22nd June, 2000
Firstly congratulations to Michael Burke who has
been elected Chairman of Grange/Frankfield residents Association.
Michael has been involved in community work in his area for as
long as I know him. Do support your Community Association because
it does have power and if you want things done in your area join
the association because there is strength in numbers. Good luck
Michael!
Local Councillor Peter Kelly is also in the news this week. On
last Sunday, Peter, the only PD councillor in Cork County Council
announced he was leaving the Progressive Democrats to join Fine
Gael. That makes two major defections in the past fortnight, the
other being Senator Helen Keogh. For such a small party to lose
two prominent members in such a short space of time is a disaster.
Mary Harney is taking the flak for the Hugh O'Flaherty nomination,
not because she recommended O'Flaherty for the job, but because
she supported it even though 75% of the people polled were
against it. Did she say, "In a few months the people will
have forgotten about it" A touch of arrogance in that
statement. Don't underestimate the people. You do so at your own
peril.
For a party which began 15 years ago with promises of truth and
honesty being the main priority the voters supported them and
they won 13 seats. This was an anti-Haughey vote, and today with
all the scandals of the 80's exposed we know why they won 13
seats. Let us not forget the young mother who was killed by a
drunken driver, who was then freed illegally. How could any
decent politician support that move? To quote an old saying
" Justice must be seen to be done". Finally, Mary, you
should have walked weeks ago, it would have been the decent thing
to do, and people would have remembered it at the next election.
They will at the next election ,but for the wrong reason if you're
a PD candidate.
Local plumbing contractor and good friend of mine, Tom Maher goes
from strength to strength with his business. In my job I'm so
often asked if I know good carpenter, electrician, plumber etc.
But unless I know the individual tradesman personally I'd be slow
to recommend him. I've known Tom for almost as long as I've lived
in Douglas. Anyone like me who appreciates singers /songwriters
such as Eric Bogle, Tom Russell, Iris DeMent, must be a
professional. I know he likes to sing. He follows Q.P.R. in
soccer, in hurling he follows the Clare team (he being from Clare).
He tells me next year will definitely be Clare's year again!
Would I recommend Tom Maher for all your plumbing needs? I'd
stake the Douglas Weekly on it! Give Tom a call - 086 4032563.
Tell him Michael recommended him. (Tom, if you read this don't
tell anybody who's coming to the Lobby in October, we want the
best seats for ourselves!).
Now we have a situation where there are talks of closing Douglas
swimming pool. A reader rang the Weekly office last year to ask
if it was true that Douglas Swimming Pool was to close and that
Local Authority Housing was to be built on the site. We rang City
Hall for a comment and eventually we got a reply to our questions.
The answer was " No truth in the rumour" and we
published it. I've spoken to several people who visit the
swimming pool and they tell me that it needs a radical overhaul.
In one of this week's essays written by a 4th Class student of
Douglas Primary School he tells it as it is, i.e. how he sees the
condition of the pool. Remember the old saying, "Out of the
mouths of babes comes the truth". Not everybody can afford
to become members of Health Clubs with swimming facilities. It's
a social and educational amenity that needs to be upgraded and
modernised. If the money is not spent on it will decay and close,
perhaps that's what some people would like to see happen to the
Douglas pool, would you?
Tonight Thursday, there's a huge gardening exhibition taking
place at the Douglas Village Shopping Centre. Gardening expert
Charlie Wilkens will give a talk and demonstration on all aspects
of gardening and will also answer some of your questions. I hope
to see you there between 6 and 8pm. Sadly I do not have green
fingers, but my wife makes up for me. My green is confined to the
baize on a snooker table! (For the uninitiated the cloth on the
table is green).
Does it pay to shop around? I had to post some letters yesterday
so I went to the Douglas Post Office. While I was waiting in line
my mobile phone rang. The message from the Weekly office "get
a jar of coffee". So down in the centre I went to Tesco's to
buy a jar of Maxwell House Coffee. The price for the medium size
was £2.15, which is good value. However, the sign on the shelf
read "Buy a second jar and it for half price. So the second
jar only cost me £1.07. It pays to shop around.
Finally, a big thank you to all the staff of both information
desks at Douglas Village and Douglas Court Shopping Centres,
always helpful, and cheerful, as are all the staff at both
Centres. Keep up the good work! I almost forgot, Mums and Dads
and Teachers please tell your children who write essays on "What
I Like About Douglas" that there are two Churches in the
Douglas parish, St. Columba's and St Lukes. Both beautiful
buildings built to worship the same God.
Bye for now,
Michael O'Hanlon.
