Patrickswell news for w/e May 6th

CHURCH NOTICES:
Listed readers for this weekend May7-8, The Third Sunday of Easter, and for the remainder of the month are as follows, Saturday at 7pm Michael Wolfe, Sunday at 10am Michael Punch, Sunday at 12noon Angela O’Donnell, with apologies for the error in last week’s notes. Eucharistic Ministers, Saturday at 7pm Mary Collins, Mary Bennis, Breda Carroll, Sunday at 10am, Michael O’Mara, Mary Enright, Michael Punch, Sunday at 12noon, Seamus Enright, Patricia Barry, Rory Bennis. Please arrange a replacement if you are unable to fulfill any duty allocated to you. Weekday masses are at the usual time of 9-30 am Monday to Friday. This Friday May 6, is First Friday, and there will be Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament after the 9-30 am mass until 11am. Communion will be distributed to the sick. If you know of anyone who is sick or housebound who would like communion brought to them, please hand in their names to the sacristy. Devotions to Our Lady of Fatima will take place before the 7pm mass on Saturday. The new rota for Eucharistic Ministers to the end of June is now available from the sacristy. 
PARISH NEWSLETTER:
Items for inclusion in the weekly Parish Newsletter should be handed into the sacristy by 9-30am each Friday, or contact Fr. Muiris O’Connor on 353711 or 0866075628. Alternatively they can be emailed to muirisoc@eircom.net  
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION:
The First Holy Communion Ceremony for the pupils of Patrickswell NS will take place this Saturday May 7 at 11am. 

PILGRIMAGE:

The pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which is being organised by Patrickswell Prayer Group is almost fully subscribed. Fr. O’Brien from Croom is accompanying the trip, which departs from Shannon on October 1. For further information contact Joan O’Brien 320947, 087-9688233, or Dan O’Riordan 397460. 
SEMINARS:
The Life in the Spirit Seminars commence this Thursday May 5 in Patrickswell Church at 8pm, and continuing for seven consecutive Thursdays. Find New Hope in whatever circumstance you find yourself in, whether it’s personal, family, social or spiritual challenges.  Each night there will be a speaker who will share their life experiences and journey of faith. Please note that there will be no weekly Monday Prayer Meetings for the duration of the seminars.    

COMMUNITY COUNCIL:
Patrickswell Community Council is now made up of the following members; Chairperson Michael McSweeney, Vice Chairperson Liam Shinnors, Secretary Mary O’Brien, Asst. Secretary Kathryn Tierney, Treasurers James Shinnors and Tony Quinn, Education &Training Ann Gill, Planning Nelius Hayes, PRO Jim Buckley
Asst PRO Michael Ahern. The following are committee members: Michael McSweeney, Liam Shinnors, Mary O’Brien, James Shinnors, Tony Quinn, Ann Gill,
Nelius Hayes, Mike McNamara, Edward Hayes, Fergus Kilcoyne, Sally Walsh, Evelyn Doran, Louise Foley, Mary O’Shaughnessy, Dan O’Riordan, Kathryn Tierney and Dave Hodkinson. New members recently welcomed to the council are; Michael Ahern, Patricia Barry, John Leddin, Michael Scanlon, Jim Buckley, Joe McNamara, Bernard O’Riordan and John McDermott. 

TIDY TOWNS

At the April meeting our summer planting scheme was discussed and finalised, and a very extensive shopping list was drawn up. The county council contractors have made a start to the grass cutting which we were glad to see. It will take a few more cuts before things are properly under control. We have been very pleased to receive offers of help in various areas especially from young Alan Fitzhenry from Sycamore Heights, who was out with mower and strimmer immediately after the council had finished, and worked hard over the course of a few days making the entrance to Sycamore looking tidy and cared for. Thank you Alan, hopefully your example may inspire others. Mossie Carmody and Richie Bennis have started on their main project for the year which is to refurbish the planting area at the entrance to Shannon Development. We would like to thank Christy Riley who helped by bringing the necessary materials for that job. We are still receiving donations from those who missed our church gate collection, for which we are very grateful.   

BLOOD DONORS:
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service requires three thousand donations of blood this week, and donor clinics will be held at the following locations, Greenhills Hotel, Ennis Road, Limerick on Monday May 9 from 6 to 9pm, and the Dunraven Arms Hotel, Adare, on Tuesday May 10 also from 6 to 9pm. You can visit any blood donor clinic as long as ninety days have elapsed since you last gave blood, and you are urged to please give regularly. For more information contact the Donor Information Line on 1850 731137, or their website. There will be a donor clinic in St.John,s Pavilion, Mulgrave St. the following week. 
RED CROSS:
Each year, on 8 May, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement marks World Red Cross Red Crescent Day by highlighting the role of its staff and volunteers in saving lives and assisting vulnerable communities around the world. The day is extremely significant for the Red Cross, as it is the birthday of founder Henri Dunant. This year’s theme is, “Together for Humanity”. 
HAPPY HEART:
The Irish Heart Foundation is promoting its Happy Heart Weekend  on May 12, 13 and 14. All funds raised will be directed into a new life saving Heart Attack  Awareness campaign. 

WILDLIFE AND NATURAL AMENITIES TRAINING:

West Limerick Resources will host a Tidy Towns training session on the Wildlife and Natural Amenities Category on Monday May 9 in Newcastle West. Open to new and existing Tidy Towns groups, community councils, development associations and interested individuals in the West Limerick area, this free event aims to provide practical training in how to develop simple but effective projects. The evening will combine a short nature walk with local heritage specialist Geoff Hunt, training on how to carry out wildlife surveys from the Irish Wildlife Trust and specific training on the Tidy Towns category from adjudicator and wildlife expert Eanna Ni Lamhna.  Wildlife walk will begin in the Demesne (meet at community centre) at 7.30pm followed by group training in the Courtney Lodge at 8.30pm.  Contact Suzanne on 069 79114 or email srowley@wlr.ie  
COMMUNITY GAMES:  
Please note the date of May 8 in your diaries, as this is the date for the Annual Crecora-Patrickswell area Community Games Athletics day at Crecora GAA pitch. Competition starts at 3pm, with Registrations accepted from 2.15pm. There will be races over various distances from 60m to 1500m, with competitions also for toddlers and adults. Please note that running spikes are not allowed in this competition. Entrance fee is just €2 per child, and the winners in all events will go on to represent Crecora-Patrickswell area Community Games in the county finals in Mungret at the end of June. Further Details: Noel Kennedy 086-1589256 / Mike Heffernan 087-6479559.