PRAYERS are likely to be offered for the success of a dental clinic in a tiny Co Limerick village.
That’s because the practice won’t be charging members of the clergy for minor work.
The Hungarians who are operating the clinic — in conjunction with Ballylanders Development Association — are predominantly Baptists, but have respect for clergy other than their own.
One local priest who visited the new clinic got a shock when we went to pay for cleaning and scaling and was told to put his money away.
Monika Raffael, chairman of the Hungarian Cultural and Business Association, said they will not charge religious people for cleaning and other minor work.
"I grew up in the Baptist Church and you don’t take money from these people. We won’t charge them for minor work and will give them a discount on major work," Ms Raffael said.
She is overseeing the set-up of the clinic and will be working closely with the local development association as it builds a €700,000-plus dental factory next May.
Dr Dilyan Bachvarov is very busy in the dental surgery and it is hardly surprising looking at its price list.
Cleaning and scaling is for as little as €40, an extraction is €55, root canal treatment €195, and crowns from €300.
Willie O’Mahony, aged 80, is waiting to have some dentures fitted. He was full of praise for Dr Bachvarov and his prices.
"He’s very good and his rates are very reasonable. I know a friend who was asked double the price for similar work elsewhere," Mr O’Mahony said.
He said the more people the clinic and the proposed dental factory attracted to Ballylanders the better the local economy would perform.
Ms Raffael said the people of Ballylanders were very progressive and were trying to get themselves out of the recession. The clinic was born out of a meeting between Ms Raffael and John Gallaghue, a former mayor of Co Limerick, in Hungary two years ago.
Mr Gallaghue, who lives in Ballylanders, was amazed at the amount of Irish people visiting Hungary to combine cheap dental work with a holiday and saw an opening.
His local development company supplied a premises and equipment for a Hungarian-operated clinic in the village and is preparing to build a dental factory which will employ 15 people.
Other villages in Co Limerick are making inquiries about setting up similar clinics, which the dental factory could supply.
"We already have people coming from all over Ireland. When we expand after opening the factory we could look at marketing our own dental tourism in Britain. This is a beautiful part of Ireland to visit," Mr Gallaghue said.
The Hungarians who are operating the clinic — in conjunction with Ballylanders Development Association — are predominantly Baptists, but have respect for clergy other than their own.
One local priest who visited the new clinic got a shock when we went to pay for cleaning and scaling and was told to put his money away.
Monika Raffael, chairman of the Hungarian Cultural and Business Association, said they will not charge religious people for cleaning and other minor work.
"I grew up in the Baptist Church and you don’t take money from these people. We won’t charge them for minor work and will give them a discount on major work," Ms Raffael said.
She is overseeing the set-up of the clinic and will be working closely with the local development association as it builds a €700,000-plus dental factory next May.
Dr Dilyan Bachvarov is very busy in the dental surgery and it is hardly surprising looking at its price list.
Cleaning and scaling is for as little as €40, an extraction is €55, root canal treatment €195, and crowns from €300.
Willie O’Mahony, aged 80, is waiting to have some dentures fitted. He was full of praise for Dr Bachvarov and his prices.
"He’s very good and his rates are very reasonable. I know a friend who was asked double the price for similar work elsewhere," Mr O’Mahony said.
He said the more people the clinic and the proposed dental factory attracted to Ballylanders the better the local economy would perform.
Ms Raffael said the people of Ballylanders were very progressive and were trying to get themselves out of the recession. The clinic was born out of a meeting between Ms Raffael and John Gallaghue, a former mayor of Co Limerick, in Hungary two years ago.
Mr Gallaghue, who lives in Ballylanders, was amazed at the amount of Irish people visiting Hungary to combine cheap dental work with a holiday and saw an opening.
His local development company supplied a premises and equipment for a Hungarian-operated clinic in the village and is preparing to build a dental factory which will employ 15 people.
Other villages in Co Limerick are making inquiries about setting up similar clinics, which the dental factory could supply.
"We already have people coming from all over Ireland. When we expand after opening the factory we could look at marketing our own dental tourism in Britain. This is a beautiful part of Ireland to visit," Mr Gallaghue said.