Walk this way!

As someone whose heart is kept in check by a load of stents and a newly-acquired pacemaker, I am advised by my consultant to be mindful of my diet (I more or less ignore that bit) and, more importantly, to walk as much as possible.

Last Sunday, when driving home from Guilka (see separate piece) I began to wonder why so many of us, me sadly included, walk on dark, dangerous country roads on winter nights. We are arguably taking our lives in our hands when we do so.

Now I am well aware that there are places where people have no alternative, but in our local area there really is no excuse. Here in Creggs we have a fully-lit, perfectly safe walkway all around four pitches at the rugby club. Glinsk and Fuerty both have safe off-road walks, as have Creggs GAA, and so there is no reason why any of us should be taking unnecessary

Get well soon, Fr Donal

Out here in Creggs at present we have a slight reversal of roles because normally we are asking our parish priest, Fr. Donal Morris, to pray for our sick and ask God to get them well again. Sadly Fr. Donal himself is a bit unwell, so let us all say a few prayers, wish him well and hope he is back amongst us as soon as possible. Get well soon, Fr. Donal!

And finally…

chances as we try to keep up our step count. And yet I am as guilty as anyone else. While I walk at the rugby club regularly enough, I also continue to walk up the lovely rural area that is Lenamarla. I wear my hi-viz jacket and, if it’s fully dark I always carry a torch, but the truth is that nowadays so many tractors, cars, vans and even trucks travel those narrow rural roads that there is danger lurking around every corner.

A friend of mine believes that if an area has a safe floodlit walk, it should be compulsory to use it and that people should be fined for walking on the public road. It would be impossible to enforce such a law, but at the same time anything that saves lives is surely worth looking at.

At a time when the number of pedestrians losing their lives on our roads is constantly rising, why don’t we all use the safe, floodlit walks that our local clubs have so thoughtfully provided?

On Saturday of last week, Kevin Bradley celebrated a big birthday with a bit of a bash in Mikeen’s.

Kevin is the man who built Bradley’s ‘singing lounge’ in Creggs back in the 1970s, in doing so putting Creggs right at the top of the local entertainment scene. Singing pubs were all the rage at the time, and Bradley’s was definitely the very best of them all. Huge crowds flocked to the popular venue, with the top acts in the country – like Brendan Grace, Joe Cuddy, Anna McGoldrick and Sonny Knowles – all gracing the stage in Bradley’s. Looking back now, they were almost unbelievable times.

So congrats and happy birthday Kevin – it was great to see so many friends and family at your ‘do’. Fair play to Joachim Dunne who supplied the music. It was a great night’s craic.

Kevin looks as well as he did all those years ago when he first arrived in Creggs, and I have no doubt there will be many more birthdays to be enjoyed in the future!

Newsbriefs

Green light for Baysports expansion

A popular County Roscommon waterpark has been granted planning permission to carry out a major expansion of its existing facilities.

Baysports, which is located at the Hodson Bay Hotel at Barrymore near Athlone and is currently Ireland’s largest waterpark, has been given the green light to construct a number of new marquees and inflatables.

The planning application, first submitted on April 9th last year, includes two marquees for use as a reception and wet suit distribution area, a dining area and gift shop, outdoor showers, and prefab office buildings.

Development of the main waterpark includes platforms, slides, climbing walls, and a junior waterpark.

The proposed installations are all inflatable PVC structures which will be permanently fixed to the lake bed using ropes and anchors. The proposed annual operating period for the facility is from March 15th to October 15th, closing by 9 pm each day.

Carrick NS gets go-ahead for extension

Roscommon County Council has given the go-ahead for an extension to Carrick National School in Ballinlough. The application was submitted by the school’s Board of Management on September 7th last year and the local authority made their decision on January 24th. The development includes an extension to the existing school building with all ancillary works and services. The Council granted planning permission with nine conditions.

The Bridge Club

Roscommon Bridge Club

1st: Chris and John McGrath; 2nd: Ann Flynn and Marie McSharry; Gross: Kitty Dowd and Phyllis O’Shaughnessy.

St Coman’s Bridge Club

1st: Breege Weir and Pat Pierse; 2nd: Rita Roughneen and Josephine Devaney; Gross: Nuala Costello and Chris McGrath.

Ballymurray Bridge Club

Charity Night – Section A: 1st: Jill Farrell and Pat Lyons; 2nd: Angela Carney and Marion Dolan; Gross: Mary Law and Susan Farrell. Section B – 1st: George Bannon and John O’Gara; 2nd: Valerie and Pat Finneran; Gross: Ann Shine and Kathleen Corcoran.

Kilbride Bridge Club

1st: Bridie and Tom Moran; 2nd: Frances Keane and Brid Gillooly; 3rd: Pauline Donohoe and Mary Kelly.

Gospel Reflection

Sunday February 5

Jesus came among us as light to scatter the darkness of a fallen world. As His disciples, we too are called to be “the light of the world,” He tells us in the Gospel this Sunday (see John 1:4–4, 9; 8:12; 9:5).

All three images that Jesus uses to describe the Church are associated with the identity and vocation of Israel.

God forever aligned His kingdom with the kingdom of David and his sons by a “covenant of salt,” salt being a sign of permanence and purity (see 2 Chronicles 13:5, 8; Leviticus 2:13; Ezekiel 43:24).

Jerusalem was to be a city set on a hill, high above all others, drawing all nations toward the glorious light streaming from her Temple (see Isaiah 2:2; 60:1–3).

And Israel was given the mission of being a light to the nations, that God’s salvation would reach to the ends of the earth (see Isaiah 42:6; 49:6).

The liturgy shows us this week that the Church, and every Christian, is called to fulfil Israel’s mission.

By our faith and good works we are to make the light of God’s life break forth in the darkness, as we sing in this week’s Psalm.

This week’s readings remind us that our faith can never be a private affair, something we can hide as if under a basket.

We are to pour ourselves out for the afflicted, as Isaiah tells us in the First Reading. Our light must shine as a ray of God’s mercy for all who are poor, hungry, naked, and enslaved.

There must be a transparent quality to our lives. Our friends and family, our neighbours and fellow citizens, should see reflected in us the light of Christ and through us be attracted to the saving truths of the Gospel.

So let us pray that we, like St. Paul in the Epistle, might proclaim with our whole lives “Christ, and him crucified”.

-Scott Hahn., www.salvationhistory.com (courtesy of