ONE Mullingar begin 2022 Fuchsia Appeal
The Fuchsia is the emblem of the Irish Defence Forces, and Mullingar branch of the ONE (Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women), the senior veterans association in Ireland, has raised the flag at County Buildings where it will fly for a number of weeks to coincide with a fundraising drive to assist ex-servicemen and women.
Historian and associate member, Ruth Illingworth, explained that ONE is also a charitable organisation that raises funds for those who have served the country and now need assistance.
“Unfortunately, there is a serious problem with homelessness among many ex-servicemen and women. The ONE run a number of homes across the country looking after those who served their country and who have fallen on hard times. “We’re there to assist them,” she told the Westmeath Examiner.
The present Mullingar branch of the ONE was founded in 1985 and has won the ‘Branch of the Year’ award seven times for its various activities. “There was an earlier branch of the ONE founded 70 years ago this year, in September 1952, so the history of ONE in this town goes back seven decades,” Ruth said.
ONE member Cllr Mick Dollard said the branch is proud of the memorial that stands at the entrance to Columb Barracks.
“It was the ONE branch in town here that put that in place, and unfortunately the barracks has since closed down of course, which is a matter of great annoyance to the members of ONE and IUNVA who live in town.”
The Mullingar branch membership includes many decorated veterans, including 82-year-old Billy Keane, who was in Jadotville and the Battle of the Tunnel in December 1961.
“The Jadotville veterans had just been released from captivity and most of them went home. The married men were sent home, but some of the single men stayed on to assist the incoming 36th Infantry Battalion who came into the Congo and found themselves in ferocious battle in a place called Elizabethville,” said Ruth.
“There was a battle at a railway, known as the Battle of the Tunnel, and the Irish forces suffered their heaviest losses with the UN at that battle, there were four soldiers killed. They were fired on even as they flew into the city. So, Billy was involved there as well,” said Ruth.
To be a member of the ONE, you need to have been a member of the Irish Defence Forces – the Irish Army, Navy or Air Corps, the Reserve Defence Forces, or if you have served with the Civil Defence or the Order of Malta.
“There are many involved who have decades of service. Our present chairman, for instance, Danny McEntee, served in Cyprus and a lot served up on the border during the Troubles, while one or two members served in British armed forces. One of our oldest members, who’s our former president, 88-year-old Sean Elliffe, who grew up on the Green Road, was in the RAF in the ‘50s. He served in the Second World War in Malaysia and Germany.”
ONE meets once a month, and apart from fundraising, organises many activities including an annual Mass in the Cathedral of Christ the King, wreath-laying at the memorial in Ballyglass, and in April they were involved in commemorating the man after whom Columb Barracks was named, an event at which his 90-year-old nephew, Mel Columb, was in attendance.