Trinity offers fresh hope for asthma A s h in a flash priest has his busiest year yet
Worshippers are given Lent ritual in a drive-thru
Inhaler needed
There were four or five people in some cars. We’re going five years and it was our busiest
FR PADDY MOONEY GLENAMADDY, CO GALWAY, YESTERDAY
ASTHMA sufferers could breathe easier after a breakthrough by Trinity College researchers.
They have discovered the protein Caspase-11 plays a critical role in the condition by contributing to lung inflammation.
It’s a big step forward because Caspase-11 had never before been implicated in causing asthma.
Researcher Zbigniew Zaslona said: “A variety of irritants such as airborne pollutants, certain types of pollen and house dust mites can induce cell death in the lungs.
“Our work suggests Caspase-11 senses these and causing disease.”
The team thinks the protein holds promise as a possible target for new drugs to treat the disease.
A QUEUE of cars waited in the sunshine at a soul food drive-thru to open yesterday morning.
But it wasn’t burgers and fries on the menu, but dollops of ash.
Fr Paddy Mooney leaned into cars and vans as they pulled up at St Patrick’s Church in Glenamaddy, Co Galway, to administer the Ash Wednesday ritual.
He came up with the drive-thru idea four years ago as a way of making sure his flock didn’t miss out on their blessings.
Fr Mooney said: “I couldn’t put a number on exactly how many came as there were three or four people in some of the cars but we are going now four years and it was the busiest ever.
“We had babies under a year old and the eldest would be in their late 80s at least. People love to get their ashes early, even if they’re going to Mass at night.
“I went down at 8am and there were about five cars waiting for me. At about 8.15am they really started coming.” Unlike many churches, the layout of St Patrick’s lends itself perfectly to a drivethru.
Cars come in via the main gate, and drive out another.
Fr Mooney, who doled out his ashes between 8am and 9.30am, before dashing to St Teresa’s Church in Williamstown to say 10am Mass, added: “I greet them, ask them do they want to live a Holy Lent, put the ash on them and wish them well on their journey.
“It’s short enough. It suits
Fr Paddy Mooney people for different reasons. A mother with a three-month-old baby can’t go to the church but she can do a drive-by and get the ashes.
“Other people were going to hospital or work or bringing their children to school.
“Some of them came from as far as 25 miles away. People are very busy rushing here, there and everywhere so I like to do my bit to make life a bit easier.
“A fella came last year in his tractor but he arrived up in a van this year.”
Fr Mooney’s “ash in a flash” was inspired by “Mercy at the Mall”, the brainchild of the Bishop of Killaloe, Fintan Monahan, whose pre-christmas confessions in a Clare shopping centre proved a huge hit with shoppers.
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