Yesteryears in Tipperary: Married on Saturday, played Munster senior football final on Sunday!
For this week’s YESTERYEARS feature we go back all of 30 years to our edition dated July 17, 1993, where two Northern Ireland born personalities featured on the front page of The Nationalist, one a politican and the other a sportsperson.
Cllr Susan Meagher, who was born in county Derry, created history when elected as the first-ever female chairperson of South Tipperary County Council in its 94 year history. The Ballingarry-based Fianna Fáil councillor had only been co-opted onto the Council the previous December following the death of her husband Ned.
In an emotive and poignant acceptance speech Cllr Meagher paid tribute to her late husband and asked members to observe a minute’s silence in his honour.
On what was described as “Ladies Day” by Cllr Jack Crowe, the only other female member on the council, Deputy Theresa Ahearn (Fine Gael), was elected vice-chairperson.
In a separate story, Eamonn Wynne reported on the pending wedding that weekend at Powerstown Church of a Clonmel couple, Moyle Rovers and Tipperary footballer John Owens, Boherduff, to Marlfield stunner Annette Walsh.
It was to be a very special and busy weekend for the county Down born footballer who on the day following the wedding was to line out with the Tipperary seniors in the Munster final at Semple Stadium against Cork, the county’s first appearance in the senior provincial decider in 49 years.
John, who a few years earlier had helped Tipperary to a famous Munster minor final win over Kerry in Killarney, assured all Tipperary supporters that he would be taking care of himself “to a huge degree” at the wedding reception which was to be held in the Clonmel Arms Hotel and that he wouldn’t be doing anything “wild.”
The refusal of Minister Ruairi Quinn, to meet a joint deputation from Clonmel Corporation and South Tipperary County Council, to discuss the saving of 1,200 computer jobs for Clonmel, was strongly attacked by local councillors. The Minister came under a barrage of criticism after giving “a heavy parliamentary and departmental schedule” as his reasons for not meeting a deputation concerning the AST Research computer plant. The California based company put their proposed Clonmel factory and IDA talks on a 90-day hold after the company purchased a factory in Scotland just prior to the expected official announcement.