Well done to Athea athletes Daithi Mulvihill, Ewan McCarthy, Cian Murphy, Tom Mullane, Ella McCarthy, Maggie Ahern, Lizzie Woulfe and Sarah Roche who qualified for and competed in the county athletics finals in Mungret on Saturday and Sunday 29th and 30th June last. All athletes performed strongly and didn’t let the rainfall on Saturday dampen their spirits. 

Horse & Pony Races

Sunday July 7th sees the return of the annual Horse & Pony Races in Athea. This event has been going for many years and draws a big crowd of racing enthusiasts.  It attracts entrants from all over the county Limerick and neighbouring counties as well. Many a champion jockey started out at meetings like this and no doubt there will be some budding stars in evidence at the weekend. It is also a great evening in the village when the races are over so here’s looking forward to a fine day  for all those involved.

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

We are into July already and the year is half over. Time is flying by at an enormous rate because it seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the new year and looking forward to the longer day. Now the days are getting shorter but maybe it is an age thing and the older you get, the quicker time goes by. When I was young a year was an awful long time. Even a month was an eternity leading up to the school holidays and I think that is the reason. If you are waiting for a bus or train, 10 minutes is a long time but, if you are running for the same train or bus 10 minutes goes by in a flash so, it is all in the mind. When you are young everything is in the future and you are looking forward to things that are to come while, at an advanced age, there is more in the past than what is to look forward to.  As we go into this month the weather has taken a turn for the worse and the forecast for the rest of the week is not too promising. Let us hope it will not turn out like last year with very few days that did not have rain for the rest of the year. The weather has definitely changed a lot over the years and I suppose it will continue to do so. We are lucky we do not get any extremes of heat or cold and we don’t have earthquakes, tornados or tsunamis to put up with.

I was amazed at the buzz around the Taylor Swift concert in Dublin over the weekend. Not since The Beatles has there been such a following for a celebrity, especially young girls who scream their lungs off at the very sight of her. I find it difficult to understand the whole thing but then I am an old fogey who is well past it. I am delighted for all those young people who enjoyed the concert but I feel they are being ripped off. Tickets for these events are an enormous price and then you have the merchandise that has to be purchased at inflated prices. Of course hotels and guest houses cash in too raising their prices when any event is on. I heard of two people who went to the concert and stayed in a hotel. The weekend cost them €3,500 altogether. Now, that kind of money doesn’t grow on trees so I can’t see how it is worth it. It is, however, their choice and they are free to do with their own money whatever they like.  I hope it keeps fine for them.

American politics is in turmoil again after the recent debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. I make no secret of the fact that I am in the anti-Trump camp and I was hoping against hope that Bided would take the opportunity to land a few blows on him but I couldn’t believe what I saw and heard. He walked onto the stage like an old man and it all went downhill from there. Trump did what he does best; throw insults and tell lies and Biden was unable to call him out. He faltered, forgot what he was saying and at times looked like he didn’t know where he was.  This is not a sudden deterioration because the writing has been on the wall for some time now. I like Joe Biden, he is a decent man but he is just too old for a job that requires so much energy. It is now up to his close  friends, family and advisers to persuade him to retire. He  would leave a good legacy but, on the other hand, if he runs, he will be remembered as the man who handed the presidency to Donald Trump. Getting out now is not a shameful thing and would allow the American public to vote for an alternative to someone who would destroy democracy in  America if elected.  Make no mistake about it, Trump does not believe in democracy, he is a dictator who has no regard for the rule of law and sees himself as another Putin. It is a crying shame that there are so many people who follow him regardless of the things he has done or the crimes he has committed. Has decency gone out the window completely?  He has to be stopped so the Democrats have to find somebody who will appeal to a large section of people who don’t want Trump but will not vote for Biden because they feel he is not up to the job. The recent decision by the Supreme Court, in Trump’s favour, is another big blow to democracy and the rule of law. You would think that a Supreme Court judge would be above partisan politics but not on Trumps watch. He appointed conservative judges to the court and it is now pay back time. The ruling is an affront to the American founders because it says that a President is only really accountable to himself and cannot be prosecuted for official acts or, more importantly “acts that are presumed to be official” while in office. What message does this give to ordinary law-abiding people who try to do the right thing?  The law is all we have to fall back on and if it can be manipulated for political gain or the avoidance of prosecution by one person then where do we go from here.  We will now have the usual stalling by the courts with appeal after appeal until after the election date. If Trump gets elected, which seems very likely at the moment, he can then pardon himself and stick up a finger to the rule of law. I can’t believe the people who founded America had this in mind when they wrote the constitution. It is a sad time for what was once the greatest country in the world. It is now a pathetic mess. Somebody will have to rise above the pettiness and bring back common sense.

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, Thursday and Friday evening 7pm.

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

Mass Intentions this week: Thursday July 4^th 7pm – Thady Woulfe (months mind).

Saturday July 6^th 7.30pm – Patrick Cotter and all deceased members of the Cotter family.

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 course 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.

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

Red Cross (West Limerick branch) – church gate collection this coming sunday July 6th.

Athea Community Council

 Lucky Numbers Draw  01/07/2024

No’s Drawn: 5,  7,  22,  29.     No Winner

Lucky Dips

Bob Birchall,                     Gortnagross

Eleanor Denihan,                Knocknagoshel

Joan Carroll,                      Athea

Mullane Children, Knocknagorna

Sellers Prize:  White’s Bar & Collins’ Shop

 Next Draw:  08/07/’24   Venue:  Batt’s Bar

Jackpot €21,500

A message from John Moran, Mayor of Limerick  

Thank you so much for playing your part in this historic moment for Limerick and putting your trust in me.

Thanks also to the absolutely amazing group of people – family, friends and initially strangers who have now become friends for life – who rallied so generously to help over these past three months.

To those who canvassed, put up posters, managed social media, helped with messaging, with organization, public meetings, policy documents – and so much more. I may have been the candidate but you truly were the campaign.

Thank you all. I shall forever be in your debt

On so many doorsteps, in so many conversations, during so many social media interactions, I have heard loud and clear you echo my own demands for More for Limerick. For more ambition, for more delivery of such badly needed housing and infrastructure and for our desire to see Limerick get a fairer share of the success which Ireland is experiencing this past decade.

Limerick has now spoken. From the outset, I wanted to run a positive and inclusive campaign and reach out to all who call Limerick home. Now, we  look forward to the next five years with renewed hope and expectation, what brings me the most satisfaction is to see the proof that the messages of my campaign have touched young and old, rural and urban and all communities new and old right across our beloved county including many who have saddened me as they told me that they have felt forgotten by the politics of the past.

We now must seize this historic opportunity to forge a new Limerick so that our generation building on the work of those who have gone before us can proudly look back in years to come and say yes, we also delivered for Limerick.

Luimneach Abu

John Moran.