By Paddy McCarthy
Hello to all my Out&About readers, I am just back from a vacation with my family in Athens, Greece and the Taoiseach Micheál Martin just arrived today for meetings ahead of Ireland’s EU Presidency. It was, I understand, a very valuable visit for him to visit the Hellenic Parliament to discuss shared priorities, and the important work of the Greece-Ireland Parliamentary Group. It was just my luck that I did not get to meet him when we were there. I am sure he was busy; maybe he would not have had the time as he had a lot more on his plate than to make time to meet me, which I do understand, I might get to meet him when I’m back in Cork next week for a few days to meet my family.
Now, the real story is that my wife Patricia, as well as my daughter Christina and her husband Kevin Coyne, and of course myself, had a wonderful vacation in Athens and we visited all the historic attractions, the Acropolis and Parthenon walking tour, the temples and museums that we visited were amazing and just fabulous to view. The next day we also took the ferry across to Hydra Island that is a charming, car-free destination known for its stunning architecture and cobblestone streets and elegant stone mansions that is untouched. I want to tell you this, that the people in Greece were all so pleasant to meet and chat too, absolutely brilliant and could not be nicer to talk with and very helpful when asking directions so nice and the authentic Greek food in Athens was beautiful.
We then visited The Athens Olympic Stadium that has a capacity of 75,000. It is the largest sports venues in Greece and is a part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA) and is named after the first modern Olympic marathon gold medalist in 1896, Spyros Louis. The stadium served as the main stadium during the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Paralympics including the opening and closing ceremonies. It is the current home ground of Panathinaikos for UEFA competition matches. Now you have it all about my trip to Greece that I will remember for the rest of my life. It is so beautiful there as you can see from these photos this week. What a great Out&About I just had. Wow I just can’t believe I was there…
Now I am on the home stretch with some more news to bring you in my Out&About column that is well worth reading about so here goes. I am sure you saw the advertisement for the United Irish Counties Feis in last week’s issue and in this week’s issue. I am now going to give you the news on what it all is about that I am sure you will enjoy reading about. So here goes: “The United Irish Counties Association of New York, Inc. is pleased to announce our 86th Feis will be held on Sunday, June 14, at Lincoln High School located at 375 Kneeland Avenue in Yonkers. Doors open at 8 am and competitions in Irish step-dancing, music, language and singing will commence at 9 am. We are proud to claim the United Irish Counties Feis as the oldest feis in North America.
“Established in 1931, our first feis took place in 1932, and has occurred every year since with only a few interruptions. Our feis is a festive event that celebrates the best of Irish culture in America! A copy of this year’s syllabus can be found on our association’s website at www.UICANY.org. If you need a hard copy or copies for family and friends, please contact Cathy Hogan at (646) 489-5258 or via e-mail at UICANYFeis@gmail.com .
‘We are open for registration and accepting entries through FeisWeb. Each year our affiliated organizations, delegates and friends have made donations for the purchase of trophies and prizes to be awarded to the winners at our feis. We ask that you consider making a $100 donation in memory or in honor of someone for a prize that will be presented to a winner on June 14th.
“If you are available, volunteers for set-up on June 13th and various committee workers for the actual day on June 14th should contact us with your availability. Thank you! From Ann Henry, President and Regina O’Dwyer, Feis Chairperson.”
I want to give all these members the exposure that they all deserve as they give all their time as volunteers to The United Irish Counties Association of New York, Inc. They deserve a lot of credit in what they do and never ask for anything in return. From all the team here at The Irish Examiner USA we congratulate you all, well done as always.
There was a tragic loss for both singer Christy Moore and his brother Barry Moore, as their sister Eilish Byrne Moore has sadly died. The Kildare native passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family at St. James’s Hospital on Friday April 24. May she Rest in Peace.
I hope to see you all again next week when I am Out&About before I head over to Ireland for a few days.