Masses Today

6.30 Pauline & John Ryan, (Anniv)

6.30 Ellie & Michael Murray, (Anniv)

EVENTS OF SOME INTEREST





AS I WAS SAYING...

On Monday week next, September 16th, we will meet with the Irish Augustinian Provincial in connection with the renovation of the church here. Technically, we require the approval of the Provincial and his team for any expenditure in excess of £10,000. (For the sake of convenience, I will leave the currency in 'old money'.) In a project such as this it is extremely difficult to keep everyone abreast of what is going on. We did attempt to involve as many as possible with a General Meeting in the 'Bish' Secondary School on the Monday before Christmas, 2001. (Below you will find the 'Progress Report' drawn up by Cathal Cunningham in preparation for that meeting.) So, in the interest of keeping as many as possible as fully informed as possible, (and at the risk of boring some) I will retrace again the steps taken along the road so far.

The original estimate provided by our engineers on 31st March 1999 for the complete job was £62,000.00. (External work: £19,700; internal work -including painting of pews and replacing carpet-: £33,500 contingency: £2,000.00; VAT: £6,800.00). We knew from the outset that there were a number of imponderables in this: for example, we didn't know (and still don't) how much of the plaster will have to be removed from the inside west wall.

The Church Finance Committee, under the leadership of Anthony Ryan, set about raising this money. At the same time, Forthill Cemetery was undergoing a fairly comprehensive restoration, estimated to cost in excess of £20,000.00. The Committee offered to include this outlay in their 'target figure', bringing the estimate now to £82,000.00. We had already applied to Galway Corporation for financial assistance in the Forthill Restoration.

The Committee was assembled, consisting of Anthony Ryan (Chairman), Enda Colleran, Cathal Cunningham, John Coyle, Paddy Daly, Tom Hogan, Des Kavanagh, Dick Lyng, Sonny Molloy, Dermot Murray, Liam O'Connell, and John Quinn. The post-Summer to pre-Christmas period was judged as best suited to fund-raising. So the first formal meeting was held on Wednesday October 6th, 1999. A list of potential donors was drawn from business people in the city and each committee member undertook to approach the selected targets!

So our first meeting was held on September 30th, 1999. Originally, we were simply dealing with sealing the outer walls, replastering and repainting the inner walls, replacing the floor covering, and 'touching up' the pews. We had collected the money for this, and for the restoration of Forthill: £102,740.00. The job seemed to be straight-forward enough. The only imponderable was the length of time it would take for the inside walls to dry out after sealing. Even if that process took the whole Summer, we had planned to have the entire job completed by Christmas last. While this deadline was never expressed explicitly, it was generally assumed.

The Working Group to which Cathal's report refers have met on practically a weekly basis over the last eight months. They travelled extensively to inspect other churches. They have now completed their final proposals. They will present these at a Public Meeting in the Priory on Thursday night next, September 12th at 8.00pm. We would be delighted to meet as many of you as possible at that meeting.

-Dick Lyng.


PRAYER

Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer
utters itself. So, a woman will lift
her head from the sieve of her hands and stare
at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift.

Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth
enters our hearts, that small familiar pain;
then a man will stand stock-still, hearing his youth
in the distant Latin chanting of a train.

Pray for us now. Grade 1 piano scales
console the lodger looking out across
a Midland town. Then dusk, and someone calls
a child's name as though they name their loss.

Darkness outside. Inside, the radio's prayer -
Rockall. Malin. Dogger. Finisterre.
-Carol-Ann Duffy.



PETER McVERRY AND STRESS

Working with young people doesn't stress me. It's the bureaucracy that's the problem. The main cause of my grey hairs is dealing with the health board. That's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but only a bit. You don't get any support from statutory bodies unless you push very, very hard. You would think it would be the other way around. You would think they would be reaching out to voluntary agencies, but it's always a fight.

COMPLEX LIVES
The majority of young people I deal with have complex problems that involve many agencies. You are dealing with probation officers, counsellors, psychologists, social workers, even dentists. You are rushing from one situation to another, from one meeting to another, and having very little space for yourself.

COPING WITH STRESS
I walk the dog four or five times a day and that keeps me sane. It gives me time for reflection and for prayer, and it's exercise, which is good. Faith doesn't help me cope with stress, but it stops me giving up. I don't understand God's ways because I believe I'm only the fellow stoking the coal in the boiler room while God is the captain of the ship. I hope he knows where we are going, because sometimes I have no idea.

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
There is such a lack of vision for our society from our Government. People get up earlier to sit in traffic for longer, they go into work which has become more stressful, they are earning more money but it's being spent on huge mortgages, and they have less time for their kids.

People are running and running and have no idea where they are going. It will only abate when the economy crashes and jobs are lost, but that is going to be very difficult.

-Peter McVerry is a Jesuit priests who works with disadvantaged boys.


PARISH STEERING COMMITTEE

Update on Church Renovation
(Given first in November 2001)

The work on sealing of the church walls from the outside, repairing windows, the replacement of perished lead flashings, and so on has been completed to the to the satisfaction of our Engineers. As the next phase of the work approached, it became evident that a comprehensive plan was required to progress the project further.

It soon became obvious that preparing this plan would take time and a great deal of discussion and thought. For instance, the new statutory entry arrangements for disabled people and also for buggies would impinge on other aspects such as the relocation of the Statue of Our Lady outside; inspection of the Church floor led to a decision to replace the floor covering, which, of course, affected any decisions regarding the seating as well as choice of colours. It is like a game of Dominoes. Disturb one tile and all will be affected. In addition, the Church is a "Listed Building", so we are not free agents.

A general meeting of the Parishioners and the Friars asked a small Working Group under the direction of Fin Garvey to draw up the plans for the whole project. (Fin is a Choir-member who is an Architect and who also happens to be a Project Development Consultant).

This small group meets in Workshop format to examine every aspect of the project. The findings and recommendations of the Group will be communicated regularly to all concerned and a final report will be presented as soon as possible. The group is also charged with monitoring the work in progress and bringing it to a conclusion.

Early on in its deliberations, the extent of the planning involved, together with the necessary consultations with outside interests and others -Engineers, Planning Authority an Taisce etc.- brought home the fact that this would be a longer process than anticipated originally and a date for commencement of the work was set for "after Easter 2002".

As can be seen, this is a major under-taking, so offers of help and suggestions are requested from all interested people at any time. The Group has adopted the following as its Mission Statement: "To Create through Preservation and Enhancement a bright, intimate, sacred, warm, functional yet flexible, prayerful, quiet, accessible, inviting and attractive Church, within the constraints of ensuring value for money through an implementation process to commence after Easter, 2002."

The Working Party is made up of the following: Fin Garvey (Coordinator) Mary Taylor, Fr. Dick Lyng, Cathal Cunningham, Fr. Ben O'Brien and Gearóid Lacey.

-Cathal Cunningham
(Chairman of the Steering Committee)
(091) 564936 (Work), 523496 (Home)





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