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How disgraceful elderly clubgoers are ignored  I
WAS delighted to read (The Irish Post, October 6) that the people who
support and attend St. Joseph’s Club in Highgate are not giving-in
without a fight.
It is disgraceful that parish clubs should be shut down without any consultation
with their patrons or the people who put them there in the first place.
Granted the number of people supporting these places are on the decline
but people do get old.
As Sally Mulready said: “Even if it’s 20 people using it,
those 20 people need it.”
Most of the people now using these clubs came from Ireland in the 1940s,
’50s and ’60s, often they were not given a great welcome by
the natives, so they formed their own communities and carried on as far
as possible the life they knew in Ireland.
By their hard work, good humour and dedication they earned the respect
of the English people and are now fully accepted, however they still cling
to their roots and love to relax at weekends with the waltz or the fox-trot.
How disgusting that they should now be ignored by the very organisation
they loved and built up.
I believe it was the late Cardinal Hume who once said: “We must
never under-estimate the contribution made to the Catholic Church in England
by Catholics from Ireland.”
Most of the people who use Highgate parish centre — for tea- dances
and weekend dances — are the older Irish.
They built it — at least they should be consulted and considered
when its fate is being decided.
The Catholic Church is not all about money, nor is it a poor organisation.
I’m sure the money for church repairs can be found.
Most of us oldies will not be around for too much longer.
Why not wait until we are all gone and then do with it what you will.
D Collins
Hendon
London |
