Chai Brady
KILDARE: Students from Scoil Bhride Lackagh Monasterevin are pictured on their Communion day on May 14 at Ss Peter and Paul Church along with Fr Liam Merrigan, teachers Aine Kavanagh and Marion Keogh. Photo: Donal Harrison. Ireland and North Macedonia have ‘strong spiritual ties’
Ireland and North Macedonia have “strong spiritual ties”, the Balkan country’s foreign minister told Dáil Éireann, referencing the inspiring effect of Irish nuns on Mother Teresa.
“Many things and similarities connect North Macedonia and Ireland,” Dr Bujar Osman said on May 10.
He added that it is “an honour for me to mention the renowned Mother Teresa who was born in Skobje in 1910”.
She “felt strongly the call of God and at the age of 18 left her family and home and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India”, the North Macedonian minster continued.
“After a few months’ training in Dublin she was sent to India where, in 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun,” Mr Osman said. “This is a deep spiritual bond that ties us together as small countries.”
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Catholic schools merge for £56 million campus
The North’s Permanent Secretary at the Department of Education Dr Mark Browne accompanied Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin to cut the first sod of a new £56 million school for St Ronan’s College, Lurgan.
St Ronan’s College opened in September 2015 following the amalgamation of three post-primary Catholic schools in the Lurgan area, Co. Armagh, St Mary’s High School, St Paul’s Junior High School and St Michael’s Grammar School.
Dr Browne praised the “exciting project”, describing it as the largest, single school build within the department’s major capital programme.
“It will bring the school together as one single campus and give everyone involved with the school an opportunity to further build their unique identity and ethos,” he added.
St Ronan’s College has operated on a split since it was established in September 2015. These new works will accommodate up to 1,750 pupils and bring the school together on one single campus on the site of the former St Michael’s Grammar School.
Dr Browne concluded: “I wish pupils, staff and school management every success as they set out on the next phase of their ambitious journey for their school.”
Construction commenced on site in April 2023 with an anticipated completion in spring 2025.
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Refugee camps destroyed in cyclone, says Concern
Cyclone Mocha, which battered the Bangladesh and Myanmar coasts, damaged nutrition centres, a stabilisation facility for sick children and bamboo shelters in the camp for almost one million displaced Rohingya people at Cox’s Bazar, Irish charity Concern have warned.
Bangladeshi communities in the wider Cox’s Bazar area were also counting the cost of the cyclone today. Three schools and 1,820 shelters were damaged. Over 6,700 gardens and a banana yard with 10,000 trees were destroyed.