By Peg Prendeville

July and August is called the “silly season” by journalists as there are not many items of news to report due to holidays etc. Newspapers rely on advertisements, which rely on readers seeing them, but historically newspaper readership drops off during this time. And so it is with the Knockdown News also. After the Killeaney weekend there is a lull as people go about the normal day to day business of living and working … and holidaying, hopefully.

There was a good turnout in Glin last Saturday for the Estuary swim. I was talking to a regular swimmer who said it was the hardest year as some of them got caught in the current and could not lead nor drive for a while. But they all made it to the pier where they were met with blankets and hot drinks. I always admire these people who swim almost every day no matter what way the weather is. They are a hardy lot.

The Defibrillator group had a very successful coffee morning in Conway’s Bar on Sunday raising much needed funds to keep the nine defibrillators in the Glin/Knockdown area in good working order, should they be needed for an emergency.

Speaking of emergencies it is so sad to hear of five people, mostly young adults, killed on our roads since the weekend. The latest casualty is a young man from Feoghanagh. It is a reminder to us all to take care of ourselves and others when we get behind the wheel of a car.

To disperse the gloom of listening to the Greek crisis and the Iran Nuclear talks we headed off to Seán and Dolores Keane in Halla Nua in Castlemahon last Saturday night. It is a very impressive hall and credit must go to the community of Feoghanagh/Castlemahon for undertaking such a huge project. It has very comfortable seating as well as a bar and tearoom. It is nice to see Dolores Keane back singing, even if her voice is not as strong and as musical as it used to be. Seán, in my opinion, is a fine traditional/sean nós singer and together with the musicians gave a great performance lifting the hearts of the 300 people present. He is coming to the Devon Inn on August 9 if anybody is interested. A lovely night out.