Stockings full of festive fun at Tallaght University Hospital

A GENEROUS helping of Christmas cheer was brought to the children’s hospital in Tallaght this week, when local gardaí delivered 70 Christmas stockings filled with festive treats.

There were also a number of celebrities who visited the hospital as part of the festive celebrations on Monday morning, including some of the Fair City cast and members of The Riptide Movement.

The stockings and their contents were sponsored by Caroline Downey from MCD Productions, who has teamed up with local gardaí every December since 2012 to bring some joy to the children.

Pre-pandemic, Ms Downey, in conjunction with the hospital and local gardaí, would arrange for celebrities, including Jedward, Louis Walsh and Mary Byrne, to visit the children in the hospital.

However, from 2020 onwards it wasn’t possible to bring the celebrities into the hospital so instead the children have joyfully received stockings every December – until this year, when the celebrity guests made a return, and stockings were also handed out.

Garda Peter Egan, who has been based in Tallaght Garda Station for the last 20 years and was instrumental in setting up the annual charitable event, told The Echo about the event’s origin.

“I’m based in Tallaght Garda Station since 2002, and I started to notice how the children’s hospitals in Crumlin and Temple Street had a lot of events and publicity, but Tallaght didn’t,” he said.

Riptide Movement, from Lucan

“I noticed that, in Tallaght, there wasn’t the same amount of attention. So, I had a contact who had a contact in MCD, so I took a chance and asked them if they wanted to be involved in something for Tallaght.

“Caroline Downey from MCD said ‘Yes, absolutely’, and, year on year, since it started in 2012, it’s been going strong, except when Covid put a damper on it, and we couldn’t have visitors.

“But this is the first year post-Covid that we’ve managed to get some people in to visit. We had some of the cast of Fair City, and Malachy and Gerry from The Riptide Movement.”

There were two magicians there on the day, Colm Dawson and Stephen Spade, and athletes Jenny Egan and Erin King, who all brought some Christmas cheer to the hospital wards.

Garda Christian Madsen, with Mal and Gerry entertaining Baby Hugo Anderson

“It’s hard to get people to give up their time between shows, pantomimes and theatre, and those that came gave up their own time for it,” explained Garda Egan.

“It’s great engagement for the kids and their parents, it gives all of them a bit of a lift, a bit of craic with the magicians, and a bit of a sing-song with the musicians.”

He added: “It’s also a difficult time for the hospital staff, it’s 24/7 and, like ourselves, they’ll be working through Christmas and the New Year, and there will be kids who won’t be able to go home.

“It brings a different experience for them, and a positive distraction to take their mind off the difficulties they’re going through.”