Closure of the African Office in Dublin

At a meeting of the African Leaders, together with Leaders of sponsoring Provinces, held in Banjul, the Gambia in October 2004, a decision was taken to close the African Office in Dublin and to shift the work of the Office to the new secretariat of the Pan African Leadership Team in Lusaka, Zambia. The closure was scheduled to take place on June 30th, 2005 and that has accordingly now taken place.
The African Office was set up by the CLT in 1990 and since that time Aiden Quinlan has been responsible for the Office. Aiden has shown much interest in all that has been happening in Africa over the ensuing fifteen years, he has visited our ministries a number of times and he has been influential in obtaining Irish Aid for our Brothers and for various projects around Africa.
The African Office was supported financially by the CLT and by three sponsoring Provinces, namely St Mary’s Ireland, St Mary’s England and St Patrick’s Australia.
After a few years of operation, Aiden employed Linda Smith and Maria Shortall to undertake the secretarial and financial work involved in the running of the office and in obtaining Irish Aid. Both of these women have worked with much dedication over the past thirteen years to ensure that the Office was providing maximum support to our Brothers and to our various ministries across Africa. They have formed close relationships with many of our Brothers in Africa who came to depend on them for many services related to their ministry and travel. Together with Aiden, Maria and Linda were responsible for the publication of the weekly news bulletin and for the annual ‘Africa’ magazine and vocation calendars. Many financial transactions relating to Irish Aid and various bank accounts were done through the Office.
Prior to the closure of the Office, the CLT invited Maria and Linda to spend a few days in Rome as a recognition of their valued services to the Congregation.
Whilst most of the roles of the Office have now shifted to Lusaka, a liaison desk will continue to operate out of Dublin to ensure that Irish Aid continues to be available to our ministries across Africa.
The closure of the Office is a significant milestone and parallels the establishment of the African Province. The CLT wishes to express its deep gratitude to Aiden, to Linda and Maria and to the sponsoring Provinces, all of whom have provided great support for the significant forward movements of the Congregation in Africa over the past fifteen years.

Michael Godfrey