Men’s Shed does not have any political affiliations at all

Dear Editor,

I write to clarify the item in the Wicklow People edition of October 3, 2018, about the recent visit of Joan Freeman, Presidential candidate, to Blessington Men’s Shed (BMS).

Although the gathering referred to happened to take place in the shed and was attended by some members of the shed, it was a private event organised by one shed member and not by the shed management. Invitations had been issued individually by some of the attendees and indeed only a few members were invited. Official BMS events are organised by the management committee which was not involved in any way with the event reported on and attended by Ms Freeman.

Blessington Men’s Shed is a non-political organisation and we would like to make it very clear that we are not endorsing any candidate for the forthcoming Presidential Election or any election or plebiscite in the future. We did, of course, extend the normal courtesies to Ms Freeman when she was in our shed and wished her well on October 26.

Kevin Byrne is the Secretary of the Management Committee and all correspondence about the shed, including membership enquiries, should be addressed to him at (087) 7470461 or to Blessington Men’s Shed, The Old Library, Baltinglass Road, Blessington, Co Wicklow W91 NV09. Any man over the age of 18 and living in the Blessington area is eligible to join and new members are always welcome.

Yours sincerely Kevin Byrne and William Fay, Blessington Men’s Shed Directors.