It is that wonderful time of year again.  The time when we harvest the fruits of our labour and give thanks.  It is therefore a fitting time for us to be reminded of the gift of volunteering through the recognition given by the Volunteer Ireland Awards for 2019. Each year, people from all over Ireland are encouraged to nominate the ...

There can be something quite poignant and breathtaking about the hues, colours and transient light of autumn days.  The burnished gold to brown and drop, that signals the ‘turning of the leaf’.  These moments of precious recognition, acknowledgement and leave-taking can open up our being to something other than ourselves; the realisation that we are kin to everything. I was ...

Pope Francis celebrated Mass on World Mission Sunday (October 20th) and in his homily, he challenges us to reflect on the meaning of our mission. See full text HERE Below is a prayerful litany created from his words, as a signpost for our life journey on mission.  This should be read in the context of the full article. Life as ...

“How do we ‘carry Nano’s Lantern’ … and ‘hear the cry of the Earth and those kept poor’ ”? Today, more than ever before, we need people like Nano Nagle*.  We need people of courage who are prepared, if necessary, to ‘spend themselves’ for love of the poor and of the planet. This is what it means to carry ‘Nano’s ...

On Oct. 13, Blessed John Henry Newman will become the first Englishman since the 1600s to be canonised.  Even though there are four others being raised to the altars with him — religious sisters from India, Brazil and Italy and a Third Order Franciscan from Switzerland — the focus of the Catholic world will be mainly on Newman because of ...

The world’s chocolate companies have continually missed deadlines to uproot child labour from their cocoa supply chains in 2005, 2008 and 2010. Next year, they face another target date and, industry officials indicate, they probably will miss that, too. About two-thirds of the world’s cocoa supply comes from West Africa where, according to a 2015 U.S. Labour Department report. More ...

St. Francis of Assisi whose feast day it is today (4th October) believed that everything in the natural world was a gift from God and deserved to be appreciated and valued.  Because of this, Francis in his ‘Canticle of the Sun’  refers to the sun, wind, air, and fire as his brothers, and to the moon, stars, earth, water, and death ...

In the editorial of the special  50th Anniversary magazine of GROW Ireland it states: “The GROW we have today owes its existence to a vast number of people who have given themselves with a complete and awe inspiring generosity and dedication.  We begin by saluting you”. One such person whom we know very well is Sr. Gertrude Howley. This year ...

On Friday 27th September the Mayor of Kilkenny, Cllr. Martin Brett in conjunction with Kilkenny County Council hosted a civic reception to honour Sr. Magdalene Fogarty, pbvm as founding president of Clann Credo. Twenty three years ago a radical new concept began to percolate through Ireland’s community and voluntary sector, one that has challenged the conventional way of thinking ever since.  ...

A total of 102,500 people attended the first day of the 2019 National Ploughing Championships, a figure confirmed  by the National Ploughing Association (NPA). This figure  is substantially up on the 97,500 attendees that attended day one of last year’s ‘Ploughing’. Today, those who attend experience everything from farming to fashion, artisan foods to top-of-the range machinery, as well as ...