Civic reception sought for local Samaritans

Members of Athlone Moate Municipal District were unanimous in their backing for a call to host a civic reception to honour the “extraordinary work” of the Athlone and Midlands Samaritans.

The call was made at the February meeting of the local authority this week by Fianna Fail councillor Aengus O’Rourke, who pointed out that it would be “a very fitting gesture” to bestow “the highest honour available” to the council on the Samaritans in view of the fact that they are celebrating their 30th anniversary this month.

“Incredibly, there are 95 volunteers in the branch in Athlone, and the service responds to an average of 23,000 calls every year,” said Cllr O’Rourke, who added that an “extraordinary example of the commitment” of those involved was the fact that 13 volunteers who started with the local branch in 1992 are still volunteering on a weekly basis.

Cllr John Dolan pointed out that the one statistic that was not readily available is the number of lives that the Samaritan volunteers have saved over the last 30 years. “It must be thousands upon thousands,” he said.

Cllr Tom Farrell said a civic reception would be “well deserved” while the motion was also strongly supported by Cllrs Frankie Keena, Louise Heavin and Paul Hogan, who said he did not realise that the local branch had 95 volunteers.

In his motion, Cllr O’Rourke called on the Municipal District to host a civic honours events in Athlone “to acknowledge the extraordinary work” of the Athlone Samaritans, who celebrate their 30th anniversary in Athlone this month.

The meeting heard that the catchment area for the Branch takes in the four Midland counties of Westmeath, Offaly, Longford and Roscommon, and that it provides a non-judgmental 24/7 listening service to anyone who is “despairing, suicidal, experiencing loneliness or simply needs to talk about their troubles in complete confidence.”

Cllr O’Rourke said it costs about €40,000 per annum to keep the local branch in operation, with expenses ranging from maintenance of the branch centre to telephone costs, insurance, heat, light and volunteer training. “It is dependent on fundraising and donations, and it is through the generosity of the local community that it has been able to maintain its service down through the years,” he added.

He said he would like to see a civic honour being bestowed on the Athlone Samaritans “to recognise and pay tribute” to this “amazing service” to the people of the four counties of the Midlands and to recognise “the thousands of hours of commitment” provided by many volunteers over the past 30 years.

It was unanimously agreed by members that the motion be referred to the Council’s Corporate Policy Group (CPG) for final approval.