Santa and his elves is currently occupying the magic space in front of the building, but changes are coming and the the relocation of Enniscorthy Municipal District Offices from the former Courthouse to the newly refurbished Market House in the Market Square will happen on Tuesday, January 12th.
Newly refurbished MARKET HOUSE in Enniscorthy
The news is welcomed by staff and customers. Many favourable comments have complimented the refurbishment work carried out at the iconic building and everybody is eager to admire the new interior.
The Courthouse Office will close at 1 pm on Friday, January 8th – offices at both locations will be closed on Monday, January 11th to facilitate the transfer and normal business will be available to the public on Tuesday morning.
Market House, a well-known town centre landmark from circa-1820’s is a Listed Building 3-storeys high with a 5-bay front has been completely transformed into a bright and modern offices for Enniscorthy Municipal District Council.
Two fishermen were rescued from a fishing vessel near Kilmichael Point in North Wexford by Arklow RNLI all-weather lifeboat following a report from the Irish Coast Guard last Thursday.
Fishing vessel is towed towards ArklowPic; RNLI/Arklow
The lifeboat was launched at 11.07am and the volunteer crew of six on the Ger Tigchlearr responded swiftly. Further reports came in that the vessel had freed the foul and was now dragging its anchor, adrift and in danger of being driven up onto the rocks at Kilmichael Point in the south-south easterly Force 5 winds.
Once on scene, the lifeboat crew worked quickly with the casualty vessel’s crew of two to establish a tow line. With this completed, the vessel and crew were towed safely back to Arklow.
Mark Corcoran, Arklow RNLI Community Safety Officer and Lifeboat Press Officer said: ‘Fortunately, our volunteers response time ensured they were able to get to the stricken vessel before the situation worsened and we had a good result.”
Wexford Independent TD Verona Murphy and former IRHA President has warned that government action is needed immediately to prevent truck drivers from being stranded for Christmas, as transport chaos erupts.
When asked by Claire Byrne on RTE Radio this morning if she believed drivers could be stuck in their cabs for Christmas Day, Deputy Murphy replied; “Yes of course I am, we don’t have the capacity. Our last ferry is scheduled for Wednesday. If we only have capacity for 90 trucks and we need capacity for 400, well then they are going to be either sitting in a Port or on the side of the road.”
VERONA MURPHY TD
Speaking afterwards Deputy Murphy warned; “We will have rotting produce, stranded drivers and increased costs to farmers and producers, unless the Government sends all available ferries to get food produce onto the shelves and drivers home to their families for Christmas.”
Deputy Murphy blasted Irish Government inaction, and Minister Simon Coveney for claiming there was sufficient ferry capacity, “He has no idea it would appear, there are 200 trucks stranded in the UK, there are another 200-300 heading for Cherbourg, as well as another 200 trying to leave Ireland to take produce to the continent. I have three factories here in the South East with €1 million worth of meat product and they can’t get bookings on ferries.”
Deputy Murphy also said that she had be inundated with phone calls and concerns from drivers and hauliers. “Last night I spoke to the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Transport, and it just takes a coordinated effort to get this working.”
According to Deputy Murphy the problem stems from the IMDO report claiming there were no capacity issues from Ireland to Mainland Europe.
“This is something that the IMDO report is false on. I have flagged it for months in the Dail. Minister Naughten, Minister Troy, the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach all refuted what I said. This day of reckoning was coming.”
The deteriorating Covid-19 situation in the UK has prompted a ban on flights and a ban on ferries carrying passengers with effect from midnight for at least 48 hours until midnight Tuesday. The matter will be reviewed at a cabinet meeting in Dublin on Tuesday.
BBC Wales is reporting that people in Wales have been told to stay at home and not travel this Christmas. The new lockdown rules mean the easing of Christmas rules have been reduced to just Christmas Day.
In the days leading up to Christmas these restrictions will have serious consequences for intending passengers on the ferries into and out of Rosslare Europort to Fishguard and Pembroke.
Ferries will continue to be allowed to sail with cargo, which is essential for supply of food and services, and arrangements are been made to allow a return home for those Irish residents who were on short visits to UK and for those who are traveling to Ireland from another country via the UK.
WexfordLocal.com is advising intending passengers and/or their families to contact the relevant authorities before booking or arriving at the ferry ports at Rosslare, Fishguard and Pembroke prior to departure. The situation is extremely volatile and fraught with uncertainty and subject to change at short notice. It is better to stay at home this Christmas and avoid unnecessary confusion, delays, and possibly a costly unwanted staycation!
19 years old Pearse Rogan from Caim, Enniscorthy, received his treasured Christmas present when he won his first point-to-point in heavy ground conditions at Dromahane, Co. Cork today (Sunday).
Point-to-point action
Rogan was aboard the Donnchadh Doyle trained Fiston Du Mou in the maiden race for five-year old geldings who ran out the four lengths winner.
Wexford riders won both divisions of the maiden race for four-year old geldings. Harley Dunne, Blackwater, rode his second winner of the season on Donny Boy for Aidan Fitzgerald’s Carlow stables in division one.
Barry O’Neill and Colin Bowe were celebrating in the winners’ enclosure following division two and Bravo Team’s eight lengths victory. Owned by Milestone Bloodstock Ltd, Bravo Team will likely go to the sales now.
Monageer farmer, James Kehoe, (41), who is nearing the end of his four-year term as Wexford County Chairman has lost out on his bid to become IFA (Irish Farmer’s Association) South Leinster Regional Chairman.
JAMES KEHOE
The new Chairman is Francie Gorman, former Chairman of Laois IFA. He received 1,390 votes, to defeat James Kehoe from Wexford with 867 votes.
IFA National Returning Officer Martin Stapleton announced the result at the count held in the Irish Farm Centre on Friday afternoon in line with public health guidelines.
Mr. Stapleton said the turnout of 87% among delegates to the eight county executives in the South Leinster region (Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Kilkenny, Carlow, Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford) was a decisive mandate.
The outcome is a disappointment for James Kehoe and his supporters. He has been heavily involved in the IFA since he joined the organisation in 1996 and in that time, he has held the position of Chairman in his local branch of Monageer from 2005 to 2009. He represented Wexford on the National Sheep Committee where he was also a member of the Management Committee. He was Vice Chairman of Wexford from 2015 – 2016 and went on to be elected Chairman of Wexford IFA in 2017.
Sempione Park carried the Milestone Bloodstock Ltd colours to a narrow success – just a head in it – to give Colin Bowe and Barry O’Neill a winner in the maiden race for five-year-old geldings at Stonehall, Askeaton, Co. Limerick today (Saturday).
BARRY O’NEILL
The Kiltealy-based champions missed out on a double in the mares’ maiden race for four-year olds when She’s So Lovely was beaten two and a half lengths by The Real Jet, trained at Ballindaggin by Cormac Doyle, whose horses are running very well in recent weeks and he is clocking up the winners. Trained six winners this season.
The Real Jet was third at Borris House on her first run for the Monbeg Farm Racing Partnership and was another victory for Mayglass rider Jack Hendrick, who is a second cousin of leading amateur jockey Jamie Codd and was enjoying his 12th winner of his career – six of them this season.
I used to love the last weekend of December leading up to the Christmas. It was the time when print journalists and radio presenters used to meet early deadlines to facilitate production and party occasions were on my calendar for decades. Sadly, this year, we haven’t a cracker to pull between us! The hug and the handshake are strictly out of bounds and the legal profession are losing potential business because we can’t tell the boss what we think of him/her! (please, take that last comment as an in-house joke!).
Yes, the Covid-19 restrictions have put manners on us and decking the Santa hat and pulling the cracker to reveal little plastic curiosities have been eliminated from our joviality. Drinking copious litres of wine until we mock the daytime performance of being ‘giddy and senseless’ and clouding our ghostly minds. But it was all good and clean (what happens at the party stays at the party) fun all the same.
The Christmas Party brought colleagues and fellow workers together in a social setting. It introduced the new recruits to the seasoned dudes. It began early and terminated quite late – usually a good chunk of a day later! It was an opportunity to make fools of ourselves without blame or blemish. For the many there are great memories. Thankfully, usually the next day was free of work commitments!
Professor Luke O’Neill is asking us to be patient with the Covid-19 restrictions that will likely be with us until the summer, however, on TV3, Luke gave us hope and hinted that we can revert to the good times in Christmas 2021. We must obey the rules and follow the guidelines and, who knows, we may party again like the ‘old days’ next year. In the meantime, the guidelines are wash the hands, use the sanitizer, wear the facing covering and practice social distancing. Stay Safe. Happy Christmas.
Seven chipped horses have been seized in areas of New Ross and Courtown by Wexford County Council under the Control of Horses Act 1996 and Pounds Regulations 1985 and owners are invited to come forward and claim these animals by next Wednesday, December 23rd, and, in effect, save their lives because after that date the Council will dispose of the animals in accordance with legislation.
Six yearlings, four male and two females, all brown and white in colour, were seized on behalf of Wexford County Council from Hewittsland, New Ross, on December 17th being “stray equine in a public place.”
A three-year-old male, grey in colour, was seized on December 17th on behalf of the Council at the request of An Garda Siochana being “a stray equine in a public place” from the Courtown Road, Gorey.
All seven animals are being held at the ACS Pound at Coombe, Glenville, Co. Cork. The owners can collect the animals subject to certain conditions.
Fresh from the printers is a splendid hardback publication called DUNBRODY – A Famine Odyssey that commemorates a brilliant tourism project that is the replica of the famine ship Dunbrody anchored on the historic quayside at New Ross as a fitting tribute as much to today’s people of New Ross as their 19th century forebears.
Book Cover featuring the Dunbrody at New Ross
The book tells the amazing story of an ambitious undertaking to raise millions and build a life-sized replica of a 485-tonne 19th century Famine ship whose masts, spurs and rigging tower above the quayside. The ship is called the Dunbrody, named after an original ship of similar features, that took thousands of people from New Ross to the ‘New World’ in the United States during the dreadful Famine years.
The author is Sean Reidy who was CEO of the JFK Trust in New Ross from 1991 to 2014 and the book is a personal account celebrating the historical legacy of JFK enriching the historical ancestral town of New Ross in conjunction with the ancestral home of President John F. Kennedy at Dunganstown, south of the town just a few fields away from the River Barrow. This is the story of a voyage.
The JFK (John Fitzgerald Kennedy) Trust was founded in 1988 against the backdrop of deep recession and high unemployment. President Kennedy’s famous visit to New Ross in the summer of 1963 was an inspiration and the subsequent power and support of the Kennedy family steered a dream into reality and early on a chilly February Sunday morning in 2001, 3,000 left their warm beds early to see the mighty Dunbrody glide into the icy Barrow for the first time. The New Ross history books began a new chapter that day.
Sean Reidy felt emotional that day. And he deserved to feel that way. He nostalgically recalls in the book; “There was nothing inevitable about Dunbrody’s eventual triumph. How perilously close to the rocks she sailed on more than one occasion!” Behind Reidy’s calm confidence he reveals a litany of doubts and qualms and sleepless nights!
This book is teeming with endless pages of history in print and images – all great occasions that firmly placed the spotlight on New Ross and brought to life international tourism. It also records the stormy days when the rocks were in sight and the waves were high; but then like the 19th century Famine passengers embarking on the unknown amid poverty and hopelessness, determination, resolve and indomitable resilience will succeed against the odds.
Sean Reidy deserves worldwide sales for this first-hand account of an incredibly successful story that emanated from the Famine ships leaving New Ross in the 19th century, the flames of hope rekindled by the Kennedy visit in the 20th century, and the arrival of the Dunbrody Famine ship replica in the first 400 days of the 21st century, not forgetting the teams that laboured in an ancient trade to convert timber into a floating tourism treasure and a nautical public attraction.
AUDIO ADDITION; Author SEAN REIDY talks about what inspired him to write the book Dunbrody – A Famine Odyssey.
DUNBRODY – A Famine Odyssey; How JFK’s Roots Helped Revive an Irish Town, by Sean Reidy. Hardback, 123 pages, heavily illustrated. ISBN 978-1-5272-7230-9
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