BABY news!
Congratulations to Ben and Emma Kavanagh who were born on May 8th at just 24 weeks. They were one of the youngest ever twins born in the Rotunda Hospital and weighed in at just 1 lb 3oz and 1 lb 1oz respectively - tiny, but oh so perfect!

The first 12-36hrs were critical but thank God, they made it through thanks to the professionalism, dedication and love of all the staff on the N.I.C.U. unit at The Rotunda. The support and prayers of family, friends and neighbours was much appreciated over the following four months and many trips to hospital.

Emma arrived home on August 20th and Ben one week later, August 27th (their due date!). Grandparents Kay and Gus, proud parents Paula and Niall and big brother Will would like to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers which really helped them through a very worrying time.


Birthdays galore!
The Browne family are rolling in birthdays this month - happy 18th Birthday to Glen Browne, his auntie Trish Fennall (39 +1 seein’ as I can’t say she is 40), and to his Granny, Pat Browne on celebrating her 60th birthday recently.

Get well wishes
To Rita O’Rourke and Fr Sean Breen who haven’t been well recently; …..

Well done!
To Oliver Plunketts Minor Team who won the B Championship defeating St. Edwards 1 11to 0 11.
To Eamonn and Theresa O’Rourke who held a ball recently in aid of The Maher Hospital
To brother Gerard of Country Kitchens who donated a kitchen to Scoil Mhuire – very kind.
To the Ladies GAA Pros who have done a vanishing trick for the past two months…Vanished into thin air……..
Mary O’Driscoll who recently graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons whilst also becoming a first time Granny!

Anniversary wishes
Congratulations to Joan and Eugene Gilroy on celebrating their 40th Wedding Anniversary recently; their children and grandchildren ensure the continued success of the GAA in Ballymore!

In Reverse print, please:
The Editors extend our deepest sympathies to the families of the following:
The Late Alice Doyle Alice Doyle (nee Fleming) of Broadleas who died suddenly on October 25, 2008. This must be a very sad time for the Doyle family with Alice’s sister in law, Maureen having passed away a few weeks later – dreadful sad for both families. Alice is survived by her husband Sean, sister Sheila, nieces, nephews, sisters and brothers-in-law and extended family etc. Alice is buried in St. Nicholas of Myra Cemetery, Dunlavin. May she rest in peace, amen.
The Late Maureen Doyle Maureen Doyle (nee Ryan - formerly of Coole, Newport, Co. Tipperary) of Alliganstown died at home on November 6th having been ill for some time. Maureen battled with illness over the past few years but never let it dim her enthusiasm for life, family and of course, her golf which she loved! Golfing friends will miss her terribly and have already offered to pay tribute to Maureen in next month’s edition. Maureen is survived by husband Mark, sons - Mark, Emmet and Shane; grandchildren, sister, brothers, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews and extended family. May she rest in peace, amen
The Late Ena Keenan Elsewhere in this edition we have run Kevin Junior’s tribute to his Mam and Rose’s recollection on Ena’s generosity and patience with children. Despite battling illness and arthritis over the years, Ena’s death was unexpected and her family were clearly devastated by their sudden loss. She is survived by her husband Kevin, daughters Anne, Theresa, Patricia and Bernadette, sons Thomas and Kevin, sisters and brothers, much loved grandchildren, sons and daughters in law plus members of the extended family. It was a tribute to Ena that such a huge contingent of the Keenan family travelled home from England and elsewhere to attend her farewell service. Sadly, Ena was pre-deceased by her daughter Maria Chamney and son in law, Tom Nugent. Originally from Dublin, Ena (nee Murray) settled into country life in Ballymore Eustace and made her home open to all; she had a special fondness for Hollywood village and it is at St Kevin’s Cemetery that she has been laid to rest. May she rest in peace, amen

The Late Kathleen Cowley It is with great sadness the Editors learned of the passing of Kathleen Cowley, Bishopland. Kathleen’s sister, May Dennison had passed away only a couple of months ago so once again, a local family have been hit by a double bereavement. Despite being ill, her death came as a sudden shock as Kathleen had been ill previously but had recovered well. Kathleen was the last of the Jackson family to survive having been predeceased by sisters, May and Margie, brothers Adam and Hubert.
She is survived by her children Margaret and sons Andy, Declan, Hubert and Noel, grandchildren, son and daughters in law and extended family. Kathleen is predeceased by her husband Andy who had a great interest in greyhounds and the couple were actively involved in several community groups and activities. It will be sad not to see Kathleen attending Andy’s grave at St Mary’s Cemetary which she visited frequently when in good health, they are together now in spirit and body. May she rest in peace, amen.
The late Pascal Deering Pascal Deering, formerly of Dunlavin and Ballymore Eustace, was one of Wicklow’s GAA stars and played on the County football team and in latter years, was an avid golfer. A long-time Fine Gael party member and former county councilor, Pascal will be remembered as a gentleman, not only for his work as a councillor but also from his profession in the insurance sector when he had many clients from the farming community throughout Co Wicklow. A son of Mark Deering, former Fine Gael TD and Irish rugby international, he is survived by his wife, Una, daughter Miriam and son Mark and the extended members of the Mahon and Deering families.

The Deering family lived at Barrack Street, Ballymore Eustace on their return from Australia in the early 1970s before moving to his native town, Dunlavin. May he rest in peace, amen.

Please note, owing to increased demand in advertising space and editorial submissions, we are holding over Jim Gaffney Tribute to December issue


Headin’ South!

“We’ll all be ruined says Hanrahan before the year is out,” This line from an old song comes to mind every time I turn on the radio, TV, or open a daily paper. Prime time, anytime, all the time, we listen to doom and gloom from experts and non-experts, yet not so long ago King Bertie at the height of his reign referred to such people as “loo-lahs”. A man on top of his brief one might say who couldn’t see the woods for the trees. Build and spend seemed to be the order of the day and to hell with keeping something for the rainy day. This man is barely a wet week out of the office and already we have The Life and Times of Bertie on TV. This same man was in charge of a government who suffered from acute squander mania when the country never had it so good and had no apparent thought for tomorrow. A few by passes built with the support of EU funds and the rest of our highways in a deplorable state, rat infested schools, our railroads needing upgrading, and a health system using trolleys for beds! Pass me the vomit bowl. You can watch this programme on Monday nights at 9.35pm; you can also watch The Simpsons! With such confidence coming from the top everyone joined in the spree and the whole country went on a borrowing binge. In recent times spending grew by 10% per year and from 1999 to 2007 personal debt rose from 20 billion to 140 billon we’re told.
With the country headin’ south drastic action was needed, so up to the plate steps that broth of a boy Brian and produces a ‘cure all’ budget. A cowardly budget would be a more apt name, for in order to get his finances into shape he went for the easy options: take it off the very old and the very young; they don’t have a trade union to fight their corner. He got some surprise, judging by the crowds that turned out on the streets to let him know that there was plenty of fight left in the ‘old dogs’. A hasty U-turn was made and then another one. Out of this sorry mess only one person did the honourably thing and resigned, his name slips my mind at the moment, but more power to his elbow. The Greens didn’t cover themselves with glory either, plenty of posturing and bladder in their efforts to justify the unjustifiable. Party before people is the mantra; hold on to power at all costs.
So has anyone out there got any ideas as to where we might start cost cutting apart from the very old or very young, not forgetting the withdrawal of the cervical cancer vaccine programme for 12 year olds. Lets start at the top of the tree. Recently I picked up this nugget of information,--- governing this small country with a population approximate to the population of Manchester we have, I kid you not, 166 TD’s, 60 Senators, 833 County and City Councillors, 744 Town and Borough Councillors, and a 154 State Agencies. I have no figures for consultancy firms who are frequently in demand to help keep the show on the road. Imagine if you can what the good people of Manchester might say or do if presented with the wage bill for that lot! Surely a bit of weeding out in the Public Sector wouldn’t go astray; for starters we could settle for a lesser number of TD’s, a lot lesser. What in the name of God are we doing with 20 Junior Ministers? Do we need a Senate? A cushy number for retiring or aspiring TDs; other countries seem to manage without one. RTE is another structure that could do with a bit of tidying up. Turn on your radio or TV at news time and you’ll get the same news churned out to you over and over again from a surplus of newsreaders or newscasters. The six o’clock news takes up practically a whole hour of repetition from correspondents around the country or around the world, yet at other times the same news can be wrapped up in jig time. At six o’clock we have Sharon and Bryan with correspondents from everywhere and nowhere giving them a helping hand, later on we have Eileen Dunne or Ann Doyle all on their own giving out the same information! Go figure, I can’t. The run up to the recent elections in America are a classic example of over kill. RTE correspondents, I lost count, scattered all over the States, giving us the state of play ad nauseam. Is the average Irish Joe Soap all that interested? Would the same coverage be given to a European country, we are supposed to be part of Europe, and most important of all, what was the cost of ferrying these people back and forth not forgetting the cost of keeping them there? In this modern age of telecommunications when news is flashed around the globe in a nano second and news shared with various news agencies, do we need a picture of Charlie Bird in Chicago, or Bryon Dobson standing in front of the White House, telling us how she goes in breath taking fashion? There’s probable lots more help lurking in the background; Director, Manager, Editor, there’s three possibilities right away for you. A bit of tidying up wouldn’t go astray in the RTE Authority. And look at the mess in the HSE. Centres of Excellence are a good idea but if managed by bureaucrats, and so far there’s been no mention of redundancies at the top end of the business, they will only add to the mess that already exists in the HSE. Don’t take my word for it ask any doctor or nurse, those who work at the coal face, and you’ll get an ear full I promise.
We’ll all have to trim our sails as we approach this financial storm be it little or large, but if the lifeboats have to be lowered I hope they won’t be filled with our Captain and crew, leaving the very old and very young to swim for shore!
Yrs Jeffers