If one word sums up our work it is Respect

By Noel O Callaghan,
President of Conference of the Immaculate Conception, Mullingar.

I joined Mullingar SVP over 20 years ago, as I was referring so many people to them I felt compelled to help out. Very soon I learned the mantra was “If in doubt, give it out” - something I have carried with me since, in all walks of life.

If one word sums up our work it is Respect - without it we have nothing. As a great man once said “Those who know the way to the poor man’s house never knock at his door without feelings of Respect” - Frederic Ozanam.

I have been privileged to have known and worked with so many great people in SVP Mullingar - in supporting venerable members of our community - People helping People.

In our Conference some of us have appointments as a formal committee if needed to conduct our work. However, our title matters not, no one is any more or less important that anyone else. And the decisions and direction is given from our Conference as a group. We may not agree on everything, but we all agree of why we are members - people. Those who serve our community under the umbrella of Mullingar SVP are dedicated, true and good friends - they do in fact live their religion.

“There is no true friendship without frankness” -Guess who said this?
Mullingar is supported really well in terms of financial and actual physical support, helping us helping people they don’t even know.

Our network of statuary bodies and local organsations is a huge help to our Conference.

As banks, shopping etc goes “online” and faceless, I would caution against such a move. We are becoming a cashless/faceless society, and while seeing first-hand the way it is affecting rural Ireland, it is starting to creep in to the larger towns and cities as well. This all adds to a disconnect with our communities. Telling a machine “No” is much easier than telling a person.

Our fundraising, church gate collections, bag packs etc project the physical manifestation of our Society at local level, and is more important than the money collected. The face behind the names as it were, is vital to our continued work.