Skydive to take place next month in memory of talented Newbridge artist

By Kim O'Leary The family and friends of a very talented artist originally from Newbridge are planning to do a charity skydive in her memory next month to raise funds for the suicide prevention charity Pieta House.   Clara Berney, a very talented artist originally from Newbridge but was living in Athgarvan, passed away tragically on September 30 2017, and she was a former student of Ballyfermot College of Further Education and Dublin Institute of Technology.   Ms Berney found her inspiration for her pieces within herself, demonstrating the most stunning use of watercolour, splashing intensity across the page and her work has featured in several exhibitions.   She is survived by her loving family parents Thomas and Deirdre, brother Tom and sisters Jessica and Tara as well as a wide circle of friends. Indeed, following her tragic death Ms Berney was remembered by her childhood friend Niall D’Arcy, also known as DJ Deece when he teamed up with Dublin collective Paradox to play a special gig dedicated especially to her memory at the Button Factory in Dublin last October, and some of Ms Berney’s artwork featured in a fantastic exhibition at Graces in Naas in November 2017.   Meanwhile, Ms Berney’s close friends are now hoping to honour her memory by organising an upcoming sky dive in October with a gofundme campaign launched this week.   Close friend and organiser Amber Forune said in a statement on the gofundme page: “The brightest of smiles can hide the darkest of days. I have lost two too many young souls to suicide. Let’s put a stop to the stigma around mental health. As it’s coming up to our beautiful little fairy Clara’s one year anniversary I want to do something wild and wonderful just as she would. So what better way than to do a skydive as we had spoke about doing one when we first met in Portugal. It’s all about “feeling the fear and doing it anyway” cause life is just too short. The money raised will go to Pieta House to support suicide prevention and mental health awareness.”     Pieta House was founded in Lucan, Co Dublin in 2006 and the charity provides a free, therapeutic service for those suffering from suicidal ideation, those who have been bereaved by suicide, as well as self-harm. The free Pieta House 24-hour suicide helpline can be contacted on 1800 247 247.     It is expected that the sky dive will take place during the first week of October and the campaign has so fair raised €150 of a proposed €520.   For more information visit www.gofundme.com