Happy New Year to all. I am delighted to see the back of 2008 and I hope that the coming one will only be half as bad as George Lee says it will be. We hope that The Bugle will entertain, edify and maybe even educate you during 2009.

I had a long break over the Christmas / New Year period and therefore was able to visit friends and spend some time at home. We resisted the temptation to travel north in the weeks leading up to the feast. The thoughts of cheap goods well outweighed by the thoughts of spending a few hours stuck in the car on the hill down into Newry. I’m glad that we did spend our few quid as local as possible as the fiscal situation for all traders seems to have deteriorated so quickly as to be hard to believe. Most of the local people I spoke to were complementary of the publication, but commented that the best thing in it were the photos. Take a bow Chris. So, in response to public opinion I have commissioned another great lens man, sorry lens person and have appointed her as honorary photographer for Tim’s Diary. Mary Campbell will be snapping away, so if you see her, POSE.

Mary is of course, best known for her magnificent work for all the festivals in the church. Her talents were well displayed again this Christmas. It was a lovely setting for the Carol service held before Christmas The choir were in top form and looked very snazzy in their black and white. The pupils from Scoil Mhuire sang beautifully whilst the readers carried off the lessons and readings with great aplomb. The Breener was always anxious that we have a formal Carol Service and it would be very fitting to his memory that we carry this on in coming years. A lot of people put a lot of work into it so the attendance was disappointing, but now that we have the basics right, it should be packed on future occasions.

We were without photo’s to celebrate the opening of Ballymore’s first drive through food OUTLET last month. Mary rectifies this now showing the exclusively (re) designed interior of the premises beside Bernie Toomey’s.



Indeed it was one of two near misses in the last few weeks a trailer carrying sheep overturned at the school gates one Saturday morning. The situation, whilst somewhat alarming was quickly dealt with and the traffic flow was restored in a speedy manner.

My sympathy goes to June & Tim, Ivan & Tadhg on the death of Agnes (Nanny) Kelly. As the lads say aside from Noel and Brigid, she was the nearest they got to having a grandparent. A great woman, she lived avery full life yet a passing such as hers is always hard for those left behind. It was great to see such a large attendance from Ballymore on both days. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis.

Rose covers the upcoming Ballymore Person of the Year Awards elsewhere.
Just a last reminder that Ballymore’s equivalent of the Golden Globes will take place in the Resource Centre on Saturday February 7th at 8 pm. We have a bumper crop of nominees this year and we hope to have as many local election candidates and political representatives as we can in attendance on the night, so please come along and support the people who have made a real difference in the village in the last twelve months.

Finally, as a member of the Parish Board of Management I would like to say how bereft we all feel following the death of Fr. Sean Breen. Colette and I have been taking part in a strategy group involving Kilcullen and Dunlavin, over the last few months. This was suspended before Christmas to add Hollywood and Donard to the mix. Our worst fears have been realized now. The Parish Board of Management will be working hard on your behalf over the coming months. We may have to take some decisions that will prove difficult and we ask for your support in our work of continuing to provide a level of service for our community.