By Peg Prendeville

The October meeting of the Ballyhahill/Loughill ICA guild will be held in the Hall on Tuesday 21st October at 8.10pm. This year the ICA is focusing on Mental Health  and is asking guilds to participate in the “Walk in your Shoes” initiative; so the local guild is inviting members to come to this meeting wearing funky, mismatched or self-decorated shoes and donate €2 to St. Patrick’s Hospital Foundation. The competition on the night is for the craziest pair of shoes. It should be fun.

Our new PP Fr Austin McNamara is settling in well and has issued an invitation to anyone who has somebody sick in hospital or nursing home to ring him and let him know if they would like a visit. His number is 06982103 or 0872615471.

All parishes are asked to consider participating in the Diocesan Synod which Bishop Leahy is convening in 2016. Preparations are starting now and anyone in Loughill/Ballyhahill who is interested is asked to contact Fr McNamara. It is hoped to have four people from every parish represented at the synod. That might be a challenge for every parish, I think but we will wait and see and hopefully there will be enough people interested in partaking to make it a success. It is a first in Ireland for a long time so the opportunity should not be missed. My opinion.

Sincere congratulations to my neighbours Peg and Jack O’Grady who are celebrating 65 years of married life together on Wednesday 15th October. It is a long time to be together and to be happy together is a blessing for which, I know, they are both grateful. Continued good health and happiness to both of them.

I smiled while reading Kathleen’s corner last week. Referring to her trip through Dublin and no sign of recession anywhere. I was in Killarney late last Saturday night where it was thronged with young people both Irish and holidaymakers. There was no sign there, either, of lack of money and it was good to see everybody happy and  enjoying themselves. Maybe our country is on the turn, hopefully. I also concurred with Kathleen’s comments on Love/Hate but obviously we are both in a minority.

Mass in Ballyhahill on Saturday night next at 6pm is being offered for Paddy Faley whose 3rd anniversary occurs on Friday 17th.