The Avondhu reported on the case of ‘Fermoy’s hurdling heifer’ – a rather athletic animal who bolted from Fermoy Mart, visiting several housing estates around town on her travels, before finally succumbing to mart personnel. The two year old chestnut heifer first headed up Richmond Hill, making her way to St Mary’s Terrace. Taking offence at a cement mixer outside No 3, she knocked this over, making her way into the rear garden. She then hurdled 2 hedges, before ‘sitting down quiet contentedly on the concrete at the back of No 32’. With mart personnel now in chase, she bolted, making it to St Colman’s Park. Here, she hurdled some further boundaries, before she caught her hind legs on the railings between Nos 4 and 5. Here, ‘one mart man caught her by the nose while another proceeded to remove the gate.’ She was eventually freed from this, before being secured in a trailer – but not before she had left a considerable mark on the town landscape.

After spending a number of weeks at home with family, Castlelyons man, Hugh O’Neill, returned to the war-torn former Yugoslavia. Serving in Zagreb as an administrator with the United Nations, he was formerly a commandant based in Fitzgerald Camp, Fermoy, however resigned his commission to take up duties with the UN. He was due to be joined by Doneraile man, company Quartermaster Sergeant, Joe Hassett.

The search was on for North Cork’s next dump, with the infill site at Ballyguyroe, north of Glenanaar, reaching capacity. The new site would need to have a minimum capacity of 800,000 tonnes, likely to serve the Northern Division for 25 years. Phase one of a study undertaken by consultants looked at transportation needs and economics, which ruled two sites – situated near Mallow and Fermoy – as unviable. However, an ‘ideal site’ was identified three miles N-NW of Mallow, but was ruled out being based in the major Mount North aquafer. The search continued.

A secondary school in Fermoy town was hoping to make it a ‘dramatic first’, when Colaiste an Chraoibhin were ready to lobby the Vocational Education Committee, with the intention of making the school the first of its kind outside Dublin to provide a full-time speech and drama course. Principal John Hennessy, confirmed to The Avondhu that the dream was to “build a modern, fully equipped theatre on the school complex…. able to cater for an audience of 250”. Geraldine Canning, speech and drama teacher at the college, confirmed that with the massive revival in drama, this would ‘cater for a huge need in the locality’.

Ballylanders woman, Mary Majella Russell, was aiding an Irish team’s expedition to Mount Everest, being involved with a specialist group in developing an ‘expedition diet’. Working on the project in Thomond College, Limerick, Mary was qualified with a BSc in Human Nutrition and Dietetics. Daughter of Nellie and Michael Russell (Ballylanders NS principal), she was also undertaking locum work in Limerick Regional Hospital.

A two-page Avondhu feature highlighted the state-of-the-art Corpus Christi Nursing Home which had opened it doors in Mitchelstown. Located near the Cross of the Groves, the home was capable of accommodating up to 22 guests. Under the stewardship of Galbally’s John and Sheila Fraher, the home was Southern Health Board approved with a full-time nurse in attendance 24 hours a day. It was envisaged that 12 people would be employed when the home was fully functional.

Some sporting headlines from March 1993: St Colman’s College, Fermoy were crowned Munster Colleges’ senior B football champions, defeating Patrician Academy in Ballyhooly; Park United were finding games in the Div 1a AUL League ‘tougher and tighter’, however in spite of this they secured a 1-0 home win over Mallow, thanks to a Dave O’Connor header, seeing them lie two points off leaders Waterloo in second place; Loreto Secondary School, Fermoy student Karen Hutton, claimed a Munster title, winning the junior girls 200m at the Munster schools’ and colleges’ indoor track and field championships.

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