Kinnegad Live to attract town"s talent

Kinnegad will be a hive of activity on Friday next, April 17, when the long awaited Kinnegad Live concert takes place at St. Finian"s Hall, The fundraising event is expected to receive the support of a large crowd of locals, as well as people from surrounding villages, as talented local performers take to the stage to showcase their abilities.Whether you possess a talent for dance, song or acting, Kinnegad is the place to be this Friday night, for what is expected to be an unprecedented night of ceol agus craic in the centre of the town.The event is being organised by Kinnegad Community Council, in aid of the Kinnegad defibrillator fund. Defibrillators are an important asset for any community, to guarantee the continued good health of its members, and their safety during emergencies.While one defibrillator is already in place at Coralstown/Kinnegad GAA Club, another three are in the pipeline for use in both Coralstown and Kinnegad, and are expected to arrive in the area shortly.One will be located at Coralstown National School, while the others will be kept at two locations in the centre of Kinnegad: St. Etchen"s National School, and Bracken"s Pub.Kinnegad Live is the latest event which has been organised to fund the apparatuses, which are electronic devices used by to correct ventricular fibrillation, which is a lack of coordination of the contraction of muscle tissue of the large chambers of the heart.Denis Leonard, secretary of Kinnegad Community Council, said that these vital devices would be a great asset to the community, and several people are being trained to use them at the present time.He invited people from the Kinnegad and Coralstown area to take part in Kinnegad Live, or to support it and the defibrillator fund in any way they can, while thanking those who have already extended their help.'Kinnegad Live is going to be a true community event,' Denis said. 'We"ve got the youth club and local sports clubs involved, and the Lir/Midlands Youth Orchestra are going to perform. We"ve got salsa dancers, and individual and group performers of all ages.'The more the merrier, Denis says, and Kinnegad Community Council is actively seeking more entries to take part in the Kinnegad Live concert on Friday week.Anyone of any age who would like to peroform should contact Denis on 087-6430783, or any member of the Community Council, and if you sign, dance, act, or play an instrument you are more than welcome to join in.Kinnegad Live kicks off at 8pm on the night, and is co-hosted by Kinnegad Community Council, Kinnegad Credit Union and Kinnegad Youth Club, and any of these organisations - as well as Coralstown/Kinnegad GAA or Kinnegad Juniors AFC, can be contacted if you would like to participate.Entry to the concert will be €5, and all proceeds will go to the local defibrillator fund. A raffle will also be held on the night, with some terrific prizes on offer; likewise, monies from this will go towards funding the new devices.Cardinal Glennon building to be openedMonday, April 27 will see the official opening of the Cardinal Glennon Building at St. Etchen"s National School, Kinnegad.The opening and blessing, which starts at 5pm, will be presided over by the Bishop of Meath, Most Rev. Dr. Michael Smith, who will be joined by public representatives, St. Etchen"s school principal Matt Melvin, his pupils, Fr. Tom Gilroy (PP, Kinnegad) and the trustees and board of management of St. Etchen"s.The Cardinal Glennon building, part of a massive new development at the growing Kinnegad school, is named after Kinnegad native, Cardinal John Joseph Glennon, who served as Archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and later as cardinal of that diocese.Cardinal Glennon laid the foundation stone for the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar as an archbishop in 1933, and died in 1946 while on a visit to Áras an Úachtarán.Refreshments will be served after the official opening and blessing, and all in Kinnegad Parish are welcome to attend.Kinnegad PioneersYoung Pioneers who have chosen the way of abstinence will be officially enrolled during the first Friday Mass on May 1 at 8pm in the Church of the Assumption, Kinnegad.Anybody who wishes to become a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association in Kinnegad, or wants to receive their gold or silver pin on May 1, contact the secretary of the local group on 044-9375145 as soon as possible.Secondary school meetingOn Monday next, April 20 in Serenity House, Main Street, Kinnegad, a meeting will be held to discuss where things stand with regard to securing a post primary school for Kinnegad.A recent meeting held at the same venue saw the formation of a temporary steering group, which is tasked with circulating the community and the boards of management of the four parish secondary schools, in relation to forming a permanent secondary school committee.The committee"s objective is to have a site identified on a permanent basis as the location for a new secondary school building, and to put pressure on the Department of Education and Science to come up with a timescale for the construction of the school.The committee will meet next Monday night at 8pm in Serenity House, and a date and time for a full public meeting at St. Etchen"s NS, likely to be in May, will be decided.The temporary steering committee is open to all, who are interested in securing post primary education for Kinnegad.For more details, phone 087-6430783.