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 Irish Girl Guides Report by Catherine O’Connor, (Communications Officer – Irish Girl Guides.)
On Saturday next May 7th 2011, the Irish Girl Guides (IGG) will hold the largest celebration fun day in it’s history, to celebrate 100 years of changing lives here in Ireland.
Over 6,000 girls and Leaders will descend on Thurles, Co. Tipperary to join together for a day of great fun activities including a Guinness Book of Records attempt.
The Irish Girl Guides are a voluntary organisation for 11,000 girls and volunteer leaders countrywide. The Irish Girl IGG’s mission is to enable girls and young women to develop to their fullest potential as responsible citizens of the world. IGG was founded in 1911. It provides an environment where girls from all backgrounds can grow in self-confidence and develop a variety of skills in an unpressurised atmosphere.
All the branches will be joining in the celebrations – the Ladybirds who are aged between 5 – 7 years, the Brownies from 6½ – 11 years; the Guides 10½– 15 years and Senior Branch 14½ – 26 years.
The day will begin with a parade which will be led by 85 teenage girls, who are Guiding Stars, as each will be receiving the prestigious Gold Award, the highest achievement that a Guide can achieve. Then IGG will take on the challenge of breaking the Guinness Book of Records for the longest string of reef knots ever.
After this the girls will break into their different age groups to try activities such as Drumming, Circus skills, Dance, Animal Roadshow, Science workshops, Reptile village, Gospel Singing along with time to enjoy the free flow area, which will include Large Scale Inflatables, Helter Skelter, Carousel, Giant Paint by Numbers and Street Entertainers.
As the day comes to a close there will be a presentation of 30 year service pins to many dedicated leaders, by special guest Mary McPhail, CEO of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. This is especially significant as 2011 has been designated the European Year of volunteering.
Emer O’Sullivan, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Girl Guides, said, “This is a great opportunity to thank all our volunteer Leaders but an extremely special
chance to thank the leaders with 30+ years of service. Today we will remember with pride and gratitude, the work and efforts of those who have gone before and those who strive today to make Guiding the wonderful organisation that it is.”
To end the day on a high, the girls and leaders will party to an ABBA tribute band concert as IGG continues to celebrate their centenary for the rest of 2011.
In essence the day is all about celebrating 100 years of an association that has grown from strength to strength, and continues to meet the needs of girls and women in Ireland, through a programme of fun and friendship that enables them to develop their full potential as responsible citizens of the world.
Well known former members of the Irish Girl Guides include Sonia O’Sullivan, Olympic Medallist; Catherine McGuinness, former President of the Law Reform Commission, judge of the Circuit Court (the first woman to serve on the Court), justice of the High Court and Supreme Court of Ireland, Róisín Ingle, Irish Times Journalist and Una Healy of the band The Saturdays to name but a few.
Girl Guides – Welcome to Thurles.
 Rev Fr. Tom Fogarty and Professor Don Barry Graduates of St. Patrick’s College, here in Thurles, Co Tipperary will receive teaching degrees from the University of Limerick, with effect from 2012.
Today the Third Level education college announced an academic alliance with the University of Limerick (UL), marking an historic occasion for this Thurles College.
With effect from September 2011, teacher degree programmes at St. Patrick’s College will be accredited by the University of Limerick and from 2012 graduates of the College will be awarded University of Limerick degrees.
The University of Limerick, which has a student body of over 11,500 students, has already an international reputation for innovation in education. President of UL, Professor Don Barry said, “This agreement recognises opportunities for delivery of an enhanced suite of education programmes in St Patrick’s College that will be consistent with UL’s expertise in teacher education. UL is the largest provider of post-primary teacher education in the State, with our Education students accounting for nearly one in ten students at UL, and consequently accounting for a significant part of the University’s impact on the wider local, regional and national communities. We put a great deal of time and energy into pedagogy at UL and we have recognised a similar commitment in the education programmes at St Patrick’s College. We are proud that our teacher education model at UL is well regarded nationally and internationally as a pioneering model for the future.”
St Patrick’s Teacher Education College here in Thurles is located in the former Seminary, also known as St Patrick’s, which was established in 1837. The foundation stone of the Seminary was laid in the presence of Daniel O’Connell and the Synod of Thurles was held there in 1850. The College opened as an educational institution first in September 1837, offering Second Level education in the humanities, with limited contribution to the sciences, for students wishing to prepare for the priesthood as well as careers in business and other professions. In 1842 a philosophy department was added and by the middle of the 1860’s the College had developed into a major seminary, with the addition of a full theological faculty.
Described in 1850 during the Synod of Thurles as a “noble pile ” the College witnessed much debate amongst the catholic clergy, the outcome of which significantly influenced the evolution of primary, secondary and university education throughout Ireland. A total of 220 students currently now study at the College.
St. Patrick’s College was first established as a third level College of Education in 2004 and currently offers two concurrent teacher education programmes. All graduates of the College are registered with the Teaching Council and qualified to teach Business, Accounting, Religious Studies and Irish to honours Leaving Certificate level students.
Last year a Governing Board was appointed to St. Patrick’s College with responsibility for strategic development. Board members now include; Chairperson Robbie Kelleher (Head of Global Investment Strategy at Davy Stockbrokers), Dr. Bernadette Flanagan (Director of Research at All Hallows College), Dr. Finbarr Bradley, (former professor at DCU, UCD and NUIM), Dr. Richard Thorn (Director of Flexible Learning, IOTI) and Tipperary born John Lonergan (former Governor of Mountjoy Prison).
The President of St Patrick’s College, Rev Fr. Tom Fogarty said, “This alliance with the University of Limerick truly marks the beginning of a new era for the College and the extension of University education beyond our major cities.”
The College welcomes enquiries from prospective applicants and will endeavour to facilitate applicants, who may wish to visit the College.
For further information regarding programmes at St. Patrick’s College visit HERE.
 Original Sins A new and exciting publication entitled ‘Original Sins,’ an anthology of short stories by some 22 Irish authors, has just hit our book shelves. This anthology, which includes contributions from Tipperary author’s, Majella O’Gorman,(Thurles), Stella Lannigan, (Gortnahoe), Mary Healy, (Freshford), Maura Barrett, (Killenaule), Martha Woodcock, (Cuffesgrange) and Jane de Montmorency, latter a relative of US President Barak Obama, was recently launched, to high acclaim, in St.Kierans College, Kilkenny.
The writers who feature in this anthology are dreamers who turned their dreams into reality.
Kahlil Gibran writes of the tragedy of leaving a page empty: “Pure was I created and pure will I remain forever…And the sheet of snow white paper did remain pure and chaste forever – pure and chaste – and empty.”
The dream of writing is often so precious, so dearly held, that it is avoided out a fear of failure. All writers fail. No writer avoids disillusion. But after the essential period of consternation, sometimes despair, the piece pearls and the truth of it begins to shine, through the various drafts. The initial inspiration is what fires us all to put pen to paper. The perspiration required to finish a piece is what causes a lot of the initial willing to abandon the dream. A lived dream is a muddied thing, it is tired old and dirty by times, but in becoming more familiar to us, it allows us to know ourselves all the better and to have the easier breathing of one who has attempted, rather than one who has not tried.
Joint editors Suzanne Power and John MacKenna work with the contributors to ‘Original Sins,’ at NUI Kilkenny Campus.
“We have worked with them for four years now and the individuals featured in this collection have stayed the course literally since the very beginning. Our job is to persuade them of what is already in themselves, to foster it to the point where they no longer need convincing and to leave them alone with their empty pages and time. The writers featured here have learned this and are comfortable with the knowledge. They have a full awareness that pages, when a writer is living their dream, fill with word plays known only to them and stories only they can tell.” state Suzanne and John. ”
This well written gem is a must for the ‘bedside locker.’ It will allow each relaxed reader to digest one short story from one author each night, with it’s written content guaranteed to remain the subject of thought, in that time between lights out and dreams beginning.
 Keith Blake & 'A Warm Place ' Our congratulations to eighteen year old Keith Blake, a native of Kilbreedy, Killenaule, Thurles, Co Tipperary, who has taken first place in this years Texaco Children’s Art Competition. Keith competed against some 30,000-plus entries in this year’s contest, having previously won merit awards in 2008 and 2010 and third prize in 2009.
His self-portrait, entitled ‘A Warm Place,’ was selected from a broad field that included a view of Arklow Harbour, a 13-year-old girl’s take on the abstract art of Rene Magritte and a colourful bouquet of flowers.
Keith, a student at the local Presentation Secondary School, hopes to study art after he sits his Leaving Cert in the coming weeks, received a prize of €2,000 for winning the competition.
The chairman of the judging panel Professor Declan McGonagle said: “In his composition Keith has demonstrated a clear ability to control the medium of oil paint while producing a portrait which remains fresh and spontaneous, with a sense of the person, even though the subject’s eyes are closed.”
His painting, in oil, will be flown out to go on display at an exhibition hosted by the International Federation for Arts and Culture in Tokyo’s Ueno Royal Museum later this year. “It’s pretty weird to think it’ll end up in Japan,” Keith stated.
Keith was just one of some 161 award winners, who ranged in age from four to nineteen years old and whose names were announced at an event in the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin yesterday.
The Texaco Children’s Art Collection will be visiting the following venues over the coming weeks so click here for details.
 ESB Electric Ireland 2011 Feis Ceoil Congratulations to the Ursuline Secondary School,Thurles, Co Tipperary on achieving 2nd place in the coveted ‘Alice Yoakley Quirk Cup ‘ at the ESB Electric Ireland 2011 Feis Ceoil.
The School was just narrowly pipped to the post by the Belvedere College Choir who took 1st place this year.
Feis Ceoil was set up in 1896, by the chief representatives of music activity in Ireland under the guidance of Dr. Annie Patterson, to counteract the neglect of music development in this country. Feis Ceoil Association strives to promote excellence in the learning and performance of music across all ages, levels and disciplines. They run an annual festival before Easter each year in Dublin, which comprises almost 200 competitions, attracting over 4,000 participants from all over the island of Ireland. They also run non-competitive events and concerts throughout the rest of the year.
Feis Ceoil occupies a unique position in Irish life. It is an essential element in the musical infrastructure of the country and has made an immeasurable contribution to the study and cultivation of music at all levels in Ireland.
The Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles, has a long tradition of Music in the School and their Music Department has grown and developed over the years, to meet the individual needs of each student. Students have a wide range of instruments to choose from and because the standard of instrumental music is very high, they have recently invested in a Grand Piano.
Tuition is also available in the following instruments:
Strings:- Violin, Viola, Cello, Harp, Guitar and Double Bass.
Wind:- Oboe, Flute, Bassoon, Saxophone and Clarinet.
Percussion:– Timpani, Cymbals, Wood Block and Triangle.
Brass:– Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn and Tuba
To the students and teaching staff at the Ursuline School, go the towns heartiest congratulations and wishes for continued success.
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