Surrey man to walk the length of island of Ireland

Professor Mark Saunders plans to walk the length of the island of Ireland to raise money for dementia charities

A man is to walk the length of the island of Ireland to raise awareness of dementia.

Mark Saunders, 67, a retired university professor, aims to walk between from County Cork in the Republic of Ireland to the north coast of County Antrim in Northern Ireland in 40 days.

The 589 mile (948km) walk is in honour of his father and grandfather who both had Alzheimer's disease.

Professor Saunders, from Guildford, Surrey, has set himself a target of raising £2,500 for the Alzheimer's Society and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland.

The walk will see Prof Saunders cover 41,600ft of hill climbs across the two countries.

Prof Saunders said a foot tendon injury had forced him to start the walk later than expected at the end of August and through September.

The trek begins on Dursey Island, Co Cork, which can only be reached by cable car, and will end in Ballycastle, Co Antrim.

Prof Saunders walked the length of Great Britain in 2022 and Sri Lanka in 2023

In 2022, the avid walker trekked the length of Great Britain, covering 1,126 miles (1812km) from Land's End to John O'Groats over 85 days.

The following year he raised money for street dogs with a 480 mile tropical trek across Sri Lanka.

His fundraising paid for two neutering and vaccination clinics in the southern town of Beragala.

For his upcoming walk, so far he has raised £1,798.

Prof Saunders said: “It is a cause that is close to my heart as both my father and grandfather battled this condition."