Feb mar 2018 news four

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February / March 2018

YOUNG SCIENTISTS ASTOUND J n Kathrin Kobus anuary brings plenty of spartan pain with it, but it also brings delights and one of them is the annual BT Young Scientist and Technologist Exhibition at the RDS. 2018’s event ran from January 10th to 13th and the full list of qualified counties and schools can be found on their website. It is an exhaustive list that includes nearly every school in the country and every county in Ireland.

This year’s projects and entrants also benefited from the Ireland Chapter of Project Management Ireland’s (PMI) launch programme last year, of funding expert-led training for teachers of the BTYSTE and students working on projects. Following that, this year the scheme was extended to provide fully-funded training for up to 120 teachers, double last year’s number, in advance of this year’s coming BTYSTE January.

The funding of €60,000 teaches project management skills to the students and addresses the need for project management skills among students, and enables young scientists and entrepreneurs to commercialise their ideas, bringing their innovations to reality.

Breakthroughs in technology such as qCrypt by last year’s winner Shane Curran of Terenure College, meaning an absolutely watertight data protection system for us all – something

Covanta fund – page 12

that is already a glaring need and will only become more so in the future as we interact more and more online, digitally and virtually, as well as, innovative social issue solutions, agricultural, educational, domestic, recreational.

The brains and talent is breathtaking and it is very inspiring to see the issues young people care about and the attention they pay them.

A staggering 2,031 projects were entered by the deadline last September and out of this number, 550 finalists were chosen to present their inventions or research results in the hall of the RDS between the 11th and the 13th of January. Tickets sold out

quickly to schools, families and whoever had an interest to see what Ireland’s young scientists are up to.

Dublin 4 had four projects in this year’s competition. Abbie Cassidy (12) and Clodagh Clarke (13), first years from Ringsend College were even featured on RTE’s national news the day before it all officially began. “We were just doing a table up and they just asked us. It was fun.”

Their project in the category Social and Behavourial Studies Junior Group focussed on “causes and treatments for anxiety in teenagers.”

“We did a poll in our school and created a questionnaire to fill

in. What we found was that, for example, some quiet time listening to your favourite music can be stress-relieving.”

James Dunne (14) from St. Michael’s College was taking part in the same category like the two girls but as a Junior individual with his “Save the Heartbreak” project.

It is a first-aid project and James’s long-term goal is truly ambitious. “I want, basically, the whole country, or everyone from age 10 upwards to learn how to do CPR and know what to do in such an emergency.” The second year student had questioned over 1,200 people, not just in or around Dublin, but also in Cork

IN THIS ISSUE…

Food of love – page 22

Change Your Mind page 24

and Donegal. “I found that only about 25% of adults knew how to do it properly. I think that should change.”

He went on to perform the whole procedure, steps A to Z, in case of an emergency or accident. The Ambulance Service Order of Malta supported him with equipment like the dummy for CPR practice which he named ‘Michael’ after his school and an old defibrillator kit Devin O’Keefe (15) also from St.Michael’s College was called twice onto stage at the prize ceremony. He won in the Senior Individual category and also scooped the HP “Innovation4Good” award.

He had entered the competition as Senior Individual in Technology category with his project, “A deep neural network to translate American sign language into English.”

He developed a computer program where you type in the required word and it is translated step by step onto the monitor into a demonstration of the appropriate sign language expression. “I’ve chosen the American sign language model because it has the most words/signs available for the user at moment.”

Pictured: Young Scientist winner Simon Meehan, pictured with Minister for Education Richard Bruton (right) and managing director of BT Ireland Shay Walsh.

(Continued on page 2)

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NewsFour

YOUNG SCIENTISTS ASTOUND … continued from page 1

Web Editor Paul O’Rourke Journalists Paul Carton Paul O’Rourke Kathrin Kobus Photographer JR@N4

Crossword Gemma Byrne Design and Layout Eugene Carolan Ad Designer Lizzie Doran

Sandymount Community Services, 13A Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4.

Telephone: (01)6673317 E-mail: newsfour@gmail.com Website: www.newsfour.ie Opinions expressed in NewsFour do not necessarily represent the views of Sandymount Community Services.

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February / March 2018

The Editor’s Corner Welcome to our latest Spring issue. The days are getting longer and it’s a wonderful time of the year to appreciate all the growth and newness that comes with this time of year.

It’s natural that we feel the urge to get going after the hibernation of Christmas and motivated with January intentions, goal setting and resolvement. So how’s that going? Did you pick something you really want? Are you truly determined for it or by it? February and March become the months in which to put that mettle to the test.

It’s at this time that many of our intentions and resolutions for the year will be well under way or well under threat depending on your circumstances or frame of mind. Mindful of that, we have a very interesting article on how a real shift happens and it’s not about white knuckled willpower but about transformation and that only comes about as a result of heartfelt healing, really wanting to change and to seek a better way whether that’s related to spirit or body, mind or heart, no matter that it’s food, relationships, work, habits or skills.

Editor Beibhinn Byrne

Contributors Gavan Bergin Felix O’Regan Eithne Cavanagh Ken Browne Jennifer Betts Elaine Corcoran Paddy O’Rourke Mark Kelly Cindy Carroll

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Congratulations Marian College had entered the project entitled: Investigation into the effect of lysozyme on the structural integrity of antibiotic resistant bacteria, in the Senior group of the biological/ecological field.

Dorian Dederko (18) and Dean Gleeson (17) both from 6th year got the encouragement from their teacher, Alison Bird. “Our lab at school didn’t quite have the sufficient equipment so we contacted UCD and we got help there and also support.”

It is well-known that bacterial infections are increasingly harder to treat because the bacteria have become resistant to the available medication. Over-use is partly to blame. “We worked on how lysozyme can help to break down this apparent shield bacteria have developed to resist antibiotics. The breakthrough came when we found out that simple egg white would do the trick. That was really a surprise discovery.” .

Presenting their project at the RDS as part of the exhibition is not the end, however, but rather a stepping stone. “We want to continue to work on it, of course, and hopefully find a way that leads to a new option in treatment.”

Their efforts were honoured by the jurors with a highly recommended award.

However another project regarding antibiotic resistant bacteria won the overall prize. Simon Meehan from Colaiste Choilm, Co. Cork was honoured as BT Young Scientist of the year. He will represent Ireland for the European competition. The RDS will be hosting the event for its 30th anniversary this September.

The Young Scientists’ Exhibition was originally the brainchild of two UCD Physics researchers, a Carmelite priest, the Rev Dr Burke and Dr Tony Scott. In 1963 they travelled to the States and discovered ‘science fairs’ and tailored the idea for Ireland. The first competition was held in the Mansion House Round Room in Dublin. Aer Lingus handled administration and promotion. The competition had 230 participants with John Monahan, being the first winner, who went on to become Chief Executive Officer of Avigen, a US Biotech company.

He now sits on the boards of biotechnology companies on both sides of the Atlantic.

Success created a demand for a bigger venue. Scott, a member of the RDS science committee, identified a common interest

Our interview with Karina Melvin on pg 24 address this in her Art of Eating. She tackles the big and widespread topic of food and eating but her advice as a psychotherapist is true of anything. It could be the Art of Relationships or Work or Mastering a Dream, whatever it is, the secret is learning to let your enjoyment and passion flow in its direction. DO the owrk you need to do yourself. What’s clear is most of us are getting bad advice from others rather than the best of advice from ourselves, from our own hearts which always has the answer. Let go, respect yourself and the the fact you want better and build new, good habits and forget the rest. All the marketing, articles and programmes bombarding us, telling us how to punish ourselves with ‘experts’ but yet all of them leave out the fundamental element required, real inquiry of the mind and heart - healing of the issues that cause us to mistake and confuse these things. So if you’re interested in real transformation you’ll enjoy the positive vibrations in that suggestion. As you will some of the sports activities and articles inside. Perhaps taking up a new activity is another new spring step you’d like to take now the days are stretching. The tennis or squash feature, especially the passion with which Mark Kelly, on pages 34 and 35 ,extols the value of the sport just might inspire you to get moving and enjoy all the benefits it brings The poetry page as always features those alchemical transformations of words and how we see. And talking passions and creating joy we’d encourage you to get cooking for the upcoming special occasions, as the French say, ‘Nothing ever tastes as good as the one you make.’ We have recipes and food for a St Patrick’s Lunch and a Valentine’s Day Dinner as well as a small history of the Saint whose relics are housed in Dublin. There’s also highly recommended entertainment and thought provoking evenings out with upcoming theatre productions, music and the five day St Patrick’s Festival.

Plus all the regular community news; from Covanta grants and who got what, to the latest with the local Sandymount Gospel choir, the beloved Clanna Gael and other sports club and community centres, and questions and answers sections with legal topics and health. We are delighted with all the submissions we are receiving for book reviews and poetry and other creative pages, Keep ‘em coming!

and the competition moved to the RDS and has remained there ever since.

2018 sees the exhibition celebrate its 54th year, making it one of the longest-standing exhibitions of its kind in the world.

The 2017 event was the largest exhibition to date with 4,591 students from 375 schools across the island of Ireland, covering 2,091 projects and competing for the title of BT Young Scientist and technologist of the Year.

Since 1965, over three quarters of a million people have visited the Young Scientist Exhibition and to date, Irish students have taken the top honours fourteen

times at the European Union Science Contest. Irish Young Scientists are amongst the youngest entrants and have scooped over 20 top awards to date in the Science and Engineering Fair in the America. If you weren’t one of the three quarters of a million people who have visited to date and missed it this year, put it in your diary for next year and prepare to be amazed by the future.

Top: Dorian Dederko and Dean Gleeson from 6th year Marian College.

Left: Clodagh Clarke and Abbie Cassidy from Ringsend College.

Photographs: Jennifer Reddin.

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February / March 2018

ADVICE COLUMN

Got a case? Seek legal advice

ago and didn’t leave a will either. It’s all a bit of a mess. I’m an only child and need to sell the house. I’m not sure where I go from here, what do I need to do and how long will this whole process take?

Corcoran laine Corcoran is a solicitor working in Ringsend, she lives locally and can often be spotted out walking her beloved dog Bam. She is here to answer readers’ questions and to give some guidance on current legal trends and developments. If there is a specific issue readers would like answered in upcoming issues, please feel free to email any questions you have for Elaine to newsfour@gmail.com.

Answer.

I am sorry to hear of your mother’s passing, it is a really difficult time.

As your mother did not leave a will, she is deemed to have died “intestate.” As the nearest next of kin you will be entitled to extract a Grant of Letters of Administration in respect of your mother’s estate. If matters are straightforward and you are willing to undertake the research and paperwork, you could make a personal application to the Probate Office.

If you do not wish to take sole responsibility for completing the documentation and administering the estate, you can appoint a solicitor, who would take care of the process for you. The Grant of Letters of Administration, once issued, authorises you to gather the assets of your mother’s estate and to distribute them. Depending on how complex the estate is, the process could take anything from 3 - 12 months.

Dear Elaine, My mam passed away last month and didn’t leave a will. My dad died four years

Dear Elaine, I am working in a restaurant for the past six years. It is a busy well-known

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n Elaine

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restaurant and there are 15 other employees. I get on well with all staff apart from my manager who joined the restaurant two years ago. He is making my life hell. He is constantly running me down in front of other staff members and last week passed a comment on my weight which really upset me. I am constantly on edge when I am around him. I do not want to quit my job as I get on well with the other staff, the pay is decent and the hours are flexible.

The other staff have noticed the comments but their advice is to put my head down and just get on with it. My confidence is taking a real bashing and I am starting to dread going to work. What can I do?

Answer.

Bullying in the workplace is, unfortunately, becoming increasingly common. In legal terms, bullying is defined as repeated inappropriate behaviour that undermines your right to dignity at work. It is important to note that bullying is not one isolated incident, it is a series of prolonged acts over a period of time. If you feel that you are being bullied, you should bring this to the attention of your employer. Employment equality legislation places an obligation

on all employers to take actions and adopt procedures to prevent harassment in the workplace. Your employer should have an anti-bullying policy and a complaints procedure in place.

Some employers are better than others when it comes to dealing with complaints of this nature but, if you feel that your employer has not addressed your complaint, you can make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission.

For more information you can consult a solicitor or contact FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centre) on 1890 350 250.

FLAC offer legal information over the phone. However, if your query is more complex, they will direct you to your local free legal advice clinic, where you can talk face-to-face with a solicitor or barrister.

DISCLAIMER: Information provided is for general guidance only.

Whilst every care has been given in the preparation of this article, NewsFour and the writer take no responsibility for the content. Independent legal advice, specific to your circumstances should always be sought.

Photo of Elaine Corcoran courtesy of Elaine Corcoran.

NEWS

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www.newsfour.ie

Sailing to Byzantium

undergo sea trials, crew training and docking procedures at the Irish, UK and French ports into which it will operate.

Set to be the largest and most luxurious ferry ever to sail on the Irish Sea, the W. B. Yeats will have space for 1,885 passengers and crew, 435 cabins, including luxury suites with their own private balconies and almost three kilometres of car deck space.

Mr. Sheen said: “The launch of our new cruise ferry W. B. Yeats, and the expectation of our second new cruise ferry yet to come, herald in a new era in ferry travel between Ireland, UK and Continental Europe, bringing with it new standards in terms of passenger and freight capacity, comfort and reliability beyond anything previously envisaged.”

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new Irish Ferries’ cruise ship has been christened after the poet and Nobel Laureate W. B. Yeats at a naming launch event in Germany on the 19th January this year.

The completed hull of the new Irish Ferries cruise ferry W. B. Yeats (ceremonially named by Ms. Rikki Rothwell) was launched into the water at the shipyard of Flensburger Schiffbau–Gesellschaft in Flensburg, Germany, where the vessel is being built and entered the water, stern first, fully

painted in familiar Irish Ferries lettering and colours, and bearing the name W. B. Yeats along its bow and stern sections.

The name was chosen after drawing overwhelming support from the public in an online competition that attracted nearly 100,000 entries. There to attend the event, alongside shipyard workers and officials, were representatives of the company led by Irish Continental Group plc chairman John McGuckian, chief executive, Eamonn Rothwell, CFO, David Ledwidge, and Irish

February / March 2018 Second Vessel In addition, the Flensburg shipyard in which the vessel is being built will shortly commence building a second, even larger cruise ferry for delivery in 2020, which was commissioned only weeks ago by Irish Ferries parent, Irish Continental Group plc at a contract price of €165.2 million.

Intended for service on the Dublin to Holyhead route, this second new vessel will be the largest cruise ferry in the world in terms of vehicle capacity with accommodation for 1,800 passengers and crew. Its vehicle decks will have 5,610 freight lane metres, providing the capability to carry 330 freight units per sailing, a 50% increase in peak freight capacity compared to the current vessel Ulysses.

Photos courtesy of The Hall Company.

Ferries managing director, Andrew Sheen.

The €150 million, 54,985 gross tonnes cruise ferry will arrive into Dublin next July when it will enter year-round service on its Ireland to France and Dublin to Holyhead routes.

In the intervening months, remaining construction work on the hull will be completed and the vessel will be fitted out with all of the technical, operational, décor, furnishings and passenger amenities required onboard. Later, before scheduled services can commence, it will

DCC buy Ringsend apartments for social housing

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n Paul

Carton whole apartment complex on the Ringsend Road has been bought by the Dublin City Council for social housing.The fifty-three apartment complex which is called The Shelbourne Plaza has four three bedroom apartments, 43 two bedroom apartments and six one bedroom apartments, with 50 car park spaces.

A spokesperson for DCC said that it will be delivered as soon as March and that it is more than likely to be managed by the Tuath Housing Association. The building which was built in 2007 had been used for short term letting, up until now, was sold to the council by the developers Chartered Land for €24.5 million.

Initially plans were set up to provide 51 social housing units in the Chartered Lands development at Berkeley Court, which was 10 % of the housing units in total being built at that site in Ballsbridge. Now, it seems as though, according to Dublin City Council’s Deputy Chief Executive, Brendan Kenny, that mixing the social housing units in with private housing is causing problems and that there is tension there with the private residents. So with this purchase of the full complex from Chartered Lands on Ringsend Road there will be no requirement for the developers to include the social housing at Berkeley Court and the housing association will have complete control over the whole building at Shelbourne Plaza.

Photo: Jennifer Reddin.

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February / March 2018

NEWS / PEOPLE

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Disappearance on our doorstep

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n Paul

Carton he mystery behind the disappearance of the Sandymount inhabitant Trevor Deely on the 8th of December 2000 was again brought back to our attention recently through a Crimestoppers campaign and a seperate inconclusive search from a tip-off to Gardai from a source held confidential by the Gardai.

Here at NewsFour, we feel it as our duty to pursue our own line

of inquiry into the matter by beginning a dialogue with our readership in the locality of the young man’s disappearance in the hope of shining some light into what actually happened that night or the days that followed.

To begin, we went through our printed archives for the issue that reported on the month of December, 2000. NewsFour was a seasonal paper back then and so there were less articles on recent issues and more stories with his-

torical and feature content.

However, there are a few local news items that may trigger some memory in someone out there in the area of the time around Trevor’s disappearance. First of all, on the night before Trevor went missing, local man Paddy Healy from Newgrove Avenue, passed away. Paddy had been elected a life member of the Old Dublin Society, weeks before his passing. In the same month local man Eugene (Gene) Joyce, known affectionately as ‘The Quiet Man of Irishtown’ also passed away.

Local woman Mairin Diamond, from Bath Avenue, released a book of poetry called ‘The Testimony of the Bones’ about the Irish Famine, through the local bookshop Books On The Green and in the same period President Mary McAleese visited Sandymount to launch Enable Ireland.

Trevor, at the time of his disappearance, was working in the IT department at Bank of Ireland As-

set Management on Wilton Terrace. He had also moved into an apartment in the Renoir Complex on Serpentine Avenue, Sandymount, which he shared with two girls Niamh and Sharon.

NewsFour are appealing to the public, if they know of the girls or if anyone knows the girls, could you contact or tell them to contact NewsFour or if anyone else has any information that might be helpful, to please get in

touch with NewsFour. Considering there have been so many misleading reports on the case, it would be with the aim of accurately documenting facts and timelines of the 24 to 48 hour period around the time he went missing for our readers and anyone following the case.

Pictured: Trevor Deely and the Renoir Complex on Serpentine Avenue.

NEWS

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Ireland’s astronaut ready for lift off

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n Kathrin Kobus uring this year’s BT Young Scientist exhibition, one special guest drew the crowds on Thursday afternoon. Dr. Norah Patten aka ‘Girl in Space’ hopes to realise her dream of going into space within the next six years, before her 40th birthday.

Dr. Patten is on her way to become, probably, Ireland’s first astronaut. She met and engaged with students and visitors during a question and answer session. She has recently finished the first steps in her astronaut training and is now member of the International Space University.

Photograph JR@N4

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February / March 2018

The National to play Donnybrook

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n Paul

Carton onnybrook Stadium is to host American band The National over a weekend this Summer. The band, who have played to sellout crowds in Vicar Street and reached the number one spot in the Irish Album Charts with their recent album Sleep Well Beast, will play to a crowd of

approximately ten thousand at the D4 stadium.

When the band come and play on the 15th and 16th of June this year, it will be 10 years since the venue was used for a music venue with Michael Bublé swooning the crowd back then.

Tickets are available through ticketmaster and are priced at €76 or you can buy a two-day

pass for €136.

The gates are set to open at 2pm each day and support acts named so far include Lisa Hannigan and Villagers, albeit on seperate days. There will be alcohol sold on the day, but it is not an over-18s only event and anyone under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Contact www.ticketmaster.ie

Rugby seating needs upgrade

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n Paul

Carton precarious seating issue at the RDS stadium during the Guinness PRO14 game between Leinster Rugby and Ulster Rugby on Saturday the 6th of January required the Gardaí and stand security to shut down that particular row and re-seat those ticket holders.

Photographs of the incident were posted in the media and show the row to be the very top one that has a large drop behind it to the lower tier. Leinster

Rugby have responded to the incident to say that “Following the match, the entire stand was inspected by structural engineers” and say it was a “localised issue that has been dealt with and that these seats will be available for the forthcoming Leinster v Glasgow match.”

The incident comes within weeks after the IRFU’s unsuccessful application for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which saw their stadiums rank lower than the other candidates and which saw Ireland as its host to be

considered a “high risk” by the World Ruby Technical Review Group due to major stadium upgrades and building work needed to be done. The RDS were granted planning permission for expanding the stadium with upgrades by An Bord Pleanála almost a year ago, but are still awaiting funding from the government for work to begin.

NewsFour will keep you posted on this issue as it develops.

Photo courtesy of Leinster Rugby.

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n Paul

February / March 2018

Carton t’s not easy being green, but the green army of women John Loughran has working with him at the Sandymount Hotel seem to be making light work of it.

“You don’t say no to these women, they are very much in control of their own jobs within the hotel,” said John Loughran, owner and director of Sandymount Hotel who had to pinch himself when he was told his Sandymount Hotel had won the prestigious award of being ‘Europe’s Leading Green Hotel’ at the World Travel Awards last June.

The hotel was given the accolade ahead of some tough competition which included worldwide recognised hotels such as the ICE hotel in Sweden, the Metropole in Monaco and one of the Marriotts in London. Although John gladly accepts the award, he credits much of it to the women working with him at the Sandymount hotel.

One of these women who took the green agenda by ‘her teeth’ is Ruth Cooper. John said that Ruth had her own waste police around the Hotel and he himself was reported up on for not segre-

LOCAL HOTSPOTS

Sandymount Hotel’s green award

gating his waste properly, “I was delighted to get picked up on it because that meant the system was working”.

After working for the Sandymount Hotel for seven years, Ruth unfortunately had to take time out for health reasons, and Ann McCabe filled Ruth’s role.

With a combination of online marketing from Ciara Kelly, Ann’s dedication to following in the green living model Ruth had set up and with the hotel’s gar-

dener Jackie Cushen taking care of the grounds, the hotel was at high standards when the World Travel Award Inspectors came to visit.

NewsFour asked John to give us an idea of how they were regarded as having the best green policy in all of Europe. “We have segregated waste units in every corridor in the hotel, anywhere you go in the hotel, down in the kitchens in the mornings, we do about 50 breakfasts every morn-

ing. When the staff come in after having collected the plates from the table, the food waste goes in one direction, the paper waste in another and so they are actually segregating the waste as they go.

As soon as the crowds are gone, if you walk past here the next morning, the place would be spotless. But also we are in a residential area, we are not like up in Bewleys or Jurys where it’s all commercial offices… my parents started here 62 years ago, so

Page 7 we are very conscious of fitting in with a residential area and not overdoing it – we don’t do 21st birthday parties or weddings.”

A main concern of waste policy nowadays is the lifespan of packaging material and NewsFour asked John how he ensures his suppliers are towing the green amy’s line. “Mostly they will respond, we ultimately decide who we are buying from. And if we are not happy with what is happening from that front, well, we just won’t buy from them. Ann who is now looking after our green policy, her main function is purchasing and if she is not happy she’s going to make the decisions.”

John passes on these energy savings to his customers by giving them the option of a free €5 voucher to spend at the bar in place of having their towels changed or room cleaned for each night they stay at the hotel. John chuckled “even for someone that’s not particularly green they won’t say no to a free pint.”

Above: John and Audrey Loughran receive their award.

Photo courtesy of Sandymount Hotel.

SCIENCE

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n Kathrin Kobus he new year began with a full moon, and the first month ended with a full moon as well. If there are two full moons in one calendar month, the second is called a ‘blue moon’.

What happened on the last day of January 2018 was different on a larger scale. It was a truly rare astronomical event.

It is known as a ‘Blue Blood Supermoon Eclipse’, the last of which occurred over 150 years ago! It is extremely unusual for this number of very rare lunar events to occur so near together and in such a short space of time.

During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks all direct light from the sun from reaching the moon. Blue moons are also rare, happening once every two or three years (although – in another extraordinary turn – there will be a second blue moon this year in March for some parts of the world!) “It is so rare that this is where the phrase, ‘once in a blue moon’ comes from,” says Emma Callis, PHD Student at UCD School of Physics.

Adding to all the already special features is the fact that whoever had the chance to observe the moon might have been under the impression that it was much closer than usual.

It’s all just an optical illusion.

“Due to the fact the moon’s orbit is elliptical, its distance

from the Earth varies by roughly 12%, and during this event, the moon will be very close to its perigee, its closest approach to Earth. Therefore it will appear to be nearly 10% larger and 30% brighter than average, and this is known as a ‘supermoon’.”

The term supermoon is not an astronomical term per se. It was only introduced by astrologer Richard Nolle nearly forty years ago in 1979. So that’s ‘blue’ and ‘super’ cleared up.

Why ‘blood moon’?

“The term ‘blood moon’ refers to the reddish tint the moon usually acquires during a total lunar eclipse. This happens for the same reason that the sky is blue, due to a process called Rayleigh scattering. The light that does reach the surface of the moon has travelled through the Earth’s atmosphere, where bluer wavelengths of light become scattered more than others, and therefore only the redder light goes straight through the atmosphere and on to the moon.”

It has nothing to do with werewolves and vampires on the prowl, whatsoever. This 31st of January, all things came together and made it a nightly event that doesn’t happen every year, or decade or century.

“This kind of event is so rare because the chance of a total lunar eclipse, a blue moon, and a supermoon all occurring at

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February / March 2018

A special supermoon

once is incredibly slim. While I can’t estimate the time of the next Blue Blood Supermoon, the next Blood Supermoon is

21st January 2019.

Until then we have to be contend with just the usual full moon every 29.5 days

– ‘Sorry, Night.’

Photograph by Professor Antonio Martin-Carillo.

RDS Primary Science Fair

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he RDS Primary Science Fair takes place the same week as the BT Young Scientist Exhibition and showcases STEM investigations (science, technology, engineering and maths) undertaken by 4th-6th class and Key Stage 2 primary school-aged children across Ireland.

With a core focus on children’s skills development, it brings together teachers, parents and students to showcase class projects, share experiences and learn from each other.

The Fair took place in Dublin (January 11-13) then Limerick (January 18-20) and will showcase in Belfast at the beginning of the Summer (June 6-7).

A great day out for the entire class, the RDS Pri-

mary Science Fair showcases STEM-related projects alongside an exciting science-themed entertainment programme, including large-scale science shows and interactive exhibits. After an independent evaluation 97% of participants reported that their science skills improved, and 80% noted an improvement in their maths. The evaluation shows that there is a wealth of other benefits for participants, as well as for the teachers and schools too. A recent Government-commissioned report on STEM education in Ireland highlighted the Fair as an exemplar of STEM education.

Photographs courtesy of SONphotos.

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February / March 2018

TENNIS MAKES FOR A HAPPIER LIFE

WE ARE DELIGHTED TO WELCOME YOU TO LANSDOWNE LAWN TENNIS CLUB

tact the office on 01 6680219.

Junior Tennis Program: We can offer excellent coaching throughout the academic year, Saturday Fun Days, Family Days and Tennis Camps.

Lansdowne LTC has a fantastic, new clubhouse. We have 11 top quality, synthetic grass tennis courts suitable for year-round weather conditions.

Lansdowne is a members’ club that caters for all levels of tennis.

Tennis levels range from Class one to Class seven / Non League i.e. experienced players to beginners.

Our club is very active with a large array of social and competitive tennis events such as: • Competitive tennis leagues throughout the Dublin area • Inter-club friendlies • Club Tournaments, • Club BBQs

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• Internal tennis events for both social and competitive tennis • Saturday morning social tennis • We also offer free group coaching session to new members • We also run open weeks such as East of Ireland Championships (Adults) Junior Open and we

frequently run American Tournaments Members have also introduced a variety of societies to the Club: Lansdowne Book Club, Bridge Club, Hillwalking Group, Golf

Society and Fitness Clinics New Function Room: We are delighted with our new function room which can be used for a variety of corporate and local events. We are now open for bookings, please con-

AGATA ODACHOWSKA, COACH Lansdowne LTC is delighted to have a certified coach who has been coaching in Ireland for several years.

Agatha was a top junior tennis player in Poland, and went on to be a professional tennis player with a WTA singles career high of 900 and Doubles career high of 688.

She was previously the Junior under-18 indoor Champion of Poland Agata is known for bringing the best out in every child and with Agata on board you can be sure that your child is in excellent hands.

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A tale of twinned towns Y n Paul

Carton ou only have to look at our ‘Silicon docks’ and see why Dublin City Council decided to twin cities with San Jose / Silicon Valley in California.

Twinning with cities and towns is a distant memory now, but one of the cities that Dublin has twinned with has proven to be a lucrative venture for the council.

Dublin has twinned with Liverpool and Barcelona but the one that stands out is the partnership that Dublin City Council made with San Jose, culminating in our own stretch of tech giants known as Silicon Docks. Here at NewsFour, we notice the city getting bigger but the towns like

Ringsend and Irishtown seem stuck in a dimension where time stays still.

We are in a position here at this newspaper to apply on behalf of the villages we cover to apply for town twinning, which partners these communities up with other towns in other countries, with the purpose of establishing links, sharing political views, culture and history and developing partnerships across the world.

This EU funded movement began after the Second World War in parallel with the European integration. One of the major developments came after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when EU member states and countries from Central or Eastern Europe

COMMUNITY

began twinning towns to prepare for their integration into the European Union.

Signs to inform the public that the town they are entering has been twinned with another town in Europe still remain on roadsides.

Another example of town twinning was in 2000, when the village of Rathcoole in South County Dublin was twinned with École-Valentin in France.

This involved inviting and hosting the French town twinning committee for a few nights and a sharing of culture and history with a tour around such important sites around the country and vice versa.

All this was supported by the

Sandymount Choir visit Bunratty

S

n Cindy Carroll andymount Gospel Choir travelled west across the Shannon on the 20 and 21st of January to take part as invited guests in the Shannonside Winter Music Festival. The Choir was in good company, with well-known musicians such as Luka Bloom and Frankie Gavin among the list of per-

formers.

The Choir took to the stage in the Great Hall of Bunratty Castle on the Saturday afternoon, and entertained the crowd with some of their most lively songs. On this occasion, the Choir was accompanied by pianist Anja and bass guitarist Brian. The audience enjoyed the performance and clapped along to many of the

songs.

The Choir were up bright and early on the Sunday morning.

It was on to Sixmilebridge, where they had been asked to lead the singing at morning mass. The songs chosen were reflective and included Wayfaring Stranger. After the fantastic welcome in the Banner County, the Choir certainly didn’t feel like strangers after the weekend!

Sandymount Gospel Choir are now beginning to rehearse for the annual concert which will be held in Lansdowne Football Club on Friday 25 May, in aid of Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.

Keep an eye on the Sandymount Gospel Choir Facebook page for details. Facebook. com/sandymountgospelchoir Photographs courtesy Sandymount Gospel Choir.

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South Dublin County Council and the French municipality who in turn received funding from the EU town twinning grants. The funding also goes into school trips to those towns for pupils to appreciate the culture and a taste of the language in towns involved.

Back around the time when Dublin City Council linked with the City of Liverpool, Ken McCue on behalf of the Dublin Inner City Arts project applied for town twinning between Dublin and Liverpool based on the postcodes i.e Dublin 4 was to be linked with Liverpool 4. Ken who now works as Cultural planner for Sports against Racism

February / March 2018

said that the application, after months of project work, was denied by the EU because it was “one or two nautical miles less than the minimum distance” that is required for towns to be twinned.

Ken told NewsFour that, with Brexit on the horizon, twinning with towns in the UK couldn’t be more important than it is now, with the distance growing between neighbouring countries.

If you have any suggestions or would like to take part in the project please contact me here at paulcartonnewsfour@gmail.com Photos Courtesy of Wikicommons.

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February / March 2018

ALONE and Dublin City Council Cold Weather Initiative ollowing the important launch of the Cold Weather Initiative by the Lord Mayor of Dublin Ardmhéara Mícheál Mac Donncha in December 2017, Dublin City Council’s Community Development Section, in association with ALONE, the Gardaí and Dublin Fire Brigade, is re-issuing an appeal to urge members of the public to check in on older people in their community this Spring.

Following a series of weather warnings from Met Éireann, ALONE and Dublin City Council are asking people to check in with the older and vulnerable members of their communities to ensure they have fuel, food, water and are in good communication with family, friends and neighbours.

Ardmhéara Mícheál Mac Donncha, speaking at the Cold Weather Initiative launch in December, said, “The Winter and Spring months can be a difficult time for many people who are vulnerable, alone and isolated. It can be a very frightening experience to be without shelter, warmth, food or essential items such as medication. We are appealing to all Dubliners to look

F

COMMUNITY INITIATIVE

Warm the heart of an older neighbour

out for the older people in your community who may live alone, have no family or may be at risk of suffering from fuel poverty, illness or loneliness. This campaign represents the community and the whole city working together.”

Seán Moynihan, CEO ofALONE commented, “Cold temperatures can have a serious effect on many older people, in particular those liv-

ing alone, those with health issues, and those with limited mobility.

Five percent of Irish people aged over 65 who lived alone were unable to keep their homes adequately warm in 2012. This figure jumped to 9.8% in 2013. Given that 50% of Excess Winter Deaths (EWDs) experienced in Ireland can be linked to poor thermal efficiency in the dwellings, ALONE is urging

older people to take extra care and encouraging those who are concerned about their own wellbeing during the cold weather to call for assistance and help if needed.”

ALONE is encouraging older people to prioritise their spending on heating during the bad weather months. For those who are struggling to keep up with utilities bills, you can contact your utilities com-

Page 11 pany to set up a payment plan.

ALONE has volunteers and staff ready to act on requests for assistance and can advise on issues relating to food, heat, or medication.

Further information, including advice and tips for older people in cold weather conditions, can be found on www.alone.ie.

Established in 1977, ALONE is an independent charity that supports vulnerable older people to live at home.

We work with those who have issues with social isolation, lack of services, poor health, poverty, homelessness or housing.We provide Supportive Coordination, Befriending, Supportive Housing and Campaigning services to hundreds of older people every week. We receive no Government funding for our day-to-day activities, so we rely solely on the generosity of the public to continue our work.

ALONE’s services are quality-approved and are delivered 365 days a year.

For those who have concerns about their own wellbeing, or the wellbeing of a vulnerable older person in the community, ALONE can be contacted on (01) 679 1032 or visit www.alone.ie.

The campaign is part of Dublin City Council’s commitment to an Age Friendly City.

NEWS

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Covanta Fund – the full details M n Paul O’Rourke

any of you will have seen our online story before Christmas detailing the lucky recipients of funding from “The Dublin Waste to Energy Community Gain Projects Grant Scheme 2017”, or “The Covanta Fund” as we like to call it.

In our previous article, we gave details of all successful grant applications in excess of €100,000. Now we can provide you with a comprehensive list of each and every award from the smallest €500, right up to a whopping €1.6 million.

We also include a brief description of each project’s title, but obviously the deciding committee would have been furnished with precise details and budgets.

Successful Applications Under €20,000 Ringsend Rovers Football – Sustainability – €3,000 St. Patrick’s Ladies Club – Pottery classes – €500 St. Patrick’s Ladies Club –Knitting & art classes – €500 YMCA Cricket Club – Upgrade of playing facilities – €18,000 4th Port Dodder Sea Scout Group – Purchase of inboard diesel engine – €14,000 Football Association of Ireland – Female soccer camps – €2,000 Raytown Angling Safety – Rigid inflatable boat – €12,000 Poolbeg Quay Resident Committee – Poolbeg green kids – €4,850

Sandymount Green Montessori School – Upgrade of classroom – €10,274 Dublin Vikings Dragonboat Racing Club – Sustainable growth – €6,500 Plurabelle Paddlers – Boats and bibs project – €12,500 Watersedge Drama Group – Moonlight and Roses – €1,450 Catholic Men and Women’s Society of Ireland – Painting – €5,000 Ringsend Girl Guide Unit – Ongoing projects – €3,000 Church of St. John the Evangelist – Redecoration of interior – €13,000 Sandymount Gospel Choir – Community singing – €7,500 Successful Applications Between €20,000 and €100,000 Shellybanks Educate Together National School – Equipment drive – €99,000 Abundant Grace – Regal house roof refurbishment – €50,000 Ringsend Community Services Forum – Outreach development – €10,000 Ringsend and District Response to Drugs – Refurbishment of The Spellman Centre and refurbishment of the RDRD retreat house in Wexford – €45,000 Coleman Combat Ringsend – Purchase of equipment and transport – €50,000

Successful Applications Over €100,000 Sandymount Tidy Towns – New Playground – €227,000

SPORTSCO – Conversion of golf area to multi-purpose studio – €100,000 Marian College – The attachment of the pool building to the sports hall – €100,000 St. Patrick’s Church – Stained glass restoration – €106,000 St. Matthew’s National School – Sports hall extension and upgrade – €150,000 St. Patrick’s C.Y.F.C and Crusaders Athletic Club – Development of stadium and clubhouse – €1,600,000 Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA Club – Development of gym and All weather pitch – €300,000 Monkstown FC – Improvement project – €275,000 Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club – Community boating and water sports – €200,000 Star of the Sea Boys National School – Green star initiative – €250,000 St. Matthew’s Church – Refurbishment – €100,000 Scoil Mhuire – A centre of learning and leisure – €170,000 Lansdowne FC – Energy efficiency and facilities upgrade – €300,000 Clockwise from top right: Abundant Grace, photo by Paul O’Rourke; Irishtown Stadium, photo by Ross Waldron; Marian College and Poolbeg Yacht Club, both Google images; Catholic Men and Women’s Society, photo by JR@N4.

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February / March 2018

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February / March 2018

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NEWS / COMMUNITY

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February / March 2018

Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre News

M

Jennifer Betts ay Day May Day! RICC will celebrate its tenth annual May Day Parade this year on Bank Holiday Monday May 7th at 2pm. With an attendance of over 1,200 people every year, it is the biggest local annual event.

As always, RICC welcomes all local groups, organisations and individuals to participate.

As it’s our tenth anniversary, we especially welcome local businesses to participate. So if you have a company car, van, roof sign, banner – bring it along! We want you to make your presence known to our community! n

The Ringer The one and only boxing club in the area is enjoying incredible success, currently catering for 40-plus members. Our fantastic coaches; Ciaran, Martin, Stephen and Dean dedicate their time to our up and coming boxers.

We had a recent visit from community Gardaí Derek and Anthony. The Ringer plans to expand its classes, to cater for more members, so watch this space!

We are currently recruiting coaches and team members, so if you’d like to donate some of your time then please contact Jennifer on 086 367 2047.

A Fond Farewell To Our Longest Standing Board Member In 1989, local lady May Kane, along with a dedicated team, undertook the admirable task to secure a permanent residence for the community centre that still thrives today.

May has been instrumental in the success of the centre, with the ethos of a community centre for the people of Ringsend and Irishtown.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and as May retires this year, RICC would like to thank her sincerely, for all her hard work and dedication throughout the years. The centre would not be what it is without her and we wish her the very best of luck.

Classic Movies at RICC Each fortnight, RICC shows a classic movie on the big screen on a Friday at 2pm. We have enjoyed such movies as; Imitation of Life, Madam X and Black Lace. The event is free and tea and coffee are provided. Our next movie takes place on the 9th of February. All welcome!

Clockwise from top: May Kane; Theresa O’Loughlin, winner of the Coffee Maker with Lorraine; The Ringer boxing club; Movie club regulars.

Photographs Courtesy of Jennifer Betts, RICC.

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February / March 2018

LOCAL EVENT

Page 15

Grand opening of Marian sports hall

M n Paul

Carton arian College’s new sports hall is finally up and running and officially opened its doors to the public for its grand opening on the 19th of January.

Speeches from the recently retired principal Paul Meaney, new principal Ms Oonagh McCaul and a thank you speech from the Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy, gave praise to all who

was involved in its conception, fundraising and development.

A special thanks was given to the Covanta Community Gains funding and the Aviva Community funds for their large contribution towards paying off the loans needed for the new sports hall’s construction.

Also present on the evening was former Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn, who was responsible for obtaining funding

from the department.

The total cost of the project was €1.4 million and the land the sports hall is built on was donated by the Marist Brothers to Marian College who also gave an interest-free loan of €600,000.

Present on the day was the architect Olan Crowley, who himself was a past pupil of the college and deservedly received gratitude for the outstanding work he has done designing the new facility that will be enjoyed by both pupils and the community alike.

It is kitted out with six basketball rings and a high ceiling which also allows for a mezzanine level that promises to be utilized for a workout area and yoga sessions.

Minister Murphy who is also in the Marian College’s yearbooks paid special thanks to the recently retired principal Paul Meaney, not only for his efforts in the sports hall’s development but for his important work in the community.

Bites on the night were provided by local man John Cassidy’s

Cassidy Catering, and everyone was invited back for dinner and celebrations to the Sandymount Hotel, who have just recently sponsored the Gaelic jerseys of Marian Colleges Senior Teams.

For anyone who wants to book the sports hall, you are advised to contact Marian College at 01 6684036 or you can email the new principal Ms Oonagh McCaul at principal@mariancollege.ie

Left: Eoghan Murphy T ​D, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government with Brother Brendan Geary (Provincial Council, WestCentral Europe Marist Brothers) and Paul Meany.

Below: Marian College students enjoying the new facilities.

Photos: JR@N4.

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A

ctor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Liam Neeson recently met with Aer Lingus Change for Good Ambassadors to celebrate 21 Years partnership of the Change for Good Appeal.

Donations from Aer Lingus guests this year have helped to raise over $1.2million for children living in poverty and crisis across the globe. Over the course of the 21 years of the partnership, Aer Lingus guest donations have raised over €21 million, which has been deployed to provide children around the world with quality education, health care, nutrition, water and sanitation, as well as, emergency relief.

Meeting with guests and employees in the Shelbourne Hotel, Liam Neeson credited them for outstanding action and fundraising. Neeson, an ambassador for the global child rights organisation since 1997, spent the afternoon with seven Aer Lingus cabin crew, named as UNICEF Ambassadors, thanking them for their work in raising €1 million for UNICEF in 2017 through the airline’s ‘Change for Good’ initiative, which is made possible through their TakeOff Founda-

PEOPLE

Aer Lingus fundraising takes off

tion.

The Aer Lingus TakeOff Foundation is the overarching corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme for Aer Lingus, which encompasses all Aer Lingus charity and corporate social responsibility activities. This includes continued work with chosen charity partners, UNICEF Ireland and Special Olympics Ireland, as well as a number of charity initiatives undertaken by Aer Lingus staff and volunteers.

The TakeOff Foundation also supports small and medium sized enterprises in Ireland, in addition to Irish culture and the Arts through the Aer Lingus Irish Filmmaker Competition.

In a special video message to Aer Lingus guests released at the end of January, Mr. Neeson explains: “This year alone Aer Lingus raised €1 million, helping children through on-board donations for war-torn Syria as well as Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen, which were ravaged by famine and most-recently children displaced by the Rohingya crisis who had to flee their homes in Myanmar. A special thanks to all Aer Lingus guests. It’s with thanks to your generous donations UNICEF has been able to make a big difference to change children’s lives for the better.”

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‘Change for Good’ is Aer Lingus cabin crew’s in-flight collection of unwanted foreign notes and coins on all long-haul flights, which supports UNICEF’s global mission for children in over 150 of the world’s poorest countries and territories. Since 1997, UNICEF has received €21 million from Aer Lingus for vulnerable children everywhere.

UNICEF Ambassador and Aer Lingus cabin crew member Sandra Sheehan commented: “We at Aer Lingus are extremely proud of our work with UNICEF. Spending time with Liam Neeson, sharing our pictures and experiences and discussing the importance of our work was a very special moment for us all. His role as a global UNICEF ambassador is inspirational. He has seen first-hand from his field-trips the positive impact that the loose change and notes that we collect on-board Aer Lingus flights can have on the lives of children worldwide.”

“On behalf of Aer Lingus cabin crew and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors, I would like to thank every single Aer Lingus guest who has donated to us on-board. We look forward to continuing our relationship with UNICEF in 2018 and are com-

February / March 2018

mitted to helping create a safer, better environment for children worldwide.”

UNICEF is present across 190 countries and territories working for every child and building a better world for everyone. UNICEF fights to ensure children’s rights are upheld, providing healthcare, clean water, nutrition, education, child protection and emergency relief. In Ireland the organisation’s global efforts are supported through fundraising, advocacy and education programmes.

UNICEF is mandated by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and holds the international community to account for its promises to children.

As part of the Aer Lingus TakeOff Foundation, Aer Lingus supports UNICEF Ireland as a charity partner. In February 2018, Aer Lingus UNICEF Ambassadors will travel to India, visiting Delhi, Agra and Firozabad, and will meet and work with UNICEF representatives on the ground in the Uttar Pradesh region. For further information, visit www. aerlingus.com/about-us/takeofffoundation. www.unicef.ie Above: Sandra Sheehan and Liam Neeson sharing a joke at the reception in the Shelbourne Hotel.

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February / March 2018

Backup your health

Z10physiotherapy courtesy of Paddy O’Rourke

L

n Paddy

O’Rourke

ooking after your health is vital. We all know how valuable it is and anyone fighting illness or debilitation, especially, knows how everything else pales in comparison to having good health and mobility.

Back injuries are very common across a wide spectrum of people and ages, as are sports injuries for the active. In this month’s issue Paddy O’Rourke, a local physiotherapist answers some questions on two of the most common complaints to afflict a wide range of people – sciatica and shin splints.

Both are very painful and irksome and can be avoided altogether or can be alleviated with good treatment and care.

What is the cure for Sciatica?

Sciatica is the term used to describe pain (and sensation like

tingling or numbness) travelling down the back of the leg. In mild cases it can be felt around the buttock and hip and in the more severe cases it can travel into the back of the calf muscle and into the foot. It occurs when the sciatic nerve gets pinched between two vertebrae or in the tight muscles around the hip. The majority of cases will relieve through conservative physiotherapy treatment.

Treatment will include vertebral tractions and mobilizations to free the trapped nerve, massage or dry needling to reduce the muscle spasm, stretches and strengthening exercises to improve stability and mobility around the lower back and pelvis. Improvements are expected after one session.

I have had lower back pain for six months and my MRI scan shows I have two bulging discs and some disc degeneration in my lower back. How can I avoid surgery?

HEALTH

A 2014 study saw that 70% of young, healthy individuals had disc degeneration but no pain. The same study found that over 30% had a disc protruding on a nerve but were fully functional and pain free. This proves that degeneration and disc bulges are part of the normal ageing process.

Pain can come from some inflammation in the area, an irritated nerve, a tight muscle, irritated ligaments or a combination of these. Physiotherapy will work

Page 17

to address these underlying issues through a variety of manual therapy techniques.

Pilates and yoga classes will also reduce pain by strengthening the small muscles that stabilize the spine. Over time, the disc bulges should go away along with a decrease in pain.

How do I get rid of shin splints?

Shin splints can be a very stubborn injury to get rid of. They are

extremely prevalent among runners and are also common with people who have flat feet or those who walk a lot in poorly-supported shoes. This excessive movement at the feet can make the shin muscles pull on the inside of the shin bone, causing the area to become inflamed and painful.

Assess your footwear to make sure you have adequate support in the shoes you spend most of your time in. It is also worth getting your feet assessed by a podiatrist as you may need to get an orthotic (insole) for your trainers and shoes. Nowadays, orthotics are no longer bulky and cumbersome. They are very comfortable and can be made for any shoe type.

Stretch your calves, hamstrings and quads every day and do lots of “calf raises” and “dorsiflexion exercise with a band” (find these exercises on YouTube). It these tips do not help, get assessed by a Chartered Physiotherapist to check for other abnormalities.

Paddy works at Z10 Physiotherapy at Bath Avenue Medical Centre. To find out more or to book a session visit www. z10phyiostherapy.com

Photograph: Paddy O’Rourke.

Page 18

Rugby reads E

BOOKS

n Kathrin Kobus

oin Madden is mad about rugby. That wasn’t always the case. Author Gerard Siggins told the story of the fictional schoolboy Eoin Madden in five previous books, charting his way from learning to play rugby and becoming the school’s star player including a call-up into the Irish squad. It all started rather small and also had a different ballsport at its centre.

“The first book grew out of a long-running bedtime story I made up for my youngest son Billy. It was a soccer story, and he encouraged me to write it down, but it didn’t seem to work, so I abandoned it for a while. Then I was researching the history of Lansdowne Road and came across the story of Brian Hanrahan, who was killed there playing a match for a Lansdowne FC. His story fitted with what I wanted the book to be and it flowed from there.”

The story of the ‘fatal scrum’ is recounted in another of Gerald Siggins’s books about Irish rugby history.

There are an intriguing cast of characters including the

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not-quite guardian angel Brian and the other ghosts who come along with each book. Among them are Irish rebel and Belvo winger Kevin Barry and the man who ‘invented’ rugby William Webb Ellis. They are still accompanying Eoin Madden and the Castlerock College rugby team in the sixth book called Rugby Heroes.

Again, there is a mystery to be solved, next to homework, exam preparations and, of course, rugby matches to be fought and maybe not always won. The mix of ghost-fantasy story and everyday life of rugby or sports-mad teenagers resonates with readers.

“My favourite reading as a kid were mysteries, history, sport and school stories and I’ve put all four into each book of the Rugby Spirit series,” says Gerard. “I have met lots of kids who seem to enjoy the books and quite a few have told me they have tried rugby because of it. It wasn’t my plan, but it’s brilliant to see children doing something healthy and active.”

Right now, the Six Nations tournament has gotten underway. Ireland will face Italy, Wales and Scotland at home.

The pull of lineage

T

n Beibhinn

Byrne

hese collections shine with Rowley’s interests of psychology, ecology, mythology, philosophy feminism and of course literature itself and its music.

There is a high literary ability and real erudition on display, as well as, a sustained commitment to form throughout the many lyrical forms both formal and informal that Rowley employs in her various collections.

Form reaches a zenith in Flight into Reality where it is showcased as an impressive, epic tour de force.

Written entirely in terza rima (a three line interlocking rhyme scheme for verse stanza that follows the a-b-a, b-c-b, c-d-c, pattern) the form first used and made famous by Dante Alighieri in his towering work The Divine Comedy.

Fittingly, her first canto of the poem opens with a quote from his work as a dedication to that master. The poem deploys the ancient Egyptian myth of Isis and Osiris, mystical sister-brother, husband and wife. Seth tricks, kills and disperses Osiris’ body. Isis searches for and finds all the parts to bring him back to life save one the organ

of regeneration.

This also represents the anxiety of fruitfulness of the land around the desert landscape and the wholeness Isis must try seek within herself without him. It also addresses the socio-historical fact of our cultural spiritual disinheritance.

When the Greeks conquered Egypt and later Julius Caesar set fire to the great library at Alexandria, we lost much esoteric and inner knowledge. Rowley cleverly uses this myth and history to explore our civilisation’s issue of inner lack and especially the individual’s search for wholeness and the soul’s completion. Especially, any modern Isis, who well knows the battle she has on her hands to be complete by herself in our society’s eyes.

Dante’s rhyme scheme is also synonymous with spiritual inquiry and the journey of the soul and seeking guidance. It is no surprise that Rowley’s poem is the longest poem in terza rima in the English language and that she has won the Epic Award in the Scottish International Poetry Competition four times.

In Ireland’s Legendary Women, the poet’s seventh collection pub-

lished last year, we move into more womanist terrority and stay firmly rooted in legends and myths. This time the emphasis is on a more Celtic tradition of bardic song, exploring myths and legends from Irish history concerning women, including the wooing of Etain, the sorrows of Deirdre, the Women Bards of Connaught, Ireland’s Fairy

Queens, the Mother, and the elopement of Diarmuid and Grainne.

They are sensual retellings and conjure up richly coloured weavings of these tales depicted in jewel-like details, colour featuring prominently in verses, they have a visual quality and measured flow.

Girls of The Globe plumbs the rich vein of literary appreciation

February / March 2018 So what does he think about our real life chances? “Fair play to Joe Schmidt he’s found some new gems. As coach of Leinster he probably had a lot to do with bringing them on too. England look badly hit by injuries but will be our biggest danger as usual. That said, I’d sooner lose the next two Six Nations if it meant we won the 2019 World Cup. The sixth book was supposed to be the last, however best-laid plans are subject to change, so Ger Siggins changed his mind.

“It’s a bit embarrassing really! I wrote Rugby Heroes intending it to be his last, but I was asked to write a book to be given away for World Book Day and so he makes a return. Rugby Heroes is out February 12th and Rugby Roar on February 19th, so it’s probably the shortest retirement in literary history!”

There might also be a spinoff starring Eoin Madden, the clues for the new direction are to be found in book six, so look out for what the next adventure of Eoin might be about.

Rugby Heroes and Rugby Roar published by O’Brien Press, €8.99 ages 10+ and apprenticeship that all writers carry within. Knowledge and precedent, both imaginative and real are homaged.

It opens with the appropriate form of sonnet to the pantheon of female heroines from Shakespeare’s plays and ends with An Overdue Letter to Lord Byron. In To Seamus Heaney on his 70th Birthday she describes him as, ‘Being there, knee-deep in the river, and far / Into the grass, to follow the track of horse and hare.’

But included are poems grounded in harrowing social realities such as Goldenbridge Orphanage and global, historical tragedies such as Blame It all On Dallas. More personal material shows through in There Is No Art… as well as in the poems in the collection Sea of Affliction.

Rowley is a thought provoking and erudite poet and these collections represent the work of a custodian of knowledge both inner and outer with a deep interest in people and their expression that she catalogues, depicts, transforms and transfigures through a direct personal expression, delicate beauty and rigorous craft.

Pictured: A selection of Rowley’s Poetry collections titles. Photo: JR@N4.

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February / March 2018

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PHOTO DIARY

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February / March 2018

January 10-13.... BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2018

James Dunne from St Michael’s College.

Devin O’Keefe from St. Michael’s College with teacher and a friend.

January 17.... Fr Peter McVerry visits Ringsend RICC

Fr. Peter McVerry with Annette Mooney, People Before Profit Alliance, who hosted a discussion on ​​Housing & Homelessness, January 17th, in RICC.

January 19...... Marian College crew and friends celebrate opening of world class Sports Hall

Eoghan Murphy TD, Minister for Housing, Planning & Local Government, with Ms Oonagh McCaul (Principal, Marian College) and Paul Meany (Principal, recently retired).

Dermot Lacey with ​​Kevin Humphreys and Derry Shaw of Lansdowne RFC​.

Former​Leader of the Labour Party, Ruairi Quinn, with Bro PJ McGowan (Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Marian College.)

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February / March 2018

PHOTO DIARY

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January 19...... Marian College crew and friends celebrate opening of world class Sports Hall

Don Landy, Michael Herity and Tom Farrelly.

Olan Crowley ​(​Architect​)​AWL ​who designed the new Sports Hall.​

Marie Nesbitt with Ms O ​ onagh McCaul.

January 23rd..... Sandymount Hotel sponsor new Gaelic Jerseys for Marian College Senior Team

John Loughran, owner of the Sandymount Hotel (centre), with Ciara Kelly, Maria Condron, John McEvoy (coach) and the three amigos, co-captains of the senior Gaelic team, Conor Barnes, Conor McClure and Connor Rimmer.

January 23rd..... Ringsend Active Retirement Association enjoy their annual New Year Party in the CMWS Hall, Ringsend.

FOOD

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February / March 2018

Spring is for lovers SuperNatural Food Market

N

igel Slater the cook and food writer has a wonderful book call The Kitchen Diaries, a year-long account of his shopping, cooking and eating on almost every day of one year.

Week by week, month by month, season by season he talks about ingredients and recipes as they occur according to moods and circumstances. When it comes to St. Valentines day, he says, “I won’t eat out on Valentine’s Day, every restaurant filled with couples talking in whispers, the usual buzz and clatter reduced to a muffled sigh.”

Let’s not forget overpriced and all too often inferior food.

Nothing romantic about that.

“Home is the place to be. More than that, there is something about cooking a special meal for someone you love that seems to mean more than simply sliding your credit card to a waiter.”

At SuperNatural, we wholeheartedly agree. It is a chance to hit the local market, buy sumptuous, fresh ingredients, make delicious food, a decadent chocolate dessert and add great wine, Champagne, candles and music. In other words go all out, why not? There’s nothing half as good. Celebrate love and be happy. Any excuse, we say.

pot are perfect for Valentine’s Day, as they are very pleasurable but not sluggishly filling.

Pair with a good white wine, Prosecco or Champagne.

The salad and lamb makes a great Paddy’s Day lunch or dinner. Donegal Fresh Fish at the market every Saturday sell beautiful fish and seafood, so you can decide to substitute mussels or prawns or simply bake fish, if it pleases you.

Likewise Coolanowle’s lamb is organic, grass-fed and naturally high in omegas, as well as being tender and flavoursome.

Pat is happy to bring any cut you wish. You’ll find all the fresh and pantry ingredients you need there every week, no matter what you cook. Enjoy the art of eating which depends on high quality, flavour and trusted sources!

These are simple recipes and have impressive flavours in tune with the amorous Venusian vibe.

The linguine dish and chocolate

Scrub the clams, throwing out any that are chipped or wide open. Leave them to soak in cold water for half an hour. This will

Nigel Slater’s Linguine Alla Vongole Small clams in their shells – approx 500g A glass of white wine or vermouth Linguine or Spaghettini – 300g Garlic – 2 cloves Olive Oil – 3 tablespoons Dried chilli chopped or crushed – a good pinch Flat-leaf parsley – a small bunch

clear some of their inherent grit.

Put a large pan of water on to boil. Drain the clams and tip them into a medium-sized pan set over a moderate heat. Put in the white wine and cover them tightly with a lid and after two minutes check on their progress.

If most of the shells are open, turn off the heat. If not, give them another minute or longer.

Generously salt the now-boiling water put on earlier and lower in the pasta. Meanwhile, lift the clams from their liquor and pick out the flesh from most of the shells. Just keep a few whole in their shells for each dish. Discard the rest of the shells. Reserve all the cooking liquor.

Peel the garlic and slice it thinly, then let it soften in a tablespoon or so of the olive oil over a low heat. It must not colour. Finely chop one or two dried chilli pods or crush them in a pestle and mortar, stir in the dried chilli, then roughly chop the parsley leaves and add them.

Let them cook briefly, then take the cooking liquor from the clams and let it bubble down for a minute.

Test the pasta for readiness; you want it to be tender but on the tacky side. About nine minutes should do it. Drain the pasta, tip it into the reduced clam liquor, clams and seasonings add a little black pepper and pour in the remaining olive oil, then toss gently and serve in warm shallow bowls.

Hot Chocolate Puddings These are essentially baked chocolate mousses, but the egg combined with heat raises them to soufflé lightness that keeps them fluffy on the outside and molten within. It is vital to make these with the best chocolate you can get your hands on and we recommend Vivani’s 70% Cooking chocolate or their 85% bar, no soya or its derivatives in it.

Seriously good cacao.

You can add a chocolate hazelnut spread that gives it a lingering nutty depth. Again we rec-

ommend one without the cheap ingredients such as the Essential brand. Or better yet, make your own combining Biona hazelnut butter, maple syrup, and raw cacao powder and a little vanilla essence. This way you can be sure you are skipping ruinous hydrogenated cheap vegetable oils, sugar and soya that is unnecessary.

Isn’t it wonderful that when you use the proper raw ingredients that not only are these desserts a taste pleasure but also a superfood, as good chocolate,

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February / March 2018

FOOD and not treated with antibiotics or other medications that would breach the organic standards. He will happily provide you with any cut you request, as well as some great conversation. He especially likes literature or any current affairs – try him!

Roast lamb with White Wine 800-900g / nearly 2kg Spring lamb preferably shoulder 2 tablespoons Avocado oil / olive/ sunflower 15g or 0.5oz Butter 3 Whole peeled garlic cloves A sprig of fresh rosemary cut into 2⁄3 pieces Maldon sea salt Freshly ground black pepper 150ml Dry white wine.

minus the usual commercial additions to it, is very high in antioxidants, magnesium, iron, calcium and polyphenols for your skin and heart. This recipe makes four but you can eat the other two the next day or be greedy.

Ingredients 200g Vivani or other very fine dark chocolate 100g Caster sugar 3 eggs 60g Butter 2 heaped tablespoons Chocolate hazelnut spread Set oven at 200°C. Lightly butter four small ramekins or oven-proof cups (or two larger ones) Break chocolate into rough pieces and put it in a basin suspended over a pan of gently simmering water. Let it melt without stirring. Just poke any unmelted chocolate down into the liquid.

Put the sugar into a food mixer or bowl and use a handheld whisk, separate the eggs and add yolks to sugar and beat until thick and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until airy and as stiff as they can get without any extra sugar added.

Stir the butter into the chocolate, leave to melt and then gently stir in the chocolate hazelnut spread. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar, then carefully fold in the beaten egg whites with a metal spoon.

Take care not to overmix, but ensure you don’t have any float-

ing drifts of egg white. Scoop into your vessels and place on a baking sheet for 12-15 minutes until risen. The tops should be cracked and centres still slightly wobbly. If you open one too early, it can go back into the over without too much harm done.

An option is to dust with a little icing sugar and / or serve with pouring or whipped cream.

St Patrick’s Day Lamb and Salad Irish spring lamb is one of the great delicacies of our country and it signifies the welcome end of the winter and hails incoming spring. A very healthy meat, no other one possesses the tenderness of roasted young lamb. It makes a wonderful celebratory dish and has a lovely rich depth of flavour that pairs well some fresh salads and good wine. This is our favourite way to cook it.

This is the incomparable Marcella Hazan’s Italian recipe.

Minimal fuss, just sprigs of rosemary, garlic and seasoning and some white wine and a long, slow cook in the oven or on the top plate. It will bring out all its flavour, as well as leaving you free to prepare salads and some roast veg, which you can pop into the oven near the end.

Our butcher at the market, Pat from Coolanowle farm, sells their own organically-reared lamb from Carlow. This means the animals have not been given any feed, but are pasture-fed

Use a large, heavy-bottomed or enamelled cast iron pot or large baking dish to roast meat in. If you don’t have one that can accomodate lamb whole, cut it up into two or more smaller pieces.

Wash in cold running water and pat dry with a clean tea towel.

Put the oil and butter in the pot, we recommend avocado oil as it takes a high heat without having an altering flavour. Ditto macadamia oil which is expensive but truly wonderful for high temperatures. (You should never heat olive / sunflower or most vegetable oils but we include it if you insist.)

Turn the heat to medium-high and when the butter foam begins to subside, put in the lamb, the garlic and the rosemary. Brown the meat thoroughly all over, particularly the skin side. Check the garlic: if you find it becoming very dark, remove it from the bottom of the pan and place it on top of the lamb.

Add the salt, pepper and wine.

Let the wine simmer briskly for about 15 or 20 seconds, turning the meat once or twice, then adjust the heat down to around 150160°C depending on how hot your oven is, to cook for about 1½ – 2 hours or until the lamb is cooked all the way through and begins to come off the bone.

Turn the meat from time to time while it is cooking and if the liquid in the pot becomes insufficient replenish it with two or three tablespoons of water.

When done, transfer to a serving plate. Tip the pan to spoon off all but a small amount of fat. Add two tablespoons of water, raise the heat to high and while the water boils away use a wooden spoon to scrape loose the cooking residues from the bottom and sides. Pour the pot

Page 23 juices over the lamb and serve at once.

Tomato and onion salad This salad is one of Nigel Slater’s desert island dishes and it was this recipe being brought to our attention that prompted the return to his Kitchen Diaries and the recipes above for Valentine’s Day. This salad would be the perfect companion for the lamb, as well as the fact that at SuperNatural we believe you should eat salad everyday. So make it interesting while simple in this case a blend of vegetables with certain herbs to enliven. It is a straightforward mixture of everyday onion, tomato and avocado, but what makes it shine are the pickled spices used in the dressing.

The lemon juice, wine vinegar, coriander seeds, mustard and dill bring a Scandinavian note, a freshness and crunch to produce a salad of pure, clean flavours to revive and invigorate.

Ingredients Serves 4 2 Red onions 200ml Lemon juice 50ml White wine vinegar 1 tsp Yellow mustard seed

1 tsp Coriander seeds 10 Black peppercorns 3 Tomatoes medium sized 160g Small plum tomatoes 150g Cherry tomatoes 2 Ripe avocados A handful of dill 4 tbsp Olive oil Peel the onions, slice thinly into rings then put them in a shallow dish. Mix the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard and coriander seeds and the black peppercorns. Pour over the onions and set aside for a couple of hours.

Thickly slice the tomatoes and put them in a bowl. Halve, stone and peel the avocados, then cut them into thick segments. Chop the dill. Gently mix the pickled onion, tomatoes, avocado, dill and olive oil together and serve. www.supernatural.ie Every Saturday 9-3.30pm St Andrew’s Resource Centre Pearse St. Page 22, from top: Linguine Alla Vongole; Hot Chocolate Pudding.

This page: Tomato onion and avocado salad.

Photographs courtesy of Google images.

Page 24

Eating Artfully

n Beibhinn

Byrne “We are missing the most vital ingredient in the weight-loss battle; the mind.” – Karina Melvin.

K

arina Melvin is a Sandymount psychotherapist and resident whose practice and home is in on the Strand Road. Her book Artful Eating; The psychology of lasting weight loss, deals in a remarkable way with “not dieting and changing your relationship with your body, changing your relationship with food.”

Karina was in conversation with Newstalk’s Henry McKean as part of Eason’s O’Connell Street event In Conversation with Karina Melvin. I met up with her beforehand and listened in on the interview session at the event.

Karina says she had no intention of writing a diet book and that this book is not about that.

“It happened very organically.

I noticed in my practice that regardless of weight, gender, age or issue that food would always somehow creep in. And people were always talking about it, their relationship to it, how bad they feel about it and it always seemed to be about guilt feel-

ings or how they over-ate or had a binge or were trying to control it somehow and never how much they enjoyed it.”

She herself had been on a trip to Barcelona for her birthday some years back where she had a wonderful time eating a plethora of tapas and dishes. “We were eating all these wonderful little dishes and having cortados and lattes. I found the only time I was thinking about food was when I was hungry and it was ‘what’s next?’ ‘what will I have?’ in a really pleasurable way. And looking forward to it. Just enjoying food.”

She recognises that food itself is not the problem, that when you are eating well and joyfully it is something to be savoured and understand how wonderful it is and to get into the habit of eating quality. “The problem when people are focusing on food in a punitive way and thinking about dieting all the time is that they are focusing on food but it is a symptom of something much deeper.

They need to separate that and to be able to enjoy food.”

What about all the programmes now we are bombarded with about targets and eating, weigh-

FOOD / INTERVIEW

ins and exercise. It seems the entire country is on a diet, certainly a large helping of lifestyle fitness, ‘transformation’ and television programmes that are more about entertainment than truth. “We’re always looking to reduce something not tangible to tangible to give people a simple surface answer to quite complex things that can’t just be reduced to one thing.”

She got thinking about how universal this fundamental necessity and pleasure in our life was and how widespread the fact that so many people struggle, in one way or another, with it. She wanted to be able to reach and help as many people as possible and for anyone to access the mindshift. So she set about, based on all her experience and expertise, devising an online program.

“Looking at it from a psychological point of view, you have to shift from the symptom to the cause. I really wanted to help people with this but couldn’t possibly have the time as there were just too many. So I devised the online course I have. That way many people could access it and do it in their own time, it is affordable but vitally you are responsible for yourself. I hate this ‘accountability’ that comes with clubs because it skews who you are doing it for and your owning of it and that is what really makes the change. Realising

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your relationship with food and changing that by yourself for yourself. People have come back to me saying ‘I have never felt so free’ and ‘it has changed my life’ freedom comes up again and again.”

This is the real, long-lasting success of Artful Eating’s approach, it is not about how food works but how the mind works that changes all the embodied issues and body issues around it.

The book Artful Eating came about after her online course had been up and running for two years and she was giving talks at festivals. It has become a real passion of hers seeing how much it helped people. She was approached by a publisher then met with the agent Vanessa FoxO’Loughlin and the rest of it happened from there.

The book shows you how you can rediscover the magic of eating for pleasure and learn why weight loss is not just about what you eat, but how and why you eat. There are two types of eaters; intuitive eaters and controlled eaters. Controlled eaters are – you guessed it – the dieters and strugglers.

Melvin recommends, “Give up trying. Instead, change the conversation. Enjoy your food.

Eat things you like. Cut out poor quality. Then it’s not about will power. It’s about good habits.

And this spreads magically. Think about quality. Respect yourself.

February / March 2018

There is the ‘I don’t’ rule; I don’t smoke, I don’t do heroin, I don’t eat cardboard and rubbish food.

When you associate something with its negatives it becomes easy. Because it’s something you simply don’t do, you want to respect yourself. There’s no love in a flavour made in a lab, so you are not tasting that.”

She says enjoying your food is vital and to do this quality and flavour is of utmost importance.

She loves growing her own and cooking and gets an organic box of delicious veggies and food delivered once a week.

There is a commitment to changing behaviour, thoughts and beliefs and if you want something better, you also want to do the personal work that makes that change. It takes time she says, six months, in fact, to adapt and change and be able to say ‘This is me now.’ It is a process. “Give it patience. Enjoy the process.”

She has a free audio download online for anyone to listen to if they would like a taster. A delicious starter to freedom and the pleasurable art of eating.

Sandymountpsychotherapy. ie Artful Eating by Karina Melvin Black & White Publishing €16.99 Easons and Books On The Green.

Karina Melvin photo by Beibhinn Byrne.

Book cover photo by Sean Cahill.

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February / March 2018

ENTERTAINMENT / SPORT

Trumpet your love S o we know you’ll be cooking your loved one a delicious meal on the big night and starting your journey in artful eating as recommended in our interview with Karina Melvin.

But there are treats in store up ahead still in theme with the loving season that’s in it. Irish trumpet star, Niall O’Sullivan, returns with his international hit romance concert, My Funny Valentine. Niall is a cross-genre trumpet star, he started his musical career in the Artane Boys Band, Dublin and has sold out venues across Ireland and the USA. He has performed on numerous occasions with the RTÉ national symphony and concert orchestras as well as performing with some of the biggest names in music including Amy Winehouse, Michael Búble, Tom Jones, Dionne Warwick and José Carreras.

And if that wasn’t accomplished enough, he has recorded with multi Grammy-winning legend Larry Carlton, Danielle de Niese and Kim Criswell. He is also an international performing artist for Schilke Trumpets, Chicago.

After the recent success of My Funny Valentine in Ireland and the USA, Niall is delighted to bring this evening of romance to

Dublin, as well as other counties around the country as part of a mini-tour.

So continue the celebrations of Valentine’s, a few days later on the 18th of February, with your loved one in the company of one of Ireland’s finest musicians. My Funny Valentine is a perfect night out and great way to extend the romance at this time of the year To make this tour even more romantic, Niall will be joined on-stage by his own Valentine, vocalist Shóna. This musical couple have recently returned home following a year abroad performing.

My Funny Valentine will feature performances from Ireland’s finest musicians with beautiful arrangements of jazz favourites, classical masterpieces and pop ballads alongside songs from stage and screen. This concert is a celebration of the world’s most loved songs and melodies.

Niall will be joined by guest vocalists Shóna and Simon Morgan to perform works from his three number one selling releases including the timeless Moon River, the Godfather, Stardust, Libertango and My Funny Valentine.

Commenting on the upcoming tour, Niall said: “2017 was a fantastic year and I am very ex-

Page 25

cited to start 2018 touring with ‘My Funny Valentine’. This year is extra special for me as I’ll be performing with my fiancée and vocalist Shóna. We are delighted to be bringing ‘My Funny Valentine’ to some theatres for the first time, following last year’s sold-out dates. This show will allow people to be taken away by beautiful arrangements of timeless classics. It will offer something different for Valentine’s and it will certainly get people in the mood for the most romantic day of the year.”

Internationally recognised for his unique take on classics, Niall spent over half of 2017 on the road with sold-out performances in the USA, Scandinavia and Europe.

These dates will be the first Irish performances in 2018. In December last, Niall hosted and performed a concert in aid of the Fr Peter McVerry Trust concert which raised over €24,000 in aid of the charity.

Below are details for ‘My Funny Valentine’. Tickets range from €18 / €25 and are available at www.niallosullivan.ie or at the below venue’s box office.

18th February Henrietta Street, Dublin Photograph courtesy of Niall O’Sullivan.

Mid Season Football Round-up

A

n Paul Carton fter gaining promotion to Major Saturday League 1A last season, Ringsend Rovers are in a good position to achieve back to back promotions as they are currently in third place, three points behind leaders Broad-

ford Rovers but with a game in hand.

Rovers were leading the league up till the Christmas break and have played and lost just one game since then. The team can also be proud of signing a new sponsorship deal with Ashmore Ryder Ltd,

the motor body accident repair centre based in Ringsend. Tony Faulkner, Director of Ringsend Rovers, praised the local support of Ashmore Ryder for the kit and teamwear sponsorship and also to the Shipwright Lounge for their support too. “Sponsorship is getting increasingly hard to find but it’s an added bonus when it’s from local businesses,” said Tony.

Cambridge Football Club, who, this year, are celebrating their 50th year developing boys’ and girls’ football skills in the area, have cause for double celebrations when they open their new sports hall at 2pm on February the 17th. The club applied for funding through the Covanta funding programme and received €64k for a refurbishment of their clubhouse.

The Sportshall is fully equipped with a kitchen and multi-function dressing rooms for girls and boys and a new sports hall that is still in the process of expansion.

Newsfour asked Cambridge’s Public Relations Officer David Ryan for an update on how the teams are doing, “Cambridge currently have three girls’ teams and 11 boys’ teams. The under 10s and the academy team are in the topflight in their respective leagues, playing against massive clubs like St Kevin’s Boys, and so this new sports hall is much needed for the teams to train in” said David.

St Pats CYFC secretary David Nolan has high hopes for his team and management this season as they currently sit second place in the highest division in the Leinster Senior League and the prospect of a new clubhouse on the horizon.

The team also recently received funding through Covanta when they put in a joint application with Crusaders Athletic Club and received €1.6million to which St. Pats receive 75% of that. They are currently in talks with the council and are due to step into the plan-

ning stage soon for their new clubhouse that will be on the grounds of the Irishtown Stadium.

A team in need of a boost at present is Booterstown United, who play in the UCFL Division 2 league and currently 7th in the league. The team, who source players from the surrounding Booterstown area have recently been promoted into the division but due to injuries coach Eoghan O Malley has had to play the 90 minutes making decisions on the pitch alongside assistant Gearoid Keegan. Since the Christmas break, pitches have been unavailable on match day leaving the team despondent and in desperate need of of funding if they are to compete in these rugged UCFL leagues.

Pictured are Danny Rooney Committee Member and Barry Ashmore, Director of Ashmore Ryder.

Photo by Tony Faulkner.

THEATRE

Page 26

F

ebruary sees The Gate Theatre liberating groundbreaking theatrical language from the explosive words of playwright John Osborne, and through the creative eyes of award-winning Irish theatre director Annabelle Comyn.

Look Back In Anger (1956) is widely considered to have changed the course of English drama in the 1950’s. NewsFour strongly recommends this thought-provoking production that captures complex emotions.

In the summer of 1955, The Stage Newspaper posted an advertisement asking for new play submissions. The ad had been placed by the English Stage Company (ESC), a new theatre production company setting up business at the then-unfashionable London Theatre, The Royal Court.

The response to the ad was astounding. They received a stagger-

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February / March 2018

Looking forward in delight ing seven hundred and fifty scripts submissions; however, most were rubbish: either bottom-drawer pieces by what was considered hack writers or in the words of Tony Richardson, who was to become the ESC’s associate director, “endless blank-verse shit.”

One interesting piece, however, leapt out of the pile: the curiously entitled Look Back in Anger by a totally unknown young actor called John Osborne. Founding father of the ESC, George Devine, after reading the play quickly saw its great potential and took it to Richardson, who was even more smitten by it. Together, they committed to produce it in their first season at the Royal Court in 1956.

Annabelle Comyn takes a fresh look at this world-renowned, blistering play, at a time when class and gender politics are once again brought to the fore. The show runs at The Gate Theatre for eight

weeks, from February 1st until March 24th This production of Look Back in Anger is artistic director, Selina Cartmell’s fourth production in her inaugural season, The Outsider. Considered a realist play of its time, the story focuses on the life and marital struggles of the play’s main character Jimmy Porter, an intelligent, educated but rebellious young man and his equally competent yet emotionless upper-middle class wife, Alison.

The play tackles themes of sex, class, religion, politics, the media, and the sense of a country stifled by an official establishment culture. It is still relevant and demanding our attention.

“ O s b o r n e d i d n ’t contribute to English theatre… he set off a landmine called Look Back in Anger and blew most of it up” – Alan Sillitoe Osborne drew inspiration from his personal life and failing marriage with Pamela Lane while writing Look Back in Anger, which was his first successful outing as a playwright. In media and theatre circles, the play, spawned the term ‘angry young men’ to describe Osborne’s work and those of his generation who employed the harshness of realism in the theatre in contrast to the more escapist theatre that characterised the previous generation, offering a brand new wave of theatre for its time.

The play became an enormous commercial success, transferring to London’s West End and then New York’s Broadway, while also touring as far afield as Moscow.

Its main personal advantage to Osborne was that it turned him from a struggling actor and playwright into a wealthy and famous personality, where he also won the Evening Standard Drama Award as the most promising playwright of 1956. Later, the play was adapted

by Tony Richardson into a motion picture of the same name, released in 1959, starring Richard Burton and Mary Ure, .

Annabelle Comyn is a young

Irish theatre director, who also heads Hatch Theatre Company as Artistic Director, and she is Director in Residence at The Lir, National Academy of Dramatic Arts, Ireland. As a freelance director, she most recently worked at The Lyric Theatre, Belfast, directing Dancing at Lughnasa for its 25th Anniversary.

This is her second Gate Theatre production, and she is joined by a stellar young cast of actors that includes Lloyd Cooney, noted for his film roles in Charlie (2014), a film about noted Irish Taoiseach Charlie Haughey, and also Shadowboxer (2011); Clare Dunne, who starred in Grounded,

by George Brant, at Dublin Fringe Festival 2015.

Dunne’s film work includes Nice Night For It (2017) and The Cherishing (2016); Vanessa Emme, known for supernatural horror-film role, The Inside, by Eoin Mackin (2012); and Ian Toner better known for his TV roles in TG4’s Irish western An Klondike (2015) and RTÉ / BBC’s Redwater (2017).

This all-new cast for the Gate will make for a thrilling theatre

experience in Osborne’s play.

In addition to performances throughout 2018, a new initiative called Late at the Gate will be launched, where mini productions, platforms and post-show discussions will run in parallel with productions on stage. Late at the Gate is where audiences and artists can respond to the programme in the context of what is happening in the world today.

The first in the series is a new Gate Studio commission for Emmet Kirwan to respond as a contemporary Jimmy Porter offering us fresh insights into the ‘angry young man’ today and his view of Ireland in 2018. Emmet Kirwan is one of the most provocative and innovative writers and performers in Ireland.

Previews: from Thurs 1st Feb. Opening Night: Wed 7th Feb. Saturday Matinees: 2.30pm Shows: Mon to Sat - 7.30pm Tickets: €25 - €38 Box Office 01 874 4045 / gatetheatre.ie

Clockwise from top left: Director Annabelle Comyn; Ian Toner and Clare Dunne, both photographed by Luca Truffarelli.

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February / March 2018

LOVE

Page 27

Valentine’s Day a very short history

Ages, mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer, he of the Canterbury Tales.

Another story behind the 14th of February relates to the middle of the months as the time birds start mating again after the winter.

A proper boost to celebrate the day with exchange not yet of marital vows but confectionary and cards came in the 19th century when sending postcards became increasingly popular.

Dublin itself has its share of true St.Valentine memorabilia beyond heart-shaped cards.

In 1836 Pope Gregory XVI sent the Carmelite Church in Whitefriar street a gold bound casket with earthly relics of one of the supposed holy Valentines as a present to Fr. John Spratt whose fame as a preacher had preceded him and reached Rome where people flocked to hear him when he visited the year before. It

“A

n Kathrin Kobus ll you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” Wise words of wisdom for gifting from Charles M.Schulz, creator of the Peanuts cartoons.

Chocolate, flowers, cards and other candies, and please husbands, boyfriends, wives or girlfriends depending on your persuasion, nothing useful for the household.

The roots for Valentine’s day go way way back, where else but to the final centuries of the Roman Empire. There

are three Saint Valentines in church history. The most probable contender was a temple priest who enraged Roman Emperor Claudius II and got himself beheaded in 278 AD because he had still insisted on wedding prosecuted Christian couples.

Another two hundred year and a bit passed before Pope Gelasius I in the year 496 (or 498) recast a previous Pagan festival with St.Valentine as patron.

Over centuries it grew into a day to celebrate romance and courtly love during the Middle

was November 10th 1836 that the Reliquary containing the remains arrived in Dublin and were brought in solemn procession to Whitefriar Street Church where they were received by Archbishop Murray of Dublin. The casket was enshrined in the church, the St.Valentine’s Shrine. They were very popular but on Fr Spratt’s death they went into storage. It was not until the 1960’s during a major renovation of the church that they were restored to their place of prominence in the Church.

Each year special masses are held and ‘true’ Valentine’s cards are sold. Today, the Shrine is visited throughout the year by couples who come to pray to Valentine and to ask him to watch over them in their lives together. There is a book that people write all their prayers, petitions and wishes in. Many are returning pilgrims with huge thanks for wishes and

prayers granted. The feast-day of the saint, February 14th, is a very popular one. On the feastday, the Reliquary is removed from beneath the side-altar and is placed before the high altar in the church and there venerated at the Masses. At the 11.30am and 3.00pm Masses there are special sermons and also a short ceremony for the Blessing of Rings for those about to be married.

This year the masses will be celebrated at the Carmelite Church at the weekend before, on Saturday 10th at 11.30am and at 3pm.

So no matter if you choose a card or flowers, presents great and small show your affection to someone dear to you, remember: “When you love someone all your saved up wishes start coming out.” Elizabeth Bowen, Irish novelist.

Photograph courtesy of Whitefriar Street Church.

Page 28

ST PATRICK’S FESTIVAL

St Patrick’s celebrations I t’s that time of the year again, when we and the rest of the world celebrate all things Irish. St Patrick’s Day has really snazzed itself up from previous decades of watching barely put together locals floating down O’Connell Street in the freezing wind and rain, either in person, where let’s face it you were never early enough or tall enough to see anything or as many of us did, arriving back from the obligatory mass with shamrock pinned to our lapels and switching on RTE where it was covered from a one, fixed angle, camera and letting it drone on in the background.

There really wasn’t much to do on the day that seemed to celebrate our nation, and/or entertain the family and visitors with a large meal.

If the meal was lovely and fun that was something and still is, but on the whole it was a rather apathetic and unenergetic ‘celebration.’ However this has been addressed over recent years and our national saint’s day is now a proper festival offering lasting a full great days with lots on offer from many quarters; cultural, culinary, social, family events to exhibitions and marathons not forgetting the much improved parade itself.

Inaugurated in 1995 the St Patrick’s Day Festival is a Gov-

ernment initiative i.e ‘owned’ by the Irish people - after all what is government? (This can’t be emphasised often enough in this country) It involves fairs, amusements, exhibitions, restaurants and pubs offering food for thought, the greening of the city as well as many companies and business like Irish Ferries and Failte Ireland sponsoring pageants. Meanwhile the vibrant and burgeoning youth and community groups whose efforts are always outstanding, make it is what it is an enlivened and colourful celebration of the Irish spirit, initiative and community.

However the festival is just about the parade as it set out since its inauguration in 1995 to offer a national festival that ranks amongst all of the greatest celebration in the world. To this end it has harnessed all the elements together to create energy and excitement throughout Ireland via innovation, creativity, grassroots involvement, and marketing activity. And to turn it around from a very drink laden and boring day to a more carnival atmosphere over which the owners of the festival, the Irish people, stand proud. It now reflect the talents and achievements of Irish people on many national and world stages, while also acting as an exciting showcase for the manifold skills of

the people of Ireland, of every age and social background.

This has, in turn, has provided the opportunity and motivation for people of Irish descent (and those who sometimes wish they were Irish) to attend and join in the imaginative and expressive celebrations. It has elevated a somewhat interior and lacklustre day to project, internationally, an accurate image of Ireland as a creative, professional and sophisticated country with wide appeal.

The first St. Patrick’s Festival was held over one day, and night, on March 17th 1996, it has since grown to a 4-5 day celebration. For a fully comprehensive overview check the website listed at the end to see the worthwhile array of events and offerings for families and individuals. As the one national holiday that is celebrated in more countries around the world than any other, St. Patrick’s Day is the day when everyone wants to be Irish.

So it’s only right that us natives

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set out to seize that opportunity, and completely transform the national and international perception of St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin. This country is bursting with the kind of creative energy, ideas and enthusiasm required to do the job and now makes our national holiday an unforgettable experience for all.

This year it opens on Thursday 15th with Made In Dublin, an exhibition. Made In Dublin is an immersive installation in sound and vision constructed as an infinitely unravelling coil of events played out by the movement of people caught up in time and place. And that place is Dublin.

Built around Doyle’s photography, with drawings and sound

by Sweeney and Donohoe, Made in Dublin is a choreography of the city itself, its fabric, populations and light, its body and its psyche. The greening of the city is another popular draw.

All the iconic buildings in Dublin will be lit up green, illuminating the city with our national colour. An evening time stroll is ideal viewing!

The city’s fun fairs are back on Merrion Square and Custom House Quay from waltzers to family attractions to the carousel, there is something for eve-

February / March 2018

ryone at the festival’s fun fairs.

St Patrick’s Cathedral will host a rare screening of Rex Ingram’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Ingram, an internationally renowned Irishman and film director Rex Ingram emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1911 and directed the epic, silent 1921 war film.

It will be accompanied with live musical accompaniment by the masterful musicianship of Matthew Nolan, Barry Adamson (UK), Seán Mac Erlaine, Adrian Crowley, & Kevin Murphy. A highlight not to be missed.

Innovative theatre performances from some of Ireland’s most creative and energetic production companies exploring our multiculturalism, juxtaposing real life asylum seekers and Irish emigrants, are also being staged alongside not to be missed gigs and musical performances, city marathons, local activities and all the usual revelry. Ireland you’ve come a long way.

For in depth listings, descriptions, events and tickets see http://www.stpatricksfestival.ie Festival Dates 2018: Thursday 15th – Monday 19th March Photographs courtesy of St Patrick’s Festival.

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February / March 2018

The NewsFour Crossword Compiled by Gemma Byrne

Name:…………………………… Telephone:…………………

Address:…………………………………………………………

ACROSS 1) Seasonal freshening up (6, 8) 6) ) Buoyant platform (4) 11) Compiles a list of these brochures (10) 14) UK county famous for cream tea (5) 15) Large hairy arachnids (10) 17) Small strong insect (3) 18) Jewel worn on Tuesday? (4) 19) Infers (7) 22) Listen (4) 23) Portents (5) 24) Craters in the surface of the road (8) 26) Japanese drink (4) 27) Exclamation of surprise or triumph (2) 28) Did Dorothy leave her dog down in Africa? (4) 29) Fender electric guitar (12) 30) Peter Gabriel album (2) DOWN 1) Abattoirs (15) 2) Holy smoke, this is addictive (8) 3) National prize draw (5) 4) Got closer (6) 5) Inflammation of stomach & intestines (15) 7) Person listed in the Guinness Book (6, 7) 8) Intense light beam (5) 9) Conditional clause (2) 12) Noisy chatterbox (4, 5) 13) State in western India (3) 16) Miser (9) 20) Unscrupulous business person (7) 21) Venomous snake (3) 25) Maori war dance (4)

Prize of €25 book token. Post entries to NewsFour, 13A Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4 (Above Clyne’s Butchers) by 22nd March 2018.

The winner of our Dec/Jan crossword competition is K. Piepenbring, Remscheid, Germany SOLUTIONS FOR DEC 2017/ JAN 2018 CROSSWORD

Across: (1) White Christmas; (8) Little Drummer; (10) do; (12) Motorcycle; (13) Nova; (15) Ola; (17) Tell; (20) Lair; (22) Alan; (24) Tea; (25) Obligations; (28) Noes; (29) Derg; (30) Boy; (31) Limb; (32) Makeup; (33) Upon; (35) Orates; (36) Redeem; (39) Neo; (40) Salivate; (41) Trophy.

Down: (1) Wellington boots; (2) Iota; (3) Eels; (4) Haddock; (5) Samaritan; (6) Agriculture; (7) Yule; (9) Rot; (11) Calais; (14) Volleyball; (16) AIG; (18) Enslave; (19) Cacophony; (21) Radius; (22) Airborne; (23) Log; (26) Boo; (27) Temp; (34) Nee; (37) Dot; (38) Map.

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POETRY

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February / March 2018

ithne Cavanagh is a published poet. Eithne was born in Dublin, but spent her childhood in the idyllic setting of Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow, surrounded by rivers, hills and forests, free range hens and lowing cattle.

Her poetry, short stories and articles have been published in Ireland, England, USA and India. She has won awards for her poetry. Her first collection ‘Bone and Petals’ was published in 2001 by Swan Press.

This is a collection of poems dealing with love and loss, family history, her passion for foreign travel and her interest in the arts. A founding member of Rathmines Writers, she has won many prizes and other awards from many poetry competitions and facilitates creative writing sessions.

She has two poetry collections published by Swan Press, the aforementioned Bone and Petals and An Elegance of Gannets. She loves walking beside the sea and regularly walks along by Dun Laoghaire, Seapoint and the South Wall.

The Poetry Pages Beachcombing for Turquoise Crunch, ripple and gentle splash.

Do I hear a Redshank piping among the shrivelled bladderwrack?

Seeking fragments of turquoise glass I sift through mottled pebbles and blue shards of mussel shells.

The Pink and Green Bubble Machine I don’t know your name, ebon-skinned, with curls scrunched up you blow bubbles from a dayglo tube; sunlit orbs float lightly in your wake amulets of a future in this damp land.

I too blew bubbles moons ago, soapy water through a white clay pipe when Ireland was a paler place.

The tide has not obliged today, so I harvest a richer emerald stash rounded by the ocean’s tumblings.

For contrast I select a tiny perfectspiral-yellowshell. while Turnstones’ churrings carole the air and turquoise glass today is rare.

No nectarines or glossy aubergines bejewelled the market stalls, no aromas of mousaka, pizza, pitta or falafel.

Slieve League Observes a Vertiginous Climber I flaunt my steep cliffs frilled above the sea and dip my toes in waves that glint like prisms of jagged glass. Wearing cerise shirt, she eyes the narrow path, a precarious ribbon called ‘One Man’s Pass’ with jittery suspicion.

Her stomach churns, she wishes she could glide to my stone cap, her self-appointed mission.

Cerise bosom all puffed up with pride she skitters, scrambles, conquers my craggy flanks.

With mucky knees and soil beneath her nails she spies blue Nephin miraged in the distance, Ben Bulben’s flat head peeps through dizzy haze.

Dreadlocks, shalwar-chemise and sari were only seen in cinemas or the shiny Geographic Magazine.

Long may you enjoy the rainbow spheres

I twitch my heather skirts, savouring the fun, vertigo compels her to descend upon her bum.

tiny geographies orbiting

Eithne Cavanagh

from your pink and green bubble machine.

from An Elegance of Gannets Swan Press

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POETRY / SHORT STORY

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Belle of the Ball (to a Waxwing)

Today

The Necklace

What Nordic witchcraft has created your silky charms, black-masked as if off to the ball?

Are you as garrulous as your name implies?

... a blue silk gauze covers Dublin Bay as Far as Howth, a white ferry plies its course.

Each bead holds a tiny galaxy, bubbles trapped forever in hard clean roundness.

Bombycilla garrulous, a social bird for sure your flocks bedeck the Rowan tree to banquet on fermented berries red until – quite tipsy – some keel over.

What alchemist dipped a brush into vats of molten wax and tipped your wings with red and white and yellow, beauty sealed forever?

A master coiffeuse designed your crest, more glamorous than a duck’s arse quiff or Mohican style, and dusted it with powdered carmine to get you ready for the ball.

No wallflower you!

Some satineer has glossed your feathers to a silken weave and fashioned you a velvet ballgown of pinky buff.

The Poolbeg chimneys needle skyward as if some unseen gigantic darner could mend a corner of this world.

Nearby, an Oystercatcher dips carroty beak in search of lunch. Her piping call invites surrender of thoughts that slither in my head, yet knee deep in water crisp and saline, I marvel at how shivers of weak sunlight tattoo snakeskin patterns on underwater sand, and ripple-edges massage my aching feet.

If there is a God up there at all ...today I could believe.

Eithne Cavanagh ©

I long to hear your tinkling trill as you fly-dance the Mountain Ash and when the feast has been devoured you flit to another fruit-laden bower.

JOYRIDE

“W

was no way out.

But first I now had to accept another invitation I had refused because I worried if Brennan who had invited me to her get together discovered I was out elsewhere having said I wasn’t going out, at the time of declining her invite, well… well. Well. What?

I say now. Well the anxiety I had to suffer thinking I caused anyone anxiety, which of course I wouldn’t have.

You learn that nobody thinks about you as much as you think you do and all your sensitivity is wasted, an unwanted handicraft, a bootless rosary of knotted perceptions and imagined worries all of your making.

A bit of brute self centeredness is exactly what the situation needed. I should have just shook it up like the cocktail I could have done with. Instead off I went to both. Brennan was holding a fundraiser, selling off her junk to her friends. The womenonly gathering was all broken up into different corners, huddled up with each other, glasses of

The metal links still hold.

The clasp remains as strong as on that languid night you placed the beads around my neck, a time of hope and tears.

Eithne Cavanagh from Bone and Petals Swan Press and also from Strings of Pearls, Lautus Press.

Eithne Cavanagh Nov 2014 (Photo waxwing by Colum Clarke)

hen we are grown, we are mostly memory, this is how we realise how elastic time is. Quicksilver, a self contained element that adheres to its own movement and coherence and not a human linear thought.

Time travels and we journey through its being.”

The rain showers down, steadily, with the sound of gurgling taps and drains, somewhere a sirens sounds off outside in the neighbourhood. I have woken from a gadfly dream full of indulgently misspent money and hateship with friends – that oxymoron – old friends.

Soured and stale, tamasic food I push away. I had determined not to go out last night but two successive phone calls from persuaders changed all that. Gwendolines’s housewarming was in fact intended for me. Messages that never reached were apparently sent, and now that I had been tracked down and personally delivered the summons there

I love the imperfection of the beads and hold one high against the sun.

A shimmer frills the edge, creates a dazzling halo.

Today my eyes need no shade.

Feelings fall like molten stars and settle – a clear glazed sheet with you in perfect focus.

‘Museum of Waxwings’ your collective noun – to watch you settle on a berry tree is quite enough display for me.

n Africa Robinson

I still have the necklace that you bought for me in Florence.

Its coppery orbs evoke the glass my father candle-smoked preparing to view an eclipse.

wine in their hands, dressed up in night time clothes, painted faces and jewels like piles of children’s dressing up boxes emptied out on each other.

One of them had arrived earlier that afternoon to, ‘Help Brennan set up,’ she said and had bagged all the good stuff. Another spotted me as a mother from the same school as her son and proceeded to think this was licence to corner me and make my inner eyes roll with boredom.

After the minimum time not considered rude, really one should never be too polite, I took a lift to the housewarming from Nicola. Nicola looked tired, but as usual she was dressed in a

starched white shirt, full skirt and her hair pulled back in to an immaculate dark ponytail. She presented well and so did her large dark jeep into which I climbed.

Her big fuck off jeep. Never get into a car with a depressed woman. She picked up speed as we headed up the N11. There was a bird cage rattling around the back seat, “Oh don’t mind that, I got it in IKEA but it’s all wrong for where I want it. Really need to bring it back. Been there too long. Just so hard to get the time y’know. To do the things y’need to.” She shifted gears, “Brian’s away a lot and the boys and Joanna… It’s full on y‘know.”

She shifted gears, I was looking at her, listening to her, watching her, wondering about lost overtures, hearing the silence in my own ears and urgently wanting to violate it, to ask, “Have you ever even considered who you might be, who you are?”

Who are you? I stared ahead into the night then back to her.

There was nothing but a stream of consciousness about IKEA. The departments, the prices, carving out time. The entire car then juddered and abruptly lurched forward in a moment she was willing the whole moving vehicle to stop with one foot squeezing hard to the brake as she prayed, “Shit, shit shit. Stop.” The brake pads screeched against the injustice of the friction between sudden stoppage and speed.

The car has gone through the red lights when it stopped with every other car abusively stating the obvious with their horns and lights. “Jesus, Nicola. We could have been killed. “Yeah, sorry I nearly didn’t see them. It’s the anti-depressants. Y’know.” I opened my eyes and looked at her.

Picture: google images.

Page 32 December At the December South East Area Committee meeting Cllr Claire Byrne put forward a motion for the area of Pigeon House Road and land adjoining it to be used solely for community, cultural, creative and artistic purposes.

The report back from South East Area Manager (SEAM) Rose Kenny, informed the committee that the area they call ‘the Pigeon House precinct’ is currently being examined by the Chief Executive and the City Valuer for its potential of such causes and are in the process of bringing it to the market with sustainability in mind.

Cllr Dermot Lacey on behalf of the South East Area committee asked the SEAM to initiate the inclusion of St Mary’s, a former home and convent at Pembroke park, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 on the list of protected structures.

The report back from the SEAM said that it is currently not on the list of Record Of Protected Structures (RPS) and that it is the responsibility of the Planning and Property Management Department. A file for the proposed addition of St Mary’s Home, Pembroke, Donnybrook has been opened and added to the list of candidate additions to the RPS to await consideration in the future.

Cllr Lacey requested an immediate cleaning of Morehampton Lane as the residents say it hasn’t been swept for years even though they were promised it be done every 12 weeks.

The SEAM stated that Waste Management Services cleaned it on the 21st of November.

Lacey also asked for a reloca-

COMMUNITY

DCC NOTES

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FOR DECEMBER AND JANUARY COMPILED BY PAUL CARTON

tion of its current “Cul de Sac” sign which he says at present doesn’t refer to that lane. The SEAM informed Lacey that the traffic officer is satisfied that its current location is correct and that there is nowhere else to put it.

Cllr Sonya Stapleton followed up on a promise made to a resident in O’Connell Gardens, Bath Avenue, Dublin 4 by the DCC in relation to pruning back a tree that was preventing sunlight entering her home. Cllr Stapleton said the resident was told by DCC that it would be done last autumn but no work has been done as yet.

The SEAM informed Cllr Stapleton that this tree pruning

request will be added to the tree pruning programme and expect it to be done in the next four to six weeks.

Cllr McCartan asked the SEAM to deal with an issue brought to his attention by a South East Area constituent concerning the increasing numbers of rats which have been seen morning, noon and night around the area of the Martello Tower. The SEAM advised Cllr McCartan that poison has been laid down and the site will continue to be monitored.

Cllr Claire Byrne asked the area manager what options are available or what assistance can be provided for those who are experiencing difficulty in

obtaining house insurance for houses in areas identified as a flood risk, despite flood works having been put in place.

The SEAM informed Cllr Byrne that residents can ask for a letter of flooding comfort, which outlines the estimated current flood risk of their house from the Regional Projects and Flood Advisory Office of Dublin City Council. She also advised that shopping around to other insurance companies has also been successful for some residents seeking insurance from flood risk and that a resident whose house has not been flooded for a significant number of years should state this to their insurance company.

January Cllr Mannix flynn requested information on the progress of the replacement of street signs in the South East area and the cost to date. Cllr Flynn was informed by the SEAM that there are 265 signs which been erected over the 2017/2018 period in the South East and South Central areas at a cost of €66,879.88. The signs cost €39, 750 including VAT to purchase which brings the total cost to €106, 669.88. The SEAM stated that it was a fixed price contract and that there is no South East/South Central breakdown of costs.

Cllr Flynn requested a full report on any incidents of drug dealing and road accidents in-

February / March 2018 volving rickshaws on the streets of Dublin and to be informed at what stage is the government at in relation to the use of rickshaws on our roads. Cllr Flynn also wished to know of any update regarding the new byelaws that relate to horses and carriages and their use within the city.

The SEAM replied that the council doesn’t hold such records of drug dealing and road accidents and that those queries should be sent to An Garda Siochána instead. The SEAM could confirm however that the National Transport Authority held a public consultation in 2017 with a view to drawing up legislation of rickshaw operations.

The SEAM told Cllr FLynn that the council will write to the NTA seeking an update and will inform the Cllr of the outcome.

In relation to the horses and carriages, the SEAM said that their bye-laws are still in review.

Cllr Flynn relayed the frustration and annoyance the public have with the behaviour of some street charity collectors known commonly as ‘chuggers’ and whether there are any bye-laws or regulation being written.

The SEAM said that the DCC have no authority or bye-laws in respect of their management but did direct Cllr Flynn to the Street and House to House Collection Act 1962 and the Charities Act, 2009, whereby it is An Garda Siochána who decide which charities to give charity collection permits to and any complaints of anti-social behaviour by these chuggers should be submitted to them or they should contact the charity directly.

Cllr Dermot Lacey asked for some repairs to be done to a dangerous man-hole that sits in the middle of a cycle lane where Mulberry Road joins Donnybrook. Cllr Lacey followed up this request with a complaint filed by a local cyclist who said that not only did this ‘trapdoors’ protruding teeth blow out both of their tyres but also nearly sent the cyclist underneath passing traffic.

The SEAM said the DCC’s Infrastructure Management Unit has written and contacted Virgin Media Ireland Limited instructing them to prioritise the defective manhole cover and its frame repair.

Above: The first chainsaw of spring (see notes).

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Soccer Sisters Camps return

he FAI and Aviva have today announced the return of the FAI Soccer Sister Camps, which will take place across Dublin during the Easter school holidays.

Registration opened on 25th January for all 21 camps across Dublin this Easter Aviva is calling on girls between the ages of 6 and 14 years old to sign up and get involved.

Now in its twelfth year, the initiative is designed to give girls the opportunity to develop their skills, have fun, meet new people and stay active. The Aviva Soccer Sister Easter Camps continue to grow, with 140 camps taking place nationwide this year, up from 125 camps in 2017 when 3,400 girls participated.

The FAI and Aviva are expecting over 4,000 registrations for this year’s camps which will run for two full days during the Easter school break. It is open to all girls between 6-14 years old of all abilities and gives them a chance to learn the skills of football in a safe and fun environment.

The participants will enjoy an action-packed two days of train-

ing provided by the FAI and each participant will receive a full Aviva Soccer Sister kit, including a limited edition Soccer Sister jersey and a football.

At the end of the camp, each girl will be presented with an official FAI Aviva Soccer Sisters comple-

tion certificate signed by Irish Women’s National Team player, Katie McCabe and Colin Bell, Women’s National Team Head Coach.

Tyler Toland, Sion Swifts and Republic of Ireland player, said “Having been a Soccer Sister myself, I know first-hand how these camps

can help girls fall in love with the sport. Football is a fantastic game that has brought so much positivity to my own life and getting involved at a young age has been a key part of this.”

Mark Russell, the Sponsorship Manager of Aviva Ireland, added:

“Aviva is delighted to be involved with Soccer Sisters as we enter our twelfth year. We want to help expand the reach of the Soccer Sisters camps across the country and with 140 camps in 2018 we hope to get over 4,000 young girls playing.

The Soccer Sisters initiative aims to introduce new players to the game, but it’s also about fostering the enjoyment of those already involved to ensure we keep young girls involved in sport and hopefully create future holders of the green jersey.”

To register for the Aviva FAI Soccer Sisters Easter camps go to www.soccersisters.ie To find out what other Aviva Soccer Sister initiatives are happening in your local clubs or schools before then, please email soccersisters@fai.ie. You can follow the latest news on Aviva Soccer Sisters through our Aviva’s Twitter, Facebook and following #AvivaSoccerSisters.

Steph Catley in action at 2017 Algarve Cup. Photograph: Google images.

Defeated Old Wesley earn their bonus

n Ken Browne All Ireland League - Old Wesley 12 Banbridge 18

T

here were matches in Limerick and Galway cancelled due to unplayable pitches, however the conditions in Banbridge were ideal. Apart from a breeze, the weather and pitch conditions were perfect.

Playing into the breeze Old Wesley started the better and looked to be well up for the opposition, who were challenging for a promotion spot. There were a number of good carries in particular by Matthew Bursey and JJ O’Dea. After 15 minutes of pressurising the opposition, Wesley were in a strong position with a five-metre scrum, however the opposition defence held firm and were able to relieve the pressure.

Entering the second quarter the home side eventually started to flex its muscles with their potent back line pushing Wesley to its limits. Banbridge looked to be in for their first score after 28 minutes but were called back for a forward pass. However, they maintained the pressure and five minutes later centre Andrew Morrison found a gap in the Wesley defence to cross

for the first score of the match.

Surprisingly, Ian Porter missed the conversion. Then just before the half time break Morrison was on hand again crossing for his second try. This time Porter kicked the conversion to leave Old Wesley a major uphill climb for the second half. Half time 0-12 Wesley had a dream start to the second half when out half Tim Clifford intercepted a pass on the

10-metre line, and sprinted untouched to score under the posts.

Josh Miller converted with ease and Wesley were suddenly back in the game. Spurred on by this unexpected bonus Wesley started to regain some form and enjoyed a minor purple patch. On two occasions they had line-outs inside the Banbridge 22 but on both occasions conceded possession. A kick ahead brought play into the

opposition 22.

Following a number of attacks and after a penalty that was taken quickly, prop Cronan Gleeson used his strength to power over for a try.

The conversion was missed but now at 12 all Wesley were back in the game.

A yellow card for Banbridge flanker Caleb Montgomery added to Wesley’s hopes, however it was the home side that upped their

game. A break in midfield looked like a Banbridge try was imminent, however Wesley did just enough to halt the attack. But they conceded a penalty in front of the posts allowing the Ulster side to regain the lead. Then with five minutes remaining Wesley conceded another penalty in front of the posts and a yellow card for Davy Henshaw for tackler not releasing. Porter again converted with ease for a 6-point lead.

To their credit in the remaining minutes Wesley threw everything at the opposition coming with metres of the goal line. Eoghan O’Reilly looked to be over but was called back for a forward pass.

Wesley were then awarded a penalty under the posts in the dying minutes. With 3 points of no advantage they correctly ran the ball out wide until a pass was adjudged forward by the referee; a decision that many Wesley supporters did not agree with. However, with time now up there were no further scores.

So on the negative side, a disappointing loss, but on the plus side a bonus point picked up against a highly-rated side.

Photograph courtesy Ken Browne

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February / March 2018

Why Squash Matters

T

n Mark Kelly

he benefits of joining SPORTSCO Squash Club, Mark Kelly enthuses, permeate body and mind, and extend beyond the four walls of a squash court to friendships, foreign lands and lifelong learning.

This piece will focus on what squash means to a very late starter; someone who had just relocated to the west coast of Canada at 35 years of age in 2008 and was keen to develop a social circle whilst replenishing his body and mind.

I started playing squash socially and competitively in Vancouver, British Columbia.

My two years as a Vancouver resident inspired me to estab-

lish the Irish Sports and Education Association (ISEA) upon my eventual return to Ireland in 2012. ISEA’s flagship programme, Squash Link (www. squashlink.org), has been operating out of SPORTSCO, South Lotts Road, Ringsend, Dublin 4 since November 2015.

Any sport can be social, but why is squash any different?

What does it offer that other games fail to deliver? To begin with, it is played in 175 countries by an estimated 20 million people on approximately 50,000 courts; it is therefore a sport that travels extremely well.

The potential value of squash to any individual who commits to it is vast. Given there are no

age, size or physical strength limitations, it is a lifelong sport.

The speed, endurance and intensity of effort involved in squash reward those who apply themselves conscientiously and over a long period. As an all-weather sport that sees marvellous and mysterious minds converge, squash represents a uniquely character-building challenge.

Like all sport, application, determination and the ability to think under pressure are vital requirements, but if you are hungry and ambitious to succeed and adopt a commonsense approach, the standard at which you play and your level of enjoyment will soar.

The squash court places physical demands on our bodies, but far less amenable to analysis, and in so many ways far more interesting, is the potential of our minds to excel in this primitive pit of passion and perseverance – a place where two players, shut up like caged animals, battle it out with one another.

Of course, we are all inherently competitive. This is not to suggest that such instincts manifest in the same way; it is very clear that gladiatorial battles demonstrate quite the opposite, no matter the sport. Nor does it suggest that ‘competitive’ cannot be deconstructed into multiple layers of meaning.

Healthy approaches to com-

petition can be worlds apart, and naturally so. The great advantage of squash as a social sport is that the game is very much the focus and winning then becomes a vital ingredient, but not its essence; the ultimate reward, when a healthy approach is adopted, is one that serves therapeutic ends – mental, physical as well as spiritual / meditative.

Often referred to as the healthiest sport on the planet, its allure is largely down to the abundant rush of endorphins and the guarantee of a great workout when competing and practising either with others or on one’s own (highly recommended as one of many pathways to rapid improvement) in

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February / March 2018

as little as 30 minutes!

Squash reduces the risk of death by 47%!

According to a recent, World Squash Federation newsletter: ‘Playing squash, tennis and badminton is the best way to reduce the risk of suddenly dying, a study has found. The racket sports reduce the risk of death by 47% compared to doing nothing, researchers discovered.

The study, which looked at the impact of different sports on the health of people with an average age of 51, found swimming cut the risk of death by 28%, aerobics by 27% and cycling by 15%. Interestingly, it discovered that taking part in running and jogging, or football and rugby did not have a significant effect on cutting the chance of death.

The study was based on 11 annual health surveys for England and Scotland from between 1994 and 2008. Senior author Associate Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis at the University of Sydney said: “Our findings indicate that it’s not only how much and how often, but also what type of exercise you do that seems to make the difference.”

He added: “We found robust associations between participation in certain types of sport and exercise and mortality, indicating substantial reductions in all-cause and CVD mortality for swimming, racquet sports and aerobics and in all-cause mortality for cycling.”

The study, in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, aimed to quantify the impact of six different sports on the odds of beating death. It examined 80,306 adults over 30 who were questioned on how much exercise they had had in the preceding four weeks, and if had been enough to make them ‘breath-

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less and sweaty’. Participants were tracked for an average of nine years, in which time 8,790 died from all causes and 1,909 from heart disease or stroke’.

Squash skills Developing squash skills has been likened to learning the violin: success depends on developing muscle memory and perfecting technique by practising over and over. However, unlike playing the violin, the beauty of squash is the instant gratification it provides. The game is essentially played in a room, on a wooden floor, in a four-wall space, where you are permitted to hit a rubber ball off any of the walls, or combination of walls, provided it also hits the front wall. Combined with a range of balls to accommodate all abilities and levels, squash is therefore a racket sport with a large margin for error – invaluable when introducing a new physical activity to beginners.

Whatever your standard or experience, every player has to continually commit to a range of gyrations and pivotal movements, with changes of direction; the mental necessity of assessing what is going on and a wide range of other factors come together to provide a mind-spelling and intensely efficient workout.

Character-moulding Many consider the enormous enjoyment derived directly from playing the game is typically only ever exceeded at the moment of victory, but, just as importantly, squash offers a uniquely challenging opportunity for lifelong learning and engagement. As expressed by Jonah Barrington, perhaps the most successful exponent of this magical, spell-binding pastime in the history of the game: “Squash is not just a game.

For anyone who has the opportunity to become involved with squash, it builds independence.

As with any sport approached properly and with concentration, one has to be independent in that area because it’s ruthless… you have to stand on your own two feet entirely… basically it’s the individual down there in the pit who has to promote himself or herself, and persevere, and learn all kinds of little things that are character building.”

The coup de grace Squash can be played your whole life. It is a lifelong social sport, attracting players of all ages at different stages of their lives. Barrington, a former Trinity College student, unparalleled leader and founding father of the modern game, for example, didn’t pick up a racket, with the intention of excelling competitively, until he was 23! Squash represents a spring of inter-generational promise, offering a great deal to posterity, not least as a social sport with serious hobby potential. Squash inheres within friendships and friendships inhere within squash. Respect and friendship, fun and fitness will always make squash the game it is.

Squash Matters Kelly’s passion for the sport and its potential as a force for enrichment, health and wellbeing has led to his decision to develop a new Squash Matters initiative at SPORTSCO. Whilst planning is ongoing, suffice it to say that anyone interested in taking up the sport or developing their game will be welcomed with open arms.

All Squash Matters coaches share a simple philosophy: to assist and develop players of all ages, children and adults, by embracing sport as an opportunity for lifelong learning, fun and social engagement. They are also inspired by a World Squash Federation process of open skills development rooted in a PDA (Perception, Decision, Action) diagnostic cycle.

Whilst a closed skill might be considered to consist of striking the ball such as hitting a ground stroke, volley, boast (where the ball hits the side or back wall before contacting the front wall) or playing any shot for that matter, a focus on open skills embraces the full range of movements, perception and anticipation in relation to each stroke.

One fundamental principle

is that a squash player’s movement should be relaxed, fluid and rhythmic, starting with the correct racket preparation, including the grip, as well as movement of feet into the optimal hitting position. When a rally is underway, a squash player should never be entirely still. This means they will typically be on the balls of their feet rather than flat-footed on their heels, letting their arm/ racket (reach) complement the efforts of body movements/exertions. The time for resting, being flat-footed and breathing mindfully is when the point is over and you are waiting to serve or receive.

Balance and stability, especially when striking the ball, are essential in this fast and intense sport, not least to ensure the risk of injury is minimal. Parallels with dancing and boxing, albeit with a racket in hand, spring to mind when imagining the potential benefits of this sporting discipline and as recently declared by one of the modern game’s most notable commentators, Paul Johnson, ‘Chess on legs’ is a description that any aficionado of the game would wholeheartedly endorse.

Evidently, core strength, in every manifestation, is an essential component of anyone wanting to commit to a challenging individual sport.

SPORTSCO offers a wide range of activities which include pilates, yoga and a myriad of other disciplines for improving physical and mental wellbeing. This outstanding facility is an ideal bedfellow for programmes such as Squash Link and Squash Matters.

We know all too well of the physical time bomb in Ireland and beyond, where the threatened cost to public health is in the billions for the next generation. Maintaining a level of activity is therefore of sacrosanct importance for society as a whole.

Sport enhances people’s resilience. Knowing we can look a challenge in the eye, from as early on in life as possible, equips us with the confidence in our ability to overcome obstacles in the wider world.

For further details, Email: squashmatters@gmail.com.

Pictured page 34: Paul Kobus and Jack O’Flynn.

Main photograph and logo courtesy Mark Kelly.

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J

Bergin ames Owens was born in 1885 and raised in Ringsend at 12, Margaret’s Place, Bath Avenue. He grew up to be an absolutely brilliant footballer, a skilful and prolific goal-scorer who at the age of eighteen was a star striker for Shelbourne FC. In the 1903/04 season, James helped Shels win the Metropolitan Cup, Leinster Senior League and Leinster Senior Cup. He played a storm for the Reds that year and in an exhibition game against the Scottish Division One side Partick Thistle he lashed in the winning goal for Shelbourne in their first-ever match against a side from Britain.

The following season, Shelbourne were promoted to the Irish League, the highest level of football in the country, where they would be tested week in and week out by tough Northern teams like Belfast Celtic and Linfield, teams loaded with international players.

It was by no means certain that Shels’ players would be able to hold their own against such hardy and experienced opposition. But the Ringsend men were not intimidated by big names or impressed by fancy reputations, they went out and showed themselves to be at home in the top League. James was especially good for Shels that season. His fine play was of considerable advantage to Shelbourne, and they earned fifth place in the league and again won the Metropolitan Cup. After such a satisfactory year, James must have been a happy man and was maybe hoping to have the summer months to rest.

But any such hopes were to be dashed in a horrible manner by the Dublin Bay disaster of July 2nd 1905. James’s father, along with four other men and a boy aged nine, were drowned when their boat was overwhelmed by heavy seas off Poolbeg Lighthouse. All six of the deceased were from Ringsend and Irishtown, and the tragedy was a cause of great shock and grief to the people.

James, resilient young man that he was, was back in action for Shelbourne by the time the 1905/06 season kicked off. He was on top form, playing like a man possessed and banging in the goals like there was no tomorrow. He was a relentlessly effective top scorer for Shels, who again did well by manag-

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Super Scorer – James Owens

ing another fifth place finish.

James did even better in the competitions that season, earning immortality for himself and his teammates. First up for Shels was the Leinster Senior Cup Final, at Dalymount Park on March 7th 1906, against the Royal Irish Rifles. James gave an inspired display, beginning in the eighth minute when he got himself clear on goal and had the keeper beaten all ends up with a shot that grazed the upright, then shortly afterwards he let fly with a strike from way, way out, a thunderbolt that whistled just outside the post.

Then, in the 25th minute, James got free from his marker again and made another break upfield, advanced on the English goalkeeper and calmly shot past him, to put Shelbourne two up.

At that stage of the game the Rifles players seemed to be out of ammunition, but they found a little inspiration from somewhere and they rallied, making trouble for Shels with a flurry of half-chances that earned them a couple of corners and eventually induced one serious defensive error just before half time, which resulted in a goal that halved the deficit for the Rifles.

Early in the second half, the Rifles were continuing to pose problems for Shels, launching several dangerous attacks.

Twice the regimental side came

to the brink of scoring an equalising goal, and the Shels players were finding it difficult to wrest back control of the play.

James was doing his bit in the rearguard action, falling back to help resist the pressure, while still striving for an opportunity to get forward and gain control back for the Reds.

When the Rifles launched another offensive thrust, he intercepted the ball, smartly passed it upfield and broke forward at top speed, reaching the box in the nick of time to receive the ball in his stride and lash it into the back of the net.

The goal was a perfect combination of precise teamplay and individual skill: a strike of exactly-directed violence from James to finish a delicately worked one-two move, that ranged the length and breadth of the field.

With that super goal, James put the Reds up 3-1, which was the score at the final whistle.

Shels were Leinster Cup champs again and this, combined with their impressive League performance, made it a season of undoubted success. But, almost before they had time to savour that achievement, James and his teammates had another important match to play.

On the 28th of April, in front of 10,000 spectators at Dalymount Park, Shelbourne played Belfast Celtic in the 1906 Irish Cup Final. No club from outside Ulster had ever won the Irish Cup, but Shels had been a model of ruthless efficiency through the early rounds of that year’s competition. Having scored eight goals and conceded just one in beating Cork Celtic, Glentoran and Derry Celtic on the way to the final, Shels looked to be absolutely dead set on bringing the trophy home to Dublin.

And, as the final got underway, it quickly became clear that the pile-driving Ringsenders were not out of steam yet.

Even Belfast Celtic, those famous titans of Ulster football, were powerless to stop Shels.

James was deadly that day, and wasted no time in forcing the Belfast defenders on to the back foot. Early on, he got himself into just the right position, at just the right time, to reach the ball as it rebounded off the post and he struck it firm and low into the goal. 1-0 to Shels!

February / March 2018 The second half found him cool and exact when converting a penalty kick for his second goal. Two goals for James, two goals for Shels, the final score was Shelbourne 2, Celtic 0, and the Cup was won. Every man on the team that day became an immortal of Shelbourne history and no one more so than the man who scored the goals.

There was no let-up in performance from the team in the 1906/07 season. They finished runners-up in both the Irish League and Irish Cup Final. It was the first time since James got in the Shelbourne side that the club went a season without a trophy, but they made up for that the following year.

On April 4th 1908, James scored and Shels beat Royal Berkshire Rifles in the Leinster Cup Final. Then, on May 2nd, he struck the winning goal against Bohemians in the Metropolitan Cup Final. With those two goals, James continued his terrific habit of scoring for Shels when it mattered most. In just four seasons he had helped the club to eight trophies and they never lost a final in which he scored.

James was 23 years old at the time of the 1908 Metropolitan Cup Final, and considering his youth, his talent and the consistently excellent form he had shown in his short career, it seems reasonable to assume that he would go on to be an even better player for Shelbourne, and would get the chance to show his glorious skills at the very top level, as a star striker for his country.

He might well have become one of the great early Irish internationals and, aged just 29, he would surely have been a member of the legendary Ireland team that won the British Championship in 1914.

Unfortunately, he never got to add to his haul of medals or trophies after the 1907/08 season.

In 1909, before he reached his 25th year, James Owens died of typhoid fever.

He was, and will always be, one of the greatest of all Shelbourne footballers.

Team photo: Shels vs Belfast Celtic Irish FA Cup Final Dalymount Park.

Seated, second row, left to right: John Owens, Gary Byrne, Val Harris, James Owens, John Clery.

Photographs courtesy of Shelbourne FC Archive.

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n Kathrin Kobus

ansdowne on top of their league is not that much of a surprise. They topped the table last year as well. What is outstanding however is that they are on a winning streak that began since competition started back in September 2017.

According to head coach Mike Ruddock last year’s summer preparations payed off. “We went on a pre-season tour to Swansea in August [where we] played two games. And it was about bonding together and that carried into the playing season. Of course lot of our players from the previous year stayed with the club. That gives stability for the squad.”

So far the team captained by Ian Prendiville has won two trophies already. In November, a 9:0 win over Clontarf brought the Leinster Rugby Senior League Cup, followed in December with the Peter Sutherland Cup after a 30:23 win against UCD. “We will try our best in all competitions, that’s for sure. Now the second round of games will

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Team spirit the secret of success

be tougher. But there are no major injury concerns for us so far, just the usual knocks and bruises. We’re looking forward to it and hope to win the outstanding games of course.”

Something special might be another cup finale awaiting them in April with the Bateman Cup. Once more Cork Constitution

will be their opponents, a team that has won this particular cup five times in a row, but lost the league game at the Aviva back pitch in October.

So to win the Bateman cup in addition to the other two might just be the icing on the cake for the Lansdowne XV who want to reach at the very minimum the

All Ireland Finale this year.

Lansdowne coach Mike Ruddock will also be at the Aviva proper to watch Ireland’s matches in the upcoming Six Nations.

“I’ll be looking forward to it. I had hoped Rhys would be playing but he’ll miss the whole competition due to injury. But I will definitely enjoy the tourna-

ment and well my money is on Ireland this year.”

Lansdowne will play at home again on Friday 16th of February against St.Mary’s College. Kick Off 7.30pm Aviva back pitch.

played in a semi-final format.

All the matches from Ireland’s national Indoor Finals were live streamed on YouTube, with Railway Union’s and Irish Hockey’s Twitter feeds doing a stellar job on their timelines keeping followers up to date.

A great example of social media being useful and informative. Mark English and David Bane provided commentary on the initial matches.

Railway union had some outstanding scores, 6-0 against Galway Hockey Club with goals scored by Anna May Whelan, Hannah De Burgh Whyte and Kate Dillon. After a close opening first half, Railway showed their experience

with some clinical finishing and advanced to the final. Irish Hockey President Ivey Dennis made the presentations to Ross Canning and Eoin MacArthur won man of the match sponsored by The Wooden Spoon Cafe in Blackrock.

The national indoor trophy is open to all to enter on an annual basis with the winners from both the men’s and women’s progressing on to represent Ireland at a European level.

Expect more to come this year and their hard work pays off.

Best of luck to all progressing to the European level.

Pictures provided courtesy of Lansdowne FC, Michael O’Brien.

Railway Union on track

R

ailway Union have gotten off to a blistering start for 2018, with the hockey club bagging double trophies in the Leinster Indoor Hockey Leagues. Both the men’s and women’s teams won their finals in St Columba’s College Sports Hall on Sunday evening 21st January.

The respective scores settling up were as follows; men’s final: Railway Union vs Three Rock Rovers 7-4; ladies final: Railway Union vs Glena-

nne 4-0, putting both teams in the national finals that were played 28th January back in St Columba’s again. The eight teams that competed qualified via their provincial competitions.

The tournament consisted of two men’s semi finals and two women’s semi finals, followed by the finals. The men’s finals consisted of three teams and were played in a round robin format. The ladies finals consisted of four teams and were

Photos courtesy of Tristan Taz Stedham.

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February / March 2018

Plenty to celebrate at Clanna Gael Fontenoy

T

O’Regan here were hearty congratulations all round for Pat Kane on being awarded Club Person of the Year at the club’s annual dinner and party which took place, as is customary, in the run-up to Christmas.

As with previous recipients of this special award, it was the nature and extent of Pat’s contribution to the club over the years that provided the grounds for this honour. His involvement with the club began some years ago when he played at under age level.

His playing days were followed by a key role, together with others, in building the ladies’ playing side of the club. This led to success in his role as manager of juvenile and adult ladies’ teams at club level and with the Dublin U16 ladies at inter-county level. More recently, his role as full-time club manager led club Chairman, Bernard Barron, to state on presenting the award that Pat’s commitment “goes way beyond the call of duty.”

Club awards presentation

n Felix

Awards were also presented to a number of other people in recognition of various achievements: Sean Hegarty received the Colm O’Briain Memorial Award for his particular dedication and commitment to his team and club Jenny Mannion received the Senior Ladies’ Footballer of the Year award Catherine Smith received the award for Junior Ladies’ Footballer of the Year award Emma Kelly for best Camogie Player of the Year John Devereaux for Intermediate Hurling Eoin O’Mahony for Intermediate Football The U16 footballers received the award for Team of the Year A great night was had by the large number of people in attendance. It proved to be a great occasion, thanks to the organisation and management of Christine Byrne and Tara Crowley and their team of volunteers.

Chairman, Bernard Byrne, was wholesome in his praise for all who had contributed time and effort to make it yet another successful year for the club and, as ever, Conor Dodd as the Master of Ceremonies made sure that everything flowed smoothly and jelled.

Covanta Funding The off-season period around the Christmas and the

New Year has provided the perfect opportunity to put to good use the funding generously provided to the club by Covanta through their Waste to Energy Community Gain fund. A major programme of activity to refurbish our dressing rooms is well underway at a cost of some €300,000.

In late 2017 Kennedy Woods Architects were appointed as project managers for the refurbishment. Before work got underway they provided ideas and suggestions to the Club Executive for the dressing rooms. Having got approval for the plans, work commenced in late December.

When completed, the club will have five refurbished dressing rooms, with all-new furniture, showers, flooring and whiteboards. One of the existing old rooms is being converted into toilets for players and spectators.

A brand new boiler is being installed, much to the relief of the players who haven’t showered in months! The coffee shop is also getting a touch-up, with new storage and flooring being installed.

Players and mentors alike can look forward to having fantastic changing facilities in the not too distant future.

Ladies to the fore Christmas brought particularly welcome news to a number of the club’s female adult players.

Rebecca McDonnell was selected as a member of the

Senior Dub Stars team. No stranger to success, Rebecca already holds an All-Ireland medal as a member of the victorious senior Dublin squad in 2017.

Another of our female footballers, Jenny Kelly, was chosen as one of the Junior Dub Stars team. At the same time, Sarah Ryan was named on the Premier Dub Stars Camogie panel. Congratulations to each of the players who were fully deserving of this success.

Coaching standards It’s well known across all sports that, however good players are, good coaches can help those players to get the most out of themselves. Which is why the coaching programme, which our Games Development Officer, Johnny McGlynn, has

put in place, is so welcome.

Commencing in mid-January and running right through to April, this programme features a wide range of courses in football and hurling for different levels of coaching.

Johnny is particularly well placed to oversee the delivery of this programme, given his coaching experience with Dublin hurling development squads and Dublin colleges hurling teams, as well as with the senior footballers of Oliver Plunkett’s and the senior hurlers of O’Toole’s GAA clubs.

His experience and the coaching skills imparted under the programme should serve well the future standards of play of the club’s teams.

Clockwise from top, left to right: Team mentors Ross Morgan, Maurice Hennessy and Stephen McCann accept the Team of the Year Award on behalf of their U16 football squad, whose notable achievements included winning the B Championship; while Catherine Smith proudly sports her Junior Ladies Footballer of the Year Award.

Pat Kane (on right) receives the Club Person of the Year Award from Club Chairman, Bernard Barron Jenny Mannion addresses the audience after receiving her Senior Ladies Footballer of the Year Award for her contribution to the senior ladies team – and in particular their success in winning the Division 2 Cup.

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February / March 2018

SMALL ADS AND NOTICES

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Services

Services

Services

Remembrances

Services

Services

Services

Remembrances

Page 40

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February / March 2018