Bee Plus for Rosalie’s Soroptimists

FROM the decline of the honeybee to raising money for cystic fibrosis, the Soroptimists’ new Irish president is a busy woman as she attempts to reinvigorate the organisation and showcase its positive impact. Kilfenora woman Rosalie Byrne-Muir joined the Soroptimists in 1999.

Having been elected in October, she is halfway through her term as national president and has big plans for the rest of the year.
“My job is to raise the profile of soroptimism. I think quite often we have been ladies who sat back and did things quietly,” Rosalie asserts.
“My role as national president is to increase awareness of what we do because all the 20 clubs will do their own projects. They will contribute to the national project but we are all very nice quiet ladies, who sometimes don’t let people know what we do,” she continues.
Rosalie is the fifth national president from the Ennis club, which is one of the country’s strongest. It forms part of the international Soroptimist organisation for business and professional women, who work to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world.
The name Soroptimist means “best for women” and that’s what the organisation strives to achieve.
“We are also a friendship organisation, of course. We are very keen on friendship and forming links but primarily we are a women’s service organisation and we are really there to promote the lives of women and girls, not just nationally but internationally. We have a lot of different projects. Our international project for Soroptimists is to provide education for women and girls in all parts of the world. In Ireland we run a girls’ public speaking competition that has been running for 30 years,” Rosalie points out.
“At local level, different members will have different causes and we put those forward for us to support during the year. We meet in each others’ houses, we have coffee mornings, we have balls, we have fashion nights, we have casino nights, we have everything to raise funds for charities but this is difficult now in the current climate,” she adds.
Nationally, Rosalie has a few pet projects, one of them focussing on the ecological phenomenon of the decline of the honey bee in Ireland.
“We want to role out our Bee Plus project. We have a pilot project for that and we have sponsorship lined up and we are very much in touch with the Federation of Irish Bee Keepers,” she explains.
The Federation held a conference in Ennistymon and the Kilfenora woman, along with some fellow Soroptimists, attended.
“The beekeepers are absolutely thrilled because there is a problem with the honey bee. We are rolling out Bee Plus in 10 schools nationally and we are going to take 10 of our clubs and each club will take a school each. The environment is one of the things we want to take responsibility for and this fits that perfectly, with our environment and education themes so we are covering two of our objectives in that,” Rosalie states.
“It is a wonderful programme for seven to nine-year-olds. We have a school in this area already and the idea is that then next year even more schools will take it on but the important thing is that it fits the Soroptimist Bee Plus programme and it gives us a profile with younger teachers and parents,” she continues.
Indeed, building the group’s profile with young women is something that Rosalie is focussing on as national president.
“We are actively seeking members. I think we need active, committed young women. A lot of people presume there are strict rules about joining and there were rules about joining way back. You had to be invited but now we look for young, active, professional women to become involved in our aims and ambitions and our aims internationally are to inspire action, to influence opinion and to be a voice for the deprived or downtrodden,” Rosalie explains.
For Rosalie, personally, the Soroptimists have been a lifeline. The friends she made in the organisation have buoyed her through bad times and kept her grounded in the good times.
“My husband died in a car crash three years ago and those women have just been there. They have kind of pulled me through. Obviously, I have my daughter and she has been brilliant too. She is studying at the moment,” Rosalie outlines.
The Soroptimists are involved in Turn Off the Red Light, a campaign against prostitution and sex trafficking in Ireland. They run the Soroptimist Public Speaking competition for senior cycle pupils in second-level schools and are also taking part in a project with the Girl Guides. A project taken on nationally after being instigated by the Ennis club is 65 Roses, supporting cystic fibrosis.
“It is difficult to raise money at the moment for charities but even having said that, the club in Ennis has been wonderful. It has managed to raise so much money for cystic fibrosis, it is a credit to them. That is a two-year national project so all the clubs contribute something towards it but because of the difficulty raising funds, Claire Colleran McHenry, who sort of instigated the project, has done coffee mornings, casino nights, had raffles and it is amazing what all those things bring in,” Rosalie explains.
While it is a voluntary role, Rosalie, as national president, hopes to focus most intently on raising the profile of the organisation and visit each of the country’s 20 clubs.
“It is really raising the profile of the club and fundraising is difficult but by raising the profile of the club we are doing projects that are of value to the community, like the Bee Plus. We want to raise this environmental issue and especially with the children. The beekeepers are very keen on it, we are keen on it and we are raising the profile of the Soroptimists. These are the sorts of things we do, so why don’t we shout about it,” Rosalie concludes.
For more information on Soroptimist International Republic of Ireland log on to www.soroptimist-int-roi.com. The Ennis club meets on the first Monday of the month in the Old Ground Hotel.