Turning Students Away
THE local national school is bursting at the seams according to Balrothery Community Council, which has called for a short-term, emergency response to the crisis while a more permanent solution is found.
The school is turning away pupils at the rate of up to 50 and 60 per year and according to the school principal, P.J. Keary, the situation is set to get even worse over the next number of years.
The council has given permission to a 150 unit social and affordable housing development in the area which is being occupied at the moment. That development is set to put even more pressure on the already creaking local education system.
Simply adding prefabs to the site is not an option either, according to community council chairperson, Niall Keady.
“I’ve spoken to the principal and he says there is no more room on the site for prefabs – the playing space on the site is already very limited,” Keady said.
According to Keady, there are about 40 places in the school each year, but 30 of those are quickly filled by the school’s admission policy which gives preference to the siblings of existing students.
That leaves 10 new places up for grabs, and annually there are up to 60 children competing for those precious school places.
Keady says the demands on the school have grown massively in recent years, and that demand is set to get even greater with the arrival of new residents in the village.
A local developer has offered four acres behind the school for the construction of a new school. Negotiations with the Fingal County Council are ongoing over that project, which has the full support of the community council.
Fingal Independent
Internet Racism
A STREAM of vile, bigoted abuse is being posted on a race hate website following the news that 80 refugees from Congo are to arrive in Mayo.
Irish users of racist website Stormfront have been posting sick messages following the government’s recent announcement that the refugees are to be resettled in Ireland next year and will attend an orientation program in Ballyhaunis.
Disgusting messages have been posted on the far right website.
“There has to be some kind of protest against this, it’s harming tourism as no one wants to come to Ireland to see that many black savages,” read one hate-filled post.
“How the hell does anyone in their right mind expect to drop 80 Africans into a town and expect them to ‘integrate’ or whatever the hell they want to call it. I pity the poor town,” read another.
One user, calling himself White Patriot, said that anyone mixing with the refugees is a traitor to “their race.”
“Whites who mix with blacks shouldn’t be surprised when they get treated like animals themselves. They are traitors to their race, culture and family. We have no sympathy for them.”
The same website posted similar sick messages when it was announced that Burmese refugees would be resettled in Mayo last year.
Therese Ruane of the Mayo Intercultural Action group condemned the website.
“What these people are doing is absolutely appalling. The refugees from Tanzania are coming here from very difficult circumstances and what we need to show them is openness and be as welcoming as possible,” she said.
“I think these people are a very small majority. I think we saw when the Karen community settled here from Burma that they were welcomed and embraced by the people of Mayo.”
Western People
Cancer Couple Tragedy
WHILE the scourge of cancer has inflicted terrible pain to thousands of families in Limerick, very few if any, have gone through the hardship and agony of Andrew and Joanne Murphy.
The Cappamore couple, who are childhood sweethearts and married with four children, are both suffering from the dreaded disease which has caused a major disruption to their lives.
Joanne met Andrew when she was 15. They got engaged two years later and were married when Joanne was 19. That was 23 years ago, and now the couple lives in a small cottage in Bilboa with their children.
Andrew was diagnosed first four years ago with cancer of the bowel, and has since been told that the disease has reached his liver.
Joanne, now 42, was diagnosed at Christmas. “I finished chemo, had my breast off, then had chemo again and now have to face 35 radon treatments,” she explained.
The couple’s children range in age from 10 to 22 and they all live in a small cottage they bought from Limerick County Council six years ago.
“We cannot afford to fix the house, nor do we have the strength to do it ourselves. We have received funding from the County Council and we are awaiting a voluntary services to assist us as well, but we need some other financial assistance,” she said.
“The council are able to give ?16,500 for the work that needs to be done, including a new bathroom and ramps for wheelchairs. But the problem is that they best quote for the job is over ?43,000.”
Limerick Leader
No to Underage Drinking
A DISTRICT court judge has sent out a stark warning to Kildare’s teenage boozers that they will be dealt with sternly by the courts, saying “Underage drinking? No, no, no.”
Judge Desmond Zaiden made his comments at a sitting of Athy District Court after hearing evidence in the case of a juvenile who, along with a group of other youths, has been described by Gardai (police) as “out of control”.
The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was part of a drunken mob that threw stones at Gardai in a drink-fueled rampage through the town. Garda Aishling O’Mahony of Athy Garda Station told Zaiden that the incident, which took place on August 3, has now become a daily occurrence in the Castlepark area of the town.
She said that she and a colleague responded to reports of an incident at an alleyway near the Castlepark estate. She said that when she arrived at the scene at around 12:50 a.m., a group of drunken youths started throwing bags over residents’ walls. She said the youth who was before the court was in an aggressive state and attempted to prevent her from entering the alleyway.
O’Mahony said she found it “extremely intimidating” because when she asked the defendant to move out of the way, he refused to do so.
“He told me to get into my car when I still could,” O’Mahony said. “It was very frightening because they were very psyched-up,” she added.
O’Mahony said she was forced to call in back-up from her colleagues at Carlow Garda Station.
Defense solicitor David Osborne said the youth was the eldest of four children and had been described as an A student with a lot of potential. Zaiden commented, “This sort of behavior is disgraceful.”
Giving evidence of a separate incident involving the same youth, Garda Kevin Joyce said that on 29 July this year he and his colleague came across a large group of underage youths at St John’s Lane in Athy. He said they received abuse from the defendant, who told them to, “f*** off. You have no business being here.”
In his defense, the youth said, “There were no rocks thrown that night.”
Asked by Zaiden if he was drunk, the youth replied, “I was.”
“Well, then, you were not in a fit state to say what went on the night,” Zaiden said.
Describing his demeanor as “appalling,” Zaiden told the youth, “You need serious help. You have such a bad attitude.”
Solicitor David Osborne said the youth’s mother was very supportive and there was concern for his future career path.
But Zaiden said, “I’m not happy with what I’ve heard and I’m not happy with what I’ve seen. It is unfair that ordinary citizens should be subjected to this kind of behavior.”
He deferred sentencing the youth until November, pending a probation officer’s report. On the advice of superintendent Pat Kavanagh, Zaiden also imposed a curfew on the youth from 7 p.m. until 8 a.m. each day.
Kildare Nationalist
Smoke Out
NEW rules restricting the sale of tobacco are threatening to deal a killer blow to local shopkeepers, it was claimed.
The stark warning was issued by Dick Rellis, a shopkeeper at Ballybricken in the city and a member of the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association (CSNA).
In an angry outburst he claimed that if civil servants had their way, small newsagents would face higher costs and fewer customers because of the way in which new rules restricting the sale of tobacco are enforced.
Shop owners across Waterford, he said, will be forced to place all tobacco products under the counter and completely out of sight of their customers.
“No-one will have a clue whether we even sell tobacco or not,” said Rellis.
Under new rules, customers who want to buy tobacco have to ask for a special menu. International studies show that this menu system causes confusion and delays.
As a result, shopkeepers fear that their turnover will be dramatically reduced as frustrated customers queue to view a menu and then wait while the shopkeeper retrieves the tobacco.
Research from Canada has shown that this system does not reduce smoking levels and merely drives customers to big supermarkets instead.
“Our shops are all about speed and convenience for the customer,” said Rellis. “If you take that away you are destroying our business model and taking the last advantage we have left.”
Shopkeepers say there is already a simple solution. The Bill passed by the Dail (Parliament) that restricts tobacco advertising does not insist that all products are put out of sight.
It allows for a single example pack of each product to be displayed behind the counter to provide customer information.
The CSNA says that implementing this common sense solution contained within the bill, rather than the draconian menu option that requires removal of all products from sight, would clearly achieve the same result in restricting advertising but would hurt small businesses less.
Waterford News & Star
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