Arás an Uactaráin

Since coming to office in November 2011, President Michael D Higgins’s garden parties have become the stuff of legends. These inclusive, invariably sun-kissed afternoons on the Phoenix Park lawns have seen dozens of community groups welcomed onto the hallowed terrain of the president’s official residence.

Late in June, the Irish Men’s Sheds Association (IMSA) was honoured to receive an invitation to a presidential concert held in the Arás grounds. The concert was billed as a celebration of Irish country music.

The aim of the concert was to acknowledge the work being undertaken by various organisations in fostering and developing strong rural communities throughout the villages and towns of Ireland. With a strong nationwide presence in rural areas (and with a number of aspirant Charlie Landsboroughs and Johnny Cashs in their ranks), men’s sheds were identified as one of the groups making a contribution to rural community cohesion across Ireland.

“We were honoured to receive the invitation,” says Barry Sheridan, chief executive officer of the IMSA. “The president was incredibly gracious and complimentary about the men’s sheds movement, and the staff members, board members and shed support volunteers had a wonderful day.”

President Higgins has served as Patron of the IMSA since late February 2013, and spoke at the first major gathering of international men’s sheds hosted in Ireland.

Inter-county Scooch

The game of scooch has become something of a phenomenon across the Irish shed-o-sphere over the past two years. Scooch was adapted from the popular social sport of shuffleboard, a game of ancient provenance beloved of King Henry VIII. Scooch has been specially designed to be played in and by men’s sheds.

Ireland legend Paul McGrath takes aim at the inter-county Scooch event in Wexford.

The game is easy to set up and play on any surface, and combines strategy and sleight of hand in a way that’s easily accessible to all, regardless of age or mobility.

Scooch has mushroomed so prodigiously within sheds that inter-county games are now a viable prospect. Late in June, sheds from counties Kildare and Wexford – both early adopters of the sport, and among its most adept practitioners – came together for a friendly inter-county game.

Organised under the auspices of the Kildare Sports Partnership, the IMSA, Sport Ireland and Sports Active Wexford, the game saw Wexford introduce a very special “ringer” – legendary Republic of Ireland defender Paul McGrath.

McGrath’s presence was an unexpected delight to all the men who participated and lit up the Oylegate Community Centre. It helped set the tone for a day of feel-good, friendly competition. In the spirit of the day’s event, we won’t reveal the final score, but suffice to say that the return match has already been arranged.

Shed Connector Project

The series of cross-border goodwill visits between men’s sheds, funded through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Reconciliation Fund, continues apace.

Most recently, members of Holywood Men’s Shed, Co Down made the coast-to-coast cross-border trip to Donegal to visit their counterparts of Mevagh Men’s Shed in the Downings.

A sailing boat in dry dock at Mevagh Men's Shed.

Amongst other delights, the visitors from Co Down were taken to Teach John Micí Bán, a local agricultural museum run by one of the host shed’s members. Excitingly, the two sheds discussed a possible collaboration on a boat-building project.

The value of the visit was neatly summed up by Holywood Men’s Shed secretary Dr Bill Lockhart:

“Our guys have been talking about the visit ever since and have been recommending it to those who could not come. For one of our members, it was his first ever trip across the border, for another, it was only his second trip. They could not believe the hospitality and friendship.”