HOPE volunteer Noreen was a great role model in community

NOREEN Duggan has been remembered as the welcoming face of a mental health support group, smiley, funny and resilient following her recent death, reports Hayden Moore.

Originally from Walkinstown, Noreen Duggan (née O’Connell) became a key figure in Tymon, having a hand in most community-lead events over the years as she reared her children there.

Noreen had eight children, Tina, Stephen, Lynne, Joanne, Geoffrey, Katie, Craig and the late Amy, and proved to be a great role model for them growing up through all of her endeavours.

On June 6, Noreen died peacefully at Tallaght University Hospital after a battle with illness.

The grandmother leaves behind a great legacy, having worked with the Tymonville Residents’ Association, run summer projects and helped with the STAY project – a community response for children at risk of early-school leaving.

Community meant a lot to Noreen, and she found her groove over the last decade as the first face people would see when they stepped foot inside the HOPE suicide prevention drop-in centre. She started volunteering with HOPE from its foundation in 2013 alongside her sister Anne.

“Noreen was a shining light in HOPE, she was so lovely, and she had a smile, as many knew, that could light up the room,” Mary McLoughlin, friend and founder of HOPE, tells The Echo.

“She just had this presence about her that was so special.

“She was a volunteer who did the meet and greet and she looked after our volunteers, so she would welcome them in and show them the ropes.

“I don’t think Noreen realised the impact she had on other people. She was such fun, we miss her terribly, as I’m sure her family do as well.”

Making that first step in asking for support with one’s mental health can be a big step, and Noreen made it that bit easier with her warmth leaving a lasting impression on everybody who stepped through the doors of HOPE.

“I worked alongside Noreen in HOPE, she was one of those people who when you meet her, you never forget her,” Sarah Notaro, who worked in HOPE for a couple of years, says.

“When anyone walks through the doors of HOPE, Noreen was the first person to meet and greet you.

“She was very funny and so positive, like she had a difficult life but she had such a positive outlook on life.

“We always had the best laugh, her smile and soft voice could cheer anyone up immediately.

“Noreen was an amazing person, a real mammy figure and she had such great strength and character.”

Mary detailed how she helped get the HOPE drop-in centre in Tallaght back in operation following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We had to close the drop-in centre with Covid but over the last few months, Noreen and her sister Anne re-opened it and were doing arts and crafts on a Monday night,” Mary says.

“She was very talented with her hands. Noreen and Anne were always together, they were like two peas in a pod.”

A funeral service was held for Noreen in Newlands Cross Crematorium on Sunday, June 11 and she was cremated wearing the beautiful red dress that she wore to the masquerade ball she held for her 60th birthday several years ago.

Mother to Tina, Stephen, Lynne, Joanne, Geoffrey, Katie, Craig and the late Amy, Noreen is survived by her siblings Pat, Danny, Catherine and Anne, grandchildren Nathan, Josh, Ciaran, Kellyann, Niamh, Thorin and Freya and missed by her extended family and friends.

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