Mandela Book of Condolence signing

Friday 10 January 2014

Among the Rathlin residents that called into the Resource Centre on Thursday to sign the Moyle District Council Book of Condolence on the death of Nelson Mandela, three perhaps had more reason than most to want to sign it, as Suzy McKirdy has spent much of her life in South Africa and her two children Clyde and Bonnie Grobler were born and raised in South Africa. The three spoke about their memories of Mandela and life in South Africa in the 1990s, with Suzy noting that Clyde began school in the very first year of integrated schooling in the country, and Clyde recalled that Mandela had changed the country overnight, with people seeing progress being made for the first time. So even a community as small as Rathlin Island's has some very real connections with a global event such as the death of Nelson Mandela. The Book of Condolence will be available in the shop on Friday 10, Saturday 11 and Monday 13 January before returning to the mainland.