Athea Fishing Club

Fishing for the DENNY MULLANE CUP was contested last SUNDAY on our river GALE.

Water levels were ideal for this competition after a dry season of very low waters all year.

Our winner & Cup went to local man JOHN HEFFERNAN who had a nice selection of brown trout, the heaviest, almost tipping the scales of 2 pounds. Well done John.

A big Thanks to BROWN JOE ‘S  in dishing up some tasty bites etc. at weigh-in. Most appreciated by all within the club.

The club would like to pass on our sympathy  & condolences  to HELEN, Proprietor of BATT’S BAR on the recent death of her uncle, BARTHOLOMEW.  May he rest in peace.

Enjoying the October Horse Fair at Listowel on Thursday were Tom Collins from Athea and John O’Sullivan from Carrigkerry.
Photo: Moss Joe Browne.

St. Bartholomew’s Church Athea

Mass Intentions next weekend Sat Oct 15^th at 7.30pm

Michael Broderick.  Joan Palmer Wilson. Peg O’Keeffe (Month’s Mind).  Michael (Mike) Hayes,

formally of Dirreen and late of Chiswick, London and his sister Catherine Forde, Dirreen, Glenagragra and Birmingham.

Mass during the week: Tuesday and Thursday morning 9.30am.

Eucharistic Adoration & The Devine Mercy Chaplet on Tuesday morning after mass.

Funeral Mass for Nora Munneke (nee Shanahan) late of London & formally of Dirreen, Athea, will take place on Saturday next Oct 15^th at 12 noon, with burial afterwards at Holy Cross Cemetery.

All masses are streamed live on https://www,churchservices.tv/athea

Ministers of the Word Ministers of the Eucharist

Sat 15/10      Mairead O’Donovan / Yvonne Roche Eilish Geoghegan  / Pat Higgins.

Parish Office Hours: Monday – Friday 11am-1pm

Contact Siobhán on 087-3331459. or email the parish office at [email protected]

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

The good news first; wasn’t it great to see Niamh Nolan (left), daughter of Donie and Maura, the well known musical duo, competing on “The Voice” on Saturday night and getting through to the next round. She gave a fantastic performance and thoroughly deserved the praise she got from all the judges after she sang. She came across as a lovely, caring, very talented young woman who now has the world at her feet.  It is no wonder she is as good as she is. Her mother Maura is a member of the Ahern family from Knockfinisk, all really talented singers and her father, Donie from Kilcolman is not only a great box player but has won an All-Ireland singing title at the Fleadh Cheoil. As they say, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” We don’t know what the future holds for her in the competition but, if she goes no further, she has put herself and West Limerick on the world stage and we should all be extremely proud of her.

The bad news was the tragic explosion in Donegal that took so many lives in a small close-knit community. So many young people losing their lives at the one time is devastating and there are no words to express how the relatives and friends must be feeling. Since the news of the explosion spread there has been a constant presence of TV cameras and reporters working 24/7 trying to get sound bites from all and sundry. In these situations they try to interview the local clergy, school teachers, heads of sporting organisations and basically, anyone who will talk to them. The national papers also have wall to wall coverage. The sheer intensity of it borders on the ghoulish. These unfortunate people need their privacy to grieve and try to come to terms with a world that has been turned upside down overnight. The last thing they need is intrusive coverage by media. I have a problem with how RTE covers tragic funerals. They should not zoom in on mourning relatives as remains are removed from the church or at the graveside when they are at their most vulnerable and don’t really want to be on the national airwaves.  Next week they will have moved on to the latest story and the people of Creeslough will have been forgotten about but those affected by the awful tragedy have to live with it for the rest of their lives. The best we can do is to pray that they get the strength they need to overcome the life changing events of last week and support them in any way possible. I would ask RTE to give more thought to their coverage in future and remember that people have a right to privacy, especially at the most trying times of their lives.

Over the past days I have listened to the leaders of various political parties make speeches at their annual congresses. Liz Truss wasn’t exactly inspiring at the Tory gathering and looks like somebody who has bitten off more than she can chew. Geoffrey Donaldson spewed the same old rubbish and repeated that the DUP won’t go back into government in the North until the Northern Ireland Protocol is abolished. Their line is: unless we get what we want we will throw our toys out of the pram and scream. The most effective leaders, for me, were  Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin and Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish Nationalist Party. Both their parties are in a very strong position and it is just a matter of time before there will be a referendum in Scotland and a border poll in Ireland.  Whether the DUP or the Tories like it the UK is about to be dismantled in the not too distant future and they have only themselves to blame. The truth is that the British couldn’t care less about Northern Ireland and would gladly  walk away from it. Scotland is a different proposition being rich in natural resources and also very pro-Europe. They do have the right to self determination if the numbers stack up and I hope that they will get the referendum they so deserve.

Our leaders here seem to lack one vital ingredient – common sense. At the recent budget they announced a levy of 10c on every concrete block made in the country to help pay for the houses in the West and North West that were affected by pyrite and have to be rebuilt. This, at  a time when the costs of building are soaring beggars belief. They say the building industry have to play their part in funding the Pyrite Redress Scheme but putting a levy on concrete blocks is not the way to do it. That levy will be passed on to the builder and eventually to ordinary people who are trying to build their homes. It is like giving money to help people with one hand and then taking it back off them with the other. The same applies to the carbon tax.  Putting up the price of fuel is not a good ideal when prices are already multiples of what they were last year. It simply does not make sense but it is another case of the Green tail wagging the dog. The coalition seem to be afraid of the Greens and have leaned over backwards to accommodate them. There is merit in a carbon tax that will be used in the right way but now is not that time. It is no wonder Sinn Fein are dancing jigs. The way things are going they will be in power after the next election and maybe they will be a refreshing change. They may put an end to the unfair distribution of Government  money such as the children’s allowance. It is galling to think that Ireland’s ultra-rich, with private helicopters, planes, yachts and holiday homes throughout the world, can walk into a Post Office once a month to collect children’s allowance. Of course they don’t even have to call to the Post Office anymore, they can have it paid into their already bloated bank accounts. They will also benefit from all the other schemes to help people with fuel bills etc. As the song goes “It’s a rich man’s world”