CARRICKMACROSS TALENTS AND SERVICES REWARDED

Michael Fisher  Northern Standard  Thursday 8th December

Over the past fortnight the achievements of Carrickmacross people, businesses and services have received recognition at national level. A local lady Leona Goodman was named as Carer of the Year by a home care company. A local dental team led by Dr Bernie Fee was in the finals for best dental practice in Ireland. University entrance awards and scholarships were presented to some local students. A local business Celtic Pure from Corcreagh founded by Pauric and Pauline McEneaney received another gold medal in London for its sparkling water. Each has a success story to tell and congratulations goes out to all of them.

LEONA GOODMAN NAMED AS CARER OF THE YEAR

Michael Fisher  Northern Standard  Thursday 8th December

(L-R) Bríd Gould, MD Comfort Keepers, Carer of the Year Leona Goodman from Carrickmacross and Marty Morrissey, RTÉ, who presented the award.

When Marty Morrissey called Leona Goodman to the stage at the Croke Park conference centre in Dublin recently, she says she was left temporarily speechless. The Carrickmacross woman had been named as Carer of the Year in a national competition run by home care providers Comfort Keepers. She received the award in recognition of her work with older people in Monaghan, Cavan and North Meath. She was ranked highest among the 1500 carers employed by the company. At the same event Rosanna Martin from Ballybay was crowned the company’s Employee of the Year.

Leona told the Northern Standard the award came as a total shock. She was “very touched and overwhelmed” when her name was called out. The award was handed to her in the presence of her two daughters, Kelsey and Laura.

Leona lives in Magheraboy on the outskirts of Carrickmacross and is a former pupil of St Louis National School and Secondary School. Her husband Brendan hails from Killanny and is a carpenter working in England, who will return home shortly for Christmas. They were married in New York where they spent four years before returning to Ireland. For many years Leona worked in the Post Office when it was situated at Main Street in Carrickmacross.

She has been working as a carer for some fifteen years, the last two with Comfort Keepers, based in Ardee. She said she loves her job, which brings her into contact with between four and six clients daily within a fifteen miles radius of Carrick, including Corduff, Lisdoonan and Inniskeen.

There are seven other carers in the same team and Leona was anxious that they all got a mention: Charlie, Carla, Lola, Rosemary, Mary, Martina and Geraldine. All providing care to elderly people in the area that enables them to stay in their own homes. The carer is sometimes the person who enables these people (aged between 75 and over 90) to remain in touch with the local community and what’s happening in the outside world, according to Leona.

“Leona has won the hearts of the people she cares for and the colleagues she works with,” said Bríd Gould, Managing Director of Comfort Keepers. “She’s a woman who truly believes in the value of care and is a strong advocate within the caring industry. She doesn’t just believe that her clients need the best care she can provide, but she also believes in the value and knowledge her clients bring into her life.”

Since 2005, Comfort Keepers has been helping people in Ireland and has always sought to ensure that all of its work practices exceed the expectations of both the state and those cared for. It remains unique in being the only home care provider to have been awarded the Q Mark, ISO9001, and Healthmark accreditations for the quality of care and the systems used to support its delivery.

“This is the sixth time we have run these awards,” Bríd Gould continued. “The reason we keep doing it is that our people keep doing the extraordinary. So extraordinary that their colleagues, clients and managers just have to nominate them. So my personal congratulations to everyone who was nominated and to all of our regional winners”, she said.

All of Comfort Keepers’ carers are insured, monitored and are required to undergo Garda vetting. The firm provides ongoing support during their training and in their day-to-day roles.  Staff in the management team come from a nursing or social care background to ensure superior care is provided to customers.