APRIL / MAY 2009
NewsFour Free Community Newspaper serving Sandymount, Irishtown, Ringsend, Docklands, Ballsbridge and Donnybrook Web: www.news4.ie • E-mail: newsfourscs@eircom.net • Local Newsdesk: Phone 6673317
ANN MOVES ON
AH… THOSE LONG, BRIGHT DAYS! Blessington Basin is a beautifully-restored park within a stroll of O’Connell St. Read James O’Doherty’s article on page 7
John Henry Foley sculpted Oliver Goldsmith, right, and the O’Connell monument. Why is he almost forgotten? See page 21
T
he numerous friends of Ann Ingle will be sorry to hear she is stepping down as Editor of NewsFour after six years. As she explains in her Editorʼs Corner on page two, she will find plenty to keep her busy in her ʻretirementʼ! During Annʼs editorship NewsFour has become more colourful, more frequent and more varied in its content. Ann herself has been a pleasure to work with. She can effortlessly juggle her family matters with the business end of running a news-
paper while typing, proofreading and dealing with people. A mark of her versatility in this issue is her fascinating interview with Gerry Adams MP MLA and leader of Sinn Féin, pictured below at Clanna Gael. The final words must go to her longtime friend Councillor Dermot Lacey. This is the final edition of NewsFour to be edited by my friend and great colleague Ann Ingle. Over the last number of years Ann has brought her integrity, commitment, decency and
Gerry Adams at Clanna Gael. See interview on pages 24 to 25.
great common sense to her role as Manager of Community Services– Sandymount, Irishtown and Ringsend– publisher of NewsFour and sponsor of a wide range of other services in our community. Along with my fellow Board members I want to express our heartfeflt ʻthank youʼ to Ann for all her work that has seen our project go from strength to strength. At a time when some FÁS schemes are being questioned, Ann has demonstrated the great value in human and community terms of such initiatives. Since 1985 I have worked with Ann to deliver a relevant community service that has made a real difference to the lives of very many people. In all those years I have known Ann to be deeply committed to an improvement in the quality of life for many hundreds of individuals and through that the betterment of our wider community. While her role as Manager of the Project has now come to an end, I have no doubt that she will be back with us in another capacity very soon. Thanks Ann and enjoy your retirement. Dermot Lacey Chairperson, NewsFour Community Services– Sandymount, Irishtown and Ringsend.
Mahatma Gandhi and a tiger are the spur for a timid chef in Edel Gillick’s engaging short story on pages 36 to 37
Those veteran rockers Status Quo can still pack the Olympia Theatre on a cold Sunday night, as John Cavendish notes on page 39
Joe Taylor who lives in Irishtown was going for his morning walk on the day after St Patrickʼs Day along the drain in Ringsend Park and was horrified to see the vandalism perpetrated on several trees. Jason McDonnell captured this senseless destruction on camera.