Lanesboro Ballyleague Notes
What is happening?
On Thursday 11th September 2014 Dr. Joe Caffrey of the Inland Fisheries discovered the invasive species Asian Clams in the hot water stretch. Emergency meetings were called immediately with all concerned bodies and agencies.
At the time of writing, 129 days later we seem to be no further on that the 11th September.
At the time of discovery this was a major issue not only for our community but it also carried a serious threat to fishing and the stock of fishing in the river Shannon and its tributaries.
We were told that the hot water stretch is conducive to the reproductive cycle of the Asian clams and such is the rate of their reproduction that there is a great threat to the fishing in our area for time to come it this reproduction is not arrested. That was then and here we are now at high water level 129 days further on with reproduction continuing unabated and the flow of water greater by the day.
Asian clams were found at the ‘cut’ which was also a major concern and we are 129 day later waiting for something to happen there to eradicate the threat of the clams entering Lough Ree and the tributaries to the Shannon.
Where is the urgency of 11th September? Why is there not continuous work ongoing in the area of the cut and the hot water stretch in preparation for the upcoming fishing season that is only a number of weeks away? Is there an immediate plan to commence work? As a community we deserve to know what is going on and when will it be commencing. We have received too much bad press about the presence of clams in the river and it is time that the work commenced and everyone nationally and internationally is made fully aware that the hot water stretch is clear and ready to fish. An old saying goes “Willing is not enough, we must do” over 18 weeks gone but we continue to wait.
Sympathy
The sudden death occurred at the weekend of Maresa Tansey, Celbridge, Co. Kildare. Maresa, nee Murray was a native of Doughill. She was a regular visitor back to the area and her native Doughill; We would like to extend our sincere sympathy to her husband Sean, daughter Emma and son Colm, her relatives and many friends.
50/50
The weekly Rathcline 50/50 draw took place on Monday night last in the Yacht Bar. The winning envelope drawn was drawn out by Brendan Ward and the name on the envelope was Caroline Ginty, Ballyleague. Caroline was the winner of €325. The draw on Monday night next 26th January will take place in the Adie’s Bar at 9pm. Tickets are only €2 and your support will always be greatly appreciated.
Marriage
The marriage took place at St. Mary’s Church, Lanesboro on Monday 29th December of Josephine Donlon, only daughter of Matthew and Anne Donlon, Clonfower and Robert Behan, son of John and Maureen Behan, Louisburg, Co. Mayo. Chief Bridesmaid was Michelle Connell, friend of the bride and bridesmaids were Paula Kenny and Helen Mc Grath, both friends of the bride. Bestman was Richard Behan, brother of the groom and groomsmen were Colm O’Brien and Philip Healy both friends of the groom. Pageboy was Cillian Don, nephew of the bride and Flower girls were Leigha and Georgia Donlon nieces of the bride. The marriage ceremony was celebrated by Fr Michael Reilly assisted by Fr Tom Barden, Kenagh. The wedding reception took place at the Glasson Country Hotel. We would like to wish the happy couple many years of wedded bliss.
Wondering what to do with your Christmas tree?
Don’t throw away your Christmas tree but bring it along to the back of the library where it will be collected and recycled and used as a weed suppressant on the new flower beds in the town. The trees will be collected on the 23rd of January but you can leave them there any day up to the collection day of Friday collection. It is great to see that the old trees will be recycled and put to use locally for the benefit of our community.
Your Old Christmas Cards
You can leave you Christmas cards into the Library for recycling from now until the end of January.
Register for Defibrillator Course
Now is the time to register for the new session of Defibrillator training will commence very soon. You are asked to consider doing the training as your training can lead to the saving of lives. The group are looking to have as many people as possible from the general community trained in the use of the defibrillator.
If you wished to be trained up please leave your name into Martina O’Brien and she will take details and notify you of the upcoming course.
Refresher courses will take place very soon and anyone that needs to do their refresher is also asked to give in their names to Martina.
Rathcline Draw
Rathcline club each year hold their annual New Year draw. Due to the high cost of affiliation and insurance for the year the proceeds of the draw will go towards paying this large sum. It is a great help to the club, with little activity and a high loan repayment to be met the draw takes some pressure off the club and pays two vital necessary expenditures. You are urged to support this draw as best you can.
The prizes are as follows: 1st prize €1500, 2nd €750, 3rd €500, 4th €250, 5th €200, 6th €200, 7th €200 and 8th prize €200. The tickets cost €10 and can be bought selected businesses in the town and from any member of the executive. The draw will take place in Adie’s on Saturday 31st January
Lanesboro Bridge Club
The scheduled pairs competition has been deferred to Wednesday February 25th and Wednesday 4th March.
MS Run Cheque Presentation
With your support and commitment a cheque to the value of €7,005.70 was officially handed over to the Longford Branch of Multiple Sclerosis representing the total to date handed in for the MS Christmas Day Run from Newtowncashel to Lanesboro 2014. Longford branch of MS advised us that this is their main fundraiser of the year. They acknowledge with huge appreciation the efforts of all participants and also to Peter Hanley Motors for sponsoring the t-shirts and indeed to all who sponsored participants. Next year is the 25th anniversary of this event and we are hoping to make it bigger and better with your support. Well done to all concerned! Any outstanding monies can be handed in to Joe O’Brien, Corner Shop, Lanesboro, Longford – branch of MS will acknowledge any late sponsorship money received. Thank you again to all who took part in this event and all who sponsored participants.
Lanesboro Community Games
Chess: Following some close matches our U 13 chess team lost last weekend to a strong Ardagh /Moydow /Glen team. Best of luck to the U 16s are in training and will meet Ballymahon/Forgney this week. Thanks to Teresa Ryan and Michael Lyons who have mentored these teams. Draughts
Killoe Primary School was the venue last Saturday for the Community Games draughts play-offs and finals. Lanesboro was very well represented with 4 teams- U 10s, U12s and U14 s, unfortunately the U12s and U14s were beaten in the first round. The U 10 B team reached the semi-final but lost out to a strong Killoe team. The U 10 A team reached the final and won by the narrowest of margins. They are now Longford County Champions 2015 and will go forward to represent the county in a Leinster competition. The delighted winning team was Kieran O’Dowd, Luke Dowd, Sam Murphy, Alice Johnston and Aoife Kennelly.
Many thanks to all the participants and their parents for helping out with practice and transport. A special word of thanks to Padraig O’Dowd who put in many hours training all of the teams and to Marie English who helped with supervision, practice and transport. Talent: We have now established some talent groups to rehearse for the County competition scheduled for March. Practice will take place in the Parish Hall on Sunday 25th at 6 pm. If there is anyone else in U14 or U16 age group who would like to be involved please come to the hall on that evening. Categories available are Solo Music, Solo Singing, Solo Dance, Group Dance, Group Singing and Group Music. Model Making: it is planned to hold the first model making competition (all ages) on Saturday 14th February. Competitors will be expected to make a model (community games theme) with clay or other materials.
Lanesboro CC welcomes back
Lanesboro Community College had the pleasure of welcoming back past pupil, Padraic Best. Padraic originally from Cloontuskert is now head of personnel at the British division of National Oilwell Varco, an international oil and gas company, where he looks after the welfare of over 600 employees. He is based outside Edinburgh, close to the oil producing rigs off the Scottish coast. He shared his experiences and wisdom with both staff and students at the college, his main message being that anybody can make it provided you are prepared and ready to take the chance when it comes by. Both students and staff were very impressed by his knowledge and candour and the college is now looking at such visits from other past pupil on a more regular basis following the success of Padraic’s visit.
New Book Club
The new book club will commence in Lanesboro Library on Friday 30th January at 11am. The book club is about the enjoyment of reading and to encourage those that have not read in a while to pick up a book again and be part of the club. After the 30th the club will meet every month on the last Friday of the month at 11am in the library. There is no doubt but the book club will introduce you to some interesting characters? Go along on the 30th and meet people that like to read and you can also enjoy a cuppa and a chat. The book club is new and novel to Lanesboro and it should capture the minds of all readers in the locality.
Budding Artists
Do you feel you are a budding artist? Would you like to try your hand at Art? A new Art course will commence in Lanesboro Library on Wednesday 11th February at 8pm. The target of the course is to enable you to draw and paint with creativity and without any pressure while using a variation of materials and colours. The cost of the course is €10.00 per night with the course lasting 6 weeks. Contact Stella at the library to book your place – 043 332 1291 or email lanesborolibrary@longfordcoco.ie
Lanesboro 2000 Bridge
The results of the competition held on Monday night 12th January are: 1st Mike Flynn and Una Clarke, 2nd Fergal McGuinness and Joan Donlon, 3rd tie Kathleen Hanley and Mary Fallon and Gross: Orla Mc Entee and Joan Donnellan, 4th Fiona Gillen and Phil Chalmers
Mens Over 55 Club
The Over 55’s Mens club will resume after their Christmas break on Thursday 26th February 2015 at 12noon in St Mary’s hall.
Closing Date for Enrolment
The closing date for enrolment at Lanesboro Community College for classes beginning September 2015/16 is Friday 30th January 2015.
All application forms to be returned to the school by 4 pm on that date.
Please feel free to contact us at 043 33 21139 or call in if you would like any further information.
Foreign Currency
The collection is ongoing in the Library for old coins and notes and foreign currencies. This collection is in aid of the ISPCC
Tennis Club
The weekly tennis coaching sessions for children and adults with Level 2 Coach Richard Turner will return on Saturday January 31st at Ballyleague hall and Sunday February 1st on the tennis courts at Ballyleague marina …our professional coach Richard Turner will take the 5-8 year old children for coaching from 6pm to 7pm on the Saturdays and the over 8s from 7pm to 8pm. The adults will meet as usual at 9.30am on the Sunday mornings at the marina. Beginners from every school in the area are very welcome — The cost of the weekly session remains at just five euros…..places for new members will be limited so to register for tennis e mail your name to loughreebaytennisclub@gmail.comm or send us a Facebook message at www.facebook.com/loughreebaytennssclub
Young Scientist awards for Community College
Every January for more than a decade it has become an annual event for students of Lanesboro Community College to make the trip up to the RDS to take part in the premier science event for in Ireland. The BT Young Scientist brings together the brightest and the best to compete for the prizes and awards and of course for the ‘buzz’ of displaying and explaining your project to literally thousands of people!
The college is committed to participating in this event because if affords their students an opportunity to ‘do’ science. From early September they are busy working on their ideas for a project; brainstorming, researching, contacting experts for advice and designing experiments. It is exciting and challenging and demands that each student takes responsibility for their own research, their own learning. At this stage they must send in an application which is quite extensive. They are ‘selling’ their idea and making their ‘pitch’ to be part of the exhibition itself. Of the 2000 plus applications last year only 500 make the ‘cut’ so it is an achievement to be part of the exhibition itself.
Students speak of a sense of achievement and success; of presenting something that they have created themselves….something they can be proud of with the support of the teaching staff.
Teachers understand that this is an outstanding way of engaging students with STEM – science, technology, engineering and maths. Students don’t see that they are doing subjects…they see themselves as doing Science!
The school uses the BT Young Scientist as a platform for their young people to share, explore, learn and engage in STEM and to grow in confidence and sense of self-worth.
This year, in Lanesboro Community College, students from 1st, 2nd and 4th year worked hard on their applications with 4 projects making it through to the exhibition. The number alone is an outstanding achievement for the college. We would like to salute both the students and teachers who put so much effort and energy into those applications. The students and projects that made it through were:
Brian Lyons; ‘For behind the parent stood the school and behind the teacher the home’ – Does parental involvement in education improve academic outcomes?
Rebeka Stavuse and Oran Walton; Relaxation techniques vs drugs: a safer way to get to sleep
Conor Walton, Chloe Kenny, Jeffrey Kok and Evan Tynan; Development of a risk model to determine the expansion and potential environmental impacts of Asian clams in lower Lough Ree
Mark Lyons; €2.50 too much? – A statistical analysis of the effect of the GMS fee
Since mid-October the four finalists worked on their projects, linking in with the top experts in Universities and Colleges, here and abroad. After the Christmas exams while the rest of us watch Christmas movies etc. the Young Scientists are busy writing (and re writing ) reports, designing displays and perfecting their ‘pitch’ The big day comes very soon after Christmas…always a bit of last minute panic and then they were on their way to Dublin. Once the opening ceremony is over the 1st judges arrive and the students are on a rollercoaster for the next 3 days. It is a life changing experience for any young person and life affirming for the teachers as we see students grow in confidence and enthusiasm as the week progress.
The college is so proud of all our students and how hard they worked to get to the Young Scientist and special mention must go to the 4th years who were highly commended for their project and to Mark Lyons who won first in his category. I believe that is the best that any school in Co. Longford has done in well over a decade. It is heartening to see that ETB, formerly VEC, schools are competing with the fee paying schools across the country and winning the top prizes and the future is indeed bright for Lanesboro Community College.
I cannot finish without paying tribute to the enormous effort put in by all the teachers who worked tirelessly with and supported the students in making all this possible. A special of mention for all the parents who ferried students to and fro at all sorts of unsociable hours and gave a lot of encouragement behind the scenes. A big “thank you” to the management and staff of Lough Ree Power station who brought us on a tour of the facility.
St. Faithleach’s
The Senior Club has ratified J.J Cattigan as the new senior club manager, we would like to officially welcome J.J to the position and wish him and his selectors the very best of luck for the coming year.
Senior and Minor club Registration Night is to be held on January 30th from 7pm to 10pm. Please note that this is slightly earlier than last year due to proposed dates for minor and U16 league matches. 2015 Player registration and club membership fees: adult players €60, U18 players and students €30, Family membership €100, Social membership €30. Registration fee must be paid before players can train or compete for the club. Please contact the registrar or manager/mentors of your age group for further information
Following a win over Mayo, Roscommon are through to the FBD league final against Galway, we wish our club representatives Brian Murtagh, Ciaráin Murtagh and Diarmuid Murtagh all the best for the forthcoming game.
Lotto: Jackpot €12,000 and there was no winner. The numbers drawn were 8, 10, 22 and 27. The five €20 winners were- Nancy Kelly, Cloontuskert. Sean O’Donnell, Curraghroe, John Kenny, Rathcline Rd. Niall Donlon, Moher. Susan Linnane, Lanesboro. The next draw will take place on Tuesday 27th January. The team in charge will be Gerry Donlon and Padraig Kenny.
Card game takes place every Tuesday in the clubhouse at 8:30pm. The results from last week’s game are: Joint winners Eugene/Sonny, Jimmy/Kevin. The last game winners were Brendan/Mark. The ticket winners were Michael/John O/ Pakie/Frank.
A minutes silence was held as a mark of respect for Tom Mullen who died recently, deepest sympathy to his family.
Rathcline
The New Year’s draw takes place in just under two weeks on Saturday January 31st in Adie’s. This draw is one of the main yearly incomes for the club and goes towards paying insurance and affiliation fees for the year and helps the club to meet loan repayments. We urge everyone to support the draw. Prizes are as follows: 1st prize – €1500, 2nd prize – €750, 3rd prize €500, 4th prize €250, 5th prize €200, 6th prize €200, 7th prize €200 and 8th prize €200. Tickets cost €10 and are available from executive members and other ticket sellers.
Congratulations to Caroline Ginty, Ballyleague, Lanesboro, who was last week’s winner of €325 in the 50/50 draw. The draw takes place every Monday night at 9pm with the next draw taking place in Clarke’s bar. Envelopes only cost €2 and are available in all local businesses.
Membership is now due for the coming year. Players’ registration fee is €50 and non-playing members is €20. Players are asked to pay their registration to Brendan Rhatigan or James Hanley. Player registration is compulsory and players must be registered before they can play. Non playing members can pay their fee to Peter Skelly or Denis Crinigan.