Editors letter

Hello and welcome to the February edition of EM.

Finding it hard to get going after the lazy days over Christmas? Days when we might have over-indulged in all those things that are bad for us! Personally I'm looking forward to the evenings getting longer and hopefully motivating me to get into some kind of an exercise regime with the Sligo Walk in mind. Living in Wicklow I have no excuse with beaches, mountains and forests in abundance in some of the most amazing scenery in the country. However, sitting here at my desk on a miserable January day, I find it hard to envisage blue skies, warm breezes and fresh air! I hope that our feature from Sportsco will give, at least those of you in the greater Dublin area, an incentive to get up and get going.

Sportsco has been vastly improving its facilities over the years and today it ranks among the best. Those who are regular members are well aware of the benefit of having such a world-class facility on their doorstep and I admire those colleagues who travel in at ungodly hours or after a day's work to go for a swim or some other exercise regime. Mind you they look all the better for it with bright eyes and high energy levels. For anyone who has not availed of its facilities, and I know they are small in number, I suggest you check it out now. Lorna Brady and her team will be only too delighted to show you around.

From time to time people call us in relation to the death of a loved one and ask why maybe their name or a little appreciation has not been included in EM. The Departed Friends list that we publish is supplied by our colleagues in Pensions and therefore includes only staff or widows/widowers of staff who have died and are of full pension age. For all other deaths, we must rely on colleagues or ex-colleagues to supply us with the details and we are of course only too happy to publish.