Ireland Update
From Dennis S. in Dublin:
St. Patrick’s meeting has exploded. We now officially have two rooms assigned to LifeRing. We are turning out 30-40 people per evening. Need to get some of their people as convenors. James the main convenor is just brilliant. He has a way of conducting a meeting that grabs people.
Tuesday at the Central Mission just maxed out with 21 in attendance this week. We will have another room available for overflow if this continues. We are using a month or bi-month rotation system for convenors there. It is more or less a training ground for convenors. Maggie is developing the convenor crew at this meeting.
Wednesday at Stanhope is problematic. The time is odd at 2:30 pm. We will have a convenor problem in the fall when Deb goes back to college. She is splitting time with me at the moment. This meeting is only getting about 6 people. (I know we are really complaining because of the size of the other groups). There is a possibility that this meeting will be moved to the Mission during the evenings at 7:30 or 8 pm. It would be more available to people.
The new meeting at St. John of God hospital should be up and running on Monday, 12th July. The staff are already sending people out at night to attend the Mission meeting. They are really excited about offering LifeRing as an alternative to the 12-step groups. Everyone in the administration is pushing for this. I will be doing a presentation to the clients on 7th July using the 17 slide presentation I developed for delivery at a college in Pittsburgh (USA) last fall.
On June 30th, I will have a table at a neighborhood health fair. We were invited by a woman who is now familiar with LifeRing as she is a therapist. I am attending an AWARE facilitator training session this weekend as an observer. This group is a self-help group dealing with depression in Ireland. They have asked for a literature table to be set up by LifeRing.
There has been some interest from a St. Patrick’s satellite clinic in Cork for a meeting there. The therapist and I have been playing telephone tag. Not sure how to do a meeting there as we cannot run it out of Dublin. Sober time for a convenor may be an issue there.
i want to say thank you to all in the thursday meeting in st. pats for your support. i am doing ok in coolmine and i will be back in 2-3 weeks. i hope all off you the best and hope you are all well. talk soon.
Ialso attend Lifering meetings in dublin . I am both delighted and relieved to have found this forum. I look forward to the future and the continued growth of Lifering and the continuation of my sober life with the help of my new friends.
Louis
I am attending Lifering in Dublin for three months now,it has changed my life around. Dennis James and Maggie, not forgetting Maureen are wonderful people who give me great support. I would love to be a convenor at some stage. Lifering will grow in Ireland. Regards Ken.
I love lifering…Dennis r James can u fone me please?x
Hello All
Just a few words to let all now it is great to see that something new is happining for all who are of balance
LifeRing has been the single most profound thing to happen to me since I began my recovery. The meetings are a highlight of my week in sobriety, and it’s a pleasure to be involved with the organisation. Many thanks for posting this, Dennis.