Tag Archives: Lions Club

WHEN Maria Molloy sent out an SOS for some help with the Lions Club ‘Message in a Bottle’ there was no need for The Police! Karen Kelleher, Clare County Commissioner, stepped up and worked closely with 1st and 4th Clare Venturers(Ennis) to encourage a collaboration between them and the Ennis Lions Club project leader to prepare packages for the forthcoming Message in a Bottle Launch 2023. In return the young adults will have earned a community badge. Maria was effusive in her thanks to the young adults who made up over 500 packs for Ennis Lions Club declaring “They were really super from start to finish of this project”. Message in a Bottle is a simple idea promoted by Lions Club of Ireland. It encourages people to keep their basic personal and medical details in a common place, where, in cases of emergency, the attending service teams can easily access them. The information required is very basic but can be …

THE latest fundraising initiative by Ennis Lions Club aims to fuel support for vulnerable local families who are facing the desperate choice between being able to pay for food or heat their homes. With homes across the country benefiting from the government’s €200 energy credit the Lions Club is urging those who do not need the payment to donate it towards supporting families in need. The local chapter has launched its aptly named PHEW (Poverty, Help, Energy, Waiver) appeal to bring relief to struggling families coping with rising fuel costs. Tommy Murphy of Ennis Lions Club explains that while many people welcome the €200 rebate and it will give short-term relief for increasing costs, a lot of families do not need the payment. The Lions Club in Ennis is supporting up to 50 families locally and sees first-hand the effect that fuel poverty is having. The group hopes that those who do not need all, or even some, of the …

The founding of Lions Clubs International, one hundred years ago, is celebrated on An Post’s new international postage stamp.   The €1.35 stamp, which covers standard letter postage anywhere in the world, was designed by Dublin company Red Dog and features a photograph from the annual Lions Holiday Project in 2016. The Lions Club is the world’s largest voluntary service organisation with a presence in over 200 countries and more than 1.4 million volunteers worldwide.  There are 2,700 members in 116 clubs across the island of Ireland, north and south. With their motto ‘We Serve’, they organise projects to help vulnerable and elderly people within their communities, and they undertake humanitarian work such as aiding street children, providing diabetic screening and preventing suicide and blindness. Paul Allen, District Governor of Lions Clubs International in Ireland, expressed his appreciation that the Lions Clubs work in serving their communities has been recognised by An Post with this special international stamp, reflecting the global reach of Lions …

YEARS of active involvement in the Gort community means Sadie McInerney is not quite ready to give up her work in raising money for charitable causes. The 83-year-old Loughrea native, who has lived in Gort since 1957, is now collecting glasses for use in developing countries. The spectacles are sent to England for upgrading, before being dispatched to their final destination. Ms McInerney is appealing to anyone who has good quality glasses they no longer need, to send them to McInerney Auctioneers on Church Street in the town. Sadie’s life-long work in the local community was rewarded recently when she was one of 16 people shortlisted in Galway County Council’s Cathoirleach Community Award for Volunteer of the Year. With a bus full of local supporters cheering her on, Sadie said she thoroughly enjoyed the function. The citation for her nomination stated: “Sadie McInerney’s lifetime of service to the community has made Gort and its surrounding area a better place to …

Following on the detection of potential diabetes in more than 600 visitors to the National Ploughing Championship last year, Lions Clubs plan to screen more than 10,000 people at the 2015 event in Ratheniska, County Laois. A team of 120 Lions and qualified nurses will be at the Lions Marquee at Ratheniska from Tuesday to Thursday next. They will offer visitors a free simple, painless blood test which is designed to identify early symptoms of diabetes. The Lions are confident that they will significantly exceed the 7,210 visitors who availed of the test last year in Retheniska. Last year 8.3% of those screened, mainly farmers, were identified as potentially diabetic and were referred to their GPs for further examination. According to Marion Conneely, District Governor of Lions in Ireland, the incidence of diabetes is accelerating rapidly in rural Ireland due to diet and lifestyle changes. “Medical experts estimate that up to 200,000 people with diabetes in Ireland are unaware of …

DESCRIBED as a “visionary in the area of mental health”, many tributes have been paid to the late Tom McGrath, Coole Lodge, Francis Street, Ennis, who died recently. A retired psychiatric nurse at the former Our Lady’s Hospital, he will be remembered for his contribution to the welfare of patients, as well as being a valued member of several voluntary organisations in Ennis. A proud Feakle man, he was educated and worked locally, before being appointed a psychiatric nurse in Our Lady’s Hospital in the late 1940s. Totally dedicated to the caring of patients, he was also a very popular member of the hospital staff. When he arrived in Ennis, it was the start of a long and happy association with the town, during which he and his wife, Theresa associated themselves with various voluntary organistions, their work being greatly appreciated. Tom also graduated with a degree in social science from UCG and he and his wife undertook courses for …