A story by Paul Mooney on Page 2 of this week’s Dungarvan Observer about the late Danny McGrath, a good friend of ours, happily but bittersweetly caught my eye…
And talk about coincidental given that a photo of Danny popped up on my Facebook memories over the weekend and lo and behold, a few days later, there’s a story about him in print.
Paul writes about an Order of Merit awarded to Danny’s family by the Clans of Ireland, an organisation which held its Cultural Summit in Dublin on May 6th.
Danny’s partner Lijana, daughter Olivia and brother John were on hand to receive the highest honour which can be bestowed by the Clans of Ireland, whose Board unanimously recommended Danny for the Order of Merit.
As Paul puts it: “The award is granted to persons who have influenced Irish culture and heritage to an extraordinary degree or who have brought their Clan remarkable reverence.”
Danny was known by pretty much everyone in Dungarvan and was a renowned photographer, local correspondent and film journalist and was Chieftain of the McGrath Clan of Thomond.
Paul notes: “He was instrumental in bringing hundreds of McGraths from around the world to Dungarvan for the hugely successful McGrath Clan Gatherings in 2013, 2016 and 2019.”
Michael Crowley, the Chancellor of the Council of the Order of Merit said it was a great honour for the organisation to both acknowledge Danny and to present the award to his family.
He said: “Dan was a real inspiration in Clans of Ireland. He always had great ideas and was a gentleman. You could freely discuss things with him and he had a huge enthusiasm going well beyond what would be expected from a Director of the Board of Clans of Ireland.”
Speaking on behalf of the family, Danny’s brother John said: “It is very emotional for us to accept this on behalf of Danny. I know how much the clans meant to him and all that he did.”
Danny never did anything by half measures. He was 100 per cent with all his various ventures all of the time and I’ve no doubt he’d have been on his way to Cape Town this Saturday to cheer on Munster in the URC Final against the Stormers. He was such a force of nature and such enormous fun and it’s still hard to believe he died three and a half years ago when he, Lijana and Olivia still had so many adventures to look forward to.
Danny died on December 22, 2019; he’s deeply missed and I’m delighted that he’s been honoured like this.
In this week’s Waterford News & Star, Caroline Spencer reports on the sterling efforts of Waterford Food Bank, an organisation which reached a noteworthy milestone in recent weeks…
At a reception held at City Hall on Friday last, which Caroline reports from, Waterford Food Bank revealed that they’ve supplied one million meals to families and people in need in Waterford over the past four years.
This figure was described at the reception as both a “momentous achievement” by one speaker and as a “harrowing figure” by another.
The Food Bank was established in 2019 in association with Waterford Area Partnerships (WAP), with WAP Chair Eoin Ronayne stating he was “personally saddened that there is a huge demand for its service in our city. It’s shocking that this is the case despite our country being one of the wealthiest in the European Union”.
As Eoin pointed out: It’s “bizarre at a time of near record employment in this country, we also have a record demand for food parcels. That, to me, is a pretty damning socio-economic statistic.”
Waterford Food Bank’s Karen Glancy told Caroline: “It took four years for the Food Bank to reach one million meals and the majority of them have been reached in the last year and a half. We’re at a 20% to 22% increase each month in numbers, which is phenomenal. It was 75 meals a month last year, now we’re at 220 this year. That’s the kind of increase we’re talking about…It’s a rolling 220, 225 families a week and that’s the scary part. It’s heart-breaking to me because we’re all a wage packet away from it.”
Caroline’s story gets full page treatment on Page 23 of this week’s News & Star and if you want to contact Waterford Food Bank, please call 086-1503411 or email info@waterfordfoodbank.com.
This is a group performing a service that we should all be thankful for and they’re at the other end of a phoneline waiting to help – and if you need that help, please call them.
And finally this week, the front page of The Munster Express features a story in which Jamie O’Keeffe is writing about Waterford’s ‘Mud Boat’, the SS Port Lairge…
And this is a story I’ve reported on myself over the past week both in print and online but Jamie has framed his report from a different angle having spoken to Sean Finn, the Wexford man who owns what’s left of the dredger, which now sits in a sorry, oxidised condition on the shore of Bannow Bay.
Sean confirmed to Jamie that the propeller now in place on the Merchants Quay roundabout is the Port Lairge’s “bona fide” spare which he sold to the Port of Waterford for €1500. He also stressed that the one still attached to the boat is “in just a good a condition”.
Sean told Jamie that “he would be willing to part with the iconic vessel for less than what he feels it’s worth. As Jamie puts it: “With steel going for €160 a tonne at the moment, he has received offers to sell it for scrap. The clock is clearly ticking or else what’s reputed to have been the world’s last working steam dredger will be broken up.
“Reckoning its value to be around €60,000, Sean would be willing to knock €10,000 off that figure by way of ‘my own contribution’ towards its rescue and conservation – in other words, he’s willing to part with it for €50,000.
“At 140 feet long, 29 feet wide and weighing around 400 tons, the hulk is way too vast to be lifted and transported by road. But Sean claims it could be temporarily ‘patched up’ and towed downriver for proper repairs and restoration.” Now I don’t know if there’d be unanimous agreement on her seaworthiness given that the boat hasn’t sailed for just over 40 years.
The past week has, however, generated a fresh debate as to why Waterford, the city with three ships on its crest and with such a vast and deep maritime history, doesn’t yet have a museum themed along such lines. And it’s a debate well worth having.
I review Waterford's local newspapers every Wednesday morning on WLRfm's 'Big Breakfast Blaa with Ollie & Dymphna: https://www.wlrfm.com/shows/the-big-breakfast-blaa
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