A minute’s reflection

THERE is some debate currently as to whether the Angelus should continue to be broadcast on RTÉ.

I would like to forward an honest and personal argument for keeping it.

My father, Jack McCarthy, when working for the then Department of Posts and Telegraphs, set up the Angelus in the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin in 1950.

He later sat with my mother in a bedsit on Harrington Street waiting for the first broadcast, anxiously praying that it would work.

It did – and still does.

My father passed away last December, so it has caused dismay to my mother and family that some people want to discontinue the Angelus on RTÉ.

For many of us the Angelus means nothing – for a few it means a lot.

The Angelus is not a call to prayer but 60 seconds for a person of any religion to reflect on her or his day.

I don’t hear it very often, but when I do it brings back great memories. But then that’s just me.

Paul McCarthy

Sundays Well Road

Cork