Rosemount group's active age initiatives praised by Minister

The resourcefulness and success of Rosemount's Social Initiative Group was praised by Minister of State Kieran O’Donnell and other local politicians during a visit to the Westmeath community last Friday morning.

The Minister for Older People was visibly impressed with structures introduced at the local GAA grounds to benefit an older population, and with a presentation in the GAA centre about the social initiative's activities.

Minister O'Donnell had been invited to see the Rosemount community’s work by his fellow Minister of State, Robert Troy, who joined him on the day along with Westmeath County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Liam McDaniel, and Cllr Tom Farrell.

On the visit, Minister O'Donnell learned of great successes by the Rosemount community, mostly driven by the active aged population, both male and female.

The Rosemount community has the prestige of winning three awards – the National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Award (November 2024), the Westmeath County Council Cathaoirleach Award from Cllr Liam McDaniel, and the GAA President's Award.

When he arrived on Friday morning, Minister O’Donnell told the Westmeath Independent he had never been to Rosemount before but had heard "incredible stuff about the Social Initiative group from its Chairman, Jimmy Keane, Minister Troy, Minister Peter Burke and Cllr Tom Farrell".

The Minister was escorted around the GAA grounds by Jimmy Keane and the social initiative members. At the corner of the pitch, the gathering stopped at a Remembrance Stone erected in 2024.

The inscription on the stone is: 'For Each One of Us in Our Club it is a Journey of Belonging'.

Minister O’Donnell was impressed with the covered-over stand, which was designed for senior citizens, at the side of the club pitch. The stand, which opened in 2019, provides safe and comfortable viewing of GAA games for the older community members. It is heated against cold weather and can seat up to around twenty people.

"I like this - we should look to see it replicated," said the Minister, while viewing the stand. "It's a really good idea. It protects people from rain and snow."

Jimmy Keane also pointed to the children’s playground, the astro turf and the gym, across from the field.

Following further enquiries from Minister O’Donnell about age-friendly facilities, Jimmy pointed out the walking track, which located beside the older persons’ stand.

"Effectively you have a model here covering all areas, and the focal point is the GAA club," said the Minister.

Minister O’Donnell was then shown inside the Rosemount GAA community centre by Jimmy Keane and the committee members, where he and the other politicians heard a presentation on the activities of the social initiative group.

Jimmy told the invited gathering that Rosemount was a small rural parish in South Westmeath, with approximately 700 residents.

"The good news is the number of new houses in our community grew over the past number of years and our school has over 100 pupils, up from 70 a few years back, so we are on the right track!" he said.

"This community is known far and wide for its strong ethos on volunteerism, spearheaded through our GAA club which was formed in 1924. Emigration has had an impact on all rural clubs and we are no different, but the good news is they are returning."

Jimmy said that the Rosemount Social Initiative is known for many voluntary activities, including a recent clean-up of the community graveyard.

"Twelve teams turned up at short notice to leave it in perfect condition with not a blade of grass out of place," he said. "Locals still open and fill in graves at funeral times, which is a culture much appreciated by grieving relatives. I hope this culture continues through the next generation."

However, Jimmy pointed out to the politicians that there had been changes since since the social initiative project was started 15 years ago, and that there is no longer a shop or local hostelry in Rosemount.

"Church goers have drastically reduced so there are very few places to meet, especially as one gets older," he said.

"Our social initiative project is an attempt to address these issues, and we want to share our experience of supporting our senior citizens, which we believe could have a significant impact if replicated and scaled to create a national effort. If supported by Government, it could have a major impact in tackling loneliness, enhancing mental health, and fostering social inclusion in other parts of Ireland."

Committee member John Burke gave an overview of the group’s practical activities, and attendees learned that the group members take part in exercise classes, including pole-walking around the pitch and modern dancing, and receive guest speakers who talk about maintaining mental health, basic first aid, community policing and social welfare.

The members partake in music activities including traditional music sessions, attend theatre productions, enjoy historical and cultural evenings and go on social gathering trips.

The Minister for Older People said that he wants to give people the opportunity to live in their own homes as long as possible.

"I’ll be bringing forward a statute scheme which will allow that option," he said.

He said he also wanted to see flexibility in giving people the choice of moving to a smaller house if they require that.

Addressing the gathering, local Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Robert Troy, said: "When I was on the back benches for two years, I wrote a policy document about tackling rural isolation. There are many lonely people in Ireland but I don’t think that’s reflected in Rosemount."

He praised Minister O'Donnell for visiting Rosemount and for his policy initiative aiming to help people live in their homes as long as they can.

"Let's work together to keep people in their own homes. We should work to keep communities tight, and when we work together, we are a hell of a lot stronger," said Minister Troy.