The newly appointed director of Vocations Ireland, Ann-Marie Gallagher, was present at the Ploughing Championship. The young laywoman from Sligo was having a baptism of fire, having been at the Higher Options careers exhibition in the RDS, Dublin, last week and on the Vocations Ireland stand at the National Ploughing Championship in Wexford this week.
“This is a great platform for Vocations Ireland, to remind people of this life choice which is one way of following Christ,” she told ciNews.
“There is a huge volume of people here, as there was at Higher Options laws week. It is important for us to meet people and to let them know that 2000 years ago Jesus invited people to come and see.”
Ann Marie did not think it unusual for a layperson to join Vocations Ireland.
“We all share responsibility in fostering vocations and providing leadership in the church,” she said.
She had been working in the child protection area in social work when she saw an advertisement on the Catholic Jobs Ireland website.
“I was always interested in doing something with the church and faith full-time,” she told ciNews. She took up her new job earlier in September.
Members of various religious orders were present with her on the stand at various times during the three-day event.
They were promoting the Explore Away programme that helps people discover their vocation. They also offered leaflets, prayer cards and wristbands as well as a cuppa and prayer space. Above all they were there to chat and listen to people.
“It’s about sowing seeds, one never knows what happens,” said one sister on the stand. Other religious orders had their own stands at the ploughing to promote vocations.
They included the Carmelite Monastery promoting vocations and their hermitages in Delgany, Co Wicklow.