BOGUS COLLECTORS HIT MITCHELSTOWN

Bogus charity collectors are at work in Mitchelstown. The Avondhu has learned that people claiming to be collecting clothes, jewellery and other household items for the Polio Fellowship of Ireland are in fact not affiliated to this charity and are subject to a garda investigation. Bags purporting to come from the charity have been distributed to many houses in Mitchelstown.

“The bags look very professional and have the Polio Fellowship of Ireland logo on them but when you call the number on the bag (which is not the Polio Fellowship number) it just rings out,” one resident who saw them being distributed early on Wednesday morning told The Avondhu.

A spokesperson from the Polio Fellowship of Ireland is aware that bogus collectors are using their logo and name illegally.

“The Polio Fellowship of Ireland wishes to advise householders across the country that a household collection taking place, purportedly on its behalf, has not been authorised by it. The Polio Fellowship has not engaged in this type of fundraising activity for a number of years.

"We are urging householders in receipt of a bag bearing our name and requesting unwanted clothing and household bric-a-brac that they not respond to the appeal and report any information that they have on those involved to their local garda station.

"Any information as to a description and licence registration of vehicles, or of the individuals involved, as well as the times of return collections, would be especially helpful,” Dara Duffy from the Polio Fellowship of Ireland said.

STUART’S ORGANS ARE LIFE SAVERS

Fermoy hero, Stuart Mangan, has saved the lives of ten people. Following his sad death last month, all of Stuart’s organs were donated to needy people who will get a new lease of life due to his family’s generosity and consideration.

Stuart’s two kidneys were donated to people on dialysis while his liver went to someone possibly within days of dying and his heart valves and cornea also went to needy people.

The 26-year-old rugby player survived for more than a year after he was paralysed from the neck down after suffering a severe spinal injury playing rugby.

“Think of the joy for other families and the improvement in the quality of life,” Mr Mangan snr said, urging people to sign up for donor cards.

ANGER MOUNTS OVER WATER CONTAMINATION

Angry and worried residents of Skeheenarinky called a meeting at the local school to voice their concern at the levels of E.coli that has been discovered in their drinking water. County councillors and Dail members for South Tipperary were present to hear first hand accounts of the problems with the water supply in the area.

“The anger of those assembled was very apparent, especially when residents relayed information from EPA and NDP reports from the last several years. An EPA report from 2000 highlighted the serious condition of the water supply in Clonmore South and Skeheenarinky both of which contained high levels of faecal matter at that time. It would appear that nothing has changed in 2009, as you can see from the recent E-coli outbreak in the area,” local resident, Ed O’Riordan, told The Avondhu.

Other residents pointed to reports that showed that the money - over six million euro - to upgrade the Burncourt Water Supply Scheme had been approved by the then minister as far back as 2004.

“Despite several Dail questions from Deputy Tom Hayes and Deputy Mattie McGrath, the final go-ahead has never been given. This is one of the reasons for the anger and frustration of the consumers of the Burncourt water. The minister and the Department of the Environment blame the county council for the delays while the county council insist the delay and stalling tactics are firmly with the department in Dublin,” Ed O’Riordan said.

Local Cllr Marie Murphy (FG) was also at the meeting, “I think that is down to the Dail representatives to get a meeting with the minister and get this sorted out as soon as possible. This is a very serious issue that has been going on for far too long and I am going to do my very best to progress the scheme as far as possible. I will make sure that the council keeps the water scheme as a top priority,” Cllr. Murphy said.

However, the meeting did agree that the county council water department was doing an excellent job under difficult circumstances.

“What must be clarified now by the EPA, HSE and the county council, is whether it’s safe for the children of the area to play in the water at Glengarra? This is the source of Burncourt Water Supply Scheme, which serves Ballyporeen, Burncourt and Skeheenarinky.

"And, it’s at Glengarra that the council is carrying out remedial works. So, it would seem the water is infected with E-coli at source. Perhaps, there should be warning signs put up?” Ed O’Riordan suggested.

LIVE HAND GRENADE FOUND IN UPSTAIRS BEDROOM

Families in Cahir woke up on Tuesday morning to find army bomb disposal units arriving on the doorstep.

Houses in the Rosemount Estate were quickly evacuated after two children found what turned out to be a live hand grenade in an upstairs bedroom. A garda spokesperson in Cahir said that at first it was understood that the grenade was not live but on closer examination it was soon discovered that it was in fact primed.

“The surrounding houses were evacuated and the army Explosive Ordinance Department (EOD) was alerted,” a garda spokesperson told The Avondhu.

Army spokesperson, Captain Pat O’Connor, described how the grenade was dealt with.

“Army bomb disposal experts made safe a live World War II era grenade in the Rosemount Estate area of Cahir this afternoon (Tuesday, September 22). The team arrived on scene at 11.30am following a Garda request to attend.

"Following inspection the grenade, which was found to be live, was removed by the bomb disposal team to be disposed of safely with a controlled explosion on nearby waste ground. This is the 151st time our bomb disposal teams have been called out this year. The scene was declared safe at 1pm,” Capt. O’Connor told The Avondhu.

A garda investigation into how the grenade came to be in the house in the Rosemount Estate is now underway.

FLOOD RELIEF CONTRACT SIGNED IN FERMOY

MINISTER PRAYS FOR FINE WEATHER

“Pray hard for fine weather” was Minister Martin Mansergh’s response to one of Fermoy’s concerned citizens last Friday afternoon when he asked what protection the southern side of the town has between stages one and two of the flood relief works.

During the minister’s visit to Fermoy to sign the official flood relief contract and get work underway, Michael Spillane, a butcher at Pearse Square, questioned the minister on what the effects the southern side of the bridge would feel while works were being carried out on the northern side (phase 1).

Minister Mansergh retorted by saying that the department, together with the OPW, have a number of these projects going throughout the country and that no town had full protection until the job was complete.

“We are no longer having large gaps of time between the stages of the plans. The Department of Finance are behind this project and I am giving you my full commitment that it will be completed.

“We understand the human, social and economic consequences of the flooding is very serious and no-one is arguing the priority of this project.”

Assistant chief engineer with the OPW, Michael Collins, added that reports have shown that the construction work will not increase the impact on the flooding on the southern side and the work on phase two will be carried out directly after the first phase.

When asked why the three phases of the project could not be completed together, Tony Smith, director of the OPW explained that there are a lot of flood relief projects happening throughout the country and it was agreed, for the sake of efficiency, that all would be done on a phased basis.

Minister Mansergh, whose grandmother was from Castletowroche and who claims great ‘affection’ for the area, was then asked if it was possible to have extra resources made available to people living and working on the southern side of the river until the project was completed.

The minister agreed that there would be correspondence with the local authority on the matter and he “couldn’t see why not.” The OPW are currently working on a similar plan in Mallow. The first phase is nearing completion and the second phase is expected to start early next year.

The first stage of the Fermoy plan will take approximately 9 months to complete at a cost of €3.3million and will consist of erecting new embankments, permanent wall structures and extensive excavations to mention but a few. Work has already commenced.

“When this plan is complete in total it will be highly effective and will virtually eliminate all flooding. If the threat of a flood rises significantly in an area, for a little added extra funds, the plan can be upgraded,” explained the minister. Welcoming the signing, Fine Gael councillor Aileen Pyne said that when she joined the council 29 years ago the plan was on the agenda.

“Even back then it was always on the agenda so today is a wonderful day for Fermoy and its future.” Cllr John Murphy, president of Fermoy Rowing Club, admitted he was a “doubting Thomas” at the beginning “but having visited the sites in Kilkenny and Carrick On Suir, I know that this is the way forward but we all need to work together, as a team.”

Deputy Ned O’Keeffe concurred with the sentiments of welcome for the day but he asked for greater communication with the local fisheries board and the rowing club when it comes to the OPW doing the Government contract work on the weir.

Tony Smith, director of the OPW, explained that the organisation has no say on the works on the weir but will simply follow the department’s orders. The work, to allow fish swim upstream, will be done in conjunction with the relief works.

Murt Coleman, director of assigned contractors Carillion Irish Euco Ltd, explained that a dedicated person has been appointed to a full-time position which will deal with all communications and regular newsletters and communications will be made to ensure “everyone knows what is going on and how the work is progressing.”

COUNCIL HOUSES LIE IDLE AS MONEY RUNS OUT

Vacant council houses in North Cork will remain empty at least until next year because Cork County Council has spent all its money.

At this week’s meeting of the Northern Division, councillors were told that 83 per cent of the allocated budget for housing has already been spent, and the remainder of the money is already allocated for work to be carried out throughout the rest of the year.

The houses will remain vacant as the council have a policy of doing its own maintenance and upgrading works to the house once a tenant moves out and quite simply, the money is not available. The option of allowing willing tenants to do this work themselves will not be accepted by the council.

Area manager, Tim Lucey, explained: “Unless money is reassigned from other areas, we will have to leave the houses vacant. With tenants you can expect the average wear and tear so when they move out it is expected that the houses will be brought back to a certain standard.”

A bewildered group of councillors argued that, as there are hundreds of people on the social housing list, to have them remain on the list while houses lie idle ‘makes no sense’. It was also noted that the council would be denied significant revenue from the rent as a result of this policy.

According to Fermoy mayor, Cllr Noel McCarthy, the situation puts councillors in a very difficult position as they are continuously advocating for people to be assigned social housing throughout the area.

The council also announced that a completed amenity site in Kanturk, constructed at a cost of €3m, will remain closed, as the council does not have money to staff the facility. Mr Lucey did agree, however, to investigate the option of having the facility run by a private operator. Mr Lucy added that the budget allocated to the refuse services was ‘significantly over-run’.

However, the matter could not be sorted until a decision is reached in the Labour Court regarding a dispute with unions. This decision is expected in the next four to six weeks.