< Previous© December 2020 The Meath Coaster 40© December 2020 The Meath Coaster 41© December 2020 The Meath Coaster 42 Science Week C elebrating its 25 th year, Science Week Ireland took place from November 8 th to the 15 th and who knew we would be celebrating it in a global pandemic. How- ever, that didn’t stop the girls in Ms. Col- gan’s and Mrs Campbell’s 5 th classes. “We started the week with our Skittles and Water experiment and we even got a shout out on FM 104 and started a national de- bate about Skittles. We discovered that when you add water to the sweets, it caus- es the colour to run, creating a rainbow ef- fect and leaving the skittles white”. Next up was testing how strong balloons are. The girls had doubts about this one when their teachers suggested putting a desk on the balloons. “We were sure they would burst but we were wrong. Further still, our teachers went one step further and suggested we stand on the table. Now we were definite in our responses, the bal- loons were bound to burst. Yet again, we were wrong and we had great fun having turns on standing on the desks”. Réalt Na Mara Girls’ School© December 2020 The Meath Coaster 43 Of course, no Science Week would be complete without the famous Mentos and Diet Coke experiment and what happens when the two mix. Look for yourself to see the chemical reac- tion that occurs. We rounded up the week with a few S.T.E.M challenges where we had to build the highest structure we could just using tin foil and then we designed and made our very own Marble Run. Overall Science Week was a great success and we have great fun learning and experiment- ing. Roll on Science Week 2021!! . Looking forward to Advent in Réalt Na Mara Girls’ School We have really missed all our usual gath- erings to celebrate our faith and to pray. However we are indeed looking forward to praying during Advent and to lighting our candles simultaneously in each class. Advent is the time of year before Christ- mas when we prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ birthday. The colour violet is used as it is the colour of looking forward. The Advent Wreath has five candles. We light a different one every week. The pink candle signifies joy and happiness. The white candle is lit on Christmas Day. The circular shape represents the unending love that God has for us. We must try to remember this when we are going through hard times during the Covid challenges. God is here for us to lean on and to com- fort us. § © December 2020 The Meath Coaster 44 Sonairte Sonairte will re-open Saturday 5 th of De- cember in line with public guidelines. We are open to the public Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-5, Sunday 10-5 Who are we? F or anyone new to the area and won- dering what is “Sonairte”? We are a visitor experience which pro- motes a love of the outdoors, organic produce, eco-awareness and sustainable livening. It is open to individuals and families. We are also taking bookings for organized groups. Our walled garden is producing tasty, organic Exciting News We will be launching our new online shop very soon, including nationwide delivery. Please follow our Facebook page for the release date. The Sonairte Eco Shop has a strong fo- cus on organic, zero waste, plastic free, people and planet friendly, low carbon footprint living. Wherever possible our products are locally produced or are Fair Trade. Our aim is to be a community hub enabling people to live more sustainably to address the two interlinked crises the world currently faces – the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis. Remember you can still order online for our weekly delivery PLEASE NOTE: All deliveries will be made following strict Covid guidelines. We hope to help make it easier for people who can't leave their homes. When order- ing online, please make sure you are in the delivery radius. Our veg box contains a selection of certi- fied organic local seasonal produce grown in the Sonairte garden, delivered in plastic free packaging. At the moment we've got lots of lovely fresh leafy veg - great for salads or cooking. You can order a €10 (four item) bag, a €15 (six item) bag or a €20 (eight item) bag. You can also place orders from our eco shop online. Visit our website to view our online bro- chure and to order your vegetable box §© December 2020 The Meath Coaster 45 Cilles Athletic Club www.cillesac.ie www.facebook.com/CillesAC 2 020, a year that will live long in our memories, for many reasons. Let’s take the opportunity to focus on the posi- tive events of the past 12 months. The year started on a high, lots of the club getting ready for half marathons, the now annual trip to Barcelona was highly anticipated and didn’t disappoint. Holly Brennan, Aaron Smith and Lauren Murphy were all honoured at the Meath Athletic Awards night in Feburary, in recognition of their national medals in 2019. Our AGM, also in Feb, brought a change of personnel to the committee, it has been a busy and challenging year, reopening af- ter the first lockdown was difficult, masses of paperwork to be trawled through to glean what applied to our clubs situation and how best to apply all the safeguards to ensure everyone could train in a healthy and safe environment. It’s a tribute to eve- ryone on the committee, all our coaches, parents and athletes who’ve put in so much effort to get all groups back out (all be it in a modified format), thank you all. The B5 went ahead in a virtual format, 439 entrants raised over €3,200 which we divided between the Irish Hospice Asso- ciation and Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. Irish charities are in need of our help, now more than ever. The high light of the year has to be Hol- ly and Aarons performances at The Irish Life Health national senior and U23 T&F Championships. Holly stormed home to a fantastic win in the ladies 5,000m and Aaron is national junior silver medallist in the men’s. Everyone in the club is so proud of their achievements. The Meath Cross Country championships in October didn’t disap- point, Aaron Smith struck gold again and a star was born - Jack Daly (u16) taking gold on his cross country debut and help- ing his team to the boys team silver. Training is now back up for all the ju- venile groups, thank you to our athletes and parents for their patience while we worked to secure safe and appropriate fa- cilities for our athletes to train in. Thank you to our coaches who’ve changed their schedules to allow for weekend training. I’d like to once more extend our appre- ciation to everyone who gives their time and energy to make this world a better and safer place for us all, especially those frontline workers who give so much, words can’t convey the depth of our grati- tude for all you do. Many good things have come out of this year, so let’s bring that positivity forward into 2021 with us, focus our efforts on supporting each other and keep our wonderful club moving for- ward! Lastly, a thank you to Dermot at the Coaster for all his support during the year. So here’s to better times for us all! Wishing you and your families, a very happy Christmas and a safe & healthy 2021. §© December 2020 The Meath Coaster 46 C2 General Stamullen F.C. Club news W e are still training away in lock- down but looking forward to 2021 and hopefully resuming matches and some normality, after what was such a strange year. We would like to wish all our players, coaches, parents, committee, and friends of the club a very happy and safe Christmas and New Years. U10 boys Since our last match in October the Stamullen U10 boys have been working hard in training twice a week to make sure they are in peak condition when we get the go ahead to resume matches again (hopefully) The change to 7 a side format this year has been a real challenge but the kids enthusiasm and attention ( not shown in picture above) has helped them develop their skills and technique in every session. This is the 3 rd year the majority of boys have been together and the signs are good that Stamullen U10’s will provide some stars of the future. The u10s pictured above in their new kit with their sponsor John and one of their coaches Martin U11s Our two under 10 squads from last year have merged into one under 11 team this year and things are going brilliantly. We have a super squad of very talented foot- ballers. All 4 coaches are delighted with how they have integrated, improved and © December 2020 The Meath Coaster 47 the way they are playing as one team. They have had some great games early on in the season, are training brilliantly and looking forward to games starting up next year. Johns U12s It's been a tough year for everyone in Stamullen FC but our guys managed to keep consistency and have proven a very hard team to beat. It's a pleasure to manage such a lovely bunch of lads. Throughout the year we have had some great results helped along the way with some extra training with underage FAI and league of Ireland coaches. We're training hard and looking forward to finishing the season strong. Matts U12s Stamullen U12’s would like to welcome Ger and Natalie to the coaching team, who have been a great help in making sure the kids are ready for action when the season can start up again! Being able to continue training during the latest lockdown has not only given the kids a chance to keep active and see their friends, but has also given us the opportunity to look more at fitness, footwork and awareness of space. This has been a tough year for everyone but I’m sure that being part of such a great football club has helped everyone involved get through! Looking forward to a brilliant 2021! Club Contact Details: Email - stamullenfc@gmail.com Facebook - www.facebook.com/stamullenfc Club Secretary Marcus Kelly – 0851477825 Website – www.stamullenfc.com § St. Mary’s Church of Ireland Christmas W orship in St Mary’s Church of Ire- land over the Christmas period will be in Church and on line. Carol services on 20 December at 10.30am and 4.00pm and Holy Communion on Christmas Eve at 7.00 pm and Christmas Day at 8.30am and 10.30am will be limited to 50 peo- ple. A booking system is in operation and anyone wishing to attend should ring 0419829962 to make a booking.. § © December 2020 The Meath Coaster 48 ng ty or Naomh Colmcille C.L.G. www.cilles.com I t has been one roller coaster year for everyone – highs and lows, joy and de- spair and that’s not even taking Covid into account. We want to wish all our mem- bers, supporters, players and fans the very best for the Christmas season and we look forward to a bright, exciting and safe new year. Thank you everyone for your sup- port Leinster Championship Campaign There is no doubt about it but the GAA championships have lit up our winter and we all rejoiced in Meath’s run to the Leinster final. Whilst final day was a huge disappointment the performance of our very own James Conlon in helping Meath to the final was exciting and inspiring to all. Hard luck to all our Cilles contingent and thank you for your hard work and ef- forts - James and Ben Brennan, Head of S&C – Niall Ronan and Coach, Colm Nally were all involved AGM Our AGM will take place on Monday 11 th Jan via Microsoft Teams. Notices and de- tails are winging their way to all members Another Wonderful Movember Cam- paign A huge well done to all our November vol- unteers who once again worked tirelessly Supporting Meath in this years Leinster championship © December 2020 The Meath Coaster 49 for the Gary Kelly Cancer Society. As well as the traditional “Mo” the group also un- dertook a beach challenge and hosted talks by friend of the club, Dr Harry Barry and we had the pleasure of the inspirational Eoin Larkin, former Kilkenny hurler. Eoin took us through his journey and opened up on his battle with depression Sanitisation Stations – Thank You Bud- get Signs A huge thanks to Audrey and Val Darcy at Budget Signs for their sponsorship of our new sanitisation stations. The team can be contacted at www.budgetsigns.ie or 087 633 9467 and their artwork and skills can be seen all over the work and we are so A big well done to our very own Sean Perry who took up sideline reporter duties with Sky Sports GAA and was his usual outstanding and insightful self Next >