Celtic Spirit and Literature
A 10 week course will be taught at Queen’s University, Belfast, as part of the Open Learning Programme, on Thursdays from 11:00a.m. to 1:00p.m. from 27th September to 29th November.
This course will be taught by Rev. Grace Clunie, Director of The Centre for Celtic Spirituality, Armagh, and Dr Tess Maguiness, Course Director of the Undergraduate Programme, QUB School of Education.
The course sets out to celebrate the rigorous and many faceted Celtic spirit – in particular, aspects of Celtic Christian identity which are inspirational for the spiritual path today – the relationship with the earth, hospitality, artistic creativity and the nomadic spirit. The literature will include ancient Irish mythology, the early Irish cleric poets, the Gaelic bards, the 18th century Anglo-Irish antiquarians, the writers of ‘the Celtic Twilight’ and more contemporary writers such as Patrick Kavanagh and Seamus Heaney.
Cost: £58.00 (Concession: £36.00)
For further details and to enrol contact QUB School of Education Tel: 028 9097 3323/3539
Web: www.qub.ac.uk/edu/ol Email: openlearningeducation@qub.ac.uk
Belfast interface games deemed a huge success
The Belfast Interface Games, which involves children from some of Northern Ireland’s most divided communities coming together for a series of tournaments, have been deemed a huge success.
The games, that took place over three weeks, concluded on Sunday. While they might be separated by long peace walls and a sectarianism that is decades deep, the Belfast Interface Games are aimed at helping to break down those barriers and bring children together through their mutual love of sport .
The initiative, which took place at Crusaders FC, was organised by the Belfast Interface Project, representing 45 community organisations from nationalist and unionist areas along with the Peace Players International Charity.
The tournament involves a game of three parts where children from nine to thirteen take part in games involving a mixture of soccer, rugby and Gaelic football.
http://www.cinews.ie/article.php?artid=10637
Killer rapist now married to Presbyterian deaconess wife
A former prisoner convicted of a sex attack and murder of a teenager is married to a Presbyterian deaconess who runs a hospital ministry.
Deaconess Carole O’Hara works at Antrim Area and Craigavon Area hospitals and is the wife of convicted killer 59-year-old Richard O’Hara.
O’Hara served 25 years in jail for the rape and murder of south Belfast teenager Deborah Robinson in 1980.
According to reports in Sunday Life, Mrs O’Hara knew of her husband’s convictions before exchanging vows.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/killer-rapist-now-married-to-presbyterian-deaconess-wife-16197140.html
Archbishop Martin says Church must face challenge revealed in poll findings
The Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin has said that the findings regarding Ireland of the Global Index of Religion and Atheism, while they require closer critical reading, remind believers of the challenges facing people of faith in a changing Ireland.
The findings show that the number of people in Ireland who consider themselves religious has declined steeply since the last such survey in 2005.
Speaking about the findings Dr Martin said, “The Catholic Church, on its part, cannot simply presume that the faith will automatically be passed from one generation to the next, or be lived to the full by its own members. This survey is just one further reminder of the need for strong on-going education in the faith.”
He added, “In my recent talk at the MacGill Summer School, I drew attention to the fact that the Catholic Church in Ireland is far behind other European Churches in the way it addresses the formation of people in their faith. The emphasis on religious education in schools, vital as it is, has perhaps taken attention away from the need for adult religious education. By adult religious education I mean religious education of such quality that it treats men and women as adults, addressing the questions which adult Christians have to face as they live their faith in today’s changing world.”
http://www.cinews.ie/article.php?artid=10634
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0813/1224322104008.html