A fourteen year battle for recognition came to an end for a deflector group providing television channels to Fermoy.
Southeast Deflector Group were told by Minister for Public Enterprise Mary O’Rourke that they were to be given a licence.
The announcement was a major victory for the group and their subscribers who had spent many stressful years seeking to be recognised as a legitimate provider.
They were branded as pirates and illegal over the years, but the group said that they were delighted to overcome ‘the vested interests’ who were campaigning and lobbying against them.
A delighted Michael O’Sullivan, who was vice chairman of the group, said that it was a victory for individuals over media moguls.
“What has been achieved is the is the result of 14 years struggling against an array of powerful vested interests. While it totally vindicates our position, and we are obviously delighted with the outcome, this is, above all, a victory for the small operator and a great day for a bunch of volunteers who had the courage to see this thing through,” he said.
There were other similar services in Bandon and Carrigaline with Fermoy being the third largest customer base for the multichannel system. The system would become obsolete with the advent of large multinational satellite and cable networks.
The emergency services issued a stark warning about the problem of hoax calls and said the problem could lead to loss of life.
Mitchelstown Fire Brigade had suffered a series of malicious fake calls to the 999 line on Saturday. The calls saw two tenders being dispatched to false incidents leaving the town badly exposed.
The first call was placed to them early on Saturday morning during which the caller claimed that a man was trapped in Mitchelstown Caves suffering from leg injuries.
Local firemen in two tenders rushed to the scene to help but discovered that there was no one in need of their services.
To make sure the fire-fighters inspected a little known nearby cave and found some evidence that people had been near the entrance shortly before it. As they could not be certain of whether someone was injured inside the extensive cave system they were forced to search and spent several hours at the location before declaring it a hoax.
A mountain rescue team were sent into the cave and carried out a lengthy and dangerous search of the location and confirmed that there was no one inside.
“This is a very serious matter. If there was a fire Fermoy Fire Brigade would be required to take action to cover and it is possible that they may not have made it on time which could have resulted in a fatality,” acting chief officer Tom O’Brien said.
Three communities battling a proposed landfill super dump project were refused funding to help them ventilate their concerns.
There were plans afoot to place a 240 acre dump at one of three sites, Bottle Hill, Lyradane and Kearney’s Cross, Watergrasshill by Cork County Council.
A motion called for financial assistance for the groups to put before the council their perspective on the proposed projects. Cork County Council had said they would hire an independent consultant to help them voice their concerns but this was turned down by the three local groups.
Instead a joint group was formed to campaign on behalf of the three locations.
The absence of public transport for the Ballindangan area was highlighted in the newspaper.
In its report it revealed that desperate pleas for help had fallen on deaf ears with the ‘powers that be’ and left the village without any kind of bus service to Mitchelstown or Fermoy.
Locals had reported that there were 50 people directly effected by the problem and a local committee was formed to campaign on their behalf.
Residents of a new housing project at Springfield in Fermoy lashed out at a building developer and a former councillor for what they called the disgraceful conditions they were left living in.
The development was housing six families at the time and they told The Avondhu that little work was completed on a number issues at the site. When contacted the developer refused to comment.
In sport Knockadea FC were celebrating as they moved up to second place in Division 1 of the North Cork Soccer League following their 6-2 victory over Farrahy Celtic.
Also Tallow GAA were celebrating after their victory in the U21 A hurling championship.
