Today’s luncheon meeting has been cancelled, due to COVID 19 [Coronavirus] restrictions. A virtual meeting has been arranged by President Mariandy and Rotarian Dermot Knight. See emails from Mariandy and Dermot with instructions as to how to join in.

Today was to have been a New Members day and a Dolly Parton Foundation presentation. ALL FUTURE Luncheon meetings have been cancelled until further notice due to the current virus restrictions and guidelines the holding of meetings. 

 

President Mariandy Lennon chaired our meeting on Monday 9th March.  President Mariandy read the invocation prepared by Past President Randal Gray.

 

Forthcoming Speakers and Events 

16th March        No meeting due to St Patrick’s Day Holiday

30th March        No meeting due to COVID 19 restrictions.

6th April     No meeting due to COVID 19 restrictions.

8th April     Evening Meeting in Merrion Inn CANCELLED

8th-10th May      CANCELLED Leonardo de Vinci weekend in Vienna. CANCELLED.

9th April     The quiz in aid of Foundation has been deferred.

23rd May   Please note that Masquerade Ball has also been deferred until later in year.

 

Rotary Rangers Walks

All walks are cancelled until further notice due to COVID 19 restrictions and guidelines.

If interested, members and friends should contact Past President Brian George or Honorary Secretary Tony Keegan for further details about time and place to meet for any of the walks, WHEN THEY RESUME.

                                                                                                                                                                           

Visitors and Apologies

Hon. Secretary Tony Keegan presented apologies from PP Tony Gannon, Brian Taylor, Veronica Kunovska, PP Ken Hunt, PP Michael Carroll, VP Alexander Kopf, PP Kevin McAnallen, PP Randal Gray, PE Alan Davidson, Dorothy Hannon, PP Tom O’Neill, Rana AIDamin, PP Derek Griffith, PP Paul Martin, Patrick White, PP Ted Corcoran, Dermot Knight and David Booth.

 

We had no visitors on 9th March. 

 

Honorary Secretary’s Announcements

Honorary Secretary, Tony reminded there will be no lunch on Monday 16th March (due to the holiday weekend) and that the next scheduled luncheon meeting will be Monday 23rd March.  There was a meeting of Council on Monday 9th March.

 

President’s Announcements

President Mariandy advised that Past President Bernadette Mulvey and herself had attended the International Women’s Day breakfast in the Greenore/Rostrevor Citizens Centre, Pearse Street.  Mariandy also said that a most enjoyable evening meeting was held on Wednesday, 4th March in the Merrion Inn in which our new member Simone Nelson gave her introductory talk.

 

President Mariandy reminded the meeting that it was as recently as 1987 that Rotary admitted women to membership.  This had followed a court case in California where Rotary International was sued on the basis that refusal to admit women to membership was contrary to the law which promoted equality in business.  The Rotary Club Dublin, by a vote of 2:1 in favour, admitted women to membership in 1989.

 

Members Wishing to Speak

President Mariandy distributed cards to three members on Monday, 9th March (which occurred either before or after our last meeting) to mark the birthdays Past Presidents Ethna Fitzgerald and Brian George as well as your editor a Happy Birthday.  A resounding chorus of Happy Birthday was sung by the membership.

 

Past President Ethna Fitzgerald reminded the meeting of the part played by our former member Paulo Zanni in the planting of crocuses in the shape of capital R inside the railings of St. Stephen’s Green beside the Luas.  They had been planted as long ago as 2011 and, with the assistance of the Parks Department have been supplemented so that the capital R is clearly shown representing Rotary.  Visit the site just inside the railings while the crocus are still in full bloom.  President Bernadette confirmed and showed the members at her table the photograph on her phone.  Past President Bernadette has also put the photograph on her Facebook page.  Unfortunately, the sign or plaque erected by our club in 2011 was stolen two days after it was put in place.  It has not been replaced and members are invited to suggest how we can make better use of this opportunity, however brief, to publicise Rotary.

 

Last Week’s Speaker

Our speaker last Monday, 9th March, was Professor Eileen Gibney (eileen.gibney@ucd.ie) who, with her colleague, Simone Dunne (simone.dunne@ucdconnect.ie) presented a very interesting proposal to our members, and particularly those over fifty years of age who are also overweight and have a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 25.  The study is known as the Cheese Study Project within Food for Health Ireland at UCD.

 

As cheese is one of many dairy products consumed by two thirds of the Irish population, and is known to have beneficial effects on our health, the study aims to investigate the benefits of cheese consumption on various markers of heart health.  Previous research has shown a significant decrease in blood cholesterol levels, especially LDL-Cholesterol in participants who consumed cheese as part of their diet over a certain period of time.

 

Professor Gibney and Simone Dunne (who is a PhD Student) are seeking volunteers to participate in the new study.  Those taking parts will need to visit UCD twice.  Once at the beginning of the study and once at the end of six weeks.  On these visits, measurements such as height and weight along with a dietary assessment, will be taken as well as a blood sample.  Participants will then be given food to consume as part of their daily diet for six weeks.  At the end of the six weeks, participants will visit UCD again for the same measurement. 

 

Any of our members or attenders who wish to take part should contact Professor Gibney at the above email or at cheesestudy@ucd.ie or at 01-7162471.

 

In answer to a question, Professor Gibney said that the cheese to be provided will be cheddar or based on cheddar which is a good source of protein and calcium.  All will be fully explained to those who wish to participate and contact should be made via the above email or telephone number.

 

In response to another question as to whether there are exclusions, Professor Gibney explained that there would have to be exclusions for those on Cholesterol lowering medicine or certain other conditions that should be disclosed to the team.

 

In response to another question from Past President Ethna Fitzgerald as to why cheese, Professor Gibney answered that it is primarily for the variations in cheese which when looking at saturated fat, this can vary in different foods.  Benefits of cheese is that nutrients will need to be replaced if cheese removed from the diet.  Enzymes are needed to break down the cheese and this is of benefit because the fats get absorbed. 

 

Rotarian Roger Owens proposed the vote of thanks to Professor Gibney and Simone Dunne.  By way of praise, Roger said that the proposed study reminded him of Wallace and Gromit. In case, like your editor, you didn’t make the connection : Wallace saves Wensleydale. In the 1990s, sales had fallen so low that production was at risk of being suspended. ... When the 2005 full-length Wallace and Gromit film, Curse of the Were-Rabbit, was released, sales of Wensleydale cheeses jumped by 23% !!

 

Roger also mentioned that, when he was in China, cheese was introduced into the diet and this had a dramatic effect on the population.