Minister attends Cavan community engagement event

Age Friendly Wellbeing events were held in Cavan and Monaghan as a way to show support for locals found isolated following Covid, and to better promote the network of supports available to them. The initiatives were part of An Garda Síochána’s National Community Engagement Week.

The Age Friendly Wellbeing dinner in Cavan, at the Lavey Inn last Thursday (May 25), mirroring that at Monaghan’s Hillgrove Hotel days earlier, were the first such events to take place in the region.

The initiative was welcomed by Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, James Browne, who spent the week attending events from Wexford to Donegal.

Previously run over the course of just one day, the new week-long series saw close to 800 events take place in communities all across Ireland, giving people a chance to get to know their local gardaí and other representatives in their areas.

Also present were representatives from various local community organisations including the Fire Service, HSE, Cavan County Council, Pieta House, Cavan Community Local Development, Cavan Sports Partnership, Cavan Older People's Council, Citizens information, the Irish Farmers Association, Road Safety Authority, Irish Countrywomen’s Association and more.

Welcoming the large attendance to the Lavey Inn, Minister Browne said the event was also about these seeing what synergies could be achieved to better enhance the delivery of services.

“In more recent times our communities have become that little more fragmented, with social media, with Covid and other events, so it just means we have to work that bit harder to ensure to stay connected, reach out to each other, and when we do need it, we can reach out to that support network.”

Speaking to The Anglo-Celt later on, he acknowledged a concern among older people about accessing services, but put it down to an unprecedented demand post-Covid where people had “built up a store of ailments and problems, and undiagnosed problems” while trying to avoid health settings.

“One of the things the Department of Health has noticed in the past six months is that a [there is] a much higher number of people coming forward looking for care, especially among the elderly, than they were anticipating.”

The Junior Minister said it's critical for the government to put in place the necessary services to cut back on delays. He said Wellbeing events, like the one he attended, were vital in terms of building that connection “to get them coming back out and engaging with the community again”.

Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, John Paul Feeley, had said it is important, whatever the organisation - from An Garda Síochána to Cavan County Council - their focus on older members of the community is about responding to their needs and “responding to them well”.

He acknowledged the council’s Administrative Officer/Age Friendly Programme Manager, Deirdre Donnelly and the work carried out by her team, adding this “type of engagement is important”.

“In everything we do we need to recognise the dignity of the person, and the valuable contribution that people make irrespective of their age.”

Among those also present were former Cavan Superintendent Padraic Jones, now chief superintendent to the Garda National Community Engagement Bureau; Chief Superintendent for Cavan-Monaghan-Louth, Alan McGovern; newly appointed Cavan Superintendent Alan Grant; Fianna Fáil Senators Diarmuid Wilson and Robbie Gallagher, and Councillor Patricia Walsh.

A special presentation was made to retiring Muintir na Tire Community Alert Development Officer, Vanessa Clarke by Inspector Ann-Marie Lardner, head of the Cavan-Monaghan Divisional Community Engagement Unit.

In reply, Ms Clarke said in her time in the role she had witnessed “nothing but courtesy and kindness” from the gardaí. “Thank you.”

Joan Keating from Virginia stood at the end to thank the garda hosts. “This is a wonderful, wonderful initiative, and I look forward to growing old in a county that looks after us so well.”

Speaking to the Celt afterwards, Chief Supt Jones said during Covid the value of community engagement units really came to the fore.

While the force has always operated with a “community engagement ethos”, he says during the pandemic, “for An Garda Síochána as an organisation, these units were key in how we were able to pivot our focus towards supporting the community. The important thing for us now is to take the learnings from that back into everyday policing.

"[An event such as that in Lavey is] a huge example of that, particularly in terms of working with other stakeholders in our community to provide a service. Our older population is growing. I think by the time 2040 comes 40 per cent will be over the age of 65, so we need to build a network capable of supporting that. The work starts here, on the ground, within the community, and by developing strategies and policies that can sustain our work.”