MARCH 2019
On a wing
& a prayer JACOB: THE ‘SUPPLANTER’
Interview with Ulster Rugby star Jacob Stockdale
TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF Why we need to wake up to climate change
UNTOLD STORIES OF GRASSROOTS PEACEBUILDING A bus tour with a difference
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CONTENTS | MARCH 2019
FEATURES 12 Relevance
The Moderator reflects on the church’s place in society
14 Stories of Proximity
How congregations have used this PCI resource
16 Eric says PCI resource for unchurched children
18 Jacob: the ‘supplanter’
Interview with Ulster Rugby star Jacob Stockdale
32 Untold stories of grassroots peacebuilding Alan Meban takes a bus tour with a difference
34 Maintaining support for Myanmar
Jacob: the ‘supplanter’ p18
PCI visit to help with theological training
36 Turning over a new leaf
Why we need to wake up to climate change
REGULARS 4 6 8 9 13 22 23 31 39 40 42 47
Letters News In this month My story Life lessons Arthur Clarke Mission Connect Talking points Betsy Cameron Reviews Life in PCI Crossword
Maintaining support for Myanmar p34
CONTRIBUTORS
Cover photo: Jamie Trimble March 2019 No 818 £1.50 (€1.80) Published by: The Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Assembly Buildings, Belfast BT1 6DW. T: +44 (0)28 9032 2284 E: herald@presbyterianireland.org W: www.presbyterianireland.org
Turning over a new leaf p36
Allen Sleith is the minister of Hillsborough Presbyterian Church and a member of PCI’s Stewardship of Creation Panel, encouraging the reformation of our practices as we face climate change.
Alan Meban attends Kilmakee Presbyterian Church and writes about culture and politics as Alan in Belfast on his own blog and Slugger O’Toole.
Lisa Skinner is an administrative officer for the Herald. She lives in Belfast with her husband Stephen and three daughters. She worships at Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian Church.
Ruth Bromley is PCI’s Children’s Development Officer. She is married to Brendan, mum to Bess and is a member of First Holywood Presbyterian.
Editor: Sarah Harding Subscriptions and Advertising: Elaine Huddleston; Lisa Skinner; Suzanne Hamilton; Phil Alcorn Design and Layout: Edward Connolly Printing: Nicholson and Bass Ltd.
The views expressed in the features, news reports, letters and book reviews of this magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor. Editorial comment and signed articles do not necessarily contain the official views of the Church, which can be laid down only by the General Assembly. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply endorsement of the goods or services. The Editor reserves the right to decline any advertisement or letter without assigning any reason. Letters may be edited for publication. No correspondence can be entered into regarding non-publication of advertisements or letters.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is a Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC104483); Registered Charity in Republic of Ireland (20015695).
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NEWS | PCI
News Personnel news Chris and Rachel Humphries were commissioned on 24 February in Tartaraghan Presbyterian Church, their home congregation, for service in Portugal. They departed shortly after this for Porto to work with the church plant team in Senhora da Hora. They previously served there with PCI in the summer of 2016. Chris and Rachel have two young children, Ezra and Abbey. Ilona Veres is in Ireland on a short home assignment and is involved in deputation. She is due to return to Romania in early March. Christopher and Nivedita Benjamin are due to retire at the end of March after 30 years’ service reaching out to the Gujarati community in the Wembley area of London.
Presbyterian Women’s annual conference Helen Warnock, principal of Belfast Bible College, will be the guest speaker at this year’s PW conference held in Assembly Buildings, Belfast on Thursday 9 May. Helen will be speaking on the theme ‘Restore’ at both the annual meeting, which begins at 2pm, and the evening celebration, which begins at 7.30pm. Join with women from across Ireland to celebrate all God is doing in our lives and through his church to restore our world. For more information visit www.presbyterianireland.org/pw or follow us on Facebook @presbyterianwomen
Naomi Leremore is due to be in Ireland on a short home assignment at the end of March and will be involved in deputation.
United Appeal Sunday Every year, the first Sunday in March is PCI’s United Appeal Sunday. To help congregations highlight this important mission campaign, which this year falls on Sunday 3 March, a range of resources are available on the PCI website. These include, the Mission Together leaflet, which provides information on one particular project that is supported; an animation video outlining the range of work where funds are distributed; and a short video which focuses on the ministry of Edwin and Anne Kibathi. The Kibathis work with the East African community in London, reaching out to help in practical and spiritual ways. Through United Appeal, PCI partners with the Presbyterian Church of East Africa to support the Kibathis prayerfully and financially. For more information, or to download any of these resources, please go to: www.presbyterianireland.org/unitedappeal
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Overseas visits
Summer teams
Rev Uel Marrs (Global Mission Secretary) travelled to Nairobi, Kenya at the end of February for a partnership consultation meeting with the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan. The Moderator, Dr Charles McMullen, his wife Barbara, Rev Trevor Gribben (Clerk), Rev Uel Marrs and Heather Clements (convener of the Council for Global Mission Partnership Panel) are due to visit Thessaloniki, in northern Greece in mid-March to visit projects and explore global mission partnership with the Greek Evangelical Church.
In 2019 PCI will have 11 summer outreach teams, all across Ireland, offering opportunities to be part of what God is doing through a variety of churches and projects. Teams will be working with children, teens, adults, and in the community to show and share the good news of Jesus with a needy world. For further details visit: www.presbyterianireland.org/ summerteams
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PCI Intern Scheme The PCI Intern Scheme is a oneyear programme providing the opportunity for young leaders aged 18+ to discover and develop their leadership potential while serving in a PCI congregation. This opportunity includes quality
training for the individual through a specific ministry-related course and a monthly training day alongside other interns. The scheme focuses on developing young leaders while placing them within a local congregational setting to contribute to the ministry there. There are up to six spaces available for participants, and we will seek to match successful applicants with an appropriate placement. The closing date for applications is Monday 29 April. Application forms for congregations and young adults will be available on the PCI website in the near future.
The Concorde Travel Fund Thinking about serving in short-term mission overseas but concerned about your travel costs? The Concorde Travel Fund aims to help young Irish Presbyterians (18-25 year-olds) finance their travel overseas for short-term service so that they might learn from and contribute to the life of the wider church. Full details of the criteria for eligibility and a downloadable application form can be found on the PCI website. The deadlines for applications in any given year are: 31 March and 30 September.
Find out more on www.presbyterianireland.org
Events
DIARY DATES March
Kids’ Big Day Out
Transform PCI’s young adults’ conference, Transform, takes place on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 April in Assembly Buildings’ conference facilities. The programme will run on the Friday night and all day Saturday. This is an opportunity to gather with young adults from across the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. The speaker for the weekend is Andy Carroll. We are glad to be able to reduce the price this year due to our new location. The non-residential weekend option will be £45 and the hotel-based overnight option will be £75, which includes bed and breakfast. There will also be a Saturday day rate available nearer the time. For further details, please see: www.presbyterianireland.org/ transform
Encounter This month Orangefield Presbyterian Church in Belfast will host ‘Encounter: Leading others in the weekly journey of worship’. Led by Sam and Sara Hargreaves of Engage Worship, the event is for everyone involved in planning, shaping or facilitating worship, and takes place on Saturday 23 March between 10.30am and 3pm. The cost of the event is £15, which includes a light lunch. To register, visit: www.presbyterianireland.org/ ecounterconference
PCI’s annual event for primary-aged children and their leaders/parents will this year look at how science helps us to understand more about who God is. The special guests are the W5 outreach team and this is an opportunity to come along and explore the five Ws – who, what, where, when and why. Wellington Presbyterian, Ballymena will host the event, which takes place on Saturday 6 April between 1.45-4pm. The cost is £4 for children and adults, and all children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. For further details, please visit: www.presbyterianireland.org/kbdo
Mission Ireland evenings
Scarva Street Presbyterian – Sunday 3 Sandys Street Presbyterian – Tuesday 5 Clogherney Presbyterian – Sunday 10 Ballykeel Presbyterian – Wednesday 13 Downpatrick Presbyterian – Sunday 17 St Columba’s Presbyterian – Sunday 17 Armoy Presbyterian – Sunday 17 Molesworth Street Presbyterian – Wednesday 20 First Limavady Presbyterian – Sunday 24
Sharing faith
Sharing faith
Starting strong
Andy Frost (director of Share Jesus International) is the speaker at Sharing faith, an event for ministers and elders that explores how to lead a congregation towards being more missional. PCI will also be launching a new resource called ‘Share’ to equip you for this. There are three venues for this event: Tuesday 12 March at Assembly Buildings, Belfast 7.45-9.45pm; Wednesday 13 March 10.30am-1pm Richhill Presbyterian; and Thursday 14 March 10.30am-1pm at Kilfennan Presbyterian, Londonderry. The price is £5 and to register, please go to www. presbyterianireland.org/events
An evening for parents and key missional leaders on how to inspire lasting faith in our preschool and primary-aged children takes place in Assembly Buildings, Belfast on Thursday 14 March between 7.45-9.30pm. ‘Starting strong’ is an opportunity to hear stories, swap ideas and listen to Andy Frost (director of Share Jesus International and the Kitchen Table Project) share from his experience of how we can build faith in our children through the chaos of everyday life. A bookstall will be available on the evening. The event is free and to register, please go to: www. presbyterianireland.org/events
Gala evening On Friday 22 March Harold McCauley House staff are holding a Gala Evening and Auction in support of a specialist dementia facility in Harold McCauley House. Everyone is very welcome to attend this event, which will be held in Silverbirch Hotel, Omagh at 7pm. Tickets are priced at £50 per person, which includes a red carpet reception, a delicious banquet and live entertainment. If you would like to purchase tickets, please contact Harold McCauley House on (028) 8225 2550 or email Jennifer on: jzhunter@pcisocialwitness.org
Assembly Buildings, Belfast – Tuesday 12 Richhill Presbyterian – Wednesday 13 Kilfennan Presbyterian – Thursday 14
Starting strong
Assembly Buildings, Belfast – Thursday 14
Encounter – Leading others in the weekly journey of worship
Orangefield Presbyterian – Saturday 23
Emerge session two
Lowe Memorial, Belfast – Saturday 30 Union Road, Magherafelt – Saturday 30
Taking Care foundation training Kirkpatrick Memorial – Thursday 7
Taking Care refresher training
First Holywood – Thursday 14
April Kids’ Big Day Out
Wellington Presbyterian, Ballymena – Saturday 6
Transform
Assembly Buildings, Belfast – Friday 12 to Saturday 13
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CONGREGATIONAL RESOURCE Ruth Bromley introduces a new PCI resource to help congregations engage with unchurched children.
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hen I was a child, every other child who was in my Sunday school class or involved in different aspects of the children’s ministry, came from a family who were members of our congregation. That was 35 years ago, in a typical suburban Presbyterian congregation. Now, in 2019, the majority of children connected to the children’s ministries within our PCI congregations come from unchurched backgrounds, families who are not connected to our congregations. This may be in Sunday school and children’s church on a Sunday morning, a kids’ club during the week, one of the uniformed organisations, a Christian Endeavour group (CE), or some other discipleship-based children’s organisation. The ways we operate our children’s ministry in 2019 and the assumptions that we make about the children who are there need to be very different to when I was a child. Let’s think for a minute about a
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few assumptions that we may make about the children who come to our children’s ministry from non-Christian backgrounds. (These ideas are adapted from a resource by Christianity Today International.)
Don’t assume the children’s parents care for them When we are trying to explain abstract principles about God and how we can help to understand him, we often use phrases like: “Just like our parents love us so much, God our Father also loves us”. The sad truth is that this is not always true. Some parents do not show love to their children and are nowhere near being a good example. Now, do not hear me wrong, we all fall very far short of being a
…remember that every family is unique and that we need to be sensitive to each different situation.
good example of God’s love, but parents who love their children and care for them are a better example than parents who resent and abuse their children. Better to encourage the children to think of someone who they know loves them a lot and then use that person as an example of how God loves, as imperfect as it still is.
Don’t assume children’s parents do not care for them The other thing that we must not do is assume that children who come from a non-Christian home are not loved and cared for as much as any child who comes from a church home. Some nonChristian parents treat their children better than some Christian parents! The bottom line is simply to remember that every family is unique and that we need to be sensitive to each different situation.
Don’t assume that the children’s parents will support what they learn in church Children from non-Christian homes will
come to children’s ministries for a variety of reasons. It may be that parents went to Sunday school and they want their children to learn good morals – they see the church as a place where the children will learn good living. It may be that they want some free childcare each week. It may be that the children’s friends go to the organisation and the parents do not see any harm in their children going if they are having fun. It may also be that every girl or boy in the village or area goes to the Boys’ Brigade (BB) or Girls’ Brigade (GB) as a tradition. Or there may be other reasons. We believe that parents are the primary spiritual educators of their children, but when the children come home from church organisations to a non-Christian home, the parents may have no interest in following up or supporting what the children have been doing, or they may not understand anything about the Bible themselves. We need to remember that, as their leaders, we might be the only adults in their lives that ever speak to them positively about God. If you have been involved in children’s ministry for any length of time, you probably agree to some extent with the above three assumptions and know that they are issues that we need to be aware of in all that we do. The next one though, is a much newer phenomenon, but something that we definitely need to keep at the forefront of our minds when thinking about our children’s ministry.
Don’t assume that children know anything about God and the Bible Those of us who grew up in church and in Christian homes find it hard to imagine not knowing who Moses or Jonah are, or for that matter, who Jesus is. We learnt the stories in Sunday school and church, at home and in school. Many children today do not have the knowledge of these stories that we may traditionally expect. Religious Education is still part of primary school education in both the North and South of Ireland. In the
…take some time to sensitively discern the level of knowledge that the children have and better to assume lack of knowledge than leaving children feeling inadequate… South there is no national curriculum and so the subject has been left up to patron bodies, 96% of which are religious denominations. In the North, it is part of the curriculum, but it is not inspected by the Education Authority and so is entirely left to the discretion of the teachers in the classes. If there are Christian teachers within the school, children may know the stories, but if there are no Christian teachers, they may simply learn good moral lessons. Or the case may be somewhere in between. When new children come to your children’s ministry, take some time to sensitively discern the level of knowledge that the children have and better to assume lack of knowledge than leaving children feeling inadequate or never completely understanding a story.
What sort of things can we do to help children from nonChristian homes hear the lifechanging and transformational good news of the gospel? Consider the knowledge and experience children bring to the activities that you do. Start in the world of the child and use that starting point to help them understand something about who Jesus is. Get to know the children well and build relationships with them so that they can see what an adult follower of Jesus looks like every day. Ensure that they know they can ask you questions any time to help them understand something of the faith that they can have in God and what it means to be a Christian. Think about the words that you use as you teach in
your children’s ministry. Consider what Christian jargon and phrases we use without really thinking about it that a child with no knowledge of God would not understand. PCI wants to do everything we can to equip congregations and children’s ministry leaders to negotiate and adapt to how to teach the gospel in this changing culture. We have partnered with the Good Book Company to create a resource which will hopefully help congregations with the world that we live in. The aim of the resource is to teach children something about God and to help them encounter him, possibly for the first time. Each session – of which there are three – is connected to a book about a boy called Eric, written by Dai Hankey. They start in the world of the child, in this case through an everyday commonplace situation that Eric finds himself in, and then slowly moves the child towards God, helping them to consider how he can impact the situation. The resource will be available for download at Easter and could be used over three sessions of a children’s club or holiday Bible club setting. The sessions are around the themes of saying ‘thanks’, ‘sorry’ and ‘please’. In saying ‘thanks’, Eric begins to have an increased awareness of who God is and a little of what he does. In saying ‘sorry’, Eric begins to understand how he is being given what he does not deserve, exploring something of the meaning of grace. In saying ‘please’, Eric learns that he can communicate with God through prayer, not simply in formal settings but as a natural rhythm of our day. Ruth Bromley is PCI’s Children’s Development Officer.
The Eric books are available to purchase from Christian bookshops or online at: www.thegoodbook.co.uk The accompanying resource will be available for download from Easter at: www.presbyterianireland.org/resources Herald March 2019
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T
he name Stockdale will be familiar to many within Presbyterian circles with a great number from within our denomination and beyond having benefited from the ministry of Rev Graham Stockdale. Graham has ministered in Newtownstewart and Gortin, Edengrove in Ballynahinch, Eglington in north Belfast and more latterly in Newry Hospice and Maghaberry prison. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year another Stockdale will no
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doubt have come to your attention of late – Jacob Stockdale – Graham’s son and the new star of Irish rugby. Aptly named Jacob, meaning ‘supplanter’, he has overthrown many opponents in his short career to date. Rarely does this young
Aptly named Jacob, meaning ‘supplanter’, he has overthrown many opponents in his short career to date.
man step out onto the pitch, whether playing in an Ulster jersey or an Ireland one, without making an impression. One of his most notable appearances being back in November, when playing against the New Zealand All Blacks, he scored the only try of the match and helped secure Ireland’s first ever home win against the team, establishing Ireland as the best side in the world. Jacob Stockdale doesn’t just stand out for his athletic prowess; something else sets this young man apart from the others and that is his faith in God. At a time
Jacob:
Photo courtesy of Ulster Rugby
the ‘supplanter’ Lisa Skinner chats to one of Irish rugby’s rising stars, Jacob Stockdale. when it is often difficult to share faith in the public arena, Jacob is using sport as a platform to speak about Christ publicly and to draw alongside his teammates to witness to them. He is very aware of the opportunities that rugby presents him with and he’s keen to make the most of it. Striving to be “an evangelist” where God has placed him, he is intentional about embracing the various aspects of team life, saying, “separating yourself from others doesn’t help”. I recently caught up with Jacob to talk about the difference that his faith
is making to his game, the challenges he faces and how he is coping with such a swift rise to the top of the rugby profession. Jacob, you were a latecomer to the sport – indeed you didn’t start playing rugby at a high level until your latter years in Wallace High School. Did it give you time to develop and mature in other ways before you had the pressures of rugby placed on you? Between the ages of 13 and 16 I was pretty small – whenever I was around 15
I was 5’4”/5’5”. Then I had a growth spurt around 16 and when I went into Lower Sixth I started playing for the First XV. Before that I was subbing for the B team or playing for the third and fourth teams, so it was a bit of a late start for me. Until then, when rugby wasn’t an option for me, I put my focus on other things like school work, so I suppose in a sense it made me more of an all-rounded person, to a certain extent. What does an average week look like for you at the minute? And with a busy Herald March 2019
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Photo courtesy of Ulster Rugby
training regime, what involvement are you able to have in church at present? A usual week for me is to train on a Monday, I’ll be off on a Tuesday, train Wednesday, Thursday and then play on a Friday night. The advantage of playing rugby is that after the game, that’s you done for the weekend, so that’s when I’ve found time to be involved in a church. I’m very involved in Banbridge Road Presbyterian Church on a Sunday evening – I am a leader there with the youth group. Of course, it can be tough, especially when you’re travelling here, there and everywhere. During the Six Nations tournament, I’m in Dublin for pretty much eight weeks straight; it can be tricky but it’s about finding the time for church. Many within PCI will be familiar with your dad Graham and his ministry. What was it like growing up as ‘a child of the manse’ and how has that shaped and influenced you? There’s a certain expectation placed on the children of ministers. For me, I enjoyed it; I always had somewhere to live, a community to be a part of. I was that kid who was at church for hours after the service had finished kicking a ball about. It was a good way to get to know people. But there is also the other side of it – you’re expected to be this ‘perfect’ child and when you don’t live up to the ideal, it results in rumours and I was always aware of that. Growing up in a Christian family, it was something you always said – that you were a Christian – it is part of your culture almost. But I suppose my first real profession was at a summer camp when I was 14. It was the first time I realised that Christianity was more than just going to church with my family on a Sunday – it was about having a relationship with God.
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I’m very involved in Banbridge Road Presbyterian Church on a Sunday evening – I am a leader there with the youth group. How do you prepare mentally and spiritually before each game? For me, preparing for a game starts on a Monday rather than the Friday afternoon before the game. You start
Photo by Jamie Trimble
mentally getting ready by knowing and understanding your opposition; as the game gets closer and the excitement builds, you work on visualisation, thinking about what you’re going to be doing. And then spiritually I prepare through prayer – that’s the biggest one for me – I pray before the game; I pray after the game; I pray during the game sometimes. It’s great to be able to do that, especially when it’s a game where things aren’t going your way – to hand it all over to God and allow him to deal with it for you.
How difficult is it to be a witness for Christ within the sporting world at the level you play at? It can be tricky. There is a very small percentage of people who have any sort of Christian faith within the rugby world and that can be a tough challenge. It’s a challenge that I don’t always get right; sometimes I can get into fights on the pitch and do things that probably don’t point towards me being a Christian, so the challenge is trying to get it right more times than I get it wrong. You mentioned it’s a tough environment to be a Christian in and certainly there is a perceived culture within rugby circles. What would you say is the biggest challenge to your faith? I think it is just that – the perceived culture. I’m a firm believer that you can’t completely detach yourself from that culture because it makes it hard to socialise, to interact with your teammates. At the end of the day, the guys that I play with are my really close friends, whether they’re Christians or not. When you have team socials where there is a lot of drinking involved, you have to balance it; go, maybe have a few drinks but know when to stop drinking and be smart about it in that sense. I think it’s detrimental not to go to team socials and to distance yourself from your teammates and colleagues – at the end of the day you’re here to be an evangelist and separating yourself from others doesn’t help. Do you think that with the likes of Ruan Pienaar, Andrew Trimble and Paul Marshall being outspoken about their Christian faith, it has made it easier for other Christian sportsmen to be bold about their faith? Definitely. Coming into an environment like this can be quite daunting as a young guy; I was 18 whenever I started
training with the senior team. That was pretty young looking back now, so having guys like that around was great in terms of moulding me and giving me the confidence to be myself. They were great guys to have around and great examples of what Christian sportsmen should be like. You’ve enjoyed incredible success playing in the centre and wing for both Ulster and Ireland over the last few years and the last year has been particularly notable – seven tries in the Six Nations tournament, the Grand Slam and player of the tournament; the only try in Ireland’s first-ever home win over New Zealand and named the 2018 BBC Sport Northern Ireland Personality of the Year. All this at only 22 years of age! How do you cope with that amount of success and what is it that keeps your feet on the ground? I don’t really know. When you list it like that it seems pretty hectic, but for me those things just happened one after another. In the Six Nations, I just wanted to play as well as I could and winning the Grand Slam was a great team effort. Off the back of that, I broke the record with the tries and we went to Australia and it was about wanting to win the series. Then November came and we really wanted to beat New Zealand. I think these achievements have just come off the back of trying to do the right thing, trying to prepare well for games and making sure you play to your very best every time you set foot on the pitch. Ultimately, that’s all you can do – you can’t control what happens in the game but to a large extent you can control how you yourself perform. In terms of keeping my feet on the ground, it’s pretty easy, my family have no problem in cutting me down a bit and that’s what your friends are for isn’t it? To keep you grounded.
…every time I step out onto the field I want to be the best example of me that I can be. What has been the highlight of your rugby career so far? I think for me it was probably winning the Grand Slam, the Six Nations, because before that I had never won any silverware for rugby so for the first one to be for a Six Nations tournament was pretty cool.
Photo by Jamie Trimble
In the past year, Ulster Rugby has received some negative media attention. What would you like to be known for and remembered for during your time playing for Ulster and Ireland? I don’t really know the answer to that question – right now I’m just trying to find my feet and I suppose to become a well-respected player. I want to be well known for the right reasons and to be respected; every time I step out onto the field I want to be the best example of me that I can be.
Looking ahead to 2019 with the upcoming Six Nations and the World Cup in Japan, what can we be praying for you as you train and play? It’s a massive year and to be honest I won’t be there if I’m injured, so my main request for prayer would be for protection and not just for me, but for my teammates also. You don’t like to see players getting hurt and missing out on a huge opportunity like that. On top of that, please pray that I would have the wisdom to keep working hard and that I would be wise in all that I do over the next year. Having watched and spent time with Jacob, it is obvious that God has blessed him with great athletic skill but also with the humility to handle that. While Jacob himself is conscious of this Godgiven gift and his responsibility to use it well, I wonder are we, as members of the same Church, as aware of our own responsibility to pray for witnesses such as Jacob, who occupy a unique position within the sporting world to influence many with the message of the gospel? In the same way that we pray for our mission workers, whether they be in Dromara, Donabate, Portugal or Malawi, maybe you could commit to pray for Jacob in the coming months as he serves God in his mission fields – the Kingspan and Aviva stadiums – not least during this Six Nations tournament. Jacob is scheduled to be playing for Ireland on 10 March at 3pm against France at home in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, and again on 16 March at 2.45pm away in the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
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