Young Athlonian to release song for Pieta House
A 17-year-old Athlone student will this weekend release his first song to raise funds for Pieta House.
‘It’s OK’ written and performed by Jack Tiernan from Bealnamulla, a Transition Year student at Athlone Community College, will be available on Sunday next, May 10, on various platforms, including Spotify, iTunes, SoundCloud and Instagram.
Members of the public are being asked to contribute to Pieta House, via an Idonate fundraising page, which is now live in advance of the song release.
Writing on the fundraising page, Jack explained: “The song is quite personal to me and I hope it strikes a chord with many people but most importantly, it can offer some hope in tough times.”
All funds raised on the donation page will go directly to Pieta House.
Jack explained to the Westmeath Independent that the song had its origin in some difficulties he experienced.
“I was going through a tough time which affected my family life, my school life and my sporting life.”
He began to experiment with music over a year ago and wrote ‘It’s OK’ last year but admits he it is only recently he found the courage to release it publicly.
The song carries the important message that’s ‘it is ok not to be ok’ and that ‘storms don’t last forever, the sun always rises and so will you.’
“I wanted to send a positive message out to other young people who don’t talk about it as much,” he explained.
Jack said he wanted to support Pieta House as “they supported me when I was going through a tough time.”
He is conscious too that due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on their funds, Pieta House was starting to release staff and that their Darkness into Light fundraiser was not taking place this year.
Jack was part of the 18-strong group of teenage musicians who contributed to ‘United As One’, a special song to raise funds for local hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And it was through the organiser of that initiative, Shaun Fox, that Jack made contact with Mike O’Dowd of Lakeland Studios, who produced ‘It’s OK’ and with Swell Audio who mastered the song.
Jack also thanked the staff of Pieta House and Joe Keane, Katie Gallagher, Jo Gallagher, Chris Forde and Eunan Martin of Athlone Community College for their support.
The link to the idonate fundraiser is HERE
Pieta House can be contacted at Sean Costello St, Athlone, at 090 6424111 or on their 24-hour helpline at 1800 247 247 or text HELP to 51444