COUNTDOWN TO BEIJING FOR KILWORTH’S GEAROID TOWEY

There is no respite for Kilworth’s Gearoid Towey and his rowing crew, as the Beijing Olympics looms ever nearer on the horizon.

The countdown has well and truly started for both organisers and participants alike. It is a gruelling training schedule for the Irish lightweight rowing team in the searing heat of Northern Italy these days.

After a short return trip to Ireland, which lasted only one day, Gearoid was back on the road, to Italy, this time to acclimatize to similar conditions to those expected in Beijing.

“He is now training every day and will be back in Ireland again some time this month for one or two days after which, he is off to Beijing,” Gerry Towey, Gearoid’s father, said.

The Irish lightweight rowing team will be leaving for China on Sunday July 27 and they will have their first heat on August 10.

FERMOY BOY’S NARROW ESCAPE ON SPANISH HOLIDAY

In light of the recent escalation in the number of Irish tourists drowning on holiday destinations like Spain, a local couple from Fermoy, whose son almost drowned while on holidays in Spain, feels it is important to warn holidaymakers to be less relaxed, but instead cautious and vigilant around the hotel pools.

Robert and Gretta Buckley and their three children recently returned from their dream holiday in Salou, Spain, and they are determined to get their message out after barely averting tragedy.

What they want to see happening is for the travel agency representatives that meet the families to hand in various literature about what people need to watch out for in the area, to alert everyone about the lack of lifeguards at the resort pools and to stress vigilance if drinking in a bar by the pool, with children around.

The family had only just arrived in beautiful, sunny Spain, when the next day, while relaxing at the bar by the apartment complex swimming pool, their son almost drowned.

The young boy fell into the deep end of the pool while stretching out to get a ball. He could just barely swim and his brother and sister, already in the water, their backs turned to him, didn’t realize what was happening.

The parents were having a drink when the mother, alerted to the emergency, that her son was drowning, jumped in and saved his life. Luckily Gretta is a qualified lifeguard, but she was the only lifeguard around at the time. Signs everywhere indicated that there were no lifeguards on duty.

“It is a recipe for disaster. All it takes is a second for a tragedy to happen,” her husband Robert said.

On their return, Robert contacted Budget Travel, the company he booked the tickets through, and he explained the ordeal that his family had endured. He was told to e-mail the agency a list of suggestions and they would follow up on it.

“The travel agencies are in the unique position to do something about it. They could put pressure on the resorts to provide adequate service with proper safety precautions,” Robert claimed.

Two Irish men recently drowned in swimming pools in Spanish holiday destinations: one in May on the Spanish island of Lanzarote, while the most recent death occurred only last Sunday in Ibiza.

MITCHELSTOWN FIRM OBTAINS GLOBAL QUALITY ACCREDITATION

Horgan’s Delicatessen Supplies, based in Mitchelstown, have just achieved the BRC (British Retail Consortium) global quality standard accreditation.

This quality standard is internationally recognised as being the benchmark for best practice in quality control systems for the food industry.

The BRC Quality Standard is now the global standard used to assess retailer suppliers around the world. It is also the framework upon which many food companies base their supplier assessment programmes for supplier approval.

Horgan’s Delicatessen Supplies are one of the leading suppliers of speciality and chilled foods to supermarket chains, independent retailers, speciality food stores and the food services sector in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, since 1977.

Today Horgan’s employs more than 110 personnel at its 3,500 square metre premises and storage facility in Mitchelstown, with a turnover of more than €38m annually.

Speaking at the Horgan’s BRC award ceremony, Mr. Michael Horgan, managing director of Horgan’s Delicatessen Supplies, said that “Horgan’s are very proud to be one of the first food companies in Ireland to achieve the BRC Global Quality Standard. Especially given the BRC’s reputation, with multiple retailers, for being the gold standard for quality control systems”.

Horgan’s product range extends to over 900 lines, from Irish farmhouse and continental cheeses, to speciality cooked and fermented meats, ready meals, pate, salami, antipasto and fresh pasta, fresh soups, juices and confectionery products. Horgan’s also run a cheese facility to freshly cut cheeses to provide a range of over 150 cheeses to suit the requirements of any retail deli-counter in Ireland.

This facility consists of maturing rooms plus a state of the art clean room environment for cutting, waxing, packing and labelling numerous cheeses into customised products to meet the widest variety of customer requirements.

Horgan’s customers range from independent retail and speciality delicatessen and restaurant outlets to major multiples including Tesco, Dunnes Stores, SuperValu/Centra, Superquinn, Marks & Spencer, BWG Spar, ADM Londis, Mace, Barry’s and Gala. In the food services sector customers range from Aer Lingus to Gate Gourmet for in-flight catering.

BUILD UP TO MITCHELSTOWN MUSIC FESTIVAL BEGINS

Organisers of Mitchelstown Indie-Pendence music festival like to keep supporters on tenterhooks and just when it seems the show won’t go ahead a proverbial rabbit is pulled from the hat.

Of course this isn’t contrived and as any promoter will tell you problems come thick and fast as you attempts to look after performers, please audiences, keep the authorities on side and pay the bills.

The mainly youthful committee charged with overseeing the August bank holiday music festival in Mitchelstown are a redoubtable lot and once again they’ve seen off the naysayers by assembling a fine line up of musicians.

Granted many of the names on the posters won’t mean much to those over 40 but rest assured the bill, topped by Gemma Hayes and The Blizzards is an impressive one. It was all systems go last Friday night in Spratt’s Bar, Mitchelstown as the festival, aka Indie-Pendence was formally launched.

Organiser Shane Dunne said plans for the festival were at an advanced stage and he and his committee were looking forward to a great weekend in Mitchelstown.

Given the costly nature of hosting a festival of this size, Shane expressed his gratitude to sponsors who were rowing in behind the project. Their confidence in what festival organisers were doing was very heartening he said.

Further festival details can be accessed by logging on to www.mitchelstownfest.com

ALLEGATIONS OF HIDDEN AGENDA AT LATIN MASS

The traditional Latin Mass recently celebrated at St Patrick’s Church, in Fermoy, enjoyed, it is reported, a very poor attendance from both parishioners and organisers alike.The language barrier hindered the parishioners’ active involvement with the Mass.

The Latin Mass was organised and promoted by St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy and was offered for the intentions and well-being of Pope Benedict XVI, according to a spokesperson for the society.

The celebration was open to everyone, members of the society and members of the congregation, but very few people apparently turned up for the event. Those parishioners who were in attendance found that they could not participate and respond due to the language factor.

A congregation member indicated that it felt very much like a ‘private celebration’ in which no one else was included.

The parish choir sang the Latin parts of the Mass vibrantly, featuring Aileen Howard, organist, and Deirdre Foley, choir mistress.

A church spokesperson has expressed his indignation with regards to the recent event, viewing it as an opportunity taken by the society to serve their agenda, to object to the proposed changes to the sanctuary of St Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh, namely the removal and relocation of the altar and extension of the sanctuary area into the nave, which would involve disturbing the mosaic floor designed by architect George Ashlin and made by Ludwig Oppenheimer of Manchaster in 1892.

The same spokesperson categorised the recent event as a ‘purposeless Mass’ and expressed his belief that the poor turnout shows that the importance of the agenda is losing interest.

The Avondhu tried unsuccessfully to make contact with the society for a comment regarding the allegations.

LACK OF INFORMATION FRUSTRATING HOSPITAL FUNDRAISERS

A press conference on Monday evening last in The Grand Hotel, Fermoy hosted by members of St Patrick’s Community Hospital, Fermoy Fundraising Association heard the association are extremely frustrated at the lack of information concerning the hospital’s proposed 30 bed unit.

The association’s annoyance was aimed at the HSE (Health Service Executive) who have been extremely slow in forwarding them with relevant information.

Association chairman, Tom Higgins from Conna was keen to point out that traditionally the fundraising branch of the hospital had enjoyed excellent relations with the HSE (formerly the health board) and that the present course of action was motivated by a need to reassure the public that the 30 bed extension was definitely going ahead.

Mr. Higgins was fulsome in his praise of the many individuals and groups whose efforts had raised €460,000 – the local contribution to the overall €3.7 million cost. Mr. Higgins said the public were entitled to know exactly what was going on.

Despite repeated correspondence with the HSE vital information about the tendering process and when work would be begin was not forthcoming he said.

Association PRO, Fermoy based councillor Tadhg O’Donovan was more blunt and stated that ‘the level of evasiveness from the HSE was unbelievable’. He went on to say that the association had done everything that was expected of them in relation to fundraising and it was time for clear, unambiguous answers.

The meeting expressed hope that a satisfactory outcome to the present difficulties could be reached as soon as possible.

News did, of course, arrive after the meeting that a start date of August has been confirmed by the HSE which is understood to be in the process of appointing a contractor for the project.