6th Year Retreat to Emmaus

The 6th year retreat to Emmaus began with a short bus journey to Swords, the location of the Emmaus centre. Located at the centre of several acres of parkland, the centre was surprisingly modern, considering I had expected some kind of dilapidated religious building maintained by old nuns. At the retreat itself I had been expecting a boring brother or nun run super religious experience, however luckily this wasn't the case. It began with the cheesy sounding 'Emmaus Bingo.' We each had cards onto which different abilitys were printed. The first person to fill their card up with people who then had to prove this ability was the winner. Watching people perform their

different 'talents' was probably the funniest part of the retreat. We were then split up into small groups, going to smaller classrooms for what I suppose you would call 'group sessions,' although again the name implies a lot more cheesiness then there actually was. Explaining exactly what we did at these sessions would be ruining the surprise for next years students, but I can say that it involved explaining why I hate wasps. We were allowed outside for a small while to play football and basketball, after which we went for food in the canteen. The food was very good, a chicken curry so good it was almost a religious experience. The day ended with a

meditation, which was amazingly relaxing, so much so that some people fell asleep even though they were lying on a wooden floor. Finishing at 3, we then returned to school and home. As an experience I would recommend the retreat to Emmaus to anyone. While many may be put off just because its school organised, I found that the retreat allowed me to get to know my classmates a lot better. If you get nothing else out of this day, you will at least get the opportunity to enjoy school a little more with classmates you can say you know well.

Andrew Linn.

Clash of the Ash

After a successful year with the school's hurling team, and just when things were winding down, four aces from St. Aidan's got the nod for the Dublin Colleges Under 14 team. The students included Aaron Jesson, Niall O' Donnell, Steven Goff and James O' Sullivan.

In the first test they overcame Birr Community College. This set up a meeting with Westmeath Colleges and they saw the challengers off after the St. Aidan's quartet produced a stunning display of athleticism. Between the

quartet they contributed 1.4 to the overall score. This set up a semi-final clash with Banagher and the again this game produced success the boys making their mark. In the Leinster final they beat Laois Colleges. This was a remarkable achievement for the team as they have never got out of the group stages so to win the Leinster 'B' title was really sweet.

This resulted in a clash Leinster 'A' semi-final clash with Kilkenny C.B.S. and the team put up a super performance to win 5.17- 5.7.

The final was played at Dr. Cullen park against the kingpins of Leinster Schools Hurling, St. Ciaran's, Kilkenny. After a great battle the Dublin boys came out on top by 11 points, with St. Aidan's man Steven Goff scoring the killer goal late in the game. This was a truly outstanding achievement for these fine young men and will lay down a solid foundation for the schools challenges next year.

Mr. James Carmody