This is how close we came to being flooded the other day
Camino Challenge 2023
I have signed up to take part in the Irish Hospice Foundation’s Camino Challenge 2023. Along with 30 others from Ireland, we will take on a challenging 114km walk over five days along the First Stage of French Camino – crossing the challenging Pyrenees in September. Each participant funds their own expenses, with a target set for fundraising €1,200, which will go directly towards furthering the work of the Irish Hospice Foundation, striving for best care at end of life for all. This charity rely on voluntary fundraising to support and maintain this work.
I would be most grateful for any support you could give by way of donation by contacting me on 0879042477.
Tugaim buíochas leat roimh ré as do chabhair.
Damien
The Way I See It
By Domhnall de Barra
I was listening to the radio the other day, as I usually do when driving, and something I heard caught my attention. It was a lady, a nurse for the last 30 years, who was trying to put her two daughters through nursing college. She got a small grant for the first one but was turned down for the second because she was deemed to be over the earnings threshold. I wondered why she got it for one and not the other since her circumstances hadn’t changed until she revealed that her daughter had got a summer job and those earnings were added to her own with the result that it drove the combined earnings over the threshold. This was on the Lifeline programme which, thankfully was being presented by Katie Hannon from Duagh who, in my humble opinion, does a far better job than the regular host, Joe Duffy. Many callers to the programme had similar stories and empathised with the nurse but one woman came on and her contribution made my blood boil. She had put her own children through college so she figured the tax payer shouldn’t have to foot the bill for any one. She had no sympathy for the nurse and more or less said that it was her own fault that she had not prepared over the years for the fact that her children needed to go to college. Now, I know that nurses aren't among the best paid in our society, in fact when you think of the fantastic work they do they are highly underpaid, so what they earn is just about enough to maintain a home and raise a family. What was being said is typical of the “I’m all right Jack” mentality and the “survival of the fittest” attitude that is so prevalent in capitalist societies. Taken to the extreme, some people believe that, if you can’t afford hospital fees, you should be allowed to die. This is not the type of society I want to live in, a society where the greatest part of the wealth is in the hands of a privileged few and those at the lower end of the scale are forgotten about. Let us get back to the point of the phone-in. Should the measly few euro that a student earns on a summer job be used to refuse them a college grant? Had she not taken the job and signed on the dole she would have cost the country money but would have qualified. It makes no sense, especially when the country is short of nurses and medical staff in general. I firmly believe that all education, including third level, should be free or at least affordable for all. There was a time, when I was growing up, when second level education was only available to those who could afford it. I would not have gone to secondary school if it wasn’t for my national school head master who picked me up one Saturday morning and took me into St. Ita’s College in Abbeyfeale to sit an exam for a scholarship. Jim Kelly, the owner of the college, awarded three scholarships each year to the people who took the top three places in the exam. I was lucky enough to get one of those and I will be forever grateful for that. Not too long afterwards secondary education became free to all and it has served our country well since. It is just one more progressive step to include third level in the free education programme. I know that the cost would be prohibitive but it need not be entirely free. In the UK they have a system where third level students can apply for loans to fund their college years. These loans are paid pack from their salaries when they start working. There are two good points about this method. It gives everybody an equal opportunity and it also guarantees that graduates will have to stay and work in the country for a number of years while the loan is being repaid. At the moment we have a problem of newly trained medical staff and other professionals leaving to work in places like Abu Dabhi where they can earn multiples of what they might earn at home while positions in Ireland are unable to be filled. It is worth looking at but, whatever happens, we cannot allow a situation to continue where a hard working mother is denied a grant for her daughter because of an arbitrary threshold. I have a big problem with thresholds and how they are applied. As it stands, let us say a threshold is €30,000. If you earn €29,999 you are entitled to the grant but if you earn €30,001 you get nothing. Surely there should be some type of sliding scale where a portion of the money is granted. We need enlightened thinking from our legislators if we are to get the best out of our students. In my lifetime’s work I have dealt with all types of people from labourers to government ministers. I have met far more intelligent men working for Murphy and John Lang than those at the top in Leinster House. They of course did not have the luxury of going beyond sixth class in national school and so never got an opportunity to realise their true potential. Everybody, regardless of class or creed, deserves a place in our education system and the sooner the better.
It amazes me how some people can get things out of all proportions. There are those who are campaigning to get rid of air travel because of the pollution caused by aeroplanes. They want no flights where there are trains or other methods of transport available within a certain distance. They are also encouraging us to not travel abroad for holidays or any other reason. Air travel is responsible for approx 2% of the problem so, if we grounded every aircraft in the morning it will only make a very tiny difference. Why not tackle the other 98% before we destroy the jobs of thousands of people who depend on the aircraft industry for a living. It would also have a devastating effect on our ability to survive as an island nation since we rely on air travel to go abroad whether for work or leisure. I hate having to pass through Abbeyfeale these days because the traffic is so heavy, especially at Joy’s Corner with a constant stream of vehicles passing through in either direction. There is a queue of cars, vans, lorries and tractors spewing out harmful emissions as they wait for an opportunity to turn right or left. If the town had been bypassed, as was proposed many, many years ago there would be far fewer exhaust fumes filling the air. The Green party are opposed to spending any more money on ne roadways so let us hope the other parties will see sense before it is too late.
Church Notices
Ide Naofa Pastoral Area ( Athea-Abbeyfeale-Mountcollins-Templeglantine-Tournafulla)
Fr. Willie Russell 087 2272825, Canon Tony Mullins 087 2600414, Fr. Denis Mullane 087 2621911
and Fr. Dan Lane 087 2533030 (retired)
Priest on call
Sunday 30th July: Rev. F. Duhig 087 6380299
Baptisms on 4th Saturday of the month at 2.30 pm –
Next Baptism course on Tues Aug 8th at 8pm, contact Theresa for further details on 087 1513565.
Parish Administration: Mon – Fri 11am – 1pm. Call Siobhán on 087 3331459 or email [email protected]
July Intentions
Fri 28th July @ 7pm Paudie Mullane (1st Anniversary) Knocknagorna.
Sat 29th July @ 7.30pm Michael Kiely and deceased members of the Crowley family (Knockfinisk)
Bridie & Eamonn Riordan (Upper Dirreen), Michael (Mike) O’Connor (Mrk. Park)
11th Anniversry
Graveyard Masses: Holy Cross Graveyard Mass at a later dte
Templeathea Graveyard Mass on Wed July 26th at 7.30pm.
DANAHER MCGRATH TRUST SCHOLARSHIP
The Danaher McGrath Trust is seeking applications for a scholarship for third level students.
In order to apply for the scholarship students must meet the following criteria:
• Applicants must reside or have resided in one of the following Parishes prior to taking up their studies:
Athea, Abbeyfeale, Mountcollins, Tournafulla or Templeglantine
• The Scholarship is provided on a means test basis and is for students of limited means. Proof of means will be requested and required under the application process
• Students who are undertaking courses of study in Irish language, Irish literature or music will be
given preference in the application process
Application forms are available from secondary schools in Tarbert, Abbeyfeale and Newcastle West and from Purtill Woulfe Murphy Solicitors upon request (068-31106) and via email to [email protected]or [email protected] • The closing date for applications is the 31st August 2023 no late applications will be considered
Applications should be sent to:
The Danaher McGrath Trust
C/O Purtill Woulfe Murphy Solicitors,
The Square,
Abbeyfeale,
Co. Limerick
The Scholarship is open to students or prospective students of all third level institutions in Ireland.
The scholarship is an annual scholarship for the duration of the scholarship fund. The minimum award will be €2000 per annum. The maximum award will be €5000 per annum.
Students are entitled to apply for the scholarship each year. No student will be awarded the scholarship
for more than 4 years in duration.
Where a student fails to pass an academic year they cannot be awarded the scholarship to repeat the
same academic year.
The Scholarship will be awarded to full time students only and is not available to part time students.
The Scholarship will be awarded to students of primary degrees only and does not cover masters or
PhD courses of study.
No canvassing will be tolerated and the decision of the Trustees is final.
“Cuz” Enright with his new mode of transport