The Athea Set includimg Danny Brady, Laura Dalton, Eoin Sheahan, Sarah O’Connor, Michael Tierney, Aoife Sheahan, David O’Connor and Meadhbh Donovan who won the set dancing competition at the West Limerick Scór
Maurice Hayes (son of Breda & Pat) who graduated at Carlow IT with a BA (honours) in Sport Management and Coaching.
Christmas Craft Fair
A Christmas Craft fair will take place in the Con Colbert Community Hall, this Sunday 11.00am – 4pm. Entry is €2 including entry into raffle for a door prize, children are free. Refreshments will be available in the kitchen. For further information contact Caroline at 086 2247408
Birthday Celebrations
O’Riordan’s Pharmacy are celebrating 10 years in business in Athea this month.
Thanking all the good people of Athea and surrounding parishes for your support throughout the years. And here’s to many more.
On Saturday, November 21st. we are holding a Birthday Party from 2pm to 4pm. Spot prizes and discounts on the day. Join us for lots of cake, buns and fun on the day. (Keep an eye on facebook for updates)
Thank you, Diarmuid, Áine and all the staff at O’Riordan’s.
Shopping Trip to Cork
A bus will be leaving Moyvane on Wednesday, December 2nd at 7am sharp on a shopping trip to Cork, the cost is €16 per person. This is a very enjoyable day out with shopping and a bite to eat and great craic on the journey plus great bargains in the City shops for Christmas. For further information and booking contact Eileen at 087-6679943 or Jill at 087-9512387.
Going Strong Christmas Party
The Christmas party will take place on Wednesday, December 9th. Dinner at 1.00pm with music after by Blue Rhythm. €10 per person for dinner and entertainment, numerous spot prizes on the day.
Names to be handed in to Rose at Brouder’s Shop or Peggy Casey before December 1st.
The Evil Around Us
The terrible events that occurred in Paris on Friday night last shows that evil not only exists but is amongst us. Since the struggle between God and Satan there has been a constant battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. The battle has never really been won. We look at the 2nd World War and the extermination of the Jews by Hitler and we think it cannot get any worse and that the war would be the end of it. Since then there have been atrocities in many places like Czechoslovakia, Northern Ireland, the Middle East etc but now we have a new type of terrorism that is more ruthless than any that has gone before. Islamic fundamentalists have gone out on a limb and created a monster by indoctrinating young, impressionable Muslims all over the world and recruiting them to fight for their cause. Their mission is to get rid of all except those who share their beliefs and they will stop at nothing to achieve their aims. Make no mistake about it – they hate us with a passion and rejoice when we are killed or wounded.
We can look for reasons and there are many: the actions of western powers in the Middle East, the treatment of the Arabs by Israel and the isolation some Muslims feel when they are brought up in a foreign land. This does not excuse indiscriminate shooting and bombing of innocent civilians who bear no ill will towards their attackers. It is very difficult to fight since the ultimate deterrent, death, is not only not feared by them but is welcomed. They believe that if they die while carrying out their orders they go straight to Heaven. This type of religious immunity is not new. Back in the days of the crusades when King Richard of England took armies to fight in the Holy Land, the knights who travelled with him were given absolution before they left by the Catholic bishops for any sins they might commit during the crusade. This gave them the freedom to kill, maim, rape and pillage to their hearts content safe in the knowledge that the sins were already forgiven. It also made them unafraid to die as they would die in a state of grace and go straight to Heaven. When young people decide to become martyrs there is very little we can do to stop them. We might think it could never happen here but that is not so. Dublin is a western capital city and could be targeted at any time. We should be vigilant at all times and report any suspicious activity. The danger is that all Muslims will now be under suspicion and may be singled out. The fanatics are but a small fraction who do not represent the thinking of the vast majority of Muslims who are decent, good-living people. The Koran is not all that different from the Bible and those who live by its teachings do not commit atrocious crimes in its name. We have the same problem with other ethnic groups such as the travellers in our own country. Because a few of them are involved in crime they are all sometimes tarred with the same brush and they are treated with suspicion wherever they go. Of course groups will have their share of people who misbehave but that is true of all peoples and nations. Now we will have some who will advocate keeping out the asylum seekers in case there are terrorists among them. This would be a very wrong approach as these unfortunate people are fleeing from the terror perpetrated on them by the type of extremists who carried out the attacks in Paris.
The sad truth is that they have no need to infiltrate asylum seekers; they have people in place all over the world already. The police are doing their best under very difficult circumstances and they have to be congratulated for the way they have identified the attackers and made arrests. Do they have enough resources to do the job? I don’t know but if they haven’t they must be given them. It is time for all like minded nations in the world to unite in a concerted effort to remove the men of evil. One of the first steps should be to cut of the supply of weapons to them. Somebody is making a fortune in illegal trade and it shouldn’t be too hard to find out who. In the meantime let us work together to improve relations between the different creeds and religions that exist in our own country. The extremists want to drive wedges between us and we can’t let them win. “Love thy neighbour as thyself” is not a bad motto at this time.
Domhnall de Barra