Press Releases14 Sep 10

Dublin & Glendalough Mothers' Union Live Broadcast RTE

It was a beautiful summers morning on August the 22nd as the Mothers' Union members gathered in the RTÉ studios to broadcast their live service.

RTÉ approached June Empey (Faith and Policy Co ordinator for Dublin & Glendalough) to see if the Mothers' Union would be interested in taking part in a live service. Once agreed June set about the large task of co-ordinating the whole event with much help from Joy Gordon.  

The live service provided the Mothers' Union with the opportunity to both promote and celebrate the  the work that they do.

Joy Gordon  states that “I was overwhelmed with the responsibility I had been given and I was also  overwhelmed by the support and encouragement of MU members throughout all the Dioceses. We were all pushed way outside our comfort zones and I certainly never thought I would ever be conducting a service on RTÉ.  I always believed that Mothers' Union would rise to any challenge!! I am really pleased that the hard work and sleepless nights paid off on the day. I very much appreciate the time and effort that everybody put into the preparation including  the singing rehearsals/music, the readers, and of course the interviewees! Special mention must be made to June Empey.  She worked tirelessly and put an unimaginable amount of time and effort into this service. We are all greatly indebted to her for co coordinating this whole event and we would like to mention that she deeply appreciated the help and support she got from the very pleasant staff in RTÉ”.

Joy Gordon led the service and there was also an opportunity for Joy to interview Sandra Knaggs, Jean Thompson and Sandra Doran on what the Mothers' Union meant to them, why did they join and what work the Mothers' Union does locally. It was also very nice to have Valerie Twomey playing the piano and Pam McKinley singing a solo so beautifully.- both Mothers' Union members."

The Mothers' Union would like to also add that due to the restrictions in numbers in RTÉ studios only two members could attend from each branch. We were very sorry for this disappointment and thank everyone for their understanding and good wishes.

We closed with the powerful words from Mary Sumner and through the RTÉ service, “I hope we touched as many lives as possible ,through the words we spoke, the prayers we breathe and the life we live”.  

Issued by Caroline Farrar
PRO Mothers' Union Dublin/Glendalough [email protected]

You can view this service on RTE Player Live:
http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1078989.