Columban Fr Noel O’Neill bid farewell and good luck to Special Olympics athletes who will represent South Korea at the Special Olympics World Summer Games which take place in Berlin, Germany from 17th to 24th June.
Over 7,000 Special Olympics athletes and Unified partners from approximately 190 countries will compete in 26 sports. The athletes will be supported by more than 3,000 coaches and 20,000 volunteers.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said the 2023 Games “send a signal to the world on the importance of inclusion”.
The Opening Ceremony takes place in the renowned Berlin Olympic Stadium.
Fr Noel O’Neill was ordained in Ireland in 1956 and has been working in Korea since 1957. He founded Emmaus Industries and Emmaus Group homes to serve those with special needs.
He was working in Kwangju when he began to go to the Mudeung Institution. He saw that the intellectually disabled were not able to fend for themselves so he began to sit and chat with them. They were the forgotten ones of Korea in those days. Many would have been left to die at birth and those who survived were kept hidden by their families.
Fr O’Neill established the first group home for people with intellectual disability in Korea in Gwangju. He now runs 16 group homes which cater for about four people in each.
He also runs a training centre for people with disabilities with the aim of training them for employment in the community. Well over 500 people have gone through the centre. In addition, the organisation runs training for staff of other centres in Korea and over 800 staff members have benefited from this training.
For those who do not make it to employment in the job market he runs other enterprises including a candle factory and a toilet paper plant and packaging.
Fr Noel’s dedication is born of his faith and commitment to people who have been let down too often by society, not just in Korea, but all around the world.
There are approximately 700 intellectually disabled people currently availing of the services Fr O’Neill has established in Gwangju.
If you would like to support Fr Noel O’Neill’s work, please send your donation to the Far East Office, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath C15 AY2Y. Alternatively, you can donate online at www.columbans.ie or call 00353 46 909 8275.
