Even one 'stiff drink' can lead to disaster

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

On one occasion in my early years teaching I did something that I imagine would be a sacking offence today.

I asked the students in a first year class to close their eyes. I then went on to ask them if there was any boy in the class who could definitely say that there was not one person in their extended family who did not have a difficulty with alcohol. I think there were three boys out of a class of 28 who raised their hands.

On the last Saturday of February Irish media reported the story of an Air Corps training aircraft losing power 30 km from Baldonnel. 

The PC-9 two-person plane was on a training mission when its single engine lost power. The two Air Corps pilots managed successfully to glide the plane to a safe landing at their base in Baldonnel.

The day after the emergency Irish newspapers quoted a military statement saying that the two pilots were ‘slightly shaken’. And then added: ‘They’ll have a stiff drink tonight’.

I know very well that it was a throw-away comment and indeed something often said with the best of intentions. I also know we may be gone PC-mad and GDPR is a great excuse to dumb down our lives to a state of moribund boredom.

But leaving all that aside I was a little surprised that a military spokesperson would make such a comment to the media.

It was also surprising that there was no follow-up story from the media on what the military spokesperson said.

The same day that the stricken plane glided back to Baldonnel I happened to be in a shop two doors up from an off-licence. While chatting with the owner of the shop I noticed a number of people exiting the off-licence with large boxes and placing them in the boots of their cars. Obviously they were buying drink in bulk. 

I have to admit I was somewhat surprised but the owner of the shop assured me that was a common occurrence.

It set me thinking and I have been wondering since why are off-licences allowed to remain open during our Level 5 lockdown.

Someone told me that if they closed off-licences: ‘they would be taking away our drugs’.

Aren’t we the most complex of creatures. A glass of wine, a pint of beer a measure of whiskey can be the most magical of drinks and do our souls great good.  But there is always the danger that one glass leads to another and on it goes until the danger lights start flashing.

World Health Organisation figures show that 3.3 million people worldwide die every year from alcohol misuse. In Ireland three people die every day from alcoholic poisoning, that works out at over 1,000 deaths per year.

Alcohol problems are costing the State in excess of €2.5 billion annually.

 

Certainly during these extremely difficult pandemic times turning to alcohol is the very last thing we should be doing.

Advertising works. And even the subliminal comments hit a spot in our brains that can so easily ignite a spark that leads to doom, in this case alcoholic poisoning.

International Woman's Day

Today is International Woman's Day.

The Gospel in yesterday's liturgy (John 2: 13 - 25) was the famous story of Jesus driving the money changers and merchants out of the Temple.

We see how angry he was with those who were abusing the Temple, abusing religion.

It seems to be part of the DNA of religions to attract all sorts of additions and malpractices. Religions also seem to attract large numbers of fragile people, as does priesthood.

Last week Ireland heard of the story of the late Joseph Marmion, a Jesuit priest, who spent his life abusing children. He abused them emotionally, physically and sexually while teaching in the three Jesuit schools, Belvedere, Clongowes Wood and Crescent College. Where else did he abuse?

Most likely every male religious congregation and every diocese in Ireland has/had their Marmions. Most likely more than one.

And then all the cover ups.

The damage that these people have caused, the damage too that they have done within religious communities. The seeds they have sown. These men held many positions, including teaching, school deans, 'superiors', vocation directors, missionaries, Vatican representatives.

Had women been in leadership roles in any of these organisations is it possible it would be such a nightmare?

Is it not absurd for any organisation to exclude women from its leadership team? Of course it is.

What happens in parishes where parish priests behave as tyrants? Usually it's women who come to the rescue and save the day.

Of course tyranny is not exclusive to the male population but nature screams out at us that an exclusively male organisation is in some way deficient.

And at a State level, it was an item of news on RTE news today that for every euro a man earns, a woman earns 86 cent.

Alarming increase in alcohol sales

Sales of alcohol for January have seen an alarming increase.

There has been a 57 per cent year-on-year rise in alcohol sales for the first month of this year.

Why are off-licences open in the current lockdown?

The Jesuits, Joseph Marmion and the statement

On RTE's Liveline yesterday Joe Duffy played a clip of an interview former RTE journalist Joe Little did with the late Jesuit priest Joseph Marmion.

It was about exhuming the body of his famous grand-uncle Blessed Colomba Marmion and the late Jospeh Marmion spoke about the incorrupt state of the body.

Anyone who listened to Liveline yesterday and heard the stories of men talking about the vileness of Joseph Marmion must wonder about the credibility of the Catholic Church. It was sickening. 

On Tuesday the Irish Jesuits made a public statement about the late Fr Joseph Marmion.

It might start a trend. 

Channel 4 News last evening carried a horrific story about decades of abuse at the English Benedictine-run school at Ampleforth. The abuse was so notorious  that the school has now been forbidden to accept new students. And the relevant authorities have demanded that the school be separated from the abbey.  

Whether or not the Jesuits were compelled to issue this statement, it is a development that has to be lauded.

Should all religious congregations and dioceses follow the example of the Irish Jesuits? 

Yes, they should. And to do so during the season of Lent would be an appropriate time to undertake such an exercise.

That famous misquoted line, 'Houston we have a problem' applies to priesthood. There are serious problems in priesthood and it seems no one is willing to address them in charity and honesty.

Below is the statement issued by the Irish Jesuits.

Statement of the Jesuit Order regarding abuse of former students by Joseph Marmion SJ (Deceased)

The Jesuit Order in Ireland is making public the name of a former teacher and priest, Joseph Marmion SJ, who abused boys sexually, emotionally and physically while he was on the teaching staff at Belvedere College in the 1970’s.

This action is being taken following engagement with a former pupil who was himself abused, in the hope that others who may have suffered would come forward and get the support they may need.

The Jesuits were contacted by this former pupil of Belvedere College in early 2019. He was a student at Belvedere in the 1970s. In that time, he was sexually and emotionally abused by Joseph Marmion. The abuse took place when he was a 13-year-old boy. 

Fr Leonard Moloney SJ, Provincial of the Order, has met personally with this man. Fr Moloney said: “In our communications, he made it clear to me that he was concerned for others who may also have suffered and that they should be proactively offered a response and support. This man also conveyed to me that he believed others who were abused may be helped by the recognition that they too were dreadfully harmed. He asked that we name his abuser, Joseph Marmion SJ, publicly and that we make this information widely available in order to reach as many former students as possible.”  

Joseph Marmion SJ was a teacher in Belvedere from 1969 until 1978. He died in 2000.

The Jesuits have been in contact over many years with others who were abused by Joseph Marmion while they were young students.  They have spoken of sexual abuse and physical and emotional bullying by him. We believe that the secrecy imposed by Joseph Marmion may still be preventing some victims and survivors from accessing help and support. 

“We are acutely aware of the pain and distress that many have had to hold and continue to hold, years after the original experience,” said Fr Moloney. “This pain is held by those who were direct victims of harm and abuse, by their families and also by other students who were witnesses to this abuse and felt powerless and unable to do anything about it. It is a matter of profound regret to me personally and to the Society of Jesus that children were abused whilst in our care. We are truly sorry. Words are never enough.” 

Following receipt of information from concerned parents in 1977, disclosures of sexual abuse were received by the school.  In consequence, a decision was taken that Joseph Marmion be removed from the staff in Belvedere with effect from the end of the academic year 1977/1978. He then spent a year on sabbatical in Paris with the Jesuit Community Saint François Xavier. He was then assigned to the Gardiner Street Jesuit Community. In 1990 he was appointed Chaplain to St. Vincent’s Private Hospital. We recognise that these subsequent appointments should not have been made.

While this particular communication relates to abuse that occurred in Belvedere College, Joseph Marmion also taught in Crescent College Limerick and Clongowes Wood College. Every effort will be made to communicate this information to former students in all schools.

Fr Moloney said: “We have in the past apologised and invited victims and survivors of abuse by members of the Society to come forward and to seek help. We do so again today. These efforts must always be continuous. We hope to explore with you the responses and supports that would be most useful at this time. I would like pay tribute to the man abused by Joseph Marmion who asked us take this course of action. His request, made solely out of concern for others has been an example to us all.”

In recent days, a former student has written about his experience of Joseph Marmion and recounted the stories of others who have spoken to him and who were also terribly harmed. We are making efforts to reach out to those individuals and to offer them our support if they wish.

All information regarding abuse is shared with An Garda Siochána, Tusla and other relevant authorities. 
Anyone who wishes to make direct contact with the Jesuit Safeguarding Office should call our Safeguarding Delegate, Saoirse Fox on 089 2644400 e-mail safeguarding@jesuitlink.ie  
ENDS

Notes: Information on the Safeguarding Policies of the Jesuit Order and Belvedere College are available here:

https://www.jesuit.ie/safeguarding/
https://www.belvederecollege.ie/about-us/policy-documents

Further Information:
Pat Coyle, Director of Communications, Jesuits in Ireland, 086 8190029
Email coylep@jesuit.ie

Vincent Twomey and Covid-19 vaccination

Vincent Twomey has over the last weeks received publicity on his comments on the Covid-19 vaccination.

He argues in favour of taking the Covid-19 vaccine, while warning that it shouldn't be compelled by either government or companies.

He went on to say that people who have "committed his or her life to the pro-life movement" could in conscience, refuse the vaccine, and that conscientious objection must be protected by law, if necessary.

Does this mean that Twomey would find it acceptable for frontline workers not to be vaccinated on 'conscientious grounds'?

Surely it's best we listen to the advice of experts, in this case Nphet, as to how we should protect ourselves against Covid-19.

Leadership has not come from a moribund clerical caste

The Church of Ireland Dean of Waterford, Reverend Maria Jansson concluded her 'Rite and Reason' column in The Irish Times on Tuesday with this paragraph:

Leadership has not come and will not come from a moribund clerical caste; it will come from the people who want community, who reclaim their voice, who know the connection between faith and real life, who have found the spiritual strength in the pandemic to prevail and who now must step up to the bar and start rebuilding. Exciting times ahead.

That paragraph certainly does not exclusively apply to the Church of Ireland. No doubt it applies to many church denominations.

It certainly applies to the Catholic Church, within dioceses and religious congregations.

What happens for instance when a provincial goes missing, what happens if a parish priest flouts diocesan guidelines, Canon Law and State regulations? 

Most likely nothing.

Former Dominican Joe Bergin RIP (1935 - 2021)

Former Dominican, Joe Bergin died on Sunday, February 28 in College View Nursing Home, Clones Road, Cavan.

Joe grew up in 52/53 Dublin Street, Carlow. He was born on July 29, 1935. He joined the Dominicans in September 1953 and was ordained a priest on July 10, 1960.

Joe's family was associated with the newspaper business. Well-known journalist Olivia O'Leary cut her teeth under the tutelage of Joe's uncle on the Carlow Nationalist.

He attended Newbridge College as a boarder before joining the Dominicans and spending his noviciate year in St Mary's Priory, Pope's Quay, Cork. 

On completion of his  philosophy and theology studies at the Dominican House of Studies in Tallaght he went to UCC, where he obtained a BA degree.

Joe spent his first years of priesthood working in Trinidad, a place he grew to love. Indeed, Trinidad and its people gave him a new and fresh understanding of what it meant to be church. While in Trinidad he made lifelong friends with a number of people.

After his years in Trinidad he returned to his alma mater, Newbridge College.

His gentle manner and kindness made him a great favourite with students in the school. He was a fine teacher.

No past pupil of Joe Bergin will ever say a bad word about him. He was an exemplary senior dean. Joe was a fair man, a quality that young people see and respect very quickly.

From Newbridge he went to St Mary's Priory, Pope's Quay as prior, being elected to the job on two occasions.

He was an excellent preacher and his liturgies were always prayerfully conducted. He made it his business to pray and speak in a language that touched the souls and hearts of those who came to pray in the church.

Joe's interest in music gave him a great introduction to the church choir. In his six years as prior his support for the choir played an important and seminal role in making the choir into what it is today. 

At the time another now former Dominican, Fiontán Ó Murchú was choir master and both he and Joe worked closely in the development of the choir.

On completion of his six years in Cork, Joe moved to the Dominican-run St Martin's Parish in Tallaght, where he was parish priest for approximately 10 years.

While there, his elderly mother, with whom he was very devoted, moved to a bungalow across the road from the church, which gave Joe the possibility of keeping a close eye on her.

It was in 1990, while he was in St Martin's, that he decided to leave the Dominicans and resign his priesthood.

He moved to America and married Loreen.

He subsequently became an Episcopalian priest and ministered in Newfoundland, Newark, New Jersey and finally in New York.

On reaching compulsory retirement age Joe continued to help out in a nearby parish.

In 2017 Joe returned to Ireland after the death of his beloved Loreen the previous year.

During his time in America he made regular summer visits to Ireland accompanied by Loreen.

Joe was my prior during my three years while attending UCC.

I have memories of a most gracious man, who had a great and genuine interest in people. He was a man of faith. A gentle soul without a malicious thought in his head.

Joe Bergin was a refined person with a wonderful sense of occasion. He lived in the now and accepted people for where they were and what they were.

Joe began to write a memoir of his years with the
Dominican Order. The text was at such a stage that he was in the process of looking for a publisher. His deteriorating health put paid to the work. No doubt the manuscript is among his belongings.

He had a number of close Dominican friends, who in turn cherished his friendship.

The late Dominican Constantius Bergin (1915 - 1994) was his uncle.

I had the good fortune to meet Joe and Loreen on a number of occasions while they were on holiday in Ireland. 

Two years ago I visited him in the nursing home in Cavan. His memory was impaired but the moment I mentioned my name he smiled that infectious smile of his, threw his arms around me and called out in the loudest of voices my name. But on this occasion there was no sign of his pipe. Joe loved smoking his pipe.

A lovely last moment with a gentleman.

May he rest in peace.

A comment on Condolences on RIP.ie

Oh Joe, how loved you were. You were my brother-in-law,  my go to scholar on Gilbert and Sullivan, my adviser and so much more. You made my sister so incredibly happy and it makes my heart joyous to know you are together again. You will continue to teach me about the love I have to give. You have touched so many, many hundreds if not thousands of people to value  the gift of life.  May you rest peacefully my sweet Bergin. You will always be in my heart,  and even though it’s broken for now, it will heal with all your words of comfort and love inside of it. I love you. Travel well Sweet Prince. - Jennifer Lee

Pictures. On the day of Joe's priestly ordination. From left:  Katherine Parry (Nee Bergin) Bridie Bergin (Mollie’s sister) Fr Constantius Pat Bergin OP,  PC Bergin, (Joe’s father) Eithne Shubotham (Nee Bergin) Joe Bergin, Mollie Bergin (Joe’s Mother) Sheila Kelly (Nee Bergin) and Dr Joe Kelly.

The single picture was taken in recent times.

'If there be no God we'll never find out'

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column

Michael Commane

During a number of my years working in the press office of Concern Worldwide Paul was my boss.

Both of us no longer work with Concern but we have stayed in touch.

Paul contacted me last month to tell me his mother had died. She had been in a nursing home in Cork since 2017.

Patricia O’Mahony died on January 19. She was the noble age of 91 when the cruel hand of Covid took her life.

Two weeks ago I saw Patricia’s photograph in ‘The Irish Times’. Every Saturday the newspaper dedicates a page to a selected number of people who have died from Covid.

 

Naturally I was attracted to the page when I saw the piece on Mrs O’Mahony. Instantly I spotted the similarity between her and Paul. He was certainly his mother's son. Having spent five years in Cork City, I was familiar with many of the places associated with Mrs O’Mahony’s life. 

Right throughout the piece I could see all sorts of links between her and Paul. I knew Paul was interested in music and here I see Patricia was an enthusiastic pianist, who was a regular visitor to the Cork Opera House.

I moved on to read the life stories of the other six people on the page.

There was Nancy Vereker from Dominic’s Place in Waterford. And that interested me because she must have lived close to the Dominican priory and church in the city. Being a Dominican I was wondering did any of my fellow Dominicans know her, her husband or any of her seven children. Did she have any links with the Dominicans?

There was the story of Finbarr O’Shea. With a name like that he had to have been from Cork. He was an avid Cork City Football Club supporter. Indeed, he travelled all over Europe watching them play. RTE broadcaster John Creedon said he was a ‘sweetheart of a man’ who always had a smile on his face.

 

Paul McDermott was a GP in Dublin’s Rathfarnham. 

His nickname was ‘Polish’ and his brother said of him that everyone had a funny story about him. His filter didn’t work 100 per cent and one would not know what he was going to say next.

Flora Nugent was born near Oranmore but on marrying moved to Tipperary and later to Limerick.

She farmed and her husband ran a timber mill. She never allowed her  nine grandchildren to call her granny because she didn’t want to sound old.

Reading through the lives of those seven people it kept crossing my mind of the importance, the uniqueness of the individual person and then the circle of friends and acquaintances we know during our lifetime. We may well feel secure and grounded but come to think about it we hang in there under the most fragile of circumstances and what seems so certain and fixed is all held together by the tiniest of threads.

Is everything to do with our lives pure randomness or is there a grand plan? Who knows?

A 98-year-old priest, who is a man of great faith said to me some weeks ago: ‘Michael if there is no God we’ll never find out’.

A well paid job with an attractive pension package.

From next July 1 a TD's basic salary will be €100,191.00

Politicians are entitled to a pension after two years' service - which is based on half their final salary plus a lump sum.

Why are their pension entitlements so out of tune with the rest of Irish workers?

Air Corps recommends alcohol after engine failure

On Friday an Air Corps aircraft on a training flight lost power in its single engine.

The crew of one teacher and a trainee successfully glided the plane back the 30 kilometres to Baldonnel.

In a comment to the media after the event and the lucky escape for the two personnel on board an Air Corps spokesperson said that the pilots were unharmed aside from being "slightly shaken'.

The spokesperson continued: "They'll be having a stiff drink tonight."

Is it appropriate for a spokesperson for the Defence Forces to recommend, indeed, glorify alcohol in such a manner?

Has no media outlet brought attention to this completely inappropriate comment?

Life is a time of constant change

'Thinking Anew' in The Irish Times today.

Michael Commane

Last week a young man was sentenced to 20 years in prison. As the judge announced the sentence the convicted man turned to his family and said: “Five World Cups and I’ll be out.” When I read that I immediately ‘fast forwarded’ 20 years to wonder about the 40-something year-old man who will finally emerge from prison.

 

More than half of prisoners released from Irish jails reoffend within three years and almost 80 per cent of young people who are locked up under the age of 21 reoffend within three years. But the good news is that reoffending rates are falling, not dramatically but falling nonetheless. 

While our prisons are places of punishment, they must also afford people the possibility of rehabilitation.

It is risky to generalise, and it may not be fair to ask the question –  do we improve or disimprove with age? Probably an impossible question to answer. My life-experience and my DNA makeup usually make me suspicious of ‘spectacular conversions’. 

Nevertheless, conversion is an intrinsic aspect of the Christian story.

In tomorrow’s Gospel, St Mark (9: 2 - 10) tells the story of the transfiguration. In the presence of his closest companions, Peter, James and John, Jesus is transfigured beyond recognition. And these men are so confused by it all that they have no idea what to do. Peter blurts out some nonsense about building three tents. But the fact of the matter is that: “He did not know what to say; they were so frightened.”  

Later, as they came down from the mountain Jesus warns them not to speak about this “until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” And that even caused more confusion as they discussed among themselves what rising from the dead might mean.

In my job as a hospital chaplain I am constantly confronted with the mystery of life and death. What most of all strikes me is our fragility. The why of life, the why of our own lived experience and then the ultimate question, the why of death.

But on our life’s journey ‘the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’ – as Hamlet  puts it – direct us along different roads. Why do some people choose good and others decide on another route? How free are we to take the road we travel? It’s part of the Christian mission-statement to say that we are saved by the grace of God. And grace is a freely bestowed gift. Maybe it makes sense to say that we have all been invited by God and it’s our decision to accept or reject the invitation.

Of course we are all influenced by our surroundings, the people we meet, the time and place of our birth and so on. Surely freedom is always limited.

Just look at those closest to Jesus. Observe  how they were so incapable of understanding what it means to be changed. If they had such difficulty with the idea of change, life, death and resurrection, how can it be any other way for us?

Life is  one long mystery.  But we believe. At times it can be almost impossible to understand but as Christians we say yes to God, we say yes to resurrection and this life of ours is a journey, a process, it’s a time of transfiguration, a time of constant change that reaches its fulfilment in the full and complete presence of God.

Life surely is all about growing, learning, developing, discovering new ways of doing things. It also involves us listening, listening to the now but also learning from the wisdom of the past. No one person, no one generation knows it all. I much prefer to sit down and listen to the person who questions and queries, the person who admits to stumbling and failing but always gets back up again and walks with hope. Those who claim to know it all always disappoint. 

The confusion of the disciples on that mountain is surely an endearing quality. It’s heartening to know that these men not only were confused but also got it all so wrong. They simply had no idea with the enormity with which they were dealing. Anything to do with God is almost completely beyond our grasp.

My prayer for the young man who said he is going to miss five World Cups is that he and all of us will realise on this journey of ours there’s so much  to do en route. And all the good we do will be transformed into a reality beyond our understanding in the full presence of God in the time of resurrection.

German bishop calls for root and branch changes

Georg Bätzing, president of the German bishops' conference, who is the bishop of Limburg, said on German television last evening after a meeting of the bishops' conference, it was not enough for the German Catholic Church to say sorry in a press release, or to issue a statement or hold a conference but what was needed to restore trust was the day-in-day-out action to make changes in the church and to involve the laity.

Theologian Maria Mesrian, speaking for Reforminitiative - 2.0, said that the bishop's conference did not go far enough and went on to say that the church has to be far more open and transparent. She said what had happened in the Archdiocese of Cologne and the subsequent church investigation was proof for the need of  a more open and all-inclusive church.

Couldn't we all give chapter and verse how dysfunctional the church is, whether it be in Germany or Ireland.

Couldn't we all give examples of how matters could be so improved if the advice, faith and wisdom of lay people, women and men, were called upon.

The system, as it is, is shocking. And  Georg Bätzing is saying as much when he refers to the German Catholic Church.

Most likely it is worse in Ireland.

One example: it cannot make sense when dealing with HR issues among priests it is an all-male clerical group that makes recommendations and subsequent decisions.

It is absurd and many priests have seen such absurdity first-hand.

It is a most unhealthy system.

Diplomat says Johsnon is a liar and has no rules

From yesterday's Guardian

Boris Johnson is “an unrepentant and inveterate liar” who feels he is not subject to the same rules as others, Sylvie Bermann, the former French ambassador to the UK during the Brexit vote, says in a new book.

She also claims some Brexiteers are consumed with hatred for Germany and gripped by a myth that they liberated Europe on their own, describing Brexit as a triumph of emotion over reason, won by a campaign full of lies in which negative attitudes to migration were exploited by figures such as Johnson and Michael Gove.

Bermann, who served as the French ambassador to the UK from 2014 to 2017 and has been one of the most senior diplomats in the French diplomatic service, including as ambassador to China and to Russia, assesses the British handling of the Covid pandemic as among the worst in the world alongside that of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. She predicts Johnson will seek to use Covid to mask the true economic cost of Brexit on the UK economy.

Johnson, she says, comes from an Eton and Oxford University class that believes they are entitled to use language to provoke. Describing him as intelligent and charming, she says he uses “lies to embellish reality, as a game and as instrument of power. The ends justify the means. He has no rules.”

More lovely words about the late Jim Harris

Surely this is worth publishing.

Dear Michael,

Yesterday's blog mentioned the late Jim Harris. He really was a larger than life individual. He was a most talented man who repaired and mended all variety of bicycles and was also an excellent hair dresser who acted as barber for many students in Tallaght. 

A robust front row rugby player deeply devoted to his sister who became an invalid due to a fall in Nigeria.

Kindest regards,

Edward

Davy Fitzgerald's toughest team take on Carantouhill

RTE deserves great praise for Monday evening's  final episode of 'Davy's Toughest Team'.

Legendary Davy Fitzgerald, current manager of the Wexford senior hurling team, had planned to take a group of young men to the base camp of Mount Everest but the pandemic put paid to that and the team instead climbed Ireland's highest mountain, Carantouhill in South Kerry.

All the young men had checkered backgrounds, had left school early and some of them had dabbled in drugs.

The project seemed to give the adventurers a good sense of the importance of camaraderie.

The adventure gave new insights to the participants and brought home to them the importance of people working together.

Fitzgerald managed to instil in them a great sense of purpose. What must the man be like at half time in the dressing room?

The team made it to the summit minus one young man who had knee problems. It was surprising that the phsyio gave him the green light to set out on the climb.

A follow-up programme on the lives of the young men in five years time would make for an interesting programme.

A radio Jim Harris fixed

This comment was written in the first hours of Tuesday, February 23.

Is it a coincidence or was the writer aware that February 22 was the anniversary of the death of Jim Harris OP? Jim died in Newbridge in 2014.

A colourful character indeed. Jim Harris was a distant relative of the writer of this blog, through his mother and my father.

I'm just now..reading about Father Jim Harris's passing. Very sad, May he rest in peace. I was a boarder in Newbridge College 1971 - 1976 and can still remember this very colourful character. He fixed my radio!! Pat Smyth.

An obituary on Jim can be found on this blog on February 22, 2014 and an appreciation, which was published in 'The Irish Times' on March 17, 2014.

Being respectful in the time of Covid - 19

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

May I make a suggestion? We stop criticising all those who are right now trying to get us through this pandemic.

I’m greatly impressed with what is being done to protect us from Covid-19.

Of course mistakes are made, some people will drop the ball but there is a genuine combined effort to rid us of the scourge of this virus that is raging now for almost a year.

Government and Nphet with all their skills and expertise instil a sense of hope and security.

The HSE’s CEO  Paul Reid appears to be a genuine leader, a manager who brings his team with him. Our frontline workers are saving lives and they deserve our heartfelt support and respect. 

Day-in-day-out nurses, doctors, cleaners, cooks, maintenance staff and all their teams are battling in extraordinary circumstances to save lives. Can you imagine what it must be like to do extremely heavy work, wearing all that PPE gear for extended periods of time. And then they go home, exhausted, to their families, where they have to turn around and do more work.

 

Last week Ryan Tubridy told the story of two gardaí calling to an elderly woman who  couldn’t turn on her water main. Without any fuss they did the job. I keep saying it, it’s the accumulation of so many small acts of kindness and goodness that in the end will win the day.

If ever the expression you’re damned if you do and you're damned if you don’t had resonance it surely has to be now.

It’s time we stopped the criticism. Remember, there is a great resilience about us. Look at our history and see how we have overcome great suffering and difficulty and come out the other side stronger and better.

Instead of criticising wouldn’t it make far more sense if we put our energy into keeping an eye out for the weak and vulnerable. Only last week I was stretched out on the ground reading my water meter. A neighbour saw me and thought that I had collapsed. She immediately came out of her house to see was I ok. Isn’t that exactly the attitude we need right now. And it was a great lesson for me.

 

The majority of people, are putting their shoulder to the wheel and playing an integral role in banishing this plague.

Our bins are being collected, our grocery shops are open, our mail is being delivered, public transport is running and that’s all because of the dedication of those who do the work. And do it with a smile.

It is inspirational to see how an emergency brings out the best in most people. Why is it so easy to miss the extraordinary people?

And what makes it so strange is that they are right in front of our eyes. This pandemic certainly has brought them into the limelight. 

We need to keep them there.

And what can one say about those who have flouted the rules during these terrible times? Not much. We’ll be victorious without them.

Roll on the vaccine.

Christians, Jews and Muslims under one roof in Berlin

From the Guardian

On the site of a church torn down by East Germany’s communist rulers, a new place of worship is set to rise that will bring Christians, Jews and Muslims under one roof – and it has already been dubbed a “churmosquagogue”.

The foundation stone of the House of One in Berlin will be laid at a ceremony on 27 May, marking the end of 10 years of planning and the beginning of an estimated four years of construction, and symbolising a new venture in interfaith cooperation and dialogue. 

The €47m building, designed by Berlin architects Kuehn Malvezzi, will incorporate a church, a mosque and a synagogue linked to a central meeting space. 

People of other faiths and denominations, and those of no faith, will be invited to events and discussions in the large hall.

“The idea is pretty simple,” said Roland Stolte, a Christian theologian who helped start the project. “We wanted to build a house of prayer and learning, where these three religions could co-exist while each retaining their own identity.”

The House of One will be built on the site of St Peter’s church in Petriplatz, which was damaged during the second world war and demolished in 1964 by the GDR authorities. When the foundations of the church were uncovered more than a decade ago, consideration was given to a memorial or a new church on the site. “But we wanted to create a new kind of sacred building that mirrors Berlin today,” said Stolte. “The initiators are acting as placeholders. 

This is not a club for monotheistic religions – we want others to join us.”

The federal government and the state of Berlin have between them contributed €30m to the cost of the project, with another €9m coming from donations and fundraising. A new drive for contributions, launched in December, is expected to fill the gap of nearly €8m.

The project has been generally supported by faith communities and the public, said Stolte, although “in the first few years there were some fears that we were mixing religions or trying to create a new religion”.

The inclusion in the planning of people of no faith was a very important aspect of the House of One project, he said. “East Berlin is a very secular place. Religious institutions have to find new language and ways to be relevant, and to make connections.”

The day the Communist Manifesto was published

On this day, February 21, 1848 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto.

It was originally called the Manifesto of the Communist Party.

In 2013, The Communist Manifesto was registered to UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme along with Marx's Das Kapital, Volume I.

Pope accepts resignation of Cardinal Robert Sarah

From the National Catholic Reporter

ROME — Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Robert Sarah as the head of the Vatican's worship congregation today in an unexpected announcement ending the tenure of one of the Vatican officials most often seen as an opponent of the pontiff's vision for the global church.

The Vatican release communicating the news did not give a reason for Sarah's departure or name who would be replacing him. In a tweet the cardinal alluded to the fact that he had turned 75, the traditional retirement age for bishops, last June.

More allegations about Chinese detention centres

Every day we are reading and hearing about genocide and sexual abuse in Chinese detention centres. And every day the Chinese authorities deny the allegations.

Why not allow national and international journalists visit these centres and see for themselves what is happening?

Allegations of shackled students and gang rape inside China's detention camps

By Ivan Watson and Rebecca Wright, CNN

Hong Kong (CNN)On the first day of her new teaching job at a Chinese government-run detention center in Xinjiang, Qelbinur Sidik said she saw two soldiers carry a young Uyghur woman out of the building on a stretcher.

"There was no spark of life in her face. Her cheeks were drained of color, she was not breathing," said Sidik, a former elementary school teacher who says she was forced to spend several months teaching at two detention centers in Xinjiang in 2017.

A policewoman who worked at the camp later told her the woman had died from heavy bleeding, though she didn't say what caused it. It was the first of many stories the policewoman would tell Sidik during the teacher's three-month assignment at the heavily-fortified building that housed female detainees. 

According to Sidik, the policewoman claimed to have been assigned to investigate reports of rape at the center by her superiors, though CNN has no evidence of that claim. However, Sidik said what she heard and saw herself was so disturbing that it made her ill.

Sidik's allegations are similar to those of former detainees who have spoken of rape and systematic sexual assault within China's vast detention network.

Her testimony is a rare account of a worker's direct experience of life inside the detention centers, where the US government alleges China is committing genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities through a repressive campaign of mass detention, torture, forced birth control and abortions. 

The Chinese government has rejected allegations of genocide, and in a statement to CNN said "there is no so-called 'systematic sexual assault and abuse against women' in Xinjiang."

However, Sidik said the female police officer described how her male colleagues used to boast about it. "When (male guards) were drinking at night, the policemen would tell each other how they raped and tortured girls," Sidik told CNN from her new home in the Netherlands.

Dirty air is killing seven million people every year

According to World Health Organisation (WHO)  figures there are seven million premature deaths every year directly attributable to air pollution.

One third of all deaths from stroke, heart disease and lung cancer are due to air pollution.

In 1990 the first smoky coal ban was introduced in Dublin.

In spite of the 1990 ban, smog levels last December in some areas in Dublin were 15 times over the limit recommended by WHO.

The truth about language

Discussing the plans for this year's Leaving Certificate Examination on RTE's Morning Ireland today Sinn Féin's education spokesperson Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire spoke about a 'more true choice'.

Can there be grades of truth? Maybe there can be. Don't we often say 'that's truer'. And there is a word 'truer'.

Language is fascinating.

North German city introduces a Covid curfew

Because of a Covid surge in the north German city of Flensburg in the State of Schleswig-Holstein a curfew is being introduced in the city between 21.00 and 05.00.

The State Government is also introducing stricter rules regarding personal contact.

Anti-Semitism lurks behind modern conspiracy theories

This article in The Irish Times yesterday is worth a read. A lovely piece of writing, informative and relevant.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/anti-semitism-lurks-behind-modern-conspiracy-theories-1.4485495#.YCu0j-uzH48.mailto

Today is Ash Wednesday.

If you have ever wondered how the date of Easter is decided - Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.

 

There is an ongoing discussion to fix a permanent date for the celebration of Easter.

 

This year Easter falls on April 4. The earliest it can be is March 22 and the latest date is April 25.

It's time the customer got a better deal

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

Two weeks ago Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary got into litres of hot water as a result of one of his classic performances on RTE’s Morning Ireland. He was critical of his usual old chestnuts, government, the EU, and this time he added Nphet to his list. He also implied that people who were complaining about not receiving refunds were being economical with the truth.

Later that day Joe Duffy picked up the ball and ran with the story. That led to an avalanche of listeners phoning in with their complaints with Ryanair.

At least one listener mentioned that he found it impossible to get through to a human voice when he phoned Ryanair.

And just as the listener was making his point I was trying to get through to Virgin Media.

I was told there was a waiting time of 30 minutes. I was at my lunch and decided to stay on hold. I kept the phone beside me, while listening to Joe Duffy’s Ryanair complainants. 

After 25 minutes of waiting a recorded voice told me that if I left my number with them they would call me back. I stupidly fell for the trick and gave my number. I had left my house after my lunch so I never got speaking to them.

Some days earlier I was confused with the new Bank of Ireland app so I unwisely decided to phone Bank of Ireland. I am fairly certain I spent at least 20 minutes before my call was answered.

It’s not that this was my first time to be left hanging on.

A friend of mine tells me he spent 50 minutes waiting to get speaking to someone at Sky. He closed the account and went for Saorview instead.

This behaviour by so many companies has now got out of hand and someone needs to stand up and shout stop. We, the customers need a better service than this. Where are all the regulators who are meant to be keeping an eye out for us?

It is outrageous that someone is asked to wait 30 minutes on the phone before they can speak to an agent. Virgin Media are doing a good business in Ireland and I believe that it is an insult to treat me in the manner they did two weeks ago. Indeed, in the end I gave up and my query has not been answered.

And so too with Bank of Ireland. Why should I have to wait so long for someone to pick up the phone? Some days later I queued for 30 minutes  at an AIB branch before getting to the teller’s counter.

What about this; if Ryanair, Virgin Media, Sky, Bank of Ireland, AIB employed more staff might it be possible for customers to get a better service? I imagine there is a very simple answer to that question. Or might it be that I am naive or a little stupid and don’t understand such matters? 

But of course it’s not just these four companies. It’s right across the board.

Why are we, the customer, allowing ourselves to be treated so badly. I’m thinking of the late Feargal Quinn’s words that the customer is king. Guess what, he believed it and acted on it.

The move from 240 pennies to 100 pence in a pound

On this day, February 15, 1971 Ireland changed to decimal coinage. 

It was the day that we moved from 240 pennies in a pound to 100 pence in a pound.

The days of 20 shillings in a pound and 12 pennies in a shilling were gone for ever.

The halfpennies were no more. Some years earlier the farthing had disappeared.

From February 15, 1971 there were a hundred new pence in a pound. The 2/- coin became a 10 pence coin.

The new coinage consisted of a one pence, two pence and the old shilling became a five pence coin.

The 2/6 disappeared as did the 10 shilling note. So too did the six pence, the threepence and the penny see the dust.

A new 50 pence coin was minted.

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/0209/766548-decimalisation-daydecimalisation-day/