Browne’s annual barn dance set for Saturday

WHILE the folks at Kate Kearneys were barn dancing the night away on Sunday, the country and western hooley moves to north Kerry this weekend and it’s in aid of an equally deserving cause further afield.

There’ll be cowboy hats and chequered shirts galore in Mountcoal on Saturday night for the annual “Browne’s Barn Dance” and a bumper crowd expected to raise much needed funds for the Masinyusane Organisation in South Africa, of which local man, Fr Jerry Browne is chairperson on the board of directors.

Thanks to fundraising events such as this, Masinyusane is now empowering the local township’s most promising youths by sending them to University. The costs associated with housing, books and tuition fees are covered by the foundation.

Of the student population in the townland, just two per cent will qualify for university, with the majority unable to afford the costs associated with third level education. However, with the support of the foundation, every student from the Port Elizabeth township’s 36 secondary schools who qualifies for university is afforded the opportunity to attend. Once there, students are given every support to enable them to fulfil their potential. A 90 per cent pass rate exists among the 200 students sponsored.

So to help raise funds, join the barn dance on Saturday where you will be able to indulge in beverages, a BBQ and a pig on the spit, while being entertained by Heart and Soul and Lisselton’s, Martin Behan, who’ll also man the decks. A Bucking Bronco machine will also be in situ.

Tickets are available from retail outlets and pubs in Listowel, details on Browne’s Barn Dance Facebook page.