Happy Birthday
to Hannah Scanlon, Dirreen on the occasion of her 101st. Birthday
Left:
Laura Curry, Lower Direen, Athea with her grandparents Kathleen & Paddy Mullane, on the occasion of her graduation from NUI Galway. Laura graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery in the art of Obstetrics & will shortly begin her placement as a junior Doctor at the University Hospital Galway.
Camino Challenge 2023.
I have signed up to take part in the Irish Hospice Foundation’s Camino Challenge 2023. Along with 30 others from Ireland, we will take on a challenging 114km walk over five days along the First Stage of French Camino – crossing the challenging Pyrenees in September. Each participant funds their own expenses, with a target set for fundraising €1,200, which will go directly towards furthering the work of the Irish Hospice Foundation, striving for best care at end of life for all. This charity rely on voluntary fundraising to support and maintain this work.
I would be most grateful for any support you could give by way of donation by contacting me on 0879042477.
The Way I See It
By Domhnall de Barra
It hasn’t been a great week for two people who have held high office despite the fact that both of them were totally unsuited to the job. They both are, to say the least, very economical with the truth, out of touch with reality as everyone else knows it and have thrown common decency out of the window. They have huge egos and think they are above the rest of us normal beings and are exempt from the laws of the land. They have succeeded in creating divisions in politics and have adherents who will not hear a bad word said about them and will continue to support them no matter how much wrong they do. They are of course the two men with the most ridiculous hairstyles, or lack of same, on the planet, Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. How anyone can ever believe a word that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth baffles me. He has lied and continues to do so, about the election results and the presidency being “stolen” from him despite the fact that court after court have found to the contrary. He is now in court himself for the second time but he does not appear to accept the legitimacy of the judiciary who are supposed to dispense justice without fear or favour. He casts aspersions on judges and it is all, according to him, a witch hunt created by Joe Biden to prevent him running in the next presidential election. He should never have been elected in the first place and it is a sad indictment of the American political system that he was. There is something wrong with a system where Hillary Clinton got 3,000,000 more votes from the people of the US than Donald Trump but still lost the election. That is a matter for another time. He had no background in politics, a poor grasp of language and no great plans except to build a wall on the Mexican border. This latest court case could, however, means the end of the road for him. The charges against him, regarding the keeping of secret state papers in his home after he was defeated, are very serious and carry heavy penalties, including a lengthy jail sentence if he is found guilty. The case against him seems to be watertight even though he claims he is innocent like he is of all other allegations of misconduct against him. He is right, everyone else is wrong. With any bit of luck he will soon be out of the picture.
Boris Johnson has more in common than the colour of his hair with Donald Trump. He does not accept that he has ever done something wrong and believes that he is the only one capable of being Prime Minister. It was plain to all of us that he was telling “porkies” about the parties at Downing Street that did not obey the lockdown rules during the Covid pandemic. Now, a select committee of the House of Commons have published a report that basically calls him a liar and says he deliberately misled Parliament. When he got wind of this he jumped before he was pushed but this is not the first time he has told lies. He led the Brexit campaign and told the British public that the health service would benefit to the tune of 3.5 Billion if Europe was ditched. He also said Britain would “prosper mightily” from new trading partners. All this has been shown to be false and even some hard brexiters are now beginning to realize that Brexit has been a disaster which has left the country in a very bad state indeed. Johnson, by resigning, has avoided the humiliation of being suspended for 90 days which would have triggered a bi-election. Though his political career seems to be over he will continue to be a thorn in The Government’s side by writing a weekly column where he will have free reign to attack his political enemies, as he sees them. Both Trump and Johnson will continue to play the martyr and though their loyal supporters will continue to support them, the general public will gradually turn away from them. Their legacy to the world of politics is not a good one, something we hope will not be repeated in the future.
Athea Community Games
“Athea Community Games held its first sports day in a number of years, on Sunday 18th June last. An enjoyable day was had by all in the sunshine.
Special thanks to the volunteers who helped out and to Collins’ Shop for supplying treats for the kids.”
St. Bartholomew’s Church Athea
Intentions next Saturday June 24th 7.30pm:
Kit O’Connor (Quinn). Mary & Mossie Browne and Denny, Nellie & Mick Mullane.
Ministers of the Word: Marie White & Angela Cafferky.
Ministers of the Eucharist: Majella Dalton & Betty Ahern.
Weekday Masses this coming week: Tuesday June 20th 9.30am- followed by Eucharistic Adoration and Devine Mercy chaplet.
Thursday June 22nd 7.00 pm: Intention – Jack & Ita Collins and their son Denis.
All masses are streamed live on https://www,churchservices.tv/athea
Baptisms on the 4th Saturday of the month at 2.30pm. Baptism course on Tues July 11th at 8pm.
Parish Office: Mon-Fri 11am-1pm. Call 087-3331459,
Email [email protected]