Irish communities support our resilience

Sometimes it is only when you are faced with a direct question that you even start to think about the answer. I had that a few weeks back when Maria sent me the questions for our new “20 questions with” series.

Some of the answers came quite naturally but there were a few I really had to think about. One of these questions was in relation to the biggest lesson I learned when I worked in the Irish Farmers’ Association.

My eyes opened pretty wide as I read the question as there were simply so many lessons I thought it nigh on impossible to narrow it down to one but I did – resilience.

In the run up to the Agri Careers Expo, the team here in Irish Country Living were queried on the future of the jobs in the sector with the uncertainty of Brexit. Would these jobs be there, were they secure? I spoke with a few people about this and what shone through in response was once again the resilience of our sector.

We have come through so many different crises and kept going. The message was clear, we have survived the past and we will adapt and survive into the future.

Saturday night I attended a funeral. Such was the show of support that I parked my car what seemed like miles down the road

However, there is not just resilience in our industry but it is in our communities through the people who live in rural Ireland and this is evidenced by Margaret Hawkin’s series “It takes a village” . I was reminded of the importance of community when on Saturday night I attended a funeral. Such was the show of support that I parked my car what seemed like miles down the road. I stood outside the church as there was no space inside, I queued to shake hands along with hundreds of other mourners and I saw lots of faces that I recognised who were there to support the family. This doesn’t happen everywhere, not even everywhere in Ireland anymore.

When my sister Brig died, our family experienced a similar show of compassion and support as our community rallied around us, parked cars, cleaned the house and served tea. This gave us resilience during the most difficult time of our lives. I remember my younger sister Leza, whose experience of funerals was limited having lived the majority of her adult life in the UK and Australia, being confused as to why all these people would want to come to our house to grieve with the family. And I remember how grateful she was for it afterwards.

Brig was waked in our house and this was a cause of concern for her as she said she didn’t want me to think of her that way in our house ever after. I don’t – I think of all the people who came to support us and celebrate the wildfire that she was when she was alive.

I for one am very grateful that we have people and communities willing to support each other in rural Ireland

Last Sunday I was asked to speak about Women in Agriculture at an Embrace Farm afternoon tea fundraiser. The other two speakers were women who had lost their husbands in tragic circumstances. Both Collette Byrne and Angela Hogan, following the loss of their husbands, have supported others in similar circumstances. For Colette, it is through starting the website widow.ie, which is an online community for the bereaved, and for Angela, it is through her involvement on the board of Embrace Farm. I for one am very grateful that we have people and communities willing to support each other in rural Ireland – long may it continue.

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