An inspirational and surprisingly entertaining (sic!) night was had by about 60 parents who arrived on Thursday last at St Brendan’s National School, Rathcoole to listen to a talk by John Lonergan and Caroline Crotty.
John, who was governor of Mountjoy Prison for 24 years, and Caroline, a psychology counselor for teens and adults, gave a refreshing and honest talk titled “Parenting – the challenges and the rewards.”
Both parents themselves, they gave sound advice on many challenges today’s parents face: social media related risks, drugs, peer pressure.
They also focused on simple and wonderful joys parenthood brings. After all you only need two measures to check your children against: health and happiness.
The views they shared were simple and yet so witty and true. They held their audience captivated for the whole time. Serious nods from the parents mixed with outbursts of laughter at real life anecdotes.
It was a great night for parents to attend.
Thank you to Noreen O’Rahilly and the Parent’s Association for organising and hosting this event.
For anyone wanting more of this popular and well-presented talk, there is a book Mr. Lonergan wrote: Parenting: Raising Your Child in Ireland Today, published by Orpen Press. All proceeds from sales go to the child charity Barnardos so it is a double gain.
– with thanks to Ola for the article & photos
