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Thousands of people walked in the rain and wind at sunrise this morning to raise funds for Pieta House.
The suicide prevention charity described the weather for Darkness Into Light as challenging for a challenging year .
Participants walked, ran, swam or hiked on their own or in their social bubble.
More than 140,000 people signed up to take part in the campaign and over €6.4m has been raised for Pieta House in the process.
Last night, a further €1.1m was raised for the charity on the Late Late Show.
Pieta House Fundraising and Advocacy Manager, Tom McEvoy, was thrilled with the support, describing this year s Darkness into Light event today as amazing .
Pieta House hopeful success of last year s Darkness Into Light event can be replicated tomorrow morning The organisation say the funds are more important now than ever
The charity say the impact of the pandemic is expected to have far reaching implications for people s mental health throughout 2021.
Calls and texts to Pieta’s helpline directly relating to suicide, self-harm and suicide bereavement rose by 25% in December 2020 compared to December 2019.
Speaking to RedFM News Darran Coyle Garde of Pieta House says they re hopeful the public will support them again this year:
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TV Editor
Tonight s TV picks include The Late Late Show, Intergalactic, Alan Partridge, an Emmylou Harris night on BBC Four – and the finale of Kaley Cuoco s The Flight Attendant . . .
Pick of the Day
The Late Late Show, 9.35pm, RTÉ One
Tonight s show sees a host of stars from the worlds of movies, music and sport coming together to lend their support to Pieta House s annual Darkness into Light fundraising campaign.
Ryan Tubridy speak to Hollywood star Sharon Stone about her strong ties with Ireland, and surviving a terrifying brain bleed.
Irish jockey Rachael Blackmore (above) will join Ryan to speak about riding to victory in one of the toughest races in sport, while country music star Sandy Kelly will be joined by her niece, Sandie Ellis, as they speak publicly together for the first time about the tragic death of Sandy s sister Barbara.
Tomorrow morning, the Darkness Into Light walk will take place across the country. Each year, the sunrise walk raises awareness of suicide and fundraises to support suicide prevention.
Because of Covid-19, we will not see crowds gathering in their thousands as we usually would. Instead, Pieta House is asking people to get out before sunrise and do the walk in their social bubble.
In the month of May, which is Mental Health Month, it is one of the most successful fundraisers for the charity. The Killarney leg alone in Co Kerry has raised over €500,000 since 2011. Known as Nathan s Walk , it was the first branch of Darkness Into Light to be hosted outside of Dublin.