The Kilkenny Advertiser is celebrating its third Christmas in Kilkenny this year and March 2010 will be our fourth birthday!
We have seen good times, and in more recent months, challenging times, but the bottom line is that we are here to serve you the readers and our business customers. Every week we try to bring you a mix of interesting stories, while also presenting you with the various local businesses in our city and county and the products that they have to offer. We try to cover as many local events as possible to keep you, the reader, informed about interesting events and activities in the region.
2009 has had its ups and downs but we have had some very good news stories in Kilkenny along with the bad.
The highest point for Kilkenny readers has to have been the senior hurlers taking the four-in-a-row All-Ireland title. This was the pinnacle of many of the lads’ careers and it was the high point of the hurling fans’ year to date. Fingers crossed for next year and it will be interesting to see what the lads can pull out of the bag - we won’t pre-empt anything at this early stage!
It has been a sad year for survivors of clerical abuse and also for the Catholic Church whose younger clerics are left to pick up the pieces after the wrongs of their predecessors. It is a very hard time to be a priest and I have huge admiration for those young priests out there who are battling on in very difficult times, serving their parishioners and trying to keep their faith after the horrendous happenings of the past. Living with the legacy of the monsters that hurt small children is hard for young priests who all comprehend clearly the harrowing memories that the victims have following their horrendous ordeals. But the survivors are the real heroes and this Christmas, more-so than ever, we should remember them.
Our cub reporter Kate O’Neill has reported on the difficulties that some of our neighbours are experiencing locally this Christmas and St Vincent de Paul members have said that this year has been a record year for donations - isn’t this uplifting to hear? Nobody is as well off as they used to be, yet people are donating more than ever to those who are experiencing poverty - and as Kate reports, for many this is the first year that they have needed to call on the generosity of others. Keep on eye on your neighbours this festive season - particularly the elderly and ensure that they are safe and warm.
Finally before I send my Christmas wishes to all, I would like to thank Kate O’Neill who has worked in the Kilkenny Advertiser as a trainee reporter for the past three and a half months. She has brought you some interesting news, sport, and entertainment stories during her time here and she has been a great asset to our paper. She returns to college in Limerick next month and she will be missed by all of us here at the Advertiser. We send her our best wishes and we know she has a bright future ahead.
On that note, I wish you all a happy, healthy, and safe Christmas and let’s hope that 2010 will bring positivity, prosperity, and above all happiness to one and all. Nollaig Shona dhaoibh go leir.
