Tributes to late Mayo community leader Edith Geraghty
TRIBUTE has been paid to Mayo community leader Edith Geraghty who died in recent days.
As a volunteer, Edith made an enormous contribution to the lives of many people in Mayo, and further afield, from youth groups to traveller support, childcare and the county policing forum.
Among her work, she was a board member of the Press Council of Ireland and current chairperson of the Mayo County Childcare Committee.
Edith (née O’Callaghan), of Gladree, Belmullet, died peacefully in the care of the staff of the Mayo Hospice on January 9. She was predeceased by her husband Seamus and mother Marie Menton.
Cathaoirleach Councillor Sean Carey led tributes to his north Mayo neighbour her when Mayo County Council held its monthly meeting on Monday.
Edith, he said, was very much involved in the local area, especially with the No Name Club, where she was a founding member, and was also on the national executive.
Her work with young people locally and commitment to the organisation was second to none, he recalled. She gave help and encouragement to many young people along the way.
Ms. Geraghty had been a member of the Mayo Joint Policing Committee since its foundation, he continued, along with other organisations, including the Mayo Traveller Support Group.
She went through a lot in life with illness and wrote in the Irish Times about her experiences.
The whole area is at a loss with her passing, said Councillor Carey, and he wished to send the sympathies of the council to her family.
Councillor Gerry Coyle also worked closely with Edith and saw how she transformed the lives of young people.
She did an amazing job with young people who went as children to the No Name Club and came out as adults, he said.
The Press Council and the Office of the Press Ombudsman has also paid tribute to Edith who became an independent member of the board of the Press Council in 2020 and had become company secretary last year.
Chairperson Rory Montgomery said that she had made a consistently strong contribution. “She was deeply committed to the Press Council’s mission and values and despite ill-health continued to engage actively in its work,” he said. “She was a dear friend and colleague to us and we shall all miss her very much.”
Press Ombudsperson Susan McKay added: “Edith participated in meetings even when she was speaking from her hospital bed. She cared about the work of the Press Council and the rights of people with disabilities to participate in public life. She also cut quite a dash in her always elegant clothes, her hats and her lilac motorised wheelchair.”