Athbhlian faoi shéan is faoi mhaise

A very happy new year to all those who pass here. Hopefully it will be a good one for you, your family, and friends.

Back to the reason for this blog-hopefully it will be a year of change for the good. In Kilkenny that will mean persuading as many of you and others as possible to vote for Michael O' Brien to be our next Labour TD, and to give your no. 2 to Jim Townsend, and right around Ireland to vote for your local Labour Party candidate to achive a society which is not just wealthy but fair also.

Along the way may there be plenty of craic, debate and liveliness is go mbeirimid beo ar an seo aris!

GOAL Mile- Working off the turkey ar Lá an Dreoilin

When I spotted that my favourite third world charity, GOAL, run by that indomitable fellow Southy Kerryman of mine John O' Shea, were holding their annual GOAL mile in Scanlon Park, our local council-run running track on St. Stephen's Day morning, I was delighted to volunteer to take part. Having spoken to Lisa O' Shea, John's daughter and a fair successor to her Dad in organisational terms, I was delighted to be able not alone to run the mile, but also to officially start proceedings as Deputy Mayor. Along with about 50 others I completed the mile at a reasonable pace and did a bit more to get rid of the excess from the day before. It was a beautiful morning in Kilkenny, and the phrase of another Kerryman, Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, whose life story was told in a wonderful RTÉ documentary on Christmas Day was ringing in my ears- 'Nach iontach an lá é a bheith beo- Isn't it a great day to be alive'.

My thoughts went out too to those for whom our over-commercialised, stressed but very fortunate lives are a world away, particularly those in Darfur, for whom John and GOAL have campaigned so strongly. Well done to Frank, the local organiser, and the staff of Scanlon Park, particularly the master of the Boro (The GAA club not the council !) Martin Gaffney who gave his free time to open up and lock up. Hopefully the GOAL mile will be an annual feature of Christmas life in Kilkenny.

Christmas Really Begins-Bell, Book and Candle in the Cathedral

Last Sunday was the night when the Christmas season begins in style for a Kilkenny City councillor. The annual 'Nine Carols and Nine Lessons' service of the Church of Ireland community, but open to all takes place in the wonderful setting of St. Canice's Cathedral. It was presided over by the relatively new bishop, Michael Burrowes, whose consecration I unfortunately missed in February last. The singing by the cathedral choir, and by children from the Model National School was uplifting and the ideal start to the real Christmas-that of the sacred rather than the shopping frenzy and all that other madness.

The real treat came at the end of the night however, when we were invited into the bell tower, quiet a climb from the main church, where the bell ringers or 'change ringers' showed us their art in action. This was the first time that our council was invited into the private area of the church in its 400 year history. We then climbed a little higher to see the actual bells, which are up to 500 years old. Thanks a million to all the change ringers for their hospitality. I'd love to get there for the annual new year's ceremony on new year's eve at 11.30, followed by the midnight ringing of the bells.

By the way thanks to Harry Reid for the magic photos.