One of the first campaigns she got involved in was with a group of other mothers and children, who needed a safe play area for their kids in a local park.
In the late 70's and early 80's after shadowing a local housing officer Rose Murphy, she began to get involved helping tenants with their complaints regarding their housing and acted as a positive bridge between tenants and the housing office.
Then with the co-operation of another local man Alf Mcdermott, she got involved with Tenants Associations and together they set up an office on Lakeland Court. This is where they based Langley Residents Association and Irene was vice chair of the organisation.
After her move to Millbeck Court, the tower blocks in the centre of Langley, she again continued her volunteering work. Irene was instrumental in developing the Langley garden project and community room. “Having somewhere for residents and tenants to meet and socialise I felt was really important”
As a parent of a disabled child, she knew of the pressures facing many parents and with this in mind, she formed an “open door group” a support group for parents with disabled children.
One of the things Irene is most proud of is being self educated and she sees that living in the area has only helped her in her aspirations. She loves living in the area and describes local people as many volunteers do on Langley as the “Salt of the Earth” She is firmly committed to the fact that you have to live in the area to be able to get a real feel for how to best work with people and help overcome many of the social problems in a particular area. “if i see something is wrong, i really want to put it right, particularly around social injustices.
Getting involved in volunteering, builds confidence and more critically people start owning their area and taking responsibility for it”
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