Kicking off with an overview of what's going on this summer

Broadcaster and journalist John Lynch begins his new Leitrim Observer column this week:

First of all can I start off this particular column by expressing my pride at having the opportunity of taking up this monthly piece with the Leitrim Observer.
The arrival of the Observer into the house and being read carefully by my late parents is a long term memory and now all those years later it’s a genuine pleasure to have the opportunity to put pen to paper and share a few of my own views and opinions on a number of different subjects that concern the region.
The dust has finally started to settle on the recent council elections and once again there was plenty of drama in the three municipal districts. The new council and the country in general will be facing some major challenges in the time ahead, Brexit is still as unpredictable as ever and will impact the border region fairly hard. In other political movements the government seem to be reacting in a major way to the green swing which was in the main urban basedareas and the new climate plan will signal a huge change for us all in years to come.
It will also come with a major cost factor, some are weary of change but will have little choice but to move with the times or pay through the nose for old habits such as driving petrol or diesel cars in the years ahead.
The biggest challenge on a local level to face local authorities in the coming years is the threat to rural Ireland. The battle against afforestation is nothing new in this region, the lack of once off planning permission is another major challenge and of course with what is being proposed with fracking just across the border in Fermanagh.
On the agricultural front there is a lot of unrest at present, the decision by Europe to agree to the Mercusor deal could not have come at a worse time for local farmers. The deal may be good news for the likes of large European car manufactures that will look to provide cars to the likes of Brazil and Argentina.
And although Phil Hogan is claiming the deal is good news for the dairy industry in Ireland, for beef farmers it’s an absolute disaster to open the market to South American beef. In an era where the environment and climate change is supposed to be top of everybody’s agenda the fact that rain forests are being cut down in South America to provide extra land to graze cattle on to prepare them for slaughter and then fly the beef from south America to Europe seems to fly in the face of any attempts to make the world more environmentally friendly.

Super 8s

We are now down to super 8 stage of the football championship and there will be fun and games for the next few weeks. For Leitrim 2019 will be remembered as the year that promotion was achieved from division four of the Allianz Football League. The championship was always going to be a completely different challenge. The Connacht championship exit at the hands of a Roscommon side that went on to secure provincial glory is well discussed by now. There may well be a changing of the structures in the championship from next year and the proposed changes seem to be securing support from most stakeholders. The players views have to be taken into consideration before any changes should be made, and whereas a few years ago everyone wanted to be in the All Ireland championship and nothing else the mood has changed and it now seems players in developing counties are up for giving a new style format a chance at least. Leitrim will take positives a plenty from 2019 and next year’s Allianz League will be something to look forward to.
On a local level the importance of the provincial championships was brought home to me as recently as last week when St Ronan’s GAA Club and the Miners Bar in Arigna staged a celebration night to mark Roscommon’s Connacht championship success. The crowd was huge as the young and not so young of the parish celebrated the arrival of the Nestor Cup and of course welcomed Paddy Joe Burke to the north of the county.
It was a fantastic night and it showed what winning a Connacht championship was about to passionate GAA fans. Finally can I extend my congratulations to all connected with Leitrim hurling.
The success in Lory Meagher Cup this year was a fitting reward for all the hard work that the loyal and seriously committed hurling diehards have invested into the sport over many long years. I was fortunate enough to be on commentary duty for Pundit Arena for the BOI Celtic Challenge final against Longford. It was a convincing victory for Leitrim and the signs for the future are positive.