President Mary McAleese was in Lismore in July 2005 where she unveiled a plaque in the Millennium Park to celebrate the heritage town’s victory in the 2004 national Tidy Towns competition.
The president said that the local Tidy Towns committee were a ‘team of leaders’ who brought ‘local people with a strong sense of place, vision and an aspiration to be the best’ along, to achieve the national award. The president also gave a speech at Blackwater Community School.
Watergrasshill GAA Club and Hollycourt Developments, were in discussions regarding a possible land deal, as the developer had purchased land adjacent to the GAA grounds and were looking at the possibility of developing a retirement village in the area. It was reported that negotiations on a possible land deal had ‘angered some locals’.
Work on a new four-storey development got underway on the site of the old Royal Hotel in Pearse Square, Fermoy. Belilos Developments told The Avondhu that the project consisted of ground floor and first floor retail, with upper floors available for office or commercial use.
Tallow officially unveiled its new playground on Chapel Street, with Cllr James Tobin cutting the tape with Nuala Rohan, of Tallow Community Playground committee. The new amenity was a result of a community initiative between the playground committee, Tallow Enterprise and Waterford County Council.
A 29-year-old motorcyclist was fatally injured in a road incident at Tully, Glenroe, between the church and Malone’s Pub. The man was named locally as Des O’Dea, of Kilfinane, who had collided with a JCB. Sadly, Des’s brother, Michael, died ‘under similar circumstances seven years’ prior.
A brand new ‘heritage style’ public toilet was put in place in New Square, Mitchelstown. The toilet, at the time, was expected to cost €30,000 per annum to run and was the source of much controversy, as the old toilets were demolished as part of the redevelopment of the square.
Castletownroche hosted an All-Ireland Vintage Rally on the lands of local entrepreneur, Billy Sheehan, which saw a bumper crowd for the gathering of vintage tractors and machinery. The event could have passed for the National Ploughing Championships, as ploughing, harrowing and rolling was a key feature of the day.
Travellers, who had paid a number of visits to Tallow, were causing upset in the area, as a group of up to 14 caravans set up camp on the car park outside Tallow GAA on at least three different occasions, leaving behind ‘human filth and garbage’ when they left. The West Waterford Divisional Championship Junior match between Ballyduff and Tourin was cancelled as the grounds were out of bounds. A summer camp, which was due to start, was transferred to Knockanore due to health fears as human excrement littered the grounds.
Blackwater Motors got planning permission in Fermoy for a new motor sales and service facility on a 10 acre site by the old army camps on the Dublin Road. At the time, it was hoped that the nearby IDA site nearby would kickstart new business in the area.
Fort William Fisheries at Glencairn introduced restrictions on salmon fishing on its waters, due to the collapse of the 2005 Summer salmon run on the Blackwater River. A statement from the fishery said they did this in order to conserve the limited number of returning wild Atlantic salmon. Fishers were restricted to one fish per rod per day. All natural bait fishing was also banned.
Brian Casey, from Burncourt, was due to represent Ireland at the World Sheepdog Trials in Offaly, teaming up with his work dog, Mick. Brian had already represented Ireland on three occasions, having been involved in sheepdog trials for some 20 years. The Tipperary farmer was reserve Irish champion in 1997.
In brief – Plans were afoot for a new fire station in Lismore, as Waterford County Council was looking at the possibility of securing a site on the Tallow Road, opposite Hornibrook’s Garage. Mitchelstown’s Good Food Festival saw over 30 producers commit to the 2005 event, with organisers concerned that they may have to turn some producers away due to the event’s popularity. New gabions (special cages full of rocks) were installed along Barnane as river bank reinforcements to protect against erosion in times of flooding.
In sport, Ballylanders were crowned South Limerick U16 football champions, defeating Hospital/Herbertstown 2-6 to 0-10. Ballylanders girls U14 team took on Monaghan in Féile 2005 and also had success, achieving a second win for the village. Ballygiblin U12 hurlers made it through to the North Cork final, beating Kildorrery in the semi-final, 2-11 to 0-3. While separately, the Junior B hurling championship saw St Catherines through to the second round, overcoming Aghada 1-10 to 1-06.
