Balbriggan Men’s Shed, Co Dublin

As the festive season lurches noisily to life, Christmas jumpers are once again liberated from the wardrobes of Ireland to be worn with pride or irony – as the wearer sees fit.

It’s perhaps appropriate that Balbriggan is getting in on the act, given the town’s long association with the textile trade. However, these Christmas jumpers will not fall prey to moth or bobble; they are, in fact, a set of six white kangaroos specially carved for the use of the Australian Embassy in Ireland.

Inspired by the classic Australian Christmas tune Six White Boomers, the embassy collaborated with Balbriggan Men’s Shed on the project, which will see the sextet of marvellous marsupials take pride of place at the ambassador’s residence.

It’s a long hop from Balbriggan to Australia – 15,444km to be precise – but Balbriggan Men’s Shed enjoys a long-standing relationship with the world’s only island continent. In September 2017, Sir Peter Cosgrove, governor general of Australia and patron of the men’s sheds movement there, visited Balbriggan Men’s Shed as part of a state visit to Ireland.

Accompanied by his wife, Lady Cosgrove, the governor general passed a sun-kissed autumn afternoon at the shed, and his visit is fondly remembered. The Australian Embassy was thrilled to renew those ties of friendship with the Balbriggan kangaroo project.

In a statement, his excellency Richard Andrews, Australian ambassador to Ireland, declared that “the Australian Embassy was delighted to collaborate with our friends at Balbriggan Men’s Shed this month on commissioning the newest members of the Embassy team – six white boomers, inspired by the beloved Australian Christmas song. These kangaroos will make the ambassador’s residence their new home in preparation for pulling Santa Claus’ sleigh on Christmas Eve. We’d like to sincerely thank all of the members of the Balbriggan Men’s Shed for their fantastic efforts and hard work on this project.

“Close bonds of friendship and collaboration exist between men’s sheds in Ireland and Australia, and we are thrilled that we could once again celebrate these strong ties.

“We’d like to congratulate the team at Balbriggan Men’s Shed for the successful recent funding application for the expansion of the shed – a fantastic result”.

Hop, hop, hooray for all involved.

Cathaoirleach Ossian Smyth, Sean Mc Loughlin and Dearbhla Lawson at the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Community Awards. \ Peter Cavanagh Photography

Ballinteer Men’s Shed, Co Dublin

At the other end of Co Dublin, congratulations are due to Ballinteer Men’s Shed, who carried home bronze at the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Community and Volunteer Awards, collecting third place in the social inclusion category.

Shed founder and IMSA shed support volunteer, Sean McLoughlin expressed his satisfaction with the result: “We are absolutely delighted to receive recognition for the vital role the men’s shed plays in the Ballinteer community.

“As founder of the social inclusion initiative, which was established in April 2017, I am chuffed for the men who received their first-ever award, this was a huge compliment to the members and we want to thank Dundrum Football Club for the use of the clubhouse as a meeting place for our shed. Without their permission to use the premises, we probably would not exist.”

It was an award-laden night for Sean personally; he also claimed the volunteer award in recognition of his efforts on behalf of Ballinteer Men’s Shed and others in south Dublin. With typical selflessness, Sean cites the refounding of Nutgrove and Loreto Men’s Shed as one of his proudest moments, and was delighted to see the shed pick up third prize in the health and wellbeing category.