Catherine Drea: Live and let live

Somehow when the launch of the Festive Star happens, Christmas in Waterford begins. The launch every year in The Book Centre, closely followed by the Christmas lights being switched on, marks the turning point. Both of these events happened last week and it’s now time for us all to plan for the upcoming madness. 

“What are you doing for the Christmas?” is being asked up and down the country and there’s no avoiding it.

The launch of the Festive Star was extra exciting for my Right Hand Man because he was like a kid in a sweet shop when he heard that Alfie Hale would be interviewed by Mary Frances Ryan that evening. Alfie, admired for being Waterford’s most famous footballer, couldn’t contain his natural passion for everything soccer. He had so much to say and was such a joy to listen to, that Himself assured me he could have listened to him all night.

Now, I have to admit that almost everything sports-related goes completely over my head. But weaving Alfie's stories together was an underlying tale of a young man growing up in Waterford not only dealing with tough times and having to leave the country to fulfill his potential. But while pursuing his dreams in England he also craved a return to the Waterford he loved, just to be a part of it. It seemed that both of these desires tugged at Alfie and maybe at many of us.

What resonated most with me was his exuberant energy and love of home; the need to support each other, to talk up our own young people and to appreciate what we have here. 

I sensed Alfie’s frustration with ongoing negativity, the kind of thing that we all go on with from time to time. So I wondered, are we worse at the moaning and groaning than other parts of the world and how do we turn it around?

I used to think we might win the prize for moaning here in Waterford until I started touring the country setting up projects with local community groups. Everywhere I went with the good news that the government was willing to provide funding for childcare, drop-in facilities and counselling services, people would line up to explain to me how that could never work in their particular locality.

Sometimes it was a matter of searching for the positive locals amongst the negative ones. It’s not that I blamed them. In so many places there was profound disadvantage at that time and people felt burnt out and forgotten about. In one small town the funding eventually went to a group of mothers trying to provide a toddler playgroup. They took the funding and built a resource centre, adding services and adult education over the years. It’s now a thriving hub in the town where nothing could possibly work!

In another town it was a voluntary group providing food and shelter for older people living alone that immediately grasped the opportunity. Over the years they created a drop in service for isolated older people in the rural hinterland and an adjoining childcare facility to support local parents. They identified that these were often the meat in the sandwich trying to care for older parents and small children at the same time.

But the quiet work of volunteers often gets lost in the mainstream world where too many of us are addicted to outrage and seem to be stuck in apathy.

One of Alfie’s questions about local attitudes was why don’t we support our own people more? In other words, why do we think that other people are better at everything than we are ourselves? And even as we develop and grow as a place to live and work, why do we not appreciate our own place and continue to talk negatively about Waterford and all of the efforts so many people make to improve life here?

Now Alfie was talking about football mainly but of course this negativity applies to other aspects of life too. It’s almost as if some of us are incapable of staying positive about anything. And yet, like Alfie, what we all crave is the support, positivity and opportunity that so many people work away on quietly.

Yes there are problems to solve and challenges and sometimes these seem insurmountable. Yes it seems we need to avail of every opportunity to rant about everything that is wrong with the world. I’m all for a good rant, but we also need the power of kindness, creativity and above all putting our shoulders to the wheel.

Every ranting session should be balanced by at least 10 sessions of positive support and action!

For the people I was lucky enough to work with around the country and around this county too, hard work and positivity paid off. In the last 35 years volunteers stepped in where services and facilities were lacking and gave their time and their commitment to building for the future. In the arts, in community development, in family support, in childcare, in elder care, in supporting young people, homeless people and people with disabilities and special needs.

There’s a time for outrage and a time to direct frustration at a problem but essentially what we all want is a great quality of life and the chance to live it to the full.

I have news for ye, we already have it in Waterford!