The chairman of Mitchelstown Heritage Society, Bill Power, hit out at those who claimed insufficient consultation took place prior to demolishing the public toilets in Mitchelstown. Defending the democratic process, Mr Power said everybody got the opportunity to speak on the matter and that all contributions were considered and discussed. He was in no doubt that the majority of people in Mitchelstown favoured their removal. “At two public meetings held on the matter, there were calls for the toilets to go. A consensus was reached over a period of time that it was in the best interests of the town that the toilets be removed. As the situation stood, the toilets were detrimental to the image of Mitchelstown,” he said.
A young Rathcormac woman beat competition from 26 other counties to win the annual ICA Christmas Cake competition. Elizabeth Barry even outpaced her own mother to win the Cork Federation and went on to win the national competition. The prestigious event was held at Jury’s Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin, and was hosted by John Creedon, who explained the rules to participants and who held the final vote in the event of a tie. The decision, however, was unanimous in favour of the Rathcormac woman.
Pupils from Rathcormac National School presented retiring vice principal, Sheila Murphy, with an attractive carriage clock, an acknowledgement of her contribution to the school over the years. Appointed to Rathcormac NS in 1968, Sheila had been vice principal since 1977 and was an elected parent representative on the first board of management. In her address to pupils, she thanked them for the thoughtful gift and encouraged them to do their best. She also thanked the parents of Rathcormac who had given her maximum co-operation and support over her 30 years at the school.
The residents of Sarsfield Casey Drive in Mitchelstown were seeking urgent action to stabilise a wall between their estate and the private houses at Church Road. Despite being warned about it, children had been seen climbing the wall and using it as a play area. The wall, which was described as being in a ‘precarious state’, was visibly crumbling in places and there were fears that it could fall at any time. Public representatives had been contacted, but residents were very concerned that nothing appeared to be happening.
Ballyporeen FC retained the Avondhu Sports Club Shield when they narrowly defeated Mitchelstown Celtic 2-1 at the Coláiste an Chraoibhín grounds in Fermoy. A penalty apiece meant the game was evenly poised approaching full-time, until a goal mouth scramble from another set-piece with just three minutes remaining produced the winner for Ballyporeen.
A brilliant third goal by Aidan Mac finished off the brave challenge of Munster Junior League side Casement Celtic to see Mitchelstown’s Park United advance to round four of the FAI Junior Cup. Park were quickest out of the blocks against their fancied opponents and were almost in front after just five minutes when Ned Finn rose highest in the box but couldn’t keep his header on target. Park continued their pressure but had to wait until the opening stages of the second half to find a breakthrough. It came from the boot of Joe O’Brien, who finished beautifully from the edge of the box. Ned Finn was a constant torment for the Casement defenders and he made it 2-0 from the penalty spot midway through the second half. The goal of the game, however, was still to come and with time almost up, Aidan Mac let fly from the edge of the box with an unstoppable shot that ended up in the top right hand corner, to ensure his side advanced to round four of the cup
Lismore regained their winning momentum in the Red House League with a vital win over Valley Rangers. Eoin Bennett, who netted both Lismore goals, was the hero on the day, but not before his team were made to work for their victory. Bennett had put Lismore in front after 12 minutes, but Donal O’Leary equalised for Valley midway through the first half. However, just before half-time, Bennett turned on the edge of the box and fired home a brilliant goal that turned out to be the winner.
