Patrick Comerford
The tents and the big marquee are up, the stalls are out and the sale begins this morning [Saturday 4 August 2012] For the next three days, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the Portrane peninsula will be busy with one major obsession – the sale Mary Lynders, he family and her friends have organised for the August Bank Holiday weekend in aid of Heart-to-Hand and the projects it supports in Romania and Albania.
The present economic crisis has taken a particular toll in both Romania and Albania. Food prices continue to rise in Romania, and VAT is at 24%. Another shipment is on its way to Romania, with food, clothes, building supplies and other essential items.
Part of the money that has been raised in recent weeks and sent out to Romania is being spent on buying shoes for children in preparation for the new school term that begins next month.
Sister Rose Carmel McNamara, one of the people supported by Heart-to-Hand, is working with 77 children, says: “Sickness also abounds, possibly due to the poverty. Before the opening of the new term we will endeavour to ensure that our children have the essentials for school.”
Are you going to join me in Portrane on the afternoons each day? Perhaps I’ll see you at the bookstall in the big marquee.
I might even get a break and take a walk on the beach in Portrane one afternoon.
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