June july 2008 newsfour

JUNE / JULY 2008

NewsFour Free Community Newspaper serving Sandymount, Irishtown, Ringsend, Docklands, Ballsbridge and Donnybrook Web: www.news4.ie • E-mail: newsfourscs@eircom.net • Local Newsdesk: Phone 6673317

SARAH’S GARDEN

OUR NEWS IS GOOD NEWS Urban poverty did not cease in the 1960s, as Michael MacAuliffe reminds us on page 11

The ball is in Cristiano Ronaldo’s court – no wonder he looks so happy!

See page 20

Two less than happy footballers are not allowed to forget their epic disagreement. See page 23

S

arah OʼReillyʼs untimely death on 1st May 2007 was a shock to the whole Ringsend community. Sarah was an untiring worker for the Parish of Ringsend, the primary schools and many local charities.

Tom Sheridan said that Sarah

was truly unique: “It is no exaggeration to say that the contribution she made to our church and parish, and to the many peopleʼs lives she touched, is immeasurable.”

To commemorate Sarahʼs life. the Headmaster of St Patrickʼs

Brendan Gregg, who now lives in Chicago, celebrated Neighboursʼ Day with old friends in Ringsend recently.

Girls National School and a whole host of local people got together to transform a barren place into Sarahʼs Garden.

The garden sits on solid concrete and removing it was never going to be an option, however it provided an instant and solid foundation for the raised beds.

It took many months of hard work and a great deal of good luck for the garden to come to fruition.

The children have planted flowers, trees, fruit and vegetables and the Garden was opened on 20 June by John Gormley TD. Headmaster, Martin Lynch, said “The garden is dedicated to Sarah OʼReilly in appreciation of her lifelong work for the Parish.

We now have a primary resource and amenity that bodes well for our childrenʼs appreciation of nature and our environment for many years to come.”

Pictured above are Tom Sheridan with Sheila Delaney, Phyllis Byrne and Mary Egan.

Well, that’s put the tin hat on that. Brian Rutherford sings the praises of Westport on page 36

Read the story of Marcelo Biglia and see some of his wonderful photographs on page 37.

PAGE 2

NewsFour Managing Editor Ann Ingle Advertising Manager Grainne McGuinness Office Manager Miriam Holmes Staff Brian Rutherford Fergal Murphy Audrey Healy John Cavendish Nessa Jennings Stephanie Morris Louise Hanrahan Glenda Cimino Contributors Shay Connolly James O’Doherty Brian Kelly Derek Charlie Bowden Seán MacMahon Michael MacAuliffe John Hawkins Niall Feery Frances Dignam

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

A

The Editor’s Corner

big thank you for your letters, contributions, photographs, poems and entries to the crossword. The interaction with our readers is so important to us and is the life blood of the paper. Also thanks to the boys who entered our Surfdock Competition and congratulations to the winners (page 17).

Stephanie introduced us to her friend Marcelo Biglia and we are delighted to reproduce some of his amazing photographs (page 37). Elsewhere we have running tips, holiday recommendations, book reviews and lots more.

On page 25 the article about Carelocal a voluntary organisation which is doing great work to alleviate loneliness among the elderly is a reminder of how we can help. Work-

ing as a volunteer can be very rewarding as Audrey found out when she spoke to Jonny Hobson.

Michael MacAuliffe, who helps with Meals on Wheels, also came up with an interesting piece on this topic (page 11). Speaking of caring for and helping others reminds me of my good friend Sister Agnes Philomena, who is unwell at present and needs our prayers.

Should I apologise for the surfeit of local and national football coverage in this edition (see pages 20 and 21, 26 and 34)? No, I suppose not as it is bound to appeal to at least half of our readers!

See you next time (around the end of August) and enjoy the holidays.

Ann Ingle

• SPECIAL NOTICE •

Price: €35 per 3 Month Session or €5 for one Swim.

Children under 3 years are FREE! This Swimming Session is open to any one who wants to join. It is not just confined to people living in the Sth. Lotts Rd. area.

For further Info just call over any Sunday between 11am & 1pm.

Ask for Mary or Billy.

Ringsend Library

(age group 7 to 12)

Design, Typesetting, Layout Eugene Carolan

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We have a Swimming Session Every Sunday Morning from 11am to 1pm in Sportsco.

Tuesday 15 July Art Workshop 2.30 pm

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Telephone: (01)6673317

Swimming in Sportsco

Thursday 10 July 2.15 pm Storytelling Workshop

Web Designer Andrew Thorn

Community Services, 15 Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4.

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Ring library for details: 6680063 A Social and Natural History of Sandymount, Irishtown and Ringsend, first published in 1993 and The Roads to Sandymount Irishtown and Ringsend, first published in 1996 are now available From ʻNewsFourʼ, 15 Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4 and ʻBooks on the Greenʼ, Sandymount Village.

Affiliated to Comhairle, South-East Area Network, (SEAN) Local History Research, Community Resource Service, NewsFour Newspaper, FÁS Community Employment Programme.

Ringsend Active Retirement Association Retired with time on your hands?

Opinions expressed in News Four do not necessarily represent the views of Community Services.

Patsy Doolin, Bridie Flynn, May Kane and City Councillor, Paddy McCartan on the upgraded Seán MacMahon bridge. Due to the popularity of the new benches on the Causeway in Sandymount, Cllr Paddy McCartan has requested that additional seats be provided. At the moment demand exceeds supply. Paddy is delighted to report that three more benches will be installed in the coming weeks.

Why not visit us at the CYMS in Ringsend any Tuesday to Friday from 2.30 pm New members (men and women) always welcome

Our address: NewsFour, 15 Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend Phone: 6673317 • Email: newsfourscs@eircom.net Visit our website at: www.news4.ie

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 3

I MPRESSIONIST I NTERIORS AT

T HE N ATIONAL G ALLERY

OF

I RELAND

Chiropractor Dr Gemma Bailey (DC BSc (Hons) Chiro) Dr Danny Scahill (DC BSc (Hons) Chiro)

Back / Neck Pain Shoulder Pain Ankle Injuries Sports Injuries Repetitive Sprains

Sciatica Tennis Elbow Headaches / Migraines Arthritic and Joint Pain Disc Injuries

Fitzwilliam Health Clinic

By Nessa Jennings

F

eaturing over forty paintings by mainly French Impressionists, this ʻImpressionist Interiorsʼ exhibition shows its subjects either doing nothing or in their work environment.

Take ʻPortraits in a Cotton Officeʼ (1873) by Edgar Degas, pictured above. The painting is set in an exclusively male environment, which is populated by clerks and customers, who if you look closely, are actually doing nothing, as the cotton office in New Orleans, is actually going out of business.

There is room for speculation about the possible relationship between the man and the woman in ʻSulkingʼ, also

by Degas.

“These paintings often examine implied and obvious relationships in their composition...”

This information and more we are told by the woman with the distinctive voice on the handset which you are given on entry to the exhibition. She discusses fifteen of the paintings. There is an entrance charge to see these masterpieces, but the unfinished look of the gallery in the Millennium Wing seems

to belie the value of the paintings.

When we look at the Claude Monet painting used to advertise the exhibition, ʻInterior After Dinnerʼ– an intimate apres-dinner scene in the cosy dining room of his country home, with his friends quietly enjoying each othersʼ company by lamplight and firelight, we may forget what makes the paintings priceless.

Having a theme ʻInteriorsʼ seems to obscure the genius of the art. Yet, it was this informality which defined the Impressionist movement of the second half of the nineteenth century.

The immediacy of the Impressionist technique means that their domestic scenes are intimate and informal, depicting friends and family engaged in everyday activities: slouching on sofas, daydreaming in bed, bathing, reading and dining. These subjects proved powerful antidotes to the historical set-pieces, endorsed by the official salon.

For example Edgar Degasʼs famous ʻTwo Ballet Dancers in a Dressing Roomʼ circa 1880 shows the dancers in a brief moment of relaxation before a performance. This painting shows off the colourful beauty of the Impres-

sionist style, as does Mary Cassatʼs ʻLydia at a Tapestry Frameʼ (1888)– a painting of her sister, who suffered from Brightʼs Disease, inspired by Degas. The pink she is wearing is awesomely beautiful.

The development of modern apartment living in the 1860s in Paris meant that the middle class interior took on a new symbolic significance.

The collection and display of ornamental objects within the home became a way of indicating the occupantsʼ taste, knowledge, interests and past experiences. The interiors feature still lives of these objects: for example, there are paintings hanging on the walls, paintings within paintings.

The exhibition continues in the Millennium Wing upstairs at the National Gallery until 10th August.

Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 5.30pm, Thursday 9.30am to 8.30pm.

Sunday 12pm to 5.30pm.

Tickets: €10 (full price), €6 (concessions). Concession price applies all day Thursday. Advance booking is advised. Telephone (01) 663 3513 or online: www.ticketmaster.ie. A timed ticketing system will be in operation.

Last admission to exhibition is one hour before closing.

19 Fitzwilliam Square South, Dublin 2 Phone 6618949 / 52 info@fitzwilliamhealth.ie www.fitzwilliamhealth.ie

These jugglers kept the crowd entertained at the recent display of street performers in Merrion Square.

PAGE 4

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 5

CBS WESTLAND ROW LAUNCHES A WEBSITE

T

hrough the years, many children from the Dublin 2 and 4 areas will have attended the CBS Westland Row School. Its Past Pupils Union has set up a website at www.row.ie. The school has played a major role in Irish history and produced some famous past pupils, including the Pearse Brothers, Ken Doherty, Ray Tracey and Cyril Cusack to name but a few.

The school is right in the heart of the South Inner City.

Although the address is Westland Row, the school buildings are entered from Cumberland Street and are wrapped around the back of St. Andrewʼs Church.

Some of the ground floor and basement space is used by the administrative offices of the church so that most of the classrooms are on the second and third floors. Pearse Street railway station borders the school on the eastern side.

The Christian Brothers came to the Parish in 1812 at the in-

vitation of the then-archbishop, Dr. Murray. After moving buildings a few times, they arrived in the present school in 1844. The school grew rapidly and within a few years had a joint enrol-

ment over 400 pupils.

There were separate primary and secondary schools on the same site, sharing the playground and other facilities.

In 1864, the Brothers laid the

foundation stone for the present monastery which fronted onto Westland Row. In 1988 the primary section amalgamated with the Mercy Girlsʼ School and moved to their newer premises in Baggot Street. Two years later the secondary went co-educational to accept all pupils leaving the Primary.

In 1994 the Christian Brothers decided to open up the position of principal to lay people and an acting principal was appointed. The following year, one of the first woman principals in a Brotherʼs school was appointed to the permanent post and a board of management was set up. The school has had a lay principal since then.

The school provides a wide range of Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate subjects concentrating on the LCA and LCVP programmes. Recent additions to the school include a new extended kitchen for the home economics classes and a language laboratory. Pupil numbers are now on the rise and the future of the school looks secure.

Donʼt forget to check out the website at www.row.ie.

Roslyn Park School, Sandymount It’s 30 years since the Class of 1978 left Roslyn Park.

Were you in that class?

We are organising a class reunion for September this year and would love to hear from you.

Contact Megan at 086 1602939 or Irene at 087 7558414

PAGE 6

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

G ENERAL S EÁN M AC M AHON

By Seán MacMahon

G

eneral Seán MacMahon was born in Cork Street, in Dublin in 1893. He was the eldest of seven children.

He joined the Volunteers at their inception in 1913 and was enrolled as a member of ʻBʼ Company, Third Battalion, Dublin City Brigade.

In 1914 he became First Lieutenant under The OʼRahilly with promotion to Captain in 1915.

The headquarters of ʻBʼ Company, Third Battalion was based at 144 Pearse Street.

During Easter Week 1916 he fought as Captain of ʻBʼ Company, Third Battalion, under Eamon De Valera in Bolandʼs Mills.

He was responsible for Westland Row train station and its area, ensuring that any reinforcements landing at Dun Laoghaire (then called Kingstown) would have to march to Dublin.

When one of his own was seriously wounded, the problem arose as to how to get the man

to hospital. Captain MacMahon provided a solution by taking the man to St Vincentʼs Hospital himself while in uniform and under fire from enemy troops.

The reaction by the locals on the Bolandʼs Mills surrender was unlike most other areas. They were friendly and sympathetic and the volunteers received an ovation in Grand Canal Street with offers of refuge.

In May 1916 Seán MacMahon was deported and imprisoned first in Wakefield then Frongoch and finally Wormwood Scrubs.

On his return to Dublin he joined the staff of the ʻNationalityʼ. He resumed his association with the Volunteers, becoming Vice-Commandant of the Third Battalion.

He was held in the highest esteem by the founder and editor of the paper President Arthur Griffith.

In 1919 he became QMG of the Irish Republican Army and he married Lucinda Fitzgerald on 27th November 1919 in the Church of Saint Andrew, Westland Row, the same church that he had helped save from being

destroyed by fire three years earlier.

General McMahon took part in several engagements during the Black and Tan war and was present during the night of 13th to 14th March 1921 when his brother in law, Leo Fitzgerald was killed in an ambush in Great Brunswick Street.

On the formation of the Regular National Army in February 1922 he continued as QMG. In September 1922 he succeeded General Mulcahy as Chief of the General Staff. They were difficult times for the Army. However in Gormanstown that same month General Richard Mulcahy boasted of the great progress of the Army by indicating the newly-appointed Chief of Staff as “the Armyʼs first real Chief of Staff”.

Seán MacMahon was a professional soldier. Self-taught in military matters, well-read and experienced in organisation, motivation and tactics, he believed passionately in democracy. He saw a future beyond Irelandʼs

boundaries at the time. He saw a duty beyond his personal needs and had already foreseen the necessity to transform the National Army into a modern professional organisation and servant of the elected government.

As Chief of General Staff and head of the Irish Defence Forces, General Seán MacMahon in July 1923 led an official visit to France during which he laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He was well-received by the French military and gained great insight into the running of a professional army.

At this price it now feasible for you to exercise every day

His reports home showed that, like Collins he saw a strong economic and independent future for the country and the reports detail his observations and the benefits and need of trade.

He retired due to ill-health in 1927. Asked to go into politics he declined, leaving that, he felt, to those more suited. He had served his country in the best way he knew and in the constant company of many great people.

His duty however now done, he handed over the baton and others took their turn on the front line.

Above: Seán MacMahon.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 7

M AC M AHON BRIDGE REBORN

By John Cavendish

T

he current Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Paddy Bourke officiated at the ceremony to mark the rebuilding of the MacMahon Bridge over the Grand Canal Dock joining Pearse Street with the Ringsend Road on Friday 30th May. The new MacMahon Bridge is the fifth bridge to be constructed over the Grand Canal at this point. Early records indicate that a wooden bridge, the Brunswick Bascule, was built here in 1791 and was later replaced in 1857 by the Victoria Bridge which was again replaced in 1900.

The fourth bridge was opened in 1963, with a lifting section and this was the first MacMahon Bridge named after General Seán MacMahon who fought with Eamon de Valera at Bolandʼs Mills in 1916 and who later became Chief of Staff of the Irish Army.

Descendants of the General

A

VERY

were present, along with members of the defence forces who provided a guard of honour.

As President back in 1963, Eamon De Valera unveiled the plaque on the old bridge which has been refurbished and reinstalled on the new bridge.

The decision to replace the 1963 MacMahon Bridge with a modern fixed-span design was taken by Dublin City Council in 2005 with the new design, which has outer elliptical stainless steel glass-clad arches.

The new bridge has two bus lanes and two carriageways.

Works were completed in September 2007 at a total cost of €4million with a grant of €2.5million provided by the Departments of the Environment and Transport under the National Development Plan.

Consulting Engineers Mott MacDonald Petit and Paul Arnold architects were responsible for the design with SIAC Construction the main contractor.

Pointing to the new bridge

and remarking on the new Grand Canal Dock buildings, Lord Mayor Paddy Burke said, “This is the General MacMahon Bridge. It has been widened and re-dedicated here today. It is an important arterial link for the city, 16,000 cars go across the bridge every day but it has bus lanes as well, which is significant from the point of view in reducing the number of cars on the road. I

S PECIAL O LYMPICS

DAY

think today has been a wonderful event, not just for me as Lord Mayor but also for the family and for the people of the community since General MacMahon came from the area.”

Pictured above: Brigadier General Denis Murphy with members of the extended family of the late General Seán MacMahon

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Irishtown Stadium and Ringsend Community Centre Monday and Tuesday evenings IT WAS a great day when the Irishtown Special Olympics team competed in Irishtown Stadium at the special Olympics Eastern Region qualifiers. Chris Andrews TD presented medals on the day, which was very successful and had nearly 10 teams competing. Irishtown came first in the 100-metre relay and was very successful in the individual competitions.

Above: Chris Andrews TD, Carmel Malone, Bern Griffin, Ger Griffin and Gardaí from Pearse Street Station and the Special Olympics team.

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More information: Contact Keith at 0861220157

PAGE 8

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

The Letterbox Madam Editor I wish to write and hope you publish my letter, with regard to our beautiful Irishtown/Sandymount Nature Park.

I am a very frequent walker over to the Nature Park and do indeed think it is the most beautiful place for a quiet tranquil walk especially when the tide is in, you could be anywhere in the world.

My sad story is that while it is lovely, there are some people who have picnics over there, and while I have absolutely no problem with this, they do tend to leave all the RUBBISH behind, what with the recent good weather we are having the rubbish has increased.

I am not boasting, but I have taken lately to bringing a bag to collect some of this rubbish, as it would be impossible to clean the whole park myself. I am very ashamed and upset that people do not have any respect for the area and how awful it looks to see the rubbish strewn all over the place. ʻCOME ON EVERYBODYʼ take some pride in this lovely scenic park and letʼs not be like our namesake ʻThe Dirty Dubsʼ.

Letʼs change and take interest.

There are some famous people to mention a few who talk the walk.

I have seen Mr Gay Byrne (RTE) over there recently (he is a new neighbour to our area). Also I have seen The Corrs and Dickie Rock, to mention but a few.

I also rang Dublin City Council with my complaint. If one person in every 100 was to pick up at

least one piece of rubbish, how bad off would we be.

Regards Margaret Madam Editor First off can I express my sincere thanks to you and your staff for such a wonderful publication.

I am sure that many of your exiled readers will agree that NewsFour is the top spot of our lives in that it takes us back to our roots.

Now a question for your older readers. During the war I attended the Rita Mooney School of Acting which was located on Pearse Street and during my time there we regularly put on shows at such as the Mission to Seamen.

As Rita was a friend of my motherʼs my question is this, was Rita sister to Sean Mooney who was also a friend of my motherʼs (Catherine Maguire). There was a strong Maguire/ Mooney connection in that Seanʼs parents, Luke Mooney and Constance Mooney nee Constance Valkenberg, were best man and bridesmaid for my grandparentʼs wedding at the Pro-Catherdal on 18th September 1899.

My grandfather was James Maguire of Ringsend and my grandmother Sarah Murray of Marlborough Street. Interestingly, Constance Valkenbergʼs address is given as Mary Street.

Kindest regards to one and all.

Donal McKenna an ex-Derrynaner

Beach Road Tyre Services (Rear Kilroy College)

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Madam Editor That was great coverage for Cambridge Boys Soccer Club that NewsFour gave in their last edition. I was down in Ringsend park recently to watch the under 10s beat Leister FC (from Rathfarnham) play against our side. We won 4-3.

John Lee Madam Editor Just a few words to thank you for sending me NewsFour. It lights up my day when I get it for itʼs still nice to read about all the news from home. Irishtown is still home to me even though Iʼm 50 years living in London.

Reading about Lawless shop in your last issue reminded me of the time when I was 10 years old.I got a paper round in that shop, it was Robinsonʼs then. They said as the paper round went all along Pidgeon House Road and Cambridge Road they would give me a bike. I never told them I could not ride a bike so I left the bike outside our house in Stella Gardens and ran all the way to do my rounds.

They never found out I could not cycle. I did have another paper round with a man called Peter Allan who was blind.

Your older readers may well remember him. He sold papers from a pram outside St Patrickʼs Church. They were hard but happy days.

Keep up the good news Yours Sincerely Tony Kiernan Madam Editor May I concur with the letter writers in your last edition who described Star of the Sea

Church in Sandymount as a place of welcome and a truly sacred space.

My daughter recently received First Communion there and it was a lovely experience.

The church was as always sparkling clean and beautifully decorated– the yellow and white flowers a real bonus in our photos!

May I thank all those who were involved in the ceremony and indeed for the weeks leading up to the ceremony where my daughter and her friends were involved in Sunday masses and were encouraged to prepare well for their special day.

Thank you and keep up the good work.

Marisa Fallon Strand Road, Sandymount Madam Editor I loved James OʼDohertyʼs article on his recent visit to Washington– he describes it as a city to explore and enjoy.

I have heard so much about Arlington cemetery and would love to visit. I thought it ironic that on arrival in the country the writerʼs first conversation was with an Irish man! The world is truly a small place.

I enjoy the variety of topics

that Mr OʼDoherty covers and I think I may consider a trip to Washington next year.

Your paper is great– keep it up.

Derek Garland Londonbridge Road Madam Editor I feel compelled to write to you having just visited the amazing ʻFestival of Flowersʼ in St Maryʼs, Star of the Sea Church. It was a sea of colour and creativity. I would like to say how much I enjoyed it. The altar was adorned with flowers, plants and fauna. Water features added an extra dimension. Throughout the church displays illustrated different things– even Fatherʼs day was celebrated. What a wonderful experience of ʻchurchʼ and what an enriching expression of faith.

To all those involved many, many congratulations and thank you.

Deirdre Molhern Sandymount Avenue Pictured above: John Cavendish and his friend are among the many who love Irishtown Nature Park. See letter from Margaret.

A tennis coaching programme sponsored by Dublin City Council, The Irish Sports Council and Nestlé with KitKat will take place for five weeks from 30th June to lst August in Herbert and Ringsend Parks.

Registration at courts on Friday 27th June 2 to 4pm Boys and girls from 6 to l7 years will receive one hour’s coaching each weekday morning for a small once-off fee of €30 All equipment supplied, racquets and balls Enquiries to 01-8338711 or parkstennis@eircom.net

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 9

1935 –

TATTOOED ON MY MEMORY

By James OʼDoherty

I

t was a September evening as I walked up the Dodder to Ballsbridge. An autumnal downpour had washed the Dodder walk clean and the water was calm after the excess rain. The world looked right, nature at peace with herself, a champagne nip in the air.

It awakened a wistful nostalgia in me and my thoughts went back to September 1935. I found myself joining the throngs of people who had walked the same route to the Royal Dublin Society in Ballsbridge to witness a truly spectacular military tattoo.

Loyalty to the Motherhood is characteristic of the Irish and this was the motif that ran through this tattoo. The opening pageant of the armies of Ireland in which the soldiers of the past and present marched shoulder to shoulder united in this great tradition was a magnificent sight.

The grounds opened in the RDS at 7pm and for an hour a gramophone concert presented by Wal-

tonʼs musical galleries, North Fredrick Street entertained the crowds. At 8pm the tattoo got under way with an overture by the bands of the regular army. They entered the arena in mass formation playing ʻThe Wearing Of The Greenʼ, followed by the ʻWar March of OʼNeillʼ.

The tattoo opened with a complete pageant of Irish military history from the dawn of the Christian era down to the present time and each group entered the arena separately in the garb, equipment, armament and formation of its period. The entire pageant was explained by a narrator as it progressed.

The first century Red Branch Knight opened with the entry of the Craobh Ruadh, the famous red branch of Ulster led by Cuchualainn riding in the war chariot of Marcha drawn by Black Shangan and Liah Macha, the famous horses and the Craobh Rua followed by Fianna Éireann (second century). What followed was an impressive line up: Army of Brian Boru 1014

The Leinster Clans 1375-1417 Armies of Ulster 1593-1602 Army of the Confederation 1641-1649 The Jacobite Army 1688-1695 The Irish volunteers 1782 The United Irishmen 1798 The Fenians 1867 The Irish Republican Army 1916-1921 And finally, the great cavalcade of these soldiers of the past who fought for Ireland was brought to a close with the entry of the detachments representing the army of the present-day on whom falls the responsibility of maintaining the great tradition.

They move on horses, on foot and artillery, representing the three

W ILD S TRAWBERRIES F ILM C LUB

By Glenda Cimino

S

ix years ago, The Irish Film Institute started a film club for older audiences called Wild Strawberries, named after the Ingmar Bergman film.

On the last Wednesday of every month, the IFI in Eustace Street, off Dame Street, selects a film to be screened free for anyone over the age of 50, hoping to encourage people ʻof an ageʼ into the cinema to enjoy quality films (from the notyet-released to long adored classics).

In the past year, the club has begun to screen twice a month to meet the demand.

Screenings, at 11am on Wednesdays and/ or Fridays, are free but tickets must be reserved in advance through the box office at 01 679 3477 or by email at wildstrawberri es@irishfilm.ie Alternatively, complete the online registration form on the website. If you have any questions about Wild Strawberries, please feel free to contact Alice Black at ablack@irishfilm. ie or 01 612 9407.

JULY 25 and 30 at 11.00 am ʻTHE COUNTERFEITERSʼ Director - Stefan Ruzowitzky Winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, ʻThe Counterfeitersʼ is based on the true story of a pre-World War II criminal whose cunning and fiery spirit enables him to overcome deadly odds and survive life in Germanyʼs Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Before the war, Salomon Sorowitsch was one of the worldʼs most ingenious counterfeiters, until he was finally caught and arrested. Years later, Sorowitsch is recruited to lead an enormous counterfeiting project called Operation Bernhard. He must decide whether or not to save his own life or prevent the Nazis from causing further damage on an even grander scale.

AUG 30 at 11:00 am

Wild Strawberries will be throwing a ʻsurprise filmʼ birthday party for itself and its loyal and appreciative audience. The film choice for August is top secret with a wonderful prize on offer for anyone who can guess it on the day. Alice Black urges people to come and help celebrate the Birthday on Wednesday, August 20th, but do make sure you call 01-6129407 or 01-6129415 to reserve a place.

Half Price Membership The IFI is offering Wild Strawberries audience members half-price membership to the IFI, for those who join on the day they are showing a Wild Strawberries screening.

The half price annual membership at a cost of €10 will enable Wild Strawberries to receive a reduced price for tickets at the box office and a 10% discount in the Bar/ Restaurant and Bookshop.

principal arms composed of regular, reserve and volunteer units.

There followed the ceremonyʼs parade sundown. Sundown is the last parade of the soldierʼs day.

As the sun sets each evening in all camps, the guards turn out, the flag is slowly lowered and is paid the last honour of the day. This is followed by the mounted display musical ride.

The massive physical training, the historical ride to Ballyneety, the display of infantry drills and magnificent display of illumination figures marching– the people gathered in the RDS were treated to a visual feast.

Then the grand finale– the Rally of the Nation. The arena is lit up to disclose Éire seated on her throne in the centre of the ground. She is surrounded by representative of arts, culture, learning, commerce

and justice, industry and agriculture– the nation is at peace.

Suddenly there is a flash and a loud noise– the sound of distant strife. Éire springs to her feet and calls on her sons to rally to her defence. In come her armies from the four winds, from the ancient Gaels to the present day– they march as one shoulder to shoulder.

They gather around Éireʼs throne and with pride she looks over the ranks back through the centuries, memories of victory and glory mixed with the agony of defeat.

As in the past, the armies answer her call and so they shall in the future.

And so a glorious pageant concluded that September evening of 1935– the soldiers stiffened to salute as the drums and bugles called them. The National Anthem sounded out around the arena.

September 1935 was a good year for Dublin. The military tattoo was spectacular and that same month the new Theatre Royal opened its doors on September 23rd.

If you had a few bob to spare, you could treat yourself to the new Ford V8 Touring Saloon, pictured above, for the modest cost of £270!

That was September 1935– a good month to be Irish.

Ringsend and District Credit Union Ltd. 5 Irishtown Rd., Dublin 4.

Phone: 6686676 • Fax: 6686288

AT RINGSEND CREDIT UNION WE NOW OFFER • Highly Competitive Lending Interest Rates • Foreign Currencies • Travel Insurance All Business Transacted During Opening Hours OPENING HOURS Monday and Tuesday 9.30am-12.30pm • 2.00pm-4.30pm Wednesday 9.30am-12.30pm Thursday 9.30am-12.30pm • 2.00pm-4.30pm Friday 9.30am-12.15pm • 2.00pm-7.00pm

PAGE 10

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

RINGSEND AND PEMBROKE AREA OFFICE Dublin City Council wishes to again advise the local community that it operates an Area Office in Portview House, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4 dealing with the Ringsend/Irishtown area and the Pembroke areas of Donnybrook, Ballsbridge, Sandymount, Merrion and Milltown.

This office coordinates the delivery of all Dublin City Council services in this part of the South East Area.

Staff work closely with Community Groups, Residents’ Associations, schools, local businesses and other agencies working in the area such as the Gardaí and the Health Service Executive.

This office will assist you in dealing with any issues relating to Dublin City Council. Up to date information on relevant issues and application forms are also available here.

So why not call in or contact us by phone or email and tell us what local services you would like us to provide in the office.

The opening hours are: 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Monday to Friday.

CONTACT DETAILS FOR THE OFFICE ARE: Telephone: 01 2227395 • Fax:01 6606921 Email: ringsendandpembroke@dublincity.ie

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 11

P OVERTY

IS STILL WITH US

By Michael MacAuliffe

W

hat would I know about poverty, as an ex-Belvederian, retired, middle-class community pharmacist? Not a lot, thank God, but what I do know is that the absence of spouse, partner, family friends or good neighbours can be the making of awful poverty.

As a young student in the midfifties whilst with the Jesuits, we had our own conference of Saint Vincent de Paul and it was our job once a week to make visits in pairs to the neighbouring slums.

Just picture the scene of teenage middle-class boys awkwardly knocking on the doors of old Georgian tenement flats. We were always met courteously, mostly by mothers of big families and I canʼt remember calling on anyone who lived alone. We dispensed vouchers for fuel and food, which as far as I remember, were in the region of thirty shillings.

What I do remember vividly

to this day was the smell one would expect from an uncovered communal WC used by perhaps thirty people. All this was maybe forty years after Sean OʼCasey captured these scenes in his

plays.

The plus side of these visits for me was that I saw active communities, people who looked out for one another. Now, two generations on, the scene has changed

dramatically– loneliness! That famous fireman Willy Bermingham did not live long enough to see the great results of his work, a lot done a lot more to do.

Sandymount has had a good

name for looking out for our neighbours. This was recognised in the heydays of community week, but that is all of twenty years ago and people have become very busy, real or imaginary, and have so much less time, “must dash now, talk to you.” To be fair, visible poverty of a material kind is virtually gone in Sandymount.

Quite apart from such organisations as Saint Vincent de Paul, this country has seen wonderful improvements in social welfare services and if we can qualify for benefits without being excluded by some clause in the small print overleaf.

I remember a well known character in Sandymount callled Billy Ferris. “Hi ye Billy,” says I. “I havenʼt got a bob and I am the happiest man in the world,” Billy would reply. I doubt if Billy was every lonely.

But I remember too a bank managerʼs widow whose only child had gone overseas, sitting in the front room looking out of her lace curtain in the hope that someone might call– sometime – anybody?

Picture: An eviction from a condemned Georgian tenement in York Street in 1964.

Advice Clinic every Wednesday 7pm, Ringsend Community Centre Telephone: 086 8534666 Email: cllr_daithi.doolan@dublincity.ie Visit our website: www.dublinsoutheast.com

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY AND SAFE SUMMER

PAGE 12

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

T RANSPORT CONSULTATION The Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) was established in 1995 to coordinate an integrated transport strategy for the Greater Dublin Area (GDA). The DTO makes continuous input to transportation planning and land use policy through a team of engineers and planners who specialise in Transport and Land Use Planning. Overall responsibility for the DTO rests with the Steering Committee, which is appointed by the Minister for Transport.

NewsFour received the following communication and we thought it might be a good opportunity for local people to send in their views on the 1, 2 and 3 bus situation in our area. Maybe our voice will be heard.

LAUNCHES MINISTER PUBLIC CONSULTATION FOR FUTURE OF TRANSPORT IN DUBLIN People from all over Ireland encouraged to participate People all over Ireland have been invited to have their say in the future of Dublinʼs transport system through the Dublin Transportation Officeʼs new Public Consultation website, www.2030vision.ie.

Speaking at the Consultation launch, the Transport Minister, Mr. Noel Dempsey T.D., said: “I have asked the DTO to de-

vise a new Transport Strategy for Dublin to cover the period 2010 to 2030. This new strategy will build on the success of the Transport 21 programme which is continuing apace.

“When it comes to transport, long-term planning is critical.

We are today planning and investing for the transport system of tomorrow. Our econom-

ic success and rapid growth in population has put enormous pressure on our roads and public transport, which had suffered from decades of underinvestment. Those days are over. Today, Government is investing billions to develop a world-class transport system under Transport 21 and we are actively planning for the transport needs of the future.

I encourage as many people as possible to get involved in this important public consultation.”

John Henry, Director of the Dublin Transportation Office, said: “Transport in the Greater Dublin Area impacts on millions of people throughout the country. Whether you live in the Dublin region, or you travel to Dublin to work or college every day, or simply for occasional shopping or socialising, almost everybody in Ireland comes to Dublin and so has their own opinion on transport.

We want to hear all views on what the key transport issues are, and to learn what people feel the objectives for Dublinʼs transport should be.”

St Mark’s Athletic looking for players When you think of the words Ringsend and Soccer what comes to mind?

Probably some of the greats of yesteryear or of the powerhouse teams of today– St Patʼs CY, Liffeys Pearse or Ringsend Rovers.

One of the lesser-known clubs is Saint Markʼs Athletic. Founded in 1906 in Pearse Street, St Markʼs is one of the oldest junior soccer clubs in Dublin. We currently have one over-35 team and compete in the Saturday Senior Division 2 of the Amateur Football League.

In Irishtown Stadium, we have match day facilities that are second to none. Hot showers and underfloor heating are included! At the moment training takes place in UCD Belfield on Thursday nights. We will be training on the new pitch in Ringsend Park from this autumn on.

So what are you waiting for? If you are over 35 and can play a bit why not come and join us. You will find a warm welcome awaits you. See our website www.saintmarksathletic.com for details.

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

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

A Friendly & Professional Service

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 13

POOLBEG PLANNING PROMPTS PASSION

I

By John Cavendish

n early 1996, the then Minister for Finance, Ruairí Quinn, extended the powers of the Custom House Docks Development Authority across the former gasworks site and on into the Poolbeg Peninsula.

This was done on foot of requests by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland calling for a master plan for Dublinʼs redundant docklands area and a development authority to oversee it.

Now, some 12 years on and with most of the docks between Pearse Street and the Liffey on the South side and the Spencer Dock up to the Point depot on the north bank now developed, attention is now on the Poolbeg peninsula.

The Dublin Docklands Development Authority, DDDA, held a pre-statutory consultation on Friday 30th May. The event began with an address by Mr. Paul Maloney of the DDDA, who spoke about the potential for developing the land from the Irish Glass Bottle site (above) all the way to the far end of the power station.

More speakers from the DDDA followed this with slides showing the audience the wonders of the now-developed docklands and the benefits for the community from development.

After the presentations, people were invited to join workshops under the headings of transport, community gain, planning and the environment.

The planning group wanted the

Poolbeg to be ʻan extension of Ringsendʼ. The transport group called for more roads in Sandymount to service such new developments and insisted on getting the eastern bypass built to accommodate traffic.

The environment group objected to any further building on the Poolbeg, as it was adjacent to a SPA, which they said would be damaged by people living there and also that the land in future would be prone to flooding from rising sea levels due the melting of the polar ice caps caused by global warming and climate change.

Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolin said that development on the Poolbeg would be good if our children and their children could stay in the community that they grew up in.

Councillor Pat McCartan said “this was very serious and had consequences for the next 50 or 100 years, it has to be got right.”

I asked Chris Andrews T.D. from Fianna Fáil about the environment workshopʼs position on the dangers of rising sea levels due to global warming and he replied that he was not a scientist and could not comment. He said, “thatʼs all up for discussion and we will listen to peopleʼs views.”

I asked the former Minister and Dublin South East T.D. Ruairí Quinn whether he thought it right to build in an area that may well be flooded. He said “I think the Dublin Docklands are right to develop the Poolbeg. I think they have to take into account global warming and rising sea levels.

I think it is a design issue that has to be addressed but I think in principle

that the re-development of the Poolbeg Peninsula so close to the heart of the city centre with a substantial extra population of up to 20,000 people living there is a positive thing. I think that there has been a change of attitude to high-rise buildings.

A view expressed succinctly by one Ringsend resident was that if she had to choose between a 12 storey building somewhere in the Docklands area that would provide accommodation for her children and their family and their grandchildren, as distinct from the daughter living in Mullingar or in Carlow, then she would vote for the 12 storey building in Docklands.”

I noticed at this important meeting that no Green Party representatives were present, even with local T.D. John Gormley as Minister of the Environment with powers over the DDDA. Former Pembroke Green Party Councillor Claire Wheeler said “Itʼs extraordinary that the Greens were apparently the only party not invited to the meeting, with John Gormley being Minister for Environment as well as a popular local TD. While we have no councillors here at present, we are very active on the ground.”

Claire Wheeler went on to say that Dublin Bay is a fantastic world-class natural amenity, treasured by locals from Ringsend and Sandymount, Dubliners in general and visitors too. “Poolbeg is integral to the SPA nature reserve of South Dublin Bay, not to the traditional Docklands. Development and human activity here on such an enormous scale could finish off the Poolbeg for the brent geese.

“There is already an extremely fine balance between nature conservation and recreational use. As Dublin becomes more densely built-up, it is increasingly important to preserve open spaces like Sandymount Strand and Poolbeg. People come here to get away from urban buildings, to enjoy a bit of natural wilderness, for recreation in the literal sense.”

Local Councillors Dermot Lacey and Kevin Humphries of Labour were there along with Sinn Féinʼs Councillor Daithí Doolin and Councillor Pat McCartan of Fine Gael.

Dail Deputies Chris Andrews T.D. from Fianna Fáil, with Labour T.D. and former Minister Ruairí Quinn were among the breakfast diners.

Community Representatives from Ringsend Community Centre, the Spellman Centre, local sports clubs, the Gardaí and heads of schools were all there.

‘Roman Fever’ at Bewley’s ENTER Bewleyʼs Cafe Theatre any time soon for your lunchtime short play and you are bound to be in for a treat. The day we went, we caught culture and class, and a touch of ʻRoman Feverʼ, Michael James Fordʼs direction of a Hugh Leonard dialogue based on the short story by Edith Wharton.

This was a truly fantastic rendering of a short story. It felt like the experience of reading it. All the cleverness of the original was preserved and delivered in great performances by Maria Tecce (above) and Caitriona Ní Mhurchu, who took over her role with only four daysʼ notice.

Visually, it makes a great tableau, simply staged, to portray a cafe overlooking the city of Rome. The actresses play two American society ladies in their forties who share memories of their respective courtships in the city, twenty years previously.

Maria Tecce doesnʼt hold back, and hides nothing of her character, and when she starts to boast and sneer and goad the other woman, we know we are in for a long session. The two would have come to blows several times under the pressure and the thinly-veiled bourgeois bitchiness but for their aristocratic reserve. With this kind of history between the two women, there is bound to be a revelation, and it comes as a sting in the tail at the end of the thirty-five minutes.

My companion found waiter, Alberto Albertino, charming.

He assisted us to get our soup and poured us glasses of water before the performance, where he appeared as the waiter in the play. We thought it was great value. Nothing compares to the live experience. www.bewleyscafetheatre.com for upcoming events Above: Maria Tecce is also a jazz singer and cabaret artiste www.mariatecce.com

By Nessa Jennings

PAGE 14

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

EATING DISORDERS–

disorder provides them with a sense of safety. They may even feel that they need it in order to survive.

It serves a purpose in the life of the person affected. It is their way of coping and of protecting themselves from feeling ineffective in shaping their world. It is therefore unrealistic to expect someone with an eating disorder to be able to give it up without a fight. Resistance to treatment is normal.

NO SIMPLE REMEDY New research says eating disorders still a major problem

By Audrey Healy

N

ew research carried out by a team of Finnish researchers and published on leading Irish website irishhealth. com has claimed that almost one in five teenagers could have eating problems.

The European study carried out two health surveys of almost 400 teenagers, aged 15 to 17 and found that 13% of the teens admitted to eating problems in either the first or second survey. A further 5% reported problems in both surveys. This means that at any one time, 18% had eating problems.

The researchers found that compared to boys, girls were twice as likely to report eating problems on one occasion and were five times more likely to have ongoing problems.

Despite the findings, the research-

ers found that when they looked at the height and weight records for the students, those with persistent eating problems were more likely to be of a normal weight, rather than over or underweight.

Eating disorders are complex, lifethreatening conditions from which people can and do get better with appropriate treatment. Eating disorders can affect anyone. They can be seen as a way of coping with unmanageable feelings.

Why Might A Person Develop An Eating Disorder?

There is no single cause which can explain why a person develops an eating disorder. It is usually a combination of factors (biological, psychological, familial and socio-cultural) that come together to create conditions in which an eating disorder is more likely to take hold.

The disorder often develops gradually as a response to an upset in a personʼs life. This could be a traumatic event, a loss or major change

in a personʼs life, bullying, critical comments about weight or shape, an overload of stress.

The distress felt will relate not only to the current upset but also to a store of past upsets that have never been expressed.

A person without a strong sense of who they are and who is concerned with meeting the standards and expectations of others is more vulnerable. This explains why eating disorders occur so often during adolescence when identity is an issue, the opinion of peers is so im-

portant and parental expectations are resisted.

Eating disorders occur in societies that promote thinness as a means of achieving health, success and happiness. Dieting has been proven to be an important risk factor in the development of eating disorders.

For the person with an eating disorder, food is turned to as a means of relieving distress and achieving some degree of control over life. The world feels like an unsafe place in which the person cannot trust that their needs will be met. The eating

D ÚN L AOGHAIRE F ESTIVAL

THE Municipal Theatre for Dún Laoghaire/ Rathdown recently announced the second Festival of Traditional Music for the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Revealing the exciting line-up, Pavilionʼs Director Martin Murphy said: “Weʼre delighted that Festival Curator, Toner Quinn has again come up with an inspirational selection of performers, from the simple virtuoso solo fiddle of Paddy Glackin, to The Frost Is All Over: a unique collaboration of Tony McMahonʼs accordion and Dermot Bolgerʼs words, alongside international traditional artists of the calibre of Spiers and Boden, and Julie Fowlis.”

As last year, the audience can head across the road from the theatre for a chance to hear and play

OF

Help is out there - Bodywhys Bodywhys– The Eating Disorders Association of Ireland, is the national organisation dedicated to offering support, information and understanding for people affected by eating disorders including family and carers.

Bodywhys is adamant that people with eating disorders should not be discriminated against or stigmatised.

An eating disorder should not inhibit any individualʼs right of access to equal opportunities available to all members of society.

If you or someone you know has an eating disorder and would like some help, please contact Bodywhys– The Eating Disorders Association Of Ireland at PO Box 105, Blackrock, Co Dublin or email info@bodywhys.ie.

Helpline: 1890 200 444. www.bodywhys.ie

T RADITIONAL M USIC

with some of the top musicians around in the five free ʻGastropub Sessionsʼ. Martin Murphy said: “Put it in your diary. Dún Laoghaire is the place for all traditional music lovers to be this August 1st to 3rd. August Bank Holiday is Traditional Music weekend here in Pavilion Theatre.”

Pavilion Theatre & the GastroPub Company, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire. Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd August 2008 Tickets: €20 and €18, Festival ticket €50 and €44, sessions free.

Booking: 01 2312929, www.paviliontheatre.ie Left to right: David Power, poet Dermot Bolger and Tony MacMahon in ʻThe Frost Is All Overʼ , a Traditional Music Multimedia Performance conceived by Tony MacMahon.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 15

Aircoach now goes through Ringsend and Sandymount

F AREWELL TO THE ‘S EA S TALLION ’

TWO-DAY VIKING FESTIVAL, 28TH TO 29TH JUNE 2008 A VIKING VILLAGE, outdoor film screenings, street art and family entertainment all feature in a special Viking Festival which will take place in Dublin on 28th and 29th June 2008. The Festival has been developed to mark the departure of the ʻSea Stallionʼ (left) as it makes its return journey to its home town of Roskilde in Denmark.

The Festival will feature a range of activities for all ages and interests including: Farmers Food Market on Essex Street East and West, Temple Bar, 11am to 6pm each day; Celtic/ Nordic Mandala Street Art, Viking Village, Wood Quay, 11am to 6pm each day;

Living History Displays, Wood Quay, 11am to 6pm each day; Battle re-enactment, Wood Quay; Strolling Danish fiddlers, Wood Quay and Temple Bar; Outdoor screenings, Temple Bar. The highlight of the festival will be the eagerly-anticipated departure of the much-loved ʻSea Stallionʼ.

The boat will leave for Denmark from Docklands on the morning of Sunday 29th June and Dubliners of all ages are invited to come along on the day to bid the crew farewell and enjoy a carnival atmosphere, with music and entertainment. The ʻSea Stallionʼ arrived in Dublin last June and has been on display at the National Museum at Collins Barracks as part of a special Viking-themed exhibition.

By Fergal Murphy

FROM MONDAY 21st April 2008 Aircoach announced the introduction of a new service from the Airport to Greystones coming down the Port Tunnel, across the East Link and down Sean Moore Road. New stops have been installed along a route where Aircoach are now offering some competition to the Patton Flyer service from the Airport to Dalkey.

The new service leaves Dublin Airport on the hour every hour and calls at the Point Depot, Sean Moore Road (Irish Glass Bottle Site), Sandymount (Newgrove Ave Junction), Sandymount (Sydney Parade Ave Junction), Tara Towers Hotel at Rock Rd, Booterstown, DART Station, Blackrock (Mount Merrion/ Frascati Park), Mount Merrion (Mount Merrion/ South Hill Ave), Galloping Green– N11, Foxrock Church– N11, Cornelscourt Shopping Centre– N11, Cabinteely Cross - N11, Loughlinstown Flyover, Shankill Village (Mickey Byrneʼs Bar), Bray (Town Centre Superquinn), Greystones– Lidl, Greystones– Dart Station, Greystones– Charlesland.

The coaches leave Greystones on the half hour every hour and the time table can be seen at http://www.aircoach.ie/media/greystones_ route.pdf The fare from the Airport to Greystones is €12 single or €18 open return, a fare from Sandymount is €7 single or €12 open return, A ticket will be issued free if the OAP Travel Pass is shown.

Ringsend and Irishtown Midsummer Music Festival THIS FESTIVAL is taking place outside the library in Ringsend on dates in June and July. The next one is on 27th June and the final one on 4th July. The fun starts at 7 pm with local musicians, choirs, jazz and barbershop singers. Light refreshments are served at the CYMS so come along, everybody welcome and enjoy yourselves.

Funded and supported by Dublin City Council and Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company and organised by OʼRahilly House and Whelan House Residents Groups

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PAGE 16

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

Bookworm Reviewed by Audrey Healy ʻMY HUSBANDʼS LOVERʼ

By Erin Kaye Fans of Kayeʼs previous novels, set in rural town Ballyfergus, will enjoy a return to the locality and its residents and to the lives of its inhabitants and their ups and downs.

We are quickly introduced to Chris, who has been married to Paul for over twenty years. She considers herself to be happily married, though she confesses to being a little bit bored and together they have two boisterous and typically temperamental teenage children Finn and Hannah.

Life is routine and at times tedious but Chris is happy with the cards she has been dealt and looking forward to the arrival of her old school friend who she hasnʼt seen

thought of renewing old acquaintances and anyway she thinks Karen just isnʼt happy because Bernie once stole her boyfriend when they were teenagers… surely itʼs time they laid that matter to rest?

Itʼs true. Karen never liked Bernie. She did steal her boyfriend and while it was a long time ago and sheʼs happily married now to Tony and has two small children, Jack and Chloe, it still hurts. She feels unattractive and the last thing she needs is Bernie in her life again, stirring up trouble.

Karen has enough trouble of her own, like those rolls of fat under her stomach and having to get dressed in the dark– of course Tony says he loves her just the way she is, but he would say that, wouldnʼt he?

In the meantime thereʼs her brother Raymondʼs upcoming wedding to look forward to but that brings itʼs own problems when she sees his stunning fiancée Shona and Tony talking just a little too intimately for her liking.

Bernie is independent and feisty but sheʼs also nervous. She has her own life in Australia and sheʼs a strong and liberated woman but returning to Ballyfergus makes her feel like an unloved little child all over again.

Her trip ʻhomeʼ is not just a holiday but a quest. She lost her mother when she was a child and her father died not so long ago. She had a fraught relationship with him and she never returned for his funeral.

He cut her out of his will.

Now she wants to know why. Maybe sheʼll get some answers if she confronts her brothers… but first she must get to know Chris and her family all over again and staying with them throws up some surprises of their own and soon she finds love in the unlikeliest of places.

Read the trials and tribulations of all these gripping characters in Erin Kayeʼs ʻMy Husbandʼs Loverʼ– published by Poolbeg, available in all good bookshops now.

ʻCHANGE OF HEARTʼ

By Jodi Picoult As an avid fan of the work of acclaimed American writer Jodi Picoult (right), I was anxiously awaiting her latest offering and to say I was not disappointed was something of an understatement.

Her ideas are always compelling and challenging and this was no different. They always make you stop and think about how you would react in a given situation.

Her previous plots have included rape, murder and suicide in a thought-provoking and sensitive way and this time Picoult has another moral dilemma which will make the reader pause and think twice.

June has lost her beloved husband in a car accident leaving her with baby Elizabeth. The police officer who breaks the news to her is Kurt Nealon and slowly over the years they fall in love and she falls pregnant.

Around the time of her pregnancy, they employ a handyman, Shay Bourne, who, after a period of employment with them, commits the cruellest act of all and murders the two people June loves most in the world, her husband Kurt and now eleven year

old daughter Elizabeth.

Bourne is immediately arrested and he is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. All that keeps June from suicide herself is her new baby Claire and the eventual impending death of Shay Bourne.

But her hardship is not over and as Claire grows up it is clear that she is not like other children.

She doesnʼt have the same energy and she picks up infections easily and soon it emerges that she has a serious heart condition and will need a heart transplant. After a somewhat carefree childhood the situation is growing more and more precarious and her only hope is a new heart.

Shay Bourne becomes aware of her plight and in his apparent remorse, believes the only way he can make amends to June for taking away her husband and her other daughter is to donate his heart to Clare after his execution.

This would mean fighting to be

allowed the right to die by hanging rather than lethal injection to preserve the heart so that it can be donated.

Therein lies the question?

What should June do? What would you do? Would you grant your worst enemyʼs dying wish to save the life of your remaining dying daughter?

As usual Picoultʼs book is fascinating, emotive and heart-rending and you wonʼt want to get to the end because it will keep you gripped and, as usual, there is a twist to the tale. Another bestseller, I suspect, for this brilliant author.

in years– Bernie is a childhood friend with whom sheʼs shared many ups and downs and who has been living in Australia for years.

Sheʼs coming home to Ballyfergus and has asked Chris if she can stay with her and her family for a month.

Chris has agreed– much to the annoyance of her sister Karen who thinks itʼs a bit rich of Bernie to just turn up on Chrisʼs doorstep after all this time and expect free bed and board– but Chris doesnʼt mind.

In fact, sheʼs quite excited at the

The Oarsman Bar Ringsend Bridge Street Phone : 6688990

Traditional Music Every Monday and Thursday night

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 17

WINNERS OF THE SURFDOCK COMPETITION

THE WINNERS of the Surfdock Competition received a place on a Surfdock Summer Childrenʼs Course, a week of fun-filled action.

Our thanks to Surfdock for their generosity and we hope all the boys have a

great time.

A selection from photographs by the following is shown on the left: Andrew Neville Darryl Ward Eric Reynolds Doyle Jordan Graham

Darragh Smith Byrne Dean Gannon Sean Scott Glen Donnelly Craig Kelleher Lee Connolly Jonathan Egan Fionn Ruadh

Sportsco Summer Camp ACTI V ITIES: POOL ACT I V IT IES & GAMES, S O C C E R , U N I H O C , B A SK ET BALL , D ANC E , A RTS AND C R AFTS W HEN : 30 TH J UNE TO 29 TH A UGUST 2008* T IME : 9.30 AM TO 4 PM A GE : 4 TO 12 YEARS

A SK

FOR DETAI L S AT R ECEP T ION

• B OOK

*T HERE IS NO CAMP THE WEEK STARTING 4 TH A UGUST

IN ADVANCE TO ENSU R E P LACE

PAGE 18

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

Film Scene

‘Gone Baby Gone’ ʻGone Baby Goneʼ isnʼt always a smooth ride, but itʼs a challenging, adult thriller guaranteed to foster fierce debate on the way home. Lehaneʼs story features the boyfriend and girlfriend private eye team of Patrick Kenzie and Angie Genarro.

Their coupling isnʼt unique– after

all, Dashiell Hammett wrote about the married detectives Nick and Nora Charles more than 70 years ago– but itʼs still unusual enough to bring a few new angles to the wellthumbed P.I. genre.

This is one of those cases bigger than the sleuth who solves it. Like Lehaneʼs ʻMystic River,ʼ it involves the abuse and abduction of a child

(before he became a full-time writer, Lehane worked as a counselor with abused children). Four-yearold Amanda McCready is missing, presumed snatched from her bed while her mother was visiting a friend next door.

Probably the smartest thing Affleck did was surround himself with talent: cinematographer John Toll shot ʻThe Thin Red Lineʼ and ʻBraveheartʼ; editor William Goldenberg cut his teeth on Michael Mannʼs movies.

Heʼs also capitalized on his local knowledge. Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese worked hard to bring Boston to life in ʻMystic Riverʼ and ʻThe Departedʼ respectively, but ʻGone Baby Goneʼ feels more intimately grounded in the dirty streets and bars, and the aggressive pride that comes with them.

The movie tugs hard on that authenticity because Lehaneʼs elaborate plotting works better on the page than on screen, where its cleverness inevitably feels a bit suspect.

And while itʼs easy to sympathize with Affleckʼs impulse to slot Morgan Freeman into the gravitas-heavy role of a police department official, itʼs his only serious misjudgment.

The casting puts the spotlight in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Where Affleck sees only a great actor, the audience recognizes a star and wonders what heʼs doing there.

(Fortunately, the use of Ed Harris– playing a police detective– doesnʼt detract at all.)

Affleck has cast his younger brother Casey as Kenzie (above left). Casey isnʼt a star– not yet anyway.

No question about Ben Affleck, though. ʻGone Baby Goneʼ is a terrific film.

4 out of 5

‘Mongol’ While it can certainly be argued that Sergei Bodrovʼs ʻMongolʼ has been the victim of a misleading ad campaign that portrays the film as something slightly other than what it is, there is certainly no denying that this is one massive, impressive piece of work– an epic in every sense.

Bodrovʼs film aims to take us through the life of a legend– the emperor Genghis Khan, from the age of nine until the battle that would cement his position in history. But while the trailers and clips released thus far have portrayed the picture as revolving around the Khanʼs military conquests, Bodrov is actually not particularly interested in these matters.

Though a number of battle sequences are included, ʻMongolʼ is not much interested in how the great man rose to power, in the battles and tactics, but rather in how he became strong enough to do so.

The film opens with a key few days in the life of Temudgin, a nine year old boy who would eventually grow to become the great Genghis Khan. Riding to take a bride from a rival clan in hopes of establishing peace, Temudgin instead is smitten by Borte, a young girl from a friendly, much less powerful tribe, and tricks his father into allowing him to choose her instead thus guaranteeing continuing strife rather than peace.

On their return home, Temudginʼs father, the local clan chief, is

poisoned by yet another rival clan and his fatherʼs own lieutenants turn on the young boy and his family, stealing their flocks and goods and forcing them to flee for their lives.

And so Temudginʼs young life is spent on the run, always on the move, always afraid for his own life. He is all alone, with no allies whatsoever until he meets Jamukha, the son of another tribe clan, who will become his blood brother and eventual rival. ʻMongolʼ is an oddly lyrical sort of film, one that moves episodically through the life of the great Khan showing moments that at first may seem inconsequential but are later understood to be key in his understanding of the world.

The film skips through time on a regular basis, title cards letting the audience know where and when we now are, which would normally be very disruptive to the narrative flow of the picture were Bodrov not so assured in what he wanted his audience to see and why.

Production values are dazzling, as is the cinematography which takes great advantage of the stark, natural beauty of Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Asano is very strong in the role of Genghis Khan, balancing the ferocity of his character with a sly sense of humour and a deep, deep devotion to his beloved wife. The players handling Jamukha and Borte are likewise very strong.

3 out of 5

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 19

DON’T RUN INTO TROUBLE

The rights and wrongs of running HOW TO AVOID INJURIES The majority of running injuries occur from overtraining. Avoid doing too much too soon. Your progress in mileage and speed should be a gradual one. An unrelenting increase in mileage from one week to the next will ultimately result in a breakdown.

It is important to keep in mind the principle of hard days and easy days being interspersed and also hard and easy weeks. Mileage

should usually only be increased by approximately 10% per week.

Every third week, you should drop back a small amount. For most runners, one or two days a week, at least, should be devoted to rest or non-running activities.

This gives your body a chance to recover and strengthen itself. Remember, pain is a warning, stop running and consult your chiropractor immediately.

Regular stretching may also help reduce injuries. Runners frequently develop tightness in the posterior

muscle groups, such as the hamstrings and the calf muscles. The quadriceps and anterior shin muscles may become relatively weak, due to muscular imbalance.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT RUNNING SHOE Joggers should wear a shoe with good cushioning impact. Running shoes are designed to provide maximum overall shock absorption for the foot. Such a shoe should also have good heel control. Although not a cure-all, these qualities in a

running/ sports shoe help to prevent shin splints, tendonitis, heel pain, stress fractures and other overuse syndromes.

A good running shoe should have a wide, cushioned heel and sole. The heel should be ʻrockeredʼ at the back so that the heel strike is under the heel, not behind it. The shoe should be deep enough so that the toes do not press against the front and long enough to allow free motion and gripping during running. There should be about a thumb-nail length between the longest toe and the toe of the shoe.

Unless there is enough space for the toes, the toe nails will be injured.

Running shoes should have ʻspringʼ in the forefoot: that is, the forefoot of the shoe should tilt up off the ground when the shoe is resting flat on the ground. The shoe should be flexible but not limp and the heel counter firm and padded to support the heel.

The sole of the heel should be soft enough to absorb much of the shock of running. A soft neoprene sole is a great help in absorbing shock. Most running shoes have a cushion to support the arch. This is desirable to avoid the foot ʻgoing overʼ or ʻpronatingʼ.

Above: A Docklands run.

Follow these simple guidelines when choosing your shoes * Donʼt just go by size. Have your feet measured. * Visit the shoe store at the end of a workout when your feet are largest. * Wear the sock you normally wear when working out. * Fit the shoe to the largerfoot.

Running shoes should be regularly replaced as the shock absorbing capability will diminish gradually and may be inadequate after 350 to 550 miles. The upper part of the shoe may not show much wear, but the shock absorption may still be gone.

If you are running 20 miles per week, you should be replacing your shoes between 4 and 8 months, depending upon your shock absorption needs.

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PAGE 20

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

S HOOTING

I

By Nessa Jennings

rish soccer fans were ʻoff-pisteʼ this summer, glued to the beautiful game on RTE 2, a matchby-match account of the events of Euro 2008, in Austria and Switzerland.

The green army, long forced to put Euro 2008 dreams and alpine

STARS !

ʻactivitiesʼ on ice, now regard participating teams and fans with a conflicting mixture of anorak interest, begrudging dispassion and envy.

However, the beautiful game is always in fashion, even though fans were less conspicuous, as they were watching at home on terrestrial television, and not in the pubs shelling out to watch the big matches on

Sky sports.

I am usually struck with a feeling as if I havenʼt done my homework when I hear the voice of Jim Sheridan commentating on games, as if the sun is beating down outside and Iʼm in the middle of exams. This is usually compounded by the comments of the panel, when you can tell Eamon Dunphy is having bets when he feels so definite, Johnny Giles never commits himself, and Graeme Souness is as solemn as a priest.

However, the June temperatures were moderate, perfect for soccer, it also rained, and this time the soccer is my homework.

There is redemption for the national game after all the hype of the cash-rich Premiership and Champions League rivalry between Manchester United and Chelsea. The difference, they say, was marginal.

Mainly, one player, Cristiano Ronaldo (pictured left) and a missed penalty by Chelsea captain John Terry in Moscow. Some say, Euro 2008 is a chance to see the game played ʻproperlyʼ for a change.

Fans were still delighted, as they

could still see the Premiershipʼs top players on show: M Ballack (Chelsea) playing for Germany, Robin van Persie (Arsenal) playing for Holland and Cesc Fabregas (also Arsenal) playing for Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United) playing for Portugal, and Edwin van der Sar (Man United) in goal for Holland.

No less than four players for Liverpool are playing for Spain: Fernando Torres (pictured above) Alvaro Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso, and Jose Reina. Two players, David Villa (Spain) and Lucas Podolski (Germany), neither of whom play in England, have scored the first hat tricks of the competition.

The soccer during the group stages was being played ʻopenlyʼ, in an attacking style for the win, rather than not to lose. There were a lot of neutrals watching soccer being played for its own sake.

But its not that benign, as the lucrative transfer market will open in the summer. For example, Luis Filipe Scolari, who coached Brazil in 2002 (winners), now coach of Portugal for this competition, has just been appointed the new manager of Chelsea FC, a deal struck in Vienna.

He will be looking to acquire the best players from the market, and Jose Mourinho, just gone to Intermilan, will be looking to do the

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008 same. Rafael Benitez is, thankfully, staying put at Liverpool.

Taking only five matches to reach the Euro 2008 final, it is a very short route to the final. There were two markets in the betting. Portugal started as one of the top favourites to be outright winners, as did Italy, Germany, France and Spain.

But at the time of writing, France has gone home already, Italy have barely scraped through the group stage, and Portugal and Germany have lost matches. Spain has easily qualified.

As of today, Holland has become favourites for the tournament, going from 12/1 to 3/1. Croatia (possible ʻdark horsesʼ ) have gone from 12/1 to 7/1, and will meet Turkey in the quarter final, started at 33/1, qualified in a dramatic win over Czech

PAGE 21 Republic, and their odds shortened to 16/1. Russia, who started at 22/1, have just beaten Sweden 2- 0.

There are now four mouthwatering quarter-finals to be played.

Four nights in a row!

Hopefully, by the time you read this, you will have backed the Euro 2008 winner, and will not be Krank als ein Papagei! That means ʻsick as a parrotʼ in German, the official language of the tournament!

And your chosen player will have taken the Golden Boot for the most goals, and you and the rest of the fans will not be saying what they regularly say about their club footballers. €70,000 eine Woche dafur?! What– €70,000 a week for that?!

Below: Gianluigi Buffon, goalkeeper for Italy.

New Garda station set to open IN CASE you havenʼt noticed there has been a building site at the old Garda station for the last while which is coming to an end in late July or early August. The old one, as the saying goes, was past its sell-by date and it basically could not detain prisoners or be used for modern policing purposes.

The new building is three stories high, which is considerably bigger, and has facilities for interviewing purposes in four interview rooms with video recording of prisoners in keeping with modern legislation. It also has six cells.

Funding for the new station comes from a

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combination of bodies, including the Department of Justice and Law Reform, the Office of Public Works and the Garda housing section and it cost several million to build. It is money wellspent and will mean more Gardaí in the area.

The population in the area will grow in the years to come if the plans for the Docklands area go ahead.

The station moved to its present location in the early 1980s. This new building is long-overdue as the Gardaí were having to work in portacabins on the site for some time. The Gardaí in their new premises hope to provide a better service for the community in the future.

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PAGE 22

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008 town was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake.

The best time to visit Zakynthos is May or late September.

Youʼll have a chance to see the endangered Caretta Sea Turtle come ashore to lay its eggs at night. Temperatures at this time are more bearable too and because it is low season, the locals are only too glad to bid you the time of day in their very fine English.

Z ANTE ’ S P EAK

I

By Brian Kelly

tʼs possible to divide the Greek Isles into three distinct groups: the well-known (Corfu, Crete, Eos, Kos, Rhodes), the completely unknown (most of them) and the fast-emerging isles, typified by the likes of Zakynthos.

Zante, as it is known locally, is becoming increasingly popular with holidaymakers from Ireland, with many tour companies now offering package deals to the most southerly of the Ionian Sea islands.

For such a small location– the whole place is just 400 square kilometres, Zakynthos has an abundance of charm to offer sunseekers looking for an alternative to the familiar Greek resorts.

Unlike our own indifferent summers, you can be sure of almost continuous good weather between May and September on Zante. Winters here tend to be like our own: cold and wet,

but youʼll see the benefits of the off-season rain when you visit, with much of the island lush and green.

Outside of the resorts, youʼll see just how pretty the place is, with seemingly every piece of soil covered in olives groves and vineyards, with a sprinkling of orange and lemon trees thrown in for good measure.

On a dayʼs excursion from our base in Tsilivi (pronounced ʻsillyveeʼ) we cycled 10 miles up the coast to a place called Aikansas.

We were rewarded for our endeavours with the smell of fresh pine in the air and low-flying swifts and swallows whistling their way all along our route.

Further afield from Tsilivi and Aikansas, the scenery takes a turn for the spectacular with mountain-high white cliffs and hundreds of sea caves and coves forming much of the northern and eastern seaboard of Zakynthos.

It is on the eastern side of the island that Zanteʼs most famous tourist attraction, Smugglerʼs

Cove is situated. Unable to be accessed by road, the Cove, pictured above, has become the emblem of Zakynthos, with its beautiful postcard image of a shipwreck washed up on golden sand and surrounded by a sea of the deepest blue imaginable.

It is safe to say that almost every tourist visiting the island comes here, with cruise boats practically queuing up to dispense the crowds onto the Coveʼs narrow beach.

Almost two-thirds of Zakynthos is made up of mountains, the tallest of which, Vrahionas dominates the island at 758m. The south and east of Zante is low-ly-

ing with shallow shores and wide bays making it the ideal location for tourist resorts.

Facilities in Tsilivi were excellent with a mile-long sandy beach and warm, clear waters to bathe in. Nightlife is more laid-back than other parts of the island but there no shortage of restaurants and bars to choose from.

Zante, the islandʼs capital is a 10-minute taxi ride away and well worth a visit. The settlement is centred on a wide bay, which functions as a busy port for local fishermen as well as a departure point for the cruise liners around the island.

More than 50 years ago, Zante

Ringsend and Irishtown Midsummer Music Festival This Festival is taking place outside the library in Ringsend on dates in June and July. The next one is on 27th June and the final one on 4th July.

The fun starts at 7pm with local musicians, choirs, jazz and barbershop singers. Light refreshments are served at the CYMS so come along, everybody welcome and enjoy yourselves.

It is funded and supported

by Dublin City Council and Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company and organised by O”Rahilly House and Whelan House Residents Groups

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 23

A taste of Las Vegas

K EENLY - AWAITED C FARCE RETURNS

ould the real Frank Sinatra please sing up?

Thereʼs another kid on the block doing rat pack tunes and classic swing. And if the web siteʼs anything to go by, you should hire Mark Tolan, right, and his band for your special day if you want the whole package. Slicked back hair, soft tones, tender lyrics, full brass sound, and sharp dressing reminds you of sassy broads, big rocks, and cigarette girls. Romance is back on the menu when this band strikes up. Thereʼs a host of great tunes to choose from. Even if youʼre only twenty, these songs will bring you back. ʻI did it my wayʼ

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By Nessa Jennings

By Brian Rutherford ʻI, KEANOʼ was sure to be a hit as soon as the curtains opened.

Why? Because it had the greatest characters in Irish sport in it. That is Mick McCarthy aka Macartacus, Roy Keane aka Keano, Packie Bonner aka Packie Bonnerus, Niall Quinn aka Quinness, Eamonn Dunphy aka Dunphia and numerous other characters from the World Cup team of that year. It centres around the great argument between McCarthy and Roy Keane that led to Keane going home.

The play was written by Arthur Matthews, Michael Nugent and Paul Woodfull. They do a remarkable job as the play twists and turns around the characters who are based in ancient Rome with war being the reason for valiant Keano to lead them as a great warrior, until he argues with Macartacus and decides to go home. Caroline Morahan outdoes herself as Quinnessʼs wife.

I would recommend the play to anyone in the doldrums. There are laughs galore, in fact every time Keano, played by Jamie Beamish, opens his mouth I found myself in guffaws of laughter as I did when Macartacus (Dessie Gallagher) opens his. Itʼs an adult play so expect bad language and plenty of sexual innuendo. The character of Dunphia is played by the great ʻApres Matchʼ star, Gary Cooke, but new from the wee man is his interpretation of Sir Alex Ferguson, he being Keanoʼs only love. He captures Ferguson to perfection and as he speaks in an impenetrable Scottish accent, which adds even more to the humour. The actors, even though they have played the play many times, approach each night as if it was their first and the acting is first-rate. There are characters here to make everyone laugh, whatever part of Irish sport interests you.

The end of the play leaves the audience with the message, not to take life too seriously and ʻIts only a gameʼ is sung out throughout the hall and the question hangs: why donʼt McCarthy and Keane make up? Keano will always be the greatest Irish warrior and McCarthy will always wonder what happened on that fateful night when they argued.

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PAGE 24

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

W ILD

By John Cavendish

T

he South Dublin Branch of Birdwatch Ireland organised an evening walk out to Irishtown Nature Park on Friday 23rd May as part of Dublin City Councilʼs Biodiversity Week. ʻNewsFourʼ announced the Councilʼs plan back in February when they launched the Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan,

NATURE ON OUR DOORSTEP

which outlines an ambitious series of actions to save priority plants and animals.

By hosting events around International Biodiversity Day, they hoped to bring the public up close to nature and show how easy it is to get involved in local wildlife activities. The walk was supported by the Sandymount and Merrion Residentsʼ Association, which helped with leaflets and a notice on the notice board in the Green.

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It was a fine and pleasant evening with the group gathering at the stile opposite Marine drive at 7pm. Binoculars and telescopes were present to be able to zoom in on the birds on the Strand.

Oscar Merne and Brian Gormley from Birdwatch Ireland led the walkers along the causeway out to the Nature Park in stages, stopping at a number of points along the route to focus on the different species.

I spoke with Brian Gormley who said, “Since it was established in 1987 Irishtown Nature Park has grown into a very mature habitat. In winter, it can be bleak and windswept but come spring it blossoms and the birds return in greater numbers.”

Brian said “The most noticeable birds are probably the stonechats, named after their distinctive clicking call. At present, there are at least three pairs breeding along the causeway walk and this is one of the best places in Dublin city to see them.

The star bird must be the skylark, which has bred each year in the park. This is particularly good news as elsewhere in Ireland skylarks are decreasing and they are now ʻorange listedʼ, i.e. birds of conservation concern.”

Brian Gormley continued

“The male reed bunting with its black head is another distinctive bird of the hedgerows in the park with at least two pairs present this year. Itʼs also a good place to see the linnet, which seldom comes to gardens and prefers rough, weedy ground– they are plentiful in the park.

In early May this year there were also several willow warblers singing but I donʼt think they stayed to breed. Swallows find the park a good feeding area and they are joined a little later by house martins. They must both nest on the industrial buildings in the docks but I havenʼt found where yet. A small colony of House Martins used to nest on the old West Stand at Landsdowne Road Stadium.

Letʼs hope they continue on the new stadium.”

All the regular garden birds could be seen: “Robin, blackbird, dunnock, wren, house sparrow, starling, song thrush and greenfinch which are very plentiful this year. Brian told me that the causeway is also the favoured haunt of the resourceful and entertaining grey crows, which can often be seen dropping shellfish onto the rocks to break them open. They may be the outlaws of the bird world but they at least keep the magpies in check by

preying on their nests.

The wheatear is a passage migrant which can be found from March to May on the rocky bank at the Poolbeg end of the park.

They are passing up the coast to their breeding grounds in mountainous areas. They return southward in Autumn.

Brian pointed out that “Around the Poolbeg peninsula in summer there is also a large colony of common tern and a few dozen Arctic Tern which nest on the ʻdolphinʼ of the old red-brick power station.

“If you fancy a longer walk, then head out the South Wall and out beyond the Half Moon where there are nesting Black Guillemots, often perching on the edge of the pier oblivious to the walkers.”

Brian says that there is a lot to see on the Poolbeg in the summer time. “Start with the Nature Park, a small microcosm no less wild than the Serengeti– long may it continue in the heart of Dublin.”

He said that he would be very interested in any observations and sightings by readers, so please contact him at contact@birdweb.net or through the website of the South Dublin Branch of BirdWatch Ireland www.birdweb.net

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 25

EXTEND THE HAND OF FRIENDSHIP – JOIN CARELOCAL

By Audrey Healy

C

arelocal says its priority is ʻto identify frail and housebound older people who are experiencing social exclusion, as these are one of the most invisible and neglected groups of vulnerable people in our communityʼ.

When Jonny Hobson moved to Dublin from Northern Ireland he was eager to integrate himself into the local community and saw involvement in charity work the ideal avenue. “I always had a great re-

lationship with my Granddad and was interested in working with older people and contacted Carelocal. The way they work is they meet you for an interview first, get to know you and your interests and then match you with someone older who has the same kind of interests as you.”

So Jonny met seventy-nine year old Tommy Flood, pictured above, who he has now been visiting for a few years. The pair initially met every Monday evening but bonded so closely that they now meet a little more and share a close friend-

Iʼve been to visit him in hospital and we sit down and watch football together. Weʼve become really close friends. He used to play golf and we chat about that too. Tommy also loves to watch Friends” According to Jonny, Carelocal is a well-run and close-knit organisation and he has made many friends there too. “We meet bi-monthly and gather together to chat about how things are going.”

Respect for the dignity of the person is all-important, with ac-

ship. “In the beginning volunteers were told that we just visit the older person for an hour on the given day and our job was just to sit there and chat to the person but as the relationship builds we can do a bit more like jobs around the house or buy them biscuits or do bits and pieces,” points out Jonny.

Jonny says it is something he would encourage people of all ages and occupations to become involved in. “Itʼs extremely rewarding and I get as much out of it as Tommy does. Iʼve been able to help him with errands around the house,

ceptance of their way of life. Some people require more attention, for example those whose mobility is restricted and involvement in life is impaired. With time, good relationships are formed and lasting friendships are made.

Jonny Hobson for one would have no hesitation in encouraging others to become involved. “Everyone knows someone who gets lonely from time to time and would like a friend so please do get involved. Itʼs very rewarding for both people.”

GROWING OLD can be a long and lonely process and doing so alone makes it even harder. Having friends and family around makes it easier and the presence of the Dublin based organisation Carelocal makes the transition a lot less troublesome. Carelocal aims to assist older people to remain living in their own homes, with dignity, security and company, for as long as possible, and to help ensure that they remain in good health, both mentally and physically. Their services include one-to-one visitation in the personʼs home and in nursing homes, the provision of day trips and social outings, live musical entertainment in community centres and residential homes, home repairs and financial assistance, and information and advocacy.

Carelocal has been providing these services on a voluntary basis for over thirty years in the Dublin City Council area.

Volunteers visit an older person in their local area once a week, in the older personʼs home, and this forms the foundation of a relationship that builds and strengthens over time. As an advocate and friend, the volunteer can contribute dramatically to increasing the quality of life of an older person who is experiencing social isolation.

If you wish to find out more information about Carelocal, have an elderly relative visited or become a volunteer, you can contact them at Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7.

Tel: (01) 878 2358 Fax: (01) 872 7855 Email: info@carelocal.com

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PAGE 26

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

C AMBRIDGE BOYS NEWS

C

ambridge Boys FC had a terrific season on the football front in 2007-08. The hard work which has gone into the club over the last few years was rewarded by some super achievements of our teams this season. * U17 finished mid-table * U14 Girls league is just starting in the summer and we wish them well * U 12 Won the DDSL U12 B League * U 11 A1 won the Jimmy Flood Cup. Runners Up DDSL U11 A1 league. Runners Up Solar Cup in Liverpool at Easter

them to play soccer in a team structure.

Each season, we hope to start 2 new teams for the U7 Leagues. A wonderful response saw 35 boys and girls join our Academy for a 10 week programme. All the emphasis is on fun, fun, fun and it takes place each Saturday morning from 11-12pm.

The first Programme is just finished and our next one begins in September for 10 weeks. All boys and girls aged 5 and 6 years are welcome.

Registration cost €20 and €5 weekly. Each member receives Academy Kit, Bag and Water Bottle. ball. Open to 7 to 15yrs olds only.

Register at www.fai.ie or pick up a brochure in the Club or Irishtown Stadium. Its filling fast so donʼt be disappointed.

FUTURE PLANS This season saw Cambridge send 2 teams to Liverpool Solar Cup with great success. Winners and Runners up for our 2 teams. We hope to make this an annual event for the Club. We are currently putting our 5 year plan into operation which aims for 2 U7 teams starting each season. Our plan can only succeed with help from you.

Whilst itʼs easy to get kids on board, we do need more coaches/ managers/ volunteers/ sponsors to assist us.

Cambridge will arrange coaching

* U 11 C1 reached semi-final of Joe OʼLeary Cup. Finished mid-table in League * U 10 A1 won Solar Cup in Liverpool. Runners Up DDSL U10 A1 league. Runners Up in Paul Fitzgerald Cup * U9 C finished well in their league * U9 B finished well in their League Both U9s are in development leagues (7-a-side) with emphasis on learning the game before they go 9-a-side and eventually 11-a-side leagues. * U7 B are doing really well. The emphasis in the 7-a-side leagues is learning, not on winning, and giving all our players an equal chance in each game.

To all our players and managers, coaches, parents and sponsors of our Club, we thank you for all your time and effort over the season and we look forward to your continuing support over the next few seasons.

A big thank you to Bob Prior of the Yacht Pub for his fantastic support of the Club.

ACADEMY REVIEW April 2008 saw the start of Cambridge Soccer Academy for 5/ 6 year olds. Our aim over the next 5 years is to recruit boys and girls into the Club in a fun environment and encourage

Cambridge Boys must thank all our volunteer coaches, who all took part in FAI Coaching Courses before volunteering their time to the Academy. Thanks to all our sponsors Dublin port Company and Charlie Murphy, as the Academy would not have been possible without very generous support. Thanks to Irishtown Stadium for the use of the facilities.

Also, thanks to Jason Donoghue FAI Development officer for his guidance and help.

MINI WORLD CUP 2008 Its back! This year it takes place from July 1st to July 13th. Registration takes place in Cambridge Club House Sunday June 8th, June 15th and June 22nd at 11am. Register early as teams fill quickly. Cost €5 per player. Once again, our sponsor for the Mini World Cup is Billy Brophy (wifeslist.ie) SUMMER CAMP July 7th to July 11th will see Cambridge Boys host the FAI Summer Soccer School in Ringsend Park.

The camp is open to 100 kids only on first-come basis. It is a great fun week with super coaches on hand each day from 10.30am to 3pm. The cost is €99 for the week. Each player gets an Umbro kit, gear bag and

courses, training sessions. FAI assist all who would like to help. Often we cannot start up new teams due to lack of coaches. Anyone interested please let us know as all help is wanted.

Contact us at cambridgeboys fc.com All our teams have vacancies for new players and new teams can be formed if enough players and managers/ coaches are available. Contact relevant age group managers or our website: www.cambridgeboysfc.com Top: Winners of U12B League.

Left: Cambridge Boys Under 11A, Winners of Jimmy Flood Cup 2007/ 2008. Runners-up U11A1 DDSL.

C ONGRATULATIONS !

Pictured above are the Children of ʻLe Petit Jardinʼ Montessori School, Sandymount Road, Dublin who took part in the ʻBig Toddleʼ for Barnardos.

For more information on Montessori School contact Mary on 0879114482 or Email: tirnanog63@hotmail.com Children who took part included Elena Brady, Niamh Callaghan, Inez Mundrian, James Burney, James Day, Irene Stanley, Alex Mullan, Sabina Elviri, Rai Murtagh, Fabiola Hede.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 27

S T P ATRICK ’ S LAUNCH NEW SKIFF

By John Hawkins

T

hanks to the kind generosity of Dublin Port Company who came to our rescue with the sponsorship of our new skiff.

This will benefit our members in keeping up with the other clubs on the east coast.

The new skiff was built from the design of the Mhaintain of Wicklow which was the last skiff to be built in Ringsend by the late Harry Smith and the late Patsy Whelan senior

who was a young apprentice back then.

Patsy, after serving his time to Harry Smith, went on to build several skiffs and his last skiff that he built with his son young Patsy was the St Patrickʼs which in my opinion is the best skiff of recent years. No other skiff has travelled as far and got the success as St Patrickʼs.

At the end of the 2008 season it looks like we could see new skiffs for Greystones, St Patricks, Wicklow, Bray and Stella Maris. A great achievement by the clubs to help

preserve the rowing tradition along the east coast.

When you take into consideration the cost of building a new skiff, you realise the struggle the clubs have had to raise the funds. It can be a committeeʼs worst nightmare, but in our case our Chairman Ritchie Saunders approached Enda Connellan, Brenda Daly and Charlie Murphy from Dublin Port Company, who listened to Ritchie on behalf of the youth of our club.

Dublin Port came to our rescue and sponsored the building of our new skiff. They sometimes donʼt get the credit they deserve, but I would like to say on behalf of St Patrickʼs Rowing Club, members and committee well done to Dublin Port Company without whose very kind generosity this new skiff would not have been possible.

The launch was carried out by Brenda Daly, Father Fergal and Charlie Murphy. A lot of past rowers turned up to be there. It was a great sight to see the new boat carried by them. A past member of the club, Peter Donaldson, was just back from rowing the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to Barbados and setting three new World records in a time of 31 days.

Well done to Peter, who was also helped by the Dublin Port Company.

Itʼs great to say a world champion came from our little village, Ringsend.

On behalf of our committee, I would like to thank all the past members and Father Fergal, the local councillor Kevin Humphreys and Chris Andrews TD and Eddie Byrne, Chairman of the Private Boat Owners, and the members from the East Coast Rowing Clubs who attended.

A special thanks to Niamh Barry,

who followed in her late Grandfather Tommy Plunkettʼs tradition with a great speech to thank Dublin Port for our new skiff, the St Patrick.

It was also nice to see Johnny Gregg, who gave a lot of his time to the club down through the years and Damien Cassidy for his kind speech.

A special welcome to our newest member, Erin Lily from Massachusetts USA. Niall Feery also writes about the St Patrickʼs launch on page 28.

15 thirsty guys cycle 350 miles in four days for charity FIFTEEN CYCLISTS travelled 350 miles over four days to fundraise for the charity The Pace Centre based in Buckingham, UK, which provides for children with various physical disabilities. They travelled through Wales, sailed from Pembroke to Rosslare and then on to Dublin. They have raised £25,000 so far and are aiming for £30,000. They finally found their spiritual home at the Mount Herbert Hotel, above.

Salon 4 Hair and Beauty 4 Bridge Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4 Tel: 01 6678865 • Email: ana@salon4.ie • Web: www.salon4.ie

‘Pamper yourself from head to toe’ Gift vouchers available Facials Waxing Manicures/Pedicures Gel/Acrylic nails Body treatments Swedish massage Make-up and tanning Opening hours Monday and Tuesday 10 am to 7 pm Wednesday to Friday 9am to 8 pm, Saturday 9 am to 6 pm

PAGE 28

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

ST PATRICK ’ S ROWERS LAUNCH S T P ATRICK

I

By Niall Feery

t is the first sign that summer is on the way in Ringsend as the rowing skiffs are rescued from cold storage and placed back into the river.

This year, though, the small fleet of racing boats in the area will have a new companion following the launch of St. Patrickʼs Rowing Clubʼs latest skiff.

The launch took place at the clubʼs headquarters on York Road in May as the Paddies and their corporate partners, Dublin Port, christened the new skiff just prior to the start of another chapter in the story of coastal rowing.

As usual, the club pulled out all the stops to ensure the boat

THE NEWSFOUR

CROSSWORD COMPILED BY KILLIAN HOLMES

received the launch it deserved and now the members, young and not so young, will be testing the strength of the new skiffʼs beams all summer long from the Liffey waters along the east coast to Arklow.

The new boat is the seventh boat that the club has launched since it became the first coastal rowing club in the area back in 1936, but St. Patrick Seven is the first to be built outside of Ireland.

For the past few months the skiff was being designed and constructed by Morris Hunkin in the small town of Fowey, Cornwall in England before being transported to Ringsend prior to the big launch. While this is the first St. Patrick boat to be built by Mr. Hunkin, it is not the first east coast skiff

to be put together in Cornwall, as Greystones have already availed of the services of the Fowey master boat builder.

It is expected that an initial five boats will be built in Cornwell as the east coast championship aims for a standard design as the sport takes a re-

Name:……………………………

Address:………………………… Telephone:…………………

surgence in popularity.

The new boat is another sign of St. Patrickʼs commitment to constantly improving their standards as they supply an essential community service to our area and along with Dublin Port, the club will look to continue to push forward both

on and off the river.

Pictured at the launch of St Patrick Seven are from left front: Brenda Daly, Marketing Manager, Dublin Port; Maurice Hunkin who built the boat; Charlie Murphy, Dublin Port with his grandson Sean and the Committee members.

Winner of the April Crossword and €25 book token was Máire Ní Cheallaigh of Mount Anville Road.

Closing date for entries is 7 August 2008.

ACROSS 1, 5 Did you say yes or no to this? (6,6) 10 A mechanism to protect ourselves (7) 11 American pop singer and actress (7) 12 Attract with promise of a reward (4) 13 Famous Irish poet (5) 15 Enclosure for the accused (4) 17 Abbreviated female relative (3) 19 - - - - - - Henry, a rich young man (6) 21 Wealthy people travelling by air (3,3) 22 Aromatic dried herb used in cooking (3,4) 23 Idle talk (6) 25 Now Mumbai (6) 28 Not the beginning (3) 30 Love, honour and - - - - (4) 31 British rock group, lead vocalist died 1991 (5) 32 A domestic cock or hen (4) 35 Place for dramatic performance (7) 36 Keepsake or souvenir (7) 37 A biochemical catalyst occurring in all living cells (6) 38 A Scandinavian language DOWN Raging fire (7) 2 3 Wears sun glasses indoors and campaigns against poverty in the third world (4) 4 Female relatives (6) 5 Entices to do a something (5) 6 Finishes (4) 7 Tissues attached to muscles (7) 8 First name of Austrian born politician (1889-1945) (6) 9 A tisket, a tasket, Iʼve lost it (6) 14 Company running air traffic (7) 16 Worn by a nun, all the time? (5) 18 English novelist, shipwrecked on an island maybe (5) 20 Noise from a puppy (3) 21 A boxerʼs move (3) 23 Contemplates with triumph (6) 24 Get your liquor here after hours (7) 26 Café on Sandymount Green (7) The colour of the receptacle I lost (see 9 down) (7) 27 28 First name of our esteemed designer/ typesetter (6) 29 Judged (6) 33 Donʼt go (4) 34 So be it (4)

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 29

CITIZENS’ INFORMATION AT RINGSEND COMMUNITY CENTRE

Royal Hospital expands care facilities

By John Cavendish

R

ingsend Community Centre had a busy day on Tuesday 27th May with an International Neighbours day event on in the morning and an important addition to services at the Centre launched later in the afternoon, the Citizens Information advice service, CIS. It runs between 9am and 1pm every Thursday. The information unit is part of the southside Dublin 2, 4 and 6 area of coverage and is funded by the Citizens Information Board, which is in turn funded by the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

Information advisors Maeve Wallace, Maria Brophy and Aurelia Bodrug spoke of how their work deals with legal issues, consumer rights, employment rights, local information, immigration

CITIZENS INFORMATION CENTRE Dublin 2, 4, 6 Citizens Information Service have opened an outreach service in the Ringsend Community Centre in Thorncastle Street.

This service will be available on Thursdays from 9am to 1pm.

This is a free, confidential and non-judgemental service providing information, advice and advocacy on your rights and entitlements.

matters, advocacy and problems people have with personal finances like debt.

Liz Carroll, also of the CIS, told how the advisors often have to go to hospitals and care homes to help the sick get their affairs in order and said that they work very closely with social workers and other staff in the health service.

Paul Foley of Ringsend Community Centre welcomed the guests and said “we have been striving to get these types of services into the Centre for the benefit of the community and this information service is non-profit making and is here on a permanent footing every Thursday morning.”

Bill Taylor, from the Citizens Information Dublin 2, 4 and 6 area, said that their brief is to dispense information free of charge to all citizens of Dublin postal districts 2, 4 and 6.

He explained how there was a headquarters building at Montague Court on Montague Street in Dublin 2 and that there were Outreach Offices at Whitefriar Street, Rathmines, Milltown and at St. Vincentʼs Hospital.

John Long from the statutory body, the Citizens Information Board, talked about the website on which all the information is available and the low call number which is easily accessible. He said that some people have problems and require help in their own time and need to be listened to, heard and provided with solutions to the difficulties that they have in a way that suits them.

He recommended the website to immigrant communities as it is in different languages and said that he hoped that the CIS could help people in the area with disabilities.

Lorraine Barry, the manager of Ringsend Community centre, thanked all the staff for such a full day of events and said that some of the advisors had been on their feet all day answering questions, she thanked the board of management and said “the addition of the CIS was fantastic going forward for the Centre.”

Website: www.citizensinformation.ie, or low call 1890 777 121.

WORK HAS started on the construction of a new €7.5 million 30bed unit at The Royal Hospital Donnybrook (RHD). The new unit is expected to come on stream early next year, and it will bring the number of in-patient beds to 230. The hospital also has a 25-bed day hospital which caters for up to 125 additional patients each week who commute from their homes for further rehabilitation.

The RHD is the oldest voluntary hospital of its kind in Ireland or Britain, and it provides rehabilitation, complex extended care and respite services to older people and to adults with physical and neuro-disability. The additional beds will be devoted to complex continuing care.

Founded by Royal Charter in 1743, The Royal Hospital Donnybrook was initially financed by the proceeds from the second performance of Handelʼs Messiah in Dublin.

Above: Recently-constructed accomodation for patients at RHD.

BORZA’S TAKE-AWAY Established 1965

5/5a Sandymount Green, Dublin 4

Traditional Fish and Chips to take away Phone: 01-2694130

“Save time – Call and Collect” WISHING

CUSTOMERS AND FRIENDS ENJOYABLE SUMMER HOLIDAY

ALL OUR

A VERY

PAGE 30

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

A

Twenty men good and true…

PICTURED ABOVE are a bunch of Ringsend dockers posing for a photographer during the offloading of a ship.

Larry Murphy, my step grandfather, can be seen in the

BLAST FROM THE PAST

second row, fourth from left. Can anybody identify and name the rest of the group, the ship and the approximate date?

With the hoppers and tub in the background, this had to be a coal boat and the mast-like structure in the background

may offer a clue of sorts as to its actual berthing place.

With their number eight shovels, whose weight alone would put many a man off a Dockerʼs job, these men were indeed unsung heroes.

By George P Kearns

WHO WAS IRIS CHARLES?

I

By Frances Dignam

rish Charles was born in 1907.

Her family home was in Churchill Terrace, Ballsbridge. She was a teacher before she married Dr. Hal Charles, who was a GP in the area in the late 1940s.

At that time, there was considerable poverty in the Ringsend/ Irishtown area, pensions were small and there was a complete lack of the facilities enjoyed by pensioners today.

When her husband remarked, on returning from a sick call, that it was not a doctor the patient needed but someone to talk to, Iris Charles decided to do something to help the elderly.

She and some friends organised coffee mornings, raised some money and began visiting elderly people who lived on their own. They spent time talking to people, cleaned rooms and brought small gifts of food and tried to make conditions, in general, a little better.

In March 1952 they formed a Committee under the auspices

of the Irish Red Cross Society and they called themselves the Sandymount/ Ringsend old Peoplesʼ Group. The first meeting took place in the Star of the Sea National School. The Committee commenced without premises or funds. Their work consisted of extensive visiting, especially to old people living alone and follow-up work when people were admitted to hospital.

Iris Charles and her committee were very anxious to get premises in the area where the old people could meet and socialise. In 1960, they heard that the Hall in Newbridge Ave, owned by the A.O.H. was to be sold to a charitable body. They bought it in December 1961, with the consent of the parent body of the Irish Red Cross.

The building was in a bad state of repair and the Committee worked hard to get it going.

In March 1962 the Old Peopleʼs Club opened with chat, some activities and tea.

As the years passed, the activities increased. Many more old people joined. There were concerts, fancy dress competitions,

quizzes, etc. Many volunteers gave their time bringing people to and from the Centre.

In 1967 the Eastern Health Board requested that they function as a Centre providing midday dinners to the elderly. The meals were cooked by the Nuns in Lakelands Convent and brought in containers to the Centre. The dinners were a great success and continue to be so.

A Christmas Party and a Summer outing were the big events of those years. The first Christmas Party was held in the CYMS Hall, Ringsend and the first outing was to Clongowes Wood College. In 1963, 120 old people were taken by bus and private cars to Clongowes.

In 1980, the Eastern Health Board promised a grant towards building a new dining hall with kitchen and toilets and the building commenced in December 1981. The Committee raised a quarter of the cost themselves.

The Eastern Health Board and Dublin Corporation and the generosity of local businesses covered the final cost.

Irish Charles was the Chairperson of the Committee until her death at the age of 93 years on 21st January 2000. Her concern for the elderly people never wavered. She was on lots of committees, including the Dublin Council for the Aged. She was the recipient of a Person of the Year Award in 1980.

She was very interested in young people also and encouraged them to come to the Centre and to interact with the members. She was very anxious that the Centre was changed from the Sandymount/Ringsend Old Peoples Group to the Iris Charles Centre for Older People in July 1999, six months before she died.

Today the Centre is very popular. Dinner is served to an average of 22 people per day on four days every week. The main courses are supplied by Crosscare at Holles Row and the food is brought to the centre and served by voluntary workers.

Above: Iris Charles is pictured front centre in this group photo.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 31

THE POETRY PLACE

Dublin Deluge

Hosing Down The Pigs

Youʼve heard about the Bible flood The ark that landed in the mud.

The famous flood of Dublin town That caused OʼConnell Street to drown, When only tops of trees were seen By those who sailed on Stephenʼs Green, That was the time I steered my raft on The street– now grand canal– of Grafton.

I saw Bewleyʼs. It was open.

I hove to and threw a rope in Through a window three floors up.

Someone hauled me in. “A cup Of coffee and cream bun,” I sighed.

“Right away,” a waitress cried.

“Wet today.”

“Yes. Bad for May.”

By Peter Kay

To The Former Occupant (for Annie) Everything that is narrated here actually happened; nothing happened as it is narrated here– Goethe It was your cottage I now make my home.

I would have liked to have met you.

The Pier

The pier with its long and winding pathway A place I walk on from day to day The pace of my walking some would say is too quick But to end up behind the tourist trap would make me sick I sit at the end of the pier to ponder on life Hoping to speak to the girl who would be my wife I still think that one day love will come my way With a girl I have met on the pier I would say The wind like my thoughts are sometimes blown into the sea I wonder when the girls pass by, do they think of me?

The shimmering sun at times lights the way An inhospitable place though when itʼs murky and grey The birds the winged wonders I call them They twist and turn with effortless grace Waves splashing and crashing, at times they do mock And now I end this phrase with this heartfelt plea If you see me on the pier, please stop and talk to me Especially if you are young, female, single and free.

Hosing down the pigs. Isnʼt It wonderful? They nuzzle Up to the nozzle. They knead The noisy noose of silver That froths aurora splendours Through the sun. Butt noses Break the fireman-force of the Jet-torrent into exploding clams Of water pummelling the evening Air into pearls. They are delirious As dipsos sprayed with gin as Shimmering beards and beads fall From the grin of each chin. They Bristle and bustle and shuffle each Other sideways in a friendly banter Before the exuberant decanter of Delight that towards their raised Faces makes flight from the Hosepipe of life everlasting, amen.

By Mark Jones

By Peter Kay

Central Truth

Without written history, I sift through your remains like an archaeologist.

Your life can seem a string of separate poems Opening lines that are leading nowhere Never letting their petals Reach out to the full extent Unfold to reveal that central truth Around which all will centre, It can be as if the knowledge Of whom you really are You own with even less certainty Than you do the vague impressions You have of whom They are expecting you to be Where minds behind eyes With the tranquillity of concrete Place everything into a Pattern.

The prickling of the drizzle And azure radiating From above the disintegrating canopy Of mottled grey Its blue, you are used to it As sixty years is to seeing White hairs in the mirror But smart enough not to Mistake a mindʼs forced assent To inevitables for serenity (when itʼs just admitting truth), itʼs not And neither is this caféʼs Canvas sheltered terrace Paris.

You left photographs of nineteenth century girlhood, neatly stored in large cornflake boxes.

You painted wooden crates for bookcases and seats.

You kept bottles and jars, newspapers and clippings.

A 1932 paper yellows in an empty drawer, headlining the Ecumenical Congress: ʻHooligans attack a train while women weep and pray in their seatsʼ, and all gather at OʼConnell Bridge.

A box of unused gas masks and an empty ammunition box: was it World War One, or the Rising, that brought them here?

A holy font still hangs by the doorway of the room at the top of the worn stair: evil spirits stood warned

by Christʼs image; and a horseshoe hung upright to hold the luck.

Here is a house where good things have happened, where life has been slow and thoughtful, a place where good things may again create a corner in the wide world for peace to snuggle into.

The dog next door doesnʼt trust a soul he doesnʼt know. He stood in my yard and stared at me in disbelief, dumbfounded suspicion.

Maybe he was looking for you.

By Tim Costello

I light the fire you set in the grate months ago.

Like an archaeologist I sift through your remains and try to write your history.

By Glenda Cimino

As always, we welcome contributions to The Poetry Place, which can be sent to the ʻNewsFourʼ offices at 15 Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4.

My Father A man for all seasons thereʼs no doubt about that, This man who married my Mother, The love and the care he gave to us all, He was our father and our extra brother, The fatherly love and the brotherly care, The generosity just poured from this man, Itʼs impossible to put in to words what I write, He was just a wonderful gentle man, He worked very hard throughout all of his life, And never once left the family in need, He gave my mother as much as he could, This man never suffered from greed, Her took us out to the seaside, the circus and park, And walks down the country lanes, He carried us on the crossbar of his bike, Down the docks to see the ships and the cranes, He mended our shoes when they needed to be, He made all ours toys out of wood, And for my mother he made many things for the house, Never complaining, not that he would, He was often short of a few bob to spend, But we never went short of our penny on Friday, And my mother had always enough for the week, Just enough for her next pay day, A dad in a million far beyond compare, Unselfish throughout all of his life, He was just a wonderful father to us, And a great husband to our mother, his wife, He made sure we were well educated, To face the future without any fear And all that he taught us came up trumps, As we all ended up with a good career.

This most gentle of gentle people, We are proud to say he was our dad, The best of the crop and the top of the pops, We were lucky and were we glad, When we all had married and had families of our own, Grand children came along as time passed by, Great grand children came too, quite more than a few, Now he looks down on us with pride from heavenly skies.

By Sonny Kinsella

PAGE 32

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

The Fontenoy Files

By Shay Connolly

M

ost of the Juvenile section have completed the first half of their season with some good progress to report.

The U12 football and hurlers are having a very busy season so far.

The footballers reached the knockout stages of their cup competition and contested the semi final against St Maryʼs of Saggart.

And they had to travel to Saggart twice to get to the final after the first match ended in a draw.

A fantastic display in the replay saw them contest the final against St Anneʼs of Bohernabreena. Deep in to injury time they led by a point but a fantastic sideline by a Saint Anneʼs forward with the very last kick of the game meant they had to do it all over again.

In the replay St Anneʼs proved to be just too strong on the day. Two weeks later a lot of the same crew contested the U12 hurling final only to lose out yet again to Saint Peregrineʼs. But the lads have put in a mighty effort since the beginning of the year and even though it is very disheartening to lose two finals on the trot they know that if they stick together that their day will surely come.

The two Sligo Johns deserve tremendous credit and the word has it that they are shortlisted for the Sligo county job after the countyʼs recent fall from grace.

U11 Footballers have enjoyed a very healthy season to date and have had quite a number of big

scalps on the way. They were watched by The Legend in a recent match against Ballinteer St Johnʼs in Ringsend. In a hugely exciting contest the lads played some excellent football to record a great win right at the death. The Legend has promised to attend their next match for a report.

The squad on the day were Conor McKenzie, Callum Treacy, Arthur Coll, Ciaran Saunders, Robert McLaughlin, Adam Betts, Adam Murphy, Glen Donnelly, David Byrne, Adrian Dunnion, Dylan Grey, Theyzan Kelly, Jonathon Chester, Dylan Johnston,

H AVE

YOU BEATEN CANCER ?

T ELL YOUR STORY AND HELP OTHERS ʻThe Big Cʼ– cancer. The very word strikes fear into our hearts and souls and a shiver up our spines. We all know someone who has come into contact with this terrible disease. Perhaps you or someone in your family has been directly affected by it. It can strike any one of us and does not discriminate against class, creed or colour.

Yet many people have fought and beaten cancer. Are you one of those people? Have you come through the other side? Would you like to help others by sharing your story? I am planning to publish a book of personal testimonies of how people have bravely fought cancer and more importantly what they believe helped them to beat it, how they found the strength to do so.

Was it their families, their faith or medical science that pulled them through? Was it all three? What advice would they give to others going through the same frightening experience?

Please submit your story in the strictest of confidence to yourcancerstory@gmail.com or write to Audrey Healy, 3 Canal Close, Longford, Co. Longford. Ireland. Your name will not be published should you wish to remain anonymous.

Aaron Doyle.

Manager Simon Beirne is one of the unsung heroes here in the club. He is training two nights a week with the adult footballers, gives one night a week and more to training this U11 team and takes them out every Saturday morning.

When the U11 hurlers were struggling to find a manager up stepped Simon and duly rallied to the call. Simon gives something back and more and he is a credit and an example to all.

U11 hurlers have turned around their season and have recorded three whopping results of late. Our

new Hurling Wall is proving invaluable for their training and recent results have proved this.

The U11 and U12 hurlers prepare for the Dublin Camaint Finals which is scheduled in for the first week of the July. This is one of the best competitions in the GAA calendar as all participants will get the chance to play in Parnell Park.

Roger McGrath, manager of the U8ʼs recently brought his crew to Croke Park to see the Dubs playing Louth in the first round of the Leinster Championship. Roger hasnʼt got out bed since and has been diagnosed with mental stress

and exhaustion.

The U9s continue on their merry way with Dave Walsh at the helm. These guys have only lost one match in two years and are definitely a team for the future.

All other Juvenile teams are competing well and Saturday morning Academy is still operating strongly.

U15 footballers and hurlers are just returning from their Junior Cert and the club hopes that they did very well in their efforts. To get them back into the spice of things, they travel on a weekend away to Killary in Co Mayo on the 11th July. A great time is forecast and Iʼm sure that manager Gareth Yankee Saunders will get the same prognosis as Roger McGrath did when he returns. Gareth is so, so looking forward to it.

Eight of this U15 panel completed an intense 10 week grinds course in preparation for their recent Junior Certificate exams.

These grinds were delivered by undergraduates from the Trinity Collegeʼs Gaelic teams who in return use our facilities for training.

The reports back from these undergraduates are that these lads are as bright as can be and this programme will continue for them right up to their Leaving Certificate. At a recent ceremony held in Trinity College these young lads were awarded their certificates

by Trinityʼs TAP coordinator, Ms Grace Edge.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008 The club intends to expand this programme for all its members in the future and would like to thank club Sponsors Dublin Port Company for their assistance in this project.

New Club Development Officer, Donal McGovern is as busy as a bee preparing various different projects for the remainder of the year. He will be ably assisted by Club Coach Johnny Sadlier. Below are some of the programmes listed * Summer Camps * Football: 11th to 15th August * Hurling: 18th to 22nd August Enrolment is €60 for one week or €100 for the two weeks. Please phone Donal at 086 8066421 for details or drop into the Club anytime for registration forms. * Open Coaching for all club members from ages 5-12 from 7th to 11th July (Week 1) and 14th to 18th July (Week 2) Hurling 2.15 to 3.45. Football 4.00 to 5.30 for both weeks.

JUVENILE CAMOGIE The Juvenile Camogie section is up and running and training continues for all throughout the Summer on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 7 under Lisa Murray and Elaine Maguire and includes those in 1st year to 6th year primary. All are

PAGE 33 welcome to join. Please contact Lisa Murray at 087 2801541.

Staying with Camogie, the adult section lost a close encounter recently to Donneycarneyʼs Craobh Chiaran in Sean Moore Park. The season seems to be coming down to the clashes between these two sides.

Clans having beaten these same opponents to capture Cup honours earlier this year have a return league fixture against the same girls. Who wins this episode will decide league honours.

Adult Hurlers (I) are finding the going tough in their new Senior League status but an almighty win away to Thomas Davis earlier this month by a point may have saved their season. With four matches remaining in this league their fate is still in their own hands.

Adult Hurlers (2) are having a determined season and are still in the championship at time of writing. This section wishes speedy recoveries to Brian Nicholson, Cormac Connolly, Neil OʼRegan and Ciaran Cummins who all sustained recent injuries.

Adult footballers are having a fifty-fifty season but with some really important fixtures to come in the next few weeks, a better idea of how they are doing can be gauged. They also reached

Calafort Átha Cliath

the semi ñfinal of the Loving Cup. Their opponents were Saint Margaretʼs and despite playing them off the pitch for long periods, found themselves two points down three minutes into injury time. Clans got a free which they lobbed in behind the defence and who came flying in behind them only the bold Stephen Mulreaney to punch to the net.

With everyone expecting the referee to blow up from the resulting kick out he allowed one more passage of play. Margarets launched an up and under and the ball bobbled around our square for what seemed like an eternity and horror of horrors ended up in our net. Game over– heartache. A true measure of this teamʼs character will be put to the test when they play three league games in the next fortnight. Time to be stood and be counted lads!

Adult ladies football are having a very good season to date and after a short break recently will recommence battle in the next week. Their cause has been greatly assisted by former Mayo All Star and All Ireland winning medallist Diane OʼHora who recently joined the Club. We wish her every success in her time with us.

As we enter into some crucial

months ahead with a lot of teams we ask the players to remember that every time they put on that Clanna Gael Fontenoy jersey please donʼt let it slip over your shoulder without pausing to think what that means to you. You are representing your area, your families, your Club and above all yourself and those combinations are enough to stir your passions into giving it everything you have on the playing pitch. Best of luck!

Opposite page, top: Pictured in Trinity College at the award ceremony are, left to right, Shay

W HEN R INGSEND

Connolly, Club Manager, Michael Gilroy, Michael Power, Aidan Bolton, Des Soon, Kenneth Lyons and Ross Kiernan with Grace Edge TAP, Coordinator Trinity College. Missing from picture is Jordan Barnes.

Bottom picture: Inter footballer, Ciaran Connolly is about to contest for a ball in a recent League match against St Peregrineʼs.

Above: U15ʼs Ciaran Crowe gathers a ball despite severe pressure from Fingal Ravens in a recent league game in Ringsend Park. Anthony Byrne is just about to lend a hand.

ROCKED THEIR RIVALS

Dublin Port Company Port Centre, Alexandra Road, Dublin 1.

Telephone: 887 6000, 855 0888 Fax: 855 7400 Web: www.dublinport.ie

THIS newspaper photograph was found in a roll book in St Patrickʼs BNS, Ringsend. It was taken before Canon Mooney Gardens was built. The bandstand that stood where Canon Mooney Gardens is now can be seen in the background.

The occasion was a shock result in a primary schools hurling match, the Johnston Mooney and OʼBrien Cup, when Ringsend defeated a fancied

Rathfarnham side. Ringsend forwards T. Orr, T. Howard and J. Byrne are mentioned. Note the stickers on the hurley bosses. Were they for names or a guide to help the boys connect with the ball for a sweet strike?

If you can name any of the players in the photo please contact the school at 6606825

By Robin Booth

PAGE 34

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

ST PATRICK’S CYFC SEASON REVIEW St Patrickʼs CYFC went into the new season 2007/ 08 full of optimism and confidence and why not following on from a dream season in 06/ 07 when the famous Ringsend club took three LSL (Leinster Senior League) crowns, a runners-up spot and the prestigious LSL team of the year award to add to a trophy cabinet starting to shine again with silverware.

Again, just as in the previous season, the club had three senior teams with in excess of 40 players, some in the twilight of their career whilst others were fresh from schoolboy football.

All three sides were now playing at a higher level, having gained promotions the previous season with the most significant change being our first teamʼs elevation to the intermediate ranks for the first time after 71 glorious years as a junior club, in which time the FAI and Leinster Junior cups made a visit to the trophy cabinet.

Also continuing on with our goal of establishing a schoolboy section we hooked up with Bath Unitedʼs U14s who would now play under the CY banner in the SDFL (South Dublin Football league). With pretty much the same players and management teams, all four sides were hoping for another good, successful season.

In Intermediate 1B our 1st team lads after a pre-season disrupted with tournament cancellations and players on extended holiday breaks started to find their feet, after an opening game draw away to Kilnamanagh they travelled to Brendanville and came away with a late 2-1 victory.

Meanwhile, our second team had a similar start drawing at home and winning away and our 3rd team hoping to go one better then in their debut season when finishing 2nd in the league came

storming out of the blocks with four wins on the bounce throwing down the gauntlet to their division 3 Sunday rivals, also our new schoolboy team had started well in the league.

The following week our 1st team notched up another narrow win away to Ballyfermot United.

Up next was old foes Rathcoole Boys away, in a tight game it was the Rats who came away victorious to condemn CY to only their 2nd competitive defeat in over a year. The 2nd team also hit a wall in the same venue losing 3-2 and a similar fate was to hit our 3rds with their 1st dropped points coming away to Orwell, with whom they would eventually go toe to-toe-for the league title. All three teams would recover from those results and notch up some more important wins in the weeks that followed.

While things were going along nicely on the pitch there were to be some changes off it. After our 1st team game against Valeview Shankill on the 4th of November 2007 Derek ʻCharlieʼ Bowden announced he was to step down as 1st team manager after four fantastic years in charge.

During his tenure he took the club from the brink of relegation to one of its most successful trophy-laden periods in recent times, winning the Polikoff cup twice and the major Sunday league and in doing so bringing the club to Intermediate football for the 1st time.

While it was sad to see him go especially for a young side most of whom had only known one manager in their time as CY players the club was determined to bring in a replacement who could take the club onto the next level.

Ex Railway and Liffey manager John Young was duly unveiled as the new man to step into Bowdenʼs considerable shoes.

Johnʼs first game in charge was

an emphatic 4-1 home win over Ballyfermot United but defeats where to follow away to CIE and Tymon Celtic. Naturally, it would take time for the new management team which eventually included former manager Mark Benson as Johnʼs no.2 to make their mark on this young side.

Our 2nd and 3rd teams continued their good form and as we entered the Christmas break all three teams were in healthy league positions to make a push in the new year. The U14s were also doing well in the league and had begun their season-long tussle with rivals St Francis.

As we entered 2008, all three senior teams still harboured hopes of league and/ or cup success and things got off to a flier when the 1st team recorded a great away victory against Confey FC. More wins were to come before stumbling at home to Rathcoole (1-1) and losing away to Sacred heart (1-0).

The 2nd team resumed their season after an 8-week period without any games all and at home to Confey the lack of games showed in a disappointing 0-1 home defeat and a 1-1 draw away to struggling Brendanville.

They bounced back, winning 5-2 away to Tymon in the cup.

The 3rd team had a tricky away cup fixture against Spartak and in what can only be described as monsoon-like conditions in Marley park, they fell to a heavy defeat. That didnʼt dampen their spirits as Dave Nolanʼs charges stormed back in league action with Five straight wins to put them within touching distance of the league title. The U14s were also hot on the heels of St Francis in the league and had also reached the semi-final of the cup.

There was no room for error in the league and the 1st team had a break from the pressure with

an away cup quarter final against Celbridge Town from division 1A. In a cracking cup tie, CY came from behind to level and bring the game into extra time.

Again the ʻYʼ fell behind only to find one last opportunity to hit the onion sack to go to penalties.

In the end Celbridge held their nerve and CY were left with just league honours to chase.

The 2nd team who had gone through many personnel changes throughout the season, had stormed into the final of the Joe Tynan cup with wins over TEK and Alpine Express to face Ballyfermot in the final.

Both these teams still had promotion issues to sort out before the big day. The 3rd team however had their big day at home to league rivals Orwell FC, knowing victory would win the league.

In a fantastic match played at a very high tempo, CY huffed and puffed but couldnʼt find a way through a very good Orwell defence. The league wasnʼt won on this day but a few games later Orwell had dropped sufficient points to hand CY the division 3 title.

In Intermediate 1B Rathcoole boyʼs had all but sealed the league title and it was left to CY, Confey and Tymon Celtic to scrap it out for the 2nd promotion spot. CY went unbeaten in their final six games, winning four and drawing two but with Confey taking two walkovers for ʻno showsʼ.

CY had to settle for 3rd place, a commendable performance in their 1st season at this level. Our schoolboys had reached and won their league cup final and were still in pursuit of the league title.

So it was onto the Joe Tynan cup final! For the 2nd team, in a tight, evenly-matched game CY edged out Ballyfermot by 2-0 in extra time with the goals coming from Arron Jenkins and Barry Montgommery. This was to be

CYʼs 5th piece of silverware in two seasons! The schoolboys went on to win the cup also and finished runners-up in the league.

All in all, it was another successful season for CY, with our 2nd and 3rd teams winning the cup and league respectively and our 1st team coming a very credible 3rd in Intermediate 1B, all topped off with cup success for our schoolboy team. We can look forward to next season with mighty optimism!

A big well done to 1st team manager John Young and his assistant Mark Benson. They came very close to gaining automatic promotion and will be very hopeful of going one better next season. Also congratulations to 2nd team manager Anthony Owens, who keeps churning out the silverware. After two league titles on the bounce, it was the cup this time with a very young, exciting team.

Well done to David Nolan who guided the 3rd team to the league assisted by Wayne Byrne and doing so with a great mix of young and old players, from young lads like Karl Montgomery and David Spain to old war horses like Ray williams, Noel Boland and Derek. It was a great achievement after the disappointment of coming 2nd last season, and finally a massive well done to our schoolboy team and to the management team of Jason Flood and the two Paddys.

None of this is ever possible without the fantastic support of committee members like John & Padser Healy, George Desay, Patrick OʼKeefe, Derek Bowden & Paddy McGuinness, all of whom do huge work in the backround to keep the club running.

Pre-season training for our three senior teams begins Saturday July 5th. All new players are more then welcome.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 35

ABOUT TIME – SOMEONE ELSE CLEANS THE HOUSE! Cleaning– a thankless job!

Hand it over to ʻABOUT TIMEʼ

By Stephanie Morris

I

n this day and age, a household generally functions with two people working an average of a forty-hour week. Be it that of a husband and wife with or without children, flatmates sharing, male or female.

The one area that appears to suffer in our hectic daily routine is the thankless job of cleaning. Trying to fit in work, social life and looking after the children means that cleaning has become a chore that we find less and less time for. In days gone by a cleaner was seen as a luxury. Today, a cleaner has become something of a necessity.

Patricia OʼNeill is the founder and managing director of About Time cleaning company. Patricia is a qualified accountant and after her studies found herself working in a full-time accountancy position. She married and settled into a lovely home with her husband, who also worked full-time.

They found themselves in har-

mony in most areas of their lives except in the matters of domestic cleaning and so Patricia set about the task of finding a cleaner. She discovered how difficult it was to find a professional cleaner who she could trust and rely on. She did her research and found it very difficult to find a company offering a professional cleaning service to homeowners in particular.

In 2005, Patricia set up a cleaning business, About Time. Her first aim is to cater to the domestic market, though they also have a commercial division.

About Time covers Dublin city in its entirety, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. They employ over 100 staff from all areas. The employees are professionally trained in the area of cleaning and Patricia emphasises quality and service is paramount in this business. They arrive in uniforms and About Time company vans with all cleaning supplies, hoover and such paraphernalia.

About Time caters to the needs of each individual client and what is most suitable to them. The most popular package on offer is what

is known as the Agency Service and this is generally for a 2 to 3 bedroom house, 3 hours minimum cleaning service– weekly or fortnightly. The cost is €15.89 per hour inclusive.

You are guaranteed a professional service each time and all employees are uniquely vetted and trained uniformly, therefore a professional cleaning job is guaranteed with each visit. This issue of uniformity, consistency and professionalism is the essence of the company, explains Patricia.

About Time also provides a service on a no-contract basis. This is especially designed for post-building works, pre /post party service, moving in/ out or a general seasonal cleaning. It is based on a minimum of a 3-hour service and you can add-on carpet cleaning, window cleaning and ironing.

About Time also provides deck and yard cleaning. Patricia aims to provide an all-in professional One Stop Shop domestic and commercial cleaning service which is flexible and concentrates on the clientʼs needs which are evaluated on the initial visit.

About Time came to my home for two hours. Since I light a fire most evenings, my living room is quite dusty. They stayed for two hours and my kitchen and living room were left gleaming.

The skirting boards were washed, all glass shelves polished (dusty royale!) and it had a certain air of freshness that seems to be absent when I clean it myself!

They arrived on time, well presented in navy and blue uniforms,

with their own supplies. This is optional, they can use your own cleaning products. They were friendly, professional, fast and very competent. Since I share my home with another person, we have both decided to sign up to About Time for a fortnightly cleaning contract for 3 hours per visit. A job well done.

About Time– Phone: 01 894 0444, info@aboutime.ie, www. aboutime.ie

PAGE 36

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

IS WESTPORT THE NEW GALWAY ?

By Brian Rutherford

T

o say Westport is the new Galway is a bit of an overstatement.

What it is is a nice town built on hills that lead to Croagh

Patrick with the memorial to the coffin ships at its base. It also leads to Castlebar and its musical ways.

Westport on a clear day can be a beautiful experience.

There are craft shops and photo galleries with some

The history of Westport WESTPORT is 250 years old. Its Gaelic name ʻCathair na Martʼ translates as ʻThe Stone Fort of the Beevesʼ. It was for a long time the stronghold of the Clan OʼMalley. The Normans then came to Ireland and adapted to Irish ways. It was the Bourkes who settled at Westport in 1235 and became allies with the Clan OʼMalley.

Three centuries later, the English Governer of Connaught Sir Nicolas Malbey was to destroy the OʼMalley stronghold and after years of struggling the son of Grainne OʼMalley was named Viscount of Mayo. His successor John Browne planned Westport town in 1750. He also drafted the Treaty of limerick.

At this point Westport was still a small village. The first buildings were two-storey and built in stone with slated roofs.

The original town streets were named after local features or members of the Browne family.

Over the next 50 years it expanded. A linen industry was built and a small port on the Quay. There were markets for agricultural produce. In the bay there was oyster and herring fishing. In 1818 the port was fully developed. In 1825 the Bank of Ireland and post office were completed.

The Famine destroyed a lot of Westport and the Brownes who lived at Westport house moved to the town. In the 1950s it once again began to flourish, with railways being built.

amazing art and photography.

The pubs are small but the people are nice and the food is good. They have a beautiful river called the Carrowbeg running through Westport.

There are plenty of hotels to choose from within walking distance of the train station. The hotel room for two nights with one dinner and two breakfasts was €119 per person. The room had a four poster bed and a jacuzzi included, would you believe.

Croagh Patrick overshadows Westport and looks strangely man-made in the distance with its perfect peak. The town overlooks Clew Bay and Westport House (above, being restored recently) designed by James Wyatt, who was a well known architect of the Georgian period.

The town is well-known as a sea fishing centre and its annual festival attracts many visitors. There is bathing at many nearby beaches and a championship golf course.

The Marquis of Sligo lives in Westport house just one mile from the town and the house is open from mid-May to mid-September. In it are English and Irish pictures, silver, Waterford glass and exhibits of historical interest.

It is a fine Georgian mansion and nearby is a late English-style church with a beautiful interior. The Westport neighbourhood was the setting for many novels by George A. Bermingham, who was once rector there.

Three miles north of Westport is the sailing centre at Glenans Rosmoney. The Clew Bay heritage centre depicts the maritime history of the area, and from the top of Croagh Patrick you get the best views of the bay.

Above: The harbour.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 37

M ARCELO B IGLIA PASSION IN PICTURES

By Stephanie Morris

M

arcelo Biglia was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and now lives in Dublin.

He is a free-lance photographer with a particular interest in documentary photography.

Marcelo has a uniquely refreshing perspective on ideas, customs and arts of various cultures. He longed to travel from a young age

and discovered while travelling how photography was a perfect tool to document the life styles of people he came across.

When Marcelo completed school he knew his talents and interests lay in the field of art and design. He embarked on a course in graphic design at university in Buenos Aires and discovered how much he used his personal photography as the basis for his design work.

During term-breaks, Marcelo travelled and his first major excursion with his camera was a trip from Buenos Aires to Peru by land.

From this early age he remembers how he never entertained the idea of flying from one place to another as if being ʻtransplantedʼ, rather he travelled by land through Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Peru. Though he had an old-fashioned camera, this experience captured his love for cultural diversity and photography.

It was on this trip to Peru that Marcelo met an Irish couple. They extended an invitation for him to come to Ireland where they had planned a canoeing trip from Sligo to Dublin. He later accepted their invitation and embarked on his first trip to Ireland at the age of twenty five.

He canoed from North Sligo

down the Shannon and connected with the Grand Canal and this was his first experience of Dublin. He loved Ireland and from here he set about a trip around Europe again satisfying his deep interests in culture and travel photography.

He returned to Argentina and embarked on another trip from Guatemala through Mexico and North America. He remembers while staying in a hostel in Chiapas in Mexico that he felt very strongly about leaving South America for some time to experience life in another country entirely.

He reminisced about Ireland and found “it was full of good memories and very special people.” He returned here for one year and he has been here happily ever since.

During this time, his passion for photography has grown from strength to strength. Marcelo, being quite a talented drummer, linked into the music scene from his early days here.

He has since been commissioned by various wellknown musicians.

Though Marcelo has a real love for music and portrait photography, he continually finds himself drawn to the area of documentary photography. He strives to continue developing his personal passion for cultural knowledge and continues to express this through photography.

He has also worked for a number of years for well-known international and Irish photographers in the

world of fashion, where he gained great experience and enhanced his knowledge of the more technical aspects of photography.

It was after a trip to Jordan and Egypt in 2001 that it became clear to Marcelo that photography was no longer just a hobby but a future career. His love of capturing cultures, meeting with the people and exploring their worlds, whether simplistic, complex, rich or poor was where Marcelo found his drive and enthusiasm for his photography.

In 2003 he set about planning a trip from Dublin via Turkey and from there to travel by land to India with his camera. Marcelo and a co-photographer/ writer left Dublin and flew to Istanbul and from there travelled by land through Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and finally into India.

This particular excursion took six months and to date is one of the most valuable and memorable experiences he has encountered. Not

only was he discovering more and more his love for photography, he was also discovering in himself his own gift dealing with people that he was photographing and how they touched his inner senses.

It was during one of Marceloʼs visits home to Buenos Aires that he found himself really absorbed by the Tango experience like never before. It awakened his early life experiences with nostalgia.

He was introduced to an anthro-

pologist and they set about co-creating a portfolio of the Tango and the social role it plays among the people of the city. He has captured these jubilant moments with his camera and he plans an exhibition in Dublin in October.

Marcelo Biglia 086 346 6564, marcelobiglia@gmail.com Pictures clockwise from bottom: Workshop in Lahore, Pakistan; Baby boy, Varanisi, India; Three brothers, Uch Sharif, Pakistan.

The Shelbourne House 2 Shelbourne Road, Dublin 4 Telephone: 6676380

Live music every weekend Sunday lunch 12.30 to 4.30 Function Room available

PAGE 38

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

M u s ic4 …

BY FERGAL MURPHY * NESSA JENNINGS * BRIAN RUTHERFORD

Upcoming gigs

Album Choice

Analog

July

18 to 20 July2008 Grand CanalSquare

1st

Erykah Badu

Vicar Street

3rd

Goo Goo Dolls

Ambassador Theatre

8th

Joe Bonamassa

The Village

8th

Little Feat

The Academy

8th

The Magnetic Fields

Vicar Street

10th

Counting Crows

Ambassador Theatre

11th

Powderfinger

The Academy

11th

Punch Brothers

Sugar Club

14th

Toots And The Maytals

Tripod

18th

Ministry

Tripod

22nd Dierks Bentley The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement The Last Shadow Puppets are collaboration between the Arctic Monkeys Alex Turner and The Rascals Miles Kane. If you were expecting something like the last

D

Whelans

25th

Blondie

Vicar Street

28th

k.d. lang

Olympia Theatre

two Arctic Monkeys Albums… think again!

ublin Docklands Development Authority in association with Note

Productions presents ANALOG 18-20 July 2008. Can you believe it, Lou Reed, pictured above, will be performing on Friday 18th July as part of the European premiere of Hal Willnerʼs Rogueʼs Gallery. Rogueʼs Gallery Tickets €49.95 including booking fee from www.ticketmaster.ie

Also collaborating with Francis Pallett, who has arranged strings for Arcade

5th

chestra. This album goes in the opposite direction to the Monkeyʼs last album

22nd Duke Special

where that was more upbeat and rocky than its predecessor this is more swingy and ballady. Recorded with the influences of doo wop, girl groups and late sixties Bowie in mind this record might be so much of a departure that itʼll be hard for

Tortoise/ Efterklang/ Liars on Saturday 19th Taraf De Haidouks / Vinicius Cantuaria on Sunday 20th July.

Taraf De Haidouks and Vinicius Cantuaria perform on Sunday 20 July at 4.30 pm. Tickets free from www.analogconcerts. ie. Limited availability as part of Analog Main Stage Weekend Tickets.

Dublin Docklands Development Authority is investing heavily in expanding this event.

More information at www. analogconcerts.ie / www.dublindocklands.ie / www.note.ie

The Academy NCH

September 10th

Shelby Lynne

Vicar Street

have made a record for themselves and put it out. Lyrically while not on par with

11th

Jimmy Carr

Olympia Theatre

his work with the Monkeys, Turner is still up there. His moments of genius on this

12th

Emmylou Harris

National Stadium

13th

Nickelback

RDS Arena

14th

The Stray Cats

Vicar Street

14th

The Stray Cats

Vicar Street

16th

The Mighty Boosh

Olympia Theatre

17th

The Mighty Boosh

Olympia Theatre

18th

The Mighty Boosh

Olympia Theatre

19th

The Mighty Boosh

Olympia Theatre

20th

The Mighty Boosh

Olympia Theatre

26th

Joan Baez

Vicar Street

some Monkeyʼs fans to get their head around. Very self indulgent and arty, the lads

album almost appear lazy compared to his previous gems.

This album is a mix between Frank Sinatra, a west end musical, a rock band and a James Bond soundtrack. Only one for adventurous fans of the Monkeys!

What Is Music Therapy?

end Ticket is €60 incl booking Rogueʼs Gallery on Friday 18th

Jose Gonzalez

fire and does on this album with the twenty two piece London Metropolitan Or-

Analog Main Stage Weekfee and includes Hal Willnerʼs

August

J

By Nessa Jennings

im Cosgrove is a Senior Music Therapist who recently gave a lecture on the subject with regard to the treatment of depression and emotional distress, although it can be used with children, the elderly etc.

It is one of the creative art therapies offering a mode of expressive awareness through listening with the client. This listening to music together is known as shared musical space and is also called pre-verbal.

If the music is right, it can set off a stream of self-expression in the client, either talking or singing themselves– there can be many responses. The challenge for the therapist is to correctly match the music to the needs of the client.

Now, itʼs great to listen to music together, but I can see one main

problem with this. People generally hate to have taste forced upon them, and will have their own preformed likes and dislikes, especially in music.

That is my only misgiving, the receptivity of the client. For example: Are they too sick or depressed to enjoy or appreciate the music, or is it too far from their existing taste? Jim Cosgrove insists that most have a joy of music, and that there are very few people who are actually tone deaf (maybe 1% or so). ʻHe who has not music in his soul, is fit for treason, strategem and spoilsʼ, Shakespeare So then, what can music actually do for someone?

Music therapy can improve focus, and boost confidence and initiative. It can also improve physical sense of self and independence. It can connect people to past experiences and can be used ritually, for

example, the lament for mourning. It can calm you down and ʻmoveʼ rigid emotions, by offering a chance for emotional expression in the client.

Silence is an important part of the therapy when time is given to process any emotions. It can help the person ʻconnectʼ with themselves and develop personal awareness.

It can help with renewal of the self and decrease feelings of isolation.

It can actually assist in bringing a person back to awareness. This is called Reality Orientation.

Jim Cosgrove played segments from his collection to a very attentive audience. He betrayed his own classical training by playing Claude Debussy, Aaron Copeland

and Henryk Goreckiʼs Symphony No. 3, sung by Dawn Upshaw.

He also played Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and more. Music has a lot to offer us.

He cites melody, pitch, timbre and rhythm to say nothing of the power, prayer and poetry of some lyrics.

There is a Music Therapist as part of every multi-disciplinary team in health care in the United States and Canada. It is also a ratified profession by the NHS in the UK. In Ireland, there are only eight full-time Music Therapists. However, it is growing as a recognised discipline and you may study for this at the University of Limerick if you already possess a music degree.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008

PAGE 39

Music4 …

METALLICA PLAY MARLAY PARK

I

By Brian Rutherford

tʼs Metallica, what can I say, sheer power, passion or just a certain chemistry. More like sheer heavy metal, but not all their fans are It was October 28th 1981,

drummer Lars Ulrich made James Hetfield an offer he could not refuse: “ Iʼve got a track saved for my band on new metal blade label, wanna play guitar and sing on it?” They recorded their first track on a cheap recorder with Hetfield also doing bass duties. Ulrich was also

manager.

They quickly asked Hetfieldʼs roommate Ron McGovney to play bass and Dave Mustaine took up lead guitar duties. They called themselves Metallica after a suggestion from Bay area friend Ron Quintana and began gigging in Los Angeles, Hetfields birth place.

They supported Saxon and other greats. Then came a demo called ʻNo Life Till Leatherʼ. It sold well in New York and San Francisco. In San Francisco doing two shows they signed a proper bass player named Cliff Burton from a band called Trauma.

A heavy metal shop called Zazula got a hold of ʻNo Life Till Leatherʼ and asked the band to come out to play some shows and record an album. First things first, Mustaine was sent packing after causing too much trouble and Kirk Hamnett was signed from a band called Exodus. It was 1983 and time for ʻKill em Allʼ, Metallicaʼs first LP to be pressed.

The band toured relentlessly

2 which gave them popularity in Europe as well as the US. 1984 saw the release of their second LP called ʻRide The Lighteningʼ. This proved Metallica were not a one-trick pony. It also saw them sign to a proper record label, Electra. In 1985 they continued with a third LP. called ʻMaster Of Puppetsʼ which was made in the same studio as ʻRide The Lighteningʼ. They also at this time got a slot touring with the great Ozzy Osbourne and their popularity took a quantum leap because of this.

It was all too good to be true but in 1986 while touring in Sweden on an overnight drive their tour bus skidded and flipped. It killed Cliff Burton. The band figured Cliff would want them to keep going, so they did.

Jason Newsted was signed from a 40-person audition. He had played with a band called ʻFlotsom And Jetsomʼ. ʻGarage days revisitedʼ was released from Larsʼs studio garage. They also went back to the studio and released ʻAnd Justice For Allʼ in 1988. This received a grammy nomination and reached number six in the U.S. charts. It also saw the release of their first music video for a song called ʻOneʼ.

In 1991 after a world tour, the band released what was to

become the height of their careers, the ʻBlackʼ album. It went straight to number one all over the world and sold in excess of 15 million copies worldwide. It also got them a grammy.

By 1993,after headlining at many festivals, the band were shattered. Four years later ʻLoadʼ was released. It was produced by Bob Rock, he had also produced the ʻBlackʼ album.

2001 saw the departure of Jason Newsted because of several problems that had grown to fruition, no real cause is blamed. The band set up Metallicaʼs H.Q. at an old army barracks and began jamming and looking for a new bass player, as Bob Rock was doing most of the playing.

It was at this time that Hetfield went into rehab for alcoholism and other substances. They then made ʻSt. Angerʼ with Bob Rock.

They had also found a new bass player in Robert Trujillo, who had played with Ozzy Osbourne and Suicidal Tendencies.

And so you have it, with Metallicaʼs last video being shot in San Quentin prison. Marlay Park is a humble setting for the men in Metallica as they are now the seventh biggest selling act in American History.

Metallica play Marlay Park, Ballinteer on 20th of August.

(BLIND) provides community-driven development for inner-city youth through music, dance, theatre and visual arts.

Erykah Badu plays Vicar Street on July 1st. If itʼs not already sold out, tickets cost around €46.

New AMERYKAH Erykah Badu in Dublinʼs Vicar Street, July 1st.

Iʼve been known to stay awake A beautiful world Iʼm trying to find Iʼve been in search of myself Itʼs just too hard for me to find

E

rica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), better known by her stage name Erykah Badu American R&B, soul, and hip hop singer and songwriter is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral musical stylings and sense of fashion.

Badu first received notice for her introspective lyrics and jazzy, bass-heavy sound on albums ʻBaduizmʼ (1997)– her first album which went triple platinum– and ʻMamaʼs Gunʼ (2000), also well-received, with the lyrical content win-

ning notices from those who found her lyrics hard to decipher on her initial releases. She speaks from a black subculture sometimes hard to understand.

Baduʼs lyrics are highly personal philosophies which throw emotional challenges in the face of the listener. The music is sophisticated, as she weaves influences together creating a rich texture of sound.

The songs have many parts and speak politically of the black American experience.

Barrack Obamaʼs voice is sampled on her latest release.

Musically, she references old school rappers and songs in her compositions. The genre of the music is also underground or alternative hip hop. She has worked with Jill Scott on ʻYou Got Meʼ, winning a Grammy Award for best rap by a duo in 1999.

In her videos, she wears col-

ourful clothes and head wraps and scarves. ʻOn and Onʼ, ʻBag Ladyʼ, ʻIʼm in love with youʼ (with Ziggy Marley), ʻTyroneʼ, and more can be seen on Youtube. Also ʻHoneyʼ, the single taken from New AMERYKAH Part One (4th world war), released earlier this year.

New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) is set for release in July, to coincide with the tour.

Erykah has a son named Seven (born 1997) and a daughter Puma Rose (born July 5th, 2004).

The father of her second child is West Coast rapper The D.O.C. Badu also serves as an activist in South Dallas where she grew up.

Erykah has also appeared as an actress in a number of films. Her charity organisation, Beautiful Love Incorporated Non-profit Development

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2008