Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We hear frequently these days, unfortunately, of isolation and mental health issues in our society. That includes older people in urban and rural areas. Some communities, however, have come together to revitalise old traditions to combat loneliness and bring about a greater sense of community. I refer to the old tradition of making a céilí, as it was known in many parts of the country, or gathering at a céilí house. This was well known in many parts of the country for many years and indeed generations. People came together to check on a neighbour or friend and to see how they were.

With that in mind, I compliment Scotstown GAA club in County Monaghan. For the second year in succession, the community there has come together to try to reinvigorate or reinvent the old tradition of the céilí house. People are encouraged to go out into their communities and visit older people who may be living alone and to visit friends in the community. The help of three local national schools has also been enlisted. The children in those schools ask and encourage their families to visit old friends, relatives or neighbours who live alone and to check on them. It is a great success and has gone from strength to strength in that parish. It is an initiative for which the people of Scotstown GAA deserve the highest praise.The feedback I am getting from the community is that not alone do the people being visited find great comfort from it but the visitors themselves also get great comfort. The GAA club deserves great credit for it. We will never measure scientifically the benefit of such an initiative but I can say without hesitation or doubt that the people who are being visited will benefit as will those doing the visiting.