What about Denman? The big horse looked to have lost all his appetite for the game this month. Hope that Paul Nicholls can get him back on song before the middle of March. Cheltenham is just around the corner now. I think that we have good chances is any number of horses, Cousin Vinny, Pandorama, maybe Hurricane Fly, and I have a sneaky fancy for Muirhead if the ground is good enough for him to go on. Let’s hope that the Irish horses can see a jump in form that the conditions have masked over the last few weeks. Not so the Irish rugby side who relished the meeting with France. Set up nicely for the Six Nations campaign, one can only hope for a continuation of the form showed on the night. We were in Croker a few nights later to see Georgia really put it up to Ireland in the first couple of minutes. They hit us harder and quicker than that fella did Bernard Dunne, early on. Happily Robbie K and the boys were able to turn it around in the second half and send us all home singing

Two different men came up and told me how proud they were of me recently. It is a humbling experience when someone tells you that. I appreciate it and thank them both. It was a great honour to speak on behalf of the parish at Fr. Sean’s funeral. I met so many people who spoke so highly of him. Trainer Jim Bolger asked to be remembered to all his friends here from the time he lived in Liam Lawler’s house. Gary O’Brien told me that Sean had officiated at his parent’s wedding. John Moloney, the manager of Galway Races told a story of a suitcase full of new clothes that the breener had bought in Anthony Ryans that got mislaid, but, due to the honesty of Galway folk had been handed in for him when he returned the following year. Niall Quinn signed the Sunderland and Ireland jerseys that he had brought for the Offertory and donated them for parish fundraising activities. Great tribute must go to all the people who were involved in the funeral service especially those who worked quietly behind the scenes, the catering crew, car park men and lots of others. Garda Eamonn Whelan played a blinder, he was always available to me no matter what hour of the day or night and is a real pleasure to work with. It was a fitting send off for a great character.

As you can imagine the parish is struggling a bit at the moment. I will bring you up to date with the changes as they become more definite. Bishop Eamonn Walsh has appointed Fr. Prenderville as administrator of the parish until further notice. Fr. Prenderville has taken the decision to close the gallery. The former Parish Board of Management, now the Parish Pastoral Council is due to meet the Hollywood Pastoral Council this week in an effort to explore how the two groups can work together. New members will be appointed to the Parish working group with Kilcullen, Dunlavin etc. They are the main developments. Finally Gerry O’Connor from Golden Falls has taken stewardship of The Bell parish newsletter.
Please take note that Gerry can be contacted on 045 863471 or email gerrythebell@live.ie I would ask you to give him your full co-operation and help. It is a great local resource and Gerry will see it develop to it’s full potential. Thank you for your help to me over the last three and a half years especially to Kathleen Lawlor who was my feed during this time.

Rose writes elsewhere about the People of the Year awards. She was able to keep stum about someone who sent in a nomination for ME. Thank you very much. It was a great surprise. I have to say that I have coveted one of those “bridges” that Fiona Barrett produces, for ages. It really was a great night and a special congrats to Tommy Dwyer from “Hotlips.”

I was very impressed with the services of Kildare County Council during our recent spell of bad weather. We tend to complain about Council services, but on this occasion they were in top form, gritting the roads to keep the village moving. It is a pity that we couldn’t have found some way to clear the pavements, either ourselves or in conjunction with the council as they remained very dangerous for a long time after the snow.