Three men arrived back in Co Dublin yesterday after walking around the Irish coastline "to remind people about Jesus Christ".
Between 3.30 p.m. and 4 p.m. today, they will finish their 1,500-mile walk in Pearse Street, Dublin, from where they set off on May 18th.
Mr Jimmy Tobin, a west Cork man who works in the retail trade; Mr Martin McCormack, an analytic chemist from Finglas in Dublin; and Mr Josie Heffernan, a plasterer from Cork city, are evangelical Christians.
They said that they undertook the walk "to encourage remote Christian groups".
They also expect to raise approximately €15,000 for the Irish Bible Institute in Dublin and for the non-denominational Haven centre near Thurles, Co Tipperary, which helps recovering addicts.
All three men were raised as Catholics but through individual personal journeys found themselves going back directly to the Bible for spiritual guidance.
They belong to separate, small Bible-based (evangelical) communities, of which there are now an estimated 200 all over Ireland.
According to Mr McCormack, during the last 10 years their numbers have grown from very few in the Republic to "approximately 0.5 per cent of the population"; they now have "fellowships" in almost every county.
The traditional spirituality of Ireland has changed dramatically, Mr McCormack said. "From being a predominantly Catholic country, with regular church attendance, we are into a pluralist society with a less clear spiritual identity. Now you can find beliefs of all kinds being considered and experimented with.
"Traditional Christianity is almost no longer in vogue. Worse still, there is almost a spiritual vacuum, with nothing to fill it. Have we thrown out the baby with the bath water? Has God died in the hearts of the Irish people?" he asked.
Part of the purpose of their walk was to make a statement to all they met along the way "that God is not dead but very much alive", he said.
They also wished to encourage people "not to abandon hope on spiritual matters, but to consider the very basic message of Jesus". They emphasised that they were "not representing any particular brand of Christianity, but would hold to biblical principles of Christianity", he said.
You might say they set out on their walk on a wing and a prayer. They had no back-up team, no car accompanying them, carried all their belongings in knapsacks on their backs, and had no plans in advance as to where they would stay each night. Despite this, they were provided with bed and board by people they met along the way for 92 of their 97 nights on the road.
"The spirit of generosity is alive and well among the Irish people," Mr McCormack commented. They stayed in hostels the other five nights.
They began each day at 9 a.m. and walked until 4 p.m. or 5 p.m., covering an average 18-19 miles a day. Except Sundays, on which they rested.
En route, they spoke to numerous local Christian gatherings, as well as being interviewed for local radio stations and by local papers.
In the first week of their walk last May, there were "frequent wettings and blisters", but later on they were blessed with "good sunshine and tremendous scenery".
