Muiríosa Foundation Volunteer Programme

Moore Abbey was the original site of the Sisters (who hail from Flanders in Belgium) when they established a presence in Ireland just over 60 years ago. Within a number of years a second setting was established at South Hill, Delvin, Co Westmeath. Satellite community-based services were developed from each of these mothership locations throughout the 1980s and 1990s. From the late 1990s we have been organised on a regional basis. While our origins lie in the traditional, care-oriented model of service delivery, we have in recent years been working intentionally to promote a view of the person with an intellectual disability as a participating citizen in society, participation embedded within a broad range of roles and relationships. This has triggered a fundamental questioning of the assumptions and attitudes we have traditionally drawn on and worked from. The net effect has been to shift the core question from what kind of service should we be? to how can we be of service to people so that they get to lead the life they want for themselves,a life on their own terms? The shift from getting a a service to having a good life, a life on one's own terms is crucial - and one with which we were struggling (doggedly and creatively, we hope). In addition to giving you a sense of who we are, where we have come from, and what we aspire to be, this website will also give you a sense of where we currently are to be found, what we are doing and how you can contact and engage with us. Our intention is to use this website as a medium for dynamic interaction with our stakeholder base and with the general public. A brief word about our governance structure. The Muiriosa Foundation is a limited liability company with a registered charity number with full governance responsibility for the services. The Board of Directors of the Muiriosa Foundation have full responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the service. (Muiriosa is a fusion of the Irish terms for Jesus & Mary.) Historically - and this will remain the formal situation for another few months - the services have been governanced within the congregational structures of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary. In effect, this meant that the person with overall responsibility for the Irish services had a reporting relationship to the Provincial Superior of the Anglo-Irish province of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary. The current chairperson of the Muiriosa Foundation is Sr Mary-Anna Lonergan, Religious Superior at Moore Abbey, Monasterevin.

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