Gerry Moran

Furthermore

Gerry Moran Loads and fishes... When a stranger calls

Funny how things happen. I go to town to buy some sh for the dinner and when I return home there’s a man I’d never met in my entire life, sitting on my couch, chatting to my wife and sipping a co ee! It’s maybe 7 pm or thereabouts. ree hours later as I show this man out – we have chatted for three hours, non-stop, about a certain Mr Putin, the war in the Ukraine, belief, the Gospels, the Cruci xion, Saint Martin De Porres, Saint Augustine, Aristotle, Saint omas Aquinas, the women’s soccer team, the Ra, the Wolfe Tones, Boolavogue and the Black Abbey! A comprehensive conversation for sure. So, let me start at the beginning to make some sense of this for you. As mentioned above I go down town to source some sh for our dinner. I park in the Black Abbey car park, get the sh and, as I return to my car, and passing the Abbey, I am remembering a promise I made to a drinking colleague of mine a few days earlier. We were talking about health, a popular, very popular, topic with my peers these days. It transpires he’s going for some tests in a week or so. “You worried?” I ask. “Concerned,” he tells me, taking a sip from his pint. And then, o the top of my head, I say: “I’ll light a candle for you.” ‘

“Appreciate that, Gerry,” he says. Which is ironic really as I am known among my friends as ‘Gerry e Atheist’. Actually having checked out the de nition of atheist in the Oxford Concise Dictionary as ‘one who doesn’t believe god exists’, I realise that I’m not an atheist at all. I believe in a god – ie. a higher intelligence. I would hate to think that we, Homo so-called Sapiens, call us what you will, are the sharpest tools in the Universe or Universes! Tools, yes, sharp? I don’t think so as we are constantly polluting, pillaging, and waging war – a sad, but true, indictment to say the least.

My issue with this ‘god’, this ‘higher intelligence’, however, is that I do not believe it, he, she, is not benign and is indi erent to the su ering, the anguish, and pain that humanity endures whether it be a tsunami in Japan or a tragic gas explosion in Creeslough. And for sure I’ve digressed.

So, a promise is a promise and I, the atheist, or nonpractising atheist, whatever, slips into the Black Abbey and lights a candle at the shrine of Saint Martin de Porres, a shrine I knelt at frequently in my teenage years praying for help (divine assistance you could call it) with upcoming exams.

Indeed my late mother, a devotee of Saint Martin (or Blessed Martin as he was back then) credited him for me passing my exams as I wasn’t exactly “fond of the books”. Anyway, having nished petitioning him for positive results for my friend I head home only to discover that I left my sh behind me at Saint Martin’s shrine. I immediately dash back to the Black Abbey but it’s locked up and in darkness. And so I purchase another bit of sh, head home and you can probably guess the rest – the man I nd sitting in my kitchen is a priest, a Dominican by the name of Fr Brian Doyle, a Wexford man newly arrived in Kilkenny.

I am so appreciative of Brian’s e orts to nd us (I left a document with our home address in the bag with the sh) that I insist he dine with us which he did. After all there was no shortage of sh.

And there you have it – over a tasty meal of plaice and smoked cod (and thank you, Kathleen) and a few glasses of wine, my good wife and I and Fr Brian Doyle had one very interesting and engaging conversation. By the night’s end my faith in the priesthood is rea rmed thanks to Fr Doyle whose faith is resolute and unwavering. H, by the way, is one of a family of four – three boys and a girl and guess what? His two brothers (one of whom is his identical twin) are priests also!

“Tell me your sister is not a nun?” I immediately ask. “No, she’s a teacher.”

“Ah, a noble profession,” I tell him.

As for my own faith, one would think that this quasi religious happenstance was a sign for Gerry to return to the church. I shall – but only to light another candle for my friend.

‘Wasn’t exactly fond of the books...

The worshipping of Helena

BY NED EGAN

Part 3

So I took the decision to go and ask her, straight out, if there was ‘any chance.’ You think my antics were bizarre? We had a man in our village who thought he was a steam engine; another who had a bike for forty years and couldn’t ride it, a wife who thought her babies popped in - and out - because she said prayers to St Jude, and a few men who got away completely with murder… so don’t mind or be too disbelieving about a child having big or strange ideas…

Wednesday night was slow in the pub, ‘Devotions’ being on in the chapel. No drink was allowed to be served, but pubs with a shop integrated could sell food.{In those days when the RC Church ran Everything} On the night, I washed my face and slicked my hair with the ‘rack’ – which was just an industrial-size brown comb. I slapped on a slather of robbed {my brothers} Brilliantine – a sickly greasy hair oil - and fancied I could defeat any Casanova in the Pictures! Down I go, then, to meet my love. I hung around until anyone going to the chapel had gone in. Nobody in the pub, except Helena. In I go, trying to be brave, my heart in my mouth.

“Hello, Neddah,” she go, smiling that breathstopping smile, and joked - “you’re all done up tonight! Are you meeting a girl?”

This was a great opening for me!

“No, Helena, I think I’ve already met her!” is with a fair old fright on me, in spite of the bravado….

“Well, and who is this very lucky young lady, Neddah?” she said, with her tinkly little laugh.

“Actually, Helena, you know her well!” I thought this was a master-stroke!

“Oh, go on! Is it Kitty O’**** down the road, then?”

“No, Helena.” Suspense lled the air; I knew now how Bogart felt in lms.

“ en who on earth can it be, Neddah?” she smiled.

“Actually, Helena – it’s you.” ere it was, out, and not that hard, really!

I wasn’t at all sure how she’d react. Would she throw herself into my arms? Would she suggest a meeting up near Hayden’s Gates – {a popular courting spot for some lucky loves} – or maybe on the Glory Bridge, at midnight?

None of those things. She took a glass and polished it, looking serious. en she came outside the counter, and sat on a high stool, within touching distance of me, and said: “Listen, Neddah, I know you mean all you said, and thanks for thinking such nice things about me. ere’s times, Neddah, when I can be very cranky, and not at all the smiley girl you see inside the counter. But I’m too many years ahead of you – and what would my Daddy think?” e very thought of that made her laugh out loud! And me, too – a bit…

I felt then that my love was slipping away from me, but she was so sweet about it that I calmed right down, and was ready for her decision – which I knew, then, would go against me. “Neddah, you’d have to wait too long for me. If I was your age, I’d say ‘yes’ in a minute! We’d grow up together, like Babes in the Wood!” Now, this was laying it on a bit thick, but sure I was willing to accept any old excuse or tale from her divine self!

“Lads like you don’t grow on the bushes, you know, Neddah”, she go – but sure haven’t I a cousin your age, Joan, who’s coming up here for the summer – and that’ll be your chance to make a name for yourself. She’s beautiful, and would be ideal for a handsome chap like you.”

Well, by the cripes! Bad news – and good!

Still, I had to make one last try. “But, Helena – won’t you just give me one kiss - just one?”

“No, Neddah – Joan would be mad, then - if she found out! And you should keep your kisses for her. I’ll be watching you from now on!” So saying, she put her little hand on my face, for just a second. Magic! Wonder!

“ ere, Neddah – we’ve got a pact! e crowd’s coming out from Devotions now, so you’d better run. And thanks again for asking me!”

And that was the end of my running round the pub every night. She had acted sweetly, and I felt no rejection. Often afterwards she’d smile and wink at me; wse had our own little secret!

I met the woman recently, rst time for over sixty years. She still looked beautiful. We talked of the old days, skirting certain little subjects! When I left her delightful company, I kissed her on the cheek.

Sixty years late, I suppose. But, I did get the chance, in the end, to kiss Helena.

And I remembered her, in the bloom osf her great beauty, all those years ago, putting her hand on my face.

I didn’t wash it for a week.

{ A son of ‘Helena’ still farms east of Dunna village. He read this story, way back, approved.}

Helena passed away a good while ago.. I didn’t know of her demise. Was immensely sad when I heard of it. A true beauty,

I mourned her for being so sweet and good to me when I was rags and bones.

Ned E

Disclaimer e opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily re ect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of e Kilkenny Observer.

e world’s largest oil-producing countries earlier this month agreed to signi cant cuts in production as a means of keeping oil prices high as the global economy faces a potential recession in the coming year. e group known as OPEC+, which includes both the OPEC countries and several other petroleum producers not formally in the global oil cartel, said it would cut production quotas by two million barrels a day starting in November. e decision, led by top oil exporter Saudi Arabia along with other Gulf countries, was also seen as a slap in the face to America’s President Biden, whose Administration had been frantically lobbying the Saudis and other Gulf allies to maintain or increase output and allow prices to continue to fall. e OPEC move doesn’t mean production totals will fall by two million barrels exactly, as many countries were already not meeting their quotas, but it is expected to reduce global daily output by about 2% and put pressure on already high fuel prices. e decision will have an impact on Europe, which is already facing high energy costs due to the cuto of Russian gas exports. e International Energy Agency warned that higher oil prices could be “the tipping point for a global economy already on the brink of recession”.

President Biden had hoped for cooperation from Riyadh to help starve Vladimir Putin’s war machine, which is largely funded by hydrocarbon sales, and further hinder his invasion of Ukraine (Russia’s deputy prime minister, who is under US sanctions, was present at the OPEC+ meeting in Vienna).

And of course, President Biden wanted prices to be going down, not up, in the lead-up to November’s midterm elections. e insult to the US leader came just a few months after the president had visited Saudi Arabia and exchanged an infamous st bump with Crown Prince (and newly appointed Prime Minister) Mohammed bin Salman [pictured]. at gesture of friendship with a brutal tyrant was readily interpreted as a nasty bit of realpolitik, with President Biden bowing to the fact that he needed Saudi Arabia to keep the oil owing to keep both in ation and Russia in check. On that visit, President Biden secured an understanding from Saudi Arabia and its junior partner, the UAE, to increase production by a total of about 1.25 million barrels a day. e Saudis did ramp up production during the summer, when oil was over $120 a barrel, but backed o as prices began to fall again. is month’s decision to sharply curtail oil production should not have been terribly surprising, considering that Saudi Arabia and the UAE in particular depend on oil revenues to fund their welfare states and economic-development projects, as well as to enrich their rulers.

A global recession could put a deep dent in demand for oil, and if the petro-states continue to produce at their current levels, they might next year nd themselves in a downward price spiral that would threaten their economic stability.

In an interview with Vox, Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution, pushed back on the widespread notion that this decision was primarily motivated by anything other than economics: “Middle Eastern states have their own interests, and they were genuinely concerned about rapidly falling oil prices and over-producing as the world was going into a recession. ey did what they do in those situations: pulling back production. ey have their own interests and economies to look after. And they have agency. It’s not just choosing between the United States and Russia.” at’s certainly not how it’s being interpreted in Washington, however. e Biden Administration expressed deep disappointment at Saudi Arabia, which the White House says coerced other OPEC+ countries into agreeing to the cuts over their objections. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said US o cials had shown their Saudi counterparts an analysis showing there was no market basis to lower oil production, and dismissed Riyadh’s claims that the decision was purely economic as “spin”.

President Biden has threatened “consequences” for Saudi Arabia, but it’s not clear what those consequences might be; the president has few good options here. e Saudi government, of course, has rejected the allegations of political gamesmanship and maintains that it is not taking sides in the con ict between Russia and Western countries. Whether because that narrative is true or merely to help sell it, Saudi Arabia’s state news agency announced the other day that it was providing $400 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and also that Prince Mohammed had made a supportive phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Intentionally or otherwise, the oil cuts could lend support to Russia’s war e ort by weakening the impact of international sanctions and propping up the value of its oil exports. en again, it might not bene t Moscow as much as the Biden Administration fears: Gross, from the Brookings Institution, pointed out that forthcoming European sanctions and a U. proposal to put a global price cap on Russian oil could still make it harder for Russia to sell its oil at market price, if at all.

Saudi Arabia and a stab in Biden’s back

Camilla likely to be given title Queen

King Charles’ wife Camilla could see ‘consort’ dropped for her o cial title in 2023. Buckingham Palace o cials hope to quietly remove the word before Charles’ coronation, e coronation of King Charles III will not take place until May of 2023, yet there is a quiet hope within Buckingham Palace that by that time Camilla will be able to have the word ‘consort’ removed from her o cial title. In a move made by Queen Elizabeth II to formerly bestow the title of Queen Consort on Camilla in February, it was seen as the rst step to her popularity growing in the UK.

Having long been seen in a dark light due to her relationship with Charles during his marriage to Diana Spencer, attitudes have softened towards Camilla in recent years.

Why will the title be dropped? e process depends entirely on how openly the public accepts Camilla as a Queen gure in the UK.

According to a report published by e Telegraph, Royal aides hope to quietly drop the title before May.

Should the title be dropped then Camilla would essentially become known as ‘Queen Camilla’ despite not o cially holding a position of any power within the Royal Family.

Consorts of previous monarchs in the UK have received similar treatment, most notably Queen Mary and Queen Alexandra.

After being considerably unpopular at the time of her marriage to King Charles in 2005, Camilla is now seen as one of the most popular members of the Royal Family.

With time, feelings soften and that is exactly the case with the Queen Consort, who has been viewed as a pillar of strength to the family since the death of Queen Elizabeth II. e British public has recognised that and if there is enough public support for her before King Charles’ coronation, she will o cially be referred to as Queen Camilla.

If You’ve Got it – Haunt It!

For many of us, it’s time to go back to basics and make the most of the joys the season has to o er and indulge in some most of the joys the season has to o er and indulge in some fang-tastic guilt free treats, such as Carraig Donn’s tasteful fang-tastic guilt free treats, such as Carraig Donn’s tasteful decorations. They are great value, with up to 50% o on all decorations. They are great value, with up to 50% o on all their Halloween stock and lots of discounts in store on their their Halloween stock and lots of discounts in store on their fabulous Autumn/Winter clothing selection. JD Sports have gorgeous Juicy Couture Diamante Tracksuits and Nike Varsity Boyfriend Crews that are functional and and Nike Varsity Boyfriend Crews that are functional and very stylish. If you are looking for a bit of umph, Jump Juice very stylish. If you are looking for a bit of umph, Jump Juice have a ‘Smoothie of the Dragon’ limited edition that is have a ‘Smoothie of the Dragon’ limited edition that is definitely worth a slurp! For those who’d like to inject some good vibes into any special occasion, the newly opened Card Factory do a fantastic selection of helium filled balloons, cards & gift fantastic selection of helium filled balloons, cards & gift wraps. All the traversing around estates for trick and treating wraps. All the traversing around estates for trick and treating can be hard on your already tired tootsies, so why not get a can be hard on your already tired tootsies, so why not get a pair of Skechers comfortable runners or boots. Their cosy pair of Skechers comfortable runners or boots. Their cosy slippers are a treat for your feet as well! MacDonagh Junction have plenty of shops, including H&M, Dunnes, TKMaxx and Next to ensure all tastes and bargain babes are catered for. Keep an eye on MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre Facebook page for the latest o ers and events.