Tape Date: 2^nd December 1998

This tape has a Christmas feel about it. We have Johnny McEvoy’s memories of Christmas and an interview with Anne Mordan about the live Crib in Adare. Fr. John McCullagh has a poem for Omagh and two short stories entitled ‘The Empty Crib’ and ‘Christmas Child’. We have interviews with Paul Andrews on Advent, Dr. William Marshall on the most famous prayers in Advent, the ‘O Antiphons’ and John Keating on the Jesse tree. Other topics this week are the Winter Solstice, Anne Thurston on the genealogy of Christ, and Catherine McCann on the value of Symbols.

Side A 

1. Crossways: News in the church and the world. The Irish Wheelchair Association is currently in the midst of a campaign to raise awareness of their lack of funding. In our main report, John O’Reilly asks why they choose this time of the year to launch their campaign. Alan McGuckian SJ and Martin Browne read the news.

Time: 5’26"

2. The Empty Crib: A short story for Christmas, written and read by Fr John McCullagh. John is a priest of the Diocese of Derry and a frequent contributor to radio in Northern Ireland and in Britain. He is currently on the staff of the National Centre for Liturgy in Maynooth.

In: (McCullagh) "Of all the Christmases……of innocence dawned. Out: (McCullagh)
Time: 4.19
(This story might be most useful on or before Christmas Eve.)

3. Ramadân: On 20^th December, Ireland’s 7,000 Muslims will begin fasting for the month of Ramadân. During this time Muslims must fast from sun up to sun down and put time aside for religious reflection. Imam Yahya Al-Hussein of the Dublin Mosque spoke to Maria O’Loughlin about the significance of this fasting period and how Irish Muslims will cope while all around them are feasting for Christmas.

In: (Al-Hussein) "Ramadân is the month……..…they are fasting." Out: (Al-Hussein)

Time: 4.17

4. Marriage Under Pressure At Christmas: It has become something of a cliché to say that the Christmas season is one of great stress on families and on marriages. An organisation that has long experience of dealing with this is Accord, the Catholic Marriage Counselling Service, with fifty-five centres across the country. Peter Scally talked to Liz Early from Accord and began by asking her if Christmas was really such a tough time for families and for couples.

In: (Early) "Certainly, Christmas can ...……... change their behaviours." Out: (Early)

Time: 5.38

5. Memories of Christmas: Dan Keane is a 79-year-old historian, storyteller and poet from Moyvane in Kerry. Marie Stuart RSM met him recently and he talked to her about his memories of Santa coming, standing candles in turnips in the windows on Christmas night and the goose that went missing.

In: (Stuart) "Tell me about your ………. which of 'em was Tom Breen. Out: (Keane)

Time: 5.39

6. Losing Santa: In Dan Keane's home there were certain rituals associated with Christmas. He describes these in his poem 'Losing Santa'. In the poem he talks about discovering 'life as it is' when, as a child, he went to investigate what was in the box his mother put under her bed each year when she came back from shopping!!!. Dan read the poem for us.

In: (Keane) "Losing Santa …………………….. I lost my Santa Clause" Out: (Keane)

Time: 1.35

7. Pioneer Centenary: In St. Francis Xavier’s Church in Dublin on the 28^th of December 1898 a Jesuit Fr. James Cullen and four local women founded the Pioneer and Total Abstinence Association. The Pioneers are launching a year of centenary celebration with a mass in the same church on the 28^th of December. At a recent press conference to launch the Centenary Year which will also involve a huge Rally in Croke Park in May, Alan McGuckian spoke to Fr. Micheál Mac Gréil, the Chairman of the Board of Management of the Pioneer Association. Fr. Mac Gréil first spoke about the contribution he felt the Pioneers have made to Irish society over the past 100 years.

In: (Mac Gréil) "our original motto………….. through the Church." Out: (Mac Gréil)

Time: 2.28

• Please note there is no countdown leading into this piece.

Side: B

1. Charlie Bird and World Day of Peace: On January 1^st we celebrate World Day of Peace. To mark the occasion, RTE’s special correspondent Charlie Bird spoke about his experiences reporting from Rwanda and Kurdistan. What he saw in these trouble spots had a profound effect on him - it also changed his mind about how television journalists should cover wars and conflicts. Maria O’Loughlin began by asking him about his most disturbing moment.

In: (Bird) "What disturbed me most………….you can have a real effect." Out: (Bird)

Time: 6.20

2. The Millennium and the New Year: As we move into 1999, many groups are already planning celebrations for the next millennium. Fr Pat Moore, a priest of Kerry diocese, shared some of his reflections on the millennium with Marie Stuart RSM. He suggests that we think about the nativity, the coming of Christ into the world. He is not talking about the Second Coming of Christ but of living the radical Christianity that the story of the Good Samaritan presents to us. Pat worked in catachetics for a number of years and is now a curate in the parish of Lixnaw

In: (Stuart) "Can you get …………….. a safer place to be in" Out: (Moore)

Time: 5.49

3. The Three Wise Men: Martin MacNamara is scripture scholar and theologian who is also a lecturer at the Milltown Institute. He specialises in the Old Testament. Mark Harkin spoke to him about the Three Wise Men in the context of who were they and why are they referred to in the Gospel of Luke.

In: (Harkin) "Different words are used……… linked it that way." Out: (MacNamara)

Time: 5.03

4. New Year: January 1^st is observed each year as World Day of prayer for peace. In this short story, Fr. John McCullagh captures that longing for the ‘promised land’ of peace. John McCullagh is a priest of the diocese of Derry, currently working at the National centre for Liturgy, at Maynooth. He reads the story himself.

In: (McCullagh) "with some difficulty…….come tumbling down." Out: (McCullagh)

Time: 4.06

5. Anne Thurston: Knowing Her Place, Gender And The Gospels.

Knowing Her Place: Gender and the Gospels is the title of a new book by the Irish theologian, Anne Thurston. In it she takes a number of New Testament texts and looks at them from a woman’s perspective. Peter Scally asked her if there was a hint of irony in her title, "Knowing Her Place"…

In: (Thurston) " Absolutely, the title is………..I refuse to let go" Out: (Thurston)

Time: 6.03

6. My First Computer: What is your image of a writer at work? Do you imagine them sitting at a computer typing away? When Alice Taylor started to write she used a pencil and rubber. Recently she told Marie Stuart RSM about getting her first computer and the difficulties she had with it.

In: (Stuart) "When you started …….. return the compliment (Laugh)" Out: (Taylor)

Time: 6.37

7. Jubilee 2000 Campaign: Children’s Vox Pop, (The GLAD Group).

The Jubilee 2000 Campaign to cancel the debts of The Third World countries has been steadily gaining momentum, and receiving backing from many Church figures, including Dr Walton Empey, the Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough. However, what does this mean to young people? Peter Scally SJ went along to St John the Baptist in Clontarf, Dublin, to meet the GLAD group – the parish youth group who have been involved in the campaign – and he asked them what was it all about…

In: (Vox Pop) " Well, it’s about………..nothing compared to us." Out: (Vox Pop)

Time: 5.09

That’s it for this year, Our next tape will be sent out to you on January 6^th. On behalf of Marie and myself may I take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year. I look forward to contacting you all in the New Year.