FERMOY NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH CALLS FOR UNITED SHOW OF SUPPORT

Resident’s associations in Fermoy have been asked to send a representative to the upcoming AGM of the town’s Neighbourhood Watch. This week, Joe Tobin of Fermoy Neighbourhood Watch spoke to The Avondhu of the group’s achievements, concerns, history and future.

“We’ve been going now since the end of 2007,” Joe said.

“There probably was something like it before but it fell apart. It was started really by our local community Garda Andrew Geary. He held a meeting one night below in the Fermoy Youth Centre and a crowd of us came to talk about burglaries, robberies and security. We were set up into sub divisions on the night and these groups met to form a committee which liased with the Gardai,” he explained.

On reflection, Joe believes that the roll out of the Socially Monitored Personal Alarm System in the local area remains the greatest achievement of the Fermoy Neighbourhood Watch. The alarms are connected into the user’s phone line and to a power socket.

Designed to aid the elderly who feel unwell or unsafe, the alarm rings a fully manned listening station if the pendant or wrist button that is supplied to users is pressed.

Despite this success, Joe warns that government cut-backs could see Minister Eamon O Cuiv’s Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs cease their funding of the project through local development groups like The Avondhu/Blackwater Partnership.

“It is under threat, we just have to wait for the decision from the minister. He has asked groups involved in such schemes for new ideas on how to reform the current system, which is what we are working on at the moment. The deadline is at the end of the month and we’ll await his decision.”

Joe stresses that this period does not mean that Fermoy Neighbourhood Watch is not considering more people in need of alarms.

“We are still open to taking applications,” Joe said, and added that the upcoming annual general meeting of the group is important for the town. “We want more people from each estate, we assume that most areas have a residents association, and we would hope that each one would send at least one representative to the AGM. We want a lot more areas of Fermoy to get involved.”

The main message from the group is one of vigilance.

“Neighbours need to look around and keep alert to suspicious behaviour. If people see a car in suspicious circumstances, be it night or day, take the number and contact the Gardai. At the very least have it checked out, if nothing comes of it, what of it?” he asks.

With the current rise in unemployment, is Fermoy Neighbourhood Watch concerned that the conditions are prevalent for a rise in crime?

“I suppose it is a slight concern, but the last thing we would want to do is put scare-mongering articles in the paper that would frighten people, especially the elderly into going to ground. There is no need to be afraid if people help their neighbours, stay vigilant and assist the elderly. The elderly too need to reach out for that help, and use services that are available to them such as the Blackwater Connect, which can be a source of comfort and connection for people on their own.”

Ultimately, Joe says, the aim of Fermoy Neighbourhood Watch is to make the town a safer place for everyone and a better place to live.

“If every residential area sent just one representative to the meetings it could make a big difference. Our committee holds quarterly meetings with the local superintendent, and it is at these meetings we can put across people’s problems. If we don’t hear them though, we can’t pass them on.”

Between now and then the next project for the group is the erection of Neighbourhood Watch signs across the town, with Joe asking that any area that would like such a sign make their interest known.

“Our new mayor, Noel McCarthy, has given us his full backing and says we as a group are valuable to the town,” Joe replies when asked if the Town Council will back the erection of the signs. In conclusion, Joe once again reminds interested parties of the alarm scheme, but asks anyone with alarms that are not being used, or are in disrepair, to donate them to the group who will send the units to be fixed before deploying them to a worthy beneficiary.

The AGM of Fermoy Neighbourhood Watch will take place in the coming months, details to be announced.

Anyone with questions about Fermoy Neighbourhood Watch can get in touch with one of the local representatives: Joe Tobin 087-3234436, Mike Bennett 087-2364451, Patricia Dingivan 086-1678519, Clare Lonergan 087-9494415, Paul Hartnett 087-9587489, Noreen O’Hara 086-8939893, Ann Mansfield 086-2318165, Pat Bowes 087-2387715 or Garda Andrew Geary 086-8598412.

All details available on the group’s website http://fermoyneighbourhoodwatch.wordpress.com.

‘BRINGING HOME THE BACON’ FOR MITCHELSTOWN FOOD FESTIVAL

The Mitchelstown Food Festival, which runs from Friday, August 28 to Sunday, August 30 will play host to the launch of a new range of pork products on to the Irish market.

The motto of the food festival this year is - ‘Bring home the Bacon’ and, with the launch of the ‘Truly Irish’ range of sausages and rashers, the event organisers hope to attract foodies from County Cork and beyond.

Explaining the idea behind the ‘Truly Irish’ brand a spokesperson for the company explained how important it is that the brand is launched in Mitchelstown.

“Over the years Mitchelstown was known as the ‘Home of Good Food’, now that the Galtee plant is gone and many of the iconic brands are no longer made in Mitchelstown, we want to show that our products come from this area and are ‘Truly Irish’.

"Our producers are not only from Mitchelstown but also from every county in Ireland. We are an Irish company supporting Irish farmers, local jobs and providing an Irish product for the home market.

"The Bord Bia Quality Assurance Mark sits proudly on every packet guaranteeing our promise of locally produced, fully traceable Irish products. By supporting our local pork producers money is going back into our local economy thereby sustaining and creating jobs in our local community,” the spokesperson said.

This year the Mitchelstown Food Festival will run from Friday, August 28 to Sunday, August 30, with events in The Firgrove Hotel on Friday and down town Mitchelstown on the Saturday, ending with the festival’s main event on the closing Sunday, August 30. Festival PRO Ger Moylan says there is a lot to look forward to this year.

“The festival will be bigger and better than ever and will focus on the promotion of Irish pork as the main theme. There will be workshops, a family fun day and a large food producers market on Sunday, so we will have something for everybody,” he told The Avondhu.

ROCHIE STEPS DOWN AS ENTERPRISE BOARD CHIEF

The North Cork Enterprise Board has announced that its chief executive, Rochie Holohan, is to step down at the end of September after almost 16 years in the role.

Speaking to The Avondhu, Mr Holohan said that while he would have fond memories of his time with the board, he was ‘full of beans’ at the prospect of his next challenge.

Mr Holohan revealed that he is to establish and develop training courses specifically designed for the business sector. He said that he would be taking the experience of coaching businesses with the NCEB with him to his new role.

“There would be aspects that are similar. This is something that I would have had in my mind for some time. In one way it is not a brand new adventure, but it is something different and I am excited; I am looking forward to it,” Mr Holohan said.

When asked of the challenges facing his successor, Mr Holohan was optimistic given the efforts of local businesses to up their standards.

“The only thing I would say is that when I took up the job in 1993, interest rates were sky high, tax rates were sky high, unemployment was high and forced emigration was high.

"But since then we have seen some economically buoyant times and we’ve seen a very different world – times are tough now, there’s no doubt about it and businesses have been tested like never before.

However, businesses are proving resilient in fairness to them. The degree programme in Mitchelstown and Fermoy are amongst my fondest memories of the enterprise board, we placed great emphasis on business training, and the schools programme, which I also had an involvement in.

I will always remember those days with great fondness, I’m happy we chipped in a bit, we did our bit, but a lot of work will have to be done in the next few years. The businesses will have to do a lot of grafting to survive the current conditions to be in a position to benefit from the eventual upturn,” he concluded.

MIXED FORTUNES FOR LOCAL ROADS

It is a case of taking the rough with the smooth when it comes to North Cork road surfaces. For, while locals in Watergrasshill are rejoicing at the long awaited resurfacing works in the village, motorists in Ballyhooly have expressed their continuing frustration with the conditions of the road from the village to Rathcormac.

Michael O’Donnell of Ballyhooly has made his feelings on the potholes that plague the route known to Cork County Council, who have in turn admitted that it cannot commit to a schedule to fix the road.

“I strongly recommend that you use the Fermoy By-Pass and the N-72 to access Cork and Ballyhooly as you can be guaranteed that you will meet no potholes,” a correspondence from a senior engineer with the local authority read.

“The road via Cappagh is “competing” with another 700 miles in the Fermoy area for similar repairs and I cannot guarantee that potholes can be filled by a certain date.

“I regret to say that I have similar requests to yours for other roads but have to give people the same information, as funds are so minimal at this stage for repairs,” the correspondence concluded.

The suggestion that motorists travel via the N72 to Fermoy and the M8 tolled by-pass has been described by Mr O’Donnell as ‘unhelpful and unwelcome’ who added that the N72 ‘is not a road to write home about either.’

“We are not awash with funds either yet this household is obliged to pay approximately €1,000 per annum to tax two modest cars. Are we unreasonable to expect to be able to, safely, use all public roads in the country? We don’t have any choice in the amount of road tax that we pay or when. Public transport is, effectively non-existent. So, while we are legally obliged to meet our half of the road tax deal, the council, it seems, is free to do as it pleases,” Mr O’Donnell claimed.

“The council and government failed to play their part in many situations that we now have to live with. Just look at the unfinished village of Ballyhooly which so-called developers were allowed to destroy. Are we supposed to sit back and allow the road network fall to pieces as well?” he asked.

R.T.E. FASHION QUEEN BOWLED OVER BY STYLE FEST AT BALLYLANDERS EXTRAVAGANZA

Former Miss Ireland, Pamela Flood, told organisers of last week’s World of Women Extravaganza in Ballylanders that she had never seen such a display of fashion from an audience at any similar type event before.

Impressed by the enthusiasm of all those who attended the special ladies night last Friday as part of the annual Pattern Festival, Miss Flood said that, in her experience of travelling to various events, she had never seen such passion and zest for fashion and style as she had in Ballylanders.

“We also had one shop in particular tell us that they regularly do fashion shows in Cork city and they also had not seen the likes of the spirit of the Ballylanders’ women to dress so well at an event,” explained Mairead O’Neill, one of the chief organisers.

“Over 500 women turned out in the most glamorous of clothes and showed that, just because we live in the heart of rural Ireland, doesn’t mean we are not capable of great style and panache.”

The event, which was held to raise funds for the new community park in Ballylanders, was sold out and it was believed that if any further tickets were available, they would also have been snapped up.

“Everyone on the committee were getting calls days prior to the event and unfortunately we had to tell them we were all sold out. We even had to turn people away and that was the hardest thing to do,” said Lorraine Noonan, also one of the chief organisers.

“We have had some very positive feedback from those who attended. One of the main streams of thought coming back to us is that women were delighted with an opportunity to get dressed up and have something just for them. There are always matches and events for teenagers, children and men but this event was specially for women and that was very well received,” she continued.

Mairead O’Neill, a member of the community park committee, added that while the figures are still being totted up, the event is expected to have a very positive impact on the financial coffers of the new park.

“For me, the best news on the night came when I was told that the landowners had finalised all their dealings and it was now in the hands of our solicitors, so we expect that work will begin very soon.”

Last Friday night’s event was organised by 10 local volunteers and a great deal of gratitude is due to them all for their help and dedication. The committee has confirmed they will consider running a similar event next year.

HOW COOLAGOWN IS TACKLING ITS CARBON FOOTPRINT

The small north Cork village of Coolagown is leading the campaign against needless waste and could provide the template for more environmentally-friendly waste management across the country having been selected for a pilot scheme by Cork County Council.

The Ecohomes Waste Minimisation Project has seen 22 homes sign up for the pioneering scheme which is sponsored by Cork County Council’s Environmental Awareness and Research Unit and grant aided through The Avondhu Blackwater Partnership.

Participants in the scheme use various composting equipment and revise their shopping habits in an effort to buy goods with minimal packaging from local producers, so as to cut down the carbon footprint of transport miles used to ship their goods to their home.

“Avondhu Blackwater Partnership are delighted to be supporting Coolagown Development Group,” said a spokesperson for the group, who committed €5,385 to the waste minimisation project under the Rural Development Programme.

“The waste minimisation project is the culmination of more than twelve months planning, preparation and community co-ordination by Coolagown Development Group.

“This pilot waste minimisation project is an extremely innovative area-based solution to household waste and energy saving. The initiative will have significant environmental consequences, reducing the carbon footprint of each participating household. Furthermore, analysis of the results will provide evidence of the positive environmental impact of the project and best practice guidelines can be disseminated to other communities throughout The Avondhu Blackwater area of operation,” the spokesperson added.

“The group have a variety of composting equipment at their disposal. They can use the traditional compost bin, or a green cone food digester or the latest new product on the market, a Green Johanna, which is a ‘Hot’ composter,” Dr Mary Stack, senior scientist with Cork County Council’s Environmental Awareness & Research Unit explained.

“This ‘Green Johanna’ will compost cooked or uncooked food waste including meat, fish, bones, dairy products, vegetables and fruit mixed with one part garden waste,” Dr Stack, who is supervising the project, explained. The programme focuses on sustainable living and drew a large interest in the area, she said.

“Forty households attended the initial awareness evenings held in January and March 2009. A smaller group of 22 households were selected to concentrate on the household waste prevention and the balance of the group will work on water conservation and energy reduction in their homes.

The residents in Coolagown will now have a lower carbon footprint, homes looking to help prevent greenhouses gasses, financial and environmental benefits from treating their waste at home and not sending their waste to landfill,” Dr Stack claimed.

John Feeney of Coolagown Development Group said the scheme has been well received by locals who, in turn, have significantly reduced their waste.