Community notes October 21st

End of an Era

Timoleague Post Office closed on Friday afternoon. It was a sad occasion as postmistress Brenda O’Driscoll closed the door for the last time. It brought an end to a service that has been in the village of Timoleague for over a hundred years. The first post office was run by the Stanley family at Main Street who also had a grocery shop attached. Tom Kingston who married one of the Stanley sisters was also always on hand as the demand arose. The post office served as the telephone exchange when phones were first introduced. All calls came through the Post Office and were manually transferred by a telephonist. Local girl, Theresa Duggan of Cregane held that position for many years. On the retirement of the Kingston family, the business was transferred over to Mrs. Tessie Madden who operated out of the present location at Mill Street and on her retirement, it was taken over by Brenda.

 A large number of local residents gathered outside the Post Office on Friday to express their support and appreciation to Brenda who has called time after some twenty-three years of dedicated service to the general public of the greater Timoleague area. The post office was an integral part of the daily life of the village and its residents. Brenda’s affable nature endeared her to all who called in and a chat and some crack was always on offer. She was supportive of all organisations and sponsorship of local events was always guaranteed. She carries the good wishes of all as she embarks on the next phase of her busy life. Mile buiochas Brenda.

Water Quality and Nitrates Derogation

There is much discussion on water quality and nitrates derogation at present both in Ireland and at Brussels. On Saturday morning last, there was an informative talk at the catchment site on the lands of Kevin Collins at Gurranes. The Agricultural Catchments Programme funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has been in operation since 2008. There are six sites in Ireland and they are located on intensively managed land on different soils and land use. At Gurranes there is a monitoring kiosk and this outdoor laboratory measures: Discharge, Total and Reactive Phosphorus, Nitrate- N, Temperature, Conductivity, pH and Turbidity every 10 minutes. Edward Burgess, who is attached to the Teagasc College at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford gave an in-depth presentation on the scientific facts that the data collected from the kiosk has provided. Present among the gathering was The Tanaiste, Micheal Martin TD and the Minister of Agriculture, Charlie Mc Conalogue TD, Christopher O’Sullivan TD, Jackie Cahill TD and a former president of ICMSA, Senator Tim Lombard, Councillor John O’Sullivan, delegates from local IFA and ICMSA branches, along with members of the board of Barryroe-Co-Op lead by CEO Peadar Murphy and Chairman Peter Fleming. Later at the boardroom of Staunton Foods, the politicians were given a detailed briefing on the positive results obtained from the kiosk at the Timoleague Catchment Site.

GAA Lottery Draw

There was no winner of the Argideen Rangers GAA lottery jackpot of €7,250 when the draw was held last Sunday night at The Brewery Bar. The numbers drawn were 1, 15, 25 and 32. Lucky dip winners of €30 each were won by; Kathleen McCarthy, Butlerstown;Lorcan O' Leary c/o Brewery Bar;Con Harrington Cloughgriffin;Marian & John O' Callaghan Main St andLiam Harte, Ardmore.

Next week’s draw will take place at Pad Joe's Bar on Sunday night at 9pm when the jackpot on offer will be €7,400. Tickets at €2 each or 3 for €5 can be bought at Foley’s Centra, Pad Joe’s Bar, Monk’s Lane, Charlie Madden’s Bar, The Brewery Bar or from any club officer. Supporters of the draw are also asked to avail of modern technology by using the club’s on-line link by visiting www.smartlotto.ie where one can avail of the user-friendly website. There is also a link to this site on the club website.