The river level was 3.15 Metres on Monday morning. The forecast for the week is for dry weather with frost at night and winds from the north east. Temperatures 6 to 9 C.

Francey Devery from The Point, Clonlyon, died at the weekend. It is said that he was the oldest person in the parish and he will be buried in Clonmacnois after 11.00 am Mass.

May he rest in peace.

A postcard from India arrived Monday morning with a picture of a colourfully decorated Nandi Bull on a beach in India being led by its owner who is blowing into a clarinet type bugle. A message on the backside (of the postcard) says “on its way to play at Killeens on Friday night” Ben F.

Gerry Casey and his Tipperary friend John fished on the River Suck on Saturday and on the River Shannon on Sunday. They were a little disappointed with their catch on their first outing for the year but John told us that they were going back to the Suck next weekend. Got a welcome phone call from England on Saturday afternoon.. A familiar voice asked if they might book the self- catering house for the last weekend in June. A check showed that the week was vacant and when I asked who was calling he was surprised that I had not recognised him as he has been coming for twenty years. Anyhow it turned out to be Dave Ruffles and he said that they had not been over for the past two years so they will be more than welcome.

Oliver Hilliard is busy working away at his annual masterpiece “The golfer’s Guide to Open Fixtures” which presents in a neat diary form all the golf courses in Ireland that have open fixtures on that day. Golfers can save an amount on green fees if they use the guide.

Jim Wilson wrote an article “In the wild” in the newspaper at the weekend and he dealt with” The Bullfinch”. He had a photograph of the male bird which looked pretty and he said that they like to eat seeds and buds. Usually found in hedgerows and woods Jim Wilson tells that they like to feed on buddleia bushes and in his garden he avoids cutting their buddleia until the end of February. This way they enjoy the beauty of a bullfinch which visits them every year .Must get a few buddleia bushes going when Colin returns

Jim Wilson has a website www.irishwildlife.net.

Then on today’s paper another article tells that a number of colourful birds including the bullfinch are in danger due to people trapping them and selling them as caged birds.

John Waters mentioned the “O Donnell Abu” signature tune on the Ryan Tubridy radio- show the other morning and neither of them seemed to know much about it except the air which is used by RTE radio now and again. There is some information about the war song on this sight including the words. Of course it was written by a Shannonbridge man Michael Mc Cann.

Louise exited the “You’re a Star” competition on Sunday night and the presenter asked her to finish up the programme by singing her showstopper song. She made a great job of it and I felt if she had sang it as well in the competition earlier she might have progressed into the last four. But it was not to be.