So what would YOU do with €115 million?

Well, I guess I would now have enough money to have my own stud farm and string of racehorses. Hey, I might even buy Ballydoyle!!

I would be able to buy some nice presents for some special people; donate a nice sum to two parishes - the parish where I live, and the parish where I grew up, both of which are doing some building/restoration work at the moment; buy a nice new car (BMW probably?).

Short term, I would probably do nothing; just put in into the bank and wait a couple of months while doing some research and making investment decisions.

Will it change my life? To an extent, yes, and that is ultimately why lotteries exist and what they trade on. And before you ask, No, I do not play the Euro Millions or the Lotto or any of the scratch card games. The odds are bad value!

But what would I do about all the begging letters?

Simple - I would just keep sending them!

I've Been Certified!

This evening, there was a brown envelope from the Government in my letterbox.

It contained a legal document with my name and address on it.

It is a Certificate of Professional Competence issued by the Department of Transport.

If I ever wanted to have my own Road Transport business, I require three things: Good Repute (i.e. clean slate over the past five years from a long list of offences), Financial Standing, and Professional Competence. I now have number three.

I got this because I passed the examination I did in June. Thanks for all the prayers and advice and help I got along the way.

This Certificate is permanent.

So I don't have to do the exam again. The next exam is in September - instead I will be on holidays!

VOTF in Ireland

Each week, the back page of The Irish Catholic has a column titled "Notebook", which is basically a guest column.

This week, the Notebook is written by Sean O'Conaill. At the bottom, the paper states that Sean O'Conaill is Co-ordinator of Voice of the Faithful (Ireland).

He begins with a quote from Lumen Gentium. Basically, he calls for more accountability from bishops. "That is why our bishops also need to be more accountable in our Church - to restore their own authority and to deny the Church's enemies the gibe that our leaders are more likely to hide from the light than to lead us toward it. We laity too are accountable."

He continues: "Founded in Boston in 2002, following revelations of the disastrous reassignment of abusive priests by the archdiocese, Voice of the Faithful emerged out of the protest of committed laity - readers, eucharistic ministers, parents - determined to preserve their faith for their children. Very many were proudly Irish.

"Determined that this catastrophe should be the last of its kind, VOTF agreed the banner slogan "Keep the Faith: Change the Church". It agreed also three main goals: to support victims of child sex abuse by clergy; to support all priests of integrity; to work for Church structures that would prevent the Church from harming itself again. . .

"VOTF has also taken the position that to fund the leadership of the Church without demanding accountability from it is irresponsible - it encourages unaccountability and secrecy and therefore guarantees scandal. . .

"We Irish faithful also need to raise our voices in secular Ireland in celebration of what our Church has given us. My Catholic faith is by far my most important possession."

He concludes: "In the months ahead we plan to hold public meetings in Ireland to promote this programme. In the meantime www.votf.org will tell you more. The site includes a sign-up membership form - totally free of charge."

Note this is not the full article. The excerpts have been chosen by myself.

The paper prints a logo as part of the article: an outline of a church steeple, with the words "The Laity Speak: Accountability Now" and underneath that "A Convocation of Catholic Laity".

So I went in and had a quick look at the VOTF website, but I did not "Sign Up". I couldn't help seeing the page called "VOTF Positions" stating, among other things, that VOTF accepts the teaching authority of the Church, and that VOTF does not seek the ordination of women, ending of the celibacy rule, etc, etc, and does not ally itself to any particular lobby group.

Now, I have seen no evidence of VOTF activity in Dublin. Anything I have read about VOTF over the last couple of years does not paint a good picture.

But the fact that The Irish Catholic gives half of the back page to this piece is interesting. True, this is just a personal column, and not an editorial. I must also add that the paper still is, as it always has been, owned by individual Catholic laypeople (actually his name is Otto Herschans) and not directly owned or controlled by the Hierarchy or any diocese or bishop.

I'll post more here, if anything happens.

London 2012 - and 2005!

Yesterday, in London, they were celebrating. Today, they are in shock, and tomorrow they will mourn.

Would the bombs have gone off if the Olympics had been awarded to another city? But that is pure conjecture on my part.

I still can't honestly see the mentality why anyone would want to plan and carry out such deeds. And some of the victims could be devout Moslems.

May God grant the dead eternal rest and peace in His kingdom.

And the hardest prayer of them all is: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing.

Appeal for information!

Does anybody know how do I get to one of the Wednesday General Papal Audiences? Do I have to reserve in advance? Do I need tickets? How much to they cost, etc, etc? Also, if I was planning to be in Rome on a certain Wednesday, how do I know whether or not BXVI will be having a General Audience, and not way somewhere?

Any help will be gratefully received.

The Glorious Triviality

I admit I hadn't fully noticed. I know there was a lot on my mind the last few weeks with the exam and work and everything, but the other day I looked through the Racing Post and noticed that the leading trainer in prize-money in Britain so far this season is the Master of Ballydoyle himself, Aidan O'Brien.

Just for the record, he (so far) has won nine races from fifty runs, a strike rate of 18%; and total prize-money of £1,031,022.

Currently second is Michael Bell, with £993,317. Obviously, Motivator is responsible for most of that, and Bell could be top of the table after the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown next Saturday.

Incidentally, Aidan's largest earners this season so far are:

Virginia Waters, £221,448;
Footstepsinthesand, £185,600;
Yeats, £145,000;
Ace, £77,000;
Gypsy King, £68,950;
Ad Valorem, £49,500;
Oratorio, £40,750;
Indigo Cat, £35,240;
Wolfe Tone, £31,990;
Mona Lisa, £29,532;
All Too Beautiful, £29,000.

Unfortunately, neither Footstepsinthesand nor Gypsy King will be running any more races for the Ballydoyle/Coolmore team. But I have a hunch that Ace could be the main standard bearer for Ballydoyle in Group 1 races for the rest of the season.

But if you look at bare statistics, do they mean that John Oxx is the leading Irish trainer? So far in Britain this season, his record is two runs, two victories, both at Royal Ascot at York (Azamour and Beautyandthebeast), for a total of £232,000 in prize-money and a 100% strike rate. So does that mean he's a better trainer than Aidan? Answers on a postcard!

P.S. I must acknowledge the Racing Post for statistics.

Thanks to everybody who helped

. . . and the saga of my examination is over - at least until I get the results.

By the way, the examination was for a Certificate of Professional Competence. See here for details.

You will have to go to the sidebar, and click Education/Training, and then click the link for Certificate of Professional Competence.

There are two papers, morning and afternoon. I must score a total of 60% average, but I must get minimum 55% in each paper. A certain amount of "compensation" is allowed, but you must score 55%.

If you fail, you do the exam again; but depending on the actual results, you might only have to repeat one paper.

Thanks to a lot of people in work who gave me useful advice. Thanks also to those who remembered me in their prayers.

I am very confident, but it will take about six weeks before I get the results.

Two weeks break

On Friday June 10th I will be sitting an examination. In order to concentrate on studies, I have decided I will not be doing anything with the blog until after it's all finished.

Please remember me in your prayers, especially on that date.

Watch out - priest impersonator about!

From Catholic Ireland:

A Dublin diocesan priest has gone public to expose a scam in which a con artist is masquerading as him in order to get money out of other unsuspecting priests.
Fr Tom Stack, well known for his writing in the Irish Catholic, spoke on RTE’s Morning Ireland yesterday about a scam that has been going on intermittently for some time.

Morning Ireland audio archive download page is here.

Happy St. Brendan's Day!

And best wishes to all Brendans throughout the world.

Don't worry - one day we will rule the world!!

Kudos to Fr. Ethan for his special greeting.

Vocations Report from Archdiocese of Dublin

A couple of weeks ago, at Mass, the parish priest gave us some information which I reproduce:

Approximately 650 priests hold appointments from the Archbishop of Dublin. (Note that the population of Catholics is just over a million.)

About a quarter of these priests belong to religious congregations or missionary societies; e.g., Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, Marists; etc.

One priest was ordained for Dublin in 2004 (Fr. Victor Fitzpatrick).

There will be no ordinations for Dublin in 2005; two seminarians entered in 1998, but, for one reason or another, left the seminary.

He said "We hope to have a number of ordinations to the priesthood next year", but he didn't say which number. (actually, zero is a number but I digress. . .)

Five seminarians were accepted into formation for the priesthood last Autumn.

The Archdiocese currently has twelve seminarians: five are currently studying philosophy, and seven are in theology. Eleven are in St Patrick's College, Maynooth; one is in the Irish College in Rome.

Who are they and where are they from originally? Well, they range in age from 19 to over 50, and like many large cities, Dublin has always had candidates from outside the Diocese; years ago this was because other dioceses had more students than they needed. Now it's mainly because the seminarians enter at an older age, and have already been studying or working in Dublin

The current students are from Donnybrook, Artane, Springfield, Hartstown, Rathmines, Saigon, Belfast, Newtownmountkennedy, Lagos, Waterford, Derry and Dungannon.

We also heard that fourteen men "have been in on-going discernment" with the Diocesan Vocations Centre, and a number of these have made a formal application to be accepted as seminarians.

He said that the number beginning formation this coming Autumn will be smaller than the five of last year.

The normal period of training is seven years; three years philosophy, three years theology, and one year on-the-job training.


The Diocese Vocations Director is Fr. Kevin Doran; read about him here. You may also notice that he is the long-lost, identical-twin-brother of Commander Ryker from Star Trek The Next Generation!! (OK, I made that bit up!)

Welcome to the Twenty-First Century!

A couple of years ago I said to myself that in 500 years time when people study the history of the Catholic Church in the 21st century, there will be special emphasis on two issues: one is the relationship with the Islamic world; second is the issue of the creation and protection of human life.

This week in Ireland, we had the latest round in a campaign which, frankly, has not yet got serious. The story is here, courtesy of the excellent Catholic Ireland website.

Here, when a Government sets up a Commission, or asks for a "study and report" about something, this is usually just a tactic to avoid making a decision. There is still a lot of water to go under the bridge this time.

My analysis of the UK General Election

For what it's worth, here are my reflections on political events in Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the past few days.

Points in no particular order of importance:

1. I am surprised that there has still been no real forward move made by the smaller parties, such as UKIP, Greens, etc. UKIP did well in the European Parliament elections, but it was noticeable that, overall, Europe was not a major issue in the election. The Green candidate came third in one of the Brighton constituencies, and the BNP increased their vote slightly. But overall, most of the power remains with the two-and-a-half party system, and there is no sign of this changing.

2. George Galloway, on the RESPECT ticket, did win Bethnal Green and Bow, but I interpret this as mainly an anti-war vote. In fact, the two major issues, in my opinion, were the war, and Tony Blair himself.

3. I stayed up watching BBC, SkyNews, and ITV News until about 0230, just after the Sedgefield result was announced. The anti-war Independent, Reg Keys, polled over 4,000 votes, which, frankly, is an excellent performance by an Independent.

4. But I missed the TV Moment of the Night. Here is a transcript. Absolutely Classic.

5. In the North, the meltdown of the Ulster Unionist Party is a reflection of the frustration which many Unionist voters feel about the Peace Process; but especially the fact that Sinn Féin continue to grow, even though the IRA have not renounced the armed struggle, let alone "decommission" the guns. The prospect of SF/IRA "negotiating" with Ian Paisley and the DUP sounds interesting; though not as interesting as the look on Paisley's face!!

6. Throughout his political career, Ian Paisley has been on the sidelines making plenty of noise. But now, at 79 years of age, he has REAL political responsibility. I think it will be the making, or breaking, of him.

7. Following on from point 5, and the growth of Sinn Féin on both sides of the Border, I wonder: do voters know that SF is the most pro-abortion party on the island?

Proof that Mark Shea is a legend . . .

. . . just in case you didn't know already!

Here is his latest on Catholic Exchange.

Currently on a sabbatical from his blog, Mark Shea gives another lesson in how to write articles which are readable, articulate, a bit funny, but which hit the target.

I think I would like to be Mark Shea when I grow up!

So who are "the weirdos"?

One of Ireland's best-known, and sometimes controversial, journalists and broadcasters, is Vincent Browne. Virtually everybody in the media world in Ireland can tell you a story about dealing with him, and it isn't always complimentary.

He had a famous on-air sparring session on his RTE radio programme with Dana Rosemary Scallon during her first European Election campaign in 1999; I admit I didn't hear the item, but people told me afterwards that he basically treated her with contempt, but she was well able to deal with him.

And he also once turned his radio programme, for several weeks, into a Bible Study class.

So it might seem strange for him to write this article in last week's Sunday Business Post. But cleverly he doesn't reveal his own feelings on the election of our new Pope.

Nice Guys Finish First

Footstepsinthesand has just won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. Well done Aidan O'Brien, Kieran Fallon and the Ballydoyle team.

I've just watched Fallon being interviewed on Channel 4, and clearly this victory takes a lot of pressure off him in the new job. TV pictures show Aidan with a big smile on his face, which is a change from his usual worried/concerned look.

The man from Clare kept the horse on the outside, but I admit I was watching the nearside , where Dubawi and Democratic Deficit came with their runs. In fact, Dubawi swerved left and checked DD for a few strides.

One minute 36.10, over a second slower than the record set by Mister Baileys. But well done to all concerned.

Benedict XVI - the REALLY big question is (almost) answered!

And the REALLY big question is, of course, what's his favourite football team?

Go to the ZENIT link on the left, and look up April 25th, and find a story titled "Benedict XVI: Lover of Nature and Sports". It's an interview with Cardinal Bertone, who worked with the new Pope at the CDF; and he spills the beans!!

So after this, this leaves only two more questions:

one, will he be going to the World Cup in Germany next year?

Two, if not, can I have his tickets?

POPE BENEDICT XVI

Okay, I'll admit it; I wasn't expecting him, mainly because of his age.

I'm trying to imagine what thoughts were going through his head in that 45 minute spell from election to his appearance on the balcony.

Previously, he ran a department. Now he has the whole world on his shoulders.

Needless to say, not everybody is happy; frankly, I suspect that the critical voices would have being saying much the same no matter who was elected.

But overall, I am happy. Let us all remember in our prayers Pope Benedict XVI and may God and His Blessed Mother be with him every day and in everything that he does.

Meanwhile, some very enterprising people have been very quickly into action.

Good news for West Brits!!!

Photo taken Glasgow Airport Monday 4th April 2005. 

Well, this photo should make some people happy!

Make sure to click on the photo and bring it to full size. I haven't got used to the Picasa yet.

There's no such thing as bad publicity!

Or as Brendan Behan put it, "There's no such thing as bad publicity, except your obituary."

Whoever in Paddy Power's bookmakers thought up the idea of a market on the Papal election, it is doubtful they ever dreamed of the amount of publicity it would generate. Even American-based Catholic blogs, such as Amy Welborn's Open Book, has a link to the market page. Paddy Power himself actually went to Rome at the weekend, and got coverage on CNN!! Not to mention whatever new accounts and new clients they've received.

Now as I write this, Francis Arinze is favourite at 3-1. I was present at Croke Park in 1999 at a rally of the Pioneer Association, where he gave a homily on the subject of temperance. What struck me was his explanation of temperance as a virtue not just in Christianity, but in Eastern cultures.

Not long ago, the first black smoke came from the chimney; this brings up the question. Suppose they fail to elect a candidate, then put the ballot papers in the furnace, but someone forgets to put in the wet straw or whatever they use to make the smoke black?? Actually, can the cardinals themselves in the Sistine Chapel actually see the top of the chimney to make sure they smoke is black?? Just a thought.