Sunday, April 22, 2007

Following my prediction of the General Election in last month’s Bugle there have been a number of phone calls to the house to see if I could name the date for polling. The smart money would seem to be on Friday May 18th. I wouldn’t be convinced, you see, the F.A. Cup final is due to take place on Saturday May 19th. This is due to be held at the newly refurbished Wembley Stadium. I would hold fire until early April to see if hopes of a treble for the Red Devils would take precedence over Honest Berts own hopes of a treble.

Sad to see the downturn in fortunes for Shelbourne Football Club. It is very reminiscent of the current situation at Leeds United. When a club over extends itself financially bases on aspiration it is hard to recover. I wish all concerned and their local fan base all the best and look forward to seeing a newly rejuvenated team at Station Road over the coming months.

As well as Minister brother Sean, J.J. Power was also a guest at the recent People of the Year awards. Many of you will remember his wife, Deirdre O’Brien who hailed originally from these parts. Deirdre has a great recall about the people in Ballymore and asked to be remembered to anyone who knows her.

The Posh and Becks of Dublin Road, Frank and Trish Murphy had a double birthday celebration last month. The golden couple, (isn’t it hard to believe Trish is two score), entertained family and friends on what was a great night. There was a large Tipp. Delegation and the Lilywhites had to give best in the singing stakes. But at dancing however, June, Pauline, Henry, Marie, Bernadette and Colette rivaled any group of dancing divas on the dance floor in Paddy’s.

I had occasion to spend some time in the children’s Accident & Emergency in the AMNCH in Tallaght recently. We checked in at 9 pm. We were seen within thirty minutes by triage but had to wait until 1.30 am to see a doctor. There were three house officers working at full tilt. It was after 3 am by the time we landed back in Ballymore. God help us all if they ever move to the Mater.

Fran Brennan, who plays hard man gangster Mick in Fair City, paid us a call recently. No stranger to Ballymore, Fran played a barman in a short film made in Mick Murphy’s some time ago. My brother Mick and himself are great mates and usually attend the BEDS productions when they can. Fran has the company of local thespian, Geraldine O’Rourke, in Montrose for the past few months.

The recent spate of break ins within our community has left many people feeling shocked and upset. Even those not directly affected by these crimes, have been left feeling vulnerable and even neglected by our statutory services. Fr.Breen prayed for those who had been affected and those who perpetrated these crimes. I had to swallow hard during the last bit.

Martin King, who does a lot of work for us in Cheeverstown, was very interested in Rose’s piece in the last issue. The last time I was talking to him, while he declined to comment, he did give me a long range weather forecast. He said it will be frosty and inclement in the Briencan area for the foreseeable future.

Pat O’Neill, from Annalecky, proud new grandfather to Ollie and Eileen’s new babby got another pleasant surprise recently. Working with Paddy Barrett & Masonbrook, he received a surprise presentation for forty years service. A trip to London for St. Patrick’s Day was part of the package.
Now I work with one of the Barrett’s on a part time basis for a few hours every month. It’s not easy. Sometimes skin, hair and blood fly. How Pat has worked with at least four of them down through the years I’ll never know. Well done Pat.

The week of intense emotions for all horse racing fans that is Cheltenham has come to an end.
I suppose the predominant emotion would have been disappointment. With a few weeks to go the paddies were confident of a big bounty of winners. As the festival approached the hopes were dashed time and again, I only came out with two winners of any sort of decency that maintained the form, Voy Por Estedes and Martin Pipes little filly Gaspara. The obvious highlight was Ruby on Kauto Star, I was one of the Thomas’s, but I was delighted to be proved wrong. The only upside of the whole thing is that it will see a lot our top horses competing in Punchestown. Roll on the 24th of April.

What about the Black cats. Second as I write this. First Sean M does it with Wicklow. Now, he turns his attention to the other code. RK has got them really moving and he doesn’t care whose toes he stands on. A true pupil of Old Alex.



A timely reminder of all things fine in racing came in the passing of Bobby Coonan. Bobby will be remembered fondly and (some) of his exploits will be retold in next month’s Punchestown Special.

I fancied going out for a meal last week. As well as being hungry I was anxious to tell you all about the experience etc. Realizing that Rose and Michael had covered all the bases we stayed at home instead. Colette had steak, bought in Langans, with potatoes and cabbage from Costcutter. A delicious sauce accompanied her meal which was purchased in Fogartys. I don’t know what Knorr put in their sauces but it is only smashing. I had a Linda McCartney Lasagna, I don’t know what… sorry. Dessert was a Vienetta from Janet’s. A Chilean Red from the David Dennison selection from pat Murphy’s Off Licence accompanied the repast. The atmosphere was convivial, the service was excellent and the electric log fire cast a magic glow which added greatly to the overall ambience. I will be back.


CDA updateLIBRARY PROJECTLibrary project going ahead whilst the comments from those most concerned will be taken on board.KTK Levies - First meeting scheduled for 8th March had to be abandoned due to lack of communication from KCC in notifying the interested parties. The meeting has now rescheduled for 27th March in the Resource Centre and hopefully there will be a satisfactory outcome.TIDY TOWNS. Eric Firth has devoted many hours compiling a very comprehensive document on various problems in the village, ie. the condition of the roads, walkways, drainage, parking etc. which will be presented to KCC in the very near future, and we hope for a positive response.The Tidy Towns Committee would like to acknowledge a very generous donation of E200 from Eddie & Bridget Whelan.RAFFLEOur raffle due to take place at Easter will now be held during Punchestown weekAnd we would ask you to be generous with your support.COMMUNITY ALERT - The committee hope to meet with Sgt. Mary Corcoran of Naas on 26th March in the Resource Centre.

Kay Nolan
CDA Secretary.

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