Relief on ‘wild’ Paddle The Bay challenge as campaign raises €6,000
Ryan Allen speaks to Donegal Live after completing Donegal Bay challenge on Monday, August 31
A charity fundraiser who was part of the team that took on the 2026 Paddle the Bay Challenge told Donegal Live that it was “a big relief” to do the challenge on a “wild day.”
Ryan Allen (Irish Gap Year), was part of a team, including James Garvey (Rossnowlagh Surf School), joined by Iarom Madden (surf coach) and supported by Oisín Armstrong (Madden’s Bridge Bar), that took on the 40km paddle in Donegal Bay, from the foot of Sliabh Liag to the Bundoran Boat Quay on Monday, August 31.
The charitable challenge, in aid of Bundoran Community Centre to be able to provide counselling sessions for young people, was finally completed after scheduled paddles on July 24 and August 30 had been postponed.
So far, the campaign has raised over €6,300, with the GoFundMe page being left open for future donations.
Ryan Allen, speaking to Donegal Live, said: “It is a big relief to have it done because we were waiting for the weather and balancing that with fundraising goals. Eventually we needed to make the call.
“It was a pretty wild day for it really. Bumpy, and a lot of rain and wind, and we are glad that we went for it.
“It was cool in those conditions, as normally, we would try to get a windless and perfect day, but we needed to go for it because we were running out of summer.
“There was a bit of a back and cross wind, so it kind of helped us out.
“We came through a big pod of dolphins at St John’s. That was cool. It is encouraging when you see them, as it feels like a good omen. They are inquisitive, shooting under our boards and jumping up. It was like they were giving encouragement.
“When you are setting off, you are nervous. We would have our safety organised and our support boat, but you still get the nerves and as it is a big body of water. “
When asked about the importance of the money raised for the Bundoran Community Centre, Ryan replied: “The meaning of this is for the services we are doing.
“What we are fundraising for, we can say to ourselves that those young people are taking on something that is so big and foreign to them, and it is in a weird way, a parallel that we are out in the storm, metaphorically, paddling in the storm.
“It feels like there is a sense of camaraderie with them when you are taking on something challenging
“We are happy with €6,000, but we are going to keep on going because there is more money to be raised. We have a pub quiz and a charity darts night in Bundoran.
I am happy with it, and it has been great. People have been really gracious with donations, and we are leaving it open.”
Any donations for the 2026 Paddle The Bay fundraiser can be made on https://www.gofundme.com/f/paddle-the-bay-2026