DENISE A TROLLEY DASH WINNER

AN Arklow Lidl shopper was delighted to win €493 worth of goodies recently after she won the chance to take part in a trolley dash recently.

Denise Pierce was the lucky raffle ticket winner in the Arklow supermarket and as a result, was given two minutes to race around the shop and fill her trolley as quickly as possible.

Denise did a super job and filled her trolley as quickly as she could to receive the contents for free.

Raffle tickets were on sale in stores from last month and 100 per cent of the proceeds went to Barretstown, Lidl’s charity partner and contributed to €4,776 raised in County Wicklow alone. The Trolley Dash, which raised €262,199 in total in Ireland, raised much needed funds for Barretstown just before the new year.

Speaking about the Trolley Dash CSR initiative, Sinead Flynn, Lidl CSR team said: ‘Funds raised from this year’s Trolley Dash are the result of combined efforts from both Lidl Ireland staff and our customers. In just 3 weeks, €262,199 was raised, completely exceeding our expectations. We’d like to thank everybody that got involved and purchased a Trolley Dash ticket for such a worthy cause.’ Dear Editor, On the instructions of Pope Frances earlier this year, the Vatican announced that ‘Catholics may be cremated but should not have their ashes scattered at sea or kept in urns at home.’ Instead ‘ the ashes of the faithful must be laid to rest in a sacred place, that is, in a cemetery or, in certain cases in a church or in an area that has been set aside for the purpose.’

The right to take custody of human ashes remains with the executor or whoever is in charge of organizing the deceased’s funeral and it is up to them and not the pope to decide how the ashes are disposed of. The Vatican is responsible for Canon Law only and not the Law of the Land.

Having just about digested this nonsense from the Vatican, along comes Wicklow County Council’s new ruling on headstones in the county’s cemeteries. Without any discussion or agreement whatsoever with the local population, the Council decided that headstones can no longer be placed at the head of a grave but must now be placed at the foot instead. This ridiculous decision has not only upset the vast majority of the local population, but has also traumatized the recently bereaved.

Instead of sitting around a table drawing up ludicrous plans that nobody wants, perhaps Wicklow County Council could put its time to better use. For a start it could employ more ground staff at Rathnew Cemetery to cut back the long grass and empty the continually overflowing waste bins. One man working alone cannot be expected to carry out all the duties required in this large burial ground.

In addition, the installation of metal stands and watering cans would dramatically reduce the amount of waste material hidden in trees which only adds to the refuse problem in inclement weather. As there are no watering cans in the cemetery, plastic milk bottles etc are stored in the branches by relatives for carrying water from the faucets to the graves of their loved ones. One final note to Wicklow Co. Council- Hands off our headstones, leave our customs and Century-old traditions alone. Adrienne Cullen-Morgan M.A. 5c Heatherbrook, Marlton Road,

Wicklow