A Rapid Reading Review of the media – short reports and web links
Church is at breaking point: Archbishop Martin
Irish Examiner and others – Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has warned the Church is at a breaking point due to the sex abuse scandals — and said “problems” with child protection still remained. In an interview which is to be broadcast to millions of Americans on Sunday night, Archbishop Martin tells the primetime CBS news programme, Sixty Minutes about the effect of the abuse revelations.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/church-is-at-breaking-point-martin-185855.html
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/church-at-breaking-point-says-archbishop-3038487.html
Gay GAA star stands up to bullies
Independent.ie – He’s a GAA superstar who has become an agony uncle for young gays seeking help with issues such as bullying. There isn’t a week that goes by that Cork hurling captain Donal Og Cusack (34), the first openly gay player in GAA history, isn’t approached for advice. The 34-year-old went public on his sexuality in his autobiography, ‘Come What May’, almost three years ago. He wasn’t bullied at school but he knows it is a regular occurrence, which is why he has joined a campaign to raise awareness about the problem.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/gay-gaa-star-stands-up-to-bullies-3038465.html
My family and community would have nothing to do with me… because I married a Catholic
Belfast Telegraph – An 87-year-old Presbyterian has told how her family shunned her for decades after she married a Catholic man. Widow Ruth even had to be smuggled into hospital to tell her dying mother she loved her, because of the family rift. Ruth, who lives in Newry, was speaking at the launch of Mixed Emotions: Real Stories Of Mixed Marriage — which tells the stories of couples who married across political and religious divides. The book, produced by the Northern Ireland Mixed Marriage Association, was printed on Belfast’s Falls Road and bound on the Shankill. It was launched at Stormont on Thursday.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/my-family-and-community-would-have-nothing-to-do-with-me-because-i-married-a-catholic-16125176.html#ixzz1nyYchnDl
Those with the least capacity to suffer cuts should not be made to suffer more.
Slugger O’Toole – report on the inter -church meeting in Belfast between church leaders and politicians on Westminster’s welfare reform.
http://sluggerotoole.com/2012/02/29/those-with-the-least-capacity-to-suffer-cuts-should-not-be-made-to-suffer-more/
http://www.u.tv/Articles/Article.aspx?guid=58b137e2-4f0f-4315-804e-c5712d168345
ISPCC says sentence in neglect case too lenient
Irish Times – an 18 month prison sentence given to a woman found guilty of neglecting her five children “to the point of cruelty” has been labelled too lenient by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The 34-year-old woman, who cannot be named to protect her children’s identity, was sentenced to four years by Judge Martin Nolan at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, with the final 2½ years suspended. Caroline O’Sullivan, the director of services for the ISPCC, said the sentence did not reflect the severity of the crime “and the total unacceptability of child abuse”.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/0302/1224312635719.html
A Taste of Tabernacles. Israel: a light to the nations – in Music and Words
This presentation in Music and Words will be held in a central location in Belfast Monday 12 March 2012, 7.30pm. Adm free: by ticket
Special musical guest: Serguei Popov, Finland; The Shalom Dance team. Featured Speaker: David Parsons, ICEJ Media Director, Jerusalem.
For further info please contact Brian Silvester, icej.brian@btinternet.com
Also an event in the North West: for details contact Brian at email above.
Remembrance in NI need not be divisive for communities
Irish Times – Commemorations can help shape our collective political, social and cultural conscience and may be a source of healing and learning. The way in which commemorations, including parading, are managed is more important now than ever given the start of a decade of centenary commemorations of a period that includes many major events shaping where we are today and culminating in the physical division of the island. The sobering truth is that how we pay tribute in 2012 will tell us more about our society and relations now than it will tell us about events 100 years ago. Few of us need to be reminded of how tangible and long-lasting were the ramifications of the events we are now commemorating.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0302/1224312633370.html
The Old Boys produced sweet choral music
Portadown Today – … in the Old Boys band to be conductor of the choir. Bobby recalls that they sang at church services, in the occasional competition, and in Crumlin Road prison “three times to a captive audience!” and in various functions in the Republic of Ireland.
http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/community/nostalgia/the_old_boys_produced_sweet_choral_music_1_3566750
Choir of the Year 2012 Auditions at Ulster Hall
Insideireland.ie – On Sunday 11 March, The Ulster Hall is welcoming Irish applicants, who will be singing for places in the semi-finals of the 15th biannual Choir of the Year. Choirs from all across the UK will be competing in the BBC Choir of the Year competition, which takes places throughout 2012. By the end of March, over 150 choirs will have taken part across a total of seven auditions in the hunt for 2012′s Choir of the Year. The audition in Belfast is the first Choir of the Year audition in Northern Ireland for many years and is being made …
http://insideireland.ie/2012/02/27/choir-of-the-year-2012-auditions-at-ulster-hall-57813/