{"id":317896,"date":"2026-02-26T07:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T07:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/317896\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T07:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T07:38:11","slug":"irelands-largest-womens-association-proud-to-handover-fundraising-cheques-to-three-wexford-charities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/317896\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s largest women\u2019s association proud to handover fundraising cheques to three Wexford charities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The Irish Countrywomen\u2019s Association (ICA) has around 6,000 members and over 440 guilds across the Country, where members cook, travel, craft and socialise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The aim of the ICA is to provide a welcoming and fun organisation which offers support, friendship, personal development, education and lifelong learning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Their members learn new skills, participate in local charity initiatives and get involved in their local communities. And they continue to build on 110 years legacy of nurturing the Irish language and culture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">At a recent ICA Federation meeting in The Hub in Rosslare Harbour, the ICA handed over cheques to RehabCare Wexford, the Community Hospital New Ross and St John\u2019s Community Hospital in Enniscorthy.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A cheque for \u20ac1,221.50 was presented to the Community Hospital, New Ross at the ICA Federation meeting in The Hub, Rosslare Harbour on Monday evening. (l to r)- Helen Furlong (Sports Officer, Wexford Federation ICA), Mary Nolan (Federation Treasurer), Breda Cahill (ICA Federation President), Seamus Kennedy (Chairman, New Ross Community Hospital), Mary Darcy (National President ICA), and Lillian Mahon (Federation Secretary). Photo: Jim Campbell\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/e483c3c9-6aa2-40d1-baab-e66db22a0a8e.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" data-testid=\"article-image\"  \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_caption1 indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_secondary indo-66f0fec7_regular indo-1d70522a_marginbottom0 indo-1d70522a_marginleft0 indo-1d70522a_marginright0 indo-1d70522a_margintop3 indo-b48c4984_left\" style=\"color:var(--color-grey-60)\">A cheque for \u20ac1,221.50 was presented to the Community Hospital, New Ross at the ICA Federation meeting in The Hub, Rosslare Harbour on Monday evening. (l to r)- Helen Furlong (Sports Officer, Wexford Federation ICA), Mary Nolan (Federation Treasurer), Breda Cahill (ICA Federation President), Seamus Kennedy (Chairman, New Ross Community Hospital), Mary Darcy (National President ICA), and Lillian Mahon (Federation Secretary). Photo: Jim Campbell<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">RehabCare Wexford supports people with a disability to enhance their independence and develop the skills they need to live the lives they choose, who develop a unique person-centred plan for each individual who attends our service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Their staff then put measures in place to make sure they reach their individual goals. This could involve joining advocacy committees, learning independent living skills, taking part in nutritional and physical exercise programmes, increasing confidence around independent travel, taking day trips to learn about local or national heritage, or gaining employment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cWe are so grateful for the generous support of the ICA\u201d said spokesperson Ciara Heffernan. \u201cIn this instance, they went above and beyond to host a coffee morning, on a day of disruptive weather.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cThey offered a warm welcome and ensured the day was a success. People from our service are supported to be at the heart of their community in their everyday lives, and in turn, we truly treasure our partnerships and collaborations with organisations across Wexford.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">The challenges that charity face in Wexford are the same as those faced by the disability service across the country. Service providers are struggling to cope with increasing costs, rising inflation and staff retention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">\u201cLooking ahead, the group attending RehabCare Wexford is highly advocacy-oriented, and are continuously focused on highlighting the barriers that people with disabilities face in society, particularly in relation to accessibility on footpaths and roads for people in wheelchairs or with mobility issues\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"indo-ebe0ecc6_root indo-ebe0ecc6_paragraph indo-300db776_none indo-91174671_primary indo-1d70522a_marginbottom5 indo-1d70522a_margintop0 indo-b48c4984_inherit\" style=\"color:var(--color-primary-80)\">Several members of the Wexford service, alongside staff, will attend the Rehab Group Advocacy Conference in Dublin in March, joining with people who attend RehabCare disability services from across Ireland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Irish Countrywomen\u2019s Association (ICA) has around 6,000 members and over 440 guilds across the Country, where members&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3502,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-317896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cillian-boggan","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}