Chloe Ní Mháille

Chloe Ní Mháille

Bainisteoir ar Chomhar Caomhán Teo

Bachelor of Social Science in Community & Youth Work, 2020, Maynooth University

My journey to Inis Oírr began as a student on placement.  My current and first job is as the Community Development Officer and Manager of Comhar Caomhán Teo, the island co-operative.  Inis Oírr the smallest of the three Aran Islands is in the Gaeltacht so we work through Irish.  

My work is diverse and can include advocacy, negotiating, trading, social media, tourism, public relations, renewable energy, sustainable living, promotion and preservation of the Irish language.

My Community Work education has helped me to bring a new dynamic to a rural Gaeltacht Island. I am determined to use the skills I learned in class and on placement to positively impact rural Ireland. I am passionate about using a community work approach to achieve social justice and while this is challenging I strive to do it in my work.

For anyone interested in working as a community worker I recommend professional community work education.  Without my professional training I would not be emotionally or socially equipped for the front line of serving the communities I work in.  In addition to community work, modules such as social analysis and group work are crucial to learning how to work with groups, to understand yourself and your relationship to the communities you work with. The fieldwork placements allow you to develop the skills needed to work as a community worker.

Being a member of Community Work Ireland and of the International Association for Community Development have opened my heart to the national and international scale of the impact we can have when we work together from grass roots to glass ceilings for a more just and equal world.