Award for Northside carer

A LOCAL carer from Finglas has been named Carer of the Year 2018 for Comfort Keepers Ireland.

Margaret Casey was presented with her award at the recently held national Comfort Keepers annual awards gala evening, which was held in Kilashee House Hotel on November 30.

The awards recognise individual carers for their outstanding service, and Margaret has a real passion for what she does.

“The clients I go to, I absolutely love them,” she said after learning she had been nominated. “They’re not clients, they’re friends.

“I’ve seen clients go from practically giving up to actually wearing lipstick on about the fourth visit. They got their confidence back.

“I come out of the houses literally buzzing, absolutely buzzing, and that’s no lie.”

Margaret was selected for the accolade in recognition of her outstanding achievements and accomplishments over the last five years.

Comfort Keepers Ireland CEO Brid Gould explained why the awards were so important.

“Eight years ago we started our Carer of the Year awards in acknowledgement of our staff who improve the quality of life of others,” she said.

“We have the privilege daily of providing care services into people’s homes.

“Our business is all about people. Our staff work tirelessly to help families and communities across Ireland stay together at home.

“I am so proud to be involved in these awards which recognise our employees’ extraordinary efforts throughout the organisation.”

The process for nominations began back in June, with nine regional nominees getting selected by their local Comfort Keepers colleagues and achieving the accolade of representing their team and local community.

Margaret was nominated to represent the North Dublin area and went through a rigorous judging process, both internal and external, before being selected as overall winner.

Daithi O’Se, the MC on the night at the awards ceremony, announced that Margaret will now represent Comfort Keepers Ireland at the Comfort Keepers International Awards in Atlanta, USA later next year as part of her prize.