Would you like to give back to Kilkenny? Here's your chance!

Kilkenny Rotary is seeking new members to join the organisation which has been contributing to life in Kilkenny for many decades.

Rotary in the Marble City is part of a global network of 1.4 million members who are neighbours, friends, leaders and also problem solvers.

Founded in 1905 by Paul Harris, a Chicago attorney to cultivate the exchange of ideas and formation of lifelong friendships, the name Rotary derives from the original practice of meeting in rotation at member’s places of work.

Today Rotary is the second largest voluntary service in the world. 

In a world increasingly motivated by the  ‘I’  rather than the ‘we’, the Rotary seeks a community where people unite to take action to create lasting change.

The 110 year old organisation encourages its members to apply their passion, energy and intelligence to sustainable projects that improve life for other people.

These projects can encompass literacy initiatives, peacemaking, clean water sanitation, education and health projects or even a local litter campaign. Put simply, they want to make the world a better place.  

Like all successful organisations, it is the people who make Rotary: members are at the heart of Rotary and they drive the community, service and friendship that are the defining hallmarks of the group. Addressing challenges in their own community is what motivates Kilkenny Rotary members.

A Rotary motto states ‘He profits most who serves best’ and this sentiment of unselfish volunteerism is central to the group’s ethos. 

Joe Mulhall has been a member of Rotary Kilkenny since 1984 when he joined the Junior Rotary group Rotaract for members aged 18 to 30. In fact, he even met his wife in a Rotaract club in the UK.

Moving back to Kilkenny after college he found the Rotary a great way to reconnect with his home place and meet ‘contemporaries and like-minded people’. 

He says that Rotary is ‘a platform to give back to the local community financially or physically’ and continues ‘you can choose to do what you want and you are covered by Rotary insurance, which allows members to do projects freely’. 

All clubs are free to pursue different projects, unique to their own interests: In 2014 when Joe was President of Rotary Kilkenny he was ‘very invested’ in fundraising for the Mother of Fair Love School to buy IT equipment for a computer room, such as electronic white boards. For him that achievement stands out as he recalls, "That was a very big thing."

He also mentions the Rotary Youth Leadership Competition where the quality of Kilkenny candidates is 'very high' as a notable initiative. Then there is the road safety training programme in Kilkenny schools, the school bikes for Africa drive, the table quiz and the golf classic. Rotary Kilkenny is a busy group.

He admits that in a ‘time poor and cash rich’ society promoting volunteerism can be challenging, as 'people value personal time far more now'. 

He is keen to emphasise that joining Rotary ‘opens your mind to new ideas and experiences’ and that their speaker programme where diverse speakers address the group ‘expands understanding of the world’. Recent speakers here have included Senator Pippa Hackett and Mayor David Fitzgerald. 

The current membership of Rotary includes people from their late seventies to their early thirties but the group is keen to see more younger people involved. 

Joes says: "We've actually got quite a core of professionally involved young people in Rotary Kilkenny at the moment but the age profile has crept up." 

This year for the first time the International President is a woman while in Kilkenny Ella Dunphy, the current president is the second  woman to hold the role. Her successor next year will also be a woman, so Rotary is definitely an equal opportunity group. It is also non political, non-religious and open to all regardless of race, gender, colour religion or political preference. 

Joe sums up his experience of Rotary saying: "You have to want to contribute to your community but Rotary allows you to contribute at your level."  

If you are interested in joining Rotary in Kilkenny, they meet on Mondays at 1pm at the Club House Hotel in Patrick Street, or you can ring 056 7721994