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The priest of Bray asks: “In all the noise of Christmas, where is Jesus? as local church leaders offer festive thoughts #priest #Bray #asks #noise #Christmas #Jesus #local #church #leaders #offer #festive #thoughts

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In all the noise of Christmas, where is Jesus?

Father Michael Kelly, Holy Redeemer, Bray.

Fr. Michael Kelly, Holy Redeemer, Bray

We look around this time of year and there are so many glitters and decorations to cheer us up. Shopping centers are buzzing with activity. Families bustle from store to store, arms full of bags and packages tied with festive ribbons.

The air is filled with the laughter of children and the distant ringing of bells.

Twinkling fairy lights adorn the doorways and a huge Christmas tree takes pride of place in the town, with its ornaments sparkling in the glow. Shoppers weave through the crowds admiring the festive window displays, all carried away by busy Christmas preparations.

In all the noise of Christmas, we can’t help but wonder: Where is Jesus in all this? As one thoughtful writer points out, it’s hard not to feel a sense of regret, and perhaps even a touch of rebellion. Our world, in its prosperity, seems to have taken over Christmas, celebrating its poetry, its atmosphere, its gifts and its twinkling lights, but has forgotten the one at its heart.

As the world looks to Christmas for the biggest profits of the year, its true meaning is so often overlooked.

It is Scripture that reminds us: “there was no room for them in the inn…” Even if Joseph and Mary only received a humble stable for the birth of Jesus, let us decide to make a place for him in our hearts and in our homes this Christmas.

Peace begins with us

Tara Rose, Daniella and Rev Tom O’Brien with Archbishop Michael Jackson, when Rev O’Brien was introduced as Minister in Charge of St James’s, Crinken, Shankill, in 2023.

Rev Tom O’Brien, Crinken Church, Shankill

Crinken Church was delighted to host this year’s Christmas Tree Festival, with a theme built around what our world needs more than ever: peace. Some 50 trees were decorated by local families, schools and community groups and, when the lights were switched on, people were given a powerful reminder of how peace begins with us. Not in grand gestures or global agreements, but in quiet, everyday choices to listen, understand, and extend kindness where it is least expected.

Christmas invites us to pause and recognize the hope that arrived in the form of a child, a hope that still reaches into the most troubled corners of our lives. In a year filled with uncertainty, the festival offered a moment to breathe, reconnect, and imagine a community shaped not by division, but by compassion.

As we enter the Christmas season, may the glimmer of light inspire us to seek peace with renewed courage, in our homes, in our conversations, and in our neighborhoods. And may the message at the heart of Christmas encourage us all to be bearers of light, warmth and good will.

From all of us at Crinken Church, may peace be your companion this Christmas and in the year to come.

Christmas Day always revives my sense of the beauty of our city

Father Peter O’Reilly, Our Lady Queen of Peace, Bray.

Father Peter O’Reilly, Our Lady, Queen of Peace, Bray

Childhood Christmases always remain a vivid memory in people’s minds and it is my privilege to serve as pastor in this great city where I have celebrated over 60 years of Christmas joy. A stroll along the boardwalk on Christmas Day always revives my sense of the natural beauty of our city. It truly is a time when we remember the wonderful people in our lives this past Christmas who are no longer with us.

Often, I preside over the funerals of the great people who built our city and we say a little prayer of thanks for them all. But at Christmas we also look forward, and particularly at Queen of Peace we look forward to the 80th anniversary of the opening of our church in the coming year, and at Ballywaltrim Parish the community looks forward to its 50th anniversary. This promises to be a great year for Bray and to everyone I wish the grace and peace of the Christ child whose birth we joyfully celebrate.



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Tatiana Schlossberg: granddaughter of JFK, died at 35 after diagnosis of terminal cancer #Tatiana #Schlossberg #granddaughter #JFK #died #diagnosis #terminal #cancer

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The JFK Library Foundation announced Ms. Schlossberg’s death in a statement today.

“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the statement said. The message was signed “George, Edwin and Josephine Moran, Ed, Caroline, Jack, Rose and Rory”.

Ms. Schlossberg is survived by her husband, George Moran, their three-year-old son and their one-year-old daughter.

She is also survived by her parents, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, her brother Jack Schlossberg and her sister Rose Schlossberg, married to Rory McAuliffe.

The environmental journalist revealed she was diagnosed with a rare type of acute myeloid leukemia, a blood cancer, in a New Yorkers essay published on November 22, the 62nd anniversary of his grandfather’s assassination.

I had swum a kilometer in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant

In the essay, Ms. Schlossberg recounted her disbelief. “I couldn’t believe they were talking about me.

“I had swum a mile in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant. I wasn’t sick. I didn’t feel sick,” she wrote.

Ms Schlossberg was diagnosed shortly after giving birth to her daughter last year, when doctors noticed her white blood cell count was high.

Today’s news in 90 seconds – December 31

“Everyone thought it was pregnancy or childbirth related. After a few hours, my doctors thought it was leukemia,” she wrote.

In her essay, Ms. Schlossberg also criticized her cousin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

“I watched from my hospital bed as Bobby, in the face of logic and common sense, was confirmed for the position, despite never having worked in medicine, public health or government,” she wrote.

She denounced his cuts in research funding, in particular for “mRNA vaccines, a technology which could be used against certain cancers”.

Ms. Schlossberg’s work has focused on the impacts of climate change. She has published several articles in The Washington Postincluding an investigation into the impacts of climate change on cranberry growers.

In 2019, Ms. Schlossberg also published Discreet consumption: the environmental impact you don’t know exists.



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Problems with NI’s health service would become more acute, official warned in 2005 #Problems #NIs #health #service #acute #official #warned

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Northern Ireland’s health service faced “difficult problems” in 2005, with a senior civil servant warning that pressures “will become even more acute in the years to come”.

However, the author of a health study also heard that there was “a strong political and public attachment to the NHS model” in the region and that it had provided an “impartial community resource” throughout the Troubles.

Professor John Appleby launched an independent review of health and social care services in Northern Ireland in 2005.

There is strong political and public attachment to the NHS model in NI

Clive Gowdy

Declassified documents from the Public Record Office in Belfast show that Clive Gowdy, then permanent secretary at the Department of Health, prepared a paper for the academic in which he said the HPSS (Personal Health and Social Care) was “struggling under the combined effect of growing public demands and expectations, rising standards of clinical and social care governance and spiraling costs”.

He said: “There is strong political and public attachment to the NHS model in NI.

“HPSS is virtually the only provider of health and social services here.

“The private sector is small – with, for example, only two small private hospitals – and relatively few people can afford private health insurance.

“Figures for the use of private health insurance show that in 2002, 19% of the English population was covered by such insurance, compared to 10% of households in NI.”

A senior civil servant said there was a strong attachment to the NHS model in NI (Anthony Devlin/PA)A senior civil servant said there was a strong attachment to the NHS model in NI (Anthony Devlin/PA)
A senior civil servant said there was a strong attachment to the NHS model in NI (Anthony Devlin/PA)

He added: “The value of HPSS is also demonstrated by the fact that throughout 30 years of civil unrest, HPSS has been viewed as an impartial community resource, providing essential services fairly and equitably across community and political divides.

“The HPSS has dealt with, and continues to deal with, both injuries and illnesses directly associated with the conflict, as well as illnesses resulting from the economic stagnation, long-term unemployment and poverty to which the unrest contributed. »

It is clear that these pressures will increase further in the years to come.

Mr Gowdy said services were “facing the challenges of coping with ever-increasing pressures on our health and social care services”.

He added: “It is clear that these pressures will become even more acute in the years to come.

“This will pose real resource challenges and this issue, which concerns health systems around the world, cannot be ignored in Northern Ireland.

“We need open and honest political reflection on how these demands should be met. »

The Permanent Secretary concluded: “The reality is still that although the HPSS provides essential services to the community at all levels, it is unable to guarantee the quality of service it can offer to the public.

“It has not been possible to meet all public demands and the worst manifestations of this deficit have been the long waiting lists for inpatient and outpatient services, queues in emergency departments, the failure to provide new drug therapies to all patients who need or could benefit from them, and the deficit in community social services for vulnerable people and children. »



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The meeting discussed the use of anti-terrorism laws to combat paramilitary flags and murals #meeting #discussed #antiterrorism #laws #combat #paramilitary #flags #murals

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A file held at the Public Record Office in Belfast includes the minutes of a meeting which took place at Stormont House.

A meeting at Stormont discussed the use of anti-terrorism laws to combat displays of paramilitary flags and murals in 2004, according to declassified files.

The papers reveal that a senior PSNI official said “comprehensive case law” could be developed within the courts to establish a “clear line between what is acceptable and what is not”.

A file held at the Public Record Office in Belfast includes the minutes of a meeting which took place at Stormont House on March 2, 2004, attended by PSNI representatives, civil servants and representatives from the Community Relations Unit (CRU) and the Community Relations Council (CRC).

The minutes indicate that a previous meeting concluded that a “community approach to the flag issue was preferable to a police-only response.”

Senior officer Gary White told the meeting he had had a discussion with the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the use of the Terrorism Act 2000.

The minute read: “Again, the question of what is and is not acceptable behavior has become an issue, but GW (Gary White) believes that the DPP is in favor of using this provision generally and this is easiest where a flag or mural illustrates an explicit level of support for a paramilitary organization.

“Obviously there will be areas where there will be doubts about what a flag is.

“GW suggested that this issue should be left to the courts and that comprehensive case law could be developed to establish a clear line between what is acceptable and what is not.

“He also reminded the group that there is great sympathy for the idea that what was acceptable during the worst phases of the Troubles may not be acceptable now.”

The minutes indicate that the meeting recalls a test case relating to the display of paramilitary flags in Hollywood, which resulted in the conviction of four people under section 13 of the Terrorism Act.

It was subsequently learned that the CRU had commissioned research from the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s University into the issue of flags and emblems.

The CRU’s Billy Gamble said “his preference was for the community to resolve these issues on their own”, but he felt there “had to be a threat of final sanction”.

The minutes state: “The group was clearly impressed by the approaches of the CRU/CRC and expects the outcome of the policy document in June.

“It is clear, however, that there will be times when the community simply cannot stop the paramilitaries from engaging in this activity.

“In such circumstances, the PSNI is content to have the necessary powers under the Terrorism Act to deal with the situation. In short, there is no universal policy that can solve the flag problem.”

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