News Information

Make-A-Wish® worldwide will celebrate a global day of wish granting on April 29th.

World Wish Day is designed to inspire people all over the world to share the power of a wish and the difference it makes to an entire family. To support awareness of the World Wish Day campaign many celebrated Irish people will share with the nation their nostalgic childhood wishes over the coming days. These childhood wishes have been sent to Make-A-Wish from well known people from all areas of Irish life from sport to music and business to media to raise awareness of the power of a wish. 

Gay Byrne’s shares his childhood wish memories and the difference a wish makes: “I have a distinct memory of wanting to be a detective. I was a very good reader and a member of the Public Libraries, and I’d read all the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Conan Doyle. And I wanted to be HIM. I honed my observational skills and I deduced all sorts of wonderful things from examining everyone I met.

I even saved up and bought myself a fountain-pen torch, in case I was called out on a  murder case in the dead of night, and I practised prowling round our house in the dark using my torch. Years later, I got first place in the Father Mathew Feis for poetry as gaeilge, and my prize was Eactrai Sherlock Holmes – The Adventures of the great ‘tec in the native tongue.

I’d already read them all in English. I spent countless hours in our parlour driving buses through the City, with a sweet tin lid as a steering wheel. Then I found a book on ventriloquism and I wanted to be that. I practised for hours trying to throw my voice, but I had no idea where or how I’d get a dummy, and I never did. A ventriloquist without a dummy is not much use, so I gave that up.

From the time I was about fourteen I realised I wanted to be pretty much what I ended up being, and I’m immensely fortunate in that I’m one of a miniscule percentage of people who realised their life’s ambition, and ended up doing precisely what they set out to do. I would have been a rotten Sherlock Holmes – the battery ran out on my torch.”

Every 25 minutes, The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wish of a child with a life-threatening medical condition around the world. That’s more than 20,000 wishes every year. Over 240,000 wishes have been granted since 1980. In Ireland over 170 wishes will be granted this year and this solely depends on the amazing generosity of the Irish people.

To support World Wish Day and donate to Make-A-Wish Ireland: Donate online Or Donate at your local Bank of Ireland, Account Number 81894009,Sort Code 90-00-84

Check out the childhood wishes of well known Irish people by visiting Face book link

In addition a global online forum www.worldwishday.org   has been launched to celebrate 2010 the launch year of World Wish Day when the foundation celebrates their 30th anniversary.  For further information and more wishes please contact Sinead Christian PR and Marketing Manager Make-A-Wish sinead@makeawish.ie  01 2052007/0879029523