By Ailbhe Gillespie
This article appeared in the Longford Leader on 6th January 2010.
The true spirit of Christmas was evident in the village of Ballinamuck when an autistic child received the one gift he really wanted for Christmas recently. Matthew Byrne, the 11 year old son of Maria and Simon, was diagnosed with autism at the age of three and in recent years, he has developed a fascination with traffic lights.
His parents tried desperately to get a set of lights for their son but to no avail until Christmas week when a generous Dublin company arrived with a set as a gift for the boy.
The Elmore Group which is based in Dublin are specialists in traffic and transportation management and when they read an article in the Longford Leader last September where Matthew's parents appealed for help in tracking down a set of traffic lights for their son, they decided to help out.
"A guy who works for us read the article on the Longford Leader website and we also got an e-mail from the staff in Longford County Council asking for help on the matter, so we went to Ballinamuck to visit Matthew and he told us what he wanted," Mark Elmore, the Managing Director of the company told the Leader. "He was very specific, he said he wanted temporary traffic lights, the type that are used for road works."
He continued to say, "It took us a while to find exactly what he wanted but it was worth it. Seeing his face the day we arrived was amazing – he was delighted and his parents and grandparents were too. I really felt the Christmas spirit in Ballinamuck, the place was covered in snow and the Byrne family were just so warm and welcoming."
Matthew's mother Maria is still in awe of what the Dublin company did for her son.
"It's unbelievable that someone who didn't know Matthew could be so kind. Matthew is the luckiest boy in Longford as far as we're concerned and these guys are like angels."
Maria was really feeling the pressure to find a set of real traffic lights for her eleven year old as he was not content with toy models of the flashing lights.
"We have bought him toy lights but they do not have the same positive impact on him that real traffic lights have. Every time we pass by roadworks he gets us to take photos of the lights and he sleeps with them all around him. We didn't know what to do."
She admitted that there was huge excitement in their house when Mark Elmore and Dave O'Connor arrived in Ballinamuck with the traffic lights last week.
"Matthew couldn't believe it – he just kept jumping up and down on the spot. I was just as excited myself because I know how much this gift means to him."
The traffic lights now have a new home at the back of the Byrne's house and when they're switched off Matthew's content to even look at photos of them on the family's computer.
Maria concluded by thanking the Elmore Group again for their very unique Christmas gift to her son, "Matthew's so happy and these guys made his dreams come true and I don't know how to thank them enough for it."
