Fr Brendan Callanan appointed new administrator of St Joseph’s Redemptorist Church, Dundalk

Fr Brendan Callanan

Fr Brendan Callanan, CSsR has been appointed the new administrator of St Joseph’s Church in Dundalk.

Fr Brendan was ordained a Redemptorist priest in 1972 before departing for Brazil, where he worked in a parish with the Formation of Young Redemptorists until 1993.

He then returned to Ireland and was Provincial from then until 1999. He lived in Clonard Monastery from 2000 to 2002 before returning to Brazil in August 2002.

He did parish work there and in January 2007 went to Suriname to work with Redemptorists from other provinces until August 2011.

He work in Brazil again from 2011 to January of this year but will now take up residence in St Joseph’s on the Alphonsus Road.

Fr Callanan will work alongside Fr Michael J Cusack, CSsR, who last month was reappointed as Superior of St Joseph’s for the next four years.

Dundalk IT students to perform at world music conference today

The DkIT Ceol Oirghialla Traditional Music Ensemble performing in America recently

Students from Dundalk IT will be representing Ireland at the World Conference of the International Society for Music Education later today.

This is the first time that Ireland will be represented at what is the largest music education event in the world.

This year’s event is taking place in Porto Alegre in Brazil with the DkIT Ceol Oirghialla Traditional Music Ensemble flying in on Friday.

As well as performing at the conference, they will facilitate workshops and perform with local groups Bando Celta and Irish Fellas.

Director of the Ensemble, Dr Daithí Kearney said the experience “will provide staff and students the opportunity to engage with music education on the world stage, highlighting the quality of education available in Ireland.”

Ireland boss O’Neill to visit Dundalk this Thursday

Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny with Ireland boss Martin O’Neill

Ireland manager Martin O’Neill be at Oriel Park this Thursday night to take in Dundalk’s Europa League clash with Hadjuk Split.

The game is the first item on his agenda after working in Brazil as a pundit for ITV during the World Cup.

News of O’Neill’s pending trip to Dundalk was revealed in this morning’s Irish Independent, who suggest he will use the match as an opportunity to cast his eye over some of Dundalk’s young guns.

One of O’Neill’s predecessors, Mick McCarthy, was also in Oriel last week to take in Dundalk’s victory over AS Jeunesse Esch.

Steve Staunton the World Cup record breaker

We might not be there but that doesn’t mean that World Cup fever isn’t set to grip the nation ahead of tonight’s opening game between Brazil and Croatia at 9pm.

Between betting, busters and just sheer general interest, we’ll all have our say on the tournament over the next few weeks.

The big question remains whether Dundalk’s very own Steve Staunton will have his record broken.

The former Liverpool and Aston Villa star – who played at Italia 90, USA 94 and Japan and South Korea in 2002 – has drawn more World Cup games than any player in the history of the tournament with eight.

The stat was revealed by the good folks over at Balls.ie, who also revealed that Robbie Keane (3) has scored as many World Cup goals as Cristiano Ronaldo (2), Lionel Messi (1) and Wayne Rooney (0) combined and that Ireland hold the record for the highest ever finish at a World Cup despite not winning a match (1990).

Sharon Corr to quit The Voice

Sharon Corr on The Voice

Sharon Corr has announced that she is leaving her role as judge on RTÉ show The Voice.

The Dundalk musician has been a part of the show for the first two seasons but told fans today that she will not be returning later this year due to her own music commitments.

All good things come to an end,”she wrote on her personal website.

“I have absolutely loved being a coach on The Voice of Ireland. What an amazing show!

“The first two seasons were quite the roller coaster ride – we took it from concept stage to the number one television program in the country and I could not be more proud.

“I am very excited to be releasing my new album The Same Sun, there are a lot of promotional activities scheduled and I am embarking on a world tour very soon, so unfortunately, I cannot be with you all this season – I wish everyone involved good luck and I look forward to seeing you all again in the future.

“P.S. I will most sincerely miss kicking Kian Egan’s ass! And nodding off to Bressie’s soliloquies – Ha!,” she joked.

The 43-year-old, who shot to fame with family act The Corrs, is currently touring and will play dates in Germany, Brazil and Indonesia in the next two months.

Locals head for Brazil to build new homes

A group of youngsters from Dundalk set off this morning for Brazil, where they will be spending the next month building new homes for the impoverished there.

For a few of them, they had a chance encounter with top Irish act the Original Rudeboys while waiting for their flight from Dublin Airport.

Pictured above are Jane Arthur, Eva Gallagher, Aimee Crawford and Katie Bailey with the Dublin-based trio, who performed in Dundalk as recently as last weekend in Oriel Park.

Best of luck to the four girls on their trip and here’s hoping this is the first of many great memories to come.

Happy birthday Andrea

Today is Andrea Corr’s birthday. The youngest member of The Corrs is celebrating turning 39.

Does that make you feel old?

On Corr-related news, the Brazilian fan of the band who travelled here from his homeland to meet Sharon Corr recently has been interviewed about the experience on RTÉ Radio. You can listen to his experience on the John Murray Show here.

Previously: Corr, that’s a long way to come to meet our Sharon!

Corr, that’s a long way to come to meet our Sharon!

The article in this week’s Argus

The Argus has an interesting story this week after reporting that a 27-year-old had travelled the whole way from Brazil to meet his idol, Sharon Corr.

Ivo Marcio Silva Ferreira came to Ireland in March and met the Dundalk-born singer/songwriter and fiddle player on the set of The Voice of Ireland.

Ivo is part of a band called Arthica, who are heavily influenced by The Corrs and he plays piano, tin whistle and bodhran in the band.

Ivo wore a green Sharon Corr t-shirt when meeting his idol and the Voice of Ireland judge knew his name after he told her that he would wear it to meet her via Twitter a while earlier.

Ivo also visited Dundalk on his trip to Ireland to see where it all started for the band.

Check out Ivo’s band Arthica in the video below…

Source: The Argus