Another Busy Week!

Yet another busy week with so much happening in and around the local area.

On Monday I held a Mayoral Reception for a group of Tibetan Monks who were in Clonmel to create a sand Mandala. This is a traditional painting made with vividly coloured sand. It is a painstaking and delicate process and the result is a beautiful, colourful and intricate design.
The purpose of all this wonderful work is to bring peace and harmony to the world and to generate positive qualities in the world. Once the last grain of sand is in place the Mandala is visualised as the residence of enlightened beings/Buddha and the requests are made. There is then a closing ceremony when Buddha is asked respectfully to leave and the Mandala is destroyed. The sand is then distributed into running water so that the grains can travel as far as possible for the benefit of all humankind. What a wonderful thought!
It was an exceptional experience to meet them and their serene disposition and peaceful demeanor was truly captivating.


On Friday I had the pleasure of appearing for the second time on Seoige and O'Shea. Following Cronagh Byrnes recent appearance I had the opportunity to go through some childhood emergencies and the emergency resuscitation of a small child. This is such an important topic, I think that it is vitally important for everyone to know these few steps that really can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency situation.
Information on this topic as well as training is available free of charge from the Heartsafe Program of which I am the secretary. The purpose of the Heartsafe program is to provide the earliest possible intervention to a person in the event of a heart attack. At the moment we are busy installing AED's( Automated Emergency Defibrillators) at strategic points around Clonmel as well as arranging training of key people who work in these areas. Training is provided by Eddie Cooney-Red Cross, Kate O'Flaherty and Liz Ryan both based in South Tipperary General Hosp.

On Saturday I had the honour of opening the Conference for the Association of Ambulance Personnel at the Clonmel Park Hotel. They landed a fully equipped air ambulance which is worth 5 million and I enjoyed a guided tour. After that they went through a full emergency drill. I met so many wonderful people there whose dedication to and professionalism in their work was clearly apparent.