Longford's Operation Blue Light Santa has raised €22,300 to-date

County Longford Public Participation Network (PPN) was established as part of the Local Government Act 2014 to link community groups to Longford County Council and other decision making bodies.

It is the pathway for communities to have a say at the table when decisions are being made about how their lives, town, village, municipal district or county should be shaped.

There are currently over 560 community groups registered with Longford PPN along with a PPN Disability Network and a PPN Intercultural Forum.

The PPN has been a collaborating partner and funder of Operation Blue Light Santa since its establishment in 2021.

Community groups, organisations and charities are the backbone of this country. Twelve organisations have benefited from the €22,300 funds raised through the Operation Blue Light Santa to date and I am delighted that St Christopher’s Services and Little Blue Heroes are this year’s benefactors.

I would like to thank the members of the PPN Secretariat (Tess Murphy, Eileen Finan, Pozy Greene, Francesca Pawelczyk, Kathleen Dowd, Enda Mc Manus) and Janine Bartley, Longford Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP) Coordinator for the funding to ensure the success of this initiative.

I also express thanks to the founder of the initiative, Garda Emma Kiernan for inviting the PPN to collaborate and the rest of the Operation Blue Light Santa team who have been an absolute pleasure to work with.

I wish all the Little Blue Heroes, their families and all of St Christopher’s a very happy, peaceful Christmas filled with lots of fun and laughter.

MAIN PHOTO CAPTION: Mr and Mrs Claus with Garda Rossa Smith (Dutch's dog handler), author of Operation Blue Light Heroes Jessica Thompson, Little Blue Elf Ruby Kelly, County Longford Public Participation Network Coordinator Siobhan Cronogue and Garda Emma Kiernan, founder of the Operation Blue Light Santa campaign. In addition to being Dutch's dog handler, Garda Smith was Garda Buddy to the late Luke McCormack, one of the honorary Gardaí from the Little Blue Heroes who features in the book. He was also dog handler to Kujo, who features on the cover of Operation Blue Light Heroes Picture: Shelley Corcoran