In case you hadn’t heard — Irish Homecare is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, and we made sure to celebrate the occasion in style!
Earlier this week, our team got together at the Knightsbrook Hotel in Trim for an amazing ceremony during which we reminisced on some of our favourite moments from over the past few years, heard from some of our valued clients and esteemed industry professionals, and even had some surprise guests appear on stage.
Helping us to kick off the event was our host, acclaimed comedian and actor Sharon Mannion, who effortlessly had us all laughing and applauding within seconds of coming onstage. After a few warm words of welcome, Sharon introduced our Chief Executive Officer Teresa McNally, before bringing up our first special guests – one of our longest-standing staff members, Astrid Moffett, and the founder and first CEO of Irish Homecare, Sally Murtagh!
Sitting down with Sally and Astrid, we got to hear all about the challenges, personal highlights, and how the company has grown and evolved since those early days. It was an amazing insight into just how far we’ve come since 2005 and how much work has gone into building the company up from its humble beginnings into the nationwide provider it is today.
We also received several videos from prominent figures in the healthcare, political and homecare communities, including presidential candidate Heather Humphreys, Prof. Michael West CBE, Prof. Mark White of RCSI, and Joseph Musgrave, CEO of Home & Community Care Ireland. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all who sent in their messages of congratulations to us; it really made the day extra-special for all of us!
Of course, no celebration would be complete without honouring the backbone of Irish Homecare – our Carers. We had multiple Carers and clients from across the country in attendance to share their experiences with the audience, with Sharon coming down into the audience to speak to the latter about how their Carers have impacted their lives and how valuable our services are to their wellbeing.
After our audience interaction segment, we had another surprise guest come to the stage – former Irish Homecare CEO John Florence, who kindly flew in specially to celebrate the occasion with us. John chatted with Sharon, sharing his thoughts on steering the company through the COVID-19 pandemic and expanding the company during his time as CEO.
Finally, we wanted to recognise the enormous contributions of our longest-serving staff members, who each have been with the company for over a decade. Teresa and Damien were on hand to present the staff with bouquets and hampers as they came on stage, honouring their dedication to our incredible team.
Overall, it was an incredible day filled with nostalgic music (all from 2005!), heartwarming stories from carers and clients alike, and above all, celebrating everything we’ve achieved in the last two decades. We would like to thank the Knightsbrook Hotel and their staff for helping us put together the venue, as well as our behind-the-scenes staff and suppliers for making this a day to remember.
