Killarney

By Sean Moriarty
<h3>St Francis Special School received a very late Christmas present this week &#8211; a specially adapted bike for the pupils to use.</h3>
Husband and wife team Ciaran and Karen Dwyer, directors of Guerin Engineering and Pumps Ltd in Kilcummin, presented the special adapted bicycle to the staff and pupils at the Beaufort school on Tuesday.
After seeing an online request last December that the school needed the bike, they decided to gift one.
They contacted Glencar Medical, a Dublin-based firm that specialises in the supply of equipment to schools like St Francis, and ordered the bicycle.
However, nothing is straightforward in the current climate, Brexit, COVID and war all contributed to a delay in getting the bike to Ireland. Once it was in Dublin there were further delays in sourcing the special straps that St Francis&rsquo; children need to ride the bike safely.
It all came to a happy ending this week when the Dwyers were finally able to present their Christmas present to the school.
&ldquo;We saw this request and we contacted the school and said we wanted to buy one, they told us where to get one, and we ordered it,&rdquo; Karen told the Killarney Advertiser.
&ldquo;We had it paid for by the end of the year but then it took three months to get it into the country. It took more time to import the specialist parts. The costs were increasing but we did not mind at all.&rdquo;

Better late than never Christmas present for St Francis Special School

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