Aug sept 2011 news four by News Four

Free Community Newspaper serving Sandymount, Irishtown, Ringsend, Docklands, Ballsbridge and Donnybrook

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

NewsFour Web: www.news4.ie • E-mail: newsfour@gmail.com • Local Newsdesk: Phone 6673317

THREE MEN ON A BIKE RAISE €13,000

By Rupert Heather

hree triumphant but saddle sore cyclists have just completed a marathon trip around Ireland’s coast line to raise money for a cancer charity. Local lads and old school friends, Andrew Doyle, Declan Prior and Shane Healy cycled 1,700 kilometres through 20 counties to raise in excess of €13,000 for the Irish Cancer Society. They did so, for the first time in Ireland, on a trandem, a 10-foot long threeman bike. Prior says, “We aren’t super fit cyclists or anything like. Andy went to the Gaeltacht in Kerry with his teaching course and we talked about cycling there but never did. That

was last summer.” On a night out the three lads resurrected the plan, deciding that in order to raise as much money as possible they should cycle around the country. “We needed a gimmick and I suggested we do it on a trandem. Before long we had committed to it. My mother passed away 10 years ago because of cancer and both my father and sister survived the illness,” Doyle explains. The bike was sourced from a company in Blackpool. The longest continuous journey for which they had previously leased a tandem was for three days. “We went round a park in Blackpool for a trial run. It was a bit shaky to say the least,” says Prior. Setting off from Sandymount Green on June 24th, cheered

on by Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn and a crowd of well wishers, they began the first leg of the journey to Dundalk. “We took a wrong turn on the first day and that added 10 kilometres. It was the longest cycle any of us had been on.” Their route took them along the Antrim coast, to Donegal and Sligo, down the west coast to Westport, Clifden, Galway, then from Cork to Waterford and up the east coast to Dublin. Accommodation, provided free by generous hoteliers and B&B owners made the trip possible. “We got breakfast, some gave us dinner, some even had the local press waiting and had organised physios. ” Throughout the three weeks they had a support car driven by friends and family on a

rota. “Savlon and Sudocrem” were essential to deal with “constant” pain for the first five days. Despite not suffering any punctures in three weeks, they did experience some adversity. “Around the coast of Wexford we came over a hill and saw a cow running towards us in the middle of the road, Shane was in the driver’s seat and took evasive action,” Doyle adds. Singing helped to maintain their spirits on the road. “Andy used to subconsciously sing the first line to ‘Ordinary Man’ by Christy Moore over and over to himself. We tried ‘row your boat’ once or twice but it didn’t last too long!” “There was a bit of tension at times but no real fights, we were within eight inches of each other for three weeks, we

know how to wind each other up but there really was never an issue.” Returning to Dublin on July 19th after their extraordinary journey, they met about 20 cyclists who travelled the last few kilometres with them from Booterstown to Sandymount. This included a police escort. Doyle says, “I think next year I’ll probably run coast to coast, seven marathons in seven days. I just have to persuade the other two now. I’m not sure if Deco likes the idea!” If you want to donate visit http://www.3men1bike.com Above: The three lads get a rousing send off from Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn, centre, and local residents and friends.

PAGE 2

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

The Editor’s Corner

NewsFour Editor Karen Keegan Sub Editor Caomhan Keane Staff Gemma Byrne Eimear Murphy Glenda Cimino Jason McDonnell Sandy Hazel Joe McKenna Rupert Heather Contributors George Humphries Therese O’Toole David Thomas Nolan Dave Fleming James O’Doherty Noel Twamley Brian O’Rourke David Doyle Lorraine Barry Ann Ingle Shay Connolly Web Designer Andrew Thorn

Diversity at the annual Music Festival The Brazilian Salsa dancers and the Wasawasa Dublin African band lifted spirits last month at the annual Ringsend and Irishtown Music Festival. Organised by the Dublin City Council south east area community development team, the event aims to bring other cultures and diversity into the area. “The festival is warmly welcomed by locals,” said organiser Martin Taylor, “a party is only a party when people come to it; we need community participation.” Taylor says a big thanks to the Ringsend Community Centre and to all the volunteers who helped make it happen.

New website for St. Patrick’s Church St. Patrick’s Church, Ringsend launched a new website to help Parishioners keep in touch with what’s going on in the Parish. You can also see plans for the new parish hall and ofﬁce. http://www.stpatrickschurchringsend.com

Correction

In our last issue we mentioned that the Friends of the Royal Hospital in Donnybrook auction tickets for events at Aviva and Croke Park. In the article it was stated that those tickets are donated to the Friends. The tickets are actually bought at full value by the Friends. We are happy to clarify this and apologise for any confusion caused. The Hundred Club rafﬂes tickets only to the 100 people in the club. The fee for a year is €45 and you can be in with a good chance of getting to some of the matches at Aviva or at Croke Park.

RIVER

Photography John Cheevers

DEEP,

LIFFEY

Hi everyone, I hope you have been enjoying the warm weather, long may it last! Hopefully there’ll be plenty more time for dining al fresco, and if barbecues are your thing check out the delicious pork marinade Gemma came up with on page 33. NewsFour have had a very busy two months discussing and implementing various modernisation changes for the paper and you may notice some layout changes in this and coming issues. You can read about our trip to Wexford to visit our printers, Datascope, on page 35. The closing date for our short story competition is August 31st and entries are ﬂying in. Please note that there is one entry allowed per person, more information can be found on page 34. I would like to say congratulations to all involved in the Annual Spellman Awards which were held in Clanna Gael on June 15th. It was really great to see all the community groups and representatives coming together to support this great event. On a different note Sandymount Community Services is a Community Employment Project and we currently have 3 vacancies for childcare assistants. These positions are subject to Garda Vetting. If you are eligible for CE and interested in applying for one of these positions please send your CV to newsfour@gmail. com As usual we have a wide variety of articles jam packed inside so no doubt this issue will have something for everyone. Enjoy! Karen

HIGH

Community Services, Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4. Telephone: (01)6673317 E-mail: newsfour@gmail.com Website: www.news4.ie NewsFour Newspaper is part of a FÁS Community Employment Programme. Opinions expressed in News Four do not necessarily represent the views of Community Services.

By Caomhan Keane

o man is an island but Fergal McCarthy will be adding to Ireland’s geological and artistic landscape when he takes up residency in his own self-made pontoon just west of the Samuel Beckett Bridge this September. Constructed as part of the Absolut Fringe Festival, McCarthy (above) will live on the island for ten days as part of an art installation where the island acts as a metaphor for the island of Ireland, a metaphor for our newly isolated times. “I moored it in the Docklands because of its proximity to the ﬁnancial circuit rather than mooring it any closer to city centre,” McCarthy said. Working with a fabricator who has experience in making pontoons, McCarthy will add dozens of giant blue barrels which will keep the structure ﬂoating, around which he will put a wooden frame from

which the island will be built. “There are concrete wheels and sand with glue through it, and two palm trees will be built into the structure, plus a tent with a wooden internal wall to save me from any cross ﬁres.” The whole thing will be tied to two anchors using rope so it can rise and fall with the tide. Having previously lit up the Liffey with monopoly houses for last year’s festival, what is it about the river that attracts him as an artist? “My practice over the past few years has really been directed at the invisibility of the river. It’s such a huge physical space but it is more or less invisible to the vast majority of people. They just seem to really not relate to it.” He came to notice the river when he lived in Temple Bar for a number of years. “I had to cross the bridge every day and after several months I began to see it in a whole new light. The way the light shone on a particular morning. It just revealed itself to me as such a

gorgeous space so I wanted to take time out of the urban environment to relate to the natural by brieﬂy colonising it.”

How does he intend on spending his time? “I’m going to maintain an online presence. Hopefully, have my laptop with me, blog continuously, tweet and Facebook and answer people’s questions that way. I’ve been collecting books with island themes, like ‘Robinson Crusoe’ and I hope to spend my time painting riverscapes and cooking and ﬁshing, that sort of thing. “Naively I’m really looking forward to it,” he concludes. “It’s the ultimate camping trip. Maybe in the middle of the night I will have a very different take on it.”

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

STILL

HUNGRY

–

KEEP IT LOCAL!

bers of regulars are testimony to its appeal. The shelves are stocked with the best Irish artisan food plus a selection of European o you might need to lose a few pounds produce. for your summer holidays but you’ve Staunton says, “I wanted to get away from still got to eat. Here is another selecthe full Irish breakfast, without being snobFull Irish breakfast €7.50 tion of local eateries where you can find bish, it’s all about good healthy clean livJoanne’s Classic Club great food and value for money. ing food.” At €6.00 sit in and €5.00 takeaSandwich €6.00 The Bridge Cafe, Bridge St., Ringsend way, the ‘daily planned’ soup and sandwich is more of an institution at this stage than is a must. All coffee is €2.50, from South a mere cafe! Full breakfast is not for the America and roasted in Meath every Thurs‘faint hearted’ at €7.50 and is delicious. day. Well situated, this everyday cafe services Fusion at Clarke’s Pub on the Irishtown Gourmet Soup and a mixture of familiar locals and passersby, Road is an Indian-inspired family restauSandwich €6.00 even the odd star from the Grand Canal rant that offers four cuisines under one roof. Theatre trying to escape the limelight! Manager Raj Kumar and head chef Amal Lively but relaxing would best describe Gomes bring a wealth of experience to this its appeal. The food is hearty as is the welmulti-cuisine format. Carvery Lunch €8.50 come. Get free refills and toast with breakAt €8.50 the carvery lunch is excellent Three Course Dinner for fast and if you’re really hungry, try owner value. As well as all the traditional favourTwo plus bottle of Joanne Moran’s Classic Club Sandwich for ites, there is also fish of the day or curry wine €50.00 €6.00. Go on, take the challenge, you know for the same price. Signature dishes include thyme grilled lamb cutlets and tandoori you want to! chicken sizzler for €13.95. Special offers Healthy options are also available with include a three-course dinner for two and an array of salads and filled rolls. For inforbottle of house wine for €50 and a twomation about offers and promotions go to Joanne’s ‘The Bridge Cafe’ on Facebook. course early bird between 4pm and 7pm for €14.95. Food Game on South Lotts Road is different but equally appealWith a menu to suit all tastes, you really should give it a try. After ing. Proprietor Ross Staunton lived in Australia for three years and dinner you need only walk a few paces to Clarke’s pub, a friendly returned to set up this boho cafe and shop. With its relaxed infor- local favourite. Happy eating!! mality, this place aims to make you feel ‘at home’. Growing num-

By Rupert Heather

Bridge Cafe

Food Game

Fusion Bistro

PAGE 3

John Carpenter Mural Competition In the last edition of NewsFour we offered you the

chance to win a mural worth €200 from Dublin 4 resident

John Carpenter (www.dublin-

murals.com). All you had to

do was complete a tie-breaker in 50 words or less. Congratulations

An-

nie Losty Byrne of Hanover

Street East, D 2 for her winning entry:

‘NewsFour is important

to our community because

it keeps you informed about what is going on in Dublin 4;

it serves as a notice board and repository for local events,

shops, history and folklore and thus is of great service to our community.’

Annie has kindly donated

her prize to Ringsend Playgroup and Creche.

PAGE 4

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

Bookworm REVIEWED

BACK FROM THE BRINK by Paul Mc Grath Few sportsmen have had to contend with the struggles that Paul Mc Grath had from an early age. Born out of marriage in Ealing, London, to an Irish mother and Nigerian father, he was put up for adoption when only four weeks old in 1960. His mother eventually tracked him down in one of the many orphanages he was raised in and a delighted young Paul thought his troubles were over; his mother had come to bring him home. In a heartbreaking scene from this astonishing book, she takes young Paul out of the orphanage to meet his new sister– a sign to Paul that his life was to change– only to return him later that day, where he bid

JOE MCKENNA

a tearful farewell to his only family. The strength and character that it took for him to go on and become one of the best central defenders the world has ever seen is almost jaw dropping. Plagued throughout his life by feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem, he turned to drink for solace. Unknown to him, he had an addictive personality that would lead him on the road to ruin. His addiction to drink and later drugs would tear apart his relationship with his wife and children. A harrowing tale from the book details how he once drank a pint of bleach in front of his children as his drinking reached unprecedented new levels. The fact that he managed to sustain a successful

football career throughout all this is a testament to the human spirit. He was a rock in the heart of the Irish team that went to the quarter finals of the World Cup in 1990 and won many plaudits and awards for his time at Manchester United and Aston Villa. When standing in the line-up to face Italy at the 1994 World Cup, he admits that all he could think was, “I don’t belong here, I’m not good enough.” In that game, he conducted a master class in central defending and silenced the great Roberto Baggio for the entire game. This is a book that can’t be put down, a book about one man’s struggle with his demons and the strength he found to keep going. It illustrates the true meaning of the word legend.

• Primary Schools • Secondary Schools • Creches • Summer Camps • Art Classes

Pl e as e v i s it our shop a n d f i n d u s on Facebook S u p po rt yo u r local business C h e c k i n store for our ‘ F i v e r F r i day ’ specials E v e ryo n e welcome Beach Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4 Telephone: 01 6605150 * Online: www.starschool.ie

A tonic for these times Holed up in the Lansdowne Bar on Bath Avenue on a Monday afternoon for one of its popular trad sessions, it’s easy to forget the world outside as you sit back, relax and enjoy this unique Dublin experience. If you enjoy a rousing ballad, some excellent musicianship and a pint, this is the place for you. Owner Thomas O’Donoghue points out that regulars save their “few bob” over the weekend to come in on a Monday and “get away from it all.” He says, “None of us have money but in here you can forget about that. Everyone is welcome.” An uncomplicated and comfortable bar, with some impressive sporting artefacts on display, the Lansdowne is a “no hassle” environment, perfect for the enjoyment of music, banter and good company. Liam Cullen on guitar and Martin Walsh on mandolin are the main singers, supported by Jason McDonnell on acoustic bass and Martin Lawlor on the bodhrán. Before long, they have given us ‘Step it out Mary’, ‘The Old Man’, ‘Dirty Old Town’, ‘The Irish Rover’ and ‘Galway Bay’, all sung with gusto. The audience join in with impressive zeal and ability and sometimes a solo effort is met with a “shhh” when chatting becomes too loud or song too poignant. Music continues with ‘The Fields of Athenry’, ‘Spancill Hill’ and an excellent version of ‘The Ballad of John Williams’ sung by Martin Walsh, before the spoons are produced! Between songs a cry of “stop hanging your coats on the ﬂoor” ﬂoats across the room and causes amusement. An impromptu version of “happy haircut to you” starts at the bar. Martin Lawlor says, “It’s an open session, anyone can join in, it’s about the people and the atmosphere.” The best moments are when everyone joins in the choruses. Even those scampering home from work smile as they pass the pub doorway. It seems that everyone has a song and is happy to sing it after a little playful pleading. Sessions run from around 3.00pm to 5.00pm on a Monday and start at 9.30pm on a Thursday. It’s great fun and well worth a visit. Go to http://www.dublinsessions.ie/lansdowne.html By Rupert Heather

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

TRACING

PAGE 5

YOUR FAMILY HISTORY P ART 4

By Dave Fleming

ast month, I explained how much of the Census data collected in Ireland before 1901 was lost through burning during the Civil War. The result is that, apart from a few fragments, little of worth remains for us to search. Genealogists working on UK or US families know the usefulness of being able to trace a family’s movements through the decades. Unfortunately, we Irish oriented researchers have to resort to alternative resources. COLLECTING TAXES Many population counts had been carried out randomly by the state or the churches in order to evaluate how much tax (or tithe) each householder should pay for upkeep and administration. These are referred to as Census substitutes. The Tithes Applotment Books (TAB), the result of the early 19th century (1823 and 1837)

national survey, are probably the earliest useful reference and most of the survey is available on microﬁlm in the National Archives, Bishop’s St, Dublin 8 and the Dublin City Library, Pearse St. Dublin 2. They surveyed agricultural holdings over one acre giving the name of the occupier, the amount of acreage held and the tax payable. It was carried out on a parish basis and some of the pages are missing, others illegible so the going can be tough but this might give the earliest reference to your family, if you know the

parish and townland. In 1847, Richard Griffith, the director of the Valuation Office in Dublin, set about a valuation of every landholding in the country. He published his final survey in 1864 and the results are available in every major library and on-line at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ index.xml. This survey is the best 19th century resource for tracing evidence of habitation. Again, it gives only the head of household and value and type of land holding, but it is the considerably more comprehensive survey. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS The key to successful searching of Griffith’s Valuation (GV), as it is known, is to know the townland where your ancestors lived. As described in my last article, Tracing Your Family History– Part 3 http://www.news4. ie/june11/index.htm, I briefly outlined the administrative structure of Irish Counties for census purposes. For GV searching, the

country is divided into: Province– 4 in total Counties– 32 in total Baronies– 331 in total, which can overspill county boundaries Poor Law Unions (PLUs)– 163 in total, subdivided into 829 registration districts and 3,751 district electoral divisions (DEDs), administered health, welfare, workhouses and registration of births, marriages and deaths (BMDs) and voting. Civil Parishes– around 2,500, which do not match Catholic parish boundaries. Townlands– around 64,000, sometimes several of them in one county with the same name, so knowing your PLU can be vital. One site, IreAtlas Townland search page http://www.seanruad.com/ is a great help to locate a speciﬁc townland or to see the choices within a speciﬁc county. If you become more involved, Brian Mitchell has produced the very useful ‘A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland, Second Edition’, Genealogical Publishing Co www.amazon.co.uk in which each county has separate maps for baronies, civil parishes, dioceses, poor law unions, and probate districts and links these with major record sources of Ireland.

Policing Forum for Dublin 4 The South East Area now has a policing forum, which will meet every six to eight weeks. It is proposed to hold a public meeting in September. Its aims are to provide a means through which the community and the gardaí can communicate and identify areas of concern. The forum is made up of Inspector Brian Woods from Irishtown Garda station; community representatives Sharon Perry, Mary Doolin and Lorraine Barry; Dublin City Council’s Sean Barry; local drugs task force’s Teresa Weafer and elected councillor Gerry Ashe. Issues such as policing, antisocial activities and estate management are discussed. The forum will consider how to manage tensions and divisions within communities, particularly in relation to alcohol-related problems and drug dealing. Any readers who wish to identify issues they think should be addressed can contact any of the above named representatives. By Sandy Hazel

CLINICS

St. Andrew’s Resource Centre, 114 Pearse St., Dublin 2 Ringsend Community Centre, Thorncastle St., Ringsend

New Thursday Clinics coming soon

C LLR P ADDY

M C C ARTAN

12 Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4 Tel: 01 6609202 Email: cllrpatmccartan@gmail.com

L UCINDA

C REIGHTON TD MINISTER FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 Tel: 01 6194561 Email: lucinda.creighton@taoiseach.ie Web: www.lucindacreighton.ie

C LLR . K IERAN

B INCHY

91, The Windmill, Lime St, Dublin 2 Tel: 087 1774365 Email: Kieran.Binchy@dublincity.ie

PAGE 6

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

P REPARING

with a slight fragrance. Prepare the ground well before planting. This has been a good year for the beautiful clematis. You can grow them against walls, over fences, through shrubs, up trees and most are easy to grow. I recommend the vigorous evergreen clematis armandii, beautifully scented, white flowering in early spring. Another good variety is clematis montana (left), available with white flowers and pink flowers. Another beauty is Vyvyan Pennell, double flowered early summer (below). There is no pruning necessary on any of these varieties. If overgrown, prune after flowering. Remember your garden can be as big as a meadow or as small as a window box. Size doesn’t matter. With a bit of care and attention, you can create a beautiful space.

FOR THE SEASONS

By James OʼDoherty

idsummer, and we are surrounded by colour. At this time of year a huge number of flowering plants are looking their best and of course all gardeners want to keep them this way for as long as possible. So, to prolong these displays you must deadhead on a regular basis, continue to water and feed, particularly plants in hanging baskets and containers. Use high potash fertilizer such as tomato feed. To keep up with the changing seasons, plan ahead. If you have a spare patch of ground, sow some hardy annual seeds directly into the soil. They will withstand cold and frost during the winter and you will have an early display of these lovely flowers, particularly the pot marigold (calendula), the Californian poppy, and the blue cornflower. It is also a good time

to sow grass seed. Prepare the ground well. Herbs deserve a place in every garden. You can grow them in window boxes, hanging baskets and, of course, open ground. The basic selection to start growing is rosemary, mint, thyme and basil. It will soon be time to turn your attention to the planting of the spring bulbs. Daffodils will soon be on sale in the shops and if you can, plant these as soon as possible. They will make great growth under the soil before winter sets in. Tulips should not be planted until late October and November. It is also a good time to plant winter and spring cauliﬂowers and winter cabbage. Sow some seed of spring cabbage and also spring onions. You can sow seed of lettuce and spinach. Two lovely ﬂowering and evergreen shrubs are viburnum tinus and the lovely Mexican orange plant. There is also a golden variety available. You can grow

these in any garden trouble-free for all-year-round interest. A tree ideal for the very small garden is the beautiful Japanese

Gwen Pomeroy Lic. ISH Homeopath Mobile: 087 2154929 Email: gwenpomeroy@gmail.com

Fully Qualified & Insured Homeopathic Practitioner

Cherry or Cherry Amanogawa. It is upright and needs little space. It is decked with lovely semi double pale pink ﬂowers

The beneﬁts of Homeopathy

was ﬁrst introduced to Homeopathy while living in Australia. I suffered with recurrent sinus infections and became fed up with constant visits to the doctor and an antibiotic each time; I thought to myself “there has to be another way to treat these infections.” A friend mentioned she was attending a Homeopath and had experienced great results, so I thought I’d give it a try. That was 2004 and I haven’t had a recurrence of the sinus infection since. I moved home to Dublin that year and after the birth of my second child decided I wanted to learn more about Homeopathy; I enrolled and graduated from the four-year Professional Training Course at The Irish School of Homeopathy in Dublin. Completing the course with three young children was challenging at times, however my passion for Homeopathy remained. Seeing my own children’s response to being treated homoeopathically for minor ailments such as coughs, colds, teething and colic kept me focussed and I knew this was the profession for me. Homeopathy is a system of medicine that is gentle, safe and permanent; the prescribed remedy stimulates the body to heal itself. As a Homeopath I focus on treating the whole person and not just a particular complaint; as a result many people experience a general improvement in their health and energy levels as well as relief from their presenting complaint, and of course a professionally prescribed remedy can be used safely in conjunction with medications from other sources. My patients range from young children to adults, including pregnant women– homeopathy is especially useful at this time when other types of medication may not be permitted. I have treated a range of complaints such as eczema, psoriasis, unexplained infertility, IBS, allergies, anxieties and depression. Gwen Pomeroy

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

F OOD

FEUD IN

By Sandy Hazel

rucified with rates and regulations, traders in Dublin 4 feel they are losing valuable custom in lunch hour ‘cherry picking’ according to the Ballsbridge Village Association. Food markets on the Grand Canal, seen by some as trading without the same regulations that apply to established businesses, are causing concern among ‘anchor’ restaurants in the area. “Does Dublin City Council have a moral duty to traders in

D UBLIN 4?

relation to the impact of food markets on local businesses?” Cllr Dermot Lacey asked at a recent Dublin City Council meeting. “Consideration is needed when allowing these markets to spring up,” said Lacey. “We appreciate that food markets add flavour to an area and we don’t object to anyone’s right to trade,” says Paddy Byrne of the Ballsbridge Village group, “but we do want a level playing field.” Byrne points to health, safety and fire regulations, particularly around food production. “Some markets are not oper-

ating according to the same rules,” says Byrne. He also says that restaurants and cafes in the Ballsbridge area pay huge rent, commercial rates, bin charges, water rates and grease trap licence fees. “These charges are crucifying business and to see other casual traders cherry pick customers during the busy hours is hard,” says Byrne. One restaurant in Dublin 4 employs 100 people and Byrne says that “huge payrolls along with strict regulatory regimes are creating an unfair cost base.” The rates and other charges

PAGE 7 are paid directly into DCC coffers and Byrne feels that the council, which depends on commercial income, needs to be more supportive to businesses in the area or they will close. Des Vallely of Irish Village Markets, which runs the lunchtime markets, disagrees. “Many people had worked in catering, were made unemployed and now work at the markets providing income for themselves rather than cost the State in welfare,” says Vallely. Irish Village Markets pays VAT and a rate on its rent to the landowner, says Vallely. This, however, is not the same as rates paid directly to DCC, according to Byrne. “All of our traders are registered with the environmental health officer as food businesses, receive regular inspections and have taken part in HACCP training,” adds Vallely. Stalls using gas are certified and have their equipment checked on a regular basis, and those using electricity are required to have all their equipment PAT tested every three months, according to Vallely. “We have Health and Safety documents for our markets, copies of which are in the hands of respective county councils, fire chiefs and insurance companies,” he says.

SLIMMING WORLD EXPERT WINS SILVER AWARD

Times: 5.30pm 7.30pm Helping people achieve their dreams, especially when it comes to losing weight is no mean achievement. In the last three months Pamela Malone, centre, has helped members lose more than 1400 lbs (100 Stone), making Irishtown/Ringsend one of the best weight losing areas in the country. Well done Pamela and well done to the slimmers of Irishtown and Ringsend, who meet every week in Clanna Gael, GAA Club.

“We are sensitive to surrounding businesses,” says Vallely. “We invite them to join us so they can promote their businesses while trading.” DCC, in its response to Cllr Lacey, said that Revenue is also provided with lists of stall holders at markets to ensure compliance. Paddy Byrne of the Ballsbridge group calls on DCC to look at the rates and charges being laid at the doors of existing businesses and to “view us as customers who provide Dublin with revenue 365 days a year and not just on sunny Thursdays.” Dublin City Council has said that the canal banks are the jurisdiction of Waterways Ireland. Cllr Paddy McCartan asked the city manager if he would liaise with Waterways Ireland to clarify the regulations on casual trading on the canal banks. There was “frustration” by councillors at the lack of engagement by Waterways Ireland on what is described as a “swathe of land running through our electoral area”. Cllr Dermot Lacey suggested that, as Waterways Ireland is an all-island body, assistance might be sought from the relevant minister in Stormont instead.

PAGE 8

Marian Cricket Club is flourishing

arian Cricket Club was established in April 2010 to bring past pupils of Marian College Secondary School and cricket enthusiasts together. Marian College is located in Ballsbridge next to the new Aviva Stadium (where, according to Ger Siggins, cricket was played back in the day). More well known for its basketball and water polo, Marian nevertheless has a strong association with cricket. Two of the school’s most famous past pupils are Niall and Kevin O’Brien, who starred in the 2011 World Cup. Another who played on the international stage was Railway Union’s Roger Whelan. Others include Brian O’Rourke, who having won Sportsman of the Year in 1988 went on to become a very successful club player with Pembroke CC. More recently, Paul O’Connor represented Leinster at underage level while Merrion’s R.R. Murali is currently a member of the Leinster U17 training squad. Well known cricket writers Emmet Riordan and Ger Siggins are also past pupils of the school. Marian College currently plays in the ‘Alf O’Connell’ Leinster schools league (Senior B) and is managed and coached by staff member Hugh O’Byrne and Railway Union’s Kenny Carroll respectively. Many of the Marian pupils were ﬁrst introduced to cricket at local primary school at Star of the Sea. Many of the Marian team developed an interest in the game following Ireland’s successful exploits in recent years and banded together to play informally at Séan Moore Park or the ‘Séan Moore Oval’ as it has become known. More recently, they have been using Pembroke Cricket Club as a training and match venue. The team consists primarily of past pupils but all new members are welcome. The club hopes to arrange taverners games this season and would welcome any invitation to play. Please contact John Ryan on 086 1622543 if your club would be interested in arranging a ﬁxture. By Brian O’Rourke

Over 50? Get Googling! ARE YOU OVER 50? Do you want to learn about the Internet? Google is offering FREE INTERNET CLASSES for the over-50 population of the Ringsend/ Irishtown area. Please call freephone 1 800 806570 for details or email SocialAction Dublin@google.com We welcome people of all abilities and provide 1-1 tuition.

Blackberry mystery Following queries from NewsFour the Parks Department of Dublin City Council have told us that it “did cut back and tidy up a blackberry bush on Pigeon House Road, Ringsend, Dublin 4 but that no spraying was done on theses bushes.”

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

P ASSION

By Sandy Hazel

ell before it was fashionable to be old-fashioned Anna Maria Dabiri began a love affair with old clothes. It became her career. “I was a bit of an oddbod; I wanted to look unique and I also had very little money, so buying clothes at markets was my style when I was younger,” explains Anna Maria. Mixing her 1940s and 1950s bargains with newer styles, Anna Maria found markets like the Daisy at Halston Street and the Iveagh at Francis Street, which had “mountains” of old clothes. “Dealers would get to know you and keep stuff for you; but you were in a pecking order for sure,” she says. “They are gone now but I think the Hill off Parnell Street may still be on the go,” she says. Anna Maria remembers buying clothes at the Hill. “I even bought a dealer’s pram to carry a haul home one day.” That (vintage) pram came in handy with the arrival of her ﬁrst daughter. Clothes auctions, trips to rag yards in England and good sources in America led to more vintage ﬁnds. Anna Maria developed a good eye for spotting couture: “the gem among the junk, well made garments that would stand the test of time.” She bought items at auction too, knowing already who would buy them from her. She built a

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

FOR FASHION

clothing business from the Dandelion Market making and selling her own designs for a while.

Anna Maria can find ʻthe gem among the junkʼ It grew into RETRO, which sources and imports distinctive forties and ﬁfties inspired gear (sprinkled with a bit of punk rock). “Vintage became popular not

because it’s older; it’s often better quality,” says Anna Maria, who loves the 40s and 50s styles best. She sources some of the most rock and roll outfits you will find in Dublin. Her RETRO collection now includes clothes made using vintage patterns. Anna Maria gets debs and celebs who look for something a little bit funky with a twist. The girls and girlettes who shop with Anna Maria “know what they like, they are very confident women,” she says. Fabrics these days are stretchier so more comfortable. “Women these days want more comfort than vintage offers; we are also built bigger than previous generations; better nourished and on the pill.” “Guys in Ireland are a bit of a problem, they are so conservative after the age of twenty five. This is when they want to look like daddy or else they get dressed by wives and girlfriends,” she says. Collectables in the future, in Anna Maria’s view, will be “kitsch, gay, camp, over the top 1980s. People like to look back and they choose the beautiful things from each decade, when the time is right.” RETRO sells vintage inspired punk and rockabilly at George’s Street Arcade in Dublin 2.

Pictured above at the Spellman Awards Ceremony in Clanna Gael is Chelsea Barry, winner of the schools poster competition with her winning poster.

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

C OLEMAN B ODHRÁN S CHOOL 2011

By Jason McDonnell

ome of you may remember an article I wrote last year about Martin Lawlor, the visually-impaired bodhrán player who came second in the World Bodhrán Championships and third in the All-Ireland Fleadh. Well, he had one of the best weeks of his life this summer when he went to Gurteen in South Sligo and attended the advanced bodhrán class in the

Coleman Bodhrán School. The Coleman Bodhrán School, was established in 2006 by Andrew Martin ‘Junior’ Davey who himself has won the AllIreland Championship on the bodhrán ﬁve times (1990, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1999) and is the bodhrán player with the most wins under his belt of all time at the All-Ireland. In 1995 he recorded an album ‘Skin and Bow’, and in 2005 he launched his ﬁrst solo-album ‘A Sound Skin’. He has also trained 32 All-Ire-

PAGE 9 land champions since becoming an instructor of the school. Other teachers in the school are Svend Kjeldsen from Denmark, who taught beginners and has an MA in Irish Traditional Music Performance (First Class Honours). He is also known for playing with ‘Riverdance– The Show.’ Teaching the Intermediate class was Sean O’Neill who won County, Ulster and AllIreland titles in all age groups and became a Senior All-Ireland Champion in 2006. The advanced class was hosted by Colm Phelan, one of Ireland’s leading young percussionists. He has a BA in Irish Music and Dance from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick. Another well-known player John Joe Kelly, from the band Flook, gave several workshops during the week. The course cost €200 for ﬁve days or €40 per day. At the end of the week the Coleman Bodhrán School funded three scholarships

for the following year, one in each of the three categories: Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced. After the awards presentation Martin went to a Gala dinner in the Crossbar. When the meals were cleared away the session started and Martin got to play with Junior Davey and John Joe Kelly, his two favourite players. There were over 70 students this year from all over the World and a lot more women are getting involved. Shane Butler the reigning u18s World and All Ireland Champion also attended the advanced course, along with Robert Falkner (another well known bodhrán maker and player). There is plenty of accommodation in the town and three really nice pubs that have sessions nearly every night.

NO ‘SNOW DAY’ FOR DETERMINED SLIMMER

n 6th January 2010, Lorna Harrison drove a distance which would normally take ﬁve minutes. This time it took over an hour, in the heavy snowfall, to join her local Slimming World Group. She was met by the Consultant at the door and was delighted to receive a warm and friendly greeting from everyone in the group. Following Slimming World’s eating plan was easy for Lorna as she could feed the rest of the family, enjoying unlimited amounts of special fried rice, steak and chips, and her favourite egg, chips and beans, not to mention beef, green pepper and blackbean sauce with boiled rice and chips, all cooked the Slimming World way, as well as a glass or two of Martini once the kids had gone to bed. “The freedom that Slimming World offers has

changed my life, I love all the free food and staying to group is essential to get me through my week on the right track.” Lorna was so uplifted by her experience within her group that she completed her training in January 2011 and opened up her ﬁrst group on 6th Jan 2011 in Ballyfermot, Dublin. Now with one successful group up and running, and loving what she does, Lorna is opening a new group in Crosscare, Holles Row Dublin 2 on Tuesday 13th Sept 2011. “I am so excited to be starting a new group, I am committed to seeing as many people as possible ﬁnd freedom and success in their lives. Becoming a Slimming World Consultant is a dream come true for me, to help others achieve their goals and move forward over an obstacle that has held so many of us back. Who would have thought in just one year I would have shed four stone and found a new career!” Lorna’s Group opens at St. Brigids Food Centre, Crosscare, Holles Row, Dublin 2 on Tuesday 13th Sept 2011 at 7.30pm. You can contact Lorna on 085 8070440 or email: slimmingworldlorna@gmail.com Above: Lorna today. Left: Lorna before joining Slimming World.

‘Calming’ Donnybrook Claire McManus from Open Architects and Julianne Kelly of Kevin Kelly Interiors have started a Donnybrook initiative to bring back the village atmosphere. Along with other business owners in the area, including Katie Tsouros from KT Contemporary Art and local restaurants, the group has already organised area clean-ups and exhibitions. “At the invitation of Councillor Jim O’Callaghan we have just had area managers Michael O’Neill and Frank Lambe from Dublin City Council on a walkabout with us to discuss trafﬁc calming, lighting and parking, for starters,” says McManus. “We know that having the N11 running through the area is a problem but DCC has said it will certainly look at changing the phasing of the trafﬁc and crossing lights initially.” The street lighting will also be targeted to make the village less motorway and more human. McManus makes the comparison with Ranelagh, which has made a success of retaining the village atmosphere even with a busy road dissecting the community. Joe Doyle Jnr of Donnybrook Fair, Pat Crimin of Kiely’s and Peter Hanley of the Event Group are all involved in the initiative but McManus wants to invite anyone who is interested to “please come along to the monthly meetings and get involved”. Contact her at claire@openarchitects.ie

New Group Slimming World Crosscare, Holles Row Dublin 2 Opening 13th Sept 2011 @ 7.30pm Contact Lorna @ 0858070440

PAGE 10

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

S TRANGE

Ghost Bikes Ghost Bikes are a sombre memorial for cyclists who were killed or hit on the street. A bicycle is painted all white and left locked near the crash site, often accompanied by a small plaque. They serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place and as quiet statements in support of cyclists’ right to safe travel. The ﬁrst ghost bikes were created in St. Louis, Missouri in 2003 and they have since appeared in over 150 locations throughout the world. www.dublincycling.ie/ghostbikes • www.ghostbikes.org Above: This ghost bike was at the Tritonville Road/ Bath Avenue junction in Irishtown.

Black Gold Knickers were set for twist recently when three ‘oil rigs’ appeared in Dublin Bay just off Sandymount Strand. As concerned residents started wondering who would save the day, Rossport Five style, they went away leaving us to wonder just what the structures were. While the three platforms were in fact drilling, they weren’t searching for ‘black gold’, rather something altogether less exciting and war-inviting. They were examining options for extending the Ringsend waste-water treatment plant, basically looking for new areas to release treated water into the bay. Working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week the platforms drilled boreholes (a narrow shaft ‘bored’ in the ground) at 20 locations across the bay. The platforms, the Aran 250, Excalibur and Pauline, were assisted by a series of smaller vessels including a catamaran, a tug and a rib boat used for coastal tours during the tourist season. So the Dublin coastline needn’t worry about turning up in The Axis of Evil anytime soon. By Caomhan Keane

BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS PROPERTY MAINTENANCE • PROJECT MANAGEMENT Ardco Construction Limited is a full services construction company based in Donnybrook, Dublin 4 We are fully insured, C2 registered and all tradesmen are fully qualiﬁed If you are thinking of extending or renovating your property please contact us for a free consultation Phone: 086 1727144 Email: info@ardcoconstruction.ie • Web: www.ardcoconstruction.ie

By George Humphries

he recent television programme by Charlie Bird about the famous expedition to the South Pole led by Sir Ernest Shackleton from Kildare was a fascinating adventure story. “We were twenty-eight men facing winter on a bleak, barren beach on Elephant Island… there was a possibility of a fatal shortage of food… there was no hope of rescue… plainly the thing to do was to take a boat to the nearest inhabited point,” said Shackleton. In order to seek help Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley captain

By Joe McKenna

BUT TRUE

of the wrecked Endurance, second ofﬁcer Tom Crean from Kerry, seaman Tim McCarthy from Cork and two other seamen sailed 800 miles in the James Caird, a 20-foot open boat to bring help from the whaling station at Grytviken in south Georgia. They survived the horrendous boat journey and organized the rescue– not a life was lost. All of them were heroes. The little boat James Caird was also the name of a master mariner who was captain in several Irish ships I served on. This man later became Commodore of the ﬂeet. He was a brother of the most Rev. Donald Caird, a former Church of

T HIS

Ireland Archbishop of Dublin. I used to meet Rev. Donald Caird from time to time and we would always have a good chat. He was a pleasant, soft-spoken gentleman. The last time I met him he sadly informed me of his brother’s passing and that his ashes were scattered down at the Shelly Banks at Pigeon House in Ringsend. The last time I spoke with Captain Caird was well over twenty years ago at the removal of a fellow master mariner Captain Denis Vallancie, who lived on Tritonville Road. May they both rest in peace. Above: The ‘James Caird’ with members of the Shackleton expedition.

OL ’ HOUSE

ublin house prices landed with a thump after the implosion of the false, over-hyped property bubble our wayward banking system fed to the Celtic Tiger. Recently at auction a Park Avenue home in Sandymount sold for €1.7 million. The Victorian-style semi with a south-facing garden was 63% down on when the property market was at its peak. Back then, similar properties were selling for around €4.5 million. Former Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald’s home on Eglinton Avenue (above) sold for €1.3 million recently and it would seem that with the economy so incredibly tied to the overpricing of houses during the property boom, the average modern home owner is in for the long haul that will hopefully see a rise in value that could ease the stress. As we now know, the ludicrous sums of money shelled out for houses during the boom were a result of

bad lending advice and unregulated banking practice that resulted in the regular home owners struggling to pay their mortgages. The term ‘handing back the keys’ has become something most dinner parties have peppered into conversation and a route away from the iron cross of debt that hangs so heavily around the neck of many homeowners. NAMA have tried to distort the ﬁgures in an attempt to stem the panic, which so quickly settled in the initial period of shock that followed the collapse of the property

market. I think we can all see now that NAMA was and is the big cupboard under the stairs where all the bad secrets go. A place where wealthy debts can go to die. It’s hard to find many people who have not been affected by the crash of the housing market. But it’s far harder to find anyone willing to take responsibility for the losses many have incurred as a result of poor financial decision-making. With prices dropping so vastly, it would seem that the key to the banks’ lending war chest has been thrown away.

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

PAGE 11

G LASTONBURY 2013, D AY 1: T HE G REAT R ETHINKING

By Glenda Cimino

here has certainly been more than enough talk around 2012 as the ‘end of the world’, the Mayan and other prophecies, with doom and gloom forecasts, natural and man-made catastrophes which have already begun, and disaster movies galore. But other people see this date as an opportunity for transformation of human consciousness to a higher level. I was lucky enough to get to attend a very positive gathering, a conference in the magical town of Glastonbury, Somerset, which brought together for three days researchers, visionaries, and various indigenous perspectives. 2013: Day 1: The Great Rethinking Glastonbury combined lectures, workshops, and a sacred site pilgrimage afterwards with like-minded individuals ‘to help us navigate this critical time we are in and imagine the world we want to see manifest.’ For anyone following this work, as I do, the conference presented a star-studded line-up, including doctor and mystic Christine Page, writer Daniel Pinchbeck, ‘angels expert’ Diana Cooper, crop circles specialist Freddy Silva, painstaking researcher of 2012 since 1982, Geoff Stray, explorer Graham Hancock, from the Native American wisdom keeper tradition, Kiesha Crowther, also called Little Grandmother, and Satish Ku-

THINGS

LOOK

By Caomhan Keane

‘L

mar, winner of the Gandhi Award and editor of Resurgence magazine. Many of these remarkable people you can watch on Youtube, but meeting them in person was a wonderful experience. Daniel Pinchbeck is a New York writer for the likes of The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Wired, The Village Voice, LA Weekly, ArtForum, and many other publications. Critics acclaimed his ﬁrst book, Breaking Open the Head, as the most signiﬁcant contribution to psychedelic literature since the work of Terence McKenna. He has a website magazine, www. realitysandwich.com and has helped set up ‘Evolver’ groups around the world. Pinchbeck states that “an evergrowing segment of humanity is

ovely and fair… and the truth in her eyes ever dawning’, is what the song says the Rose Of Tralee possesses and that was what the judges saw in Siobhéal Nic Eochaidh when they chose her to be the 52nd Dublin Rose at City West on Saturday June 25th. With roots right here in D4 (her mother is from Sandymount), the full-time Irish and Media Studies student, who is about to start her ﬁnal year in Maynooth, will be one of the 32 International Roses hitting the town of Tralee from the 19th-23rd August 2011. Since Dublin is one of the largest selection centres for the contest, Siobhéal got to skip the

ROSY

FOR

regional ﬁnals in Portlaoise and will head straight to the International Contest. The eye candy and bag holder was also chosen that evening as Darragh McGrath was selected as the 2011 Dublin Escort of Year. “I was genuinely in complete shock! I remember looking around at all the other girls and they were all looking straight at me! I just couldn’t register that my name had been called. But apart from the shock I was thrilled and absolutely delighted,” said Siobhéal. “I never had the intention of being a Rose. My only intention was to meet a few new friends, help my selfconﬁdence. Before this I would never have been able to walk into a room and talk to anyone there. I used to have real bad social anxiety. I was really shy. I never

becoming conscious of the culture of domination that has degraded the biosphere, annihilated local cultures, and locked us in a prison of constricted awareness. As more and more of us realize this, we will unify our intention to undertake the difﬁcult work of superseding it.” This culture is based on a lack of balance between masculine and feminine energies, lack of respect for the earth as a living being, patriarchy, hierarchy, lack of empathy, a warbased economy, energy addiction and waste, and wholesale destruction of earth’s real treasures of clean water and air and community, for the sake of corporate proﬁt and greed. Another speaker, Graham Hancock, author of many books, including Fingerprints of the Gods, is a researcher of ancient mysteries, myths

and astronomical/ astrological data from the past. I travelled to Egypt in 2008 with a group he co-led with Robert Bauval, but that is another story. He is at the forefront in alternative theories on history, the origins of civilization, technology, and consciousness. (You can see a video of Graham’s presentation at 2012 Tipping Point: The Prophets Conference Cancun, on www.youtube.com/

watch?v=X4k8pdJ2so4). Recognizing that many recent discoveries are actually rediscoveries of lost knowledge from past civilizations, Hancock seeks to understand where, within the bigger picture of human knowledge, our present time ﬁts into the cycle of human existence. If you want to attend one of these amazing conferences yourself, check out www.greatmystery.org.

plan of attack. (We kid, ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’ it ain’t!) I asked Siobhéal what kind of preparations she has ahead of her before Tralee. All the bills add up, so ﬁrst up she has to arrange

sponsorship. “I worked part-time in an off-licence called O’Briens Wines and they sponsored me, which was great. At the moment, I am getting ﬁtted for a dress by a woman called Ann Gregory in Newtown Mount Kennedy, who is doing a lot of outﬁts for me. I’ve also been donated two dresses from the Just In Boutique in Clondalkin, where I am from. I want to promote people from here as well.” She is incredibly proud of her Clondalkin roots and hopes to use whatever fame the Rose gives her to promote local charities. “I’d like to help out with charities based around where I am from, because Clondalkin doesn’t get an awful lot of good press and anyone who lives in Dublin knows that. 98% of people here just work so hard. They are so genuine and so sound and I would really like to help them feel better about themselves.”

SIOBHÉAL thought for a second that I would end up winning. I still feel mad saying it to you, even now.” On the day of the event the girls were all interviewed individually, and as a group by the judges (themselves former Roses, escorts and committee members). That was followed by an evening event in front of 800 friends and family, similar to the actual ﬁnal we all grew up watching. There were interviews, a non-compulsory talent contest and the peacocking that each girl gets to do, showing off her dress. There have been three heats leading up to the Dublin Final and the committee have been meeting weekly since November with up to three or four girls as well as hosting regular events so the girls can get to know each other’s weaknesses and make a

PAGE 12

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

The Letterbox

lovely lady Winfred Smith who contacted you on my behalf, it was very kind of her. I would like to give a special thanks to Mr. Brian Ellis from Dun Laoghaire who has been so kind and gone out of his way to help me. Kind regards Florence (pictured right: Albert Briggs)

Childhood Asthma and Allergies Today’s fast-food lifestyle is well-known to contribute to the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity. Now, in the largest international study of its kind, ISAAC (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) has proven the association between diet, asthma and allergies. Assessing the impact of dietary factors in 50,000 children across 20 countries over 10 years, it was found that children suffer higher risk, severity and longevity of asthma when consuming fast-food and lower incidence when adhering to a Mediterranean diet (high in fresh fruits, vegetables and fish)– good ol’ Mediterraneans have it sussed! Inflammation is thought to play a major role in this correlation. After a couple of fatty Macker’s burgers and greasy hash browns, airway inflammation is significantly increased (even in non-asthmatic children) causing wheezing and various allergies. Asthma is not just genetics now. We need to acknowledge geneenvironment factors and accept what we and our environment are subjecting our bodies to on a daily basis is very relevant. Asthmatics also typically suffer from multiple allergies to foods, environmental sources and other substances. It is important to properly identify these allergens with a qualified practitioner for appropriate treatment. If you are an asthmatic or the parent of one, then you need to remember this mantra: Clean Air. Clean Water. Healthy Food. All together now! Clean Air. Clean Water. Healthy Food. Following these three principles will go a long way in giving you or your child’s lungs what they need to function optimally. Anti-inflammatories, antioxidants and anti-leukotriene foods (which specifically reduce asthmatic inflammation) are the way forward– brightly coloured fruit and vegetables (antioxidants), oily fish, seeds, especially linseeds (anti-inflammatory) and peppers, onions, garlic, lettuce, asparagus (anti-leukotrienes)– those Mediterraneans really know what they’re doing! So as you are preparing your healthy, clean lunchboxes for your kids as they go back to school this autumn, bear this in mind– they are the future! Nicky is a Naturopathic Nutritionist practising in Dublin. She writes, advises and speaks nationwide on all aspects of health, nutrition and wellbeing. Email: nicky_flood@hotmail. com m: +353 8634 11850

WE WANT IT BACK!! It has come to my attention that the proposed bridge over the River Dodder from Britain Quay to York Road and the U2 Tower is no longer on the agenda of the DDDA. It would now appear that the reconstruction of the Hailing Station (pictured above) is now a possibility, that is if myself and my fellow campaigners receive enough support to make this happen. Archer’s garage was reconstructed, so why not our beloved Hailing Station? The Hailing Station, Watch Tower and/ or Berthing Station, whichever one chose to call it, was very much a part of our history and it should never have been demolished, particularly as it was considered worthy of inclusion in Dublin’s list of protected structures. I have in my possession a copy of the original plans for the building in 1907 so there is no excuse for not being able to re-construct same. If anybody would like to partake in my efforts to insist that this building be re-constructed please

N EW

make contact. I would also like to help save the ‘Twin Towers’ and keep an eye on our other listed building; ‘The Bottle Hands Hall’ on Irishtown Road. George P. Kearns 22 Grifﬁth Parade, Finglas east, Dublin 11. Ph. 353-1-8345811 Email; georgemamie@eircom.net Dear Karen I am delighted to tell you that I had the most marvellous stroke of good fortune and have at last found the relatives I was searching for. Of course the aunt and cousins my father stayed with are no longer alive but I have been in contact with the daughter of my father’s cousin who is also named Florence. She lives in Dublin with her husband. She has sent some photos of the family and has said that she remembers her Aunts talking about Albert my father. I am thrilled to bits. Please would you thank the

Dear Editor, I live here in Dublin 4 and I’m currently preparing a book for The History Press on Ballsbridge Then and Now. I’m looking for old photos and old picture postcards of Ballsbridge and just wanted to ask your readers if they may have anything suitable that I could borrow. Any material will of course be returned promptly. Many thanks for your help and best regards, Hugh Oram Our thanks to George Joyce of Irishtown who sent in these names

for the Star of the Sea (Réalt na Mara) 1948 Geraldine Cup picture which is reprinted below. Left to right, back row to front row: M. Walsh, L. Feddison ? Kavanagh, C. Kiernan, L. Joyce, ? Whelan, E. Gilbert, A. Byrne T. Devlin, N. Brierly, H. Quinn, J. Dunne (Captain), M. Keegan, I. Ingle, G. Carroll G.Geoghan, G. Joyce

BOOKLET ON RIGHTS OF SELF - EMPLOYED

By Glenda Cimino

n these difficult times, Citizens Information Services around the country have seen an increase in the number of self-employed people coming to the service with questions about their entitlements. Many have never accessed social welfare before, but with major fall-offs in their business and income over recent years they are finding it difficult to make ends meet. The Citizens Information Board has published a new guide, ‘Supports and Information for the Self-Employed’,

which gives clear and straightforward answers to questions self-employed people have. Here are some of the key questions self-employed people raise which are dealt with in the booklet: Am I really self-employed? In some cases people who thought that they were self-employed were actually employees and therefore entitled to employee protections. The booklet outlines the questions to ask to clarify your employment status. You may be entitled to a Statutory Redundancy Payment if you more closely fit the criteria of an employee rather than a self-employed person, and you should have been classified as an employee. How is income from selfemployment assessed in the means test for Jobseeker’s Allowance?

The booklet covers the means test for Jobseeker’s Allowance in detail. This means test can be quite complex for self-employed people. The booklet covers how your income is assessed, what deductions you can make against profit and how your spouse or partner’s income is assessed. Do self-employed people have to close their businesses down to get social welfare payments? You do not need to de-register as self-employed to get a social welfare payment. You will get Jobseeker’s Allowance if your income is below a certain level. Your reduced income will be assessed as means. This means that you can continue to operate your business and work while you are getting Jobseeker’s Allowance provided you do not exceed the income limits.

The booklet also covers options for getting back to work or going back to education. There is a short section on dealing with debt for self-employed people and on accessing credit. ‘Supports and Information for the Self-Employed’ is available free of charge at your local Citizens Information Centre. Log on to citizensinformation. ie to find your local centre and to check out all your rights, entitlements and available services. The booklet is is also available by calling the Citizens Information Board on (01) 605 9000 or emailing info@ciboard.ie The booklet in full can be accessed online through www. citizensinformationboard.ie You can also call lo-call 1890 777 121 or +353 (0) 21 452 1600 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm).

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

PAGE 13

THE RISE OF THE SOCIAL DOCUMENTARY: ‘THE PIPE’ Does anyone care?

Local activist Derek Murphy speaks to Rupert Heather of NewsFour

By Glenda Cimino

or a long time, documentary films were thought of as somewhat boring staple television fare. However, in recent years there has been a revival of the feature documentary as a popular feature film genre. Feature docs have now reclaimed creative and cultural strands, telling true stories that other feature storytelling genres can’t truly explore satisfactorily. And whether they tell the whole or a partial truth, they have a ring of authenticity that no fictitious story or reworking of a story can match. According to Ardmore Studios, the Irish feature documentary community is currently enjoying a renaissance. “Honest, diverse, and pointed are just some of the words that might be used to describe this explosion of creativity. Documentary filmmakers force us to examine closely all aspects of our lives past, present and future… shining a light into aspects of our lives and cultures which enrich us all.”

I visited Guth Gafa, the International Documentary Film Festival in the unlikely locale of Gortahork, Donegal, and all the films were brilliant. Guth Gafa annually brings new documentaries and directors to meet, show their films and discuss them with the public. (www. guthgafa.com) One of the Irish filmmakers present was Risteard O Domhnaill, Director of ‘The Pipe’. As a cameraman in Rossport, Risteard saw the conflict between the local farmers and fishermen trying to protect their rights to their own land and fishing grounds, and big Shell Oil, protected by the Irish Gardai, imposing a dangerous gas pipe through the sea and over farmers’ lands to a huge refinery. It was a David and Goliath kind of conflict, with the Davids getting thrown in jail and the Shell Goliath trampling over their rights. Shell’s own security firm acts like a private army, and the media were not giving an unbiased account of what was happening. So he set out to make a film that would show the story from various points of view.

He didn’t know at the time it would take him four years, or that it would even be a full length feature, on “the most dramatic clash of cultures in modern Ireland.” Whatever the final outcome of the war between big energy’s needs and the needs of local people, this film is a must-see that will be an Irish classic. To get up to date information on the situation in Rossport, or find out how you can help, go to www. shelltosea.com. ‘The Pipe’ is now available to buy on DVD. It is for sale for €14.99 in Tesco’s, IFI, Laser, Lee Records Tralee and Mayo County Library, and online at http://thepipe.myshopify.com/ or www.thepipethefilm.com for more information. There is a discussion of ‘The Pipe’ on RTE’s ‘The View’. You can see it here http://www. rte.ie/player/#v=1086039 or here: http://dynamic.rte.ie/ av/228-2864052-512-288.smil Link: http://www.rte.ie/ player/#v=1086039. Above: From ‘The Pipe’ Pat ‘The Chief ’ O’Donnell, local fisherman.

hat really bothers me about the collapse of the Fitzwilliam Quay wall and deterioration of the plaza (around the Library) is the safety aspect. I worked in construction so it’s second nature to me to be concerned. Sometimes people need to be protected from themselves, particularly kids and the elderly. Take the collapsed wall for example. Is it going to cost a life before it’s resolved? The deterioration started two and half years ago and my efforts seem to be falling on deaf ears. I visited John Gormley and Kevin Humphreys and stood in a queue at their clinics on numerous occasions. The prime concern would be to make it safe, and that means rebuilding it now! Another issue that really concerns me is the current state of the plaza. Let’s face it: this unwanted gift has become an eyesore! It wouldn’t be so bad if it was maintained. The posts that were installed to show the names of famous books face the wrong way and are hazardous to view. It shows what little care went into the original work. The posts need to be cleaned up if they are going to be there at all. If there’s one book that should be represented, it’s ‘Strumpet City’ by local man James Plunkett! Lights that came with the plaza have not worked for years. Dangerous raised areas at the back are a trap. The area around the library is dirty and has not been cleaned, with grime and gum everywhere, broken brickwork, poor standards of safety rails and a poor standard of repairs by the council. If you consider that the post ofﬁce and deli are now closed, the area is becoming a bit of a wasteland, with buckled and misaligned posts and broken, loose cobbles. The unprofessional manner of the people and services in restoring it back to its original state angers me. Substantial damage to handrails which cost ‘an arm and a leg’ has been caused by delivery trucks around the Tesco area. Let’s start from the practicalities, as far as I see them. Make the best of it by maintaining it to the same standard of cleanliness and repair as anywhere else, Sandymount, for example. A lot of people go around with their eyes closed and there is no forum for discussing the issues because the residents and tenants associations are oblivious!

NOW OPEN FOR BREAKFAST SATURDAY 8.00AM – 1.00PM FULL IRISH • CONTINENTAL • TEA AND COFFEE

SIT OUT AND TAKE AWAY • BUTCHERS STYLE BREAKFAST HANGOVER PLATTERS • LOCAL DELIVERY

16 Gordon Street, Beside the Gasworks, Dublin 4

Tel: 01 6684514 • Mob: 087 9250309 • Order by email at: info@thegoodfoodkitchen.ie

PAGE 14

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

I’ve got the Fukushima Blues Even though it’s not in the news, I’ve got the Fukushima Blues. Strontium 90 on the grass, Iodine 131, cesium, plutonium– Cow’s milk is poisoned in your glass, But don’t tell– there’d be pandemonium! Three reactors in meltdown, Tepco now confess But where the radioactive water’s gone, Is anybody’s guess. Even though they say I have nothing to lose, I’ve got the Fukushima Blues. Radiation spikes sky high, People told to stay indoors, Animals abandoned to sicken and die, Workers sleeping on radioactive floors. Radiation in your taps should not alarm, They lie; for radiation will accumulate Over days and years; but this sure harm They do not want you to contemplate. Even though it is not in the news, I’ve got the Fukushima Blues. Have to evacuate another town Radioactive dust on the school playground Will people take this lying down? Maybe the living were better off drowned. The heat and power of the nuclear sun Burning down through layers of our earth Do they know what they have done? Officials argue and resign, for what it’s worth Even though they say I have nothing to lose, I’ve got the Fukushima Blues. Anonymous workers facing certain death Trying so hard the leaks to stem Tepco cannot pay for their last breath– Nothing but crackers and rice for them. ‘We’re sorry,’ they bow, ‘we made a mistake’ –Truth is, that Tepco was often warned– But ‘who would expect a 9.0 earthquake?’ They took no action, the advice was scorned. Even though it is not in the news, I’ve got the Fukushima Blues. Who needs to fear a terrorist When respected companies act like this? Covering it up and playing it down, It isn’t their children on that playground. There’s nothing to worry about, Forget it, you haven’t a care– Just don’t drink the water, eat the food, Or breathe the air. Even though they say I have nothing to lose, I’ve got the Fukushima Blues. Deadly radiation released into the Pacific Poisoning the fish humanity will need The amount? Can’t be specificMeasure it in units of human greed. Nuclear energy so safe, so cheap– But what is the cost not in their calculations As a poisoned world we all will reap, With more cancer, leukemia and genetic mutation. Even though it is not in the news, I’ve got the Fukushima Blues. Empty towns with deadened lights– No one could take the time to pack No need now for energy on dark nights– Get out while you can, and never look back. O babes of Chernobyl– what have we done? Generations damaged beyond repair. Is this also the fate of the land of the rising sun? O nuclear fools, learn how to see and care! Even though they say I have nothing to lose, I’ve got the Fukushima Blues. Four hundred and forty nuclear plants And some still want to build some more I’ve been accused of anti-nuclear rants– But is energy really worth dying for? We all live on only one planet Travelling around our sun– We’d better learn to take good care of it; Surely even nuclear execs can count to one. They say all will be well in this nuclear hell, and I’ve nothing to lose– but– I’m telling you– they’re giving our world the Fukushima Blues. By Glenda Cimino

GOOGLERS AT ROYAL HOSPITAL

Digital Content and Commerce team from Google Dublin working at Royal Hospital Donnybrook to serve the community.

By Sandy Hazel

he lovely gate lodge house at the Royal Hospital in Donnybrook has had a facelift and the Millennium garden is blooming thanks to Google’s Dublin crew. Google Serve is an initiative when Google staff worldwide give time towards community projects and NewsFour went down to take a peek. “We make best use of the time,” explains Jasmin Khan of Google’s Digital Content and Commerce team. “We planned the work with the occu-

pational therapists here. This garden is for those with mobility impairment so we wanted to make the plants and flowers in raised beds so they can feel the flowers; we wanted a sensory garden with scent and touch.” The Googlers were not afraid of rolling up the sleeves and managers were getting stuck in along with their teams. “Our managers in Google are very supportive and for every person that signs up to volunteer, Google donates some funding for the paint and plants,” says Khan. Google financed 75% of the cost of materials for the project. The balance was contributed by The Friends of The Royal Hospital Donnybrook. The Google Serve project is a

to Congratulations the Lester family who won our family pass to the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show, which was held from 3rd to 7th August 2011. Pictured ‘horsing around’ are Ben Lester and Georgia Lester.

Congratulations to the winners of our runner up prize of two general admission passes: Grace Rothwell-Kelly and her grandmother Bridie Rothwell pictured right ‘horsing around’.

chance for the Googlers to get away from the ofﬁce for a while. “Our workforce here in Dublin is from all over Europe. I am from Germany so it is good to give back to the community, the country that hosts me,” says Khan. The team of 23 Googlers working at Donnybrook represented 16 different nationalities. It is also a good opportunity for the IT crowd to learn new skills. “Some of the guys hadn’t painted before so those of us who had were able to show them a few techniques,” explains Andrew Rankin who brought the Googlers to the Donnybrook hospital. There is a social action group in Google and if projects are suggested to them then other community projects could beneﬁt too.

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

PETER MURPHY 1923 – 2011 By Joe McKenna

eteran radio and television broadcaster Peter Murphy passed away on June 3rd at the age of 88. Best known as the Question Master on RTÉ’s ‘Cross Country Quiz’ Peter Murphy was one of the most prominent voices of rural Ireland and presented the farming programme ‘Landmark’. He died suddenly on returning home to Sandymount from a holiday in Connemara. Peter Murphy was born 21st January 1923 in Huntington, Clonegal, County Carlow, the youngest of three children and only son of John and Julia Murphy. With his father working as Farm Manager at Huntington Castle, Peter developed a great love of the land and farming people. He graduated from Warrenstown Agricultural College, Co Meath. Throughout his 20s he helped form his local branch of Macra na Feirme (a voluntary rural youth organisation) and became Secretary of the Regional Executive, during which time he won several medals for public speaking and debating. He was appointed National Organiser of Macra na Feirme in 1953 and in 1955 played a prominent role in the formation of the National Farmers Association, now the Irish Farmers Association. His work within the Association brought him to every village and town in Ireland, where he came to be known as the ‘voice of rural Ireland’. His superb ability to communicate, along with his unique speaking voice found him in demand for sponsored radio programmes with companies such as Irish Farmers Journal, Nitrogen Éireann and Bank of Ireland. Throughout the 60s Peter began to develop a wide-ranging radio and television career with RTÉ, which would last into the 80s. His work in radio included

PAGE 15

A RTIST

IN PROFILE :

L UCIE P ACOVSKA

By Jason McDonnell

‘Country Call’, ‘Meet The People’ and ‘Around The Country’. His television break came when he presented the rural farming show ‘Landmark’. But it was his elevation to Question Master on joint RTÉ/BBC production ‘Cross Country Quiz’ that brought him into the living rooms of thousands of homes across Ireland. ‘Cross Country Quiz’ was broadcast for 12 years and ranked highly in the TAM ratings, frequently in third place behind the ‘Late Late Show’ and ‘The Riordans’. Between 1973 and 1988 Peter compiled a total of 14 quiz books based on the programme, all of which became bestsellers in the year of their publication. This made Peter Murphy a household name and one of Ireland’s most celebrated broadcasters. In 1983 he even met Pope John Paul II.

IFA president John Bryan described Peter as a “champion of rural Ireland and a superb communicator.” He said, “his enthusiasm was evident right to the end.” Mr. Murphy played “an important role in the setting up of the IFA and was very inﬂuential through his work on the ‘Landmark’ programme.” Although ofﬁcially retired in 1992, Peter continued to accept invites as a quizmaster all over the country for many years after and continued to compile crosswords for several newspapers, including the ‘Sunday Independent’. He is survived by his wife Bridie, to whom he was married for over forty years, and their four children John, Christina, Shirley, Peter and two grandchildren. Above: Peter on the cover of one of his quiz books.

News in Brief: Rubble dumping along Nature Park shoreline Cllr Paddy McCartan asked the city manager to investigate claims that rubble had been dumped along the shoreline walkway via Sean Moore Park to Irishtown Nature Park. The manager replied that during periods of high tide the area can ﬂood. To protect the path from erosion a rock barrier is created, whenever suitable material becomes available. In recent months concrete beams removed from the pergola in Herbert Park were used to reinforce this area and then covered with locally derived material. It is considered essential work. By Sandy Hazel

Lucie Pacovska was born in the Czech Republic in the beautiful city of Prague. After studying Art and Design there she decided to move to Ireland and see its art scene for herself and to experience living here. She got a lot of inspiration from living in Co. Kerry, where she spent some time in an ‘art village’ before moving to Dublin. Now in her new home town, Howth, she is very busy working on her own solo exhibition, which will take place in the Ballaban Art Gallery from 2nd to 13th August. In her paintings, Pacovska tries to capture the beauties that surround her everywhere. Most of her portraits look for the personal traits within a person. But instead of trying to catch the visible and characteristic features of a person like a cartoonist would, Lucie totally ignores these. Instead, she paints a person as their surroundings see them and, eventually, puts everything she feels into the eyes of the portrait. She feels the eyes contain the answers that you normally look for and that often cannot be expressed enough, and therefore she considers her paintings to be the answers to the questions we fear to ask the most. Below: ‘I watched you change’ (oil on canvas).

PAGE 16

THE ART OF

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

CRAFTING EXCELLENCE

SeeChange Karen Forrester is a Dublin 4 artist who recently participated in a group exhibition in The Complex, Smithﬁeld from 8-29 July 2011. The exhibition was a great success and was curated by PrettyvacanT. Karen also has photographs in St. Patrick’s Hospital’s permanent collection. By Jason McDonnell

News in Brief Trees It is proposed to fell 44 trees and prune 61 trees in the southeast area in 2011. The majority of the trees to be felled fall into the ‘dead, diseased or decaying’ category. In many cases the requests have come from local residents. A full list can be seen at www.dublincity.ie/recreationandculture/DublinCityParks/Pages/parks.aspx By Sandy Hazel

By Joe Mc Kenna

ow in its 43rd year, the RDS National Crafts Competition spreads a prize fund of €28,000 across twenty categories covering areas from ceramics and furniture to multimedia textiles. The RDS National Crafts Competition rewards excellence among Irish talent, helping promote the best that Ireland has to offer in the practice of crafts. The highest

awards on offer are the RDS Award of Excellence and the California Gold Medal. Each year, the winning and commended entries are showcased at the RDS National Crafts Competition and Student Art Awards Exhibition during the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show before touring venues in both the North and South of the country. The Student Art Awards has an annual prize fund of €16,000. It encompasses the RDS Taylor Art

Award, which since it was set up 150 years ago at the bequest of George Archibald Taylor, has helped past winners such as Louis le Brocquy, Eamon O’Kane and James Hanley and has helped nurture the arts in Ireland. It is signiﬁcant in the recognition of excellence and best practice in the work of students registered in full and part-time award bearing art courses. This year’s RDS Student Art Awards presentation took place on July 26th and the main RDS Taylor Art Award was won by Gabhann Dunne for his work ‘Cerelian Paradise’. The RDS Award of Excellence and the California Gold Medal went to Karl Harron, for his piece ‘Temple Artefact #0411’ (pictured). RDS Arts Development Executive Sarah Ross was kind enough to speak to NewsFour regarding the events. “The two competitions really give students and crafts people in Ireland a platform to display their work and get it out there in the public domain and get feedback from the public and the judges. As with nearly every event, this year has seen the recognition of some amazing emerging talent. It’s very important that we continue to encourage this type of creativity and nurture the practice of arts and crafts in Ireland.”

HEALTH CARE VERSUS WEALTH CARE

Ringsend and District Credit Union Ltd.

5 Irishtown Rd., Dublin 4 Phone: 6686676 • Fax: 6686288 Check out our Website: www.ringsendcu.ie

AT RINGSEND CREDIT UNION WE NOW OFFER Free Loan Protection Insurance Travel Insurance House Insurance All Business Transacted During Opening Hours OPENING HOURS Monday and Tuesday 9.30am-12.30pm • 2.00pm-4.30pm Wednesday 9.30am-12.30pm Thursday 9.30am-12.30pm • 2.00pm-4.30pm Friday 9.30am-12.30pm • 2.00pm-7.00pm

By Joe Mc Kenna

n May 16th 2011, I began to feel unwell. I was in my bathroom at home and started to feel a pain in my inner thigh.

I was conscious that this could be a recurrence of a problem I’d had nearly four years ago. I had contracted a ﬂesh/ skin infection called Cellulitis which, if not treated, can develop into a very serious health issue. I took some antibiotics, hoping for the best and went to bed. The next day I was in quite some pain, could hardly walk, get out of bed or remain awake. Without hesitation, my wife called our local hospital to ask what the waiting time was for A&E. The answer was eight hours, a rough and possibly an underestimate given the state the Irish health service has been allowed to fall into. The idea of sitting in a plastic chair for eight hours or more was not something I was looking forward to. So much so that I actually toyed with the idea of just pumping myself full of antibiotics and riding the infection out. I had no idea how

long it would take for me to get better, but then again neither did the local hospital. That’s the kind of logic the Irish health service has left sick people with. Do I take my chances in the waiting room, or do I ride this out and hope for the best with prescription medication?

Luckily, my mother had the ingenious idea that she come down from the North to Dublin and collect me and take me to the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) in Belfast, where I would be seen in less than eight hours. I still had a residential address in Belfast and was a former patient at RVH when I was younger, so it all made perfect sense. We arrived at the RVH at 6.30pm on May 17th 2011. My 32nd birthday as luck would have it! By 9.15pm I had been examined, had blood tests, had IV antibiotics administered and had been placed in a side ward in the newer part of

the hospital. That’s 2 hours and 45 minutes. By my calculations, had I gone to my local hospital in the South at 2pm when my wife called them, I would still be waiting to be seen. Tag onto that the basic two to three day wait for a bed and you’re looking at Friday 20th May before I would have been close to getting regular treatment. I was released from the RVH on Thursday 19th May. I was taken off IV and put on a course of oral antibiotics for 10 days. The great irony is that on the day I was taken to Belfast for treatment, the Irish Government were spending over €10 million to host the Queen of England. It’s neither here nor there if the Queen comes to Ireland, but at a time when the country is on its knees can we really justify this kind of lavish spending? That’s millions of euros that didn’t go into the decaying Irish health service. The people of this country can’t afford to get sick anymore and when they do they only have expensive, excruciating delays in the health care system to look forward to. It’s a royal shame!

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

H OW

PAGE 17

SAFE ARE PLASTICS ?

By Glenda Cimino

t has been a long time since the prophetic words in ‘The Graduate’ (1967) were uttered by Mr. Maguire to Benjamin, “I want to say one word to you–plastics– there’s a great future in plastics.” The development of plastics evolved from natural plastic materials like chewing gum and shellac, to chemically-modiﬁed natural materials such as rubber, to synthetic molecules like bakelite, epoxy, polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene. Plastics have been a miracle

product with countless uses, but now we are counting the costs. Plastics and plastic litter are everywhere. We drink our water and soft drinks from plastic bottles, and our food comes wrapped in plastic of various kinds. We reuse takeaway containers for our lunches and even microwave food in them. But are they really a good idea? Plastic manufacture creates large quantities of chemical pollutants which threaten the environment, and plastic is one of the most indestructible manufactured materials, some lasting 1,000 years. Since the 1950s, one billion tons of plastic have

been discarded. It staggers the mind that 500 billion plastic bags are manufactured annually. These get into water and choke ﬁsh and turtles, or migrate to expanding ocean garbage patches, as above, in the Paciﬁc Ocean. Burning plastic can release toxic fumes. Burning PVC (plastic polyvinyl chloride) creates cancer-causing dioxin. Also, the raw materials needed to make most plastics come from petroleum and natural gas, which are becoming scarcer and more expensive to use. Plastic containers and plastic wraps often contain a variety of toxic additives to make them pli-

able enough for use in food packaging, toys and teethers, tubing, shower curtains and other items. Traces of chemicals can leach out of plastic when it comes into contact with food. Some of these interfere with hormone functions and are suspected human carcinogens. The EU has banned the use of DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate), the most widely used plasticizer in PVC. The primary building block of polycarbonates, bisphenol A (BPA), is an estrogen-like endocrine disruptor that may leach into food from the lining of tin cans, dental sealants and polycarbonate bottles. In animal lab studies it has been shown to increase body weight of animal’s offspring, and even low-level exposure to BPA results in insulin resistance, which can lead to inﬂammation and heart disease. In 2010 the United States FDA (Food and Drug Administration) spent $30 million to investigate whether BPA is linked to cancer. Even when ﬁnished plastic is non-toxic, toxic chemicals used in its manufacture may remain in the product to escape later through heating. The European Union has a permanent ban on

the use of phthalates in toys. The WHO’s (World Health Organisation) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recognises the chemical used to make PVC, vinyl chloride, as a known human carcinogen. Some polymers decompose into toxic substances when heated. Almost all plastic products studied release chemicals with estrogenic activity. Some plastics are recycled and plastic broken down to liquid hydrocarbon can be converted as fuel. Others, like polystyrene, are not cost-effective to recycle and end up being incinerated or in landﬁlls. Some is used to produce electricity at waste-toenergy plants. One hopeful development is that in 2010, 16-year-old Daniel Burd won the Canadian Science Fair with his research on micro organisms that can rapidly biodegrade plastic. Daniel immersed ground plastic in a yeast solution that encourages microbial growth and then isolated the most productive organisms. He selected the most effective strains and interbred them, achieving a 43 percent degradation of plastic in six weeks, an amazing result.

Specialists in Residential Lettings, Sales and Property Management Did your house not sell at auction? Why not consider letting your property instead? O’Keeffe Estates have a waiting list of corporate clients looking for rental properties in the area

Houses and apartments urgently required for corporate lettings in the area

Investments and refurbishments Will source property to buy, renovate, let and manage

Fully licensed and bonded O’Keeffe Estates, 1st floor, 1 Seafort Avenue, Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland. Telephone: 01 260 8268 • Mobile: 087 299 7266 • e-mail: okeeffeestates@eircom.net • www.okeeffeestates.ie

PAGE 18

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

Film Scene

THE NAVY

Review by Nessa Jennings

By Jason McDonnell

Of Gods and men / Des hommes et des Dieux

A bell tolls calling the monks to prayer. The holy men are seen kneeling opposite one another on the hard floor of the chapel, chanting into the shared silence that envelopes their constant worship. The camera makes character studies of the hands that carry out simple tasks; cooking, gardening, arranging the altar, while showing the salt of their devotion etched upon the monks’ faces. It’s advent. But their quiet enclave of French Catholicism is being threatened by the violence of a divided Islam that surrounds them. Their monastery is in Algeria where armed terrorism is encroaching on their community. These monks offer prayer and medical assistance to locals. One of the monks is a medical doctor administering treatment with meagre supplies. What are they still doing there? Should they not return to France? The film concerns this crisis of confidence as to their purpose. Each one struggles with his individual choice. Surely they must act in communion, as one body. A careful study is made how of each monk responds to this dilemma. Slow moving, the movie is a long meditation for the viewer. The men speak in low voices about the moral reasoning of the circumstances.The subtitles read as simple statements on personal and religious philosophy where no word is wasted. The coming of the Messiah is invoked and inspires them. Can the spirit of Christmas save them in their position? This is a beautiful film, based on a true story, which won a prize at Cannes last year.

n 19th June I got to board L.E. Niamh at an open day in aid of the special baby care unit at St. Munchin’s Maternity Hospital in Limerick. The ship was docked beside the new Admiral Brown Walk across from the Admiral William Brown statue in Dublin’s Docklands. On board, I got to see the 76mm OTO Melara gun and two 12.7mm (0.5”) Heavy machine guns. I got some information from Ensign Michael McCarthy, who was giving tours on the day. L.E. Niamh got its name from Irish mythology, namely Niamh Chinn Oir, the daughter of Rí na nÓg. I also heard that the Irish Naval Service recently paid €98million for two new Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs). The Navy patrol ships will be coming into service by 2014 to 2015, replacing three of our naval vessels, which have exceed-

ed the 30 years age limit. This is considered to be close enough to the end of their useful lives. By the time the naval service takes delivery of the two new vessels all six ships will have reached 30 years. The three already at maximum age are the L.E. Emer, commissioned in 1978, L.E. Aoife in 1979 and L.E. Aisling in 1980. All the ships have carried out important work, particularly in monitoring ﬁshing activity and patrolling for drug smuggling, covering one of the largest maritime spaces in the European Union. This is an exciting job for people who are interested, as not all missions undertaken by the Naval Service are in Irish waters. On occasion longer missions are undertaken in support of Irish forces serving with the United Nations, representing Ireland, or in support of Irish trade missions. Back in 2002 L.E. Niamh delivered supplies to Irish troops in Eritrea, then it went on to a

S TELLA M ARIS

trade promotional tour to India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Korea and Japan, becoming the ﬁrst Irish naval vessel to cross the equator. In 2010, the L.E. Niamh also travelled to the Americas, visiting Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and the United States. In 2006 L.E. Eithne the helicopter patrol vessel travelled to Argentina, attending ceremonies connected with the 149th anniversary of the death of Irishborn Admiral William Brown, founder of the Argentine Navy, also visiting ports in Uruguay and Brazil. If you are interested in joining the Irish Navy you can contact The Manpower Ofﬁce, Naval Base, Haulbowline, Co.Cork. Or lo-Call:1890 262828 or Tel: 021 864731/2 or email: nsmanpower@eircom. net. More information may also be sought at www.military.ie Above: Ensign Michael Mc Carthy onboard the L.E. Niamh on 19th June.

BEGINS SEASON

By David Doyle

tella Maris won four out of the six races it entered. Unfortunately, the two unsuccessful attempts were by crews who had doubled up after doing their own race. We were successful in the u12, u14, intermediate and junior men, which made us the most successful club on the day. It was a great day for the club and we would like to thank every club who took part for making it a success. The season is only beginning and with crews away for the next two regattas it will be a case of getting by on limited resources. However, hopefully everyone will be back and ﬁt to ensure all the other regattas will be successful.

We are always looking for new members and anyone interested in rowing or just keeping ﬁt can contact me on 087 9043764. We have new crews this year and would love to have more. Our only current ladies crew is u12 and our two ladies from the mixed crew so we are especially in need of ladies. Finally we would like to thank

all our sponsors who keep us in existence and hopefully they can continue to do so for many years to come. Pictured at Stella Maris Regatta on Sunday 29th May: Winning under 12 crew were from right to Left: (Cox) Brenda Hannigan, Leah Weafer, Shannon Spain, Rebecca Fagan and Ciara Bowden.

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

R ESIDENTS By Jason McDonnell

llr. Maria Parodi was delighted to learn her campaign against the proposed changes to the 77A bus route was successful. In April, Cllr. Parodi organised a well-attended public consultation session for local residents living in Ringsend, Irishtown, Pearse Street and Sandymount about Dublin Bus proposals for those areas. At this meeting, residents made submissions and expressed their opposition to the proposed changes that would have severely downgraded the bus service with none of the 77A/ 77/ 50/ 56A bus routes operating from Ringsend Road. At the time, Cllr. Maria Parodi called on Dublin Bus to take the concerns of local residents into consideration and ensure that the 77A bus route would still operate from Ringsend

WAIT FOR

PAGE 19

D UBLIN B US

Road in order to facilitate the large number of residents who depend on this bus route. Due to Cllr. Parodi and the determination and perseverance of the local community, Dublin Bus have now listened to the concerns of residents, conﬁrming that Route 77A will continue to operate from Ringsend Road to Citywest (via Killinarden, The Square, Old Bawn, Tymon Park, Walkinstown, Crumlin, Cork Street, Dame Street, Pearse Street). Over the years, this bus route has become extremely valuable to the community, as many people who live in the Ringsend, Irishtown, Pearse Street and Sandymount areas use this service to get to work, school or into the city centre. Along with this, the 77A provides service to three main hospitals in Dublin: the Coombe, Crumlin Children’s Hospital and Tallaght Hospital. Parodi has also asked that Dublin Bus

ensure that any changes to the 2 and 3 routes will greatly improve the reliability and efﬁciency, with buses arriving at regular intervals and sticking to the timetables provided at bus stops. Cllr. Parodi stressed that the bus services provided to our community are vital and any changes that are made should beneﬁt the people living and working in the communities of Sandymount, Ringsend, Irishtown and Pearse Street. Cllr. Parodi also believes that Dublin Bus needs to clarify when off peak times will be in effect at bus stops on this route. Furthermore, she asked that Dublin Bus reassess the arrival and departure times of buses during off-peak hours so that buses would arrive more frequently than the proposed interval of 30 minutes. During the day, residents rely heavily upon the 2 and 3 bus routes. In particular, the older

people in our community use the bus service on a daily basis to carry out their business, such as getting their shopping, visiting the post ofﬁce or their doctor. In addition to this, St. Vincent’s Hospital is on this bus route and many people rely on the bus to attend medical appointments or visit relatives and friends.

With all the proposed changes being made by Dublin Bus, Cllr. Parodi believes the residents living in this area should have a guarantee that there will be improved reliability. One way she feels this can be achieved would be to ensure that Real-time Passenger Information signs are installed at key bus stops along the 2 and 3 bus route.

PAGE 20

RINGSEND

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

AND IRISHTOWN

COMMUNITY CENTRE Thursdays 2.30pm–5pm. Lunch provided, supervised homework, sports, music, computers– only €10 per week. All welcome. To secure a place for your child in September 2011 contact Barbara or Lorraine @ 6604789

By Lorraine Barry

ICC would like to take this opportunity to thank Dublin City Council staff for facilitating the Food Fest and Gardening Party in July. Both were a huge success and very well attended. Congratulations to all the groups that participated. Well, it is all happening here at the Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre. As we prepare for a busy schedule we endeavour to

provide services and activities for everyone in the community for the coming months. Homework club Based in St Patrick’s Boy’s and Girl’s national schools, Monday–

RICC Youth Club The youth club has just completed its second successful year. It caters for children aged 7–9 and facilitates a wide variety of activities and programmes for the children, both educational and recreational. The programmes ranged from a visit from the local ﬁre brigade, demonstrating the use of a hose and highlighting the dangers around ﬁres, to sports days, knitting, intro to cooking, interactive media games and a trip on the local Sea

NEWS

Safari. The good news is when the children reach 10 years they have the option to transfer to our Youth Project (CDYSB) which is also based at the Centre and caters for children from ages 10 – 21. The youth club is on Wednesdays at 4.30pm. For further information on both programmes contact Barbara/ Lorraine at the Centre on 6604789 Grinds RICC are now taking places for Junior Cert and Leaving Cert Maths grinds. The grinds take place in the centre every Thursday from 4.30pm–6pm commencing in September 2011. All students are welcome. The service is free and is delivered by fully qualiﬁed NCI teachers.

I RISHTOWN S TAGE S CHOOL By Jason McDonnell

Tandem biking in Phoenix Park

f you want to put a smile on the faces of others there’s no quicker way of doing it than by going for a Tandem bike ride in the Phoenix Park. A form of bicycle designed to be ridden by two people, a tandem turns the solitary activity of cycling into an experience that may be shared by people of differing strengths. Located just inside the main entrance to the Phoenix Park, The Phoenix Park Bike Hire has twelve tandems at present and has been operating for the past four years. It costs €10 per hour, €20 for three hours and €40 for the full day, during which time you can check out the American Ambassador’s residence, the Aras, Farmleigh, the Papal Cross and the Wellington Monument. The bikes book up quickly, so ringing ahead rather than just showing up is recommended. It costs €2,150 to get each bike made and they are custom built in the UK before being shipped to Ireland. The heavier rider sits at the front of the bike and is called the captain, whist the lighter rider is called the stoker. While the former does most of the work the latter is the one with the sorer arse (at least on the bike this writer was on) due to the difference in saddles. Tandem biking is pretty similar to normal cycling but what’s important to remember is that the stoker should never, ever try to steer. It’s one sure way of crashing. Other lessons learnt by this particular stoker was not to stand up on the paddles while the captain is killing himself peddling and to tuck one’s jeans into ones socks to avoid going arse over elbow. By Caomhan Keane

iza Caulfield from Irishtown is the founder of Irishtown Stage School. Liza founded the school back in September 2009 with the concept being affordable and accessible musical theatre classes for the youth of the community. She wanted to build confidence in the children through stage experience as this concept had never been tried here before. With this in mind, the school piloted its first show in July 2010. Liza first got the stage bug at the tender age of three, performing ‘Take Back Your Mink’ which she still gets ‘stick’ for. She has been producing shows since she started out in the Liberties College at Bull Alley ten years ago. She went on to run schools outside Dublin, one of which was the Waterford Theatre Company. There she won AIMS (the Association of Irish Musical Societies) best make up, best costume and best overall show awards in Killarney in 2007. Last summer Liza managed to bring all the students to see ‘Fame the Musical’ for free when she saved a life at the Grand Canal Theatre. Liza came to the aid of a man who had been to a show at the Theatre. The grateful staff at the Grand Canal gave Liza and her students free tickets. It was great for the children to experience a major production on the big stage after putting on their

own production earlier that year. The students are encouraged to support each other and work as a team. Registration takes place at Irishtown Stadium on Tuesday 6th September 3.30pm–7.30pm. Classes commence 8th September 3.30– 4.30pm (3 to 6 yrs); 4.30–5.30pm (7 to 9 yrs); 5.30–6.30pm (10 to 12 yrs); 6.30-7.30pm (13-17 yrs). This year’s show took a lot of organising for Liza who was in charge of every aspect of production including hair, costumes and make-up. She even bought a sewing machine and made most of the costumes herself. The big show was held on Saturday 2nd July at Liberty Hall Theatre which has seating for 408 people. There were 45 kids involved in the show, with every child having something to do on the big night. Liza also decided to get a really good team involved to do lighting, sound and stage management, professionals who have worked at Grand Canal, Olympia, Tivoli and theatres all over Ireland and the

UK. The show was sold out and was hailed a spectacular success. The ticket price was only €10 for group booking. The school and its shows are growing in popularity and Liza hopes to get even more students involved this year. If you are interested in participating in Irishtown Stage School, the weekly fee is €15 or €25 for two from the same family. Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays in Irishtown Stadium with performance opportunities throughout the year. Training covers singing, drama, musical theatre, hip hop, bollywood, tap and jazz dance, which every student gets to learn and perform in the end-of-year show. Photo from left to right: Molly Bridgeman, Erin Doyle, Sophie Larkin, Caitlin Whelan, Ashley McKeown Doyle, EllyMay Reynolds Doyle, Georgia Doyle, Julia Negru, Hannah Golding. Front Row right to left: Carly Counsil, Nikki Buithi.

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

‘EMERGENCY’ DAYS IN

DUBLIN 4

By Sandy Hazel

eventy years ago Jim Casey joined the Local Security Force (LSF) to assist the Garda Siochana during the Emergency, the six years of the Second World War. “Our brigade looked after Irishtown.” Jim became a squad leader, training others. “We were trained by a guard in Beggar’s Bush Barracks. We did handgun practice and ﬁre drills. We were anticipating incendiary bombs.” Jim patrolled the area of the bay from the South Wall Lighthouse to Strand Road and Merrion Gates on bicycle and on foot. The teams also patrolled at night from midnight to six am. “If you saw a plane overhead you would have to keep an eye on it and report any suspicious activity; you got on your bike in order to ﬁnd the nearest telephone.” The LSF was devoted to internal security work and Jim Casey and his men had the power of ar-

rest. On one occasion one of Jim’s men arrested a woman who was cycling on the footpath. “He took her name and address but it was he who got into trouble for that as she turned out to be a judge’s wife,” says Jim. “He was a bit over zealous.”

At one point Jim did have to make a more serious arrest when he came upon a motor accident at Merrion Road. “The car was wrapped around a lamp post and a lady passenger was in a bad way. She was thrown out of the car,” says Jim. “The driver was drunk, we could smell it off him. He gave a false name too, but I knew him,”

Community Opportunity? People who do not represent a danger to others but who are “transgressors” should not go to prison, according to Cllr Paddy McCartan. At a recent council meeting in City Hall he called on Dublin City Council to support the current Criminal Justice Community Service Bill, which would require judges to consider community service instead of prison terms. For sentences of less than 12 months, McCartan wants orders available to the Probation Service, which would enable litter cleaning, grafﬁti removal, gardening and cemetery maintenance. “The Probation Service already has this programme on a pilot basis,” says McCartan. It is currently at judges’ discretion but under the new bill they would have to consider it. “Until recently, out of 108 courts, only 12 of them were responsible for most community service orders. There is huge potential with this,” says McCartan. At the meeting, prison was perceived by councillors as a failed system in many cases. “Gardai know this and are reluctant to arrest. As a result, there is little sanction so the McCartan proposal is a welcome initiative,” said Cllr Andrew Montague. Cllr Oisin Quinn agreed saying: “It is an excellent initiative. Rivers, seafronts and other public spaces could be cleaned up and save the State the cost of custodial sentences.” Potential for community gain was agreed among the councillors and McCartan received full support for his motion. Cllr Bill Tormey added that McCartan’s suggestion “comes at the right time” and that the Probation Service should be consulted on the best way to implement it. McCartan says he will be “monitoring the situation to see how it actually trickles down into communities at ground level and that it works.” He added that the justice system is not well-served by planning and building massive prisons such as the Thornton Hall proposal. By Sandy Hazel

PAGE 21 recalls Jim. Other Emergency routines included a shelter on Seafort Avenue, near O’Reilly’s public house. “Some people used to get into that at night. A local man had a key. It was a fear of the bombs,” says Jim. “The night of the North Strand bombings, we were out on manoeuvres. The houses shook, that was a shock, but we were to stay local. The ﬁrst I saw of it was the next morning, the army were in charge there,” says Jim. Jim met his wife Rita when she was organising a drama production at the Star of the Sea School. “We were putting on a play and I was in the hall typing out the score,” says Rita. “Jim arrived in to deliver old curtains for the backdrop. The play was called the Bishop’s Candlestick and we were called the Star Players,” says Rita. “People were easily pleased in those years,” adds Jim, who went on to become Mayor of Sandymount in 2000. Any other readers who have stories or photographs of the LSF can get in touch with NewsFour if they wish. Photo: Jim and Rita Casey in their early days.

Get Fence Fit ‘Whose round is it?’ will take on a whole new perspective for anyone enrolling at a new fencing class opening in Dublin 4. From September the Factory on Barrow Street will host Fence Fit, an eight week course where students will learn the art of epeé. Hour-long classes will run twice a night on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All equipment provided. Call 085 112 0287 for more details. www.fenceﬁt.com

Sumos at Sandymount At Sandymount Community Fair in aid of Rehab, held at Roslyn Park, were ‘sumo wrestlers’ Kiorsti Allen, on left, and Austin Guerrine.

Sandymount Credit Union Limited 13 Bath Avenue, Sandymount, Dublin 4. Tel: 668 5079 / 073 Fax: 6681807 email: info@sandymountcu.ie Website: www.sandymountcu.ie Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

OPENING HOURS 10am–12.30pm 10am–12.30pm 10am–12.30pm 10am–5pm 2pm–8pm

2–5pm 2–5pm 2–5pm

CU AT YOUR PLACE VARIOUS LOAN TYPES AVAILABLE INCLUDING SPECIAL MOTOR LOAN FOR FURTHER DETAILS AND REPAYMENT OPTIONS CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE – WWW.SANDYMOUNTCU.IE €1,000 HOLIDAY LOAN REPAID OVER 1 YEAR ONLY COSTS €20.12 PER WEEK TOTAL INTEREST ONLY €46.24 (TYPICAL APR 9.4%) SANDYMOUNT CREDIT UNION IS REGULATED BY THE CENTRAL BANK OF IRELAND €100,000 GOVERNMENT SAVINGS GUARANTEE APPLIES

Serving the Community for 50 years New members welcome

S A N D Y M O U N T CREDIT UNION was founded in 1961. As part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations we are hosting an Open Day at the credit union premises on Saturday 27th August 2011 from 11.00am until 2.00pm. Refreshments will be served. A FREE DRAW for members will take place for 10 x €250 Hotel Break Vouchers. 100 member accounts will have been pre-selected at random from the total membership. The 10 prizes will be drawn from this 100. All are welcome, so why not come along for a cup of tea and a chat. We will have an information booklet available on the day and we will be happy to answer questions. Sandymount Credit Union is proud of the 50 years’ service it has given to the community and its not for profit, member owned co-operative model. We thank our members for their confidence in us and their ongoing support. We encourage non-members to come along and learn of the benefits credit union membership has to offer. Look forward to seeing you on the day.

PAGE 22

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

DUBLIN’S LOST CINEMAS

By Noel Twamley

was in Rathmines recently, my old stomping ground of over 50 years. The Stella Cinema was fully boarded-up and covered in junk ads. Behind this ugly mess

the old cinema is still standing with its lovely multi-coloured water feature and ballroom upstairs. What a waste. About 50 metres down the road was The Princess Cinema, also long gone. Sad to say, but up until 1965 Dublin still had over 60 cin-

Robin Hood cavorts in the wood Free Spirit Theatre put on a creative production of Robin Hood, complete with choreographed battles, staged entirely outside in the woods of UCD, which served well as Sherwood Forest. Eva Urban was artistic director and Maid Marian. Direction was by Liam Burke and PJ Dunlevy. Shane Lennon starred as Robin Hood, and the supporting cast was brilliant. It is hoped to put the production on again in September but dates have not yet been conﬁrmed. Above: Little John (Shane Robinson) and Robin (Shane Lennon) admire King Richard’s (Cathal Sheahan’s) ﬁghting prowess. Photo by Andrea Scot

Make a Ripple Ireland needs to talk about mental health problems. Despite the fact that 1 in 4 will experience some kind of mental health problem, 1 in 2 would not want others to know and 47% feel that it would have a negative effect on career progression. Make a Ripple is an online social marketing campaign to encourage members of the public to share their experiences of mental health problems, in order to build public awareness and understanding. John Saunders, Director of See Change, who launched the campaign on 4th May says “Our message to the public is share your story and help end the stigma, make a ripple and show others that mental health problems are nothing to be ashamed of, they’re part and parcel of being human.” Make a ripple yourself by logging on to share your story at www.seechange.ie

emas. Only a handful remain. As a boy I also frequented The Camden which was run by the McGuinness family from Charlemont Street. The great Irish writer James Joyce, scratching furiously on exiting the cinema said “I am certain the ﬂeas in The Camden wear hob nailed boots.” Joyce, of course, was no stranger to cinema as he managed The Volta in Mary Street. The Volta was Dublin’s ﬁrst cinema in 1909. My other ‘local’ cinema was Theatre Deluxe, also in Camden Street. This was a beautiful Art Deco design; golden quartz on the outside, green and white marble hall and stairwells, some fantastic plasterwork and seating for some 1,300 people.

R AYMOND

The following was said during a lull in shooting a Western B movie: Gabby turned to Hopalong and said “Hoppy, what’s going on? Just look at us middle-aged men dressed as cowboys, holding your horse Topper behind a big, fake rock on a Hollywood backlot, me shooting blank bullets at extras dressed as Indians. What the hell are we at?” Hopalong looked at a sad and upset Gabby and replied, “Gabby, we’re actors. The good folks out there are happy to pay two bits to see us and enjoy the escape for two hours. Just think of the big cheque you’ll get this week as you drive out to your mansion in Malibu. It’s all about money, Gabby, it’s all about money.” This sums it all up from the silent era of Chaplin and Fairbanks to the modern blockbusters like ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’. Hopalong Cassidy’s words are as valid today as they were when they were uttered 60 years ago. “It’s all about money, Gabby, it’s all about money.” Left: The Tivoli and, below, the Volta in Mary Street circa 1940.

WINS GOLD FOR I RELAND

By Jason McDonnell

NewsFour readers had two fine cinemas. The Rinn, renamed The Regal, which seated 900 and closed in 1965. You could also go along to The Ritz on Serpentine Avenue. This closed in 1976 to become The Oscar Theatre. I believe it is now a Sikh Temple. Some others I should mention: Rialto, Leinster, Classic, Kenilworth, Sandford, Grafton, Ormonde, Green, Inchicore, The three Apollos in Dundrum, Walkinstown and Sundrive Road. There were many more Southside, but these may whet your appetite. In 1953, garage owner Barney Boyle asked me to accompany him to see ‘High Noon’ at The Tivoli. He was scared of going alone as The Tivoli had a rough reputation. How right he was. We only stayed an hour and in that time we saw two fights, much cussing and swearing and local louts flicking lighted cigarette butts in the air. Poor old Barney– he never got to see the final shoot-out between Gary Cooper and Frank Millar’s gang. Dublin’s Northside had The Cabra Sutton, The Whitehall Grand, The Strand, The Fairview, The Killester, The Corinthian, The State and the lovely black marble Art Deco design Bohemian Cinema. I would like to finish by telling a true story. This was a conversation between two of America’s great western stars of the 30s and 40s, William ‘Hopalong Cassidy’ Boyd and George ‘Gabby’ Hayes.

aymond Gannon from Pigeon House Road, Ringsend came back from Athens with a big gold medal. The Special Olympic summer games took place in Athens, Greece from 25th June to 4th July 2011. Raymond won a Gold medal for Ireland in the 5-a-side Football. Raymond, 21, has been playing football for Stillorgan Rangers 11-a-side for the past three years. He was asked by his football manager if he would like to play for the Special Olympics Team about a year ago. Raymond signed the necessary forms and went to a competition in Limerick to decide

who would represent Ireland in the Special Olympics. Raymond’s achievements in Limerick were an inspiration to all of his team mates. He is quite competitive and does not like losing, so before the qualifying competition in Limerick he told his grandparents of his desire to represent his country at the Special Olympics. As this was Raymond’s ﬁrst time representing Ireland on an international sporting stage, his granddad Eddie helped him to improve his skills. He advised him that he would have to train very hard and be extremely ﬁt to compete at international level, so he set up a training schedule for Raymond. The extra training sessions paid off dividends as at the games

in Limerick Raymond was the leading scorer for the Irish team. In the semi-ﬁnals at the Special Olympics Raymond scored the goal that put Ireland into the ﬁnals when they beat Cyprus 6-5 in a sudden death penalty shootout. Raymond has always been football mad and is a huge Manchester United fan. He visited Old Trafford on several occasions to watch Man United play. His favourite players are Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernández Balcázar, better known as ‘Chicharito’. Although Raymond was reared by his grandparents, he still keeps in touch with his mother Catriona who now lives in Canada and she was delight-

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

D OHERTY

By Rupert Heather

inn Féin’s spokesperson on Finance Pearse Doherty spoke at a public meeting in Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre about debt default as a means of stimulating Ireland’s economic recovery. Held on June 28th, the meeting was well-attended with an audience of 40 people. Doherty came to prominence in July 2010 when he was granted a judicial review into why a by-election had not been held to ﬁll the vacant Donegal West seat. He won the seat with a convincing majority and is credited by some as being the catalyst for the general election. An engaging speaker, Doherty outlined his strategy for confronting the debt crises and spoke

PAGE 23

ON DEBT

about how the government’s treatment of the issue is unsustainable. Without getting rid of private debt, Doherty believes that Ireland will eventually be forced to default on ‘sovereign’ debt, a situation that could do irreparable damage to our international reputation. He said, “The government needs to recognise that there is an emergency here. We need to apply all the solutions at our disposal. We have a government that believes it can only operate with the support of Europe. We have to start acting on behalf of our own people.” Getting rid of private debt would mean “burning” the senior bond holders who hold those bonds that are not guaranteed. His strategy also questions the role of the ECB and the EU/IMF

bailout. He believes the Fine Gael/Labour government are sticking “rigidly” to the Fianna Fáil strategy which is heaping debt through cuts and taxation on “the Irish People.” After the talk, a lively and informed debate took place. which was somewhat curtailed by the Donegal West TD having to return to his constituency. It was clear. though. that there is a strong appetite for discussing the issue among those who attended, both party rank and ﬁle and members of the public. From left to right: Michael Kavanagh, Caroline Connolly, Suzanne Boyle, Roisin Connolly, Shay Connolly, Deputy Pearse Doherty of Sinn Fein, Ruadhain MacAodhain of Sinn Fein Dublin South East and Bridget Kelly went on to bring home gold. But when Raymond went to Athens with the other 125 athletes representing Ireland his family found it difﬁcult to get information on how the team were getting on. RTE and the national newspapers gave very little coverage of the event. The only way a lot of family and friends were able to get information on their progress was to ring the competitors in Athens. Maybe next time this issue will be addressed. All your training and preparation in the past year has paid off Raymond. Congratulations from NewsFour and well done for an outstanding performance and your contribution to bringing home gold for Ireland.

ed with the news. All of Raymond’s friends and relatives, his gran, granddad and uncle

Edward were all over the moon on hearing Raymond had made the team for the Olympics and

Left: Raymond Gannon proudly displays his gold medal.

THE NEWSFOUR CROSSWORD COMPILED BY ANN INGLE

Name:…………………………… Address:………………………… Telephone:………………… Prize of a €25 book token. Post entries to NewsFour, RICC, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, D.4 by 16th September 2011. Winner of our June/July crossword competition was Pat Dunne of Bath Avenue Gardens. ACROSS 1 Discredited newspaper mogul (6,7) 10 Not footers (7) 11 This is usually eaten the Tuesday before Lent (7) 12 It’s not far (4) 13 Start (5) 15 ---- upon a time (4) 17 Something that fails to work properly (3) 19 Dog-like African mammals, known for their laugh (6) 21 Partially burnt piece of coal (6) 22 Place to buy animals (3,4) 23 This shellfish is still found on Sandymount Strand (6) 25 Known as gasoline in the US (6) 27 Acronym for the paper that 1 across owned, right this moment (3) 29 Girl’s name or flower (4) 30 Insects not as pretty as butterflies and renowned for eating cloth (5) 31 Very eager or curious (4) 34 Used in Venice to transport people (7) 35 Rugby players have many of these during a match (7) 36 Current Minister for Finance (7,6) DOWN 2 Not knowing (7) 3 Not rough, fair (4) 4 11 across is usually this before eating (6) 5 Not remunerated (6) 6 Sand hill (4) 7 Restrained or made fast with metal loops (7) 8 These unscrupulous happenings led to 27 across closing down (5,8) 9 One who reports and forecasts weather conditions (13) 14 Bullet fired (3,4) 16 Syrup usually used on pancakes in the US (5) 18 Pay the ----- and call the tune (5) 20 Look (3) 21 Policeman (informal) (3) 24 Spanish wine (7) 26 Objects and clothing used and worn by royalty (7) 27 Where would you put the birthday candles if there was -- ---- ?(2,4) 28 Make cleaner or brighter, usually teeth (6) 32 Upper class, genteel (4) 33 Sound coming back at you (4)

PAGE 24

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

AN MBÓTHAR LE

R OTHAR

By Sandy Hazel

O Waterford hosts Tall Ships Festival The Tall Ships Festival took place in Waterford from 30th June to 3rd July 2011. Over the weekend there was free street entertainment, live music, parades, a fringe festival, food village, Irish craft village, a fun fair and lots, lots more. It is one of the most spectacular and colourful events in the world. Waterford hosted around 50 majestic Tall Ships, 1,500 sail trainees and around 500,000 maritime, music and festival fans on the quays of Ireland’s oldest city. My highlight was seeing Bryan Ferry playing live on Thursday night. Most ships were open to the public from Thursday through to Saturday, with admission free from early morning to late evening. Over 1,000 crew members from around the world were welcomed to Waterford and around 100 young people from Ireland joined the ships as trainee crew members for the first leg of the race. At 7am on Sunday, 3rd July they went down river to the mouth of the Suir for the start of the Race. As the ships left Waterford, they raced around Ireland’s South, West and North coasts to Greenock, Scotland (9th–12th July). Later, there was a cruise-in-company from Greenock to Lerwick in the Shetland Isles (21st–24th July). The second race in the series then went from Lerwick to Stavanger Norway (28th–31st July), and from there the third and final race brought the fleet to Halmstad, Sweden (5th–8th August). The Tall Ships Races are organised by STI, Sail Training International, which is devoted to ‘education and development of young people of all nationalities, religions and social backgrounds, through sail training’. See www.sailtraininginternational.org for how to take part. By Jason McDonnell

Plans for Bank Building Plans by the Minister for Arts, Jimmy Deenihan, to acquire the Bank of Ireland Building on College Green and return it to State ownership will be fully supported by local Cllr Paddy McCartan. The plan is to recognise the massive ﬁnancial support given to Bank of Ireland by the taxpayer. It is hoped the building will be converted into a cultural centre to celebrate Dublin’s literary heritage. By Sandy Hazel

Donal Bracken Local Electrical Contractor

R.E.C.I. approved and insured

12 Castle Drive, Sandymount, Dublin 4 Tel: 269 2278 • Mobile: 086 2651887

• Free estimates without obligation • Extra sockets, fuseboards etc supplied and fitted • All works undertaken, including domestic, commercial and light industrial

NO JOB TOO SMALL OR TOO LARGE

ne of the last truly democratic activities left to us is cycling. No test, no licence, no insurance, no petrol prices. There are only a few requirements to mounting your velocipede: a certain ability to balance and the gift of sight. What could possibly impede the glorious notion of free transport cum brilliant aerobic workout? Motors, that’s what. One way around the onslaught of trucks, heavy goods vehicles and cars which share the road with vulnerable cyclists is to learn road skills and cycling in a structured class with a qualiﬁed instructor. “Many of my students are already motorists,” says Anne Bedos, the cycling instructor with Rothar. “They may have the road skills for motoring but they need to learn from the angle of the cyclist and unlearn some bad habits.” Rothar, based in Phibsboro, offers recycled bikes and maintenance classes and sees cycling as a powerful force for social inclusion. Its ethos recognises that people on low incomes and immigrants are isolated without access to expensive transport. Once a bike is brought into the equation life can change. With bus routes diminished, an increase in cycle paths plus the free bike scheme looking to expand into Dublin 4, now is the time for more folk to get into the riding gear. Bedos believes the way to safer cycling is to have more cyclists on the roads. In order to do this she offers classes that cover balance, road use, indication, lane negotiation, cycling in trafﬁc

and emergency stopping. With Dublin perceived as less safe for cyclists Bedos admits that conﬁdence is an issue for some learners and refreshers.

“Many of my students are motorists…” “We also have many people who have never been on a bike in their lives,” says Bedos. Not knowing when and how to indicate properly is the main issue for cyclists and Bedos says that once she teaches the student how to do this then they are much happier on the road. Helmets are not compulsory for the classes. Bedos believes helmets are not all they are cracked up to be. “Cities that introduce helmets by law ﬁnd a reduction in cycling. It negates the safety in numbers situation which works in other countries.” She grimly points to high impact

or HGV collisions, which account for 95 per cent of cyclist deaths, “When a cycle helmet will not really help.” Bedos trained with Cycle Training UK but wants to start training trainers here in Ireland. “In London, cyclists are given two hours free tuition per year if they want it. This type of free scheme is one that could really help Dublin cyclists to consider other road users and make a safer city,” says Bedos. The classes cost €40 per hour but the class may be two hours. She takes groups of up to ﬁve so the price is divided by the number of people (€20 per hour if two people, €14 per hour if three etc) She also offers reductions to recipients of social welfare. Bedos will come to your location so the student is cycling on familiar streets. She will travel from Santry to Booterstown to deliver your personalised twohour class. Ph: 8602615 or info@rothar.ie

IRISH WRITERS’ CENTRE – STILL GOING STRONG

By Glenda Cimino

uly marked the 20th anniversary of the Irish Writers’ Centre in Dublin, and The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, TD, unveiled a plaque acknowledging the financial support of his Department, praising the work of the Centre at a special reception, which was filled to capacity. The celebration included readings by Sebastian Barry

and other writers, some from the groups who meet regularly in the Centre to discuss and develop their work. The Writers’ Centre has overcome financial difficulties and crises over the years through its dedicated volunteers, under the guidance of Chairman, Jack Harte. For information on future events, contact www.thewriterscentre.ie. Left: Minister Jimmy Deenihan, visits the Irish Writers’ Centre on its 20th Anniversary.

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

POET

PAGE 25

IN PROFILE:

MAEVE O’SULLIVAN

By Glenda Cimino

ubliner Maeve O’Sullivan is a very busy woman. She has published dozens of poems and hundreds of haiku, and is a former poetry winner at Listowel Writer’s Week. She is a member of Haiku Ireland, the Poetry Divas, and the Hibernian Poetry Workshop. She has also made two radio documentaries, one on the monorail train that ran between Listowel and Ballybunion in North Kerry (Radio Kerry, 2005) and another on a women only singing club (Newstalk, 2009). Her first collection of haiku, ‘Initial Response’, was launched in April and has gotten positive reviews. Her work has been described as ‘a poetry of pauses and silences, of inner contemplation, and the act of trying to absorb the concepts of emotional realities, life and mortality’. Her book is dedicated to her father, Maurice O’Sullivan, who died last November, and includes a sequence of haiku written after her dad’s death. A civil engineer, her father designed the chimneys at Poolbeg (see the next issue of NewsFour for more on this). Maeve became a Buddhist last year, and half of the profits from her book are going to the UK-based Tibetan charity, Rokpa. One of her first poems was a Mother’s Day poem, at age 9, which her mother recently found and shared with her. Her family– parents, three sisters and two brothers– were all into music, languages and performance. “My father was a lifetime member of the Rathmines and Rath-

gar Musical Society, and we went to all the shows. In the 70s my eldest sister Jean started the Wee Wee Folk, a little band, and she taught us contemporary folk songs which we sang in harmonies with guitar. I played the guitar since age 11.” Maeve keeps up her interest in music in a monthly singing circle. With this kind of background, it is no surprise that Maeve loves reading her work in public. In the Loreto National School in Dalkey, Maeve’s teacher Wynn Walshe encouraged reading and writing. In school they read Yeats, Kavanagh, and Emily Dickinson. Maeve liked Robert Frost, and in her teens, found a book of Sylvia Plath’s poems in the attic and transcribed Plath’s poem, ‘Facelift’, as she was “intrigued to ﬁnd you could write poetry about such subjects, as there were no such poems on the school curriculum. Then of course I read ‘The Bell Jar’. I was impressed by TS Eliot’s ‘Prufrock’, and Coleridge’s ‘Kubla Khan’, and Shakespeare’s sonnets.” In her twenties Maeve was busy getting a degree, then working as an Arts Project Manager in Temple Bar and elsewhere after a short-lived career as a geologist. Tiring of administration, she went back to college and did an MA in journalism. For the last 11 years, she has taught journalism and public relations in Rathmines College of Further Education. She enjoys teaching, including journalistic writing skills, but likes to keep her teaching work– apart from the occasional haiku workshop– separate from her own creative writing practices.

“I wait for inspiration. In haiku, I am visited by ‘the haiku moment’, a type of inspiration that comes through the senses and is as much to do with your level of awareness as with writing talent. Haikus start with a sense impression, whereas my poems start with an idea or a line. I usually write the first draft of everything in a Moleskine notebook, one for haiku and one for poetry.” It was only when she was in her thirties that she took up writing in earnest. Her first published poem was ‘Drumshanbo Man’, which was included in The Works’ 1998 anthology, ‘Women’s Work’. “Every year for the project’s 10 years there was a reading on the Saturday closest to International Women’s Day at the Wexford Arts Centre. Women and girls from 6 to 80 read on wonderful, celebratory evenings. Many now established Irish women poets were first published in those pages. In 1998 Nessa O’Mahony won first prize.” Maeve is putting together a second collection, “regular poetry this time”, with the working title ‘Indicative Mood’. “Last year I attended a Faber and Faber course, ‘Becoming a Poet’, led by Paul Perry. It met

LIVELY TIMES AT THE ‘DEAD ZOO’ By Rupert Heather

ven though the ‘dead zoo’ restoration is in limbo due to the deterioration of public ﬁnances, the Natural History Museum still attracts up to 2,000 visitors a day and retains a unique appeal. In 2005 a detailed plan was developed for an add-on building to include a café, shop, lift access and new ﬁre escapes. The project got funding, €15 million, from the National Development Plan. However, following the collapse of a section of a stone staircase in July 2007, which injured 11 people, the building was closed.

Natural History Museum keeper Nigel Monaghan says, “That pushed us into adjusting the time frame, then it became clear that we wouldn’t get funding.” The Office of Public Works spent €500,000 to open a patched-up building in April 2010. Before that a year-long temporary exhibition in Collins Barracks attracted 180,000 visitors. Currently, the viewing balconies on the upper floors are closed due to fire safety regulations. Of its enduring appeal, Monaghan explains,

weekly from January to June. Reading, writing, discussing poetry and linking in with 15 other like-minded poets was stimulating and worthwhile. About half of us are now continuing to meet monthly as The Hibernian Workshop.” As for advice to other writers, Maeve believes that “every writer is different. I would encourage poets to read poetry and attend live poetry events and festivals, many of which are free. Find a system that works for you, whether it is a notebook, laptop or iPhone. Don’t just settle for a third or fourth draft, work until you feel the work is truly ﬁnished. Get input from other poets, but in the end you have to make your own judgment.” Maeve helped set up Haiku Ireland in 2004, in which Irish-based haiku poets promote the form via online and ofﬂine activities. All events are open to the public. See www.Haiku-ireland.com for more information. In 2000, Maeve met fellow haikuist Kim Richardson at the Anam Cara Writers and Artists Retreat in West Cork, and thus began a collaboration that resulted in the book, ‘Double Rainbow’ (2005). Maeve also writes guest posts for various blogs, See www.theantiroom.com, or www.emergingwriter and www.writing.ie. She also reviews poetry for Orbis, a UK-based literary journal. You can catch a recording of Maeve reading at the White House Bar on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/ “People are very attached to it; one comment card left by an Australian visitor said it would be a ‘heritage crime’ to change it. We have a conservation approach like a stately home.” Visited by a diverse group, including foreign language and exchange students, Irish families, artists and those looking for a free place to get out of the rain, weekday mornings are least crowded. It’s a “nostalgia trip” for people who remember visiting as children, the “time capsule” effect of this unchanging, “quirky” institution. Foreign visitors take “wacky” photos and videos that end up on the internet, all of which is encouraged by the museum. The building opened in 1857 when the approach was from Leinster

watch?v=SLbjiVw7ocs., and an interview with Brendan Nolan on the Telling Tales programme (West Dublin Access Radio) at http://www.brendannolan.ie/ TellingTales4k26611b.mp3 or follow her on twitter at Twitter: @maeveos. ‘Initial Response’ is available for €12 from Books Upstairs on College Green, Alan Hannah’s in Rathmines,online from amazon and from www.albapublishing.com. Coming events On Saturday 13th August, at 3pm, Maeve and other members of Hibernian Workshop will hold an inaugural public reading at the Twisted Pepper Café, Middle Abbey St., admission free. On 18th- 21st August, Maeve and Kim are running their fourth annual Haiku Workshop in the Anam Cara retreat on Beara. For more information, contact www.anamcararetreat. com. This residential workshop provides “tuition in haiku poetry with exercises in mindfulness, focusing on being aware and in the moment, which links nicely to the writing of haiku, and vice versa. No experience of haiku or mindfulness practices is required.” On 2–4th September, The Poetry Divas, “a loose collective of women poets who dress up glamorously and read their work at festivals throughout Ireland,” will be performing in the Mindﬁeld Area of the Electric Picnic in Stradbally, Co. Laois. On Monday 12th September, Maeve will be the featured poet at Glór, a weekly poetry/music event at 9pm in the International Bar on Wicklow Street (admission free). Above: Maeve O’Sullivan as ‘Poetry Diva’. House, explaining the unprepossessing entrance gate commonly used today and the grand staircase being at the “wrong” side. Monaghan says, “I suspect this place will be here for a long time. It has survived Victorian Ireland, rebellion, civil war and the Free State that didn’t have money to spend on museums. It was left unscathed by the Celtic Tiger but could have done with investment during those years. It’s very resilient! “The big hitters are the whale skeleton, the polar bear that is leaving soon for a shampoo (well going to the Netherlands for restoration), the basking shark and human skeletons.” However, the museum receives complaints if even the “smallest” thing is taken off display!

PAGE 26

T HE M ISSION H ALL A

By Rupert Heather

hen Joe Donnelly “helped” vandalise the Ringsend Mission Hall as a child in the 60s, little did he know that he would become guardian of its fascinating legacy. That legacy is an archive that offers a window into a past encompassing major social and economic upheavals, war and independence as well as keeping alive the memory of a group of souls all but “erased” from the “hard drive” of Irish history, who sailed into Ringsend in the 1830s. The materials cover the period from 1896 when the building

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

ARCHIVE

LASTING LEGACY

was donated by the Bewleys, to 1979. There are handwritten minutes of every meeting, newspaper cuttings and a large collection of slides containing historic images. In pride of place is a bible complete with hand-carved wooden cover, a gift from the Bewley family. Charting the rise of the YMCA Mission Hall movement, the archive records its relevance to the time as well as its subsequent steady decline. In 1995, after being “head hunted” by the trustees– two “fellas” in their eighties called Herbie and Reggie– Donnelly was confronted by a dilapidated building. He explains, “The trustees were questioning whether they should allow the developer

building the next door apartments to ﬂatten the place or ﬁnd someone with a local connection to take it on and do something useful with it. It’s to their credit that so much of the material here remains intact.” After proving his pedigree by seriously engaging with the place and its potential to serve the community, Donnelly was entrusted with the mantle of the archive material. “Reggie was the grandson of Sir William Fry, so there was that unbroken link because his father had been a superintendent here. Sir William had, along with the Bewleys, bankrolled construction. He was a bachelor so it was like the end of an era; he wanted someone to take on the baton.” When the mission was built, Ringsend was 60% Protestant, a matter of “statistics not politics,” Donnelly explains. “Those Protestants were descended from a group called the Torbays, evicted from Devon by the British Navy. They were directed to Ringsend by a clergyman orphaned as a country lad who had been sponsored to attend Trinity College. “As a student, he took a daily constitutional in Ringsend and became friendly with the na-

tive ﬁsher folk. That same clergyman, Henry Lyte, wrote the words to ‘Abide with me’ in 1847. “When my mother was a kid here in the 1930’s, certain families were still known as Torbays; the Pullens, Blackmores, Turners and Latimores. This has all pretty much gone, so the archive is a genuine slice of that whole history. One account tells of 200 families sailing into Ringsend in the 1830s and landing overnight. They brought valuable boatmaking skills to the community and helped make Ringsend what it is. The YMCA was a social reform movement preaching temperance and spiritual purity through body, spirit and soul. It was militaristic in the sense that they organised associations and appointed superintendents, encouraging prayer, sport and intellectual pursuits; they even had a brass band.

During the ‘lock out’– the Larkin-inspired protest to improve the lot of Dublin’s unskilled workers– the band would play in Sandymount Green and with donations received distribute food parcels to the starving poor of Ringsend. Donnelly says, “After Irish independence there was a rush to expunge this history from the hard drive. In the First World War, forty men from here went out to ﬁght. They probably needed a job: life was cheap and labour even cheaper back then. “This is a slice of socio-cultural history that has remained intact. What’s fascinating about Ringsend is that it’s seen as one of Dublin’s strong cultural hubs, and here is a people group that can be traced back to an act of bullying by the British Navy.” One of the enduring images of the archive is of groups of excited children during weekend excursions by horse and cart to Bray and Greystones. If you recognise anyone in the picture above, or the location, please contact us at NewsFour. Today the Anchorage has a play school, garden centre, kids’ clubs, and cafe. The idea is to serve the community here by doing “two or three things well.” The proceeds help projects in the developing world, raising €20,000 in the last few years. Surely this is the next chapter in the history of the Mission Hall and one that will add to its already rich legacy. Main picture: A group of children on an outing, possibly to Greystones in the 1950s. Can readers identify any of these children? Below is an extract from minutes of February 1st 1915, Below left: The Mission Hall as it looked about 1900.

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

PAGE 27

The Fontenoy Files The Departure Lounge

By Shay Connolly

h it’s the same old codology isn’t it?… Banks, E.C.B., I.M.F., bailouts, interest rates. You kinda get used to it after a while. Well, I thought I was getting used to it until recently when I saw the human face of all this mess at ﬁrst hand. You see, we had a family here at the club. They, both parents and children, were very much involved in our set-up. The parents left Ireland back in the eighties when the last bad recession was on and bumped into each other at some disco next to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. After getting married some years later and having successfully chartered the waters under that bridge, they returned to Ireland in 2000 with their three young boys and set up their nest across the road from the club. They were soon part of the action. Three little yanks with the L.A. brogue soon caught the attention of all and it wasn’t long until they ﬁtted

into the landscape and that brogue was replaced with a merry Dublin lilt. The father became manager of the eldest lad’s team and they became one of the most successful teams in the club for many a year. They won numerous leagues and three Dublin County Championships. He brought them on trips around the country, to Glasgow on a Drug Awareness Programme and last year topped it all by bringing all 25 of them to Canada for a ten-day tournament of Gaelic Football. The mother was everywhere, driving teams to matches, making sandwiches, fundraising etc. The boys were amongst the top-class players on their teams and the eldest lad played with Dublin underage teams on numerous occasions. The father was involved in the construction industry. In the earlier years he couldn’t keep up with the demand on his services and he once told me he was proud of the “little country’s” achievement. And then it came. The bang, the bust, the catastrophe. The phone lost its bell and work began to drop off suddenly and drastically. Having worked hard all his life and with no prospects left here, he himself returned to the Golden Gate Bridge three months ago to source work. Last week, the family packed their bags and followed him over. A couple of hours before they left, I paid a visit to the house to say my goodbyes. I met the Grandfather at the door. He was putting on a brave face. His only other son was also in San Fran-

cisco since the eighties. The house was now showing all the signs of departure and there was an echoing whisper of silence in the air. It resembled a wake. … And they left … And they were gone! As I drove away in the car I cursed the “little country” for getting it so wrong again. Pride has now been replaced with an almost ashamedness of how we have paddywhacked our own, how we have managed our affairs and how it has caused so much heartache in all different walks

of life. The club lost a terrific family and they will be hard to replace, if ever. They have now joined the numerous other club members who have taken the exit door to London, Sydney, New York, China and other far-off corners of the world. The best parting gift for the father would be that the team that he brought up would stay together. They are all now 18 and they have stayed together thus far. Do it for him, lads! But we must rise again and put all this behind us. The Club is going since 1892. It has seen multiple recessions and multiple emigrations. And still it stands. And still it grows. In that sense it is a great, great club. We have many difficult tasks ahead. We come from all walks of life; from all classes; in all shapes and sizes and we all have different views. Yet we gather every day, every night and every week with the same goals, the same common denominators, the same ambitions– and that is to make the teams and the club better and better. The departed, both deceased and living would expect nothing less!! Backchat: * 5 Star Bingo starts in the Hall from Wednesday August 24th and continues every Wednesday night from 8.00 with Eddie Doyle. All the Community are welcome to play. * The club is at present conducting a survey of all its members. It is asking all to fill in the questionnaire and leave it in the Survey Box upstairs when finished. The completed signed documents then go into a draw where the winner and runner-

up will receive prizes beyond any National Lottery imagination. * Next issue I will return to the games front. As I write, my quill shakes with anticipation as our adult football and hurlers are both agonisingly close to promotion to Senior. * Summer Camp in Football takes place from August 8th-12th inclusive and Hurling Camp the following week from August 15th-19th inclusive. * Club Juvenile Registration Day

is on September 10th from 10.00am to 12.00pm. * Enjoy the rest of the– eh eh eh– oh yes Summer. I forgot the word for a moment! Clockwise from top left: Battling it out at camogie; Alan Brogan signing autographs at the club’s Easter Camp which had 214 kids, our biggest one yet; Legend Seán Óg Ó hAilpín squares up with the Clans Legend.

Calafort Átha Cliath

Dublin Port Company Port Centre, Alexandra Road, Dublin 1. Telephone: 887 6000, 855 0888 Fax: 855 7400 Web: www.dublinport.ie

PAGE 28

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

CY SOCCER NEWS By David Thomas Nolan

’d like to start off this edition by thanking everyone involved in the recent 75th anniversary dinner/dance for CY at the Berkeley Court Hotel. Well done to those involved in the organisation of the event; you know who you are. Pre-season is in full swing for our three senior teams with practice games now ongoing as we go to print. The league season will commence the weekend of August 19th with the club representing the Ringsend/Irishtown area at the top level of amateur football in the Senior division of the L.S.L whilst our 2nd team will compete in Major 1A Saturday and our 3rd team in Division 2 Sunday. The annual Noel Fox Tournament has also taken place during the month of July. This local preseason soccer tournament has al-

ways been a great spectacle and a good opportunity for local sides to lock horns and assess their own preparations and progress for the season ahead! Eight teams entered, with six from the D4/D2 areas and another two invited teams from East Wall and Ballymun. The opening round of games saw Ringsend Rovers beat East Wall on penalties. Goal keeper Brian Whelan was the hero, saving the visitors’ final spot kick. Unfortunately, Bridge F.C pulled out of the tournament so Markievicz Celtic were awarded a walkover into the semi final. In the third match, St Patrick’s CY beat an experienced Hoganville side 5-nil. The score line flattered a little but was a good performance, with many newcomers to the CY 2nd team. The final game of the round saw St Pat’s of Ballymun overcome Vintage after extra time by

two goals to one, with the ‘Vinto’ missing a penalty in extra time when scores were level. In the first of the two semi finals, Ringsend Rovers once again displayed calmness in front of goal to win out, via another penalty shootout. 110 minutes of football couldn’t separate two evenly-matched teams, with the score ending 1-1. The 2nd semi final saw Markievicz Celtic make their bow in the tournament against CY. St Pat’s eventually won a tight game 2-nil to make a third consecutive

final and a sixth in total over the nine year history of this competition. The final took place on the August bank holiday Sunday in front of a large attendance in Ringsend Park. In a tense first half with neither side willing to take any chances, it was CY which probably edged it in terms of procession, although Michael Barnes of Rovers gave the CY defence a scare with a rasping effort just wide of the post. CY eventually made the breakthrough with about 25 minutes

remaining through John Sullivan, who pounced on an unfortunate spill by Rovers keeper Brian Whelan. With time running out, Rovers pushed for an equalizer but were denied by a marvellous diving save from Sean Brazil. With just seconds remaining, substitute Dillon Barnes was upended in the Rovers box and Gary Young smashed home the second from 12 yards out. Well done to all involved and congratulations to Derek Bowden and his assistance on yet another trophy haul.

VERSATILE WINES FOR ALL WEATHERS THE SCRIPT DELIVER A BLOCKBUSTER

By Therese OʼToole

ver the optimists, we are consistently hoping that the sun will shine and that we may venture outdoors. Between warm and sunny to wet and dreary weather, all within a matter of minutes, versatility is the key when it comes to assessing our wardrobe, activities for the day and, believe it or not, deciding on which style of wine! Versatile wines have general characteristics to suit all weathers and foods and include the following: Domaine de la Renne Sauvignon Blanc, France €10.50 Hailing from the Touraine Region along the Loire Valley in France this light and fruity wine has all the hall marks of traditional sauvignon blanc. This is dry, crisp and acidic with subtle citrus notes of lemons and limes on the nose which are repeated on the palate. This wine is excellent drunk on its own or with salads, barbeques and seafood. Mancura Sauvignon Blanc, Chile €7.75 Displaying all the typical characteristics of sauvignon blanc but with both tropical and citrus notes on the nose and palate. This is a racy and zesty style and is perfect as an accompaniment to chicken, pork and barbequed ribs. Willunga 100, Cabernet Shiraz, McClaren Vale, Australia, €13.50 This is a medium to full bodied red with notes of blackcurrant from the cabernet sauvignon and pepper and spice from the shiraz. This wine is wonderfully versatile and will be perfect with barbecued red meats and smooth cheeses on those balmy summer evenings.

By Joe Mc Kenna

ake three regular guys from Dublin, put them on a roller coaster ride through the music industry and you get a band that have become a world force in the music industry. The Script brought their immense success home when they packed out the Aviva Stadium in early July. Front man Danny O’Donoghue described the band’s massive homecoming show as a “pinch-me moment.” Stepping out to 55,000 screaming fans as the sun went down over their home town, the lads had one thing on their mind: to deliver the best they had. No one left disappointed. “U2 and Paul McCartney have taught us that stadiums are very achievable. Once you get the taste of a stadium gig, you can’t let go. The fact that it’s an Irish band ﬁlling an Irish stadium with Irish people is a fantastic achievement for Irish music,” O’Donoghue said. Supported by another growing Irish sensation, The Coronas, and with chart topping hip-hop maestro Tinie Temper revving the crowd up before they appeared, The Script have clearly learned from the wealth of stadium support gigs they have under their belt. So by the time Danny O’Donoghue, Mark Sheehan and Glen Power stepped

on stage, the crowd had been whipped into a frenzy. The weather was immaculate, the atmosphere was joyous and there were smiles everywhere. The amazing success The Script have enjoyed couldn’t have been foretold four years ago when they appeared on viral internet show Balcony TV; their ﬁrst ever television appearance. Since then it has been chart hit after chart hit. But unlike many of today’s popular acts where the fragility of fame can become the undoing of talent, The Script have built their careers on a diet of hard work, a willingness to evolve and a dedication to the craft of music. Of course there’s a tendency for many Irish music fans and critics to act aloof in the face of what The Script have done. But if we had to choose artistic ambassadors for Ireland within the cutthroat world of

Rock/Pop, we could do a lot worse than Danny, Mark and Glen. One look around the Aviva as they tore into their closing two songs, the ridiculously melodic ‘Breakeven’ and David Bowie’s classic ‘Heroes’, would have convinced you. The band’s followers have the type of devotion you don’t often see for Irish acts outside of U2, though along with that comes a serious amount of expectation which the band is more than willing to try and live up to. “We’ve gone from playing little clubs to doing theatres, festivals and stadiums,” says guitarist Mark. “It’s a little bit shocking to us as a new band, playing to these mass audiences. And we feel we have to touch everybody, hit every person in there.” Upon their homecoming they did just that. Expect an awful lot more from The Script in years to come.

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

C APITAL

GAIN

By Sandy Hazel

Genoese-Irish pedigree and a Miami upbringing lend Maria Parodi certain glamour. The American accent, dual citizenship and killer high heels help too. But do not be deceived; the tiny frame is a front. Armed with a degree in politics from Florida International University, Maria Parodi brings an international outlook to her political position. Her thesis was on the role of women in the political life of Poland after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As Dublin’s newly elected Deputy Mayor she is, at the age of 27, the third citizen of Dublin after the President of Ireland and the Lord Mayor Andrew Montague. “I am driven by the need to help people,” she says without a hint of irony. Parodi genuinely feels that the political system will allow this. She started her career working for community organisations in Ringsend in Dublin 4, was a councillor on Dublin City Council at the age of 25 and sits on enough committees to make the job more than full time. Parodi is proud of her local work, particularly the recent bus campaign. “Dublin Bus has said the 77a will be retained in the area. This is a positive for the community, it proves that strong local campaigns can work,” says Parodi. She is also ﬁghting against the proposed incinerator. “It’s not just nimbyism, I advocate for better waste management approaches anyway. I am opposed to the executive’s recent application for a €50 million loan for work on the incinerator,” says Parodi. “It was shocking that

I RELAND

the council wanted us to vote for this, when it knows we oppose incineration anyway, by presenting us with a pretty inadequate report.”

Parodi told Tierney “No” to €50 million cash flow for incinerator works Parodi kick-started a heated debate on this issue last month at Dublin City Council when John Tierney, the city manager, requested the €50 million cash be drawn down via a loan rather than an overdraft. His request was rejected. The battle lines over the incinerator are redrawn each month but this particular skirmish had Tierney being told by our Deputy Mayor: “We don’t need more debt.” Parodi is familiar with the executive’s negative response to some

councillors’ motions: the generic “there are financial implications.” She says there is a responsibility on councillors “to keep at it and work around the negativity.” She endeavours to bring positive motions to the council, initiatives, which will enrich the city and the lives of those in it. “But you cannot just throw in an idea as a motion and expect it to happen, you must constantly follow up with the executive to get it done,” she explains. “I did go in to the job with the belief I would get things done quickly, but it is a slow process. There is much follow up and chasing before something is achieved. Andrew (Montague– the Lord Mayor) had the bike scheme idea over five years ago and that has only just been realised,” she says. The renovation of a Dublin area called the Cabbage Patch took two years before Parodi could claim it as finished. She would like to make the deputy mayor role “more than just a ceremonial position.” Parodi will, along with the Lord Mayor, be looking to an expansion of the Dublin bike scheme, proposals for car clubs, better use of green spaces in the city and improvement of local amenities. Although the proposed Poolbeg incinerator is high on her agenda, Parodi knows it is not a priority for all her constituents. “Jobs are the biggest issue now,” she says. “Dublin is made up of many villages and getting business and employment enhanced through urban renewal of the village is key. Local businesses make a city thrive and if they start to close then Dublin City Council needs to sit up and take note.” Maria Parodi has regular clinics at the Ringsend Community Centre and at St. Andrew’s Centre on Pearse Street.

UP TO THE CHALLENGE

he RSA Challenge match against England presents an opportunity for Irish cricket to once again shine on the international stage. It’s also a chance for supporters to enjoy what will be a carnival atmosphere. Taking place in Clontarf Cricket Club on the 25th August, the match is already a sell-out, with a capacity crowd of 4,000 expected. The venue hosted Ireland v Australia in 2010, a thrilling encounter which could have easily resulted in a historic home win. Cricket Ireland chief Warren Deutrom says, “Our hope is that we will win the match; our expectation is that we will be highly competitive. Our players would never approach a match with a full member with an expectation of victory, but they always do so with self-belief and conﬁdence in their ability.” Ireland’s performance in the last world cup and in particular the stunning victory against England, courtesy of Kevin O’Brien’s record innings, will add a “piquancy” to this year’s RSA Challenge. Taking inspiration and knowledge from that occasion, Ireland’s players will know they are not inferior. After the backlash against the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) controversial decision to omit Ireland from the next world cup, widely criticized and ultimately reversed, the game is another chance to remind the ICC that we are still knocking on the door. “The match is already a sell-out for both public and hospitality tickets, while Sky Sports and BBC Radio will be covering it live. In fact, we could have sold out this match a couple of times over. These are all valuable perceptions about the good health and interest in Irish Cricket,” Deutrom explains. “All of these factors create a perception of professionalism and progress about our sport that will have the global game taking notice.” By Rupert Heather

WORD HOW

PAGE 29

MAGIC :

DOES A WORD GET INTO THE DICTIONARY ?

By Glenda Cimino

anguage is a living thing and changes over time. Likewise, dictionaries have to change to keep up with language. A word only gets into the dictionary by being used. Lexicographers– the people who make dictionaries– don’t make words; they find them and record them. They are like the entomologist who goes into the rain forest looking for new species of beetles. Similarly, you can’t invent a word and petition to have it admitted into the dictionary. You can invent a word and use it, of course, and if your word catches on, it might end up in the dictionary some day. Some invented words which have genuinely entered the language are wiki, quark, spoof, and hobbit. At Merriam-Webster Dictionaries, every ten years or so, the wordsmiths work on an updated edition. Hundreds of words (like ‘snollygoster’) are cut, and even more (like ‘phat’) are added. The Oxford Dictionary also re-examines its definitions regularly. The meaning of a word can also change over time. For instance, ‘nice’ once meant stupid or simple, silly, lazy, lecherous, and strange. Telling someone they were ‘nice’ in 1300 was NOT a compliment! In the smaller dictionaries, the main criterion is how widely a word occurs: constraints on space mean that the usefulness of all the words included has to be very carefully considered. It’s usually true to say that a lexicographer will want to include more words than is physically possible. In larger dictionaries, the aim is to be as comprehensive as possible, which means that rare and specialist terms that are not often encountered in everyday English may be included. Words are not left out of dictionaries on the grounds that they aren’t ‘good English’. But if a word is used only in very informal contexts, or only by specific groups of people, or if it is offensive in some way, the entry states this. New words are added if there is enough evidence of their use in print or online sources.

PAGE 30

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

TRIBUTE TO FROM

J ESSICA D ELANEY RIP

R INGSEND & I RISHTOWN YOUTH S ERVICE

t was with great sadness and shock that we learned of the sudden and unfathomable death of Jessica Delaney in March this year. Jessica had been a member of the Young Women’s group with the Ringsend and Irishtown Youth Service for many years. During her time with the youth service she took part in various developmental programmes and activities. This she did with great enthusiasm and a great sense of fun. Jessica loved meeting up with her group

every Monday night, and in spite of the group meeting every week at the same time, she never failed to text to make sure the group was on! If Jessica couldn’t make it, there was always a very good reason! It was a pleasure to have worked with Jessica over the years. Her smile and her infectious laugh will never be forgotten and her memory will live on in the hearts of those who were privileged to have met her.

Taken too soon, the world can be so mean Not ready to say goodbye to you at just seventeen If I had known, the last time I saw you that day I would have thought of something better to say We will always remember, your big personality, your warmth and infectious laugh And we know that one day this pain will pass But for now we will mourn for the beautiful young girl, daughter, sister and friend While you rest with the angels until we see you again

* This message is sent with all our love from here on earth to heaven above We miss you more than words can say but in our hearts you will always stay. Sunshine passes and shadows fall but love and memories outlast them all. Love from Mam, Miley and sister Jasmine x

* Every day I still hear your laugh. I don’t think it will ever fade. You are so special and I miss you so much. Great friend, love you always. Niamh Delaney xx

* One of the bestest friends I ever had. Miss her smile and her laughter. Keep on shining. Love Kellie Whelan x

* Love and miss you so much. Wish you were here so we could go looking for ‘The Script’ again!! I could go on forever about our memories. Such a great friend. I’ll never forget you. Love always. Ashlee-Anne Dunne x

* ‘Baby you’re my ﬁrework’. Still singing just for you. Not the same without you. You’re there though– I know you can hear me. Miss your laugh. Love Jessica Dent x

* Missing you loads, you will never be forgotten. Lots of love, Leanne Kavanagh x

* Miss you loads. Sweet dreams. Forever loved. Catherine Pearse xxxx

* Love and miss you so much Jessica. Not having you around sucks. The time you, Asho and Laura robbed me dog– but because of your big laugh I found you!! You were a great friend. Love ya. Danielle Doolin xx

Heaven’s Prayer

To my dearest family, some things I have to say, But first of all to let you know, that I arrived ok. I’m writing this from heaven, where I dwell with God above, Where there’s no more tears or sadness there is just eternal love. Please do not be unhappy, just because I’m out of sight, Remember I’m with you every morning, noon and night. That day I had to leave you when my life on earth was through, God picked me up and hugged me, and said I welcome you It’s good to have you back again, you were missed while you were gone, As for your dearest family they’ll be here later on. I need you here so badly as part of my big plan, There’s so much that we have to do, to help our mortal man. Then God gave me a list of things he wished me to do, And for most on that list of mine is to watch and care for you. And I will be beside you everyday, week and year, And when you are sad I’m standing there to wipe away your tears. And when you lie in bed at night, the day chores put to flight, God and I are closer to you in the middle of the night. When you think of my life on earth and all the living years Because you’re only human they are bound to bring you tears. But do not be afraid to cry it does relieve the pain, Remember there would be no flowers unless there was some rain. I wish I could tell you all that God has planned, But if I told you, you wouldn’t understand. But one thing is for certain though my life on earth is over, I am closer to you now than I ever was before. And to my family and friends, trust God he knows what’s best. I’m still not far away from you, I’m just beyond the crest. When you’re walking down the street, and you have got me on your mind I’m walking in your footsteps, only half a step behind. And when you feel that gentle breeze or the wind upon your face, That’s me giving you a big hug or just a soft embrace. And when it’s time for you to go, from your body to be free, Remember you’re not going away you’re coming here to me. And I will always love you, from that land way above We’ll be in touch again soon, PS. God sends his LOVE

* Thinking of you always. Love and miss your big huge laugh and happy personality. Hope you’re doing ok up there. A great friend who will never be forgotten. Love you loads, Laura Crombie xx

* Love and miss you so much. Thinking of you every minute. Hope you’re ok up there. Love you always. Amy Byrne x

* Jessica, you were one of a kind. Happy, always laughing and loved by everyone. Still can’t understand or comprehend that you’re gone. Love and miss you and know you’re looking out for all your friends. You’ll never be forgotten. Niamh Barry xxx * Sometimes late at night I lie awake and think about you, cause tomorrow never came. Did you know how much I loved you, your time on earth is through and we must face this world without you. I love you baby, Karl Connolly x

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

PAGE 31

THE POETRY PLACE Smile

Cloudbustin’… ‘and now… the weather’

A mile-wide smile spread to every corner from one small room to an entire building, from an entire building onto a busy street, from a busy street into a bustling community, from a bustling community to a powerful nation, from a powerful nation to another and another. Now watch the whole world shed new beams of light, raise a happier head and with inner joy be fed. Sweep the world with a single smile. A second of your time - so worthwhile! By Genevieve Farrell

Childhood Days Gone are the days when the road was ours, to walk on, to ride on in rain or hail showers. The front door left open - a very common sight: a rarity today. That freedom’s been stolen. A ﬁreside story waiting to be told, gathered round, a mix of young and old. A rush to a roadside bush for some blackberry-picking, then a race home to Mum for a spot of spoon-licking. A riverside picnic on a sunny afternoon, then stroll back home - an hour too soon! The Sunday roast: a valued tradition, a little less common in the world we now live in. By Genevieve Farrell

Swans

There’s a large cloud moving across the land, promising jobs This time, small business is at hand. Take cover! God help us all, as over us it will hover

It’ll be raining fresh employment and free software. Lord, let it rain an inundation of new ideas

Alleluia! Clear the skies of obscuring mists and thick fogs Hail! Pelt down to strike our rosy cheeks

With stinging pain. We are blinded by the terms and ﬁgures Be gone! With those weak rains and weak-ends This is gonna be huge, this cloud computering Has me sputtering, and yet I understand

The predicted precipitation, the promise of heavy rain Though still dreaming of retreats with spas

And midweek short breaks in steam in luxury hotels

Smart and virtually free software

Hands long and elegant; ﬁngers busy writing their own scripts.

Below are excerpts from two Haiku sequences by Maeve O’Sullivan

Lord, let it lash, invest the cash

A soft landing, Thank God, and no setbacks God, can we all get back to normal again?

Cloud computing. Plug in everyone, there for the taking Free software to run our dreams, not of my making

I’m making like I understand. It’s actually happening Down here on the ground, being blown around

This cloud is in the sky, going to shower us with multi-media links Above our heads, following us ‘round. Cloud computing’s making me hungry

My stomach’s mound is aching for it to come

About time. Counting on it somehow. Sombre, exciting sky.

Schlepping rods and tackle along mossy stones and ribboned lanes Lolloping through gawky grasses we swayed awkwardly in the rain

‘From dust you came, and unto dust you shall return’

By Margaret Zheng

Features ﬁne and strong eyes bright, soul old.

By Maeve O’Sullivan

A thick slab of cake, lonely, hits the plate

Childish thoughts move along with the rain Heaven’s cloths become so very worn while the swan turned white is beauty is beauty unadorned

Her voice is just right: good tone quality dark and low, like the hair.

Lord, let the cloud come our way, bearing

Shrouded semblance of threadbare skies as soft lilting rain began its journey down making drunk those sideway bushes tarnished by summer sun

Bog cotton eyes followed us around rusty stones and scraggly reeds at play Stopping us in our clamber to see such beauty in our way

She learns in stages that she is his type cast as lover, partner maybe. He woos her with square meals, little songs and the hint of deft efﬂeurage.

And yet if I could…

A changed forecast. Seen it all before. Hope!

Though youth had hardly donned its patches it revered to see such creatures bright Spangly water glistened on orange beaks as we stood betwixt clouds of tufty white

Audition

Minding me of the grave, my shroud instead.

Plug into your ancestors, a wise man once said. Pray for them, remembering

Recalled by local depression. Cloudbusting, claps of ominous Thunder, ﬂashes of lightning outside my door

Ancient rain, falling down; Adobe walls, washed away.

Mesmerising me. It’s coming to me through cash quizzes, Sky Forecasts, and information in the day To the Father I pray.

Can’t stand being made miserable this way. By Nessa Jennings

As always, we welcome contributions to The Poetry Place, which can be sent to the ‘NewsFour’ ofﬁces at Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4, or by email to newsfour@gmail.com

Father’s Day Haiku my new dress swirling across the ballroom danceﬂoor – waltzing with father father gardening seen from an upstairs window – bald patch below the cardiograph on the bedside locker – a complete crossword ﬂying on Fathers’ Day the two chimneys, squatting over Dublin Bay

Father’s Death Day father’s death day after hours of phone calls soft November rain a week since his death shaking the heavy duvet into its cover graduation night wiping the dirt from his grave off my good black boots midnight arrives– ringing in the ﬁrst fatherless year

PAGE 32

Ground Zero 360

By Joe McKenna

n January 2001 Dublin photographer Nicola McLean met Paul McCormack. That year was to change their lives, and the world, forever. Paul and Nicola developed their relationship and the single biggest man-made disaster in recent history was to befall what was then their home, New York City. On September 11th 2001 both Paul– a member of the NYPD and Commanding Officer of the 41st Precinct ‘Fort Apache’– and Nicola– a photographer for New York based newspaper the ‘Irish Voice’ and the ‘Irish Times’– were plunged along with millions of New York residents, including myself, into an unscripted nightmare that is now simply known as 9/11. In the next few weeks, Nicola and Paul will unveil what is destined to be a landmark exhibition to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Paul was kind enough to speak with NewsFour about the upcoming exhibition in the National Museum of Ireland, the RDS and the Field Museum in Chicago. “We wanted to do it in

F RANCE

By Glenda Cimino

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

rance, with some of the biggest natural gas reserves in Europe, has just become the ﬁrst country in the world to put an outright ban on Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking). Some feel that the ban does not go far enough, as it contains loopholes that allow the exploitation of oil shale deposits by other means. France’s bill to ban fracking, but not shale gas exploration itself, came after months of protests by environmental activists concerned that the process contaminates drinking water. Earlier this year, France’s government, like Ireland’s, had granted energy giants exploration permits for work without public consultation. Hydraulic Fracturing involves injecting water and sand mixed with a cocktail of poisonous chemicals, dangerous to human health and polluting drinking water, deep into underground oil shale depos-

America, and at first we wanted to do Chicago. How the idea came about to open it in Dublin was that Nicola wanted to move our family back here and I was coming close to the end of my career. So when I had my retirement party there were a lot of Gardaí that I befriended from when I was president of the NYPD Gaelic Football Club. People asked me what I was going to do and I told them about the exhibition and straight away someone said ‘Why not do it in Dublin?’ I thought it was a great idea. “We wound up having a meeting with Minister Hanafin at the time and that was really positive. What with the 10th

anniversary coming up, it just took off and we wound up getting in touch with Pat Wallace at the National Museum of Ireland. They were very gracious in giving us the space at Collin’s Barracks, where we open on August 17th. At the same time, the US Ambassador Dan Rooney contacted us. The US Embassy had organised a special 10th anniversary commemoration on Sunday September 11th and we were asked if we could show some of Nicola’s work there. Of course, we were honoured and the people at the RDS decided that one day wasn’t enough and they wanted to run longer. So the exhibition

BANS ‘ FRACKING ’

its, to force out hidden reserves of natural gas that cannot be extracted any other way. Developed by companies like Halliburton (implicated in the BP oil ‘spill’ in the Gulf of Mexico), fracking has dramatically increased estimates of the amount of ‘recoverable’ natural gas worldwide. But this short-term resource will still run out, while the long-term environmental price will be too high. Most energy companies in the US don’t disclose what chemicals they use while fracking. Widely used compounds include benzene, and more than sixty other chemicals known to cause cancer or other serious health problems. Fracking also frees underground deposits of methane gas that can seep into groundwater or escape into the air. In some parts of the US where fracking is widespread, its release of methane into the water means that people can turn on their kitchen taps and set their water alight with a match, pictured above, as shown in the documentary Gasland.

–

will run from September 6th through September.” The exhibition promises to give people an intimate look at the devastation that occurred on 9/11 as the majority of Nicola’s photographs have never been released and will eventually take up permanent residence in the official 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero: a $300 million dollar project. Coupled with an astonishing array of artefacts that were salvaged from the ruins, this exhibition is essential for anyone interested in history. “We have a large sampling of Nicola’s work, which will also be available in a charitable book that we will release to correspond with the opening. We have a twisted piece of I-beam, an American flag that flew over Ground Zero, a cross

WILL

The state of New Jersey has implemented the ﬁrst state-wide legislative ban on fracking, while other states and local governments are now looking to stronger regulations to control the damage from natural gas extraction. In Texas, companies have ﬁnally been required to publicly disclose a list of chemicals they use during the fracking process, making it easier for environmental groups and nearby communities to demonstrate the risk to local water sup-

I RELAND

that was cut out of the steel as well as the police audio that was never before released. Two of the most poignant things are the last transmission from Moira Smith, who was the only female member of the NYPD to perish that day, and 150 ‘missing’ posters that are truly heartbreaking. I’m unbelievably proud to be associated with the exhibition. It’s very powerful stuff.” Further information can be found at: www.groundzero360. org From top left, clockwise: Abandoned shoes on Wall Street; Rescue and recovery operations; remembrance beams; Captain Paul McCormac NYPD.

FOLLOW ?

plies. But the gas industry is pressuring countries with large natural gas deposits, from South Africa to Canada, to allow fracking. The battle to protect human and animal health and the environment continues. Irish Petition Against the Frackers Ban Fracking Ireland is circulating a petition calling on the Irish Government to ban fracking here. At present in Ireland there is no

regulation in existence that covers this extraction method, and there has been no research published into the potential consequences of such activity here, although there is plenty of evidence of deadly harm elsewhere. At present, the government has already granted a number of oil and gas companies exploratory licences for fracking in the Lough Allen and Clare Basin Regions– an area which includes twelve counties: Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Clare, Limerick, Cork, Kerry and Fermanagh. If hydraulic fracturing is allowed, the aftermath may be an irreversible disaster, contaminating forever the water table and Ireland’s most extensive and important river and lake network. For more information, see http://what-the-frack.org/ http://nofrackingireland.wordpress.com/ http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/ban-hydraulic-fracturing-fornatural...

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

‘O H ,

OH , OH IT ’ S MAGIC …’

Joe McKenna

hen Ringsend man John Redmond gave his seven year old son Paul a magic set, it was primarily to keep the youngster from getting himself into trouble. John could not have foreseen the impact that gift would have on his son’s life. “I don’t think my dad knew that by giving me the magic set it would lead me into a different type of mischief. I’ve been doing tricks and learning tricks every day since then. It really did change my life. Thankfully, he saw my love for it and when I turned 21 he helped me to get kitted out so I could turn it into a proper business.” Since the age of 16 Paul Redmond has been plying his trade as a working magician. For the past 25 years Paul the Magician has travelled across the country entertaining children at everything

from birthday parties to community festivals. Given his love and passion for the craft, he’s barely had a day off, but his dedication to magic has presented him with many great experiences. “When I started to take it seriously I did a business start-up course. By chance, I happened to run into Joe Duffy and through that I wound up doing tricks at the 50th anniversary of Gay Byrne’s holy communion live on radio. In 1988 I became a member of the Irish Magic Circle and the year after (1989) I had a chance meeting with Ian Dempsey at the telethon where I was donating money that I’d raised by doing shows around Ringsend. I wound up getting on TV that night and a week later I got a phone call to do ‘The Den’. I ended up being resident magician on ‘The Den’ for over four years. It was brilliant.” Although Paul’s gift is predomi-

nantly with magic, he goes to great lengths to provide an overall entertainment experience that will cater for everyone. “I constantly try and introduce new things to the show. If I’m doing a party with anything from 10 children to over a 100 I try and give them as much as I can. I started with just the tricks, and then I started doing balloon animals, then puppets and now even some music. “I always aim to bring a real party atmosphere with me when I go to work. I try to get down to the level of children and make the show about them. I get them to pull my rabbit Snowy from the hat, so it’s their magic trick then; their experience. Actually, once they see Snowy I pretty much go out the window. They always remember his name, they don’t always remember mine. But that’s an important part of the act for me.” Although not raised in Ringsend, Paul has always felt a strong connection with his father’s roots and spends a great deal of his time in the area. “I’ve always had a strong connection with Ringsend. I’ve always done shows around here, I have family here and as a place it’s very much part of me. It’s magic.” Paul will be playing a run of free shows in Dundrum Town Centre on August 7th,13th & 20th at 1:30pm. Paul The Magician can be contacted for bookings and mid week offers through www.paulthemagician.ie and paul@aceevents.ie

The Dublin Super Cup

he cream of European football came to Dublin 4 recently. Italian giants Inter Milan joined Manchester City, Celtic and an Airtricity League All-star XI to compete in the inaugural Dublin Super Cup at the Aviva stadium over the weekend of July 30th. Recently the Aviva hosted a similar tournament with the Carling Nations Cup and the interest from the public was miniscule. But given the caliber of the teams on show this time, people came in their thousands. What with Celtic having such a large Irish following, it was only natural that fans in green and white outnumbered supporters in any other color. And as always they brought with them a party atmosphere which was unaffected as their team only managed to claim second spot behind Manchester City who beat Inter Milan 3-0 in the final game to become the first club to lift the trophy. The highlight for many was Celtic v Inter Milan, which took place on the Saturday. Thousands of Celtic fans flooded the Aviva to see the two meet in what they hoped would be a re-enactment of the famous 1967 European Cup win, when Celtic became the first British and first non-Latin team to win the trophy, beating Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon. Unfortunately there was to be no repeat. Inter Milan ran out strong winners beating Celtic 2-0, but given the friendly nature of the tournament no one was too upset. As pre season tournaments go, this one seems to have a future. If the Aviva can keep attracting stars such as Samuel Eto’o, Wesley Sneijder, Dejan Stankovic and Carlos Tevez, then the paying public will show up for the cup. By Joe McKenna

PAGE 33

THE CULINARY CORNER

Pork Satay Kebabs By Gemma Byrne

BBQ season is in full swing so here’s a marinade and a dressing recipe to put on your next al fresco menu. Pork Satay Kebabs Ingredients: 400g pork loin– cut into strips 1 yellow pepper– cut into squares 1 orange pepper– cut into squares Marinade: 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (crunchy or smooth) 2 teaspoons of fresh ginger, very finely chopped 2 big cloves of garlic, finely chopped 1 red chilli, finely chopped 2 tablespoons of white wine or cider vinegar 2 tablespoons of soy sauce 1 tablespoon of brown sugar 1 teaspoon of ground coriander 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander (Use the stalks as well as the leaves, they’re full of flavour) Method: Combine all the marinade ingredients. Coat the pork in the marinade and leave for 2 – 4 hours in the fridge. Soak 6 – 8 BBQ skewers in water (to prevent burning while cooking). Thread alternate pork and pepper pieces onto the skewers. (This amount made 8 generous skewers for me). Cook on a BBQ making sure the meat is thoroughly cooked through. If you get rained-off you can cook them under a medium/ hot grill for 8– 10 mins. Garnish with sprigs of fresh coriander. This marinade also works really well with chicken. Honey, Mustard and Lemon Dressing Ingredients: 6 tablespoons good quality olive oil 2 or 3 tablespoons of lemon juice (start with 2 and add more if the dressing needs more zing) 1 heaped teaspoon of wholegrain mustard 1 heaped teaspoon of honey Salt Pepper Method: Put all the ingredients into a clean jam jar. Put the lid on tightly and give it a vigorous shake. Taste and adjust lemon juice and seasoning as necessary. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to a week. This dressing is a good all-rounder but you can use the basic principle (three parts oil to one part acid) to create your own combinations. Photo by Louise Doyle

PAGE 34

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

Game review - L.A. Noire

By Jason McDonnell L.A. Noire is a really good game where you investigate crimes. You do this by collecting evidence at the crime scenes and questioning witnesses and suspects. While being questioned, people often lie to you. The only way you can tell when somebody is lying to you is by ‘using your gut’– i.e. you watch their facial expressions, listen to the tone of their voice and watch their body language. The game is set amid the post-war boom of Hollywood’s Golden Age. You are Cole Phelps, an LAPD detective. Corruption is rampant, the drug trade is exploding and murder rates are at an all-time high. Phelps must unravel the truth behind a string of arson attacks, racketeering conspiracies and brutal murders, battling the L.A. underworld and even members of his own department to uncover a secret that could shake the city. There are lots of famous actors in the game, including several from the hit TV show ‘Mad Men’. The game also has appearances from well-known Ringsend actor Andrew Connolly, who does the voice of LAPD Homicide Capt. James Donnelly. I’d recommend this game, as the graphics are stunning and the game play is addictive. The game took ﬁve years of collaboration between Rockstar Games and Australian developer Team Bondi and, while there’s a hint of Grand Theft Auto within ‘L.A. Noire’, this time the gun is ﬁrmly in the hands of the law.

JOHN CLEESE’S ALIMONY TOUR

By Glenda Cimino

n my way to Glastonbury I spent a night in Bath, and was delighted to ﬁnd that Monty Python star John Cleese was performing live that night in their Theatre Royale, his last stop on his ﬁrst ever stand-up tour of the UK. I went straight from the bus to the theatre, with about ten minutes to spare, and managed to get a late availability ticket for the packedout performance. In the souvenir programme, with photos of his parents and himself as a child from the family albums, Cleese describes the night as “an evening of well-honed anecdotes,

psychoanalytical tit-bits, details of recent surgical procedures, and unprovoked attacks on former colleagues, especially Michael Palin.” He explained that what had him on the stand-up circuit at the advanced age of 71 was the divorce settlement, an unbelievable £20 million in alimony, that he owes his third wife, Alyce Faye Eichelberger, pictured above, whom he married in 1992 and divorced in 2008. To illustrate his talk, he used projected photos, including one of his ex-wife at an ATM, taking out his money. He said that his lawyer had said “the amount would have been much more, had she actually ever contributed anything to the relationship.” He calls her a “cross

between Bluebeard and Heather Mills” and likens her attorney to an Orc from Lord of the Rings. He also flashes on the screen items he could have bought for £20 million, including “eight and a half Pamela Andersons.” Cleese also retraces his life, in photos, from an upbringing in the boring WestonSuper-Mare to his lucky role in the Footlights Revue, his invitation to be on the ‘Frost Report’, and the lucky start of Monty Python. He said that ‘Fawlty Towers’, the hilarious comedy he wrote with his first wife Connie Booth, was inspired by a real hotelier in Torquay. The place was so awful that the rest of the Pythons left after the first night, but he and Connie saw the comic potential and stayed to gather material, resulting in the TV series. Cleese also showed and commented on his favourite Python clips, like the fish-slapping dance. Cleese is still bright and funny, a hero of the comedy genre, whose work changed the face of British comedy forever. Former Python Terry Gilliam has allegedly warned John not to marry his current girlfriend, Jennifer Wade, 37 years younger. “John has been married already three times and each time to the same woman,” he said. “They always seem to be blonde, American; the only difference is that each time they get younger and younger.” At least, Cleese will be able to see the funny side of whatever happens.

NewsFour invites you to take part in our third

Short story competition There will be three prizes:

1st €100, 2nd €50 and 3rd €30 Winning entries will be published in NewsFour and on our website Entries will be accepted that have not previously been broadcast or published and they must be no more than 1,000 words in length. One entry only per person Independent judge to be announced. Please attach your name, address and telephone number on a separate sheet and send your entry to Short Story Competition, NewsFour, RICC, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4 or by email as an attachment to newsfour@gmail.com with Short Story in the subject line. The closing date for entries is 31st August Good luck, Ann Ingle

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

THE SAFE HOME PROGRAMME

stay off the drink for a week or two, go home with £500 in their pocket, buying rounds and wearing suits. Everyone would say “isn’t he doing great.” Yet they lived in squalor in London. There were times when I was very embarrassed looking

around the city, seeing how a lot of the Irish were living and the way they carried on. It was so sad. But I could understand their longing. I also missed the Irish culture, the friendliness. You could drop down dead in the street in England and people would just step over you and keep on walking. You didn’t know your neighbours and if you did you were extremely lucky. I used to go home all the time myself. I had two sisters and a brother. One of my sisters was in a very bad marriage and I helped raise her six children. I sent money home or I would bring so much food, clothes and household accessories home with me in the car. I was very good at my job and I ended up working in Hong Kong and Taiwan but I returned and settled in London, working in the rag trade. A lot of us Irish socialised. We stuck together. I decided to come home about three years back when I was 63. The company I was involved with closed down. The chance of me getting a job at my age with my experience… nobody would want to pay the salary that I would expect. So I went down to the Irish Centre in Camden Town and they told me about the Safe Home Programme. I thought it sounded absolutely fantastic, as I would get help to move home to Ireland. And, much to my delight, I was offered a place

home on the programme. They interviewed me in London to make sure that I knew exactly what was involved, that I would have to give up the flat I had lived in for all these years. But I was living on my own and there was nothing really keeping me there. My family were all in Ireland. So Safe Home put me on a waiting list. And while I was on that waiting list they sent me their newsletter every month. And that, for me, was hope. It was full of stories of people like me who had dreamt of coming home and who had done it. They offered me another place first before the one I settled in but I wasn’t comfortable taking it. I thought that would have a black mark against my name but they put me at ease. They said if it wasn’t for me, it wasn’t for me. Soon after, they set me up with a little bungalow out here in Artane. It was tough to say goodbye to the flat I had lived in for nearly 20 years and to the possessions I couldn’t take with me. When they came to collect my furniture I felt a wrench on my heart. I had done so much with the property which people always found unusual because I didn’t own it. But it was my home. But I have a lot of friends in Ireland, and family, so I didn’t find it that difficult to settle back in. The grass is not greener on the other side… it’s pretty much the same.

for instance, of white space, and including what’s hot and what’s not in the world of newspaper styles. Then we put on earplugs and toured the section of the plant where the printing takes place. The equipment is very modern, with speedy digitalised printing machines and electronic signs which show the count as pages are printed and collated and literally fly off the presses. Next, we visited an office where a staff member, Trina, showed us the first stage, in

which copy and photos are checked and machines transfer the images and text we send from our computer to metal plates (which are later recycled). They also do web publishing. By printing with Datascope, NewsFour does its bit to help support Irish jobs and Irish industry. A welcome close to the visit was ﬁnding delicious soup and sandwiches courtesy of Datascope, in the lovely Kilcannon restaurant, opened in 2005 by President Mary McAleese. The restaurant, hidden away

behind the Kilcannon Garden Centre (opened in 1997), trains people interested in working in catering, and was a surprise to ﬁnd at the heart of a busy industrial estate. Another surprise was when Karen spotted Paul McGrath and asked him to pose with our group. The visit gave us food for thought, too, and some of the innovations we saw may ﬁnd their way into NewsFour in future.

BRINGING IRISH EMIGRANTS HOME

By Caomhan Keane

he Safe-Home Programme, a national organisation that seeks to assist older Irish-born emigrants return to their home town, was set up as a pilot project in January 2000 to test the belief that if they could be given minimal support, a small but significant number of older emigrants would want to come back to the country of their birth. In excess of 2,000 responses were received. One of the successful applicants, Niall McEvoy, tells us in his own words, about his experience. The year was 1959 and as is often the case, I was involved with a woman. I had trained as a tailor and we were getting pennies for the work we were doing here. We decided we would do better in the UK, so it was financial reasons that caused us to move to London. While the opportunities were far better in the city, I was sad to leave and, at first, I thought I had made a massive mistake. Settling in London was very difficult. We couldn’t find accommodation. All the signs read. ‘No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish.’ I couldn’t believe this.

A FOR

NEW LOOK

N EWS F OUR ?

By Glenda Cimino

We were branded as drunks because of our nationality. But, as I was quick to discover, a lot of the Irish lived up to this reputation. They got their money on Friday and by Monday they were skint and looking for subs from their bosses. Occasionally, they would

PAGE 35

n June 22 last, the entire NewsFour team, along with Ann Ingle, the founding editor, and Sandymount Community Services Board member, Councillor Gerry Ashe, went on a day trip to Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. The purpose of the trip was to meet with David Walsh of Datascope, the printers of NewsFour, to see at ﬁrst hand where and how our newspaper is printed, and to discuss affordable possibilities for improving the look of the paper. Datascope is located in the Enniscorthy Business Park, on the old Dublin Road about 5 kilometres from Enniscorthy town cen-

tre. Datascope was founded in 1990. They produce newspapers for many established publishers, including over 30 such publications for independent publishers like NewsFour, most weekly, monthly, or bimonthly. They also specialize in helping start-up publications, offering guidance and technical help to bring any publication from concept to printed newspaper. David welcomed us warmly and showed us some of the many publications, in all different formats, which they print for Irish and international newspapers and magazines. We examined several newspapers, studying the different grades of paper, page sizes, formats, type fonts, and layouts available, considering the effect,

Above: The gang from NewsFour with Paul McGrath.

PAGE 36

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

IRISH GLASS BOTTLE

COMPANY TEAM

Pictured above is the I.G.B. Company Team from the post-war years.

The backup group is Nicholas Warren, Michael Barry, Mick Scanlon and Jimmy Smith. The team members are: Tom Egan, Christy Flood, John Duff, Mick O’Neill, James Clark, John Kirwin, Gem Cleary, Paddy McDonagh, John Cassan John Behan, Kevin Quinn, Seamus Gregg, Paddy Scanlon, Joe Morrisey, Danny Cleary.

Thomas Behan giving Lee a haircut at his recently opened D4 Barbers on Irishtown Road.

Pembrokre Cricket Club were tickled pink to raise funds for cancer research on August 6th at Leinster Ladies’ Final Day. Pictured above, from left, rear: Craig Senior, Rupert Heather, Amanda Dunlop. Middle: PCC President Billy Gallagher, Janice Walsh, Johnny Bell. To the front are members of North Kildare Ladies’ Seconds.

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

P ICTURE

PAGE 37

ROUNDUP

Bloomsday Breakfast in St. Andrew’s Resource Centre, Pearse Street Paddy McCartan is pictured with Maureen Robinson and Lily Cunningham.

Pictured at the recent Teddy Bear’s Breakfast were Rory O’Donnell, his dad Gavin, Mum Beibhinn and big brother Andrew. The event was hosted by the Fair Play Café for the children of the Anchorage Playgroup. All the children dressed in their pjs and slippers and brought their favourite teddy for a dream breakfast.

Will the real Lar Dunne please stand up! Well, here they both are.

Dublin Ladies Team Win the First Waterways Ireland Inter-Counties Sailing Championship Thirteen teams battled it out for the Waterways Ireland Inter-Counties Sailing Championship in Dublin’s Docklands recently. The Dublin ladies team with ace helm Laura Dillon and her crew of Clare Hogan, Claudine Murphy, Audrey Adamson and Karena Knaggs beat the best of the county teams from Wexford, Mayo, Donegal, Clare, Limerick, Offaly, Down, Wicklow and Galway to take the title.

Queen of the Century celebrates 100 years Mary Anne Farrell was born in Moss Street in April 1911, known affectionately to her friends and family as ‘Mates’. She is pictured above with her daughters Nora, Betty and some friends. A wonderful party was held at Molyneau Nursing Home in Leeson Street to celebrate her 100 years.

St Bridget’s National School, Haddington Road came ﬁrst in the recent Green Flag competition. Pictured are, from left, back: Rachel Phelan, Emma Doyle, Nina Shannon Roe, Emma O’Flaherty, Minister Ruairi Quinn, Annemarie Hogan, Principal, Corey Cumisky and Ina Saunders, teacher. Front: Aya Parker, Matthew Tilson, Annamarie Albui and Dida Condria.

PAGE 38

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

ENTERTAINMENT ……

T HE

LOVELY J ONES

CAOMHAN KEANE

D URANG D URANG

By Caomhan Keane

mentally-challenged detectives and sex-mad nurses as well as bitter scribes, repressed (and not so repressed) homosexuals and unknowingly infuriating funeral guests, it satirized American theatrical standards that have bled into everyday entertainment. Each scene was prefaced by its title, waved about by members of the cast with great gusto and greater smiles as if they were bikini-clad babes at the interval of a boxing match. While none of the scenes were in any way naturalistic, director Ronan Phelan managed to reign in the performances so that they rarely went so over the top that they became knowingly demented and hence not credible. Ross and O’Dea threw themselves into their respective roles in a way that made them undistinguishable from each other, while also carrying hints of the real-life characters you just know Durang based them on and pulled a solid show up to being a side-splitting one. Special mention must also go to Anne Gill, who played admirably in two parts she was too young for before almost (but not quite) stealing the show with a brilliant Medea parody.

ost people lurching towards the big 30 tend to lock themselves away from the world, begging God to stop the sands of time and, failing that, trying to orchestrate a Faustian pact involving a surgical knife and a bucket of Oil of Olay. Not Cian O’Brien, producer with the Rough Magic Theatre Company. He decided to celebrate his descent into crow’s feet and milestone-induced responsibility by applying nipple tassels and a brand new persona, that of Mangina Jones, winner of the 2011 Alternative Miss Ireland contest. “It was the fulfillment of a personal ambition,” he says. “It was not a ‘transvestite’ thing. I’ve always kind of done lip-syncing or that kind of perurang Durang, a series Ross and Donnacha O’Dea (last formance for friends and family but I’ve never really performed per se.” Which makes his accomplishment on the Olympia stage all the more asof short, sassy, screwball seen between those four walls in tounding. Threading a tale of heartache throughout her two numbers, Mancomedies by the titular Doug Wright’s one man show ‘I gina ripped up the stage to Pat Benatar’s ‘Love is a Battlefield’ thrusting her playwright (first name Christo- Am My Own Wife’) the show was pain at being dumped into the hearts and souls of an audience who stood in pher) recently ran at the Pearse a triumph almost wholly due to sisterly solidarity with her battered heart. Returning to the stage later that evening, Mangina’s declaration of sur- Centre. The debut production from these two emerging performers. Featuring dried-up southern vival, a full throttle rendition of ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ struck a Camille Ross’s production company Brazen Tales and co-starring belles, psychopathic housewives, chord with the already revved up crowd, who were brought to their feet and almost out of their minds in an astonishingly committed performance, that host and drag legend Panti would go on to describe as “spiritual” (once the five-minute standing ovation quietened to a roar). “I have no recollection of the performances whatsoever,” he says. “All I remember was coming off stage after ‘River Deep’, in those tiny French pants, bent over double with a photographer in my face. I don’t remember anything else, the crown going on, nothing.” Most of the other performers had massive entourages and some extravagant costumes and sets. “I remember arriving and I was on my own and a heightened sense of panic set in. But then Roise Goan (Festival Director of ABSOLUT Fringe) and Louise White (actress) who were helping him with his show arrived with his make-up artist Leonard and a bottle of Champagne and it spiraled from there.” ADELE– 21 CHRISTINA AGUILERA - Bionic Some people are born with the gift of the gab. LADY GAGA– Born This Way Lock up your closets– the Gaga conglomerate is While not the musical masterpiece it promised to Dear God, one shudders to think what Adele will Cian has the gift of lip synchronisation, twisting and turning his face with joyful abandon on the move and it won’t stop until it has milked write about when she hits 40. Hopefully ‘the change’ be when the list of collaborators was released (MIA, as the hysterical heartache of yesteryear’s di- every last penny out of the pink cash cow. It’s not will add a little kink, a little crazy to her safe, soul- Ladytron, Goldfrapp, Sia, Santigold), Bionic is a half as terrible as the appalling lead singles Born successful stab at fusing Aguilera’s pop sensibilities vas pumped through the sound system. “It’s an This Way and Judas, would have you believe it less bawling. through an electronic socket that only misfires when innate talent. It’s not something I ever trained would be but there is nothing on here that justifies 21, her follow up to her debut 19, is perfect schoolin.” What makes it work, though, is how fully her recent crowning as Queen of Pop by ‘Rolling run music. Her producers have crafted an album that she dabbles in the mediocre euro pop her adversary Lady Gaga has cocked her leg all over. A terrifically he gives himself to the performance. The as- Stone’. won’t sound amiss in a beauty spa, which is not fun record that really shouldn’t be taken too seritonishing commitment he brings to Mangina The originality she strives for in her titillating quite the sound one would want to project on an al- ously, it’s full of cheeky chants, bouncing beats and makes you feel like you are in the presence of aesthetic is sadly lacking in her sophomore album bum about the horrid, life-defining relationship. tongue-in-cheek lyrics that show Aguilera is in tune something truly monumental, worthy of her which doesn’t contain a single track that can compete It’s safe, bloodless and highlighted by its open- with how she is viewed. with her catchy-as-hell previous efforts; Telephone, now-monarchistic title. Aguilera’s collaborations have taken her in some ing troika of tracks and closing track Someone Like Is Mangina wholly invented or a piece of Bad Romance or Poker Face. I’m sure tracks like You. But it lacks the musical dexterity of early Tina delightful directions. The wonderful Monday MornAmericano, Highway Unicorn and Bad Kids will him that needed to be exorcised through pering (written by Sam Endicott of the Bravery and formance? “I think there are elements of me in have some kitsch appeal when performed live and Turner, the rawness of an Etta James (who clearly produced by Switch) has an old-school funk vibe, Mangina, though I’m not femininely shaped, accompanied by some visual gimmick, but standing influenced her) and an ability to turn heartache into Birds of Prey is a glacial slab of icy electronic. BobI’m a big, hairy guy and I am embracing that in alone they stick to a cluttered, tired formula, all buzz something other than her, for the most part, dull blehead and WooHoo see her thread dance hall water guitars, ‘club’ beats and soulless vocals. ‘Keane’ with gusto torch songs. the name and in the look.” while the LeTigre session tracks My Girls and I Hate Worse yet is when she straps herself to a crucifix Adele seems like a lovely girl, a grounded and Boys recover from not quite reaching their potential So what does the future have for Mangina? and self-flagellates for all her ‘little monsters’. Her “Combating world peace, saving animals and trite and tired attacks on religion, her overly simplis- sound one too. Is she capable of venturing beneath but are quite charming punk funk. Her troika of Sia all the other things that beauty queens should tic message of acceptance that never really tackles the surface of her pain and excavating something re- penned ballads see her in more typical Aguilera tersay,” he says. “I look forward to opening shop- the challenges that arise from being different expose ally soul-shattering? Something that illuminates the ritory while Elastic Love is the catchiest hook MIA ping centres in Tralee.” her as a false prophet and are utterly joyless. has penned since Paper Planes. horrors of the heart? By the sounds of this, no.

Albums • Albums • Albums • Albums • Albums • Albums • Albums

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

H OOPY

n 1901 Shamrock Rovers were formed in the District where Ringsend and Irishtown meet. The club name is taken from Shamrock Avenue, where they held their second meeting. In the ﬁrst two years Shamrock Rovers played only exhibition games, but success was just around the corner when in the season 1904/ 1905 they beat Dundalk 2-1 at Dalymount Park in the Leinster Junior Cup. The following year they joined the Leinster Junior League, winning the title and retaining the Junior Cup. The club decided it was time to enter the Leinster Senior League in 1906, but struggled to ﬁeld a team and when they failed to secure a private ground they were forced to pull out of football. In 1914 the club was revived. They lifted the Junior League title and also beat Derry Swifts to lift the All Ireland IFA Junior Cup. Soon their home at Ringsend

PAGE 39

DAYS

Park became unavailable and with the onset of the Great War the club was once again forced to play only exhibition games until 1920, when they rejoined the Leinster Senior League, winning it at the ﬁrst go and scoring a record 77 goals, suffering only 1 defeat. In 1921 the club secured a private ground at Windy Arbour having used Shelbourne Park for the previous 6 years. In 1922 they joined the League of Ireland and have enjoyed unbroken membership since. By 1924 the team played out of Milltown Road and the famous Four Fs; Fullam, Flood, Fagan and Farrell were running riot in the league. A most satisfying moment was defeating local rivals Shelbourne 2-1 at Dalymount Park to lift the 1924/ 1925 FAI Cup. 1926 saw the club move their home once more, but this time they relocated to just behind their Milltown home to Glenmalure Park, where crowds of

Event Listing ··· by Rupert Heather FESTIVALS:

Northside Music Festival, 01-18 Aug http://www.dublincity.ie

International Tango Festival 18-21 Aug http://www. tangofever.net/festival.html National Heritage Week- Free- 20-28 Aug http://www. heritageweek.ie Dublin Bay Taste and Music Festival 26-28 Aug http:// www.dunlaoghaire.ie/dublin-bay-taste-music-festival

Kilmainham Arts Festival 26-28 Aug http://www. facebook.com/pages/Kilmainham-Arts-Festival/138086369606244 Dublin Festival of Fashion 08-11 Sept http://www.dff. ie

DLR Book Festival -Mountains to the Sea 01-11 Sept http://www.mountainstosea.ie Bray Summer Fest 2011 until 13 Aug http://www.bray-

up to 30,000 would pack in for home games. It was in 1927 that the team adopted the now famous ‘Hoops’, having previously played in green and white stripes. From 1929 Rovers won the FAI Cup a remarkable 5 times in a row, which took them into the 1930s, an era that saw players such as David ‘Babby’ Byrne, William ‘Sacky’ Glen, Dinny Doyle and Charlie Jordan become household names. The 30s brought limited success for Rovers. But in 1937 former player Jimmy Dunne returned from Southampton to take up the role of player/manager. Dunne lead the team to their ﬁfth and sixth league titles in his ﬁrst 2 years and won the club’s eighth FAI Cup, beating Sligo 3-0 at Dalymount Park. In the 40s Rovers managed to rack up 3 FAI Cup wins in 1944, 1945 and 1948. One man involved in that era was to play a prominent role in the club’s his-

tory: Paddy Coad. The untimely death of Jimmy Dunne in 1949 saw Coad reluctantly take over Dunne’s role. Filling the team with young talent, Coad went on to win the FAI Cup in 1954 and 2 league titles in seasons 1956/1957 & 1958/1959 with what most deem to be the greatest Hoops team of all time. Coad’s tenure saw Rovers come up against Manchester United’s famous ‘Busby Babes’ in the preliminary round of the European Cup. The superior Busby Babes walked over Rovers 6-0 at Dalymount Park but they managed to ﬁght their way to a 3-2 win in the return leg. At the end of the decade the team known as ‘Coad’s Colts’ began to break up and Sean Thomas had the arduous task of rebuilding the team in 1963/1964. Thomas won league and cup double with style, but quit in a dispute with the owners. Regardless, the team went on to claim 6 cups in a row, breaking the club record and saw the high and mighty of European football visit during the 60s. OGC Nice, Valencia, Rapid Vienna, Real Zaragoza, Bayern Munich and Schalke 04 all came to face the Hoops in Dublin. The 70s were unkind to Rovers and they managed only one League Cup win and the crowds began to dwindle. But in 1978 the arrival of former Leeds great Johnny Giles in a player/manager role saw attendances rise. Giles was to have limited success, securing only three trophies between 78 & 82. The 80s saw Dundalk manager Jim McLaughlin take over and put together a team that won 4 league titles in a row. But in 1987 the unthinkable happened. The Rovers ground was to be sold for

summerfest.com

Dublin Absolut Fringe 2011 Performing Arts and Music 10-25 Sept http://www.fringefest.com THEATRE:

Bedbound by Enda Walsh, New Theatre 8-10 Aug http:// www.thenewtheatre.com/tnt_php/scripts/page/home.php The Living Room, Outlandish Theatre Company 15-21 Aug, Pearse Centre. http://www.theirelandinstitute.com

Message of Peace The Life of John Boyle O’Reilly Pearse Centre Ph: 6704644 25 Aug http://www.theirelandinstitute.com

It Only Ever Happens In The Movies - National Youth Theatre, Abbey, 22-27 Aug http://www.abbeytheatre.ie Curse Of The Starving Class by Sam Shepard Abbey 23 Aug to 10 Sept http://www.abbeytheatre.ie Hay Fever by Noel Coward Gate Theatre to 24 Sept http://www.gatetheatre.ie

Grease Musical Grand Canal Theatre 09-27 Aug http:// www.grandcanaltheatre.ie

development and fans chose to boycott their new home at Tolka Park. By 1990, John McNamara had led a fan-based consortium and bought over the club, securing the Royal Dublin Showgrounds as a venue, but that lasted only until 1996 when McNamara sold out. In that time the club secured just one league title. The move to Tallaght was marred by red tape and funding problems which saw Rovers play their home games at Richmond Park, Tolka Park, Dalymount and Morton’s Athletic Stadium. In 2004 Tallaght Stadium was given the go-ahead but in 2006 Roddy Collins presided over the club’s relegation to the First Division. The club restructured and returned the following year as First Division champions. Their return to top-ﬂight only saw them ﬂoat comfortably in the table until 2010 when a dramatic run-in saw Rovers claim the Premier Division title, pipping rivals Bohs in the last game with a 2-2 draw against Bray Wanderers. As another true Ringsend club, Shamrock Rovers are still followed by many locals. Perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder, or maybe green and white is in their blood.

SPORT: Ireland v Slovakia Aviva Stadium 02 Sept http://www. fai.ie/ GAA All Ireland Final Croke Park 04 Sept http://www. gaa.ie/ The Liffey Swim 03 Sept http://www.askaboutireland.ie ART: The Art Books of Henri Matisse Chester Beatty Library until 25 Sept http://www.cbl.ie Dublin Contemporary 2011 Visual Art Exhib 06 Sept - 31 Oct http://www.dublincontemporary.ie/ Art Exhibition Launch Michael Lyons 3-D Sculptures and Oil Paintings Pearse Centre 22 Sept Other: Opera in the open Thurs Lunchtimes in Aug Civic Ofﬁces http://www.dublincity.ie Dolly Parton O2 14 Sept http://www.theo2.ie The Ultimate Girls Day Out Fashion and lifestyle RDS, 26-28 Aug http://www.rdstickets.com/

PAGE 40

OUR

NEWSFOUR AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

ADVENTURE ON THE

By Glenda Cimino

e were recently tempted to try out the Sea Safari boats run by one of the few licensed sea tour operators in the Dublin area. The boats depart from one of two

locations, either from the Dublin Docklands or from Pigeon House Road, South Bank quay. They offer a Dublin Bay North Tour, a special tour to Malahide Marina where passengers can avail of a three-course meal in the posh Cruzzo Restaurant, a River Liffey Tour, a Dun Laoghaire Harbour Tour, and a Dublin Bay South Tour. Sea Safari operates all year round. In winter they use the 11metre Redbay Stormforce,

SEA SAFARI

which is covered to keep passengers dry, while a clear screen allows 360 degree views of Dublin Bay. They also go out in the rain, and their executive Redbay RIBs have canvas roofs. In the interests of comfort and safety, the boats do not operate if the sea is too rough or if there are weather warnings in effect by Met Eireann. Adverse weather may cause a trip to be postponed on short notice, but this is rare. As the NewsFour ofﬁce is based in Ringsend, we opted to take the Dublin Bay South Tour, leaving from Pigeon House Road, just a short walk away. This is a 70-minute tour which goes along the River Liffey,

heading south to Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey Island, and Killiney Bay. As there must be a minimum of six passengers to take the boat out, all 11 of the NewsFour team braved the waters– on a glorious summer’s day. At the dock, we met our skipper and tour guide, Chris Lonergan, who inherits his love of boats from his father. We could not have had a better captain. Safety first: Chris made sure we were all fitted with life jackets– and that we didn’t inflate them accidentally– before we got onto our boat, the James Joyce. Chris was friendly and outgoing, a skilled pilot, who also regaled us with his own stories and his knowledge of the area, its wildlife, homes of the rich and famous along the cliffs, and the history of the places we passed. On our day out, the sea was calm. When we got out of the harbour area, Chris speeded up, occasionally tilting the boat to left or right, resulting in murmurs or mild screams of delight from the team. It felt wonderful and luxurious to be on the water,

catching a glimpse of seabirds and porpoises, and the occasional seal sunning on an island in the bay, while the view of the coastline with its celebrity mansions, as we passed Dun Laoghaire and Killiney Hill from the waterside, was marvellous. I would deﬁnitely like to go again. You can buy tickets directly or from Sea Safari at their ofﬁces, through Dublin Tourism. More information and FAQs are available on their website, www.seasafari.ie, or phone Dublin Docklands, (01 8557600), or Pigeon House Road, South Bank quay (01 668 9802). Clockwise from top left: Two Sea Safari ribcraft leaving port, skipper Chris Lonergan and Dalkey Island.