News – 25/6/24 « Athea & District Notes

Jun/24

News – 25/6/24

Champions on the podium in Athea

There was a great attendance at the National Cycling Championships in Athea last weekend. The sun shone out and people made the most of it. The meeting went off very smoothly thanks to good organising and a huge voluntary input from our local GAA Club. It was good to see a bit of activity in the village again and it brought back memories of the motor bike races that were a regular occurrence many years ago. Well done to all concerned and here’s looking forward to more events like that in the future.

Kids Art Club

Creative Summer Camps will take place in Athea Library during the summer. They include: 1 creative arts and crafts including puppet making, 2 Sewing-design and make your own plushie, and 3 Papier mache sculpture. Design, sculpt and decorate a fabulous 3D creature.. To book/more info dend WhatsApp/message to 089 4152154 stating camp number, child’s name and age

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

“The law is a ass”, a phrase from Mr Bumble in Oliver Twist, came to mind last week when I heard of the case in Limerick where a serving soldier was in court accused of attacking and physically injuring a young woman in the street. Despite the severity of the offence the judge in his wisdom? Gave him a three years suspended sentence meaning he could walk from the court a free man. In his summing up, the judge said he took into account the fact that he had pleaded guilty and that it was a first offence and that he feared that a custodial sentence would end the young man’s career in the army. There was also the character reference of an army officer who testified that he was an exceptionally well behaved individual and that this offence was completely out of character. This however does not hold up when we look at the evidence. Yes, he did plead guilty but only when he was shown CCTV footage of the attack, that showed him to be the aggressor. He first of all tried to say that the woman had instigated the confrontation so I wonder would he have pleaded guilty if the cameras hadn’t been there. If he was an upstanding, decent individual who was acting under the influence of alcohol, wouldn’t he have felt sorry later but no, he posted on line that vile few words “two to get her down, two to put her out”. The sheer viciousness of the attack is also to be considered especially by a professional soldier who was trained in unarmed combat against a much smaller defenceless woman. And, so what, if he was to lose his career in the army. If a bus driver was found guilty of a road traffic offence that merited a disqualification, would he be left off because it might cost him his job? I don’t think so. I think the judge got it very wrong and so does most of the country by the demonstrations and support shown for the victim over the weekend. There is no excuse for violence against women by men and any attack should be appropriately punished. The DPP should get involved and ensure justice is not only done but seen to be done. The leniency of the sentence gives the wrong message to those who may now think it is ok to use violence on women. I remember, many years ago when I was in England, seeing two court cases reported on the same page of a local newspaper. In one case a man was charged with hitting his wife while in the other a man was accused of kicking a cat. Both men were convicted but with very different sentences. The man who kicked the cat got six months in custody while the man who hit his wife got the probation act and was ordered to attend an anger management course. I couldn’t believe it but it was true. Again it gave the wrong message but I thought things had changed in the intervening years but it appears not. The punishment must fit the crime otherwise the law really is an ass.

The ongoing dispute between Aer Lingus and its pilots is a prime example of the public being used as bargaining chips. This is the time of year when families usually plan their holidays to coincide with the end of the school year. Most of them have been saving up for this break all the year and to be now told that their flight may not be available is nothing short of cruel. I am a supporter of trade unions because I am old enough to remember a time when people were forced to work long hours, seven days a week, for very little money. They went to work from the age of fourteen and it was little short of slavery at a time when the employers were making huge profits. The trade unions put a stop to all that and got decent working conditions for its members including the eight hour day and the five day working week. Of course, some of these unions went too far, especially in England where they were infiltrated by communists who just wanted to destroy the state. They practically destroyed the car manufacturing industry in England in the 1960s an 70s. They got so much control that they practically stopped people from doing a fair days work for a fair days pay and the end product was that, when foreign cars arrived on the market, the British ones could not compete and many of them had to close with the loss of many jobs. I am not going to say who is right and wrong in the Aer Lingus dispute but there are a few observations I will make. Air Lingus is making massive profits and cannot plead inability to pay but on the other hand pilots are not on the breadline either earning between €80,000 and €100,000 a year. Yes they need a raise to keep up with inflation but 24% is just too much. The management of the airline would be negligent in their duty if they gave in to that demand. I once worked for a haulage firm in Liverpool that offered very good wages and was the best place to work. They had a very good trade union but there was never a strike at the company. The secret was a very clever union official who got small raises for the workers at regular intervals avoiding a big hike after a long while. The pilots in Aer Lingus should have acted over the past few years and not come now with what could be deemed impossible demands. There is a lot at stake here so the faster the government steps in, the better. All disputes have to be settled by both parties giving and taking a bit. Let us hope common sense prevails and the people of Ireland will be able to take their holidays free from disruption.

Church Notices

Parish Pastoral Unit (Athea/ Abbeyfeale/ Mountcollins/ Templeglantine/ Tournafulla).

Canon Tony Mullins 087 2600414, Fr. Willie Russell 087 2272825, Fr. Denis Mullane 087 2621911.

Masses this week- Tuesday morning 9.30am and Thursday evening 7pm.

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

Mass Intentions: Sat June 29^th -7.30pm: Larry, Marie & Pat Buckley. Kit Quinn O’Connor.

Patsy & Josie O’Sullivan. All masses are streamed live on https://www.churchservices.tv/athea

Baptisms take place on the fourth weekend of the month. The next baptismal preparation meeting takes place in the sacristy Tournafulla on Tuesday evening June 9^th at 8pm.

Parents who wish to baptise their child in the next few months should contact Siobhan on

087-3331459 for further details.

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