“Let’s Team Up to Clean Up, Together for Kilkenny” is being supported by The Lions Club. We encourage your group to sign up today via https://cleanup.kilkenny.ie/ and be part of Kilkenny City’s Clean Up day. Registered groups will receive a litter picking kit worth over €100. The event day is the 9th of October. We hope that this day will be the first of many, please register today so we can all help Kilkenny City to stay Beautiful.
Congratulation to the new Kilkenny Lions President for 2022/2023, Carmel Slater. Carmel has been an active member of Kilkenny Lions since 2013.
Twelve local organisations from the city and county received funding from the Kilkenny Lions Club at a recent presentation in Bollards, Kieran Street, Kilkenny.
George Candler a long time member of the club was MC for the event.
Lions Club President Eddie Holohan thanked the Lions partners, KCLR and the Kilkenny People, whose vital support makes many of the fundraising events possible.
He also expressed the Lions’ gratitude to the people and business community of Kilkenny who have generously supported the various Lions fund raising events, including the Christmas Hamper Appeal auction on KCLR, throughout the past 12 months.
He also thanked Mayor Andrew McGuinness for donating the proceeds of the Mayor’s Annual Christmas Appeal to the Lions Club.
He welcomed representatives from the Kilkenny County and City Lawn Tennis Club to the event and thanked them for donating a considerable amount from their fundraising events to the Lions Club. They were represented by Ivan Powell, Pat Brett and Phil Kenealy.
He referred to the Lions policy of distributing funds throughout County Kilkenny and said that the Lions were very happy to assist such worthy organisations.
He thanked the Lions Committee for organising this event and in particular Philip O’Neill, Marie Kennedy and Philip Tierney.
Cathaoirleach of the Council Fidelis Doherty said that Kilkenny Lions Club has a long history of helping local organisations, with the Club distributing over €800,000 to over 100 organisations over the past 18 years. She acknowledged the incredible charity work and community engagement of the Lions Club throughout County Kilkenny.
Mayor Andrew McGuinness paid tribute to the Lions for their great work in assisting local organisations over the years and said that the people of Kilkenny were very thankful to them. He also thanked the voluntary work of the organisations who were receiving cheques, as they play a huge role in improving the services available in their communities. He said he was delighted to have given the proceeds of the Mayors Christmas Appeal to the Lions Club, as he knew how respected they were in Kilkenny and that so many local organisations benefit from their fundraising throughout the year.
The Twelve recipients were
A new guide published by Lions Clubs in Ireland is designed to assist community groups and voluntary organisations to access grants and other funding for local environmental projects.
The ‘Environmental Project Support Guide’ will be used extensively by almost 100 Lions Clubs in Ireland and is also available to other groups through a download from the Lions Clubs Ireland website. (www.lionsclubs.ie)
Launching the Guide at Kilkenny Castle, the Minister of State for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Malcolm Noonan TD, said:
‘We are living through a time of unprecedented change and a time of great opportunity to shape that change rather than watch it happen. The publication of the Lions Club guide is both timely and vital as communities across Ireland respond to the great environmental challenges of our time by being the change they want to see.
Importantly too Lions Clubs International once again has its finger on the pulse by wanting to help lead on the bigger picture and enabling change to happen. I welcome Lions commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and their desire to work towards a more just and safer planet for all living things’.
In producing the Guide, the Lions District 133 Environmental Team considered ways to best support Lions to engage in Environment Projects. Lions serve their communities on a voluntary basis but the appropriate use of available funding serves to increase the effectiveness of environment projects and enhances the benefits to communities. The Guide summarises key elements of Local Authority and other Environmental, Climate Change and Biodiversity Community Grants. It details funding streams that are available for carrying out various types of community activities and projects in local communities.
Lions Clubs District Governor, Ann Ellis of Carrick-on-Suir Lions Club, said :
‘An objective for me, during my year as District Governor, and in the context of the urgent need for increased action to protect and restore our environment, was to establish a new District Environment Team to assist Lions Clubs to develop and implement more Environmental projects in their communities. The Guide will provide invaluable assistance, to Lions Clubs and community groups, with their Environment Projects, and I am very proud of the achievements of the new Environment Team in such a short space of time.’
Environment Team Chair, Dan McInerney of Carlow Lions Club said : ‘The Guide is an evolving guidance document and it will be updated regularly. I acknowledge the great work of Philip O’Neill of Kilkenny Lions Club who led the production of the Guide, together with all the Environment Team members’.
The motto of Lions Clubs is We serve and the Mission Statement of the District 133 Environment Team, which produced the Environment Project Support Guide, states that ‘By harnessing the skills and experience of our members, we aim to sustainably protect and restore our environment to improve the well-being of the communities we serve’.
On Saturday in Kilkenny Golf Club, Kilkenny Lions Club and Kilkenny County Council launched a significant environmental initiative funded by the Council’s Waste Prevention Program. Read the full article on the Kilkenny Peoples Website here
During these difficult times Kilkenny Lions Club President Pat O’Hanlon has asked people to consider shopping local to support our local businesses.
You can hear the advertisement below
PRESS RELEASE
Westport Lion Heads
Irish District
Des Ryan from Westport has been elected as District Governor of Lions Clubs International in Ireland. He succeeds Bernard Black of Antrim Coast Lions Club and will lead 2,150 Lions who are members of 103 Clubs in District 133 of the word-wide organisation.
Born in Dublin, Des is grandson of the late Terry O’Sullivan, journalist and diarist and is a nephew of the writer and broadcaster Nuala O’Faolain.
He moved to Westport with his parents in 1980 and after graduating in Construction Studies at Galway RTC, he worked in the structural steel industry prior to establishing his own company in 2004.
Des initially joined Lions Clubs International through Leos, its youth organisation. He was the founding president of Westport Leo Club and went on to become the youngest member of Westport Lions Club, later serving as secretary and club president. He headed the North West Zone of Lions Clubs before his election as Vice District Governor.
As District Governor, Des plans to enhance the national understanding of Lions Clubs ethos and activities.
‘Lions Clubs are active in almost every community on this island, supporting the vulnerable and those in need through a very wide range of projects. At national level we are engaged in health, education, community support, youth development and sport while our District also supports major international humanitarian projects undertaken by the Lions Clubs International Foundation’, he says.
He adds that Lions Clubs in Ireland has responded to the Covid 19 pandemic by supporting local communities and by contributing €95,000 to purchase and distribute 100,000 Hero Shields to front line workers.
‘We need to create a greater public awareness of our activities, so that we can attract new members and raise the necessary funds’, he says.
As District Governor, Des also plans to enhance the use of communications technology by Lions Clubs, to offer training to members and leadership opportunities to a new generation of Lions Clubs officers.
A keen sportsman who has played soccer and GAA, Des enjoys playing guitar, singing and gardening. He is married to Sara (they met at a Leo Club meeting) and they are parents to Catherine (26), Jessica (21), Emma (13) and Ben(11) and grandparents of Elisagh (4).
PRESS RELEASE
Lions Clubs throughout Ireland to raise €100,000 for ‘Hero Shield’ Visors
Lions Clubs have pledged to raise up to €100,000 to fund 200,000 ‘Hero Shield’ face visors which will be distributed free of charge to front line health workers throughout Ireland.
The project, led by James O’Sullivan of Macroom Lions Club, was initially supported by nine other clubs in the Zone and has since gained the support of Lions Clubs District 133, which covers the island of Ireland. District Governor Bernard Black has asked the 106 Lions Clubs in the District to support the project with donations.
Rodger Curran President Kilkenny Lions Club said that the Club was delighted to support this important initiative and our contribution has been sent to the national Lions coordinators. He thanked all our front line workers and said the whole country is so proud of them.
Says Lions Zone Chairman Orla Flavin from Cobh Lions Club:
‘We are already getting a very positive response from Lions Clubs all over the country and we are confident that we will reach our target of €100,000. Not all heroes wear capes but as Lions Clubs, we can help make sure our heroes wear shields’.
James O’Sullivan of Macroom Lions Club, who initiated the project adds:
‘Twenty companies across the country are giving their time, talents and tools free of charge to produce these visors which are manufactured here in Ireland, are certified and meet EU Standards. Covid 19 teams North and South have already approved the Lions Hero Shields. An Garda Síochána, Hospitals and, Care Homes North and South across the country have been contacted and are anxious to take delivery of our PPE’s as soon as possible. The need is clear as statistics show front line staff account for almost a quarter of the Covid-19 cases in Ireland’.
Says Lions Clubs District Governor Bernard Black:
‘The 1.4m members of 46,000 Lions Clubs throughout the world are dedicated to serving their communities and this project enables Lions Clubs to make a meaningful contribution to the battle against Covid 19 in Ireland. It also complements the wide range of voluntary community support which Lions Clubs have been offering to their local communities since the virus first emerged in Ireland.’
The Hero Shield is a full-face visor designed to be used by front line workers in the battle against the COVID19 virus. It is a vital piece of Personal Protective Equipment in the armoury of kit helping to protect those who put themselves at risk to help others.
The visors are manufactured in Ireland by Hero Shield, a new not-for-profit collective of companies, and are certified as meeting all relevant EU standards. The HSE has already noted that, as the visor has no moving parts, it is easier to sterilise and reuse than many existing solutions.
The Hero Shield will be available free to HSE and An Garda Síochána personnel in the Republic of Ireland and NHS and PSNI personnel in Northern Ireland.
