Community First Responders (CFRs)

Church Gate Collection

The Community First Responders (Registered Charity Number 20164973) will hold their annual Church gate collection this weekend. They respond to five life-threatening emergencies – Sudden un-responsiveness, stroke, heart attack, choking and cardiac arrest.  All the members are trained in CPR, defibrillator use and administration of Oxygen and Aspirin.

All funds raised are used to train new volunteers and maintain / purchase new equipment.   Your continued support is greatly appreciated.

Ladies Monthly Night Out

The Ladies Monthly night out will host a Charity Night for the Hope Foundation on Friday night, March 1st at Brown Joe’s Bar including the usual quiz, games etc. There will also be food served on the night. Please support.

Dan Hanrahan Plaque Blessing

The plaque erected by Athea Community Council, in remembrance of Dan Hanrahan’s contribution to the enhancement of Athea village and surrounds through his masonry work, will be blessed by Fr. Brendan Duggan on this Sunday morning February 24th after 10.30 am Mass.

Communicare Healthcare

Message to Fr. Brendan and Fr. Tony from Maria Dixon of Communicare Healthcare on 12/2/2019.

She is trying to recruit Care Assistants to provide essential homecare support to over 65’s in the Athea area. Flexible working hours with excellent rates of pay. Contact [email protected]  094-9259100

Website: www.communicare.ie

Athea GAA Fundraiser

Launch Night at the Top of the Town

We are all looking forward to the Club’s next big event in the Devon Inn Hotel, Templeglantine on Saturday, March 2nd 2019 at 8pm. The Singers, Dancers and Chancers show is being produced by Cassie Leen who runs a School of Dance and Performing Arts in Tralee.

We first mooted this event back in October and have been recruiting performers since then. There will be eight acts to entertain what is expected to be a big crowd on the night. As the name suggests there will be a mixture of singing, dancing and no shortage of chancers on stage.

The acts comprise a mixture of young and not so young. Lal Browne will find it hard to give the odds on the night as he will be on stage in an act which will bring plenty of laughs. We have a number of young lads who lead the way in showing player commitment when they do a sketch from a very popular recent Irish comedy set in Cork and they merge with two plastic bag clad lads from Limerick . The recently formed Gaelic Mother and Others have put together an assembly of ladies who we think will be there or thereabouts at the end of the night based on what can be heard from rehearsals. We have two well known men in black who will take to the stage and give us a rendition of a popular song of yesteryear.

The bravest act by far is a group of more senior players and former players who have taken on a routine which will involve Velcro and fake tan and for which there will be plenty in the audience crying out for more if they line out as the last act.

We have two of the event organisers on stage entertaining us with their version of a song sung by a famous little girls icon. We also have Irish dancing added to the mix which we have no doubt will be of a high standard.

Our MC for the night will be Timmy O’Donoghue from Newcastle West and he will be charged with keeping the running order in check as well as bringing out the best in the performers and of course judges on the night.

We are very grateful to Brouder’s Garage, Collins’ Bar & Grocery, Horgan’s Garage and the Top of the Town Bar for supporting us as Event Main Sponsors.

The funds raised at this event will help to continue improvements at Páirc na nGael which will include the installation of the remainder of the walking track lighting in 2019. This will be a big addition to the facility as it will enable the club and community to have winter walking and jogging in a safe environment during the dark evenings.

Thanks to all who have supported this event and we look forward to seeing you there on the night.

Tickets are €20 and are on sale in Collins’ Shop or from Committee Members.

Bring Back Common Sense

By Domhnall de Barra 

It is getting increasingly more difficult to accept with any credulity the opinions of “experts” who pronounce what we should and should not do, especially in the field of healthy living.  What was bad for us yesterday is not so bad today as some other item becomes enemy number one.  Programmes like Operation Transformation make us feel uncomfortable,  and possibly guilty, if we are not super fit and exactly the right weight. We are bombarded by advice on what, and what not, to eat. Of course we have to be sensible and look after our bodies but there is no “one size fits all” solution. No two people are alike and may have different reactions to the same foods. The latest advice I heard was from a leading dietician on the radio today who was promoting the idea that skipping breakfast was a good way of loosing or controlling weight. Now, I was always led to believe that breakfast was the most important meal of the day and necessary to give us the stamina to face whatever tasks awaited us. It kind of makes sense when you think of it because we have been resting in our beds for many hours and our bodies need re-fuelling, just as our cars do. Of course skipping breakfast will help to lose weight but so will giving up eating altogether. The trouble is, the long term consequences of both options is not good. My worry is that vulnerable people, especially young girls who are under pressure to be perfect will take this “expert” advice and do themselves long-term harm. The best person to advise us on how to control weight and become more healthy is our local doctor who knows our medical history and will come up with a sensible plan of action. In the meantime we shouldn’t rush to take advantage of the latest fad and maybe end up far worse than we are.

More “expert” opinion is in favour of not labelling babies either male or female until they decide for themselves what gender they would like to be. Have we gone totally daft or is it just me?  What are we supposed to call them and how long should we wait for them to make up their minds?  I have great sympathy for some people who feel they are in the wrong bodies and would like a change of sex but it is not the norm and only accounts for a very small proportion of the population. The vast majority of children are happy being either boys or girls and should be treated as such. Traditionally boys were given different toys to play with than girls. Boys had toy cars and footballs etc while girls played with dolls and prams and the likes. We are now told that is also wrong and that toys should be gender neutral. It is catering for the future roles of men and women which are expected to be equal in every way. In the past the roles of men and women were well defined. The man went to work and brought home the money while the woman stayed at home and looked after the house and  children. Most men would not be seen dead pushing a pram or a buggy and hadn’t a clue about baking or cooking. Times have changed and nowadays there is a great crossover in the roles. Families are smaller now than they used to be so there is less work to do around the house. Women are also a big part of the work force and their income may be necessary to pay off a mortgage on the family home.  They are now doing jobs that traditionally were only done by men. I noticed lately that most of our post is delivered by women and very good they are at it too. A few years ago  it was the “postman” with not a “postlady” in sight. Men have had to adapt and do their fair share of the housework and looking after the children. Nothing wrong with that but we can’t all be neutral. Men are men and women are women and long live the difference. We should allow our children to be just that – children. Let them play with whatever toys they like and be happy. Soon enough the world will become all too real to them, whether they are boys or girls.

I heard another daft idea the other day, again on the radio. It wasn’t an ad but another “expert” was giving advice on sleeping habits. She was advocating the use of radios built into a type of headband so that people could go to sleep listening to music without disturbing their partners. People are continually on their phones or tablets all day long sending and receiving messages and sharing every facet of their lives with the wide world. Surely it is possible to do without another gadget when going to bed. If we are to believe the “experts”,  radios, phones and other electronic devices should not be used in the bedroom as they affect our ability to get a good night’s sleep. Maybe they have got this one right.

To finish on a brighter note, the play season is coming to an end at the moment and it was heartening to see the great attendances at all the plays in Abbeyfeale and Athea. Athea Drama Group have done 27 years of production and have given great entertainment to us over that period. This year’s offering “The Lonesome West” was slightly different to the comedies of previous years as it had some dark undertones and once again portrayed  the fragility of life in rural Ireland. It was very well done and all concerned deserve great praise. A special word of appreciation to those in charge of the set and props. Athea is one of the few groups that pays especial attention to detail and not a prop is out of place or its time zone. Thank you for once again brightening up our early spring.

“Drama’s not safe and it’s not pretty and it’s not kind. People expect the basic template of television drama where there might be naughty villains, but everyone ends up having a nice cup of tea. You’ve got to do big moral choices and show the terrible things people do in terrible situations. Drama is failing if it doesn’t do that. “       Russell Davies