Community coffee shop re-opens to delight of customers
The kettle is back on the boil at the Palmerstown Community Coffee Shop

Community coffee shop re-opens to delight of customers

TO THE delight of their regular customers, Palmerstown Community Coffee Shop has opened its doors up once again now that it is safe to do so, reports Eoghan Gardiner.

Connie Kiernan, a community stalwart who celebrated her 90th birthday back in February, said she “very, very much so” missed the community coffee mornings every Sunday.

Connie, who goes to the coffee morning with her grandson, said that she is relieved to be back and to “catch up on all the news” happening locally.

“I was delighted when it reopened. It’s wonderful to be back in. It’s a great get-together for people like me, I’ve been cocooned all the time,” explained Connie.

“I had my books and I had my music and I had to get used to the lockdown. The way it is, there’s always people who are worse off than you.”

The coffee mornings, which are organised by the Palmerstown unit of the Order of Malta and Palmerstown Community Council, are a key part of the Order of Malta’s work, according to their Officer-in-Charge, Adrian Dempsey.

He said: “This is the heart and the ethos of the Order of Malta, it’s to care for your community – 80% of the stuff we do is community work.”

The unit is fairly well-established in the community, which was especially important at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Adrian explains.

“The community has come out. We ran a GoFundMe campaign, and we were by far the first in Ireland to achieve our goal of €5,000.

“Mark Lacey of Insanity Fit Zone was doing free online classes with his gym members at the time, and he asked his members to give us a donation, and within a few weeks, we hit it.

“The Credit Union have been good, South Dublin County Council have been good, and then we have the generosity of other people within the community, helping us out with the PPE. Some people dropped in homemade apple cakes.

“It’s important that everybody is recognised and thanked. People always say everybody is in this together, but it’s important that you show it.”

The coffee mornings take place on Sunday from 11am to 1pm in 24 Manor Road, and young and old alike are welcome to attend.

TAGS
Share This