Headford News and Community Spotlight - Satisfaction

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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

Did you know that nearly 400,000 Irish people are looking for jobs? That’s means close to 12% of our population is unemployed.

But having a job isn’t necessarily salvation, and, for many people, it’s far from satisfying. Sure, we all want income, but we don’t want to be miserable in order to get it. According to a Mercer survey reported in The Journal.ie, over 35% of Irish workers are unhappy in their jobs and want to leave. There are many complaints, of course, but the two biggest are longer working hours and less job security.

It could be worse. According to Forbes magazine, only 19% of workers in the United States are satisfied with their jobs.

While these statistics aren’t exactly shocking, they are important. Work consumes a huge amount of our lives—about 16 years in total if you work full-time—and yet growing numbers of people struggle through their days feeling impoverished from lack of employment, or extremely unhappy with the employment they do have. It’s a recipe for disaster. Or change…

That’s where the Community Employment Scheme comes in. The CE Scheme offers unemployed people jobs within the community for limited amounts of time. While the jobs aren’t meant to be permanent replacements for full-time employment, neither are they the misery-makers those 35% of Irish workers are so unhappy about. And, although the pay for CE jobs is very low, there are other benefits to being on the scheme. 

In the Headford area, over the last six years, one man in particular has been responsible for increasing the numbers of local people employed by the CE Scheme from 21 to 34. As Supervisor of the Headford Community Employment Scheme, Ignatius Egan—‘Iggy’ for short—endeavours to keep people off the ‘live register’ by putting them to work in the community. Part of the compensation for this work is on-the-job experience. ‘It gives people a sense of well-being by being actively employed,’ Iggy says. Plus, the programme allows people to get training in areas of interest so they can get back to work, hopefully doing something they like.

Ignatius 'Iggy' Egan

On an average day, Iggy organises projects and distributes responsibilities to people, like building and landscape maintenance, overseeing a large amount of work for various locations around Headford. His domain is extensive, and includes Cloughanover, Claran and Kilcoona, as well as Headford. Iggy is also responsible for budgeting and acquiring materials—everything from lawn mowers to paint—for all sorts of projects.

To help him with all this work, Ann Forde is Office Administrator.

And Kevin Lee is Assistant Supervisor.

Working a bit like the three musketeers—all for one and one for all—Iggy, Ann and Kevin process wages, organise training and do a monumental amount of paperwork. Basically, they are the local CE Scheme.

In his previous business-life, Iggy was the Operations Director for the Services Division of Hewlett Packard, working closely with customers and software. This is where he says he ‘developed people skills and business management skills.’ But, as Supervisor for the local CE Scheme, there is ‘zero stress,’ and Iggy says, ‘I really enjoy working with the local community. We have a great staff and I’ve made many new friends.’  

The tiny Headford Community Employment Office

You could say that Iggy is helping people not to become part of that 35% of unhappy workers. ‘As a result of what we do—training and skills developed—people go on to get work, and I love that.’ A shy smiles spreads over his face, and he says those words again, almost as if he’s pleasantly surprised by his own good fortune. ‘I love to help people get work when they move on from the scheme. That’s the best piece of job satisfaction you can get.’

Headford News and Community Spotlight - A Troubadour in Headford

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 

A Troubadour? In Headford?

So you're probably thinking, what the heck is a troubadour?

Technically, troubadours were medieval poets who performed songs and poems principally in southern France from the 11th to 13th centuries. Sometimes they wandered around and sang or recited poetry. Frequently, they sang about love and were paid with a meal and a bed for the night.

That’s sort of what Miquel Barcelo, Headford’s self-proclaimed ‘troubadour,’ does. He sings, plays instruments, and tells a story here and there. Actually, he has a lot of stories to tell.

It all started in Majorca, where Miquel grew up, then on to Paris, where he fell in love (as you do), and then to multiple other places—Spain, Italy, Texas—before he finally settled in Headford.

While in Paris, he studied at the Jacques Le Coq Theatre School, where he met his wife, Judith. ‘I liked Irish music, and she does Irish dance, and . . . ’ his hands go up as if their union was an inevitable love story. Now his wife teaches theatre at Claran National School three times a week, and Miquel wanders around and performs, at schools, at meetings . . . even in barber shops.

On a warm Friday in early June, he’s entertaining the Sean Cáirde crowd with stories and songs from his native land, told with a strong Castilian accent. ‘My father told me, never trust the sea when it is calm. . . But, if you are in a storm, never look back.’ His words obviously transcend any language or accent barrier because the responses he gets are soft sounds of agreement and white-headed nods of approval.

Miquel explains his theory that stories are slow, necessarily spoken, but ‘words are not the main element. I’m always trying to cross cultures.’

And he’s right about words not being so important. Back in the 1960s, psychology researchers Mehrabian and Wiener decreed that 55% of communication is body language. Words themselves are responsible for only 7% of how we communicate with each other.

So, even though Miquel’s performances mix languages, they incorporate everyone around him. He says he gets inspiration from his audience or uses their suggestions. ‘I never tell a story the same way. Anything can happen in the middle.’

Obviously, this twenty-first century troubadour is a bit different from his medieval counterpart, but Miquel feels he is carrying on an ancient tradition. Thanks to a County Council grant, Miquel is able to perform all over the Headford area. ‘Through stories and music, I’ll find a dialogue with the community I’m living in.’

While he admits his work can be unexpected, sometimes not one hundred percent politically correct, and sometimes very direct, he says this is the nature of what he does. His goal is to surprise people with entertainment. And that’s exactly what he did last Saturday. To celebrate the Summer Solstice, Miquel, along with fellow musicians Tony O’Reilly and Felip Carbonell, walked around Headford, peppering the town with music and song, first in the Barber Shop . . .

then in the butcher's, the pharmacy . . .

. . . at cafes . . . 

serenading shoppers at Joyce's . . .

. . . and up and down the street. 

Miquel says his performances are meant to ‘make a break in people’s lives. When I’m gone you can go back to your routine. Or maybe not. Maybe you’ll think . . .’

Everywhere they went last Saturday, these musicians shared joyous music and song, and they were paid with enthusiastic welcomes, smiles and cups of coffee. Many people recorded the performances with their phones. Children danced and passers by stopped and stared. Even dogs seemed entranced. 

As Headford’s travelling entertainer, Miquel has words of advice for all of us. Words that seem apt, not just for audience members, but for life in general. ‘A lot of times, Irish audiences hear something different and they get tense. There’s a delay while people think things through before they let themselves react. But the kids, they know how to have fun.’ He speaks passionately, gesticulating to make his point. ‘Just . . . let yourself go and enjoy!’

Headford News and Community Spotlight - Something to be Proud of

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE!

Solstice celebrations begin in Headford this Saturday at noon. Various artists are performing around the town. Come be entertained and enjoy the longest day of the year.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

The Language of Flowers was a sort of Victorian era primer that contained the symbolism of various flowers as reported throughout history in poetry, ancient mythology and even medicine. The book became quite popular and inspired a whole science known as floriography.

According to The Language of Flowers, the Sunflower is the symbol of pride. It’s appropriate, then, that the Headford café that’s been open longer than any other is still going strong under the proud yellow symbol for which it is named.

When Fiona Burke and Alex Taylor opened the Sunflower Café back in 2005, there was no other café in Headford. As Fiona tells it, she and Alex, who trained as a chef in South Africa, first discussed their business idea ‘over a glass of wine.’ But what really made the concept for the Sunflower blossom in Fiona’s head was the fact that her mom was too embarrassed to be seen having lunch in a pub.

‘We were so nervous,’ Fiona says of opening the café. ‘Everybody said it wouldn’t work.’ But then, most everyone has experienced that kind of reaction to a new idea.

‘Ah, sure, it’ll never work.’ ‘You’ll be killing yourself for nothing.’ ‘Why would you want to do something like that?’  People who are too afraid to try things themselves frequently want to dishearten the courageous. That’s where Fiona and Alex can offer inspiration.

Fiona Burke, Proprietor

‘It was a big gamble. We had to borrow money,’ Fiona says. ‘But we knew we’d kick ourselves if someone else opened a café and we didn’t. We’d say, “That was our idea!”’

So they took the plunge and now, nine years later, the Sunflower Café is still going strong. That’s a pretty amazing accomplishment, especially when you consider that during those nine years, our domestic economy shifted into reverse. According to a publication with the unfortunate name of InsolvencyJournal.ie, five companies go out of business each day.

Fiona’s success story is a local one. She grew up in Headford and graduated from Presentation, then later moved to Tuam and worked in an accounts office. Now, she says, she works a lot harder now—it seems like 24/7 sometimes—but she wouldn’t give it up. ‘Even when I’m in bed at night, sometimes I’m thinking, did I order enough food for tomorrow?’ She loves the fact that some of her customers call the Sunflower, ‘the Rover’s Return without the alcohol.’ The café has that neighbourhood feel, with everyone chatting, sometimes across tables. Frequently, elderly people will come in alone and end up meeting other folks there. ‘Someone will always chat with them,’ Fiona says.

Working long hours and catering on weekends means that Fiona doesn’t socialise much, ‘but I do socialise here,’ she says about the café. ‘I enjoy the buzz.’ Fiona praises her ‘brilliant staff’ and says they are part of the reason the place has such loyal customers. But, if there’s anything Fiona would change, it’s the fact that some people just can't seem to smile. ‘How can you say hello without smiling?’ she asks. ‘There’s always somebody worse off than you.’

If there's anything to be proud of, it's the loyalty she's engendered in the community. Fiona beams when she says, ‘We’re doing First Communion cakes now for the same kids we did Christening cakes for.'

One of the definitions of pride is: a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements. That’s definitely something the ladies of the Sunflower have earned.