It Says in The Bridge: Feb 07

This month's magazine leads off with a report on 'Progress at Business Park', noting that at long last there's serious construction work on actual premises for the businesses planning to locate there.

There's also good news that the Naomh Bhride Community Playgroup has received funding to build a new Community Childcare Centre. The story is covered in full inside, and the only problem remaining is where to locate the playgroup while the building work is going on?

In other news we read of the results of a collection for autism, and of an upcoming collection for cancer care in the form of the 20th annual Daffodil Day. Nuala Collins is seeking volunteers for that one, for March 23; there's plenty of time, but don't leave it on the long finger to volunteer.

There's a report with pictures on the recent Heritage Seminar in the Kilcullen Heritage Centre, which had a good attendance of local people as well as the county-wide audience at which it was aimed.

Among the schools pages, Scoil Bhride events reported on by pupils include a project on the Ancient Egyptians, a collection for the Kildare Animal Foundation, and recollections of a Roller Coaster ride during mid-term. The Credit Union Inter-Schools Quiz held in the school last weekend is also noted, with accompanying photos.

Brannockstown School provides a comprehensive words and pictures report on Santa's visit before Christmas. At the upper levels, there's a resume from Cross & Passion College about how they celebrated La Feile Bhride at Old Kilcullen.

The Calverstown First Responders have now been fully launched, we read from the hinterlands to the south, while from the east is a double-page photographic coverage of the 60th birthday party for Dina Dillon, held in The Stray Inn.

The regular features are back with us. The Environment pages highlight the status of some planning applications in the locality, and also some detail on how we can all individually do our bit to conserve electricity usage. Billy Redmond goes Off the Cuff on matters which include hospitals and their associated politics, and an email from a Mysterious Lady; read the piece and (nearly) all is revealed.

Sean Landers has landed back in 'dreary old Taipei', and muses on the state of politics there as well as a new craze evident in his temporary country, of ordering one's favourite cheesecake on-line. With his more local hat, Sean reports on 'Strange Goings-On at New Abbey' as outlined in the latest Kildare Archeological Society publication, 'Kildare History and Society'.

Pat Behan writes on how 'Government Harms your Health', and while he mentions in passing how state control worked well for the likes of Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse Tung, he's really talking about how the 'home' state is slowly assuming more and more control over our daily lives. To an intrusive degree, he feels.

One pair of photographic pages in this issue is a must-view for those of us who remember the annual Kilcullen Parish Carnival. The pictures on one page come from the Irish Press of the time and there are many much younger faces of people thankfully still alive today, as well as sadly some gone. Opposite is a picture of the 'Nicholastown Caper Gang' of 1973, and the candidates in the famous first Lord Mayor Campaign in the late 70s.

Finally, there's a note about that meeting last week for anybody who wants to get involved with producing The Bridge. It seems it was quite a success, and 'some changes for the better are promised'. But another meeting is arranged for Fallons at 8.30pm on February 21, so if you didn't get to the last one (like me), there's still opportunity to be grasped.

Brian Byrne.