{"id":502783,"date":"2026-05-26T03:56:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T03:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/502783\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T03:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T03:56:23","slug":"we-send-breads-as-far-away-as-australia-inside-corks-northside-community-enterprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/502783\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We send breads as far away as Australia\u2019: Inside Cork’s Northside Community Enterprises\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the heart of Cork\u2019s northside, interrupting the tightly packed rows of houses and narrow streets of Blackpool, is an oasis canopied by the gentle rustling sound of leaves in the breeze.<\/p>\n

The stately lines of this 19th-century red brick building were once known as St Finbarr\u2019s Seminary – a boarding school run by the church until 2006, when Northside Community Enterprises (NCE) took custodianship and established its new base in Farranferris.<\/p>\n

NCE was established by Fr John O\u2019Donovan in 1993 on returning to his native Cork from five years serving the parish of Lenadoon in west Belfast from 1979 to 1984. It was, says Fr John, \u201ca very colourful time,\u201d yet enormously influential in how to best serve a community.<\/p>\n

\u201cLenadoon was a bit of a change for me, you know?\u201d says Fr John. \u201cAt that time, there were no lights on the streets at night-time because of the security situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" Fr. John O’Donovan with Denise Cremin, Financial Controller NCE. Picture: Jim Coughlan<\/p>\n

The church in Belfast was heavily involved in social work, addressing and serving the myriad needs socially that existed in the parish at that time. Fr John found a mentor in Father Matt Wallace who worked to support young people with training, work opportunities, and fundraising \u2013 including a thrift shop \u2013 to support their ongoing work.<\/p>\n

All these experiences returned with him to Cork, the northside parishes he has served ever since, and in establishing NCE as a social enterprise in 1993. NCE works to provide supports, training, and work opportunities via state-supported schemes to anyone looking to re-enter the workforce.<\/p>\n

NCE is also an employer through an array of community-supported services. There\u2019s an onsite caf\u00e9, bakery, laundry, Relove Paint Project, and a service supplying communion breads all helping people gain experience and meaningful employment.<\/p>\n

\"GerGer Cooney, CE Supervisor & Relove Paint Coordinator. \tPicture: Jim Coughlan<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started in 1990 when we ran our first F\u00c1S project in Mayfield. Eventually we moved into the old Sunbeam Factory in Blackpool,\u201d says Fr John.<\/p>\n

While the factory is no longer there, it is a place indelibly marked on the memory of northsiders: Sunbeam Knitwear Company was established by the Dwyer\u2019s in 1928 at the Butter Exchange, and remained part of the northside\u2019s landscape, skyline, and lives for 75 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took over 27,000 square feet of space at the Sunbeam in 1993, and I remember at the time we thought we\u2019d never be able to afford the rent,\u201d says Fr John. \u201cBut it grew. The late \u201990s had high unemployment, and at one point we had 300 people employed in our Community Employment Scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n

These schemes have been running ever since in areas such as catering, childcare, gardening, gym, finance, and transport, providing on the job training, employment, and a service – particularly in food and childcare.<\/p>\n

In addition, Educational Training Boards (ETBs) which replaced F\u00c1S, continue the ongoing partnership with funding and access to education and training opportunities for those who arrive at the doors of NCE.<\/p>\n

Denise Cremin, Financial Controller with NCE since 1995, said many of the services they provide help to flatten as many of the barriers to work as possible. Access to, and the often high cost of, childcare is one example where provision of a service and minimising barriers work hand in hand.<\/p>\n

NCE has operated Little Hands Childcare since its days in the Sunbeam. The service provides training for those looking to work in the sector, employment and, where eligible, a subsidised creche service. Such is demand that in September NCE will open a new facility at Churchfield.<\/p>\n

There are many other enterprises that generate income that supports NCE\u2019s work. Work which, as Fr John explains, serves more than one purpose: a service to those who need it and training or work experience to those who want it.<\/p>\n

But much is also about helping people live happier and healthier lives with purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had people here that felt they belonged here; they felt respected and valued in the job they were doing,\u201d says Fr John.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe all want to feel we have something to contribute, and people feel they contribute when given the opportunity. That\u2019s the intention; that\u2019s the hope.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

Food is a key service offered by NCE and comes in many different guises.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cThe\u201cThe training we provide helps them to cook for themselves,\u201d says Fr John.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The weekly food bank is run in partnership with FoodCloud, the food redistribution charity, four days a week serving 95 people with food essentials, including baby food.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s open to everyone, with no eligibility checks required. As Denise says, the way things are today, even those gainfully employed find they need to access the service, considering it a lifeline for making up any shortfall in the household food budget.<\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t end with just providing food. Free training is offered to food bank users on how to cook with what\u2019s on offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe training we provide helps them to cook for themselves,\u201d says Fr John. \u201cThere\u2019s no point giving food to someone if they go home and don\u2019t know how to cook it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

NCE\u2019s lead chef gives free cookery demonstrations to service users, says Denise. \u201cWe take food from FoodCloud, bring people into the kitchen and show them what they can do with, for example, beef mince – chili con carne, or put it into a wrap [like a burrito].\u201d<\/p>\n

Simple ideas for making the most of versatile ingredients helps make whatever budget is available to go that bit further in supplementing essentials from the food bank. Furthermore, the partnership with ETB means if someone availing of the food bank is interested in learning more, NCE can line up QQI training in culinary skills.<\/p>\n

As ever when it comes to food, it\u2019s not hard to find ways we can link the dots to opportunities that empower people with skills useful in the home or as a career.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone wanted to do a basic bakery course, we\u2019ll find somewhere that offers it and seek funding approval,\u201d says Denise. \u201cSome of it might not be a career choice, but they have a love of cooking, and it makes them feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helping people feel better about themselves is a reoccurring theme at NCE, underscoring the mission and ambition for those they serve.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go for a job, it\u2019s good to say: \u2018I\u2019m out of NCE and I\u2019m doing training and work employment\u2019,\u201d says Fr John. \u201cIt shows a person is aiming towards full-time employment. The key thing has always been when you come to us, you get services. If you couldn\u2019t do your laundry at home, you\u2019d get laundry in our place, which was cheaper. At our caf\u00e9, you can get good food and, because you\u2019re with us, it\u2019s subsidised. But the most important thing here is respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

NCE\u2019s work in food extends beyond the food bank with several enterprises under the banner of NCE Restaurants.<\/p>\n

\" Gillian French, Catering Supervisor NCE, at Cup N Cino.Picture: Jim Coughlan.<\/p>\n

This includes an on-site caf\u00e9, Cup \u2018N\u2019 Cino, which serves breakfast, lunch, snacks, and drinks five days a week. A successful catering arm supplies local groups and businesses with event catering; and a bakery produces breads, sweet bakes and treats to the cafe and catering enterprises, as well as celebration cakes made to order.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feeds into all our other operations,\u201d says Denise. \u201cWe supply other caf\u00e9s as well as our own \u2013 some for many years. We cater events such as local community meetings who look for our sandwiches. We\u2019re very well known for our big trays of bite-sized cakes which are very popular for events and communions; we do birthday cakes and get a lot of orders for cakes for teachers at the end of term.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s May, which means communion season. Altar Bread Supplies Ltd is an NCE enterprise specialising in supplying communion wafers across the country, even to Australia.<\/p>\n

Established in 2001, for years breads were made by hand in what was a sizeable operation.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe used to bake the breads ourselves. It was tough and hard work at times. The people that worked making them were very religious and felt a great affiliation with their work.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

“But since we started, the numbers of people going to church have gone down, so in that sense, it\u2019s not what you\u2019d call a growing business!\u201d says Fr John.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe machinery we had was getting old. It was a big machine; a monster!\u201d he says. \u201cI remember the floor creaking under it and worrying would it fall through. To replace it would have cost a lot of money. We thought hard about it, but in the end, decided not to replace it and instead began importing breads from Poland,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe send those breads out to different parishes here in Cork and Ross, other diocese and parishes across the country. We have one customer in Australia who found us years ago. Every Christmas, we send out cards thanking customers for their support throughout the year. By purchasing through Altar Bread Supplies Ltd., they are supporting the wider work of NCE.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the point about all the services here,\u201d says Denise. \u201cBuying our cakes, our bread, using the laundry, creche, gym, etc, you are supporting NCE. As a charity, we don\u2019t rely on fundraising money. It\u2019s all grants and whatever we can generate ourselves. So, when you buy a birthday cake here, or place an order for some altar breads, you are helping everybody that comes through our doors to move on positively with their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2025, NCE shipped out three million small breads (congregation), and 50,000 large breads (priests). The day I was there, 30,000 small breads had been packed and were ready to ship.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe quantity has gone down since we started, but every week we have three or four people involved in distribution of the altar breads to different parishes, making sure our customers get them on time.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

Altar breads are such an integral part of the religious ebb and flow of Irish lives, yet have we ever considered where they come from? Until now, I didn\u2019t!<\/p>\n

May is peak communion and confirmation season, but Fr John says Christmas remains their busiest time of year. Because, says John, even if people can\u2019t attend church regularly, they\u2019ll be sure to go at Christmas.<\/p>\n

\"FrFr John says Christmas is the busiest time of year for the distribution of altar breads.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas, Easter, communion season and funerals, those are the busiest times of year for us,\u201d John says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re kept going throughout the year; there\u2019s still a lot of people who go to mass every week, and they are our constant.\u201d<\/p>\n

In truth, it does feel a little unusual discussing the dynamics of business with a priest, but these most symbolic of foods must come from somewhere, so why not from here?<\/p>\n