Happy New Year to all our readers at home and abroad

Betty Cotter, Top of the Town, presenting a sponsorship cheque for the Athea GAA Lip Sync fundraiser to Maireád O’Donovan, Treasurer , with Paul Curry, Chairman and Jacqueline O’Connor, Secretary.

Athea Utd Charity Tournament on St. Stephen’s Day
The Cleaners, Tournament Winners 2016 – TJ Reidy (Capt), Tom Cotter, Emmet White, Chris Hayes, Mark O’Connor, Gerard Ahern, Gerard Ahern

Athea Utd Chairman Denis Murphy presenting a cheque of €650 to Pat O’Sullivan and Tom O’Keeffe on behalf of Athea St Vincent de Paul. The money was raised from our annual St Stephen’s Day Tournament.

O’Donovan welcomes update on Athea Sewerage Scheme

The Minister for Tourism and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD has received an update from Irish Water in relation to the upgrade of the Athea Sewerage Scheme. Irish Water has informed the Minister that the current position in regard to the scheme is as follows:

The CCTV Survey of the existing sewerage network has now been completed. The Design Review Report is completed and the preparation of Tender Documents is on-going. There was a delay in relation to the completion of Irish Water specifications on sewerage plants; these were approved at the start of this month.

Discussions are on-going with landowners in relation to the installation of the Storm Tank and following the conclusion of these talks Irish Water will be in a position to submit a Planning Application to Limerick City and County Council. Irish Water has already held a pre-planning meeting with the Council in relation to the scheme and issues that were raised by the planners at that time are currently being addressed.

“Following meetings I held with Irish Water and the previous Minister for the Environment, Athea is being used as pilot project for schemes of a similar nature across the country. Since I became a TD I have consistently raised the issue of an upgrade of the sewerage scheme in Athea as it is a major issue to the community there.”

Since my re-election earlier this year I have continued to engage with Irish Water and seek regular updates in regard to the scheme.

I am very anxious to see progress made on schemes across the County like Athea. I have asked Irish Water if they would meet with the local community regarding the scheme and they have agreed to this request and a public meeting will be held in the village in early January 2017, once the outstanding issues have been addressed.

Goodbye to ‘16

As years go it wasn’t a bad one, depending on your personal situation. There seems to be a lot more work around, especially in the construction sector. For years the village was very quiet in the mornings but the vans are passing again. It is hard to get a tradesman to do a small job at the moment; they are all too busy. That is a good sign and will boost the local economy. More money in people’s pockets means more goods bought and the pubs have picked up a bit as well. We will never see a return to the heady days of the last century when the pubs were full every weekend and some of them throughout the week as well. In truth, there was too much drinking in those days but it would be nice to see people socialising on a Saturday night instead of sitting in front of the television drinking far more alcohol than if they were in the pub.

It wasn’t a great Summer but a couple of weeks came in June at the right time and the harvest was secured. The fall of the year was as good as  I ever remember. We had better weather than we had in the summer. Two weeks ago we were playing golf in our shirt sleeves in December!. Swings and roundabouts.

It was a good year for sport. Who will forget the exploits of the O’Donovan brothers from Cork at the Olympics. They brought a breath of fresh air to the sport with their honesty, natural wit and not a little talent. Annaliese Murphy also did the nation proud in the yachting section and our boxers were robbed. I watched Michael Conlon’s fight and, though I am not a judge, I will never understand how he was not awarded that fight. The same with Katie Taylor. There is something rotten in the state of amateur boxing and if it is not rectified the sport will die. Connaught made history with an emotional win in the Pro 12 series. It is up there with Leicester’s win in the Premiership across the water as a fairy tale rags to riches story. The Irish rugby team did us proud as well. They notched up some remarkable victories but none as sweet as their first ever win over the mighty All Blacks. The future looks good for the team so roll on the six nations..

1916 celebrations were held all over the country and in general they were very well done. We weren’t found wanting here in Athea. The Con Colbert Memorial festival weekend in September, including the unveiling of the bust, was well attended and showed Athea in a wonderful light. It was filmed on Irish TV and can be found on U Tube.

The year had its down side as well. It is an absolute disgrace that, in this time of relevant affluence, thousands of people are without homes or any kind of shelter. You did not have to be a genius to see this coming. No houses were built for a few years so there was going to be a shortage anyway. Add to this the fact that people who could not afford to pay their mortgages, through no fault of their own, found themselves without the basic necessity of any family, a home. The story gets worse day by day and the government seem to have the longest fingers in the world. What is stopping them building houses straight away? Cut through the red tape. The land is there and there are hundreds of boarded up properties all over the country. If landowners are sitting on land zoned for building, waiting to make a killing, get compulsory purchase orders and take it off them. This is an emergency and should take precedence over all other forms of expenditure. If we can borrow billions to bail out bankers and well heeled speculators, we can surely put a fraction of that cost into providing adequate housing for anyone who needs it. Come on ministers; get a move on.

Sex abuse of young and old vulnerable people continues to shock us with more and more revelations. A country that cannot protect its weakest citizens from abuse needs to change. We heard a lot about new politics but little has yet been seen. We need to put the safeguards in place and step up the inspections.

It was a bad year for people who had to go to hospital through A&E.  The number of patients who spend hours and days on trolleys continues to rise with staff worked off their feet. Something has to be done. After all, if you can afford to go private there is no problem and waiting lists don’t apply. The HSE is overloaded with managers and people who push pens and doesn’t have enough doctors and nurses on the ground to deal with the overcrowding. I hope somebody comes up with a proper plan once and for all.

It was the year of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. All the pundits and pollsters got it wrong. I fear the worst.

It was the year two when Anthony Foley’s death rocked, not only Limerick and Munster but the whole sporting world. We also said farewell to arguably the greatest sportsman and showman of them all, Mohamed Ali.  Each year brings its quota of mixed emotions and we all have our own memories, good and bad. In the meantime let us look forward to 2017 and a vast improvement on 2016. I am hopeful but not expectant.

Domhnall de Barra