Like many who grew up in the 1970s and 80s I recognise tough times. Unemployment was rife, many worked ‘on the grip’ and signing on and off the dole was a regular feature for households.
There was continual uncertainty and the Troubles hardly made the north a hot spot for investment.
What I remember most about those days was the men and women from across the community who stepped forward to create some joy in another wise bleak world.
Throughout Newry, life was markedly improved by the efforts of hundreds of volunteers from many local organisations such as the Credit Union, the local cooperative, the plethora of community associations, cultural bodies and St Vincent de Paul.
As children we didn’t know times were hard mainly because our neighbours were in exactly the same boat as ourselves. Envy wasn’t topping the confession list in 1974.
Ordinary families tried to make the best of life. A generation of make do and mend. Thankfully as the oldest I was rarely the recipient of hand me downs, my siblings were less lucky.
Sometimes we reflect on black and white images of those days with an undeserved sense of nostalgia.
Although life was tough, people still kept an eye out for one another. And not just on one another but also on those living in countries which only existed in our imaginations or geography books.
I remember my aunt sitting night after night crocheting hundreds of small baby blankets destined for India. Wool was donated and a legion of women, like my aunt, laboured as co-workers of Mother Teresa. No matter how hard we thought things were, those 16 inch blankets reminded us many endured much worse.
I too was a volunteer with St Vincent de Paul - now trendily rebranded as simply Vincent’s. We painted houses, visited the elderly bringing food and much needed company. I volunteered in other organisations for many years because as one Vincentian and former Newry Credit Union founder, Peter Connolly, always reminded me, “ Once a Vincentian always a Vincentian”.
Covid-19 has created much uncertainty and little to be joyful about. We have witnessed staggering incompetence from the political establishment. Some media have feasted on mistakes made by frontline decision-makers. Behind the cold statistics of every death there is a name, not just a number. And yet, notwithstanding any of these, there have been some incredibly uplifting and inspiring acts of individual and collective efforts arising from this lockdown.
Across Northern Ireland, hundreds of volunteers have stepped up. They provide a bridge of hope and help to the isolated, deprived, vulnerable and elderly. This pandemic has highlighted quite starkly the inequalities within our society. Anyone may catch Covid-19 but it’s those who are least well off and most vulnerable who bear the brunt of it.
The images from the soup kitchen in north Belfast are both worrying and wonderful. Worrying that the scale of support needed is so great but equally wonderful to see the huge numbers of volunteers putting themselves and their own families at risk to deliver this service.
On Friday, I returned to my own roots and visited the team of volunteers beavering away in the Armagh Road/Meadow Community Association centre, the Whitegates. The activity hall was simply bursting with banter and bonhomie. Tables were lined with loads of fresh fruit, tinned foods, cereals and snacks. Last week these volunteers delivered a whopping 500 bags of supplies to the most vulnerable in their communities. This is replicated across the north.
Leaving the Whitegates, I chatted with another volunteer, Collie Bell of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. His door is also kept ajar for those who need solace in the most tragic of circumstances.
To paraphrase Yeats, when these days are over, we should be all grateful - our glory was we had such good friends in our midst.
