Local Faces: Rose Dodson

“The sky is the limit” – this is an affirmation that Rose Dodson lives by in every aspect of her life.

Rose moved to Kilnamanagh in 1978 from Dolphins Barn, swapping city life for what was then the small village of Tallaght.

“Dolphins Barn is not a million miles away from Tallaght, but it felt like I was moving into the countryside,” Rose told The Echo. “It was very quiet, so it was a huge change for me.”

Inspired by her father’s involvement in his own community, Rose decided to set up a youth club in the area with a friend to involve the young people and help connect the expanding community.

“We were actually going to put up a prefab for the youth club when we were approached by the resident’s association at the time who asked us to hold off because Denis Mackin [Tallaght former councillor] had started up a group and they wanted to look for a community centre and if they got it built, they said we could have a room in it for the youth club,” Rose explained.

In the interim, Rose and other women in Kilnamanagh decided to start basketball and football teams for children and teenagers in the area, and South Dublin County Council built a basketball court for them to use until a suitable site for the community centre was found and subsequently built in 1985.

“I always say that was when the landscape of Kilnamanagh changed,” said Rose. “When the centre was built all of the outdoor activities like basketball and football were brought indoors.

“We had the youth club running, we used to run discos every second week, dance groups, panto – we had everything, and it was brilliant. When we got the community centre it became our home because everything we did outside was now under the one umbrella.”

Although a joyous time for Rose and others in the community, a devastating heroin epidemic was sweeping through and plaguing working-class communities such as Tallaght and as she worked with and got to know the teenagers in the area through the centre, Rose says she began to realise that there were issues related to drugs in the community.

“I wouldn’t say there was a big drug culture, but we were aware there was things going on in the community,” she explained.

“A group of us got together and we started a drugs-awareness team. We had a meeting for the residents in the community centre and we set up a 12-week programme for parent awareness aimed at children aged 12 or 13 and ran it in schools and, my god, it was a huge success.”

On the back of her involvement in drug awareness and prevention within the community, Rose says she began to wonder if there could be something more to it and if it was something she could pursue further as a career.

“I thought that there is more to this for me – my gut feeling was telling me I need to explore this,” she said. “I went and trained and got a diploma in addiction studies at An Cosán and one of the tutors asked me to do a counselling skills course.

“I had suffered loss before, so I was not sure if counselling was something I wanted to do, but I was encouraged by my colleagues in An Cosán and my friends, so I said, ‘okay, I’ll try it’. It was tough, but now looking back I realise that as it was getting tougher, I was getting stronger – it was unbelievable.”

After completing her counselling skills course, Rose was offered a position at An Cosán as an assistant tutor on the counselling course.

“I knew then – this is what I wanted to do. From starting off in Kilnamanagh in the community centre and going to study addiction studies and then counselling – it all came full circle, and I was ready,” said Rose.

Rose went on and trained for three years to become a therapist and has been working in the profession for the last 20 years, something she says feels as if “she hasn’t worked a day” in because of her passion for it.

Rose became involved in Jobstown Assisting Drug Dependency (JADD) as she completed her training to become a therapist, something she says has connected her even more to the community. Through her work with JADD, Rose says she has seen first-hand the devastation that addiction can cause to families and individuals.

Speaking about the usage of crack cocaine in the Tallaght community which has seemingly spiralled out of control in recent months, Rose says it is “absolutely devastating” and she will continue to help those and their families who are seeking support.

“Drugs haven’t changed – just the type of drugs has changed,” she said.

“Tallaght Alcohol and Drugs Task Force has really been aware of the situation, and are supportive. I run a family support group in JADD, and we meet every Tuesday night and help families who are affected by drug addiction.”

“Anyone can phone JADD, drop in or email to get in touch and we will help them,” said Rose.

Reflecting on her time in Tallaght and the strong community spirit she has seen throughout the years, Rose says she is “honoured” to be a part of it all.

“I feel privileged to live and work in the community of Tallaght. I feel so proud to be part of the community and to see what it has become,” she said.