Fr. Tom Mangan presenting a framed plant to Fr, Brendan Duggan at his Golden Jubilee Mass in Athea last Sunday
Congratulations
To Fr. Brendan Duggan who celebrated 50 years in the priesthood at a Mass in Athea last Sunday. Fr. Brendan was the last priest assigned to Athea parish and was very popular during his term here.
Fr. Brendan Duggan cutting the cake at his Jubilee Mass in Athea
Athea United Annual Awards Evening
Athea United’s annual awards evening will take place on Sunday June 29th from 4 PM at Brown Joe’s Bar Athea.
This special date on the club calendar brings together players, coaches, volunteers, and supporters to celebrate the incredible effort and commitment shown throughout the season
With finger food, a DJ, and a host of well-deserved awards, it promises to be a fantastic night of recognition, fun, and community spirit for all involved in the club.
The Way I See It
By Domhnall de Barra
You’d have to wonder if our government has a death wish or has lost all reason when you consider the latest plan for renters and landlords. Everybody knows that there is a shortage of houses and apartments to rent and that people who are lucky enough to have found a place to rent are struggling to make ends meet. The only thing stopping things getting worse is a cap on rent increases but now the powers that be are suggesting that those caps should be removed. The logic behind this is that, at the moment, investors will not finance the building of apartments because they will not be able to increase the rents and make enough profit, so removing the cap will allow them to further hike the rents leaving many more individuals and families homeless. It is another example of privatisation being the answer to everything. Once upon a time, governments and local governments provided their own services such as buses, trains, bin collection, housing etc. and there wasn’t a problem. They had their own personnel, especially in the building of houses who were answerable to the local authorities. Then they started to privatise most of these which, to my mind, was a terrible mistake. If you look at it logically, if private enterprise can make a profit out of collecting bins, why shouldn’t local government make profit out of it and have more money to spend locally. The same applies to the building of apartments. Why doesn’t the government build the apartments themselves if there is money to be made out of it. By doing this they would have more money to subsidise rents and make everybody happy but then they would not be able to gave lucrative contracts to their financial backers. If the state was seeking tenders to build houses and apartment blocks, the price would be very different to what it would be in the private sector. There would be no difference in the initial contract but, like all other state financed projects, they would all come in years overdue and millions over budget. Just look at the children’s hospital to see what I am referring to. There seems to be no common sense around and the result is terrifying for those who are trying to find somewhere to live. Somebody needs to grab the thing by the neck, cut through all the red tape and start building modest terraced houses and apartments that first time buyers and renters can afford. Those first time buyers can then afford to save for a larger house, which could be provided by the private sector, as their families grow and they need more room. You can’t blame landlords for what is happening. The cost of housing has gone through the roof so they must get the going rate to keep them in business. Only by creating an abundance of houses will the government be able to keep affordable rates. The present plan will only increase rents and make the problem much worse than what it is. It could also be the thing that makes the government so unpopular that they won’t be looking forward to the next election.
The use of the National guard and the military bin America by the Trump administration is a cause for great concern. Trump seems to be acting as if he was a king with nobody to answer to and he will find any flimsy excuse to try and destroy those he deems to be against him. Peaceful protest is a part of democracy which, by the way, is government of the people by the people. It gives citizens the right to let governments know if they don’t agree with certain policies or proposals and an opportunity for voices to be heard. There is a problem that is not confined to America and that is the infiltration of peaceful protests by groups that have no interest in supporting a cause but just want to create havoc , loot, set fires and attack the police. They are usually young men wearing masks and we regularly see them hurling stones and other objects at those who are trying to keep the peace. We saw them in Northern Ireland lately where they really ran amok and caused a lot of damage. Because they are masked it is almost impossible to identify them so I think it is high time that as law was passed to ban the wearing of face covering in public. If the thugs who hijack peaceful protests knew that their faces would be filmed they might not be as willing to break the law. These criminals should be locked up. At the moment the police have a job trying to keep order but they have a way for dealing with disturbances and they now have the use of water canons and tear gas to disperse trouble makers. The disturbances in California could easily be dealt with by local police so there was noo need for trump to bypass the Governor and sent in the National Guard. He likes flexing his muscles and displaying his power just like the military parade he organised in Washington recently. We associate military parades with places like Russia and North Korea and of course Adolph Hitler had a big parade in Berlin during his days in power. How much longer will ordinary decent Americans put up with thus would be autocrat who has no respect for law and order or indeed anybody outside his MAGA movement. His time may be limited. Even people who agreed with his promise to control immigration are not happy with the way he is going about it. People are being picked off the streets and their places of work without any regard to due process. He promised to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Putin played him like a fiddle and is now in a far stronger position. His trade wars are backfiring as well with many of his financial backers questioning tactics that are losing them money. China has called his bluff and have away more negotiating powers than he reckoned with. People will eventually turn on him and it couldn’t happen to a nicer person.
Church Notices
Priests: Fr. Tom Mangan 087-2348226, Fr. Willie Russell 087 2272825, Fr. Dan Lane 087 2621911.
No mass intentions this week. Mass on Tuesday morning at 9.30am, followed by Eucharistic Adoration and mass on Saturday evening at 7.30pm. Graduation Mass for Athea NS sixth class children will take place on Monday June 23rd at 1pm. All are welcome
All masses are streamed live on https://www.churchservices.tv/athea
Our annual Corpus Christi procession is being postponed until Saturday evening June 28th after 7.30pm Mass. We especially welcome the first communion children and their families.
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
Athea Community Council Lucky Numbers Draw 16/06/’25
No’s Drawn: 20, 22, 26, 31. No Winner
Lucky Dips
Johnny Mullane, Knocknagorna
The Quilles, The Square
Betty O’Connor, c/o Brenda McMahon
Breda Ahern, H/Side Drive
Sellers Prize: Collins’ Shop & Ned Mahony
Next Draw: 23/06/’25 Venue: Brown Joe’s
Jackpot €26,100
Brush Dancing class in Athea
