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Direct Bugle email -
for acknowledgements, births, anniversaries, wedding photos, birthdays etc, send them to:
or drop them into Notes Box at Fogarty’s Post Office or Elizabeth’s Hair Salon . Come on, we would be delighted to print your family’s special photo – wedding, christening etc.

Birthdays
Happy 6oth Birthday to Kay Kavanagh – my God, doesn’t she look great? Its all the soft livin’ and years of being pampered by Gus……..Great night out in Dora’s during Punches town Week to celebrate the event. Thanks to Lorraine, Dora and Finola; don’t go near Dora O’Brien’s a month either side of a major birthday, she’s a master at organising ‘surprise’ birthdays………
Best wishes to Theresa Lynham who is celebrating her 70th Birthday and she doesn’t look so bad either!
Birthday wishes to Freda McLeod who celebrates a birthday in June…no, it’s not a milestone birthday this yet.

Best wishes
Best wishes to all the children in second class, Scoil Mhuire who are celebrating their First Holy Communion this month – enjoy you day.
Best wishes to Cody Bean who is taking her piano exams this month

Get Well wishes also to Marjorie Ronaldson, Des Kennedy, Anne Murphy, Mick Nolan of Tipperkevin, Mary Carroll, formerly of Broadleas and to Amanda Treacy of Liffey Court.

Thank you
Many thanks to all Dick O Sullivan, Hillary and Janet of Punchestown for the lovely welcome and courtesy they showed family and friends of the Late Fr Sean Breen at Punches town when they were treated like royalty in a private suite, fed and foddered with fond memories of the Padre exchanged over Tuesday’s racing.

IN a small box:
2 Bed House
To Rent
Ballymore Eustace
Fully Furnished
Contact 087 411 5185

In a larger box or a strip across the bottom of page 2:
COMMUNITY PLAYGROUP BALLYMORE-EUSTACE.

Open Day
In the Playgroup (Resource Centre)
On Saturday 6th June.
From 2pm-4pm.

All Parents and children welcome.


In reverse please:

The late Fr. Patrick Joseph Dunne C.S.Sp
We extend our sympathy to Angela Carroll and members of her family on the death of her brother, the late Fr Patrick Dunne who often said mass here in Ballymore when he was visiting on holidays. Late of Clonbullogue, Co. Offaly, Fr Dunne died suddenly in Tullamore Hospital. Having performed his religious duties in Nigeria, Kenya and Ireland, his passing will be deeply regretted by his Spiritan Confreres, his sister Angela, brother Henry, nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews and many friends. May he rest in peace, amen


The late Patrick John Foley
Well known to the communities of St John’s and St Mary’s of Blessington, the late Patrick Foley of Bishophill will be sadly missed by his many friends and family and none more so than by his wife Hazel, the couple having been married for over 60 years. The Foley family are well known within equestrian circles with his children renowned for their skills in the latter field. John himself was a member of the Kildare Hunt and the founder-owner of Hazel Grove Golf Club at Jobstown. As a business man, he had success with his company Tropical Fruit Co, He is survived by his loving wife Hazel, daughters Jane, Vicky and Georgina, 9 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren and members of the extended family. Patrick was laid to rest in his beloved St John’s – may he rest in peace, amen.


The Late Karl Mullen
Formerly of Gilltown, Kilcullen and late of Tulfarris, Blessing ton, the death of the legendary former rugby player and renowned doctor was covered extensively in the national and local press. Tributes were paid from near and far to him not only for his skill at the game but his astute ability to read the play. He was well loved by all who knew him for his warmth and wit and of course, he was first and foremost a family man. A little over a year ago, his wife Doreen passed away and they are survived by their eight children, daughters Louise, Niamh, Mary, Gaye and Anna, sons Karl, Paul and Marc, sisters, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, eighteen grandchildren, nieces, nephews and a large circle of colleagues and friends. May he rest in peace, amen.
Ballymore Eustace Scoil Mhuire Do It Again For National Spring Clean

Let Us At It!
The Clean Up Team from Scoil Mhuire who cleared the Ballymore streets of litter.

A willing, and enthusiastic group of students from Scoil Mhuire Green School Committee braved the elements to clear the Ballymore streets of litter. On a wet and gloomy day on the last week in April - under the watchful eyes of Martin Deegan, Frankie Burke, David Hughes, and Mary & Eric Firth - they cleared litter from the streets of the village. No discarded can, paper, or other item of rubbish escaped their sharp eyes and quick hands. In the end, they collected many large sacks crammed full with rubbish; and the village looked the better for it – let us hope it stays that way. These young people set a wonderful example to us all. The Green School Committee, which is under the leadership of school head, Mairead O’Flynn, operates a very impressive, well-organised and comprehensive Green School Action Plan, which covers aspects including:

• Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
• The Environment
• Energy Conservation
• Biodiversity

amongst many others, with an emphasis, this year, on energy.

The Green Flag School scheme is a marvellous way of getting people involved and interested in environmental matters at an early age. Scoil Mhuire attained, and has maintained, Green School status over four years ago – a very impressive achievement.

The Clean Up was part of National Spring Clean. Now in its eleventh year, National Spring Clean is Ireland’s biggest anti‑litter campaign; it encourages people from all walks of life to take pride in their local environment and to take action against litter. The event runs throughout the whole month of April.

One lesson learnt from picking up other peoples’ litter is that it is far easier to discard litter without thought than it is to pick it up; but it is so easy to put the litter in a bin, in the first place, or take it home for safe and correct disposal later.

The BME Tidy Towns group will be submitting their entry, on behalf of the village, for the 2009 competition in May. During July and August Ballymore Eustace will be visited unannounced – on two or more occasions – by the Tidy Towns adjudicators. They will be looking at the village with a mind to the following judgement categories:

Overall Developmental Approach
The Built Environment
Landscaping
Wildlife and Natural Amenities
Litter Control
Tidiness
Waste Minimisation
Residential Areas
Roads, Street, and Back Areas
General Impression

Hopefully, we will improve our score this year. Keeping the village free of litter and tidy is a daunting task, but it can be relieved if everybody – residents and visitors alike – do their bit. Please, do not drop litter; place it in the bin or take it home with you. Residents of the village can be a great help, providing they are able, if they maintain the immediate area around their doorstep litter and weed free.



“We did it!” Janet and Denise make a difference….
“Back from our travels and we have successfully participated in the 7th Building Blitz in Mbekweni, in Paarl. 500 volunteers took part in this blitz over 300 of them were women! Our target for the week was to complete 75 houses. We completed 78 homes for 900 beneficiaries living in the township, who were living in shacks. For these families it will be their first time to have a home with running water, electricity and a bathroom all to themselves! It’s a far cry from what they are used to - one toilet per 10-12 shacks. It was with great joy and pride that each of the teams got the opportunity to hand over keys to a family on the day we finished onsite. We were part of the Lilac team (painters) and the lady we handed the keys to was aged 68 years, this being her first home after 30 years on a housing list. Other beneficiaries on the day were a mother of two, an 85 year old woman, both on the housing list for over 30 years.

Our journey began when we left Dublin airport at 10.30am on Thursday morning and arrived in Cape Town @ 5.45am Friday morning. No hanging around, straight from the airport to a township that NMBB (Niall Mellon Building Blitz) had already been involved in. We were not only getting the opportunity first hand to see the shacks these people live in but also the houses that had been built and the families that were now living in them. Next day we started working in earnest.

Our day started at 5.45am when the alarm went off, Janet should have got a medal for how quickly she got out of the bed…. We were on the bus for 7am every morning to take the hour’s journey to a site in Mbekweni. We worked under the hot sun - highest temperate of the week was 41 degrees - something we are definitely not used to! We finished at 5pm each day. I have never seen so many women of all ages pushing wheelbarrows, plastering walls, lifting blocks etc. No job was too hard for us women.

GAA GURU ‘ON THE BALL’
Working alongside the Irish people for the first time also were South African men and women. We also had a special visitor on the trip with us, the legendary Michael O’ Muircheartaigh, a true gentlemen and a great worker - considering he’s 78!! It was such an amazing week to be involved in.

Throughout the week we were taken off site to visit an orphanage, a crèche, school and more ‘living’ quarters ie basic and I mean ‘basic’ shacks. The biggest threat to these families in the shacks is flooding and fires. Before we arrived, nearly 30 shacks had been burnt down after one went on fire. The families live in such close proximity to each other, they are all in imminent danger. Illness also spreads very quickly through the shacks - some of these shacks consist of one room where a family with 10 or more people are living in them - can you imagine it…

PRIDE IN EDUCATION
We met an amazing lady called Miriam who ran the orphanage with the help of her cousin. They look after 25 kids who have been abandoned by their parents or brought to her by the police. She has a 2 bedroom shack to house all these children, yet it was spotless and very well run. The children all go to school everyday, as education and religion is something they are very passionate about. The stories behind the children in the orphanage were heartbreaking.

“We did it!” Janet and Denise make a difference…. Page 2
Many of the children are HIV positive or have full blown aids which they were either born with or were infected through abuse - needless to say there was a lot of tears and sorrow felt that day. 5.5 million people in South Africa are HIV positive or have full blown aids, you can only hope that, through education these numbers will eventually start to decrease - but we can’t be sure this will ever happen in our lifetime.

After a week of toil, backache and heartache, tears of joy and pride rolled down the cheeks of the 500 Volunteers as they handed over their houses to the beneficiary families.

GIRL POWER RECOGNISED!Speaking at the beneficiary handover, Niall Mellon said:
“The week has been a phenomenal success for the charity and it is an honour for me to stand amongst my fellow countrymen and women at such a proud moment. I am especially proud of our female Volunteers who took to painting, block laying and plastering like ducks to water and with enthusiasm like no other. This was the first Building Blitz that we have had a majority of women, it was so successful that I am now concerned for the few male construction workers in Ireland! The quality of work in building these homes has been outstanding and we are very proud to hand over the houses to so many families who so richly deserve them.”During the week, we were visited by Premier of the Western Cape, Lynne Brown, Dr. Alberta Mayberry, US Consul General of the USA, Mayor of Drakenstein, Charmain Manuel and Irish Ambassador to South Africa, Colin Wrafter. In a major coup for the charity, Niall Mellon also announced that the US Senate last week passed legislation directing USAID to consider the Niall Mellon Township Trust for funding. The charity was singled out in an important Appropriations Bill which was passed by the US Senate. Needless to say there was great applause & delight when this was announced on our last night in South Africa.

THANK YOU
On a personal note both Jane and I would like say a BIG THANK EVERYONE to everyone who donated money, sponsored us, helped us with the fundraising events or just gave us a dig out to fundraise this trip. I know there is poverty in every country, our own included but I have never witnessed it at this level. The week was an experience of a lifetime for us, to see the daily things we take for granted - running water, feeling safe in your own home, walls that are not made out of boxes, food to eat everyday - we could go on and on…. Basic necessities we take for granted are pure luxury to these people.

All of YOU made it possible for us to travel to South Africa to help build homes for these people who seem to be forgotten & for that we are forever grateful. It was a very hard week physically & emotionally but we are delighted to have had the opportunity to have been involved & look forward to participating again next year! The memories of this trip will stay with us for life, so THANK YOU. Roll on next year!”


- Denise and Janet