CAHIR NOTES "CAHIR BEARS "COMMENDED In a recent report in the Irish Examiner entitled "Creches Uncovered", "Cahir Bears" at Duneske set up and run by Cahir Development received an outstanding report. "Commended for excellant age appropriate programme of activities, a very well managed childcare facility, excellant standard of hygiene, well designed and implemented food safety policies".  More recently, "Cahir Bears" , ( Cahir Childcare Centre) was closed on Tuesday 9th December and the staff headed off to Cork city to protest against the replacement of the Community Childcare Centre Staffing Grant with the Subvention Scheme.  This scheme results in a large loss of funds for "Cahir Bears". If it is not changed, the effect will be the closure of a €1 million state of teh art childcare centre which was funded by teh Government. CAHIR DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY LOTTO The Jackpot now tops €4,000 at €4,150 for this week. Last weeks Lucky Dip winners, each of whom received €30.00 were - A. Coitter, Mountain Rd, Cahir, Elsie Mahoney, Clonmel Rd, Cahir, Maureen Calvert, Market Yard, cahir, Ann Marie Grant, Beechpark, Cahir, Patricia Keating, Cahir Abbey Upper, Cahir Tickets can be bought up to the last minute  - noon on Wednesday's - from the Business & Training Centre.  the profit from teh Community Lotto services projects in Cahir. SHOTS FIRED!! The first shots of the 2009 local election were fired last week when Cllr Seanie Lonergan accused local Fianna Fail reps of not being committed to Cahir. However, Cllr Andy Moloney has hit back this week, saying how he was disappointed to see Cllr Lonergan's comments ,as Moloney himself has been heavily involved in the promotion of Cahir.   As Chairman of Cahir Development Association (CDA) for the past 3 years, he has been involved with Cahir Businesses and Traders and has engaged with the Promoting Cahir group. He said that in recent times he had signed off on grants for the resurfacing of the Swiss Cottage walk and the paving of the Market Yard, which were in conjunction with South Tipp Co Co. He represented Cahir at the Pride of Place awards for his involvement in Duneske Leisure Centre and the Sensory Garden development.   The joint effort between CDA and South Tipp County Council in the provision of a 3- year landscaping plan for the town brought honours this year in the Tidy towns competition.   Cllr Moloney himself and the Fianna Fail organisation locally had been the first to break rank on the recent Medical Card issue that got the Government to back-track. He organised a Suicide Seminar last month in Cahir.   The Councillor states that there are many people in Cahir putting hard work and effort into developing businesses. We are trying to make it a more attractive town to work and live in.   Cahir has become a large commuter town and the rise in unemployment figures could be as a result of job losses in other areas.Cllr Moloney invites Mr Lonergan to get involved in some of the organisations he has mentioned and promote Cahir with him and turn these statistics around.   In Moloney's short term on the Council, following his co-option after Mattie McGrath's elevation to TD,he has carried his fair share of the work and will continue to do so while the electorate want him. In the pipeline for 2009, the Craft Granary and Duneske Leisure have been short listed for a Local Area Member's Award (LAMA). These awards will be presented in January at City West at a ceremoney that will have TV coverage,and be presented by Miriam O'Callaghan. Both of these organisations were nominated by Cllr Moloney. For what it worth, this Local Fianna Fail Rep is doing his bit! LONERGAN SLAMS HEALTH MINISTER Cllr Seanie  Lonergan has stated that ‘The recent report by the National Treatment Purchase Fund indicating that almost 20,000 people are waiting for surgery or treatment, is a further indication that the HSE and the Minister for Health are failing spectacularly to deliver an adequate level of health service for people’. Cllr Lonergan adds ‘I am particularly concerned that over 3,600 patients are waiting three months and more for diagnostic tests and that over half of these are waiting for a colonoscopy. This would indicate that we have learned nothing from the tragic circumstances that surrounded the death of Susie Long, who was denied access to a colonoscopy for seven months. Speed of access to medical treatment should be based purely on medical need and not ability to pay. This is especially so in regard to suspected cases of cancer, where early diagnosis and intervention can literally mean the difference between life and death. Many hospitals are under-resourced and they must be provided with the additional facilities and staff to allow them to ensure that all patients receive diagnosis, treatment and care when it is needed. The Cllr believes that  ‘There is now growing recognition that the only way to eliminate the two-tier nature of the health service is through the introduction of a system of universal health insurance along the lines proposed by the Labour Party. This system would ensure that there would be a common waiting list for all patients for all treatments and guarantee that access is provided on the basis of need, not ability to pay’. LOST DOGS! These two little terriers were found in a hole, in a ditch, near the Clonmel road on Monday 15th December, very hungry and frightened,  both have collars - one collar is black with silver paws on it. The Garda have been contacted and there are no reports of missing terriers.They are both very friendly and seem good with children,   maybe someone will recognise these little guys and we will be able to return them to their home for Christmas, we love a happy ending in Cahir. Please contact the following  if you think you know them on Mobile no. 087 6448337 or Home 052 42678. CHRISTMAS AMALGAMATION! As a special treat this year all children (of all ages!) are asked to come to the Parish Room grounds (beside church) to sing Christmas Carols after 10am Mass (10.40 approx) until 11.30 on Sunday 21st December. Musicians welcome. Tea, coffee mulled wine & mince pies for adults in Parish Rooms at this time. Bring your Santa Hat & a mince pie or two! All welcome. Hosted by the Parents Councils of the boys & girls National Schools & the First Holy Communion Preparation Committee COLAISTE DUN IASCAIGH - ROAD SAFETY Students of Colaiste Dun Iascaigh recently visited the Car Test Centre in Cahir as part of the road safety programme they are doing in transition year. Noel O' Brien explained the various safety and environmental checks that a vehicle must undergo  before it is declared roadworthy. Noel carried out an actual test on Mr Laharts car and all appeared to be going well, until many students drew Noel’s attention to a faulty brake light.   The demonstration was very informative and rewarding. Thanks to Noel and all the staff at the centre. CAHIR FARMERS' MARKET The Stallholders wish to thank their customers for their ongoing support and to wish them a Happy Christmas and New Year. This Saturday is the last Market of the year and they will return on January 17th.   A big thank you also to the Cahir Choral Society who  provided instant cheer and good will when they visited recently. The  Fair Trade stall was a welcome addition last week and it was good to see two young men from Transition year, Eoin Quinlan and Barry Rodgers, manning the stall. Hopefully they will be back soon with more news about the fair trade movement and some hot chocolate too. Santa arrived at the market safely thanks to Michael Lavin who chauffered him in his open top 1963 Ford Consul. Thank you both. This week there will be plenty of seasonal vegetables available, also lots of delicious treats for your Christmas table and plenty of wholesome gift ideas.Not to mention lots of good wishes!! CAHIR ACTIVE RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION. The Annual Christmas lunch took place last Wednesday afternoon at Cahir House Hotel. After a beautiful meal and speeches from our Chairman Bob Condon, and secretary Sadie Caplice, we were entertained by Stefan Grace. His music and chat kept us all entertained until it was time to leave our friends and return home. The Committee wish to convey a happy and peaceful Christmas to all members friends and family. May the new year prove to be as interesting and eventful as the previous year.   Our next meeting will be held in the Catherine McAauley Room Cahir 2 30 pm Wednesday 7th January 2009 new members are more than welcome and can be assured of a warm welcome. The results of the weekly cards game are as follows. 1st with 12 Games, Bob Condon, Paddy Halleran. 2nd 10 Games, Mary English, Bridget Condon. Lucky Table, .Tom McGrath, Tom O Mahoney. Mary Fitzgerald, Margaret Quinlan. Raffle, Red Burke, Peg Reidy. Cards continue to be played each Friday evening at the Catharine McAuley room Cahir @8.00 pm. Refreshments provided after the game. KNOCKGRAFFAN CARDS   Winners from previous week were Renee O'Connor/Timmy Fitzgerald on 12 games and in second place were Mary Anne Healy/Paddy Halloran with 11 games. Last week's winners were Jimmy Looby/Michael Murphy with 10 games and in second place on 8 games were Maurice Condon/Paudie Hartigan. Next Wednesday night the 17th is Christmas party night !!!!! All are welcome. KNOCKGRAFFAN OPEN COURSING CLUB The First and Second rounds of the McCarthy Cup (presented and sponsored by John McCarthy, Lavally Engineering Comapny).  were run on Sunday last over the Club's preserves.  The following are the Semi- Finalists, with the Winner receiving €500. Runner up €150.  each Semi- Finalist receives €25. Judge: - Michael Grimes  Slipper - David Grimes, D. O'Neill's Inis Mor v M. Cummins Matt's River C. Browns Maughera Flair - v S. Quirke's Shocking Rose Meet Sunday next at Ballingeary School at 12 noon.  the Club wishes a Happy Christmas to all Members, Sponsors, Landowners and Greyhound Owners and a Prosperous 2009. CAHIR SINGER / SONGWRITER RELEASES CD FOR CHARITY Local man John O’Brien or Johnny B as he is known has recorded some of his own songs as part of a new acoustic CD he has just released. The album is called ‘WRESTLE WITH THE DEVIL’ which is the name of the first song. John has taken the challenge of writing his own lyrics and putting them to music and then recording them. He has teamed up with South Tipp Hospice and the Cahir Chernobyl Children’s organisation to raise much needed funds over the next few months. The CDs are available from both organisations, some local shops and direct from John himself. This is a great achievement for a young local Cahir man, so please support him and both Charitable organisations. The CD will be officially launched at a function in Cahir House on January 23rd. SURECOM NS LTD WINS MUNSTER TITLE IN BUSINESS AWARD Surecom scooped the Munster Ulster Bank Business Achievers Award in the "one to watch" category at an awards ceremony in Cork this week.  the Ulster Ban Business Achievers Awards are now in its 15th year, is all about celebrating business success and showcasing achievements.  with almost 400 submissions this year, the Business Achievers model continues to be a great vehicle for all companies both North and South and is further proof of the optimism of small to medium sized enterprises (SME's).  Surecom  is now one of 28 companies selected across Ireland to compete in the National Finals in January 2009.  all national finalists are invited to make a business pitch "Dragons Den" style to teh team of eight high profile judges, teh judging team is chaired by Padraig O'Ceidigh, Chairman of Aer Arann.  Eddie Brown, Head of Invoice Finance at Ulster Bank, Maree Morrissey, Founder of the Irish Entrepreneur and Maeve Dineen, Business Editor of the Irish Independent Companies at the Provincial and National Finals are judged on sales performance, growth, milestone / achievements, vision, development of innovative products / services, importance of business to local area and the leadership and vision of the entrepreneur. Established in 2005, and headquartered in Cahir (with ofices in the Guiness Enterprise Centre in Dublin), Surecom is a leading provider of engineering solutions and services to the telecommunications and IT industry in Ireland and the UK.  they ahve a staff of 50 highly qualified and experienced engineers providing a single source of managed services to business partners such as 02, Meteor, Telefonica and Ericsson.  Key to their success is their level of technical competence and professionalsm. We wish Jim Sheehan and all his team the best of luck in teh National Finals in teh New Year. DISGUST AT LITTERING OUTSIDE OF CAHIR Sinn Fein spokesperson Michael Nugent has expressed disgust at the amount of litter on teh road side, particularly the new motorway outside Cahir.  The Council should place bins at the truck lay-bys and this should alleviate some of teh problem. ROSEMOUNT AREA RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION The Committee representing The Rosemount & General Area Residents Association would like to wish all a Very Happy Christmas.  There is nothing new to report and we are still waiting to hear back from Grangemore regarding tree planting.    The barrels were replanted with winter bedding and look great, except for the barrel on the way to the Heights which had its variegated grass stolen.  We hope to have our next meeting around the middle of January, we will print notification in the paper. Once again a Happy and Peaceful Christmas BINGO Winning continues at Bingo every Tuesday night. The lucky number was  €190 last night. The Sit-Besides are going down well too, with lots of people rewarded with a tin of sweets for just sitting beside a line winner. The Raffles for hampers are very popular too and our last one is next Tuesday.   Bingo is on every Tues over the festive period. There may also be an end of year bonanza on the quickies.. More next week. It's on every Tues in Community hall at 8.30 sharp.All are welcome. MARIA TAYLOR HAS SENT IN THE FOLLOWING: CAHIR BOYS NS The school is presenting a Christmas Show called " The Odd-Job Reindeer ". It  will be performed on Thursday, December 18th, at 1.30p.m. in the Parochial Hall. There are some surprises on the day and raffle tickets will be on sale for some great prizes. Tickets cost just €2. Entry to the show is also €2. What a great idea to put the show on there, with plenty of space for families and what fun for the children in the play to perform on stage. My grandson is in the play, so Im definitely going. Please show your support for their Christmas Show and make it a date to remember.   CAHIR COUNTRY MARKET   Make sure to get all your Christmas treats at the special Christmas Markets, on Friday 19th December and as the following Friday is St.Stephens Day there will also be a Market on Tuesday 23rd December instead. The Markets start at 9am and finishes at 11am. There will be Christmas Cakes, Puddings, Mince Pies, Yule Logs, Christmas Wreaths and Centrepieces for your Christmas table, plenty of Christmas Cards, Calendars and Gifts as well as all the usual produce . Many Thanks to the ladies for the beautiful gift of a centrepiece for my Christmas table. Christmas Wishes to you all.   LADRIGANS   Nice to see Ladrigans almost back to normal, I was getting worried there for a while. Well done to Ian Perrico for working so hard to make sure the shop now stocks the full range of your Grocery needs, Lotto, Newspapers and of course that very handy Deli Counter. Ladrigans has always been a life saver for all of us that live on the Tipperary Road. Once again Well Done Ian and Seasons Greetings to you and all the staff.   CHRISTMAS LIGHTS   There is no doubt about it, the Christmas Lights that are up and running around the town really do make a difference. They just make everything look so warm, inviting and Christmassy and lets face it , the children love them. Well Done to all the businesses who made that extra effort to add a little bit of Christmas cheer to the town by putting up their own Christmas lights, there are some beautifully decorated windows around too. I must say that Dolan's Supervalu, looks amazing by night.   THE FOOT   I'm delighted to hear that The Foot Bar is also open for business again, after fire destroyed the premises. Everyone has a soft spot for the place, and you are guaranteed a good time if you venture out that way. I heard they had a great opening night last Monday with some brilliant music and plenty craic. I was so sorry I couldnt make it on the night, but you can be sure that I will spend time there over the Christmas. Congratulations to all involved and Happy Christmas too.   NEWCASTLE VINTAGE CLUB The Club would like to remind everyone that Sponsor Cards are still available for The Annual P.J.Hyland Tractor Road Run in aid of The Luke McNab Fund and the Newcastle Playground. The Run is on 26th December, St.Stephens Day. The Run is open to all Tractors and for Insurance purposes, Driver only on all Tractors. No Passengers. Leaving Newcastle at 11a.m sharp. Please bring a packed Lunch. You can get Sponsor cards from any Club Member.   THANKS, MARIA.    TIPPERARY CONTINGENT PRESENT NATIONAL COMMUNITY ALERT CHRISTMAS CARD AWARD Pictured at the presentation of first prize in the National Community Alert Christmas Card Competition to Ciara Rafferty, 11 years, Dundalk,Co. Louth are: Deputy Mattie McGrath, TD for Tipperary South and Board Member of Muintir na Tíre; Mr Gerry Bunting, Competition Sponsor (Task Security Alarm Systems); Garda James Mangan; Garda Eugene Collins; Sergeant Pat Conway; Sergeant Niall Fetherstone; Mr Martin Quinn, National President of Muintir na Tíre, Tipperary Town and Mr Dermot Ahern TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.   Ciara received the award for designing a Christmas Card which helped to create a greater awareness of the value and benefits of Community Alert.  Every national school student in the country was invited to participate.  Among the cards sent in this year were entries on issues ranging from rural crime to caring for the elderly.   Community Alert is a community safety programme organised by voluntary groups in association with Muinter Na Tíre and the Gardaí.   READERS NEWS & VIEWS As always your information is very welcome at 10 Market Yard, Cahir, or 086 8405020 or email to me at calvertmaureen@hotmail.com by Monday morning please.