As reported in the media a month ago, Kildare County Council are left with three remaining potential landfill sites to replace Silliot Hill near Kilcullen. One is at Usk, south of Kilcullen and another is at Newtowndonore between Robertstown and Caragh. However the site on agricultural lands very close to Drehid House is what concerns Tir na Mona most. Though Kildare needs to have a dump somewhere and though the waste buried there would have been tied in bales first, much of the traffic to this site would certainly pass through our are and would be unacceptable. The surveyors’ report on these three remaining sites (of an original 80 odd) will be given to the County Council Environment Dept in June. Environmental Impact Statements for each site will be drawn up and submissions from interested parties in the various communities welcomed. We must be prepared with such a submission by then. A strong case against any such development must be ready, based squarely on planning grounds.

This situation has been responsible for the cancellation of the St Patrick’s day parade which he had hoped to be represented at. It ahs also caused the postponement of the Annual Clean-up Day, scheduled for Sat March 10th. We are hoping to reschedule it for sat. April 28th, with the agreement of the County Council who provide the 9 skips.

Congratulations to all concerned, chiefly Shirley Higgins and Dessie O’Leary, for all the years of organisation and planning which is finally about to bear fruit. Last Friday (March 30th) I witnessed the unloading of seven bales of 4” and 6” plastic piping outside the entrance to Donadea forest Park. The pipe-laying work will hopefully have started by the time you read this. Feargal Mac Eoin, Chairman, Tir na Mona

COMMUNITY & DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Due to the continuing threat of F.M.D., it is important for us all to do our best to keep this awful disease out of our country. We should adhere to the strict guidelines of The Dept. of Agriculture.
Do not visit farms
Do not go on country walks through fields, woodlands, bogs or hills.
Do not allow your dogs or other animals to stray about from place to place
Put down disinfectant mats or disinfectant straw at the entrance to your house or farm.
Have a footbath available at your premises
Alert visitors to dip their footwear in the footbath on arrival.
Keep yourself updated on the daily announcements regarding restrictions and guidelines.
As a weak acid or a strong alkali kills F.M.D., old products such as Hydrated Lime (Builders Lime) and Citric Acid have emerged as low cost-effective disinfectants that are in good supply.
Either product can be obtained from your local hardware store or chemist. Hydrated Lime should be used at a 2% dilution rate (200 gms.in 10 litres) Citric Acid at £3/Kg should be used at 0.2% dilution (20gms in 10 litres) Handle both of those products with care, avoid contact with skin, and protect eyes from splashes. Replenish footbaths daily with fresh disinfectant, dispose of spent solution away from watercourses and ditches. With each of us playing our part, hopefully we will be successful in keeping this disease out of our country.

A brown cocker spaniel has been found in the Derry area. Contact Anne @ 863543

Young people may make comments such as “Everyone drinks, there’s nothing wrong with it”. Many believe being able to drink makes them more grown-up. You can support young people in resisting pressure from others to drink by letting them know that it’s more adult to make their own decisions and not be led by others. Reassure them that it’s okay to say “No”. RESPECT

It should be emphasised that it is wrong to force or trick other people into drinking. Drinking contests, dares, or “spiking” (secretly adding pills or alcohol to someone else’s drink) are dangerous practices. If a friend doesn’t want to drink alcohol, this choice should be respected.
Promoting discussion on alcohol is important, as many young people are misinformed about it. They may not be aware of its potential harm long and short term. It is important to facilitate discussion in order to hear what they are saying and thinking.
Research shows that teaching about alcohol does have effects, and is most effective when done bit by bit over a period of time. Having listened to what these young people have to say about alcohol, you could make the points that
A good social life can be enjoyed without alcohol.
No substance has the power to confer maturity, success or popularity (contrary to what some Drink Ads. Promote!)
Maturity is something we grow into and work towards by facing up to life’s challenges. There is no short cut to growing up. Using alcohol as an escape can, in fact, delay the maturing process.
You could also make them aware that too much alcohol consumption can lead to weight problems, spoil good looks, reduce fitness, affect school work, cause embarrassment, hangovers and sickness.
DEATH
Alcohol is a drug and taken in excess, it can impair judgement, co-ordination and self-control. More young accidental deaths are caused each year by alcohol than by all other drugs put together.
ADDICTION
Alcohol can be addictive when used regularly over a long period.
BEHAVIOR
Alcohol makes people less inhibited, so they sometimes say and do things they wouldn’t think of doing when sober.
PERMANENT DAMAGE
Excessive long-term use of alcohol can damage the liver, heart, stomach, pancreas and brain.
DEPENDENCE
People who drink habitually may start to rely on alcohol as a crutch to escape from their problems.
DRINKING AND DRUGS
Mixing alcohol with drugs, whether prescribed, over the counter or illegal, is highly dangerous. The cumulative effect when taking them together is magnified, and unconsciousness even death can occur.

‘The only certain measure of success at work is to give more and better service than is expected of you’. Og Mandino I went to the dark end of the storehouse, pressed my forehead against the wall and indulged myself in a few moments of quiet despair. Was this the way it would be for the rest of my working life? Here I was, two years out of school, working at yet another mindless, low-pay, dead-end job. Up to this point, I had avoided asking the question by just not thinking about it, but now, for some reason, the awful possibility had come crashing down on me. The thought drained every bit of energy from my body. I clocked out sick, went home to bed, pulled the covers over my head, and tried to forget about tomorrow and all the tomorrows that would follow.
By morning I was a little more composed, but no less depressed. Dejected, I went back to work and resumed my hopeless drudgery.

There were several new guys on the job that morning — temporary workers that were even lower down the ladder than me. One of them caught my eye. He was older than the others and wearing a uniform. The company didn’t issue uniforms — in fact, the company didn’t care what you wore as long as you showed up. But this guy was decked out in smartly pressed trousers and work shirt, complete with his name, Jim, embroidered on the pocket. I guess he supplied himself with the uniform.
I watched him all that day and the rest of the days he worked with us. He worked at a steady, unhurried pace. He was friendly to everyone he worked with, but rarely talked while he was working. He took the designated breaks at mid-morning and afternoon with everyone else, but unlike many others, he never lingered past the allotted time.
At lunchtime, some of the crew brought their lunch in plastic bags, but most of us got our meals and drinks from the vending machines. Jim didn’t do either. He ate his lunch from an old-fashioned steel lunch box and drank his coffee from a Thermos flask - both of them well-worn with use. Sometimes people would be a little careless about cleaning up after themselves. Jim’s place at the table was spotless, and, of course, he was always back on the assembly line exactly on time. He wasn’t just odd, he was outstanding! He was the kind of worker employers dream of. Despite that, the other workers liked him too. He didn’t try to show anybody up. He did what was asked of him, no more, no less. He didn’t gossip, complain or argue. He just did his job - common labour - with more personal dignity than I had thought possible with this kind of manual work. His attitude and every action proclaimed that he was a professional. Labouring work might be common - he wasn’t.
When the temporary work was finished, Jim left for another job, but the impression he made on me remained. Even though I had never talked to him, he had made a huge impression on me. I did the best I could to follow his example.
I didn’t buy a lunch box or a uniform, but I did start setting my own standards. I worked like a professional fulfilling a contract, just the way Jim had done. To my great surprise, the managers noticed my new productivity and promoted me. A few years later, I promoted myself to a better-paying job with a different company. And so it went. Eventually, many companies and many years later, I started a business of my own.
Whatever success I’ve had has been the result of hard work and good luck, but I think the biggest part of my luck was the lesson I learned from Jim so long ago. Respect doesn’t come from the kind of work you do - it comes from the way you do the work.

Kenneth L. Shipley
(Article from Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work, by Jack Canfield p 283)

TABLE OF EVENTS, IN THE COMMUNITY

11th April Raffle in Staplestown School
20th April Table Quiz in St. Kevin’s, Staplestown @ 9.30 p.m.
25th April Final date for articles for the May issue of the MONA
25th April Timahoe Active Age Social, lounge, Kelly’s Bar, 8 p.m.
27th April Table Quiz in Kelly’s Lounge @ 9.30 p.m
29th April Sale of Work, St. Kevin’s starting at 2 p.m.
3rd May Timahoe Ladies Club, Kelly’s Bar @ 8 p.m.

Articles for the MONA Newsletter can now be dropped into the TIR na MONA office in the Bord na Mona Works, Timahoe. If possible please supply articles on disc in Microsoft Word format. If you have an event happening during the first week of the month please let us know about it in time for the previous issue as it take approx. 10 days to produce the MONA. The April issue was put together by David Curtiss, Hugh Maher, Sarah Higgins Paula Kelly and Lisa Ward.

If you have an article, advertisement or news item you would like to include in this newsletter, please contact:

Staplestown, Mary Murphy 869416,

Timahoe, Hugh Maher,

Timahoe, Sonia Higgins,

Timahoe, Bernard Owens 863676,

Coill Dubh, Rosaleen 860023 (school),

Donadea, Bernadette Crean 869118

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