Men’s Sheds Northern Ireland Showcase 2019

A shed is a shed is a shed. Whether in the leafy environs of South County Dublin or the rugged, windswept terrain of Donegal, the welcome, the banter, the atmosphere and the buzz is the same.

Sometimes, however, it’s good to share some time and space with those who know us best. It was in that spirit that the Irish Men’s Sheds Association (IMSA) recently organised a major get-together for all sheds in Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Men’s Sheds Showcase was part of the 2019 IMSA Men’s Sheds Showcase tour, was addressed by Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland Eddie Lynch, and attended by over 150 men’s sheds members from 40 Northern Irish Sheds.

Commissioner Lynch spoke of the transformative potential men’s sheds hold for individual members and communities alike, and many attendees commented on the shining example set by men’s sheds as Northern Ireland facing into an uncertain future.

Fittingly, the event was held at the Long Gallery in Belfast’s iconic Stormont Buildings, the site of so much turmoil, contention and upheaval in recent years. Fittingly, the Men’s Sheds Showcase brought a healing balm of good faith, good humour, friendship and mutual trust to the venue.

IMSA chair Eoin Martyn, Stiofan Mac Cleirigh of Armagh City Men's Shed and IMSA CEO Barry Sheridan.

Feedback was effusive, with sheds from all corners of Northern Ireland expressing their delight at sampling the wares of their counterparts and sharing good-natured banter across all divides.

A scaled-down health expo also took place under the auspices of the IMSA’s Sheds for Life initiative, while veteran Armagh City Men’s Shed stalwart Stiofán Mac Cléirigh was presented with a handsome carved memento, in recognition of his years of service to Irish men’s sheds at local, national and IMSA board level.

IMSA chief executive officer Barry Sheridan was delighted with the turnout and atmosphere at the event: “It’s so great to get everyone together like this, it’s such a morale boost. I think sometimes shed members have this perception that what they’re doing is very worthwhile to them, to their shed and their community. But what an event like this gives you is the bigger picture. It’s a chance to step back and take in the scale of the whole thing.”

The event featured on BBC Northern Ireland, and members were also offered a tour of the Northern Ireland Assembly chamber. With the Assembly in abeyance since January 2017, more than one attendee quipped that men’s sheds members might be well-placed to step into the gap.

Whatever the immediate and long-term future holds for Northern Ireland, the event proved once again that NI sheds have much to contribute to and much to teach the wider society in the uncertain period ahead. CL

Picture of the week

Dungarvan Men's Shed Member William Condron pictured with Elvis at the Tallow Horse Fair.

Dungarvan Men’s Shed

The Tallow Horse Fair is a century-old highlight of the calendar in the west Waterford town of Tallow. Uniquely, the horse fair remains governed by custom and local habit to this day – there is no central organising committee, no website and no Facebook event jostling for modern relevance.

Traditionally held on 3 September, this year’s event was attended by members of Dungarvan Men’s Shed, eager to sample the stalls and the fun of the fair at one of their county’s iconic events.

Shed PRO Shane Minnock informs us that the shed had two close encounters with celebrities at the fair. A chance brush with Waterford Mayor John Pratt was narrowly eclipsed by a face-to-face meeting with Elvis. Suspicious minds might suggest that the sequinned apparition was a mere impostor, but Shane expects the King of rock‘n’roll at the shed any evening for a jam session over tea and biscuits.

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