An attempted armed robbery on the road between Conna and Rathcormac was being investigated by gardai. A van delivery driver was the victim, after stopping to assist what transpired to be a staged accident, involving 2 men on motorcycles, who had earlier overtaken him.
It was alleged that one of the motorcyclists ‘thrust a sawn off shotgun’ the van driver’s face as he came to assist, having been flagged down. With money being demanded, the men proceeded to search his van, leaving the scene empty handed, ‘but not before they had hit the man over the head with the butt of the shotgun’.
‘.. like the Wild West’ was how one local described the scenes from the streets of Ballylanders, following an ‘influx of leather clad bikers’ into the South Limerick village one weekend in April 1995.
The Avondhu were contacted by several annoyed locals. The noise created in the Main Street area was described as ‘frightening’, with litter bins being turned upside down and ‘smashed on the footpath in a highly provocative manner’. While others were described as ‘urinating in full view of the public’, with many people afraid of the visitors.
President Mary Robinson was preparing to visit Kilworth, to officially open The Village Arts Centre; the local community council were in overdrive to put finishing touches enhancing the village space, encouraging residents to do their bit to make the occasion a ‘memorable’ one.
Vandalism on the greens at Fermoy Pitch & Putt Club had members up in arms in April 1995. Eleven of the 26 greens ‘had been attacked and ripped up’, leaving club members with the task of undertaking repair work themselves, closing the course for a full day. It appeared ‘that vandals had removed the cups in the middle of the greens and proceeded to dig around them, tossing sods all over the course’. The club were now to take precautions to prevent a reoccurrence and gardai were investigating. Members were relieved the attack had not taken place immediately prior to the National Pitch & Putt Championships, which the club would host in May 1995.
Mixed performances from Hill Celtic in the league programme in April 1995, saw them suffer a ‘poor result’ away to Mahon, while a home encounter saw them defeat Togher Rovers 8-1. In the Mahon game what looked like a ‘blatant penalty’ was waved away, Liam Hedderman brought down in the box, the home side then beat the offside trap and opened the scoring, 1-0 half-time. Despite hitting the woodwork twice in the second half, Hill Celtic failed to score and Mahon, on their bumpy pitch, ended up 2-0 victors, also scoring near the end. However several days later at home to Togher Rovers, Celtic were 4-0 ahead at half-time, turning in a great performance, Declan Freeman (x2), John Sheehan and Sean Hegarty first half scorers. Denis O’Leary Jnr and George Johnson with two apiece rounded off an impressive home victory.
Galtee Wood and Veneer were planning a significant expansion at their South Limerick base in Ballylanders, with a new 20,000sq ft development adjacent to its main factory. The second phase of a development plan by MD Sean Ryan, was set to be a major boon for the small village and surrounding area, with the company already employing 60 full time employees. The development would allow the company to get on a par with their competitors, in terms of price and product. The company were already planning to attend trade fair exhibitions in both Britain and Germany in May 1995.
In brief: It was reported that Army units from both Lynch and Fitzgerald Camps were brought in to aid fire brigade personnel fight gorse fires which broke out at the Kilworth Ranges. In some cases it took between three and four hours to put out the fires, which spread through the dry gorse and scrub on the Ministry of Defence owned lands.
The Monster Bingo in The Dome, Tralee which we highlighted last week – the event was cancelled! Four burglaries took place in Castlelyons village over one night in April 1995 – gardai believed a Cork city based gang were responsible. Entry in each instance was gained via rear windows, with a small amount of cash being taken and a car being stolen.
