By Aoibhe Connolly

A Galway woman who took on the parenting of her late sister’s four small daughters has turned her own personal tragedy into a lifelong vocation – easing that level of upheaval for others who find themselves down that same path.

Caitríona Nic Mhuiris founded Kinship Care Ireland, on foot of her own personal experience when her sister’s death left her to care for her four young nieces – and she has been working tirelessly over almost two decades since to support others.

On top of that, she has also set up several community groups for parents and children in her local area.

That’s why Caitríona, from Newcastle in Galway city, was among eight Galway-based nominees for the Volunteer Ireland Awards, which took place in Dublin last weekend.

“I’ve been volunteering for a good number of years as my children grew up,” she said.

“When they were small, we were living in Oughterard, and I decided to set up a toddler group. It was a great way to reduce loneliness and meet other young families in the area, and it’s still going strong 24 years later.”

As her children grew older, she established a scout troop in Killannin and worked as a troop leader there for four years, the group now serving over 100 families in the area.

However, tragedy struck Caitríona’s family in 2012, when the sudden passing of her sister left her and her husband with the responsibility of caring for her four nieces.

“At the time, the girls were just eight, ten, twelve and 14. Our own son was 13 and our daughter was ten,” she said.

“It was an extremely difficult time and as you can imagine, there was a lot of upheaval. We moved into the city, had to get a bigger house and a minibus to hold all eight of us.”

As herself and her husband both have a background in social care, Caitríona noticed how families like hers were often overlooked and underrepresented within the care system.

“I found the term ‘kinship care’, which is an international term for families where relatives or close friends step in to care for children when their parents can’t, perhaps due to death, substance abuse, mental health issues or imprisonment,” she said.

“I realised there was very little support for these families, either financially or emotionally, and that’s how, five years ago, I came to set up Kinship Care Ireland.”

This organisation advocates for support for the country’s 10,000 plus children in kinship care, by providing information and support for their families and lobbying for policy change where necessary.

“The families we support aren’t in the care system, they’re not supported by Tusla, they don’t even get a medical card for the child.”

“They are struggling, they step up but don’t get any recognition for the huge amount of work they do, and they don’t get any payment in a lot of cases. Many are living on their pension and trying to raise teenagers or babies.”

In recognition of her dedication and hard work to help others, Caitríona was nominated for the Social Inclusion and Community Support segment of the Volunteer Ireland Awards.

“The essence of a volunteer, and all the wonderful volunteers that have been nominated nationally, I just think people have passion for change, change in their local communities or in their national communities,” she said.

“That was kind of my motto, that if you come together with others, you can make a huge difference, and I think the word volunteer just says so much about people in the community who are working for the benefit of others and really putting themselves out there.”

In 2018, Caitríona took part in Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’s (SEI) Ideas Academy programme, which provides training and support for organisations looking to drive social change.

“That really encouraged us, setting up as volunteers, to know we had the backup of other organisations. Kinship Care is actually hosted by a national organisation called Treoir; they support unmarried parents and modern families in Ireland.”

Kinship Care Ireland continues to support those stepping up to care for the children of relatives or family friends under difficult circumstances, and Caitríona’s dedication to helping families remains a huge inspiration to other volunteers, at both local and national level.

“Our biggest thing is that the organisation has actually changed lives and helped families that would have huge difficulty seeking support otherwise,” she said.

Pictured: Caitríona Nic Mhuiris receives her Volunteer Ireland Award from Jake Ryan, Principal Officer for Community and Voluntary Supports and Programmes at the Dept of Rural and Community Development.