News Review 2019: November and December

NOVEMBER

SOCIAL Democrats councillor Holly Cairns was selected to run as the party’s Dáil candidate in the Cork South West constituency. The first-time candidate in last May’s local elections, who is in a relationship with county mayor Chris- topher O’Sullivan (FF), said the local election results illustrated an appetite for change.

There was good news for Southern Star sports editor Kieran McCarthy whose book on Skibbereen Rowing Club ‘Something in the Water’ was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards, and 1,080 adults and children dressed up in Bandon to create a new Guinness World Record for the most Harry Potters in one place.

Author John Le Carré spoke on RTÉ Radio 1 of his emotional ties with West Cork after discovering his grandmother was originally from Inchinattin near Rosscarbery.

Beara was left without SouthDoc cover for five nights, due to the ongoing national shortage in available locums.

Clonakilty said it was bidding to reduce its impact on the environment and climate-proof its future by becoming Ireland’s first ‘off-grid’ town and becoming energy self-sufficient.

John Joe and Kathleen Crowley from Lackanashinagh near Enniskeane had the privilege of welcoming the Bishop of Cork and Ross, Most Rev Fintan Gavin, to celebrate their ‘station mass’, much to the surprise of their friends and neighbours.

West Cork businesses said they were coming under increased pressure, with some even facing closure, as insurance pre- miums were spiralling out of control. And some firms have not been able to secure any insurance cover at all for their next year’s policies.

An anonymous donation to West Cork Women Against Violence (WCWAV) means they can purchase the area’s first safe house for women and children fleeing domestic abuse. The Bantry-based organisation marks its 20th anniversary this year and said this was the best gift they could ever have imagined.

Cork Circuit Court heard how a Drimoleague man ran a ‘campaign of evil’ against his ex-girlfriend which, she said, left her terrorised. Tadgh McCormack, 43, of Dromusta, Bantry Road, Drimoleague, pleaded guilty to harassment of his ex-girlfriend between August and December of last year. The judge imposed a two-and-a-half-year sentence, but suspended it, on a number of conditions.

The ICRR air ambulance, which can travel from Bantry to CUH in less than 12 minutes, is running out of funds and needs an cash injection of €250,000 from the public by the end of the year, it announced, asking supporters to sign up to a monthly subscription in a bid to keep it in the air.

BBC presenter Graham Norton was back in his old secondary school, when he launched principal Ian Coombes’ book on the school. ‘You know you are getting long in the tooth when you feature in a history book,’ he joked.

DECEMBER

GARDAI reported that a woman who was walk-ing through Bandon at 3am was set upon and attacked, and had her handbag stolen. They said they were hopeful of identifying the male – approx. 6ft tall and wearing a PUMA top – who assaulted the woman before three local teenagers came to her aid.

Keohane Seafoods in Bantry were crowned this year’s Southern Star West Cork Business of the Year. The family-run seafood specialists took the title in the second annual awards. The Outstanding Business Ambassador award went to John Field of Field’s SuperValu of Skibbereen.

There were two awards for The Southern Star at the start of the month. Firstly, the newspaper was named the Regional Newspaper of the Year at the Irish Print Awards, along with Webprint, which prints the paper. And a few days later, Southern Star Life edi-tor Emma Connolly picked up the ‘Headline’ local print award for mental health journalism.

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