Trócaire’s CEO for the past six years told The Irish Catholic the job taught her courage and how individual actions are important.
Courage is one of Trócaire’s five values, Caoimhe de Barra said. “Courage is the one that really stays in my mind, because as the leader of the organisation… you’re responsible for the decisions that are taken at the most senior level and sometimes that takes courage.”
The CEO explains that she learned how to make these decisions “in order to protect people at their most vulnerable”.
“Another thing I’ve learned in my time in Trócaire overall is that sometimes we feel like we can do nothing, because we as individuals, we can’t cause a war to end, we can’t on our own as an individual end climate change,” she said. However, “there’s lots of things we can do to contribute towards those. Sometimes we underestimate the importance of just an individual act of solidarity, just reaching out and communicating to somebody that you haven’t forgotten about them”.
Ms de Barra said it’s important to communicate to politicians “that you want them to make it clear that Ireland hasn’t forgotten about people living in conflict, affected areas.” The work Trócaire does “is about that human connection that [makes] people feel seen and heard as humans in their darkest times. That support is incredibly important”.