Billy and Tilly’s Great Golf Game
A MALLOW STORY (KIND OF)
Peter Gafney is London based and during lockdown, watching hours of live golf, there was a lot of talk around speed and long hitting in golf.
A few pros took umbrage with this and said the skill is hitting the fairway, which resonated with Peter. He thought ‘wouldn’t it be funny to have a cartoon animal who was hitting it big but all over the place?’.
Then Peter, son of the former surgeon Peter Gaffney, figured it could be a childrens book and he would need a playing partner. It then came to him that it could be a fun golfing twist on the Tortoise and the Hare, with one long hitter wayward and the short hitter finding the fairway.
The story wrote itself from there and they play three holes and Billy Bunny finds lots of trouble while Tilly Turtle finds the fairways and greens to win easily.
After a long time of refining it, Peter’s mom was golfing with PJ Stokes who suggested his son, Conor, illustrate Peter’s story. Conor and Peter were best friends at 7 years old in St Patrick’s Boys National School, Mallow and lost touch in their teens so it was great to reconnect and they hit it off immediately.
Peter says Conor did a lovely job of bringing his imagination to life and by October 2023 they finally had it finished and in a place where they were happy to share it.
It has been on Amazon (print on demand) since then and in December the friends had a physical print run done and are now in store in Mallow at Philip’s Bookshop, Katie’s Newsagent and Easons Mallow.
Peter and Conor publish under the name Marshmallows Books and they have more titles coming up later this year and in 2025.
We wish them well.
A BRIEFING between National Roads Office (NRO) and Cork County Council officials will take place shortly in an attempt to provide clarity on what level of progress the recent allocation in funding for the Mallow Relief Road will allow the local authority to make on the design this year.
It was recently confirmed that the N72/ N73 Mallow Relief Road has been allocated €300,000 by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which provoked a mixed reaction from residents, community groups and politicians.
Fianna Fáil councillor Gearóid Murphy brought a motion before a recent Kanturk-Mallow Municipal District meeting, seeking clarity on what level of progress this funding will allow Cork County Council to make on the design.
Cllr Murphy said all politicians are ‘wearing’ the same jersey with regards to the Mallow relief road: “Councillors from all parties and none engaged in extensive lobbying of our national politicians over the past year. We are all wearing the same jersey when it comes to lobbying for Mallow and the North Cork area. We are all agreed on the need to continue fighting for this road on an ongoing basis and especially in the lead up to TII allocations until the road is actually built,” he said.
“There has been plenty of spin and rhetoric about what the allocation will or will not mean...Although the news for the relief road was better this year than it was last year, what has unfortunately remained consistent is this approach of political meddling in how the money is to be spent.
“My own initial response to the funding allocation was based on my discussions with senior officials in County Hall in which I understood that it was something we could work with to at least bring the project to outline design stage this year. Is that still the case? It is very concerning if it is not.”
Fine Gael councillor Tony O’Shea, who seconded the motion, said more lobbying is required to secure more funding: “My understanding as well is that it is sufficient enough funding to keep the momentum going and bring it to final design stage. If that is the case, I welcome that. We need to still lobby for more funding. This project should be a lot further on.”
Labour councillor Eoghan Kenny said answers need to be provided regarding the recent TII allocation: “It is progress but very slight progress. I do believe that it is a significant setback, really, in terms of bringing the relief road to planning stage. The idea that €300,000 is going to progress us in any way significantly is beyond belief really. We need answers on where the €300,000 is going to bring us, if anywhere.”
Fine Gael’s John Paul O’Shea requested more information on what steps the €300,000 will enable the local authority to do next: “It is hugely important that we all stay positive towards the delivery on the relief road. It is an improvement on last year. My understanding is the environmental assessment has been done and can be finalised. It can progress to final design stage and issue a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) towards the end of the year.
“I would ask that this meeting request the National Roads Office and the people looking after the relief road to give us a briefing on what can be done for 2024.”
His party colleague, Cllr Liam Madden, agreed, saying that clarity is required.
Senior Executive Engineer with Cork County Council Dennis O’Regan said he has liaised with the National Roads Office (NRO) regarding Cllr Murphy’s motion. He subsequently read a statement on behalf of the National Roads Office: “Acknowledging the allocation provided, it falls short of the level of funding required to maintain momentum. The Council urges the Department of Transport to reconsider and enhance the financial support.”
Mr O’Regan said he will arrange for a briefing to take place: “I will arrange for a briefing at next month’s meeting, and I will liaise with the National Roads Office on this.”
In response, Cllr Murphy said ‘accurate’ information is required: “This essentially means that I have been told one thing by senior officials and then another in the press release, which is very unsatisfactory. It is very important that we have the accurate information. It is important that we find this out sooner rather than later.
“People really have a right to know what the story is in terms of what can we actually do. It is disappointing if we don’t have funding to keep up momentum and make meaningful progress. We need clarity as soon as possible,” he added.
In reply, Mr O’Regan said he will request an earlier meeting between council officials and the NRO. “I will request an earlier meeting than next month’s MD meeting.”