22nd February, 2001
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

80th Anniversary - Tomás MacCurtain

A Chara,

Your readers may be aware that the 80th Anniversary of the murder of Tomás Mac Curtain went unmarked during the year 2000.
We are a small voluntary committee that came together to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the death on hunger strike of Traolach Mac Suibhne.
Readers will be aware that Tomás Mac Curtain was a leading light in the cultural revival at the beginning of the 20 Century. He was deeply involved in the Gaelic League and also an accomplished musician playing both the fiddle and the pipes. He was the Leader of the Volunteers in Cork from their inception in 1913 up to the time of his death. All who came in contact with him during his term as Lord Mayor testified to his intellect, vision and energy.
We propose to commemorate the 81st Anniversary of Tomas Mac Curtain on Sunday 18th March with a special commemorative Mass, wreath laying ceremony and lecture.
We meet each Wednesday night at 8pm at Dun Laoi, 8 North Mall, Cork and would welcome support from interested people and organisations. Any subscriptions received will be acknowledged.
Is mise, le meas
Pearse Gunn, Cathaoirleach

"WHEN IN ROME"

"When in Rome do as the Romans do" (St. Ambrose, 339-397), given as advice to St Augustine.
Archbishop Desmond Connell, Ireland and Cardinal elect would do well to follow the advice of St. Ambrose.
I believe there is but one God to whom all Christians give allegiance. President McAleese, when a guest of another religion did right to respect her hosts by partaking of the Host.
Rather than splitting hairs Desmond Connell should rejoice that Catholics are still reci4eving the Body of Christ in any church, following on the scandals to rock the Church of Rome in recent times.
By his conservative attitude Dr. Connell will increase the flood of Catholics seeking God elsewhere. Put your own house in order Sir! Before lecturing to other Churches and talking down to what little of your flock remains true to Rome.
Neil O'Donoghue , Douglas

STREET SWEEP

As one who took part in the Clean Up in Douglas last Sat., organised by the Douglas Tidy Towns Committee, I want to say thanks to all who turned out. Cork Co. Council kindly supplied us with lovely new shovels, brushes, sturdy gloves and their employees collected our many bags when we were finished.
It had been decided to target just four areas - Donnybrook Hill, West Douglas St. (city end), the East Village and the wild 'garden' opposite the Douglas Shopping Centre. On the day, with a pleasing turnout we were able to include a few other areas. One gentleman was most anxious to clean in front of the Garda Barracks and the grassy banks at the start of the Carrigaline Road.
Small teams took on these tasks and I think I can say that the preferred drink must be a 'naggin' of vodka there were so many in the small garden opposite D.S.C. Of course, we recycled these along with the hundreds of cans and bottles of all sizes. We were glad when the Council called to our area and relieved us of a chair, rolls of discarded plastic and the huge piles of rubbish we had collected. Overall, 2 Truck-loads were filled.
Some great children including Shauna, Isobel, Chris, David and Cian helped us and we made sure they only worked in pedestrianised area and under supervision. The fluorescent jackets courtesy of the C.C.C. also helped to keep us safe.
Besides a clean up of Douglas the other objective of last Saturday was to heighten awareness of keeping Douglas litter free and to encourage businesses to clean up outside their own places.
Sheila Fitzgerald.

DOUGLAS RUGBY CLUB - SUNDAY!

Dear Michael,

In your words of wisdom to the people of Douglas this week, we at Douglas RFC would be very grateful if you could mention our game versus Sundays Well, on Sunday at three o'clock in Moneygourney. Douglas on paper will be underdogs so anything you could do
to entice supporters out would be very much appreciated. We would also like you to come on Sunday to lend your voice to the Douglas cause.
Yours sincerely
Your chip eating friend from Xhaven
Simon Whitaker

LOCAL RADIO INTERFERENCE?

Dear Mr O'Hanlon,

I am sending you this letter to echo the previous correspondence about radio interference currently being experienced in the locality.
I wish to add my voice to the growing concern about this interference. In my own experience I am having some difficulty picking up RTE radio and television as well as the Hospital Radio service. The source of the problem seems to be with a radio station operating on 107 FM and broadcasts Christian/religious programmes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Now I do not begrudge anyone expressing their faith but it is not the programme content I am concerned about but the broadcast signal itself. I do not think that this is a Cork religious station as any presenters I have heard are of UK origin. Their transmissions are completely blotting out my radio reception of other stations and are also affecting reception on my portable television so I presume their transmission facility is somewhere in the locality. I spoke to some of my neighbours and they are experiencing similar problems.
Is there anything that can be done about this annoyance as this has been going on since sometime last year and it must now come to an end. I am hoping that through your paper that something can be done to solve this on-going problem. Surely RTE should be in a position to sort out this interference, as we are the licence-paying public and deserve interference-free channels.
Yours Sincerely
Denis O'Regan, Donnybrook

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