Joan Freeman, founder of Pieta House.

Founder of Pieta House to address Lions Club Convention

The Lions Club National Convention begins today, Friday, March 1. The weekend convention takes place in the Hodson Bay Hotel and will host 400 delegates from 120 clubs across the 32 counties. This is the first year Athlone and Roscommon Lions Clubs will host the Lions Club National Convention which has been taking place for over 40 years. The convention will commence today with a friendly game of golf in Athlone Golf Club before a civic reception in Athlone Castle at 5pm where guests will be met by the Mayor Jim Henson, followed by a tour of Luan gallery. Athlone A'Cappella will perform for the convention this evening in the Hodson Bay Hotel, The four-part close harmony choral group of 53 ladies under the baton of musical director, David Farmer, was only established in the last year making its debut performance at the official opening of Athlone Literary Festival last October. The conference on Saturday will include many guest speakers and discuss some of the current projects being run by the Athlone Lions Club. Founder of Pieta House, Joan Freeman and AIT chaplain Fr Shay Casey will speak in relation to suicide while Christy Kenneally, author of 'Life After Loss - Helping the Bereaved' will also speak at the conference on Saturday. The work Athlone Lions Club has carried out in relation to suicide has been noted by other Lions clubs and it is hoped the convention will provide an opportunity to outline the innovative, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, project and its benefits further to Lions clubs across the country. Douglas X. Alexander, international director of the Lions Club, recipient of a congressional medal and ex-vice president of JP Morgan Chase bank, will fly in from New York to be the international speaker on the day.