going through, when their friends are being well meaning, but saying all the wrong things, when they can’t talk to their partner or other children for fear of upsetting them too much, it is a welcome relief for them to know that there is an organisation like Anam Cara out there,” she said.
Also present was Anam Cara ambassador, RTÉ’s Miriam O’Callaghan whose sister Anne died in 1995.
“Anam Cara provides an invaluable service to anyone who has suffered the loss of a child or a sibling. Following the initial days and months after the tragic death of a family member, when support unintentionally slips away due to everyday life taking over for others, bereaved families still feel the pain and loss each and every morning they wake up and remember. Anam Cara is the service that remembers with you, while also providing a support network to help you through the tough times,” Ms O’Callaghan said.
According to a study commissioned by Anam Cara, 58 per cent of Irish people know someone who has experienced the loss of a child. Anyone affected by the loss of a child can get information or sign a remembrance book at anamcara.ie.