Gretta Monahan

One night I went to my Granny’s house and asked her a few questions about being on the committee and what it was like this is what I got.
My granny was on the committee since the very beginning and she was very committed. My granny said she liked being on the committee most because of the way you can speak your mind, not just sit there and listen to the chairman but everyone can speak out if they want. But she’s not a big fan of something dragging on too late because you get tired and then nobody can concentrate properly and then there was no point in staying in the first place. She thought red tape was the biggest problem in Ard Aoibhinn which was trying to get the grant and without my granny the elderly wouldn’t have their independence and safety at the same time because the department that was going to give them most of the grant thought they were mad and that’s when she said “You cant have a dream come true if you don’t have a dream” and the department couldn’t say no. So if my granny hadn’t said that, many of the elderly wouldn’t have a home.
In Ard Aoibhinn though the problem wasn’t as troublesome. It was the windows, they didn’t do what they were meant to do, they let in the wind. She never felt like giving up, she was very determined to further the village. The committee met once every month but my granny never thought it took up too much time because the meetings were in the evening. Since then there was another housing estate, which was Gleann Ard, but it still didn’t take up too much time. From the first minute my granny heard the idea of building the estates she was in favour of it because there were people in need of houses.
My granny thought cycling to Clonmacnoise was the best fundraiser because it was a good time in the year to go, it was the summer and since it was a holy place she enjoyed it. That was her overall favourite fundraiser, that fundraiser was for Ard Aoibhinn; her favourite fundraiser for Gleann Ard was the raffle. The committee found it hard to think of different fundraisers especially good ones. The raffle and the cycle weren’t the only fundraisers she went to - she also went to American tea parties, sponsored films in the community centre, sponsored walks, table quizzes, sports days and sales of work. She thought they were all great.