Young Donegal man Kevin Mulhern had spent five years building his own tyre-fitting business in Meenaclady, Gortahork. It took just six hours for it all to burn down in a terrible fire this month.
On Saturday June 10th, the businessman and prominent footballer lost his KM Tyres garage and his livelihood when a fire suddenly broke out at the site.
Kevin tells Donegal Daily about that fateful night: “Some kind of fire broke out, as far as I know it was electrical. I got the call at about twenty past nine that night and I was there in ten minutes but the place was completely lit up by then.
“Basically everything was destroyed. I had built a wee waiting room and it was a week away from getting completed for insurance purposes so I didn’t have insurance.
“After five years of collecting stuff, it was gone in six hours.”
Kevin lost many thousands of euros in assets, including tyres, equipment, machines, lifts, computers, batteries and paperwork.
The 27-year-old plays for Glenea United and was part of the Donegal League winning squad in April. He is also the Cloughaneely (CLG Chloich Cheann Fhaola) captain. The two clubs have come together to support Kevin, as well as friends and family in his local community.
“I got a big help in the three days after the fire from friends and family. We guttered it out and cleaned everything that was unsafe. Now we’re waiting on a scrap lorry to take away all that was burnt. I’ll hopefully start a new build in the next three weeks.”
A gofundme page has been set up to help Kevin find his feet again. The page has raised €1,710 to date. Kevin said up to 40 people have come to him offering their support in the past few weeks. The kind gestures, he says, are overwhelming.
“It’s overwhelming now, I have people offering to help me build the garage, roof it, wire it and all basically for nothing. They all want to give me their time and it’s greatly appreciated.”
A benefit dance will be held on Friday 7th July in Óstan Loch Àltan to help raise fund for KM Tyres. Ticket sellers will be going door to door around the Falcarragh and Gortahork areas in the coming days.
The dancing will kick off at 9.30pm and run until late. Tickets are €10. The locals who are fundraising for Kevin are using the motto – “KM kept us on the road, so let’s put KM back on the road.”
With this much-needed support, Kevin has been given a boost and is eager to get back in business. Not wanting to keep his loyal customers waiting, he is planning to set up a temporary tyre fitting site.
“I’m making a plan of attack and trying to see how many men we can get in a week or two. We’ll be back up and running as quickly and as efficiently as we can be.”
Newly-built waiting room
If you would like to donate to the gofundme campaign please go to: https://www.gofundme.com/kevin-mulhern-km-tyres-fund
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