‘It’s done the world of good for me’

BALLYHEIGUE HAS A NEW MACRA GROUP AND THEY ARE LOOKING FOR NEW MEMBERS AGED FROM 17 TO 40. JOHN MARTIN CARROLL OF THE GROUP SPOKE TO FERGUS DENNEHY THIS WEEK ABOUT HOW JOINING MACRA CHANGED HIS LIFE

It builds up your self confidence and it can bring out the best in you. It’s done the world of good for me, and it’s a wonderful aid for your mental health...

IN great news for the people of North Kerry and further afield, a new Macra group based in Ballyheigue has recently been set up, and the organisers are now putting out the call for anyone aged between 17 and 40 to sign up, promising that it will be one of the best decisions they ever make.

For those unfamiliar with Macra, it is an Irish voluntary rural organisation whose aim is to provide a social outlet for its members, be it through sport, travel, public speaking or community work, to name but a few avenues. Macra’s mission, they say, is to empower members by offering new opportunities and experiences for development, connection and adventure, to encourage them to be the person they want to be so they can learn, grow and flourish.

Causeway’s John Martin Carroll is one of the leading figures behind the new Ballyheigue group and is a huge supporter of all things Macra, saying this week that he owes the nationwide organisation more than he can ever give back, such are the hugely beneficial impact it has had on his life over the last few years. Speaking to The Kerryman this week, John went into further detail on these benefits:

“If you’re like I was many years ago, a lot of people had gone and left the country and basically, for me, joining Macra was the cure for loneliness. You get the opportunity to meet new people, not just from your own county and not just from your own community but from all over Ireland,” he said.

“There’s so many events happening throughout the country from the Mr Personality Festival up in Kilkenny to ‘Kings and Queens’ up in Sligo. There’s volleyball, there’s hurling, there’s soccer, there’s all these different sports. There’s book clubs if you’re into reading, there’s community work, there’s charity work,” he continued, adding that “basically, one of the main benefits of it is that it makes you into a better human being.”

For him personally, he said he can’t praise it highly enough.

“It builds up your self confidence and it can bring out the best in you. It’s done the world of good for me and it’s a wonderful aid for your mental health. You can meet friends, do activities. It can change your life,” he said, which explains why he was one of the leading figures in helping to get the Ballyheigue group off the ground.

The birth of the this new group is due, in part, to a soccer group which had been on the verge of failing but was, thankfully, saved and which has now flourished into something bigger and better, as John explained.

“I have a soccer group which I started up during COVID and we were struggling. Then, this amazing young man by the name of Jay Griffin turned up and he brought loads of his friends and he saved the soccer group. That was well over a year and a half ago. Then, I started to become good friends with Jay and the rest of the boys and I basically asked if they’d be interested in joining Macra,” he said.

“Causeway Macra at the time was not going, and they were trying to re-start it, so I was trying to encourage them to go over. That didn’t work out, so I said ‘you know what, we’ll try and do it ourselves’, and thanks to the help of Jay, we rounded up nearly 20 people,” John said, adding that, at their first meeting, Jay was nominated as the group’s chairman.

Despite the fact that they are just starting out, John said that the group already has two initiatives on the go.

“The energy, the enthusiasm and the positivity out of every member in this new group is amazing. They want to make a change in their own lives, they want to make a difference in their community,” he said.

“We are doing our first ever fundraiser. It’s an indoor soccer tournament and it’s happening on May 18. All of the money raised from this is going straight back to the club and that money will help the club in the future if any of the members want to do any social activities or any community or charity work in the area,” he continued.

The event will take place in the Ballyheigue Community Centre from 2pm to 4pm, and this will be followed by food in the White Sands Hotel. A maximum of 12 teams (five on a team and two subs) can enter, and entry will cost just €5 per person. To register a team and to enter, please email ballyheiguemacra@ gmail.com.

As well as this, John said that the group has started up a free ‘Couch to 5k’ programme which will meet every Wednesday evening at 7pm at Ballyheigue Beach.

Anyone looking to get extra information on joining Ballyheigue Macra can message them on either Facebook or Instagram.