Page 11 - Simon Bourke News Today

The cost of living crisis is not only driving more families into emergency accommodation, it is also causing a decrease in the number of people capable of fostering children in Co Wexford. Describing the “urgent need” for more people to become foster parents in the county, Eithne Larkin of Origins Foster Care (OFC) said the cohort of people who would ordinarily foster children are gradually ageing out as the Irish family dynamic changes.

As the housing crisis continues to impact families across the county, one local animal rescue organisation says more and more people are having to abandon pets after losing their homes. Peter Myles of South East Animal Rescue (SEAR), which is based in Enniscorthy, says many people are coming to him “in tears” after realising they have nowhere to put their pets.

While Luke Littler has been wowing audiences on the world stage with performances unbecoming of a 16-year-old, the greatest darts player to ever come out of Wexford can recall taking on all comers from an even younger age. Now aged 74, Billy O’Brien, who is from Ballycogley, won his first major senior tournament at the age of 13 and was remunerated accordingly.

Sinn Féin TD Johnny Mythen has called on his fellow Wexford TDs to support his party’s proposals to scrap the TV licence and fund RTÉ and other public service media through direct exchequer funding.

The resolve of those on the picket lines outside the former Great Southern Hotel is now stronger than ever despite a tumultuous meeting last month which saw its former co-ordinating committee tender their resignation. That meeting had been called to discuss the proposed mediation with the developer of the site, Mr Aidan Gallagher, who wishes to turn the old hotel into an International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centre rather than the nursing home which had originally been planned.

Personal heirlooms, including medals, photographs and documents from those involved in the fighting, form part of a new exhibition on The War of Independence and Civil War in Wexford Library. Commissioned by Wexford County Council Library Service and scripted by Celestine Murphy, historian, the exhibition traces the progression of the war in the county beginning with the death of John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party on March 6, 1918.

Planning permission has been granted for the construction of 81 new houses at Greenville Lane, Enniscorthy.

A crew from Rosslare Harbour RNLI has come to the assistance of a vessel which was left stranded after its propeller became entangled two miles north of the harbour.

One of the most controversial chapters in Wexford’s history is to be brought to the stage as part of a collaboration between The National Opera House and The Irish College of Music Theatre. Irish Affair - A Love Story for All Time documents the infamous Fethard Boycott of the 1950s which began following the marriage of Sean Cloney, a Catholic, and Sheila Kelly, a Protestant.

A plot of land which has already received planning permission for 16 new houses is up for sale in Rosslare Harbour. The land, which is situated directly across from Murphy’s Super Valu and has a mass of 0.6 acres, is being sold by Claude Howlin auctioneers with price available upon application.