On Looking Up By Chance At The Constellations You'll wait a long, long time for anything much To happen in heaven beyond the floats of cloud And the Northern Lights that run like tingling nerves. The sun and moon get crossed, but they never touch, Nor strike out fire from each other nor crash out loud. The planets seem to interfere in their curves - But nothing ever happens, no harm is done. We may as well go patiently on with our life, And look elsewhere than to stars and moon and sun For the shocks and changes we need to keep us sane. It is true the longest drought will end in rain, The longest peace in China will end in strife. Still it wouldn't reward the watcher to stay awake In hopes of seeing the calm of heaven break On his particular time and personal sight. That calm seems certainly safe to last to-night.

Although it's difficult today to see beyond the sorrow, May looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow. With deepest sympathy from all the members of the Royal County Aeromodellers club.

Margaret Noeline Egan or Noeline Coffey, as she was known to most of us, was a person with a great and a genuine interest in people. Hers was not an interest in idle gossip; when she met new people or old friends she really wanted to know how they were and how their families were getting on. She could remember people’s names and the names of their partners and children and what they were doing even if she had not seen them for years. Her interest was warm and outgoing. That’s not to say she didn’t love a bit of sca or to catch up on the latest gossip. However I think what most people remember about Noeline was her sense of fun and her wicked sense of humour and the way she could cut to the point in a phrase. Her nephew Eamon in Australia summed her up; ‘Wife, Mother, Aunty and friend to all. She touched so many people. What a special person she was to all, she made us laugh so much throughout her lifetime. Noeline will be missed so much by everyone but never forgotten. Her stories and jokes will be told for years to come. What a woman with a heart of gold.’ From her early years on Newgrange where she made lifelong friends, through her working life in the print industry, in Healy Thom, Giverna, Playprint, Smurfit and many other print house, where she befriended, trained and mentored so many new friends, to her years in Civil Defence where again she made many lifelong friends; she always loved the craick, the social side of the activity. Going to dances with her friends and following favourite bands; she was especially proud of her brother Tony who was pianist in a band, the Clansmen, but especially because this gave her backstage access where she met many well know entertainers and free cloakroom facilities! She loved her time in the Civil Defence and the after training sessions in various pubs in north Dublin and the annual camps in The Glen. She was especially proud to have been on the winning team for the National Rescue Competition in 1974. It was the Civil Defence that introduced her to ten pin bowling from where she went on to win a competition to represent Ireland in an International Competition in Rome Italy and she kept the medals she won there with pride. It was through Civil Defence that I met her. I first spotted her in an after class session in an small pub in Ballybough where she was sitting on the floor in the middle of the crowd with her beret on one side of her head looking impishly delightful. After some skirmishing and through the connivance of friends we finally got together on the night Dana won the Eurovision contest in 1970. After a wonderful few year of bowling and holidays we decided to marry in 1974, after which we travelled quite a bit, on ships with my work, again were she made lifelong friends, and later lived in Cork, Limerick, Donegal, Louth and finally settled in Meath. I each of these places she made friends who still keep in touch and care about her, including friends all round the world. Noeline and I have two wonderful sons. Unfortunately our second son Rory died shortly after birth but is never forgotten. Noeline is very proud of her son Des and of his achievement in college and work and she is particularly delighted with his marriage to the wonderful Saoirse who has been a rock for us in the recent few years and especially this last few weeks. Unfortunately just over four years ago Noeline took seriously ill and we thought we had lost her; but never one to be told what to do she got better and to the amazement of her doctors and nurses attended Des and Saoirse’s wedding looking smashing in her lovely green suit and hat and then a short few months later took off for Australia on her own carrying her oxygen machine with her. She has since been back there and to France last year where she jumped for joy when she got to the Eiffel tower. Her wish was that she could once more visit all her friends in Australia. Unfortunately the return of her cancer and repeated infections took their toll and despite her stubborn refusal to give up she finally lost the fight. We will all miss her terribly but mostly we will miss her humour, wit and turn of phrase.