Message from Councillor John Sheahan

Delighted following my representations a table top ramp will be installed shortly in Athea Village at the junction of Colbert Street and the Abbeyfeale Road as a traffic calming measure to reduce the speed of traffic through the village, and make the village safer for all.

Bodhrán Competition

The annual Bodhrán Competition which was postponed recently will be held at Batt’s Bar, Athea, on Saturday, Nov. 18th., starting at 7pm. There are four categories: open, confined, junior and ladies so get your bodhráns tuned up and start practising. Contact: Jerry Brouder 0877673159

Congratulations to Amy White and Remt Villulles who got engaged at the weekend above the Arctic Circle under the Northern lights in Tromso, Norway

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

I am glad that I am living in Ireland, a republic that is run by the people for the people. We elect the people to form our government and if we don’t like what they are doing we have the option of not voting for them at the next election.  We also have a good police force and a judiciary that is independent of politics.  This was brought to my mind by the case in America where Molly Martens and her father Tom were on trial for the manslaughter of her husband Jason Corbett.  It was a shocking case and the evidence was so compelling that one would have to wonder why they were offered a plea bargaining deal to avoid a murder charge. We don’t have plea bargaining and that is a good thing because it takes the power away from the judiciary and sometimes lets people get away with very serious crimes. The Martens said that they were acting in self defence when they attacked and killed Jason Corbett. I can understand that her father would be justified in hitting the victim with a baseball bat if he thought his daughter was being assaulted but how many blows does it take to stop somebody?  Most of you will not have held a baseball bat in your hand but I have and I promise you it is a really heavy, dangerous object. One blow to the head would be sufficient to at least knock somebody out but Tom Martens continued to hit Jason Corbett until his skull was completely smashed. The pathologist in the case said that it was impossible to quantify how many blows were struck but it was at least 12 and the injury was so bad that pieces of the skull were falling out on the table when he was doing his examination. Molly Martens was unharmed, her clothes were not torn and she was wearing a fragile bracelet that was intact after the attack. She had been shown to be a liar and a manipulator yet the powers that be thought it was alright to accept their plea of manslaughter and drop the murder charge.  They will now be free within months which, to any reasonable understanding, is a travesty of justice. You would have to wonder if the fact that Tom Corbett was a former FBI  agent had any influence on the case or would it have been different if it was an ordinary Joe Soap.  People are treated in different ways. Look at the case involving Donald Trump in New York.  He called the judge in the case a fraud and complained of a witch hunt but despite being in contempt of court on several occasions he wasn’t punished for it. I know that if I went into the courthouse in Abbeyfeale a few years ago and called Justice Cyril Maguire a fraud I would be in jail before my feet could touch the ground. This is what happens when political parties in power appoint judges. Some will appoint liberal judges and others conservative ones. They will be expected to toe the party line and this is not good for justice. A true judge has to be completely impartial, regardless of the case before the court or the politics of the accused, otherwise the law does not work in the best interests of the people. Politics in America is so polarised that each side is convinced the other is corrupt. That is why, despite having several charges hanging over him, Donald Trump is still leading the race for the Republican nomination and is ahead of Joe Biden in the Presidential race according to most recent polls. They say the first casualty of war is truth but it isn’t doing so well in political circles either.

We were lucky to escape the worst of  storm Debbie as it crossed through the midlands on Monday night. We had some high winds alright but nothing compared to what happened in the West and across the country. You could not help feeling for people who have lost their livelihoods due to storm damage and flooding. One shop owner was standing in the midst of the devastation and said his business was ruined and he was not covered by insurance because they were flooded once before. There must be something done to provide some kind of cover for people who find themselves in a designated flood plane. You can’t blame the insurance companies because the risk is too high so I think the government should provide the cover even if it means a levy on all insurance policies. With the climate changing so rapidly things are going to get better before they get worse.

The shortage of priests is in the news again lately. Vocations are practically non-existent and the Church is relying more and more on retired priests to help out overworked curates and parish priests who have three or four parishes over vast areas to cover.  It is time that the old men who rule the roost are dragged into the current century and allow married men to be ordained. There is also the case for ordaining women and there is no reasonable argument against it. Maybe it is already too late with congregations dwindling in all parishes but if there are enough priests maybe Masses will be more frequent locally and Churches won’t have to close. Things have changed a lot since my young days when the priests ruled with an iron fist. We feared them more than anything else and that fear was  bolstered by their weekly sermons which were, on the whole, very negative and full of what would happen to us if we died in a state of sin. As time went on and people got more educated some began to question what was being taught and many chose not to attend Mass anymore except for baptisms, first communion, confirmation, weddings and funerals. They had a type of a-la-carte approach to the Church’s teachings so numbers attending on Sundays diminished. It wasn’t helped by the scandals either but there are still a large number of believers out there who would appreciate having a priest in the parish. Who knows, if the Catholic religion is made more relevant to modern society we may see the pews full again.

Church Notices

Ide Naofe Pastoral Area (Athea, Abbey Feale, Mountcollins, Templeglantine and Tournafulla). Canon Tony Mullins 087 2600414, Fr. Willie Russell 087 2272825, Fr. Denis Mullane 087 2621911 and Fr Dan Lane 087 2533030 (retired).

Baptism Information: Next baptism date is Sunday November 26 th at 12 noon and on the fourth Sunday of the month thereafter. Contact parish administration for details.

Next baptism course on Tues Nov. 14 th at 8pm, contact Theresa for further details 087-1513565.

Parish Administration: Tues-Fri 11am-1pm. call Siobhan on 087-3331459, outside these hours text or email [email protected]

Mass Intentions Thursday Nov 16th 7pm – Phyllis Murphy and all deceased members of the Murphy family. Josephine & Patrick Enright, Richard & Bridget Sheehy and Thomas Kennelly.

Sunday Nov 19th 11am – Timothy & Bridget McAuliffe, Mary B. & William McAuliffe and James McAuliffe, Coole West. (All masses are streamed live on https://www.churchservices.tv/athea)

A Memorial Mass will be held for all deceased members of Kerry Ingredients, Listowel at St. Michaels Church Lixnaw on Wed. Nov15 th at 7.30pm.

November List of the Dead Envelopes are available in the Church for you to complete and return. The envelopes can be placed in the offertory box inside the front door. All names will be placedon the Altar for the month of November.

Diocesan Overview Report is available this week and Bishop Brendan hopes the people of the Diocese will read and share it with others. The Overview is a snapshot of the life of our Diocese. In reading the Overview you will find statistics of where things are at today, giving a greater

understanding of the profile of clergy, financial arrangements and the challenges facing us in the Diocese. He asks people to take copies of it not just for themselves but perhaps also for sons or daughters not coming regularly to Church but nevertheless still in some way in contact throughbaptism, First Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies.