Macra bid to revive neighbourly spirit lost in land of prosperity

GETTING to know the neighbours is the focal point of an initiative launched yesterday by Macra na Feirme.

People countrywide are being urged to organise activities on July 14-15 and to invite the neighbours along. The aim is to get people in both urban and rural Ireland to mingle with each other in a friendly way in their own areas.

Macra president Catherine Buckley said while there has been more prosperity in Ireland in recent years, many people are also faced with the increased pressures that come hand-in-hand with modern living.

“Long hours at work, increasing commute times and family and other commitments mean that people are spending less and less time involved in community-based activities. All too often we hear people saying that they don’t even know their own neighbours,” she said.

Ms Buckley said Macra also hope this initiative will generate a debate about the importance and relevance of neighbourliness and community in today’s society.

“That debate should be about how we can continue to develop economically while not losing some of the good things we always had — our welcome, our generosity of spirit and our sense of community,” she said.

Praising the initiative, President Mary McAleese said there is a growing realisation of the importance of community and the support which people can give to one another. “Many aspects of modern life make the cementing of community difficult to maintain but I am delighted to see Macra rising to the challenge with such enterprise and determination,” she said.

“The spirit of community still exists and Macra na Feirme has been supporting that spirit with success since it was founded. The latest initiative is only one way in which Macra has benefited both the individual and the community as a whole.”

ESB Customer Supply is sponsoring the Know Your Neighbour Weekend, which was held for the first time last year, and is specifically promoting it by printing the details on the back of its bill envelopes.

People who wish to host an event during the weekend can register on www.knowyourneighbour.ie or send an email to [e-mail].

They can also text KYN followed by a space and their name and address to 51444 or they can call the Know Your Neighbour Weekend office on 01-4268915.

A list of suggested activities and events that people can undertake is also available on the website.

Participants will subsequently receive an organiser’s pack including printed posters, fliers, invitations and stickers to publicise the event, which Dublin Lord Mayor Vincent Jackson launched at a reception in the Mansion House last night with guest speakers Health Minister Mary Harney and broadcaster Brenda Donoghue.