Paul Hopkins

The Fact OfThe Matter

PAUL HOPKINS PAUL HOPKINS Time again to give up your auld sins

Brought up in that austere Catholic Ireland of the ‘50s and ‘60s, the 40 days of Lent was my penance enough to the world but, even in my annual endeavour to “give up sweets”, I always allowed myself a break on Sundays from my sacri ce and would gorge myself silly on GobStoppers and Lucky Lumps to the point that any notion of eating sugary xes throughout the week would have made me violently ill.

But boy did I make up for my 40 days in the wilderness come Easter Sunday as my younger brother and I tucked into the half dozen or so Easter eggs given to us by our extended family.

Lent back then was a time of “giving up” something, in my Father’s case his packet of 10 fags a day. ese were the days too when Catholics were asked, told even, to abstain from eating meat on Fridays “as an act of penance”. e bishops, the ones who were in charge, said Fridays should be a day of penitence as it was the day on which Jesus Christ Himself was said to have died.

My brother and I would close our eyes tight and try and concentrate on poor Jesus hanging up there all alone on the Cross and He su ering for all our “auld sins”, like me kicking my brother under the table or eating them GobStoppers on a Sunday in Lent. I could not concentrate for long and my thoughts soon wandered towards all those eggs I would be getting come Easter Sunday and besides poor Jesus had died a long, long time ago and there was nothing my brother nor I nor any one could do about that now.

According to the Census of 2016, out of our population of 4,761,865, a total of 3.7 million declared themselves as Roman Catholic and 126,400 as Church of Ireland. Islam was the third most popular religion in Ireland with a population of 63,400. I mention all this because the majority of, if not all, religions around the world have times of fasting or abstaining from meat and the like built into their practices. All denominations of Christianity – bar Jehovah Witnesses – as well as Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and most other religions observe such fasts during various periods of the year.

Now here’s an interesting, and perhaps little-known, fact: According to the Canons of the Roman Catholic Church, all Catholics over the age of 14 must abstain from meat on Fridays in Lent. Failure to “observe this is sinful” unless you have a good excuse (sickness, pregnancy, breast feeding, extreme manual labour, take your pick).

While such a canon is still the case, I doubt if many of the acknowledged Catholics of the 2016 Census adhere to such rigid practice today. Lent, like many Catholic traditions – eating sh on Fridays, the Sodality, Confession even – has fallen from favour. Having said that, according to some reports, about 40% of the 2.3 Billion Christians in the world do adhere to the annual rigours of Lent.

I would argue that, for those who do observe such matters, Lent has evolved into more of a self-help programme for many who give up sweets, carbs or alcohol for the 40 days because they want to get t. Do such sel sh motives truly count as sacri ce? Is Lent for your God or merely for yourself to lose weight or get in shape or whatever?

If anything, Lent should not be a time to boast about how well you are following your dietary restrictions or admiring your weight loss in the mirror, but rather about quiet self-re ection and discipline. While I am not among those opting for the sack-cloth and ashes, I do pro er the opinion that a little sacri ce is good for the soul.

According to my good friend the psychiatrist from Magherafelt, eating and digesting food takes a toll on the body, and taking the odd break from such can be a good thing.

“ ere is some collateral damage from eating. ere’s also foods that contain them old free radicals and that causes some damage to your body,” he told me at the weekend over a hearty liquid lunch.

As I replenished his glass of Mayacamas Cab Sav, he continued: “Eating is not all good. It’s necessary, but having a rest from it is probably going to give our bodies a break from those processes.”

“Do you fancy the sticky to ee pudding?” says I.

‘Do such selfish motives truly count as sacrifice?”

‘Sell a cow or go to jail’ cattle dealer pays up

AS reported in e Kilkenny Observer last week, a cattle dealer served with a child maintenance arrears ultimatum by a judge of “sell a cow or go to jail” has now handed €5,000 in €50 notes to the court.

At the Family Law Court, the cattle dealer told Judge Mary Larkin that a man he buys cattle for phoned him to help out on his child maintenance arrears debt.

Judge Larkin had issued the “sell a cow or go to jail” ultimatum on the cattle dealer last month. e cattle dealer said the friend gave him a loan of €5,000 in the form of a cheque, which he cashed and handed into court.

e cattle dealer said: “He is a well-o person and he rang to help me out.”

Judge Larkin said that after the €5,000 has been paid over, the cattle dealer owes a further €1,600 in maintenance arrears.

After the cattle dealer handed over the bundle of €50 notes, Judge Larkin told him: “It was only when I threatened you with jail that you paid out the €5,000.” e cattle dealer has fallen into arrears on his child maintenance payments of €100 a week as he can’t a ord it due to a lot of cattle dealing now going online due to Covid-19. e man said he is currently paying €50 a week in maintenance for his two children.

In response, Judge Larkin said: “You can’t just do what you feel like — these are court orders for €100 per week. When are you going to bring it up to the correct amount?” e man said that he receives €203 a week in social welfare and an average of €80 a week for his cattle dealing work.

Judge Larkin told the man that if he wishes to have his weekly maintenance payments reduced, he should provide nancial statements that include the amount of stock he owns. e court had heard that the man’s ex-partner and mother of their two children said she was working 65 hours a fortnight but was living in “relative poverty”.

EU big funds for farmers affected by Ukraine war

RTÉ News has con rmed that the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConlogue is preparing a multi million euro package of supports to ensure farmers can grow enough animal feed and fodder this year. e package which will be nalised before the end of the month will give supports to farmers to address increased costs they face as they ensure they have enough feed for animals this year. is multi-million euro support package comes a day after the establishment of the National Fodder and Food Security Committee at a meeting of farm organisations with Minister Charlie McConlogue. Following discussion at the Government meeting twhere he relayed farmers concerns to Cabinet, the minister is now formulating a multi-million euro package of supports to ensure farmers can grow enough feed and fodder. e supports will help with increased costs growing fodder and tillage crops, supports for planting such crops and other measures to assist in accessing organic fertilisers. e package is due to be nalised and brought to Cabinet before the end of the month. Bakers are warning that price rises are on the way, as the bulk of baking our used here is imported from Eastern Europe. e news comes after Ukraine announced a ban on grain exports, which is set to exacerbate disruption in food markets. Ukraine has paused exports of barley, rye, wheat and other grains with Serbia also banning exports of wheat, corn, our and cooking oil as of tomorrow. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is threatening to have serious impacts on food and agriculture globally, with prices set to rise and possible food shortages. President of Odlums Tony Kane said it was inevitable that the price of bread will go up over the coming months and the bakery sector is ghting for survival. Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Kane said the sector had been hit with a triple whammy of price increases in our, ingredients, freight, and packaging. "It's all coming into a tsunami for price price increases on our and bread and the Irish market." Mr Kane said the Irish Bakery Association met to discuss the costs and challenges facing the industry. He said that Irish wheat, and therefore our, was not really suitable for the production of the common loaf and 91% of our is imported from central Europe.

Ukraine latest, Page 15

Vicky bows out of mountain climb with Charlie Bird

KILENNY'S Vicky Phelan has con rmed she will not be in a position to undertake the journey to Croagh Patrick for the Climb with Charlie Bird next month. e Mooncoin native, who lives in Limerick, updated her followers saying she has had a di cult few weeks with radiotherapy and has been very unwell as a result of the treatment she’s receiving.

Ms Phelan was celebrated recently at WIT where her portrait was being hosted for International Women’s Day.

Sta and students were joined by members of her family and friends for a fundraising event in aid of Solas Cancer support centre in Waterford. Dancing queen: Sofia Khodabacksh from Bennettsbridge who was dancing in Dublin at the Leinister championships recently . Sofia won her slipjig and jig and won the preliminary championships under 13 . Sofia dances for Kilkenny Academy and her eachers are Janine English, Sarah Murphy and Evelyn White. Well done, Sofia!

Kilkenny heritage projects receive funding boost

THE Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD, has announced that 512 heritage projects across every county in the country will bene t this year from €4m. in funding through the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. e projects are: • e Built Heritage Investment Scheme is also providing €4m in funding to be shared by 512 projects across 31 local authorities. • 17 Projects across Kilkenny to bene t from funding. • Announcement follows launch last week by Minister Noonan of Heritage Ireland 2030, a new national heritage plan which seeks to strengthen protection for our heritage in all its forms and provide supports to those responsible for its care. • Funding will leverage approximately €13m in private capital and support local Kilkenny city and county employment in traditional heritage trades.