Castletownroche were declared outright winners of the fourth annual Litter Free Roadsides Competition in 1995, completing a 3-in-a-row of titles. They narrowly secured the Category 1 title, for towns with a population of 500 or under, pipping 2nd placed Dungourney/Clonmult by just a single point. A spokesperson from the village told The Avondhu that the £100 prizemoney was ‘an added bonus’ and would allow them to ‘invest further in improving the village’.
There appeared to be ‘much controversy’ regarding the original gates of Fermoy Town Park. UDC town clerk, Michael Cremin issued a statement to The Avondhu, stating that ‘correspondents’ had made allegations, which were not substantiated, alleging the gates from the park were ‘removed at some time in the past and their whereabouts should now be accounted for’. In giving a synopsis of the park’s history, he stated that a local blacksmith, Sean Galligan was commissioned in the late 1940s to ‘repair, refurbish and replace the railings’, as the railings were ‘either in a very poor condition or missing altogether in parts’. The repairs as well as 2 new sets of gates were completed and put in place in or around 1950, and the Council’s research indicated that ‘these gates remain in place to this day’. He then challenged anybody with ‘facts which contradict this position’ to contact the Council to allow a full investigation on the matter.
A major step forward was taken in October 1995 on the leisure amenity complex proposed for Mitchelstown, with the signing of contracts for the purchase of a plot of land, known locally as ‘Harrington’s Field’. Securing the land for £100,000 – noted to be well below the market value – funds collected stood at £45,000 and the committee would be ‘pushing hard to ensure the balance of £61,000 (incl stamp duty, fees, etc) was reached by year end to finance the land purchase. It was hoped progress could now be made on securing the ‘Canon’s Field’, which adjoined the land purchased. A spokesperson envisaged that building of the first phase would ‘commence in approximately 18 months time’.
A 2-page Avondhu feature highlighted the October 1995 opening of Busy Bees Creche, located at New Square, Mitchelstown. Open Monday to Saturday, the ‘bright, attractive and well thought out’ facility had its interior walls hand-painted by local students, Robert Hanna (St Fanahan’s), Sandra Hanley and Christine Feeney (Presentation Secondary School), under the guidance of employee Johann Feeney.
Fermoy Tennis Club had applied to the town’s UDC for permission to build 4 tennis courts in the north west corner of the Town Park facility. The club also hoped that an arrangement could be reached with the Leisure Complex, regarding the sharing of some facilities.
Glanworth were crowned North Cork U16 B football champions, fashioning a hard fought victory over Charleville. Opening half goals from Ger O’Neill and Matt Coughlan saw the Harbour trail by a single point at the interval, while a second half improvement in play, including a second goal from Ger O’Neill, sealed the title on a 3-7 to 1-12 scoreline. Team: Keelan Cotter, Dave Condon, Ml Casey, Pat Leonard, Dave Linehan, Dermot Condon, Ian Walsh, Paddy Quirke, Terence Ryan (capt), Tommy Fitzgibbon, John Paul Cotter, Bob O’Neill, Ger O’Neill, Matt Coughlan, Bobby John Quinlan. Sub used: Kieran Roche.
While Glenville claimed the East Cork U16 B equivalent, seeing off the challenge of Dungourney at Rathcormac, 3-5 to 1-8. Goals came from the boots of E O’Neill, W O’Leary and M Manley. Team: N O’Connell, S Crowley, J Foley, D Kearney, P Moroney, R O’Farrell, P Fitzpatrick, M Manley (1-0, capt), D Riordan, E O’Neill (1-0), D Riordan (0-1), W Leary (1-0), P Sheehan (0-1), I Gardiner (0-1), P Cahill (0-2). Sub B Farrell.
The cream was certainly rising to the top in Mitchelstown. CBS student David Fleming, from Furrow near Mitchelstown, was placed 2nd in a prestigious All-Ireland essay competition run by the Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland. His period of research was from the mid 1600s to late 1700s, his essay was titled ‘The Huguenot and Walloon Influence in Cork’. Meanwhile, Patricia Piggott, a final year CERT student at Cork RTC, was a finalist in the Ernie Evans Young Chef Award. Representing the Royal Hotel, Killarney, the Mitchelstown native had developed her culinary skills through work experience at the Clongibbon House, as well as the Three Lakes Hotel, Killarney.
