Patrick O’Donovan TD with pupils and staff from Athea National School on their visit to Leinster House
Athea Tidy Towns
Judging season is now upon us and we hope the adjudicator will be pleasantly surprised with the changes in our village since 2012. A lot of hard work, late nights and midge bites later, we are now proud to showcase our village. A huge thanks to everyone who has helped out in anyway and to local residents who have erected flowers, painted etc. Every bit really makes a difference.
We will be calling to the houses in the next few days handing out forms for our local competitions. Entry to the competition is free and we would encourage everyone to enter!
Massive Thanks to our nine generous sponsors who have generously sponsored the new flower beds on the Carrigkerry Road. The nine sponsors are: 1. Margaret Carroll 2. Elizabeth and James Dunn 3. Joe Kelly of South West Motors, Athea, 4.Paul Collins of Collins Shop, Athea 5. Patrick Hunt 6. Councillor John Sheahan 7. Donal Pierce and Family 8. Athea GAA and 9. Athea Drama Group. Your generous contribution will ensure that our approach roads will be looking colourful all year round.
We are now seeking two sponsors for our two flower towers located in front of the butchers. If your would be interested in sponsoring one please contact any member of the committee or contact our secretary on 087 9042477
A second application to West Limerick Resources for funding is now being made. Under this programme we intend to erect flagpoles, attend to the path at the graveyard, purchase picnic benches and other various projects. To receive this funding we have to cover 25% of the cost ourselves. With this in mind we will be advertising fundraising drives in the next few weeks and we hope these will be well supported.
A plea is also being made to local residents to keep the flowers watered over the summertime. The flowers on Colbert Street create a great impact and we hope they are looked after.
Athea Community First Responders
Update from the CFR’s
Dear Parishioners,
I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of what your local CFR’s (Cardiac First Responders) have been up to, firstly I would like to thank my predecessor Sean Liston for doing an excellent job as chairperson for the last two years, under Sean’s reign the club has grown more confident and stronger, as an Irish Red Cross volunteer he has guided the club into bigger and better things, making my job and transition as chairperson a lot easier.
Before Sean retired last year he was contacted by TG4 who, after seeing an article written by Joanne Hunt about the work of the CFR’s in Athea, (“Could this be the safest village in Ireland”) decided to do a small piece on what we do in the parish. On the 17th of Nov TG4 came out to film the CFR’s. I would like to thank Timmy Woulfe who graciously gave his time to help us with this piece as we required a fluent Irish speaker and who better than Timmy. The show was aired on the 25th of November 2012.
In January this year in keeping with our training we held a mock call out (which some of our local residents in Upper Dirreen may remember, Sean and Ciara thank you for the loan of your house) these are done several times a year where we simulate an incident the CFR’s are called and they are put through their paces and then given constructive feedback on that event. Along with these mock call outs we also do 90 days refresher courses which are held in the hall and the CFR’s are given different scenarios that they must work through i.e. Cardiac arrest, stroke and choking. These training sessions are essential as they help us maintain a standard of excellence and also essential as we are associated with the HSE West Ambulance service. What does this mean, well, if you the resident call the Ambulance service and the operator suspects that it is a Cardiac arrest the ambulance service will contact us and we are deployed to the scene.
To keep up this standard of excellence we also receive informative talks on certain health issues by our local GP DR Kieran Murphy, this involves 6 talks a year on various topics ranging from patient assessment to diabetes to chronic heart disease. These talks are held in the hall and are extremely interesting. In a new development this year we held our last talk at the ADSAR head quarters in Abbeyfeale, which was a great success and further built on our relationships with Brosna and Abbeyfeale which hopefully will lead to us all being able to provide an interlinking service.
I would like to thank Dr Kieran Murphy for giving up his time and making these nights very enjoyable and informative,
We also got the opportunity to attend RESUS this April. RESUS is an event held every two years in the limerick race course, it show cases the latest developments in the emergency medical field along with informative talks on the latest developments and equipment out there, we also got the opportunity to see emergency vehicles up close some of which included fire engines, ambulance, the Major incident control vehicle (well cool) and the Garda sub-aqua team from Dublin and heard interesting accounts on rescues that had taken place in Ireland, we got to see the new 1125 helicopter in action as it did a fly over and demonstrated a rescue.
Also in another new development this year for the club we were asked to provide first aid assistances for the Maura Dalton walk/ run, we were of course delighted that everything went well on the day and that the only first aid we provided were a couple of plasters for the odd blisters that popped up.
Following the success of this we were then asked to provide first aid for the hall on their walk last week a great day was had by all.
And finally I would like to thank our volunteers without you we would not be able to do this important work and provide the care and assistance to the public. You have all done a remarkable job on the several call outs that we have had this year to date unfortunately some have not been the out come that we hoped for the care and professionalism that you have shown through out these call is outstanding, very proud of everyone involved and thank you.
We are always looking for volunteers, even if you do not wish or think you may not be able to attend the call outs, we need people that are willing to hold the phone or maybe to provide premises to help to facilitate our mock call outs, every little helps. Training sessions will be provided through out the year please keep an eye if you are interested.
Please Contact myself or any member of the CFR’s if you are interested or want to find out more.
Yours sincerely
Richael Griffin 086 8841171
Chairperson of CFR’s
P.S. You can also find us on facebook.
The CFR NO is 087 2737077 please take note and place in you contacts on your phone.
What to Do if you or your loved one are feeling ill and you may suspect a Cardiac arrest or stroke, call 112 then call us on the above no, it is crucial that you contact us as the faster we know the faster we can respond and potentially safe lives. Time is critical in the case of a heart attack or stroke.