Noise fills the workshop in the Monaghan Men’s Shed in the grounds of a local hospital, as men hunch over tables preparing wooden crafts to sell in the upcoming local Christmas market.
Clocks, big and small, made from recycled timbers and whiskey barrel bands, line one wall, while Santa’s grottoes and Christmas decorations fill the tables.
“Mind the dust,” shouts one man.
The men’s shed, one of five in the county, has been around for almost 15 years, says a founding member, retired Garda sergeant Peter Cavanagh (71), who served 30 years in the force.
“Some people come every day, some come a few times a week, some occasionally,” he says. “Very often, people come in who say that they have recently retired, or that they have lost the wife, or, maybe, they’re separated or divorced. They’re fed up with sitting around the house, or that there is only so much TV to watch.”
Today, the club has more than 50 members.
The general election has not filled many hours of conversation in the shed, even though Fine Gael candidate Cllr David Maxwell and local Fianna Fáil Senator Robbie Gallagher are members.
Another member, Birmingham-born Paul Fletcher, came to Monaghan more than 20 years ago. He is surprised the election campaign is so brief: just three weeks, compared with six in the UK, and by the lack of canvassers.
“We have only had one party calling, to my knowledge,” says Fletcher, now an Irish citizen. He talks warmly of the help offered to “The Shed” by retiring Fine Gael Minister Heather Humphreys.
“There’s been a lot of talk about her going; people are a bit upset, but at the end of the day she has to make her own life decisions,” he says. “She wants to have some family time, which is understandable.”
Gallagher is well-regarded by fellow shed members, though house rules mean they tend to leave politics and other issues at the door, so they have not canvassed for him.
“We’re totally cross-community,” says Cavanagh. “We have representatives of at least four faith groups here, let alone anything else, but we have a basic set of rules where we are not offensive to each other.
“You can talk about things, but you can’t insult or be aggressive towards anyone,” he adds, though he confesses that they are “a little bit excited” that one of their members is running for the Dáil.
“He’s a good lad,” says Cavanagh, noting that Maxwell organised Monaghan County Council’s purchase of a large tent for community events by shed members. In turn, the shed gets a small fee.
Over teas and coffee, the men discuss Monday night’s RTÉ leaders’ debate. They were not impressed.
“There was nothing new. It’s just rethinking the same old arguments again,” says Tim Irvine from Castleshane.
There is little belief that the State is heading towards big political change. “Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Maybe Labour, not the Greens,” says Cormac Connolly, before a long pause, “or the Independents, of course.”
However, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have had too long in power, he says.
“They go on about housing, but why didn’t they do anything about it in power? People are crying out for change,” he says.
Sinn Féin’s Monaghan town-based candidate Kathy Bennett is mentioned a few times by shed members.
“She would be very popular around here,” says Peter Cavanagh. “People here vote more [for] the individual.”
National issues, including housing, feature in discussions, though Fletcher, who is 68, notes the Republic’s far higher State pensions compared with Northern Ireland or Britain.
“They’re not even close,” he says.
The candidacy of convicted criminal Gerry Hutch in Dublin Central has made an impact.
“He wants more guards! Imagine! He wants more guards,” says one shed member at the table. Everyone else buckles in laughter.
The shed members have a political message of their own: Men’s Sheds around the State perform valuable work that deserves ring-fenced funding.
“The HSE has told us that we have kept people out of the hospitals,” says Cavanagh. “You can see improvements in people who come here all the time just because they are socialising. The social aspect is great. Retiring can be a traumatic experience. You are working, and then all of a sudden, it’s gone.
“The other group we get here quite often are people who have suffered a mini-stroke, and they are struggling a little bit with getting back into society,” he says. “Their speech might not be quite as good as it was before.
“Here, they can relax. Nobody is judging them,” says Cavanagh, adding that everyone in the group can have conversations inside the walls of the shed “that they can have nowhere else, and with no one else.
“We’re fortunate because we are on HSE land, but a lot of the sheds are really struggling to keep going, with heating and that. People should remember that.”
