Do Enfieldparents careabout theirsons anddaughters?

SERIOUS concernshave been expressedabout the level of inter-est that Enfield parentshave in their sons anddaughters after a verypoorly attended AGMof Enfield Youth Club.

CLLR. Bill Carey thisweek welcomed thenews that Meath is toget better broadbandpenetration, with anew company giventhe contract to providewireless technology,especially in rural andisolated parts ofMeath.Among the areas to

benefit from the newtechnology will be Long-wood, Clonard and Bal-linabrackey.

BROADBAND

“The most consistentcomplaint I receive atmeetings and on thedoorsteps is the lack ofbroadband,” the Enfieldmember of MeathCounty Council stated.He pointed out that in

parts of Meath the com-munications system iscompared to World War2 systems.

MEATH TD and Minis-ter for Transport, NoelDempsey has allocated€300,000 for the repairof Enfield’s streets and

footpaths, which werebadly scarred duringmajor remedial excava-tion work and tunnelinglast year.

A spokesman for Minis-ter Dempsey told ‘MeathTopic’ last week that themoney is to be made avail-able to Meath County

Council immediately andwill be used to completelyresurface the main streetin Enfield.

€2WELLW

ORTH IT!

MEATH TO

PIC Thursday 25 February, 2010 Issue No. 1989 Serving the people of County Meath since 1971

Na FiannaGAAawards

Balyna SeniorCitizens for Haiti

Brothersenjoy ‘EnfieldRevue’ show...!

• CONTINUED on page 15

€300,000 for Enfieldstreets - DempseyMeath County Council to restore Enfield streets and footpaths

Page 57

Plans well advanced for 2010Enfield St. Patrick’s parade

A GREAT NIGHT! - Na Fianna GAA held its very successful annual Dinner Dance and Presentation Night lastSaturday, February 20, in the Hamlet Court Hotel, Johnstownbridge, Enfield, and among the large attendanceenjoying themselves there were Orlaith Carr, Sarah Jane Farley and Orla Vesey. During the night, presentationswere made to Na Fianna’s 2009 Ladies Intermediate Football Champions and to Na Fianna’s 2009 JuniorCamogie Champions. Photo: Elaine McCrossan. (See also pages 57 and 72).

SHOW TIME! - The 2010 ‘Enfield Revue’ showplayed to capacity audiences in Rapture at theHamlet Court Hotel, Johnstownbridge fromTuesday to Friday of last week, February 16-19,and among those who enjoyed the productionwere brothers Cathal and Óisin McCloskey,Baconstown, Enfield. Photo: Elaine McCrossan.

ANNOUNCEMENT -Minister Noel Dempsey• CONTINUED on page 15

• CONTINUED on page 15

Cllr. Carey welcomesbetter broadbandpenetration insouth Meath

Function to honourretired Enfield Garda

A FUNCTION in hon-our of retired EnfieldGarda, Gerry Austin,will be held in the Ham-let Court Hotel, John-stownbridge, Enfield onFriday, March 5, com-mencing at 9pm.Garda Austin retired at

Christmas and he previ-

ously served in Drogheda,Balbriggan and Navan,before being appointed toEnfield approximately 15years ago.

TICKETS ON SALE

Tickets for the functionare available at EnfieldGarda Station.

Page16

Na Fianna GAA host very enjoyable DinnerDance and Presentation Night

ENFIELD has thelongest running St.Patrick’s Day parade inthe area, and it will con-tinue again this year asit shapes up to be biggerand better than ever.The organising of the

annual Enfield St.Patrick’s Day parade isspear-headed by theEnfield Community Coun-cil, with the assistance of

others, and the hard work-ing parade committee hasbeen meeting on a regularbasis for the past sixweeks, with arrangementsfor the parade welladvanced.

TWO BANDS

Two bands have alreadybeen secured to take partin the Enfield parade inthree weeks time, whichwill be led by local officers,

NCOs and men and womenof the Reserve DefenceForce (RDF), led by acolour party.Huge numbers are again

expected to line the foot-paths for the Enfieldparade, which will moveoff from the Na FiannaGAA grounds and will pro-ceed through the town,with all traffic beingdiverted around Enfield,

via the Enfield Relief Road.

FLOATS AND WALKINGGROUPS

Entries for the Enfield St.Patrick’s Day parade arealready coming in and theparade committee wel-comes the entry of floatsand walking groups fromMeath, Kildare and furtherafield.

• CONTINUED on page 15

The news means that thecentre of Enfield will befully restored and this, inturn, will make the townthat much better for shop-ping and working in.

MAJOR EXCAVATIONS

Enfield has sufferedbadly over several years asa number of excavationprojects took their toll inthe town as Meath CountyCouncil attempted to rec-tify contamination andother problems under thesurface of the main street.

A major excavation andtunneling project was

undertaken last summer,and this, finally, resolvedthe problems underneaththe main street.

But, because of the reces-sion and the financial prob-lems besetting MeathCounty Council, the resur-facing of the main streethad to be postponed, withadequate funding not avail-able towards the end of lastyear.

€0.3 MILLION

The allocation of €0.3 mil-lion by Minister Dempseythis week means that thelong awaited resurfacingand restoration work cannow go ahead.

The spokesman for the

Minister told ‘Meath Topic’that the money was beingmade available immedi-ately and that the workwould go ahead as soon aspossible.

The work would includethe resurfacing of themain street and therestoration of footpathsdamaged in the excava-tions.

DELIGHTED

The news has beenwarmly welcomed by mem-bers of the Enfield Busi-ness Association, who havebeen campaigning for sometime for the main street tobe restored to what itshould be.

“It will be good for busi-ness, good for shoppers,good for workers, and goodfor residents”, commenteda member of the EnfieldBusiness Association.

The Enfield BusinessAssociation has beenengaged in promoting thetown as a shopping andcommercial centre formany months, and theupgrading of the mainstreet and footpaths is seenas a very positive develop-ment fo the commerciallike of the town.

“It will be a greatimprovement”, we weretold on Monday.

€300,000 for Enfieldstreets - Dempsey

BOARDSMILL Hallwill be the venue forthe monthly Board-smill Céilí on Satur-day night of nextweek, March 6, from10pm to 1am.

The Boardsmill Céilítakes place on the firstSaturday night of everymonth, and on this occa-sion, music will be pro-vided by the Tara CéilíBand.

Supper will be served,and all are welcome.

Music at the Céilí inBoardsmill on Saturdaynight, April 3, will beprovided by Brian Boru.

FOLLOWINGSATURDAY

The Village Hall, Dun-derry will be the venuefor the monthly Céilí inDunderry on the follow-ing Saturday night,March 13.

The monthly Céilí inDunderry is on the sec-ond Saturday of themonth, and again all are

welcome.On March 13 music

will be provided by DavyJoe and Carousel anddancing will be from10pm to 1am, with sup-per served.

Music at the Céilí inDunderry on Saturdaynight, April 10, will beprovided by Brian Boru.

CLASSES MONDAYAND THURSDAYS

Set dancing and 2-handclasses take place inBoardsmill Hall every

Monday night from8.30pm.

Adults and beginnersare catered for, and allare welcome.

The classes in Board-smill are conducted byCarmel O’Callaghan.

Set dancing classestake place in the VillageHall, Dunderry everyThursday night from8.30pm.

The classes in Dun-derry are conducted byFrank Keenan.

1525 February, 2010 • Topic Newspapers

There will be seven prizecategories in the 2010Enfield parade, with inde-pendent judges viewing thecommercial and otherfloats, as well as the walk-ing groups and proceed-ings from the reviewingstand.

CHILDREN’S ART

A feature this year will bea Children’s Art Competi-tion.

This will be organisedwith the co-operation of

the Principals and teachersin the local schools.

MONDAY MEETING

All are welcome to assistin the organising of the2010 Enfield St. Patrick’sDay parade and help wouldbe greatly appreciated.

Rita Holton told ‘MeathTopic’ this week that thenext meeting of the paradeorganising committee willtake place on Monday next,March 1, in St. Patrick’sCommunity Hall, Enfield,commencing at 8pm.

All are welcome to goalong, and information will

be available for all think-ing of entering floats orwalking groups.

Entries will also be takenfor the parade.

PARADE ENTRIES

In addition, further infor-mation on the parade canbe obtained by contactingRita Holton (086-34-65-642),Patsy Prendergast (087-25-25-504), Cllr. Bill Carey (085-713-5073), or Billy Daly(086-839-5141), or any com-mittee member, who willalso be delighted to takeentries.

• CONTINUED from page 1

• CONTINUED from page 1

Plans well advanced for 2010Enfield St. Patrick’s parade

Céilí in Boardsmill on Saturday week

Enfield Business AssociationTable Quiz this Friday nightTHE members of theEnfield Business Associ-ation have held a numberof community events inrecent times, and thenext will be a Table Quizon Friday night of thisweek, February 26, inFlattery’s, Enfield, com-mencing at 9pm.

The quizmaster for thenight is Edward Carey andthere will be lots of cashprizes and spot prizes to bewon.

It’s €40 for a table of four,

and there will also be a raf-fle on the night, with plentyof fabulous prizes.

ALL WELCOME

All are welcome to goalong and join the mem-bers of the Enfield Busi-ness Association for a nightof good fun and laughs.

Flattery's will also havetheir resident DJ entertain-ing on the night.

SHOP LOCAL

Enfield Business Associa-tion would like to take this

opportunity to encouragethe local community toshop local.

“We need to keep the localeconomy strong and keepthe community vibrant.Shopping local is the mostimportant thing we can doright now.”

FACEBOOK ANDWEBSITE

Everyone is encouragedto follow Enfield BusinessAssociation on Facebookand to also check out theirwebsite, at www.enfield.ie.

MINOR player ConorDowney was in brilliantform as Na Fiannaopened their league cam-paign with a comfortablevictory over Drum-baragh in Baconstownon Sunday, February 14last.

The platform for the winwas firmly laid in the firsthalf where Downey netteda goal after a nice runthrough, and fellow minorplayer Daniel Queeney alsosending over two points.

Midfielder BrianQueeney also ran throughto send two efforts over thebar and with Dean Henrickshowing well, the half timescore line read 1-7 to 0-4 infavour of the home side.

GOOD SECOND HALF

Na Fianna opened thescoring in the second halfthrough another pointfrom Brian Queeney andanother from Harry Silke,and when Declan Brennanfisted to the net shortly

after, Na Fianna earned acushion which they neverrelinquished.

TEAM

Na Fianna - Shane Ger-aghty, Rob Walsh, ChristyCosgrave, Shane Burke,John Baldwin, Tommy Cos-grave, Padraic Hogan,Brian Queeney (0-3), OllieLewis, Damien Downey,Harry Silke (0-1), ConorDowney (1-2), DanielQueeney (0-2), Dean Hen-rick (0-1), Declan Brennan(1-2). Subs: Keith Jordan forWalsh, David Lynch forHogan, John O’Lone for D.Downey, Sean O’Neill forSilke, Colm Murphy forHenrick.

Ref: J. Plunkett.

NEW TECHNOLOGY

“The news that a newcompany has received acontract to put in newwireless technology willbe received with delight in

rural and isolated parts ofMeath”, he said.

“From a family perspec-tive, and business, and aneducational perspective,this will help people inthese areas keep up withthe rest of the world”, Cllr.Carey stated.

Cllr. Carey welcomesbetter broadbandpenetration insouth Meath

Na Fianna ...........................2-11Drumbaragh......................1-06

• CONTINUED from page 1

The concerns wereraised by Tracie Kinsella,the Meath Youth Federa-tion’s Youth Club Develop-ment Officer, who said shewas greatly saddened atthe small number of par-ents and other adults whoattended the AGM.

DISAPPOINTED

Ms. Kinsella pointed outthat the only adults whoattended the AGM werealready deeply involved inthe running of EnfieldYouth Club.

“No one else attended,we were talking amongourselves and are verydisappointed!”, she said.(Full report next week).

Do Enfield parentscare about their sonsand daughters?• CONTINUED from page 1

Downey inspires Na Fiannawin in goodAFLDiv. 3 clash

Hogan calls for increase inCollege Courses for Edenderry

EdenderryComhaltasCeoltoirinewsMUSIC CLASSES:

Classes continue eachTuesday night at6.30pm in the Boy’sNational School, GilroyAve. New students arewelcome to come along.SET DANCING: Set

Dancing Classes con-tinue each Thursdaynight @ 8.30pm in TheBoy’s School, GilroyAve. All welcome tocome along.BOWLING -OFFALY FLEADH2010 - FUNDRAISER:Bowling Fundraiser tobe held on 1 to 3 Marchnext in Cosmic Bowl,Sragh Business Park,Tullamore. Team of 4people costs €80.

A great event for fam-ily and friends to enjoy.All support greatlyappreciated.

For further detailsand entry forms con-tact Joe Monaghan on057 9351196 or SeanNorman on 087 2512406.

Day ofPrayer andHealing

The Prayer group inEdenderry has organ-ised a Day of Prayerand Healing with EddieStones in Clonfert thisSaturday, February 27.

The bus will departfrom O’Connell Squarethat morning at 9am.

For further detailsplease telephone 046-9731252.

Cllr. Nichola Hoganhas called on the Minis-ter for Education toincrease the number ofPLC courses in Offalyand particularly inEdenderry.

“Currently in Offaly,there are only 50 places onPLC courses which com-pares miserably with thesurrounding counties. InLaois there are 313 places,Kildare 366 and 664 placesin Westmeath, which

clearly shows that Offalyare at the back of thequeue yet again,” statesCllr. Hogan.

"In Offaly at themoment, the 50 places aredivided between Tullam-ore, Banagher and Eden-derry and the only courseon offer is Business Stud-ies.

I understand that allthree locations havecapacity to increase boththe number of places

available and the numberof courses available, and Iwould like to see addi-tional courses in a varietyof subjects sanctioned bythe Minister.”

“The Minister for Edu-cation must take into theaccount the fact that take-up of third level educa-tion in Offaly is extremelylow at only 13%, togetherwith the fact there arecurrently 1,758 peopleunder the age of 25 unem-

ployed in Offaly, and offeradditional places toencourage particularlyyoung unemployed to takeup further education.”

“Last year alone, unem-ployment in Offalyincreased by 34% and Ibelieve it is essential thatthe Government takeaction to help unem-ployed people up-skill andprepare to re-enter thework force,” stated Cllr.Hogan.