It Says in The Bridge: March 2006

In what is an issue packed with information and stories, there are two celebratory notes on the front page: the Bridge has started its 36th year, and there's also a photograph of Bridget Aspell and her grandson Oliver Archbold, celebrating their 96th and 30th birthdays respectively.

The lead story is also a cautious celebration, with a report of a breakthrough on the effort towards having a playground built. It comes through an agreement by Scoil Bhride to donate a site in return for the provision of some road infrastructure. The Committee are urging residents to pressure local representatives on the matter, and to facilitate this, a leaflet with the contact details of councillors and TDs comes with the publication.

In news, we read of a successful €770 collection for the Kenya orphanage project, by means of a Poker Classic in The Stray Inn, and there'll be another event there on March 16.

Environmental matters include information on grants for bi-lingual signs in an effort to promote greater use of Irish. There are also reports of the year's activities from the Senior Citizens Association and the St Vincent de Paul, the latter noting that some €16,572 was spend on aid for people in need in the community last year. The sobering part is that the Society's income was just €13,850, so continued donations are needed.

The Scoil Bhride Notice Board highlights the recent confirmations, and also a successful 'Civvies Day' which raised more than €1,000 for cancer charities. There's also news of a personalised T-Shirt scheme to raise money for new computers in the school.

The Halverstown NS page has its usual range of reports written by the pupils themselves, including a note on the new school Library (the opening of which will be reported on the Diary tomorrow.

There are pictorial coverages of the Arts Competition in the Community Games, the day out with Newbridge Fire Brigade which the Toddlers & Wobblers Playschool enjoyed recently, a number of Cross & Passion College events, and that big birthday party held in the Hideout for Bridget Aspell.

There are some convergances in the regular columnist pages, with both Paul Aspell and Roy Thompson taking fairly similar views on the global matter of the violence over those Mohammad cartoons. In more tongue-in-cheek vein, Paul also looks with some alarm on the increasing popularity of 'activity' holidays, a 'dangerous new trend' for the Irish to be contemplating.

Billy Redmond in his 'Off the Cuff' remarks muses on how Kilcullen people and business operators must be 'a very quiet group of people' to let Kildare County Council get away with 'positively discraceful' service in relation to town tidiness. He also gets back to a hobby-horse in relation to the proposed Garda Reserve force.

Pat Behan reports on the recent opening of the Irish Bridal Boutique at Hillcrest, and also in his 'This Month in History' series gives us the timely reminder that our patron saint was a non-national. From abroad we have an account of a visit to a village in China by Gary Byrne, and from Taiwan Sean Landers recalls his experiences of censorship when he used to work in Saudi Arabia.

Sean also writes about the 'Life and Times of the Giant Elk' in his regular historical piece, compiling information from a number of sources, including the Irish Times.

Sports coverage comes from the Soccer Club, the AGM of the Trout & Salmon Anglers Association, and similarly the AGM of Kilcullen GAA.

Finally, because in a piece from the Kilcullen Access Group they use one of my photographs to highlight difficulties in getting a wheelchair onto the bridge, it should be noted that this problem is one which has been solved in the recent refurbishment of that edifice. Well done to all concerned.

Brian Byrne.