The Peace Light Comes To Clontarf
In early December each year, a young Scout travels to Bethlehem to light a special Peace Light at the Church of the Nativity. The Peace Light then travels back to Vienna in Austria and goes on to be shared with people from all over the world.
On 14 December, Guides and Scouts from all over Europe and beyond will take part in a Sharing Ceremony in Vienna. Participants are invited to light their own candles from the Peace Light, and from there the light will travel to communities all over the world by road, rail or ferry as a symbol of peace and hope. Guides and Scouts have taken part in this ceremony for 25 years. To allow enough time for the Light to travel as far as possible, it reaches destinations outside Europe a bit earlier. This year, the Peace Light will reach New York in the USA on 4 December, from where it will travel across the USA and onward to Canada, Mexico and beyond.
The Peace Light will arrive in Ireland on the 16th of December. It will be collected in Holyhead from members of the UK Scout Association by a group of Irish Scouts (from the 66th Clontarf) and brought over to Ireland on the Ferry by Stena Line.
On Thursday 18th there will be the Service of Distribution in Fairview and from there it will start its journey around Ireland. On Friday 19th Irish Rail will help distribute it over the rail network.
On Sunday the 21st the Scouts from the 66th Scout Group Clontarf will bring the Light to the local Churches in Clontarf. This fantastic intiative highlights the need and importance for peace all over the world, and we are truly honoured that Clontarf’s scouts have a role to play in this.