Paudie Reidy and Agatha Barrett
presenting a cheque for €2070 to Ellen Quill for Down Syndrome Ireland from a night at. Athea bingo

Proposed Playground for Athea

There will be a meeting in the hall on Thursday Night, July 13th. to discuss proposals for a children’s playground in Athea. This  a public meeting and everyone is encouraged to attend. It is important, in this day and age, that children have a safe environment in which to play outdoors

Graveyard Mass

This will be held in Holy Cross Cemeteruy on Wednesday 12th July at 7.30pm (weather permitting)

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 Ahern

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

There is a lot of speculation at the moment about the contents of the upcoming budget in the Autumn. Ireland has never been in a better place financially mainly due to huge corporation tax from multi-nationals who have their headquarters here. The advice from financial watchdogs is to not use this excess revenue for day to day spending but rather to put it away for a “rainy day” when those companies may not be in Ireland anymore. There is a lot of wisdom in that except for the fact that it is already raining, in fact it is teeming from the heavens. Despite almost full employment people cannot afford to either buy or rent a house in any of the cities and the rural rates are not too far behind. I know of one couple, both civil servants, who have recently moved from Dublin because they realised that all their available income was going into the repayments for their house and, despite working hard, they had no quality of life. They now live in a smaller house in a rural area and are quite happy with their lives but they are the lucky ones. Nurses and teachers will not apply for a job in the capitol because of the scarcity of rental accommodation and the astronomical cost of same. Our health service is in “limp mode” with long waiting lists and overcrowded hospitals. I heard just this morning that there is now a 10 years waiting list for appointments for children’s dental services. This is scandalous in this day and age and it should be mended at once. Some of our rural towns are suffering from traffic tailbacks, especially now in the summer when there are more tourists about. We have known about this problem for years but plans to built by-passes are gathering dust on government shelves. One of the reasons this is happening is down to the influence of the Green Party who don’t want to see any more money spent on roads but rather on public transport, greenways and cycle lanes. Adare is one of the black spots at the moment. That village was due to have a by-pass in 1994 but various objections from very influential local residents put the kybosh on that. Many plans since then have ended up the same way. We are told it is about to happen but only because J.P. McManus is bringing the Ryder Cup to Adare and he is contributing heavily to the cost. We wait and see but we will need roads for cars away into the future because there is no alternative in rural Ireland.

The cost of hotels is also a problem. They are bad enough in normal times but, if there is a big concert or other event that will attract people, the cost of a room goes up by multiples.  This is opportunism at its worst and there is simply no excuse for it given the fact that there is a big demand for hotel rooms anyway. There is still great value to be got away from the tourist hot spots and the big cities. I recently stayed in a four star hotel in the west midlands. Single room, bed , breakfast and three course evening meal for €125. I dread to think what it would cost in Dublin.

The biggest problem facing us at the moment is the lack of social housing. Going back over the years, local councils built houses in every town and village and nobody who needed a home was left behind. This should still be happening but, for some reason, councils who have available sites are not erecting houses on them. They give various excuses such as planning problems and lack of construction workers but that’s all they are – excuses.  Where there is a will there is a way. We built houses when there was little or no money in the country so why not now when the coffers are overflowing?  While I agree that we must be prudent I think the time is right to use some of the surplus revenue to fix the housing issue, the health issue and the roads while also making it illegal for hoteliers and landlords to rip off their clients. If something is not done people will vote with their feet, choosing to work in foreign countries where they will be amply rewarded for their skills and have a far better quality of life than they could hope for here at the moment. We once left our shores in droves because there wasn’t enough employment to go around. Now, with almost full employment, there is a danger of another mass exodus and there will be a scarcity of the very people we need to help our  country grow and prosper. The answers are there and all that is needed is the political will to start doing the right thing.

All the talk this week was about the wasting of money by RTE but we have an example of it much closer to home. Recently, new footpaths were laid in the village and surrounding roads despite the fact that there was absolutely nothing wrong with most the ones that were dug up. Then, in the past couple of weeks, the road up past the graveyard was resurfaced with the finest of tarmac. It is a beautiful job but, again, there was nothing wrong with the surface of the old road, in fact it was one of the better surfaces around. I wonder who decided to do these works and who deemed it necessary?  I am not expecting a great rush to answer those questions.

There was shocking programme on RTE 1 last night showing the maltreatment of bull calves at marts in the south of Ireland. They centred on Castleisland as well as Gortalea and marts in Cork. It showed young calves being kicked, pulled by the tails and ears, beaten with sticks and thrown through the air. It also highlighted the way they are treated while being taken to Europe to be slaughtered. Quite rightly, all the farming organisations have condemned the practices and it is fair to say that the people doing the mistreatment were not farmers themselves.  Some people will be very upset but I remember a time when sticks and whips were used liberally on horses, cows, donkeys, dogs and cats. There was one old man who used to ride on his donkey cart to the village. His method of encouraging the ass to go faster was to poke him in the backside with a six inch nail! Even today, we still have jockeys beating racehorses with whips to get the best finish out of them.  It is simply wrong and must be discontinued. Animals deserve better treatment from us.

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 16th July:  Rev. D. Casey    087 2272791

Sunday 23rd July:  Rev. J. Mockler    087 2342242

Sunday 30th July:  Rev. F. Duhig    087 6380299

Baptisms on 4th Saturday of the month at 2.30 pm – next date; Sat. July 22nd.

Next Baptism course on Tues July 11th 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

Sat 15th July @ 7.30pm      Mary & Jimmy Dee, Nora Mulvihill and her husband Tom (Toureendonnell)

Margaret & Maurice Danaher (Templeathea).

Fri 21st July @ 7pm            Patsy Brosnan (1st anniversary) Knocknagorna.

Sat 22nd July @ 7.30pm  Margaret Broderick,  Johnny Sheehy (Late of Knocknagorna), Thomas & Kit                                                                                                                                                                                         Woulfe

Danny Mulvihill, Nancy Langan (2nd Anniversary), Patsy Collins.

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 on Wed July 12th. at 7.30pm

Templeathea Graveyard Mass on Wed July 26th at 7.30pm.

.Congratulations to Athea Tidy Towns member Jamie Kelly and his new wife Karen who tied the knot in Adare recently.
Wishing Karen & Jamie a long and happy life together
Jamie with Tidy Towns members at the reception.