Headford News and Community Spotlight - Making A Difference

Hurry! It's not too late. You can still come to the cookery classes offered by Solas every Tuesday at 10:30 am.


COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

When you think of environmental groups, you might think of those dramatic photos of Greenpeace activists who put themselves on small inflatable rafts between giant harpooning ships and whales. Or maybe you remember that cute panda logo, representing the Chinese nature reserves for giant pandas created by the World Wildlife Fund. What you probably don’t think of is a group of mature ladies standing at the shore of Lough Corrib in the wind and rain, doling out homemade cakes, bread and jam, and cups of tea to avid bird watchers. But that’s exactly what the Headford Environment Group did last Sunday at their annual Dawn Chorus event.

Headford Environment Group Dawn Chorus Walk

There were a surprising number of people willing to brave pneumonia-inducing weather from 5:30am to 7:30am in order to walk from Greenfields to Inchiquin and appreciate local birds. In total, thirty-nine species (of birds, not humans) were identified at this year’s Dawn Chorus. Local bird enthusiast, Neil Sharkey, led the walk around Greenfields, and then ornithologist, Gordan D’Arcy arrived and led the group across the causeway, in the howling wind and rain, to Inchiquin.

Gordon D'Arcy identifies birds at Greenfields

After this event, the ladies of the Environment Group performed like attentive Irish mammys, producing ‘refreshments’ before posing for photographs with the Bird Identification sign which they had erected.

On one side, the sign has photos and descriptions of twenty-one species of birds in the area.  On the other side, there are personal reflections of life on Inchiquin before the causeway was built in the 1960s. By erecting this sign, the group hopes to raise awareness and provide information about the rich bird life and biodiversity in the area.

‘We started out as three or four ladies wanting to pick up litter in the Headford area,’ Mags Sheehan says.

Mags was originally recruited from the Headford Women’s Group to join the Solas Management Committee back in 2003. Because Solas target groups include the elderly, lone parents, migrants, those with a disability or who have a loved one with a disability, Travellers, and anyone else who is marginalized by society, its management committee is made up of volunteers who represent these groups. As a single parent at the time, Mags represented the interests of those parenting alone. The Women’s Group and Solas involvement led her to meet others interested in the local environment.

Since its inception five years ago, Headfo­­­­­rd Environment Group has erected the Heritage sign in the square, mapping the area's historical monuments, and giving a history of the town and its people. They’ve sponsored local lectures about Climate Change, Early Monastic Sites, Wolves in Ireland, Bats Stoats and Pine Martens, Hedgerows, Habitat Mapping, Water Quality, Environmental Practices in the Home and Bees. They also raised a small donation for the Community Garden and facilitated Golden Mile work in the area.

‘We don’t have a chairperson or a Board of Management,’ Mags says. ‘We aren’t an official group. We’re really just a group of friends who wanted to get things done.’

As a member of the Green Party, Mags says she ‘feels very passionate about environmental issues.’ She will be standing for election this term for the Claremorris Board, which includes Glencorrib and Shrule areas. ‘This way I can combine community and environmental efforts. I want to make a difference,’ she says.

Other members of the Headford Environment Group include Venetia McElin, Kate McAney, Claudia Luig, Frances O’Reilly, Sylvia Matthews, and Kay Guy.

If there’s one thing this group would like people to know, it’s that each person can make a difference to their environment. Certainly, these women are doing just that.