All Brides Again
There was great celebrations in Listowel on Saturday as some Athea ladies took the opportunity to wear their wedding dresses again. Finesse bridal wear were in business 25 years this week & held a “wear the dress” fundraiser to celebrate the shops anniverary & raise funds for Adapt Kerry.
Pictured above are:
Finesse Proprietors Liz & Mag Horgan, Anne Marie Horgan, Margaret Ahern, Miriam Ahern, Mary Woulfe, Tina Collins, Linda Hunt, Margaret O Connor & Ursula Ahern.
GROW MENTAL HEALTH
Support Group meetings are returning on Wednesday15th January in the Shanchai Centre, 24 The Square, Listowel. V31 RD93 at 8pm, it was well supported in 2024,
For more information
contact Jerry Cronin 0860271990
SENIOR LINE
Would you like someone to talk to? Senior Line is Ireland’s national telephone service for older people open every day of the year 10am-10pm, Freephone 1800 80 4591.
The Way I See It
By Domhnall de Barra
As I write this there is still a bit of a doubt over the start of the ceasefire in Ghasa. It is down to Hamas providing the names of the three hostages they are releasing as part of the deal but I hope that by the time you read this the war will be over. What has this war actually achieved? The Israelis wanted to wipe out Hamas completely and I don’t think they have but, even if they did, they have ensured by their murderous actions that there will be plenty more young volunteers waiting in the wings. If I was a young Palestinian whose house had been levelled to the ground and most of his family killed in air strikes I would have no hesitation in becoming part of a new underground organisation. There is no excuse for the wholesale killing that took place especially during attacks on schools, hospitals and campsites. The Israeli justification for these attacks is that they had intelligence that there were Hamas fighters hiding in those areas so it was ok to kill civilians who became collateral damage. If we follow that logic, a policeman chasing an armed fugitive who hid behind a class of 8 year olds would be justified in opening fire, killing them all as long as he got his man. When all this is over people will have to be held to account. So many rules of war have been broken that it is astonishing that the international community have stood by doing nothing for so long. There are also the Americans who funded and armed these savage attacks and just say “Israel has a right to defend itself”. Of course they have that right but does that right include the total devastation of a people and their territory? There are also the methods of ethnic cleansing and starvation used that break all rules. This has been a very dark period in the history of the world and the sad thing is; it is not over. All this will happen again, if not in the Middle East, in some other part of the world where the mighty nations will use the little ones as pawns in their great power games.
Tik Tok has been taken down in America depriving over 170 million of its users. The reason given is the fear that data on the site is passed on to the Chinese government and it causes a threat to national security. That might hold water if it was the only threat but they are already getting information through the phone companies they own. We are victims ourselves. The info we keep on our phones, laptops etc is sold to advertising companies who use it to target their sales. It is no coincidence that, if you Google some product you need, you will be bombarded with emails advertising what you were looking for. Times are changing fast and have changed out of all recognition since I was young. At one time we had an independent media, the papers, that strove to print the truth and took pride in it. People would say “it must be true, it was in the paper”. Then papers were bought by wealthy individuals who favoured certain political parties and started giving a biased view of the news to their readers. As time went by it got worse to the point that there are hardly any independent outlets anymore. My generation are probably the last ones to buy printed material. In a few years time there will be no papers or magazines with everybody getting their news from social media. Most of the young people today don’t hear news on radio or TV, they get it on their phones. Unfortunately, depending on what platform they use, they will only get a version of the news that suits the owners and they are wide open to misinformation and disinformation. Conspiracy theories get legs when shared by thousands of users and the end result will be that we will be easily manipulated into voting a certain way or supporting a regime that does not have our interests at heart. Look at what is happening in America with the ultra rich. They own the media and now they are intent on influencing the government for their own benefits. Added to the danger is an incoming President who thinks of himself as one of them, only smarter. We are in the age of “might is right” and the survival of the fittest. God help us.
We seem to have agreement on the shape of our new government. It looks like more of the same but I wonder what price was extracted by the Independents who have pledged to give their support. Fair play to them, they are representing their constituents and are only doing their job by negotiating the best deal they can get. The Healy-Reas are past masters at negotiating good deals . They learned well from their father Jackie who capitalised on the fact that some people thought of him as a gombeen. That played right into his hands and he exploited it to his advantage. Michael and Danny are also astute businessmen who know how to wheel and deal. I’m sure the other Independents are no slouches either when it comes to looking after their mown. This is why they were elected. I do, however, have a problem with some of the group, who do not hold office in the new administration, wanting to form a technical group that will give them speaking rights from the opposition benches. This is really running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. If you are supporting the government you can use government’s time to talk, not take up the time allotted to the genuine opposition, people we rely on to scrutinise, criticise and analyse whatever proposals are coming form the government. The opposition are seeking legal advice on this and I hope they succeed in scuppering the idea
Church Notices
Priests: Fr. Tom Mangan 087-2348226, Fr. Willie Russell 087 2272825, Fr. Dan Lane 087 2621911.
Masses this week- Tuesday morning 9.30am, Friday evening 7pm and Sunday 11am.
Eucharistic Adoration and the Devine Mercy Chaplet every Tuesday morning after mass.
Mass Intentions: Sunday Jan 26th – Patsy Barry (months mind) and his wife Mary.
Joan O’Halloran – 1st A/v. Pauline Condon. Pakie Higgins
To book a Mass intention contact the sacristy after mass or contact Siobhan on 087-3331459.
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
Lucky Numbers Draw 22/01/25 4, 8, 11. 32
No Winner
Lucky Dips
James Fitzgibbon, c/o Collins’ Shop
Helen Cleary, Knocknagorna
Conor Mullane Jnr, Knocknagorna
Denis O’Carroll, Dromcolloher
Sellers Prize: Lal Browne & White’s Bar
Draw next Mondaty at Brown Joe’s
Jackpot €24,100
Athea Drama Group Cast of “Sharon’s Grave
Athea Drama Group are full steam ahead at the moment rehearsing for John B Keanes ” Sharons Grave” The cast of 12 are as follows, Linda Hunt, Shane McEnery, Anne Marie Horgan, Tommy Denihan, Johnny Corkery, Barry Francis, Theresa O Halloran, Nora Hunt, Damien Ahern, Mary Ellen Tierney & Louise Ahern.