Congratulations to the staff, past and present, of Athea & District Credit Union Limited
who celebrated their 50th year of service to the community on Saturday last

Coffee Morning

A Coffee Morning will be held in the Con Colbert Community Hall on Thursday, April 26th from 9am to 1pm in aid of the Lourdes Invalid Fund. Your support would be greatly appreciated. All are welcome.

Recycling Workshop

Athea Tidy Towns Committee will host a recycling workshop at Athea Library on Thursday  April 26th at 8pm. This workshop is part of The Recycling Ambassador Programme aimed at improving Ireland’s recycling rates, and reducing contamination of household recycling bins. This workshop is free, but spaces are limited. To book a space, please text your name to 087 9042477.

Athea Credit Union Limited

Congrats to Margaret Mulvihill  Lr. Athea
Winner of a €100 Euro voucher for Hannah-Mai Flowers/Collins Nursery
The next draw will take place  in May 2018 for a €100 voucher from O’RIORDAN’S Pharmacy

Coffee Morning

A Coffee Morning In aid of The Lourdes Invalid Fund will take place  on Thursday, April 26^th from 9am – 1pm in The Con Colbert Community Hall, Athea All are Welcome

Ladies Monthly Night Out

The Ladies Monthly Night Out will be held on Friday night, May 4th in Browne Joe’s with music, fun and games including bingo, quiz, etc. This will be the last one until after the summer. So come along and enjoy a great night of fun.

The Natural Order of Things 

By Domhnall de Barra 

I was listening to the radio on Saturday morning last, as I usually do when I don’t have to get up too early. The topic was farming and one section caught my attention. There was a lady being interviewed on the abuse of animals; she was the head of  an organisation of vegans who are pledged to stop animals being exploited in any way. We may think that this is just about eating meat but animal extracts are used in many industries from leather to cosmetics. Farming of course relies on the use of animals either to produce milk or food. For over 10,000 years animals have been domesticated and  bred to feed and clothe the people of the world. It was understood from religious teachings that animals were created “for man’s use and benefit” but the group this lady represents do not agree. Animals should be left to roam free without hindrance as they were before the evolution of man. This includes all living creatures on land, the birds in the air and the fish in the sea as well. In the absence  of meat we should eat plants and leaves and we would all co-exist in some blissful state of harmony. I wonder what would happen to all the cattle that depend on humans for their wellbeing. They are now so domesticated that they could not exist in the wild. When this was put to her she agreed that they would become extinct and she did not seem to have a problem with that. These people look on animals as being equal to humans, with the same feelings and emotions. They seem to think that the animal world is a lovely place where they all live happily together and frolic and play from morning ‘til night. Nothing could be further from the truth. The animal kingdom is a savage place where the survival of the fittest seems to be the only law. Animals are continually hunting and eating each other and it is totally wrong to think of them as cuddly pets.

Of course domesticated animals should be well treated and, in general, farmers do a good job in that regard. It is in their own interest to have contented, well catered for animals if they want to get good returns for their efforts. There is however a case for looking at some practices that are not acceptable. The treatment of chickens leaves a lot to be desired. Many are kept in very crowded conditions  in sheds where they never see the sun. Lights are turned on and off at eight hour intervals so the they will produce an extra egg every two days and they are stuffed into cages which are piled on top of each other when being transported. Horses too could be treated better, especially racehorses. They are bred and trained to run against each other and carry a jockey on their back over demanding fences. That is bad enough but is it really necessary for the jockey to whip them fiercely at the closing stages of a race to get the maximum effort out of them?  There is surely a better way.

Coursing now has the dogs muzzled but before that hares were killed in their hundreds at meetings where it was not uncommon to hear a bookie laying the odds by saying “ two to one and the hare to die”.  Fowlers, who once shot birds to feed their families, now shoot them for sport. This might be seen as unnecessary and what of fishing?  Is it cruel to have a fish with a hook in its mouth  being played at the end of a rod and line?  I just make these points as a kind of devil’s advocate because there are so many different opinions on the matter. The next thing we may hear is somebody complaining about the abuse of plants. They may argue that plants are living entities with feelings. It is a known fact that certain plants react to stimulus from human beings so maybe they do feel pain even if they cannot make a sound to let us know.

I think we have to look at the whole thing in its entirety. If the animal world really is the survival of the fittest then man, through the development of his intellect, is at the top. It is natural then that other animals are used by man for his survival. That is the natural order of things and maintains a balance in the animal world. This should, and can be done without cruelty of any kind. It is unthinkable that that we would have pigs, sheep, cattle and horses roaming wild around the country fighting with humans for the plants that grow on the land. It may be a nice idea but is totally impracticable and a leap too far in the evolution of the inhabitants of the world.