” “Ever more "euroenthusiastic"

The Irish have accepted the euro with enthusiasm, without letting themselves be intimidated by the difficulties of calculating of how many euro coins correspond to one pound and vice versa. The politicians were convinced that the citizens of the Irish Republic would be a good deal warier and await the deadline of the 9th February before changing their pounds. Instead, the euro engraved with the Irish harp – the symbol chosen by the national mint – was in full circulation several weeks earlier. The Church’s awareness-raising campaign. The Catholic Church too has prepared for the changeover. One euro corresponds to 79 Irish pence and it’s the invariable habit of Catholics to donate at least one coin, sometimes two, to the Sunday offering plate. The introduction of the euro risks causing a considerable deficit in the weekly collection of each parish. “Each diocese published information on the euro/Irish pound exchange and on how to prevent losses, inviting the churches to equip themselves with automatic calculators that would facilitate the operation”, explains Brenda Drumm, spokesperson of the Irish Bishops’ Conference. “The diocese of Ferns, to the south of Dublin – she says – even went a step further by publishing a small brochure, which has turned out to be very popular because the slogan chosen to publicize it was modelled on that of the government. The official information campaign was in fact called ‘Euro, the change in your pocket’. The diocese of Ferns chose for its own pamphlet the title ‘Euro, the change in your parish’, explaining that if the faithful had contributed one instead of two coins to the collection, the finances of its various parishes would have suffered as a result. Also effective has been the publicity campaign in the diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, near Dublin, which adopted the slogan ‘One euro plus your generosity equals two euros'”. Donations growing. The slogans seem to have convinced the faithful. Donations have now registered an increase rather than a decrease. For many Irish cirizens, indeed, the Sunday collection was the easiest and most generous way of getting rid of the Irish pounds they still had stashed away at home without having to go to the back to exchange them. In the diocese of Dublin donations grew by 3%, in that of Galway by 8% and in almost all the others they remained more or less constant. It’s interesting to note that in the space of a few weeks the percentage of pounds to euros was reversed: 80% of the coins in the offering plate were formed of the old Irish coins and 20% in euros at the time of the introduction of the single currency, and 20% in pounds and l’80% in euros on 10 February, the last Sunday during which the old currency could still circulate. It will be the next few weeks that will determine whether the information campaign of the Catholic Church has been successful and the Irish faithful continue to show their proverbial generosity in euros. “Pennies from heaven”. Charities have also profited from the Irish pounds that had remained at home. “Pennies from heaven”, a campaign organized by a group of ten or so charities, with large bins placed outside supermarkets and stores, invited citizens to donate their spare change instead of going to the bank to exchange them and succeeded in this way in collecting a couple of million Irish pounds which will be donated to hospitals, communities and schools in need. S.G.