The Atrium at Westmeath County Buildings was the place to be last week for the stunning photography exhibition which was the work of two Mullingar schools.
Transition Year students from Coláiste Mhuire and Loreto College collaborated on a exhibit which reflects the students’ thoughts on the issue of homelessness and aimed to raise awareness among young people about the work done by TEAM (Temporary Emergency Accommodation Mullingar).
There was a great attendance by the students and their families and friends and the art on display was complimented with music performed by musicians from both schools.
Sinead Hyland, who is guidance counsellor and teaches geography and LCVP at Loreto College, told Topic that preparations for the event began back in October when she was contacted by Siobhan Flaherty from TEAM. “I went down and spoke with some of the ladies who are residents at Teach Fáilte who spoke to me about their experiences. When I offered the girls a chance to take part in the project in January, they jumped at it and really wanted to get involved.”
TEAM then invited students from both Loreto College and Coláiste Mhuire to speak with a number of ex-residents of Teach Fáilte, a women’s shelter in the town.
“We decided we would do an art and photography exhibition and the girls gave it their heart and soul. They learned so much from the experience. It was a lot of hard work but it all came together in the end and it was a great night. They really enjoyed it and the photographs seem to have got a really good reaction from people.”
The school enlisted the help of Mullingar professional photographer John McCauley to give the students tips on capturing the perfect image and the use of symbols.
Ms Hyland said the students organised the event by themselves with the girls allocating jobs to different committees. “They came up with a lot of the ideas. The way we set up, I said to them, ‘This is your event and you can do what you want’. We had a venue committee, a music committee and a PR committee. They were so good. Mary Hughes was on the committee too, and she was brilliant and Martin Marshall gave a great address on the night thanking everyone who took part.”
At the event the students spoke about the experience of meeting the residents of Teach Fáilte. Georgina Hourican, TY co-ordinator at Coláiste Mhuire, told Topic that the women’s stories really hit home with the youngsters. “They all had children, some of them teenagers, which kind of hit home with the students. They got to see the reality of homelessness when the women were talking about how much money they had to live on and that WiFi and TV access was limited and they had to share a kitchen with a lot of people. In fairness to the ladies that we met in that group, they were all very positive.”
Siobhan Flaherty said that the images were about focusing on the positives in life and being grateful for what you have. “The photos are lovely and some of them are quite symbolic. One of them is just a clothes horse piled with clothes and just having the space to put that out. If you don’t have a home, you don’t have that. The women they met spoke about how when they arrived in Teach Fáilte, they were at the lowest point in their life and managed to turn their lives around and are such positive people now as a result of that.”
Photographer Shelly Corcoran has been facilitating an eight-week course with TY students from Colaiste Mhuire for the past three years. “The course is mostly geared towards art photography which was exactly what we did for Teach Fáilte. We didn’t want to focus on the negative aspect of homelessness and why people approach the shelter for help. We wanted to focus on what Teach Fáilte is providing for these women so the photos are quite positive and all about help and support and people coming together. For example there is a picture where two rugby players are lifting another one up which symbolises people coming together to achieve something.”
TEAM wish to thank all the TY students who participated, Cathaoirleach Frankie Keena, Peter Burke TD, Willie Penrose TD, Cllr. Ken Glynn, Lorna Walsh, representative of the Ombudsman for Children, Barbara-Anne Murphy, Sinead Hyland, Georgina Hourican, John McCauley, Shelley Corcoran, all the TEAM Co-ordinators and volunteers, Senator Aidan Davitt and all the people of the county buildings.
