Desmond lifts slates on church

They say lightning doesn't strike twice, but that obviously doesn't apply to wind, writes Brian Byrne.

Kilcullen's parish church was a victim of storm Desmond this week, with slates being dislodged high up on the roof.

Ironically, the hole is almost in the same place as the last time the church was damaged, in 2009.

A cherry-picker crane is due to arrive early next week to facilitate a repair, and everybody is keeping their fingers crossed that there isn't another storm in the meantime, to worsen the damage.

The roof was also the focus of a major maintenance and repair programme on the church last year.