2002 FROM THE MEMORIES ARCHIVES
One front page of TheAvondhu in March 2002 featured a picture of protesters at Dairygold in Glanworth. They were objecting to the planned closure of the rural store, and up to 300 protesters were expected to hold the line in a bid to have the decision reversed. The protesters had sought the support of the IFA and were calling on the local community to get behind them.
In Fermoy and the surrounding area, a spate of thefts occurred, with homes and sheds in Duntahane targeted. Thieves made off with golf clubs worth €1,400, tools and cash. Other incidents of theft happened in a house in Kilworth, and a gang were disturbed in Bartlemy trying to steal a car; they were believed to be making their getaway from a nearby bar. Gardaí believed the same gang entered a shop in Conna the same night and were also investigating another ‘break-and-entering’ incident in Bridesbridge.
The launch of the ‘Araglin Album’ was celebrated - it had been held in a specially-erected marquee opposite O’Mahony’s Bar. Well known DJ Seán Donnellan was pictured pouring the champagne with a crowd of locals, including coordinator Kieran Leddy. The album featured 12 songs by local performers and a ‘Grand Tour’ of the album took in The Log Cabin, Ballyduff and The Swallow Inn, Araglin.
Following a lengthy selection process, traffic warden Jim Donnell, arrived in Mitchelstown to enforce the two-hour parking regulations. Fines would be €19.
Meanwhile Cork Road residents in Fermoy - Noreen Doody, Margaret Corcoran and William Hughes - were invited to the ‘ Spirit of Ireland’ Awards in Dublin.
In council related news, Pearse Square in Fermoy was to be resurfaced, and there was a plea for public toilets to be provided in Mitchelstown. Fermoy received €18,000 as part of a ‘local community find’, for local groups, with 30 applications - the allocations were to be decided behind closed doors by the town council. History was made as the title of ‘Mayor’ was adopted by members of Fermoy Town Council to replace ‘Chairman’. Cllr Arthur Dowling objected to the change: “I won’t ever call you Mayor. I will call you horse or donkey”!
An article appeared in the Property pages from Euroland Properties who were holding an exhibition for people interested in buying properties in Spain; a three bedroom duplex was priced at €82,000.
70 Kosovan families were to benefit from the efforts of 200 Bothar supporters as 70 in-calf dairy heifers were airlifted to Kosovo; Mitchelstown farmer John Condon was pictured at the event with his children Steven and Jessica.
Circus Vegas was coming to Fermoy, and a promotional advert featured a picture of one of the troupe’s African elephants, back when animals in circuses were still welcome.
A feature in The Avondhu covered Castletownroche’s new offering, the Dinocafe. The prehistoric-themed café was the brainchild of David and Marian Gavin, and boasted Cork’s first art and sculpture exhibition based on dinosaurs. Son Aaron had worked with his father creating almost lifesize fibreglass dinosaur models to look down on diners from on-high! Happy eating....
On St Patrick’s Day 2002, the Ozanam Centre scooped the prize for the window display competition in Mitchelstown thanks to window dressers Breda Roche, Joan Murphy, Nora O’Grady and Sheila Hanna. The Pipers Inn, represented by Billy Roche, Joanne Roche and Marie Creagh, received the ‘ Best Traditional Pub window’ award. In Fermoy, the best overall prize went to Fermoy PreSchool, while Ballyporeen’s parade, unlike its wet neighbours in Mitchelstown and Fermoy, was blessed with sunshine. Dick Caplice of The Munster House, Fermoy, was pictured with St Patrick, who would be banishing high prices at thr store, as he did the snakes!
Mitchelstown Credit Union lamented the damage sustained to their St Patrick’s Day float, a miniature model of their new building crafted by carpenter Johnny Meaney. A freak wind destroyed the model completely when it lifted it from its 30-foot-trailer; luckily there was no oncoming traffic. It ended up in the ditch in Cloughleafin.
Fermoy Toastmasters were looking forward to the Area 17 International Speech/ Evaluation contests. Representing the club were Glenville’s Tony Kennedy, Mitchelstown’s Brian O’Farrell and Fermoy’s John Mulvey. Pupils from Presentation Secondary School in Mitchelstown returned from the Munster Schools’ Athletics Championships with seven medals, while St Colman’s Fermoy, captained by Garryspillane’s Maurice O’Brien, were set for the Harty Cup final against Our Lady’s of Templemore.
Finally, a letter to the editor from Loreto students Katie Barry and Orla Coleman criticised TheAvondhu’s coverage (or lack thereof) of the school’s success at the Junior B Camogie All-Ireland semi-final; they hoped the newspaper would give the final, in which the school were playing, the “due respect” it warranted.