Dia is mhuire díobh go léir a cáirde and welcome to my Report.
Rain, rain rattle pane and if the forecast is anything to go by, the panes will rattle. Please God it won’t be as severe as the storms of a few weeks ago which left a trail of destruction in it’s wake. But we soldier on.
March Fair almost passed unbeknownst, very few stalls in the town and just as few horses at the Fair Field. The near demise of that ancient annual event will always make me sad. It’s an age old custom and in other countries they not only keep such events going, but they build on them. While holding on to as much of the old ways as possible they add a new dimensions which is both pleasing and interesting to all sections of their community.
International Women’s Day falls this week on March 8 and the Transition Year Students of the Community School gave our week a great start by inviting the members of our Active Retirement Association to a wonderful tea/coffee morning at the Parish Centre after ten o’clock Mass. It was a very friendly, happy occasion. We were seated at tables and served with our choice of beverage and goodies. There wasn’t a mobile phone in sight and the young people mingled with their guests. Their Chaplin John Magee attended and politicians Gobnait Moynihan and her brother Andreas all the way from Coolea popped in. There was no shortage of things to talk about. Our hosts were delighted that we could identify many of them from their parents, even some family connections and acquaintances came to the fore. Some were able to tell us what their plans and hopes were for the future. The games they play and their choices of hobbies. Some photos were taken to capture the event for posterity. Some had been on stage for their recent school play, which was the first in a couple of years. And were all agog about the experience. By twelve noon it was time to go but nobody was in a hurry to break up the wonderful mix of young and old who had no trouble in finding common ground over a friendly cuppy. On tomorrow Wednesday they are all off to France for four days. Going by train to Dublin and flying from there to Paris . On their return they fly direct to Cork . We hope they have a wonderful time. On behalf of us all I want to say a very sincere word of thanks to the Transition Year Students and their Chaplin John Magee for their warm welcome on a wet and blustery Monday morning.
The AGM of the Men’s Shed will be held on tomorrow Wednesday March 6 at their premises at 8 pm and all are welcome. They open every week from Tuesday to Friday from 2-4 pm. New members welcome. Please give them your best support.
Don’t neglect to cast your vote on Friday this Week. March 8. Please study the book which was sent to every house . We are given a choice and we can only hope that the one we choose is the right one for us all into the future.
Mother’s Day is on Next Sunday March 10. It’s the one day of the year when the Dad’s don the apron to give his lady love a day of leisure. With flowers and chocolates and expensive perfumes . Dream on Eily. That’s stage Irish stuff. Nothing goes according to the book any more and as people’s likes and dislikes are as far distant as East is to West so will the choices that people will make for the matriarch of their family and as long at the gift is wrapped up in love then that it all that really matters. I wish all mothers a very Happy Mothers Day.
Line Dancing resumes at the Parish Centre on Wednesday (Tomorrow) at the Parish Centre from 2-3 pm Cost €6.
The meeting entitled “Moving Forward in Hope” was held at the Canon O Donovan Centre last night, Monday. The first of its kind, it is hard for the likes of me to imagine that it would ever happen. But with the constant drip drip of our clerical numbers it has finally come to this. The meeting was very well attended. Four ladies acted as facilitators the people sat in groups of five or six and each group was given a pegboard and pen to take notes. The facilitator read out some questions or pointers for discussion. Following every few questions one from each group read out their findings are they were written on the board before moving on to the next set of questions. I suppose the main question was how will we manage without priests. What can we do in such an event. With 15 parishes already without a priest its time to take stock. Co-operation between all the parishes in the pastoral was discussed. There was the question of our parish debt which must be paid giving a strong reason for keeping Church open for as long as possible. Streaming, general confession, women priests, a place for young people, etc were all discussed. What do we need from a priest? What can we not do if we don’t have one? Mass, Confession, Sick calls, Funerals, the Sacraments. At the moment there is a number of women receiving education, which takes three years, preparing them to become Deacons (not sure if that’s the proper name) and they will do a wide range of religious work in their communities. There was a suggestion to invite priests from the countries abroad where we sent many of ours in the past. The big question of the care of our priests came up and it was pointed out that they deserve better, better by way of time out, holidays and so on like other people. The old saying that the priest has to love everybody but nobody can love him is well out of date. This is just a synopsis of all that was discussed at the meeting and I hope it puts you in the picture of what this historic gathering was all about. I imagine it is only the first of many more meetings that will have to be held in our effort to preserve our beloved religion. At the end Fr Jack stuck in his head and by then the tea was made and we all warmed up before facing out into the cold wet night.
Here are the results of this week’s lotto draw which was held on Sunday night. Numbers drawn were 4,12,20,26 and the Jackpot was not won.€100 went to Linda & Donal c/o Colemans. Colemans got €50 sellers prize. €50 went to The Lane Family, Adrivale c/o Sheila. €20 each to Caroline Kelly, Mia Cronin, c/o The Bridge Bar, Gerard Kelleher, c/o Colemans, Sean Twohig, Castlecor, c/o Colemans, Linda, Patrick, Marie, Emma, c/o Colemans. Margaret Hartnett, c/o Mary O’Connor, Ciaran Murphy, Kilmeedy, c/o the Bush Bar, George Sheehan, c/o Tom Carroll, P,S, and D.S. c/o the Bridge Bar, Next draw March 10th. Jackpot €3,000.
25 people weighed in at Cullen last night and 52 lbs weight lost. Next night they finish their 38th year of their wonderful fundraiser in aid of their Special Needs Association. They truly deserve the support of all of us.
Sinn a bfuil a Cairde,Slan is Beannacht De libh go leir.
