Once again, in these beautiful days and weeks of May 2026, as one year, ago, our children and staff welcomed a most special lady and visitor to St Mary’s - Mrs Bridie Duffy - a long-standing, loyal and dedicated Fermanagh-based volunteer with Trócaire.
As twelve months previously, it was simply an honour and a privilege to welcome Bridie to our assembled whole-school gathering and to share in her words of insight, education, experience and inspiration, as she spoke about the organisation, mission and vital work of Trócaire, and graciously accepted the proceeds of our recent Lenten/Easter Trócaire Fundraising Draw - £1,431.52 and €50.00.
Many of our children and school staff were inspired and uplifted by Bridie’s words, presence and message, as she reminded us of Trócaire’s great work around the world - work to end global poverty and injustice and putting the compassion of the Irish people into action, whilst all the while supporting communities in the developing world to achieve a just and sustainable future. Bridie also appealed to all of us to explore and reflect upon the root causes of poverty and inequality and encouraged everyone to learn about the world we live in and the role we each can play in creating a future of dignity and safety for all. She especially encouraged our children to continue to develop empathy, take positive action and aspire to become compassionate and globally-aware young people, in the time ahead.
We extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Bridie for her inspiring work, presence and friendship amongst us, and for her subsequent kind words of thanks, appreciation, hope and encouragement, following her visit and time spent with us.
We also, once again, pay tribute to those many children, staff, parents, grandparents, families and members of the wider school community, for your wonderful generosity, compassion, giving and thinking of others. May we always be voices and people of hope and justice, especially for the most vulnerable people in our world, today.
