Junior Pastoral Council (JPC)
Parish of Askeaton-Ballysteen
The JPC was set up on Holy Thursday, 28th March 2013. At the beginning it consisted of four from Fifth Year and five from Transition Year. Its purpose was to provide a forum for our young people to voice their own opinions and to represent the views of the other youth in the parish.
The JPC is re-formed each September, with a fresh intake of new members, mainly from Transition Year. Those who are now Leaving Certs may leave or remain on until Christmas, the decision being left to each individual. For this reason, the membership numbers vary each year and even during the year. It has gone from a highest number of 20 to a lowest number of nine (in its first year). We have always had an almost equal number of boys and girls.
It is particularly important that the JPC is involved in the decision-making process that affects themselves and not just in the implementing of decisions made by others. For this reason the JPC elects its own chairperson and secretary. Furthermore, and crucially, it sets its own agenda.
The central focus of the JPC is to come to know Jesus Christ better as a friend and to express his spirit of service in the community. The meetings are often held on a weekly basis during school term, though any particular JPC may decide to hold them less frequently. The meetings decide on and plan the activities of the JPC. As well as this the meeting will always include some prayer, usually a reflection and discussion on a passage of Scripture, and sometimes a discussion on a topic of general interest. We end with refreshments.
Because the JPC makes its own decisions, each year it tends to take on different activities. These have included: Youth Mass, visiting the nursing home, leading children in a Liturgy of the Word during Sunday Mass, raising money and buying presents for the homeless, organising a colouring competition at Christmas or Easter for children in the local National Schools, cleaning the Spiritual Garden of Remembrance, pilgrimages, participating in the Holy Week ceremonies. Most recently some members have participated in the Pope John Paul II Awards.
The JPC decided to hold a family quiz at the Community Hall on Sunday, 15th March 2020. All of the preparations were made: quiz master and questions, hall booked, spot prizes acquired, advertisements. However, Covid-19 intervened. The government imposed a national lock-down on 12th March, so the quiz had to be cancelled.
Due to the same Covid-19 Coronavirus society did not re-open fully in Ireland for the rest of 2020 and right into 2021. The result is that the JPC has been unable to meet.
After the 'Covid-19 break' the JPC was re-formed in October 2023. The first meeting was held on Wednesday, 9th November. Thereafter the meetings usually took place weekly, during school term, on Wednesdays at 5.30pm. As all the previous members of the JPC had moved on from post-primary it was, in effect, a completely fresh start. At the initial presentation 15 members of the Transtion Year were present and all 15 signed up to become members. In fact, not all of those 15 followed through on this but some extra members joined with the result that we wound up with a group of 14. After some settling in time they participated in Sunday Mass the week before Christmas, helped with the cleaning of the church for Christmas and the erection of the Crib. On an atrociously bad day in March they all turned up on a Friday after school to help with the weeding of the Spiritual Garden of Remembrance. Some have joined the Readers rota for Sunday Mass and six of the group read the text for the Stations of the Cross through the streets of Askeaton on Good Friday. Other activities have been planned and these will be entered as they occur.
Junior Pastoral Council: Membership
Current Members (Year 9): October 2022 to the present:
Transition years: Zach Birdthistle, Ellie Mae Brewer, Emma Hanley, Matthew Keaveney, Jessica Kinsella, Dean McCarthy Murphy, Cathal Moran, Libby Moran, Liam Óg O Sullivan, Conor Purcell, Sam Ryan, Faye Walsh, Patrick Whelan, Will Whelan.
Chair: Matthew Keaveney; Assistant Chair: Liam Óg O Sullivan; Secretary: Emma Hanley; Assistant Secratary: Libby Moran.
Leaders: Jack Neville; Fr. Seán Ó Longaigh.
Year 1 : the first members were:
Fifth Years : Conor Barry, Michael Grealish, Laura Neville, Paul Maher
Transition Years : Aoife Brosnan, Meagan Holland, Jack Neville, Cian O Mahony, Ciara Sweeney
Chair: Jack Neville; Secretary: Meagan Holland
Leaders: Ann Grealish; Fr. Seán Ó Longaigh
Year 2 : September 2013 to June 2014.
Leaving Cert s: Conor Barry, Michael Grealish, Paul Maher remained until Christmas 2013.
Fifth Years : Lisa Blackwell, Aoife Brosnan, Paul Doyle, Meagan Holland, Jack Neville, Robbie O Gorman, Ciara Sweeney.
Transition Years : Eoin Holland, Aisling Kiff, Trish Nestor, Jamie O Sullivan, Cian Smith
Chair: Jack Neville; Secretary: Meagan Holland
Leaders: Ann Grealish; Fr. Seán Ó Longaigh
Year 3 : September 2014 to June 2015
Leaving Certs : Lisa Blackwell, Paul Doyle, Meagan Holland, Jack Neville, Ciara Sweeney remained until Christmas 2014
Fifth Years : Eoin Holland, Aisling Kiff, Dylan Murphy, Trish Nestor, Brian O Mahony, Jamie O Sullivan, Cian Smith
Transition Years : Jeff Duggan, Chris Kelly, Darragh Ranahan, Colum Sweeney, Jack Walsh, Orla Walsh, Tara Walsh.
Chair: Eoin Holland; Secretary: Aisling Kiff
Leaders: Ann Grealish; Fr. Seán Ó Longaigh
Year 4 : September 2015 to June 2016
Leaving Certs : Eoin Holland, Aisling Kiff, Trish Nestor, Cian Smith remained until Christmas 2015
Fifth Years : (those who had been members in Transition Year all left, except Jeff Duggan who remained until we agreed that it wasn’t fair on him to be alone from his class)
Transition Years : Áine Blackwell, Bróna Gammell, Michelle Hanley, Stephen Holland, Monica Kelly, Rachel McCarthy, Evin Ó Cathasaigh, Laura O Shaughnessy, Jason Reidy, Kate Somers.
Chair: Eoin Holland/Evin Ó Cathasaigh; Secretary: Aisling Kiff/Stephen Holland
Leaders: Ann Grealish; Pauline Scanlon, Fr. Seán Ó Longaigh
Year 5 : September 2016 to June 2017
Leaving Certs: (none)
Fifth Years : Áine Blackwell, Stephen Holland, Jason Reidy.
Transition Years : Kevin Barry, Laura Barry, Jack Carrig, Sam Duggan, Agnes Fitzsimons, Susanne Foley, Claire Holland, Máiréad Keane, Paul Meehan, Slaney Mulcair, Paul O Shaughnessy, and Elaine Quinn who stayed until Christmas.
Chair: Stephen Holland; Secretary: Jason Reidy
Leaders: Ann Grealish; Pauline Scanlon; Fr. Seán Ó Longaigh
Year 6 : September 2017 to June 2018
Leaving Certs: (none)
Fifth Years : Agnes Fitzsimons, Susanne Foley, Claire Holland, Paul Meehan, Slaney Mulcair, Laura Barry, Kevin Barry (till Christmas), Jack Carrig (till Christmas).
Transition Years : Trevor Ezenduka, Ciara Madigan, Ajay Maune, Denise Moran, Caoimhe O Connell, Eddie Murphy O Connor, Cormac O Keeffe, Shawn Offor, Alex Ryan, Tomás Sheahan, Stephen Smith, Clodagh Tuohy.
Chair: Paul Meehan; Secretary: Susanne Foley
Leaders: Ann Grealish; Pauline Scanlon; Fr. Seán Ó Longaigh
Year 7 : October 2018 to June 2019
Leaving Certs : Claire Holland, Paul Meehan.
Fifth Years : Dylan Lenihan, Stephen Smith, Eddie Murphy O Connor
Transition Years : Chris Burke, Rachel Costello, Ellen Fitzsimons, Aisling Holland, Meadbh Keaveney.
Chair: Paul Meehan; Secretary: Rachel Costello
Leaders: Ann Grealish; Pauline Scanlon; Fr. Seán Ó Longaigh
Year 8: October 2019 to (March 2020)
Leaving Certs: Dylan Lenihan
Fifth Years: Aisling Holland, Rachel Costello, Christopher Burke
Transition Years: Daniel Blessing, Niall Barry, Jake Duggan, Áine Keaveney, Ellie Jay Carrig, Moira Holland, James O Donoghue, James Dundon, Kevin Omelianowicz
Chair: Christopher Burke; Assistant Chair: Rachel Costello; Secretary: Áine Keaveney; Assistant Secretary: Niall Barry
Leaders: Tom Fitzgerald, Ann Grealish; Pauline Scanlon; Fr. Seán Ó Longaigh