The Hunt & O’Halloran families with Fr Brendan Duggan at the Blessing of animals in the Church yard recently

Athea Parish Journal

The deadline for articles for the Journal is Friday, November 2nd. We are asking all clubs and associations and individuals to get their material into to us as soon as possible. Also anyone with photographs would need to bring them in as soon as possible for scanning.

Athea Gun Club

It’s that time of year again and with the pheasant season fast approaching we would like to encourage people to clean and check their guns thoroughly before use.

On Thursday November 1st we will hold our annual long tail competition in the Top of the Town. Not only members but all are welcome on the night for anyone who would like to see exactly what we do on the night. Last entries will be taken at 7.15 and measurements start at 7.30 sharp.

I would like to thank farmers and land owners for allowing us to hunt on their lands and on that note I would urge all members to be respectful of landowners property and close gates and fences while passing through. Keep membership and insurance with you at all times as you may be asked to produce. I would also ask anyone who has any problems with vermin not to hesitate asking a gun club member for some assistance.

Finally, safe shooting and happy hunting.

Athea Tidy Towns

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes following our win in the Limerick Going for Gold. The trophy and cheque will now be on display at CD Printing in the village.

Our church gate collection will take place this weekend before all masses. We ask everyone to please give generously.

Our recent win will help our finances but we must continue our fundraising efforts to allow us carry out all our planned projects. Upcoming projects include the construction of a river walk on the Glin Road and the purchase of ‘Welcome to Athea’ signs on all entry roads.

We would like to express our thanks to Griffin Butchers, Margaret & Tim Scanlon and Lal Browne for their recent generous donations to Athea Tidy Towns.

Our group are also in the process of designing ‘Do not Litter’ signs in our efforts to discourage people from fly-tipping!

We will begin work on erecting our 20 Heritage Plaques on Saturday November 3rd. This will see 20 points of heritage marked with a blue plaque. Each plaque will be numbered and a map will also be produced to accompany this heritage trail. This map will be available online and also in local outlets allowing visitors to Athea to follow the trail and learn about our unique heritage.
The Garda Station is looking fantastic following its recent paint job. Thanks to Patrick O’Donovan for organising this.

A World Gone Mad

by  Domhnall de Barra

Is it just me or does anyone else think the world is going mad?  During the week there was news of a high court case in Dublin where a girl was awarded damages of over €500,000 for injuries sustained some seven years ago when she fell off a Luas train as it pulled away from the stop at Fatima Mansions. Now, she didn’t just fall off the train;  she was indulging in the sport of  “Luas surfing” which entails jumping onto the train and clinging on to the outside or back to get a ride. She was 13 at the time and admits it was totally her fault but that did not stop her legal team looking for damages to the tune of  €4,000,000. That she was awarded anything at all beggars belief. Call me old fashioned but, if someone is injured while committing an unlawful act, tough luck!. It just shows how out of touch the judiciary are with reality. Every day people show up in court with a neck brace and claim they have whiplash from “staged” accidents and the courts, in most cases award them thousands of Euros. No wonder the cost of insurance has gone through the roof.  There was another case where a burglar broke into a house but fell through an opening leading to a cellar. He sued the owner of the house for the injuries he sustained and was awarded a big sum of money. To quote  a character from Charles Dickens; sometimes “the law is an ass”

Peter Casey, who is running for President, got into bother during last week over comments he made regarding the travelling community and their refusal to move into state of the art new houses in Tipperary because the county council did not provide them with land to graze their horses. He was branded a racist and anti traveller but, to my mind, he was absolutely right. At a time when we have thousands of people living in emergency accommodation, with no prospect of getting their own home in the immediate future, it is ridiculous that these fine houses are standing empty. They were specially built for these people who should be grateful that they are not housed in hotels or B&Bs. They are demanding the grazing land because, as an ethnic minority, owning horses is their traditional custom and should be accommodated by the council. I am sorry, but I fail to see where this logic comes from. They needed horses at one stage to draw their living wagons from one end of the country to the other just like every farmer needed horses to pull the carts and the farm machinery but those days are gone. Horses are now kept for sporting and recreation or as pets and that is fine but if I want to own a horse or pony, I do not expect the council to provide me with grazing land; I will buy it or rent it. The same rules should apply to everybody and that is what Peter Casey was saying but, in the PC crazy world, you have to be very careful with your words or you are in trouble. No longer can travellers, most of whom are now settled, be referred to as “tinkers”, the name we always called them. There is nothing wrong with the name. The word “tinker” means to fix or mend and refers to the travellers noble profession of being tinsmiths. They made their living from creating mugs, buckets, kettles etc out of tin and they were also dab hands at repairing tin items. Most of the houses long ago had items that were made by them, notably drinking mugs which were known in this area as “pannies”.  The term tinker is a noble one and appears in all the songs travellers themselves composed  like “A Tinker’s Lullaby” or “A Tinker I am” yet if I use that term I can be prosecuted. When I was in England I was constantly  called “Paddy”. It didn’t bother me in the least. The Welsh were called “Taffy”, the Scottish, “Jock”, French were “Frogs”, Indians were “Wogs”, Chinese were “ Chinks” and so on.  Like I said it never seemed to bother us but  it is a different world today. People are too easily offended and you have to check before saying or doing anything in case it offends race or gender.

Another example of the world gone mad is the Kleenex case. For years Kleenex has been selling large tissues which they advertised as “Man-sized”. They can no longer do that because  it apparently discriminates against women. What utter rubbish!. It is a fact of life that men are, in general, bigger and stronger that women. In the animal world the male usually is. That is not to say that men are better that women or vice versa but there is a difference between the sexes and long may it last.  Some feminists want total equality but it cannot work in all areas. Let us take sport as an example. Should women have to compete with men in athletics, on the football or rugby field or in trials of strength such as weight lifting? Of course not but they should have equal opportunities of employment and equal pay for equal work while still maintaining the natural qualities that make them different. I believe women are better than men in many areas and this is to be celebrated but it is time to have a long hard look at where we are going with all this politically correct rubbish before we lose the run of ourselves altogether.