Clonfert Diocese/ Greater Ballinasloe Area

Enrolment Opportunity for Young People

Young people, aged ten years and older who are in 5th / 6th class, and who have parental / guardian consent, are very welcome to enrol as Young Pioneers at our upcoming Holy Mass and Social Get Together on Friday 7th June, 7 – 8.30 pm in The Emerald Ballroom, Ballinasloe. H53 KC98.

Young Pioneers commit to four things:

  • abstain from alcohol until their eighteenth birthday
  • abstain from illegal drugs for life
  • pray for people afflicted by addiction
  • give witness to the love of God by wearing a special pin.

Some also opt to join our local youth club. See www.creideamh.ie/youth-club for details.

At this time our Youth Co-ordinators (Niall, Francis, Anne and Justin) are available to make a short presentation to pupils and /or parents /guardians so as to help everyone in making an informed choice. Please contact Justin on 087 6171526 / pioneers@creideamh.ie if you would like to avail of this presentation.

More details concerning the Holy Mass at which children will be able to take the pledge can be found below.

More information for parents and teachers also provided below.

Notice for Pioneer Jubilarians May /June 2024

If you are marking ten, twenty-five, fifty or sixty years as a Pioneer and would like to have the special pin, clasp, brooch or medal associated with your jubilee blessed and presented at our celebration of the Eucharist on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart (see below) there are three things you need to do:

Step 1
If you do not have the relevant pin and certificate please purchase from the Pioneer Shop and have them posted to you.  Please ring 01 805 4226 or email shop@pioneers.ie or place your order online at https://www.pioneers.ie/purchasepinscerts . 

Related costs are as follows:

Ten Years Membership
 10 year Clasp 15.00
 10 year Diploma 4.00

25 years / Silver Jubilee
Silver Pin 40.00
Silver Clasp 40.00
Silver Brooch 40.00
Silver Diploma 4.00

50 years / Golden Jubilee
Silver Gilt/Gold Plated Pin 42.00
Silver Gilt/Gold Plated Clasp 42.00
Silver Gilt/Gold Plated Brooch 42.00
Gold Diploma 4.00
50 years 9ct Gold Pin 199.00
9ct Clasp 199.00
9ct Brooch 199.00

60 years / Diamond Jubilee
Diamond Clasp 20.00
Diamond Certificate 4.00

60 or more years membership
Fr Cullen Medal 45.00
Fr Cullen Certificate 4.00

Step 2
Contact Justin Harkin on 087 6171526 / pioneers@creideamh.ie on or before Monday 3rd June to communicate that you have your pin, clasp, brooch, medal and/or certificate and that you desire to have them blessed and be presented with same at our celebration of the Eucharist at 7 pm on 7th June (see below for more details).

Step 3
You will need to be present in The Emerald Ballroom, Ballinasloe, at 6.30 pm on Friday 7th June, i.e. a half-hour before our Holy Mass. You will be asked for your pin, clasp, medal or brooch and / or certificate so that it can be placed near the altar for blessing.

Pins will be presented by the President of the Pioneer Assocation, Ms Frances Egan, after Communion and before the final blessing. Photographs will also be taken.

Family members of Pioneers marking Jubilees are most welcome and we would be delighted if you joined in our social gathering immediately after the presentation of pins etc.

Celebration of the Eucharist & Social Get-Together on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart (Friday 7th June 2024)

On Friday 7th June, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, our annual holy Mass of thanksgiving will take place in The Emerald Ballroom, Fairgreen, Ballinasloe, H53 KC98 at 7 pm and will be followed by a Social Gathering in the ballroom.

During this Mass there will be an opportunity for interested young people who have parent / guardian support and interested adults to become members of our association, and for all current members to renew their pledge and promise to pray daily for persons impacted by addiction to alcohol and illegal drugs.

There will also be a presentation of pins and certificates to Pioneers who wish to mark special jubilees (see above).

Everyone who wishes to pray, worship and socialise with us is most welcome to join us for this celebration.

Following a diocesan wide consultative meeting in Gullane’s Hotel, Ballinasloe, on 4th July 2023, a PTAA Clonfert Diocesan Council was formed to support Pioneer activities and promotion of membership in the diocese going forward.

Chairperson
Sean Kelly (Clontuskert)
Deputy Chairperson
Niall Duddy (Killimordaly-Clooncagh),
Secretary & Youth Co-ordinator
Justin Harkin  (Ballinasloe-Creagh)
Spiritual Director
Fr John Naughton PE
Other Council Members
Ann Gately (Laurencetown-Kiltormer)
Francis Donohue (Duniry-Abbey)

NEXT EVENT

7 – 8.30 pm, Friday June 7th
Celebration of Annual Mass of Thanksgiving and Social Get Together (see above) with opportunities for newcomers to join, existing pioneers to renew membership, and Julibarians to have pins etc. blessed and be recognised for their longstanding commitment.

ALL WELCOME

CURRENT INITIATIVES

Establishment of Ballinasloe & District PTAA Youth Club and related youth initiatives. See www.creideamh.ie/youth-club for details.

Oversight of Drug Awareness workshops led by personnel of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Drug Awareness Iniiative for Sixth Class pupils and their parents

Outreach to Young People through presentations in Primary Schools and other youth friendly initiatives (ongoing)

NOTE TO PARENTS & GUARDIANS OF CHILDREN INTERESTED IN JOINING PTAA

For many years it was customary for Catholic families, schools and parishes to encourage children to take a pledge refraining from alcohol until their eighteenth year and to abstain from illegal drugs for life at the time of their Confirmation.

While fear of the effects of alcohol and drug misuse provides a sound basis for such encouragement, there is also another basis, a spiritual one rooted in love of God and neighbour. This is the way of the PTAA.

Mindful of this and greatly encouraged by Bishop Michael Duignan, the Ballinasloe PTAA Centre embarked on a special project last year that is continuing this year.

With support from varioust people, e.g. parents, clergy, teachers and school principals we continuue to seek opportunities to introduce as many 5th and 6th Class pupils as possible to our Association and its spirituality.

Last year’s outreach culminated in forty-two Young People choosing to join us on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, each child having reflected upon what is involved with a parent or guardian. Twelve has also gone on to form a Ballinasloe & District Pioneer Youth Club that meets fortnight during the school year.

If you are a parent of a child between the ages of ten and fourteen and this is your first time to hear about this outreach, and you would like your child and his or her friends to know more about the PTAA please contact our Youth Co-ordinator (details below) and we will see what we can do to support you.

INFORMATION FOR PRINCIPALS AND SIXTH CLASS TEACHERS

If you would like to to arrange a free in-school age-appropriate PowerPoint presentation on the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart for your Fifth and Sixth Class pupils during 2023/2024 please contact Justin Harkin on 087 6171526 / pioneers@creideamh.ie .

The PowerPoint presentation is timed to take twenty to twenty-five minutes and our presenters (who are Garda Vetted) are open to following the presentation with a ten-minute conversation with the children.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR EXISTING PIONEERS AND ADULTS INTERESTED IN JOINING / REJOINING PTAA

If you would like to register with our Diocesan Council so as to be informed of upcoming events, meetings etc. please forward a text or email request to the Council at 087 6171526 / pioneers@creideamh.ie .

Any adult over 18 who has abstained from alcohol for at least one year in the immediate prior period may apply for lifelong membership. The commitment sought of members is:

  • to abstain from all alcoholic drink
  • to wear the Pioneer emblem
  • recite the Pioneer prayer twice daily

Some members also choose to participate in Pioneer social gatherings, e.g. an annual ball, and / or spiritually nourishing events, e.g. retreat days, but these are not essential to membership.

Photo Gallery (2023 / 2024)

WELCOMING OF NEW MEMBERS, JUNE 16th 2023

John Weldon (Knights of St. Columbanus), Muredach Tuffy, Chairperson, The Board of Management, PTAA) with persons mentioned above following our Social Gathering to welcome new members on 16th June 2023.

The evening of Friday 16th June 2023 (Solemnity of the Sacred Heart) was very special for us as we welcomed forty-two young people from various parishes in the Clonfert diocese into our Assocation .

The enrolment ceremony took place during a specially organised Holy Mass in St. Michael’s Church, Ballinasloe. Our guest presider was Most Rev. Michael Duignan, Bishop of Clonfert and Galway dioceses, and our guest homilist, Fr. Robert McCabe, Central Spiritual Director of our Association(PTAA herein).

We acknowledge the wonderful support of St. Grellan’s (Ballinasloe & District) Council of the Knights of St. Columbanus and Ballinasloe Credit Union in relation to this endeavour.

Fr John Naughton Clonfert Diocese’s PTAA Spiritual Director, Fr. John Garvey PP, Ballinasloe-Creagh parish, Niall Duddy, PTAA Clonfert Diocesan Council and Josephine Carroll (new PTAA Adult member) pictured with new and existing members of Ballinasloe & District PTAA Youth Club after the Association’s Clonfert Christmas Mass and Social Get Together in The Emerald Ballroom, Ballinasloe, on Friday 15th December 2023.
Fr. Robert McCabe, Central Spiritual Director of the PTAA (left), Bishop Michael Duignan (Clonfert & Galway dioceses) and Mr. Francis Donohue (PTAA Clonfert Diocesan Council) pictured with members of Ballinasloe Pioneer Centre during a social gathering in Gullane’s Hotel, Ballinasloe, to formally welcome the forty-two young people of parishes of the Clonfert diocese who enrolled in the Pioneer Assocation during a special Mass in St. Michael’s Church, Ballinasloe, on 16th June (Feast of the Sacred Heart) 2023. Adults seated (left to right): Ms Sheila Walsh (Ballinasloe & District PTAA Secretary), Justin Harkin (Youth Co-ordinator, PTAA Clonfert Diocesan Council), Ms Agnes Duignan (Ballinasloe & DistrictPTAA Chairperson), Ms Ann Downey and Elizabeth Campbell (Ballinasloe & District PTAA Centre).

Winners of our Primary Schools and Clubs’ Quiz Competitions 2024 in The Emerald Ballroom, Ballinasloe, on Thursday 29th March.

Young and Adult Pioneers pictured with Bishop Kevin Doran in Donamon Castle following our shared retreat day with Pioneers of the Elphin Diocese on Saturday 6th April 2024.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart was founded in 1898 in Gardiner Street, Dublin, by Fr James Cullen SJ, Mrs Anne Egan, Miss Lizzie Power, Mrs Mary Bury and Mrs A.M. Sullivan.

The primary aim of the Association  is the promotion of sobriety and temperance through:

  • faith and prayer;
  • self-denial leading to inner freedom;
  • setting beneficial example to others;
  • presenting alternatives to the drinking and drug scene, particularly to young people.

The duty of a Pioneer is to build a society where people live to their full potential. We reach out to those who suffer from alcohol-related harm.

The Pioneer, like all Christians, is convinced that the love of God, as revealed in Jesus, is central to their lives.

For more information please visit www.pioneers.ie .

FURTHER ENQUIRIES

Please contact the PTAA Clonfert Council via Justin Harkin (Secretary) on 087 6171526 / pioneers@creideamh.ie .

Updated: 18th May 2024