The Shellie Project - if you have a minute, please read

[Dave Cahill]

Many of you will know Mick Dolan, owner of Dolans in Limerick, and the welcome and hospitality he has always provided to Leinster supporters on our trips down. Some of you will also know Micks great friend Peadar Murtagh from our nights in Dolans, a great supporter of Munster and all round good bloke.

Peadars niece, Shellie Murtagh, is a qualified Teacher and Riding Instructor, and in the course of these two endeavors after working with a teenage boy on the Autism spectrum who was previously thought of as being 'unteachable' realised that he could ride a horse with relative ease and that using horses to communicate with people on the Autism spectrum she could improve her skills in teaching them.

As a result of this and other experiences Shellie has created The Shellie Project, the aim of which is to develop a national primary school recognised by the Department of Education and Science, devoted to children with autism and special abilities which will incorporate horse therapy along with the more usual techniques and methods. Combining the two will present a whole new approach to educating children with special abilities in a more interesting, suitable and enjoyable manner.

Shellie has witnessed remarkable changes in children on the autism spectrum while riding with them. This along with research to date and other anecdotal evidence led Shellie to the view that the horse connection needs further research and she hopes to achieve this as part of the project.

Further to this, Mick Dolan has decided to release a record by singer-songwriter Eoin Coughlan featuring Shellie Murtagh in order to raise funds for and awareness of both The Shellie Project and The Milford Care Centre (aka The Milford Hospice). The song is available from iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and the Nokia Music Store and costs a paltry 99c

More information (including links to the song) is available from The Shellie Project website

http://www.theshellieproject.org

and from The Shellie Project Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/TheShellieProject

[Dave Cahill]

Just bumping this in case anyone is interested in contributing by purchasing the song as the charts close midnight thursday.