At its summer meeting the Bishops' Appeal, the Church of Ireland's principal vehicle for supporting the developing world, made grants totalling over £60,000 to three projects in Africa and one in Asia.
A grant was made to Mid-Africa Ministry, which is working in southern Burundi, where unrest has led to great suffering. The parishes of Makamba and Munyange are caring for some 8,000 people and the support of the Bishops' Appeal will provide clothing, cooking utensils and medicines.
The Church Missionary Society of Ireland is working in Kenya where 500,000 mainly Masai people are suffering from drought and famine. Assistance has been provided for a diocesan feeding programme. CMSI is also working in Uganda where a construction unit has been established. The intention is to recruit and train workers for local building contracts.
Up to 95 per cent of the drinking water in Bangladesh has been contaminated and Christian Aid is involved in a four-year project to educate local communities and enable them to secure safe drinking water.
Today at 12.30 in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, the choir of St Mary's Church, Hendon, will give a recital. At 8 p.m., and nightly, except Sundays until August 3rd, the Galloglass Theatre Company will perform its highly acclaimed production of Gulliver's Travels.
Tomorrow's service in St Patrick's will be sung by the choir of St Mary's Church, Hendon, while in Christ Church Cathedral the visiting choir will be the St Edmund Singers from England.
On Monday the annual conference of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland begins in the Church of Ireland College of Education in Dublin. The society is an interdenominational organisation which brings together the hymn traditions of many churches.
As part of this tradition, there will be a "Songs of Praise" service in Christ Church Cathedral on Wednesday at 7.30 p.m. The service is open to all and BBC Radio 2 plans to record it and use selections in its regular Sunday Half-Hour programme. The presenter, the Rev Roger Royle, will do interviews for the programme.
The Ardamine union of parishes will hold its summer bazaar in Riverchapel Community Centre, Co Wexford, on Wednesday evening.
The second recital in the 20th Festival of Classical Music in St Barrahane's Church, Castletownshend, Co Cork, will be given on Thursday evening. The concert will feature Ioana Petcu-Colan (violin) and Antoinette Baker (organ).
The Dublin diocesan office, in Church of Ireland House, will be closed until Tuesday, August 15th.
A collection of Cork sermons, which includes the retirement sermon of the former bishop of Cork, the Right Rev Roy Warke, has been published by St Fin Barre's Cathedral.
Sermons 1998/99 is available from the cathedral shop and contains sermons by Bishop Warke and his successor, the Right Rev Paul Colton, as well as contributions from the Archdeacon of Cork, the Ven Robin Bantry Whit, and the Dean of Cork, the Very Rev Michael Jackson. All proceeds will go to the Cathedral Restoration Fund.