FR MICHAEL O'DONOGHUE’S GOLDEN JUBILEE ON JUNE 14TH
Fr Michael O'Donoghue will be celebrating his 50 Year Golden Jubilee of his Ordination to Priesthood this week. Under current restrictions, the celebrations must be postponed but tune in to 10am mass at Holy Trinity Church, Newark, UK on Sunday June 14th and celebrate this wonderful occasion with him. Visit http://www.holytrinitynewark.org.uk/ to connect to the livestream.
CLUB REGISTRATION REMAINS OPEN ONLINE
Registration for 2020 remains open online for the moment through this link. Anyone who has not registered yet is asked to do so as soon as possible before the club re-opens shortly. With limited access to GAA grounds going forward, only registered members/players will be allowed to access the walking track, playing pitches etc as all persons on the property will need to be signed in and out with certain checks on arrival and departure. We will announce shortly a date for re-opening for members.
SHARE THE POT
SHARE THE POT is a new ONLINE club draw put in place during the pandemic, while our regular lotto is still suspended. The concept is simple: Buy a ticket for €10 here to enter four draws (€2.50 into the pot for each draw). Every two weeks, there will be a live draw online and Spa GAA club and the winning ticket will split the total in the pot 50/50! First draw will take place LIVE on our club facebook page this Friday June 12th 2020! **The usual Spa Lotto remains suspended for the foreseeable future and the expiry dates of annual tickets and online tickets will be extended to compensate for weeks when Lotto is not held.
PHASE 2 BEGINS MONDAY JUNE 8th
The main points from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's announcement on Friday for the next stages of re-opening the country – There will be an acceleration of the road map for re-opening the country. There will now be 4 phases instead of 5 - Phase 2 to start next Monday June 8th, Phase 3 to start Monday June 29th and Phase 4 to start on Monday July 20th. All phases will be monitored over the coming weeks and people are reminded that, if needed, the re-opening process can be amended if the spread of the virus increases again. The main points of Friday’s announcement are:
· A ban on mass gatherings is expected to remain in place until the autumn
· Continue to practice good hygiene, stay 2m apart, keep washing hands and while advised to do so, it will not be legally enforced to wear face coverings
· Those in the ‘at risk’ categories that have been cocooning can welcome a small number of visitors to their homes from Monday June 8th for a short visit. Shops are asked to establish dedicated shopping hours specifically for those in the at-risk groups
· Recommendation is to continue to avoid unnecessary travel and stay local where possible. However, people can travel anywhere within their own county or up to 20km from home, whichever is father. Travel limits will be removed completely from June 29th
· Up to 6 people can meet either indoors or outdoors but are asked to keep 2m apart
· Up to 15 people can meet for outdoor activities
· Working from home will still be the norm for those that can continue to do so
· Up to 25 people can attend funerals from Monday June 8th
· Public libraries can re-open on Monday June 8th
· A new education programme to run over the summer for children needing extra support will be announced shortly
· Outdoor amenities for children can open, such as supervised visits to playgrounds, outdoor camps etc with max 15 people
· Elite athletes can return to training facilities
· Marts and greyhound tracks can re-open
· ALL shops can re-open from Monday, but they are asked to have staggered hours so as to not overwhelm public transport
Stores in shopping malls can open from Monday June 15th (but no seating areas in shopping malls or food courts etc where people might gather)
· The Tourism & Hospitality sectors can return from Monday June 29th. Hotels, B&B’s, caravan parks, visitor attractions, museums etc can re-open from the 29th. Only bars that serve food can re-open (with table service only), and restaurants can also re-open on June 29th.
· Places of worship can resume services from June 29th
· Hairdressers, nail technicians etc cannot re-open until Phase 4 on July 20th
RE-OPENING OF SPA GAA
It looks like we'll have a return to GAA before long! Following the national guidelines set out on Friday, the GAA have announced possible return to training before the end of June, club competition returning before the end of July and inter-county championships starting in October! Details to be confirmed shortly on the re-start of activity in Spa but important to note that access to the club grounds will be strictly limited and ONLY registered club members will be allowed on the pitches, walking track etc when we are open.
VOLUNTEERS AVAILABLE
While Phase 2 commenced this week, we want to remind people that help is still available if anyone needs it, both through the Club and the Community Volunteer programme. Kerry Community Volunteers (tel 1800 807 009 / text 50555 / email covidsupport@kerrycoco.ie) OR to contact the club directly: Club Secretary (0876332773), Michael (0858213027), Conor (0872565142) or Deirdre (0851216359).
SPA ARCHIVES
Thank you to everyone who is sending in photos, programmes, newspaper clippings etc of Spa over the years! We are going through our history of teams, events and members over the years, and they can be found on our website (spagaa.com) or our social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). If you have any old photos, newspaper clippings, programmes etc, please send them on to 0851216359 (text or what’s app), email pro.spa.kerry@gaa.ie or private message our Spa social media pages.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL BUSINESSES RE-OPENING
As Phase 2 begins this week, we want to wish the best of luck to all businesses that are re-opening! A lot of work is needed to get the country back up & running and we are asking everyone to Support Local Business!
SYMPATHY
Our deepest condolences to our Health & Wellbeing Officer Margaret Doyle and to all the O'Keeffe family on the passing of her father Con O'Keeffe RIP, Ballaugh. May he Rest in Peace.
LIBRARY RE-OPENING
As part of the Phase 2 re-opening, Killarney & Tralee libraries will open this week, but they have a ‘Call & Collect’ service only. Library users who wish to avail of this service can contact the library on 0646632655 or Killarney@kerrylibrary.ie and they will be allocated a day and time of collection. Books, CD’s & DVD’s currently on loan may also be returned as part of this service.
KERRY LADIES FOOTBALL UPDATE
Kerry LGFA have announced that they are committed to providing meaningful competition at all age groups for 2020. A fixtures program is currently being finalised by the fixtures committee and will be emailed to clubs no later than Sunday 14th June
ITEMS FOR NOTES
Any items for the club notes please contact Deirdre at pro.spa.kerry@gaa.ie or 0851216359 before 8pm on Sundays.