Coachford News

Village is hammered by floods.

Coachford Village was a very real  victim of the recent heavy rain. Torrents of water washed through the village on December 29th as the drainage system was yet again unable to handle the rainfall. Shores throughout the main street exploded with waves of water and were churning out sewage and water for the week . The council had to call in a drainage company to pump water and sewage from one drain to another for eight days. There was a lot of anger in the village over this flooding which has now become a major health issue as raw sewage continued to erupt though the shores all week.Community Council member , Peter Dineen said ” Ineptness and inaction caused Coachford to flood this week. This village is not on the very shoreline of the Bandon or Lee rivers yet tonight once again rivers of water flowed through houses and businesses and the owners could only stand there watching as their possessions and livelihoods were washed away. This flooding of our village is a regular occurrence and despite numerous representations over the years from individuals and groups nothing has been done to alleviate the flooding issues in the village. This has been ongoing for over 25 years and people are very angry. Our businesses pay rates, our resident’s pay property tax but it doesn’t seem to matter. The council, councillors and Dail deputies continue to ignore the plight of those living and working in Coachford. So as elderly residents try and salvage their belongings and as businesses count the cost of this year’s flooding the authorities will continue to ignore the drainage and related flooding issues of a small village in Mid Cork.. Surely it is now time once and for all that this issue is addressed. Everyone is well aware that the amounts of rain were exceptional but we have a small drain running underneath our village, not a river and the council need to fix it and Irish Water need to fast track the promised improvements .Our businesses have reopened again and are  doing their very best to trade but they are doing so with one hand behind their back due to the ineptness and inaction of the people who are supposed to be helping us.”  The roads around the village are in a very dangerous state of disrepair and many drivers are facing hefty bills for replacement of tyres and repairs to the suspensions. Some local roads are impassable as the tarmac has been washed away while the main R618 and R619 need to be tacked with extreme caution. The Footpath by the GAA pitch remains underwater all winter but this is hardly surprising as repairs and improvements to this section have never been carried out since it was first built by the ESB in the 1950s to facilitate the flooding of the Lee Valley.

Cork Local Area Plans

The Aghabullogue Coachford Rylane Community Council are encouraging everyone to invest in their future by making submissions to the Cork County Council Local Area Plans.

Cork County Council has commenced the process of preparing new Municipal District Local Area Plans which will set out the planning strategy and land use zoning for the villages and towns of the county. This is your opportunity to participate in the review process.Individuals and groups can make submissions before January 25th 2016.

The Local Area Plans will deal with issues such as:
• The availability of land for housing.
• The availability of land for employment uses.
• Need for new Infrastructure.
• Strengthening village centres.
• Community Facilities including schools and playgrounds
• Green Infrastructure.
• Transport and Mobility.
• Flooding.
• The need to conserve the environment.
For more info visit the Coachford News webpage or visit corkcoco.ie

Point to Point cancelled

Aghabullogue Point to Point racing scheduled to take place this Sunday has been cancelled. The annual  horse racing event  is  hugely popular within the  community and is looked forward to by everyone. The organisers were forced to take the decision to cancel this year’s racing due to the recent inclement weather and were unable to reschedule as the Munster Point to Point calendar is a very hectic one and an alternative date could not be found.

Coachford AFC

The local soccer club hope to get some boots back on the playing pitch this weekend after a very long forced period of inaction due to the heavy rainfall. The Premier team will entertain  Carrigtwohill in the league on Saturday at 2pm in the league. The Under 15s will also play their first game of 2016 at home when they take on Carrigaline on Saturday morning at 11.45am.

Lotto

There was no winner of the €1,600 jackpot in the Coachford AFC lotto this week. The numbers drawn were  9, 14 and 28. The €40 spot prize was won by Noreen & Ross Mulligan while €20 spot prizes went to Denis & Mim O’Connell, John Jnr Murphy, Mags and the ‘Lotto Ladies’. Next week’s Jackpot is €1,800 and the draw takes place in O’Callaghan’s Bar.

Aghabullogue Camogie

Many congratulations to all the Aghabullogue camogie players from u6 up to U10 who received medals from Cork dual star hero Rena Buckley who took time out of her ever so busy schedule  to be at the hugely enjoyable event in Coachford GAA hall last weekend. Danny “Zumba” kept the girls fit and healthy before they dived into the treats that were laid out for them. Club Chairperson , Evelyn Tarrant said “A special word of thanks to those who took the time out to coach and train these teams. Much more help is required so please let us know if you could help out in any way. Finally many thanks to the parents of all the girls who train and play within these age groups The girls will benefit so much from team sports and I would encourage you to keep them interested.”

Disposal of Champagne Bottles.

Coachford  Tidy Towns are urging people to continue to  recycle throughout the New Year. Chairperson Martha McCaffery said ” We are asking everyone to make sure they do their very best to dispose of their bottles, cans, and other recyclable materials carefully as they finally say goodbye to the Christmas and New Year festivities. There are bottle banks in Coachford, Aghabullogue, Macroom Ballincollig and Inniscarra so if you one find one full there are always other options. We would also ask you not to leave full or empty containers by the bottle banks. Think Green this New Year.”

Vintage run

Congratulations to Tim Flanagan and Mike O Shea who organised a very successful Vintage run on December 28th in aid of Penny Dinners. Over 50 vehicles took part in the run to Blarney Castle and great fun and craic was enjoyed by all. The run raised over €1,200 for Cork Penny Dinners.

Another fun filled year for Coachford

2015 was another great year for the village. The two schools prospered and the College once again produced some very fine results in the Junior and Leaving certificate examinations. The Primary school received its fourth Green Flag and its first Health Promotion Flag. The Autumn Festival was a huge success and for many the highlight of the year. The Greenway was no doubt one of the most popular attractions around the area and thousands have availed of the beautiful riverside walk. The group who developed the walk were honoured and thanked by the County Mayor early in the year. The drama group produced four plays and played to packed houses with their production of ‘Separate Beds’ in April. Coachford Foróige established themselves as an excellent outlet for the youth of the area and the youth club has now over 30 members. The Coachford Tidy Towns continued their excellent work and reaped the rewards as they received their highest marks so far in the national competition. The group also held another very successful Electrical appliance recycling day. The Community Council continued their work in securing a commitment from Irish Water to upgrade the sewerage system in Coachford and good news was received earlier this year that the works were earmarked to begin in 2016 with completion in 2017. The local Heritage group commemorated the first World War and gave a wonderful talk on the life and times of Henry Leader. A plaques was unveiled in Leemount to honour the memory of John Foley who was executed there in 1921.

In sport there were successes for many individuals and clubs from the area. Olive Loughnane received the news that her world championship silver medal from Berlin in 2009 would be upgraded to a gold following the disqualification of the Russian Athlete for performance enhancing drug violations. Emma Flanagan brought home a world championship gold medal in June at the open world Taekwon-do Championships in Italy. Locally the Under 16 Aghabullogue Hurlers won the East Region and County A championship titles and Coachford College won their first ever Junior County Camogie title . The National School 5 a side soccer team won the county title and represented the county in the Munster finals.The Broomhill Tractor Builders won the All Ireland title.

The village endured some difficult times in 2015. The closure of Breathnachs Bar and Gala supermarket in September was a terrible blow for the area and although everyone thought it would be reopened quickly it still remains closed. The village also lost some great people and characters throughout the year with some very dear and respected residents of Coachford passing on to their eternal reward.

Despite these blows to the area the village continues to prosper and although we were very sorry to lose our GP Dr. Cormac O’Dubhghaill we were delighted to welcome his replacement Dr. Sarah Kingston when she opened the Coachford Family Practice in November.

The village was alive with activities from all sections of society  throughout 2015. Groups such as Aghinagh Comhaltas, Active Retirement, Cycling Club, GAA, Soccer, drama and many many more grew and prospered in the last 12 months. There wasn’t a weekend that went by without something major happening in the village. From January to December Coachford has seen, Operation Transformation, Festivals, Music, matches, influxes of anglers and other tourists, quizzes, shows, cakes sales, markets, processions, weddings, Christenings, Confirmations and Communions, races, vintage runs, tractor builds, cycle races, triathlons, music in Marquees, new voices discovered, 21^st, 40^th and 50^th birthday parties, wedding anniversaries celebrated and Christmas lights switched on.

We now look forward to 2016 and the hopes that the village will continue to prosper and grow. We wish that the County Council will keep to their promises and repair our roads and footpaths and that Irish Water will honour their commitment to upgrading our sewerage system so more families will be able to set up home here in the near future. We are optimistic for 2016 that Coachford will continue to be a busy, vibrant and welcoming village for everyone.

Coachford gears up for Christmas

The village of Coachford is well prepared for the Christmas and new year season. The village is looking extremely festive, the pubs have music and other entertainment planned right throughout the two weeks of the season and the shops are fully stocked with everything you will need to make your Christmas and New Year special. Chairperson of the Coachford Tidy Towns, Martha McCaffery said, “ We are all looking forward to Christmas in Coachford this year and we would ask that where possible we would support our local businesses. It is vital that local communities Shop local, Eat Local, Spend Local and Enjoy Local.”

Christmas Market

The organisers of the Coachford Christmas Market were delighted with the huge crowds that turned up to enjoy a wonderful festive atmosphere in the GAA hall last Saturday. There were some beautiful homemade crafts and baking and other goods on sale. The art competition for local children saw many wonderful works of art from children of all ages. The local Foróige club also had a stall selling some gorgeous Crepes and pancakes. Santa Claus was also in attendance and was very busy in his grotto taking all the requests from the children for that special toy they were hoping he could bring to them in a couple of weeks time.

Championship draws

Aghabullogue Intermediate Footballers have been drawn against Millstreet in the first round of the 2015 championship. Treasurer of Aghabullogue GAA, John Tarrant said  “It’s a big first round game for us and we would ideally love to beat them in order to advance to the next round. Some of us in the club have very strong ties with Millstreet and this will only add to the excitement of this game.” The hurlers have drawn neighbours Inniscarra in the championship  and although it will be their second string team that  Aghabullogue will face, the fact that the new coach, Ger Manley played his hurling for many years with the club should add an extra interest in this fixture.

Children Escape

The pupils of Coachford College will pack away their books and Uniforms on  Wednesday, December 23rd and take them out again when the school reopens for business on Tuesday January 5^th 2016 after the Christmas holidays.  The National School get a couple of days extra  as they run home for Christmas on Tuesday December 22^nd and don’t return until Wednesday January 6^th.

Christmas Draw

The Inniscarra Lake Tourism Development Company Limited are holding a Christmas draw to raise money for the maintenance and the upkeep of the very popular Greenway. Tickets are only €2 each or three for €5 and the fantastic prizes include tickets to see Manchester United, a weekend in Killarney and  a family Portrait. Tickets can be purchased in all the shops and pubs in Coachford and the draw takes place on December 30th.

Aghabullogue elect a new Chairman

At the Annual General Meeting of Aghabullogue GAA last Sunday night the outgoing Chairman, John Barry Murphy welcomed all those present and thanked everyone for making the effort to come to one of the most important meetings of the year. Club runaí, Michael healy then presented his  very detailed and comprehensive report and had particular praise for the Under 16 hurlers and footballers who without doubt were the team of the year. in his report the runaí also paid tribute to the development committee who are working on the new Astro Turf pitch. Michael also had special praise for the club referee, William Barrett who is stepping down this year , he also paid tribute to the late Peter Downey who had refereed many games that the club were involved in. The secretary concluded his report by thanking his fellow officers, mentioning the Trojan work being carried out by all those coaching underage teams and everyone who works in making the club so successful on and off the field. Martin Corkery of the development committee informed the AGM that everything was on track for the development to commence in April or May of 2016 and was hoping that the project could be completed by the following September, he thanked his fellow members of the committee and in particular Daniel Crowley. He said that more €1,000 loans were required to bring the project across the line and asked that those present might ask relatives and friends to consider giving the loan. This appeal was also reiterated by the outgoing chairman. The club treasurer John Tarrant presented his very detailed report to the meeting and thanked everyone who raised money during the year especially the players who ran the  very successful Race Night earlier in the year. Delivering the Chairman’s address, John Barry Murphy, commended the people who look after the underage teams, thanked the county board draw coordinator, Denis Finnegan for his great work and said that Aghabullogue GAA’s performance in this was the envy of many clubs across the county. He wished the new coach of the intermediate hurling and football teams, Ger Manley the very best for the year ahead. The Chairman paid tribute to Willie Barrett and said both he and the club were very proud of his years of service to the club and county. The Chairman concluded his address by thanking the work being done by the development committee, the ladies who ran the club shop and the club sponsors, Murphy’s Centra Coachford. Many tributes were paid to the outgoing chairman complimenting him on his approach to dealing with potential explosive issues in a very calm and fair manner and ensuring that the club has gone from strength to strength during his four year tenure. Following the election of officers, Mr Denis Ring was declared the new Chairman. Denis was the outgoing Vice Chairman and has many years experience both as a player, coach and administrator. In his acceptance speech Denis said “ I am delighted and honoured  to have been elected as Chairperson of this very historic and great  club. We are heading into exciting times, the new development will be a tremendous asset to us but it will also consume us and we must be mindful not to neglect the activities on the field. To this end we must concentrate on the primary schools in the parish and make sure that we coach in those schools. We are a club rich in tradition but what is even more important is our future. Our club is made up of different people from different parishes and different goals and ideas but the one thing that unites us the green and white of Aghabullogue. When we lose we lose together and when we win we win together. ”

Quiz team advance to Munster

The Aghabullogue County Scór Tráth na gCeist. team of Paul Ring, Tom Long, Aodan Healy and Marc Dineen emerged victorious at the county final last week and now advance to the Munster final in Killarney in January where they will represent Cork in the competition.

Vintage run

A vintage run is being organised for December 27^th in aid of Penny Dinners. The run takes place at 11.00am from O Riordan’s Bar Coachford

Christmas lights

The Coachford Christmas lights committee would like to thank everyone who helped with putting up the Christmas lights in the village. The whole village is looking fabulous and this work could not be done, without all the volunteers that gave valuable time, to make this village a special place. We should all be very proud and privileged to live within a great community. The committee would especially like to thank Andrew & Anthony O’Riordan for  providing the loadall Funded by Broomhill Vintage club and their Coachford Autumn Festival , a Quiz night in O’Callaghan’s Bar and the support of the businesses ,this the only way we could run this event. We would also like to thank Ted Long – electrics, Donal Lynch (Dripsey), Tanya & Ben Mulhern – who donated the tree. A very special thanks to Pat & Loretta O’Riordan (O’Riordans) .and Eileen & Patrick (O’Callaghans) for their continuous support.

Christmas Market comes to town

The annual Coachford Christmas Market takes place this Saturday at  the GAA hall from 10.30am. There promises to be a huge variety of stalls selling unusual and beautiful Christmas gifts. The market always draws a huge crowd who look forward to purchasing delicious cakes and other Christmas food items. Santa Clause has promised to visit to hear the children’s wishes for their perfect present and to make sure everyone is being good in the final run in to the very special day.

Leader funding collapses

Their was dismay and disappointment last week at a community meeting in Macroom when IRD Duhallow announced that funding for community groups and those wishing to grow their businesses in the Lee Valley area for the next five years under the old Leader funding programme would be a very meagre €142,500 . It has emerged that IRD Duhallow will possibly now be managing the programme in the Mid Cork area from 2016 to 2021. The last programme was administered by West Cork Development Partnership. Speaking after the meeting in Macroom, Coachford Community Association chairperson, Peter Dineen said ” This is madness, there is no way that this level of funding for most of  the villages in the Lee Valley and Macroom town over the next five years will have any real impact on the communities. I can’t understand how areas in West and North Cork while receiving less that they got in the previous programme are still going to be applying for grants from much bigger budgets than we are.  Cork County Council, the South Cork LCDC and our councillors in the Blarney Macroom area must come up with a valid explanation of why once again this area of the county  is being neglected  In all fairness dividing up less than €30,000 a year between all the communities in Mid Cork is an insult to the many volunteers who are working hard to improve their communities. The Council must revisit this  decision and must do it immediately”

Coachford gears up for Christmas

The Coachford Christmas lights were switched on last Sunday and they have the village looks very festive. The committee purchased additional lights this year and these have made a huge difference to the place. Martha McCaffery from the Coachford Tidy Towns group said, ” we put a lot of effort in again this year and we were determined to ensure that people who come to the village to  shop and socialise here are aware of how vibrant Coachford is.

GAA AGM

The Annual General Meeting of Aghabullogue GAA club will take place this Sunday at 7pm in the GAA complex in Coachford. Items expected to feature on the busy agenda will be the development of the new Astro Turf pitch, plans for the intermediate football and hurling  teams in 2016,  replacing the old galvanised fencing and the election of officers for the coming year.

Flooding

The road by the GAA pitch was under a lot of water on Friday and Saturday as  the drains were blocked and couldn’t take the amount of rain that fell in the short period of time. These drains were supposed to be cleaned during the year by Cork County Council but remain in a terrible condition. However the floods in this area did not deter the Garda camera van from parking nearby and once again conducting the shooting Fish in a barrel exercise. The Greenway was closed to walkers and fishermen on Monday as the river Lee had risen to unsafe levels and high water and  flooding were making the 2.8km stretch a hazard.

Christmas Draw

The Inniscarra Lake Tourism Development Company Limited are holding a Christmas draw to raise money for the maintenance and the upkeep of the very popular Greenway. Tickets are only €2 each or three for €5 and the fantastic prizes include tickets to see Manchester United, a weekend in Killarney and  a family Portrait. Tickets can be purchased in all the shops and pubs in Coachford and the draw takes place on December 30th.

World Championships return  in 2017

The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland has been awarded the honour of hosting the FIPS-ed World Youth Championships in 2017. The event attended by youths worldwide is expected to attract in excess of 40 teams, supporting staff and families to Ireland, the chosen venue being the Inniscarra Reservoir centred around the village of Coachford in Co. Cork.

Der Casey, NCFFI Chairman says:- “We are delighted that our bid to host the Youth World Championships has been accepted from the Fédéracion International de la Pêche Sportive. Hosting this event in Ireland will help to share with our juniors the sport of angling and showcase our investment in the development of our sport and recreation. It will be the largest World Championship angling event to be staged in Ireland and a proud reflection of the professional ability of our volunteering members & associates.”

The championships to be staged on the Coachford Greenway, a 2.8km linear park in the form of a walkway providing access for anglers to the Inniscarra Reservoir, to be held in July 2017, are still subject to a technical inspection of the venue which will be further developed to support the event. With over 400 expected to attend the event will provide an estimated boost of nearly €2million to the region