Clonmel Rotary Club honoured for its service to the community in Tipperary

Clonmel Rotary Club has been lauded for raising “many thousands of euro” for many deserving charities in the community over the last 50 years.

District Mayor Richie Molloy paid a glowing tribute to the club when he hosted a civic reception at Clonmel’s Town Hall in recognition of the club’s 50th anniversary.

He said that one very notable collaboration between Rotary, Tipperary County Council and a number of voluntary organisations had led to the provision of the sensory playground at Mulcahy Park.

Cllr. Molloy said that the playground, designed for children with autism and special needs, had proved a great success and was widely used by children in the town and surrounding areas.

The District Mayor said that the Rotary Club’s weekly meetings were held at the Cluain Training Centre in Nelson Street, which provided facilities to train people with disabilities in catering, cookery, pottery and computers.

The fact that Rotary held its weekly meetings at the centre was very much appreciated by the management and staff at Cluain  and brought a certain status to the centre, said Cllr. Molloy.

Above - District Mayor Richie Molloy, Declan Buckley, Angus Grant, Joe O’Sullivan (president), Marie O’Donnell, Bernadette McGuinness and Brendan McGuinness at Friday night’s civic reception for Clonmel Rotary Club at the Town Hall in Clonmel Pictures: John D. Kelly

He welcomed all club members, in particular founder member Con Moroney, whom he presented with a special scroll.

The Mayor also praised Rotary’s great work internationally, pointing out that former Clonmel club president John O’Sullivan and his late brother Mícheál Ó’Súilleabháin had organised a concert that raised more than €20,000 for a project to build a well in Malawi, east Africa.

Clonmel president Joe O’Sullivan said that Rotary International had been established from very humble beginnings in the Unity Building in Chicago in 1905 to encourage and foster service to the community in an ethical manner, recognising the worth of each individual and to promote better understanding, goodwill and peace among likeminded individuals in the ideal of service.

“From the very humble beginnings and noble aspirations of the small founding group, Rotary has advanced and grown worldwide to a stage where there are now 35,000 clubs in 125 countries and a membership of 1.2 million people”.

Mr. O’Sullivan said that at local level, Clonmel Rotary were longstanding supporters of many organisations including South Tipperary Hospice, St. Vincent de Paul, Funded Housing in South Tipperary (FHIST) and the Kids Out programme.

Above - Tadg Browne, Cliona Maher, District Mayor Richie Molloy, Marie McMahon, Joe O’Sullivan, club president; Michael O’Malley and Tom O’Gorman at the civic reception for Clonmel Rotary Club

More recently the club had acted as lead partner with South Tipperary Autism Support Group and the local authority in the development of the sensory playground at Mulcahy Park.

He said the support received for the many worthwhile causes couldn’t have happened without the goodwill and engagement of the public and businesses, who had willingly embraced the many projects with which the club had been associated.

He thanked his fellow members and paid tribute to founder member Con Moroney, who he said still played an active role in the club’s business.  

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