HAPPY EASTER
Catriona Shine, Upper Athea and Oslo, doing a reading from her debut novel which was launched on 6th March
Athea Tidy Towns
Team Limerick Clean-up
We will again be taking part in the Team Limerick Clean on Good Friday March 29th. Registration at Con Colbert Hall at 9am, clean up to be completed by 12 noon. Anyone with litter pickers are asked to please bring them along as litter pickers are limited this year. Rubbish bags will be collected from Athea GAA car park on Friday evening. We are hoping that all roads approaching the village will be litter picked on this day so if you would like to make a difference to your area and spring clean our roads, please come along on Friday morning.
Athea Community Carries the Cross Together’.On Good Friday March 29th, an outdoor Stations of the Cross Trail through the village of Athea will take place. The Walking Trail will begin inside St. Bartholomew’s Church at 3pm ( Station 1) and finish at the altar at Holy Cross Graveyard (Station 14), followed by the Veneration of the Cross. Athea Parish would like to extend a warm welcome to everyone to join them on Good Friday. Weather permitting. For further information, please contact Pat Higgins on 0872034626.
Dawn Mass
An Easter Dawn mass will take place on Easter Sunday morning at 6am at Holy Cross Graveyard, weather permitting. The advice is to wrap up well, and bring a torch.
The Way I See It
By Domhnall de Barra
“The news of the week was the announcement by Leo Varadkar that he was resigning as leader of Fine Gael and also standing down as Taoiseach. It came as a shock to most of us, not because it might happen but because of the timing. He says he is no longer the man for the job and basically has had enough but I fear there is a little more to the story than that. Fine Gael has been losing popularity to such an extent that sitting TDs are queuing up to announce they will not be contesting the next election. Rats and sinking ships comes to mind so I would not be surprised if the “suits” in charge of Fine Gael didn’t tap him on the shoulder and persuade him to do the decent thing and fall on his sword because, under his leadership, the party had no chance in the next election. They will say that those TDs who are resigning are getting old and have given great service but I don’t see the same thing happening in other parties. The writing is on the wall and it is no great surprise with our democratic system where we get an opportunity every few years to show our leaders what we think of them. It is a bit like Lannigan’s Ball with stepping in and stepping out again. While in opposition, parties gain popularity because they can promise the electorate the sun, moon and stars without having to deliver. The same happens to our neighbours east and west. In the UK the Tories and Labour swap over every few years. In the last election, the Tories under the leadership of Boris Johnson had a landslide victory which is going to be reversed in favour of Labour later this year. In America, the Conservatives and Democrats take turns in power as well so it is no surprise that we are about to give the heave ho to the establishment parties next time in favour of Sinn Féin. They have performed well in opposition but if they get into power the ”yes minister” factor will come into play. “Yes minister” was a British comedy series that lampooned the relationship between the department secretary and the govern minister. It was a really good program but was closer to the truth than most people like to believe. It is the department secretaries who have the real power. While ministers have to be elected and selected for office, department secretaries are permanent and will see different ministers come and go. A minister may come in with a great idea to which the secretary may say, yes minister, but if you do that then this will happen which will trigger this but of course it is your decision. When they get into government, parties will realise that there are limits to what can be achieved but that carries no weight for the electorate who gave them their votes to carry out what they promised. The government are getting blamed for all the woes of the country but people have short memories. We did have the big financial crash that left us in serious debt and we are living through a post pandemic world that is full of war and upheaval. No matter who was in power the result would have been the same. I think where Fine Gael went wrong was in the last leadership contest when they chose Leo over Simon Coveney. Coveney is a very good politician with a head for business and finance but also has the common touch, something Leo does not. He was to appeal to the modern, yuppie types, particularly in urban areas and maybe he did but the party suffered at rural level. I think Simon Coveney would have made an excellent leader of both party and government but that ship has sailed. I am afraid we are in for more of the same with Simon Harris who is more akin to Leo than Coveney. It is too late to rescue the party now. They must resign themselves to a stint on the opposition benches for a while and allow some others to follow in their footsteps. Will it affect candidates in the upcoming local elections? I hope not because I believe that party politics should have little bearing on who we elect to local councils. We should look at the candidates in our area and chose the one we think will do the best job for us, regardless of political affiliation. Local authorities now have a decent budget to distribute so we need someone local who will deliver for us. On the national level the message is simple. People need a job, place to live, a health service that is fit for purpose, a cost of living that does not break the bank and a future for their children. The government have done a great job of attracting employment to the country but what good is that when somebody who commands a decent salary cannot take a job in certain locations because there isn’t an affordable place to buy or rent. There is a scarcity of construction workers at the moment because they are all working abroad and who can blame them? At the end of the day, it is how much of your money you can keep. Even if we had enough workers, are w building the right type of houses? There are so many regulations attached to building these days that delay the start of production but all that could be simplified. All people want is a decent place to live, not an upmarket manor. Get back to what we did in the last century and build terraced houses in towns and villages and cottages in the country. It worked then so why wouldn’t it work now? Where there is a will there’s a way.
Congratulations to Athea Drama Group on a magnificent production over the past couple of weeks. It was a good comedy, what we all need at the moment, and the acting was very professional, far above what one would expect from a local drama group. There is one more performance on Thursday night but I am sure there will be requests for more.
Church Notices
Parish Pastoral Unit (Athea, Abbeyfeale, 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).
Masses & Ceremonies Holy Week: Tuesday 9.30am. Holy Thursday 7.30pm.
Good Friday: Outdoor Stations of the Cross (weather permitting) commencing at St. Bartholomew’s church at 3pm and making our way to Holy Cross cemetery. Veneration of the Cross after the Stations. Easter Saturday Vigil Mass 7.30pm.
Easter Sunday: Dawn Mass at Holy Cross Cemetery 6am and Mass at 11am in the church.
Confessions after mass on Tuesday morning and Thursday evening.
Eucharistic Adoration and The Devine Mercy Chaplet on Tuesday morning after mass.
Mass Intentions Sunday Mar 31st. Nora O’Connell.
All masses are streamed live on https://www.churchservices.tv/athea
Sacrament of Confirmation: Congratulations to all the children who received the Sacrament of Confirmation recently here in Athea. Sincere thanks to all who helped them prepare for their special day and to those who helped prepare the church for the celebration.
Lenten Scripture Reflection: ‘A Journey through the Bible’ – taking place in the Library every Wednesday night, will take a break this ‘Holy Week ‘and will recommence again after Easter.
Parish Administration: Tues-Fri 11am-1pm. call Siobhan on 087-3331459, outside these hours text or email [email protected]
Athea Community Council
Lucky Numbers Draw 25/03/2024
No’s Drawn: 20, 21, 22, 31. No Winner
Lucky Dips
Bridie Brouder, Gale View
Gillian & Tracey, c/o Haulie Liston
Noreen Barry, Cratloe
Birdie Kinsella, Templeathea
Sellers Prize: White’s Bar & Collins’ Shop
Next Draw: 01/04/’24 Venue: Brown Joe’s
Jackpot €20,100
Batt’s Bar
Duck & Swan
Traditional Music Night
Friday, April 5th @ 9p.m.
Music, song, craic & raffle
All Welcome