One front page of The Avondhu in May 2001 carried the news that ‘lethal pollution’ had wiped out the complete food chain and fish life in a section of the Gradogue River, between the Ballinamona and Kilshannig Bridges. Among the dead wildlife were eels, trout, snails, worms and leeches. Officers from The Southern Fisheries Board were investigating.
In Lismore, after ‘months of speculation’ on who owned the ball alley, the council decided to check their own records and discovered that in fact, they owned it! The building was not structurally sound, and the county council now had to decide whether they would knock it or preserve it.
An appeal was made from The Fermoy Bypass Group for volunteers to help them with the next step, after the group claimed they had made headway with Cork County Council in supporting their stance against the tolling of Fermoy. In a separate article, the Christian Solidarity Party asked if the tolling was not discriminatory, pointing to new roads in East Cork and elsewhere in the county which were not afflicted with tolls.
Mitchelstown was seeking ‘host town’ status for the Special Olympics 2003, agreed after a ‘well-attended’ meeting in The Firgrove. Also in the town, a video presentation was due from Tesco for the town’s Business Association in advance of their move to the town.
Good weather led to an article on early hay-making in Shanballymore, where John O’Connor, William O’Connor and Christy O’Grady took advantage and got the job done early. Summer was definitely on the horizon, as fruit pickers were sought for Castletownroche; applicants needed to be at least 14 years of age.
The Conna Castle concert in 2001 was cancelled as the lifting of Foot and Mouth (FMD) restrictions came too late to organise the event, but a scaled-down outdoor event was in the planning as a consolation. Meanwhile, Doneraile Court reopened after FMD restrictions had forced the site to close to visitors in February of that year. The senior citizens of the village took their annual summer holiday in 2001 to Waterford, also taking in Powerscourt Estate in Wicklow.
A photo featured six members of Fermoy Karate Club with coach Brian Toomey; all brought home trophies from the Irish Karate Championships.
Ballindangan was represented at the National Youth Federation’s Variety Show by Mairead Rea, who came out tops in the Solo Singing category.
There was a call in Fermoy for a united response to help rejuvenate the town. Led by Cllr Michael Hanley, he said that ‘housing, traffic, planning and parking’ all needed to be looked at.
There was a £1.5 million price tag placed on Cavanagh’s Garage building of Ashe Quay, Fermoy, with reportedly a ‘great deal of interest’ in the building.
Ballyhooly was set to remember Liam Burke in May 2001 to mark the 80th anniversary of the shooting of the local man at the hands of British Crown Forces. The 20 year old was killed on 20th May, 1921 by a shot through the heart, hampered in his escape by a lameness from birth. Meanwhile in Ballylanders, plans were afoot to have the remains of Patrick Meagher reburied from Mountjoy to Ballylanders. Mr Meagher was executed for his part in the rescue of Sean Hogan in Knocklong.
Fermoy Rugby Club were seeking funding for development and a delegation travelled to the Dáil to meet Minister for Sport, Jim McDaid.
Glenroe native Dave Wallace made waves as the rower took two gold medals at the Belgian International Championships, and another gold at the International Ghent Championship regatta just 24 hours later. Based in Scotland, he had taken up rowing just two years previously.
Joe Dolan was due in The Firgrove Hotel in Mitchelstown, as Bridget Jones’s Diary showed in cinemas. The Village Arts Centre in Kilworth hosted Billa and Brendan Shine, while Master McGrath’s in Bridesbridge had Tommy McCartney in the bar with John Howard in the ballroom.
In the Classified pages, two tickets for S Club 7 in the Point Theatre were for sale, as were goslings, who would be ‘delivered to the nearest Rail Station’ to the buyer.
In sport – Glanworth United FC were headed to Turner’s Cross for a battle with Mayfield in the 2001 Corinthian Cup final, while their colleagues Glanworth Celtic were headed for Knockadea and the Blackthorn Cup final against Mitchelstown Celtic. In Kilworth, Joe Roche was selected on the five man Irish Sea Angling team to take part in the the Home International Boat Championships in Scotland. St Colman’s College was to be awarded a civic reception by Cork County Council following their victory in the 2001 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Colleges Championship.
