April may 2014 newsfour final by News Four

Web: www.newsfour.ie = Email: newsfour@gmail.com = Local newsdesk phone: 01 667 3317 Serving Sandymount, Irishtown, Ringsend, Pearse Street, Docklands, Ballsbridge & Donnybrook

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April / May 2014

IN YOUR FAVOURITE LOCAL PAPER…

Page 8: Dress for Success, helping women get back to work

RUN FOR RINGSEND

By Eric Hillis ny plans for the May Bank Holiday? Do you love your town? How about combining a fun physical activity with raising awareness of issues in the local community? This May Day your small strides could mean a giant leap for your community. A community fun run has been arranged for Monday May 5th as part of the Our Town initiative, a collaboration between architect Felim Dunne and garden designer Diarmuid Gavin of RTÉ’s Dirty Old Towns. The aim of Our Town is to help communities regenerate themselves from within by restoring the sense of pride and loyalty that is such a strong part of Irish life and culture. “The Our Town Ringsend/Irishtown initiative will seek to establish from the local residents, community groups and businesses of Ringsend and Irishtown a sense of what they feel would help their community become a better place. Together we will develop a single, sustainable vision to enhance the community over the next ﬁve years and we will then source the funding and harness the manpower to implement that vision.

“Our Town provides a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) service to the corporate sector, whereby Our Town will develop CSR projects specific to each corporate entity. The corporate partner will provide volunteers and funding. It is an opportunity for the corporate partner to engage meaningfully with the community in which it operates,” Dunne tells NewsFour. Gavin and Dunne have chosen Ringsend/Irishtown as the pilot for the project, which is currently in its “Community Awakening” phase. A series of meetings with Gavin, Dunne and members of the community led to the formation of a subcommittee charged with the task of organising the fun run. The fun run is seen as an ideal way of getting the Our Town message out to the Ringsend and Irishtown community, while also providing a fun day out for all the family. The FREE 5km run will take place in Ringsend Park, consisting of four laps. There will be a medal for the 1st man and 1st woman to cross the finish line and medals will be given to the next 10 people who finish.

Those wishing to take part are urged to register online at www.ourtownfunrun.com. This will avoid queuing on the day at the registration desk in Irishtown Stadium which opens at 11.30am. The starting pistol will ﬁre at 12.30pm sharp. Everyone who visits the area or who lives or works in Ringsend/Irishtown is encouraged to take part, regardless of age or ability. Some groups may wish to use their participation to raise funds for a cause through self-organised sponsorship. Those wishing to walk are encouraged to join the RICC May Day Parade. The parade will start on Thorncastle Street at the Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre at 2pm and march through Irishtown, down the Sean Moore Road, Pigeon House Road, Cambridge Road and back to the centre. This will be the sixth annual RICC May Day Parade which proves to be a very popular event every year. “The purpose of the parade is to celebrate growth and development in the community and to showcase the many wonderful groups and organisations in our area,” RICC Manager Lorraine Bar-

Info and registration for Our Town Fun Run: www.ourtownfunrun.com Info and registration for RICC May Day Parade Ph: 6604 789

ry tells NewsFour. A barbeque with light refreshments will be held at the rear of the centre, with entertainment provided by local talent including singing, Irish dancing, clowns and magicians, face painting and lots more. This community day is just the start of Our Town’s journey. With your help we can take our community across the ﬁnish line. Pictured is a small selection of the many groups involved in the Our Town Ringsend/Irishtown project. From left to right: John Dodd (Clanna Gael), Jonathon Tormey (FAI), Joe Donnelly (Fair Play Café), Theresa Weafer (RDRD), Larry Ryder (Crusaders), Boy Murphy (Bridge Utd), Karen Keegan (NewsFour), Barbara Doyle (RICC), Mary Ward (GALS), Mary Doolan (RCSF), Felim Dunne (Our Town), Shay Connolly (Clanna Gael), Michael Kelly (O’Dwyer’s Auctioneers), Gerry Brannock (Stella Maris Rowing Club), Sueann Moore (RCSF). With special thanks to the One Directioners; Casey Murphy, Jessie Hughes, Karen O’Connell, Caitlin Whelan and Mary Spencer of the Ringsend and Irishtown Youth Project who made the lovely sign.

Sean Moore Awards on pages 20 and 21: Mary and Paddy O’Toole attended. Photo courtesy Ruth Kennedy

Page 25: Out for Coffee with Paul Howard AKA Ross O’Carroll Kelly. Photo by Paddy Butler

Page 28: Herbert Park’s Dublin Pug Club

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NewsFour Managing Editor Karen Keegan Editor Emma Dwyer Staff Liam Cahill Eric Hillis Rúairí Conneely Donna Dunne Maria Shields O’Kelly Aimée MacLeod Gavan Bergin Contributors Jimmy Purdy Noel Twamley Nicky Flood Gemma Byrne Kirstin Smith Felix O’Regan David Nolan David Carroll Lorraine Barry Design and Layout Eugene Carolan Web Designer/Ad Design Karen Madsen Photographer Ross Waldron (All photos by Ross Waldron unless otherwise stated)

Sandymount Community Services, RICC, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4. Telephone: (01)6673317 E-mail: newsfour@gmail.com Website: www.newsfour.ie

NewsFour Newspaper is part of a DSP Community Employment Programme. Opinions expressed in NewsFour do not necessarily represent the views of Sandymount Community Services. Printed by Datascope Ltd, Wexford

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

The Letterbox Dear editor, Interested in climbing the highest peaks in all four provinces? It’s Connacht’s Mweelrea on March 29th. It’s all part of Climb4Concern. Over the next eight months Concern is inviting readers of NewsFour to climb the highest peaks in all four provinces. For the intrepid, there are climbs in Scotland and Wales. The next climb after Mweelrea is Lugnaquilla in Leinster on May 10th, followed by Slieve Donard in Ulster on June 7th. On July 12th it’s Carrauntoohil. The August Bank Holiday Weekend is Ben Nevis and in October, the last climb of the year, is Snowdon. Scale them all or just climb one, that’s up to you. If you are interested, please contact me at 01 417 8028, email at siobhan.oconnor@concern.net. Check out ShowYourConcern.net. All fundraising from these climbs goes towards Concern’s overseas projects. Sincerely, Siobhán O’Connor Dear editor, Could you let your readers know that, on Friday 23rd May, Sandymount Gospel Choir will perform their ﬁrst concert in the Lansdowne Football Club, next door to the Aviva Stadium. All proceeds from the concert will go to the Sandymount Matero Friendship Programme. The SMFP was founded in 2008 and links Sandymount with Matero, an impoverished suburb of Lusaka, Zambia. The programme currently provides funds to feed 250 vulnerable primary school children, employ three teachers in the Matero Community School, purchase educational materials and enable 25 children to continue on to post primary education. Funds are raised through standing bank orders and other fundraising initiatives and all the money raised goes directly to the programme (see sandymountmatero.ie for further details.) Keep an eye out around the village for posters and suppliers of tickets, and also keep an eye out on the NewsFour website. Our own Facebook page will be launched. If you are interested in joining the choir, please check out our Facebook page for details. Yours Cindy Carroll

Scrabble Group Scrabble group every Tuesday 2 – 4pm all welcome, beginners, players. Contact Aine at 085 860 7665 for further information.

The Editor’s Corner

e celebrated the Sean Moore Awards in February, there were loads of winners on the night who got the shock of their lives as their names were read out (pages 20 and 21). There were more nominations than awards which goes to show the strong community spirit in Dublin 4. That community spirit needs to be harnessed again for the Our Town initiative (page 1). There will be a Fun Run on Monday May 5th to coincide with RICC’s May Day Parade. The aim of the run isn’t to work off all those Easter eggs, it’s to get your good selves together, to get you involved in making Ringsend/Irishtown a stronger, more sustainable community. Other highlights from this edition of NewsFour include: Sandymount’s first ever Repair Cafe (page 10), Ringsend’s own film boffin Pat Larkin (page 17), pug’s big day out in Herbert Park (page 28), and we’re in Buenos Aires (page 32) for a new series of articles on Dublin 4 people making waves around the world, what are all the departed up ta, at all at all? This issue’s COMPETITIONS for our readers: Free tickets to the Punchestown Irish Jump Racing Festival! Three pairs of tickets will be offered for Saturday, May 3rd Family Day. Children under 14 attend the festival for free so this could be a great family day out. To enter, get your kids to draw their version of a ladies day at the races hat and we will choose the three winners. Send them in to us by April 18th email: newsfour@gmail or post to NewsFour Competitions, RICC, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4. Win a pair of tickets for a tour of the Aviva Stadium (read about it on page 33) by emailing or posting us telling us who you would bring and why. Happy reading, Emma.

Correction: In the last issue on page 16 it said Willie Murphy was a spokesman for the residents at Cambridge Court, he is a resident himself there rather than a spokesman.

NEWSFOUR AROUND THE WORLD

Friends of the Royal Hospital Donnybrook (Morehampton Road)

EASTER SALE Date: Saturday 5th April Venue: In our Concert Hall Time: 10am until 1pm Books, Bric-a-brac, Cakes Gifts, Household Goods, Jewellery, Wonderful Raffle, Vegetables and more. Refreshments Available Come and bring your friends Orlagh Bolton, living in Toronto for the last year and a half, is originally from Ringsend. Her uncle Martin Bolton from Ringsend has been sending her every NewsFour since she has been away. Here she is pictured in front of the CN tower downtown Toronto, Canada.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

FAIR PLAY CAFE

LAUNCH OF UNIQUE LOYALTY CARD

By Liam Cahill ots of cafes have a loyalty card but the Fair Play Cafe is launching a new loyalty card for their customers that is also designed to help those in our local community who may not have the opportunity to spend much on food. Joe Donnelly, the cafe operator explains, “For the success of our initiative to help local people in need we invite our customers to put money into our tips jar. We will total this amount each month, at present we usually get about €200 each month. We then ask a local company, group or individual to match that amount, and so the €200 becomes €400 each month. We will put €10 credit onto 40 of these loyalty cards and pass these loyalty cards onto the various agencies that are approached for financial help by local people who

are struggling to make ends meet.” This loyalty card will look exactly the same as the

loyalty card that is used by the regular Fair Play Cafe customers.

For more information see loylap.com

PAGE 3 A local person in need will then be able to enjoy two fresh and healthy lunches due to the generosity of complete strangers. “I want to give the loyalty cards to people who have to make the choice from paying a gas or electricity bill or putting food on their table, in other words heat or eat,” said Joe. The first customer to match our monthly tips jar contributions was a local lady from Stella Gardens named Maureen Barry (pictured with Joe Donnelly) and there are several locally-based companies lined up and eager to take up the challenge of matching the amount donated by Fair Play Cafe customers into the tips jar. The loyalty card and accompanying smartphone app was designed by Dubliner Patrick Garry, one of the founders of Irish startup company Loylap. Loylap specialise in designing mobile applications for small and medium businesses and so far have 40 businesses using their program.

Above: The Poolbeg Towers reﬂected on Sandymount Strand looking lovely this spring.

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CHARITIES FILL UP AT APPLEGREEN

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

EAST LINK TOLLS TO REMAIN?

By Eric Hillis ince 2009, the Applegreen chain of service stations has been aiding selected charities, with over €680,000 paid out to date. The charity drive is held in two-year cycles, beginning with 2009 to 2011 when a total of €276,082 was raised and shared between GOAL and Laura Lynn Children’s Hospice. This year, the grand sum of €405,387 will be shared between Irish charities Console and the Jack and Jill Foundation. The money raised is the result of the 2012 to 2013 cycle, and is actually 59% higher than the target initially set by Applegreen. Through an initiative titled You Buy, We Give, every purchase made by an Applegreen

customer results in one cent of the transaction being donated to the charity fund, at no extra cost for the customer. In addition to this process, customers donated through charity boxes on site at Applegreen locations, and special events ranging from fun runs to car wash days were held by the staff of several branches. Keith Ennis, who until recently managed the Mount Merrion branch, took part in a sponsored climb of Scotland’s Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles. Selected as the recipients of the 2014 to 2015 drive are The Children’s Medical and Research Foundation at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin and Anam Cara. The former is a world-class facility that pro-

For more information on the two currently selected charities, visit The Children’s Medical Research Foundation at cmrf.org and Anam Cara at anamcara.ie

vides essential research into the treatment of childhood-speciﬁc diseases. Anam Cara is an organisation dedicated to providing support for parents who ﬁnd themselves dealing with bereavement. Applegreen also hosts an annual golf day at Donnybrook’s Elm Park Golf Club, the next one is this September. Staff of the Mount Merrion branch help out on the day and last year they provided fresh cakes for the participating golfers. Pictured at Applegreen’s Mount Merrion branch are (left to right) Paul Kelly, Founder and CEO Console, Brendan O’Connor, Joe Barrett, COO Applegreen, Aidan Power, Jonathan Irwin, Founder and CEO Jack & Jill. Photo by Paul Sherwood.

By Liam Cahill ublin City Council (DCC) could continue to charge motorists for using the East Link Toll Bridge (pictured) after the 30-year contract expires at the end of 2015. The East Link Toll Bridge has been operating since 1984 under an agreement by DCC, East Link Limited and the Dublin Port Company. Under the agreement, the arrangement is to remain in place until December 2015. Currently the bridge makes an annual profit of €4.2 million which is divided throughout the different partners, with €1.3 million going to DCC. The proposal to retain the toll is one of two suggestions outlined by DCC. Due to the contract expiring, all profits made by the toll would go directly to DCC. The council would also become liable for the maintenance costs of the facility. The second option is the removal of the toll facility, which could cost DCC €850,000. €200,000 a year in maintenance costs would still be the responsibility of DCC. The removal of the toll could also mean a projected loss of jobs and the discontinuation of the annual fund by the East Link Toll Scheme of €123,900 distributed to local community groups. “It’s a ridiculous report,” said Fine Gael Councillor Kieran Binchy. “It’s written by somebody who hasn’t given the matter proper consideration. It’s in the interest of good traffic flow that we get rid of the toll.” Traffic levels using the toll have also fallen 30% since 2008 attributed largely to the opening of the Samuel Beckett Bridge. “There has to be a rational basis for charging the public for things,” said Wayne Flanagan Tobin an Independent candidate for Pembroke South Dock. “The East Link Toll Bridge should be available for the public to use free of charge.” According to council sources, there has been no decision made about the report or what to do once the contract expires. Local councillors have been told to keep discussions ongoing about the matter.

TEA IN THE PARK?

By Rúairí Conneely lans are afoot to upgrade the public resources in Ballsbridge’s Herbert Park. First mooted around 15 years ago by Councillors Dermot Lacey and Eamon Ryan, work has already begun on the preparatory stages of renovations, such as drainage of areas where foundations will be laid. The plans are focused around what is now the football pavilion. Architectural plans detail the extension of the tennis courts, more refuse bins, a new outdoor seating area with external lighting, upgraded changing rooms, improved bicycle parking, and new paths connecting the pavilion to other play areas to the west and north of the site. The largest addition will be the

tea rooms. The work currently underway is whatever can be done that does not require planning permission but it is expected that the bulk of the renovations will begin this summer. Parts of the pavilion will be extended to incorporate an outdoor seating

area for the tea rooms. Before the heavy work begins, there was the establishment and unveiling of a memorial to Joe Doyle, the Fine Gael Senator, TD for Dublin South-East and former Lord Mayor of Dublin, who died in August 2009 (See page 8).

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

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NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

€600,000 FOR FEMALE-LED BUSINESSES

By Liam Cahill nterprise Ireland is to invest €600,000 in 12 female-led businesses as part of their new Competitive Start Fund for Female Entrepreneurs. The new fund, gives femaleled start-up companies funding of €50,000 and a clear path to commercial vitality with guidance in the early stages of each business. Businesses were chosen based on their ability to become what Enterprise Ireland call a high growth potential start-up, which means they will have a greater chance to create employment and become commercially successful. “We found we had very few female-led companies in Enterprise Ireland programmes,” said Jean O’Sullivan, Manager of the Female Entrepreneurship Programme at Enterprise Ireland. “The most important thing, I think, is that these female-only funds are used to create awareness to the fact that grants are available.” Jean also said that she has noticed the number of female entrepreneurs participating in Enterprise Ireland programmes increase from 7% to 15%. “The difference is that women are coming

forward in different types; they’re coming forward in sectors that have the opportunity to create employment and export.” The Competitive Start Fund for Female Entrepreneurs is just one of the mechanisms Enterprise Ireland have in place to bolster female-led start-up companies including the Feasibility Fund which provides €25,000 in funding, the Innovation

Voucher which provides companies with €5,000 in seed funding, the New Frontiers Entrepreneurs Development Program which provides €15,000 and a Mentor Grant of up to €1,750. Recently, Enterprise Ireland also launched a new online networking platform for female entrepreneurs, which aims to facilitate greater communication between female-led businesses.

“It’s what we need right now for our business in terms of a cash injection,” said Sonya Lennon the cofounder of the fashion app Frock Advisor who are one of those 12 businesses receiving the fund. Sonya founded the company with Brendan Courtney her co-presenter on RTÉ’s Off the Rails fashion show. “It gives us a status which is just invaluable; to be able to go to a professional investor and say you’re endorsed by Enterprise Ireland. It means that you’ve been through a rigorous process and there’s validity to your proposition.” Frock Advisor, based on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in the Docklands, is an app for your iPhone or Smartphone device. It acts as both a fashion map and fashion advisor: locating local independent fashion stores, detailing the latest trends in fashion and connecting you with friends and your favorite brands. “It’s basically drawing a line of communication between people who already know and trust each other and allowing their interactions to become their own best ad

PAGE 7 for themselves. The women that we are targeting are women who are bright and professional, these women want something different,” said Sonya. “The Competitive Start Fund will enable us to expand our team in the coming months,” said Emer O’Daly of FabAllThings, an interactive design brand, which creates products using 3D printing techniques, also one of the 12 businesses beneﬁtting from the Enterprise Ireland fund. “We will be expanding the design tools in our online platform so that customers can personalise all our products to themselves. This fund will enable us to carry out this work.” The other companies receiving this funding include aPperbook, Cloud KPI’s, Coldlilies, DiaNia Technologies, It’s Beside You, Market Finder, Idoneus Medical Services, Medxnote and Vac Travel. Pictured are the CEO of Enterprise Ireland Julie Sinnamon, Brendan Courtney and Sonya Lennon from Frock Advisor and the Minister of State for Small Business John Perry. Image courtesy Enterprise Ireland.

For more information on the Competitive Start Fund for Female Entrepreneurs or any of the other initiatives you can visit enterprise-ireland.com

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By Donna Dunne etting a job in today’s competitive market is a difficult challenge for anyone. Over the course of 2013, the number of women on the live register in Ireland has risen by more than 3%, while for men the figure has fallen by 0.9%, suggesting it’s more difficult for women to find work. In the Dublin region alone there are more than 62,000 women out of work. Dress for Success Dublin is an organisation on Liffey Street that promotes the economic independence of women by providing professional clothing, career development tools and a support network. Each client works one-toone with a suiting volunteer who helps her select free professional clothing and also provides support and encouragement as she prepares for her upcoming interviews, training/work placement or job. They also provide makeup for clients through their No7 partnership with Boots in Ireland.

DRESS FOR SUCCESS

“Since opening our doors in 2010, we have served over 500 women through our suiting programme, career centre and

outreach programmes,” explains Susan Butler (pictured), the Programme Co-ordinator for Dress for Success Dublin.

“Of those women, when we got in touch last November 2013, 57% of women were in employment and 75% were where

For more information on Dress for Success Dublin visit: dressforsuccessdublin.org

YOUNG HOPEFULS FOR BRAIN OLYMPICS

By Rúairí Conneely ebruary of this year saw the commencement of a major talent search across the nation, as part of the build-up to the All-Ireland Linguistics Olympiad 2014. More than 750 candidates from across the nation undertook the qualifying challenges, and more than 160 of them were from south Dublin schools. The national ﬁnal contest took place in Trinity Col-

lege Dublin on March 25th, where the ﬁnal hundred contestants competed for a chance to represent Ireland on the international stage at the International Linguistics Olympiad in July of this year. At this point, you might be wondering, what is a Linguistic Olympiad exactly? Simply put, it’s the brain Olympics. Students (generally around the ﬁfth year age range) are presented with a series of logical puzzles and language-based chal-

lenges which would probably stand the average persons’ hair on end at first glance, though in truth, they are simple if you are patient and reasonably talented with logic. For instance, a list of words and a list of phrases are given in a foreign language and the student’s native language. New statements are then presented as questions and the student has to work out from the two lists how to translate these statements. No prior second languages are required, students just have to work on what is presented on the page. NewsFour spoke with Barry Kelleher, a teacher at St Michael’s College which will be sending students to represent Dublin 4 at the All Ireland finals. He explained that this was St Michael’s first ever year in the competition and the Linguistic Olympiad is only one part of a larger international Science Olympiad: “There are also competitions in

chemistry and mathematics. From what I understand, the national final is comprised of individual testing and team-based challenges. St Michael’s entered six pupils in the national search, and three have qualified for the final.” Mr Kelleher also explained that, as he understood things, tutoring would be made available for the All Ireland champions, provided by the Centre for Global Intelligent Content, who underwrite the contest. This institution, also known as the CNGL, is an academic research body worth €58 million, which is dedicated, in its own words to inspiring the next generation of multilingual technology graduates “to pursue careers combining computers, linguistics and languages”. In the coming era of Silicon Dock and Ireland’s love affair with the corporate tech industry, this

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014 they wanted to be, whether that was in training, internships, or further education.” Dress for Success was founded in New York in 1997 by Nancy Lubalin and the organisation has now served more than 700,000 women around the world. They are a registered charity with funding coming from many places including corporate grants, funding programmes, individual donations and direct fundraising campaigns. Clothing comes from individual donations, corporate organisations that hold suit drops with their staff and fashion companies which donate stock directly to the company. Anything donated which they cannot use, Dress for Success Dublin pass on to Women’s Aid, who sell these items in their charity shop. NewsFour went in search of opportunities like this for men but unfortunately other than the normal job support services for both men and women, there is not a similar organisation for men within the Irish market. year’s Linguistic Olympiad looks promising indeed. Conor O’Brien, Paddy Allen, Gary Mullins and Neil Mc Cann, students from St Michaels College, ready for action at the All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad Finals in Trinity College.

At the unveiling ceremony of the commemorative bench and tree for former Lord Mayor Joe Doyle (1936 – 2009), his grandson Joe digs in to help with the ceremony in Herbert Park.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

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ADVERTORIAL • ADVERTORIAL • ADVERTORIAL • ADVERTORIAL • ADVERTORIAL • ADVERTORIAL • ADVERTORIAL • ADVERTORIAL

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SANDYMOUNT’S FIRST REPAIR CAFE

By Donna Dunne nstead of throwing away your broken blenders, ripped clothes, or punctured tyres, why not bring them to The Repair Cafe. During the Celtic Tiger we could spend money without giving it a second thought, we would trash any old item to buy the newest edition, but in the last few years Irish people have started to understand the importance of recycling, reusing and repairing.

At The Repair Cafe you will ﬁnd tools and materials to help you make any repairs you need. Household items, bikes, furniture, electrical goods, broken items and clothes are all welcome, with a team of expert volunteers to assist you with showing how your item can be ﬁxed. The idea of the cafe is to help people think creatively and to get involved in turning their unwanted waste into something special. The Repair Cafe was founded in Amsterdam in 2007 by Martine Postma and has now spread worldwide to nine countries in Europe and also in the US, Canada and even Brazil. The foundation helps local groups set up their own Repair Cafe, putting you in touch with other people in your neighbourhood who are interested in starting one too. Claire Downey in Sandymount

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

is the first to wave the flag for Dublin and get involved in the initiative. NewsFour spoke to Claire about why she decided to take the first Repair Cafe to Ireland. “I work in the waste industry and I was looking for new opportunities to reduce and reuse.” Seeking advice on your item or to get something repaired is free of charge at the cafe but a voluntary donation is appreciated to help them cover some or all of their costs. If repairs cannot be carried out with what is available, the visitor will usually be given advice on where to buy the material and they can come back later if it is possible for their experts to mend. The Sandymount Repair Cafe had their first opening on the 1st of March at Christ Church Hall and they hope to have the next one in May or June.

To ﬁnd out more visit The Sandymount Repair Cafe on Facebook: Facebook.com/sandymount.repaircafe, twitter@SMRepairCafe and repaircafe.ie

Above: Ralph Llewellyn ﬁxing an old lamp at the Sandymount Repair Cafe. Left: Joe Mc Cann ﬁxing a bike wheel.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

By Liam Cahill efore Aware’s Life Skills Programme, Eric Russell who featured in NewsFour in December 2012 was overweight and depressed. He saw no way out of his spiral until he heard of the Life Skills Programme. “The ﬁrst introduction booklet says ‘you’re not running a marathon’ and I put my hand up and said ‘actually I am’,” said Eric. “It gave me the belief that I was on the right track, I went away with a spring in my step. I lost 18 stone and am training for my third marathon.” The Aware Life Skills Programme is a completely free educational programme delivered over the course of six weeks. It is based on principles of cognitive behavioural therapy, delivered with low intensity support or guidance via short, weekly, face to face group classes. Participants of the programme can learn how to cope with stress, enhance their conﬁdence and learn practical life skills in order to deal with life more effectively. To date, 2,125 people have suc-

LIFE SKILLS REDUCES DEPRESSION

cessfully completed the programme in Ireland. Recently, a new study written by Chris Williams, a Professor of Psychosocial Psychiatry at the University of Glasgow, who has spearheaded Aware’s Life Skills

Programme since 2012, found 59% of the participants who attended the 90-minute sessions in Scotland moved from moderate levels of depression to mild or none. The study also found that the

classes, conducted in a community setting, are “effective in terms of impact on mood” and offer people an alternative route to deal with mitigating mental issues. “The longer that hour went on

The Life Skills programme is free of charge and funded by donations made through Tesco stores nationwide. Online applications and location details are now available on Aware.ie

PAGE 11 the more and more I kept thinking ‘this [programme] is amazing’,” said George Hook, a journalist, broadcaster and rugby pundit who was a master of ceremonies of sorts at the launch of the study and who has had his own struggles with depression in the past. “I think people increasingly think there’s a pill for everything, so there’s a happy pill out there and there isn’t. Solving this problem is largely within yourself, it doesn’t go away and you learn to cope with that. I mean I’d be really tempted to sign on for this course.” “Change is open to everybody,” said Ciaran Allen, one of the trainers on the Life Skills Programme. “What I was delivering started to impact on me and I realised maybe I could learn something new.” He soon learned how to play the ukulele. “I’ve met so many people who are closeted ukulele players.” Pictured, from left to right, Joanne Doyle, George Hook, Sean Greensit, Dr Claire Hayes, Lisa McEvoy, Professor Chris Williams, and Michelle Mahon.

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BROWNIE’S BIG DAY

By Eric Hillis andford Brownies (Ranelagh) member Charlotte Dougherty was a special guest at Leinster House in February when the 10-year-old Donnybrook girl claimed top prize in a competition staged by Irish Girl Guides (IGG). To enter the competition, members were required to submit an article and photo of a guiding event. Charlotte’s winning entry documented Sandford Brownies’ trip to Tibradden’s Zipit adventure centre. She was accompanied in Leinster House by her parents and

the winners of two other age categories; guide winner, 12-year-old Lauren Mooney from Ballybay, Co Monaghan, and senior branch winner, 21-year-old Sarah Condren from Limerick. Senator Jillian Van Turnhout, a former IGG chief commissioner between 2001 and 2007, was delighted to welcome the girls to Leinster House. “These young and aspiring journalists have promoted and brought to life the true experience of being an Irish Girl Guide,” she said. “They have captured the fun, adventure and challenge of girl guiding in their articles and

it is a great pleasure to welcome these winners to Seanad Éireann.” Author Sarah Webb (The Memory Box, Anything for Love) judged the competition, having led Killiney Brownies until recently. “The standard was very high and I greatly enjoyed reading all the articles about the Guide and Brownie events and meetings, vividly described by the young journalists,” she said. “I thought Charlotte’s article was a lovely, lovely piece and really well-written. I am proud to support guiding as I believe it is of huge beneﬁt to girls in Ireland and internation-

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014 ally.” Webb rewarded each of the girls with a signed copy of one of her books. Canon Ireland’s Marketing Manager, Jonathan Sultan, presented each of the girls with a Canon camera and a book on photography. “Taking good photos is all about practice,” he told the girls. “It’s about the power of the image and what an image can say. Hopefully you’re at the start of a long photographic journey. Congratulations!”

If you require information on Sandford Brownies, email lindaonolan@gmail.com Front row from left: Catherine Noone, chair of Irish Girl Guides PR committee, Charlotte Dougherty, Joyce Dougherty, Sarah Webb. Back row from left: Rev Andrew Dougherty, Senator Jillian van Turnhout and Jonathan Sultan of Canon Ireland. Photo by Fiona Murdoch, image courtesy Irish Girl Guides.

LOCAL AGENCY WINS DESIGN AWARD

By Rúairí Conneely he creative design agency Clickworks have become the first Irish company to win an award from the prestigious Design Business Association (DBA). DBA annually dispense the coveted Design Effectiveness Awards for agencies and design teams who produce the finest “strategic and effective design”. Clickworks, whose headquarters are based at Burlington House on Waterloo Lane, were recognised with a bronze award for their work on behalf of the charity Aware, a charity dedicated to the awareness and treatment of sufferers of depression. The winning design portfolio was for the charity’s Life Skills campaign, a group of free programmes intended to promote the use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help build self-esteem and cope with dayto-day stresses that can overwhelm those with a tendency to depression (read more on page 11). We spoke with Karina Abbaj, of the Clickworks media relations team, about the award and the company. She explained that the keywords of the Design Effectiveness Awards are creativity and effectiveness. “The aim is always to produce designs which are compelling and easy to follow for the ordinary user,” she explained. “The Life Skills campaign had a high click-through rating, so that’s a sign of success.” Click-throughs are exactly what they sound like: the traffic of users who browse the site compared to the number who click through to the next page. The Life Skills campaign has a click-through rate of 0.018 to 0.89 percent, which might sound vanishingly small but as with all statistics, small deviations are significant. Those numbers put the campaign above the industry standard. Karina explained that the DBA is an organisation for people who believe there should be a bridge that connects good design and business interests. The award is another feather in the cap for a company that represent a peculiar kind of post-Celtic Tiger success story: founded in 2007, on the eve of the economic crash, Clickworks have since tripled the size of their operations, representing charities and financial service providers. Pictured: Siobhan Griffin (left) and Sorcha Hogan (right) at the Clickwork’s DBA award ceremony. Image by Oleg Tolstoy.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

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NEW UNDER-25 EMPLOYMENT PLAN LAUNCHED

By Liam Cahill he Government has launched the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan. The document lays out the details of the European-wide scheme, designed to provide work, training opportunities and guidance for young job seekers under the age of 25. “Research shows that spells of unemployment while young can leave permanent scars,” said the Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton at the launch of the scheme at the end of January. “We already have a lot of the component parts of the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan in place in Ireland but we are going to build on them and ensure over time that young jobseekers get the opportunities they deserve.” The plan, which spans some 41 pages, speciﬁes how the guarantee will be rolled out by tailoring the existing services already in place to deal with the crisis. This will involve allocating additional places in JobBridge, Community Employment Schemes and at third-level institutions. Many of the requirements to qualify for

the already established schemes will be altered, such as age or how long the applicant has been unemployed. The plan calls for the government to start “expanding the number of opportunities” within subsidised private-sector recruit-

ment and to provide support for self-employment. The plan also wants to introduce, “new options for young unemployed people in the area of youth entrepreneurship and international work experience training.” The Department of Social Pro-

tection is charged with rolling out the plan over the next two years, but up to ﬁve other government agencies, including Solas and the Department of Education, will be involved. “It seems to be a very complicated system,” said Susan Menton, the Project Manager and Developer of the Talk About Youth Programme (TAYP) at St Andrew’s Resource Centre. “There’s an expression here at the moment ‘it’s all blue sky, there’s nothing on the ground as yet’ and that’s what it seems like. There’s loads of aspirations of what could be good ideas, but it just doesn’t seem to have landed on the ground yet.” Many elements within the plan are quite generic and the involvement of a variety of government and non-government agencies could raise some questions about oversight and the physical implementation of educational places or places on existing employment programmes. “What seems to be happening with the Youth Guarantee Imple-

mentation Plan is it seems to be using existing structures. Each of those individual places has worked with each other but not necessarily in a holistic, cohesive way. What the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan is talking about is bringing all those players into the one space, and if that happens that’s a good thing, but it doesn’t seem to be happening just yet,” said Susan. Opposition parties within the Dáil were quick to criticise the plan with Fianna Fáil spokesperson on social protection, Willie O’Dea, saying it lacked in terms of “substance and is incredibly short on details”. Sinn Féin’s spokesperson for youth affairs, Kathryn Reilly said the current guarantee should “not be an addition to schemes already in place”. Pictured: Jack Eustace from Labour Youth at a Youth Guarantee meeting at Liberty Hall. Photo by Shauneen Armstrong. Image courtesy the Labour Party.

For more information on the Youth Guarantee Scheme visit Welfare.ie

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NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

HOME INSTEAD ALZHEIMER SUPPORT

GET ON BOARD WITH COMMUNITY SPIRIT

By Eric Hillis ver wondered what happens to the unclaimed money from all those overpaid bus tickets? Well, for the past decade, Dublin Bus has been using the money to fund community projects across the city through their Community Spirit Initiative. The initiative was set up in 2003 to provide support for voluntary projects within the operating area of Dublin Bus routes, with former Republic of Ireland striker Niall Quinn becoming its patron. Through the annual Community Spirit Awards, grants are awarded in sums of €5,000, €2,000 and €1,000. To qualify, projects must be run by voluntary groups, be based in an area served by Dublin Bus and fall under one of the following categories: Children and Youth, Sport, People with Disabilities, Older People, Education and finally, Environment and Local Community. Over 1,300 individual projects have received funding since 2003. Last year, a total of €120,000 was paid out, with five groups receiving €5,000, 15 awarded €2,000 each and 65 receiving €1,000. Another aspect of the initiative is the Dublin Bus Schools Programme, which sees Dublin Bus co-ordinators visiting schools and instructing pupils on how to use the service in a respectful and well-behaved manner. A children’s art competition is held annually for primary school pupils who are given the option of submitting either a picture or a poem with a theme related to Dublin Bus. The winning applicants see their work printed in the annually published Dublin Bus calendar. Every summer, a chosen Dublin football ground plays host to the Dublin Bus Niall Quinn Penalty Shoot Out. A selection of eight to 14 year olds are invited to enjoy a day of skills training and get to take part in a penalty shootout competition with the legendary footballer. The event is held in a different part of the greater Dublin area each year and is co-ordinated between Dublin Bus and voluntary groups in the chosen locale. For more information on these initiatives, call 01 703 3208 or email community@dublinbus.ie

By Rúairí Conneely he statistics on Alzheimer’s disease are alarming on paper. In 2006, there were 26.6 million sufferers worldwide. In 2010, the estimate had risen to 35.5 million. Barring innovative medical advances (which are pretty likely), and given that the average age of world population is trending older, it is thought that by 2050, one in every 85 people on the planet will suffer from the disease. Harrowing as this thought might be, understanding of the disease and coping strategies for sufferers and those affected has been steadily improving over the years. Home Instead are a nationwide agency who source caregivers for the elderly and seniors who need assistance in coping with medical conditions, enabling them to stay in their home. Bernie Byrne, Community Liaison for their Merrion Road ofﬁce explained that, “most sufferers of these diseases are cared for at home. The progress of these diseases is slow, and caring for sufferers becomes a family matter. Family carers need a lot of support and education in terms of what to

expect, and in understanding the diseases.” Home Instead Merrion Road now offer a regular two-hour workshop offering advice and information, between 11am and 1pm, on the last Wednesday of every month. “The unofﬁcial title is Until There is a Cure… and as well as family members of sufferers, we invite shop

keepers, staff from local banks, anyone in a community who might come into contact with people suffering from dementia.” The overall aim is to promote the creation of dementia-friendly areas by raising awareness. Image of elderly in care, courtesy Bernie Byrne.

For more information, or to get hold of the Home Instead Senior Citizen’s Essential Guidebook, go to homeinstead.ie/get-in-touch or call 1890 930 847.

ROCKIN’ ROAD FESTIVAL

By Donna Dunne hildVision is an organisation that provides educational opportunities for Ireland’s blind and partially sighted children and young adults. ChildVision rely on fundraising and without it, a lot of their services wouldn’t exist. The Rockin’ Road Festival is one of the ways of fundraising. This year will be the ﬁfth Rockin’ Road Festival, bringing in thousands of people from around Dublin and beyond to the vintage-styled event. The idea of the Rockin’ Road Festival was initially set up for people interested in vintage cars, scooters and bikes as there was little happening in Dublin for those who shared the same passion. NewsFour spoke with David Bagnall, who was the man behind the idea, “I have been working for ChildVision as a Social Care Worker for the past seven years and with government cuts to our organisation, I suggested a family-themed day for groups with related styles of music and hey presto the idea was born.” The festival to date has raised roughly €60,000 for ChildVision. The festival is an outdoor event with a 40-foot truck for the stage, a top sound system provided free

from Avtek, with seven bands and two DJs who all play for free. The line-up of bands this year includes Clash Jam Wallop, Atomic, Stone Trigger, The Very Specials, Caff, Hooligan, The Roadhouse Doors, I am Car Crash with DJs Beep Beep and Robbie Dawnay. There will be a large display of vintage and modern scooters, bikes and cars. To keep kids entertained there’s going to be bouncy castles, slides, pottery, painting, a petting farm and hire carriage rides around the grounds. To keep you fed there will be an Eddie Rockets Chuck-

wagon, Coffee Ape, an Ice Cream van and a market with stalls selling all kinds of vintage clothes, art, cakes and much more. There are acres of free off-road parking. The Rockin’ Road Festival takes place on Sunday 25th May from 12pm to 8pm on the grounds of ChildVision, National Education Centre for Blind Children, Grace Park Road in Drumcondra. Entry fee is €10 and kids are free. All proceeds after public liability insurance go to ChildVision. Above: Rockin’ Road Festival 2013. Photo by David Bagnall.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

GIVE A CAT A HOME

By Donna Dunne ats’ Aid is a registered charity in Ballsbridge that rescues, rehabilitates, and homes unwanted cats. It also promotes neutering and spaying as a means of controlling feral colonies. Cats’ Aid receives some funding from the Department of Agriculture but does not have a shelter, an office or paid staff so any money that comes in goes directly to benefit the cats. The entire running of Cats’ Aid is voluntary, with over 400 people supporting it with a dedicated committee that calls itself the Core Group. NewsFour spoke with Cyrileen Power, one of the people behind the organisation of the charity, “Most people don’t realise the day-to-day work that is involved which is often stressful and tiring. We have very limited resources, therefore we can’t always provide the answers and instant fixes that are requested and often demanded.” During the eight years between 2005 and 2012, Cats’ Aid took in 1,969 cats and rehomed 1,671. On occasion, Cats’ Aid has

had to remove kittens from youths who were using them as footballs, thrown from cars, being shot or deliberately injured. Every Halloween there is deliberate cruelty inflicted on cats by people with bonfires and fireworks and unfortunately many of these incidents end with the cat being put to sleep. Some cats are dumped because a woman is pregnant, or a baby has arrived but Cyrileen

tells NewsFour, “these aren’t reasons for getting rid of an animal. We can provide advice about how babies and cats can co-exist perfectly happily together.” Cats’ Aid relies on fosterers to help these cats who have been traumatised and for young kittens to be socialised to gain conﬁdence before going to permanent homes. At the moment they have 19 foster carers and

If you would like to donate or ﬁnd out more call: 01 6683529 or email catsaid@gmail.com. For more info visit: www.catsaid.org

PAGE 15 are always looking for more. Valerie O’Sullivan, who is among those fosterers, tells NewsFour, “I had a female cat handed into me a few months ago that was dumped with a litter of kittens. She was completely emaciated, she wasn’t able to produce milk for the kittens, she was left to starve and her fur was all matted. The kittens were given to other fosterers and I got the cat. I had to syringe-feed her.” Cats’ Aid has put in 25 years of commitment and hard work but they need new people to help take the organisation forward. They don’t have a shelter or sanctuary, so the cats that are rescued are taken into the homes of foster volunteers until a permanent home can be found. Cyrileen told NewsFour if anyone wishes to become a fosterer all they need is “a love of cats, of course, and also some free time and the willingness to spend time interacting with the cat or kitten.” Pictured above: Cyrileen Power’s cat Fredrick. She fostered Frederick but kept him in the end. Photo courtesy Cyrileen Power.

TONY ‘RASHER’ DOYLE Second Anniversary, 22nd April

He had a smile for everyone, He had a heart of gold, He gave us the best memories, This world could ever hold. Kisses blown up to the sky so blue, Catch them Tony they’re just for you. Sadly missed by his loving family and friends.

PAGE 16

By Liam Cahill ust a few months ago the Central Bank of Ireland announced a plan for the redevelopment of the former Anglo Irish site on the North Quays. The plan, which will be viewable at the council’s Wood Quay offices, proposes a gleaming steel structure with box-like windows as its exterior. For a site that stands as a permanent scar within Ireland’s economic psyche, what does its redevelopment say about where we are going? Anglo, five letters that strike fear into the minds of those of us trying to forget the bad days back in 2008 when the boat rocked and very nearly sank. In the heart of Spencer Dock stands what was supposed to be its crowning jewel, a five-floor concrete carcass of a building left behind by the economic crash. “To me [the building] is about everything that had gone wrong in Ireland – the culture of crazy bank lending and a lack of regulation in the country,” said Fine Gael Councillor Kieran Binchy.

FORGETTING ANGLO

“It does look like it’s postapocalyptic; it looks like something from Mad Max.” Before the Central Bank bought the site back in 2012, the area was left desolate; the building became the icon for a broken national economy. “The current Anglo build-

ing is highly symbolic of the difficulties that Ireland has gone through in the last few years,” said Niamh Moore the author of the book Dublin Docklands Reinvented. “It is probably fitting that attention is now being directed to bringing it back to productive use to allow

rate distinctive hills, trees and terraces into the main building and the surrounding land, creating what NewsFour’s Tracy O’Brien called a “stepped landscape in the shell of the building”. The initiative was later abandoned when the Central Bank purchased the site. Work on the new Central Bank building doesn’t actually begin until late this year, possibly early next year, with architecture firm Henry J Lyons and partners acting as the main custodians for the project. The group was chosen to design and implement a number of structural and environmental changes to the building, making it totally energy efficient with natural ventilation and the ability to harvest rainwater to operate its internal wastage system. “It’s a good thing from the point of view that it can’t stand there indefinitely,” said Gerry Fay the Chairman of the Northwall Community Association. “It’s progress and you don’t want to be stopping progress, let’s get it done, let’s move forward.”

SAINT PATRICK’S ROWING CLUB PAST AND PRESENT

By Maria Shields O’Kelly n February 2011 a bench (pictured) was placed on the point at Ringsend congratulating lifelong supporter of St Patrick’s Rowing Club, Mick (Micko) O’Neill, on his 90th birthday. As the cameras ﬂashed, capturing images of Micko on his new bench, he shouted out. “Hold on, I want one with the young fella.” The young fella happened to be Jimmy Purdy, 81 next April. So Jimmy duly obliged and Micko got his picture with the young fella. St Patrick’s Rowing Club, has been sitting on the point of where the Dodder meets the Liffey since 1933. Today, the club is an active feature of Ringsend community life, with regattas and summer barbeques among its annual highlights. Philip Murphy, who has been involved with the club for some

it become a new symbol of Ireland’s emergence from its difficulties.” As NewsFour reported in 2012, a group called Mahoney Architecture had plans to turn the site into a public park and urban space. The Trees on the Quays Initiative planned to incorpo-

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

time, showed NewsFour around the boathouse. It’s a treasure chest of memorabilia and nostalgia and, as with the bench and other landmarks outside, is widely attributed to the efforts of John Hawkins. Among his many achievements is the anchor memorial with the inscription. “In Memory Of The Hobblers, The Fishermen, The Dockers And The Seamen Who Passed This Point.” Jimmy Purdy explained, “Over a century ago when the big cargo ships came in to dock, workers from along the coast would

race towards the ship and throw a line. The ﬁrst to reach the ship would get to work it. These were the hobblers and it was from this practice that the skiffs that race for St Patrick’s today came from.” Philip Murphy was suitably amused when NewsFour asked if the Hobblers Lookout Bench was where they sat to keep watch for the cargo ships. “Only if they wanted to wait in the water,” he laughed. “What you can see here today is very different to what was here at the time of the hobblers.” Legend has it that the Dodder buoy was rescued from the river when it was no longer in use. Now with its fresh paint and humorous signposts, it is one of Dublin’s landmarks. Saint Patrick’s are looking forward to an active season of sport, drama and celebration. Photo by Maria Shields O’Kelly.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

PAGE 17

MOVIE MOGUL OF MISERY HILL

By Eric Hillis eading a one-man crusade to transform Ringsend into Dublin’s answer to Hollywood is local film-maker Pat Larkin. He’s just wrapped his latest short, The Answer Machine, which he describes as, “a Hitchcock-style thriller, set in the seventies.” The short film is adapted from one of the stories in Larkin’s book, The Misery Hill Murders, which features 11 tales based around fictional murders in the Ringsend area. Larkin shoots all his movies in Ringsend, using a cast and crew of professionals working together as a co-operative. “I don’t get funding from anybody so have to produce them myself with the help of friends from the film business and the local community,” he says. “I write and direct them myself, and professionals fill all the other roles.” A decade ago, Larkin began working in the Irish film industry, driving actors to film sets and locations. It was through this that he quickly developed an interest in film-making, and four years ago he established his production

company, Misery Hill Films. For the past ﬁve years, Larkin has been ﬁlming an ongoing project titled Memories of a Lifetime, which documents the lives of the elderly residents in Ringsend.

“When locals reach their seventies I sit down with a camera and get their life stories, get them to go back as far as they can, to their parents and grandparents, and store it all as an archive,” he says.

“That will go on permanently as long as I can do it and hopefully someone else will take over after me.” So far, Larkin has documented the lives of 15 locals, including Paddy ‘Scissors’ Ryan, former ﬁlm projectionist of Ringsend’s Regal cinema, famed for cutting the length of a ﬁlm to allow him time for a pint after work, and Paddy Piggott, who spent years shovelling coal in the Gas Company furnaces. “I get amazing stories off these people,” Larkin says. “Some people have great memories. They may not be able to tell you what happened in the last 10 years but they can go back to their childhood and tell you their headmaster’s name and where their father used to work.” Larkin has these accounts preserved digitally and is in the process of submitting them to the archive of Pearse Street library so locals can access them freely. He also hopes to publish a book featuring those he’s interviewed and their fascinating stories.

Determined to spread his love of film to the area, Larkin regularly visits St Patrick’s Boys School, where he screens his films and lectures sixth class pupils on the film-making process. With the recent advances in consumer grade equipment, Larkin believes film-making is now accessible to everyone. “Filmmaking was always out of people’s reach but now you can make a film with your phone,” he says. “You don’t really have to rent expensive equipment anymore to make a film; The Answer Machine was shot with a Canon 5, a stills camera that also has a perfect high-definition video recorder.” Larkin is currently planning to interview the ancestors of fishermen who came from Torbay in England to settle in Ringsend. If you have any information, you can email him at patlarkin56@hotmail. com Pictured: Pat Larkin of Misery Hill Films with a collection of props and posters from his movies

For a sample of Pat Larkin’s work, visit miseryhillﬁlms.com

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NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

RINGSEND AND IRISHTOWN COMMUNITY CENTRE NEWS May Day – Lord Mayor of Ringsend and Irishtown RICC are delighted at the growing response to the process of selecting a Lord Mayor this year. Revisited by RICC in 2009 originally as an informal and novel idea, it gives us great pride that the title has returned to a system for the beneﬁt of the community. RICC would like to take the opportunity to sincerely thank Brian Betts who will do the hand over to our new Lord Mayor at our May Day Parade on May 5th at 2pm. Brian was very proactive throughout the year and always very supportive to the RICC. Brian was elected Lord Mayor through a committee consisting of RICC management, local groups, organisations and volunteers based in the community. Should anyone like to make a nomination or indeed put themselves forward for the title for the next year, please contact Lorraine or Barbara on 01 6604789 on or before 25th April 2014. RICC Radio RICC Online Radio continues to go from strength to strength and you can access it on your computer or

phone through www.ricc.ie Like us on Facebook: Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre. Follow us on Twitter @RICCD4 If you would like to get involved, please contact the Centre on 01 6604789. FREE Health EXPO RICC are hosting a FREE Health EXPO at Ringsend Irishtown Community Centre – March 30th to April 6th from 9am to 9pm each day. Free health screenings in: * Blood Pressure * Weight and Body Fat Analysis * Lung Strength * Cardio-vascular Health * Know Your Health-Age * Anti-stress Massage session Part of Health Expo

Public Presentations

(Times: 12:30 to 1:30pm and 7:00 to 8:00 pm each day) * Monday, March 31: Kiss Diabetes Good-bye * Tuesday, April 1: Great Tasting Cooking For Health

* Wednesday, April 2: Mental Health Fitness * Thursday, April 3: Hydro Therapy Remedies For The Family * Friday, April 4: Family Health Fitness * Saturday, April 5: Squeaky Clean Inside Out-Colon Cleansing Other services available at RICC include: Creche FLAC Citizens’ Information Computer Training Mother & Toddler Political Clinics Youth Club Afterschool programmes Youth Project Irish Dancing Drama Gardening Club Kettle Bells training Ladies Club Bingo Scrabble Yoga For more details phone RICC at 6604 789.

Sharon and Linda from the Grand Canal Hotel raise their glasses for its 10th birthday.

Ryan Tubridy cutting the ribbon at the opening of the new Raltoga preschool, school library and music room at Star of The Sea school, with help from Jamie who won the lucky dip to cut the ribbon.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

PAGE 19

DCC NOT ES

cil’s lack of willingness to hold a meeting regarding parking spaces in Gulistan in Rathmines. “This is playing God yet again, everything is going into the traffic department and they seem to look into their heart like de Valera because they know what’s best for the people of the South East,” said Cllr. Freehill. She said her request went in several weeks ago and she hasn’t heard anything since. “The traffic department would look at it and if there was need for a meeting that we would hold one for the residents,” said a Council official.

Compiled by Liam Cahill

ublin City Council (DCC) is losing almost €2 million a year through its traffic enforcement division, a recent sitting of the South East Area heard. The number was disclosed as part of a presentation of parking enforcement in the South East Area. “In relation to the cost of providing enforcement in the city, it’s approximately €6.1 million a year and generates €4.3 million a year in declamp fees,” said Kevin Meade of the DCC’s Traffic Department. The presentation concerned the different aspects of traffic control throughout the South East Area, such as clamping and clearing bus lanes, and the different ways people can pay for parking space, such as cashless parking payments. The Council was also told that the South East Area regularly appears as some of the most clamped streets in Dublin, appearing in what Kevin described as a top 10 list. “It’s obviously not a money generating scheme for the Council if it’s losing €2 million a year,” said Fine Gael Councillor Paddy McCa-

rtan. “I don’t think any private organisation could afford to lose that amount of money.” There was also concern about the clamp-happy nature of the Council. “There’s a concern that I have, and I know it’s shared by other councillors, that clamping has become a money generating service by the City Council,” said Fianna Fáil Councillor Jim O’Callaghan. “It appears to me that the South East Area is more enforced than most.” DOG PARK ON SANDYMOUNT STRAND Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey asked the City Manager to consider creating an area around Sandymount Strand where dogs would be free to run around. Michael Noonan, the Senior Executive Parks Superintendent, said that the area is an EU protected area and, “It is requested that dogs are under the effective control of their owners at all times during the bird feeding and nesting seasons to minimise disturbance to wildfowl.”

SANDBAGS AT STELLA GARDENS Cllr. Lacey also asked the Council to organise a collection of sandbags from Stella Gardens. Colm Fitzpatrick, Senior Executive Engineer, Drainage and Wastewater Services Division said it is, “not our intention to collect sandbags from Stella Gardens, instead it’s left up to the residents.” FLOOD DEFENCES Cllr. McCartan asked the City Manager to examine the slipway at the junction of Thorncastle Street in Ringsend. The site is located across from Portview House and the worry concerns danger of high tides, which, according to Cllr. McCartan, has left the residents vulnerable. “During this time there was no protection in the form of sandbagging, etc, and this should be reviewed,” he said. “I will arrange to re-survey the area to re-determine its current level of tidal risk,” said Gerard O’Connell, Engineer-in-Charge, Regional Projects and Emergency Services Division at Dublin City Council. “This level of risk will be taken into account if any temporary or permanent ﬂood alleviation measures are required at this locale.”

Pictured is Bird Sanctuary volunteer Paul Cleary erecting a multi-storey bird nest, which he made and donated. The Bird Sanctuary, which featured in our last issue, has put a call out for donations for bird-friendly hedges, for example hawthorn, strawberry bush, holly, mahonia, and so on. These bushes provide not only secure shelter for birds to build their nests, but also berries for food. For more information on how or what to donate, contact Jimmy Kinahan on 0872622088. Image by Jimmy Kinahan.

DONNYBROOK POT HOLES Cllr. McCartan asked the City Manager to investigate potholes at Beech Hill Road in Donnybrook. Recent heavy rains have made the road surface uneven with potholes, which according to Cllr. McCartan is a danger to cyclists. DCC said they have, “No plans to resurface Beech Hill Road in

the immediate future. We will carry out carriageway repairs here as soon as possible.” TRAFFIC PROBLEMS DCC’s Trafﬁc Department took the brunt of some serious criticism by Labour Councillor Mary Freehill. Cllr. Freehill was making a complaint about the Coun-

PARKING AT BELLAMY’S PUB IN BALLSBRIDGE Cllr. Lacey requested information regarding the archway at Bellamy’s Pub in Ballsbridge. According to the councillor, the site has been used as a free parking spot. “There’s a small lane behind the archway where there is no parking allowed but it has become used as a permanent parking spot by people,” he said. Donal Brennan of the City Council’s trafﬁc division asked Cllr. Lacey to put something in writing and he will get back to him within due course.

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NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

THE SEAN MOORE COMMUNITY AWARDS

Members of the sponsoring committees; NewsFour and the Aviva Stadium with the Lord Mayor of Dublin: Cllr Dermot Lacey, Cllr Gerry Ashe, Lord Mayor Oisin Quinn, Ann Ingle, Róisín Ingle, Karen Keegan and Martin Murphy

Jimmy Purdy accepting his award for visiting the sick and the elderly and keeping them up-to-date with what’s going on in the community

Liam Tilly lights up everyone’s Christmas with a light display that has raised over €50,000 for the Hospice Foundation

Susan Menton collects Chris Maher’s (founder of the Musical Youth Foundation) award for his work and vision in making music accessible to young people in the area

John (Boy) Murphy for his more than 40 years with Bridge Utd Football Club and for facilitating a very important ritual in the area

Jack O’Brien accepting his award for his voluntary gardening work at the Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre

Alice Foley is awarded for her voluntary work as a whistle blowing coach with Clanna Gael and her work with the youth of the area

Louisa Murray is awarded for being a true community activist. She volunteers her time for a wide range of community projects in St Andrew’s Resource Centre on Pearse Street

Esther McGrath is awarded for her tireless work on the Donnybrook Fair Committee organising Christmas dinners, bingo nights, weekly shopping car pools and much more

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014 By Donna Dunne a n d K a re n K e e g a n he Sean Moore C o m m u n i t y Aw a r d s which were last held in 2005 were again celebrated at a very well attended ceremony in Clanna G a e l F o n t e n o y, R i n g s e n d on February 20th. The awards are open to a n y p e r s o n o r o rg a n i s a t i o n that has made an exceptional contribution to the communities of Dublin 2 and 4. They will be held a n n u a l l y, t h a n k s t o s p o n s o r s h i p f r o m t h e Av i v a S t a d i u m a n d N e w s F o u r. Since its inception in 2 0 0 7 , t h e Av i v a S t a d i u m Community Fund has supported numerous projects and groups in our community by providing community grant aid of over € 8 0 0 , 0 0 0 . M a r t i n M u rp h y o f t h e Av i v a S t a d i u m said, “This is exactly the type of project we want to be associated with. I’m delighted to represent the Av i v a S t a d i u m t o n i g h t . ” The judging panel had no easy feat deciding who to give the awards to. The volume of nominations was huge and they kept flooding in, a testament to the amount of good work being done by good people for no reward or recognition in our communities. L a b o u r C o u n c i l l o r D e rmot Lacey (who played a major role in reinstating t h e a w a r d s ) o p e n e d t h e c e re m o n y. H e d e s c r i b e d h o w the initiative was first set up during the 1988 Dublin M i l l e n n i u m t o r e w a r d o rdinary people who did exceptional community work or community service. He thanked the community for their huge interest in the awards saying, “I read all of the nominations after the judges made their selection and I have to s a y, I t h i n k t h e y h a d a r e ally horrendous job. The amount of good work that takes place in this community is absolutely stunning and a credit to the commun i t y. ” He went on to thank the Fair Play Cafe for their delicious finger food, Clanna Gael for hosting the event, the Lord Mayor Oisin Quinn for presenting t h e a w a r d s , I r i s h Ti m e s

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Emer Kennedy and David Faye representing the staff at the Day Hospital in the Royal Hospital Donnybrook for their invaluable support and care of patients

The Boyne Street Residents Group was represented by Paddy Reilly, for their hard work and commitment to well kept streets with floral displays and hanging baskets

Irene Montgomery and Philip Murphy being awarded for their hard work at St Patrick’s Rowing Club in Ringsend

Joe McCarthy and Valerie Jennings of the Sandymount Tidy Towns Committee are awarded for their inspiration, dedication and hard work

Jessica Ryan of Shellybanks Educate Together National School, a grassroots community campaigner

Anne Cassidy and Theresa Rooney representing Get A Life (GALS) for their work in improving the lives of local women over 50

journalist Róisín Ingle for reading the citations, the t w o s p o n s o r s ; t h e Av i v a Stadium, represented by Martin Murphy and Roddy Guiney and NewsFour who were represented by Chairperson Ann Ingle. Róisín regaled us with nominations for people who care for patients in a unique and special way; voluntary dedication to sport; people with vision who motivate others to improve their communities; voluntary fundraising for amazing causes; and for

i a r n a m e t o m a n y, a c o n t r i b u t o r t o N e w s F o u r, h e ’s often seen on his bike visiting old friends in hospitals and nursing homes. J i m m y ’s f a c e w a s p r i c e l e s s w h e n h e t o l d N e w s F o u r, “ I r e a l l y, r e a l l y, r e a l l y c a n ’t believe it. I knew nothing about it and I only decided to come tonight at quarter p a s t s i x . I f I k n e w, I w o u l d have brought my family and dressed up for the occasion.” These awards represent the real people of Dublin 2 and 4, awarded for

volunteer gardeners who s u r r o u n d u s w i t h b e a u t y. When winners’ names were called, the shock was written on their faces. The c r o w d ’s c h e e r s r a n g o u t for their well-deserved awards. A standing ovation went to Boy Murphy for a lifetime of contribution to t h e c o m m u n i t y. B o y w o r k s with the youth in Bridge United and also ensures that the last wish of many Ringsenders comes to fruition as their final journey is over Ringsend Bridge. Jimmy Purdy is a famil-

t h i n g s t h a t o f t e n d o n ’t g e t the media coverage or acknowledgement they deserve. The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Oisín Quinn said, “I want to thank you on behalf of the city of Dublin. I want to thank you for the amazing work you are doing in your community and t h e d i ff e r e n c e i t m a k e s . I t was an honour to be able to hand out these awards and shake your hands.” M o j o k i c k e d o ff t h e a f t e r p a r t y g e t t i n g a l l b u m s o ff seats to dance the night a w a y.

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NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

THE DARK SIDE OF SOCIAL MEDIA Above: The Sean Moore Award winners. Read more on pages 20 and 21.

Pictured above: Ann Julian from Our Lady’s Hospice Harolds Cross receives a cheque from the ICA Ballsbridge. The €1,000 was raised by an auction the ICA ladies had for unwanted Christmas gifts. Ann Julian is pictured (centre) with the cheque and the ladies from the ICA Ballsbridge.

By Eric Hillis n February, the tragic death of a young man, Carlow student Jonny Byrne, highlighted two issues: the dangers of irresponsible alcohol consumption and the peer pressure culture of online social media. While it can’t be directly confirmed as the cause of his death, he died after taking part in the social media game known as neck nominations or #NekNomination. The idea behind the dangerous craze is to consume, or neck, a large volume of alcohol in a short amount of time before nominating a friend to do likewise. Most examples feature the nominee quickly consuming a pint of spirits but some have opted for liquids as deadly as WD40 and, in some cases, even their own urine. Nominees are often challenged to top the feat of those who selected them, leading to increasingly risky stunts as the game progresses. Videos of nominees performing their challenges are posted on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Apart from the obvious health risk, creating an online persona of this nature can seriously hinder your prospects in life, as employers now often look into online profiles when assessing job applicants. Over the past decade, thanks to the popularity of reality TV shows and the growth of the internet, the idea has developed in western culture that anyone can become famous, regardless of whether they possess any skill or talent. For every genuinely talented artist to emerge through sites like YouTube, there are thousands who seek fame, or notoriety, through performing attention-seeking and all too often dangerous stunts. In the past, fame was a by-product of talent, but in today’s world of bad Korean rappers and Jackass, talent is non-essential, all that matters is that people notice you, whether it’s for the right or wrong reasons. Maybe it’s due to our macho Viking genes, but in Northern Europe the ability to consume large amounts of alcohol has long been a barometer for one’s social standing. A teenager can gain respect among his peers for merely being able to “hold his drink” better than his friends. Neck Nomination videos overwhelmingly feature participants from the UK, Ireland, Australia and the Scandinavian countries, all long established drinking cultures. You’ll struggle to find too many Italians or Spaniards indulging in the craze. Yet countries like Germany and Austria, whose inhabitants consume a much larger volume of alcohol per capita, refrain from treating alcohol consumption as a game. Perhaps our stigmatisation of alcohol in this part of the world creates a desire among young people to binge drink as an act of rebellion? In Germany, most young people have their first taste of alcohol in their early teens, a beer or two under their parents supervision, while in Ireland it’s more likely to be a two-litre of cider in a field, followed by a packet of Tic Tacs to fool Mammy and Daddy. Expecting young people to remain abstinent is arguably unrealistic so the key is to ensure they drink responsibly, within healthy limits and, most importantly, on their own terms, rather than those imposed upon them by their peers.

For information on the effects of alcohol and how to drink responsibly and healthily, visit alcoholforum.org

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

TACKLING OBESITY TOGETHER

By Liam Cahill t’s a Thursday afternoon in Cambridge Boy’s Football Club on Pine Road in Ringsend. Inside, the weight-loss club, Slimming World, has set up shop; tables on either side of the room offer a variety of healthy eating snacks and guidelines on losing weight. “I have about 150 members and we have three sessions here,” said Pauline Caulﬁeld Gregg, the group manager. Slimming World has been operating in the UK and Ireland for the past 40 years and offers healthy eating guidelines and other advice for weight loss. “We would have seen a lot of women in their over-50s,” said Pauline. “By the time you’re 50, you probably have your kids reared and your life automatically slows down.” A recent report by the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), based in Trinity College, found that one-third of over 50s are obese and a further 44%

are considered overweight. The report also suggests that obesity is strongly associated with increased heart disease and diabetes. Even more worrying is that heart disease amongst the over50s is twice as high. The study was the second part of a research by TILDA, which surveyed over 8,000 people between April 2012 and January 2013. The report also says that about one-third of those over-50s report low levels of physical activity, with less woman exercising compared to men. “I think the best exercise you can get if you’re over 50 is actually to get out there and walk,” said Pauline. “It can slowly turn into a jog.” Despite the negative points contained in the report, the numbers are just a general consensus of a few thousand people, certainly not indicative of everybody in their 50s. “The older you get the less mobile you are,” said Karin Ruddle,

PAGE 23 a participant of Slimming World who is in her 50s and from Sandymount. “I go to the gym and I exercise on the beach, I probably do too much, actually, but I love it.” “When I retired from work I had put on a bit of weight, so I wanted to get rid of that,” said Noreen McCarthy also from Sandymount and in her 50s. The club has harnessed a community spirit by promoting a healthy lifestyle outside of the club’s walls. Many members meet up to go for runs or walks and help each other out with eating plans, promoting a sense of closeness when they meet each Thursday. In line with their community ethos, Slimming World recently started a Slim for Good programme, a six week project which donates money to a selected charity (this year it’s the Irishtown Special Olympics Group) based on how much weight a person loses. So, for every pound a member loses, they donate the money either through a sponsorship card or by throwing money into an allocated tin at Slimming World. Pictured, from left to right: Karin Ruddle, Pauline Caulﬁeld Gregg and Noreen McCarthy.

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NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

NATUROPATHIC NUTRITION

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF FITNESS

H I

Feeding your feelings?

By Nicky Flood n our food-focused society, eating has become so much more than just basic survival. We don’t always eat simply to satisfy hunger – we eat to socialise, nurture, have fun, comfort and reward ourselves. Most of us form these emotional associations with food at a very young age – birthday celebrations, Easter eggs, comforting, bribes and rewards all carry through to adulthood. Emotional eating is using food to make yourself feel better – eating to fill emotional needs, rather than to fill your stomach. Using food in an attempt to calm emotions can become an unhealthy coping mechanism when really there are other underlying issues that need addressing. Afterwards, not only does the original emotional issue remain, but there are also added feelings of guilt, powerlessness and shame. Emotional hunger can’t be filled with food. Emotional hunger can be very powerful and as a result can be easily mistaken for physical hunger but there are clues that you can look for that can help you put emotions and food in separate corners: emotional hunger comes on suddenly and feels overwhelming and urgent, while physical hunger occurs gradually. When emotional hunger rumbles, we are likely to focus on a particular food – high fat, sugar or salt comfort foods. Emotional hunger also leads to compulsive overeating and before you know it the whole tub of ice cream or packet of biscuits is gone. Emotional hunger isn’t located in the stomach – rather than a growling belly or a pang in your stomach, you feel your hunger as a craving you can’t get out of your head. You’re focused on specific textures, tastes and smells. Using food from time to time as a pick me up, a reward or to celebrate isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But when eating is your primary emotional coping mechanism – when your first impulse is to open the fridge whenever you’re upset, angry, stressed, exhausted or bored – you get stuck in an unhealthy cycle where the real feeling or problem is never addressed. By becoming aware of when you are actually eating emotionally and recognising your triggers and patterns, you can begin to change your habits and begin to identify healthier ways to feed your feelings. Take a bath, go for a walk, read a good book, call a friend – find emotional food for emotional hunger! Nicky is a Naturopathic Nutritionist practising in Dublin. She writes, speaks and advises nationwide on all aspects of health, nutrition and wellbeing. See www.nickyflood.com for further info, upcoming courses and workshops.

WATERSEDGE COMMUNITY DRAMA GROUP PRESENT The Family Feud Directed by Paul Kennedy Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre Thorncastle Street Dublin 4 Tues 27th May, Weds 28th May, Thurs 29th May at 8pm Admission is €7 (Includes free tea or glass of wine)

By Liam Cahill elen Walsh, a ﬁtness instructor, local community advocate and former manager of the YMCA Christmas Hamper Appeal, is celebrating 25 years as Dublin 4’s personal Mrs Motivator. She was in ﬁghting form as she met on a dull Friday afternoon, moving her tea to one side as she pulled out a photo album full of women in leotards, a former Taoiseach, and people with some questionable hairdos, to reminisce about her journey. In the pictures it’s 1989 and Helen is standing there with her colleagues from Apple Fitness, which was located in Donnybrook. From left to right girls are dressed in tight pink leotards. “I wanted to be a dance teacher, Flashdance and Fame were on the TV, I wanted the ankle warmers, I wanted the leotards, and I wanted to teach.” It was too expensive to become a choreographer back then so Helen worked in three jobs to pursue a course in dancing. The day before the class was due to start, Helen fell off a cliff. “So, I ended up doing my training on crutches, but we got through it,” she said.

Helen was brought up on Grand Canal Road, she went to school locally and eventually settled into a house on Londonbridge Road when she was 15. She’s first and foremost a fitness instructor, but she’s also a big player in the local community. In 2011 she was featured on the front page of NewsFour for her work with the YMCA. She collected items for older people, mainly gloves, coats and scarves for the winter. Eventually, she ended up creating food hampers for local families struggling through the Christmas period. She eventually set up her own fitness company, Energy Man-

agement, and became involved with some minor, and not-sominor, celebrities. “It’s very hard to talk about the famous people because I’m very careful about conﬁdentiality with clients,” she said. “I trained certain members of U2, not all of them, and my family didn’t even know. In this business, particularly with high-proﬁle clients, you have to shut up. I’ve had newspapers offer me money for stories and all sorts of stuff.” In terms of her approach to clients, famous and not, Helen said she’ll sit down with them, ask about all aspects of their lives – from what food they consume to how much they

weigh – in order to get a broader picture of that person. It’s not a million miles away from other personal trainers, some are better than others, but Helen prides herself on that human ‘I’m here for you’ touch that is pivotal to any aspect of physical training. As she puts away the pictures, she makes a point to thank everybody for her success. “Nobody is successful on their own, it’s always about the other people who support you and coach you and I’ve always had great support in this area.” Left, Helen Walsh. The photo above is from her Apple Fitness days. Both photos courtesy Helen Walsh.

Cambridge Boys Under 12 team would like to thanks Liam Deering for sponsoring the tracksuits for the team.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

By Maria Shields O’Kelly he Pendula series of paintings are the latest works from artist John Maher. They are a representation of time and space and are a product of a reflective stage in his dynamic life. He is described as a thematic artist with his views on philosophy, religion, literature and his interest in mythology and iconography forming the unifying thread in his collections. Hailing from Ringsend, his artwork has taken him all over the world with exhibitions in Ghana and France, he has shown in the Cut and the Goldsmith Galleries, both in London and on two occasions he has had exhibitions hosted by the UN in Geneva. John is closely acquainted with controversial Irish politician and academic, Dr Conor Cruise-O’Brien, who publicly acclaimed his work. When speaking about John’s work Dr Cruise O’Brien remarked, “It is an extraordinary example of a case in which an artist’s power of intuition confer on him insight into what is about to happen.”

ARTIST IN PROFILE: JOHN MAHER

John told NewsFour that he begins by making a mark on the canvas; he then lets the

image paint itself. “It is in this way that I paint my way into the future,” he said.

John’s artistic talent is not confined to painting. He is surrounded by a number of

PAGE 25 musical instruments. He describes music as his, “throw away art”. His latest stray however is writing. His debut poem, Half Remembered Images of Ringsend is as the title suggests, a look back on a remarkable life that began 74 years ago in no 22 Fitzwilliam Quay. Named after an earlier series of paintings featuring various distortions of Ringsend Bridge. The second stanza reads: “Ringsend, a village then, the wet rim of a sodden city, water ever in endless wave. Grand Canal, Royal Canal, Dublin bay’s broad horizon, the red Poolbeg lighthouse. With a river flowing across the country’s fresh green pastures into the Liffey, Rivers Dodder and Poddle, their names waiting for Joycean jokes passed down.” John is currently working on his biography and revealed to NewsFour, “I have had a wonderful life, met some remarkable people and travelled the globe. But I never cease to be that kid from Ringsend. Photo of John Maher by Maria Shields O’Kelly

OUT FOR COFFEE WITH PAUL HOWARD

By Liam Cahill nce a respected sport journalist, Paul Howard is best known for the cult character who we love to hate, or hate to love. Ross O’Carroll Kelly, a Dublin 4 has-been rugby jock, is the protagonist of fourteen books and a weekly column in the Irish Times. He, Paul not Ross though I wouldn’t be the ﬁrst to make that mistake, told me over soup n’ a sambo his inspiration for the cult character (spoiler alert, it was a lad in Blackrock College), how he blagged his way into meeting Muhammad Ali, and what it’s like to watch some scantily clad women mud-wrestle in a pub on Capel Street. LC: You were once reported as saying you are as working class as curry chips. Where were you born? PH: I was born in London, but we moved to Ireland when I was about eight. My dad was a factory worker, my mother a housewife and we lived in a council house [in Ballybrack] until I was 16 or 17. LC: Tell me about your early work as a journalist for the Sun-

day Tribune? PH: I remember being sent out one Sunday morning to cover a mud-wrestling thing just off Capel Street. It was in the back of a pub and there was this inﬂatable swimming poll and scantily-clad women, actually they weren’t clad at all, they were naked women. Cathal Mac Coille [the Editor at the time, now on Morning Ireland] said there’s not a chance I could use that.

LC: But you became a success in sports journalism, you met Muhammad Ali. PH: Yeah, I met him in 1992 in a hotel in New Jersey and I kind of tricked my way into his room by pretending to be a hotel bellboy. It was just one of those spur of the moment things, he pulled up in a limo outside the hotel and the bellboy said, ‘have you ever met the champ before, do you want to bring his bag up to

him?’ We didn’t exchange words because he’s got Parkinson’s disease so he couldn’t articulate anything it was a completely silent moment, the presence that he had was incredible. LC: Where did your inspiration for Ross O’Carroll-Kelly come from? PH: I heard this Blackrock College kid say to his Dad, ‘I don’t give a f**k how I played just whack open the wallet,’ and

he was kind of an inspiration for Ross. It was that whole subculture that surrounded rugby; it was the yummy mummies and the dads with camel-haired coats. LC: Was it tough to lampoon those kinds of people? PH: When I started writing it, I wanted to get under the skin of the people I was writing about. They became the audience, I didn’t expect that. In the early books, I can see the humour is a whole lot sledgehammer, it’s a lot angrier. I’ve grown to like the character. LC: Where’s Ross now, tell me about your current play? PH: It’s called Breaking Dad, it’s set in the future. I wanted to do something different so it’s set in the year 2022. I wanted to see them all at a later date in their lives. Ross is in his 40s. Ross’s daughter brings home the captain of the Blackrock College senior rugby team, who is just a young prototype version of Ross O’Carroll-Kelly, and it’s all about how Ross copes. Breaking Dad runs in the Gaiety Theatre from April 25th until May 17th, tickets start at €25 and are available at Ticketmaster.

PAGE 26

LOCAL PICTURE ROUNDUP

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

Pictures clockwise from top left. From left to right, Joan Kiernan, Anne McKiernan, Orla Aver, Maura Matheson, Breda Ryan and Barbara McKeever at the launch of the St Mary’s Nursing Home Project, Merrion Road, Dublin 4. Paddy Maguire, Ringsend College Porter with Minister for Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn TD, who announced €36 million for school improvements. Ringsend College’s allocation will go toward re-wiring for enhancing Wifi and IT strategies. Image courtesy Donnchadh Clancy. Ringsend College 2nd year students, Principal Donnchadh Clancy and Minister for Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn TD. Image courtesy Donnchadh Clancy. Spring time lunch at Grand Canal Basin.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

PAGE 27

Julien Behal, who once upon a time worked at NewsFour, has again been awarded AIB Photojournalist of the Year. He previously won the award in 2012. Pictured above is Reﬂections, which shows Ifrah Ahmed, a Somali campaigner against female circumcision, at an event sponsored by Irish Aid in Dublin.

Shave or Dye James Boylan, pictured above, raised €860 for the Irish Cancer Society on the 10th anniversary of the death of his mother Emily Larkin from cancer. He took part in the Shave or Dye campaign to raise the funds and had his hair dyed, at Lynsay’s Hair Salon, Ringsend, with luminous orange on one side and purple on the other. James is also pictured minus his multicoloured hair and with the cheque. Fair play James. Below: David, Cathy and Lauren from Zeba Hairdressers in Sandymount all helped out with the Shave or Dye for Ray Byrne who is raising money for the Irish Cancer Society.

Jennifer Betts from Ringsend held a Sumo Wrestling Tournament in aid of Pieta House, Suicide and Self Harm Prevention Centre and raised over €2,000. The event also raised great awareness and was such a fun evening enjoyed by over 100 people. Pictured are referee on the night Alice Foley, winner for the ladies Rebecca McLoughlin, winner for the mens Brian ‘The Beast’ Quinlan and Jennifer Betts.

Irishtown Special Olympics celebrated their 25th Anniversary this March. Pictured are Liz Callery, Director for Special Olympics Eastern Region, Frances Kavanagh, Director Irishtown Special Olympics, Bernie Grifﬁn, Coach, Carmel Malone, Founder and Manager, and Annette Coad, Medical Ofﬁcer.

PAGE 28

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

ROCHES POSITIVE APPEARANCE AND WELLBEING CENTRE

By Donna Dunne air loss can be a traumatic time for people and it can be hard to take the first step in getting a wig. Aileen Harding spoke to NewsFour about her experience with wigs. She was diagnosed with cancer 20 years ago and jokingly describes her first wig as a mop. Unfortunately in 2011, Aileen was diagnosed again with breast cancer but this time round she needed to be convinced that her next wig was going to be a completely different experience with a natural look. She went to Roches, a family run business specialising in providing solutions to people with hair loss due to chemotherapy, alopecia or natural hair thinning. They have a branch on Merrion Road. “I went in with my friend who was going to be the critical eye,” said Aileen. “I went out convinced that this was very different than my first one. When I went home that night, I wore my wig and didn’t say anything. My three kids never said anything, but I kept getting looks from them and eventually they noticed I got my wig.” Aileen is in remission now and uses organic colour for her hair that Roches also provide. Maura Roche, co-founder of Roches and daughter Anne have both had cancer which allows them to recognise how their clients feel and how they want to look. NewsFour spoke to Anne about taking that courageous first step in getting a wig. “During a first consultation, some people walk in and walk out with their wig while others find it a huge journey from their front door to here.” Roches have over 500 wigs in stock, allowing clients to try on a selection of wigs that mirror their hair colour, style and texture. Roches have also expanded into breast care, prosthesis fitting, mastectomy bras, lingerie, swimwear and related products, offering an alternative to the three or four different types of bras to choose from at the hospital. Above: Aileen Harding and Anne Roche.

For more information log onto: roches.ie or call: 01 492 6829.

GILMORE SOLICITORS 22 BRIDGE STREET, RINGSEND, DUBLIN 4 Tel: 6677170 * Fax:6673809 E-mail: info@gilmoresolicitors.com

House Sales/Purchases Re-mortgages & Commercial Property Family Law Wills/Probate/Estate-Planning Employment Law District Court & Road Traﬃc Oﬀences

A Friendly & Professional Service

MONEY AND OUR CHILDREN

By Eric Hillis hen it comes to small talk, the traditional Irish conversational fallback of the weather has been replaced in recent years by discussion of the cost of living. We constantly talk about the rising costs of bills and our struggle to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads, but when it comes to our children it’s a subject we rarely share with them. After all, how can you expect a demanding six-year-old to understand the effects of the recession on your ability to purchase that new toy they’ve set their heart on? Is it best to keep your children in the dark or should you be open with them about your financial difficulties? The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) is aware of the strain many parents find themselves under and has some useful advice in addressing your financial situation with your children. MABS stresses that you should avoid causing your child unnecessary worry, while at the same time ensuring they understand the role money plays in life. No child can be expected to understand how the stock market functions

(few adults do) but at a young age, children learn how to count. When teaching your children about numbers, why not use money to illustrate addition and subtraction? If Anne has two apples and Barry has three, explain how Anne and Barry needed money in order to purchase those apples. Don’t allow your child to believe money grows on trees; ﬁnd a simple way to explain where the household income comes from and make sure they understand there is a limited amount of money available. Allow your children to become aware of ﬁnancial priorities. Ensure they learn that food in their lunchbox and a roof over their head are essentials, whereas toys are a luxury. Teach your children the importance of saving. A piggybank will get them into the habit of putting money aside and will create an awareness of how long it takes to accumulate the necessary funds

for that toy they have their eyes on. It will also teach them that most of the things we desire require waiting, and that anticipation is half the fun. Let your children know that the best things in life are free. Indulging in cost free fun such as enjoying a day at the playground will save you money while keeping your child happy and active. Encouraging your children to take part in sports will teach them that having money and being successful are not the same thing and that success can bring more personal satisfaction than money. At your local MABS ofﬁce you can pick up a Helping Hand at Home Planner, a useful calendar you can use to illustrate to your children how many bills you have to pay, and how often you have to pay them. If your child is looking for a gift, you can show them the calendar and let them know why you can or cannot indulge them at that time.

For more information, pick up the MABS Guide to Money and Your Children at their Lombard Street ofﬁce, call the helpline, 0761 07 2000, or visit www.mabs.ie

PUG LIFE IN HERBERT PARK

By Rúairí Conneely he Dublin Pug Club is a monthly affair, established in 2012 by lovers of the breed. There is a fence around the whole issue of pugs and you’re bound to be on one side or the other: either inside, playing and cooing with the little scamps, or on the outside, staring in with perplexity. It’s one of those things, not unlike the way people have strong feelings about cats. The Dublin Pug Club meets in Herbert Park, by the football and rugby pitches and also across town in Phoenix Park, by the monument, and by all accounts is loyally attended. They meet on the third Sunday of every month at 1.30pm. Marie Fuller, an administrator of the Dublin Pug Club Facebook page and regular attendee with her beloved Duke,

told us that the Phoenix Park group is a new innovation. “We only started that in February, because more and more people were coming from all over the northside and west of the city centre. Phoenix Park suits them more.” Around 20 minutes after NewsFour arrived at the pug club the grass is alive with scampering

forms. Marie’s Duke is wearing a red kerchief. Why are pugs always dressed up by their owners? The answer is simple: they all look alike, as a breed. “The clothes help to distinguish them,” explains Pauline Graham, who has been attending with her Marlay for around two years. She explains that even if you take your pug for a groom you’ll still have a hard time telling one from the other. As if on cue, someone walks up with a French bulldog, small with blonde fur, who looks alarmed when she catches the scent of the pugs who outnumber her, resemblances being in the eye of the beholder not in the nose of their pets. For more information contact the Dublin Pug Club on Facebook: facebook.com/dublinpugclub

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

MASTER BUILDERS OF DUBLIN 4

By Rúairí Conneely ublin 4, as is well acknowledged and sometimes discussed in print here at NewsFour, has a rich and varied architectural heritage. Walking through Dublin 4, from Ringsend and Irishtown on to Sandymount, Ballsbridge and Londonbridge Road is a time travel tour of architectural styles. Although Dublin is perhaps best known internationally for its Georgian inner-city and landmarks, the city also profited greatly from the Victorian era boom in construction technologies and passions of its propertyowning class. Prominent among the families whose efforts as builders helped to shape Dublin 4 are two names: the Crannys and the Plunketts. The story of the families as builders begins with the meeting of Patrick Plunkett and Patrick Cranny, whose respective wives were first cousins. Both men went into business, first in leather and shoemaking and then later as builders. They are notable as being members of well-to-do Irish families who contributed to the built heritage of Dublin, where commonly An-

glo-Irish families are credited. Arguably, the most well-known building of the two families is Muckross Park, on Marlborough Road, now the Dominican Convent which Patrick Cranny had built for his wife in the 1860s as a thank-you for her investment

calls from the greater Dublin area last year. “The huge volume of calls received by the helpline in 2013 is reﬂective of the concerns and worries elderly people are experiencing in Ireland today,” says Aine Brady, CEO of SHL. “We are seeing an increase in demand for our services and, worryingly, we are receiving twice as many calls as we can answer.” The line was launched in 1998

daughter of Patrick Plunkett and Patrick Cranny. She explained that broadly speaking, the Plunketts built more in Dublin 6, particularly Rathmines. She characterised Palmerston Road as being “a landmark in itself” of which Patrick Plunkett had 25 of the houses built. Patrick was a hands-on type of developer who employed his construction crew directly and apparently had to be coaxed down from inspecting roofs at the age of 90. Patrick Cranny for his part built extensively in Dublin 4, on Wellington Road and on the Donnybrook end of Marlborough Road, where he was responsible for as many as 28 houses. The houses built by these two men were successful properties up until the founding of the Free State, when many of their ten-

ants left Ireland. These would have been predominantly English military personnel and civil servants, as was the make-up of the afﬂuent classes of the time. Over time, after this change in circumstances, some properties such as 38 and 40 Eglin Road became difﬁcult to rent. By the 1940s and 1950s, these properties could be sold for as little as £300 or £400. The full value and condition of these houses was not restored until the boom years of the Celtic Tiger.

tionships with volunteers over several years, becoming regular callers. Most callers are single, widowed or living alone, with males between the ages of 66 to 75 making up the majority of those calling out of loneliness. The high level of emigration among younger people is also affecting older people, who in some cases are seeing their children and grand-children leave the country for inaccessible destinations like Australia. Our economic troubles have been tough on us all but the elderly have suffered more than most. In 2009, the automatic entitlement to medical cards for those over the age of 70 was removed, last year the Local Property Tax was introduced and in January of this year, the state retirement age was increased to 66. This has resulted in a considerable increase of callers reporting ﬁnancial issues, with a rise in calls around the announcement of the annual budget.

The cost-cutting closure of local amenities can cause considerable problems for elderly people. Four years ago, the Ringsend Post Office closed down, relocating to the Spar shop on Barrow Street. With the new location proving inaccessible for many locals, both the elderly and those with physical disabilities, a shuttle bus service was established by Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre. On Fridays, a minibus takes passengers on a return trip to Barrow Street, twice a day, at 10am and 2.30pm. Ringsend native Sheila Gibson finds the service invaluable. “I do my best to get out of the house but I find walking isn’t as easy as it used to be,” Sheila says. The bus leaves from St Patrick’s Church and can be availed of free of charge. If you are over 50 and experiencing any issues, no matter how small you might think they are, you can contact the Senior Help Line for the price of a local call on 1850 440 444.

Left: A wedding in 1884 at Muckross with the Crannys on the left and the Plunketts on the right. Below: 40 Elgin Road, Ballsbridge, constructed by Patrick Cranny. Both photos courtesy Honor O’Brolchain.

of family money in his shoemaking business. The Crannys lived there for around 30 years after which it was let, and later sold to the Dominican Nuns who have resided there since 1900. NewsFour spoke with Honor O’Brolchain, great great grand-

SENIORS HELPING SENIORS

By Eric Hillis enior Help Line (SHL) is a unique service for older people in that it’s manned by a team of volunteers who are themselves seniors. Many older people prefer to have someone in their own age group to discuss their issues with, feeling they can relate to them in a manner younger people may not be able to. The helpline is supported by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and The Atlantic Philanthropies (TAP). The latter is an organisation based in both the US and Ireland, its mission statement is to, “bring about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people,” and it encourages a view of elderly people as assets rather than burdens. Isolation is the reason behind most of the calls to Senior Help Line, which received over 6,200

PAGE 29

and is manned by 323 volunteers across 17 national centres, allowing for a greater focus on localised issues. 365 days a year, the line operates from 10am to 10pm. Volunteers undergo an initial training programme, in which their listening skills are developed and they are taught how to address sensitive issues such as bereavement, suicide and abuse. Many callers have built up rela-

PAGE 30

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014 Labour Party. She also represents Dublin South East on the policy-making National Central Council of the Labour Party and from which she serves on the key Policy Committee.

Councillor Dermot Lacey (Labour) Cllr. Dermot Lacey is the Labour Party representative for the Pembroke – Rathmines Ward on Dublin City Council (DCC). He grew up in Ballyfermot and later moved to Donnybrook. He has been a member of DCC since 1993 – first representing the South Inner City ward and, since the Local Elections in 1999, the Pembroke ward. On the City Council Dermot Lacey has been: Chairperson of the South East Area Committee, the Enterprise and Employment Committee and the Strategic Policy Committee on Arts, Culture Leisure and Youth. He was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin for the period July 2002 – July 2003.

Councillor Gerry Ashe (Labour) Cllr. Gerry Ashe grew up in Dublin, first living in Ballyfermot before moving to Donnybrook. She spent much time in her grandmother’s home in Stella Gardens. She attended national school in Donnybrook and then completed her Leaving Certificate at St Mary’s, Haddington Road. She joined the Labour Party in 1990 and since then has been active at local branch and constituency levels. She is currently entering her fourth term as Chairperson of the Dublin South East Constituency Council of the

James Humphreys (Labour) James Humphreys is Labour’s candidate for Pembroke – South Dock. He went to primary school in Marian College and graduated from Dublin Business School. Since graduating, he has worked within the retail and hospitality sector. Although James has no prior experience within local politics, if elected he will work hard to bring about changes the city requires, including investing in local services to improve the lives of its citizens.

Councillor Kieran Binchy (Fine Gael) Cllr. Kieran Binchy has lived much of his life in Dublin, having moved there from Charleville in Cork. He attended Clongowes Wood College in Kildare and studied Law and French in Trinity College Dublin. He has a master’s degree in International Relations from DCU and he trained as a barrister at Kings’ Inns. Kieran sits on the Traffic and Transport and the Housing, Social and Community Affairs Policy Committees on DCC. Kieran also works as a barrister.

Your Local Election Candidates 2014 Pembroke – South Dock

disability advocate, successfully campaigning for wheelchair-accessible Dublin buses and helping with the introduction of disability legislation in Ireland.

Nadine Meisonnave (Fine Gael) Nadine Meisonnave has lived in Dublin for over eight years having moved here from Russia and Estonia where she was brought up. She started her own business, Maison Neuve, in 2009 and is married to a Frenchman with two boys. Upon arrival to Dublin, she worked as a waitress and receptionist to improve her English. She then began working as an estate agent, while at the same time enrolled at DIT studying Property Studies. She graduated in 2010. She’s running on a platform to deliver better services, improve quality of life and kick start job creation for those living in Pembroke – South Dock.

Councillor Paddy McCartan (Fine Gael) Cllr. Paddy McCartan, Fine Gael’s local election candidate and current councillor for Pembroke – South Dock, was born in Ballsbridge and educated at Marian College and DIT in Kevin Street. He got his taste for politics through his optician practice in Baggot Street and Ringsend. He began in Fine Gael in 1982 and was influential in Lucinda Creighton’s campaign. He is strongly committed to the Dodder flood alleviation works for Ballsbridge, delivering a new primary school for Sandymount and continued opposition to any work on the Poolbeg site.

Compiled by Liam Cahill

Linda O’Shea Farren (Fine Gael) Linda O’Shea Farren has lived and worked in the Pembroke – South Dock area for the past 20 years. She is married with two children. She trained as a solicitor and worked briefly as a Government Programme Manager at the Department of Justice. Over the course of 20 years, she worked as a long-time

Chris Andrews (Sinn Féin) Chris Andrews has been centrally involved in community development work in the Pembroke – South Dock area for many years; working in, and with, various residents’ associations, environmental groups, antidrugs projects and other voluntary organisations. Chris has previously represented much of the new Pembroke – South Dock electoral area

on DCC having been a councillor for the old Pembroke and South East Inner City wards, as well as being a former TD for the Dublin South East constituency. He has been particularly influenced by the work Sinn Fein have done on the ground locally and will continue to pursue this if elected to DCC.

Lorraine Clifford (Fianna Fáil) Lorraine Clifford, originally from Co. Waterford, is a solicitor and Fianna Fail’s choice for Pembroke – South Dock. She is a member of the South West Inner City LEA, where she has been living for the past 10 years. She joined Fianna Fail at 15, then the Donagh O’Malley Cumann while studying at University College Cork.

Frank Kennedy (Fianna Fáil) Frank Kennedy is Fianna Fail’s choice for Pembroke – South Dock. Aged 29, he is new to Irish politics. He studied Law at UCD, the University of Toulouse and Oxford University. He worked in Washington as a summer intern for Senator Ted Kennedy and later returned to work for a year with the US-Ireland Alliance. Frank is a barrister and also teaches at the Law School in Trinity College Dublin. He lives in Sandymount.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

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MEP candidates for European Parlimentary Elections Spring 2014

Compiled by Rúairí Conneely

Public Works. Brian is an experienced front bencher, pro-Europe and especially concerned with a healthy Europe that exhibits balanced economic growth on the road to economic recovery. Sonya Stapleton (PBPA) Sonya Stapleton is the People Before Profit Alliance candidate for the Pembroke – South Dock ward. She is a single parent from the inner city, living in Dublin 2. Stapleton is anti-water charges and strongly opposed to the introduction of a property tax believing people living in Ringsend in particular are paying excessive amounts despite the size of their property. She has pledged not to go on any council junkets or to support council budgets.

Wayne Flanagan Tobin (Independent) Wayne Flanagan Tobin is a 27 year old special needs assistant who works in a local school in the Ballsbridge area. He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and has previously worked as a youth worker with Catholic Youth Care. Wayne has campaigned successfully in the past to have a suicide prevention officer appointed for the Dublin – Mid Leinster region. If elected, Wayne will focus on issues of mental health, youth unemployment, equality and helping the marginalised. Mannix Flynn (Independent) Mannix Flynn was born in Dublin in 1957 and was elected to Dublin City Council as an independent councillor in

2009. He is a writer, artist and performer taking part in a number of online artistic videos including Ghost People where he talks about foreign migrants and a video by Balcony TV where he raps on a rooftop in Temple Bar. His published works include Nothing to Say and James X. He has worked in film, theatre and television. He has written extensively for various newspapers, magazines and periodicals and is a well-known contemporary commentator and artist. He has been a prominent figure in local politics since 2009 and will likely continue work around equality and fairness if re-elected.

Anne-Maree Quinn (Independent) Anne-Maree Quinn is an independent candidate for Pembroke – South Dock. She works as an occupational therapist in the Pearse Street and Ringsend/Irishtown Primary Care Centre and lives in Sandymount. Originally from Australia, she is now an Irish citizen and has been working in Ireland for over seven years. If elected, Anne-Maree says she will work hard to improve local services and promote the welfare of local residents. G re e n P a r t y The Green Party will be selecting a candidate on April 8th.

Emer Costello (Labour) Emer Costello is the current MEP for Dublin representing Labour. She is a member of many committees, such as the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, Delegation to the Palestinian Legislative Council and a Substitute Member of the Development Committee and the Special Committee on Organised Crime, Corruption and Money Laundering.

rience. She played a key role in the Dunnes Stores anti-Apartheid strikes of the mid-to-late 1980s, and in 2009 was elected to DCC representing Ballyfermot – Drimnagh.

Paul Murphy (Socialist Party) Paul Murphy is the current MEP for the Socialist Party and a vocal opponent of the Troika’s austerity agenda, especially as it impacts Ireland. Paul Murphy has declared his support for the Anti-Austerity Alliance in the upcoming local elections. Paul is founder of the ScamBridge.ie website, exposing the ﬂaws in the JobBridge scheme Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fáil) A DCC representative for 10 years and the leader of the Fianna Fáil Group in the City, Mary is outspoken on matters of housing, waste, water, taxes, transport, crime and the local property tax. She is Chair of Dublin Central’s Joint Policing Committee, the Strategic Policy Committee (Arts & Culture) and also a Board Member of the Dublin City Enterprise Board.

Brian Hayes (Fine Gael) Brian Hayes is the current Minister of State for Public Service Reform and the Ofﬁce of

Eamon Ryan (The Green Party) Eamon Ryan is current leader of the Green Party. He was Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources between 2007 and 2011, during which time he made substantial gains in opening up Irish politics to new dialogue partners concerning environmental and resource issues, particularly through the Green Foundation conference series. Brid Smith (People before Proﬁt) Brid Smith, representing People before Proﬁt, is a long-time workers’ rights activist with over 30 years of political expe-

Lynn Boylan (Sinn Féin) Lynn Boylan, representing Sinn Féin, is a community programme co-ordinator with an environmental NGO in Ballymun and chairperson of the SafeFood Advisory Board. She has most recently lobbied in favour of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union over the proposed introduction of apprenticeship fees.

Nessa Childers (Independent) Nessa Childers is the current MEP for the East constituency. She is running as an Independent candidate having left the Labour Party in July 2013. She is concerned with ﬁnancial reform and alternatives to the Austerity policy, and the reform of Ireland’s relationship to the European Parliament in general. A former psychotherapist, Nessa is dedicated to human rights and to institutional transparency.

PAGE 32

By Rúairí Conneely ying is easy, they say, comedy is hard. Glynis Casson and Irene Gaffney (pictured) are two performers who have been treading the boards for their professional lives and have lived to tell the tale: many tales in fact, with a warm and vivacious blend of humours. Their latest project is Ladies who Lunch, a dark comedy show with a selection of songs. “It’s about two women,” Glynis tells NewsFour. “It’s about ladies who lunch, just as in the title. It’s quite dark, there’s a lot of bitchiness and ladies’ lies, sad stuff maybe, but it’s funny.” Glynis and Irene are both from theatrical families. Glynis is the daughter of Christopher Gasson, the celebrated actor and singer, probably best known for his association with the Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir’s residency at the Gate Theatre, where he met and later married Glynis’s mother Kay O’Connell, an artist and stage designer. Glynis’s home is handsomely decorated with her mother’s artwork. Irene is the daughter of Austin Gaffney, the celebrated sing-

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

LADIES

er and performer, perhaps best known for his role as Count Danilo in The Merry Widow. She recounts a fond memory of her wedding, where she was literally waltzed up the aisle to the Merry Widow Waltz, with father to hand. Irene explains, “We both grew up in an era where the arts were part of public life. Irish artists

WHO LUNCH

were lauded. That said, it was seen as unusual for someone like my father to have put ﬁve children, myself and my siblings, through private school as a singer.” Glynis concurs, “There was a feeling of insecurity growing up at times. Summer time could be difﬁcult. My father would also teach. elocution, that sort

of thing.” Ladies who Lunch is being performed at Christ Church Sandymount on April the 6th as a fundraiser for the Sandymount and Merrion Residents Association. They are fundraising to sustain legal costs in the association’s on-going dispute with Dublin City Council, over the proposed sewage outﬂow

pipe that was recently granted planning permission by An Bord Pleanála. The pipe will – if implemented – undercut part of the coastal area designated as a conservation area. Glynis and Irene heap praise upon their accompanist and musical director Maeve McSwiney. Irene gives an example of the collaboration. “I was going to sing a number called What I did for Love as a replacement for another song, but Maeve was very frank. After a few tries, she just said ‘Irene, you can’t sing that song’ and she was right. It wasn’t personal, she was just right. So there is professional respect.” “The material suits our voices,” Glynis adds. “We’ve done the show for the RDS private members, and at the K Club. It’s nice to have material that suits our ages and our voices. There are a few Sondheim songs in it. Wait until you hear Send in the Clowns” Pictured: Irene Gaffney, on left, and Glynis Casson. Photo by Paul Timon. For details and booking, contact 086 373 1420.

DUBLIN 4 DIASPORA: FISH AND CHIPS IN BUENOS AIRES

By Aimée MacLeod any Irish people nowadays go to live abroad due to ﬁnancial pressures, but Susan Kennedy’s journey began just as the Celtic Tiger was starting to roar. “I left Ireland in 1995 when I completed my degree at UCD. There was no master plan, just a desire to see more of the world, so off I went to San Francisco at the age of 22.” Growing up in the Sydney Parade area of Sandymount, emigration is a near-tradition in her family, “I am the fourth of six children, half of whom still live in Dublin and the other half have emigrated.” After 11 years in San Francisco, Susan moved to New York to live with her sister Lucy, who had studied journalism at Columbia University. Susan eventually settled in Buenos Aires, where she has lived for the past four years. No matter where she has been, however, she has always found that the Irish are wellloved. “When people ask me where I’m from and I tell them Ireland, it always elicits a posi-

tive reaction. Obviously in the US there is such a strong bond with Ireland, with staggering numbers of people who have some Irish blood in them.” Along with her Argentinian partner Marcelo Liska, Susan opened up Buenos Aires’ ﬁrst ﬁsh and chip shop in 2013. “The

restaurant is called Chipper and we consciously decided to give it an Irish ﬂavour,” even going as far as naming one of their desserts the Martello Tower, “a name, less inspired by James Joyce and more inspired by my frequent sweet purchases from Mrs Jones and Mrs Edgely

in the tower on Sandymount Strand.” Susan keeps in touch with her Irish roots with the help of the local Irish Embassy, which, “does a great job of keeping the local community informed of Irish cultural events.” It has even helped the couple with

their business. The 2014 St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Buenos Aires were especially important for Susan and Marcelo, when a stand at the event helped them to, “introduce the fish and chips to the masses… it was an amazing success!” Susan still manages to make it back to Ireland about once a year – and may one day return to live – but for the time being her plans are firmly set in Buenos Aires. “Although I have greatly enjoyed every city I have lived in, none of them felt like ‘home’ in the same way as Dublin. Marcelo and I have definitely talked about Ireland as a possibility in the future. We are committed to Buenos Aires for the next few years at least, especially as we just opened a restaurant here. Our hope is that we will be able to open a few Chippers in Buenos Aires in the coming years.“ Pictured: Sandymount native, Susan Kennedy and her Argentinian partner Marcelo Liska at their Buenos Aires fish and chip shop. Photo by Jocelyn Mandrake.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

PAGE 33

VIVA AVIVA

By Gavan Bergin uring February, I went with our photographer on the Aviva Stadium tour. The enthusiasm of the tour guide, as he brought us to this Colosseum of professional sport in Ireland, made the tour. During the tour, in my imagination we were the squad arriving for that vital ﬁnal World Cup qualiﬁer. Or the band on its way for the sold-out opening gig of the European tour. As we entered on our right, we

saw the discarded gridiron posts from the Notre Dame versus US Navy NFL game in 2012. Tens of millions of dollars came and went with the thousands of tourists. We peruse the trophies and trinkets outside the media zone, with its mega fast Wi-Fi. In our next stop, the press conference room, we see the table where wins, losses and draws are all equally examined and dissected for easy worldwide broadcast and digestion. At the back of the room are the transla-

tion booths, where even Giovanni Trapattoni could be rendered comprehensible. There are no players or managers sitting at the table today. The room becomes a cinema, and the feature playing has no title. It is a short ﬁlm, showing the destruction and construction that took place between 2007 and 2010, on the site where we now sit. A sad ﬁlm, maybe, for those who have been here in the past. Those of us who sat in the rain and watched, say, Ireland go

down a goal to Andorra in 2001, or who endured the drones who booed Roy Keane in the nil-all match with Iceland in 1997. You wouldn’t think such failures would become such valuable memories. But, seeing on ﬁlm the old tearoom being demolished along with all the rest, seals those memories in nostalgia’s treasure chest. We travel high above ground level, to the upper tiers of the new stadium. It is impressive as a venue, steel and glass towering over the surrounding city. While it lacks the ramshackle charm of the old ground, it has to be saidit is a magniﬁcent 21st century stadium. We move back to the dressing rooms and the treatment rooms,

which include the medical emergency room, deﬁbrillators and even a fully equipped dentist chair. We’re shown the hydrotherapy suite where, we’re told, a 15minute session has the restorative powers of a full night’s sleep. Leaving the home dressing room, we head towards our ultimate destination, the pitch. As we walk through the tunnel, we see the light in the arena, the stage. We’re about to perform at the highest level, for ourselves, our country. The cheers of the crowd, our crowd, roar in our ears. The whistle blows. In the stadium, another game begins, another tour begins. If we fail to win, we won’t be able to blame the stadium. See you in an hour and a half, either way. To win tickets for two people to take a tour of Aviva Stadium send us a line telling us who you would bring and why, email newsfour@gmail. com or post to Competitions, NewsFour, RICC, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4. Don’t forget to include your name, telephone number and postal address for us to send out to tickets. Winners will be chosen by April 18th.

GROWING UP IN RINGSEND WITH FRANK HOPKINS

By Donna Dunne uthor Frank Hopkins (pictured) was born in Birmingham but moved to Ringsend in the late 1960s with his family. Frank’s ﬁrst two books Rare Old Dublin and Hidden Dublin were largely based on columns that he had written for the Evening Herald. His third book Ireland 366 –A Story a Day from Ireland’s Hidden History was published in November 2013. When he was a child, Frank lived at his grandparents’ home on Pigeon House Road. His grandfather Frank ‘Fleck’ Hopkins and grandmother Susannah Redmond were both native Ringsenders who were born and reared within three doors of each other on Thorncastle Street. Susannah died only a few years ago at the age of 98. Frank attended St Patrick’s National School and told NewsFour, “Apart from getting teased for having an English accent, it was a very happy time. I think Jack Hurley was the headmaster while I was there and I’ll never forget our teacher Mr Kelly who was a very kind and inspirational man.”

Ringsend is full of fond memories for Frank who spent most of his free time playing football in Ringsend Park, swimming at the Shelley Banks and getting up to all sorts of devilment on the Irishtown dump. Frank reminisces, “I remember being particularly intrigued with a local character in Ringsend known as Sandy the tramp. He lived in a makeshift, corrugated iron shack on the dump and I have a vivid picture in my head of Sandy clattering around Ringsend on his black bicycle with no tyres on the wheels, dressed in an old black coat tied at the waist with a piece of rope, ragged trousers and a battered pair of shoes with the soles ﬂapping.” Writing came late to Frank but he was always interested in Irish history. His ﬁrst two books, Rare Old Dublin and Hidden Dublin both have approximately 100 short stories on life in old Dublin. Ringsend, Irishtown and surrounding areas are featured in both books. In Hidden Dublin there’s a piece about plans that were happening in 1672 to build a mas-

sive star-shaped defensive fort in Ringsend covering over 30 acres and capable of providing accommodation for 700 soldiers. If this had gone ahead, the village of Ringsend as we know it today would have been obliterated. Frank’s latest book Ireland 366 also has a few Ringsend stories. One of these relates to a tragedy that occurred at Ringsend on July 3rd 1905 when a pleasure boat containing six members of the Shelbourne Football Club sank off Poolbeg resulting in the deaths of all six. One of the dead was a nine year old boy called John Purdy. A wealth of Dublin history arises in all these books and NewsFour asks Frank what’s next on his agenda. “I’m currently doing a bit of research for the next book. I can’t really say what it’s about or even when it’ll be ﬁnished at this stage, but I’ll let you know.” Rare Old Dublin and Hidden Dublin can be bought at mercierpress.ie and Ireland 366 is in most bookshops or can be obtained direct from New Island Books at newisland.ie

PAGE 34

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

LOCAL LEGEND OF AN SEABHAC

By Rúairí Conneely onnybrook has never been shy of characters, of movers and shakers, despite its modest, gentriﬁed atmosphere. One such ﬁgure, a

long-time Donnybrook resident, was Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha, also known as An Seabhac or The Hawk. An Seabhac was a prominent and inﬂuential ﬁgure of early

20th century Irish culture, a key populariser of the Irish Revival. He was an author, storyteller, folklorist, activist and politician. The nickname is thought to be a consequence of his years as a travelling teacher, when he adopted it as a pseudonym for the writing of his most famous book Jimín Mháire Thaidhg. This book, known in its English translation as Jimeen is a ﬁctionalised account of life growing up in the country, which follows the tribulations and misadventures of a young boy who can’t stay out of trouble. An Seabhac worked as a teacher from 1910 until 1922 in Kildare and in the Fermoy region of Kerry. He also worked as an editor of The Light, a bilingual magazine which lasted six years, from 1907 to 1913. He was a member of the Gaelic League from early in his life and a frequent member of the League of Employment, which was an outgrowth of the Gaelic League. In 1911, a resolution, proposed by him and a colleague, was adopted that helped set the agenda for the on-going revival of the Irish language: the proposal was to teach Irish, to children of secondary school age, as a living language, rather than an antique one. This strategy persists to the present day. In 1922 he moved to Dublin

under the auspices of the Department of Education. It is around this time that he is thought to have taken up residence in 119 Morehampton Road, Donnybrook, where he remained until towards the end of his life. He continued to stay active in a large number of writing and political projects. Speaking to NewsFour, his granddaughter Niamh Lynch remarked that, “he was so proliﬁc a writer that the family almost took it for granted, it didn’t seem unusual.” She explained that he wrote a daily diary, often two or three pages a day, “which people just don’t do anymore”. During the Civil War it is said he did his best to reconcile the opposing sides of the conﬂict. His political sympathies were

primarily republican and he spent a great deal of energy in the 1920s establishing Irish-speaking schools in Dublin. Personally appointed to the Seanad by his friend Éamon de Valera, he served three terms as a Senator before leaving the public service in 1932. An Seabhac died in 1964. His personal papers are on loan to Tralee Library and his archive has been digitised and stored by the University of Limerick. Left: Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha, also known as An Seabhac or The Hawk pictured with his dog. Above: Pádraig orating at a memorial in 1957 with Éamon de Valera in the background. Photos courtesy Niamh Lynch.

WHAT YOU MAYBE MEANT TO KEEP

By Rúairí Conneely he National Print Museum has opened its major exhibition for the spring this year, What You Maybe Meant to Keep. In association with the website Irish Election Literature and the Irish Left Archive, the museum will host an exhibition of political promotional materials: posters, pamphlets, ﬂyers and election leaﬂets, from the 1970s onwards. The collection is harvested from the donations of politicians and members of the public to Irish Election Literature and the Irish Left Archive. It opened on 25th March and is running until 27th May, there will also be a number of talks given by the curators on April 3rd, 10th, 13th and on May 1st. NewsFour spoke with Alan Kinsella, one of the curators of the exhibition and operator of the Irish Political Literature blog. We wanted to know how the exhibit came about. “It was simple

really. A friend of mine is on the curatorial committee of the Print Museum and he suggested it.” Although Alan’s collection is extensive and still growing with every election, local, European or otherwise, he has no particular

political allegiances he wanted to discuss. The nature of his interest is broader than party politics. “It’s history. It’s political history. I think I was maybe 11 or 12 when I started collecting. This would have been the early

eighties. My parents went to vote and the whole family would go along. Polling stations were busy in those days, unlike now where there are rules determining how far away a poster or canvasser has to be. I just happened to end

See nationalprintmuseum.ie and irishelectionliterature.wordpress.com for more details

up holding all of the various flyers and leaflets and hanging on to them.” A successive few years of by-elections and similar events swelled his collection and he continues to the present day. Asked to comment on differences between political literature now and then, he explained that particular periods are defined by particular themes. “In the eighties, there was a lot of emphasis on trust, on high taxes, on emigration. These are all themes that have come around again. Now though, political flyers are more uniform. People running for local office, they might not have huge budgets so they will use the same template as each other. Also, things are more centrally controlled and there’s less of a cult of the leader. Bertie, Charlie, Garret, you know it’s significant when the leaders are on first name terms with the electorate.” Image courtesy Alan Kinsella.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

THE CULINARY CORNER

Beef Chop Suey

By Donna Dunne eef chop suey is packed to the florets with foods to keep you healthy. Instead of the same old vegetables try bamboo shoots. They can improve cholesterol levels, they’re low in calories and their anti-inflammatory properties may reduce the risk of various chronic diseases including heart disease. Fresh mangetout is a good source of vitamin B1 which can quell anxiety, lift depression, ease PMS, and boost your energy. Chestnuts, unlike other nuts and seeds, are rich in minerals and vitamins especially vitamin C. Those who suffer from stress, consume alcohol regularly, smoke or people taking medication may benefit from taking a slightly higher intake of vitamin C. This beef chop suey recipe is fast, easy to cook, tasty and full of nutrients. Don’t order a Chinese, just make it yourself.

PAGE 35 SERVES FOUR For the marinade 1tbsp Shaoxing rice wine Pinch of white pepper Pinch of salt 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1⁄2 teaspoon sesame oil

Ingredients 450g rib eye or sirloin steak, thinly sliced 1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets 2 tbsp vegetable or groundnut oil 1 onion, thinly sliced 2 sticks celery, thinly sliced 225g mangetout, sliced in half lengthways 55g fresh or canned bamboo shoots, rinsed and julienned (if using fresh shoots, boil in water first for 30 minutes) 8 water chestnuts, thinly sliced 225g mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp salt

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and marinate the beef for at least 20 minutes. Blanch the broccoli in a large pan of boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and set aside. In a preheated wok or deep pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and stir-fry the beef until the colour has changed. Remove and set aside. Wipe out the wok or pan with kitchen paper. In the clean wok or deep pan, heat the remaining oil and stir fry the onion for one minute. Add the celery and broccoli and cook for two minutes. Add the mangetout, bamboo shoot, water chestnuts and mushrooms and cook for one minute. Add the beef, season with the oyster sauce and salt and serve. Photo by Donna Dunne.

STEVE WALL: STATE OF THE IRISH MUSIC INDUSTRY

By Donna Dunne that three pubs or clubs are closing every week in he Stunning were an Irish rock band that Ireland which has an impact on gigging bands. Deformed in 1987 gaining huge recognition spite the fact that there was a recession in the 80s within Ireland and selling over 100,000 al- and early 90s, The Stunning’s tour consisted of bums. They split after business disappointments 22 dates around Ireland in 1991, which would be and a lack of progress internationally. They played unheard-of today. Radio airplay was also huge for a farewell tour in 1994 before going their separate Irish acts mainly because there was only one muways but reform every now and then, still attracting sic radio station which was 2FM. They played most the crowds and their fans. new releases, which helped lots of Irish bands beSteve Wall singer/songwriter of the legendary come household names. Now Irish bands are lucky Irish band now front man for The Walls, brews up enough if they get a play on their local radio station, a storm with his honest views about the Irish music let alone 2FM. industry. Steve has been recently challenging the A few years ago Steve called the head of mupublic with questions, stirring debates on national sic in an Irish radio station to ask why their single radio and open topic dishadn’t received a single cussions about how Irish play and he could tell he artists are up against huge hadn’t even listened to international acts that hooit. “We spent about four ver up massive amounts grand of our hard-earned of money here in Ireland money in our own country every year. and we didn’t even get the He posted a criticism of decency of someone on a Arthur’s Day two years national radio station giving a few minutes to listen ago about how he hated to the song. This is what the fact that only UK headliners were advertised we’re up against in this without a single mention country. If it was a single of any Irish artists. Steve’s that arrived in from the US post went viral and about or the UK it would prob99% of people agreed with ably go straight onto the him and last year at least playlist.” half of the headliners were Irish acts. Steve Wall photo by Natalia Recent research shows For more info on The Walls visit: Thewalls.ie Kostrzewa.

THE NEWSFOUR CROSSWORD COMPILED BY GEMMA BYRNE

9 10 11 13

14 15

25 26

27 29 30

33 34 35

Name:…………………………… Telephone:………………… Address:………………………………………………………… Prize of a €25 book token. Post entries to NewsFour, RICC, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, D.4 by 23rd May 2014. Winner of our February/March crossword competition was Mick Berkery from Sandymount. ACROSS 1) Skin specialist (13) 9) Shakespeare wrote much of this about nothing (3) 10) Dull repetitive work (8) 12) Choose (3) 13) Finger or number (5) 14) Masculine (5) 15) Small baked cake, usually served with butter or jam (5) 18) From the world’s most populous continent (5) 21) Point on a stem where a leaf grows (4) 23) Decompose (3) 24) Abbreviated instruction at the bottom of a page (3) 25) Satisﬁed (5) 26) Annoys (4) 28) Regretting (5) 29) Famous low carbohydrate diet (6) 31) Employ (3) 32) Make an offer (3) 33) Feather or constrictor? (3) 34) Evergeen climber (3) 35) Young, herald of the Harvest Moon? (4) 36) Stitch (3) 37) Stank (6) 38) Longing (3) DOWN 2) First to arrive (8) 3) Island wine or sponge cake? (7) 4) Rower or a Ringsend pub (7) 5) Atop (2) 6) Houses of ice (6) 7) Diplomacy (4) 8) Pamphlet (7) 11) Not alkalis (5) 16) Usually (10) 17) Negative response (2) 18) Openings (9) 19) Positively charged the electrons in a substance (7) 20) One who lives close by (9) 22) Heading away from the west (9) 27) Irish county known for its studs (7) 30) Synthetic alternative to silk (5)

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By Eric Hillis reland’s most awarded commercials production company, Blinder Films, was founded in 2005 by directors Richie Smyth and Kieron J Walsh, later joined by Executive Producer/Managing Director Michael Duffy, in an office on Irishtown Road. The outfit quickly established themselves, producing commercials for international clients like Heineken, Coors Light and Club Orange. No other Irish production company has won as many awards for creativity as Blinder, who have been recognised with awards for their work for clients as disparate as Heineken and the ISPCC, including a prestigious Cannes Lion at the advertising world’s equivalent of the famous film festival. Earlier this year, Blinder merged with fellow Dublin outfit Max Films to form a new production company under the title Pull the Trigger. Maxine Brady, Pull the Trigger’s Managing Director, tells NewsFour the process through which a commercial reaches our TV screens. “The client will brief an ad agency who will work up a script, a process that can take anywhere from CALVARY Reviewed by Eric Hillis rendan Gleeson stars as the local priest of a small Sligo village, having entered the priesthood following the death of his wife. One day, while taking confession from a local man, Gleeson hears how this man (whose identity is known to the priest but never revealed to us, the audience) was subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of a priest during his childhood. Gleeson admits that he has no words to console the man, who informs the priest that he is giving him a week before he murders him. Gleeson has been chosen as a target not because of any wrongs he committed but rather because of his innocence. “Nobody would care if I killed a bad priest,” the stranger intones, “but to kill a good priest like you would really be noticed.” Calvary is the second feature from writer-director John Michael McDonagh, brother of Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths). His debut, 2011’s The Guard, featured Gleeson in the lead role of a smartass Guard

RINGSEND’S MAD MEN

two weeks to two years, and then send it to us,” she says. “We receive an A4 sheet of paper from the agency which contains the visuals and voiceover, and it’s up to the director to interpret that creatively. Our job then is to figure out which director makes the most

sense for that commercial, how much it will cost and how long it will take to produce.” According to Brady, the most important element in producing a great commercial is preparation. “Every single aspect has to be carefully controlled so you can deliver what you

promised to the client, and one extra hour can cost us quite a bit of money.” The success of any campaign, Brady informs us, is how it equates to sales of the featured product. “If sales go

FILM REVIEW There are basically two types of people in the Ireland of the 21st century: those who blame all their troubles on the banks and the church, and those who are sick of listening to people blaming all their troubles on the banks and the church. McDonagh’s ﬁlm assumes

up it means the campaign is working.” In recent years, we’ve seen a proliferation of online advertising, but Brady believes TV will always be the main outlet for advertisers. “Web users are a disparate group, whereas TV advertising allows for a more specific focus,” she says. “You can stick your commercial on during the Nine O’Clock News or in the middle of the All Ireland final, depending on what your target market is.” Brady cites the current Guinness Sapeurs commercial as an example of a highly effective campaign. “It’s actually using real people, it’s colourful, the voice over has gravitas and authority, and the music sticks in your head,” she says. “It’s a really great piece of communication.” Commercial directing, Brady believes, is a highly specific talent. “If you can get your message across in 30 seconds then you can pretty much direct anything.” Pictured: Last year’s Strongbow commercial, shot on location in South Africa. Image courtesy Blinder Films.

To check out some of their iconic commercials, visit Maxﬁlms.ie

with a death wish in a small rural Irish town full of idiots. Calvary features Gleeson in the lead role of a smartass priest with a death wish in a small rural Irish town full of narcissists. While Irish audiences ate up the humour of The Guard (if there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s having a laugh at our own expense) I doubt McDonagh’s latest will be received so warmly, as it’s quite the hatchet job.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

the stance of the latter. While it’s a refreshing approach, it’s one he’s not qualiﬁed to take. He may call himself Irish, due to his heritage, but McDonagh is a Londoner who, on the evidence of Calvary, doesn’t know the ﬁrst thing about Irish society. Calvary seems to be set in the only village in Ireland where everyone outwardly expresses their feelings about one another. Sure, there’s a lot of contempt towards

the church for the various wrongdoings and subsequent cover-ups of the last century but, in reality, Irish people only complain about the church when out of earshot of the local priest. Gleeson’s priest, however, is constantly subjected to a barrage of abuse from practically everyone he encounters. With this many outspoken atheists, Sligo seems closer to Stockholm in McDonagh’s imaginary vision of recession Ireland. The film is partly funded by the Irish Film Board, which seems odd given how negatively it portrays the inhabitants of this isle. The only characters cast in a positive light are an American writer (played by the great character actor M Emmett Walsh), a French widow and Gleeson’s estranged English daughter. Some day a great movie will be made about the small town Irish psyche but it will be made by an Irish film-maker. Sadly, it probably won’t be funded by the Irish Film Board; they seem to favour “Oirish” film-makers over Irish ones. Pictured: Brendan Gleeson in Calvary. Photo courtesy of Entertainment One.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

THE IRISH MANAGERS WHO MADE IT

By Jimmy Purdy ith the appointment of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane as manager and assistant manager of the Irish republic soccer team I want to remind readers of NewsFour of previous successful Irish managers of Irish republic soccer teams who won European Championships. Brian Kerr and Noel O’Reilly are the managers who brought the first Irish team to a European soccer final, the under 16s. They met Italy at the city of Perth in Scotland in 1998. In qualifying, Ireland conceded no goals while Italy scored 11 goals. On the way to the final Italy defeated Spain who before that were the favourites to win. The game between Ireland and Italy turned out to be a thriller with some excellent football played by both teams. At 35 minutes Ireland got a free kick and Keith Foy with a lovely kick planted it in the net. Keith went on to play professional football in England, before returning to play with Irish teams. This under 16s team played very well in the first half and managed to hold on to their one goal lead. The second half started with Ireland still playing well and playing far superior soccer of the two teams but 11 minutes into the second half the Italians equalised. Both teams were

going for a second goal which came at 51 minutes and it was Ireland who got it, to go two-one up. Both teams played hard with Ireland holding on until the end and winning. 11 weeks later Brian Kerr and Noel O’Reilly brought the under 18s to Larnaca in Cypress to play against Germany in the European soccer final. Having defeated Italy at under sixteen level hopes were high for this team to make it a double for Irish soccer. The heat in the new G.S.Z Stadium was 40 degrees. That in itself was a test for both teams. In an interview before the game Noel O’Reilly spoke of the stadium and the atmosphere and how they prepared for the game, they arrived two days early and the team trained indoors away from the heat. As Noel said it’s a magnificent holiday resort but they didn’t resort to the holiday part. The first half was evenly matched

with both teams coming close to scoring. The bigger and more physical Germans were not making any progress against the smaller Irish boys who were playing some ground football; both sets of supporters were making a lot of noise in support of their team, half time arrived with the teams equal at nil all. During the second half a good move down the centre saw Robbie Keane slip a pass to Alan Quinn to score a goal. With only 10 seconds of the three extra minutes to be played the Germans equalised, as the golden goal rule was in place during extra time both teams were going to be very cautious and the match ﬁnished without any goals, so to the penalty shoot-out. Ireland won on the penalty shootouts at four to three, winning the second European championship in 11 weeks. This was a great achievement for Brian Kerr and Noel O’Reilly. To the two Irish managers of the Irish team good luck for the future. I wish to thank Nicola and Stephen at FAI Headquarters in Abbotstown for the help and kindness when I visited them looking for information on the U16’s results. Above, left to right: Liam George, Noel O’Reilly and Brian Kerr. Image courtesy Back Page Football.

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BOOK REVIEW RUGBY WARRIOR Reviewed by Liam Cahill erard Siggins’s Rugby Warrior charts the rise of rugby star Eoin Madden as he battles new responsibilities, deals with the friction amongst his friends and tries to solve the mystery of a deceased Irish-born rugby star. Rugby Warrior begins in an open field as Eoin Madden, a 13-year-old rugby novice, kicks a rugby ball in the fictional town of Ormondstown. “You’re kicking well,” his grandfather, Dixie Madden, remarks as Eoin tries to make the ball miss a pile of cow manure. Eoin is at that moment of change in life, he’s leaving behind primary school and embarking on a secondary education at the fictional private school Castlerock College, in Dublin. But if you think this is going to be a story about one boy’s struggle in school, you’re wrong. The themes of this book are quite expansive ranging from friendship, rugby, loss, adversity and even ghosts. The main narrative of the book revolves around Eoin’s research of a non-fictional rugby legend, Dave Gallaher, who died during World War I. So begins a whirlwind investigation by Eoin to discover who this player is and, more importantly, why he is reappearing to him on a regular basis. All of this is happening while Eoin is trying to balance acting as the captain of the U14s rugby team at Castlerock and dealing with a fractious friendship between two of his friends, Dylan and Rory. Siggins seems to have an appetite for paranormal-related themes – he touched on it in Rugby Spirit where we are first introduced to Eoin – and utilises it with great effect in this publication. The overall writing style is fluid and easy to read, making Rugby Warrior more than just another book about sport or cow manure.

Rugby Warrior is available from The O’Brien Press for €7.99

DUBLIN’S GRAND CANAL LONGBOARDERS

By Aimée MacLeod f you ever find yourself in the Grand Canal Dock area and spot a blur of helmets and kneepads, you have probably just caught a sight of one of Ireland’s fastest-growing sports, longboarding. The Dublin Longboard Crew (DLC) has grown from under 100 members to 850 in the past five years. They get together at least once a week and the Canal Cruise, a relaxed course along the Grand Canal and Baggot Street, is just one of their many meet-ups. Colm Whelan from Sandymount only joined the crew a year ago, but first started skating in 1996 while living in California. Back home, and after a gap of nearly a decade, he was drawn back to longboarding. “I realised the sport had grown in va-

riety and popularity immensely. I started to watch videos of guys and girls ﬂying down mountain roads and throwing out technical slides and tricks I had never seen before. I immediately wanted to start doing this, so I looked around the city and internet until I found the DLC.”

More than just a hobby for some, Ireland has a number of dedicated longboard manufacturers and the DLC has a strong ethos of ‘skate Irish, buy Irish’. There are also Irish longboarders who compete at an international level, with competitions in Poland, France and Slovenia in

their sights this year. Jeff Logan, who has been with the DLC for the past four years, has decided to use his love of skating as a chance to do some good. In 2013 he travelled the length of Ireland on a longboard, all in support of the Shine Centre for Autism, a charity based in

For more info log onto: dublinlongboardcrew.blogspot.ie

Cork. “I was watching the news and there were talks about cutting funding to autism centres. A few months later I was skating from Malin Head to Mizen Head.” With that under his belt, Jeff plans to take it a step further this year. On the 28th of April he will be attempting to complete a skating trek from John O’Groats to Land’s End in the UK in just 15 days, once again for Shine Ireland. Amongst the skaters who spoke to NewsFour, one factor was constant: the freedom that longboarding brings. According to Colm, “rain, hail, wind – doesn’t matter. I can safely say I will ride a longboard for the rest of my life, or until my knees give out!” Pictured: Dublin Longboard Crew. Photo by Paul Fitzgerald.

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By Noel Twamley he most famous motor road race in history, the Mille Miglia (thousand miles) began in 1927 and ran from Brescia to Rome and back. Over five million fans or tifosi crowded the streets to view this epic race. Alas, the greatest road race ever came to a halt in 1957 due to the horrific loss of life. 56 people in total died and hundreds were injured during its time. Italian driver De Portago and co-driver Nelson, crashed and died, killing another nine people including five children. Another driver Jowe Gottgens died in his Triumph TR3. The price was too high for it to go on. The loss of life and severe injuries was simply staggering. In 1955, one of my sporting idols Stirling Moss drove to victory in the magnificent 300 SLR Mercedes-Benz. Stirling

MILLE MIGLIA MEMORIES

and navigator Jenkinson won the Mille Miglia in a recordbreaking 10 hours at an average speed of 100mph, a truly incredible time for an open road race. Some 20 years ago I brought

St Patrick’s CYFC update

By David Nolan n the January edition we talked about the club entering a challenging second half of the season. Nothing much has changed since, our two teams are still locked in a battle to beat off the threat of relegation but results have been positive. The senior team, despite currently sitting in the bottom three, have games in hand over their rivals while our Saturday side will hope that home league form can keep them in the Major division. A big effort is required by everyone between now and mid-May to keep both teams flying the flag in the highest grade of football available to players in our catchment area. But less of the doom and gloom, as we go to print CY are still involved in no less than five different cup competitions. With St Patrick’s Day now just a blurred memory, we are into the latter stages of all these competitions with

my son Mark to the motor show at the RDS. We made our way to the Mercedes-Benz stand where I met and reminisced with my colleagues. We chatted about the American actor Robert Mitchum who I had to

the exception of the FAI Senior Cup. Our Saturday side will host Malahide United in the last 16 of the Lanigan Cup, the visitors are currently second in the league and will offer stiff opposition. The Senior squad have a slightly busier schedule ahead, the draw for an aforementioned FAI Senior Cup takes place at the end of March. This will contain non-league qualifiers and the winners from these games will join the league of Ireland teams in the last 32. CY will be aiming to achieve that feat for a third successive season. Derek Bowden’s charges are also through to the last 16 of the Metropolitan cup. You’ll remember CY were beaten in last season’s finale by Wayside Celtic. In addition to this, a berth in the quarter finals of the Charlie Cahill Cup is up for grabs when CY host Sacred Heart on Friday March 21st. It doesn’t end there. CY have made it through to the semi-final of the FAI Intermediate Cup, the most sought after piece of silverware in amateur football. Having accounted for Cork sides in the last 16 and quarter finals (both away) CY have been handed a home draw and a Dublin 4 derby with UCD AFC. The students will offer a huge test for the honour of facing either Tolka Rovers or Avondale United in the final. CY hold a slight upper hand going into the tie having won the league fixture by a single goal to nil back in October but that will mean nothing for this clash, penned in for Saturday March 29th with a 1pm kick-off on the Astroturf in Ringsend. We hope to see a huge crowd there and thanks as always for the support. Above: Cherry Orchard versus St Patrick’s CYFC, picture courtesy David Nolan.

deliver a new, tax-free car to in the Shelbourne Hotel and the Wexford-born movie star Dan O’Herlihy with his classic left hand drive open 2805 My ex-technical director at Mercedes, Dennis Dowdall ar-

Celebrating the Community at Clanna Gael Fontenoy

By Felix O’Regan he Clanna Gael Fontenoy Club prides itself on being more than just a sporting club, it’s an integral part of its surrounding community. None more so evident than in Alice Larkin’s recent receipt of a Sean Moore Community Award for her work with the under-age groups in the Club (read more about the awards on pages 20 and 21). The doyenne of the cage at the club’s academy every Saturday morning, Alice attended the awards event little expecting to be a recipient. Instead, she clapped excitedly in acknowledgement of each of the recipients. Then Róisín Ingle began relating the proﬁle of the next recipient. “Every Saturday morning,” she told the packed hall, “this lady and her whistle can be seen organising hundreds of kids at Clanna Gael Fontenoy.” The penny began to drop and when Róisín announced Alice’s name, the audience rose to their

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014 rived and invited us into the inner sanctum of the Mercedes stand. As we walked in, my eyes glazed over, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There in front of me was the holy of holies, the 300 SLR. The car Stirling Moss won the Mille Miglia in. We were allowed to climb inside this unbelievable vehicle. I held the large steering wheel in my hand, gazing at the three dials on the dash. This classic car had no carpets, no door panels, nothing, it was built for power and speed only. I could almost hear the howl of the engine. I was in heaven on earth to be sitting in such a car. I’ll never forget it. The 300 SLR driven by Stirling Moss is now on display in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart and valued at tens of millions. Pictured: The 300 SLR in Stuttgart’s Mercedes Museum.

feet but she was left rooted to her chair. As she returned to her seat with her welldeserved award, she carried with her the heartfelt congratulations of all present as she does from all in the club. Another Clanns stalwart, Conor Dodd, has also furthered the cause of community service. When a man out running with a group from Crusaders Athletic Club recently suffered a heart attack beside one of our playing pitches, the quick-thinking Conor went into action in deploying the club’s Automated External Defibrillator (AED). His skillful application of compressions and the AED pads succeeded in eventually stabilising the victim until the emergency services arrived and took him off to intensive care where he has since been making a full recovery. While nothing as dramatic as this, events on the field of play have been particularly rewarding of late. Whether it’s been our under eights embarking on their first-ever competitive games, our under 13s acquitting themselves well following promotion to Division One, our minor footballers starting their season with a flourish, or our female footballers – Stacey Flood, Rebecca McDonnell, Niamh Shaw and Maria O’Dea – excelling with their respective Dublin teams, there’s been plenty to be positive about right around the Club. Our intermediate and junior footballers have got their league season off to a bright start, while the senior hurlers go in search of a second Leinster hurling league title in as many years. Clanna Gael Fontenoy is generously sponsored by Dublin Port Company. Above: Alice Larkin, doyenne of the cage at the club’s academy and a most deserving recipient of a Sean Moore Community Award. Picture courtesy Felix O’Regan.

NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014

PAGE 39

RAILWAY UNION CRICKET

Above: Jean McDonnell, Kate Dillon and Emer Lucey with the cup. Photo by Tristan Stedham.

Pat Collins returns to Railway Union Cricket Club for another season By David Carroll opular cricket coach, Pat Collins from Brisbane, Queensland returns to Railway Union for another season. “I hope everyone had an enjoyable winter and is ready once again for another cricket season. Last season saw a number of our older youth players going on to represent the club in both men’s and women’s senior teams and produce some fantastic results,” says Pat in a pre-season message for all players at the Park Avenue Club. He continues, “This season we are looking to build on that momentum as well as continuing to develop numbers through all age groups. There are also plans in place for a tour to England for the older boys group plus a number of new coaches will be involved in the coaching programme. This all culminates into what promises to be another fantastic season for all. I would urge

all players and their families to support all fundraising and social events throughout the season. A number of these events will help defray the cost of the tour to England and all support will be appreciated. I look forward to seeing everyone soon, ready for another exciting season in Park Avenue.” The tour is for the Railway Union Under 15s X1 from 2013 and in conjunction with Marathon Sports Travel, they will travel by ferry and private coach and play a series of matches in Cheshire from July 22nd to the 25th. Matches have been arranged against Bramhall C.C.

sion. Despite playing away from home in a final, Terenure took the game to Railway and led 6–0 at half time. Railway responded with three penalties of their own to lead 9–6, before Terenure levelled in at 9–9. As it looked like the game was going to go to extra time, Railway scored the winning try with only three minutes remaining. Celebrations went on long into the night in Railway, and rightly so, this trophy has been a long time coming.

The Railway Girls Schools 7s finds future stars By Kirstin Smith he Railway Girls Schools 7s tournament took place on Friday 14th March, where it was a day for debutants. This was demonstrated as all four competitions were taken by teams making their debut in the tournament, with two of those beating the reigning title holders in their finals. “Over 300 girls across 17 teams played today and it was by some distance the highest standard we’ve witnessed to date,” said Mere Baker, the former New Zealand 7s international, who has devised the programme. Baker, a World Cup winner and winner of the Hong Kong 7s six times in a row with New Zealand, said many of the girls on show have the potential to play for their country. “As well as being a fantastic sport for girls, many of them can aim to play for Ireland U18s and U19s this September. With the right application and coaching, there is definite Olympic potential there, even as close as 2016,”

said Baker. Two new competitions took place this time, with St Andrew’s taking the first year’s competition and Loreto on the Green taking the junior competition, defeating St Louis in the final. Indeed, Loreto proved to be somewhat of a bete noir for St Louis, as they also defeated the reigning champions in the senior final. The most exciting final of the day was newcomers St Rap-

RAILWAY UNION HOCKEY Railway Union Ladies are going Dutch this Easter By David Carroll ailway Union Ladies Hockey team will represent Ireland at the Eurohockey Club Champions Cup in Den Bosch, Holland from 18th to 21st April. This is the ﬁrst time that an Irish ladies club team has competed in the top club competition in Europe. Railway will be in opposition to some of the most elite and

strongest team. We wish captain Emma Smyth and her squad every success. A large number of supporters will travel with the team. On St Patrick’s Day, Railway Union claimed the Jacqui Potter Cup (Leinster Senior Cup) for the third time in four years when they overcame a determined Trinity team in the ﬁnal. Trinity took the lead but star players Kate Dillon and Emma Smyth eventually found the touch of ﬁnesse their side needed to equalise and the get a late winner.

near Stockport, Ashley C.C. near Altrincham and Birkenhead Park across the river Mersey at Liverpool. In addition, the tour will include a visit to the Old Trafford Football Stadium, shopping and ten-pin bowling at the Intu-Trafford Centre and watching Lancashire Lightning play Durham Jets in a T20 Blast at the Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground. Registration takes place on April 13th and more information will be posted in all local schools. Above: Pat Collins pict ured bowling. Photo by Joe Curtis.

RAILWAY UNION RUGBY Railway 3rds claim long awaited title By Kirstin Smith fter two seasons of being there or thereabouts, the men’s 3rds finally claimed the league title in Railway on Saturday. It’s been a fantastic campaign that’s seen Malcolm Walsh’s men go unbeaten all season and it was fitting that the final was played between the two outstanding sides in the divi-

Above: Men’s 3rds with trophy. Photo by Cian Ryan.

For further details on Railway’s Girls Schools 7s, email girlsrugby@railwayunionrfc.com

haela’s against Newpark Comprehensive in the TY ﬁnal. In a hugely entertaining game, St Raphaela’s defeated the reigning champions to cue a pitch invasion and loud celebrations from the large St Raphaela’s contingent present. The next tournament takes place on Friday 2nd May where up to 30 teams and 500 girls are expected to take part. Above: The Railway Girls Schools 7s tournament. Photo by Cian Ryan.

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NEWSFOUR APRIL / MAY 2014