Letters to the Editor: We need to re-green Bandon river

EDITOR – I WISH to respond to last week’s Southern Star article by Kieran O’Mahony titled Bandon river walkway is ‘not looking the business’. The once beautiful river that flowed through Bandon is now effectively a drain, in my opinion, and the works carried out were indeed excessive and short-sighted, in the least.

The finished job by the OPW is horrifying. There is now finally talk of the need to re-green the area between the fish pass and Bandon bridge by local town councillors. Personally, I believe the only way of re-greening the area in question is to roll back much of the rock armour on each side of the river bank and incorporate long grasses, sunken tree trunks and newly planted trees which will encourage wildlife and regrowth back to the river. Trees have to be part of the re-greening programme for any realistic success.

When I look back at how the Bandon weir use to be with all of its much-loved wildlife and greenery, I have to pinch myself while looking at the cut of it now.

Like so many that walk past this eyesore, we live in hope that something might be done about it eventually and that the river will once again be restored to its natural beauty.

Simon Toussifar,

(Recreational fly fisherman),

Kinsale.

Pull Like a Dog

One day with a songbird in your heart,

Hours of training,

Gold in the horizon - you want success.

Uncertain and excited, 

Music in your soul, 

You sing your song

Pull Like a Dog.

Eavesdropping on Munich, 

You row in the boat like fire of the sun,

Europe keeps its eye on Skibbereen. 

Gathering armfuls of courage, 

The oar cuts the water,

You pretend not to look around, 

Hope to win the next moment. 

Suddenly, coming to life, 

When sunlight dances on waves, 

High spirits rub off.

You take on the world, 

Seagulls open their wings,

You disappear ahead of the rest.

Staying on purpose, you stand out.

It takes a lifetime to achieve victory,

Spurred on by your countrymen, 

Dressed in your habitual look,

We are so proud of you for doing your best.

Mary McCarthy,

The Abbey,

Skibbereen.

Collins was a fierce man for the fishing

EDITOR  – As the anniversary of Michael Collins’ death is approaching, I thought I might highlight an often forgotten element of his character.

Michael Collins was a fierce man for the fishing! He believed that our island had the resources to feed its population.

It occurs to me that he may have developed these beliefs in an effort to challenge the narrative that there was a great famine in this country in the 1840s. The historical record destroys this narrative of famine.

On one ship alone – the Ajax – which sailed from Cork in 1847 for England, the cargo consisted of 1514 firkins of butter; 102 casks of pork; 44 hogshead of whiskey; 844 sacks of oats; 247 sacks of wheat; 106 bales of bacon; 13 casks of ham; 145 casks of porter; 12 sacks of fodder; 28 bales of feathers; 8 stacks of lard; 296 boxes of eggs; 30 head of cattle; 90 pigs; 220 lambs; 34 calves and 89 miscellaneous packages.

As many as 20 such ships sailed weekly from our shores and many of these ships carried up to 1,000 staving and frozen passengers on deck.

The majority of these passengers were fleeing on boats laden with food they simply couldn’t touch.

Is it any wonder that Collins hoped to encourage the population to use the island’s natural food resources wisely?

Dan McSweeney,

Toureen,

Ballinhassig.