Recognition for Dungarvan Community Hospital in the 2025 “Déjà Vu Waterford” event

County Waterford is the venue for this year’s “Déjà Vu” rallying festival, an celebration featuring 145 classic and historic rally cars and taking place this weekend 10-12th of October.

Dungarvan Community Hospital will be among the beneficiaries from monies raised.

With last year’s “Déjà vu” event centred on Donegal and next year’s taking place in the Belfast area, it is the 12th in a series of annual Irish rallying sport reunions organised by RPM Déjà Motorsport Ltd - a group of volunteers who have raised over €375,000 for local charities to date.

The centrepiece of the 2025 “Déjà Vu” event is a “rally that’s not a rally”, taking in locations across Co. Waterford on Saturday 11th of October.

While its features a start and finish “arch” in Dungarvan, a commentator, a rally road-book covering a 150 mile route (inclusive of the Copper Coast, Tramore, Dunmore East, Mount Congreve and the Mahon Falls), there are no stopwatches. The non-competitive run allows beautifully prepared classic cars and their crews to navigate the historic Waterford Circuit of Ireland stages from the 1980s in a moving celebration of Irish motorsport history.

The weekend gets under way on Friday 10th of October with registration and a welcome reception in Dungarvan. Following the run on the next day, a gala dinner follows on Saturday evening the 11th in Dungarvan’s Park Hotel. It features entertainment, interviews, videos and a charity auction. Sunday morning 12th of October rounds off the festival with a farewell “Cars and Coffee” event on the Square in Dungarvan.

In addition to the Friends of Dungarvan Community Hospital (and fundraising for additional palliative care supports in that hospital), “Déjà Vu” 2005 will also benefit the Craig Breen Foundation. In memory of Waterford’s world rallying star who tragically lost his life in a testing accident prior to the Croatian Rally in 2023, the Craig Breen foundation helps young Irish rally drivers.

Among the entries for 2025’s “Déjà Vu” in Co. Waterford are many drivers from the South East. They include Marie Moloney of Dungarvan and her co-driver Catherine Tracey. Marie will be driving the opel marque car that made them famous during her career in the 1980s. Together with Catherine, Moloney won multiple Tarmac Championship classes and three Irish Ladies Championships, competing across seven Circuits of Ireland and also represented Ireland internationally.

Speaking ahead of the event, Paula French (Director of Nursing, Dungarvan Community Hospital, HSE) said: “Dungarvan Community Hospital has an excellent reputation as a care facility and the team here are deeply appreciative of the support we get from families of our residents and the wider community around us. The Friends of Dungarvan Community Hospital, with whom we work very closely, are a fantastic help through their wide range of fundraising activities that enable us to have additional supports and resources for what we do.

“No doubt, the ‘Déjà Vu’ event will bring great colour to the county this weekend and we are delighted, through the Friends group, that services we provide in the Vincent’s Unit at the hospital are identified to benefit from the funds raised this year. I look forward to attending the gala dinner on behalf of Dungarvan Community Hospital and we are very thankful to the organisers for their focus in this year’s event on the part of our hospital in which we provide care for those facing life-limiting or life-threating illnesses.”