By Paul O’Donovan
There was great activity around Fore on Tuesday of last week, 30th of July. An RTÉ film crew were present, along with former president of Ireland Mary McAleese for a special recording of RTÉ’s forthcoming series ‘All Walks of Life’.
Many locals also attended, and after filming, Mary McAleese spent time chatting to the locals and enjoying the wonderful tea and refreshments provided by Jane O’Reilly at Fore Coffee Shop.
‘All Walks of Life’ is a new RTÉ series where the former president of Ireland interviews individuals about their lives while walking along ancient Irish pilgrimage routes.
So on Tuesday of last week, RTÉ recorded Mary McAleese walking along St Feichin’s Way in Fore with Minister Helen McEntee.
The recording included a talk with local man PJ O’Reilly about the history and hertiage of Fore.
After the recording of the walk, Mary McAleese and Minister McEntee as well as the RTÉ crew returned to Fore Abbey Coffee Shop where they, and approximately twenty local people who were invited along, were treated to tea and lunch by Jane O’Reilly.
During lunch, Mary McAleese, who was the second female president of Ireland from November 1997 until November 2011, chatted with the locals about their lives and about the local area.
Jane O’Reilly was ably assisted in Fore Coffee Shop by her son, William and daughter, Bibi, as well as Jean Fox and Orla Fox.
One of the items highlighted on the programme was the recent ‘Green Ribbon Walk’ and Alice Nerney spoke about this walk which was organised by the Irish Farm Family. Alice spoke about the importance of such a walk at Fore, which brought together farmers and gave them the opportunity of a social gathering and the chance to talk, during a time when rural isolation needs to be overcome. The Green Ribbon Walk which was held in Fore recently was a great success.
The RTÉ series ‘All Walks of Life’ is being recorded by RTÉ at various locations across Ireland and will be screened on TV sometime during the autumn.