Liam Cronin and Mark Perham first to reach the final destination of San Marino
The Jailbreak 2017 challenge has been won by two Trinity College Dublin students – Liam Cronin and Mark Perham. They reached the final destination of The Cesta tower, San Marino at 5.53pm Italian time on Sunday having set off from Dublin, at 9am on Saturday morning. In teams of two, the students had 36 hours to travel to a mystery location somewhere in the world without spending any of their own money. The students were given a series of clues which led them to a mystery location.
Liam and Mark, second year students at Trinity College Dublin, were Jailbreak 2017’s top fundraisers, raising €2720 between them. They also embraced the bilingual spirit of this year’s event, which saw Trinity’s An Cumann Gaelach take an organisational role. Jailbreak is Ireland’s largest student-run charity challenge. Over the past five years, Jailbreak has raised €165,000 which are equally split between the two partner charities: Amnesty International and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
“I’d like to offer my congratulations to both Liam and Mark on winning this year’s Jailbreak adventure race. It’s a wonderful achievement for them and their university, and a credit to the students who have worked so hard to make this race possible. Over the past five years, many hundreds of students have taken part in the annual adventure race which raises much needed funds for Amnesty’s work. This year, the students have also been using social media to highlight our ongoing I Welcome campaign to protect the human rights of refugees and migrants,” said Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland.
St Vincent de Paul’s college groups take part in social action and volunteering in their colleges and local communities based on the needs that the students themselves feel need to be addressed. They work to advance St Vincent de Paul’s social justice mission, by tackling poverty in all forms and providing support and friendship to those who need it most.
“Congratulations to Liam and Mark on winning this year’s Jailbreak. As well as managing to reach San Marino, they have raised vital funds to help SVP in our work and crucial awareness as to the social justice issues faced by many of our most vulnerable members of society. I would also like to offer my congratulations to all of the students who took part this year and thank their friends and families for their support. With such capable and enthusiastic young people coming up through the ranks, SVP is able to continue to offer much needed support to some of the poorest members of society and to tackle the social justice issues that impact on so many of us,” said Grainne Lee, SVP National Youth Committee Chair.