Metro Herald, Thursday, April 24, 2014 by Metro Herald

Thursday, April 24, 2014

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Fatal fire family ‘mistake’

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Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Cathaoirleach Carrie Smyth laughs with Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill, while Tommy Hanrahan and other sports fanatics showed off their ball skills at the opening of an allweather pitch at Marlay Park Picture: Jason clarke

THE WIFE and children of an Irish-based by Emma Sword doctor were killed by arsonists who targetfor the fatal stabbing of their friend, Antoin ed the wrong house, a court has heard. The innocent family perished in a petrol- Akpom, hours earlier. The prosecutor told the jury the Taufiq fuelled blaze at their home when it was mistakenly targeted in a revenge attack follow- family had no connection to the incident involving Mr Akpom or the eight defendants. ing the fatal stabbing of a fitness coach. The court heard that Mr Akpom had been Shehnila Taufiq, 47, her 19-year-old daughter Zainab, and sons Bilal, 17, and stabbed in the back in a ‘confrontation’ inJamal, 15, died when the fire engulfed their volving two 19-year-olds, Hussain Hussain terraced house in Wood Hill, Leicester, in and Abdul Hakim, at around 5.30pm on September 12, less than a mile away in Kent the early hours of September 13 last year. Neurosurgeon Dr Taufiq Sattar was work- Street. He was pronounced dead at 7pm. Mr Latham told the court the fire was ing in Dublin at the time of the blaze and had spoken to his family just an hour before started when petrol was poured through the letterbox of the Taufiqs’ home and ignited. the fire was set, the court heard. Kemo Porter, 19, Tristan Richards, 22, The blaze took hold at the bottom of the staircase, trapping the family, Nathaniel Mullings, 19, who were asleep upstairs. Shaun Carter, 24, Jackson Hussain was jailed for life Powell, 20, Aaron Webb, 20, with a minimum term of 15 Aaron Jeffers, 21, and a 17years for Mr Akpom’s muryear-old youth who cannot be der earlier this month. named for legal reasons, each The jury was told Hakim’s deny murdering the family. mother lived two doors down Opening the Crown’s case from the arson attack on the against the eight defendants Taufiq family home. Mr in their trial at Nottingham Latham said: ‘They simply Crown Court yesterday, got the wrong house – a tragQueen’s counsel Richard edy.’ The trial was adjourned Latham told the jury the fire until 10am today. was a ‘retribution process’ Tragedy: Dr Taufiq Sattar

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METRO HERALD Thursday, April 24, 2014

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Fashion Revolution Day Marking a year since the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, Fashion Revolution Day encourages people to wear an item of clothing inside out to raise awareness of ethical production

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Barbra Streisand, singer, 72; Enda Kenny, Taoiseach, 63; Eamon Gilmore, Tánaiste, 59; Aidan Gillen, actor (pictured), 46; Steve Finnan, Ireland footballer, 38; Kelly Clarkson, singer, 32.

The solutions from 1 to 12 are all six-letter words ending with the letter R in the centre. Moving clockwise from 1, the letters in the outer circle will spell out the name of an Irish football club.

1. Accounts book 2. Public speaker 3. Integer 4. Puttee 5. Bloom 6. First batsman

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Clergyman Medic Bell ringer Of the eye Metal joiner Chat

Yesterday’s solution: Tom Wilkinson

Weather Weather Today

Max: 15°c

A lot of dry weather with some good sunny spells. However well scattered showers will develop, and later in the day a few of those showers may turn heavy in parts of the west and northwest. Temperatures between 12°C and 15°C in light to moderate Southeasterly winds.

14�C

Derry

Donegal

14�C

14�C Belfast

Cavan

Galway

14�C

Athlone

Dublin

15�C

Tipperary

13�C

Waterford

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Tonight

13�C

12�C Sunrise: 6.06am Sunset: 8.42pm

Min: 3°c

Mainly dry and with clear periods, so again it's expected to turn cold overnight. Temperatures between 3°C and 6°C in light southeasterly winds.

EUROPE today

Tomorrow A dry start will turn rather cloudy with the showery rain from the southwest becoming widespread across the country. Temperatures between 11°C and 14°C in moderate to fresh southerly winds.

Athens

14�C 14�C 14�C 12�C

11�C

22 °c

20 °c Berlin 20 °c

Barcelona

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Max: 14°c

Brussels London

18 °c 14 °c

Madrid

21 °c 18 °c

Paris

19 °c

Rome

22 °c

Geneva

Thursday, April 24, 2014 METRO HERALD

1014 ‘based on Troy’ Was Battle of Clontarf war fiction? by bEn kEnDALL A KEY account of the Battle of Clontarf may have been fabricated, a researcher has claimed. Widely accepted accounts of the battle fought on April 23, 1014, were a ‘pseudo-history’ borrowed from the tale of Troy, according to an academic from the University of Cambridge. The battle has been characterised as a clash between the army of Irish High King, Brian Boru, and a combined force led by Dublin-based Vikings. The disputed outcome saw the Vikings beaten, but at huge cost – Brian himself was killed, and became a heroic figure. According to Dr Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, the account titled Cogadh Gaedhel Ré Gallaibh or The War Of The Irish Against The Foreigners – was really a work of fiction aiming to cement Ireland’s legendary past in the context of a classical tradition. Dr Ní Mhaonaigh claims in her new book Classical Literature And Learning In Medieval Irish Narrative that the account of the battle ‘was crafted to create a version of events the equivalent of Troy’ and that the imagery in it draws inspiration from earlier sources – in particular Tógáil Troi (The Destruction of Troy), an 11thcentury translation of a fifth-century account of the battle for Troy.

All a bard! It’s Shakes on a plane

Streep: ‘I was too ugly to act’ SHE has had more mentions in Oscar speeches than God. But Meryl Streep has said she thought she’d never get hired when starting out in the 1970s because she hated her nose and wore glasses. ‘I thought I was too ugly to be an actress. Glasses weren’t fabulous then,’ the 64-year-old said while accepting an honourary doctorate at Indiana University. Her doubts continued. ‘When I was 40, I was offered three witches in one summer,’ she said. ‘And I thought: OK, this is it.’ Her advice to aspiring actresses: ‘The people who look different are the ones who get hired. I used to hate my nose. Now I don’t. It’s OK.’

Travel back in Google time

Warmonger: A participant in the reenactment of the Battle of Clontarf in St Anne’s Park on Sunday picture: pa

THEY’RE not his most famous works, but high-flying theatre buffs were treated to Romeo and easyJet – after the taming of the crew. Comedy troupe The Reduced Shakespeare Company smashed the world record for the highest theatrical performance when the trio

acted out an abridged version of the playwright’s works at 11,277m (37,000ft) for the ladies and gentlemen on the flight to Verona. They performed at the front of the plane to mark the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth yesterday. EasyJet’s Paul Moore said: ‘We hoped to set a Guinness

WITH Google you can now travel back through time. That is as far back as 2007, which is when the web giant’s mapping service launched. In an update to Google’s Street View feature. users can see how places have changed by clicking on a new clock icon in the corner of the screen. This allows users to move a scrollbar which can change the year and even season of the area or building they are currently looking at. In a post on the official Google blog, Google Street View product manager Vinay Shet said: ‘If you’ve ever dreamt of being a time traveller like Doc Brown, now’s your chance.’

World Record in the process for the highest ever theatrical performance as well as providing a highly entertaining show for passengers.’ The show on the flight, which took off from Gatwick, was also to support a bid to make April 23 the UK’s National Shakespeare Day.

Seat 2B or not 2B?: The Reduced Shakespeare Company during their mid-air performance pictures: pa

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METRO HERALD Thursday, April 24, 2014

Union chief tells teachers conference of online ‘abuse’ by jOAnnE AHERn

INTERNAL divisions again overshadowed education matters at the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) annual conference yesterday as its general secretary Pat King told delegates he had been the subject of online death threats. Mr King said he had been ‘bullied and abused on a website run and moderated by ASTI members’. He added: ‘Included on the website and left on the website by the moderators for weeks was a death threat for me and, worse still, despicable references to my children and grandchildren.’ ASTI FightBack, which runs the Facebook page, said the messages had been removed, and that Mr King’s raising of the issue was part of a smear campaign. Mr King also strongly rebuked members who heckled and jeered education minister Ruairí Quinn as he addressed

the conference on Tuesday. An angry exchange between teachers outside the conference hall saw one teacher say ASTI FightBack is not representative of ASTI and they’re Proposal: Quinn ‘sick of it’. However, a young Dublin-based teacher responded that the education system was being ‘dismantled’ under Mr King’s leadership. He said: ‘They’re doing nothing about it, We’re all frustrated. They’re standing by and watching it happen.’ Meanwhile, Mr Quinn was at the Teachers’ Union of Ireland conference in Kilkenny yesterday to announce proposed changes to higher and further education which would see teachers work through the summer.

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A DECISION on water charges will be made by the Government ‘in the next ten days’, environment minister Phil Hogan has said. The minister appealed to householders to cooperate with water meter installers as dozens of residents in the Ashbrook Heights estate in Togher in Cork city disrupted work for a second day, with gardaí intervening. There was also a protest against water charges in Raheny in north Dublin yesterday, but the demonstration did not disrupt installation.

has teamed up with Sky Ireland for a live 3D broadcast of the canonisation of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II (right). The screening will be held in the college chapel on Sunday and is open to members of the public from 9am. A regular Sunday mass service will follow at the Drumcondra church at 11.30am. Fr Eugene Curran of All Hallows College said that it is ‘proud to be part of this unique broadcasting moment’.

‘Gay couples are being snubbed by PhoneWatch’s wedding retailers’ expansion to POLLS may indicate Irish people create 230 jobs are likely to back the introduction of

same-sex marriage in next year’s referendum, but Marian Purcell, who runs information site Gay Weddings Ireland, has claimed gay couples are often snubbed by more conservative wedding retailers. Ms Purcell, who is hosting Cork’s first equality wedding show today, said suppliers who oppose gay marriage risk losing out on a bonanza next year. A gay wedding show is planned for Dublin to coincide with Gay Pride Week in June. See Facebook. com/equalityweddings.ie.

HoME security company PhoneWatch is to create 230 jobs with a countrywide expansion. Recruitment will begin immediately for the roles, including engineering, sales and operational positions. New offices will be opened in Dublin, Cork and ten other locations nationwide, in what jobs minister Richard Bruton called a boost for regional employment. PhoneWatch already employs 150 people in Ireland. Set up by Eircom, it was sold to Norwegian company Sector Alarm Corporation last year.

Penneys looks to crack US market PENNEYS is to open stores in the US as it looks to replicate the success behind a 26 per cent jump in profits in the last six months. The Irish retail chain, called Primark in the UK, which has 269 stores across Europe, expects its first US shop will begin trading in Boston towards the end of next year. Negotiations are underway to open further stores in 2016. Primark, part of Associated British Foods, will look to build on its continued strong performance in Europe after its sales rose 14 per cent to €2.8billion in the 24 weeks to March 1.

Thursday, April 24, 2014 METRO HERALD

Riots in Rio as police are blamed for favela killing by AiDAn RADnEDgE

pictures: pa

Other ‘Maddies’ assaulted at resort A GIRL of ten was sexually assaulted in the same Portuguese resort from which Madeleine McCann vanished seven years ago, it has emerged. The child, described as white British, was attacked in Praia da Luz in 2005 – two years before Maddie, then three, was snatched – but has only just come forward. It is one of six new cases – including one ‘near miss’, where the assailant was disturbed before he could harm the victim – to come to light since British police launched a fresh appeal last month.

wORDs On THE wing: Singer Paul Simon and Marie Heaney, wife of the late poet Seamus Heaney, are pictured at the unveiling of a specially-commissioned tapestry entitled Out Of The Marvellous (inset) above the Departures floor of Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport in honour of the late poet who died last August aged 74

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VIOLENCE has erupted in Rio de Janeiro as protesters enraged by the death of a 25-year-old man lit fires and hurled homemade explosives in the city’s main tourist area. Gunfire was exchanged when members of an elite police unit moved into the PavaoPavaozinho favela, less than two months before Brazil hosts the World Cup. Residents blamed police for killing dancer Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira, whose body was found earlier in the day. His death triggered a violent backlash as groups of young rioters began lighting fires throughout the slum and showering Copacabana’s main avenues with missiles. ‘The police beat my friend to death, just like they’ve tortured and killed in other communities,’ said Johanas Mesquita, 23. Yesterday the mother of Mr Pereira said her son’s body had ‘perforation’ wounds which were inconsistent with official claims that he fell to his death. Rio police refused to comment, saying they are still investigating the death. Authorities have stepped up efforts to drive drug gangs out of Rio’s slums as part of a security push before June’s tournament and the Olympics in 2016.

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METRO HERALD Thursday, April 24, 2014

wholly

Women cheat more thursday on ‘big boy’ spouses

kEn ROgAn looks back at the days before 24/7 sport when jumpers sufficed as goalposts for small boys and footballers were unseen gods

mall boys in the park. hatred – are ready to laugh in your Jumpers for goalposts. face and dance on your grave, Wasn’t it? Didn’t they? though lament the passing of David moyes. That was to be the real Umm. Of course jumpers made story of this season – the delicious for very wide goalposts, and no disintegration of a corporation shot ever bounced in off a jumper. once held together by objectionThe only way to be sure was to able Scottish glue. Nobody ever thought liverpool walk it around the keeper for a tap in and it is this fact that connects could actually win this thing, least the mazey dribbles of messi and of all liverpool fans, but as I sat maradonna with the hearts of men. there in the respectful (and slightly Watching a professional footscary) minute’s silence before the man City game, I struggled to baller beat three defenders and a keeper is the virtuoso echo of understand why I cared so much. I something a billion children tried never had before. I think it’s the on a million playgrounds since unlikelihood. We don’t have the time began. It meant that you’re sugar daddy shillings of United, the best, that you need never grow City or Chelsea, so in the parlance up, and should this make you the of Braveheart, this is our one highest-paid Peter Pan on the chance to reach the top. planet, that is only right and just. The snake in front of that last The rest of us find our level and ladder is the maestro of mindmoderate our games. and try to games, José mourinho. It’s easy to learn to shoot into actual nets, forget, amid all the noise and hype, which is hard in the aftermath of that he’s probably the best manager jumpers for goalposts. I in Europe and this poisoncould always pick a ous one-man media pass, but the circus is all that instinctive stands between reactions I had Nobody ever thought liverpool and the Promised land. elsewhere on the Liverpool could pitch vanish in The antidote front of goal as actually win this thing, (we hope) is my mind Steven Gerrard, least of all screams: ‘This is who brought, or huge! You’re rather kept, Liverpool fans going to score!!’ something in the (before I blast it game of football straight at the keeper). through the romance of Jumpers for goalposts. his club loyalty. He could have That’s how long it has been since gone on to richer teams, titles and liverpool won the league. I was transfer fees, but for whatever never a rabid fan, and I still don’t reason something other than money own a liverpool jersey. Being for won out, and this, apart from his liverpool or United wasn’t such a football, makes him a true modern huge thing when we were kids. In hero. Remember: these overpaid the year ‘5 BSkyB’, before 24/7 Primadonnas are the yardstick of football descended to human stupidity. In Earth, from a virgin spite of this, and sport’s satellite, footballers greatest cash cow, were unseen gods. Stevie found another How could anyone get way. worked up about one It doesn’t follow that of those? he deserves the title, But you got more aseven if few would sertive in the 1990s, as United’s begrudge him it. The league is won dominance grew, matched in scale by the best team. No excuses, or allowances. Three games. and by the multiplying legions of their self-congratulating, fair-weather when all the hysteria is ended by fans. True United fans could at the blow of a fulltime whistle, what least be respected, debated with, then? How would you describe the feeling that a liverpool fan will but the swelling mass of idiots making liberal use of the royal feel? Easily. The true fan is never ‘we’ was insufferable. happy, even in victory – only and where are you now, my fairpleased by the absence of disapweather lovelies? Where are you pointment. If we win it won’t be now, at the hour of your team’s joy, or rapture or even revenge. Just most dire need, when we liverpool simple, blessed… Relief. fans – the vanguard of United @kenrogan

“

a NEW study claims to have solved the age-old debate on whether size really does matter in bed. The research, published in the online journal Plos One, has found the longer a husband’s penis, the greater the likelihood of wives engaging in extra-marital affairs. Researchers in the US and Kenya said because a larger manhood can

by nick bRAMHiLL increase sexual discomfort, a woman is more likely to seek out a new partner. ‘Surprisingly, [having a] spouse [with a] longer, fully erect penis was associated with increased likelihood of the women having extramarital partnerships,’ they wrote. ‘From these results, every one-

inch longer penis increased the likelihood of women being involved in an extra-marital partnership by almost one-and-a-half times.’ another factor cited as raising the risk of a female partner having an affair include denying her a preferred sexual position. They also found older wives are less likely to cheat.

Thursday, April 24, 2014 METRO HERALD

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Gwyn wins restraining order against stalker Gwyneth Paltrow’s may have consciously uncoupled herself from hubby Chris Martin but it appears another man in her life, a stalker, is proving harder to shift. The Iron Man actress has been granted a temporary restraining order against Nickoloas Gavrilis after he sweettalked his way into her homes in London and LA. Paltrow (pictured) decided she couldn’t take any chances after she alleged in court papers that Gavrilis turned up at her Californian pad claiming he had an appointment with her.

The 41-year-old added Gavrilis had ssing’ her on been ‘stalking and harrassing’ two continents, ‘has not stopped despite warnings from police, e, and has previously been convicted ed of harassment by a ents criminal court and presents an immediate danger that m great or irreparable harm der did would result if an order not issue immediately’. ed to An LA judge appeared ilis to agree, ordering Gavrilis om stay 100 yards away from anged the actress, her estranged husband, and their children. ill be Paltrow is hoping the order will ng made permanent at another hearing on May 12.

Chalking it up: Selena Gomez unveils her Summer Rebel collection for Adidas NEO. The 21-year-old singer aled the edgy fashion f revealed pieces after unfollowing BFF Taylor Swift in a mass clear out on Instagram PICTURE: ADIDAS NEO/ SPLASH NEWS

★

Cuba Gooding Jr’s 20-year marriage has come to an end. The 46-year-old Oscar winner’s wife Sara Kapfer filed to separate from the Jerry Maguire star in an LA court on Tuesday, seeking joint custody of their children, Spencer, 19, Mason, 17, and Piper, 8, after citing irreconcilable differences. Last year, the actor said how his missus kept him on his toes. ‘She has been changing into this other woman I have to introduce myself to every few years. And thank god I’ve fallen in love with each one.’

★

Iggy Azalea stopped crowd surfing at her gigs because she was getting groped by fans. The 23-year-old has doubled up on underwear and wears skin-coloured tights on stage to avoid being manhandled. ‘Girls will try to do it more than guys because girls think it’s cool,’ she said. ‘I’m only doing, like, 2,000seaters but I still have to have barriers even if it’s, like, 200 people.’

★

Playing a kick-ass vigilante in her new film comes easy to Katie Holmes – as the star reveals she is a bad ass in real life. The 35year-old compared herself to her Miss Meadows character by saying: ‘I don’t have a drawer full of weapons but I can be tough when I need to be.’ In a swipe at her rivals, she added: ‘I’m an Ohio girl. Don’t underestimate us.’ Her outburst on E! News came amid talk Orange Is The New Black star Laura Prepon, 34, has shacked up with Tom Cruise, whispers she dismissed as ‘unbelievable’.

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Cameron Diaz has kicked up a stink after admitting she hasn’t used deodorant in decades. ‘I don’t believe in antiperspirant. It’s really bad for you. I haven’t used it for almost 20 years,’ the 41-year-old said. ‘You’re stinky because you use antiperspirant.’ She added: ‘Let it go and just trim your armpit hair so it doesn’t hold on to the scent.’

Staying in love is hard, says Kate

ATE HUDSON has turned to her film star mother Goldie Hawn for help after admitting that keeping her romances alive is not easy. The actress – whose relationship with Muse rocker Matt Bellamy has come under scrutiny – said she tried to take inspiration from Hawn, 68, who has stayed with film star Kurt Russell for 31 years. ‘If I look at my parents, I’d say no matter what they’ve been through, they share similar values and really like each other,’ the Bride Wars star said. Hudson, who was forced to deny a rift with Bellamy after he failed to go with her to the Oscars, added that ‘relationships are the most challenging things’. Overboard star Hawn had divorced actor Gus Trikonis and

by ANDREI HARMSWORTH

Hudson’s father Bill before finding love with Russell, 63, in 1983. And she’s advised her 35-year-old daughter to make sure she has good girlfriends around her because pinning all your hopes on a man can be unwise. ‘My mom once said something so poignant to me,’ Hudson revealed. ‘Honour your female friendships – because men can come and go, but when we nurture our relationships with women, they can be forever.’ Hudson went on record to say the whispers about Bellamy were ‘not true’. The mother of two sons has Bingham, two, with the British guitar hero, and Ryder, ten, with her ex, Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson, 47.

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Drew Barrymore and her husband Will Kopelman have welcomed the birth of their second daughter Frankie. The new addition to the family joins the couple’s first child, 19-month-old Olive. ‘Today we are the proud parents of our second daughter, Frankie Barrymore Kopelman,’ the Charlie’s Angels star, 39, and Kopelman, 36, said in a statement to People magazine. ‘Olive has a new little sister, and everyone is healthy and happy!’

Seducing Scarlett is not all that says Josh

Josh Hartnett has admitted dating the likes of Scarlett Johansson never lived up to his fantasies. The 35-year-old heartthrob said pulling screen sirens at work only ended in tears. ‘I don’t recommend it,’ said Hartnett, who had a two-year tryst with Johansson, 29. ‘When you work with somebody

every day, it’s like trial dating. You develop a fantasy about them. It doesn’t always work out, does it?’ The US star (pictured) is now enjoying a romance with actress Tamsin Egerton, 25, after working his way through Amanda Seyfried, 28, Kirsten Dunst, 31, and Sienna Miller, 32.

12 METRO HERALD Thursday, April 24, 2014

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in the know, on the go

Do I have to accept the ‘private lane’ excuse for broken street light?

few months ago I reported a leaking water main on the laneway of a small housing estate and the local council refused to fix it, telling me: ‘It’s not our job because it’s a private lane’. eventually when they did come what had been a trickle was a raging river. The amount of water that was wasted could probably have filled the reservoir three times over. Now a street light, which the council installed some years ago, isn’t working and again I’m being told: ‘It’s a private lane so it’s not our job.’ I never considered a road or lane, which, although a cul-de-sac, has no gates, no ‘Private’ or ‘No entry’ signs and is open to anyone who wants to wander up and take a look at the houses, as private. Can anyone put me straight? Do I have to accept being told: ‘It’s a private lane’? Cate, Dún Laoghaire ■ So light breakers at the Luas line junctions are to be targeted – great! But hold on a second, shouldn’t any driver who breaks any red light anywhere in the city be penalised? If it’s not a Luas on that crossing it

may well be a cyclist or a pedestrian. Missingthepoint, Dublin ■ I am fed up with people coughing/spluttering/sneezing without covering their mouths, while travelling on public transport. After having a cold for ages I finally got rid of it, only to catch it again. If people are so inconsiderate maybe it’s time we made them all wear masks. James ■ I know they’ll be a deluge of responses from people telling me I’m too sensitive and if someone is in the public eye they’re fair game etc, but I’m with the tweeter who said the waterford whispers ‘Ryan Tubridy is dead inside’ was sick. what about his kids who would have heard about the story afterwards, even if they didn’t stumble across it online at the time. Regardless of your own personal feelings towards Ryan as a presenter, he is also a human being. And before you ask, I am a Tubs fan, but even if I wasn’t I don’t believe if someone’s career is in the public domain they should give up all rights to privacy, or just plain old common decency. Just saying

In yOuR fAcE Thanks to bluetooth I don’t have to pick up the phone. My pet hate is seeing someone going around a roundabout on their phones. How do they think that’s safe? Lorraine Morley I’m living in Rome atm and people and the police don’t give a toss about using mobiles while driving. Whether it be chatting, texting, checking out songs they hear on the radio using Shazam while on the highway...

Quick pic

What’s the quack? Garry Greene took this shot of a squirrel and a mallard hanging out at the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin

Send your photos to pictures@ metroherald.ie with ‘Quick pic’ as the subject and we will print the best each day in the paper

gOOD On yA

yEH bIg RIDE

● Can I say thanks to the bus driver on the No.1 coming from O’Connell Street to Santry on Monday at about 6.20. He subbed my bus fare as my Leap had ran out and had no change – he took the €2.60 from his pocket. Eternally grateful! I had an Easter egg I’d won in work and I gave it to him when I was getting off. He was so shy about taking it, but I felt it was the least I could do. On a bank holiday Monday you just wanna get home from work. Marie

● To the girl handing out the Metro Herald outside Harry’s on the Green every morning, I walk an extra 15 minutes out of my way to the gym everyday just to see the most beautiful smile in the world. Hopefully someday your number will be written on top of my paper ; )

● Thanks to the guy who stopped some drunk teens harassing me while waiting for my bus on Monday evening. Faith in humanity restored.

Andy

Andrew

● Gorgeous Garda Mick from the sunny south east, your chocolate brown eyes were all I wanted the Easter Bunny to bring me! Maybe I could get you that drink off-duty? Festival Girl x ● To the Ryan Gosling lookalike in the suit on the Dart from Tara s/b at about 6pm yesterday, Eva No2 how about some crazy stupid love?

RAnDOM AcTs Of kInDnEss

We asked our Facebook followers: Gardaí are clamping down on people flouting laws against using mobiles while driving. Anyone out there still making the odd cheeky call? You do NOT use a mobile when driving! If it’s THAT important then have someone else in the car write the message/make the call, or stop in the hard shoulder, then start again when you’re finished. Alvaro Gellon

TREnDIng

yOuR RusH-HOuR cRusH #Roy Keane

● Asked a bookie his price on me replacing Moyes. He said 150/1. I decked him. Then, in a moment of clarity, I helped him up and took the odds

Parody account @being_roy_keane

● Roy Keane: ‘Manchester United should be ashamed of themselves.’ I just love his honesty. @FrankLampardUK

@metrohnews #metromailbox

● #FOOTBALL: Sir Alex will select the next #MUFC manager, with Roy Keane, Mr. Tumble, Philip Schofield & a leather sofa all on the shortlist

@SwearingSport

● I’m hearing rumour of a Van Gaal/ Roy Keane pairing at Old Trafford..... that will terrify the over-paid underachievers! #MUFC. @599bt

Thursday, April 24, 2014 METRO HERALD

Looking good is no sweat The heat is on! Cillian O’Connor takes a look at what spring/summer has in store in the menswear department

HRUG off the last of your winter blues, slather on the 50+ and prepare to soak up the rays – the spring/summer season is here, bringing with it a host of new sharp styles for men, from printed lightweight bomber jackets to bold block stripes. With the menswear market growing rapidly (market research group Mintel predicts a growth of 11 per cent by 2017) and Irish demand for UK and European brands rising along with it, men are looking for a wider array of options, even when it comes to the traditionally basic Spring/Summer wardrobe of tees, plimsolls and any old cargo shorts. Still, navigating both online and offline stores’offerings in search of essentials is last on most of our lists when the mercury rises. Here’s a foolproof guide to the season’s key

looks that’ll ensure you’re bringing your A game. ‘Sports luxe isn’t going away any time soon,’ says Ian Wright, former fashion director at Drapers magazine and freelance fashion consultant, ‘especially those pieces that effortlessly blend technical or performance fabrics with more upmarket materials in familiar shapes.’ In no small part due to sportswear brands’ current prevalence in the fashion arena, designers are mixing a 1990s-inspired minimalist, sporty sensibility with a sophisticated edge. Try pairing loopback cotton-jersey blend crew neck sweatshirts with slim, cuffed sweatpants or a leather-panelled tee with sharp, slim white chinos cut above the ankle. Throwing the sleek spareness of sports luxe into relief is

➔

ANTIQUES,Vintage & More FAIR! Next

Royal Marine Hotel - Dun Laoghaire Sunday 27th APRIL, 11am-6pm Unique gifts, classic furniture and décor, vintage crystal and china. Ethical and sustainable options for the style and fashion conscious at prices you can afford. Timeless gifts that will be cherished. Quality antique & vintage furniture & homewares, precious jewellery, paintings, vintage fashion, rare books, collectibles & curios.

T: 087 267 0607

www.VintageIreland.Eu

Adm: €3.50

14 METRO HERALD Thursday, April 24, 2014

style

editorial@metroherald.ie to advertise, call 01 7055010

Right: Panel stripe rugby shirt, Paul Costelloe Living Men available in Dunnes Stores

River Island

Second right: Wood Wood marble camo print sweatshirt, available at WoodWood.dk or ASOS Below right: Levi’s Vintage camo field coat, House of Fraser

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��

SS14’s love for colour, whether rendered in bold, block stripes or soft pastels. Hardly news worth calling home for, stripes are back for SS14, but rather than the nautical Breton types we’ve seen for seasons, these are big, bold and often in contrast block colours. Wear it in the form of tees for beach days or a blazer for a summer wedding look with a difference. More understated, soft pastels are for the preppier classicists among you. ‘The trend has a retro 1950s feeling, like suits seen at Paul Smith and the shirts at Louis Vuitton,’ says Jonathan Daniel Pryce, fashion photographer and blogger at GarconJon.com. ‘Think pink and mint green in touches like a pocket square or socks if you’re not brave enough to wear a full look.’

n a more retrosexual note, camo is still very much a thing, albeit variants on the traditional pattern proved most popular during the SS14 shows. Look for re-configured camos that aren’t so directly referential of the military print like marble, leaf print and floral camos. Finally, if you’re stoked for spring/summer but strapped for cash, then pay heed to the industry aficionados. Jonathan Daniel Pryce votes a backpack as the key purchase for the season, especially for travel. ‘I love the navy canvas bag with brown leather trims from Oliver Sweeney; it’s still comfortable when jam-packed full, which is the real test.’ For Ian Wright, it’s all about the bomber. ‘Cooler than the varsity jacket, which has been around for eons,’ the bomber is SS14’s outerwear staple. Go full on floral (with a nod to Prada, Gucci and Dries Van noten) or opt for contrast-sleeve styles in colours like navy, grey and black for subtlety spiked with an edge. Remember, this season’s better spent shore-side rather than shopping.

trend tracker iMitating kate As the royal tour makes its way around Australia, the world has been ogling Kate’s amazing wardrobe. A fan of high street clothes from stores like Reiss, it’s been that LK Bennett dress that everyone is gushing over. The blue and white floral pattern is a perfect print for summerwear, and thankfully there are lots of similar looks available if you feel inspired. My pick is this midi-length dress from Heatons, and at just €25, it’s a must-have.

My kind of head rush We all have those mornings, where we scramble out of bed, dive head first into the shower, followed by standing in front of the mirror (half asleep) holding the hair dryer. Well, the latest addition to the Remington hair tools range will give you a few more minutes of shut eye in the morning. The Pro Air Turbo Hair dryer delivers heat at up to 90km per hour, which dries mid to long length hair in less than ten minutes (I’ve tested this out!). [Remington Pro Air, €39.99]

Thursday, April 24, 2014 METRO HERALD

with Lorna Weightman @styleisleirl

A colourful collection

Dunnes Stores have upped their game this season with a huge selection of spring summer attire. Whether your preference is for something comfortable and easy to wear to the office, or the ultimate outfit for a day in town, you can put together a sophisticated new season capsule wardrobe. Colour is in abundance, with hues of cobalt blue and bright orange appearing throughout in camis, ousers. www.dunnesstores.com shift dresses and palazzo trousers.

sports luxe sportswear can’t be fashionable? Certainly not me, Who said spor sinc since I discovered the Adidas Originals collection at Life Style Sports. With its varsity-inspired t-shirts, leggings, tank tops and Spor shoes, you can inject the sports trend into your look very easily this summer. Style a t-shirt with a pair of skinny jeans, or even try a pencil skirt and heels if you are willing to experiment. I particularly love the monochrome pieces, which are versatile and timeless. Available at Life Style Sports nationwide.

coachella envy The festival in the Californian desert, Coachella, may be over for another year, but it leaves a long list of festival fashion trends for us to wear over the summer at Longitude and Electric Picnic. Whether it’s a printed mini dress as seen on Kelly Brook this weekend, or Selena Gomez’ full-length white lace dress, we are spoilt for choice. Online stores like ASOS, Misguided and our very own iclothing promise to have stylish festival wear over the next few months, so start outfit planning! wwwmisguided.co.uk

clerys spring/suMMer 2014

Left: Ladylike Lace Canary Coat, Windsmoor, €169; Yellow Lurex Dress, Almost Famous, €210

Above: Floral Print Cotton Jacket, CC, €174; Floral Chiffon Blouse, Planet, €89; Brocade Skirt, Whistle & Wolf, €55. Background: Garden Print Dress, Fee G,€220

aidan’s druMMing up support

t:Jac dC Right:Jacquard Coat, Windsmoor, €259; Lurex Swimsuit, Miraclesuit, €175; Printed Pants, Vero Moda, €19.95

TV presenter Aidan Power launches Dundrum Town Centre’s Shop For Good fundraising initiative, supporting the Console and Cycle Against Suicide charities. From May 8-11, more than 100 shops will take part, with popup booths selling €1 coupons entitling shoppers to discounts and other offers over the four days. See dundrum.ie for info PICTURE: PHOTOCALL

16 METRO HERALD Thursday, April 24, 2014

television

★ Must see

Fun

★

thE bIg bang thEOrY E4, 8pm

Sheldon has the kind of body that looks like it could do bendy and tonight we find out as fate throws him together with penny and the pair wind up doing yoga. Those downward-dog jokes just keep on coming! Bernadette, meanwhile, has a nightmare involving one of Howard’s comics.

★

dEs bIshOp: brEaKIng chIna RTÉ1, 10.15pm

JIMMY MUraKaMI: nOn-aLIEn RTÉ1, 10.45pm Oscar-nominated animator Jimmy T Murakami is best known for When the Wind Blows and The Snowman, but the Japanese-American had a dark childhood in a WWII camp in the Californian desert, where he, like his fellow countrymen and women, were given the status of ‘non-alien’. From his adopted country Ireland through his Hollywood career, this fascinating documentary gives an insight into the film maker who passed away earlier this year aged 80.

Film thE FUgItIvE TCM, 9pm

Harrison Ford is on the run – for an entire movie – in this first-rate thriller based on an old 1960s US TV show. He’s Dr Richard Kimble, a surgeon wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and out to seek vengeance on those who did it. Tommy Lee Jones is the dogged law-man on his tail. A speeding tension train – hop on it.

savIng prIvatE rYan Film4, 9pm

The opening 27 minutes depict the Omaha Beach assault of 1944, one of the most graphic and powerful depictions of active warfare ever shot on film and inspired by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. The rest of this historical epic is pure Steven Spielberg, who won the best director Oscar for a movie that showed war as both hellish and heroic. Tom Hanks leads an ensemble cast behind enemy lines to search for said missing private (matt Damon), the lastsurviving brother of four.

grEgOrY’s gIrL

The classic 1981 Scottish heartwarmer gets a newly restored airing and is well worth a nostalgic watch. Gregory (John Gordon-Sinclair) is the gawky teen footballer smitten with Dorothy (Dee Hepburn), the girl who replaces him as centreforward in the school team. Clare Grogan, of Altered Images fame, also stars.

▲

NEW ON DEMAnD

hUstLErs

Director Wayne Kramer aims valiantly for Tarantino territory with a schlocky black comedy intertwining three stories around a nowhere town’s pawn shop. He fails. But it’s intriguing to see who he has along for the ride: Paul Walker as a strung-out meth addict; Matt Dillon as an avenging husband wreaking terrible violence on Elijah Wood; and Brendan Fraser as a clapped-out Elvis impersonator. Odd.

UTV, 9pm

You wait ages for a sensitive exploration of the emotionally fraught adoption process to come along and then you get two almost at once. Fresh on the hearttugging trail of C4’s 15,000 Kids And Counting, here Nicky Campbell looks at why, with so many children needing homes and so many prospective parents desperate to adopt, it can be such a traumatic process. We follow Dan and Ania as they try to navigate the adoption minefield.

A young giraffe suffering with severe pain in its leg is given a vital operation, while a baby Abyssinian ground hornbill needs help from Eddie and the team. meanwhile over in the rhino enclosure a new calf meets its father for the first time and takes a wobbly run out into th African plains with its mother.

trYIng agaIn

sUpEr gardEn

Chris Addison and exEastEnder Jo Joyner are the on-off-on couple in this perky sitcom penned by peep Show writer Simon Blackwell. There’s comic potential in watching a couple who clearly love each other trying to paper over the cracks. But if we were the injured party we’d have been rubbing salt in those wounds, not being so sporting about it.

Five amateur garden designers compete to showcase their talents in this new series. First up is fashion designer Emma Jane Rushworth whose challenge is to create a garden for an engaged couple in Dublin. Under the mentorship of Leonie Cornelius, her ideas soon spring to life, but can she keep the project within the agreed budget?

Sport WOrLd snOOKEr

Available to rent/buy now

WantEd: a FaMILY OF MY OWn

In the second of a two-parter following the Irish-American comedian’s adventures as he moves to China for a year in order to learn mandarin and attempt to perform a oneman stand-up show for a Chinese audience, Des decides to set up a comedy club in downtown Beijing. Later on his brother Aidan drops by for a visit and performs on the opening night. All seems to be going well for the comic, until he finds himself overpowered by grandmothers at a marriage market.

Sky Living, 9pm & 9.30pm

★

Factual

British Eurosport 1&2, 1pm & 7pm, BBC2, 1pm The going gets tougher at the Crucible in Sheffield as the second round begins, with matches stretched up to the best of 25 frames. Ronnie O’Sullivan looked in impressive nick in his opening match – can anyone stop the Rocket winning his third straight title?

★

thE zOO RTÉ1, 7pm

RTÉ1, 10.30pm

Drama crIsIs

TV3, 10pm Gillian Anderson is thrown into the centre of the kidnapping as this new American hostage drama clicks into gear. Anderson’s businesswoman becomes a pawn for the masterminds behind last week’s school bus ambush in return for the safety of her daughter, while agents from the FBI and Secret Service collaborate to uncover a surprising secret.

thE gOOd WIFE More4, 9pm

Lying witnesses, vote-rigging scandals, sharp lawyers in the pockets of drug barons… this is not a pretty picture of US society. That it wraps all those elements up in the slick suits of a powerdressed soap makes it all the more unsettling. No wonder Alicia Florrick (Julianna margulies) sports a permanent frown.

★

EastEndErs RTÉ1, 7.30pm

If only the typical episode of EastEnders was directed with the same spooky élan as the Who Killed Lucy Beale? trailer. Top of our list of likely killers is Whitney, reduced to a bit part in the trailer – but she’s got a pout on her that can kill at 20 paces and Lucy had just copped off with the soldier boy she’d got her eyes on. That’s what we call a motive. Tonight, there’s more weeping and wailing (Ian Beale). And some shouting (Ian Beale again). And Dot being wise.

LIvE gOLF

LIvE EUrOpa LEagUE FOOtbaLL

Sky Sports 4, 8pm

Two former giants of European football clash in the semi-finals of the Europa League as Benfica face Juventus in Lisbon. Both sides have lifted the Big Cup before but neither has tasted Euro glory in recent seasons. Juventus won the Intertoto Cup in 1999 but you have to go back to 1962 for the second of Benfica’s brace of European Cup wins. They were runners up in the Europa League final last year – can they go one better this time?

American up-andcoming Billy Horschel, an outsider for Tom Watson’s Ryder Cup selection this year, defends his title at the Classic of New Orleans, which opens at a time ideally suited to armchair golf fans. In contrast, the China Open – part of the European Tour (how does that work?) – is live on the same channel at 6.30am.

3e, 7.30pm

books

Thursday, April 24, 2014 METRO HERALD

features@metroherald.ie to advertise, call 01 7055010

TAkE 3 Hit foreign buys

THE big READ

Miss sMilla’s Feeling For snow

by Peter Høeg (Harvill) There was popular noirish Scandinavian crime fiction long before Henning Mankell, Stieg Larsson or Jo Nesbø came along. This classy crime thriller – an international literary sensation when it was first published in the early 1990s – follows its memorable half-Inuit heroine’s investigation of a six-year-old boy’s ‘accidental’ death. Central to the story is Denmark’s controversial past as a coloniser of Greenland.

The girl wiTh The Dragon TaTToo

by Stieg Larsson (MacLehose) Other publishers

The TruTh aBouT The harry QueBerT aFFair by Joël Dicker MacLehose Press HHHHI

THE Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair begins with an author, Marcus Goldman, feeling besieged by his own hype. At 28, he has written a twisty whodunit that has become ‘the talk of the town’. Could the 28-year-old Swiss author, Joël Dicker, have had any inkling just how prophetic a description of his own future success that opening might be when he completed this, his second book,

in May 2012? The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair, one of the biggest French-language novels in years, has sold more than two million copies across Europe, with the rights bought by 45 countries. An immersive, propulsive, continually wrongfooting twister of a tale, it should delight any reader who has felt bereft since finishing Gone, Girl, or Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy.

future glimpse into a dystopian Dublin FroM ouT oF The ciTy by John kelly Dalkey Archive Press HHHHI

John kelly winds a fastpaced compelling narrative of a futuristic Dublin, says Adam White

onk is something of an obsessive when it comes to the fine details. Burrowed away in his Dún Laoghaire flat, the all-seeing, all-spying octogenarian narrator of this wild new offering from broadcaster John kelly is the perfect man to paint us a picture of Dublin in a truly rare oul’ time – 2039. Imagine as you sit reading this on the Dart that Dublin Bay is polluted beyond all hope and home to a US aircraft carrier. Imagine alighting in a city where gunfire pops off now and again and you only go to Temple Bar if you want to kill somebody or have no strong objections to being killed yourself. A protest outside Leinster House

is quelled with machinegun fire, oh, and the US president appears to have been assassinated during a state visit. Bookending kelly’s untamed, satire-heavy gonzo-noir, and the miscreants orbiting the murder, are the tormentors of Schroeder, a boozed-up, pill-popping, ex-Trinity lecturer and neighbour to Monk. Monk eavesdrops on Schroeder as his life is pulled towards the killing, constantly reminding us that this is ‘an honest and faithful record of breakage and distress at a time when dysfunction was everywhere

and anywhere’. This dystopian world – Dublin, Ireland, ‘the European Alliance’, the severely globalised planet – is a hoot to behold, not only because of kelly’s arch references but his acrobatic, undulating use of language that animates, even during dips in narrative velocity. Sure, future Dublin is bemusing to watch coming apart at the seams but it is what’s still recognisable – bad public transport, the derivations of every Dublin placename explained – that really show the devil to be in the detail of From out of The City. And the devil always has all the best lines.

It begins with the young author, Goldman, recounting, through flashback, how he came to write his sensational success, The Harry Quebert Affair. It is June 2008 and he is facing ruin. A follow-up to his celebrated first-novel is overdue, his publisher is threatening legal action, but he is suffering from acute writer’s block. One morning he receives a distraught call from his friend and mentor, the great

passed on publishing this fictional exposé of a wealthy Swedish family’s scandalous past, believing the text was too ponderous and that it was too problematic that Larsson had already died, leaving only three novels. MacLehose took a punt, and the rest is publishing history. Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy went on to be one of the past decade’s biggest series and spawned hit movie adaptions.

look who’s Back by Timur Vernes (MacLehose)

The Führer comes back to contemporary Germany and, mistaken for a Hitler impersonator, becomes a media darling. The provocative satirical novel that first shocked Germans, then left them shaking with laughter, now has the English-speaking people of the world in its sights. PN American novelist Harry Quebert. A body has been dug up in the garden of Quebert’s New England home and he has been arrested on suspicion of two unsolved murders that took place in in August 1975. The moral ambiguities at the heart of Dicker’s vividly imagined community make this novel a queasily addictive read. A plotting tour de force, this seems set to be a huge success. Patricia Nicol

18 METRO HERALD Thursday, April 24, 2014

property

features@metroherald.ie to advertise, call 01 7055010

Room to wait... FIRST-TIME BUYERS: Buyers’ broker Carol Tallon examines what the Dublin market has to offer first-time buyers and suggests would-be homeowners alter their expectations or play the waiting game

t has been a difficult few years for home-buyers in Dublin, with the market jumping from affordable – though uncertain – to increasingly unaffordable, within two to three years. Consistent demand from buyers, initially cash buyers and investors, throughout the crash led to depleted stock levels and we have not seen enough new houses or even apartments come to the market in this area to replace sold properties. the ‘bubble’ type situation that is brewing in the Dublin market was not caused by cheap credit and available stock that generally defines a property bubble; rather it was caused and is being maintained by a chronic shortage of suitable properties. the term ‘suitable’ here is very important. Certainly, first-time buyers who have their deposit saved and have loan approval for close to €500,000 could buy an apartment in Dublin; however, their personal, family and lifestyle choices will lead them to househunting in certain key areas for a particular type of home. Over the past three years, family homes and particularly houses suitable for first-time buyers have sold well and have not been replaced by new houses. While sufficient supply still exists in a number of residential areas around the

county, these areas tend to be outside of where young families wish to relocate. Most obvious areas of supply in Dublin include tallaght, Firhouse, new developments in Carrickmines and, on the north-side, the Dublin 15 area and outlying towns like Balbriggan. It is not purely a numbers game – 200 properties will not satisfy 200 buyers. the majority of buyers are not flexible, almost all want the three- to four-bed semi-detached house in the same residential areas of the north and south-side. What this effectively means for would-be buyers is that despite some level of availability of apartments within or close to their target areas, or houses in other areas, they are competing with large numbers of buyers for the same few houses that do appear on the market. House-hunters in this position will recognise the signs; they will know every estate agent locally by their first name and will probably have started to bond with their competing buyers, who all turn up for the same open viewings. In fact, it is likely that competing buyers will see more of each other on a Saturday morning than they will of their families! So what can buyers in this frustrating position do? the first thing that I would recommend is reevaluate the vision, re-evaluate what the ‘ideal property’ actually looks like and compare that ideal with the market reality. If you have been house-hunting for two years, we know with absolute certainty that your choice has diminished, and it is extremely likely that you will pay more today for a lesser property than you would have done two years ago. In simple terms, if you did not appreciate the offerings or value two years ago, you will be very disappointed in today’s market. this is true simply because of the stage of market recovery that we find ourselves in. this picture will look very different in another 24 months time, when new houses come to the market. there is no crystal ball and, certainly, no one wishes to repeat the mistakes of previous buyers; however, if buyers continue to rush

Compromise: Carol advises home buyers to be flexible on anything except location

Bid your time: We have not seen enough new houses or apartments come to the market

and out-bid and over-pay for what few properties remain, they put themselves in a vulnerable position should the market recover, slow down or halt. Aggressively competitive bidding is a symptom of our current market. While would-be buyers cannot shy away from competitive bidding, they cannot allow themselves to ignore real market value. the National Property Price Register should be used as the main valuation tool. this free database is available to everyone and will tell the most recent prices paid for houses in your research area. Obviously house-hunters will need to compare like with like for accuracy. If the price register confirms that prices in your target area are consistently and significantly above budget, then it will be necessary to re-align your search requirements with the market. I generally advise buyers to compromise on anything except location if their reasons for selecting

that location are valid, ie close to their work, schools or extended families.

OuSe-HuNteRS who are struggling to achieve value or who are unwilling to bid €100,000 or more than the property’s true value – and that is happening – might be well placed to research planning applications in their area so that they will know what new stock is likely to come to the market over the next 24 months. two years’ rent might just be a better use of resources if the right property is not available now. the key is to know your market and to know your requirements. If you do both those things right, you will be in a position to recognise the right opportunity when it comes along. Carol Tallon is author of The Irish Property Buyers Handbook 2014, published by Oak Tree Press. See buyersbroker.ie

home comforts

Thursday, April 24, 2014 METRO HERALD

features@metroherald.ie to advertise, call 01 7055010

Sowing seeds of harmony

GARDENING: Sam Smyth of Urban Plant Life on getting the most from a city garden or balcony

ith spring finally here and temperatures rising after many cold, wet and windy months, it’s time for city dwellers to think about greening-up those fingers. Just because you live in an apartment or in the heart of the city doesn’t mean that you are excluded from cultivating a little oasis. here are some simple suggestions that even the most reluctant gardener can appreciate. n if you want a colourful balcony, then plant some geraniums, petunias or the floribunda roses, all of which are in season now. these flowers are very cost-effective and will brighten up even the dullest space. if your apartment is high up and more exposed to the elements, you can buy attachments so that the flowers don’t blow over. Geraniums and petunias are a really good lowmaintenance option if you travel a lot or don’t have much spare time to tend to your city garden. n Some people really like tending to plants and it can be really therapeutic after a long day at work. For the city gardener who leads a stressful life, we’d recommend that they buy cacti or other succulent plants. if you are limited by space but still want to reach that Zen-like state, take your garden indoors and get some bonsai plants. Again, this is a relatively inexpensive option. n With the advent of the recession, there was a marked increase in people growing their own vegetables in allotments. A spin-off movement of sorts is the rising popularity of containers. the use of containers has become an international phenomenon due to the high number of people living in apartments and they are ideal for people with limited space. in essence, you can

grow anything in a container – potatoes (in bags); tomatoes; herbs; strawberries and apples. All you need is a little bit of sun and some water. Plants grow faster than fruit and veg, but there is nothing like cooking with some herbs and vegetables that you have picked from your own balcony. n Bamboo and pampas grass are ideal for small city gardens and, if you are lucky or rich enough to be a penthouse dweller, are also a good option. they are low-maintenance, resistant to the elements, look great and don’t need as much water as other plants. if you are on an upper apartment level do be aware that it’s going to be windy and that your outdoor space will need more water and some protection. therefore, it’s a good idea to use glazed pots, instead of terracotta, as they retain more moisture. Alternatively you can buy bamboo or pampas preplanted in troughs. Wind breakers are a good option to keep plants safe from the elements on balconies at higher levels. n Finally, if you want a ready-made garden, then get some instant hedges. these come planted in troughs of about 1m in length and 20cm in width and are ideal for small spaces. they provide some privacy and bring some much needed greenery to an urban setting. they only need to be pruned twice a year, but do need a lot of water. Some people go for artificial hedges – we stock them, but there’s nothing like the real thing. Urban Plant Life has constructed a purpose-built balcony at its Cork Street Centre to assist customers. Urban Plant Life, 111 Cork Street D8. Tel: (01) 453 6201.

THE RED AND BLACK: Paint expert Cuprinol has just introduced a new Garden Shades range featuring some 73 colours. ideal for cheering up the most fatigued wooden surfaces. Back clad wall: CuprinolBlack Ash; Metal planters: Hammerite Red; Bench: Cuprinol Natural Stone. Available from all good DIY and garden stores. www.cuprinol.ie.

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puzzles

METROSCOPE by Patrick Arundell

NEMI by Lise

Aries Mar 21 – Apr 20

If energy levels seem out of kilter, you may need to rethink your schedule and priorities. Perhaps tensions have been taking a toll, in which case, today’s Pisces Moon can be an antidote to any worries. Create some more pleasurable diversions. For your forecast, call 15609 114 70

Taurus Apr 21 – May 21

You can’t do everything, so prioritise for best results. A positive focus on your social sector suggests the company of a good friend and a special kind of outing together can be exactly what you need just now to ward off anxieties.

METROKU Easy, Moderate and Challenging. For solutions, visit Metro.co.uk/metroku

For your forecast, call 15609 114 71

Gemini May 22 – Jun 21

If any new ideas require financial funding, giving careful thought to your options can improve your chances of success. Yet, there may be part of you that feels a need to just find your bearings. There can be more of this in the weeks to come. For your forecast, call 15609 114 72

Cancer Jun 22 – Jul 23

You seem to be in a sociable frame of mind. Yet, adding a sprinkling of imagination and ingenuity to your plans, can improve your enjoyment. However, as Pluto continues to challenge Uranus, strong obsessive energies could focus your mind on one area. For your forecast, call 15609 114 73

Leo Jul 24 – Aug 23

Try to create some you time. Doing so, might help you mull over a strategy that inspires action. Yet, you may well find yourself very tuned in today, which could bring a different order of insight to proceedings.

PEARLs BEFORE swINE

For your forecast, call 15609 114 74

Virgo Aug 24 – Sep 23

You’ll need to be positive and stay alert to connect with opportunities via random flyers, chance meetings or synchronous events. Friends can provide support and if you meet someone new, this can add spark to the day.

ACROSS 3 8 9 10 11 14 15 16 18 20 21 24 25 26 27

Self-possession (9) Needle-case (4) Richer (6,3) Sailor (6) Bush (5) Shelf (5) Correct (4) Pulls (5) Acid (4) Commerce (5) Instruct (5) Brook (6) Haughtiness (9) Sharp (4) Resolve (9)

DOWN 1 2 4 5 6 7 9 11 12 13 17 19 22 23 24

Stupid (9) Completely (3-3-3) Portent (4) Small piece of land (5) Shoot (6) Break (4) Uncovered (5) Shatter (5) Don’t gain or lose (5,4) Don’t worry (5,4) Condition (5) Distant (6) Demand (5) Release (4) Look at (4)

Yesterday’s Solutions Across: 1 Mole; 3 Complete; 8 Rage; 9 Disorder; 11 Intermediary; 13 Garret; 14 Scribe; 17 Schoolmaster; 20 Honoured; 21 Crop; 22 Preceded; 23 Omit. Down: 1 Marriage; 2 Lighter; 4 Opined; 5 Provincial; 6 Elder; 7 Earn; 10 Irresolute; 12 Decrepit; 15 Interim; 16 Allege; 18 Canoe; 19 Whip.

For your forecast, call 15609 114 76

scorpio Oct 24 – Nov 22

It’s best to listen to what others have to say with a healthy dose of scepticism. Today’s Pisces Moon may give the impression that all’s well, despite the potential for edginess to rise from the depths. Why not accept an invite, should it be offered? For your forecast, call 15609 114 77

sagittarius Nov 23 – Dec 21

Perhaps you’re looking for feedback concerning a decision, particularly as it could have an impact further down the line. Either you’ll get an intuitive hunch to follow a certain course or a chat with someone close could trigger the answer. For your forecast, call 15609 114 78

Capricorn Dec 22 – Jan 20

Romantic and creative opportunities can bring a pleasant respite from any troubles. Today’s Moon Mercury connection, suggests you could feel a lot better for getting out the paints, a musical instrument or writing. For your forecast, call 15609 114 79

Aquarius Jan 21 – Feb 19

Perhaps you’ll encounter some resistance to a plan, as it may not be so easy to persuade another to help out. Yet, a Pisces Moon and attendant links could give you the edge if you’re prepared to meet this person halfway, or even to put yourself in their shoes. For your forecast, call 15609 114 80

Pisces Feb 20 – Mar 20

Perhaps you’re looking for advice that can resolve an issue. If so, reading a book on a relevant subject, surfing the internet or a friend’s view might help. Common sense may be what’s needed to put you at ease. For your forecast, call 15609 114 81

For a live one-to-one consultation with one of my gifted psychics, call 15809 113 68 or 1800 719 688 to book using credit card Astrology calls cost 1.27 euros per min from a BT landline. Live Services cost 2.40 euros per minute. Calls from mobiles/other networks may cost more. Callers must be 18 or over to use this service and have the bill payers permission. For entertainment purposes only. All calls are recorded. PhonePayPlus regulated(ComReg in ROI) UK SP: StreamLive Ltd, NR7 0HR, 08700 234 567. ROI SP:Moveda, 1 Courtyard Business Park, Orchard Lane, Blackrock, Co Dublin, 0818 241 398

QuIz

Crossword No. 960 See next edition for solutions

General give and take and sharing of ideas, resources and tips might benefit you and your friends. It would be wise to tread carefully where someone’s sensitivities are concerned. A casual remark could touch a sore point.

ENIGMA A grim and ghoulish patriarch From Scottish myth who made his mark By eating people, friend and foe, About four hundred years ago. WHO AM I? A singer, I was born in India in 1940. My real name is Harry Roger Webb. My hits include Summer Holiday and

Congratulations. WHO, WHAT, WHERE & WHEN? WHO… was the second man on the moon? WHAT... is the alcoholic ingredient of a Cuba libre? WHERE... in Europe is the Ijsselmeer lake? WHEN... did Germany sign the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan?

QUIZ ANSWERS: ENIGMA: Sawney Bean. WHO AM I? Cliff Richard. WHO, WHAT, WHERE & WHEN? Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin; Rum; Netherlands; 1936.

QUICK CROsswORd

For your forecast, call 15609 114 75

Libra Sep 24 – Oct 23

SCRIBBLE BOX

20 METRO HERALD Thursday, April 24, 2014

cycling

Cav’s squat his eye on first Tour yellow

Mark Cavendish has been hitting the gym in a bid to claim the Tour de France yellow jersey for the first time in Yorkshire this summer. The Manx sprinter’s main rivals to pull on the first maillot jaune after the opening ride from Leeds to harrogate are German six-footers Marcel kittel and andre Greipel. Cavendish, who is 5ft 9in, has been Change of tack: Cavendish doing squats and working on his

core stability as his low position on the bike is less of an advantage than it once was. he said: ‘With the

43 Grand Tour stage wins 25 in

Le Tour, 9 short of Merckx’s record aerodynamic advancements in the bikes and the helmets now, those big strong guys like Greipel and kittel

are getting a bigger advantage than i am. ‘i thought i’d better get a bit stronger as my aerodynamic ability is not going to help me as much.’ Cavendish resumes racing at the Tour of Turkey, which begins on april 27, before travelling to May’s Tour of California, the Tour de suisse in June and then on to Yorkshire.

poulter says Europe is ‘shaping up nicely’ by zAck D’ARcy

IAN POULTER believes European captain Paul McGinley will be delighted with the way his side is taking shape ahead of the Ryder Cup in September. McGinley has often stated he will not be afraid to have rookies in his team for Gleneagles as Europe look to defend the trophy and secure an eighth win in the past ten contests. But as things stand, Victor Dubuisson and Jamie Donaldson are the only rookies occupying automatic qualifying places, with Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Thomas Bjorn and Henrik Stenson filling the other seven. McGinley will name his three wild cards on September 2. ‘There is a long way to go,’ said Poulter, Europe’s talisman during the Miracle of Medinah two years ago. ‘I think Paul McGinley will be very pleased to see a lot of the top players and the guys from the last team starting to come

golf

piCTure: inpho

spORT DigEsT Veteran pair given comeback invites snOOkER

Stephen Hendry is set to come out of retirement and Steve Davis has received a career lifeline after World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn handed the old-stagers a unique route back on to the professional tour. Seventime world champion Hendry (pictured), who retired two years ago, and six-time winner Davis are set to play at a number of tournaments next season and could even be back at the Crucible in 12 months’ time. Hendry, 45, and Davis, 56, will face qualifying events before the big stage. Hearn also said all former world champions would be entitled to play in the qualifying rounds for next year’s Crucible tournament.

Howth hosts youth sailing competition

Championships under way today swiMMing The

Guinness Plus offers golf fans the chance of a golf masterclass with european ryder Cup vice-Captain des smyth and Cork hurler anthony nash (pictured). One lucky person who checks in using the Guinness Plus app, and three friends will meet Paul McGinley’s mentor,

des smyth, who will share his tips. You will also get two night’s accommodation in a five-star golf resort, chauffeur transfers, dinner and lunch and pint with smyth and nash. Just check-in with Guinness Plus at your local participating pub by 11.59pm on May 18.

Hoylake unfazed by Woods absence

Tiger: Injured

The world’s best players will notice few changes when the Open Championship returns to Hoylake for the first time since 2006 this summer. Championship officials are confident the possible absence of Tiger Woods, sidelined with a

Munster need to peak at Toulon PAUL O’Connell says Munster must take their game to a new level if they are to exceed expectations and win the Heineken Cup this season. Currently second in the RaboDirect PRO12 and preparing for a European semi-final against Toulon, his side have impressed all season, especially in the

sAiLing MORE than 250 of Ireland’s top young sailors will convene in Howth from today for the annual four-day Irish Sailing Association Youth Pathway National Championships. From 24 to 27, Howth Yacht Club will be the host venue for the most prestigious annual youth sailing event on the domestic calendar. All of the ISA Performance Pathway classes will be represented and up for grabs will be the coveted places on summer squads and teams for international events. The event coincides with the Dublin Bay Prawn Festival, so nobody will go hungry.

‘World-class players perform at their best in the majors’ into form at this time of the year. There are a lot of big events left to go and you tend to see the world-class players performing at their best in the majors and the biggest tournaments.’ Poulter admits he is yet to find top form in 2014, but feels his best is not too far away after a top-20 finish at Augusta National. ‘There were a few encouraging signs after the Masters,’ he added. ‘I had a bit of a strange start to the year in the sense that I didn’t really know what I was doing with my swing, which is unlike me, but I have figured that out and have started to play some really good golf.’ World number three Stenson has also made a slow start to the season after his record-breaking exploits in 2013 and the Swede will also have to overcome a bout of flu at Genzon Golf Club after pulling out of the pre-tournament pro-am.

Thursday, April 24, 2014 METRO HERALD

dismantling of Toulouse in the quarter-final. But O’Connell insists now is the time for the Irish province to prove their worth on the global stage and prepare properly for the business end of the competition. ‘If guys aren’t prepared to go beyond where they’ve been all season, you know you

could almost end up getting embarrassed. ‘We know that we have to be at the very best of our ability. We have to play to the best of our ability from one to 23 to be in with a chance of winning. And we probably need them to have a little bit of an off day – and that’s a simple fact.’

back injury, will also mean no major difference in attendance figures from July 17 to 20.Malcolm Booth, director of communications, said: ‘The Open has always drawn a great crowd and we are sure we will again this year.’

rugby

Focused; O’Connell knows Munster need to be ready

Irish Long Course National Championships kick off today at the National Aquatic Centre with more than 300 swimmers from 63 clubs competing. They will serve as a final opportunity for swimmers to qualify for the European Open Water and Swimming Championships in Berlin in August. Seven Irish athletes including Olympians Barry Murphy (pictured) and Sycerika McMahon have already qualified. Joining them will be 2013 Swimmer of the Year Fiona Doyle, record holder Brendan Hyland, Nicholas Quinn, Dan Sweeney and Open Water swimmer Chris Bryan.

UCI clears Rogers cycLing Australian cyclist Michael Rogers will face no further action over a positive test for clenbuterol he delivered at a race in Japan last October. The 34-year-old former Team Sky rider was provisionally suspended after testing positive for the steroid. But the International Cycling Union said in a statement yesterday it accepted he ingested the substance via contaminated meat at the preceding Tour of Beijing.

22 METRO HERALD Thursday, April 24, 2014

Blues back Jose’s call to rest stars for Anfield clash by RicHARD HOOkHAM

JOSE MOURINHO caused consternation with his threat to play a weakened team at Liverpool, but his Chelsea players appear to have already turned their focus onto the return leg with Atletico. Tuesday’s 0-0 semi-final draw in Madrid left Mourinho feeling reaching the Champions League final should be the club’s priority, rather than Sunday’s Anfield showdown with Premier League leaders Liverpool. The Portuguese wants to rest players but will discuss it with owner Roman Abramovich, admitting: ‘It’s not a decision a manager can take on his own.’ John Terry and Petr Cech will miss both the Liverpool and Atletico games with injuries sustained in Madrid and Gary Cahill

‘It’s not a decision I can take on my own’ suggested the players also believe Europe should be the priority. ‘We are really, really close to the final now, we have one more game at home and have to give it every-

football champions league

thing,’ said the defender. ‘We have one huge game to go, we have to focus and give everything next week.’ Full-back Cesar Azpilicueta also claimed Mourinho would be right to utilise his squad at Anfield. ‘We need every player as we can’t always play with the same ones,’ he said. Meanwhile, Mourinho, assistant Rui Faria and midfielder Ramires have been charged by the Football Association following Saturday’s defeat to Sunderland, which ended Mourinho’s 77-match unbeaten home league run with the Blues. Mourinho sarcastically praised the referee afterwards, while Faria confronted the officials. Ramires avoided punishment for appearing to strike Sebastian Larsson but faces a retrospective ban which may end his league campaign. Terry-ble news: Chelsea skipper JT could miss the rest of the season with injury picture: ap

fOOTBALL DigEsT

Reds reveal revamp plans

LiverpooL have unveiled their plans for the redevelopment of Anfield which would take capacity from 45,000 to close to 60,000. Managing director ian Ayre described the proposals to add 8,500 to a revamped Main Stand and about 4,800 to the Anfield road end as ‘ambitious’. Local residents, businesses and fans can give their views as part of the Merseyside club’s planning application which it expects to submit in the summer.

MADRiD in cHARgE As BEnzEMA HiTs HOME reAL MADriD...........1 BAyern Munich ....0

Barca free to spend after ban reprieve

BArceLonA will be able to sign players this summer after Fifa put the club’s transfer ban on hold. The catalans had been given a transfer ban for two windows for breaching rules on signing youth players from overseas. Barca have appealed and Fifa has announced the ban will be suspended until the disciplinary process is completed.

picture: ap

White heat: Benzema wheels away in delight after opening the scoring in the Bernabeu last night

REAL MADRID gave themselves a fabulous chance of reaching next month’s European Cup final with a narrow win over the holders. The only goal came after 19 minutes when a quick counter-attack saw Cristiano Ronaldo feed Fabio Coentrao, who crossed low for Karim Benzema to turn the ball home from close range. With Bayern controlling possession Real played on the break but Ronaldo wasted a fine chance to double the lead, blasting over when well placed. Then, after the break, Manuel Neuer saved well from a Ronaldo effort. Flu victim Gareth Bale replaced Ronaldo late on, but Bayern nearly scored when Iker Casillas saved from Mario Gotze. Thomas Muller then had a late penalty shout ruled out by Howard Webb.

football premier league

Thursday, April 24, 2014 METRO HERALD 23

players are snubbed as Moyes signs off

Divided United: Moyes made no mention of the players in his goodbye, suggesting all was far from harmonious in his dressing room pictURe: ReUteRs

by DANiEL JONEs DaviD Moyes gave a public farewell to Manchester United yesterday, but pointedly snubbed the players who had contributed to his downfall. The 50-year-old scot, sacked on Tuesday, released a statement via the League Managers association in which he spoke of his gratitude to the man who hand-picked him for the job, sir alex Ferguson, the fans and the staff at old Trafford. However, there was no mention of his squad, suggesting rumours of dressingroom unrest were not wide of the mark.

Reaching out: Scholes, pictured training with Robin van Persie during his playing days, has been drafted in to assist Giggs pictURe: ReUteRs

Warning: Meulensteen

Rene says United job left David all at sea

‘I’ll always be proud to have had this job’ Moyes said: ‘During this period of transition, performances and results have not been what Manchester United and its fans are used to or expect, and i understand and share their frustration. ‘i remain proud to have led the team to the quarter-finals of this year’s Champions League and i remain grateful to sir alex Ferguson for believing in my ability and giving me the chance to manage Manchester United. He added: ‘To have been appointed as manager of Manchester United, one of the biggest football clubs in the world, was and remains something of which i will always be incredibly proud. ‘Taking charge after such a long period of continuous stability and success at the club was inevitably going to be a significant challenge, but it was one which i relished and never had a second thought about taking on. ‘The scale of the manager’s job at United is immense but i have never stepped away from hard work and the same applies to my coaching staff. ‘i thank them for their dedication and loyalty throughout the last season. The former everton boss continued: ‘i would like to thank the United staff for making me feel so welcome... and of course thank you to those fans who have supported me throughout the season. ‘i wish you and the club all the best for the future.’

scHOLEs OuT TO givE OLD pALs A HAND PAul sCHOles has been added to Ryan Giggs’ backroom staff at Manchester united. Giggs was appointed caretaker manager following the sacking of Moyes on tuesday. the Welshman

installed nicky Butt and Phil neville as first-team coaches and it has now emerged scholes, another former team-mate, joined the staff. ‘It’s great to see Paul scholes here at the Aon training Complex

today, assisting Ryan Giggs, nicky Butt and Phil neville,’ read a post on united’s official twitter feed. Giggs, 40, is not understood to be in the running to be the club’s next full-time manager.

Rene Meulensteen believes David Moyes underestimated the size of the job he was taking on at Manchester united and revealed he tried to warn the former everton manager of the problems he would face. the scot was relieved of his duties at Old trafford on tuesday morning following a disastrous season in charge. Meulensteen, who was a trusted lieutenant of sir Alex Ferguson at Old trafford but deemed surplus to requirements by Moyes, was not surprised things ended as they did. ‘In hindsight David probably underestimated the magnitude of it. I tried to explain it would be like going from steering a yacht to a cruise liner,’ the former Fulham boss told Cnn. ‘What you have to remember is Alex evolved in that role over 26 years. He was completely embedded in the club. ‘Ferguson learned to delegate and trust. When you manage other clubs you are probably able to be more hands-on.’

W THEy sAiD iT football reacts to manager’s departure

‘I do not understand why Rio Ferdinand and Rafael are still in the side. They are not up to the standard of Manchester United. They need to get rid of a few players.’ Former United winger Andrey Kanchelskis (pictured) believes it was the under-performing players who were to blame for the club’s woes this season, not David Moyes

‘If I was David, I would like everybody to be quiet because you will end up patronising him. David will be delighted that I am of the opinion that I am going to say nothing.’ Scotland manager and ex-United midfielder Gordon Strachan (pictured) does his best to keep his nose out of the whole Moyes saga

SPORT

24 METRO HERALD Thursday, April 24, 2014

No way my stars can go to Anfield and play, says Jose

«see PAge 22 Battlers of Clontarf: Max McFarland celebrates a try with team-mates during the Danske Barbarian Challenge at Castle Avenue. The club’s victory rounded off the perfect week for Clontarf RFC after they held their nerve on the final day of the season to be crowned Ulster Bank League champions for the first time.

Exit strategy forces United on defensive by gAvin bROwn

MANCHESTER United last night dismissed claims they handled the decision to sack David Moyes ‘in an unprofessional manner’. The League Managers Association yesterday criticised United, claiming the existence of media reports ‘confirming’ Moyes’ departure the day before the Scot was officially relieved of his duties left them ‘very disappointed’. However, United insist no decision had been made on Moyes’ future when the rumours of his demise first started circulating on Monday afternoon. ‘The decision was not taken until late Monday night and was communicated face-to-face first thing on Tuesday morning,’ read an Old Trafford statement. ‘When reports started emerging on internet news sites on Monday afternoon, no decision had been taken at that time.’ Moyes, meanwhile, has broken his silence on his departure, thanking predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson for giving him the chance to manage the club, but pointedly refusing to mention his players, fuelling reports of a dressing room rift. Holland boss Louis Van Gaal remains the favourite to become Moyes’ successor, with Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti also thought to be in the frame.

« Moyes’s PArTing shoT – PAge 23

picture: epa

CARLO EDgEs REAL CLOsER TO EURO FinAL Handy win: Carlo ancelotti, who has been linked with the manager’s position at United, guided Real Madrid to a 1-0 Champions League semi-final, first-leg win over Bayern Munich

rePorT - P22