Community Service Spotlight: Donegal Team

In one of Ireland’s largest and most rural counties, the Community Service Supervisors in Donegal have to be creative to meet the needs of clients and communities. Danny McNulty and Joe Fox are responsible for the day-to-day supervision of clients on Community Service. They work with men and women throughout the county, supporting them in giving back to local communities for the harm they caused through offending.

Danny McNulty has worked as a Community Service Supervisor for six years. He has a love for working in the community, between running a local youth boxing club and playing hurling in Donegal. He decided to join the Probation Service to help continue this community work.

“The appeal of becoming a supervisor was getting the chance to help people and guide them, so to speak. You meet some great characters here and you get to pass on some of the knowledge and some of the things that people have told you about where they’ve gone wrong. You can say to others ‘look, don’t go down this path, there is more out there for you'.”

The rural nature of Donegal can present challenges to Community Service. Danny brings his bus out around the county, getting to areas that otherwise couldn’t be accessed for Community Service.

“Here in rural Donegal I drive the mobile unit. It’s great that we can now get out to the more isolated towns which often get overlooked for community support initiatives because they are difficult to access without transport. I do a pick-up in the morning and bring four to eight clients from Community Service and go out to do a full day’s graft. We get to help many community projects that otherwise wouldn’t get the help.”

Damien Hannigan is the caretaker of Little Angels School in Letterkenny, ?a multi-denominational?school?which caters for students with moderate, severe or profound learning disabilities and students with autism. As a long-standing Community Service Host Site, Damien is firm supporter of Community Service and recognises its key benefits to the school.

“Community Service is a great asset to the community. From my experience, all the fellas that come on site want to be there. They’re happy to be there and they’re good workers. It’s a great help to me and a great help to the school; it takes a lot of pressure off me to be able to do the work I can’t do because it requires more manpower.”

Joe Fox has worked as a Community Service Supervisor since 2017. He has a background in construction and wanted to use his skills to help make a difference in the community.

“I thought I could make a difference through construction work and Community Service gave me the opportunity to follow that path. I really enjoy the work; you’re working out in the open air 99% of the time, and you’re meeting different people all the time. You do your best to work with the clients and encourage them because things can be so much better than their current situations. You feel like you’re making a difference.”

The Donegal Hospice has been a host to Community Service for 17 years. Lucy McGettigan, Assistant Director of Nursing at the Hospice, has seen first-hand the value that the work brings to the area.

“It’s a lovely initiative; it’s such a good way for Community Service to be used. The hospice is very central to the community, and most people including a lot of the clients that come to work here have been impacted at some point in their life by somebody who has made use of the palliative care service.”

The clients taking part in Community Service maintain the grounds of the hospice, trimming the hedges, cutting the grass and clearing footpaths. Lucy says that the work “has a massive impact on the grounds for the patients and families, particularly when we have lovely weather”.

“Some of the young guys have said that it’s a nice opportunity to come back and give thanks in a different way. It’s very productive and I must say that they’re very respectful when they’re here.”

To find out more about Community Service or about becoming a Host Site, please visit www.probation.ie or email [email protected]