One of the big news stories 21 years ago was that a settlement had been reached on the Cahir Hill industrial sites in Mitchelstown, and there were indications that sites were set to be advertised imminently.
A picture of a front page in May 2002 was of Mrs Margaret Harrington at the Curraghagalla National School reunion; she was one of the school’s oldest surviving past pupils. The coverage of the reunion mentioned an incident in 1963 when a group of locals were gathered in the old Curraghagalla school to watch a farming documentary; the broadcast was interrupted to announce the assassination of John F Kennedy.
The 20th anniversary of the twinning of Ploemeur and Fermoy was celebrated as the French delegation visited the area to be treated to a number of events; the highlight was the official unveiling of a plaque at the Mill Island carpark. The carpark would formally be known as the ‘Plomeur Carpark’.
In election news, seventeen posters of Fianna Fáil’s Ned O’Keeffe were stolen, and gardaí were investigating.
Tallow Area Credit Union Ltd had a new manager in Des Geary, while in Fermoy Credit Union the Garret Art Group were holding the second exhibition of their work – 38 paintings featured from the all-female group of artists.
Meanwhile, 34 Credit Union enthusiasts visited Robert Owen Credit Union in Wales, the ‘twin’ to Mitchelstown Credit Union. They travelled by coach to visit their Welsh compatriots, whom they helped set up a credit union in 1995.
Elsewhere in news, the local branch of Bank of Ireland in Fermoy was awarded at the National Customer Satisfaction ceremony run by the bank. While in Lismore, Jodie Walsh, a student of Bunscoil Bóthar na Naomh, had chosen the name for a new estate in the heritage town: ‘Bóthar Mochudha’.
Work began on Mitchelstown Golf Course to bring it from a fifteen to an eighteen-hole course at a cost of €2 million, with 45 acres purchased to bring the club area to 140 acres in total. At the other side of the town, the official reopening of the Glocca Maura Inn was set to be held in May 2002 under new proprietor Tom Dalton, a native of Ballindangan.
A ‘Sponsor a Slate’ initiative was launched at Fermoy Hospital by Kilworth’s Cliona O’Connor, the winner of Australian reality show ‘Eden’. In Cappoquin, the Boys School were the recipients of a cheque for €12,000 in the Deise Development Draw.
The Mitchelstown Business Association reacted angrily to the fact the town wasn’t included in a speech on development plans for North Cork. It was stated that the town was “recently erased from a map” in a presentation given by council officials.
Meanwhile, tributes were paid to retired Riordan’s SuperValu manager Jim Cotter in Fermoy, who had spent 37 years in the trade, all of which were spent working with the family business.
The owners of Lismore Castle, Lord and Lady Hartington, were pictured ‘at home’ for the installation of new piece of modern sculpture in the gardens, ‘Under and Over (1V)’.
Elsewhere, in Limerick, John Gallahue from Ballylanders had compiled, edited and contributed to a book, ‘The Galtees’, an anthology of of the Galtee, Golden Vale and Comeragh areas. It was to be launched at the County Library.
In Loreto Secondary School, Fermoy the choir were the top award winners from the Cork Choral Festival with their performance of ‘Ships of Arcady’ and ‘Thugamar Féin an Samhraidh Linn’.
Residents of King Street in Mitchelstown reported parking difficulties, and suggested a one-way system be put in place and two-hour parking introduced.
In honour of the late John Kiely of Galtee House, Galbally, the first Bridge tournament in his memory was set to be held in the Dundrum House Hotel.
In sports, Ballyhooly took the U21 C Football Championship title with a win over Abbey Rovers under captain Killian McCarthy. Castlebridge Celtic FC launced a major fundraiser, where the lucky winner would get to navigate in a fully prepared rally car.
Cork were the Munster Minor A camogie champions winning 8-17 to 2-11 over Tipperary, which included a “devastating scoring display by Denise Twomey” from St Catherine’s. Meanwhile, the St Catherine’s boys lost 0-13 to 4-10 against St Finbarr’s under captain Johnny Sheehan.
Cappoquin were the Red House League Premier Division champions under captain Michael Walsh, while Mitchelstown defeated Douglas GAA IBC in the final of the club championship in the IIBA Short Mat Indoor Bowls – Cork Zone. Finally, Kilworth’s Junior hurlers were defeated by a point in the semi-final of the All-County Junior championship against Charleville.