Kilkenny's community cafés praised for tackling rural isolation and lonliness

MEP for the Southern Counties, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, has come out strongly in favour of a new funding stream to support community cafés across rural Ireland.

Ní Mhurchú made her comments after meeting with representatives from the community café industry from Kilkenny, in a meeting in Tipperary last Friday.

There are now up to 30 community cafes across Ireland, mainly in Munster and Leinster. They are coffee shops and small retail outlets that act as mini community hubs in rural villages where all other services have closed down and have proved commercially unviable.

The community café representatives met with Cynthia Ní Mhurchú as a first step to getting an official lobby group established. Commitments have been made in the new Programme for Government to support community cafes and shops.

Maura Tynan from Muckalee Community Café with Cynthia Ní Mhurchú

Ní Mhurchú says the community café model is an excellent way to tackle rural isolation and the epidemic of rural loneliness.  

“Community cafés are providing a safe, welcoming space for our older population and those in rural Ireland who can drop by for a coffee, some homemade cake and a much needed chat.”

 “They are run by locals, for locals and all profits are fed back into the shop or café. It drives a sense of community and pride and should be a key policy platform for rural isolation and loneliness in rural Ireland.”

 The community café movement told Cynthia Ní Mhurchú that they are adamant that they are not there to replace private enterprise and only develop or set up where it is clear that no other commercially viable business can survive there.

Ní Mhurchú made the point that community cafes are often an outlet for communities who have lost their local pub due to closure.

The Ireland South MEP has committed to lobbying the next Minister in the Department of Social Protection to fund a new scheme that would incentivise those on the long-term unemployment register to take up roles in community enterprises such as community cafés. This would encourage them to learn new skills, whilst supporting local rural initiatives that benefit the community.