Coachford welcomes visitors from all over the world.

The World Feeder Fishing Championships will take place on the River Lee at Nadrid Coachford on July 19th and 20th. The new Greenway will be the main venue for most of the teams and spectators are invited to view the fisherman in action. 25 countries are taking part in the competition and hotels, B&Bs and private accommodation are booked out all around the area. The welcoming committee for the championships is busy decorating the village with buntings and the flags of the participating countries. Shops are stocked up and the Public Houses in the village have music lined up for the weekend of the competition. The Chairperson of the Community Council, Deirdre O’Donovan said, “we are delighted that the World Championships are coming to the village, It’s a huge boost for the area and is giving everyone a sense of pride in our village, the river and the Lee Valley. We are asking everyone to make the visitors from the 25 countries feel very welcome and offer them a Cead Míle Fáilte. We hope the championships are a great success for the organisers and that we see many more events like this on the river. These international competitions are very welcome to the economy of the village. The businesses in the village have invested in the championships and are looking forward to a bumper July and are also looking ahead to many more similar events in the coming years. I would like to pay tribute especially to Tommy Lawton of the NCFFI for helping to bring this world event to Coachford and to the Inniscarra Lake Tourism Development Committee for developing the venue. The buzz and excitement around Coachford is great to see and already the influx of the participating countries is having a positive impact on the community.” The Coachford Tidy Towns are busy making sure the approach roads to the village are Litter Free and have collected bags and bags of bottles, cans and disposable coffee cups which have surfaced following the recent hedge trimming. The group have also been cleaning the local Mullinhassig Waterfall area to ensure it is tidy if any of the visiting tourists decide to explore the local beauty spot. Cork County Council have been making sure that potholes are filled and have embarked on a major clean up of the Rooves Bridge area. The ESB who are one of the major sponsors of the event have been ensuring the venue is perfect, the water is good and that the river is full of fish!

On Thursday July 17th, the official opening of the World Championship takes place in Coachford. The 25 teams, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, Hungary, Austria, England, Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden, France, Belgium, Spain, Czech Republic, Serbia, Portugal, Denmark, Romania, Moldova, Lithuania, Ukraine and Kazakhstan will gather at the square in the evening and there will be a parade of nations through the village to the GAA complex where the official opening will take place. The Championships will start at 7.00am on Saturday morning and will finish each day at around 4pm. The Closing Ceremony and awarding of medals takes place again in Coachford on Sunday July 20th in the GAA complex. A gala dinner is planned for the teams and officials in the Lee Valley Golf and Country Club for that evening. This is a huge event for the area with over 200 competitors, 150 team officials 75 stewards and over 300 supporters expected to visit the area over the weekend of the championships and it will certainly put the fishing facilities that Coachford and the wider area have on the international angling map and that this will have a long reaching impact on Fishing Tourism for the area.

Summer Camp

The Childrens Activity Camp held in the village last week was a huge success. Over 70 children enjoyed a fun filled week of a wide range of Sports and games. The camp run by two teachers from Coachford National School took place in the Coachford College and offered the participants games ranging from Dodge Ball, Frisbee, European Hand Ball, Obstacle Courses, Athletics, Table Tennis to Scavenger hunts, Hoop games and skittles. The weather was good for most of the week and it was a great start to the summer for all who availed of this new camp for the area. The FAI Soccer Camp takes place next week in Coachford. There are still some places available for this very popular and well run camp. To book call 1890 653 653 or log on to http://www.summersoccerschools.ie/ .

Thanks

Coachford Tidy Towns would like to thank everyone who brought their old and unused electrical items to the WEEE Recycling day in Coachford last Saturday. There were hundreds of items brought to the event and another articulated lorry had to be brought in to cope with the number of fridges, computers, televisions batteries etc that were brought by the public for recycling. Grainne Donovan of the Tidy Towns Committee said “ we were delighted with the response from the public and every time theses items are recycled though theses recycle days means less of them end up in land fill or in ditches. It is vital for the environment that batteries and other items are disposed of properly”. The organisers would like to thank Fr. Peadar Murphy, Fr. Mallon and Ann Creagh for their help and support of the event.

Festival Fever Begins.

The 2014 Coachford Autumn Festival looks like being the best one yet with over 20 events and side shows planned for the three day event from August 15th to 17th. The organisers have added Junior Agrilympics, Sheep Racing, ‘The Voice of the Festival’, Egg Throwing and Childrens Sports to this years programme. A funfair with Bumpers and other rides will be at the venue for the three days and other novel and fun side shows are also being lined up to entertain the large number of patrons who turn up to the fastest growing festival in the county each year. “We are really excited about this year’s festival. Last year was a superb event for us but instead of sitting on our laurels we decided to continue to add to and change the programme. The 5 Mile Road Run was tremendous for us in 2013 and was well organised and we are expecting an even bigger entry this year on Friday August 15th. The Sheep racing is a new event and promises to be loads of fun. Our Funfair this year is bigger and better and we picked them for the quality of the rides and the fact that they don’t charge an arm and a leg for children to have a bit of fun. The High Nelly run and the large Vintage show are great crowd pullers and offer a great opportunity to see these vehicles and bicycles at their best. This year we are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Massey 100 and Ford 1,000 series tractors and we hope that as many owners as possible of these beautiful machines turn up to show them off. We also have Bicycle Grass racing, a Dog Show open air music and the great fun event that is the ‘Agrilympics’. We are again looking forward to witnessing the Bonny Babies, Glamorous Grannies and Yummy Mummies and added to this year’s festival is a prize for the Best Dressed Lady and Gentleman. The Festival is great fun and raises a lot of money for charity and I hope that as people from all over the county continue to support it.” This festival run by Broomhill Vintage Club has raised over €20,000 for Suicide Aware and local charities over the last four years

13 Goal Thriller Sees Aghabullogue Footballers Make Final.
Aghabullogue defeated Bride Rovers on Sunday night in a cracker of a football match played in Mayfield. Playing with a strong breeze in the 1st half, Aghabullogue took the lead with points from Tadgh Bradley before Bride Rovers levelled with a goal. Alan O Sullivan then goaled for Aghabullogue and a further point and a goal from Luke Casey put our lads on top. Aghabullogue then lost full back Jack O Mahony ( he travelled from Castletownbere for the match) to a controversial black card decision & from the resultant penalty Bride Rovers scored from the rebound. It was now “game on” again. Tadgh Bradley was switched to full forward & by half time he had rattled 2 quick goals and another one from Jack Oldham saw Aghabullogue led 5-04 to 3-02 at half time. The wind was very strong and it looked as if it wouldn’t be enough. With 10 minutes gone in the 2nd half the sides were level as Bride Rovers drove forward but a string of saves from Ardgal O Buachalla kept Aghabullogue in it. With all shoulders to the wheel Aghabullogue fought back and superb defensive display from everybody when it mattered. This was turning into a real “gutsy” performance with players tackling, blocking & putting their bodies on the line, hoping to get the chance to get to the final. Late goals from Jack Murphy and Alan O Sullivan sealed a fantastic win for Aghabullogue. With young lads like these coming through the ranks (many of whom are only 12 & 13) possessing, skill, heart, courage and commitment the Clubs future is in good hands. Final Score Aghabullogue 7-06 Bride Rovers 6-06. They now play last years county finalists, Blarney in the final, date and venue to be confirmed later. There is no doubt that Blarney will be overwhelming favourites for the title in 2014 but Aghabullogue will give a good account of themselves and will certainly be well prepared and eager to win the final. Team: 1. Ardgal O’Buachalla, 2. Paul Dineen, 3. Jack O’Mahony, 4. Mark Kelleher, 5. Killian Barry-Murphy, 6. Paul Dilworth, 7. Josh Martin, 8 Conor Smith, 9. Jack Murphy, 10. Luke Casey, 11. Tadgh Bradley, 12. Conor Dineen, 13. Alan O’Sullivan, 14. Jack Oldham, 15. Tony Nolan. Subs Jack Long for Jack O’Mahony (15 mins black card), Aaron Doherty for Tony Nolan (inj. 25 mins), Oisin Lane, Oisin Tormey-Harris, Greg O’Sullivan. Missing Adam Murphy & Mark Murphy & Tiernan Walsh (injured.)