A Louth woman who is marking her 90th birthday says she will use the occasion to help charity.
Kathleen Lynch is to lead a danceathon in aid of Irish Red Cross and Age Action, despite the fact she is cocooning.
She was planning a one-woman 90-minute dance party in her back garden to celebrate the milestone and raise funds for charity - but now she is calling on the rest of Ireland to join her.
At 3.09pm on Friday, the exact time she was born, she is asking that the people of Ireland dance for one minute to help celebrate her birthday - and raise much-needed funds for the Irish Red Cross and Age Action.
Kathleen herself will be dancing on the hour, every hour, from 12.00pm.
Her husband, 94-year-old Donnie, hopes to join her for a waltz.
Her daughter, Geraldine, says her mom has been "completely humbled" by the outpouring of support.
"How it all started was that she said she didn’t want anything for her birthday because of the situation in Ireland at the minute and then she said if we wanted to do something would we give money to a charity that needed it at this time.
"So she chose the two charities because they were dealing with the fund for older people."
Kathleen herself had a brief message:
The Irish Red Cross and Age Action set up a Hardship Fund in March to help vulnerable older people who were experiencing added financial stress due to the COVID-19 crisis.
However, they say the huge number of applications means that the fund was oversubscribed.
With an initial goal of €1,000, Kathleen has already breezed past that number and has now raised almost €10,000 for the two charities.
The public can donate funds through this GoFundMe page.
