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www.celtic-connection.com
DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY 2012
Scottish-born, 91-year-old Agnes Keegan is fit as a fiddle and still going strong
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - Scottish-born 91-year-old Agnes Keegan is an absolute marvel, she could teach people half her age a thing or two. She has a great philosophy on both working and living.
Agnes splits her time between working at two Canadian Legions - Legion 177 at 10th and Main Street, where she has just been voted to take on the position of first vice-president. She has been a member of that legion for the past 50 years.
She's a regular fixture at the meat draws at the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans of Canada Unit, fondly referred to as the 100 Club, where she calls out the numbers for the meat draws, every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. When the patrons tell her to shake up the numbers [hoping for their own winning meat draw number] she doesn't mind telling them to mind their p's and q's.
Agnes is a great dancer and I saw her dancing on Remembrance Day at the 100 Club and it's quite obvious that she doesn't have any bone problems since she can get down and boogie woogie with the best of them.
Keegan also hosts the war veterans from Brock Fahrni and George Derby [care facilities for the war veterans] for lunch, three times a month at Unit 100. She also makes regular visits to the hospitals to visit the veterans.
She is a member of the British Columbia Army Cadet Core, Legion 2290 and holds regular fundraising bake sales at the legions to help raise funds to send some of the cadets to Vimy Ridge in 2012.
I asked Agnes about her work with the Cadet Corps. 'Well, I work with the young kids in the Cadet Corps and they are really great," she said. "They are really respectful and you know a lot of them come from foster and group homes. I have about 40 kids that I look after at the Beatty Street Drill Hall Armoury and I go there every Thursday."
Keegan has a lot of medals on her legion jacket and I asked her the significance of them. She said, "Two medals are from Britain, where I served on the Army Territorial Service (ATS) and then all the others are my Canadian legion medals. I have held every office on the legion boards, except treasurer.
"I hold the highest honour across Canada in the Royal Canadian Legions and was awarded the Palm Leaf for all the work that I have done over the years in the legions."
Born Agnes Walls in Hawick, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, she married a Canadian soldier in Scotland and moved to Vancouver on September 18, 1946.
Her husband worked for the Orange Crush Company and he was transferred to Dawson Creek, where he was later killed. They had one daughter, Patricia. Agnes has two
AGNES KEEGAN outside the Beatty Street Armoury in Vancouver.
grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren.
After her husband was killed in Dawson Creek, Agnes moved back to Vancouver and later remarried. Her second husband passed away 27 years ago.
Speaking about her own longevity, Agnes laughs and says, "Well, my doctor says that I have the body of an 80 year-old and I'm very healthy, and I believe him.
"I also think what helps me stay healthy is because I keep so busy and I love every minute of it. Someone told me that the day I die I will be running across the lawn asking where the legion is.
"I don't have any special diet. For
breakfast I eat cereal, banana and a cup of coffee and always soup for lunch and for dinner, it depends on what I have in the fridge or freezer.
"I think Celtic people just have a strong constitution. My dad lived until he was 99 years old. My mother died young but she had 11 children to look after.
"My father was very military he was in the First World War and my brother was killed in the Second World War. My dad used to teach us how to march and clean our shoes until you could see your face in the shoes. We couldn't go to school until our shoes were shined."
When asked Agnes about her opinion on the new generation of kids today, she said, "In general, I think that kids today are very spoiled and they have lost respect. But, having said that, with both parents working it's probably very tough on the kids.
"Although, when I was growing up during the war my parents were both kept very busy but we were taught to be respectful.
"Every day, when I am waiting for the bus on West Broadway, there is a private school just beyond the bus stop and the language of the kids from this school at the bus stop is really out of this world.
"I told them to watch what they are saying and they apologized and said 'sorry ma'am'. So, they will listen if someone takes the time to tell them."
Debbie Stratton, president of Unit 100, said, "Agnes is a great asset for our meat draws and it's a great help to the executive that she comes in to the unit to call the numbers at the draws. She has also helped with our fundraising events for the 100 Club building fund."
Two on trial in Nl for murdering soldiers
BELFAST - The trial opened at Antrim Crown Court in November of two men who are accused of the murder of two British soldiers at the entrance to Massereene Barracks, outside the town, in March 2009.
Colin Duffy (43), from Lurgan, Co. Armagh, and Brian Shivers (45), from Magherafelt, Co. Derry, are accused of murdering Mark Quinsey (23) and Cenzig "Patrick" Azimkar (21) who were temporarily stationed in the North prior to leaving for Afghanistan.
The two soldiers were at the gate of the barracks to collect pizzas from a delivery van when masked men in a car drew up and some of the occupants opened fire. The Real IRA claimed responsibility for the attack which left four others seriously injured, including two pizza delivery men.
On the opening day CCTV footage of the incident was shown in court. This shows two men, armed with automatic rifles, firing on the unarmed soldiers and the soldiers falling to the ground.
During the course of the week evidence was heard from other soldiers, including one who was injured
SAPPERS Patrick Azimkar (L) and Mark Quinsey (R) were shot dead outside the Massereene army barracks.
in the attack. It was claimed that one of the gunmen stood over the injured Sapper Azimkar and fired further shots at him.
The court heard DNA found in the getaway car is almost six trillion times more likely to belong to one of the alleged murderers than someone else.
A mobile phone found in the car had inadvertently recorded part of a brief conversation. A voice was heard to say. "There was a few dead alright. I have to say boys you were as cool as f* *k."
ONE of Ireland's oldest and most luxurious hotels, Ashford Castle will be put up for sale to recover losses of EU39 million.
Ashford Castle goes
into receivership with massive losses
CONG, Co. Mayo - One of the country's oldest and most luxurious hotels, Ashford Castle, has gone into receivership.
The five-star hotel in the village of Cong, Co. Mayo - where the film The Quiet Man was filmed 60 years ago - has racked up enormous losses.
It was the chosen venue for James Bond star Pierce Brosnan's 2001 wedding to Keely Shaye Smith for their wedding reception, and featured on the cover of Hello magazine.
The castle received massive interest from abroad following the high profile celebrity filled reception.
The castle built on the banks of Lough Corrib was bought from a group of American investors in 2007 for EU50 million by Galway property developer Gerry Barrett.
Last month, Barrett and Bank of Scotland Ireland appointed receivers Ernst & Young to take over. In a statement, the receiver has emphasized that the hotel would continue to trade as normal.
They said there will be "no interruption to guests, staff and suppliers." All events booked with the hotel will go ahead as normal and any deposits paid to the hotel for weddings and other
functions will be honoured.
The 130 staff employed at Ashford Castle will continue to be employed during the receivership.
A number of retail units Barrett owns in the Eyre Square shopping centre in Galway have also been placed into receivership. The businessman's other high-profile hotels - the Meyrick and the G hotel in Galway - are not affected.
The last accounts available for Ashford Castle show that in 2008 and 2009 the hotel reported losses of EU39 million.
Barrett (59) is one of the top 10 developers who borrowed from Anglo Irish Bank. Loans in his group of companies were transferred to NAMA in February 2010. He also has large loans with Bank of Scotland Ireland that he used to buy the castle.
The receivers will be hoping to sell the historic hotel in the future. It is a trophy asset that has rarely come on the market and is likely to attract international interest.
Ashford Castle is said to be trading well but is weighed down by its bank debts. In the latest accounts, the directors said Ashford "continues to be the preeminent property in Ireland's hotel industry."
Emphasising the 'them and us'
DUBLIN- A majority of members of the cabinet voted in favour of a proposal that they be allowed to drive on bus lanes.
The vote took place some six weeks ago but citizens have only heard about it in recent days. Those who voted against the proposal included Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar who argued that "it suggested a disconnect with people".
When ministers were driven by members of An Garda Siochana they were automatically entitled to use bus lanes. With the abandonment of garda drivers and the withdrawal of state cars that privilege disappeared - temporarily. Among the critics of the decision was Independent TD Finian McGrath who described it as "a display of arrogance and an expression of a view that they are above the rest of us."