We'd like to extend our grateful thanks again to all those who supported the OYS this year in our Annual Fundraising Draw.  The funds raised will, as always, help support our projects both at home in the Province and abroad - details of which can be seen on this site.

1^st Prize - G. O'Connor, Co. Limerick, Ireland

2^nd Prize - Nelly Keelly, Co. Wexford, Ireland

3^rd Prize - Kathleen Casey, Co. Dublin, Ireland

4^th Prize - Liam Carey, Co. Meath, Ireland

Congratulations to all of our winners, who will be contacted shortly.  Also our sincerest thanks to those who kindly donated and sponsored our prizes especially Cityjet and the Hilton Belfast.

Best of luck to the OYS members participating in the final phase of the Streetwise rebuild.  In the last phase of a 5-year project, a group of tradesmen from Birr, Co. Offaly led by OYS member Padraig McIntyre and assisted by members Gareth Rooney, Kieran Shine and Ann Lynch are heading out to Durban, South Africa to reroof the home for street children which was badly needed.  The OYS have contributed €10,000 to the project from projects like the Annual Members Draw and the Christmas Wreath Sale.  Thanks are due to the lads from Birr and especially Padraig for agreeing to run the project.  More info on Streetwise is available in the Africa>Streetwise section.

Following on from the extremely successful handmade Christmas Wreath sale last Christmas, we are running it again this year.  Based in the parishes of St. Michael's, Mary Immaculate and Bluebell, the Christmas Wreaths will be sold at the masses on the weekend of the 6th and 7th December.  Proceeds are going to our African projects.

Our sincerest thanks to Ed McMahon for agreeing to coordinate such a logistical nightmare again this year!!!  Thanks also to the Oblates for allowing us to flog a worthwhile cause at the masses!!

If you would like to get involved in any capacity (e.g. selling Wreaths at masses, decorating the Wreaths etc.) contact details are on Events page.  Please get involved!!!

Folks,

The OYS are holding our Annual General Meeting 2008 on Saturday 22^nd November at 6pm in the Annex in Mary Immaculate, Inchicore (the big room in the big house).

The AGM is a critically important event for the general membership of the OYS as it allows the Executive Committee (the group which coordinates and steers the OYS) to update the members on what the EC has done and is planning to do for the following year.  The AGM follows a standard format for a typical volunteer organisation like ourselves.  The Director(s) will address any housekeeping issues and this will be followed by the Treasurer's Report (which explains the financial position of the OYS) and the Secretary's Report (which provides a brief summation of the OYS activities to date and a proposed plan for the following year).  Most importantly, the floor is passed over to the membership for a 'q and a' style discussion.

For those of you who were present at last years AGM, you may remember that this session stemmed, among other things, the growth of the Christmas Wreath Project, a highly successful fundraising venture in the Inchicore parishes and which will be repeated this Christmas.

Therefore, we encourage everybody to attend.  It doesn't matter whether you've only been to Lourdes for the first time this year or whether you're straying the wrong side of the 'Youth' in OYS!  You're contribution is invaluable and critically important to the continuation of the OYS.

If you intend on dropping in to the AGM please drop an email saying the same to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .  If you will be unable to attend but you have a point you wish to be raised or clarified, please drop an email to the above address as well.

Hope to see you all there!