June july 2011 news four by News Four

JUNE / JULY 2011

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

BLESSED WITH THE WEATHER

THE PAPER YOU NEED TO READ! On page 17, Sharyn Hayden aka Shazwanda ﬂies the ﬂag for Northsiders with many laughs

On page 24 Noel Twamley remembers the time Liz Taylor and Richard Burton ate ﬁsh and chips in Cork Street

Pictured at the Blessing of the Boats at Poolbeg Yacht Club recently were: Fr Tonge, parish priest, St. Patrick’s Church, Ringsend, Rev. David Gillespie, St. Anne’s Church, Dawson St, Derek Woods, Peter Redmond, Sean Redmond, Antoinette Redmond, Ethel Woods.

Bloomin’ marvellous!

The Mayday Parade is a major annual event in Ringsend with all sorts of fun and games

By Rupert Heather

Local man Gary Hanaphy, on left, won a gold medal for his garden (pictured on page 2) at the Bloom Festival. He is pictured here with Sonia Lennon and Brendan Courtney.

he crowds ﬂocked to Bloom in the sunshine of the Phoenix Park as this year’s premier horticultural festival got underway. Not simply a ‘gardening show’, the event has grown to also showcase the best of Irish food, farming and natural produce. Show manager Gary Graham from Bord Bia said, “This year we had 96 food buyers from the UK and Europe coming in, so we are showing the best of our artisan food.” The site was enormous and crammed with stalls selling everything from roasted meats to hanging baskets and from face creams to ice creams. There were large entertainment and picnic areas, cooking displays, farming equipment, plants galore and crafts. (Continued on page 2)

These kids were enjoying themselves at the Easter Fest Art Workshop in Cambridge Court recently.

PAGE 2

NewsFour Editor Karen Keegan Staff Gemma Byrne Eimear Murphy Glenda Cimino Jason McDonnell Sandy Hazel Caomhan Keane Joe McKenna Rupert Heather Contributors George Humphries Therese O’Toole Anthony Brabazon David Thomas Nolan Dave Fleming James O’Doherty Noel Twamley Christy Hogan Aisling Tighe Eddie Bohan Nessa Jennings Web Designer Andrew Thorn Photography John Cheevers

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

Bloomin’ marvellous! (Continued from page 1) Graham said, “It’s not just a gardening show, it’s a major festival aimed at people who are both serious about gardening, ‘plantaholics’ if you like, and people who are looking for a good day out.” For the many stall holders, Bloom is an opportunity for face-to-face selling and networking. Local business woman Catherine Murphy from EO Ireland had a range of hand and face creams made from natural ingredients. Her product had a “beautiful” tie in with Bloom because they are made from essential oils, ﬂowers, plants, trees and bark. Away from the bustling markets and tented villages were the beautiful show gardens. Even the sight of these tranquil havens relaxed the visitor on what was a scorching day. The Chinese garden was the ﬁrst ever international garden at Bloom and had been wholly transported here and rebuilt. Dancers moved gracefully to the music inside the cordoned-

Local gardener Gary Hanaphy won a Gold Medal at Bloom in the Phoenix Park for this beautifully laid out garden. See also photo on page 1. off sanctuary, a far cry from the busy pathways. The Chinese Ambassador came earlier in the day to wish everyone well. Thankfully, Jane McCorkell, designer of the gold medal winning ‘Think Blue’ garden invited this reporter inside to ﬁnd shade. She explained, “It’s supposed

G RAINNE

Design, Typesetting, Layout Eugene Carolan

to be a space where you can entertain but I also wanted the people who use the garden to feel that they are not on view.” Set within borders of strong, colourful herbaceous planting, with the sound of running water and large shaded areas, it was certainly relaxing. This was just one of the many fas-

cinating gardens on display. To do them all justice you really would have to have seen them for yourself. Bloom was a great fun day out for the family and a great way for Ireland to showcase the best of its horticulture, farming and natural produce. Be sure and catch it again next year.

MOVES ON

aving contributed to NewsFour for many years, Grainne McGuinness has recently moved on. The place doesn’t seem the same without her. Grainne worked with Sandymount Community Services and NewsFour for many years. During that time she saw good and bad times, staff coming and going and relocation of premises. Nothing fazed her. Grainne was a joy to work with and a unique asset to the work of the project. She was always there to help and advise her colleagues and keep up morale with her good heart and lovely smile. During her time as advertising manager Grainne cajoled and charmed our advertisers with great success. They are still asking for her! Good luck Grainne in your future endeavours. By Ann Ingle

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

Left: Grainne pictured with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

DCC NOTES

By Sandy Hazel Pension reform The “scandalous” pension entitlement of some outgoing TDs was raised by local councillor Paddy McCartan at a recent council meeting in City Hall. He asked that Dublin City Council call on

the Government to “change the contractual arrangements relating to the scandalous pension entitlements of some member of the outgoing Dáil.” “A pension should only be drawn by someone who has reached retirement age,” said McCartan. The qualifying period and payments in advance that were “overly generous” and “obscene” were discussed. It was suggested that the payments could be taxed at 99 per cent.

Cllr Dermot Lacey said that pensions were interpreted by courts as property rights so retrospective changes and taxation might not be possible. Lacey said that the government was dealing with the issue though. Cllr Julia Carmichael said it was a step into the future of politics, and that “the representatives in this council should propose change, we are taking a step forward.” It was agreed that the council would request a constitutional amendment.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

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H UNGRY ? E AT LOCAL FOR GOOD VALUE everyday coffee shop, Daniel O’Sullivan has done his homework. The coffee is a blend of D4 Deli Brazilian, Ethiopian and Sumatran beans, very Full Irish including hot smooth and delicious. Any fresh-baked pastry hile purse strings are tighter drink and toast: €6.50 and medium drink is €3.50. when it comes to eating out, Kiely’s of Donnybrook is a well-known hosgood value is just round the The Anchorage telry with a good ‘grazing’ menu. Waitress Anita corner. Dublin 4 has loads of cafés and Kardel recommends the classic club sandwich bistros that offer good value and qualSoup and bread: €2.50 with grilled chicken, bacon, beef, tomato and ity. Whether you fancy a good breakfast, Hot savouries: €5.50 chips for €9.95. coffee, deli sandwich or sit down meal, Though it may not have the legendary cheeseyou’re well catered for locally. Kielys of Donnybrook cake of its Brooklyn namesake, Juniors of Bath D4 Deli, Irishtown, opened six years Clasic club sandwich and Avenue is still like stepping off the sidewalk in ago by Ringsend locals Sinead Boland chips: €9.95 New York. Chef Sam Gibbs produces two hunand Liz Gregg, offers a large, full Irish dred sandwiches daily in this lively Italian-inbreakfast including toast and hot drink Juniors spired café and deli. Try the generous chargrilled for €6.50. Filled rolls come with a free Deli sandwich and chicken sandwich with salad and a glass of Sicilbottle of water. salad with glass of ian wine all for €13. The coffee is Italian and €2 The Anchorage, York Road is a volwine: €13 to take away. unteer-run community project, with a Browne’s Bistro in Sandymount is a bustling café, créche and garden centre. Set in café that becomes a French Bistro at night. Two the old Ringsend Mission Hall donated Brownes Bistro courses from the á la carte are €20 including a by the Bewleys in 1896, the café’s theme Two course a la carte complimentary glass of wine. Some supplements is ‘hope’ as it supports numerous good and a complimentary glass apply. Starters include mussels or duck conﬁt causes. You couldn’t ‘hope’ for better of wine €20 followed by fresh ﬁsh of the day with potatoes value with mini breakfasts for €5.00, and seasonal vegetables. Manager Phillipe Maghomemade soup for €2.50 and hot savouries for €5.50. The coffee is McCabe’s Gold Medal roasted in nani, who has experience in New York and Paris says, “We have the best place around; our customers are not just eating here, they are Wicklow. First Stop Café, tucked away behind the garage in Donnybrook guests.” Happy eating! and opened last year, is a hidden gem. The proprietor of this smart,

By Rupert Heather

The Cabbage Patch revived The refurbishment of the football pitch has been completed at the Cabbage Patch. The pitch is open for free play at present. The South East Area is continuing in consultation with local user groups on how best to maximise the use of the facility. The ofﬁcial opening of the pitch by the UEFA President, Michel Platini, above, took place on Tuesday 17th May. Broken and damaged headstones on the site will be placed in the sunken area on the north side, and covered with topsoil. This means these original gravestones will be kept in the original graveyard site while ensuring they are not subject to further damage. By Sandy Hazel

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

WB Y EATS :

SON OF

S ANDYMOUNT

orn on 13th June 1865 at 5, Sandymount Avenue (pictured below), William Butler Yeats went on to become one of the ﬁnest Irish poets and playwrights in history and one of the foremost ﬁgures in 20th Century literature. The eldest child, he was joined by brother Jack and sisters Susan and Elizabeth in careers in the arts. Born to John Butler Yeats, a former law student and aspiring

would come to regard as his childhood and spiritual home. In 1867 the family moved to London to aid John in pursuing his art. The children were initially educated at home, with Susan teaching Irish folktales and John teaching geography and chemistry. Eventually William enrolled in the Godolphin Primary School, where he was described as a “fair student” and was known to struggle with spelling. However, he attended school for only four years before ﬁnancial problems forced the family to return to Ireland.

artist and Susan Mary Pollexfen, a Sligo girl from a wealthy shipping family, William’s early life was one of privilege. Not long after his birth the Yeats family moved to Sligo, a place the young William

In 1881 William entered Erasmus Smith High School, before entering the Metropolitan School of Art on Thomas Street from 1884 to 1886. John Butler Yeats kept an art stu-

By Joe McKenna

dio near the college. William was known to spend hours there meeting various Dublin artists who influenced him and trying his hand at writing. His first poems and an essay titled ‘The Poetry of Sir Samuel Ferguson’ were published in the Dublin University Review in 1885. This included his first poem ‘The Isles of Statues’, which was never republished. In 1889 the Yeats family again relocated to London and that same year William published his collection of poems titled ‘The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems’. This work was followed by ‘Poems’, ‘Fairy and Folk Tales’, ‘The Celtic Twilight’ and ‘The Wind Among the Reeds’, which won the Royal Academy Award in 1899, the same year William Yeats formed The Irish Literary Theatre. Formed through a joint effort involving Yeats, Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and George Moore, the group focused on Irish and Celtic plays. The group’s manifesto, which Yeats wrote, declared ‘We hope to find in Ireland an uncorrupted & imaginative audience trained to listen by its passion for oratory…and that freedom to ex-

A CTIVE

periment which is not found in the theatres of England and without which no new movement in art or literature can succeed.’ The collective lasted two years but was not successful. Yeats later formed the Irish National Theatre Society with leading West End actress Florence Farr. Together they acquired property in Dublin and on 27th December 1904 opened the Abbey Theatre. Yeats remained involved with the Abbey until his death in 1939. In 1916, at the age of 51, Yeats was determined to marry and produce an heir. After several failed proposals to various women he married 25 year old Georgie HydeLee. The couple went on to have two children, Anne and Michael. In 1922 he was appointed to the Irish Senate, and then reappointed in 1925. In between, in 1923, he

RETIRED VISIT

was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. The publicity marked a rise in his book sales, which afforded him the chance to clear not only his debts but also those of his father. Towards the end of his life Yeats conducted several sexual affairs with various women. He found erotic adventure conducive to his creative energy and claimed it made him a proliﬁc writer. Upon his death on 28th January 1939 he was buried with minimum fuss in France. Nine years later, in September 1948, his remains were moved to Drumcliffe, County Sligo, as he had wished. His epitaph is taken from the last lines of his poem ‘Under Ben Bulben’. ‘Cast a cold Eye On Life, on Death. Horseman, pass by!’

K ILLARNEY

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

By Christy Hogan

n Sunday 10th April Ringsend Active Retired boarded the train at Houston station bound for Killarney. Having changed trains at Mallow, we eventually arrived in Killarney at 3.30pm. We then travelled by bus the short journey to the Holiday Inn Hotel. On arrival, we were treated to tea and scones in the hotel lounge. At 6.30 we gathered for dinner in the Library restaurant. The meal was beautiful. After a few drinks that evening we retired for the night, our ﬁrst day’s holiday behind us. On Monday morning after

breakfast we set off on a day trip. Our ﬁrst stop was at Inch Beach, a beautiful silver strand that stretches out into the Atlantic Ocean. We visited Anascaul, birthplace of Antarctic explorer Tom Crean. We then travelled along a narrow ledge overlooking cliffs that submerged in the ocean below us. Our next stop was to view the beautiful Blasket Islands. This was a spectacular vista indeed. Finally, we arrived in Dingle, where we saw the marina built by the late Charles Haughey. Some of us went shopping and others went for a meal in the many pubs and restaurants that dot the town. On arrival back at the hotel it was time for dinner and chatter about the day’s events.

That evening some members went to a local pub where Irish song and dance was performed. Then it was time for bed and our second day’s holiday was complete. Throughout the remaining days we visited Muckross House and grounds. We saw the jarveys with their horses and jaunting cars. The horses have to wear nappies now to prevent them from soiling the pathway! We visited the beautiful Ross Castle and the Upper Lake. And ﬁnally we gathered at Kate Kearney’s cottage, where we had a drink and had our photographs taken. All in all, it was a pleasant ﬁve days and lo-and-behold, the weather was beautiful into the bargain.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

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SOLHEIM – A CUP WORTH €30 MILLION M AJOR

ECONOMIC BOOST FROM LADIES ’ GOLF EVENT

By Jason McDonnell

inister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar, along with rep-

resentatives from Fáilte Ireland and the Ladies European Golf Tour, has marked a signiﬁcant milestone. The 2011 Solheim Cup will be staged in Killeen Castle, County Meath, from 23rd to 25th September.

The professional ladies’ golf event between Europe and the USA is the most prestigious international team event in women’s professional golf and one of the biggest international sporting events to be staged in Ire-

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

land this year. The staging of the event is set to be worth a projected beneﬁt of just under €35 million to the Irish economy, as well as the Meath area, providing a welcome boost for the tourism sector. Speaking at the event, Minister Varadkar said: “The 2011 Solheim Cup is the kind of showpiece event that can help to regenerate the Irish economy. It will create jobs, generate revenue, promote Ireland as a tourism destination and provide us with an opportunity to present our country in a positive light. Ireland has a proven track record in hosting high-proﬁle international events and the Irish public is renowned for attending and supporting these events.” Along with the tens of thousands of spectators, up to 500 international media representatives are expected to descend on Killeen Castle in an event that will provide Ireland with phenomenal global exposure, including television coverage to over 400 million homes worldwide. The 2011 Solheim Cup will take place on the stunning Jack Nicklaus Signature Course. Solheim Cup Director, Roddy Carr, announced that over 14,000 tickets have been issued to date. At this stage, over 70% of the available accommodation in Meath has been booked for the event, ac-

cording to Meath Tourism. Speaking on the awarding of The 2011 Solheim Cup to Ireland, Executive Director of the Ladies European Tour, Alexandra Armas, highlighted: “Ireland was awarded The 2011 Solheim Cup over four years ago, defeating stiff opposition from ﬁve other nations. The country’s long heritage, love of the sport and the quality of the venue, Killeen Castle, were all key factors in the decision. I have no doubt Ireland will provide the perfect showcase for this event.” European Solheim Cup Captain, Alison Nicholas was also present, outlining the success of The Solheim Cup Club Ambassador Programme, a recruitment drive currently being undertaken in clubs throughout the country. 155 club ambassadors have already signed up for the programme, which aims to secure key representatives in golf clubs nationwide with the dual goal of generating large-scale spectator support from Irish club golfers and creating a dynamic bond between spectators and the European team in advance of the event. Above: Minister Leo Varadkar, Shaun Quinn (CEO of Fáilte Ireland and Alison Nicholas (European Solheim Cup Captain).

Lucinda CREIGHTON

Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 Tel: 01 6194399 Email: lucinda.creighton@oireachtas.ie Web: www.lucindacreighton.ie

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

CYCLE FOR HOSPICE AFRICA

John Carpenter Mural Competition John Carpenter grew up in The Liberties of Dublin in the 1950s but is now resident in Dublin 4. He excelled at art through his school years. He started running drop-in classes in drawing and painting in Tallaght Community Centre and painting murals in schools about 10 years ago. “It was a huge shock to jump from painting a picture two feet by two feet to painting a mural 150 feet long,” said John. He has painted murals for many schools, pubs and restaurants since then, including the ESB and LUAS. The LUAS mural was at Belgard Station on the Red Line and depicted scenes of 1950s Dublin painted in a Lowry matchstick men style. John was awarded Tallaght Arts and Culture Person Award for his work in 2007. He has a talent for creating children’s murals in playgrounds and bedrooms and they include all the favourites: Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Dora and Peppa Pig. Another of his specialities are garden murals. John’s bedroom murals start at €100 and garden murals from €200. His classes cost as little as €90 for 6 weeks (all materials supplied). www.dublinmurals.com 087 7735747.

If you would like to be in with a chance to win a fabulous mural to the value of €200 then please complete the following in 50 words or less: ‘NEWSFOUR IS IMPORTANT TO OUR COMMUNITY BECAUSE …’ Entries to be sent to NewsFour. Closing date is 15 July.

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or the millions of people living with HIV/AIDS or cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, prospects are poor, and for many of those living with these agonising conditions, the only available pain control is paracetamol. After seeing the terrible suffering endured by these patients, Hospice Africa was founded in 1993 to allow patients to live and die with dignity. The charity now operates three hospices and trains medical staff from all over Africa. Irish support has been a key contributor to the successes in Africa. Based in Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross (which has provided huge support over the years) Hospice Africa Ireland raises funds and sends volunteers to Africa throughout the year to allow this important work to continue. In 2010, then-Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin ofﬁcially opened the new Centre for Clinical Excellence at Hospice Africa’s headquarters in Kampala, Uganda. Health professionals from all over Africa travel here to be

educated and trained in the care of terminally ill patients, and they use this knowledge to spread the work of Hospice Africa across the continent. This was made possible by huge Irish support, including that from Irish Aid and KPMG. However, continued support is always needed. To this end, Hospice Africa Ireland is holding a charity cycle challenge around Carlingford Lough on Sunday 3rd July. There are 60km and 100km routes so that cyclists of all abili-

‘A CCEPTABLE ’ LEVELS

hree months since the nuclear disaster at Fukushima began, on March 11, TEPCO, the plant operators, now admit that three reactors suffered a partial meltdown early on. Lethal nuclear contamination of air, groundwater, soil and ocean continues while TEPCO workers desperately try to ﬁnd ways to cool the plants, prevent further explosions and stop radioactive leaks. Fallout has been detected in North America and throughout Europe. Radiation pouring into the sea has begun to spread worldwide. Our survival depends on stopping Fukushima from further irradiating us all. The fact that this nuclear disaster has dropped out of the news does not mean it is resolved. Authorities, instead of warning people about real radiation dangers, are busy quietly trying to raise the ‘acceptable’ levels of exposure. The Japanese government has quintupled the maximum level of radiation that workers can be exposed to in a day– from 50 millisieverts to 250 millisieverts. They have also raised the yearly limit for accumulated external radiation for children undertaking outdoor activities to 20 millisieverts, from 1 millisievert. (One millisievert per year

ties can participate, and all funds go towards the life-changing work of Hospice Africa. If you, or anyone you know, might be interested in this, or in ﬁnding out more about the work of the charity, please contact the ofﬁce at (01) 4068708, by emailing info@hospiceafrica.ie, or visit the website at www.hospiceafrica.ie Above: Hospice Africa Dr. Catherine treats a cancer patient in Uganda.

OF RADIATION RAISED

is the level recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection). Fukushima parents marched to the Education Ministry with a petition signed by 15,000 people, demanding that the government change this unacceptable yearly limit and reduce children’s radiation exposure through such things as removing contaminated topsoil from schoolyards. In Europe, the EU is reported to have secretly upped the safety level for exposure to cesium in food, increasing the amount of radiation allowable in food from Japan by up to 20 times previous safety levels. (Emergency Ordinance 297/2011 on March 27). In the USA, the Obama Admin-

istration has ended radiation monitoring of seafood in the Pacific, and does not provide reliable, systematic radiological or medical data on fallout coming to the US. In Ireland, according to the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, the most significant source of artificial radioactivity in the Irish marine environment is the discharge of low-level liquid radioactive waste from Sellafield Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant on the north-east coast of England. Manmade radioactivity is also present due to residual global fallout, arising from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s, and nuclear accidents such as Chernobyl.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PAGE 7

S ANDYMOUNT P ET H OSPITAL D ’ EDICATED TO YOUR CREATURE S COMFORT

By Rupert Heather

he ﬁrst thing that strikes you about Sandymount Pet Hospital is the level of care and understanding shown by staff, the second is how busy the

D UBLIN ’ S

DIVERSE COASTAL BIRDS

By Jason McDonnell

place is. Research conducted in 2009 shows that a whopping 37% of Irish households have one or more dogs and 11% have one or more cats. No wonder then that the waiting rooms of our veterinary hospitals are jammed.

Vet John Hanley conﬁrms that on a busy day they can see up to 40 animals. Of that the large majority are dogs (65%) and cats (33.5%), followed by rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and the “odd” budgie. He says, “Pets are seen as such important family members, people are willing to go to great ends to have them looked after.” The human animal bond, as it is known, has never been stronger. Recent trends indicate that pets, particularly dogs, have practically equal status in the family group. Acquiring a new pet is proven to be beneﬁcial for human health, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, reducing stress levels, and assisting better mental health. Hanley grew up watching his father calving cows and lambing sheep in Co. Clare. He later decided to specialise in “small animals”, in part due to the “similarities with areas in human medicine.” He says, “A lot of what we do is preventative medicine, most of the animals that come in are actually fairly healthy. The more

e are so lucky to have three of the best places for bird watching in Ireland at our doorstep here in Dublin 4: Sandymount Strand, Irishtown Nature Park and the South Wall. Sandymount Strand is a shallow tidal mudflat and is host to thousands of birds, particularly towards Merrion Gates. Gannets, from the Ireland’s Eye colony, can often be seen out at sea from here. Another attraction at Sandymount Strand would be the waders like the dunlin, sanderling, turnstone, knot, bar-tailed and black-tailed godwit, curlew, oystercatcher and both the redshank and greenshank. Merrion is also the first port of call in the bay for the returning Brent Geese, which feed on the Zostera or eel-grass just in from Merrion Gates. Across the way at Irishtown Nature Park you will find kestrel, linnet, green and goldfinch, stonechat and lark most of the year. Kestrels can often be found hunting along

the rough boundary land and have been bred successfully since 2006. The channel to the south often has cormorant, merganser and goldeneye on in-coming and high tide over the winter. It is also a reliable spot for grey heron, little egret and greenshank. The ﬁeld between the park and the sewage works was created in 2003 as a feeding area for Brent geese (pictured below) displaced by the construction of the new works. It is used by large numbers of Brent, some oystercatchers, black-tailed godwit and curlew as a high-tide roost. The vegetation along the boundary fence of the ESB station has attracted the very occasional twite among the linnet ﬂocks. And

serious problems would be elderly animals with arthritis, heart disease, kidney disease. Pets are living longer these days so we see more cases of old age diseases.” Nurse Paula Hughes is happy to show me around and explain how she and her colleagues assist the vets on a daily basis. There are consulting rooms, surgical and dental facilities, an isolation area, recovery rooms, a kennel and cattery. Also, an array of state-of-the-art equipment, some of it, like the x-ray and dental machines, once used only in human treatment. She says, “From a practical point of view, you are looking at taking bloods, putting in catheters, anaesthesia during surgery, providing care for the pre-op and post-op period as well. “We also do weight clinics and nutrition for obese pets, which is a huge problem in Ireland at the moment.” For reasons that could best be described as owners overindulging their pets, the problem of porky pooches is growing. From feelings of guilt at leaving animals for extended periods, or simply because we love them and want to spoil them, some pets are receiving too much of the wrong kind of nutrition. Hughes says, “First of all we put them on a calorie-controlled diet, we work out what is called their maintenance energy require-

ravens have become common along this stretch recently. At this time of year at the South Wall you will find the sky filled with common and Arctic terns, and if you bring a pair of binoculars you can get some great views of the gannets fishing. Dublin Bay hosts four species in numbers of international importance (Brent goose, black-tailed godwit, knot and redshank) and 18 species in numbers of national importance. Here is a list of birds that because of their rarity or vulnerability require special conservation measures in Ireland concerning their habitat: whooper swan, Greenland white-fronted goose, golden plover, bar-tailed godwit, sandwich tern, common tern and Arctic tern.

Times: 5.30pm 7.30pm

ment, then we reduce that down by a certain percentage to aid weight loss.” Reﬂecting on other aspects of her job, Hughes explains that occasionally the hospital receives “little animals” that have been neglected or are stray and need a home. In the cattery we meet the cutest tiny black ball of fur named Hercules. He was recovered from a yard in Ballsbridge. One of the nurses will take him home for the weekend. Kittens need to stay with their mother for eight weeks after birth. Staff are available until 7.30pm weekdays and lunch time on Saturdays to answer your queries. Outside that, Dublin Animal Emergency Clinic is a 24-hour service. The advice to anyone wishing to have a pet is to “look into the cost of vaccinations, good quality diets, neutering and pet insurance. It’s worth doing up a budget to see how much it costs to provide the best level of care. “The main thing is the time commitment. If you’re getting a pet, be prepared to give it time and treat it as a much-loved member of the family for many years to come.” Thanks to the work of the dedicated staff of Sandymount Pet Hospital, advice and practical help is never far away. Email: www.sandymountpethospital.ie

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

M ATURE

COUTURE women.” Provenance also adds to garment value, says Joan. Joan’s personal favourite era is the 1950s. “It is more readily available than pre-war, it is affordable and it wasn’t mass produced. There was care in the making, generosity of seams and an elegance that suits real women with curves. Its ﬂattering outlines suited both younger and more mature women.” Joan feels that much current catwalk fashion is not created for the “real woman shape.”

Queenie–i–o

By Jason McDonnell

ell, it has been a very busy time for the Royal family. First they had the royal wedding when Prince William and Kate Middleton married in Westminister Abbey and, of course, the famous kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. The Royal visit followed when Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh arrived in Ireland. It was the ﬁrst visit to the Republic by a reigning British monarch. The Queen touched down in Baldonnel airport at noon on Tuesday 17th May, beginning her historic four-day visit. The royal tour took in Dublin, Cork, Kildare and Tipperary. On her arrival at Áras an Uachtaráin Queen Elizabeth II was dressed in green. One of the highlights for most people was when the Queen bowed her head as she laid a wreath in the Garden of Remembrance, honouring those who fought for Irish freedom. Another popular moment was the laying of wreaths at the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, which was a tribute to the 50,000 Irishmen who died while serving in the British forces in the First World War. Her four-day tour culminated in a sunny send off at Cork Airport. Taoiseach Enda Kenny was conﬁdent that she would accept an invite to come back to Ireland again in the future. After accompanying her to the steps of her plane before departure Mr Kenny said, “Your Majesty, would you like to come back again sometime?” Her reply was “Yes I would very much like to do that.” The four-day visit has been hailed a massive success and the media footage portrayed Ireland positively all over the globe. With any luck the royal visit will help us to re-ignite the economy and attract more tourism. At the end of the day you couldn’t buy the publicity we got internationally from it. Above: ‘Through a glass darkly’. Against all odds, our intrepid photographer John Cheevers captured the Queen on Westmoreland Street giving her famous wave.

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A Friendly & Professional Service

Provenance also adds to garment value

By Sandy Hazel

n an occasional series NewsFour looks at the vintage clothes market and why it remains so popular. Joan Murray of Vintage Ireland is an expert in antique and vintage fashion. She organises the popular Vintage Fair at Dun Laoghaire. We asked Joan about the allure of

older garments. What is the difference between vintage and antique, and how to spot a future vintage piece? Joan says that “while antique clothing is collectable, vintage is wearable.” The general era of vintage is considered to be from 1920s to the 1980s. “If you are buying, selling or dealing after 1980s you need to look for couture as massproduced clothing holds little value,” she says. Instinctively knowing a good cut and fabric is key. Joan reckons that Galliano and Alexander McQueen will be highly sought after as future vintage. She also rates Posh Spice’s designs. “Victoria Beckham’s label creates for women who like structure in their clothes; her designs have classic potential and are worn by high-proﬁle, iconic

C UPS

Hats, accessories, handbags and jewellery are good places to start your vintage affair. “Small pieces that won’t take up wardrobe space and won’t cost the earth,” says Joan. She also suggests raiding your grandmother’s wardrobe, asking nicely of course. “Root through there if she or family will allow; it can prove a treasure trove.” You may ﬁnd your own inner icon at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire on Sunday 12th June for another vintage and antique fair. Main photo: Ivana Patarcic Stylist: Aislinn Ellen Lawlor

Vintage places www.vintageireland.eu www.vintageclothing.ie www.hayworthvintage.com www.vertigogovintage.com Also check out Om Diva at Castle Market in Dublin, Golly Gosh on Crown Alley and Wild Child on George’s Street.

FOR BOWLS

Pictured above are Ringsend B Team Bowlers, winners of Division 3 Bowls Competition in the Dublin Afternoon Bowling League. Junior Pairs Competition: Andy Henderson and Olive Farrell were runners up. Senior A Team were runners up in the Senior Cup Competition. Well done to all Teams

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PAGE 9

Soccer News by David Thomas Nolan Welcome again to what will be our final update of the current season; we’ll pick up on all that happened since the last edition and talk about future plans, I’d like to start with the great news that our 2nd team have won the Leinster Senior league Saturday Major 1B division, lead by captain Ed Saul and managed by trio Derek Bowden, Wayne Byrne and Ray Doyle. The guys had a remarkable campaign losing just one league game all season and winning every single home game. Add to that a run to the last 16 of the Leinster Junior cup and a semi-final appearance in the Tom Carroll cup (losing on penos). It’s been an extremely good season and probably one of the strongest 2nd team squads the club has had in its long history. Congrats to all. On a side note we’d like to wish Ed Saul a speedy recovery. Ed had a bad leg break in a league game recently and will be in recovery mode for quite some time. Onto our 1st team, and as I compile this report they currently top the Senior1 division with 54 pts having now played all 26 league, games losing just 4 all season. Champions elect Cherry Orchard are a single point behind with 3 games remaining. They look odds on to take the title, more importantly Greystones AFC are on 51 pts, 3 behind CY with just one game left. Incidentally at home to Cherry Orchard, as it stands Greystones would have to win their final game by a cricket-like score to deny CY at least 2nd place and that all-important promotion to the Senior division which, is the highest ranked amateur league in the country, It’s been a hectic few weeks of league and cup action which saw our promotion destiny slip in and out of our hands like a wet bar of soap. While in the midst of all this madness the guys took part in the Noel Ryan cup final against Senior division champions Wayside Celtic at Bray Wanderers Carlisle grounds. CY were to lose this final in the cruellest of ways when an own goal by Simon Dunne (sorry Simon) in the final minute handed Wayside the cup in a game that CY could have won with many chances in the closing stages themselves. Still, it was great to be involved in such an occasion. Promotion has always been the main goal for management team John Young and Mark Benson, hopefully barring an apocalyptic collapse by Cherry Orchard. That goal will have been officially achieved by the time this article has gone to print. Please be reminded that the club’s 75th Anniversary Dinner takes place in the Berkeley Court Hotel on July 1st. At this stage tickets are more or less sold out. It’s still possible to grab late tickets so ask around! It’s strictly formal wear so you need to be suited and booted. The club has arranged a deal with Black Tie where you can rent a tux for the night at the special price of €59– just mention the club and the event. We’d also like to make a plea to all local businesses both large and small to offer sponsorship for the forthcoming season 2011/12. All help is greatly appreciated. Club treasurer Patrick Healy is always available to discuss any potential support. To that end we’d like to thank all our regular sponsors, in particular our main backer, Fannigan’s, who have been fantastic throughout these difficult financial times. Also, as we gear up for another pre-season any new players and in particular anyone interested in management or coaching can come along and join the party. Thanks to all who have helped make 2010/11 another successful season. PS: Congrats to Ringsend Rovers on winning Saturday Major 1A and best of luck to them in the Carroll Cup final. Also a huge congrats to CY player Thomas Dunne who has been selected to represent the Irish Amateurs in the Regions Cup to be held in Portugal over the summer. Do us proud, Tom.

MURTAGH’S HARDWARE: VALUE, VARIETY AND SERVICE

By Sandy Hazel

ome folk are addicted to stationery shops. For others it’s shoes. Then there are the aficionados who cannot walk past a hardware shop without a peek inside. Hand trolleys and cabbage plants, buckets and barbeques, paint and sweet peas, hooks and keys, twine and lilies, screws and lettuce, pipes and geraniums. A true hardware emporium will also stock fork handles and possibly four candles. Declan McDonnell, manager of Murtagh’s in Sandymount says that local is key for his business. “Where we win against the larger multiples is delivery, flexibility, advice and price.” “It is only a perception that local shops are pricier than the big outlets,” says Declan. “We have the advantage of being part of a bigger buying group and our customers know our prices to be competitive.” Not having to drive to the suburban retail parks is a bonus when shopping locally. “We deliver too, which is appreciated by our clients,” says Declan. We deliver within a three mile radius. Declan expects a big seller this summer to be the 210 litre rain barrel. “We will supply, deliver and fit this into your garden for €99. With water charges coming down the road we expect this rain barrel to be popular with our

locals; rain water is better for your garden anyway,” says Declan. Apartment dwellers shouldn’t deny themselves a garden according to Declan. “Hardy geraniums, small strawberry plants, herbs, even climbers can grow in pots… just give your plants enough room in large pots if the balcony can take it.” Patio sets, garden benches and lush hanging baskets are good sellers in the area. Other high turnover stock in the cyclical world of hardware is shoe grips. “We had a queue outside the shop on our last icy Christmas Eve for preordered grips,” says Declan. The burghers of Sandymount like to stay warm too: electric hot water bottles kept Sandymountees cosy last winter courtesy of Murtagh’s. Declan also has a list of trades people who come highly recommended and he gets feedback from customers who use workers from his list. So if you need a sound plumber or solid locksmith then have a word with Declan or his team: Paul, Harvey, Michael or Ian. Some shops are less about retail and more of a community resource. Murtagh’s does indeed stock ‘fork handles and four candles’.

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

M EET THE DUBLIN ROLLER GIRLS By Caomhan Keane

T Swan Lake Placid Despite extensive investigations, the exact cause, or causes, of death for the 18 swans found along the Grand Canal has yet to be determined. Despite initial reports that the recent dredging of the canal may have been responsible, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has said that there is no direct evidence to indicate that the dredging is contributing to the deaths of the swans. “Dredging work is being carried out in this area and water levels have been lower than normal. However, dredging has been carried out on the Grand Canal in the past, with no apparent ill-effects on the wildlife.” While most of the birds were just found dead, three live birds were collected by the DSPCA. Two of these recovered following respiratory distress, while the other, weaker bird, had to be euthanized, as it was unable to eat or drink. As these are wild birds, and a cause has not been identiﬁed, no speciﬁc measures to prevent further infection have been put in place but the problem appears to be under control at this stage, with no new reported fatalities from the Grand Canal since March 11th. By Caomhan Keane

he Dublin Roller Girls are part of an international, grassroots movement to resurrect a sport that died out in the 70s, despite at one time rivalling baseball and basketball in the United States for popularity. Revived in 2000 by a group of sassy lassies, this female contact sport is fast on its way to regaining its former popularity, with leagues popping up in the UK, Germany, Australia and now Ireland. It’s an incredibly visual sport, linked to the punk rock and Goth scenes, with many of the teams picking a theme that will then be represented in their costume (The imaginary Tallaght Taxi’s would wear yellow and black check uniforms for example). Stripey socks, ﬁshnets and short skirts are de jour– not the wisest choice when you consider the high risk of injury, most commonly ﬁshnet burn. Bones are known to be broken. Roller Derby is a contact sport played on roller skates. It is

mostly all female, although there are some men’s teams. There are ﬁve people on each team, four blockers skating in a pack, whose job it is to help the other girl, the point scorer, have a clear path while she tries to lap the opposing team’s blockers. They must also try and keep the opposing team’s point scorer from lapping them. The point scorer gets a point for every member of the opposing team

she laps and her job is to get through the pack past the blockers, and skate around them as quickly as possible. Because it is a full contact sport the girls need good quality knee and elbow pads to ensure they don’t get hurt. For girls starting out, equipment can be rented for €5 per session. There are suppliers in Wexford and Belfast and the girls order in bulk to cut down on delivery charges.

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s summer approaches, the barbeque season commenced on the June Bank Holiday weekend. Some popular choices to suit all tastes for the outdoor party are suggested below. These great wines can be found at The Wine Boutique, Ringsend, and other independent wine stores.

the nose. This is a dry wine with good blackberry fruit on the palate with a hint of anise. There is a good balance between the tannins and acidity and it is a lovely easy-drinking party wine that is suitable with pasta, roasted meat, game and cheese. Laroche Rosé de la Chavaliére, Béziers, France 2009, 12% abv €10.95

Vezzani Bianco Sicilia, Italy 2010, 11.5% abv. €8.40 Hailing from Sicily, this wine is a blend of Cataratto and Grecanio and has pleasant and delicate aromas with a hint of almond on the nose. Dry, fresh and ﬂoral on the palate. A great easy-drinking wine to have on its own or with seafood and chicken salad.

This rosé wine has refreshing aromas of strawberries and raspberries accompanied with subtle, ﬂoral notes. On the palate this wine is dry, with crisp, fresh acidity and delicious ﬂavours of ripe red berry fruits. Ideal on its own or with salad dishes.

Vezzani Rosso Puglia, Italy 2009, 11.5%abv. €8.40 This is a blend of Malvasia Nera and Negroamaro from the Puglia region (the heel of Italy). This wine has an intense red colour with dark aromatic black fruits on

Masottina Prosecco Di Valdobbiadene Frizzante, 11% abv €13.00 This prosecco has a ﬁne and persistent bubble, with intense, fruity aromas of apple, lemon and grapefruit. It also has pronounced

ﬂoral aromas. This is a fresh and lively prosecco with good structure and fresh, ripe fruit ﬂavours. Delicious!

Barbazul, 15% abv €14.50 For lovers of full-bodied reds. This is a real stunner, hailing from Cadiz in the south of Spain. A blend of a variety of grapes including syrah, cabernet sauvignon and merlot, it produces intense fruity, smoky aromas with a really full-bodied all-encompassing ﬁnish. This is sure to go well with red meats and the smoky ﬂavours induced from the barbeque. Not to be missed!

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

L ET

THE PEOPLE SPEAK

By Joe McKenna

PAGE 11

orld Press Freedom Day was celebrated across the world on May 3rd. Twenty years ago, in Windhoek, Namibia, the United Nations General Assembly declared that there be a day to raise awareness of the importance of press freedom and remind governments of their duty to uphold the right of free speech. This year the celebrations were held in Washington D.C. on May 1-3, the ﬁrst time the event has

been held in the USA. The theme of this year’s event was 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers, and focused on the fundamental principles of media freedom in the digital age, and the ability of citizens to voice their opinions and access diverse, independent information sources. Every year the United Nations Educational, Scientiﬁc and Cultural Organisation bestows the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, in memory of Guillermo Cano Isaza, the editor of the Columbian newspaper ‘El Espectador’, who was murdered

Enjoying cocktails in Vertigo Bar Niamh Maguire, Cara Sexton and Amy O’Flaherty enjoy cocktails

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in Bogota on 17th December 1986 for his vocal criticism of the country’s drug barons. This year’s recipient was imprisoned Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi, pictured right. The former editor-in-chief of the ‘Azad’ newspaper and contributor to the Tehran-based daily ‘Hamshahari’, the BBC Persian service, and the Persian/ English news site Rooz is currently serving a six year sentence, followed by ﬁve years internal exile. He was charged with sedition and attempting to overthrow Iran’s regime with a ‘soft revolu-

tion’. He has also had a lifetime ban on political and social activities enforced upon him and been banned from practicing journalism. To date, there are believed to be at least 26 journalists still imprisoned in Iran for practicing their

profession. In this modern age of media saturation, it should be noted that in many parts of the world, the press have no freedom and face strong, ruthless opposition. Yet they do it anyway. The International Press Institute’s Death Watch counts 102 working journalists killed in 2010, while museum.org counts 19 this year so far. With 40 deaths last year, Asia was the most dangerous region for a journalist, and Pakistan with 16 deaths the most dangerous country.

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

The Letterbox Dear Editor, So great to see the photo (below) from way back when of CUP WINNERS ST MARY’S STAR OF THE SEA JUNIORS 1972. http:// www.news4.ie/sept10/frame3/pictures.htm If I may assist with some of the missing surnames. Goalkeeper was Brian Rossiter, Bernard (Bernie) Walsh . In the front row was Declan Malone, Pat Fitzgerald, Michael Norton, Charles Kiernan. At the back was Patrick Quinlan not Quillan. The captain Frannie Gaffney moved away from Sandymount a

year or so after this photo and sadly died in an accident climbing on an electric pylon near his new home in Tallaght. Patrick Dear Editor, I would like to thank Christine Broe for her poem ‘The Colour Orange’ included in the last issue. I too, had a very strong response to Brian Keenan’s book ‘An Evil Cradling’ where he wrote about the unthinkable, and spoke about the unspeakable. Your poem is a ﬁtting testimony to how the prisoner is able to see hope, a ﬂicker of life in the midst

of the unbearable, represented here by the colour of the oranges in the bowl of fruit miraculously found outside his cell in Beirut. The poem is a considered response to Brian’s strength and survival. I just wanted to say thanks, Christine, because your poem ﬁlls in for the gut reaction I couldn’t myself formulate at the time. Yours Sincerely, Nessa Jennings Dear Editor, Very disappointing to see that the jam makers Mecca on Whitebank Road, Pigeon House Rd has been vandalised. 1000’s of pots of jam have originated from there over the last 10 years or so with last July/ August being really brilliant, with folk coming from near and far to pick them.

Hard to know who would go to such bother to chop down and spray poison on these bountiful blackberry bushes. Any ideas ?? David Reddy Dear Editor, It’s that time of year again when we once more make a special appeal to readers of NewsFour to think about who the inspiring people in your community are. We here at the People of the Year Awards, which are organised by Rehab and sponsored by QUINNhealthcare, are searching for stories of achievement, success, bravery and heroism. To receive a nomination form just phone 01 205 7260 or write to People of the Year Awards, Rehab, Roslyn Park, Sandymount, Dublin

4. You can also nominate online at www.peopleoftheyear.com or by email at poy@quinn-healthcare. com. The closing date is Monday June 20, 2011. Yours sincerely, Don Delaney Rehab Group Dear Editor, This is the drill display (above) in Haddington Road in 1950– as far as I remember. That’s me on the back row, far left in the little group to the left. In the centre of the next group, front row is Marcella Cullen. In the centre of the centre group, front row is Monica Nicholson. I recognise a few other girls but cannot name them. Anyone recognise themselves or their friends? Marie MacSweeney (now living in Drogheda)

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PAGE 13

DELAYS IN GARDA VETTING COSTING JOBS

By Sandy Hazel

arda vetting is in the news, with its long waiting list and burden of bureaucracy on businesses, community groups, volunteers and prospective adoptive parents. So what is the problem and what is being done to ﬁx what many see as a ﬂawed process? “The original idea of vetting was to ensure better protection for children… to produce some peace of mind. Intended as a supplement to good recruitment practice, it has become a major barrier to many voluntary groups doing frontline work with young people,” says Michael McLoughlin from Youth Work Ireland (YWI). McLoughlin, whose organisation

processes thousands of vetting requests annually, believes there can be “over vetting” and calls for a more intelligent approach. A system of “mutual recognition” and sharing of data between organisations, with applicants’ consent, would remove a large amount of the demand in the system and the time-consuming duplication of many requests, he says. Other organisations agree that the fault lies not with the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) but with legislation. “The Garda Vetting Unit cannot be seen to criticise the system, but it is pursuing changes to the legislation. Many of us know that it has its hands tied behind its back when it comes to the process,” one community worker told NewsFour. Delays too can be at the applicant

R INGSEND C OMMUNITY S ERVICES F ORUM E ASTER F EST 2011

organisation side. The requirement for hand-written hard copies makes for error margins, causing further delays in getting forms to the vetting unit in the first place. If an applicant has lived outside Ireland for some time there can be further delays. The HSE require its candidates to supply police clearance certificates from all countries resided in, dated after they left. Some community employment schemes will not accept applications from those who have lived “outside the island of Ireland” for certain periods. It is unclear why this is so, particularly in a mobile European jobs market. The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment told NewsFour that this is not an employment law issue. Calling for better legislation, Yvonne McKenna of Volunteer Ireland told NewsFour that an online system will help when re-vetting. “It would allow for an identification number to be given which will help with portability of the records. If I wanted to move job I would just be able to give my number, so records up to that point could be retrieved easier,” explains McKenna. The value placed on vetting can be misplaced too. Vetting is an “outof-date retrospective account as soon as it is issued,” explains McKenna. “We must be careful not to use it as a panacea,” she says. Those who have “other intentions to vulnerable adults or children may not

have a criminal record anyway,” she says and adds that the Garda Vetting Unit is doing what it can with very limited resources. McKenna feels that legislation will be the only way to improve the process. “Legislation will allow for a more technological process to be introduced, making the system more efﬁcient and effective,” she says. Legislation will come in the shape of the National Vetting Bureau Bill. It is at an early stage of the Dáil process and organisations will make submissions. The bill will provide the establishment of a National Vetting Bureau and some see it as operating separately to the Gardaí, as does the Criminal Assets Bureau. But bills tend to move slowly towards enactment and pressure needs to be maintained to prevent it languishing on the list. Many in the sector cite the system in Northern Ireland, Access NI, as one that works well. The Access NI programme is well funded but it too has undergone a review recently in order to implement “a more commonsense approach”. Its press ofﬁce told NewsFour that “the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) review recommended that only those individuals working most closely with children or vulnerable adults be required to be checked. The concept of an independent organisation to make barring decisions was retained, but the requirement for a central registration process was scrapped to be replaced by criminal record checks that would be portable– thus no longer requiring individuals to undergo multiple checking with dif-

ferent employers.” The Access NI programme will use online processes “after the passage of the Protection of Freedom Bill and when the appropriate IT systems are operational. This is expected to be early 2012,” said a spokesperson. The northern system operates on a ‘full cost recovery’ system charging fees to applicants but it does not charge for volunteers’ applications. Crucially, it also operates a userfriendly web site with forms freely available for varying levels of disclosure. Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has already responded to vetting concerns by increasing the staff at the vetting unit. There is currently a total of 89 Gardaí and civilian personnel assigned to the unit, which provides the service to over 18,000 organisations. “Legislative proposals will necessitate consideration of a wide range of issues, including information-sharing with other relevant bodies,” Shatter told the Dáil in April. “It will also… need to protect the constitutional rights of all citizens. Any legislative proposals will be announced and brought forward in the usual way.”

he Ringsend Community Services Forum membership of 28 local groups working together sharing information, resources and developing groups in the Ringsend and Irishtown area launched their Easter Fest from 27th to 30th of April 2011. The aim of the Forum is to engage our young people of all ages in positive activities to create a diversion from alcohol, substance misuse and anti-social behaviour and to create a sense of community spirit by bringing all ages together, promoting positive relationships with the Gardai, local authority and our local community. The proposal presented by member groups originated as a response to the community identifying the need for activities during the holidays. Teresa Rooney, Development Ofﬁcer for the Forum, co-ordinated the events. Our local groups shared their resources in a voluntary capacity, free of charge, to all members of our community. The programme of events was a great success with numbers tre-

bling in size from the previous year. The feedback from our community is very positive and encouraging, with adults and children alike participating in our events showing true community spirit. Again we were blessed with the good weather. It was great to see hundreds of people out each day in our parks, stadium and local projects. Many new friends were made in the sunshine while, of course, getting a lovely tan. The true heroes of this successful week were our groups, who gave their valuable time to their community. We commend them all and the ongoing hard work they put into their services annually. A very special and heartfelt thanks to them all. Sponsors of the Event were: Dublin City Council, Aviva Stadium, Y.P.F.S.F. and Star School and Ofﬁce Supplies. The Forum would like to thank all our volunteers. We appreciate their valuable time in the events and for making the festival a very memorable community opportunity.

PARTICIPATING GROUPS

Garda Siochana, Power of 1 Lone Parents, Irishtown Stage School, G.A.L (women’s group), Stella Maris Rowing Club, D.C.C., John Sweeney, Eric Donavan, Parcs Tennis, Bobby Neill, Ringsend Library, Cambridge Court Senior Citizens, F.A.I., Clanna Gael Fontenoy, Irishtown Sports Stadium, Ger McGuiness D.J., NewsFour, Ed O’Connor, Maggie Biggs, Dekes Diner.

PAGE 14

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

Bookworm REVIEWED

MY WAR GONE BY, I MISS IT SO By Anthony Loyd There are times when a book will grab you by the throat and propel you into a world that you couldn’t make up if you tried. Anthony Loyd’s first book had that effect on me. The great grandson of Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Carton De Wiart, one of the most highly decorated war heroes in British army history and a soldier admired by Winston Churchill, Anthony Loyd was practically born into the British armed forces. He served in Northern Ireland and Iraq but saw no action whatsoever in both tours. Unfulfilled, he left and took a course in photojournalism. Finding no work

JOE MCKENNA

post studies, he took great interest in the conflict developing in the former Yugoslavia. A man of impulse, he packed his bags and hitchhiked to Bosnia with one thing in mind– to see a war. He quite literally became a war tourist. With no press credentials and no plan, he spent the remainder of the conflict documenting his experiences while picking up press work. His encounters with fleeing Serb families, gang warlords and an infamous Swedish platoon are all gripping. As the conflict settled and the world press left, Anthony Loyd found a gaping hole in his life once back in London. A hole he found he could only fill with the use of heroin.

Loyd became addicted to heroin and found that only the high of war could keep him from using. He set off for Chechnya to save himself from heroin. The Chechnyan conflict proved too outrageous, even for him, and he returned to London and his heroin addiction. Loyd’s family surrounded him and pleaded with him to get help. On leaving rehab he lived with his mother and reacquainted himself with his family only to discover a long held family secret that would change his life forever. ‘My War Gone By’ is not an easy read, but I would not return a single second of it. Not so much a ‘must read’ as a ‘can I keep going’ book. Easily in my top five books.

I S Fé IDIR L INN !

NewsFour editor in charity run bid By Rupert Heather By the time this edition goes to print NewsFour editor Karen Keegan will have completed her first Flora Women’s Mini Marathon. In preparation for the 10k marathon Karen trains three times a week for an hour with running group Healthpro, in her native Howth. This strengthens the muscles used for running through hill work, drills, pacing and increasing distance. It all began when staff tried different methods of quitting smoking for a campaign run by the newspaper. She says, “When I was under hypnosis for giving up smoking I saw myself crossing the finish line of a 10k race and I started running that night.” Karen admits that training for the marathon has helped her stay smoke free. “I’m still off them but now I’m addicted to running,” she says. Running for St. Francis Hospice in Raheny who provide palliative care for cancer patients, Karen hopes to complete the marathon in under an hour. Karen will build her distance up to 10k before the marathon with her run group. She says, “I was thinking of treating myself to a deep tissue massage because I think the legs might need it.” The Flora Women’s Mini Marathon is the biggest women’s event of its kind in the world. A record field of 40,397 walked, jogged or ran in 2010. It’s now the biggest single day charity event in the country. Since it was first run in 1983 nearly 780, 000 women have entered raising a combined total of €137 million for good causes. The Flora Women’s Mini Marathon was held on Bank Holiday Monday 6th June. From the staff and readers of NewsFour, ‘well done Karen, keep running and above all, enjoy that massage.’ Above: Nicky Flood and Karen

By Jason McDonnell

n Monday 23rd May, US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited Ireland. Air Force One touched down in Dublin Airport shortly before 9.30am. The Obamas then travelled by helicopter to Áras an Uachtaráin where they met with President Mary McAleese and Dr McAleese before meeting Taoiseach Enda Kenny at Farmleigh House. After a quick visit to the US Embassy in Ballsbridge, the Obamas travelled to Moneygall, Co Offaly. This is where the magic happened, Ireland and the World got to see the fun side of the president. When he set foot in the Offaly town just after 3pm, Mr. Obama embraced his distant relative Henry Healy, whom he later affectionately referred to as ‘Henry the Eighth’ during his speech at College Green. The small village is the ancestral home of Mr. Obama. Both he and Michelle shook almost every hand in the crowd. One of the secret service men said afterwards that it was the most time he had

ever spent shaking hands with a crowd. After meeting with the crowd he went for a pint of Guinness in the local Ollie Hayes bar. Mr. Obama paid for his pint of the black stuff before turning to his cousin Henry for a chat. When Henry Healy asked Mr.Obama if he would be back he said, “We’ll have to bring our girls to see Moneygall.” The couple spent twice as long in Moneygall as they were supposed to and just before 6pm, after a short helicopter trip, they arrived back in Dublin. The US

President then delivered a rousing 20-minute speech to thousands of people at College Green concluding with “is féidir linn”– the Irish translation of his 2008 campaign slogan “yes we can.” The President then attended a dinner with the US Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney and departed Ireland earlier than scheduled for Britain due to the Icelandic ash cloud approaching Europe. President Obama’s visit ‘home’ was called a political triumph for all of us and a great day for Ireland and the United States.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PAGE 15

BARRY LIVES A FULL LIFE Barry Delves– family man, business man and transplant recipient

By Rupert Heather

n 1996 Barry Delves was diagnosed with a rare kidney disorder. He spent the next nine years enduring sickness and dialysis before receiving a transplant in 2005. Far from being a spokesman on the issue, Delves sees himself as an “ordinary Joe soap like anyone else.” He believes the choice to carry a donor card is a personal one. He says, “I have three brothers, two carry donor cards and one doesn’t, I won’t force the third to carry a card. If someone doesn’t want to carry a donor card I have respect for that.” His life improved immeasurably after receiving a functioning kidney. Before the transplant he attended Beaumont Hospital for dialysis three days a week. He would spend weekends recuperating and go back on the machines on Monday. “Basically, I was just living through sickness, dialysis and breakdown and I didn’t really get to know my ﬁrst-born child. I was still trying to run a business, still trying to do a 50-hour week, go through dialysis and try and balance fam-

ily life. At that particular time it was so difﬁcult and intense for me, I just became numb to the situation.” When his kidneys began to disintegrate in 2004 he went on the transplantation list. It took two years to get over the “whole

TRACING By Dave Fleming Counting heads Last month, we all (hopefully) participated in that once a decade nationwide event: the 2011 Census. These surveys are a useful source for administrators to establish trends in housing, infrastructural requirements and various other planning strategies. They also serve as a very useful historical document. Here, depending on the amount of detail recorded, we can map out the lives of whole families. We are bound to a 100-year privacy rule, whereby the government undertakes not to publish any details for a sufﬁciently long period. However, due to the loss of so much documentation during the Civil War, it was decided to re-

deal,” ﬁrst physically then psychologically. “There is a dead person’s organ in my body helping me work. Why should something be working in my body that belongs to someone else?” Now medically ﬁt, Delves is 42 years old and still takes 100 tab-

lets per week. Even though the doctors have signed him off, he has the condition hanging over him. Transplanted organs don’t last forever; a healthy kidney has a lifespan of 10 to 12 years. Delves has just had to “get on with it, living every day to the full, not worrying about what lies ahead. He realises he is lucky. Some of his friends have gone though two or three transplants. “All that I can say is thank you to the person who donated the organ to me, we don’t know who those people are, all we can do is thank them.” Last year Delves decided to put on his runners and represent the Irish Transplant team at the European games in Dublin. He ran for the Irish Kidney Association, helped win the team a silver medal and tried to generate a “few bob.” He says, “The IKA are doing a good job but they don’t have huge resources.” At present, there are about 1,000 people waiting for organ transplants in Ireland. Even if you carry a donor card, your next of kin still has the authorisation to overrule your decision. “The person who is donating doesn’t know when an organ might be needed, it’s very important to look at it as a two-tier system. The option of ﬁlling in a form and saying ‘yes, I will donate my organs,’ could probably save ﬁve or six lives.” Above: Barry and his family.

YOUR FAMILY HISTORY

lease the details of the 1901 and 1911 census early, and there now is a campaign for the early release of the next available batch, taken in 1926. Starting in 1821, the British administration decided it wanted to formalise the counting of the population and the type of data to be extracted. Sadly, only fragments exist of all Censuses up till 1901. The rest were either recycled or burned in the ﬁre in the Four Courts in the 1922 Civil War. Recently, we saw the digitisation of the 1901 & 1911 Census completed. This now gives us a great window on early 20th century family life. You can establish all residents of a household. Relationship to head of household, age, maritial status, occupation, literacy, English or Irish proﬁciency and county of birth as well as religion

is available. The 1911 census also gives years married and number of children born and still alive for married women. People occasionally experience problems ﬁnding relatives in the on-line searchs. Addresses are organised through townlands (for

Peter Murphy RIP As we go to press, the death of Peter Murphy has been announced. For many years, Peter compiled and compered the RTE television programme ‘Cross Country Quiz’. He also produced an immensely popular series of quiz books. Our condolences go to his family and friends.

Help Rehab and Have Fun Rehab is calling on the people of South Dublin to support its Sandymount Community Fair taking place in Rehab, Roslyn Park, Sandymount on Friday 24 June from 1pm-7pm as part of its 1 Day for Rehab to raise funds for local services. There will be food and bric-a-brac stalls, art exhibitions, music as well as fun activities for the kids, such as face painting, egg and spoon races, sack races and much more. Entry is free and fun is guaranteed for all the family. So pop on down and join in the fun!

Hey, Music Lovers Would you like to hear some Old Time American folk? The McGrane Family and friends play at 9.30 every Wednesday in The Old Punchbowl in Booterstown. You’ll be entertained by slide guitar, the twang of banjo, and beautiful vocals. Guaranteed to have you tapping your feet from the ﬁrst chord. h t t p : / / w w w. m y s p a c e . c o m / themcgranefamily

- PART 3

rural areas) and streets. These are grouped into District Electoral Divisions (DEDs), which, in turn, are grouped into Counties. The DEDs always cause a lot of problems. Streets may not be named as you would expect. Here is my own example from the 1901 census. I expected to find my grandfather, William Murphy at Tritonville Rd, Sandymount. I did not not know the DED. I typed all that I knew into the search boxes, but I got no result. Having tried all possible variations on spellings of names and places, I still got no result. Some days later, I entered William– Murphy– Dublin and got 191 results. Sorting by street, I found no trace of Tritonville Road so I searched again using the same criteria. There on the first page, the first entry read (Part of)

Tritonville Road in the DED of Pembroke East & Donnybrook. Bingo! By the 1911 census I found Tritonville Road in its correct place with a DED of Pembroke East (Donnybrook was now a separate entity). My advice is to enter as much detail as you can and if you get no results, try initials or blanks to broaden the search, and then patiently trawl through the lists. Watch out for transcription errors– there are many. Just watching President Obama meeting his Irish cousins reminds me that if you are prepared to dig deeply and carefully, you may just grow some wonderfully interesting roots. Whether you can go back as far as Obama to his four times grandfather and beyond depends on your own resolve, but will be limited to the availability of relevant documentation.

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

Dublin Camera Club’s Photo 2011 at Pearse Street Library 6th to 26th July

Dublin Camera Club is holding its Annual Exhibition, Photo 2011 at Pearse Street Library from 6th to 26th July. Entry is free and all are welcome. The exhibition comprises over 250 mounted photographs from the club’s large membership. The Dublin Camera Club premises is at 10 Lower Camden Street, with meetings taking place every Tuesday at 8.00pm throughout the year. The club also runs Beginners’ Classes starting every January and September. People wishing to join or take classes can call in person to the club at 9.30pm on Tuesday nights. For members, the club offers studio, library and darkroom facilities and is a great source of advice on photography, both digital and traditional, outings to places of interest and much more. Full details are available at the Dublin Camera Club website: www.dublincameraclub.ie Photos by Eugene Carolan (top) and Chris Ducker.

S AFER

MICROWAVING

By Glenda Cimino

or many people and restaurants, microwaving is the easy, quick way to cook or re-heat food. We often reuse plastic containers from takeaways. But is it safe? When food is wrapped in plastic or placed in a plastic container and microwaved, substances used in manufacturing the plastic (plasticizers) may leak into the food. In particular, fatty foods such as meats and cheeses cause a chemical called diethylhexyl adipate to leach out of the plastic. In the US the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), recognizing

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the potential for small amounts of plasticizers to migrate, closely regulates plastic containers and materials that come into contact with food. The FDA requires that manufacturers test these containers and that those tests meet FDA standards and speciﬁcations. Some of these tests measure the migration of chemicals at temperatures that the container or wrap is likely to encounter during ordinary use. For microwave approval, the agency estimates the ratio of plastic surface area to food, how long the container is likely to be in the microwave, how often a person is likely to eat from the container, and how hot the food can be expected to get during microwaving The scientists then measure the chemicals that leach out and the extent to which they migrate to different kinds of foods. The maximum allowable amount is 100 to 1,000 times less per pound of body weight

By Sandy Hazel

oeleen Moriarty lives in a red-bricked bayfronted house near Kilmainham in Dublin 8. A recent clear out in the attic revealed a mysterious-looking garment rolled up in an old curtain. The dark cloth unfurled as a hand-made coat, embellished

than the amount shown to harm laboratory animals over a lifetime of use. Only containers that pass this test can display a microwave-safe icon, the words ‘microwave safe’, or words to the effect that they’re approved for use in microwave ovens. You should never use a container which is not marked microwave safe. Harvard Medical School lists some things to keep in mind when using the microwave:

* Most takeout containers, water bottles, and plastic tubs or jars made to hold margarine, yogurt, whipped topping, and foods such as cream cheese, mayonnaise, and mustard are NOT microwave-safe. * Microwavable takeout dinner trays are formulated for one-time use only and will say so on the package. * Don’t microwave plastic storage bags or plastic bags from the grocery store. * Before microwaving food, be sure to vent the container: Leave the lid ajar, or lift the edge of the cover. * Don’t allow plastic wrap to touch food during microwaving because it may melt. Wax paper, kitchen parchment paper, or white paper towels are alternatives. * If doubtful about plastic, transfer food to glass or ceramic containers labeled for microwave oven use.

IN THE ATTIC

with a beaded bodice, lace collar and ruffled ribbon neck. In perfect condition, it looks as though it has just left the seamstress’s finishing table. The cuffs are tapestry and the size is tiny, the equivalent of a current size 8. It is likely to be Edwardian, possibly a mourning outfit. Enquiries with the textile curator at the local museum suggest that this type of garment is quite common in Ireland and that museums in Ireland “tend not to take these in to their collections.” However, a commercial value is gauged by a quick scan of comparable items for sale on specialist internet sites. Similar coats are fetching between hundreds and thousands of dollars in the US market. “We searched online for the 1911 census, but we are not sure if the coat would have belonged

to the lady of the house then or earlier,” says Noeleen. The potential value of the coat is less important to Noeleen than preserving the fabric and “finding it a good home.” Should we spray it with Scotchgard to protect the dye, would it survive a gentle washing? Readers can let us know and we will pass on any ideas.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PAGE 17

A LTERNATIVE C ABARET S HAZWANDA By Caomhan Keane

hen I think of pregnant women in this day and age the ﬁrst thing that pops into my head is freeloading, tank top wearing spongers parked on their arse outside the welfare being spoon-fed single mothers’ allowance while the country goes to hell or maybe that’s just the government! But one person who plans on turning her bundle of joy into a bundle of cash or at the very least a bundle of laughs, is Sharyn Hayden aka Shazwanda who is mining her real-life pregnancy for material for her very ﬁrst solo show. Taking place at the Sugar Club on Friday 17th June 2011, the Shazwanda ‘Up the Duff’ show

will take a peek at the life of the unmarried pregnant ‘young wan’ from Dublin; looking at all the problems and social hang-ups that go with it, with plenty of singing, plenty of stand-up and some audience participation to boot. “Shazwanda is a Northside Dub, a character I have been using to hide behind for the past three or four years,” says Hayden. “She gets to say all the really bold things that I just can’t say myself, naughty but loveable, who really trys to keep it Northside. She likes to be in her pj’s and slags off the Southside wherever possible.” Accompanied by Liz Seaver, her musical director, Shazwanda will be belting out songs about being pregnant, inter-racial relationships and the difﬁculties that

come with dating a Southsider, plus the prejudice she fears her unborn will suffer for being from the wrong side of the mucky Liffey. “I have a lot to draw on at the moment. All the warnings and horror stories and pregnancy yoga classes and all the stuff you’re supposed to stay away from. I ﬁnd it really funny.” For Sharon, the show was the next logical step, having been part of a burlesque group for years as well as having a residence at the Dragon last year. “That show incorporated other performers which was great. But I needed to strike out on my own. I just needed to ﬁnd the right subject matter and it just presented itself.” Tickets can be purchased from a comedy website that Sharyn set up with her friend, comedian and support on the night, Christian Talbot. It’s a dedicated website where all Irish com-

edy videos can be posted in one place, cause there isn’t a dedicated site here. There’s ‘Funny or Die’ in the States but nothing in

Ireland. “Named after Shazwanda’s catchphrase OMFJ (Oh My F***ing Jaysus), tickets are on sale...NOW! www.omfj.ie

B IG C HIEF R ANDOM C HAOS By Caomhan Keane

fter 21 years on the Dublin Cabaret circuit Big Chief Random Chaos AKA Paul Craig decided it was time to up the ante. So, along with the British-based Joe Black, Mr. Pustra and Frank Sanazi, he formed the League of Decadent Bastards, which brought together the best in international cabaret on the Sugar Club stage. “The idea of the show was to bring quality artists together and throw them on stage in a random way, to see what happened,” says Craig. When Joe Black and Mr. Pustra had a gig here last December, wheels were put in motion for them all to perform together. Frank Sanazi was added to the conversation and after some scrimping, scrounging and juggling, the funds were raised to cover the ﬂights and the accommodation. “There were no real rehearsals. We got together to shoot a video but generally speaking it was just thrown together.” Those there on the night would have laughed at Colm O’Grady playing the lederhosen national anthem on bicycle horns, while on an eight foot unicycle and being a ‘bastard’ to assistants he plucked from the audience; Big Chief

Random Chaos being a ‘bastard’ and breaking a breeze block on Mick Eile’s chest while he lay on a bed of nails; Frank Sanazi (a cross between Hitler and Frank Sinatra) singing strange and wonderful tunes, ‘Third Reich’ to the tune of ‘That’s Life’ and Joe Black performing classic numbers like Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’ on the ukulele. Craig describes his work as freak-out visual weirdness. “It’s

not dark freaky, more comedy freaky. Using a bed of nails, walking on broken glass and burning my hair off with ﬁre, which is probably the most popular.” The biggest inﬂuence on his work is the music of Frank Zappa. “It has that weird but funny angle,” though he also claims Leigh Bowery and Laurie Anderson as people he admires. Craig got into Cabaret whilst studying sculpture in college.

“This led me to doing stuff in 90s club-land at night-spots like Elevator, Tribe, Powder Bubble which brought me in contact with the cabaret and burlesque scene.” While initially only contributing to the visual element within a venue, he soon found himself being asked to do stuff on stage, “where you need to develop an act within a seven minute time line.” He doesn’t really rehearse his work and much of it is improvised. “I’d run around town the day before a show and grab various objects; a bag of ﬂour, weird looking objects and stuff like food colouring, chocolate, etc, to use within that act.” He is a little more structured now. “I have set routines that people like to see.” “I’m trying to decide where to go with it next. We will call ourselves founder members and see how it goes. Nothing is set in stone. The worst thing we could do is to put rules on it. I want to make sure there is a nice balance of Irish artists so people in Ireland get to see good work and artists in Ireland get to work with great international artists.” If you want to book Big Chief Random Chaos, go to his Facebook page and leave a message for him. www.facebook.com/ home.php#!/bigchief.randomchaos

Family ticket for Horse Show to be won You know it’s summer when the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show gallops into town! The show runs in the RDS from 3rd to 7th August. Dust off your best hat and frock for Ladies’ Day on Thursday 4th, or check out their website for a full programme of events at www.dublinhorseshow.com COMPETITION: You could be in with a chance to win a family ticket which allows access for 2 adults and 4 children (under 16) to the show on Sunday 7th (worth €54.00). To enter, send a picture of you and your family ‘horsing around’ to NewsFour, RICC, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4 or email: newsfour@gmail.com with HORSESHOW COMP in the subject line. Entries must be received before 15th July 2011. The winning picture will appear in the next edition of NewsFour

PAGE 18

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

Film Scene By Caomhan Keane and Glenda Cimino

‘Scre4m’ Reviewed by Caomhan Keane It’s a sorry state of affairs when the scariest thing about ‘Scre4m’ is the price of admission (€11) plus a drink and some popcorn (€12) at Cineworld. Set ten years after the events of the last installment of the franchise ‘Angel of Death’ Sidney Prescott has returned to the scene of the original crimes, the last stop on her book tour and the first stop on her road to a new life. Like Jessica Fletcher before her, everywhere she goes people die, other people. And as soon as she steps foot in Woodsboro it starts all over again. The killings and the regurgitation of the same old story lines. Hence Prescott reunites with Deputy– now Sherrif– ‘Dewey’ Riley and his wife Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox) who are having marital problems– again.

There’s another woman, again, Mary Shelton’s Deputy Judy, taking over from Parker Posey’s ‘Scream 3’ prima donna, one of a number of dumbass cops making it easy for ghostface to slice and dice with their “oh come on” ineptitude (Anthony Anderson, Adam Brody). The film geeks have multiplied also, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin and Erik Knudsen going where Jamie Kennedy and Timothy Olyphant have trod much more engagingly in previous films, while Emma Roberts (as the virginal lead), Nico Tortorella (her dark and brooding ex) and Alison Brie (the careerist wagon) complete the trope. While this movie manages to be occasionally more funny than the ‘Scary Movie’ franchise that was set up to satirise it, the constant cannibalisation of the series and the genre grows tired– fast. The reduction of characters to simple red herrings or carnage

candy means that you derive no pleasure or pain from their offing, particularly since there isn’t a single kill carried out by Ghostface that ups the ante of the first three films. (In fact, the only chill I got was from Courtney Cox’s cosmetic enhancement, so comically botched she often passes for ghostface herself). As one character puts it, “It’s just body parts ripping and blood spewing.” Kevin Williamson never utilises his more seasoned performers. Neve Cambell spends the entire movie running about shrieking, answering phones and generally doing things that a survivor of three previous assaults should not (she’s even written the book on it for Christ sake) while Courtney Cox is a shell of the character we know and love to hate. She still storms about, knocking out the old put-downs, but her character’s sidelining makes no sense and what could have been an interesting sub plot– having Gail go rouge– peters out unsatisfactorily. There isn’t a genuine scare in the entire movie and in failing to jump-start the series by having anyone (including the stalwarts) seem like a suspect, the suspense is reduced. The constant referencing of ‘the rules’ sees the movie cling to one aspect of the series without developing the characters or the story in the way they did in ‘Screams’ 1 & 2, making it more of a cross to bear than a crutch to lean on. It’s by no means as bad as the fourth installment of most series, yet ‘Scre4m’ has nothing new to say about the genre it has previously mocked so well and with nobody new left alive to push the series forward I can’t see how this is the start of a new trilogy as promised (or threatened).

play Thor’s father (the god Odin), and Thor’s human love interest, astrophysicist Jane Foster. English actor Tom Hiddleston plays Thor’s brother Loki, who is secretive, ambitious and jealous of Thor. Thor is a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. He is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth. Thor begins literally with a bang in the New Mexico desert where Jane, her mentor Dr. Erik Sevig (Stellan Skarsgard) and sidekick Darcy (Kat Jennings) are investigating an atmospheric disturbance when their RV hits a big, bearded stranger who seems to have come out of nowhere. They pick up the handsome, unconscious man and take him to the hospital. From here, the ﬁlm (written by Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, and Don Payne) ﬂashes back to what has just happened in the unearth-

ly kingdom of Asgard. Thor was to be crowned as Odin’s successor to the throne, but the Frost Giants of Jotunheim (evil, semihuman looking critters with yellow eyes and blue skin) have somehow– maybe with inside help– got into Asgard. Against his father’s wishes, Thor organises a revenge raid on Jotunheim, which is full of sound and fury and violence, though none of the good guys get killed. Odin shows his disapproval by stripping Thor of his powers to teach him humility and sending the arrogant, impetuous, foolhardy boy to earth. Much fighting later, on earth and on Asgard, will Thor be redeemed? The film falls between a tongue-in-cheek comedy and a serious production. It is out in 2D and 3D. It is not bad if you like action flics with a lot of metal and special effects. The problem is– ‘Avatar’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ did it so much better. Above: Loki, left, and Thor confront the enemy.

MARIAN CRICKET CLUB WINS OUT

‘Thor’ Reviewed by Glenda Cimino ‘Thor’ was one of a Pantheon of Norse gods who was made into a Marvel Comic Book superhero and now has found his way into a ﬁlm. Kenneth Branagh, known for staging Shakespeare, directs. Thor is played by handsome and well-built Australian soap star Chris Hemsworth, while Oscarwinners Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman respectively

At the match between Marian Cricket Club Team and the Garda Club on Friday 8th May, Marian won the game by ﬁve wickets. Pictured above, left to right, standing: Paul Lavery, Kevin Byrne, Eoin Fitzpatrick, Eoin Hyland, James Humphreys and John Ryan. Kneeling are Paul O’Connor, Niall Lavery, Brian Lavery, David O’Connor and Conor Jennings.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PAGE 19

SHOULD

By Caomhan Keane

n my opinion men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses. So if you’re the type of girl who needs the validation of a man to make her feel good-or if you’re simply sick of going to S*** S*****, you’ve probably saved all your pennies, signed on the dotted line and are waiting to have your eyes zapped into 20/20 vision. But what should you bear in mind before lying back and thinking of Ireland? Well your short-term beauty needs to take a beating to feed your long-term vanity. There’s no make-up or contact lenses allowed in the run-up to the procedure and since many places (like the Mater) only operate on one eye at a time, it means you might have some balance issues after the op. (I myself had to wear spectacles with one

lens in and one lens out like a semi-hipster). You are encouraged not to use shampoo or make-up for a further week after the surgery (making it a month of letting your ‘natural beauty’ shine) so as to reduce the risk of infection. Laser eye surgery is not without its risks and while I’m not going to get all Jennifer Aniston on your asses (there’ll be no paying attention for any science bit), you should know that certain things can occur to make your operation last beyond the ten minutes you were told. For me, it was my narrow eyes but there can also be technical issues getting instruments in place. These issues can’t be discovered until the operation begins, so it is important to remember that it’s nothing that can’t be dealt with, and very few people have an issue on the operating table.

HAVE GONE TO …

If you don’t feel at ease when going in to the surgery you could request another Valium. They aren’t that keen to divvy them out, though, so I had to make do with a kindly nurse’s hand. The surgery, as has been roundly touted about, is painless. It’s said to be a little un-

comfortable. Make that VERY uncomfortable. There is a lot of pressure added to your face to ensure that your eyes don’t close and if you are in any way claustrophobic you can find getting your first eye done a little traumatic. Your vision will go blurry when they make the first slice

(like having one of those red lasers pens shone into your face) and the smell is disgusting (burning cornea) but once you become accustomed to the pressure you’ll be surprised how quickly the time ﬂies. Initially, you will feel nothing but within an hour your eyeball will feel very hot, as if there is a bit of hot grit stuck to your eye. This wears down after about an hour if you have the IK (less painful, more evasive) surgery. It will last around three days if you have the EK. Most people will get a subarachnoid haemorrhage, which is a little bit of a bleed from the suction cups holding the eye. It’s completely painless but if you’re not expecting to see it you can get a bit of a shock. After that it’s antibiotic drops for a week, a few check-ups to insure that you haven’t become infected and then it’s a steady road to optical perfection.

PAGE 20

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

R INGSEND

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y name is Ashling Tighe (pictured right). I joined the staff of the Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre in November 2008 as part of the Community Services Programme (CSP). I understand that I am the first deaf person to work at the Centre. I find the staff friendly and caring towards me. We communicate through lipreading, speaking and writing. I am working in the Administration/ Payroll section. I was always interested in accounting. I studied in St. Mary’s school for Deaf Girls in Cabra. I received an A1 in

Accounting in my Leaving Certificate and went on to complete a business studies course Fetac Level 5. Following that I attended Plunkett college for 1 year of the AITI

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course. The staff at the Centre were always asking me to teach them some sign language techniques. I then decided to enrol in a one year Irish Sign Lan-

guage Course in The Centre for the Deaf Studies in Trinity College. I completed this course last year. I am currently now teaching the children from St. Patrick’s BNS and St. Patrick’s GNS a basic Sign Language course as part of the After School Programme. The children are very quick at learning and are really enjoying the class.

‘T HE T INKER ’ S W EDDING ’ By Glenda Cimino

ingsend residents, Victor Feldman directed and Mary Guckian stage managed this charming production of the J.M. Synge play, ‘The Tinker’s Wedding’, performed over three nights to a nearly full house in the Pearse Centre, at 27 Pearse St, former home of Padraig Pearse. The story is simple: traveller Sarah Casey (played by the captivating Sarah Tracey) wants to get married, and she has persuaded her reluctant partner Michael Byrne (Andrew Deane) to agree to a wedding. The local priest (Martin Brennan) at first refuses but finally agrees to do the wedding, for the price of a gold coin they have saved up and a tin can Michael has made. But Michael’s mother Mary (Karoline Rose O’Sullivan) arrives, in her usual drunken state, and throws a spanner in the works. There is a lot of action in the play, and entrances and exits through the theatre worked well. Music by David Conyard fitted

I feel it is a huge benefit to them as it raises awareness around the whole issue of being deaf. This will also help them to be more confident when they meet a deaf person and not be embarrassed or afraid to communicate. For further information on the Sign Language course please contact the Centre on 6604 789.

PERFORMED AT THE

smoothly into the production, and Marco Bertozzi’s lighting design was effective. Makeup (Sorcha Ní Choinnean) was not obvious on anyone except the groom-tobe’s mother. I found the sharp black lines drawn on her face distracting, but some appreciated it as a ‘commedia del arte’ touch.

P EARSE C ENTRE

The play was short, humorous and entertaining. Feldman, the director, is a drama teacher and artistic director. He has acted and directed in various productions, and I look forward to his next one. For more information see http://mythologytinkerswedding. blogspot.com

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

D UBLIN W RITERS F ESTIVAL

PAGE 21

C OMMUNITY

MOTHERS

By Glenda Cimino

By Caomhan Keane

he recent Dublin Writers Festival, May 23-29, proved to be a great success. Michael Palin’s talk at the National Concert Hall, ‘Knights, Python, Adventures’, sold out before it could even be advertised. Lord Mayor of Dublin, Gerry Breen, commented in his Address at the Festival Launch at the Odessa Club, that festivals “are a hotbed of ideas and they create the opportunity for audiences to engage not just with writers but with each other. As technology shrinks the world, our desire to understand it grows. Whether through ﬁction, poetry, travel writing, essays (whatever form their work might take), or their discussions on stage, writers provide insights unavailable elsewhere. They offer us, in a world quick to judge, a rare quality– empathy. Through their work we understand others better, their hopes, fears and motivations.” Festival Director Sinéad Connolly and Programme Director Liam Browne brought a diverse and interesting programme to life, with poetry, music, talks, and discussions with established writers. One of the coups of the festival was the visit of Paul Theroux, noted American travel writer, in his only appearance in Ireland this year. Theroux has spent the best part of 50 years wandering the globe, and his latest book, ‘The Tao of Travel’, collects travel stories that inspired him, as well as excerpts from some of his own work. He is also an acclaimed novelist and short story writer. Rilke, 1875-1926, one of the greatest poets in the German language, was featured at the Goethe Institute in three languages, German, English and Irish. Peter Jankowski read the original German, Celia de Fréine read her own and others’ Irish versions, and Eva Bourke read the poems in her English translations, accompanied by the harp of Cormac de Barra. Artist Margaret Lonergan created on-screen projections of art and photos celebrating Rilke’s life. The festival was a veritable smorgasbord of literary delights, and I for one am already looking forward to the next.

he Community Mothers Programme is a parents’ support scheme where trained, volunteer mothers are recruited to aid first-time parents. They are supported by specially trained family development nurses, thus enhancing the first time parent’s confidence and self esteem. Located mainly, though not strictly, in disadvantaged areas, it is a structured home-visiting programme whereby each month a woman visits the new parents in her own community. A mother herself, she’s been through it all and is trained to pass on the information required in a comforting way. The whole idea is not to give advice or direction to the parents but to draw them out themselves, providing any additional information they may require on the health, diet and overall development of the child. There are 150 volunteers in the greater Dublin area servicing between 100-200 families at a time. The Community Mothers generally stay with a family for a period of twelve months, although they can be retained for a further year if required. 10% of community mothers were helped by a community mother themselves so they know the score. Their key function is to listen and provide an empathetic ear and also to discuss issues particularly related to each family’s needs. They help set targets and goals to be achieved by the next visit. Children whose mothers were in the CMP were found to have a better nutritional intake, had all their immunization shots and in later life did well in school, read books and were better off on the whole.

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE AT AVIVA

By Jason McDonnell

he Aviva stadium got to host the UEFA Europa League in May, to our readers who don’t know what all the fuss was about, here is a bit of a background on the biggest club game ever held in Ireland. A lot of people would know it as the UEFA Cup, as it has only been known as the UEFA Europa League since the 2009-10 season following a change in format. Really, it is simply a rebranding in a bid to increase the competition’s profile. The winner of the UEFA Europa League also automatically qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup afterwards. The UEFA Europa League has been an annual competition since 1971 with Spurs taking the first honours. However the first ever winner of the rebranded Europa League was Atlético Madrid. The competition is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions. All Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. The competition replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup which was held between 1955 and 1971. However, as the competition was not run by UEFA, it is not considered a continuation of the same tournament. A prime example of this would be Leeds United, who were twice winners of the Fairs Cup, but are not recognised by UEFA as having won any European trophies. The winners of the Europa League get to keep the trophy for a year before returning it to UEFA. After its return, the clubs can then keep a four-fifths scale replica of the original trophy. The losing finalists usually receive around €2 million and the champions get around €3 million. The competition attracts an extensive television audience, not just in Europe, but throughout the world. The Europa League also implemented the extra officials rule since September 2009. Under the rule, there are a total of six officials: the main referee, two assistant referees, fourth official on the sidelines, and two extra assistants alongside each goal. It is unfortunate that FIFA had not implemented the goal line assistants for the Ireland versus France qualifier in the World Cup. Who knows, it may have been possible for the ‘Hand of Frog’ to have been prevented.

I RISH Y OUTH D ANCE F ESTIVAL By Rupert Heather

he festival promises to be an unforgettable weekend that showcases the finest young contemporary dancers from Ireland and across Europe. For the first time in its 10 years, the festival will be staged over two nights. Artistic Director Mariam Ribín has seen audiences grow and feels they have a “good understanding” of contemporary dance. She says, “People should come along to see how well youth in Ireland are doing, how high the level is despite limited resources and how exciting it is to invest in youth for the future.” Originally from Spain, she moved to Ireland in 1995, graduating with a Masters in Contemporary Dance Performance in 2003. As well as being a professional dancer she teaches the Dublin Youth Dance Company (DYDC), who host the festival. She forged links with companies from the UK, Spain and the Czech Republic. She says, “The festival operates as a platform for young, emerging dancers– like people who have gone abroad to train but come back after graduating and can’t find work. Two years ago, I gave an opportunity to Liv O’Donoghue to do a solo performance. It was so successful that somebody saw her and invited her to represent Ireland in

the professional Dublin Dance Festival.” Highlights include performances from DYDC, Ludus Dance Company from Lancashire and Flash Dance from the Czech Republic, as well as a host of domestic dance groups. “There is so much variation that the highlight is literally how much is on offer. We have two different programmes on Saturday and

Sunday for a fantastic, affordable price.” The festival is on 26th and 27th June in the Pavillion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire. Tickets are from €10 to €14 and booking can be done online or by telephone (01) 2312929. www.dublinyouthdancecompany. com Above: Sorcha from DYDC.

B UOYANT CELEBRATIONS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK Monday to Saturday 8-8 Sunday 10-7 * Cash and carry fuel * * Coal, sticks and logs *

* MINI VALETS €20 * * CARWASH €5 * Phone: 0876180850 Cambridge Square, Second right on Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4

CHEAPEST DIESEL IN THE CITY!

On Friday 29th April at 6.15pm, St. Patrick’s Rowing Club held their 75th anniversary with a cheese and wine evening. The club looked spectacular with the recent lick of fresh paint and a new sign ‘Cassidy’s Way’ was erected on the freshly-laid grass. A new bench facing out to the Liffey was also installed, giving an excellent view of the Docklands. And, of course, the buoy which was salvaged from Ringsend basin (after spending 80 years in it) is now on display between the club and the East Link Bridge. The buoy features signs for all the major ports around the world. By Jason McDonnell.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PAGE 23

THE NEWSFOUR CROSSWORD COMPILED BY ANN INGLE

A HOME DEFECT AND IMPROVEMENT COLUMN BY ANTHONY BRABAZON B.ARCH. MRIAI Q. We are having ongoing problems with blocked drains. Should I contact the city council? HMH: Most blockages are on either private drains or common (shared private) drains. A small bit of detective work should establish if it’s a proverbial ‘nappy’ blockage or a broken drain caused by building work, tree roots or, as I recently experienced, a tree stake driven through the heart (of a drain). If the mystery persists, contact a drainage company who will, for a fee, do a video survey where the problem gets pinpointed. When new building work is carried out over drains it ought to be done in such a way that the old sewer is

B US

not taking extra weight, is encased in concrete and is capable of being rodded (i.e. no sharp bends without manholes). Of course, if the blockage is on road or public land, ring the city council drainage section. Q. How do I know if my house needs rewiring? HMH. If the wiring leaving your fuseboard to the sockets is the old black rubber butyl wiring then you need to rewire the house. Over time, the rubber becomes brittle and can break down, leading to short-circuits and possible ﬁre, etc. For the last 50 years PVC wiring has been used and this is much safer, although if you have a lot of appliances and gadgets you might be overloading the system and again a rewiring would be recommended. If part of the house is being wired for an extension or alteration, you

should take the opportunity to fully re-wire the entire house and bring it up to the modern regulations. As in all matters electrical, get in a properly registered (RECI or ECSSA) and recommended electrician. The current recommendation is that domestic wiring should be checked every three years. Bear in mind that new systems have a blue RCD trip switch for monthly checking. If your question extends to other building matters, contact Help My House, who to date have helped over 300 householders. Need a Visit? Contact Help My House for a ﬁxed fee of €150. Ring Anthony Brabazon at 016683519 or visit helpmyhouse.ie on the web. Questions for this column can be sent to anthony@helpmyhouse.ie

CUTS CUT DEEEP

By Jason McDonnell

uring the meeting on 22nd April 2011 in RICC, Annette Mooney of the People Before Proﬁt Party brought up the point that since the 70s there has been an increase in housing in the area and said “the buses should be getting increased in the area rather than cut back.” Mooney was joined by councillor Huey Lewis from Ballybrack, also of the People Before Proﬁt Party, who spoke of the “widespread bus cuts across Dublin” and he recommended that “sustained people power is the way to solve these problems.” They were joined on the night by guest speakers Bobby O’Toole and Eugene McDonagh. They spoke about how the cuts to the bus services will leave old-age pensioners, school children and the growing numbers of unemployed stranded in some parts of Dublin. A lot of the cuts have taken place already between Donny-

brook and Phibsboro garages. The cuts to the number 3 service should see around eight buses taken from the route with the 77 not stopping at Ringsend garage anymore. The Nitelink service will be reduced too, and there could be more cutbacks on the way, increasing the number of private cars on the roads and causing more congestion in the city. There will also be a reduction of hundreds of staff across the

board. Bobby O’Toole made an emotional speech on how the cuts have affected his community in Dun Laoghaire. Eugene McDonagh recommended that the people of Dublin 4 don’t take this lying down. “They need to protest and organise as a community as it will be a devastating blow for commuters,” he said. Photo, left to right: Bobby O’Toole, Eugene McDonagh, Annette Mooney and Huey Lewis.

Name:…………………………… Address:………………………… Telephone:………………… Prize of a €25 book token. Post entries to NewsFour, RICC, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, D.4 by 1st August 2011. Winner of our April/May crossword competition was Fabien Sievers, Claremont Road, Dublin 4. ACROSS 1 It was one of these when 30 across came to Ireland (1,3,6,3) 10 Lovers doing this might go to Las Vegas or Greta Green (7) 11 A place of delight; Kurt Cobain’s band (7) 12 ‘You’re so ---- you probably think this song is about you.’ (4) 13 Give back the money (5) 15 A soft white mineral used as a powder (4) 17 No chance of getting one in the rain (3) 19 A little drop, maybe a quarter of a pint (6) 21 Take away the weapons (6) 22 A marshy area; title of famous poem by Seamus Heaney (7) 23 This Mick is a singer born 26 July 1943 (6) 25 Girl’s name (6) 27 First girl (3) 29 A friend in ---- is a friend indeed (4) 30 He’s Irish when he has an apostrophe (5) 31 Won the Eurovision for us many years ago (4) 34 Japanese art of paper folding (7) 35 To make a firm and earnest decision (7) 36 Things twisted into a confused mass; snarls; relationships regarded as unfortunate or damaging (13) DOWN A state of disorder involving group violence (7) 2 3 An uncool person or what an ineffective tap does (4) 4 A young eagle (6) 5 One of the characters in the Wizard of Oz (6) 6 Steak very lightly cooked (4) 7 American state (7) 8 Young people of Ireland are in the process of trying to achieve these certificates (7,6) 9 The section from which people are allocated to a particular school, hospital, etc. (9,4) 14 Meringue and fruit dessert (7) 16 False publication of information that damages a person’s reputation (5) 18 To move forward or sideways in a furtive, or coy way (5) 20 Not either (3) 21 Deoxyribonucleic acid, the hereditary material in humans (3) 24 A native or inhabitant of Greece (7) 26 Shade of red (7) 27 The tide is ------ and flowing continually (6) 28 Come out into view (6) 32 Baby’s first word (4) 33 A small island (4)

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

L IZ T AYLOR

Dulux Let’s Colour Campaign

ity Quay got an uplift recently. A creation from Boys and Girls (a creative agency who believe that great work comes from daringly simple ideas) was part of the launch of the Dulux Let’s Colour Project. Boys and Girls have been working with Dulux over the last few months to create and implement the campaign. Irish people are currently in the doldrums and badly in need of an uplift, according to new research. The results of a Dulux ‘Mood of the Nation’ Poll highlighted a massive 72% of people believe the mood of the nation to be low, or very low with a further 80% believing Irish communities are badly in need of an uplift. This major national initiative will see up to 200 community projects transformed with colour. Local Pearse Street community project, St. Mary’s Creche and Pre School, saw its façade dramatically transformed into an eye-opening colour jigsaw puzzle to mark the launch. A global initiative, the Dulux Let’s Colour Project has transformed communities with colour across the globe including Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Paris (France) and Jodphur (India) to name a few. The ‘Let’s Colour Project’ will be open to all Irish communities giving them the opportunity to rejuvenate dull, grey and neglected public community spaces, bringing them back to life– Dulux is calling on people to get active and involved in the community by putting hand to paintbrush to improve their area and they will provide all the paint. Whether you are a community champion; involved in the local council; local handyman; sports team manager; between jobs; or mum or dad, you are bound to know of a local community project or facility badly in need of an uplift. So come on, let’s brighten the place up! By Jason McDonnell

Donal Bracken Local Electrical Contractor

R.E.C.I. approved and insured

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

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

NO JOB TOO SMALL OR TOO LARGE

C ORK S TREET

By Noel Twamley

n March 2011, one of Hollywood’s brightest stars died. This was Elizabeth Taylor, known to one and all as Liz Taylor. Liz arrived on our screens in the late 1930s. She was with Universal Studios at eight years old. Her only competitor at Universal was ‘Alfalfa Switzer’ of the Little Rascals fame. Sad to relate, Alfalfa was murdered in 1959 for $50.00. Liz went on to become a big star. She married eight times and ‘Newsweek’ listed her names as Elizabeth Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Burton Warner Fortnesky. In the mid-1960s her then-husband was in Dublin filming ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’. At this time I was in Martin Hogan’s pub in Cork Street. I was meeting a client to sell a Morris car at about 7pm. In came Richard Burton with Liz on his arm. In his stentorian voice, Burton ordered drinks and food. Mr Hogan politely told Burton, “I don’t do food but I can give you some crisps.” At this, Liz leaned on the bar and said “What the hell are crisps?” Then Burton bellowed, “For God’s sake, I’ve been shooting all day and I’m tired and hungry.” Quick as a flash, Mr Hogan replied, “Mr Burton, if you go back up Cork Street towards Dolphin’s Barn, there’s a lovely chipper. They sell the best fish and chips in Dublin.” On hearing this, Burton’s face lit up and he said “I’d love some fish and chips. Let’s go, darling.” When they exited the pub everybody rushed out to see Liz Taylor and Richard Burton marching up Cork Street towards ‘The Barn’ for

their one-and-one. It was an astonishing scene. Later that night I met up with my sister Flo and her husband Christy in the Antique Bar in the old Jury’s Hotel in Dame Street. I told them the above and described the changes the set design people had done to Cork Street. All the shop fronts had been changed. They all had German names and, of course, all posters, signs and ads were in German. Christy said he would love to see this and the other set in Smithﬁeld. It was well past midnight when we went along to see the sets. In those far-away days, Cork Street was much narrower, poorly lit and looked down-at-heel. It really did look like East Berlin with drizzly rain on the street and sidewalk. My sister Flo said, “My God, it’s like the Unter den Linden.”

From Cork Street, we drove through Pimlico and crossed the Liffey to Smithfield. In the mid1960s Smithfield was a grim, grimy, nasty square. The set design folk had surpassed themselves. We stood there with a sizeable crowd in the drizzle admiring their work; The Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie under floodlights. This was for the final, memorable scene where Burton was shot by the East German Communist Guards. Great acting here by Burton. Sorry folks, I have no idea if Burton and Liz got their fish supper. There must be people out there who may have photos or information on this incident. I would love to know. In my mind’s eye, I see Liz Taylor and Richard Burton strolling down Cork Street enjoying their fish and chips in an old copy of the Evening Mail or Herald. Truly a sight to behold, the mind boggles. Let’s leave the last word to Liz. As she said to her nemesis of many years Debbie Reynolds, whose husband, singer Eddie Fisher Liz had just stolen, “Nothing lasts Debbie, does it?” Left: Liz with Richard Burton, whom she married twice.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PAGE 25

VISIT TO

By Glenda Cimino

ast year I participated in a fundraising campaign for All Hallows College in Drumcondra, the reward of which was a weeklong trip to South Africa last February. Each person had to raise or donate €2,500 each for the trip. I was frantically fundraising right up to the last minute, but it was worth it. Our group of 22 fundraisers ﬂew Turkish Airlines to

C APETOWN

Istanbul and then Istanbul to Johannesburg. We spent two nights there, then one in the ‘malaria free’ Bakubung Safari Park, observing animals in the wild, and four nights in Capetown. I had very little spending money, but one euro is almost 10 rand, so things were relatively cheap. Due to space limitations, this article will focus on Capetown only, and still will not do justice to this amazing city. We ﬂew to Capetown from Jo-

C AHORE ,

hannesburg on a local equivalent of Ryanair, and were whisked in 20 minutes by bus to the Southern Sun Waterfront Hotel. By the way, this hotel’s website contains an amazingly detailed and useful travel tips checklist: http://www.southernsun.com/ Documents/Hotel%20and%20Tr avel%20Tips.pdf. The hotel literature advised us that the water in the hotel had been judged drinkable (most in South Africa is not), and not to walk anywhere on our own, high crime rates being the downside of life in South Africa. Nonetheless, I did manage to walk a few places in daylight without incident, though I took their advice to use a taxi at night, even for a short distance. There are so many things to do in Capetown. We took a ferry from the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront to visit Robben Island, where a former prisoner described the prison routine and showed us the cell where Nelson Mandela had been held so many years. Also on the Waterfront, we rode a ferris wheel and took a breathtaking 15 minute heli-

JEWEL OF

farmhouse to buy a chicken for the Sunday dinner. We swam, made sandcastles and really enjoyed the best holiday I ever had. On our way home we were brought into a restaurant for a lovely meal of chips and sausages in Arklow. I have been all over Wicklow and Wexford since that ﬁrst time all those years ago. As an avid swimmer, I have been to lots of the beaches down that way; Brit-

was a must. Iziko is an isiXhosa word, meaning ‘a hearth’, symbolising both a hub of cultural activity, and a central place for gathering together South Africa’s diverse heritage. The museum was founded in 1825 and today takes care of 1.5 million items including 700 million year old fossils. The Planetarium takes you on a virtual trip through the skies of the Southern Hemisphere. We walked there through the beautiful East India Company Gardens, established in 1652 by Dutch colonialists and opened to the public under the British occupation in 1898. I was captivated by the exotic beauty and variety of South Africa, and dream that someday I may get to go back, with more money and more time.

C O . W EXFORD

By George Humphries

y earliest memories of Co. Wexford go back to my childhood when my late Da borrowed a tent from a friend. He and my late Ma took a load of us kids plus a sister’s friend off for a weekend break to Morriscastle Strand in Co. Wexford. This would have been in the early sixties when we lived in George Reynolds House. My Da had a little car, a Hillman Minx. It’s funny how something will always etch in your memory, especially if it was a good experience. Back in those days there were no motorways. It took a full day to get there. It was a really exciting time for us and I can say it has always stayed with me. We had a ball in this little place, which is still as beautiful as ever, although it has a lot of holiday homes there now. We all slept in the little tent. One thing which always lingers in my memory is when my younger brother and I were sent to a local

copter tour over the city, seeing the magniﬁcent Table Mountain, which is the backdrop to the city, from the air. The helicopter ride cost €50 each, but it was worth it. You can also go shark cage diving, visit the cricket and rugby stadiums, sun on amazing white sand beaches, take a Cable Car up Table Mountain, or if more ﬁt than I am, hike it, go to the theatre, visit the Groot Constantia winery dating back to 1685, shop (of course), and see 12 museums and a planetarium, or stroll in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. There are more than 22,000 plant species indigenous to S.A. Table Mountain alone has more plant species than the entire British Isles. For me, a visit to the Iziko South Africa Museum and Planetarium

tas Bay, Castletown, Ballinamona, Rosslare to name but a few. These are all lovely places to go for a swim. But I have to say that since my good friend Monica Uzell Kirwin showed me where Cahore was it is now without doubt my favourite of them all. We were just after having a lovely swim in the Forty Foot and went for a spin to Courtown. After a nice cup of coffee we were driv-

ing through Ballygarret when she showed me where Cahore was. Rightly so, it was magniﬁcent with the tide in full. It was as near to paradise island as I will ever get here in this country. It was just brilliant, very clean, you could see the bottom, the water was so clean. It is also very safe, you can actually drive right onto the beach. This was in the summer of 2005. My late Da was only a few months in care so when I took him out on Sundays we nearly always ended up here in Cahore. He was made up with himself because he could sit in the car and watch me going for a lovely long swim. He always found someone to talk to and he really lapped this up.Then he loved to go to Sean Og’s in Kilmuckridge where he would enjoy a nice pint with his dinner. He would watch a match when he got back to Our Lady’s Hospice and would be telling everyone of all the things he had done that day. This then became a regular run which he looked forward to each week. I certainly felt very privileged to be able to give something

back to one of the world’s ﬁnest Dads. With the good summer we had last year, every opportunity I got I made for Cahore. One such day I well remember, I swam out to the marker buoy, laying over on my back to meditate. While really enjoying this peace, I was disturbed by a chap in a canoe. He was making sure I was O.K. I was annoyed at being disturbed and it was only later on that I realized that he was concerned for my safety. I never got a chance to thank him as he was gone before I ﬁnished my swim. On another day last year when it was really scorching out I swam out to the last buoy, then swam all the way back to the pier, passing another six buoys. I had a great dive as the tide was in full and the water was crystal clear. Then I swam back to the beach, what a day in this fabulous place. Above: George and Christy Dunne at Cahore. Photo by Simon Bradley.

PAGE 26

B ECKHAM VISITS S T .P ATRICK ’ S BNS

On Wednesday March 23rd the 6th class in St.Patrick’s BNS admired the view from the top of the 725 metre high Djouce Mountain (below). As part of their preparation for the sacrament of Conﬁrmation the boys were on a sponsored hike and climb in aid of the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The hike from Glasnamullen to Knockree included the steep climb up Djouce Mountain. Being on top of a mountain is nothing new to the class, as these boys regularly go on hikes with their teachers Mr. Booth and Mr. Lane. The following week Gillian Bird of the DSPCA came to the school accompanied by her adorable dog Beckham, pictured above. Beckham was given the name because he was so thin when rescued by the DSPCA. The boys saw pictures of him when he was rescued that made them very proud of their good deed for the society. Daniel McCluskey then handed over a cheque for €400 to a very grateful Gillian, and Beckham barked his thanks. You can join Beckham on Facebook (Beckham DSPCA) and read regular updates from him. The class hopes to visit the DSPCA centre in Rathfarnham before the Summer holidays. The pupils thank all the generous people who sponsored them.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

O UR WEALTH OF SPORTS VENUES By Eddie Bohan

he concentration of sports venues within one mile in the Dublin 4 area is unique. In today’s frantic world, the sports available today are as varied as those participating. The Aviva Stadium hosts Rugby and Soccer and in September American footballers will once again trample the green grass of Lansdowne Road. Clanna Gael’s ground is the venue for Gaelic football and Hurling while Irishtown Stadium caters for soccer and athletics. Beside the Stadium is the expanse of Ringsend Park where junior soccer, tag rugby and GAA clubs turn out in all weathers to earn honours. Or maybe just a go on the swings or see-saw would be energetic enough for you. Londonbridge Road Tennis Club has hosted major national and international competitions, while at Shelbourne Park, the hare and the greyhounds have been travelling in circles since May 1927. If you like to get yourself wet, the Half Moon Swimming Club, above, is located on the Great South Wall on the Liffey since 1898 but not during one of the rowing regatta competitions operated by St. Patrick’s or Stella Maris. Water Polo is played at Marian College and Cricket can be found not just at Lords or the Gabba but at the YMCA on Claremont Road. And, by no means least are the schools within the square mile that physically educate our children

FAIR

Left to right: Niall O’Neill, Jamie Leech, Dean Stone and Luke McDonagh.

with a wide variety of sports, even the great egg and spoon race. What about the sports and venues of yesteryear? The area gave birth to two great clubs– Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne, who played the1955/ 56 season in Irishtown Stadium. The original plan for the stadium was to accommodate 100,000 spectators. In the late 1800’s Shelbourne’s home ground was located on Sandymount Road where Seafort Gardens and Beach Drive are now located. Another club to use that ground was Tritonville FC, who played one season in the Belfast-based Irish Football League. Their one season ended having played 18 games, winning just two games and losing the 1902 Leinster Senior Cup Final to Bohemians. Many will fondly remember the black and white Wanderers RFC club house in the corner of Lansdowne Road. The venue was home to both Wanderers and Lansdowne RFC. The colour and spectacle of the ﬁrst FAI Cup ﬁnal

held there between the non league St Francis and Bray is still talked about today amongst soccer fans and pundits. The ﬁrst ever soccer international took place at the venue on St. Patrick’s Day 1900 with England beating Ireland 2-0. Shelbourne Park greyhound stadium played host to Shelbourne and two FAI Cup ﬁnal replays in 1927 and 1929. From 1950 to 1954 the stadium featured Speedway, with the stars imported from the USA to compete on our behalf. Londonbridge Road was the main Field Hockey venue on this island until the club left and moved to Three Rock, having originally been located in Lansdowne Road. Current basketball National Cup Champions UCD/Marian were founded at Marian College with the current principal Mr. Paul Meaney as one of its leading lights. Every year thousands gather at the Royal Dublin Society for the Horse Show and the Aga Khan competition that many have grown up with since the days of Eddie Macken. Today the RDS is home to Leinster Rugby and the FAI Cup Final. For a number of seasons in the 90’s it was also home to Shamrock Rovers. ESB Sportsco provides a variety of sports including badminton, squash, swimming, and tennis. Their table tennis team competes in the Leinster League, but there was for many years a table tennis team in Star of the Sea created by the late great Ted Cooling, that produced quality Irish players like brothers Bernard and Aidan Walsh.

PLAY, GREAT GRUB

Pictured above is the crew from the newly opened Fair Play Cafe at the Anchorage in Ringsend. Tempting food and a welcoming atmosphere– what more could you ask?

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

C ONIFERS

PAGE 27

AND

H EATHERS

6. Thuya Holmstrup 7. Thuya Rhein Gold

A YEAR ROUND GARDEN

By James OʼDoherty

question I am asked on a regular basis by both gardening enthusiasts and amateur gardeners is: How can I, in a small garden, provide colour, form and foliage with minimal effort and little maintenance all year round? What comes to my mind immediately is planting conifers and heathers. Despite the botanical difference between them, both consist of evergreen shrubs and trees ideal for growing together. They offer a wide variety of shapes and lovely foliage colours for your garden. Heathers live for a long time, with a beautiful selection of ﬂow-

er and foliage for each month of the year and conifers also have a huge colour range to choose from. All heather species will grow in acid soil, some even in neutral, all of them love an open, sunny site that also gets plenty of rain. You must prepare the soil thoroughly before planting both heathers and conifers. Add plenty of humus and plenty of peat and well-rotted manure or compost, leaf mould or any organic material. Select good quality plants. For heathers my selction includes: For winter and spring ﬂowering 1. Erica Carnea Myretoun Ruby 2. Erica Carnea Pink Spangles 3. Erica Carnea Foxhollow 4. Erica Darleyensis White Perfec-

tion For summer and autumn ﬂowering; 1. Calluna Vulgaris H.E. Beale 2. Erica Darleyensis Arthur Johnson 3. Calluna Vulgaris Robert Chapman 4. Erica Cincera Purple Beauty All of the above will give colour

T HE P LURABELLE P ADDLERS

By Joe McKenna

n 1996 Dr. Don McKenzie launched Abreast-In-A-Boat through the University of British Columbia. He sought to test the myth that repetitive upper body exercise in women treated for breast cancer causes Lymphoedema. A medical study involving one Dragon Boat of 25 women proved his theory correct. No new cases of Lymphoedema were reported and none of the women monitored became worse. The use of Dragon Boating as a means to help women with breast cancer has now grown to 150 teams worldwide. Fiona Tiernan is chairperson of the Plurabelle Paddlers, the only Dragon Boat team in Ireland, which trains out of the Grand Canal Basin. Fiona was kind enough to speak with NewsFour about the forming and purpose of the Plurabelle Paddlers. “We had our ﬁrst open day on 17th April 2010 at the Waterways Ireland visitors centre. I think about 120 people attended that. We had a physiotherapist and a consultant oncologist with us, and we spoke about why it’s a good idea to take exercise when you’ve ﬁnished treatment for cancer. “It was a bit mad because we didn’t have any boats, paddles or even any money. But it was an idea that seemed to catch peoples attention. “We initially set up women’s

in the garden all year round. For best results plant at least three of the same variety together. To combine with the above heathers, I offer a selection of conifers, all dwarf: 1. The Beautiful Chamaecyparis Pygmaea Argentea 2. Chamaecyparis Pisifera Nana 3. Chamaecyparis Ellwoods Gold 4. Thuya Aurea Nana 5. Thuya Irish Gold

If you would like to plant a beautiful hedge to compliment the whole garden try Thuya Accidentalis Smaragd– a slower grower with good colour and a pleasure to cut. In this garden no real work will be required for at least three years with the exception of keeping weeds under control plus an annual mulch with peat. After three years, annual trimming will be necessary when ﬂowering is ﬁnished so get yourself a good shears, a good hoe and secateurs. Trim the conifers if required during July. Remember the heathers will cover the whole ground eventually, so keep your garden tidy, cut the grass every week and enjoy the maturing of the beautiful conifers and heathers– a visual pleasure. That’s it– an easy recipe for that all-round garden!

The Culinary Corner

CHOC NUT OATY BISCUITS BY GEMMA BYRNE

exercise groups and we ended up with about 100 people. We were all strangers, bar a few of us that had started the ball rolling, and from April to October we fundraised to help us get the boats we needed and in turn we got to know each other. “We got great support and were lucky enough to get a great coach in Julie Doyle, who is on the Great Britain team, a fabulous woman and a committed volunteer. She’s helped us with training and we’ve followed her approach to getting healthy and staying active.” The Plurabelle Paddlers have grown from a ﬂedgling idea into a valued group of dedicated women in just over a year, and Fiona is keen to see them maintain their incredible rise by encouraging more women to come on board. “We have about 130 on our database ranging from the ages of 28 to 72. We’re always looking for new women to join us. We

had 10 new women start just a few weeks ago. We want as many women as possible to join us and we want to set up as many teams as we can. “We’re paddling Wednesday evenings from 7pm and Saturdays from 8.45am in the basin and we would encourage women to contact us through the website and come along. “We’re having a two day regatta on the 10th–11th September with teams coming from all over. Teams from the UK and South Africa are coming and there’ll be picnics and fun events; everyone’s welcome. We’re also looking at attending the Malaysian championships in October. We just want to keep on growing and encouraging people who have cancer to maintain an active lifestyle.” Anyone interested in contacting the Plurabelle Paddlers can do so through their website: http://www. plurabellepaddlers.com/

Ingredients: 200g Porridge Oats 70g Plain flour ½ level tsp Bread Soda Pinch of salt 170g butter (cold) 70g Caster Sugar 100g dark chocolate chips 50g Nuts (chopped roughly) Pecans, Almonds or Hazelnuts work well Warm water Method: Preheat your oven to 180ºC. Line a large baking sheet or two with parchment paper. Mix together the oats, flour, bread soda and salt. Rub in the butter roughly with your fingertips. Add the sugar, chocolate chips and nuts and mix thoroughly. Add the water (a couple of tablespoons at a time) and mix until the mixture comes together forming a stiff dough. Take golf ball sized pieces of mixture, roll into balls and flatten into biscuit shapes. If you have kids let them get their hands messy with you for this part. Bake for 15 – 20 mins or until the edges are golden brown. This mixture makes about 18 biscuits. They will keep for a week in an airtight container but they have never lasted more than a few hours in my house.

PAGE 28

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

V OX

POP …

“I got my one piece from H and M only a few weeks ago. I got my runners in Lifestyle Sports. Other accessories from Penny’s but I always try to match my nails to my bracelets. The religious icon bracelet is from the Banana Tree shop.” Catherine Campion from Swords

tephen Doyle has been living in Ringsend all his life. He went to school in St. Patrick’s BNS and Ringsend Technical Insti-

To a background of street art, Sandy Hazel asked a group of people where they find their clothes

“I got the dress from my friend so I don’t know where it’s from. The boots are from Schuh. My jewellery is my Oxygen wristband from last year which I still wear.” Caoimhe Barrett from Kildare

VISUAL FEAST

tute and studied graphic design in Roslyn Park, Sandymount. He went on to do a part-time degree in Art Direction, Copywriting and T.V. Production

“The GZA ( from the Wu Tang Clan) tshirt is from Ebay. The trousers are from a charity shop and the runners are from Size shoe shop on Exchequer Street.” Conor McCaffrey from Portadown “I got my outﬁt from Phat Face and these are my Converse that match my bike which is the same colour. The bag is Avoca and the rest I just picked up I don’t know where. Sadhbh Ni Hogain from Dublin

– I RISH

in DIT Aungier Street. Stephen always loved art as a kid and still loves it today. Sometimes in school he was so interested in drawing and doodling that it got him into trouble. Luckily for him, it did some good! He spent the past ten years in the design industry, moving into the advertising industry for the past four years, and he loves it. He works with all the major brand names from across the world. The latest campaign was for McDonalds; the best things in life are 3. Stephen was approached by a friend of his to see if he could help them create the book. A Visual Feast. They were on a very tight deadline but once he heard what the book was about he couldn’t refuse. Stephen was responsible for the design and layout of the book. All credit to Rua Meegan and Lauren Teeling for putting this book together. It took them two years following street art-

“The hat belonged to my mate Martin and I robbed it off him; the shades too. I have no idea where the jeans came from or the top. I made the wristband.” Dan Cassidy from Dublin

STREET ART ists around the city and taking pictures of their works. Rua, a cameraman, and Lauren, an assistant director, took great interest in this topic as well as doing their normal day jobs. They spent a lot of energy and time travelling the country taking pictures and documenting some of the great art on display in our city streets. This was not just graffiti but very good street art that actually meant something, made a statement. The book contains work by Asbestos, Conor Harrington, Fink, Karma, Loki Demonseed, Will St. Leger and Maser, who has made a name for him-

self in this country through his street art, and many more. A Visual Feast retails at €19.99 and is available from most bookshops and music stores such as Easons, HMV and Tower Records. www.avisualfeast.ie www.stephendoyles.wordpress.com

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

“I FINK

S AYS

By Jason McDonnell

saw some of Fink’s art at the Half Moon swimming club last summer when fishing with a friend and thought it was some of the best street art I’d ever seen.

PAGE 29

THEREFORE STREET ARTIST

It was the face of Mr.T from the A-Team (above). I went in search of the artist and finally got an interview with him for NewsFour. Fink is a Dublin-based street and graffiti artist who is a prominent figure in this ever growing scene. At the age of

SKATE JAM

By Sandy Hazel

lant your trainers onto the grip tape, arms out like Nureyev, the dancer, not the horse; mind the oral porce-

lain, expensive to replace; and don’t worry about looking cool, because you will most certainly fall. Skateboarding is hard work. But practice brings mastery and psychologists have identiﬁed it as one of the best sports to pro-

F INK

AM”

13 Fink executed his first graffiti piece and was excited at the prospect of seeing it the next day, but to his disappointment the art had been completely wiped out, buffed and sandblasted. That was 25 years ago. Since then Fink has gone on to receive an honours degree with distinction in visual communication. However, the perception of the Irish government towards street art and graffiti has not changed much in the last 25 years. For the last 10 years Fink has been practicing street art and graffiti on many more sites. Slowly, the authorities and society in general appeared to recognise and accept street art and graffiti as an actual art form. Ireland is still behind the times compared to other major cities across the world, where there are many designated sites and locations for such creative expression, and street art is enmote self-worth, creativity, discipline and ambition. And where you find skaters you will find wall art. Last month saw the Tivoli Skate Jam showcase world class graffiti and skating, break dancing and general lounging. Scorching sun meant burnt red necks and chilled Red Bull. Boys with no sunscreen queued up to shake hero painters’ hands and bag a fast tag for their sketchbooks. The jam was tucked away in a city centre car park (behind the Tivoli theatre on Dublin’s Francis Street). The walls are now priceless works of art– until the next painter comes along. If you are passing you should try and pop in to check the graffiti, its impermanence adds to the allure. Future painters on the site will not touch the walls they consider great, so the best stays exposed for longer. Organiser Olan from All City Records says that artists were invited from all over the world. “It is more of an exhibition set up rather than a competitive one,” said Olan. “We had local and international graffiti talent: Rime, Maser, Aroe, Roid, Kube and Omin.” The pictures speak for themselves. Irish street art is considered some of the best in the world. Art-

couraged and nurtured rather than outlawed, persecuted and frowned upon as it often is here in Ireland. Fink’s love of both street art and graffiti comes together as one creative mass reflected in his own work. “I like to combine elements and concepts of both art forms to create art both bold and unique,” Fink says. He draws influence from artists such as Warhol, Dali, Epsylon Point, Lush, Nick Walker, Preys and C215 and merges his creations with an affinity for comics, graffiti culture, street art and modern

day popular culture. As Fink says himself, “It’s all about the relationship between a graphic composition and how it affects the onlooker. I aim to make that relationship highly stimulating and thought-provoking: I Fink therefore I am.” Fink is to have his first major solo exhibition later this year in Dublin. Some of his canvas work is currently available for sale in the Balla Bán Art Gallery, Westbury Mall, Dublin 2. You can also view a lot of his work online at www.flickr. com/photos/fink55/

ists like Solas and the TDA Klann are highly regarded on the international circuit. It is an annual event but Olan says “it is regulars, people who are involved in the local skating and grafﬁti scene who get to hear of the events.” So if skating and grafﬁti are for you, or even if you just like people who skate and paint, then make sure to be a regular at: All

City Records Temple Bar or G1 Skate Supply, O’Connell Street. Many people think that more public skate parks in Dublin would represent excellent value for the Council’s cash, but that’s another story. Check out skated8 on facebook for pictures from the Tivoli Jam and sign the petition. www.irishstreetart.com Photographer: Sorchie O Raw.

PAGE 30

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

Y OUNG

VICTORS OF

1973

Back in 1973, these lads were full of cheer. Top row, left to right: Noel ‘Gura’ Murphy, Joe Donnelly, Tom O’Connor, J. Nultey, P. Seagrave, L. Fagan, P. Kavanagh, R. Bolton, Manager E. Gannon (Ex English 1st Division) Bottom row: E. Mahady, Tommy Murphy, J. Gannon, Anto ‘Inch’ Nangle, Joe Wall, Noel ‘Ban’ Gregg, The girl on the right is Paula Fagan.

THAT SEGWAY SENSATION By Caomhan Keane

here are many ways that one can take in this fabulous city of ours. You can hop on (and hop off) an open-air bus. Ride a bike. Pull on a horny helmet and scare the beejaysus out of passersby on a Viking Splash Bus Tour, or take to the skies in one of the chopper tours serving the city. But for me the best way to get around the town I love so well is on a Segway, a two-wheeled selfbalancing personal transport device that looks a bit like a chariot. Organised by Segway Ireland, in conjunction with Pat Liddy Walking Tours, ‘Glide Tours’ takes groups of up to eight people at a time on a two-hour tour of the city’s Docklands, or the Phoenix Park if you fancy some greener surroundings. Only stopped by ice and snow (what a shame with the year we’ve

just had) Segway run three tours a day, seven days a week alternating between the two locations and costing €50 a head. “Irish people will whinge and moan if there is a bit of rain, but tourists just say ‘let’s go out and get wet’.” So says Martin, my tour guide for the day. Thankfully for me, the sun has dipped her toe into the Irish Spring, and encased in my (morto) helmet and luminous yellow visor, I head down to the Custom House for Segway Bootcamp. “I spend a few minutes training people in, familiarising them with the machine, and then off we go.” This also gives anybody who hasn’t mastered the art of Segway a chance to back out and get their money back or for Martin to spot people he feels might be a danger to themselves or to the public. “Last year we had two cases of it,” says Martin. “People just got on the machine and went ‘I don’t feel comfortable, I couldn’t stand like

this for an hour and a half’.” It’s shockingly easy to get the hang of it. Riding a bike has never seemed so bothersome as you scoot around, initially at the restricted

10 kilometres per hour, then at a hair-raising 20, when Martin turns my restrictor off. It’s basically a self-balance machine with ﬁve gyroscopes, two

computer hard drives and a very sophisticated software programme beneath your body, meaning that your only difﬁculty is handing over your trust to a machine. You lean forward to go, lean back to stop and swing a left or a right to go left or right. Easy, peasy, pudding and pie. During the summer months the tours are generally all full, in winter they drop to around 50% but for a business that started up with the recession, it’s pretty good going. The Docklands were chosen because few tours were operating in the area at the time Segway started up, and due to the sudden interest in the world’s lamest punch line, the Irish banking sector. “The security in the IFSC already have permits so that made it easier to set up down here,” Martin adds. He ﬁnds what works best if he has a mix of locals and yokels is to have the Dubs tell their own personal history of the area. He is also remarkably unprecious about how the tour goes. “It’s about people coming along and just enjoying themselves. If they just want to enjoy the machines we’ll do as best we can to accommodate them.”

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PAGE 31

THE POETRY PLACE

A Navigators shield

Springtime at Howth

The storm arrived at the place of no colour– a tower of benumbed stone fostering memories of distant keepers. Silent voices of lost yachtsmen singing in A cappella, forever anchored beneath widowed oceans and orphaned seas.

White sails like tablecloths

A house furnished in fisherman’s nets surrounded by cobwebs reflecting on a rug of moth dust and fish guts. Her once canted umbilical chord of the finest iron led to her womb of light where hope was reborn.

Leaﬁng, budding, unfurling

Her weather beaten structure of lynch and scurvy battles polar winds cursing on the monster waves enclosed in whale song. Ghostly gulls ﬂy over naked mountains– desolate lighthouse! Slayer of the sea serpent, your fables collide with the sailors folklore on common harbors as I walk knowingly on your broken mirrors. By Denise Ryan

JOHN BETJEMAN POETRY COMPETITION

By Sandy Hazel

n engineer once bemoaned the lack of an Engineers’ Corner in Westminster Abbey as there is a Poets’ Corner. It was, responded a poet, because poets tend not to receive much acclaim, recognition or monetary gain for their efforts and the Abbey, in its own way, acknowledges this. There are few opportunities for poets to expose their work for sure but young poets this summer can throw their lyrical hats into the ring with the John Betjeman Poetry Competition. Entries are now being accepted for the contest from 10 to 13 year olds in the UK and the Republic of Ireland until closing date of 31st July. Each child is invited to send in (by post or online) one poem on the theme of ‘place’. They can choose anywhere that is important to them– from their bedroom to a holiday place or a favourite park or building. The subject could be a city, a garden, a beach or a street; capturing in words what the place means to the child. Winners of the poetry competition are invited to read their poems aloud to an audience of judges, entrants, teachers and parents as well as sponsors and press, at a prize giving held in October on the concourse of Saint Pancras station, next to the bronze statue of John Betjeman. The ﬁrst prize is stg £1000. There are ﬁve runnerup prizes of stg £50 book tokens. The competition is free to enter. Full details can be found at the website: www.betjemanpoetrycompetition.com. We at NewsFour hope that some of our younger readers will be encouraged to enter this competition. Let us know how you get on.

“Belfield Metaphysical”

The sky is a mere exhibition in pools of rain until the sun unfolds the froth of clouds casting off cosmic oceans of light and without horizon limitless, where there is silence

Laden with bounty ready to feast

Solitary seal perhaps sole survivor

Bobbing heads, ﬂipping divers up and down Earth disgorges vile thing

A blemish on the beauty that is spring

No sense and white grains sifting inﬁnitesimally tiny winds of light, ﬁne salt of light that does not blind the eyes because seeing is seeing more than ever in distance If not forever, endless in dimensions beyond comprehension there is no heat or sound. Silence: the obverse of the world. Where is this zone? The return, with tactile contact at the railings

Propagating and pricking out Herbaceous plants ﬂowering

Like the return of old friends

The overpass balcony: noise of cars and trucks below a wet ash twig studded with black seeds, ivory bark in ordinary sunlight: leaf-bows, lettuce green, edible in beauty

Birds busy building on heavily laden wing

Barren verges again clothe with colour By Valerie Coakley

“Soluble Aspirin as Revelation” Outside

human sized trees

The unread gashes on the bark, this key-twig to re-open saturday pulp crumbs blow along the beaches of the world forming in books and dissolving in dust and into books again So much missing prosaic terza rima sentinel of the shelves there is not a bright grain on the photocopy, metaphors will ﬁt not ﬁt, lame language, scratches of pen on train tickets, words on the dull

snowcapped

White page desktop from pressed keys: through a portal of silver ﬂeece the aircraft banks to climb stairs of clouds, levels off the horizon’s walls are lit with streams of leaking light

limbs and wands raised, half-mantled, gleaming

The jolt that suggests speed beyond dials. The ache of longing: take me away ﬁnally from all this, take me home from each dayís lost and found, the sulphur of solitude

phantasmagoric ﬁgures as if lurching through the slant blizzard

on the topside of branches

The wealth of her mirrored who heals the naked chaos. anyone will tell you there is the trouble with Medusa, and Medea’s hatred is not exceptional. The quest for Moneta

sky: an ocean of frozen silver

hedges & bushes bobbed in snowfur avians dawn patrol, ﬂit, ﬂy, gone to the unheard music

of frostlike sugar, sweet and looking salty

Is a path through fear between the flint of conflict and the night of eureka. Behind the hours is essential cold the candle looks back to centuries, the flame makes the room a cave These books speak scenes of innocent love with new dialogue in dreams

this toothache awaits the transcendent

By Kevin Kiely

blizzard in water with effusion of jet engines across a rainy sky, the nibbled half-moon tablet through falling snowﬂakes rising in a tidal wave

oscillating out of orbit inside the glass tumbler scintillating distant stars to ease the pain

By Kevin Kiely

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

The Puffin What a comical fellow the Pufﬁn is, A colourful bill has he, He can hold in his beak food for a week, That’s more than enough for three. He doesn’t care much for the land, To him it’s an alien place. As soon as the breeding is over, He’s back to the sea’s open space. He comes from the south to Skelligs, The start of an annual trip. And while we might like him to tarry, He is not up for citizenship. By Carmel McCarthy

PAGE 32

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

T HE

ART OF

REPRESENTING I RELAND AT

By Glenda Cimino

Remembering my Brother Eddie Fitzgerald On Saturday April 23rd 2011 my brother Eddie died. His sudden death was a big shock for my mother and my brothers. Eddie worked in Irishtown Garda Station for over 30 years as a cleaner. He was in work on Good Friday 22nd April and then the next day I found him dead on the chair. Eddie loved working in the Garda Station, he got to know so many people during his time at the station. Since his death many people have spoken to me about him, saying he always had time for a chat. He was a very quiet person in many ways. He loved going to Glasgow for his holidays, in fact he was there in early April and had a good time. Eddie did a lot of work for the Hospice in Harold’s Cross and enjoyed helping out at the Hospice. He had very little interest in football but would always ask how Celtic had done. He liked the odd ﬂutter on the horses and would get some winners. Eddie was 59 and would have celebrated his 60th on 24th September. He is sadly missed by his mother and brothers and all his relatives. By James Fitzgerald

ingsend native Corban Walker, who since 2005 divides his time between Ireland and his studio in New York City, will represent Ireland at the 54th Venice Biennale International Arts Exhibition, from 4th June to 27th November 2011. Walker’s parents were the architect Robin Walker and the art critic Dorothy Walker. Corban Walker graduated from the National College of Art and Design with a degree in Fine Art Sculpture in 1992. Since then, he has had solo exhibitions in England, France, Chicago, New York and Slovenia and regularly at the Green on Red Gallery in Dublin. He is represented by the Pace Gallery in New York, where he ﬁrst exhibited with Pace Wildenstein in 2000. His work was subsequently included in the gallery’s ‘Logical Conclusions’ exhibition in the spring of 2004 and the summer group show in 2005. Recently he had an exhibition there entitled ‘Grid Stack’.

V INTAGE By Rupert Heather

fter years of recent success Vintage Docklands Football Club are struggling for results and need a few new players for next season. Club stalwart, former manager and player David Doyle says, “It’s football. The last four years we have won things, now we’ve hit a wall, you have to take the good with the bad.” The ‘Vinto’, as they are known, have a proud history and are an important part of local life. The players are mostly drawn from the Ringsend and Pearse Street area, but those from outside are welcome. Formed in 1982 by locals who wanted to play football together, a set of gear was provided by the Vintage Inn. Now the team receives sponsorship from O’Keefe’s Beach Tavern. The current squad has an im-

C ORBAN W ALKER V ENICE 2011

Glass and metal are the essential materials of Walker’s current minimalist visions. He uses two types of glass: Diamante and Clear Float, which are different in appearance and chemical make-up. The Diamante Glass has a dense, bluish edge, and is reminiscent of the asymmetrical Victorian window glass in many Dublin windows of the period. Diamante Glass is cut and polished in the Czech Republic to the speciﬁcations of Walker’s drawings. The normal, or Clear Float glass, has a greenish edge. Walker has built a substantial reputation for his sculptures and site-speciﬁc installations, often relating to architectural scale and spatial perception, and utilising steel, aluminium and glass. According to Ciarán Bennett, a writer, curator and President of the International Association of Art Critics, Ireland, “the scale el-

ement of the work is an important aspect of Corban Walker’s practice and reflects his relationship as a human to the environment. He is under five-feet in height and his work is concerned with exploring the relationships between scale and perceived reality as a spatial dialectic, at first with the simplicity of a chair, magnified in scale to communicate his own perplexing experience of

Pre-season starts around the end of June. Anyone who is interested can find information at http://vdfc.leaguerepublic. com. Players and supporters are encouraged to get involved, so the future of the football club remains bright. As David Doyle puts it, “The Vintage means everything to me.”

Above: Happier times. Vintage Docklands League and Cup Winners 2008 - 2009 Back row: M.Grant, L. Phipps, G. O’Neill, E. Phipps, B. Alright, G. Dolan, T. Kearney, S. Laine, E. Murray, B. Benson, R. Alright. Front row: C. Byrne, C. Flood, G. Jenkins, A. Yuen, M. Doyle, S. Luden, M. Corr,

the normal.” Being in the Venice Biennale is a great honour for the artists involved. Even though art fairs have mushroomed in the recent past, the Venice Biennale, inaugurated in 1895, is still perhaps the most prestigious contemporary arts event in the world. The exhibition consists of works selected by an overall director, and national representatives chosen by the participating countries. The Commissioner of the Irish Pavilion is Emily-Jane Kirwan, Director of The Pace Gallery, New York, and the Curator is Eamonn Maxwell, Director of Lismore Castle Arts, Ireland. Many countries have permanent pavilions in the Giardini, the park to the east of the city that is one of the main exhibition venues. The other main venue is the nearby Arsenale, the city’s huge arsenal and ship-building complex. Ireland doesn’t have a permanent pavilion, which means that a temporary location has been secured for the duration of the exhibition. The Irish Pavilion will be located at: Istituto Santa Maria della Piet 3703 A, Calle della Piet Castello 3701, mid-way between Piazza San Marco and The Giardini, just off via Riva degli Schiavoni. For more information, see www.corbanwalker.com.

BLUES

pressive trophy haul, including the Liam Dodd Cup in 20092010 and an unprecedented treble of League and Cups the season before. Manager Charlie Byrne would like four new players in key positions for pre-season. Sitting in the friendly Vintage Inn, one eye on the Liverpool game that has just started, he explains that the team are “struggling” this season. Byrne points out that his current squad have served him well and that he has “no complaints.” With the challenge of the Leinster Senior League, competing with the likes of UCD and the drop-off in numbers, the team needs a few new faces. Like Liverpool FC the ‘Vinto’ are going through a transition phase. Behind me, the reds are three-nil up after 20 minutes. Mind you, they have just spent over 50 million on two new strikers!

K. Osbourne, G. Doyle, C. Boland, D. Doyle. ABSENT FROM PHOTO: F. Mulreany, A. Jenkins, P. Whelan, T. Kavanagh, D. Kavanagh, J. Kelleher, Gary O’Connor, Glen O’Connor Mason, C. Connolly, P. Cahill, B. Kelly. Photo by Moira Lawson

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PAGE 33

E XPLORING

THE FINAL FRONTIER

F IFTY

By Glenda Cimino

ikhail Borisovich Kornienko, Russian cosmonaut, gave a talk in the Helix at DCU as part of the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first manned flight into space, which took place on 12 April 1961. The audience of 1000 people was very excited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of human space flight in Dublin with a visit from a real live cosmonaut– on his birthday! Over 750 schoolchildren met with Kornienko that morning. Kornienko is a Test Cosmonaut of the Energia Rocket/ Space

YEARS ON

Corporation (RSC). He trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. He began his career at RSC as an engineer with responsibility for technical documentation and software for testing and crew training. He holds the Yuri Gagarin medal, and had just arrived here from Russia, where he received the ‘Hero of the Russian Federation’ Award. Born in 1960, wearing his many medals, obviously ﬁt, his good looks were reminiscent of old-time movie star Clark Gable. Kornienko told the audience that it takes hard work and dedication to become a cosmonaut, not to mention a lot of patience, but the end results are worth it. He described his early interest in ﬂying and space, and how, as a young teenager, he attended cosmonaut school and worked as a ground launch specialist before going on to train as a cosmonaut. Not only has he been out in space, but for 176 days, April to September 2010, he lived and worked on the

International Space Station as a flight engineer, having launched aboard Soyuz TMA–18. He also spent seven hours walking in space, on a repair mission. The ISS has been lived in continuously since November 2000 when Expedition 1 first boarded. The station covers an area the size of the pitch at Croke Park, weighs 400 metric tons and circles the Earth every 91 minutes at an altitude of just over 350 kilometres and a speed of almost 28,000 km/ h. It is bright enough to be seen from earth with the unaided eye as a brilliant point of light crossing the sky. Construction work on the space station has been taking place continuously, with each group of space visitors carrying out research and maintenance on board the giant orbiting complex. A total of 198 people from 15 countries have visited the International Space Station to date, which includes seven space tourists, who each paid twenty million dollars for the flight. Kornienko was brought to us through the combined efforts of Dublin City University, the Dublin Institute for Advanced

Studies, and the Russian Alliance, supported by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Ireland. The aim was to engage and excite the general public, nurture the next generation of scientists and to generate greater awareness about space exploration. President of Dublin City University, Professor Brian MacCraith said that the visit gave young students a wonderful opportunity to understand the excitement of science and technology. “It can lead to a greater understanding of the world and the whole galaxy.”

THE ROYAL HOSPITAL DONNYBROOK

hey say there are two things you can do with your head down, pray and play golf. Phyllis Diller, the American comedienne said that the reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is “so you can’t see him laughing.” Whichever your approach to the game, golfers in Dublin 4 might say their prayers for ﬁne weather on Tuesday 5th July. The annual golf day at Elm Park Golf Club in aid of the Friends of the Royal Hospital Donnybrook is looking for teams of four with shotgun starts at 9am and 2.15pm. Teams with GUI or ILGU handicaps can opt for a morning or afternoon tee off. Fees include breakfast, and the day ﬁnishes with a celebration dinner at 8pm in Elm Park with prize presentation and an auction. Auction items include a K Club package, afternoon tea in the Four Seasons, Terroirs wine, gorgeous

hampers and surprise paintings. If you are an individual without a team then don’t be shy. Organiser Jack Gallagher wants individuals to get in touch too: “We can put people into teams so do get in touch if you fancy a day at Elm Park.” Fees are €500 for team of four at 9am start and €600 per team

on the afternoon start. This offers excellent value to golfers who may feel they deserve the treat but couldn’t justify it recently. For those who may have let memberships lapse in order to ‘be good in the current climate’ this is a fantastic opportunity to get back on to that lovely green. With proceeds going to such a

Dublin scientists have been involved in some exciting space missions. The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies supplied a scientiﬁc experiment that was landed on the Moon by Apollo 16. The Institute also supplied much of the material for a research satellite called LDEF, which is the size of a bus, and Institute researchers are playing a key role in building the replacement for the famous Hubble Space Telescope. Above; Kornienko and, left, the International Space Station.

HAS FRIENDS INDEED

good cause, there need be no excuse or guilt. Why not buy a team fee for your dad and his brothers– or sons and daughters– for this Fathers’ Day? What better way to enjoy dad’s company than a whole day together with a divine dinner thrown in? Memories are made of these. All you’ll need to do is call 497 1921 or email friends@rhd.ie for an application form. If you are feeling lucky, then remember another famous quote: ‘while man blames fate for other accidents he feels personally responsible for a hole in one!’ But be wary, the drinks would be on you. Friends of RHD: Some other fundraisers Friends of the Royal Hospital Donnybrook will be keeping NewsFour readers up to date with various upcoming events and fundraisers. They organise

sponsored swims, bridge tournaments, concerts and sales. Watch this space for details of upcoming sales. Gladys Kingston, secretary to the friends, says that the sales are always popular. “Stalls; baking and a terriﬁc vegetable stall. The ladies who organise our brica-brac nick nacks are quite fussy so you will get some good stuff at our sales,” says Gladys. She promises to let us all know about the next sale in good time to make donations and to go and buy. Eric Rankin, the activities coordinator at the RHD mentions another intriguing fundraiser. “We have a club called the Hundred Club. We get match tickets donated to us and we rafﬂe them only to the 100 people in the club. The fee for a year is €45 and you can be in with a good chance of getting to some of the matches at Aviva or at Croke Park,” says Eric. Again, another brilliant gift idea, and all for a worthy cause. Contact Eric at friends@rhd.ie

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

FROM SANDYMOUNT TO GUCCI TREASURES FROM THE LIFFEY DOCKYARD By Joe McKenna When Sandymount girl Caitlin Ni Chathain took an interest in fashion, there was no way she could have envisaged that one day she would be in the position she is now. Living and working in Milan, her position is that of Gucci World Wide Digital PR Manager. Her role is to represent Gucci across the internet, focusing heavily on social media. After attending Coláiste Íosagáin and graduating from Trinity, Caitlin won a scholarship to study Brand Management at the world famous Istituto Marangoni fashion school in Milan. While studying, she declined to have the course translated for her so she could pick up the language and is now fluent. After serving two years of unpaid work as an intern and juggling two paid jobs to survive, Caitlin found herself with two astonishing offers, one from Dolce & Gabbana and the other from Gucci. “I was working for free, which you pretty much have to do, and I mixed with people who knew people. I went to a GQ party, met people from both companies and after nothing happening for ages, two jobs came along. So I worked with Gucci for about a year in 2005. “I saw that Dublin was booming and came back in 2006. I worked in Kildare Village, which was great because it was geared towards marketing and branding, which was really helpful for me. I was working with the top people who had come from Ralph Lauren and Versace, so I learned a lot from them.” “Ironically, I met my Italian boyfriend on my first day working in Kildare Village. So after two years of long-distance I moved back. Gucci heard I was back and called me up. They gave me a job where I dealt with licensing, and special projects. I had to help promote products by getting them into magazines and such. “I also worked on the digital side of things and just kept working on it until it eventually became huge. Fashion houses were wary of using things like Facebook and Twitter because they didn’t see them as a place for luxury items. But they realise now that the future lies in digital media. I was there at the right time and I also really enjoyed it.” Although working in a cut-throat industry where hard work is the minimum expected, Caitlin’s job does bring with it many perks. “My Christmas gift is usually a Gucci bag. I get goods for up to 50% off and I also get to borrow clothes when I’m at events. I fly around the world and get to work with the best agencies in the industry. When I attended the MTV Video Music Awards in LA, the celebrity office in Rome sent me a box of dresses to choose from. It’s a pretty great job and this year we have the 90th anniversary of Gucci, which will be huge. To celebrate we are opening a Gucci museum in Florence, the birth place of the brand. There will also be a Gucci Fiat 500 car that people can order, but I doubt I’ll get one of those.” As someone on the inside, Caitlin has the scoop on what’s coming down the line for summer fashion. “Block colours will be the thing. If you dress in red, it’s all red. If it’s yellow, it’s all yellow. Block bright colours will be the summer trend.”

By Caomhan Keane

or most Dubliners, the area past Butt or Mattt Talbot Bridge is all fog wrapped up in a blanket. One man who hopes to rectify this is Pat Sweeney, the former Editor of the Maritime Institute of Ireland’s journal, who has just published a book about ships built in the Liffey Dockyard. A photographer who has had a link to the port since 1950, his book ‘Liffey Ships and Shipbuilding’, is published in paperback at €19.99. “Its aim is to tell the story of ship building in Dublin,” says Sweeney, “which is unknown to most people”. It took ten years to compile, looking up records held in the Gilbert Library in Pearse Street and going through newspaper clippings from the 1860s right up to the 1940s. The book is full of little nuggets on the ships that were built along

the Liffey before sailing away and having interesting lives of their own. Some were famous, some were infamous, and some claimed a place in history for doing things they never actually did. Like ‘The Helga’, an armed steam yacht credited with shelling the GPO in 1916. “She couldn’t have fired on the GPO,” says Sweeney, who believes the myth stems from the misery and confusion inflicted on the city by the event. “She was equipped with a naval gun that wouldn’t be able to elevate high enough to fire over the railway bridge.” There were four separate shipyards in Dublin over the years, the most famous of which was Walpole, Webb and Bewley, which opened in 1863. Thomas Walpole was headhunted from a Waterford shipyard to come to Dublin and capitalize on the change from wood to iron, importing more experienced work-

ers from England and Scotland to show the Irish workers the ropes. In 1868 Walpole left to form a new company, Ross and Walpole, on the North Wall, which built barges for Guinness. The Golden Age of ship building in Dublin was between 1902-1923. Due to the outbreak of the First World War, the pay packet leapt from two pounds two shillings a week to four pounds four shillings. After the war, when the British government rescinded the war bonus, the Dublin dockers refused to take the pay cut, unlike their brethren in Belfast and Glasgow, and were hence priced out of the market. After the creation of the Free State the Vicar Company took over the running of the shipyard, keeping it afloat during a slump and a depression by building boats for local companies such as Irish Lights, B&I, Port and Docks Board and the Glass Bottle Company. The shipyard’s final commissions were for two passenger changers for the Cork harbor commissioners, one of which- The ‘Cill Airne’, is moored below the conference centre, operating as a restaurant. The ‘Naomh Eanna’, pictured above, which ran between the Aran Islands and Galway as a cargo and passenger vessel, can be seen from the offices of ‘NewsFour’, where it acts as home to Surf Dock, a onestop shop for water sports equipment and lessons.

W HY O RGANIC ? By Jason McDonnell

hat is organic food and what are the beneﬁts? First of all, to be called organic food it has to be produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers. They must not contain genetically modiﬁed organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives. For the vast majority of human history, agriculture can be described as ‘organic’; only during the 20th century was a large supply of new synthetic chemicals introduced to the food supply. The organic farming movement arose in the 1940s in response to the industrialization of agriculture

known as the Green Revolution. If livestock are involved, they must be reared with regular access to pasture and without the routine use of antibiotics or growth hormones. Other beneﬁts of organic farms would be that they do not consume or release synthetic pesticides into the environment– some of which have the potential to harm soil,

water and local terrestrial and aquatic wildlife. Organic farms are also better than conventional farms at sustaining a diverse ecosystem i.e. populations of plants and insects, as well as animals. On the negative side, organic products would typically cost 10% to 40% more than similar conventionally-produced products. On the positive side, organic food accounts for 1% to 2% of total food sales worldwide and is growing rapidly, far ahead of the rest of the food industry, in both developed and developing nations. The world organic market has been growing by 20% a year since the early 1990s, with future growth estimates ranging from 10% to 50% annually. This is probably because organic food just tastes better.

NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

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FILMING ‘DOWN BY THE RIVER ’ IN DONNYBROOK By Glenda Cimino

hree years ago I wrote, produced and directed a 30-minute ‘sci fi/ romantic tragedy/ gothic horror/ ghost story/ period piece’ film called ‘Vale Road’, by a previously-unknown and somewhat unlikely writer /director/ producer: me. Luckily, I was too inexperienced to realise how complex this project was, or I might not have ever done it. I had written a script and tried to persuade a director I had worked with, Julian Hills, to produce and direct it. I took him on a tour of my locations, and he was inspired to use them to make his own short, ‘Death’s Mailing’, a black comedy about 19th century graverobbers. This highly polished short, shot largely in my old cottage in Donnybrook, went on to win various international awards. As for my script, ten years later Julian’s still photographer said to me, “why don’t you make it yourself?” and

thus began a tale. I had tremendous help, including the cameraman on ‘Death’s Mailing’, Andrew Edger, and a superb AD, Karen Connolly. It took years to edit it, with Noel Brady’s help, and a shortened version finally

got some recognition when it won third prize in the ‘Clontarf Bram Stoker Horror Film Competition’ in October 2010. The end result of making ‘Vale Road’ was that I decided if I ever made another

film, which was not likely, it would be SIMPLE: two contemporary people talking in a room, a kind of ‘My Dinner with Andre’ (1981) in which two actors, apparently playing themselves, share their lives over the course of

an evening meal at a restaurant. But that was not to be (so far). Instead, I have miraculously just finished making my second short film, another ghost story, with six actors, ‘Down by the River’, shot in Donnybrook and Ticknock. This story was inspired by a true ghost story I was told late one night in Tullow, Co. Carlow. While I wrote and directed it, film is the most collaborative of all art forms, and somehow it seems to have emerged like an entity in its own right, nearly independent of my efforts. If you are really motivated to do something worthwhile, people will join in and help you do it. But there is no such thing as a no-budget film, unless you own all the equipment and have all the skills yourself. In ‘Down by the River’, Aisling consults a tarot reader about her child’s imaginary friend. ‘Down by the River’ in its finished format (approx 12 minutes) will be shown with other shorts at 7 pm on June 23 at the Underground Cinema, Kingston Hotel, Dun Laoghaire.

CHRISTINE TOBIN AND LIAM NOBLE UNRAVEL ‘TAPESTRY’ AT MERMAID ARTS CENTRE By Nessa Jennings

n a beautiful evening in late April, opening night of a scaled-back Bray Jazz Festival, the mood was mellow as was the crowd who gathered at the Mermaid. Outside on the terrace, all the talk was of the day’s earlier royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William, the sublime ceremony at the Abbey and, of course, that beautiful dress. Already filled with the music of the day, we filed in to hear jazz royalty: an Irish singer of great accomplishment and verve, and long-standing member of the London scene, Christine Tobin. Inside, the venue is lovely and dark and spooky. Christine’s got great stage pres-

ence and her musical roots were clearly on show. Looking like the fox who got the golden egg, and without much ado, she starts right in, tossing her long, flowing mane of red hair, foxy in her outlook and style and possessing material like gold from Carole King’s 1971 release ‘Tapestry’. Together with her piano player Liam Noble, they unravelled this seminal album: ‘So Far Away’; ‘You’ve Got a Friend’; ‘Natural Woman’; ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’; ‘I Feel the Earth Move’. Into these songs, she lends her unique voice. She swings and sways, and throws her eyes around, following the sound through with a voice loaded with attitude, taking these unforgettable songs, carefully handled, burnish-

ing them and adding jazz. She sings ‘Beautiful’ from the same album for her eldest sister Deirdre (in whose flat she first heard it, while she was still a young girl living in Walkinstown with her parents). The clarity Christine projects into her vocals reflects the pure, uncontaminated joy of this piece of music. ‘Ballad of the Wandering Aengus’ is one of the poems she has set to music. A poem by WB Yeats is sung. Then a flash of pure jazz from Brazil sends a thrill, with Liam Noble reaching inside the Steinway piano to get at the strings in pizzicato, and Christine seems to rouse the spirits of Brazil in Milton Nascimento’s ‘Ponta d’Areia’. It is no surprise that Christine was named BBC Jazz Vocalist of the year, to

coincide with the release of her album ‘Secret Life of a Girl’. And now, with great support from her brotherin-law, she has made this one, ‘Tapestry Unraveled’, again with Liam Noble. After the show, Christine signed copies of the CD and

chatted with music fans. The CD is available from her website, which is well worth a look for her back catalogue. My favourite album of hers is ‘Romance and Revolution’ (on Babel)

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

POET

IN PROFILE

K EVIN K IELY

By Glenda Cimino

evin Kiely is a poet, novelist, playwright, and literary critic and has received numerous honours and awards. Born in Warrenpoint, County Down, his father was a bank manager who moved around the North, South and also lived in England. Kevin has no sense of having a hometown and settles in quickly to new places, more comfortable in a city than in the country. His father died when he was nine. “It was difﬁcult to enter adulthood on your 10th birthday.” The family were cast into poverty and debt in a terraced house. They had no television and played endless board games which he grew to loathe. They used to play a game, ‘library’, taking down all of his father’s books, the 400 or 500 of them, writing down the author’s name and titles, and “checking them out.” He remembers ‘The Great O’Neill’ by Sean O’Faolain, poems by Browning, Tennyson, Yeats, and Shaw’s plays. The books got damp in the squalid house. Kevin attended lots of schools usually bearing a letter; he never knew what was in it. When the teachers read the letter they placed him in a corner and let him write dictation. He was both

SOME

pampered and treated like the dunce at the back of the class. On schooldays he sometimes copied poems. “I thought ‘Winter’ by Shakespeare was the best thing he had done. When I saw one of his plays, I thought he had taken the wrong path!” One of his teachers disavowed the anthologies and put poems on the board by Tagore and Gibran. Ms Bergen, an elocution teacher in his boarding school loved Swinburne, Thomas, Rossetti, Blake, Milton, Matthew Arnold, and Wordsworth. One year an aunt sent a printing set as a gift, and Kevin at age 12 set up ‘The Clara Times’, and ran it for weeks. His ﬁrst headline was about a dog biting a neighbour. He laboriously printed six copies and tried to sell it to the people who owned the dog. They slammed the door in his face. The man who got bitten bought a copy. Eventually there was a fairy tale ending for the widow and her children. “Just like in ‘Little Dorrit’, a wealthy English uncle appeared and bought us a house in Foxrock, Dublin. I was 15 years old, away in London and when I came back, the family had just moved in. It took me hours to ﬁnd a 46a bus, to locate the house. We sat around that

day, we didn’t even eat, we just went from one room to another smiling in disbelief.” He had responded to poems about melancholy and dejection as states of being that applied to him, and discovered that poetry connects you to how you feel as opposed to how you are “allowed” to speak. “When I was 16, everyone was turned on to Eliot’s ‘Prufrock’.” The ﬁrst poem he remembers writing was

in boarding school loosely based on Stevenson’s ‘Requiem’. His ﬁrst published poem, ‘Anemoie’ won a competition in UCD’s Anvil for which the prize was a six-pack of Guinness. Kevin thought Larkin and Hughes were pseudo-classical English poetry, but loved Coleridge’s blank verse poems as all-embracing, intense and direct. He prefers American poets

but admires the Northern Irish poet, Pamela Mary Brown. He thinks there is a diverse poetry scene in Ireland, but with much confusion. “Irish poets prefer boxing rings so to speak and crown champions using crooked referees.” Kevin noticed in American universities that courses on ‘Irish poetry since 1950’ are turned down in favour of dead Irish poets. “I was surprised at the number of Americans who can quote Yeats while Kinsella, Montague, Muldoon or Boland are way down the food chain, and I found this strange. There are no contemporary Irish poets now striking the world like a colossus.” Kevin feels the poetry cabal or clique damages poetry by homogenising it. “There is perhaps a certain kind of poem acceptable to those who fund or publish poetry, the RTÉ or ‘Irish Times’ or ‘Poetry Ireland’ or ‘Stinging Fly’ type of poem, which causes writers to write the kind of poems they see being published and which results in standardisation. The other extreme is perhaps represented by Michael Flanagan’s ‘Riposte’, which publishes an uneven ragbag of poems in a broadsheet– but at least it is not a cosy cartel.” He elaborated “In the poetry scene, the poet-publishers who run some of the presses are generally held in universal disapproval as they wield dictatorial power. It would be outrageous to say that Irish poetry has lost its way, but there does seem

to be an almost state-controlled poetry through the funding process. “This should be open to discussion– how to get a free universal poetry out there, which can ﬁnd a universal audience, not the hothouse variety. Naturally, Irish poets require a wider audience than just Ireland. The latter half of the 20th century has not produced the results that Arts Council reports claim. “Do we want Irish poetry at its greatest achievement, or manufactured according to a certain mould? Do we want a communal merchandised poetry from a mutual appreciation poetry establishment? Not I and certainly not America.” Kevin’s second book ‘Breakfast with Sylvia’, Lagan Press, Belfast 2005 won the Kavanagh Fellowship. This led to a year in Normandy while he wrote and in 2007 he gained a Fulbright Fellowship in Literature to the United States. His PhD thesis will be published at some point, and is about Modernism-Postmodernism and the Woodbury Poetry Room in Harvard from 1942-1980. His advice to Irish writers is to head for Dublin airport, because “we are in the latest version of famine Ireland at present. Leave like our ancestors and try to help the homeland while creating a glorious exile.” Brendan Kennelly has said that in Breakfast with Sylvia “the mythic mingles with the realistic, the spiritual touches the material world.” More info at www.kevinkiely. com Painting of Kevin Kiely by Maeve McCarthy.

LOCAL GOINGS-ON…

Kids from Ringsend Creche are shown taking part in the Danone Big Toddle for Barnardo’s. The half mile toddle is one of many throughout Ireland, totalling 12,000 toddling miles and over the last seven years the event has raised over €2 million.

Ringsend Active Retirement Association On behalf of R.A.R.A, Olive Farrell would like to thank all who took part and helped in the Bealtaine Festival 2011. It was a great success. Many thanks to the CWMS, Ray for the Dawn Chorus, above, Laurel for calling the bingo and the Community Centre for the tea.

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PORT EXPANSION RAISES ISSUES By Sandy Hazel

s an island nation our ports are precious. Dublin Port supports 4,000 jobs and pays the State a dividend of nearly €5 million a year. An ambitious master plan for Dublin Port is underway to make better use of the property. “We’ll never be able to satisfy everyone but we need to plan so it has a good chance of eventually going through the planning stages,” Eamonn O’Reilly, head of the Dublin Port Company tells NewsFour. O’Reilly loves the ‘hardware’ of the port and is keen to integrate it into the city. He says it is too separate at the moment. The plan will include building infrastructure and reclaiming some land. It will also allow cruise ships to travel further in towards the city. Port volume will at least double over the next 30 years and

R EVIEW By Glenda Cimino

omplex Productions presented the Irish premiére of ‘Iron’ by renowned Scottish dramatist Rona Munro in The Complex on Smithﬁeld Square in Dublin. ‘Iron’ is a brilliant and fascinating play about a woman, Fay (Eileen Pollock, pictured right) who is serving life in prison for murdering her husband. She has never revealed exactly what happened. Fay’s daughter, Josie (Liz Fitzgibbon) who was only nine when her mother murdered her father and went to prison, arrives hoping to rediscover her mother and her own childhood memories. Fay is astounded, as she has

the issues of noise, trafﬁc and inﬁll in the bay will be the main concerns for Dubliners. The independent planning powers of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority are widely acknowledged to have been exploited. We asked O’Reilly if the port project, as critical infrastructure, will be exempt from planning regulations in any way. “We are subject to normal planning laws, we have no powers like the DDDA had to make statutory planning decisions,” O’Reilly says. “Every project requires planning but if it goes the ‘critical’ route then the process is just speeded up; it would go straight to An Bord Pleanála rather than via Dublin City Council.” The glossy brochures for the master plan state that noise monitoring data will assist the port development to mitigate it in ‘future development’. We asked O’Reilly about current develop-

‘I RON ’

ment and the cranes and containers causing late-night noise for some residents. MTL (Marine Terminals) did not apply for permission to develop on the land, say the residents. “Those problems exist between the residents and the tenant of the port, Marine Terminals,” says O’Reilly. “We lease the land to them. They have operated for eighteen years on a 24-hour basis. There is a clash of rights; the tenant’s to do business and the residents’ not to have unreasonable levels of noise.” O’Reilly feels noise levels could be reduced but it may need to go to law; either a civil action or statutory law with DCC enforcing noise regulations. “The port company doesn’t have power to lay down a solution,” says O’Reilly. Will future tenants also act quite so independently? No, says O’Reilly. The port now operates different franchises. “Long leases issued in the past,

been in prison for 16 years without a visitor. The relationship between mother and daughter develops, as they share superficial information at first, then deeper feelings and experiences. Fay, who was much wilder than her somewhat prim daughter, is curious about Josie’s work and travels and love life, and Josie wants to know what happened in the past. But when Josie commits herself to reopening her mother’s case, there are shocking results. All the actors are excellent, but Eileen Pollock stands out as the complex and ambivalent Fay. Two prison guards are well played by David Gorry and Rebecca Grimes. Each character is fully fleshed out and believable, and we learn about the lives of each and the nuances of their re-

such as to MTL, won’t be issued any more; the land has become too valuable. We have learnt the lesson from the Dublin Glass Bottle site. The land was owned by Dublin Port, but when it was sold most of the money went to Dublin Glass Bottle. There is too much loss of control when you give away a long lease.” Expectations of some residents have been identiﬁed as ‘unrealistic’ by one master plan expert paper. It makes the distinction between those who have lived in the area for years and understand the working of a port area and those who have moved into the area. Dubliners must also hope that the increased volume through Dublin port will not include waste for incineration. DCC has promised that import of waste would not happen but the location of the incinerator will make export of leftover ash very

T HE C OMPLEX

handy. The engagement process and public consultation by the port offer Dubliners ‘best practice for societal integration of ports’ along with ‘noise maps’. An EU directive, however, requires Dublin City Council to produce Noise Action Plans at regular intervals to provide noise management in the city. It is unclear why this plan covers road trafﬁc, airports and rail noise but makes no mention of port noise. Local councillor Dermot Lacey has said that he would seek to have ports noise included in a review of the noise plan. If we judge environmental concerns by volume of text dedicated to them, then an EU Birds and Habitats directive might mean the feeding patterns of migratory birds in the bay could take priority over the sleeping patterns of in situ locals.

S MITHFIELD lationships to each other. The play is directed by Vanessa Fielding, with set design by Keith Ward, lighting design by Nick McCall, costume design by Helen Connolly, and sound design by Eoin Ryan. The set makes good use of the large warehouse-like space. The play begins in the foyer, ‘outside the prison’, and when the audience enters, it is into the prison itself. Action takes place on the sides of the set and behind the audience (the guards in the tower). The effect is that the audience is present as voyeurs, distanced from the drama of the events, none of which take place centre stage. Lighting and sounds such as prison doors slamming, very effectively create the sense of conﬁnement.

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

PERFORMANCE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP By Rupert Heather

repare to be amazed and sometimes terriﬁed as the best street performers in the world head for Ireland. This collection of sword swallowers, snake charmers, strongmen, break dancers, comedians and all-round jesters arrive in June for a festival of the weird, wonderful and downright bizarre. There’s some serious entertainment to be had so don’t miss out. The event is second only to St Patrick’s Day in terms of the sheer volume of people out to have a good time.

Festival organisers Conor McCarthy and Mark Duckenﬁeld travel the world to recruit acts. As the event has grown, they sift through hundreds of applications to select the very best. With the simple aim of “bringing a smile to people’s faces” and “doing it for free,” the festival is truly world-class. It was while Conor and Mark were watching a group of African acrobats perform in Temple Bar Square in May 2005 that the “seed of the idea” was born. “We both went home that night wondering why there weren’t more amazing street acts in Dublin; not just buskers, but proper big street shows and events dedicated solely to them.” One of this year’s highlights is a serious attempt to challenge the world record for the number of people dressed as Where’s Wally at events in Dublin, Cork and Portlaoise. Be a part of what will become the biggest-ever real life Where’s Wally photo by going to whereswallyworldrecord.com and buying a costume (Go on; you know you want to!). Said Conor: “It’s going to be a load of messing and brilliant fun for a great charity: Africa Aware– and after it’s all over you get a deadly costume to take home. But

Audrey Healy and Eamon Morrissey at the launch of Audrey’s latest book, ‘The Rose and the Thorn’.

book fast, costumes are flying out the door!” Irish performer, Jack Wise, pictured right, who won the championship last year brings his unique blend of magic and comedy to the festival. Within minutes of our meeting he whips out a pack of cards and dazzles this reporter with his speed and dexterity. He finishes with a sword-swallowing display in the pub car park. That’s Jack Wise all over: from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again. This very funny guy is a serious entertainer. He says, “There might be some people in the audience who don’t like magic but I think, well, I’m going to have to entertain them one way or another.” “I think a lot of magicians lose sight of that; it’s more about them than the actual audience. I always think get them laughing first and then hit them with the magic.” Brought up in Sandymount in a middle class family, Wise started doing magic as a kid. He’s now the only sword swallower in Ireland and one of only 60 in the world. “To give myself credit, I have tenacity. I keep at it till I get there. You can’t be a sword swallower unless you’ve got tenacity. You’re training your body to do something which is completely alien to it.” Wise got his big break performing magic at after-show parties for the likes of Robbie Williams and U2. He road-tested his comedy/ magic fusion at a stand-up gig in the Ha’penny Bridge Inn comedy

T HEY

club. “I didn’t know if the audience would take to it but they did. It was kind of a mix. It’s very much tongue in cheek and the audience go with it.” Three years ago, when the organisers were looking for an ‘Irish act’, they contacted Peter O’Mahony, who runs the laughter Lounge. He recommended Wise. “I was quite bold in telling people that if you enjoyed the show vote for me since I’m the only Irish act here. Irish people are very generous in that way but you still have to put on a good show.” Back in the pub car park Wise produces a sword from the boot of his car, swallows it and then admits that “it brings a tear to the eye every time.” Speaking of eye-watering feats, Australian performer ‘The Space Cowboy’, pictured left, holds nine world records, the latest of which is for the heaviest weight pulled with ﬁsh hooks inserted into his

eye sockets (yes, I said eye sockets!). The winner of the ﬁrst two years of the championships, he is “going for a hat trick.” He is an extreme physical performer who does mentalism and bizarre psychic demonstrations. He started doing street shows at the tender age of eight. Recently run over by 20 motorbikes while lying on a bed of nails (as you do), he holds the world record for underwater sword swallowing in a shark tank! He says, “I am inﬂuenced by so many people and by going into hardware shops.” “About ten years ago in Spain I swallowed a sword with an electric drill attached, however on this occasion the drill went off and spun in my throat.” The free family festival runs in Fitzgerald Park, Cork City and The People’s Park, Portlaoise on June 11th and 12th and in Dublin’s Merrion Square on June 16th19th.

MADE THE GRADE !

Ringsend Technical Institute 6th Year Graduates: Chloe Ashe, Sarah Brennan, Stephen Caulﬁeld, Aoife Cunningham, Deborah Hunt, James Kelly, Ross Kemple, Wayne Ledden, Karl McGarry, Daniel McGuinness, NicoleMcKeown Doyle, Daryl McLoughlin, David Murphy, Jade Murphy, Charlene O’Connor, Megan Plunkett, Daniel Power, Christopher Purdy, Matthew Smyth, Ryan Tierney.

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WORD MAGIC EXPRESSIONS CONNECTED WITH BREATHING

By Glenda Cimino

hat do we do 24 hours a day our entire lives, and hardly think about, and the minute we stop, we die? Breathe. We inhale first at birth, and one day we will exhale for the last time. Many ancient people believed that winds were the result of God’s breath. Breathing

was the sign of spirit, a person’s life force. In fact, spiritus (Latin), pneuma (Greek), and ruah (Hebrew) all mean breath and spirit. In the Jewish and Christian traditions (Protestant and Catholic), by breathing, God gave life. In Genesis 1:2, God breathed his Spirit upon the waters as a mighty wind and life began. When God shaped man in his own image out of the dust he breathed into his nostrils the

breath of life and man became a living soul. Some Eastern religions believe that God is breath. Many words in English, like ‘spirit, inspire, ghost’ all come from the old English word gast and once meant breath. Think of respiration, inspiration, aspiration, expiry, breathless. Naturally, idioms connected with breathing permeate our language. Here are just a few examples. I am sure you can think of many more. breathe one’s last: a euphemistic substitute for ‘to die’. don’t breathe a word: don’t tell anyone to wait with bated breath: to wait anxiously, with great anticipation. ‘Bated’ is a shortened version of ‘abated’, which means ‘to slow down’. In the case of ‘bated breath’ this would mean to slow down your breathing or hold your breath. Curiously, people hold their breath when in anticipation, perhaps so as not to be distracted by breathing. ‘Bated’ is no longer commonly used, causing people to believe the expression to be ‘with baited breath’. a breath of fresh air: refreshing; it makes you feel better; a change that feels good…) catch one’s breath: to gasp, return to normal breathing after exertion, to rest or pause in the same breath: almost simultaneously hardly have time to breathe: to be very busy. breathe fire: to be very angry about or over something live and breathe something: to spend most of your time doing something or thinking about it. So, while we may not consciously think about breathing, it certainly permeates our language!

WRITTEN BACK INTO HISTORY: MOLLY ALLGOOD IN ‘GHOST LIGHT’

ctor Stephen Holland in period dress performed his adaptation of ‘Ghost Light’, by Joseph O’Connor, to a small but rapturous audience in the Ringsend Library. This was one of many performances he gave during the One City, One Book festival. This annual event, run by Dublin City Council, is now in its sixth year. It encourages everyone to read one book, discuss it and engage with its context and ideas. It must be working, because every year the book chosen goes to the top three of the bestsellers lists and becomes one of the most borrowed books from libraries in Ireland. ‘Ghost Light’ is the poignant story of an intense and secret love affair which began in 1907, between Molly Allgood, an actress still in her teens, and John Synge, a damaged older man whose life is hampered by Edwardian conventions and the austere and God-fearing mother with whom he lives. He is also the leading playwright at the Abbey Theatre. Independent, beautiful, and ﬂirtatious, Molly is a girl of the inner city. She has dozens of admirers and dreams of stardom in America. She and Synge become very close, walking the wild places of Ireland together, although their affair is strongly opposed by his friends and family. The novel portrays Molly as an old woman making her last journey across London to the BBC in 1952. She recalls her tempestuous love affair with Synge, who was of a different class, religion, and temperament. Her voice was silenced when Synge’s family, after his death, cruelly excluded her from his funeral and destroyed all the letters she had written to him. But the wealth of her memories transforms the poverty of her circumstances, as O’Connor recreates her voice and presence.

GARRET FITZGERALD:

By Jason McDonnell

was very sad when I heard the news that former Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald had passed away on the 19 May 2011 aged 85. He was my favourite Taoiseach in Irish history and was also known as ‘Garret the Good’. He did so much for his country and always put the people of Ireland before all else. He also played a massive role in the peace process in Northern Ireland. He set up The New Ireland Forum in

By Glenda Cimino

THE PRACTICAL PATRIOT

1983, which brought together representatives of the constitutional political parties in the Republic and the nationalist SDLP from the North. While the Agreement was repudiated and condemned by Unionists, it was said to become the basis for developing trust and common action between the governments, which in time would ultimately bring about the Downing Street Declaration of 1993, and the subsequent republican and loyalist cease-ﬁres. Garret was also Minister for Foreign Affairs during Ireland’s ﬁrst EU Presidency and was well-respected in Europe

for his excellent knowledge of the French language. He continued his interest in European affairs all his life and was involved in the campaigns for the Nice and Lisbon Treaties. Garret was born in Dublin on February 9, 1926. He was the seventh Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland. He served as Foreign Affairs Minister from 1973 to 1977, was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in ofﬁce from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987. And he was the leader of Fine Gael between 1977 and 1987. May he Rest in Peace.

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NEWSFOUR JUNE / JULY 2011

SHELBOURNE FC: A GRASS ROOTS STORY

By Joe McKenna

helbourne FC were originally formed in 1885 in the Ringsend/ Sandymount area. A group led by James Rowan named the club in tribute to Shelbourne Road and also the Shelbourne House hostelry, where a collection took place to help them purchase their first gear and pay their affiliation fee. For the first year they

played only friendly games on their first home ground, which was then a piece of waste land behind Havelock Square. It took little time for the club to make an impact on the competitive football scene. In their second season they won 25 out of 28 matches, losing only one, and were victorious in the Junior Leinster Cup and League. The following year they entered senior football and finished runners-up in both

the Senior Cup (losing to Bohemians) and Senior League. In 1906 Shelbourne beat the mighty Belfast Celtic in the Irish Cup final, becoming the first southern club to lift the illustrious trophy. Shelbourne were founding members of the League of Ireland when it was formed in 1921. Four years later they lifted the championship, beating fierce local rivals Shamrock Rovers by two points. By 1939 they had won the FAI cup and were playing their home games at Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium, where they stayed until 1949. After many moves between 1949-1989, Tony Donnelly took over and purchased Tolka Park, where they remain to this day. As a local club still followed closely by local fans, Shelbourne FC have had some incredible tussles with some of Europe’s top teams. In 1964 they reached the

second round of the Fairs Cup (which later became the UEFA Cup and now Europa League) by beating Belenenses of Portugal. In 2004 they became the first ever Irish club to reach the third qualifying round of the Champions League only to be eliminated by Spanish giants Deportivo La Coruna. In the modern world of football, it’s always pleasurable to remember the clubs that started from nothing and made memories for many. Their roots are still in Ringsend, as are many of their fans.

Bin Charge Waivers Dublin City councillors reject proposed changes to waste charge waivers. A report by DCC engineering department proposed an upper income limit for households of €500 per week for qualiﬁcation for a waiver. Councillors objected to the ﬁgures saying the proposal does not take into account the number of people living in a household or their weekly outgoings on the basics including rent, mortgage and utility bills etc. Previous waiver criteria (including exemption from income tax and medical card holders) were to be excluded from the eligibility for waivers should total household income exceed the €500. DCC said that the number of waiver applications in 2010 was 41,000 and that potential loss of income to the city runs into millions of euro. However, some councillors pointed out that currently many low income families were not eligible as they were working but other household who were on social welfare of over €1,000 a week were eligible. It was felt that DCC needed to redress this imbalance while revisiting the proposals. By Sandy Hazel

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