These mini musicals will feature lots of songs and dances and a host of great characters to keep you entertained. The children aged between seven to fourteen years have been busy in their weekly workshops of drama, dance, singing, and creative story telling since last October and now their great moment has arrived when they display their talents on stage. Another feature of the school is the publication of a book of stories written by the students. This concept has generated great enthusiasm among the children. They have been very creative in their writing, says Gaye Grant who was in charge of this project.

Artistic director John Grant is looking forward to the performance on Sunday 26th MAY and says that all the students have worked very hard over the year and deserve great supportive attendances at the show 7pm.

The students will receive their certificates of completion at the performance from our special guest of honour Francis Eirwin from Noth Meath Communities Development Association. . Brian O Neill will provide the lighting. Kathleen Mc Govern has got the students singing out of their skins while Helena Sheridan’s wonderful dance routines will entertain. Gaye Grant has encouraged the students to write stories for our creative book. Costumes by Linda Sheridan. Helpers – Paul Rogers, Colin Mc Govern, David Molloy, Pat Byrne, Daren Mc Connell, Karen Donlan. Catherine Molloy, Mary Mc Inerney and June Grimes. Alice Mulvany and will be working behind the scenes to ensure a smooth running order.

So put Sunday 26th May in St Vincent De Paul theatre Kells in your diary for a feast of great entertainment provided by talented young people. The show is at 7pm. So come along and support what promises to be a great entertaining show. Special Admission Adults €8 and Children €5. Family ticket €20

Cyclist Aaron Buggle took the win in this sprint stage which seen him move to 5th in the over all leader broad.

If you would like to follow this event and stay up to date with the results please follow this link http://www.rastailteann.com/event/fbdras_987.shtml

Video via Meath Chronicle

There is currently a campaign to have one of the volumes of the Book of Kells returned to the town of Kells.  News, events and press coverage relating to the campaign will be posted on this page.

The priceless book, which was written by monks around 800 AD, disappeared from Kells before the arrival of Oliver Cromwell’s army arrived in Kells in 1654,  and was “given” to Trinity College in 1661 by a senior officer of Cromwell’s army, Henry Jones, who was also appointed Vice Chancellor of Trinity College.

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The Book of Kells dates back to the 9th century and is an exquisite and lavishly decorated copy of the first four gospels in Latin.

Completed in 800 AD, the Book of Kells is one  the world’s most famous  books. The book is Ireland’s most lavish and glorious of Ireland’s illuminated manuscripts. The book is an exquisite copy of the first four gospels in Latin. The vellum (calfskin) manuscript contains transcriptions of the four Gospels, lavishly illustrated and ornamented. It is the most elaborate manuscript of its kind to survive from the early Middle Ages.

The Book of Kells contains 680 pages (or 340 folios). Just two of the pages are without ornament, while about thirty folios, including some major decorated pages, have been lost.

The Book is the most famous manuscript in the Library of Trinity College Dublin where it is permanently on display. The Book of Kells is kept in a low-lit gallery with only two pages displayed at a time, although they are turned after some period.

The Book of Kells, first mentioned in the Annals of Ulster in 1007 A.D. as being present in Kells, was sent to Dublin for safekeeping during the time that Cromwell took the church of Kells as a garrison for his troops.

In 1953 it was rebound into 4 volumes by Roger Powell, and 2 volumes are in display at Trinity College, and they are rotated every 3 months.

Click here for a more detailed summary of the history of the Book of Kells

A replica of the Book of Kells is can be seen in the Tourist Office, Headfort Place, Kells.

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History of Kells R.D.F. Post

C Company 65th Infantry Battalion

Erected in 1836 at an estimated cost of £1000 this building served as Kells Bridewell, a small jail where convicted prisoners served periods of detention of less than one month. In 1838 it became the Bridewell forCountyMeath. The building consisted of five cells, two dayrooms, storerooms, offices and living quarters for the keeper and turnkeys (warders) along with an exercise yard. Prisoners were expected to work during their stay in order to earn their keep and the upkeep of the Bridewell. A typical prisoners day commenced with the ringing of a bell at 6am during Summer and 7am during Winter carrying out cleaning duties until 9am when they received breakfast consisting of 8 ounces of meal and 1 pint of milk. A period of exercise then commenced in the yard after which they worked in a workshop, usually carpentry for men and needlework for women. Two hours of relaxation were allowed however all unnecessary conversation was not permitted. Work then continued until dinner at 4pm consisting of 1lb of bread and 1 pint of new milk. Work ceased at 6pm when prisoners were allowed into the exercise yard. At 8pm they were locked into their cells for the night. The cells, often with more than one prisoner, were in constant use during the Famine of 1845-1851 as desperate people deliberately committed offences in order to get food and shelter. Some of the prisoner’s especially young girls, who committed minor crimes, were given extreme sentences often resulting in transportation toAustralia.

The Keeper could only be appointed with a satisfactory certificate from the Board of Superintendents of County Gaols, be able to read and write sufficiently to maintain the registry and fully understand prison rules and regulations to ensure the proper upkeep of the bridewell. In order to achieve this he had to serve a period of time as a turnkey. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Bridewell system ceased to operate and prisoners in the Kells area were sent to Trim Prison or the larger Mountjoy Prison inDublin. The Royal Irish Constabulary transferred in 1896 from their quarters inFarrell Streetto take up residence in the building.

In April 1916, during the Easter Rising, a large number of RIC from North Meathgathered at Bective Squarein Kells and proceeded to Navan where they linked up with yet more police. They engaged Irish Volunteers at Ashbourne led by Commandant Thomas Ashe, officer commanding the 5^th Dublin Battalion. Eight RIC were killed in the fighting including Constable James Hickey who was stationed in this building. During the War of Independence, 12 RIC and 25 Black and Tans were stationed here. The local Irish Volunteers faced the RIC and British troops based in the nearbyFeverHospital in several actions such as at Salford,SylvanPark, Drumbaragh and Dervor Hill. In one incident, Commandant Patrick McDonnell was killed by RIC from Kells and his body held in one of the cells. His brother Thomas had been captured and held in another cell, not allowed seeing his brother’s corpse or attending his funeral.

On the 13^th March 1922, Commandant Patrick Farrelly of the 3^rd Meath Brigade, Irish Republican Army took command of the building after the RIC vacated it and raised the Tri-Colour over the building. Several incidents occurred in the area during the Civil War of 1922 to 1923. Vice-Commandant Sean Nolan, second in command of the Pro-Treaty forces in occupation of the building was killed in action at Curraghtown in 1922. After devastating attacks on Athboy and Oldcastle posts, the building was heavily fortified and the house directly across the street occupied to prevent an attack. On the 5^th October 1922, twelve members of the new police force, the Civic Guard occupied the building. Shortly after the Civic Guard were reconstituted as An Garda Siochana.

The Local Security Force had an office in the building during the period of the Emergency between 1940 and 1946, as did the Local Defence Force between 1941 and 1946. When the Emergency ended, both forces were stood down and replaced with by An Forsa Cosanta Aitiuil who maintained an office and storeroom. The North Meath Battalion Headquarters remained until stood down in 1959 replaced by E Company, 7^th Infantry Battalion who took up residence at new premises at Climber Hall. A new Garda station in 1992 left the building vacant until E Company occupied the premises. The FCA was stood down in 2005 and replaced by the Army Reserve. E Company, 7^th Infantry Battalion thus became C Company, 65^th Reserve Infantry Battalion. Extensive renovations were carried out on the building in 2009.

With a re-organisation of the Reserve Forces in 2012, C Company, 65 Reserve Infantry Battalion was stood down with personnel transferred to other units in March 2013. This brought to an end the association of the building with the military and police forces of the state.

The latest accounts for EPACE show that the company had cash in hand of €918,814 in December 2009.

The company is owned by the electrical trade union, the TEEU, and two employers’ groups, the Electrical Contractors Association and the Association of Electrical Contractors (Ireland).

A legacy of social partnership, the company was set up under the auspices of the Labour Court to ensure that electrical contractors are paying the wage rates — currently €21.49 an hour — set in registered employment agreements.

The company accumulated its considerable cash reserves over a decade through weekly contribution of 38 cents from electricians and their employers. The contributions are submitted, along with pension contributions, to the Construction Workers Pension Scheme (CWPS). The CWPS, in turn, transfers the contributions to EPACE.

Company accounts show that the TEEU, which carries out inspections for EPACE, was paid €72,000 in “inspection fees” including Labour Court hearings in 2008 and €32,000 in 2009. In addition, the TEEU and the Electrical Contractors Association were each paid €4,000 a year in administration and secretarial services by EPACE.

Although the contribution from workers and employers seems small at just 38 cents a week, the cash it generated during the construction boom years was considerable.

Documents seen by the Sunday Independent show that in 2004 electricians and their employers contributed €158,388 in one nine-month period to Epace. However, the CWPS transferred €426,164 in error. The overpayment of €267,776 — which the CWPS blamed on a “technology glitch” — was refunded in May 2004.

Taxpayers — including electricians — are already funding a government quango, the National Employments Rights Authority (NERA), which does the same work as EPACE in monitoring wages paid to employers.

NERA, which receives €6m a year in state funding, is on a statutory footing while EPACE has no statutory powers and depends on the cooperation of employers.

EPACE was this weekend unable to answer questions about what it plans to do with its €1m. The chairman of the EPACE board, Eamon Devoy, who is also head of the TEEU, was away last week.

The TEEU “general secretariat” responded on behalf of Epace. It said it has collected €6m in underpayments to electricians and non payment of their pension contributions.

“In the last four years over 784 inspections have been carried out on employers by EPACE inspectors.

“A total of 359 cases of non-compliance have been referred to the Labour Court during this period . . . If employers acted in accordance with the Registered Employment Agreement, which is legally binding, then there would be no need for a compliance body.

“Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that not all employers are law-abiding.”

The board of EPACE includes directors drawn from the trade union and the employers’ bodies. They are not remunerated. The company employed two staff at a cost of €99,639, including pension contributions, according to 2009 company accounts.

Employers have attacked the wage rates fixed by registered employment agreements (REAs) — and monitored by EPACE and its equivalent in the construction sector, CIMA. They claim the REAs are anti-competitive and the International Monetary Fund sought a review as a condition of the bailout.

The review — conducted by the Labour Court chairman — is believed to have recommended protecting the current system but also a a radical overhaul to reflect the economic climate.

The report that was published will see that Our Lady s Hospital Navan would have its status downgraded to a model 2 hospital, which means the coronary, ICU and A&E facilities would be reduced. With the A&E department being cut back there will be a service running from 8am to 8pm but will not cater for any serious injures such as heart attacks.

Ruairi Hanley is a local GP and has said that the proposals would condemn patients in Meath to trolley based misery either in Drogheda or Dublin.
“If this downgrading goes ahead without the construction of a new regional hospital then I believe lives will be put at risk”. But there are mixed feelings as Deputy Damien English supports the cutbacks, he says “I am confident that more patients will be treated in Navan as a result of these changes. The hospital will do more work in a number of areas including day surgery, diagnostics, rehabilitation and chronic disease management.”