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THE LATEST NEWS & SPORT FROM THE DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL AREA

Luas line rows rumble on in a new direction MARK O’BRIEN, REBECCA RYAN & JORDAN UPSHAW

CONCERNS have been raised once again about public transport in the city.

There has been criticism of the decision of the National

Transport Authority (NTA) to transfer seven trams from the Red Line to the Green Line.

The move was made to provide additional capacity to the Green Line after the new longer trams on the line have had

EE FR

DublinGazette MARCH 29 - APRIL 4, 2018

to be put out of service due to technical issues.

Fianna Fail Dublin Spokesperson John Lahart raised the matter in Dail Eireann last week, saying: “There are virtually daily delays to services.”

Meanwhile, the proposed Metrolink was welcomed by some local representatives but concerns were raised over the compulsory purchase of properties along the proposed line.

FULL STORY ON PAGE 2

NIPPY OUT

NUDISTS rejoice – Dublin looks set to get its very first (official) nudism-friendly bathing area, allocated at Hawk Cliff over at Dalkey. We strip away any bare-faced rumours to bring you all the skinny. SEE PAGE 3

Protest at threat of becoming homeless

PROTESTORS gathered at the Sheldon Park Hotel in Ballyfermot to highlight fears over the fate of 20 local families. There’s concern in the area that families at Larkfield House could become homeless in a row over planning permission granted for units at the site. SEE PAGE 8

2 DUBLIN GAZETTE  CITY 29 March 2018

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‘RAISE CONCERNS’ OVER PROPOSED METROLINK

Move to transfer trams from Red Line slammed  MARK O’BRIEN, REBECCA RYAN & JORDAN UPSHAW

THERE has been criticism of the decision of the National Transport Authority (NTA) to transfer seven trams from the Luas Red Line to the Green Line.

The move was made to provide additional capacity to the Green Line after the new longer trams on the line have had to be put out of service due to technical issues.

Fianna Fail’s John Lahart raised the matter in Dail Eireann last week saying: “There are virtually daily delays to services. Since the launch of Luas Cross City Services last December passenger numbers have risen by almost 30% which is pushing trams to operate at full capacity.

“Luas passengers are deeply frustrated that it was well warned these difficulties would occur but that the only fix offered by authorities has been to remove trams from one line.

“It is clear that there are problems with the insufficient capacity of Luas trams that require intervention but moving trams

Seven trams from the Red Line are being switched to the Green Line

from one line to another will not prove to be a long term or sustainable solution.”

A spokesperson for the NTA said: “The transfer of seven trams from the Red Line to the Green Line actually took place last year in a process that began in September.

“It was part of the advance planning for the rollout of the Luas cross city services and not a response to it. It was certainly not a response to issues that have arisen in recent weeks on the Green Line.

“The impact on service levels on the Red Line of the transfer of these trams, has been minimal.

“In fact there are enough trams in operation on that line to cover what is

referred to as ‘Peak Vehicle Requirement’ (PVR). PVR is the number of trams required to operate all peak services on any given day.

“Transferring trams from one line to the other as needs arise makes sense if there is a tram shortage on one line, and some spare tram capacity on the other.”

Elsewhere, a local senator has welcomed the proposed MetroLink, saying it will benefit business and commuters across Dublin.

The railway service will run for 26km between Swords and Sandyford, connecting key destinations including Dublin Airport and the City Centre.

There will be stops in Milltown, Windy Arbour, Dundrum, Balally, Kilmacud, Stillorgan and Sandyford.

Senator Neale Richmond said: “MetroLink will provide faster reliable

journey times to and from these key destinations while offering interchange with other rail, DART, light rail and bus services.”

There have been concerns about the project, as more than 100 properties may have to be acquired to facilitate construction for the new line, which is due to start in 2021.

The intention is to commence passenger services in 2027.

More than €100 million is set to be spent on buying properties, and some affected homeowners have slammed the planners for not giving them enough information.

Parks, memorials and playing pitches will be hit by the works that are expected to last up to six years.

Senator Richmond added now is the time to raise any concerns for the project.

“I would encourage all local people to raise any concerns and have their views heard during the public consultation on MetroLink, which will be held in The Clayton Hotel in Leopardstown on Wednesday, April 18 from 2pm - 8pm.

People can also make their views heard online at www.metrolink.ie/#/ register.

FASTNews

Suit up for the Sumo Run in Marlay Park ON Sunday, April 22 at noon, the Sumo Run Ireland will be taking place in Marlay Park.

Participants of the race will be running five kilometres through Marlay Park wearing inflatable sumo suits to raise money for Purple House Cancer Support Centre.

100% of the race’s entry fee is donated towards the work of the Purple House Cancer Support Centre, who help over 1,000 families in the Leinster area each year.

Runners will receive a sumo suit as part of their registration and can keep it after the race. They can also participate in Sumo yoga before the 5k.

Registration for the race is open online at sumorun.ie until noon on April 21. It costs €40 for an individual or €144 for a team of four.

Dubliners sought to take part in new study RESEARCHERS from Canada, the US and Australia have published a report showing weight-lifting while on a weight-loss diet may help older people with obesity preserve muscle while losing fat.

Researcher Dr Caoileann Murphy said: “Previous research shows that weight loss diets suppress the rate

of muscle building which may explain why we lose muscle as well as fat.

“This research study suggests that performing resistance exercise may help to counteract this negative effect.”

Murphy is looking for participants to help with follow up research examining the impact of a foodbased nutritional supplement on the muscle mass and strength in adults over 65.

Murphy is seeking non-smoking Dubliners aged 65 and over to take part in the study. Participants will gain a better understanding of their muscle health and body composition and may improve their muscle health as a result of the study.

To volunteer, call 085-124-4080 or email nutrimal@ucd. ie.

29 March 2018 CITY  DUBLIN GAZETTE 3

BREAK INS: 8,571 VEHICLES PARKED AT RESIDENTIAL SITES BROKEN INTO BETWEEN 2015 AND 2017

Gardai issue warning to motorists QUINN KANNER

GARDAI are advising motorists to be mindful of where they park and ensure they lock their vehicles after the release of a report on vehicle break ins.

Sgt Kelvin Courtney from the Garda Crime Prevention National Centre of Excellence said: “Many of these thefts, particularly at residential locations, are avoidable with an average of 33% of vehicles being left unlocked in the last three years.

“Unfortunately, this poor practice has risen as 38% of vehicles were unlocked when

they had property stolen from them in January 2018.

“We’ve even seen cases where two vehicles from the same household were unlocked and broken into.”

The figures show that between 2015 and 2017, 8,571 vehicles parked at residential locations nationwide were broken into, and 2,824 of those were left unlocked.

1,245 of the unlocked car break-ins occurred in Dublin.

Sgt Courtney said: “Wherever you park your car or van, we would always advise you to take your property with you and ensure

the vehicle is locked, alarmed and parked in a secure, well-lit location.”

On average, over €340,000 of property was stolen each year from vehicles, including laptops, jewellery, tools and sports equipment.

Sgt Courtney said: “Sometimes it is impractical to remove tools and equipment from vehicles. In these cases, owners should take extra steps to ensure the safety of their property. Additional locking mechanisms to vehicles should be fitted. Consider a monitored vehicle alarm and tracking devices for valuable property.”

Ireland is getting its first nudist-friendly beach REBECCA RYAN rryan@dublingazette.com

IRELAND is getting its first official signposted nudist beach and it is landing in Dalkey.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is to put up public notices at Hawk Cliff to make people aware about seeing bathers in the nip.

A spokesperson from Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council told Dublin Gazette that although they are not designating the beach as a nudist beach, they are however “arranging for signage at this location to advise the public that they may encounter nude bathers”.

Local councillor John Bailey said he is very annoyed it didn’t come before the council.

He said he is “not against people’s choices and how they want to swim, but the coast is a public area for everybody to use”.

He said: “My attitude is this. This is a coastal area, it belongs to the public and I don’t want any exclusive zones. I want access for everybody.

“I want everybody to enjoy the public facilities.

And having these exclusion zones I think it’s not good.

“I’m not against people who want to do that, that’s

Hat lovers and nudists rejoice: a nudism-friendly bathing at Hawk Cliff, Dalkey looks set to welcome naturists to hang out at the seaside

their choice, but I don’t think it’s good for young children and families.”

He added that he has received a lot of complaints from local residents who are concerned.

“I’ve got a lot of people who’ve reacted negatively against it.

“They have families and they don’t like the idea.

There’s a curiosity factor and that creates a prob-

“

It is not in the interest of naturists to cause any offence to others lem.”

President of the Irish Naturist Association Pat Gallagher told us he welcomes the move.

“Our reaction is one of delight that at least one local authority has the

foresight to place signage at an area frequently used by nude bathers.

“It is not in the interest of naturists to cause any offence to others, so such signage will forewarn of the possibility of nude

bathers.”

Other spots popular with naturists include Sallymount near Brittas Bay in Wicklow, Corballis in Donabate and Curracloe in Wexford.

Mr Gallagher said he would like to see signage being rolled out to other beaches with local authorises coming on board.

“We would like to see such signage in other areas

frequently used by nude bathers.

“We have submissions with several other local authorities and will follow up on these shortly.

“We have not asked for the introduction of naturist/nudist beaches.

“We prefer the wording ‘clothing optional’, where nude bathers can share the area with others who prefer to wear swim suits etc.”

FASTNews

Organ Donor Awareness Week launched

ORGAN Donor Awareness Week 2018 has been officially launched at the Mansion House by Minister Catherine Byrne.

The event was organized by the Irish Kidney Association and supported by Organ Donation Transplantation Ireland (ODTI).

Broadcaster Claire Byrne was a special guest at the launch. Byrne has volunteered to serve as an ambassador for organ donor awareness this year. She will feature nationwide on posters and a radio advertising campaign encouraging families to discuss organ donation.

2018 marks a number of important milestones for the Irish Kidney Association. It has been 40 years since the start of the organisation and of the kidney donor card (now called the organ donor card) and 55 years since the first organ transplant in Ireland.

Chief executive of the Irish Kidney Association, Mark Murphy said: “Advancements in medicine, combined with our hospitals successful transplanting teams and the generosity of families of deceased and living donors has led to this very positive outcome.

“We hope that this can give hope to the people in transplant waiting pools and the many more people listed for a lifesaving transplant.”

4 DUBLIN GAZETTE  CITY 29 March 2018

EDUCATION: RADICALLY CHANGING THE HIGHER EDUCATION LANDSCAPE

Technological Universities Act passes into law RACHEL D’ARCY rdarcy@dublingazette.com

T H E Te c h n o l o g i c a l Universities Act 2018 has been passed by the Oireachtas, in a move welcomed by the Technological University Alliance for Dublin.

Minister for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, passed the act, with president Michael D Higgins signing it into law.

Minister Mitchell O’Connor said that the act is a ‘transformative piece of legislation’, and that the creation of technological universities in Ireland provides ‘opportunity’ for regional development.

“The Technological Universities legislation

has been a high priority for this Government and will radically change the higher education landscape.

“The legislation will underpin the development of a new type of higher education institution, building on the strengths and mission of institutes of technology to develop world class technological universities,” Minister Mitchell O’Connor said.

“The creation of technological universities provides the opportunity to drive regional development and provide more opportunities for individuals, enterprise and the community.

“These institutions will have significant impact and influence regionally,

nationally and internationally,” she said.

Applications for Technological University status can now be submitted to the Higher Education Authority for assessment by an international panel of experts.

Minister Mitchell O ’Co n n o r s ays t h a t she expects the first of these applications to be submitted in the coming months with a view to establishing the first Technological University this year.

T h e Te c h n o l o g i ca l Un ive rs i t y A l l i a n ce, which includes Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT), Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) and Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), now plan to bring the

Technological University for Dublin (TU4Dublin) project to fruition to create Ireland’s first technological university.

President of DIT, Brian Norton, has said that the passing of the act is an ‘exciting milestone’ for education in Ireland.

“This is an exciting m i l e s to n e t h a t n ow paves the way for us to take the final step towards application for designation as a Technological University here in Dublin.

We have been laying the groundwork for some time in this respect and we believe that a successful application for TU designation will be transformative in terms of the overall social, cultural and economic

FASTNews Stars line up for vinyl weekender

Minister for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, passed the act

impact in the Greater Dublin Region and for the international competitiveness of higher education in Ireland,” Norton said.

Norton’s statement was echoed by the president of ITB, Dr Diarmuid O’Callaghan, who added that the TU4Dublin project will aim to help students ‘build rewarding’

careers during their time at the technological university.

“The TU4Dublin project has the ambition of meeting the diverse needs of learners in a rapidly changing knowledge environment that helps them build rewarding and meaningful careers in the global knowledge economy,” he said.

O’Brien urges public to check passports are in date RACHEL D’ARCY rdarcy@dublingazette.com

PEOPLE planning on travelling abroad have been urged to check that their passports are in date before going away.

TD Darragh O’Brien (FF) has advised those plan-

ning on leaving the country to allow sufficient time to renew their passports if they have expired.

The comments were made over concerns that applications submitted through the An Post Passport Express Service are not being processed within

Darragh O’Brien (FF)

15 days, which is the target turnaround for the express

service.

TD O’Brien said: “We are entering the holiday season and I am urging all those intending on travelling abroad to check that their passports are in date and to allow sufficient time if they require their passport to be renewed.

“I specifically raised the issue of resources with regard to the passport ser-

vice with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney at a recent meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee.

“This is something which I have consistently raised with the Minister and have highlighted that additional resources are needed to ensure passport processing times are met.

“The current service is under-resourced and unable to keep up with demand.”

People are said to be waiting over 20 days for a renewal, and 25 days when applying for a new passport.

A backlog is said to have been created due to three lost days during Storm Emma.

People are being asked to renew their passport through the Online Passport Renewal Service at https://passportonline. dfa.ie, though this method of renewal is only available to adults and passport cards.

THIS year the three-day May Bank Holiday weekend (May 5-7) will see the first ever Vinyl festival at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

The programme will feature musicians, producers, designers, filmmakers, programmed talks, panel discussions, curated collections, music performances, album playbacks, art exhibits, pop-up stores, signings, and equipment showcases all meant to celebrate vinyl.

Special guests will include actors Cillian Murphy and Martin Freeman, the band Snow Patrol, broadcaster and writer Edith Bowman, musician Shane MacGowan, cofounder of Stiff Records Dave Robinson, The Pretenders founder Chrissie Hynde, journalist and broadcaster Pete Paphides, producer Geoff Barrow and many others.

In addition, Tower Records will have a pop-up store selling the back catalogues of attendees as well as hardto-source special editions and books.

Tickets go on sale March 29 at 9am via ticketmaster.ie.

Finglas Village Tidy Towns honoured LAST week Ardmheara Micheal MacDonncha officially unveiled a new decorative clock and civic space at the junction of Jamestown Road & Seamus Ennis Road.

The clock and civic space were both dedicated to Finglas Village Tidy Towns, a nine year old volunteer organisation which works to beautify the village through projects meant to benefit the community.

According to Chairperson of the Tidy Towns Committee, Philomena Murphy, the project has been in the works for about a year and a half.

The Tidy Towns volunteers sorted out exactly what it was they wanted and picked out a spot. After that they enlisted the help of the council.

The northwest public domain team secured the necessary funding for the project.

29 March 2018 CITY  DUBLIN GAZETTE 5

6 DUBLIN GAZETTE  CITY 29 March 2018

BUSINESS: CITY CENTRE LOCATION DUE TO OPEN IN SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER ARTS

Jamie Oliver to open new restaurant on Exchequer St REBECCA RYAN

JAMIE Oliver is bringing a second restaurant to Dublin, and Dublin Gazette can reveal the location will be on Exchequer Street, Dublin 2.

Jamie’s partner in Ireland, director of Jamie’s Italian in Dundrum, Gerry Fitzpatrick, told us he hopes the city centre location will open in September/October this year.

“We’re really excited about it. It’s right in the middle of the shopping district. It has an awful lot going for it. It has huge footfall.

“It’s Jamie’s first business in Dublin city centre.

We’re so excited about it.

We could have expanded a

lot quicker, but we’ve taken our time to find the right place and we believe this is the right place.”

Dublin Gazette caught up with Gerry and his team at Jamie’s Italian in Dundrum on their ‘Cultural Day’ on March 21. We got to be a fly on the wall and see what goes on behind the scenes.

The Dundrum restaurant has been open over five years. Gerry said that sourcing quality ingredients is “everything” to them and a lot of work goes into sourcing them. He said that animal welfare is also very important to them.

He said: “It makes a massive difference – that’s what sets us apart from other restaurants.

“To supply Jamie’s Italian in Dundrum you have to jump through many hoops. You have to prove everything about the welfare of your animal, how many days the chicken is alive, how much time the animal spends outside in daylight, where is it housed in bad weather, what it is fed. So, it’s of huge importance to the restaurant.”

Jamie’s are launching their new Spring menu in 4-6 weeks, which will include seasonal produce like spring lamb, lamb burgers, wild garlic, salads, mushroom soup and lots more tasty ingredients.

Gerry revealed to us that their most popular dish is prawn linguine. He said

Padraic Gilligan from Gilligan’s Farm supplies gives a demonstration in Dundrum

they make the pasta fresh every single morning and explained it has been their “top seller” every single week since they opened in 2012.

Padraic Gilligan from Gilligan’s Farm supplies Jamie’s with beef and lamb.

Their business in Roscommon is one of the few family owned and run farming and butcher operations in Ireland.

The farm has won numerous awards over the years including ‘Best Angus steak in Europe’.

They supply top restaurants in Dublin, including Michelin Star Restaurant Chapter One. Quality is high on Padraic’s agenda, and he told Dublin Gazette what makes his produce stand out from the crowd.

“It’s a number of things.

It’s the food that the animals get. We wouldn’t give our animals nothing only the best. We have the best because we source the best for them. That’s one of the reasons” He said another reason why he thinks that his meat is of such high standard is because he plays music to the animals! He plays a lot of Percy French songs sung by Brendan O’Dowda.

Padraic said they love

Irish music especially the song “Are you right there Michael are you right” and he believes the meat is stress free as a result.

Head chef at is Bogdan Constantine.

Originally from Romania, he was drawn to Ireland because of his Irish girlfriend.

eight.

After leaving school he began a career as a chef that took him to the River Cafe, where he was famously spotted by a television production company and the Naked Chef was born.

In 2001 Jamie left the Naked Chef behind when

He has been working in the restaurant for the last eight months and is just back from Britain where he did some extensive training with Jamie Oliver’s restaurant in Leeds.

Bogdan said it was a great experience and is excited to bring what he learnt to the Dundrum branch.

“One of the chefs over there is one of the highest rated food safety chefs in the UK. I had the opportunity to work with him, learn from him and get advice from him.”

At their Cultural Day Dublin Gazette was told about Jamie Oliver’s beginnings.

Jamie started cooking at his parents’ pub, The Cricketers, in Essex, at the age of

he set up his first Fifteen restaurant in London.

A few years later, he led the call for improved school dinners in the UK, resulting in huge change to the school food system.

Since then, Jamie’s national and international campaigns have continued to revolutionise the way people feed themselves and their families, and to galvanize governments and industry alike to help drive positive change in food education and public health.

Jamie fans will be pleased to hear he has a new book coming out this year called: ‘Jamie Cooks Italy – From the heart of the Italian Kitchen.’

This year celebrates 10 years of Jamie’s Italian.

“

We’re really excited about it. It has an awful lot going for it. It has huge footfall

STRAINS

Helping to cut the financial costs of Communions WITH First Holy Communions costing an average of €845 per child last year, the costs of the big day can put a lot of financial strain on families.

To help ease the burden for struggling families, Raheny resident Theresa Kelly has opened a free pop-up shop in Edenmore Shopping Centre.

The shop is stocked up with new and pristine second-hand Communion outfits for boys and girls for no cost, or a small donation.

“I overheard a conversation between two young women saying they had Communions coming up and saying, ‘Well I’ll have to get a loan of €1000’,” she explains.

“I thought they were only kids themselves and I went home and it was playing on my mind.”

After approaching several of her friends with her idea of setting up a popup shop, both her friends and the local community started to get on board to help in her mission to set up the shop.

“The Raheny Inn bought 23 brand new dresses. Dermot McHugh, who owns the local Centra, gave me the shop free of charge and told me to make it our own.

“Hat Society in Dundrum donated mothers’ outfits and accessories from their boutique.

“The girls in the Bus Stop Shop Kilmore dry cleaners dry cleaned every suit that came into us free of charge,” said Theresa.

The shop has boys and girls’ Communion outfits as well as outfits for other family members and was open on last weekend, with Theresa getting an extension for this weekend and next, from 11am until 6pm.

Though Theresa has also kindly said that she will stay opened privately for those who wish, and they can contact her via her Facebook page.

29 March 2018 CITY  DUBLIN GAZETTE 7

SCHOOLS: LATE TEEN HONOURED BY CLASSMATES, TEACHERS LOOKING TO CELEBRATE HIS LIFE

A play for Milo to honour his legacy and courage SYLVIA POWNALL

TEACHERS, friends and classmates of a Dublin teenager gathered last week to perform a play based on his writings.

The talented teenager with ambitions of a career in theatre died of cancer just weeks after winning the Gold Medal in English at his school in 2016.

Milo Smith, a Castleknock College student, never got to see his ideas brought to life. He died at 5pm on Friday, June 24 – just as the last Leaving Cert papers were completed.

However, those who knew and loved him put together a production entitled North by Northside based on his witty writings as a tribute to Milo.

They first held a special performance for his family and friends with a second performance on Wednesday and the money raised will go to Don Bosco Care,

“

This project is a tip of the hat to the ideas Milo had, and perhaps to the actor and writer that he would develop into

a charity chosen by his parents.

Teacher Cormac MacGabhann said: “This project is a homage to Milo and the time we spent together. It’s a homage to who he was, and it is a tip of the hat to the ideas he had, to the actor and writer he was, and perhaps to the actor and writer that he would develop into.”

Milo was always to the fore when it came to musical and dramatic productions at the school and he harboured

FASTNews May sentence for man who pleaded guilty to harassment of RTE star A 40-year-old man will be sentenced in May for harassing RTE newsreader Sharon Ni Bheolain.

Conor O’Hora, of Heather Walk, Portmarnock pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to harassing, without lawful authority or excuse, Ms Ni Bheoláin on dates between March 27, 2013 and January 7, 2014.

Pieter Le Vert BL, defending, told Judge Martin Nolan his client was entering the plea on the basis of recklessness.

O’Hora also pleaded guilty to knowingly possessing, on a hard drive,

child pornography at Heather Walk, Portmarnock on February 18, 2014.

Mr Le Vert said his client had been under therapeutic care for four years and asked for time for a report to be put together prior to sentencing.

Judge Nolan set a sentence date of May 16 next when full facts of the offending will be heard.

Epic Fenian tale to bring classic mythology to life A GALWAY theatre company will bring their biggest production, to date, to Draiocht theatre on April 17 and 18.

Fibin, an Irish language company, will perform Toraiocht – a new version of the epic tale from the Fenian cycle of Irish mythology, The pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne.

There will be a matinee schools performance and the play is suitable for ages 12 upwards.

A pre-engagement pack will be sent out to all schools who book tickets to enhance their enjoyment and experience of the play. Theatre devices, lighting design and set design will be some of the topics discussed within this pack.

Tickets are now available from all venues. See www.fibin. com for booking details.

ambitions of acting as a career.

A group of his classmates, friends and teachers began meeting on a weekly basis at the start of the school year to discuss a fitting tribute to him.

Mr MacGabhann said: “From what I could see, Milo dealt with his illness with stoicism. He was preparing plans for when he would leave St James’s.

“He was going to do a barista course, having accepted that he would have to defer his course in Trinity. He was not defeatist.”

Friends welcomed an opportunity to do something special in memory of Milo and the poignant performances were followed by plenty of tears, laughter and reminiscence.

Mr MacGabhann said: “Milo was ambitious and creative and unerringly positive. The play represents part of that jour- The late Milo Smith, whose friends, classmates and teachers paid tribute to with a play based on his writings ney that he was not allowed to take.”

‘The Government is passing the buck on my son, Ryan’ SYLVIA POWNALL

A DUBLIN mum fighting to find a school place in September for her autistic son has accused the Government of “passing the buck”.

Linda Byrne says she fears her five-yearold Ryan will have to be tutored at home – because the nearest school that will take him is a whopping 28km away – in Artane.

Ryan currently attends pre-school at an Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) unit at Skerries Educate Together, with six other children.

But the school does not have an ASD unit for primary level students and Linda and several other parents have been left in limbo for the coming school year.

She told Dublin Gazette: “If Ryan didn’t have autism he would have a school to go to in September, that is the reality of it. We need a long-term solution and the law needs to change – the Government are passing the buck.”

Linda said she is now considering legal action along with several other families in the same situation, adding: “But honestly, I shouldn’t have to force my boy on anyone.

Ryan’s (5) mum wants to know: where will her autistic son be going to school in September?

“I’m dreading this July when I have to tell Ryan (above) that he won’t be going back to his school and he won’t be able to

see his friends.

“He will be devastated that he has to leave. There are no schools at all nearby that he can go to. The closest that will take him is in Artane.

“He’d have to get up at six every morning to get there. Ryan gets anxious when he travels; I can’t make him do that.”

Skerries ETNS principal Tomas Hickey said earlier this week that he had “every sympathy” for parents’ plight.

He said the board of Skerries ETNS “is intent on exploring the establishment of an ASD resource in the future” but it requires a purpose-built facility, proper training and planning.

The Department of Education said it was aware of the “emerging need” in north Dublin and where there was no placement it would consider applications under the Home Tuition Grant Scheme.

But Linda said this is no help, adding: “Finding a tutor for Ryan’s needs will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. If he moves to home schooling, he’ll regress.

“I have grant money to buy a uniform but I’ve no school to buy a uniform for. I’m disgusted by how hard I have to fight for Ryan.

8 DUBLIN GAZETTE  CITY 29 March 2018

PROTEST: ’WE WILL HIT HIM WHERE IT HURTS – IN HIS POCKET’

Families under threat of homelessness MARK O’BRIEN mobrien@dublingazette.com

THE Campaign for Public Housing held a protest at the Sheldon Park Hotel in Ballyfermot last Sunday to highlight the plight of 20 families under threat of homelessness at Larkfield House, Coldcut Road.

The owner of the Sheldon Park Hotel, Cavvies Ltd, is also the owner of Larkfield House.

Cavvies had received planning permission to build 27 apartments at the site but it emerged that the 45 apartments had been built.

An Bord Pleanala last week confirmed to Dublin Gazette that the appeal to build the additional apartments had been rejected.

The council also recently confirmed that they were to inspect the original apartments due to planning and safety concerns.

The council has suspended pay-

ing Housing Assistance Payments to tenants at Larkfield House until the issues have been resolved.

Families were told last week that they would have to move out of the apartments that had planning permission rejected, meaning that many of them may be facing homelessness.

Speaking at the protest, South Inner City housing activist and campaign spokesperson Damian Farrell said: “Today’s protest was a continuation of the campaign of disruption promised by the Campaign for Public Housing. We are determined to target those who profit from the misery of homelessness.”

Campaign spokesperson Cllr Paul Hand added: “One of the directors of Cavvies Ltd., the company who built and let the Larkfield House apartments on Coldcut Road without planning permis-

Minister wants people with experience of disability issues on boards QUINN KANNER

The protest at the Sheldon Park Hotel

sion, owns the Sheldon Park Hotel.

“We want his customers to show him that this carry on is not acceptable and will hit him where it hurts – in his pocket.”

Campaign spokesperson and East Wall community activist Joe Mooney said: “The purpose of our campaign is to ensure that those who are causing the housing crisis - government, banks, estate

agents, developers and rouge landlords - are not allowed to continue with ‘business as usual’.

“While thousands of children live in emergency accommodation we will not allow the situation to be normalised.”

We contacted representatives of Cavvies Ltd for comment but had not received a response at the time of going to press.

AT the request of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross, applications have opened for new board members with personal experience of disability issues for the Boards of the National Transport Authority (NTA), Iarnrod Eireann (Irish Rail), Bus Eireann and Bus Atha Cliath.

Minister Ross said: “The most appropriate expert voice on difficulties of the disabled is not that of able-bodied politicians or semi-state company directors. It is their own. The most appropriate place for them to express these views is not only in the media, it is in the boardroom.”

In addition to personal insight about the accessibility of public transportation for individuals with disabilities, candidates should have experience related to transportation, or commercial, financial, land-use planning or environmental matters and with the organisation of workers or administration, ideally at the senior management level.

Ross said: “Well-meaning board members offering sympathy to those with reduced mobility are self-evidently less able to make practical and informed decisions than those who overcome the physical obstacles daily.”

The positions are posted on StateBoards.ie and will be accepting applicants until 3:00 pm April 20.

29 March 2018 CITY  DUBLIN GAZETTE 9

COURTS: SLAWOMIR GIERLOWSKI FOUND GUILTY OF ATTACKING WOMEN IN 2011 AND 2015

Man is convicted of random and violent sex attacks

A JURY has convicted a roofer of carrying out three random and violent attacks on women in Dublin in a five year period.

Slawomir Gierlowski (33) of Galtymore Road, Drimnagh had pleaded not guilty to false imprisonment, sexual assault and assault of a woman on September 11, 2011 and to false imprisonment, sexual assault and assault of a second woman on September 3, 2015.

He also denied falsely imprisoning and assaulting a third woman and having a hunting knife with intent to intimidate on May 16, 2016.

This third attack took place on Knockmeenagh Lane, Clondalkin, not far from the other two attacks

and from a house occupied by the family of Gierlowski’s partner. The women cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Shortly after 11am, the jury of eleven men found Gierlowski guilty of carrying out the 2016 attack. The jury had deliberated for a little under five hours in total, having returned guilty verdicts relating to the earlier offences on Thursday afternoon.

All verdicts were unanimous ones. Judge Pauline Codd thanked the jurors for their care in deliberating.

She also praised the “assiduous” work carried out by the gardai investigating the three crimes.

She said the difficult cases were handled with sensitivity.

The judge commended the three complainants for the strength and courage showed by each of them in giving evidence during the trial.

Gierlowski, a Polish national who has lived and worked in Ireland since 2008, sat impassively as the verdicts were delivered.

He has been in custody since his arrest in June 2016 as a suspect for the attack the previous month.

Judge Codd said she will set a future sentence date shortly.

The first attack took place late at night on September 11, 2011.

Gierlowski attacked a woman walking home from a night out, dragging her to the ground

and sexually assaulting her.

She managed to get away from him but he caught her and began punching her repeatedly around the face.

On September 3, 2015 a woman was also walking home late at night when Gierlowski came up behind her and put a leather belt around her neck and began pulling backwards.

He pulled her to the ground and then wrapped duct tape around her face and hands before sexually assaulting her.

The third attack was carried out in broad daylight on the morning of May 16, 2016.

The victim was walking along Knockmeenagh Lane to the nearby Luas

The Central Criminal Court in Dublin

stop when Gierlowski, armed with a hunting knife, put his arm around her neck and began to pull her backwards.

This woman told the court that she thought Gierlowski was going to slit her throat and she grabbed the blade to stop that happening, causing the knife to cut tendons in three of her fingers.

She managed to get out from under the knife and began screaming and Gierlowski ran off.

Gierlowski was identi-

Man who exploited young girls ordered not to take part in computer programming course A DUBLIN man sentenced earlier this year for possession of child pornography and coercing young girls to send him sexually graphic images has been ordered not to take part in a computer programming course.

Matthew Horan (26) was sentenced last January to nine-and-a-half years with the final two years suspended.

Judge Martin Nolan had ordered a probation report on that date into what interventions and services the prison service could provide to reform Horan.

Lorcan Staines BL, prosecuting, told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the probation report confirmed that the “Better Lives” program would be available to Horan. He said that the report also asked the court to make an order that a certain type of programme not be entered into by Horan.

Judge Nolan ordered that Horan not be allowed to enter into a computer programming course as outlined in the probation report.

He also ordered that Horan enter a bond to be of good behaviour for two years from the date of his release, undergo two years post release supervision and avail of all services available to him.

During the sentence hearing last January, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Horan used Skype, Snapchat, Instagram and Kik, an anonymous instant messaging application, to send and receive child porn images from six identified child users in Ireland and nine unknown users around the world.

A forensic examination of Horan’s computer uncovered recorded Skype calls between him and two nine year-old-girls, both individually and together. The recordings included footage of these girls engaging in graphic sexual acts.

Horan also took part in sexually explicit text conversations with the girls, during which there would be an exchange of photos. Horan would use Kik to share child porn images and videos with unidentified users from around the world, most of whom claimed to be young teenagers.

He threatened to share an 11-year-old girl’s nude images to her social media if she didn’t send him more graphic photos.

In the text exchange between them, this child repeatedly told Horan that she would kill herself. He then continued to coerce her to send more images, the court heard.

Horan, of St John’s Crescent, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty to a count each of sexually

exploiting two girls within the State on dates between April 1 and November 23, 2014.

He pleaded guilty to two more counts of sexually exploiting a child and one count of distributing child porn on dates in 2015. He further pleaded guilty to possessing child porn at his address on July 11, 2015.

He pleaded guilty to three further counts of sexually exploiting female children through Snapchat and Instagram in the State on dates between May 21, 2015 and July 7, 2016.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing child porn on a Sony mobile phone at his home on July 7, 2016. He has no previous convictions.

In sentencing Horan last January Judge Nolan said Horan had a very unhealthy, insidious and debased sexual interest in children.

He said the crimes were all committed for Horan’s indulgence and pleasure and Horan had exploited children in a most horrible way.

“He knew what he was doing was wrong.

He understood the damage and yet he didn’t stop what he was doing,” he said.

Judge Nolan had backdated the sentence to June last year, when Horan went into custody.

He had ordered a report from The Probation Service in relation to interventions available to Horan.

fied after detectives used CCTV cameras to track a white VW Crafter van spotted near the scene of the 2016 attack back to Galtymore Road, where Gierlowski lives.

In addition detectives used a wild card search of a partial registration provided by neighbours had seen the van parked in the area to identify the van as one registered to

Gierlowski.

After his arrest, gardai took a DNA sample from Gierlowski and found it matched various blood and semen samples taken from the two earlier crime scenes.

Tests on blood traces on a jacket seized by gardai from Gierlowski’s bedroom in June 2016 found it was the third victim’s blood.

10 DUBLIN GAZETTE  CITY 29 March 2018

GALLERIES

Aisling Mahon and Aidyn Quigley

Charlene Gleeson and Glen Barry. Picture: Brian McEvoy

Agata Matkowska and Jason Flood

Pat Kearns and Ana Lara

Ready for Steven Spielberg’s new movie

S

TEVEN Spielberg’s engrossing popcorn adventure Ready Player One had a special preview screening at Cineworld last week. The film is set in the year 2045 and when the creator of a virtual reality world called the OASIS dies, he releases a video in which he challenges all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune.

Jack Gillivan, Emily Casey and David Byrne

Rosemary Walsh

Shane Casey and Alex Murphy

29 March 2018 CITY  DUBLIN GAZETTE 11

Anne Marie Murphy and her dog Alfie. Picture: Brian McEvoy

A howling good time at dog-friendly screening T HE Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield hosted Ireland’s first dog-friendly movie last week. Dog Lovers were joined at the screening by their dogs at the screening of Wes Anderson’s new stop-motion animated film, Isle of Dogs.

Set in Japan, it tells the story of a dystopian future where dogs are quarantined to a remote island owing to a ‘canine flu’. One brave boy, Atari, seeks his dog Spots and enlists the help of a muttly crew of dogs – Chief, Rex, Boss, Duke and King.

Dave Burke and Miguel Riva with their dog Murphy

Kellie cant hide her joy at her graduation

N

EWLY graduated nurse, Kellie O’Neill, pictured being congratulated by Patient Adele Rubino, from Dublin during the graduation and presentation of hospital badges and certificates in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin in Higher Diploma in Nursing (Children’s Nursing). Picture: Robbie Reynolds

Sadhbh McGee and her dog Frederick

Jessica Cupid with dog Lucey

Dave Parle and dog Arthur

12 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29 March 2018

LOVE YOUR DUBLIN

DUBLIN MADE EASY T

A LOOK AT SOME OF DUBLIN’S BEST LIVE MUSIC VENUES

HERE’S no doubt that Dublin has a booming music scene. We’ve produced some of the finest acts on the planet, and there’s always some kind of concert taking place in the capital. If you’re looking for a night out away from the typical pub and nightclub scene, the city has a host of different hotspots hosting different musical talents on any given night of the week.

Here are three of our favourite Dublin venues that we believe capture the essence of the city and the vibrancy of our musical culture.

OLYMPIA THEATRE LOCATION: Dame Street, Dublin 2 BEST FEATURE: The sense of history as soon as you pass through the stainedglass arch UPCOMING SHOWS: Dua Lipa, Haim, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.

ONE of Dublin’s best-known venues, the Olympia Theatre has played host to acts big and small from both at home and abroad, including U2, Hozier, Adele and David Bowie.

It’s been the gem of Dame Street since it was originally built in the 1800s, having undergone a number of renovations since.

Its regal interiors are complimented by a smooth sound system, making it a favourite amongst music fans.

There are also three bars in The Olympia, including Maureen’s Bar, named after the Olympia’s longest serving member of staff, Maureen Grant, who has been working at the theatre since 1949.

WHELAN’S LOCATION: Liffey Street Lower, Dublin 1 BEST FEATURE: Whimsical interior UPCOMING SHOWS: Soccer Mommy, Alex Lahey, Ian Moss, Wild Child

LOCATION: Wicklow Street, Dublin 2 BEST FEATURE: Eclectic mix of people and ages at all shows UPCOMING SHOWS: Fang Club, Tigers Jaw, The Magic Numbers, Delorentos

A HIDDEN gem of sorts, a gig in the Grand Social’s Loft is unlike any other.

With a slightly circus-themed interior perfectly embodying the uniqueness of the venue, it’s small enough to feel intimate, but never cramped.

It’s a great place to visit to discover new acts that you might not come across otherwise, with ticket prices usually below the €20 mark for gigs.

In recent months, they’ve hosted rising UK pop-goth band Pale Waves, US melodic-indie trio LANY and Dublin’s own Little Green Cars.

A STEADFAST of the Dublin music scene, when you think of a gig in Dublin your mind immediately travels to the iconic Whelan’s.

A good spot for a great night out, you would never be far from meeting someone you know at a concert in the legendary Wicklow Street venue.

The venue is a great place to truly embrace the Irish music scene – it is known to play home to festivals celebrating emerging Irish acts, with newer bands from the county on a regular rotation at Whelan’s.

THE LOFT @ THE GRAND SOCIAL

29 March 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 13

HOME & STYLE:

DUBLIN

HAS PACIFIC RIM SEQUEL GOT THE MAKE IT MALTA FOR A FUN, RIGHT STUFF? P20 SUNNY FAMILY HOLIDAY P24

to a dash of luxury with some soft furnishings. They may look like a random collection – but together they create a casually curated collection of cosy comfort...

PAGES 26-27

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BOHO STYLE: TREAT yourself

MAGAZINE

LET DUBLIN GAZETTE NEWSPAPERS TAKE YOU ON A TOUR OF THE NEWS AND EVENTS ACROSS THE CITY AND COUNTY

THE GIFT OF GAZ | NUDEY BEACH SHOCK!

Ye’d want to nip that oul’ nudity in the bud if ye’re going to Dalkey...

“WOULD you be into the nude bathing at all?” says “Of course I’ll be down on Friday,” he says. “I can’t Davy. wait to have a pint on Good Friday for the sheer nov“The wha’?” I says. elty factor of it.”

“Nude bathing,” he says. “They do it in Dalkey, of “Davy, I’ve seen you in a heap on Good Friday,” I all places.” says.

Sure enough, he’s right. They’re putting signs up on “Do you not remember that time you filled up the a beach in Dalkey letting you know that you let it all electric kettle and put it on the gas ring to boil? hang out when you go swimming there.

“I walked into the kitchen ten “Is it not a bit cold over here for that minutes later to see where you’d I used to enjoy sort of thing?” I says to him. gone and found you standing the craic of stocking there staring at it.

“They reckon it’s good for you,” he says to me. Davy looks like he’s consti- up on beer on Holy “Maureen was going mad pated when he starts thinking, which is Thursday like the because the kettle was leaking ironic given how full of crap he is most apocalypse was for weeks after before we rememcoming of the time. bered what you did.”

“Maybe it is,” I says. “But those cold “Yeah, but that wasn’t in a pub, winds wouldn’t exactly be kind to you, so it doesn’t really count,” he if ye know what I mean.” says.

“Not really,” he says.

I suppose he has a point. I used Irish midfielders from the late 1980s to enjoy the craic of stocking up had less going over their heads than on beer on Holy Thursday like Davy does. Still though, he’s not the the apocalypse was coming, but worst, so I asked him if he’d be down sure we did that with the bread for a pint on Friday seeing as how already this year, so it probably the pubs would be open. wouldn’t be as much fun.

“

14 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29 March 2018

GAZETTE GALLERY 

End-of-life care marked HOSPITALS across Dublin have been commemorating how they support better end-of-life care for their patients and families.

The celebrations are part of the 10th anniversary of the Irish Hospice Foundation’s (IHF) Hospice Friendly Hospital (HFH) programme, which seeks to ensure that end-of-life, palliative and bereavement care are central to the everyday business of hospitals.

To mark the occasion, the IHF launched the special Hospice Friendly Hospitals 10th Anniversary Grants to celebrate the work and progress achieved across the ever-growing network of hospitals under its remit since being established in 2007.

Grants totalling €10,000 were awarded to hospitals nationwide, with HFH End-of-Life Care coordinators organising

workshops for staff, patients and their families, hosting special awareness days and coffee mornings, publishing new multilingual information leaflets etc.

A ‘Tree of Life’ was officially unveiled last week in the heart of the Mater Miscordiae University Hospital (above) to celebrate its work to improve end-of-life care there.

The giant artwork was lovingly created by more than 300 staff, patients and their families. Each ‘leaf’ is unique, with some people memorialising a family member or friend who had died, while others added handprints or a thumbs-up for good end-of-life care.

Other projects at a number of Irish hospitals have also been completed or are under way, helping to honour the work of the hospitals and staff, as well as focusing on the patients themselves.

Manus has all the write stuff for award Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year named

DUBLIN-born writer M a n u s B oy l e To b i n (above) has been named the Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year.

The announcement was made at the 47th annual Hennessy Literary Awards at The Honourable Society of King’s Inns Dublin.

Manus holds a MA in Creative Writing from UCD. In addition to his winning story, The Drizzle on the Windscreen, being published in the Hennessy New Irish Writing page, his work has appeared in The Moth and The Poetry Bus magazines.

His play, Between the Dawns, was staged in Smock Alley Theatre in 2017 as part of The Irish Playback.

Speaking about his story Manus said: “This

story was inspired by glimpses and snapshots of Dublin and its people; by the housing crisis, homelessness and isolation.

“It was inspired by each preceding line that gave way to the next. By the taxi driver who had nowhere to return to when he finished his shift.”

Commenting on the awards, Elaine Cullen, market development manager at Moet Hennessy said: “Hennessy is intrinsically linked to the Irish way of life and has been a strong supporter of Irish culture for many years.

“The Hennessy Literary Awards are always a special evening where we get to honour some of Ireland’s best new writers.”

Since 2003, the awards have celebrated the suc-

cess and achievements of established Irish writers and poets by inducting one eminent nominee each year into the Hennessy Literary Awards Hall of Fame.

This year’s inductee is celebrated novelist Bernard MacLaverty.

Two of Bernard’s (above) early stories appeared in New Irish Writing.

He published his first collection, Secrets, in 1977 and also received immedi-

ate critical acclaim for his 1980 debut novel, Lamb – the tale of a teacher in a remote school for delinquent boys in the West of Ireland who absconds with one of his pupils, hoping to give both of them a better life.

Lamb became a film starring Liam Neeson and Hugh O’Conor, as did his 1983 novel, Cal, dealing with The Troubles, which starred Helen Mirren.

H i s o t h e r n ove l s include Grace Notes, and The Anatomy Class, and last year after a gap of 16 years, Midwinter Break was published.

Arguably his masterpiece, it’s a study of an elderly couple facing up to their past and what’s left of their lives in the course of a weekend away together in Amsterdam.

29 March 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15

PEOPLE ON DUBLIN’S THE RADAR  NOVELIST GETTING DOWN ON THE FARM CARERS, WRITERS,IS DOGS AND DRAGONS

Our dog of Boys excited to welcome a real the week dragon (book, that is) to school DUBLIN Gazette have teamed up with Dogs Trust to help find homes for lost and abandoned dogs.

Rocky is a sweet and affectionate six-year-old greyhound that adores company. He is friendly when meeting new people – he sees new people as an opportunity to get extra cuddles! Rocky is very playful and enjoys chasing tennis balls; his favourite are the ones that make noise and squeak.

He will make a wonderful addition to most families as he is a people-orientated dog that will be more than happy living with children at least 10 years old.

Rocky is a typical greyhound that loves nothing more than chilling in his bed beside a loving owner.

If you have room in your heart and on your couch for Rocky, please contact Dogs Trust at 01 879 1000.

They are based in Finglas, just off exit 5 on the M50.

Map and directions can be found on their website, www.dogstrust.ie. You can also find them on Facebook www.facebook.com/dogstrustirelandonline, or Twitter, @DogsTrust_IE.

MARK O’BRIEN

A NAUGHTY dragon recently paid a visit to a Dublin school, much to the delight of the young pupils.

“Gringer the Whinger” is a naughty dragon, invented by author Jane Landy 22 years ago to distract her four children whenever things got tense or disagreeable.

Jane told Dublin Gazette that the idea for Gringer came while she was living in London and took her then three-yearold daughter Aisling to a dragon-making workshop at a library.

“A magnificent creature of papier mache with long crepe-paper hair was duly created,” she said.

“Inevitably, the artistic endeavour took its toll and on the way home, tiredness set in and a major bout of whinging took place.

“My response of ‘Never mind, we’ll be home soon’ was a complete waste of time and only served to amplify the whinging. I picked up the newly-made dragon and whinged back.

“It was the most annoying kind of whinging but had an instant effect on the grumpy three-year old who fell silent and started to grin.”

She asked the whinging dragon what his name was. ‘Gringer the Whinger’ was his reply.

“Having unwittingly released my inner cantankerous parent via Gringer,

there was no stopping me – and no stopping him.”

Recently, Gringer has come to life again, this time in the form of a picture book written in rhyme by Rathfarnham native Jane, and beauti-

fully illustrated by Corkborn Sheena Dempsey.

The boys of Junior Infants and Senior Infants in St Michael’s gave Jane a warm welcome (above) when she paid them a visit on Wednesday, March 14 to run a little workshop based on the story of Gringer.

The boys revealed their excellent drawing skills and produced their own

magnificent illustrations of Gringer.

Jane then passed around Sheena’s original pencil sketches. One youngster was reluctant to give back a drawing, saying, “I just can’t stop looking at it.”

The session concluded with Jane reading the story to the boys as each one turned the pages of the finished book.

Asked to describe the book in a nutshell, Jane – these days a north Dublin resident – replied “Domestic chaos with a hint of Skerries …”

Suitable for ages 0-6 and available widely from Dublin bookshops and online, see www.gringerthewhinger.com for details of outlets.

16 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29 March 2018

DUBLIN GAZETTE SOME OF THE BIGGEST, BEST EVENTS AROUND TOWN NEWSPAPERS Go on, go on, get set for a I N F O R M AT I O N top Tedfest extravaganza Heritage House, Dundrum, Dublin 14 Tel: 01 - 6010240 Dublin Gazette Newspapers publishes four weekly quality free titles, covering the greater Dublin area from the city centre to Dun Laoghaire

DUBLIN’S first ever Tedfest ‘extravaganza’ is set to take place this Easter bank holiday weekend, at The Church Bar on Mary Street.

There will be a number of events across the weekend, including a world record attempt on March 31 for the largest ever gathering of characters from Father Ted. Proceedings will commence at 6pm, with the event being officially recognised.

The same night, there will also be a Lovely Ladies competition, with the competition being opened to both drag

queens and women alike.

Those competing must impress three judges – including local legend Mattress Mick – for the chance to take home a voucher for a Thai meal and a €50 drinks tab. On Saturday and Sunday there will be late-night shenanigans and high-jinks for the adults, before some family fun on Easter Sunday.

There will be a Father Ted Quiz in association with the show’s own Father Damo, better known as actor Joe Rooney.

Tickets are €45 for a group of four.

C O N TA C T S Managing Director: Michael McGovern mmcgovern@dublingazette.com Group Editor: Patrick Finnegan pfinnegan@dublingazette.com Deputy Group Editor: Shane Dillon sdillon@dublingazette.com Group Advertising Manager: Sue Griffith sgriffith@dublingazette.com Sports Editor: Stephen Findlater sfindlater@dublingazette.com Production Editor: Jessica Maile jmaile@dublingazette.com Picture Editor: Aisling Conway aconway@dublingazette.com Advertising Sales: 01 - 6010240 sales@dublingazette.com

FIND US ON

www.dublingazette.com Dublin Gazette Newspapers Ltd. Terms and Conditions for acceptance of advertisements Reserve the right to omit or suspend or alter any advertisement(s) in any of its publications. We also decline any responsibility in the event of one or more of a series of advertisements being omitted for any reason whatever, nor do we accept liability for any loss or damage caused by an error or inaccuracy in the printing of any advertisement. If your advertisement appears incorrectly, contact the Advertising Department immediately, as responsibility cannot be accepted for more than one week’s incorrect insertion. Responsibility cannot be accepted if the complaint is made more than two weeks after insertion. If one places an advertisement for more than one week and then cancels it after the first week, no refund or credit will be given for weeks cancelled. The advertiser undertakes to indemnify the Proprietors against any liability for any civil action arising out of the publication of the advertisement or any other matter printed or published in the Blanchardstown Gazette, Clondalkin Gazette, Dundrum Gazette, Dun Laoghaire Gazette, Lucan Gazette and Swords Gazette. The placing of an order or contract will be deemed an acceptance of these conditions.

Got what it takes to escape from the Challenge Rooms?

COORS Light are set to bring a new adventure challenge to Dundrum Town Centre from April 10 to 15.

The Coors Light Challenge Rooms run along the same ve in as an ‘escape room’, designed

as a team-building exercise. Participants will be ‘trapped’ in a room – branded as the Coors Light Thermal Research Facility – and will need to try and find their way out.

Groups will come

together to solve puzzles against the clock to see who can escape first.

Tickets are priced at €8 and include the escape room experience and a Coors Light to finish it off.

Tickets can be purchased at coorslight.ie.

Have a sweet time at Irish Sugarcraft Show IRELAND’S largest sugarcraft show will take place at Citywest Hotel from April 28 to 29. The Irish Sugarcraft Show is a family-friendly event which will have a number of different trade stands selling all you need to create fabulous-looking cakes.

There will also be a live stage, as well as a children’s workshop for kids to get involved in the art of sugarcraft.

A cake decorating competition will also take place as part of the show, with people invited to register to enter now.

Tickets are available from Eventbrite, priced at €10.

Drive-in cinema is LEOPARDSTOWN Racecourse will host a series of drivein movies over this Easter Weekend.

From March 30 until April 1, a number of family friendly films will be screened at the racecourse, where the audience are invited to relax in their own cars to watch a movie. You can grab a number of snacks from vendors and listen to the movie from your car on an FM radio.

Titles being screened include Stand By Me, ET, Jaws and Back to the Future, with tickets available now from retrodrivein.ie. Prices start at €29 for a regularsized five-seater car, and €32 for a seven-seater.

29 March 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 17

PADDY’S POTENTIALLY LIFE-SAVING MESSAGE Palmerstown man Paddy O’Leary has every reason to look cheerful - he was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer in 2015 but is living proof that early detection is key to treating the disease.

Paddy’s urging everyone to look out for the Marie Keating Foundation’s mobile unit at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre this Friday where it will be offering Bowel Screening from 11am to 3pm – and could just save your life.

Photo: Aisling Conway

back for this Easter

TRAVEL, PAGE 24

Make it Malta Find fun in the sun for one (or the whole family)

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DIARY

18 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29 March 2018

GOINGOUTOUT

PICKWEEK OF THE

MARCH 31 (SATURDAY) Sam Smith @ 3 Arena, €46

MARCH 29 (THURSDAY) Niall Horan @ 3 Arena, €49 Gary Numan @ Olympia Theatre, €39 John Smith @ Whelan’s, €20 The Altered Hours @ The Grand Social, €13 Up-and-coming Cork rock band The Altered House are one of the most talked about rising stars of the Irish music scene right now. Catch them while they’re hot!

MARCH 30 (FRIDAY) Sam Smith @ 3 Arena, €46 Bagatelle @ Olympia Theatre, €24 Vulpynes + Roe + Cinema + JYellowL @ Whelan’s, €10 Little Hours @ The Button Factory, €22.90 Cut Called Man @ Whelan’s (Upstairs), €8

MARCH 31 (SATURDAY) Sam Smith @ 3 Arena, €46 Keywest @ Olympia Theatre, €22 Big Thief @ Whelan’s, €15 Jess Klein @ Whelan’s (Upstairs), €16

APRIL 1 (SUNDAY) Big Thief @ Whelan’s, €15 Lisa Canny @ The Bowery, €5 David Kitt @ Hang Dai Alex Lahey @ The Grand Social, €16.50 Testament @ Vicar Street, €40

APRIL 2 (MONDAY) En Vogue @ Vicar Street, €40 Flight of the Conchords @ 3 Arena, €86 If you don’t already have a ticket for the hilarious New Zealanders, you can forget about a trip to the 3Arena even on a Monday night, but if you do, you’re in for a treat as the comic musicians explore their back catalogue.

John Gibbons @ Olympia Theatre, €21

APRIL 3 (TUESDAY) Macklemore @ 3 Arena, €44 The Ruby Sessions @ Doyles, €6 You don’t know who you’re getting, and you don’t get more than a few songs of them, but this city centre pub’s long-running weekly charity session is invariably worth the price of a Temple Bar pint.

APRIL 4 (WEDNESDAY) Macklemore @ 3 Arena, €44 Toto @ Vicar Street, €55 Dr John Cooper Clarke @ Whelan’s, €30 Gorilla Troubadour @ Whelan’s (Upstairs), €5

“We have about 20 new tracks, we just don’t know what we’re going to do with them yet.

“The songs are too good to just throw out,” says Aoife McCann, of Æ Mak.

Rip it up and start again... Æ Mak’s ambitious rebalancing HAILING straight from Dublin’s rock school having departed BIMM as part of their first graduating class in 2015, Æ Mak are all about boisterous electro-pop soundscapes, arty stage presence and putting on a performance.

In 2018, that’s meant all but starting again...

It’s a bold move, but one that looks set to pay off: Æ Mak have, essentially, restarted a locally successful career in a bid for the big time.

With one of the founding members, Ellie McMahon, now departed, Aoife McCann has formally welcomed her former backing band and producer into the fray, setting aside a style that was already grabbing attention to remake herself and her band.

“We were workshopping with Ellie during the summer, and it wasn’t really working out creatively. We

 JAMES HENDICOTT

wanted to bring more of an electronic sound into it,” McCann says of the band’s recent change of direction.

“There were so many different styles coming from everywhere, with everyone working on their part.

“The EP’s a mess, and the single’s a bit of a mess too, I think. I just wanted to streamline the sound.”

The self-critical approach seems indicative of big goals: it’s unusual for a band that have achieved a notable level of local success to almost swat away everything that’s come before, but McCann doesn’t seem to hesitate.

“I don’t know ... in a way

I love it, but I’m not that proud of it. I don’t think it represents the best we can do,” she says of the earlier work.

“It’s a bit messy. You can’t bring everyone into the arrangement, it just doesn’t work. It’s just myself and Dan [McIntyre, producer] doing that now.

It’s so much easier.

“We have about 20 new tracks, we just don’t know what we’re going to do with them yet. The songs are too good to just throw out.

“We’ll be working with Rebalance UK, which is a new thing this year. It’s funded by Festival Republic, and you have to be invited to apply to it. “ I don’t think they realised we were Irish, and I’m not sure it’s really supposed to be for Irish acts, but once they gave it to us, they decided not to take it away when they realised

we’re over here!

“It’s aimed at enhancing the careers of females in the industry and giving them a platform. We get a recording session, and to play at Latitude in the UK, so we’re playing that on the Sunday this year.”

The aim is very much to produce a complete package, and in line with the stream of modern popacts, McCann isn’t afraid to admit it’s not just about the sound she’s producing.

“Image is very important. Equally important to the music, I’d say,” she explains. It all comes from the performance aspect of it, creating this other world. But it’s also a selfindulgence thing for me.

“I have a background in youth theatre. I was very dramatic as a kid, so the costumes and the stage setup and the choreography are a thing [I’m really into].

“Without Ellie, it’ll still be quite theatrical, but it won’t be synchronised swimming. I love a full-on performance, like Sylvan Esso or Perfume Genius.

“It was covers to begin with – Lykke Li, Vampire Weekend, high-energy buzz music. These days, the melody and the lyrics are kind of just for me,” she explains.

“I’m not a brilliant lyricist or anything. Sometimes I write lyrics for how they sound and attach meaning to them after.

“We’re trying to mix pop-dance tunes with that kind of darker electronic side.”

It’ll be some career if Æ Mak can match UK BIMM graduates like Kate Nash and James Bay, but on the back of a UK launch through Rebalance, a musical restart and reenergised songwriting, who’s to stop them?

29 March 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 19

WHAT’S BIG IN MUSIC, CINEMA, TV AND BOOKS

ENTERTAINMENT

Strumthing for music lovers in the city’s south DUN Laoghaire’s Pavillion Theatre is the place to be for music lovers looking to get away from the hectic city centre, with several exciting musical events lined up in coming weeks. Here are just two to bookmark ...

Federico Albanese with special guest, Chequerboard Berlin-based Italian composer Federico Albanese returns to the Pavilion Theatre on Friday, April 6 at 8pm with special guest, Chequerboard for an evening of sweeping, cinematic music that transcends genres.

Albanese’s compositions are airy and cinematic, blending classical music, pop and psychedelia. He studied piano and clarinet as a child before becoming fascinated by rock music, performing in several bands. He is currently putting the finishing touches on his third record, expected this Spring. Tickets are priced €23.

Chamber Philharmonic Europe – Powerful Emotions Tour at Monkstown Church The Chamber Philharmonic Europe bring their Powerful Emotions tour to Dublin with a performance at Monkstown Church on Sunday, April 8 at 8pm.

Their Dublin show (including violinist Michel Gershwin, below) promises an evening of versatile sounds with a prog ra m m e fe a t u ring works from Vivaldi to Bach, Mozart to Nielsen.

Ti c ke t s a re priced €22/20; to book, see paviliontheatre.ie, or phone 01 231 2929.

Caroline Thomas, Hugo Jellett and Fiona Callaghan show some of the artworks on sale at the upcoming Incognito event. Picture: Fennell Photography

Popular annual Incognito fundraiser returns

Have an art – your €50 will help Jack & Jill kids MORE than 1,000 artists have donated a piece of their work for Incognito – an exhibition in aid of the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation.

The work goes on sale for €50 each in The Solomon Gallery from April 6-8, giving buyers a chance to purchase a valuable piece, potentially worth thousands

of euro, from a wellknown name.

But there is one catch – they won’t know who the artist is until they buy the artwork!

From this week the public can view the Incognito 2018 collection online at www. incognito.ie and www. jackandjill.ie but, as the name suggests, the art-

ist’s identity is top-secret and won’t be revealed until after the sale.

This year, contributing artists include Tracey Emin, Rhona Byrne, Martin Gale, Dede Gold, John Kelly, Peter Curling, Martin Gale, Mo Kelly, Nick Miller, Ed Miliano, Abigail O’Brien, and Richard Gorman.

Last year, Incognito

raised more than €80,000 to fund home nursing care for the 350 children under Jack & Jill’s wing and it is hoped to repeat this in 2018.

Hugo Jellett, Jack & Jill chief executive, said: “We have been quite overwhelmed by the number of artists donating their talent, their time and their gift to

Jack & Jill.

“The standard of work is simply silencing and unveiling the artworks for Incognito 2018 is a very proud day for Jack & Jill.

“We expect people from all around the country will be queuing outside The Solomon Gallery to purchase their favourite piece.”

20 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29 March 2018

29 March 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 21

ENTERTAINMENT

BIGGER, BRASHER – BUT BETTER?

CINEMA | IS PACIFIC RIM UPRISING A WORTHY SEQUEL TO THE MONSTER HIT?

 SHANE DILLON

sdillon@dublingazette.com

and not so far into either film, the Pacific Rim films

boil down to one simple narrative device: it’s smashy-smashy time, with cities getting trashed by giant monsters.

The monsters (Kaiju) may be beautifully rendered CG creations sharing screen space with beautifully rendered giant robots

CHALLENGE YOUR BRAIN...JUST FOR FUN! SUDOKU

A beast of a sequel, but ultimately it disappoints HAMLET, it ain’t. That’s the core existential essence – and problem – at the heart of Pacific Rim Uprising (Cert 12A, 111 mins; hereafter referred to as PR2), the sequel to 2013’s well regarded Pacific Rim. At the end of the day,

TOP TWEETS

EASY

MODERATE

PUZZLES

CODEWORDS in association with

Sad to see that Iceland have only gone for a diplomatic boycott of the World Cup, and not the full boycott like Ireland did. @paddypower Paddy Power on the Russian diplomat situation

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK BACK NEXT WEEK FOR THE SOLUTIONS TO THIS WEEK’S PUZZLES

Fans of Giant Robots fighting Kaiju in cities will be in their element, but Pacific Rim Uprising, while bigger than its predecessor, lacks the same punch

(Jaegars) as they fight through beautifully rendered cities, but ultimately there’s little narrative difference to separate them from a hundred different (and distinctly unbeautifully rendered) Japanese or South Korean monster flicks starring a bloke in a rubber suit kicking his way through cardboard cities.

In this, the Pacific Rim films are trapped in the same orbit as the absolutely turgid Transformers films – sooner or later, it all boils down to smashysmashy time, with PR2 lumbered with the same ticking plot device as its great predecessor.

The first film was a labour of love for director Guillermo del Toro, probably the greatest auteur in monster and beastie flicks at the moment.

Understanding the limitations of working on things boiling down to fightin’ time between kaiju and jaegars, Del Toro introduced a dash of eccentricity to the rest of the film to add some individuality in this somewhat limiting genre.

Alas, PR2 has simply gone for the ‘bigger, better, more’ approach, and comes off the worse for it.

This time round, we pick up the story some years after the

first film, where humanity more or less defeated the kaiju (giant alien sea monsters invading earth through an interdimensional portal at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean) thus spelling an end to devastating attacks on cities.

Cut to John Boyega as the maverick son of an enigmatic hero from the first film, who reluctantly gets drawn into the fight when – and this is hardly a spoiler alert – the kaiju return, presenting a much bigger threat to humanity than before.

That’s the singular difference between the films: bigger, brasher, bolder.

The watery gloominess behind many of the visuals in the first film have been swapped out for dayglo destruction here, with daylight revealing the scale of admittedly spectacular devastation.

In this, PR2 successes beautifully, with

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS

some superb setpieces and the best fight scenes destroying Asian cities you’ll see this month, at least.

As the lead this time round, Boyega acquits himself very well, turning in another enjoyably charismatic performance that’s seeing him very quickly become a bona fide star. However, there’s just something empty behind PR2.

Perhaps it’s the overcomplicated plot and character development (guys, seriously – characters don’t need motivations, backstories, or a three-step The Hero’s Journey narrative arc when you’re putting a film together about glorified monsters versus robots), but PR2 underwhelms.

It’s okay, but it’s clear this isn’t going to be the same monster smash as its esteemed predecessor.

Despite its blatantly obvious opening for a sequel, perhaps it’s time to can the kaiju and junk the jaegars...

Verdict: 6/10 John Boyega is a suitably handsome and charismatic lead, but Pacific Rim Uprising isn’t a great star vehicle

I’d hate to be behind Simon Coveney in a deli queue...

WORD SEARCH

@sjanemurf On Minister for Health Simon Coveney’s change of heart on the Repeal issue

HOW TO SOLVE

I can’t believe it’s not the Strategic Communications Unit

Codewords are like crossword puzzles - but have no clues! Instead, every letter of the alphabet has been replaced by a number, the same number representing the same letter throughout the puzzle.

@ConorFoley32 Sinn Fein member reacting to news that the Comms Unit is to be downsized and renamed

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION FIND THE HIDDEN WORDS

New Snow Patrol song sounds like someone pointed a gun at the lead singer and forced him to do a Springsteen impression under intense duress @Rubberbandits Blindboy may not be a fan of Gary Lightbody and Co

anti

in defiance of

averse

opposed

besiege

outnumbered

corner

pressed

counter

resisting

embattled

surrounded

harrangue

versus

hostile hound

All you have to do is decide which letter is represented by which number!

To start you off, we reveal the codes for two or three letters.

As you find letters, enter them in the key and into the grid.

Cross off the letters in the A to Z list.

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

22 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29 March 2018

GALLERIES

Comedienne Deirdre O’Kane and John Edward Nolan

Winners of RTE’s Dancing With The Stars, singer Jake Carter and Karen Byrne.

Picture: Kyran O’Brien

A glittering end to TV’s Dancing with the Stars

S

INGER Jake Carter and his dancing partner Karen Byrne won the second season of Dancing with the Stars in a superb final on RTÉ One. They lifted the glitterball trophy after seeing off the challenge of Anna Geary and her partner Kai Widdrington, and Deirdre O’Kane and her partner, John Nolan.

Speaking after picking up the gong, Jake said: “I couldn’t have spent this time with someone better. I’ve had an absolute ball, I’m actually lost for words.”

Deirdre O’Kane and John Edward Nolan

Above and Below: Former Cork Camogie player and broadcaster Anna Geary and Kai Widdrington

29 March 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 23

RDC during the final. Picture: Kyran O’Brien

Emma Fitzgrald,Rebecca Allister and Kerri Delaney. Picture: Brian McEvoy Photography

Talented troupe win Ireland’s Got Talent D

UBLIN’S Helix was buzzing with activity for the final of Ireland’s Got Talent last weekend. Cork dance troupe RDC won the competition, taking home a prize of €50,000 and a starring role in their own television show. Two other dance acts, Xquisite and FKFT, were the runners-up in Saturday night’s feelgood final, which was decided solely by the public vote.

Sorcha O’Dwyer and Amber Redmond

Matt Cooper with his wife Aileen and children Harry and Zach

Michelle Gorman and Catherine Hanley

Laura and Katelyn Blake

Ruth Griffin, AJ Quinlan and Alan Quinlan

24 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29 March 2018

latitude&longitude SUN DEALS | WHETHER FOR

YOURSELF OR YOUR FAMILY...

Oasis of the Seas

Switch over to cruise control for a great-value holiday in one of several top US cities ALL ABOARD in 2018 with these fantastic value USA cruise and stay deals from American Holidays that won’t break the bank.

Let the scenery come to you on a magnificent cruise through the Caribbean. You can also combine your trip with a stay in some of America’s most sought-after cities including Las Vegas, Miami and Orlando.

Orlando & Caribbean Cruise Spend two nights at the three-star Rosen Inn International, Orlando followed by a seven-night cruise on-board Oasis of the Seas (above) from only €1,125 per person.

Price includes return flights, nine nights’ accommodation as stated including a seven-night cruise, taxes and charges. (Depart September 14, ref no: 1562291) Las Vegas & Eastern Caribbean Cruise Spend four nights at the four-star Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, one-night at the four-star Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay followed by a seven-night cruise on-board MSC Seaside (right) from only €1,119 per person.

Price includes return flights, 12 nights’ accommodation as stated including a seven-night cruise, internal flights, taxes and charges. (Travel November 19, ref: 1564362).

Cancun, Mexico & Eastern Caribbean Cruise Spend six nights at the four-star Panama Jack Resorts Gran Caribe all-inclusive, one night at the four-star Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay (right) followed by a seven-night cruise on board MSC Seaside from only €1,975 per person. Price includes flights, 14 nights’ accommodation as stated including a seven-night cruise, internal flights, taxes and charges. (Travel September 22, ref: 1564370).

CALL American Holidays to book on 01 673 3804 or call into their office just off Grafton Street, at 1819 Duke Street, where the expert staff will help you plan your holiday of a lifetime. For further information see www.americanholidays.com.

Malta

Make it for your marvellous family holiday

SYLVIA POWNALL

Travel Editor ESCAPE the chill in the air for sunnier climes by visiting the Mediterranean island of Malta this May. It’s the perfect time to explore its charming coast and architecture with a full calendar of events and festivals lined up.

From May 4-6, the Valletta Green Festival will transform Pjazza San Gorg, one of the largest open urban spaces in Valletta, into a huge floral carpet composed of some 80,000 potted plants.

The weekend of familyfriendly activities offers visitors rare glimpses into some of the capital city’s little-known historical treasures, including the 400-year-old gardens of the Archbishop’s Palace and the Convent of St Catherine.

The Malta World Music Festival takes place on May 18 and 19 with a great line up of local b a n d s as well as international w o r l d music acts performing.

C a r enthusiasts won’t want to miss the Valletta Concours d’Elegance on May 20 which will see the city host a selection of the finest vintage and luxury vehicles.

Alternatively, if ‘the three Rs are your thing’ (that’s rest, relaxation and retail therapy), there are no end of top hotels with pools and saunas to choose from.

Modern shopping centres also abound, including the

acclaimed Point Shopping Mall in Tigne Point.

GETTING THERE With Budget Travel you can depart Dublin on May 13 and stay a week at the 3-star Topaz Hotel, Bugibba (room-only basis) for €379 per person, or you can depart May 24 and stay at the 3-star Carlton Hotel, Sliema (room-only basis) for €539 per person. Prices include flights, accom-

modation, transfers and taxes.

With Mercury Holidays, you can depart Dublin on May 14 and stay a week at the 4-star Qawra Palace, Qawra (all-inclusive basis) from €569 per person. Prices includes flights, accommodation, taxes and return transfers in resort.

With Concorde Travel, you can depart Dublin on May 14 or 15 and stay a week at the 4-star Hotel Kennedy Nova, Sliema (B&B basis) from €554 per person, or at the 5-star Le

Meridian Hotel, St Julian’s (B&B basis) from €909 per person.

Prices are for two people sharing and include flights, accommodation, taxes and transfers.

Visit www.maltaireland.com for further information and details of events that will be taking place in Malta this May. Prices correct as of March 21, with limited availability and are also based on Ryanair flights so therefore are subject to change. Prices include flights, accommodation, taxes and transfers.

29 March 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 25

A GUIDE TO TEMPTING FOOD AND LOCATIONS

FOOD & TRAVEL

ANOTHER DELICIOUS AND EASY-TO-MAKE RECIPE COURTESY OF SIUCRA AND CATHERINE FULVIO

HSE, UCC COOK UP A BOOK TO HELP SUPPORT YOUR NUTRITION

Brownielicious baking treats DECADENT, rich chocolate brownies topped with honeycomb and a helping of mint ice-cream makes for the perfect treat.

Siucra and Catherine Fulvio together have created the perfect Mint Brownies recipe (with 16 squares) for you to whip up at home.

Brownie ingredients  180g dark chocolate, broken  100g butter  Half tsp vanilla extract  3 drops peppermint extract  180g Siucra soft brown sugar  3 eggs, beaten  120g plain flour  1 tsp baking powder Honeycomb ingredients  220g Siucra caster sugar  2 tsp bicarbonate of soda You’ll also need mint chocolate ice-cream, and mint sprigs, to garnish.

To make the browniess  Preheat the oven to 170C/150C/Gas 3.  Line a baking tray 20cm x 20cm with baking parchment.  Place the broken chocolate, butter and peppermint extract in a bowl over a bain marie and melt.  Allow to cool slightly, then stir in the sugar.

Carefully fold in the beaten eggs.  Sift the flour and the baking powder and gently fold into the mixture.  Pour the mixture into the baking tray and bake for about 20 to 22 minutes or until just set.  Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool, then cut into 16 squares To prepare the honeycomb  Line a 20cm x 20cm baking tray with foil and brush with a little oil.

Place the caster sugar into a deep saucepan (it must be a deep saucepan as the honeycomb bubbles up) over a low heat until it turns amber in colour.  Take the saucepan off the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda and quickly stir with a wooden spoon. Be careful the honeycomb will bubble up. Pour the honeycomb into the tin and leave to cool completely.  Leave for 90 minutes until cold before cracking and roughly crushing.

THE HSE and University College Cork (UCC) have published a new cookbook aimed at providing highcalorie, high-protein recipes for the estimated 145,000 people in Ireland who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition.

Created by dietitians and chefs, Making the Most of Every Bite contains easy to prepare and nourishing recipes, enriched with extra energy and protein to help slow down or prevent weight loss associated with illness.



To decorate and serve  Place chocolate brownie on serving plate with a scoop of mint chocolate ice-cream and spoon crushed honeycomb on top of each brownie, then sprinkle with icing sugar and a mint sprig.

Romain Cools, president of the World Potato Congress with Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Andrew Doyle. Picture: Fennell Photography

Spudtacular gathering to celebrate our tasty tubers THE Irish Potato Federation (IPF), with the support of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, alongside Bord Bia, Failte Ireland and Teagasc, has won the bid to host the World Potato Congress (WPC) in 2021 in Dublin.

Speaking at the launch in the RDS last week, Michael Hoey, president of the IPF, said: “Winning the WPC for Ireland is the culmination of a lot of hard and creative work by a very dedicated committee.

“I know that the 2021 congress will shine a spotlight on the importance of the potato in Ireland and across the globe and become a centerpiece of world-class marketing excellence.”

The president and chief executive of WPC Inc, Romain Cools, chipped in: “Ireland has a very important historical and cultural connection with the potato going back hundreds of years.

“I see the 2021 Congress looking at the important role the potato will play in the future as a sustainable source for

food security across the world.

“The WPC in Dublin will be the perfect follow up to this year’s congress, which will be held in May 2018 in Cuzco, Peru, under the title, Biodiversity, food security and business.

“I will be working closely with the IPF over the coming years and really look forward to visiting Dublin in 2021 for the congress.”

It is envisaged that 1,000 delegates from developing and developed countries across the globe, including growers, researchers, producers, traders, processors and manufacturers, will attend the congress.

The IPF has also secured the simultaneous hosting of the Europatat Congress, which is the annual congress of the European association of the potato trade.

Both events will become a week-long focus on the potato – the third-most important food crop in terms of global consumption.

Serious healthcare issue Dr Sharon Kennelly, registered clinical specialist dietitian and nutrition project lead, said: “Malnutrition is a serious healthcare issue in Ireland today and healthcare professionals working in the community are well-placed to recognise the risk.

“A food-based approach should always be part of the first steps in managing malnutrition and we are delighted to partner with dietetic colleagues in UCC to make this cookbook available to people who can benefit from it.

“We have piloted it with a small number of patients and family members who are supporting loved ones, and the feedback has been very positive.”

The toolkit is available to view at www.hse.ie/nutritionsupports and the cookbook (below) is available to view in the ‘Public’ section.

Remember: it is important to discuss this cookbook with your nurse, doctor or dietitian to check whether it is appropriate for you.

26 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29 March 2018

HOME | KEEPING IT COSY WITH SOFT FURNISHINGS…MODERN BOHEMIAN STYLE

Soft and comfy is key to a Boho room  Jessica Maile, Style Editor

PILLOW TALK and blankets too…

Great ideas can be found in the Spring/Summer styles from DFS (top), Monsoon (bottom left) and Penneys (bottom right)

jmaile@dublingazette.com Another important aspect of the modern Bohemian style is soft furnishing. Adding layers of textiles really warms up a room and adds much-needed texture. Think blankets, rugs, pillows and poufs. Here is where you can truly play with colour and pattern.

Mix ikat, stripes, animal prints, tropical motifs and anything fuzzy and fluffy for your own unique look.

Layering is also key whether its blankets, rugs or pillows.

THE SOFT TOUCH | QUICK AND EASY WAY TO SOFTEN UP A ROOM IN MINUTES

Next Two tone ochre basket €38

HomeSense Palm Fringe Cushion Cover €19.99

Michael Murphy Home Furnishings Sheepskin Rug €89

29 March 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 27

CLEVER BLURB HERE FOR THIS SECTION

HOME & STYLE

BeautyBITS

• Ladies Hooded Sweater €9.99

• Equestrian Boots €19.99

• Ladies’ Riding Breeches €16.99 Aldi’s ladies’ hybrid jacket €24.99 is wind and water resistant. Your four-legged friends would know you are definitely know you aren’t horsing around...

• Ladies’ Seamless Zip Neck Top €9.99

Horsing around…

Beauty Review

EXPRESSING a unique style is import at work as well as off. It’s also important to have the right gear and a statement style even for those extra-curricular activities, so you feel confident and comfortable. If all things equestrian is your fave, check out Aldi’s new line of clothing just for that very thing. They offer an equstrian look for an affordable price for adults and children, so round up some deals!

On sale in all 130 Aldi stores nationwide • Junior Equestrian Long Sleeved Top €3.99 from April 8.

• Junior Reversible Gilet €12.99

• Junior Reversible Gilet €12.99

 Jessica Maile, Style Editor

A little lid luxury

COMPANY: NYX Professional Makeup PRODUCT: Lid Lingerie Metallic Liquid Eyeshadow PURPOSE: Give those lovely lids a pop of colour TEXTURE:  FRAGRANCE:  PERFORMANCE:  PRICE: € l’ve had NYX Professional Makeup’s Lid Lingerie Metallic Eyeshadow for a few weeks now and it has completely changed my mind on liquid shadows.

I had it in my head that eyeshadow should just

be in a dry, powdered form.

Who wants sticky stuff on their eyelids, right?

But I was wrong, wrong, oh so very wrong! This magical eye lingerie was very smooth and silky and easy to apply. It does have a pearly metallic sheen but it’s not over the top and can be used for day and night looks and you aslo don’t have to be under 21 to wear it.

The colour I tested was 07 Whimsy/Fantaisie.

It’s medium rosy pink that actually gives lids a rosy look not an ‘I’ve been awake all night’ tired

look. A couple of swipes of the wand and my eyes were transformed and made my blue eyes really pop. And the best thing?

In a bind, I dapped a bit on my fingers to use as a lip gloss and a quick blusher! Score!

Available in a range of gorgeous nude hues,from soft baby pink shimmer and bronze to deep taupe shimmer and jewel tones. Available in pharmacies nationwide. RRP 8 euro.

Summer denim with a COS…  Rachel D’Arcy

COS Virgil

WITH the 90’s queen of Double Denim herself, Britney Spears, announcing a brand new denim campaign for Paris’ Kenzo, it’s clear that denim is most certainly on the agenda for SS18. Upscale retailer COS have put together the chicest denim pieces so you can achieve designer denim delight at a high street price. Take a look at some of our favourite pieces from the collection.

28 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29 March 2018

TECH TIME

MACHINE OF THE WEEK

Facebook data row Polo pushes rumbles on during another intense week on in size and SHANE DILLON

Tech Editor

tance to appear.

There’s great anger on both sides of the Atlantic at how loopholes and exploits seemingly left Facebook user data exposed for third parties to exploit, trawl through and repurpose – with Facebook’s defense that such data mining chinks in user data armor were sealed off some years ago, when discovered, doing little to abate the criticism and political pressure.

Adding fuel to the fire, there’ve also been several widespread media articles over the past week about people requesting to see the data Facebook holds or records about them, and then being shocked by the amount and breadth of data noted, from the major to the minor points of their lives.

As I wrote last week, this is not only the biggest tech story of the year so far, by far, but also one of the biggest news stories of the year, too.

With an entire week doing little to dampen down the flames, I suspect there’s plenty more still to come as the Facebook-Cambridge Analytics row blazes on.

If there’s one good point to emerge from this spectacular row, it’s this: the Facebook row should act as a clarion call for any and all social media users, on any platform, to ask and note what data is being stored about them, and what data they’re providing to the platforms.

To be crystal clear: I’m not saying to delete your Facebook account, or Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, or whatever.

(As a disclaimer, I’m currently mulling over whether or not to also delete my own profile.)

But if, like most of us, you have absolutely no idea what data is being stored about you, now’s a good time to try to find out, and then decide whether or not you’re happy.

Best of luck finding out how much others may know about you – or how little you know they know...

“It’s not a political statement and I didn’t do this because someone dared me to do it. Just don’t like Facebook. Gives me the willies. Sorry.” Billionaire Elon Musk, on rapidly deleting the SpaceX and Tesla Facebook pages

ANOTHER week, and another seven long days of an intense firestorm surrounding Facebook, with allegations and intense interest whirling like harpies around the tech titan.

If anyone thought that last week’s spectacularly explosive revelations about data mining and potential political interference would quietly slip away into the night ... brother, how wrong you were.

If anything, matters have escalated, with all kinds of people and groups deleting their Facebook profiles and accounts in protest, with SpaceX and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk among the highprofile names abandoning Facebook in the past week.

The SpaceX and Tesla Facebook pages disappeared mere minutes after Musk tweeted: “It’s not a political statement and I didn’t do this because someone dared me to do it. Just don’t like Facebook. Gives me the willies. Sorry.”

When you’re a billionaire tech titan yourself, it’s easy to decide to abruptly sever your companies’ Facebook presence, but in this Musk wasn’t alone – lots of people have jumped on board the #DeleteFacebook boycott movement, in protest at the data of more than 50 million Facebook users being data mined by an external company, potentially exponentially giving access to many more people, and used for political purposes.

Cross-Atlantic anger hasn’t abated, with watchdogs and politicians practically brandishing pitchforks, chair legs and burning torches at the mere mention of Facebook with, at the time of writing, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg prompting intense criticism from British politicians.

With the Cambridge Analytics data harvesting row gaining legs, as they say, sending Facebook’s value tumbling, Zuckerberg has agreed to appear before US Congress to testify

– but has declined to appear before members of parliament in Britain, with his stance blasted as “absolutely astonishing” by an irate committee chair there, who had some sharp words about Zuckerberg’s reluc-

there’s “oneIfgood point

to emerge, it’s this: the Facebook row should act as a clarion call for any and all social media users, on any platform, to ask and note what data is being stored about them

safety features VOLKSWAGEN has more than revamped the Polo as the popular supermini in its range has grown bigger and more spacious and now comes with a host more safety features, Michael Moroney found out during his recent test drive.

VOLKSWAGEN’S new Polo celebrates more than its sixth generation; it’s a celebration that the new small car in the supermini segment has grown in size, style and comfort.

When Volkswagen launched the new Polo last autumn in preparation for 2018 deliveries, it was difficult to appreciate just how much the car had changed.

Spend some time behind the wheel and you can experience the difference.

This car is grown in stature in almost every respect. It’s bigger on the inside as well as being longer and wider than the car that it replaces. In some senses this Polo is almost as spacious as the original Golf.

Everything about the new Polo is different; the design changes are more radical than usual from Volkswagen, while it’s the size and space that are especially appealing.

Volkswagen Polo 1.0 Engine Engine power 0 – 100km/hr Economy Fuel Tank Capacity CO2 emissions Road Tax Band Main Service Euro NCAP Rating Warranty Entry Price This Polo benefits from Volkswagen’s new technology in every respect from the electronic dials to the large infotainment screen on the Comfortline models, to new levels of safety equipment.

There’s a bigger boot, which has grown in capacity from 280 to 351 litres, making it the most spacious boot in the supermini segment.

The car feels roomier in every sense and you’ll notice that after some time behind the wheel.

1.0 litre 65hp 15.5 seconds 21km/litre (4.7/100km or 60mpg) 40 litres 108g/km A3 €190 20,000km/12 months 5 star (2017) 3 years €16,795 There’s also a solid feel to the Polo. Even with the entry level 1.0 litre 3 cylinder engine under the bonnet, and its light overall weight, the car retains the solid feel that we have come to accept from Volkswagen cars.

This improved 1.0 petrol engine is one of the smoothest three-cylinder petrol engine cars that I’ve driven. Volkswagen has engineered the motor and its mounting system to give smooth power delivery, even if the entry

Brakes on self-driving technology THE development of self-driving car technology took a setback last week following the death of a woman in the US struck by a self-driving car with no human control.

This is the first fatality involving a fully autonomous vehicle, which in this case was an Uber controlled Volvo XC90.

The crash is reported to have involved an XC90 in autonomous mode with an operator behind the wheel. It has prompted Uber and Toyota to suspend all testing

of self-driving cars in the US. Motor industry experts believe that Europe’s slower, more regulated testing of autonomous vehicles may reduce the likelihood of accidents similar to the US one.

European rules are stricter around the testing of autonomous cars as many countries have been slow to allow car companies to test automated vehicles on European streets other than on private streets and at low speeds.

29 March 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29

TECH & MOTORS

Ford’s new sleeker Mustang FORD has launched a sleeker, faster and more technologically-advanced Ford Mustang that claims to deliver more athletic styling, sophisticated engine and suspension enhancements. The car comes with advanced driver assistance features and more customisation options.

This Mustang is available in fastback and convertible body styles, the recognisable, powerful Mustang profile now claims to feature more refined aerodynamics. The styling is enhanced with LED lighting technology, and a choice of 11 exterior colours and new alloy wheel options.

The Mustang’s 5.0-litre Ford V8 engine now delivers 450bhp and is able to sprint from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 4.3 seconds when combined with Ford’s new 10-speed automatic gearbox.

The new Volkswagen Polo is a bigger and marginally longer car than in the past

level power is relatively low at 65bhp.

Out on the road, there is no power deficiency; the car has an impressive acceleration rating of 15.5 seconds in a 0 to 100km/hr race, although the relatively low engine torque will be noticeable on steep hilly inclines.

This is a modern engine that comes with a stop-start system and a regenerative braking mode, all designed to deliver a rated fuel efficiency figure of 21km/ l i t re ( 4 . 7 / 1 0 0 k m o r 60mpg).

I found that this economy figure was difficult

to achieve. My 600km test drive returned an economy rating that was about 20% lower, which is a usual performance relative to the quoted economy figure.

On the inside there is a more digital feel to the new Polo.

Volkswagen claims that this is the first car in its class to be offered with the optional Active Info Display. This replaces the traditional analogue speedometer and driver cluster with a very impressive hi-res 10.25inch digital display, similar to what’s offered in the Golf.

OPEL claims that the new Corsa GSi, due here in Ireland in September, comes with sports chassis fine-tuned on the Nordschleife of the Nurburgring.

The exterior design of the Corsa GSi leaves no doubts and continues in the long GSi tradition.

True to the Corsa GSi concept, the three-door small car claims to impress with large air intakes, sculptured bonnet, prominent rear spoiler and precisely modelled side sills.

From the front, the Opel GSi fascia with large honeycomb grille and the central Opel Blitz supported by two wings, along with the exterior rear view mirror housings in carbon racing-look become visible.

You’ll be impressed with the car’s infotainment systems of up to 8-inches in size available and digital interfaces for smartphones. This allows users access to their apps and various online services on board and Bluetooth set up for multiple phones is easy to do.

This new Polo has more standard safety features than its predecessor, including Front Assist with Pedestrian Monitoring and City Emergency Braking.

The Polo now has more airbags than ever before, with the addition of a

The large chrome-ringed design elements that are visually connected in a horizontal line via black crosspieces running across the front, along with the black traverse cleat on the bonnet support the impression of roadclinging athlete.

The rear spoiler on the edge of the roof creates additional downforce, the sporty chrome tailpipe is framed by the vibrant design of the rear apron in body colour.

The GSi driver sits on the optional Recaro performance seat and grips the sports steering wheel.

The car comes with a leather gearshift knob and aluminium sport pedals.

Opel claims that the sport chassis known from the OPC

curtain airbag system for front and rear passengers which is designed to protect the driver’s and passengers’ heads in the event of an accident.

Not surprisingly this new Polo has recently come through the Euro NCAP crash test safety system with a five star rating.

There is good rear seat access to the two Iso-Fix child seat couplings as the doors open wide.

Entry prices start at €16,795 for the base Trendline model, which is competitive, while the Comfortline models give more in terms of features

and accessories.

The standard equipment includes Bluetooth connectivity, 6.5-inch Co m p o s i t i o n Co l o u r radio system with four speakers, a multi-function display and Forward collision warning Front Assist with autonomous emergency braking.

Volkswagen has lots of specification options around the new Polo, so there is plenty of choice available to build around what is an impressively spacious supermini.

This Polo has grown in size, capacity and comfort with an impressive safety system included.

New Corsa GSi continues sports star tradition

There is the option of the more fuel-efficient 2.3-litre EcoBoost petrol engine delivers 290 PS and 440 Nm of torque alongside 9.0 l/100km (31.4 mpg) and 199 g/km CO2, when combined with a six-speed manual gearbox.

Mustang’s six-speed manual transmission now features rev-matching technology that delivers smoother, faster downshifts accompanied by a “blip” of the powerful engine.

A contemporary, upscale interior features softtouch materials and a 12-inch all-digital instrument cluster for a superior occupant experience.

Gearing up for electric future THE Volkswagen Group is claimed to be moving to electric vehicle e-mobility as Matthias Muller, CEO of Volkswagen AG reported that 16 Volkswagen Group locations around the globe are to produce battery powered vehicles by the end of 2022.

The Group currently produces electric vehicles at three locations with a further nine factories scheduled to be equipped for this purpose. The Group has agreed partnerships with battery manufacturers to ensure adequate battery capacity for this massive expansion of environmentally-friendly electric mobility.

Volkswagen presented a number of e-mobility innovations at the recent Geneva International Motor Show, among them the Audi e-tron, the Porsche Mission E and the ID Vizzion, another member of the new Volkswagen ID family. From 2019, there will be a new electric vehicle “virtually every month”, Müller said. The Volkswagen Group intends to offer the largest fleet of electric vehicles in the world, across all brands and regions, in just a few years, he said.

The ID Vizzion

version and the brakes with red callipers ensure precise athleticism, handling and short braking distances also when combined with the optional 18-inch light alloy wheels.

Corsa GSi occupants can also enjoy connectivity with the optional IntelliLink infotainment system and bring the world of Apple iOS and Android smartphones into the car.

30 DUBLIN GAZETTE  CITY 29 March 2018

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32 DUBLIN GAZETTE  CITY 22 March 2018

FEATURES FAITH | CHOIR’S MEMBERS DELIGHTED TO HELP CREATE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC – FOR 10 YEARS

Heavenly sounds evoke real pride

QUINN KANNER

BALLYMUN Road-based Our Lady of Victories (OLV) Gospel Choir is set to perform a concert at The Button Factory in Temple Bar to celebrate 10 years of music, with musical director Ciaran Coll saying: “There’s a real sense of pride to have got here, to get 10 years out of this.

“There aren’t many choirs which last that long because it’s very hard to sustain a group and to keep motivation, and to do what we do in the world that we live in is even harder.”

The choir was started in September, 2007

“

There isn’t another choir like this in the whole of the diocese that sing every single Sunday alongside the creation of a 6:30pm Sunday Mass aimed specifically for people aged 18–35.

The choir was started

by Kevin Kelly, who also started the Gardner Street Choir.

Ciaran said: “We met here in this room. It was probably six members [at the time] – me on piano, and Kevin starting with two songs, trying to get people to sing.”

In those 10 years, the number of singers has

Left reeling by the craic at a real ceili

grown from 6 to 36, and while the rehearsal room remains the same, its walls have gained certificates from competitions that the choir has won down the years, and photo collages of the choir’s adventures.

Ciaran took over leading the choir in September 2010. He said: “At the stage when Kevin left, we were up to 15-20 people in the choir, with a band.”

According to Ciaran, the OLV choir’s band is

At their upcoming 10-year anniversary concert at The Button Factory, the choir is releasing a special 14-track album, One Love, to commemorate the milestone event

one of the things that makes them unique, since most choirs only have a pianist or a backing track as opposed to a four-piece band that plays with them all the time.

Ciaran said: “You can see the choir lift [the mood], and you can see the crowd’s energy lift when the band starts up.”

JORDAN UPSHAW

LAST Friday night, I piled into a bus with well over 20 other American college students and travelled to Monkstown to learn about traditional Irish Ceili Dancing.

As an American student studying in Dublin, I’m eager to learn more about different aspects of Irish culture, and I’d been told that I couldn’t put a foot wrong if I wanted to learn about ceilis. (As it turned out, I could – but more on that later...)

Another reason I tagged along because my roommate told me it would be fun – or “great craic”, as everyone in Ireland seems to say.

We arrived at Comhaltas CeoltoIri Eireann and quickly visited the bar for a pint, as being both Americans and college students, we weren’t prepared to dance in public without a dash of Dutch courage first.

Since it’s 2018, not 1818, I’ve sadly had very few opportunities to go folk dancing back home, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to

Another thing that makes the OLV choir unique is that they sing at the 6:30 Mass every Sunday. Ciaran said: “There isn’t another choir like this in the whole of the diocese that sing every single Sunday.”

In addition to performing at Sunday Mass, the choir also has travelled to perform at events and

competitions.

Since 2009, they’ve won prizes at competitions in Sligo, New Ross and Navan, most recently winning the Popular Music and Gospel Choir categories at the Navan Choral Festival in 2017, and coming in second place for the National Choir of the Year award.

Ciaran added: “We’re

expect over here at the ceili.

Once we were sufficiently ready, we made our way to the auditorium where a live band was warming up. There were musicians playing out near the bar, as well so even when we took a break from the dancing we were never far from music.

My classmates comprised the bulk of the group but there were a fair number of Irish people in attendance as well. The auditorium was full and nearly everyone was under 30.

Two lovely older ladies served as the callers, so we partnered up and proceeded to follow their instructions – very badly.

As it turns out, ceili dancing seems to involve quite a bit of hopping and spinning, and if, like us, you don’t know what you’re doing you’re mostly colliding with each other.

The callers did their best for us, but we were a fairly hopeless bunch!

The professor had told us to wear gym clothes but I chose a dress for its twirling capabilities. I maintain this was exactly the

not a gospel choir that does corporate events and goes from one corporate gig to another. We’re a choir whose bread and butter is here every Sunday.”

Tickets for OLV Gospel Choir’s 10-year-anniversary concert at 7.30pm on Saturday, April 7, are available on eventbrite. ie for €15.

right decision.

While gulping down water between songs, I wondered how young Irish people in the past managed to dance and sweat so much while wearing corsets and heavy clothing before the invention of air conditioning.

My classmates and I were well aware how perfectly dreadful our dancing was, but we didn’t let that slow us down. I must say, I do sympathise with our patient instructors.

The entire setup felt a bit like a movie, and I was very much the starry-eyed girl at her first dance.

Even though none of us knew what we were doing, we threw ourselves into the ceili, sstumbling and laughing as we swung and twirled each other around the room, trying not to mow down the callers.

As another step deeper into Irish culture, I may have put a foot or three wrong, but I had so much fun and gained an insight into the popularity of this truly unique Irish experience, making it a dizzy delight.

29 March 2018 CITY  DUBLIN GAZETTE 33

BLACKROCK TAKE HOME JUNIOR CUP TITLE P36

GAZETTE

DUBLIN TEAMS FIND BASKETBALL SUCCESS P37

WOMEN’S LEAGUE:

THE BEST IN DUBLIN

SPORT

KILKENNY DEFEATED AT THE HANDS OF DUBLIN’S PEAMOUNT UNITED: Newcastle based Peamount United showed what they were made of last week as they managed to score a 4-0 victory over their Kilkenny rivals. With two Ireland internationals scoring hat tricks on the day, they proved their worth and solidified their status at the top of the table.

PAGE 36

LET DUBLIN GAZETTE NEWSPAPERS INFORM YOU OF THE HIGHLIGHTS AND SCORES OF YOUR FAVOURITE TEAMS HOCKEY | SANDYMOUNT CLUB WIN IRISH JUNIOR CUP CROWN

Railway’s experience proves key  STEPHEN FINDLATER

sfindlater@dublingazette.com

RAILWAY Union’s experience prevailed as their combinaton of decorated senior players and talented young guns proved too strong for UCD in the women’s Irish Junior Cup final, retaining the crown for a second successive season.

Cecelia Joyce and Kate Dillon got the key goals either side of half-time with Kate McKenna the creator each time with incisions from the right baseline.

All three have won everything in the game at senior level but have stepped down a little from the top level.

And their know-how was vital alongside a wealth of underage internationals in the top competition for second teams.

In the first half, it was a swift bat-

tle from end to end with numerous chances at each end. UCD had two big shouts for penalty strokes waved away.

Three corners were also repelled with Riona Norton making a series of good saves while her defensive team got the crucial deflections to powerful Freya McDermott slap shots.

Railway, though, had an excellent forward line, packed with experience with plenty of senior medals to their name.

And they got their first goal in the 28th minute when two of them combined, McKenna making the inroads from the right flank, squaring for Joyce to tap in at the back post.

The Sandymount club went on to boss the early stage of the second half with UCD keeper Laura Gunning making a couple of key saves while Kate Orr had a couple of drag-

Railway Union duo Cecelia Joyce and Kate McKenna celebrate combining for their first goal against UCD last Sunday. Picture: Adrian Boehm

flicks charged down.

The second goal was coming, though, and it arrived in the 44th minute.

Again McKenna – an All-Ireland senior football champion with Dublin – was the creator as she weaved in between three players before laying off to Kate Dillon who swept in

on her backhand for 2-0.

UCD were roused after that with Jane O’Brien crashing a shot into the outside of the goal following Camila Arbulo’s interception.

McDermott hooked another corner shot wide in their late bursts forward but Railway stayed firm to see out the result with a decent buffer.

SPORT CONTACT INFO SPORTS EDITOR: Stephen Findlater sfindlater@dublingazette.com

For more information or to send in news and photos: sport@dublingazette.com Phone: 01 601 0240

34 DUBLIN CITY GAZETTE 29 March 2018

CLUB NOTES BALLYMUN KICKHAMS Heroes of the week this week are a very unusual lot. We had a very serious incident in Ballymun on Wednesday evening last, when some regular heroes in our emergency services went to work on the Metro hotel and apartments fire. What happened the day after was a hugely significant and amazing display of community spirit. Two of our local councillors (Paul and Noeleen) in conjunction with our secretary devised a plan to help those most affected by the fire. Some people didn’t have clothes to donate, so they went out and bought new clothes to donate! Some local Pharmacies even donated hundreds of bags of toiletries. The members of the club who gave up their time (too numerous to mention) and who in the future will give up their time to help distribute and sort the items deserve great kudos. So please, take one huge, ginormous bow. You are all our “Laoch Na Seachtaine”. Maith sibh.

Despite Sunday’s result, the Dublin senior footballers are in the league final next week. And as we enter the decider, our younger players in the panel have gained more experience. The fact we had 5 members starting for the Dubs again is a great tribute to our club. Well done lads. Immense pride in you all.

And this week sees our Easter camp taking place in St. Kevins. Best of luck to all the coaches and children. We hope you enjoy it as much as our previous camps.

For more info on these snippets, please visit our Facebook page, or twitter @BallymunGAA or even our website www.ballymunkickhams.com

WHITEHALL COLMCILLE Well done to our senior footballers who had a good draw vs Templeogue Synge St, minor footballers had good wins in league matches & to our minor camogie team who had a good win in their league match vs Cuala.

Launch of our Strategic Plan was a huge success last Thursday, now the hard work begins putting the plan into action. Annual

club membership is now due, all players must be registered before March 31st, all details on club website, many thanks to those who have already signed up for this year.. As always keep an eye on club website & facebook page for more details on all club events & fixtures. www. whitehallcolmcille.ie FACEBOOK: WhitehallColmcille Twitter: @wcolmcille

ACADENY CUP: INTERNATIONAL TEAMS TO PLAY IN DUBLIN

St Kevin’s set to host the Academy Cup this upcoming weekend  JAMES HENDICOTT

IRELAND’S most successful youth soccer club, St Kevin’s, are set to host The Academy Cup, a tournament that’s been dubbed ‘The World’s Best Youth Tournament’, over the Easter weekend.

Playing at their Shanowen Road ground on March 30, March 31 and April 1, the Whitehall Club - former home of a host of internationals, including Damian Duff, Liam Brady, Jeff Hendricks and Stephen Carr - will take on five invited international teams at under-13 level across three days.

Kevin’s early opponents at the popular tournament this time around are Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid, while the other group of three side contains West Bromwich Albion,

Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid youth sides.

The opening four group games will be played on Friday March 30, with Kevin’s opening the tournament with a 10am kick off against Leverkusen. There’s a particularly eye catching contest between Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund to close out the firstday action at 17.30, at which point two of three games in each group will have been played.

The final group games take place on the Saturday morning, before the semi-finals in the early evening. The latter will see the teams that place first and second in each threeteam group all in action as they play for final places.

The Sunday, April 1, will see all six teams return to the fray, with the 5th/6th place play-

off at 10am, followed directly by the third place play-off and the final, kicking off at 13.30.

While several of the clubs involved are regulars at the Academy Cup (West Brom, in particular, due to a long-standing Kevin’s connection), the two German sides will be making their debut, so represent a bit of an unknown quantity.

Barcelona return as holders in a tournament forged in 2009, as part of St Kevin’s 50th a n n ive rs a r y c e l e b r a t i o n s, and Kevin’s themselves will be looking to score their first tournament victory against world class youth level opposition. Weekend passes for all three days cost €20, while adults can get into a two-game session for €5, and under-16s for €2.

SCOIL UI CHONAILL A busy week for Scoil saw us host a special blitz last Friday morning for girls from Mount Carmel and Larkin College secondary schools as a part of the North East Inner City project.

Our next big fundraising initiative will be launched on Thurs 28th March in the club house.

Join us from 8:30pm to find out about this exciting project that will see Scoil head to Chicago next September.

Anyone interested in

availing of very attractive pitch side advertisement opportunities should contact Aidan Mulvey on 085 7213789. Adult Hurling and Football teams train in Scoil Mondays and Thursdays from 6.30pm.

Ladies training is in Scoil on Mondays at 8pm.

Juvenile training takes place in Scoil at 10am on Saturday mornings.

New members welcome, as always. For any news or enquiries please contact scoil.pro.eoc@ gmail.com

Two St Kevin’s players pictured with the Academy Cup in 2016. Picture: Neil Fox

“

Several of the clubs involved are Academy Cup regulars, but the two German sides will be making their debut

29 March 2018 DUBLIN CITY GAZETTE 35

LEAGUE OF IRELAND: CORCORAN SCORES 91ST MIN GOAL

LEAGUE OF IRELAND Victory for Rovers Shamrock Rovers under-17s kicked off their season with a resounding 5-1 victory over Cork City at Roadstone. Danila Bogdanovic scored a first-half hat-trick, before Jack Kelly and substitute Dean McMenamey rounded off the comprehensive win. Damien Duff’s under-15s were also handsome 4-0 winners in their tie with Bray Wanderers/St Joseph’s Boys, with Evan Caffrey, Roland Banya, Oisin Hand and Adam Wells on target.

ST PATS MOVE TO TOP OF DIVISION TABLE

Bohs followed up their win against Bray with a winning match against Cabinteely last Monday. Picture: Martin Doherty

Bray’s hearts broken as Bohs score the win  DARRYL GERAGHTY

DINNY Corcoran was the hero as his 91st minute winner broke the hearts of Bray Wanderers on Friday night.

The visitors looked set to register just their second point of the season as the clock ticked to a close at 1-1 before Corcoran struck late.

The Seagulls could consider themselves unlucky not to get at least a point from a game they led early on as both teams scored within the first five minutes.

A bullet header from Daniel Kelly gave Bray a dream start but was cancelled out almost immediately by a rocket from Ian Morris from 30 yards.

The Bohs midfielder caught his left-footed effort beautifully as it flew into the side netting, giving keeper Aaron Dil-

lon no chance, his second goal in a week.

It was all Bohs then with Corcoran setting up both Eoghan Stokes and Oscar Brennan for efforts from the edge of the box that missed the target by inches.

The Seagulls responded well to the pressure as the game began to go from end to end.

Shane Supple was forced into one of the saves of the season from Darragh Noone’s flicked header as the Bohs stopper at full stretch, showed catlike reflexes to tip the ball around the post with some Bray players on the verge of celebrating.

Bohs had the better of possession as the half wore on but Bray looked unrecognisable to the side who started the season with just one point, as Gary McCabe and

Aaron Greene looked a real threat up front.

The two Kellys combined well for the visitors at the start of the second half as ex-Bohs man Jake cut back well to the onrushing namesake Daniel, but he was unable to keep his volley down.

Keith Long, in a bid to liven things up, replaced Stokes with Keith Ward as Bray began to edge on top despite no real clearcut chances at either end.

The second half was in stark contrast to the entertaining, free-flowing first half and turned into a gritty, scrappy affair as both teams searched for a winner.

As the minutes trickled down and a goal didn’t appear to be on the horizon, Corcoran made himself the hero.

Ward attracted the Bray rearguard to the ball before playing it out

to the right, and Corcoran kept his composure to hammer a low drive

into the corner as pandemonium broke out in Phibsboro.

St Patrick’s Athletic moved into the top half of the Premier Division table thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Limerick at Richmond Park on Friday night.

Captain Ian Bermingham scored the game’s only goal ten minutes into the second half as Liam Buckley’s side wrapped up their third win of the season.

Bermingham rose high above the Blues defenders to connect with Conan Byrne’s corner in what was

a deceptively comfortable win. Buckley opted to start with Jake Keegan up front instead of regular striker Christy Fagan, while there was a first league start for local boy James Doona, and both had opportunities to extend the home side’s lead in the latter stages.

Doona was particularly culpable as he skied a close-range effort over the bar, but the Saints easily held out for a vital three points.

Picture: Martin Doherty

O’Sullivan hero for Shelbourne last week David O’Sullivan was the hero for Shelbourne as the striker followed up last week’s hat-trick against Longford Town with the only goal against Cobh Ramblers at Tolka Park.

O’Sullivan has been in scintillating form for the Reds since making the move from Longford over the winter break, and Friday’s was his fifth goal in four league games.

It wasn’t one of the striker’s more accomplished efforts as he got a slight touch on Dylan Grimes’ ball into the box and beat Paul Hunt in the Cobh goal. Monday night saw Shels seal an EA Sports Cup second-round place with a comfortable 3-0 win over Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds.

The Reds led 2-0 at the break thanks to goals from last season’s top scorer James English and Gavin Boyne, before English rounded off the victory with his second of the game just past the hour. Owen Heary’s side will face Drogheda United or St Mochta’s in the next

Bohemians scored a last minute winner against Bray.

Picture: Martin Doherty

round.

36 DUBLIN GAZETTE  CITY 29 March 2018

CLUB NOTES

ROUND

2

O’TOOLES GAA Well done our U12 girls on their away win in the league on Saturday. Our junior footballers had a good win v local team Parnells in their league.

Good Friday Wall ball & Hurling tournament schedule: U10 wall ball 10am, U12 wall ball Jim Murphy challenge 12 noon. 70 young hopefuls will participate in the challenge. Then at 2:30pm there will be six clubs lining up for our U16 hurling tournament. Over 2.5 hours of play time. Thanks to our sponsors Azzurri & Farrell hurls who will have a pop-up shop there on the day.

Kelly will be in the clubhouse on Wednesday evening 7:15 to 8:15 to take overdue registration fees. Players must be registered to train and play games otherwise they are not insured.

Our second Easter camp for 8 to 12yr olds starts next Tuesday. To register ring Hellen 086 3060524.Foundation coaching course tonight and April 3rd. Contact David Needham direct on 086 3101034.

There was no winner of our Thursday night ‘live’ Club Lotto. The numbers were 4, 8, 10, 19. The jackpot this week is €1,600.

O’Tooles’ U10 hurlers last Sunday

CRAOBH CHIARAIN No winner of the Lotto Jackpot of €7000 on Monday 19th March. Nine match 3 winners each receive €300 . Numbers were: 13,21,22 & 24. Next week’s Jackpot will be €7500 . Tickets are €2 and the draw takes place Every Monday at 11pm in the Club Lounge, Membership fees for 2018 are now overdue.

Details of which are on display in the Club or from Club Registrar Linda Ryan.

Payment can be made at the bar. Receipts are issued for all such transactions.

Adult playing members MUST also pay an additional Insurance Fee. Club cards will be deactivated on 1st April for non payment.

Adult Football game was abandoned due to an Injury sustained by the Referee, We wish him a speedy recovery.

The Easter Camps are back again this year. Camp 1 runs until Thursday 29th March and Camp 2 runs from Tuesday 3rd April to Friday 6th April. Children aged 4 to 12 years are welcome. The cost is €30 for 1

camp or €50 for 2 camps.

You can register your child by contacting our GPO Tomas on 087-7257582 or our Juvenile Chairman Grainne on 085-7277987.

We also have an Advanced Camp for 12 to 15yrs running on the same dates from 1.30 to 2.45pm. This Camp is Free of charge.

Do you have any hurleys that your child has now outgrown. Size 30 and below are especially useful as we can use them for our Nursery and Camps. Please bring them to the club and leave them in the bucket provided.

Dublin play Galway in the National Football League Final in Croke Park on Easter Sunday at 4pm.

Tickets must be paid for in full by Wednesday for collection on Friday.

Lip Sync is coming to the Craobh on Friday 29th June. Anyone interested please contact Mary Derwin for details we are looking for a group of 20-25 people to take part.

Congratulations to Cuala on winning the All Ireland Club Hurling Final.

JUNIOR RUGBY FINAL: BLACKROCK COME OUT VICTORIOUS IN

St Mary’s lose out in Junior final to Blackrock BL ACKROCK College emerged victorious from a Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby Schools Junior Cup final of swinging fortunes at Donnybrook, on Wednesday.

They set the tone from the kick-off, their lock Rory McGuire bounding forward through arm tackles for 30 metres.

Left wing Michael Nealon twice threatened down the touchline where he was met

by St Mary’s College scrum-half Seanán Devereux the first time and centre Rob Nolan the second.

McGuire was yellow carded for a high tackle to allow St Mary’s an access point at the lineout.

It was Nolan with the tackle on number eight Sean Dempsey and into hooker Milo Byrnes, the latter leaving the field on the advice of touch judge Susan Carty.

St Mary’s probed from an attacking lineout, centre Barra O’Loughlin

making the biggest dent ahead of captain Adam Mulvihill’s dive to the line for full-back Max Svejdar to convert for 7-0 in the 11th minute.

This was just the tonic they needed to fuel their confidence, moving the ball until McGuire and prop Scott Barron countered at the ruck.

The counter ruck came in handy again on foot of Brownlee’s thunderous tackle on O’Loughlin. ‘ Ro c k w i n g H a r r y Whelan testing out Svejdar’s tackle technique, the ball brought back to the left for centre Tom Henderson to squeeze in at the posts, out-half Michael Moloney converting in the 19th minute.

This did not turn the tide as St Mary’s returned to attack, preferring the hard driving of their forwards to the men further out.

St Mary’s switched it up by spreading the play wide where ‘Rock lock Naoise Golden got in on

the ball for a penalty turnover.

B l a c k ro c k h a d a n advantage in speed on the outside and Nealon had to be shunted into touch by Ross Moore.

S t M a r y ’s b r a v e defence keeping McGuire and prop Scott Barron held up off the f loor before Brownlee just about got downward pressure for Moloney to make it 14-7 at the break.

Blackrock were a different proposition when they came back out, mixing power and pace to draw a penalty for Moloney to make it 17-7 in the 33rd minute.

Left wing Nealon went close to their third from a kick ahead, Svejdar covering quickly to win the footrace.

St Mary’s refused to b re a k , p l ay i n g t h e i r best rugby of the competition in adversity to

drive the ball and move it cleanly.

Blackrock soaked up the carriers until St Mary’s lock Daniel Leane spun out of a tackle for a try, converted by Svejdar in the 45th minute.

Replacement hooker Max Patterson was the tail gunner of a ‘Rock maul that made it all the way for Moloney to convert in the 56th minute and secure the Cup.

Peamount pip Kilkenny to win

Peamount Utd made it two for two over Kilkenny in Greenogue last week. Picture: Adrian Langtry / Sportsfile

PEAMOUNT United made it two wins from two in the Women’s National League with a 4-0 victory over Kilkenny United on Saturday.

Ireland striker Amber Barrett scored a hat-trick, while fellow international Áine O’Gorman scored her third of the season, as last year’s runners-up ground down their resolute visitors.

The result leaves the Peas top of the table going into the quarter-finals of the Shield next week.

Peamount took the lead after 17 minutes. Goal number three was a superb effort from Barrett, who picked the ball and drove inside, finishing left-footed.

Barrett sealed her hat-trick 11 minutes from time,

keeping a calm head after being slipped through by Eleanor Ryan Doyle. The woodwork denied her a fourth in injury time.

“We had lots of possession but Kilkenny made us really work hard for the goals we scored,” Peamount managerJames O’Callaghan told the Dublin Gazette.

“After Kilkenny lost to Limerick, people were probably expecting it to be a handy game for Peamount but it was far from it.”

O’Callaghan revealed the squad are training three nights a week to take it to the next level. “We’re doing extra sessions, to keep developing. The girls keep working hard trying to get better at what we’re doing.”

29 March 2018 CITY  DUBLIN GAZETTE 37

JUNIOR CUP FACE-OFF

Blackrock College raise the Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby Schools cup last week Picture:Paul Lundy

FLAG FOOTBALL NFL Star coaches Dublin schoolkids

EARL Thomas of the Seattle Seahawks at the Dublin Indoor Football venue in Santry, where he helped coach Peter Collins and over 100 other school pupils taking part in a special flag football tournament – held as part of an NFL UK Live roadshow.

The pupils at the event – who came from Our Lady of Lourdes and John Scottus Primary Schools – were given an introduction to one of the fastest growing sports in Ireland before taking part in the flag football tournament.

BASKETBALL: DUBLIN NARROWLY MISS OUT ON TOP TITLES

Disappointment for Dublin in Waterford  DAVE DONNELLY

THERE was triple disappointment for Dublin sides at the Basketball Ireland National League finals as Black Amber Templeogue, Courtyard Liffey Celtics and Dublin Lions all tasted defeat at the WIT Arena in Waterford on Saturday.

Black Amber Templeogue fell to a 73-61 defeat against Tralee Warriors in the Men’s Super League Champions Trophy final in a repeat of last year’s final.

In the Women’s Super League final, Liffey Celtics were bested 76-63 by UCC Glanmire in another meeting between the two sides who duked out last year’s final.

And Dublin Lions missed out on the opportunity to be crowned Men’s Division One League Cup champions as they lost by an 88-72 scoreline to Carlow IT. The first game of the day saw Black Amber look to take revenge over Tralee Warriors in a game that, 12 months ago, had gone all the way to the wire with the Kerry side taking a 74-73 overtime win.

It was a more comfortable win for the Munster side this time out, with Paul Dick and Trae Pemberton spearheading a prolific attack.

Templeogue led following the end of a fiercely-contested first quarter thanks to baskets from Jason Killeen and Lorcan Murphy edging them into a 17-14 lead.

Tralee took charge from there and led by nine points, 54-45, going into the final quarter and, despite an impressive 22-point haul for Killeen, they maintained an eightpoint margin at the finish.

Liffey Celtics fell just short against Glanmire for the second time in a year in a game that was much closer than the final scoreline suggests.

Celtics held a five-point lead going in after the first quarter, with Aine O’Connor lively in attack as a high-scoring opening

Dublin Lions were defeated at the hands of Carlow IT last weekend. Picture: Rockmountain Studios

ended 20-15.

A decisive second quarter saw Glanmire run into a ten-point lead, which they maintained until the end of the third quarter.

O’Connor and Devon Brookshire fronted a massive effort by Liffeys in the final quarter and they managed to make it a

three-point game with a minute remaining, before Glanmire closed it out.

Dublin Lions put in a huge final quarter against Carlow IT as they attempted to rein in a 19-point deficit but, despite Tiernan Howe high-scoring with 19, they couldn’t quite close the gap.

Paracycling duo finish near the top KATIE-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal finished seventh in the Women’s B Tandem 1km Time Trial at the UCI 2018 Para-cycling Track World Championships with a time of 1.12.509. The Great Britain bike of Sophie Thornhill and Helen Scott won in a phenomenal time of 1.05.079.

Earlier Ronan Grimes was eighth in the Men’s C4 4km Individual Pursuit with 4.55.538. The Galway born rider has made a solid mark for himself in his world championship debut this week. The Individual Pursuit was won by Jozef Metelka

from Slovakia.

In the Men’s B Tandem 1km Time Trial, Martin Gordon and Eamonn Byrne kicked off their own world campaign, finishing 14th with a time of 1.05.507, just ahead of Peter Ryan and Sean Hahessy who were 16th with 1.06.426. Great Britain were dominant again, with Neil Fachie and Matthew Rotherham in a time of 59.686.

Dunlevy and McCrystal won a bronze medal in the Women’s B Tandem 3km Individual Pursuit, and today they switched focus to the sprint focused 1km Time Trial.

Their time was just 0.2 seconds off their personal best.

Speaking after the event McCrystal said “We have to be happy with that! It’s not our favoured event, so to come away with that time is a good ride for us. We are in a good place for the season ahead.”

In the Men’s B Tandem 1km Time Trials Ryan and Hahessy were one of the early starters but were forced to restart later after a mishap off the start. The pairing of Gordon and Byrne raced well to finish 14th. This

is their second year competing at the Track World Championships.

38 DUBLIN CITY GAZETTE 29 March 2018

Dubs get league wake-up call A last gasp Fintan Kelly point saw Monaghan edge out Dublin in Sunday’s NFL1 clash at Croke Park.

It was a reminder for Dublin, prior to their league final against Galway, safe in the knowledge that a repeat performance will not be good enough to beat the westerners on Sunday.

It was the Farney men’s first victory over Dublin at Croke Park since 1968. It was received with great celebration by fans who travelled for the match.

Despite the fact that this was a dead rubber, with Dublin already in this Sunday’s league final against Galway and Monaghan having already secured their top flight league status, this game was highly competitive.

The sides were level, 0-8 to 1-5, at the break, with Vinny Corey hitting the Monaghan goal, but Dublin gained the upperhand in the ten minutes following David Byrne’s point to make it 0-15 to 1-10.

Then came Jack McCarron’s crucial goal when his cheeky lobbed shot over Dublin goalie EvanComerford dropped just under the crossbar.

Dublin were reduced to 14 men when Philly McMahon, who had scored 0-2 from play, was red-carded on a second yellow offence.

The game concluded in a flurry of scores with Brian Fenton bringing Dublin level before sub McCarron nosed the Farney men back in front.

Raheny’s Brian Howard fired a super point and it looked like it was headed for a draw until Monaghan launched one last attack and were rewarded with Kelly’s winning score.

CUALA BECOME 8TH CLUB IN GAA HISTORY TO DEFEND ALL IRELAND TITLE

Mark Doyle from AIB, presents Seán Moran of Cuala with the Man of the Match award for his outstanding performance in the AIB Senior Hurling Club Championship Final Replay against Na Piarsaigh. Picture: Piaras O Midheach / Sportsfile

Cuala grab the title in All Ireland replay ALL IRELAND CLUB HURLING TITLE Cuala 2-17 Na Piarsaigh 1-17  JAMES HENDICOTT

sport@dublingazette.com

ECSTATIC Dalkey Club Cuala took the All Ireland Club Hurling Title for the second consecutive year on Saturday, after a late-late show saw off the phenomenal challenge of Limerick’s Na Piarsaigh.

Cuala twice saved themselves in the dying seconds the first time around on St Patrick’s Day, in a contest that truly looked lost at the end of normal time.

A deflected free from Sean Moran nestled in the back of the Limerick club’s net to force extra time that day, and David Treacy snatched a replay with a final second point at the death.

It was two second half Cuala goals that had looked key this time around.

Instead, Na Piarsaigh briefly pulled themselves back in front of the holders with two minutes to go, but Cuala hold their nerve.

The Limerick club were the early

pacesetters in Portlaoise, grabbing a two point lead, before Cuala hit four in a row to lead by the same margin.

Treacy’s set-piece play was again critical in the early period, as Cuala drew plenty of frees from the opposition, and he added five first half placed points to the twelve he hit first time around. Adrian Breen was looking dangerous at the other end, however, and Na Piarsaigh narrowed the gap slightly at half time, with Cuala going in with the tightest of 0-10 to 0-9 leads.

Few would have bet against a second replay at half time, then. The game was very much about snatched opportunities and fiercely contested all over the pitch, with the scoring only reaching as high as it did due to the consistent finishing at both ends.

There wasn’t the same edginess to Cuala as a week earlier, however, and while their control was never close to complete, they always looked the slightly more likely of the two.

Cuala captain Paul Schutte had to be withdrawn injured over half time, however, and while Shane Stapleton

proved an able replacement, Schutte’s loss could easily have been critical in the battle to repel Breen, who’d proven particularly effective for the Limerick club.

Critically, the Dalkey side had a perfect two minutes in them, eight minutes into the second half. A Nicky Kenny interception in the Na Piarsaigh defence saw him take maximum advantage, with Schutte adding a second almost straight afterwards, after he finished a winding solo run from close range to hand Cuala an extremely promising looking 2-11 to 0-11 lead.

Perhaps inevitably, Na Piarsaigh hit back with their strongest period of play. A smartly taken goal from David Breen and a period of sustained possession and sharp shooting had the Limerick club

“

back in an unlikely single-point lead with a couple of minutes left on the clock.

Cuala had that vital final kick, and were not to be denied. Con O’Callaghan, a pair of David Treacy frees and a Mark Schutte point deep into stoppage time came from a period of critically-timed dominance, and finally put this final to bed, with the men in red running out 2-17 to 1-17 victors.

After one of the strongest and most compelling finales to the club championship in years, Cuala become only the eighth club side in GAA history to defend an All Ireland title, and the first in hurling since 2009.

They have a break of just three weeks before stepping into Dublin Championship action once again.

The game was very much about snatched opportunities and fiercely contested all over the pitch

29 March 2018 DUBLIN CITY GAZETTE 39

UNDER-21S CHAMPIONSHIP HOPES STAY STRONG

Ireland’s hopes for Euro championship still strong after win  DAVE DONNELLY

D U B L I N E R S D a n ny Kane, Olamide Shodipo and Jake Mulraney played their part in a dramatic finale as Ireland kept their under-21 European Championships hopes alive with a win over Azerbaijan.

The hosts looked to have let the win slip from their grasp at Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday night as, despite a succession of chances, they couldn’t break down a stubborn Azeri side.

However Yeovil Town defender Shaun Donnellan netted in the sixth minute of injury time to rescue all three points for Noel King’s side and induce hysteria at Tallaght Stadium.

The result leaves Ireland second in qualifying Group 5, three points behind leaders Germany with a game in hand. Ireland face the Germans home and away in September and October.

King welcomed back to the fold goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara and midfielder Declan Rice following their involvement with the senior side, Rice having won man of the match on his debut against Turkey.

And West Ham’s Rice was a key figure for Ireland throughout as the home side controlled possession throughout against an Azerbaijan side content to sit in and play for a draw.

The visitors, for their part, were stacked with f u l l i n te r n a t i o n a l s, including strikers Ramil Sheydaev and Mahir Madatov, who played for Qarabag in the group stages of this year’s

ROUND

CLUB NOTES

3

BALLYMUN KICKHAMS Heroes of the week this week are a very unusual lot. We had a very serious incident in Ballymun on Wednesday evening last, when some regular heroes in our emergency services went to work on the Metro hotel and apartments fire. What happened the day after was a hugely significant and amazing display of community spirit. Some people didn’t have clothes to donate, so they went out and bought new clothes to donate! Some local Pharmacies even donated hundreds of bags of toiletries. The members of the club who gave up their time (too numerous to mention) and who in the future will give up their time to help distribute and sort the items deserve great kudos. So please, take one huge, ginormous bow. You are all our “Laoch Na Seachtaine”. Maith sibh.

Despite Sunday’s result, the Dublin senior footballers are in the league final next week. And as we enter the decider, our younger players in the panel have gained more experience. The fact we had 5 members starting for the Dubs again is a great tribute to our club. Well done lads. Immense pride in you all.

And this week sees our Easter camp taking place in St. Kevins. Best of luck to all the coaches and children. We hope you enjoy it as much as our previous camps.

For more info on these snippets, please visit our Facebook page, or twitter @BallymunGAA or even our website www.ballymunkickhams.com

WHITEHALL Well done to our senior footballers who had a good draw vs Templeogue Synge St, minor footballers had good wins in league matches & to our minor camogie team who had a good win in their league match vs Cuala.

Launch of our Strategic Plan was a huge success last Thursday, now the hard work begins putting the plan into action.

Annual club membership is now due, all players must be registered before March Ireland’s U21 team celebrate their win over Azerbaijan at Tallaght Stadium. Picture: Football Association of Ireland

Champions League.

Ireland began the game as they meant to go on, on the front foot, and both Reece GregoCox and Ryan Manning had shots from distance in the opening minutes that failed to hit the target.

Azerbaijan – managed by country’s mostcapped player Rashad F Sadygov – had chances of the ir own in the opening stages as they sought to feed off Irish mistakes.

Manning was easily dispossessed in midfield, prompting an ambitious effort from Sheydaev, while O’Hara was forced to tip over as Gismat Aliyev’s free kick looked to dip under the bar.

Ireland finally managed to hit the target a minute before half time as Manning forced a decent stop from Kamran Ibrahimov, and the keeper saved well again

from Grego-Cox’s followup.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first but Ireland continued to struggle to create clear chances.

One breakaway saw Grego-Cox find space on the right and pick out Mulraney in the box and, having beaten the defender, he had his legs clipped but the referee declined to award a penalty.

Ireland piled on the pressure as the hour approached and, after M u l r a n ey ’s re p l a c e ment Shodipo was fouled, Manning forced Ibrahimov into a fine save.

Moments later, Manning’s cross was headed goalwards by Donnellan but it was headed off the line, before the same player saw another goalbound header denied by a defender.

Ireland’s best effort

of the game thus far came courtesy of the excellent Rice, as his shot from outside the box dipped inches over the crossbar and rippled the top side of the net.

Disaster almost struck for Ireland three minutes from time as substitute Omar Bulud ov b ro ke f ro m t h e left and struck a furious shot goalward that O’Hara could only tip onto the crossbar.

It looked like Ireland would have to settle for a point, however, particularly when a n o t h e r e f fo r t f ro m then lively Donnellan was blocked from close range.

However the defender wasn’t to be denied and, long past the five allotted minutes of added time, he hooked t h e b a l l h o m e a f te r Derry City striker Ro n a n Ha l e ’s h e a d e r had been saved.

31st, all details on club website, many thanks to those who have already signed up for this year.

As always keep an eye on club website & facebook page for more details on all club events & fixtures. www.whitehallcolmcille. ie FACEBOOK: WhitehallColmcille TWITTER: @wcolmcille

SCOIL UI CHONAILL A busy week for Scoil saw us host a special blitz last Friday morning for girls from Mount Carmel and Larkin College secondary schools as a part of the North East Inner City project.

Our next big fundraising initiative will be launched on Thurs 28th March in the club house. Join us from 8:30pm to find out about this exciting project that will see Scoil head to Chicago next September.

Anyone interested in availing of very

attractive pitch side advertisement opportunities should contact Aidan Mulvey on 085 7213789. Adult Hurling and Football teams train in Scoil Mondays and Thursdays from 6.30pm. Ladies training is in Scoil on Mondays at 8pm. Juvenile training takes place in Scoil at 10am on Saturday mornings.

New members welcome, as always.

For any news or enquiries please contact scoil.pro.eoc@gmail.com

CRUMLIN GAA Congratulations to Colin and Janice Martin on the birth of their son Domhnall.

Registration night for the Jim Boggan cycle will take place on Thursday the 12th of April at 8.30pm in Crumlin GAA, fee €60.00. All welcome With the weather finally clearing this weekend saw Pearse Park become a hub of activity. On Saturday space was at a premium in the park as the U8’s, U9’s, U10, U11’s, U13’s and U14’s were all in action. It was an amazing sight to see so many kids involved with the club. This was further enhanced with over 140 kids attending our Easter Camp on Monday. In the Adult section our Junior Footballers had a good win on Sunday morning at home.

Our Juveniles section will be attending mini muckers on the 5th May again this year for more information contact any Juvenile selector.

Adult subs are now due and once again we will be asking all members social and playing to pay ASAP. Lotto was not won numbers drawn were 1,4,26,27. There were 3 match 3 winners and next weeks winning jackpot will be €4,050.

Joker Poker was not won and this week’s jackpot is €2,050.

GazetteSPORT MARCH 29-APRIL 4, 2018

ALL OF YOUR DUBLIN CITY SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 33-39

ACADEMY CUP FOR ST KEVINS INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT:

The Shanowen ground will play host to a number of international teams this Easter weekend SEE P34

BOHS BREAK BRAY HEARTS LAST MINUTE SCREAMER : The

City team stepped out in style to take the match in Phibsboro SEE P35

PARACYCLING

MCCRYSTAL AND DUNLEAVY: Ire-

land’s paracycling duo place well alongside their cycling counterparts in this year’s championships SEE P37

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Determined Dublin are focused on a final win

 DAVE DONNELLY

sport@dublingazette.com

JOHN Small says the Dublin footballers have already put last weekend’s surprise defeat to Monaghan behind them as they prepare for the National League final against Galway on Sunday.

Monaghan beat Dublin at Croke Park for the first time ever thanks to Fintan Kelly’s late point to ensure the Dubs finished their regular season on a loss.

It had no bearing on t h e f i n a l s t a n d i n g s, however, as Jim Gavin’s side had already booked a Croke Park showdown with the Tribesmen this Sunday.

And Ballymun Kickhams clubman – who saw his clubmate Philly McMahon dismissed for a second yellow – says they’ve taken lessons where required and are fully focused on the final.

“It was a very competitive game, two good teams going at it,” Small said.

“Obviously we were d i s a p p o i n te d to l o se but Monaghan did well.

It was a tough physical game.

“Probably from our perspective our passing was a bit off and it gives us something to work on, looking ahead to the final.

“We go out every day to try to do our best, represent the group as best we can and we probably didn’t perform to how we

Dublin will face Galway in Croke Park this Sunday. Picture: Seb Daly / Sportsfile

“We’ll try to stick to our philosophies and principals“ - Ballymun Kickhams and Dublin

player John Small ahead of their bout on Sunday

wanted to last Sunday.

“We don’t dwell on it.

We just prepare for the next time. We review and then we move on and we prepare for the next game.”

“It’s the same for every game, you’re trying to go out and prepare as best you can.

“Fellas are fighting for a chance and opportunity to represent the group.

You can’t be thinking like that.”

Coach Gavin concurred,

adding that they can’t afford to make the same mistakes two weeks in a row against top-tier opposition.

He said: “We just didn’t perform well enough. We had plenty of opportunities in the game, gave away a lot of it to Monaghan.

“If you do that to a quality side like Monaghan, they’re going to punish you. We’ll look at what we did well and try to replicate that next week.

“ O u r k i c k- p a s s i n g, hand-passing - we g ave aw ay a l o t o f possession which w o u l d n’t b e t o o u r standards. If we have a repeat performance n e x t we e ke n d , we ’ l l make life difficult for ourselves.”

Defender Small said he’s ready for the challenge Galway will present – the sort of physical contest relished by a ny d e fe n c e - m i n d e d player.

T h e i r m o s t re c e n t meeting at Pearse Park saw Eoghan O ’G a r a s e n t o f f a n d coach Jason Sherlock involved in a scuff le that saw him handed an eight-week ban.

S m a l l s a i d : “ T h ey play a physical game and we are happy to take it whatever way it comes, whether it’s open or physical, we’ll play it and try to stick to our philosophies and principles.

“It was a tough physical game in Salthill, like all the games are, s o I e x p e c t i t to b e physical on Sunday. “ T h e y ’v e a l o t o f ve r y go o d p l aye rs.

There’s a lot of expectation on them and they’ve justified that in the Allianz League so far.

“They’ve only conceded one goal in the whole league so it’ll be a very difficult game.”