Minister of State lauds volunteers who set up community café in Tipperary village

A view of the interior of Ballingarry Community Café

Ballingarry Community Café was officially opened with great fanfare on Sunday as more than 200 local people gathered at the village’s community centre to witness Minister of State for Older People & Mental Health Mary Butler cut the ribbon on the new venture.

It was an occasion for the whole community to celebrate the completion of the beautifully furnished and homely new social hub for the parish that is the result of months of hard work by local volunteers.

Ballingarry Cllr Imelda Goldsboro, who spearheaded the project, kicked off the official opening by leading the attendance in giving a standing ovation of thanks to all the volunteers who worked on creating the café.

She said it was fantastic to see such a crowded hall and paid tribute to the “phenomenal” work of all involved in transforming the community centre through cleaning, painting and other renovations in preparation for the café’s opening since the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) approved the centre’s kitchen in August.

She said the community café will open at the centre on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday from 9am to 1.30pm and will be run by a team of volunteers.

She pointed to the great variety of reasonably priced food on the menu from a full Irish breakfast and roast of the day to apple tart and cream.

The Fianna Fáil councillor encouraged local people to drop into the café to meet friends and neighbours for a chat.

“We want this to be a community hub. We have a parish of over 2,000 people and we would like the message to go out today to support it.”

Cllr Goldsboro noted the café's walls are lined with fantastic photos of the local countryside and historic features.

She added that the café was also a place where you can get information about community services.

They have also made a very conscious decision to sell local produce from food to flowers from the café.

Minister of State Mary Butler said she was really pleased and proud to officially open this community café and spoke of how impressed she was at how well Ballingarry village and its community centre looked.

She paid tribute to her friend Cllr Goldsboro who identified the need for this community café and led the campaign to get it up and running.

And she praised the members of Ballingarry Community Centre Committee and Community Café Committee for all their work in developing the café, which she described as a fantastic idea.

The Portlaw based Minister said loneliness is a significant issue in this country and pointed to how it had worsened since Covid.

She highlighted how a survey conducted in April showed that 40% of those who went to Mass weekly before the pandemic, especially older people, still hadn’t returned. They got out of the habit, started watching Mass online but also felt disconnected socially and were finding it hard to reconnect.

Minister Butler highlighted how the Government has launched a campaign encouraging people to reach out to neighbours living alone. She encouraged Ballingarry people to bring such neighbours to the new community café.

“That is why initiatives such as this, with community at their heart, are so important and can be a lifeline for those feeling alone or isolated.

“This initiative, which is not for profit, will maintain a reasonably priced menu to encourage people to attend, which means that even those on restricted or tight budgets will have an opportunity to come out and socialise with their neighbours, friends and communities to re-stablish old connections and build new ones.”

Minister Butler said there was a high incidence of depression among men so she wanted to see men visiting the community café as much as women. “Please come along, read the newspaper and have the chat,” she urged.

Ballingarry Parish Priest Fr Derry Quirke then blessed the café. As well as paying tribute to all the volunteers who worked to develop this new facility, he remembered former community centre committees as the giants whose shoulders they stood on.

He said the community café was most welcome and noted that similar ventures in Loughmore and the county Kilkenny villages of Ballyhale and Windgap have been very successful.

If the crowd at the official opening was anything to go by, he was sure the word will get out about Ballingarry Community Café.

Former councillor Susan Meagher then led the attendance in singing, the local anthem, “Ballingarry”.
The ceremony concluded with everyone enjoying tea and a generous array of buns, cakes and desserts.

Picture below: A view of the large crowd gathered at Ballingarry Community Centre on Sunday last for the official opening of Ballingarry Community Café.