Many skills of young on show
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Seamus Coffey with a selection of the discarded clocks that he has refurbished.Image 2 of 5
Martha Koruacka with a selection of her work at the market.Image 3 of 5
Khloe McCarthy and Jane O’Connell with engraved plaques and minature hurley to commemorate the 2025 All-Ireland Senior Championship.Image 4 of 5
Aoife Carroll with a selection of the cards and book she created.Image 5 of 5
Community Garda Brian Mulcahy, Patrick Ryan and Seamus Coffey at the market at the Community Centre, Newport.The entrepreneurship and creative skills of many within the local community sparkled through the variety on offer at the stalls at annual Christmas Market.
One of the stall holders at the event at the Community Centre, Newport was being described as a man who likes “good time-keeping” although retired and the reference was being made to his new found hobby.
Many of the younger set demonstrated a mirth of talent in designing and making using wool, wood, ceramics and recycling in a variety of ways and range of skills.
Polish-born Martha Korvacka, who is studying at UL, presented a stunning variety of colourful wool crochet work, with which she has the assistance of her mother, Ewa, in configuring.
Wooden plaques and miniature hurleys engraved with the final score of the memorable 2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final between Tipperary and Cork were on offer by Khloe McCarthy (Newport) and Jane O'Connell (Ahane).
Newport's Aoife Carroll demonstrated her high level of creative skill in design by the selection of self-designed and hand-made cards for different occasions, to which she has added a story book for young readers on the adventures of the elf, very colourful and very well presented.
In his retirement, the former college caretaker, Seamus Coffey is on course to have plenty of “good time” as demonstrated on his stand.
Multi-talented, Seamus has turned to giving old discarded and worn out clocks a new lease of life as a hobby. Some of the selection on display at his stand still had the character of the old times about them and had been aided with a new lease of life by the repair.
He is very much a man contributing to the circular economy which has become so much talked about, but he is actually making the effort.
Some people bring old clocks to him that are no longer functional and he picks up others discarded as having reached their end of life.
“It usually involved repairing or replacing some of the works or the entire mechanism before returning them or selling them for a few euros,” he explained.
“It is something that I enjoy doing, and I enjoy seeing them going again, but I'll never make a fortune out of it,” he added.
Being held entirely under the one roof for the first time, the weather was less of an issue this year, and throughout there was a great buzz among the large attendance.