Joe Aherne from Glenagore being congratulated for completing the JFK 50 mile challenge walk in Sneem recently
Fine Gael Church Gate Collection
The annual Fine Gael Church gate collection takes place this Saturday and Sunday, June 4th and 5th. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Annual Day Trip
Our annual day trip will take place to Kilkenny on Tuesday, July 14th. For more information contact Marie Wrenn on 087-7674832 or Joan Fitzgibbon on 087-9865005.
Council Needs New Members
Athea Community Council has a proud record of achievement going back almost 30 years. In the early days it was amalgamated with the tidy towns committee with a view to improving the look of the village by upgrading the infrastructure, creating litter awareness and developing areas like the Giants Garden. The council was made up of two representatives of each organisation in the parish and it was well attended and supported. After a few years the tidy towns went their own way and the council started sponsoring FAS schemes. These schemes made a huge difference to the village. Stone walls and footpaths were built and the Giants Garden was developed into the beautiful peaceful amenity it is today. To comply with FAS requirements the council had to become a company limited by guarantee and elections were held to create a board of directors. There was great interest throughout the parish and plenty of nominees for the 12 positions on the board. It has worked well since then except for the fact that the number of people on the board has dwindled. When somebody resigns from the board, as will happen with retirement, other commitments, bereavement etc., there is nobody to take that place. Where we should have 12 members on the board we now have only six. Another problem is that five of those six have been there for years and years and are ready to retire. What is going to happen then? If we have no community council we have no CE scheme. Without a scheme there will be no employment for 16 people locally, the streets will not be cleaned daily and the Church, Hall, GAA grounds etc will be without workers. The local graveyards and gardens, trees and shrubbery will not be maintained and grass will not be cut in the Summer time. They say you never miss the water ’till the well runs dry, well the water level is getting pretty low. The local lottery still is well supported in the parish and has funded the schemes over the years as well as funding the new footbridge, refurbishing the library and the acquisition of its own premises in the last couple of months. Unfortunately there are now only three people who are available to do the lottery on a Saturday night and they have been doing it for over 20 years. To be honest we are getting a bit old and tired and could do with a break now and again. If we do not get some new blood soon the whole thing could collapse. There must be people out there who would be willing to join the council if only for a couple of hours a month. The more members we have the less workload for each person. Small communities like ours cannot survive without volunteers. If we want to have a nice place in which to live we must do it ourselves. There is nobody coming from outside to do it. There is no monetary gain but there is great satisfaction in being part of a body that promotes the welfare of the community and seeks to keep the village vibrant when others around us are closing down. For my own part I get great satisfaction from looking at the footbridge, the town land signs, the many stone walls and footpaths etc and thinking “I had a hand in creating that”. So I am making an appeal to anyone out there who might like to help to please contact me. Together we can continue to improve the place we love and keep a few jobs in the area. We can continue also to help the tidy towns committee in there efforts to enhance the appearance of the village and gain valuable points in the annual competition. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future, just call to me at the office or give me a call at 087 6758762
Domhnall de Barra