Nov/24

News – 12/11/24

Eilish Geoghegan, and Tommy Woulfe with Tom and Maggie Collins were enjoying the annual horse fair at Athea on SaturdAay. Photo Moss Joe Browne

Athea Playground Fundraiser

The booking line is very busy for Flavour Of The Month Productions staging of ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane ‘ by Martin McDonagh on November 30th at Con Colbert Hall at 8pm. This production will be staged for one night only & is not suitable for minors. Bookings via text / whatsapp 087 6926746.

The playground committee are working tirelessly raising funds for the project which will be a great asset to the village and parish. It is a big undertaking but, with all our support I’m sure that the children of the locality will be having a whale of a time in the not too distant future.

The Way I See It

By Domhnall de Barra

Well, my worst fears from last week have been confirmed; Trump is back in the White House. Whatever spin our politicians put on it, and it is only right and proper that they congratulated him on his victory, this is not good news for Ireland. Our economy is dependent on direct foreign investment. Our lower corporate tax rates were attractive to the big multi-nationals and we have profited greatly both in jobs and tax revenue. Trump has promised to lower the corporation tax in America in an attempt to force companies to keep all their jobs in their own country. This will not only hit Ireland but Europe as well. He has also promised to put huge tariffs on imports which could start a tit-or-tat war with the rest of the world who supply goods to the States. Apart from that he has also vowed to deport illegal immigrants as soon as the gets into office. This is also bad news for the thousands of undocumented Irish, some of whom have been working over there for decades. Maybe he will be talked out of the most excessive of his wish list but he does not take advice too kindly and will surround himself with yes men who are loyal to him and will do his bidding. It is no surprise that one of the first to congratulate him was Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli war monger who has committed many war crime against both Palestinians and Lebanese citizens. They have been allies for many years and it is obvious that Israel will now have free rein to continue their massacres. Putin must also be rubbing his hands in delight knowing that Trump has promised to stop supporting Ukraine. This is just a sample of what he has up his sleeve and we can only wait and see what unfolds. One question that has come out of the election is: how did the pollsters get it so wrong? They said it would be close but most of them had Harris ahead in five of the swing states. How could they be so far off? Maybe they are not asking the right people. I know a man who used to do work for a company doing polls when he was in college. He told me that, on a day when the weather was bad, he would fill up the form himself ! Whatever is wrong it is obvious that pollsters continually get it wrong so what is the point? Our own election is now set for Nov 29th and no doubt we will have polls and experts telling us what the outcome will be. Take no notice of them. The answer is in your own hands. It is your vote that will decide who enters the Dail and, by not voting, you are giving that choice to someone else. Forget about parties and political spin, vote for the person you think will do you and your community the most good. Candidates will promise you anything and everything in exchange for your vote. Fine Gael are guilty of this already offering to permanently reduce the VAT rate for the hospitality industry to 11%. They have been in government for years and they had an opportunity to alter the VAT rate in the budget a few weeks ago so why did they not do it then? Don’t worry, the other parties will come up with their own appetisers to grab our attention. It is an insult to people’s intelligence that they think we will be so easily hoodwinked. Election promises are not worth the paper they are not written on so take no notice of them. By this time we have a fair idea of what they all stand for and we know what their track record is. It is up to everyone to make their decision as to who forms the next government. I have a feeling that it will be very close between the three bigger parties, the Greens will get a backlash from those affected by their measures and Independents will take more seats throughout the country. I could be totally wrong, we shall wait and see.

The Fair of Athea was on last Saturday and while the day was fine and there was a good crowd around there was little in the way of livestock to be seen. If it wasn’t for the traders with the stalls the place would be half empty. I often wonder how they all make a living, going from fair to fair and other gatherings in different venues. There was so much stuff on display that had to be put up and taken down again at the end of the day. I suppose there were bargains to be had for the keen buyer but there is a lot of competition with online shopping being very popular. One man said to me: “if you have your eye on something, wait until the end of the day and you will get it cheaper.” It reminded me of a time when I was in America, many years ago with a man from Kilbaha called Frank Thornton. Frank, God be good to him, was a policeman and a flute player. We were in a market and I saw a flute on a stall. I enquired about it and the man on the stall asked me to try it out. When I blew into it I knew it was a good flute so I asked how much he wanted for it. “$120” he said at a time when that was worth a lot more than today. I was about to make an offer when Frank told me to keep my powder dry. When we left he told me that we would come back first thing in the morning and get it at a much better price. The man, he told me, was a Jew and they had a belief that if they lost the first sale in the morning thy would have bad luck for the day. The morning came and we were waiting for your man to open up. Frank bid him $40 for the flute and, after much haggling, we got it for $60. Frank was a great organiser for Comhaltas in America and I stayed with him on numerous occasions

Church Notices

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

Fr. Tom Mangan 087-2348226, Fr. Willie Russell 087 2272825, Fr. Dan Lane 087 2621911.

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

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

Confessions any Friday evening after 7pm mass.

Graveyard Prayers will take place at Templeathea cemetery on Sunday November 24^th after 11am mass. Bible Study continues in Athea Library every Wednesday evening at 7.30pm.

Mass Intentions- Friday November 15^th at 7pm: Ann O’Keeffe – 1^st Anniversary. Sunday November 17^th at 11am: Val Murphy (months mind). John O’Connell and his sons William & John. All masses are streamed live on https://www.churchservices.tv/athea

Baptisms take place on the fourth weekend of the month. 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] Facebook: Athea Parish Church Community