New defibrillator presented

An Athlone Principal has paid tribute to the Parents" Association for their generous donation of a defibrillator and fifty inch plasma screen to the school this week. Gearóid Ó Conamha, who is Principal of St Aloysius College thanked the group for their work and fundraising efforts, enabling them to locate a defibrillator in a prominent place in the school. The new plasma screen is earmarked for use in a new students communications project during 2009. 'We welcome all those initiatives. We have a very pro-active Parents" Association here in the school and we can"t speak highly enough of them. They have a huge interest in St Aloysius College and the students and we thank them for that,' Mr Ó" Conamha commented this week. Over the next few weeks all teachers will be trained in the use of the life saving device, now becoming a more regular feature in towns and villages throughout Ireland in the wake of the growing number of high profile sudden deaths of young people over the last number of years. 'It is something all schools should have, I feel. They can save a life, god forbid we have to use it but if needed, it is available,' Mr Ó Conamha concluded. The defibrillator and plasma screen was presented to the school on Monday last by the St Aloysius Parents" Association under the chairmanship of Sean Crehan.