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WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE DLR AREA, WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED  FEBRUARY 15-21, 2018

ROCKIN’ THEIR STREET STYLE WEARING their finest glad rags, this trio – Nadia Forde, Brian Dowling and Pippa O’Connor – looked dressed to impress at the K Club, where they were among the many well-known faces attending the inaugural Blossom Tree Ball in aid of Temple Street Hospital. Picture: Brian McEvoy

GALLERY P16-17 SPORT The new LOI season lands!

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STRUCTURAL DEFECTS CHARGE FOR ‘SOUTH QUARTER’ UNITS

Beacon apartment owners hit by €5k bills  REBECCA RYAN BEACON South Quarter apartment owners in Sandyford have been slapped with bills for more than €5,000 each to pay for structural defects.

Apartment owners voted last year to pay more than €10m to fix fire safety and other structural defects at the property.

However, since the vote, it has been reported that the cost of the repairs has more than doubled.

Local Green Party TD for Dublin-Rathdown Catherine Martin told Dublin Gazette homeowners are living a nightmare.

She said: “I have been in regular contact with homeowners in a number of developments in my constituency who are living this nightmare following the discovery of defects in their homes. They have been abandoned by the Government.”

See full story on Page 3

2 DUBLIN GAZETTE  SOUTH 15 February 2018

STILLORGAN | ‘CHILDREN MISSING OUT ON BENEFITS OF AMENITY’

Mediator proposed to progress delayed pool  REBECCA RYAN THE Glenalbyn Swimming Pool saga took another twist this week.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross has offered to put forward an independent mediator in an effort to progress the much delayed facility.

In his letter shown to Dublin Gazette to the chairperson of Kilmacud Crokes GAA Club Kevin Foley and chief executive of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Philomena Poole, Minister Ross wrote: “As you know, Cllr Deirdre Donnelly and I have been campaigning for over four years for the

Minister Shane Ross and Councillor Deirdre Donnelly (Ind) outside Glenalbyn Swimming Pool. Picture: Dominic Lee

re-opening of Glenalbyn Swimming Pool.

“In circumstances where the council has specifically ring-fenced funds

for the project, I think it’s fair to say that none of us expected such a long delay.

“Meanwhile, our school

children are missing out on the very many benefits such a local amenity provides.

“It is my understanding that everyone wants the pool to re-open and, as such, it is unclear why the process appears to have stalled.”

Minister Ross added that with his view to resolving the issue to the satisfaction of all concerned.

He proposed that the parties involved engage with a resolution process and that the assistant secretary general of his department, Ken Spratt, is willing to arrange a mediation, to be chaired by an independent qualified mediator from Sport Ireland.

Independent councillor for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Deirdre Donnelly, has welcomed the Minister’s offer of a mediator.

“I am the only current sitting councillor for the Stillorgan ward who was present when that first meeting was held back in 2013 following the announcement of the closure of the pool.

“I was at the protest a few weeks later when a large crowd turned up in Stillorgan Village to express their anger. I have been very active since then campaigning for a

new pool and think that it is soul-destroying to have the process delayed over what are basically a few minor issues.

“I have voiced my concerns about this to Minister Ross on a number of occasions over the past while and am delighted that he is taking such a proactive approach. I really hope that there will be a positive outcome from the Minister’s intervention.”

Minister Ross told Dublin Gazette he received good feedback from his proposal: “I am happy to report that the concerned parties I contacted regarding the re-opening of Glenalbyn Swimming Pool are seriously considering my proposal to help resolve the current impasse.

“I very much hope that the current issues preventing the re-opening of our pool can be resolved with an outcome that is satisfactory for all concerned and I am willing to give my every assistance to that end.”

Dublin Gazette contacted the concerned parties, including Ronnie Murray, Club PRO of Kilmacud Crokes GAA Club, who told us they are willing to engage in the mediation process.

“We are not in any form of dispute with DLRCC, we will participate in any process designed to support our ongoing dialogue with the council.

“We understand from the Minister that there may be a role for Sport Ireland but Crokes is unaware of what arrangements will be put in place.”

A representative of chief executive of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdow n County Council Philomena Poole told us: “The chief executive is considering the issues raised in Minister Ross’ correspondence of February 6.”

FASTNews

Johnny Cash Tribute act landing in Dun Laoghaire THE number one Johnny Cash tribute, “The Man In Black” is returning Ireland for a short tour and it is landing in Dun Laoghaire.

After a completely sold out trip in February 2017, the greatest Johnny Cash Tribute Show in the World returns this February for a Nationwide tour, including The Pavilion Theatre on February 21.

Featuring Terry Lee Goffee and his band, Johnny’s greatest hits will be sung including, Walk The Line, A Boy named Sue, Hurt, Folsom Prison Blues, Cry Cry Cry, Jackson, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Daddy Sang Bass, The Man In Black, I got Stripes, Understand Your Man and many many more.

Tommy Cash said: “The show is great, my brother would be proud.”

Joanne Cash Yates said: “ It’s a wonderful show, I would recommend it to anyone, you don’t impersonate my brother, you pay tribute with honour and Terry does this in spades.”

Tickets are now on sale at the box office 01 231 2929 and online at www.paviliontheatre.ie It is strongly advised to get tickets early to avoid disappointment.

Dublin’s runaway rents almost €400 above the Celtic Tiger average THE latest rent report by Daft.ie has revealed that within Dublin city centre, rents are now almost €400 above the Celtic Tiger average.

In the last quarter of 2017 alone, Daft.ie reports that the asking prices for rent nationwide rose by 2.4% to a national average of €1,227 per month.

This means that, on average, there has been a 10.4% rise on rents across the country on an annual basis.

In Dublin, rents are now 26% higher than they were within the Celtic Tiger era.

Daft.ie report that rents in all four county areas of the capital are now up to €4,500 higher than at the previous peak, in 2008.

Daft.ie lists north Dublin city, central Dublin city, south Dublin city and south Dublin county as the most expensive places to rent in Ireland.

Rents in these areas range from €1,709 in the north of the city, to €1,995 in South Dublin.

Dublin Gazette Newspapers, Second Floor, Heritage House, Dundrum Office Park, Dublin 14 Tel: 01 - 6010240. Email: sales@dublingazette.com news@dublingazette.com web: www.dublingazette.com twitter: @DublinGazette Visit us on Facebook at DublinGazetteNewspapers

15 February 2018 SOUTH  DUBLIN GAZETTE 3

BEACON SOUTH QUARTER | COST OF REPAIRS HAS MORE THAN DOUBLED SINCE LAST YEAR

Apartment owners landed with bills of over €5,000  REBECCA RYAN

SANDYFORD apartment owners at Beacon South Quarter have been slapped with bills for more than €5,000 each to pay for structural defects.

Apartment owners voted last year to pay more than €10m to fix the fire safety and other structural defects at the property.

Since the vote, it has been reported that the cost of the repairs has more than doubled, with the work now expected to cost more than €20m.

Homeowners fear they will not be able to sell their homes because of the issue.

Local Green Party TD for Dublin Rathdown Catherine Martin told Dublin Gazette

homeowners are living a nightmare.

“I do not wish to comment on any specific development as I am acutely aware that singling out one development for such attention has potential to cause hurt. Moreover, this is a national issue that deserves a national response from Government with over 30 major developments nationwide affected by poor building practices by cowboy developers.

“I have been in regular contact with homeowners in a number of developments in my constituency in Dublin Rathdown who are living this nightmare following the discovery of defects in their homes. They have been abandoned by Government.”

Two weeks ago, Deputy Martin raised the issue in the Dail during Promised Legislation and asked when the Government intends to deal with the urgent need for state assistance for homeowners living in defective buildings.

At the debate she said: “I am aware of at least three multiunit developments in my constituency of Dublin Rathdown where residents, through absolutely no fault of their own, are facing repair and building works bills of between €7,000 and €30,000. Some are facing the threat of legal proceedings for the amounts, which it is claimed they owe.”

She asked does the Government intend to set up a redress scheme for such homeowners,

Beacon South Quarter

as identified in the recent committee report.

Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development Damien English said the Department is looking through the report.

“I wish to be very clear at the outset. These are generally pri-

vate contracts between people that relate to the construction of homes. The State and the Department are not usually involved in that. However, we will go through the report, see if any action should be taken and report back to the House.”

Deputy Martin intends to

raise this issue again in the Dail this week.

“I am also drafting a Bill in relation to putting protections in place for future homeowners.”

Chairperson of the Beacon South Quarter Owners’ Group Killian Ryan said: “There is a lot of anger, fear and frustration at the situation. Anger that the developer, design team, builders and sub-contractors are not being held to account to fix these problems and the owners are being forced to pay for the works. Most of the above are still trading.”

An Oireachtas Report was recently published, and we would call on the Government to implement the findings of this.”

4 DUBLIN GAZETTE  SOUTH 15 February 2018

COURTS | CHURCHTOWN BURGLARY

Man broke into parochial house while priest was saying Mass A MAN who broke into a parochial house in Churchtown to steal money while the priest was away saying mass, has been sentenced to four years in prison for this and a string of other burglaries.

Gary Culhane (40), who has 102 previous convictions including assault, robbery and theft, has spent 20 years of his life in prison.

Culhane, of Camberley House, Churchtown, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to burglary at The Good Shepherd Church and Parochial House, Nutgrove Avenue, Churchtown, Dublin 14 on October 15, 2016.

Passing the sentence on Friday, Judge Melanie Greally suspended the final year of the sentence saying she didn’t want to “close off all hope of reform”.

She ordered him to complete a residential drug rehabilitation course at Tiglin treatment centre, remain there for the duration of the programme and follow through on all after-care plans as directed.

Judge Greally credited Culhane for his early plea and acknowledged that his criminality arose from the difficult circumstances in which he was raised, his drug addiction and his homelessness.

She said Culhane now recognised that residential treatment represented his best hope for reform, and that a very significant psychological intervention would be necessary to break his cycle of offending.

Judge Greally said that the priest had

been “very shaken” when he returned home after saying mass to find that his house had been “ransacked”.

Garda Aine Bolton told Fiona Murphy BL, prosecuting, that a mixture of the priest’s own money, collections and the poor box, all totalling €650, had been stolen.

Entry had been forced through the front door. The office in the neighbouring church had also been broken into but nothing was taken.

Gardai identified Culhane after the priest downloaded CCTV from the premises. Culhane was arrested the following day and made full admissions during interview. He told Gardai he had been “stuck for cash” and had found money in the office and in envelopes.

Details were also heard of three other burglaries committed in Dublin last summer while Culhane was on bail.

The court heard that Culhane burgled a house at Rockwell Cove in Blackrock on June 18 last, although the judge noted that the occupant “didn’t feel threatened” by his presence A month later on July 14 last, Culhane entered the staff area of Roly Saul’s restaurant in Dundrum Town Centre and stole cash and personal items from an employee.

Then on August 7 last, Culhane carried out a burglary at Old Joe Daly Cycle Store, Main St, Dundrum before he was arrested the following day.

Culhane, who’s originally from Limerick, pleaded guilty to all offences.

Marking the centenary of rights for women MINISTER for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan (centre) was at Marlay Park House, Rathfarnham, recently to announce the 2018 Centenary programme to commemorate the introduction of voting rights for

women and their right to stand in parliamentary elections and the launch of the companion book to the Mna 1916/Women of 1916 exhibition.

Throughout 2018, events and exhibitions will be held to honour

these anniversaries. Also pictured are Senator Denis O’Donovan, Minister Heather Humphreys, Minister Regina Doherty and Cathaoirleach of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Councillor Tom Murphy.

Picture: Peter Cavanagh Photography

Muslim spokesman criticised for views on female circumcision

Dr Ali Selim

A TD for Dublin Rathdown is slamming comments made by a doctor, who she claims endorses female circumcision.

Speaking on RTE’s Prime Time, Dr Ali Selim said female circumcision should be carried out if advised for medical reasons.

The leading Muslim figure of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland in Clonskeagh told the current

affairs programme: “I’m not an advocate of female genital mutilation (FGM) but I am an advocate of female circumcision.

“We see female circumcision in the same way we see male circumcision. It might be needed for one person and not another, and it has to be done by a doctor and practised in a safe environment.”

Green Party Deputy Leader Catherine Martin is slamming his comments: “It is highly disappointing that, only two days after International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, the views of Dr Ali Selim were aired without proper balance and rebuttal from the people working to end this practice.

“Campaigners and doctors alike know that there are no medical reasons for

FGM; indeed, the medical consequences of FGM for women are serious and wide ranging.”

It is estimated that over 5,000 girls and women living in Ireland have experienced FGM. Under 2012 legislation, FGM is prohibited in Ireland and it is also a criminal offence for a person to take a girl to another country to undergo it.

Deputy Martin is however calling for robust legislation.

“While FGM is illegal in Ireland, we need to introduce legislation that is inclusive of preventative and protective measures.

“Given the misinformed views that we heard on Primetime it is clear that we must ensure that there is funding and long-term supports when it comes to

raising awareness on FGM and empowering communities to tackle it.”

Dublin’s Islamic Cultural Centre has condemned the practice of FGM in a statement on their social media.

“It is a practice carried out based on cultural nonreligious convictions, with no association with religion whatsoever.

“The practice of FGM is from tribal pre-Islamic era.

“Islam specifically bans the practice of FGM as it is a barbaric practice and it is condemned in the strongest terms.

“Furthermore, it is imperative and without question that all people uphold the law of the land.

“We should carry on raising awareness until we attain zero practice and zero tolerance worldwide of this vile practice.”

15 February 2018 SOUTH  DUBLIN GAZETTE 5

UPGRADE | EXTRA 400,000 PEOPLE ARE EXPECTED TO BE SERVED

Ringsend wastewater treatment plant gets €80m redevelopment

 REBECCA RYAN

IRISH water has started an €80 million upgrade to its Ringsend wastewater treatment plant.

It is expected that an extra 400,000 people will be served by the plant after its redevelopment.

Wastewater from Dublin has been treated in Ringsend since 1906. It is the largest wastewater treatment plant in Ireland, and services more than 40% of the national population.

Currently, the plant serves the Greater Dublin Area including Dalkey, Rathcoole, Clondalkin, Blanchardstown/Mulhuddart, Dublin Airport, Howth and the city centre, as well as parts of Meath such as Dunboyne, Clonee and Ashbourne.

The upgrade will take approximately two years to construct and will support planned housing and economic growth in the Dublin region.

It will also improve the quality of the treated wastewater discharged to the Liffey estuary.

This capacity upgrade is one part of an overall investment of €400 million

by Irish Water in the Ringsend wastewater treatment plant upgrade project.

Subject to planning permission, the overall upgrade project will enable full treatment of wastewater for the equivalent of 2.4 million people, meeting all foreseeable development needs to at least 2025.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Micheal MacDonncha, said it is important that Dublin can sustain growth: “With the CSO predicting the population of the Greater Dublin Area to grow by 1% per year over the next ten to 15 years, it

is vital our infrastructure keeps up with that growth.

“This investment will enable future housing and commercial development and help ensure Dublin is able to sustain continued growth.”

Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy, welcomed the commencement of the upgrade, saying: “This is a hugely important and modernising step for our national and regional wastewater infrastructure.

“This investment is preparing our capital city for future growth. It will ensure that the highest treatment standards are being deployed and utilised in Dublin, that we

The Ringsend wastewater treatment plant upgrade will take approximately two years to construct

are preparing for future housing, population and economic growth and that we meet the stringent requirements of the EU’s

wastewater treatment directives.”

Last December, Irish Water awarded the capacity upgrade contract to

Veolia Water Ireland Ltd & PJ Hegarty & Sons DC Joint Venture for the construction of this phase of the upgrade.

Everyone’s invited to the Paddy party

Ardmheara Micheal Mac Donncha and friends help launch St Patrick’s festival, which this year has the theme of ‘Home’. Picture: Robbie Reynolds

 REBECCA RYAN ‘HOME’ has been announced as this year’s theme for the St Patrick’s Festival.

Taking place from March 15-19, the five-day festival will see thousands of home-grown and international musicians, dancers and storytellers perform.

The artistic programme also includes a unique film commission project, street-theatre, talks, walks, spoken word, literature, music, Irish

language, visual art and more.

The vibrant and colourful programme of more than 30 events will create a world class cultural celebration of Ireland, its people and our national holiday.

Minister for Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport Shane Ross told Dublin Gazette he thinks Home is a “a tremendous theme”.

He said: “There are many festivals that go on around the country.

There’s a great one in Stepaside just

on my doorstep that I attend every year, and around the country there are festivals that celebrate community, and that’s terribly important.”

The festival is expected to bring in more than €70 million for the Irish economy which Minister Ross said is “phenomenally good for tourism – it’s the most celebrated national day in the world”.

As for his favourite moment about St Patrick’s Day, he said: “My favourite place to spend it is at the Stepaside parade, but obviously, the parade in the city is of national importance.

“It is so professional, it’s so well organised, it’s such a tremendous spectacle for the world to see.

“It attracts tourism and it shows that Ireland is a really modern, vibrant, energetic, peaceful state, and so I am very proud of both those parades.”

More than 100,000 overseas visitors are expected to come to Dublin to watch the festival parade waltz and whirl through the streets of Dublin from noon on March 17.

To find out more, see www.stpatricksfestival.ie.

Health and safety fears at Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre A LOCAL councillor has expressed serious safety concerns about Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre.

Cllr Michael Merrigan (Ind) said local residents were “seriously concerned” when a “potentially fatal incident” occurred recently after a “large section of glass crashed down from an upper floor of the shopping centre onto a very busy section of Upper George’s Street below.”

Cllr Merrigan said that locals are ver y worried and want the matter investigated.

“It was a miracle that nobody was hurt or seriously injured in the incident.

“Local residents were shocked at what happened and have very legitimate concerns for their safety and for those visiting the town.”

Cllr Merrigan is now looking for an audit of the centre.

“The promised upgrade of the Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre has basically been put on hold.

“Much flagged new anchor tenants did not materialise and now the 1960s building is possibly not fit for purpose to deliver a 21st century shopping experience.

“I am calling on the management of the centre to undertake an immediate health and safety audit of the premises and to immediately replace all external window panes in the Shopping Centre with approved high quality toughened and laminated safety glass.”

Cllr Merrigan told Dublin Gazette that given the very serious nature of the incident he would be asking the Health & Safety

Cllr Michael Merrigan

Authority to investigate the matter and make recommendations to the management of the centre.

“This matter needs to be addressed without delay – I am putting the centre on notice.”

Dun Laoghaire Shopping centre manager told Dublin Gazette the incident happened when a wind weather warning was in place.

“There was an incident where a portion of a window broke and some glass fell down onto George’s Street, this occurred one night when there was a high level wind weather warning.”

Audited She added that centre management “have not been approached by anybody in respect of carrying out a Health & Safety audit on the Centre” and that the centre was audited last month.

“I can advise that we under take both Insurance and Health & Safety Audits in the Centre, the latest audits being carried out in January 2018 and November 2017 respectively.

“T he area where the window broke has been inspected and we will be carrying out some works to this area.”

6 DUBLIN GAZETTE  SOUTH 15 February 2018

EVENTS Irish and Chinese cultures celebrated in Dun Laoghaire

Aaron and Emily MacGabhann

Faye O’Brien with mum Susan Lynch

Enjoying a family day at dlr LexIcon

Marie Altamero with daughter Aaliyah. Pictures: Rose Comiskey

T

HE recent family day dlr LexIcon celebrated both the Irish cultural traditions around Spring and the Chinese New year. Locals enjoyed a Chinese tea ceremony, Tai Chi for little ones, kite making, dog doodling and art workshops, face painting, rhythm workshops and many more fabulous events.

David Homan with son Dylan Elodie Walsh with her mum Therese

Fodhla Flannagan is painted by Susie

Mallika and Sanika Shetty make decorations

Angela O’Muirthile with daughter Aine

15 February 2018 SOUTH  DUBLIN GAZETTE 7

INITIATIVE | CALL TO AGREE FOR FUNDING TO GET NEW OFFICE UP AND RUNNING

Independent Planning Regulator ‘on the way’  REBECCA RYAN

AN independent planning regulator to oversee planning will be established later this year.

That’s according to the Minister for Housing, Planning & Local Government Eoghan Murphy TD when he was responding to a Commencement Matter raised by local Senator Victor Boyhan in Seanad Eireann last Wednesday.

Senator Boyhan a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Planning sought reassurance from the Minister that the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) would be independent of his department and that the OPR would have oversight of all local authority and regional assembly planning decisions.

Senator Boyhan told Dublin Gazette he welcomes the news and says it has been a long time coming.

“Great, all very positive; I believe he

is genuinely supportive of this initiative.

The important thing is now to agree on a timeline and funding to get the Office of an Independent Planning Regulator up and running.

“I have long argued for an Independent Planning Watch Dog, independent of planning authorities and for that matter independent of the Minister of the day.

“The Mahon Tribunal into planning irregularities and allegations of corruption made strong recommendations that included the establishment of an Independent Planning Regulator. I raised this matter in the Senate in order to keep the focus on this particular important recommendation by Mahon.”

Minister Murphy confirmed that the regulator would have the power to review the organisation, systems and procedures used by any planning authority, including An Bord Pleanala.

Senator Boyhan told us more.

“A key recommendation of the Mahon Tribunal, which found that corruption affected “every level of Irish political life”, was that the Office of the Planning Regulator will be established as a new and separate independent office but would be obliged to inform the minister if a planning strategy is ‘not consistent’ with proper planning.”

Senator Boyhan also looked for confirmation on the powers of the Independent Planning Regulator to consider complaints from members of the public and Minister Murphy confirm this was the case.

Senator Boyhan said it is important that the Government does not try to restrict court challenges to major building projects.

“In my deliberation with the Minister in the Senate, I cautioned him against any attempt the restrict or curtail the right of citizens to engage in the planning pro-

cess particularly and their current right to lodge submissions of objection to their council or An Bord Pleanala concerning a planning application.

“I will oppose an attempt by the government to curtail the current position.”

He added that he also has a further proposal on the table.

“This week I have a proposal before the Minister for consideration as part of the Planning & Development Bill in the Senate. I have tabled an amendment seeking a waiver of the standard fee of €20 per objection that county councillors are expected to pay per planning application.

The current arrangement is anti-democratic and restricts councillors in their public representative role.”

Senator Boyhan said he would support the Ministers Planning and Development Bill before the Seanad this week, which would enable the establishment of the OPR if passed.

Girl, 3, dies following alleged assault

A THREE-YEAR-OLD girl has died following an alleged assault in Shankill.

Emergency services were called to a house on the afternoon of Saturday, February 10.

The girl was taken by ambulance to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.

A Garda spokesperson told Dublin Gazette “The machine was switched off yesterday morning - Tuesday, February 13 2018 and the child was pronounced dead.”

A woman in her 40s was charged in relation to an incident of assault and was brought before a special sitting of Bray District Court on February 11 at 8pm.

She was remanded in custody and is due to appear in court again on February 15.

8 DUBLIN GAZETTE  SOUTH 15 February 2018

OPINION | ‘CHANGES TO OUR LAWS ARE NOT AN ATTACK ON RURAL IRELAND, BUT A NEED TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO STOP THE DEVASTATION THAT EVEN A SINGLE DEATH CAN WREAK’

‘Drink driving changes are to save lives’

“HOW much alcohol can I consume before getting behind the wheel of a car – legally?” is a question I am repeatedly asked these days.

It started when I dared to suggest that people who are caught driving with more than the allowed limit of alcohol in their blood should get a mandatory three-month ban for this dangerous – sometimes fatally dangerous – offence.

It didn’t seem to be a draconian suggestion.

I wasn’t even changing the amount of alcohol you can legally consume before getting behind the wheel of a car.

But you’d think I’d decided to outlaw Guinness or impose mandatory abstention every holy day of obligation from the reaction I got in some quarters.

Somehow, a desire to save lives and reduce road traffic casualties turned into an “an attack on rural life”.

It was argued that people in rural Ireland are unable to socialise unless they are allowed to break the law and drive home with a few pints on board. This, despite the fact that eight out of ten alcohol-related collisions occur in rural areas.

Seemingly they weren’t the only ones to have their lives ruined by a simple change of penalty in our drink-driving laws. Priests, I was told, would no longer be able to say mass for fear of being breathalysed

on their way home.

There was talk of hedges jumping out at people, fairy forts and large dinners being as much of a threat to road safety as drink driving, but the gist of the warning was clear: Ross was attempting to ride roughshod over rural life. He must be stopped!

Why can’t he concentrate on the real culprits; speeding, enforcement and fixing those blasted potholes? Why can’t he just focus on people who have ten or 20 pints and leave the rest of us to enjoy our one or two – sure, what harm are we doing?

The answer, of course, is “plenty”. People who are just marginally over the drink driving limit are causing huge hurt, injury and even death to others.

Multiply that by all the families, friends and extended communities who are also affected and you’ll see the amount of harm that people just over the drink driving limit are doing.

Research shows us that approximately 7-8 people are killed per year at the lower alcohol levels [20082012]. The culpable party was not a pedestrian or passenger, but the driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at lower alcohol levels. That’s a lot of harm, to a lot of people.

It’s hard to imagine that a sociable few drinks could cause so much devastation to people’s lives.

What’s even harder to imagine is if it happened to you.

How would you feel if your loved one was struck down and killed by a driver who was just over the BAC limit? How would you look at yourself in the mirror if you were the one who did the killing?

Sometimes we need to hear the reality at the coalface– not from the politicians or the lobby groups – but from the experts in the field and the people whose lives have been hugely affected by these issues.

------------------------

‘Being over the limit can vary from person to person depending on many factors, including weight, food intake, tiredness etc’

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Minister Ross

-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Next week I am delighted to share a space with Ray d’Arcy – who has proven a great advocate for road safety – and Donna Price, founder of Irish Road Victims Association, recently appointed to the board of the RSA and the mother of a child who was killed by a drink driver.

They will be joined by Brian Farrell of the RSA and, I hope, as many of you who can come and contribute to this valuable discussion.

We want to hear your concerns, your ideas and recommendations as we all work together to make our roads safer for all our families and our communities.

And, getting back to the original question – how much alcohol can I consume before getting behind the wheel of a car – legally?

I’m afraid there’s no hard and fast answer to that. The current law – which I am NOT changing, all I am changing is the penalty – says that you are over the limit with a BAC of 50mg.

But this can vary from person to person depending on many factors, including weight, food intake, tiredness etc.

Ultimately, the best guideline is: if you’re going to be drinking, get someone else to drive you home. You won’t regret it.  SHANE ROSS

Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport

15 February 2018 SOUTH  DUBLIN GAZETTE 9

10 DUBLIN GAZETTE  SOUTH 15 February 2018

EVENTS No matter what’s happening around the city, The Gazette’s

Hayley Hendley, Nicky Caffrey and Susan Asubisong

Una McCarthy and Amy Hill. Picture: Rose Comiskey

Yulia Kashanina and Lara Moorhead

Mara Caira, Noelene Anderson and Eve Pinkney

Rebecca Moriarity, Alexandra Navas and Stelbi Saji

Doireann Egan and Eabha McCusker

Pupils got projects down to a science

S

ciFest@School took place in St Raohaela’s Secondary School in Stillorgan last week. 180 students participated presenting 89 projects. First-year

and second-year students were involved and the day was organised by teacher Ms Rosabelle Crampton.

Judges were impressed with the

number of physics and chemistry projects on display and there were surely many future physicists, chemists and engineers in the making in attendance.

Ciara Andrews and Hannah Johnson

Chantel Fallon and Janice Thomas

15 February 2018 SOUTH  DUBLIN GAZETTE 11

far-ranging photographers have all the events and angles covered

Stillorgan College

Students Aoibheann Coogan, Ciara Bowden, Jessica Tynan, Rachael O’Brien, Emma Farrell, Elma Mucmeraj, Rebecca Fitzgerald and Ellen Moran with Dean Eaton (DLRCC) attend DLR Eco Conference for Secondary Schools.

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Hair raising show 1. Aisling O’Keeffe stars as Tracy Turnblad

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2. Motormouth Maybelle played by Ava Tormey Murphy 3. Rebecca Halpenny stars as Edna Turnblad 4. The Dynamites

R

ATHDOWN School Transition Year girls aided by some plucky male volunteers from St Michael’s College, Gonzaga College and Sandford Park Schools- staged a wonderful production of the musical Hairspray recently, with their energetic performances and vibrant production wowing audiences.

This delightful summer musical set in 1962 Baltimore, was chock-full of toe-tapping Sixties style numbers and downtown rhythm and blues, ensuring the audiences were dancing in their seats as song after song was performed.

GAZETTE

12 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15 February 2018

DUBLINBUSINESS

ENTERPRISE | DEPARTMENT TRYING TO ENCOURAGE GREATER PARTICIPATION RATES

Engaging SMEs with the public procurement process PAT Breen – Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection – has welcomed the recent launch by Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan of a new range of materials from the Office of Government

Procurement (OGP) aiming to promote SME participation in the public procurement process.

The initiative, developed in response to industry feedback, includes a series of introductory breakfast briefings, organised by InterTradeIreland, and

a range of videos explaining the procurement process.

The innovation in providing additional encouragement to Irish businesses, comes at the suggestion of an SME advisory group chaired by Minister O’Donovan.

The group, containing representatives from the public sector and business representative bodies, has been working to further promote SME participation in the public procurement process.

Welcoming the initiative, Minister

Breen said: “I am delighted that the OGP, with the support of this department and its agencies and key business representative bodies, has developed a suite of materials to make the public procurement process for SMEs clearer.”

Minister of State for Mental Health Jim Daly (centre) Member First Credit Union’s school liaison officer, Marie Kane, and chief marketing officer Darren O’Reilly

EDUCATION | TRAINING FOR STUDENTS

Initiative is a real credit MEMBER First Credit Union, in partnership with UnPlug, have launched a new digital education initiative with Minister of State Jim Daly, targeting ten primary schools in North Dublin.

Designed to raise awareness of the impact that technology and social media have on the lives of young people, and to promote positive tech habits for children in the school setting, the initiative aims to provide them with the skills and coping strategies to have a more balanced relationship with technology and social media.

Its workshops are designed to be fun, evidence-based and focused on practical steps for positive change.

The initiative is being uniquely delivered in two workshops in each school.

One workshop is delivered to primary school children in 5th and 6th class, but the other is for their parents and guardians.

Darren O’Reilly, chief marketing officer at Member First Credit Union, said: “We want young people to manage their technology and empower them with digital literacy skills.”

Echoing his words, Member First Credit Union’s chief executive, Fiona Cunningham, said: “Modern life and the ‘always-on’ mentality is stressful and can impact on young people’s wellbeing, so we hope to see the programme adopted

across the local communities we serve in North Dublin.”

As one of the largest community-based credit unions in the country, ser ving communities across north Dublin, Member First Credit Union has recently rebranded as a next-generation credit union.

As a technically capable, remotely accessible credit union with a visible local presence, Member First Credit Union sees the withdrawal of banks from the main streets as an opportunity.

By filling the void and offering its services across multiple platforms, it aims to become the numberone loan provider in north Dublin.

15 February 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 13

STYLE P22

TRAVEL P25

DUBLINLIFE Let Dublin Gazette Newspapers take you on a tour of the news and events taking place across the city and county this week

MARVELLOUS MARTIN IS A BRAINY BOY DUBLIN Gazette has teamed up with Dogs Trust to help find homes for lost and abandoned dogs.

Martin is a handsome two-year-old German Shepard that’s not just a pretty face, as he has proven himself to be a very bright spark with brains to burn.

He still requires some additional training, but with his clever brain and love for food this should be an easy task.

With his love for people, he’s looking to be the only dog in an adult-only home so that he can get the attention he deserves, but his potential adopters will need to be used to owning a dog of his size, and he is looking for someone that will be home during the day.

If you think you can offer Martin a loving home, 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 over on Twitter @ DogsTrust_IE.



GAZETTE

DIARY P14

A FUN FAMILY TREAT FOR MID-TERMS

It’s Butlers to the rescue to help entertain ‘chocaholics’ WITH midterm breaks looming, lots of parents will be scrambling for activities to keep the kiddies occupied.

The Butlers Chocolate Experience could be a pretty sweet solution to help fill some time, as well as proving a perfect day out for chocolate lovers of all ages.

On arrival at the centre at Clonshaugh Business Park, close to the M50/M1

junction (or a hop away from the No 27 bus route), visitors will dress like a real-life Butlers chocolatier and gather to watch a chocolate movie, learning about the fascinating origins of the cocoa bean and the history of Butlers, accompanied by delicious chocolate treats.

With an expert guide in tow, the budding chocolatiers will explore the interactive museum and step

out on the Chocolate Gallery to see the Butlers factory, savouring the sweet aroma as they discover the secrets of how Butlers Chocolates are created.

Finally, everyone gets to unleash their inner chocolatier in the Chocolate Experience room, where they can decorate their own chocolate masterpiece to bring home as a treasured souvenir (or as a tasty treat after they’ve fin-

ished admiring their own handiwork).

The Butlers Chocolate Experience entry must be booked in advance, priced €13.50 per person, with tours running daily at 10am, noon and 3.30pm, Monday to Saturday (subject to change and availability) You can save 5% by booking online at www. butlerschocolates.com/ book, or call 01 671 0599.

Steady, steady ... applying the finishing tasty touch

14 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15 February 2018

GAZETTE

DUBLINLIFE Karen gets her teeth stuck into children’s oral hygiene initiative

DIARY

CAMPAIGN: RAISING AWARENESS OF DENTAL HEALTH

TV broadcaster Karen Koster was joined by Kate O’Riordan (age 2) to launch Dental Care Ireland’s “First Dental Visit” campaign, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of establishing a good dental health routine from an early age.

Throughout the month of March, Dental Care Ireland’s Dublin practices in Knocklyon, Cabinteely and Swords will be offering a free first dental visit to all patients under five.

Speaking at the launch, Karen said: “We all know about teething and tooth fairies when it comes to our children’s dental health, but otherwise I think there can be a tendency to wait until a problem arises before

seeking advice.

“At the baby and toddler stage in particular, it is so helpful to speak to a dentist and find out what you should or shouldn’t be doing to prevent potential issues from the outset.”

MACBETH TO TAKE TO THE BORD GAIS STAGE SHAKESPEARE’S legendary Macbeth will take to the Bord Gais stage for a limited run next week.

The fear-filled tragedy will run for six shows, in what is promised to be a ‘kinetic and blood-thirsty’ production.

Macbeth revolves around a murderous individual, his mind clouded by demons as his lust for power ignites a passion

within him to seize the throne.

The show will run from February 20 until 24.

Tickets are on sale now from bordgaisenergytheatre.ie, with prices from €15 to €30.

AN AMAZING COLLECTION OF ART THE Bernard Shaw, renowned as a legendary pub and flea market, will be hosting The Shaw Art Market on February 17.

The art market will take place as part of the bimonthly flea market.

A hipster haven on the border of the city and Rathmines, a collection of art will be available from stall holders for purchase.

Running two markers a

month, the Bernard Shaw hold a vintage and flea market on the first Saturday of each month.

For more information, check out thebernardshaw.com/flea.

COMPLEX TO HOST WORLD PREMIERE THE Complex will host the world premiere of Anthony Goulding’s new play F.A.T. D.A.D. from Thursday, February 15 to Sunday, February 25.

The play tells the story of the profound impact a teacher and hunger striker had on his pupils in the Smithfield area during the 1980s and 1990s.

Inspired by true events FA.T. D.A.D., an acronym for the six counties under British rule, depicts the

TV broadcaster and mum Karen Koster is pictured with Kate O’Riordan (age 2) at the launch of Dental Care Ireland’s ‘First Dental Visit’ campaign.

Picture: JULIEN BEHAL PHOTOGRAPHY

life of a teacher, Fiachra Martin.

His classroom acts as a symbol of a divided Ireland and the conflicting lives of his students.

Mr Martin goes on hunger strike with Bobby Sands, and while his beliefs deepen, he finds himself unemployed and homeless.

His bond with his former students however holds strong.

Tickets for the show can be purchased online at a cost of €18 / €15 concession / €12 for groups of 10 or more at www.tickets. ie or by emailing bernadette@thecomplex.ie.

ROMEO AND JULIET COMES TO DUNDRUM MILL Productions will

bring their production of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to the Dundrum stage next week Directed by Geoff O’Keeffe this abridged version of the play is the ideal opportunity for all Junior Cert students to see one of Shakespeare’s most popular tragedies performed.

The play stars Tom Moran, Laura O’Leary, Neill Fleming, Jennifer Laverty, Matthew O’Brien, Paul Eliott, Claire O’Donovan, Jack Mullarkey The play lasts one hour and 30 minutes with tickets priced at €12.50 per student (1 Teacher per 20 goes free) For bookings please see www.milltheatre.ie / ph.

01-2969340.

EVENT BOASTS DIVERSE LINEUP FOLLOWING a successful debut in 2017, the innovative SPECTRUM festival will return this coming March for a second year.

S PE C T RU M 2 018 , presented by IMC, is fuelled by a diverse programme of music, encompassing jazz and creative music.

From “free” jazz to electro-folk, the festival will take place across three Dublin venues – The Grand Social, the Fumbally Stables and DBD (under The Mess) - from March 9 until 11.

Tickets are priced from €16, and are on sale from improvisedmusic.ie now.

15 February 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15

ARTS: CLASSIC 1950S PLAY SEES IMAGINATIVE REBOOT

This take on Anger should delight fans  JORDAN UPSHAW YOUNG Irish director Annabelle Comyn has breathed new life into the 1950s John Osborne classic, Look Back in Anger.

The production debuted at the Gate Theatre on February 7 and features a stellar cast who share an easy chemistry.

Ian Toner is Jimmy Porter, the original “angry young man” of theatre.

Tooner brings just enough charm to offset his character’s self-aggrandising speeches and malice.

As Alison Porter, Clare Dunne gives a believable performance as a victim of spousal abuse while bringing a refreshing new strength to the role.

Lloyd Cooney and Vanessa Emme round off Cliff and Helena, the couple’s respective best friends.

Cooney brings a surprising yet welcome amount of likability and comic relief to the serious subject matter, while Emme successfully disrupts the entire plot when she arrives on the scene.

However, Comyn’s fresh reinterpretation of the source material is what stands out most. Even those familiar with the

play will be surprised by this production.

Through well-chosen directorial decisions, Comyn gives the female characters an agency they were previously denied.

Nearly all of the stage directions from the script are narrated by whichever actor happens to be offstage. This provides a sense of Osborne’s influence; the audience can almost see him using his words to yank the characters around, often against their will.

Beyond that, the characters sometimes resist their orders, waiting for them to be repeated before complying. Sometimes they ignore them completely.

However, the young female director wrests power from the author and puts it in the hands of the female characters instead.

Comy n has pulled off the daunting feat of changing the narrative without changing the script and staying faithful to Osborne’s story while making it her own.

Look Back in Anger runs at the Gate until March 24. Tickets can be bought at www.gatetheatre.ie, or directly at its box office on 01 874 4045.

The women at the heart of this take on the well-worn play successfully bring it in a bold new direction

GAZETTE

FEATURE

16 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15 February 2018

EVENTS No matter what’s happening around the city, The Gazette’s

Nadia Forde, Brian Dowling and Pippa O’Connor

Lisa and Keith Duffy. Pictures: Brian McEvoy Photography

Having a ball at a fundraising event P

IPPA O’Connor Ormond welcomed a host of famous faces for the inaugural Blossom Tree Ball in aid of Temple Street Hospital at The K Club in Straffan, County Kildare.

Pippa’s husband Brian Ormond was the MC for the evening with Barry Murphy on hand to conduct the auction and Brian Dowling did an impromptu blind date ahead of St Valentine’s Day. The event raised a huge amount of money to help purchase vital pieces of equipment for the children’s hospital, and many well-known faces stepped out to support the cause.

Jenny Nolan, Colin O’Shea and Rachel O’Shea

15 February 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 17

far-ranging photographers have all the events and angles covered

Ellen Jones and Conrad Jones

John and Emma O’Sullivan

Sinead Beggan and Julie Husman

Oonagh and Joanne O’Hagan

Laura Jayne Halton, Umit Kutluk and Laura Mullet

Carol Byrne

GAZETTE

18 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15 February 2018

DUBLINLIFE

PUZZLE PAGE SUDOKU

CODEWORDS EASY

TOUGH

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS

HOW TO SOLVE

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

WORD SEARCH

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.

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.

SCRIBBLE BOX

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

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

FIND THE FOLLOWING HIDDEN WORDS abode

location

accost

lodging

direct

pad

domicile

place

dwelling

speak to

greet

venue

hail

whereabouts

hold forth house lecture locale

15 February 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 19

How could I become more confident, like you always are?

I HAVE been a big fan of yours since you appeared on X-Factor and I love your sense of positivity and zest for life.

I wish I had your confidence, and I wonder have you always been so outgoing, or is it the result of your success on X-Factor?

Martin, Skerries

MARY SAYS: I’M A firm believer that life is all about choices and that we all have to make choices in our lives.

Sometimes the choices are straightforward and sometimes they are tough and sometimes, in hindsight, the choices we make might not be the best choices – but remember we all make mistakes in life, the trick is to learn from our mistakes.

One of the biggest choices I had to make in my life was entering the X-Factor.

Believe you me, I had little or no self-confidence before I chose to enter.

The truth is, my family and friends had to practically drag me to the auditions and push me out in front of the judges for that initial audition!

However, having overcome that fear, and having made the choice to enter, my confidence grew over the weeks that followed and I think that showed in my performances in those weeks.

Conf idence breeds confidence; once you can overcome that initial fear you will be surprised how quickly confidence can grow.

Take a deep breath and go for it – what do you have to lose?

My panic attacks are ruining my life – should I tell my friends the truth?

I HAVE agoraphobia and suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, meaning that it’s very difficult and almost impossible for me to go out.

GAZETTE

ADVICE I keep making excuses to my friends not to go out with them, and I’m afraid they’ll think I’m a bit odd.

So far I’ve kept it a secret from even my closest friends, and only my husband knows the truth. I’ve given him strict instructions not to tell anyone about this!

Do you think I’m right to keep it secret, or should I confide in my cl o s e s t f r i e n d s ?

I’m afraid they won’t understand, but it is ruining my life.

Stephanie, Lucan

MARY SAYS: I CAN empathise with your situation, having suffered similar symptoms at different periods during my life.

Firstly, I can understand you wanting to keep this a secret. None of us wants to feel odd or to admit to something that might cause people to look at us in a negative light.

Confiding in your husband is a brave thing to do, but I suspect he will feel helpless in this situation.

Can I reassure you that you are not alone. Tens of thousands of men and women will suffer the same symptoms at some stage in their lives.

More than likely the symptoms will have been triggered by some incident or incidents in your life that you may not be able to relate to.

It’s time to be brave and to face your fears. Please confide in your GP; they will understand and will no doubt refer you for specialist counselling to tease out the root cause of your fears.

Once you face your fears they will lose their power over you, and you will be able to return to a happy life with your loving husband and friends. Trust me, and be brave.

I’ve been doing great with my weight loss – but how can I stick to my plan?

I HAD my last child at

Is there something on your mind? Mary Byrne is delighted to offer her advice to Dublin Gazette readers; email her today at marybyrne@dublingazette.com 37, and he’s a real bundle of joy! However, I’ve piled on the weight since and I decided to follow you on Operation Transformation.

I was doing really well and was sticking to the plan, but I’ve started to slip.

My greatest weakness is that I’m ‘a picker’, even straight after my dinner. I love to have a biscuit or two with a cup of tea, and then I

regret it immediately!

What advice could you give me to help overcome this and get back on track?

Joan, Finglas

MARY SAYS: OPERATION Transformation was one of the biggest

challenges of my life.

I had to face some of my biggest fears and make some life-changing decisions and break some of the habits that I had learned over a lifetime.

This takes a lot of selfdiscipline and, from experience, your priorities af ter hav-

ing a child are with the baby and not with yourself.

First of all – well done in sticking to the plan; this shows you do have the self discipline!

As for slipping, well, I think we all like to treat ourselves, as a little reward, from time to time and let me reassure you there is nothing wrong with that.

Like you, I’m a picker as well. My trick is to have something to hand to pick on that is relatively healthy.

I stopped buying the chocolate and the biscuits and made sure I had sliced fruit (apples, strawberries, grapes) or vegetables (celery

or sliced carrots) to hand to nibble on.

These are delicious with one of the low-fat dips you can pick up in the supermarket.

In this way you can feel both rewarded and healthy.

You’re doing so well to stay on track, particularly with the demands of a new baby, so don’t be too hard on yourself.

The odd slip is allowed – just don’t make a habit of it!

REMINDER Mary needs you to contact her by noon on Monday, so don’t delay – send your problem to Dear Mary at Dublin Gazette today!

15 February 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 21

DUBLINLIFE

MUSIC

LET’S GO OUT MUSIC

GAZETTE

GAZETTE

20 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15 February 2018

O Emperor return Ready, Eddi, go!

Waterford group’s new single, Make It Rain, may be a

crowning glory

PICKWEEK OF THE

FEBRUARY 16 (Friday) Eddi Reader @ The Pavillions Theatre, €22 The former Fairground Attraction vocalist has never quite reached the same heights as her early days solo. That’s through no fault of the songwriting: if anything she’s better now than in the vocalled love ditty, Perfect, that helped to make her name.

BEST OF THE REST  JAMES HENDICOTT RETURNING to the scene after a break of a couple of years, O Emperor leave behind their hang-ups, delving into a free-spirited, avant garde, industryignoring new phase.

The Waterford act are back, but not as you know them...

When they burst onto the Irish music scene with major-label debut Hither Thither, O Emperor were a band known for their meticulous attention to detail.

They wrote beautiful, haunting indie-pop songs that meandered wonderfully, every note carefully adjusted in agonised-over studio recordings.

That startling attention to detail was a blessing and a curse: at times a constraint on the release of the band’s music, but creating a distinctive and much-loved sound that propelled them to national attention.

In hindsight, frontman Paul Savage admits: “We needed to let that perfec-

The lads in O Emperor admit they’re slow at getting things done, preferring to wait until the music is right

tionism go and accept that at a certain point what we’ve done is actually fine.

“We used to obsess over things like the exact level of reverb. Looking back, I don’t think other people really notice or care about things like that.”

A f ter a couple of years away, O Emperor returned having done a

full 180. New single, Make It Rain, is the first offering from an as yet untitled new album, and the first of a series of pre-album singles set to come out over the course of a year.

The band also completed their live return with first show in some time last week at Cork’s Quarter Block Party.

Savage says: “We did most of the recording two years ago, but we’ve only got to mixing now. We’re very bad at taking our time with things.

“We got a notion to go ahead with it now, though, so we’ve gone ahead.

We’ve gone really rough and ready with stuff. It’s actually written live; it’s just live jams.

“We recorded two to three hours of us jamming and picked out bits we liked, and chopped up and constructed some bits in the edit. Then we added the vocals later, but even the vocals were kind of made up on the spot in some cases.

“It’s inf luenced by things like Sun Ra, Can, and krautrock stuff, and really concentrates on atmosphere. It can actually be quite difficult to reproduce live, and it’s really radically different to anything we’ve done before.

Evolved “It’s already evolved quite a lot from the record in rehearsal and in the live

show, as it’s very difficult to actually reproduce what you did before. There are clashed notes, odd chords, stuff like that.

“We’re trying to base the live show in a framework and jam around that,” he continues, “which can be hard to do, especially where you’re nervous. It’s easy to mess up on the spot, but it’s really exciting to do.”

In the early days, O Emperor were signed to Universal, and looked like a serious prospect for the kind of overblown music industry success that the likes of Hozier and Walking On Cars went on to achieve.

The difficulty, as Savage recalls it, was that even back then the band weren’t particularly suited to radioplay. Even when second album Vitreous was the hot favourite for the 2013 Choice Music Prize (Ireland’s national music award, eventually won by Villagers, with Awayland), O Emperor were never quite a household name.

Savage says: “Being with

Universal was a long time ago, and important in the development of the band.

It was short-lived but it taught us what we needed to know about the music industry and how to exist within it.

“We weren’t as avant garde back then, but we were never the type for daytime radio. Daytime radio is very limited, unfortunately, and it doesn’t suit 99% of Irish bands.

“It would be difficult if you really wanted to pursue things full time, but we’ve never really been at that level.”

These days, it’s more about having fun, though it’s easy to get the sense that the more relaxed approach might bring about the band’s very best days.

Savage sees the falseness and tepidness of the music industry for what it is, and prefers the more stress-free approach the band are taking now.

He says: “We’re just enjoying playing, enjoying making music. We’ve played in Germany and the UK before, and I hope

we’ll be able to do that again, but it’s different doing it for the enjoyment.

Stressful “We found the PR stuff to be a lot of work, and quite stressful, especially when you’re spending money and feeling like you should be getting better results; that it’s not really helping you that much.

“There’s an obsession with things being new, and you end up doing things like launches for international tours that are fictitious, really, as everything that’s online is available everywhere already, so you’re not really doing anything new. But from a PR point of view you need a ‘new release’.

“We’re less and less interested in stuff like that, and far more focused on the music this time. If people discover our music in four years’ time and listen to it then, that’s great.

That’s a nice thing.”

O Emperor make their Dublin return in playing the Bello Bar on February 17. Single, Make It Rain, is out now.

FEBRUARY 15 (Thursday) Jake Bugg @ Whelan’s, €28 Brit-pop style vocalist Jake Bugg might have an air of 90s throwback, but when he gets pounding on that guitar he hammers through the fast-flowing melodies and hooky riffs.

Get a close-up on this rare small-venue acoustic tour.

Finbar Furey @ Vicar Street, €36.50 Wild Beasts @ Olympia Theatre, €28.50 FEBRUARY 16 (Friday) Loney Dear @ The Workman’s Club, €16 Sharon Shannon @ Draiocht, €20 Fehdah @ The Sugar Club €10 Alestorm @Tivoli Theatre, €25 Anna Mitchell + Patrick Freeman @ Whelan’s Upstairs, €12 FEBRUARY 17 (Saturday) X Factor Live @ 3 Arena, €46 Donal Dineen @ Hang Hai My Tribe Your Tribe + Cat Turner @ Whelan’s Upstairs (late show), free

Clara Rose @ The Underground, €10 The Kerbs @ MB Slattery’s, €8 FEBRUARY 18 (Sunday) Smokie @ Vicar Street, €36.50 Call Girl @ Toner’s, €6 Malojian @ Whelan’s, €13 FEBRUARY 19 (Monday) Galantis @ Olympia Theatre, €28 FEBRUARY 20 (Tuesday) Wiley @ Olympia Theatre, €26 One of the men at the absolute heart of the current thriving UK Grime scene, Wiley is a bonafide superstar set for big, big things. This isn’t quite in at the ground floor, but you won’t see him somewhere this small again in a hurry.

T he Ruby Sessions @ Doyle’s, €6 FEBRUARY 21 (Wednesday) Christian Loffler @ Sugar Club, €12.50 Paradise Lose @ Tivoli Theatre, €25 Katie Gallagher @ Cat and Cage, €5

22 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15 February 2018

DUBLINLIFE Dune Chorizo €95

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This dry-touch formula is incredibly light, with an invisible no-streaks finish and a clean skin sensation leaving no white marks.

FOR HIM River Islan d B

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River Island Bright blue Jimmy tapered leg jeans €55

River Island Stone wool blend overcoat €120

nds Isla r e Riv Round r Clea lasses g Sun €22 B G P

WINTER is (hopefully) almost over and Spring is just around the corner. As the weather gets warmer and we spend just a bit more time outside, it’s important to make sure your skin is protected from the sun’s rays. La Roche Posay have a wide range of sun products to keep you protected and moisturised. After all, a well-dressed man should have healthy, happy skin, too! La Roche-Posay is available in pharmacies nationwide.

My UV Patch Users scan the patch using the My UV Patch mobile app, which analyses the varying photosensitive dyes squares to determine the UVA and UVB exposure level. Through a smart algorithm factoring in the user’s personal data - phototype, skin type, location and weather data the app generates essential information on what behaviours to adopt and what protection to apply.

Cicaplast Levres (7.5ml RRP €6.50) A protective and replenishing treatment in a custom-tailored texture especially for lips. Cicaplast lips is a replenishing lip balm that creates a protective layer on lips to immediately fill cracks and prevent them from reoccurring.

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River Island Black leather belt

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River Island Black gingham button-down shirt €33

Dune Patch in black €145

15 February 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 23

GAZETTE

STYLE

EASING INTO SPRING

and

Celebrate stripes in any which direction. The Spring/ Summer 18 Collection from River Island

 Jessica Maile, Style Editor

Muted colours in relaxed styles for warmer weather.

The Spring/ Summer 18 Collection from River Island

Ahhhhhh, spring... That time of year when you have no idea what to wear because the weather is so changable. It’s not unheard of to go through all four seasons in one day.

Transitioning your wardrobe is easy if you just switch it up to lighter fabrics and lighter colours until River Island you work cream your way to Headquarters summer’s stamp baseball more relaxed styles. cap €17 Original Penguin T-Shirt €45

egas €75 don Fabr

Dune Lon

24 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15 February 2018

COMMERCIAL FEATURE

GIVEAWAY

EZ’s Melissa Casserly presents Noirin Ui Ghoill with her €2,000 voucher

A helping hand for a golden moment ... Lisa Dundon is presented with her €2,500 voucher by Lisa Halley, EZ Living Furniture

PRIZES: LEADING FURNITURE RETAILER ANNOUNCES THE OVERALL WINNER, RUNNERS-UP IN GIANT GIVEAWAY

Tipp-top triumph for one lucky customer in EZ Living’s €8,000 Golden Ticket contest THE EZ Living Furniture Biggest Sale Ever ended on a high last week with customer Lisa Dundon from Tipperary scooping the €2,500 prize as part of the €8,000 Golden Ticket giveaway.

The overall Golden Ticket winner was chosen in the Clonmel, Tip-

perary Store. Lisa was awarded the €2,500 prize as part of the EZ Living Golden Ticket competition, in conjunction with the final week of the leading furniture retailer’s Biggest Sale Ever.

For the entire month of January, EZ Living Fur-

niture offered customers the chance to win their furniture for free – with more than €8,000 in prizes given away.

All customers had to do was simply make a purchase during the Biggest Sale Ever in-store or online to be in with a chance of winning their

furniture or accessories for free in the weekly draws.

As well as receiving €50 vouchers, the winners from each store were entered into a draw to win a grand prize from €500 to €2,500 in EZ Living Furniture vouchers every week.

EZ’s Anthony Leneghan presents Ruth

EZ’s Marius presents Bobby Luiz with

Brehany with her €1,000 voucher

his €500 voucher

EZ’s Niall McMahon presents Sebastian Billioud with his €1,500 voucher

15 February 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 25

TRAVEL

GAZETTE

DUBLINLIFE TravelExtra How to keep up with the Head East for the Kardashian – by using holiday of a lifetime an SUV to zip around LA  SYLVIA POWNALL THE number of people choosing to spend their holidays in LA is rising.

Data from Rentalcars. com shows holidaymakers are flocking to the City of Angels to explore all the top celebrity haunts – and they want the perfect car to give them the all-American experience.

Episodes of hit reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians often show Kim and her clan whizzing around LA in their SUV cars, and it seems Irish car renters want a slice of the action.

Research shows 42% choose to hire SUV trucks such as range rovers and jeeps, when they’re in LA, compared with just 8% in other locations.

Hiring an SUV or convertible is one way you can holiday like a Kardashian in LA, but there are a number of stops you can make on the way...

1. Carousel Restaurant – Hollywood The Kardashian sisters regularly celebrate their Armenian heritage at this old-school Middle Eastern joint. “We go once a month, and it reminds us of our dad because he used to take us here once a week for dinner,” Khloe said in an interview with Food and Wine magazine.

2. Hansen Cakes Anyone who follows the KardashianJenner sisters on Instagram knows no birthday

party is complete without a cake from Hansen Cakes. The bakery designs ornate celebration cakes for all the sisters’ big events.

3. Barry’s Bootcamp Rumour has it that Kim and Kanye head to Barry’s Bootcamp for couples’ training sessions.

According to reports, the pair have been seen sweating away in the 6:30am class, so if you really want to holiday like a Kardashian, you need to be up early!

Thai’s the limit for an unforgettable break Feel like you’ve wandering into a Hollywood set as you explore some of Petchaburi’s charms

4. Bel Bambini North and Saint are the trendiest kids in celebland, and Kim has been spotted on a number of occasions shopping at this bespoke kids shop.

The shop stocks designer Versace baby changing bags – for a cool $600. (Gulp.)

5. Lancer Dermatology Kim (below) has Dr Harold Lancer to thank for her unbelievably flawless skin. She hails him as her skincare guru, and he is Hollywood’s go-to expert when it comes to looking younger.

The Lancer Method reverses the usual order of skin care – beginning with polishing, or exfoliation, followed by cleansing, and then nourishing.

He believes that by polishing first, the result is a deeper cleanse, a more efficient d e l i ve r y of active ingredients and m o r e robust c e l l renewal.

 SYLVIA POWNALL Travel Editor

IF YOU’RE planning a bespoke trip to Thailand and want to take in the best of what it has to offer, then here are a few must-see recommendations

See for yourself why Maya Bay cove is world famous

Jungle trails and waterfalls also await

Try snorkelling in Mu Ko Surin’s crystal-clear waters

1 Train from Hua Hin to Petchaburi Hua Hin is the charming coastal town where the king has his summer palace, with one of the best-loved street markets in Thailand.

A stay here is highly recommended (cheap and cheerful downtown, or blow the budget at the five-star Sheraton resort on the outskirts).

The one-hour train ride north to Petchaburi is a magical experience and will take you off the tourist track. Once there, the temple and architecture are worth the trip, but the journey itself is the most memorable part.

The train returns at sunset and costs less than a euro.

2 Discover Chiang Kham T h i s l i t t l e - k n ow n

northern district offers scenic countryside on the border of Laos far from the madding crowd and queuing of Bangkok.

Phu Sang national park is a wonderland of limestone caves, waterfalls and natural plunge pools – not to mention the rare flora and fauna, and the hidden temples such as Wat Saen Mueang Ma. A double room in the Chiang Kham Grand Villa will set you back €20 a night.

3 Trek through the jungle Less than an hour from the Myanmar border lies Pai, a hotspot for tourists keen to see Mae Yen waterfall. Wildlife will abound on the threehour walk with farmers selling fruit at stalls along the route.

Your shoes might get a bit wet on the river crossings, but the views are spectacular and it’s well worth it.

4 Snorkelling at Mu Ko Surin The Surin islands in the Andaman Sea are surrounded by coral

reefs and are rated the number-one snorkelling destination in Thailand.

Day trips abound, but to fully immerse yourself in the experience a stay at the campsite at Mai Ngam bay is recommended.

A tr ue must-see is Suthep Bay – the country’s first underwater signposted snorkelling trail.

A two -person tent costs €15 a night (nps. dnp.go.th).

5 The Island(s) The notorious Maya Bay cove was made famous in Danny Boyle’s The Beach.

You can spend a night on the Maya Bay Sleep Aboard boat in Kho Phi Phi after an opportunity to explore the caves and jungle before watching the sunset with a cold beer.

Snorkels are provided after dark and fresh local cuisine is served. Bedding is provided on the sand to sleep under the stars, or aboard the boat if you prefer.

T he entire experience costs around €100 (mayabaytours.com).

GAZETTE

26 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15 February 2018

DUBLINLIFE

FEATURES

PYEONGCHANG: ATHLETES DOING THEIR BEST FOR US

Bubba and co – giving their all for Ireland  QUINN KANNER DESPITE our general lack of snow and winter sports, Ireland has five athletes representing us in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang – and one of them even grew up in Ireland!

Team Ireland’s secondyoungest member and only snowboarder is also the only Olympic vet on the team.

Seamus O’Connor made history as the first snowboarder to ever represent Ireland at the Olympics (in Sochi, 2014) and was the flagbearer for the team this year.

The Californian currently lives in Utah, but he’s eligible to compete for Ireland due to his Irish paternal grandparents.

Seamus finished the Men’s Halfpipe Qualifiers in 18th place, but unfortunately only the top 12 moved forward.

Our team’s four skiers include athletes living in the United States, France, Norway and Austria.

Tess Arbez grew up in the French Alps and has an Irish mother; she’s competing in the Ladies’ Slalom and Ladies’ Giant Slalom events.

Thomas Maloney Westgaard also has an Irish mother and is a duel citizen of Ireland and Norway.

He’s been competing for Ireland since 2016, and his Twitter bio roughly translates to “Norwegian. Competes for Ireland. Confused?”

He finished in 60th place for the Men’s’ 15km + 15km Skiathlon, and in 62nd for the Men’s Sprint Classic Qualifiers.

Donegal-born Patrick McMillan grew up in County Clare and went to Kings Hospital Secondary School here in Dublin. He started skiing seriously after a clerical error meant he couldn’t continue to play for the U19 Leinster Rugby team.

He splits his time between Ireland and Austria, where he trains, and is competing in the Men’s Super-G, Men’s Downhill and Men’s Alpine combined.

Rounding out the team is Brendan ‘Bubba’ Newby, who was born in Cork, but grew up in Utah where he still lives and works.

He’ll be competing in the Men’s Ski Halfpipe, starting February 20.

Patrick McMillan getting a feel for the conditions during his downhill training for the Games

ARTS: AN EXCITING LINE-UP OF PLAYS FOR ST PATRICK’S FESTIVAL

An exploration of living in Dublin in Where We Live  MARK O’BRIEN A T WO-WEEK pro gramme of theatre productions, work-in progress showings, music events and live art is coming to The Complex in Smithfield as part of the upcoming St Patrick’s Festival.

Where We Live is a kaleidoscope of stories about what it feels like to live in Dublin and Ireland today, told by some of the best storytellers on the island.

It investigates ideas around money, housing, migration, gender, community, the city and sex.

Jenny Jennings and Phillip McMahon, codirectors of event organisers THISISPOPBABY, said: “Where We Live aims to challenge the prevailing narratives fed to us by the media, the Government and increasingly, the algorithms and echo chambers of social media.

“We’re creating a kind of ‘town hall’, where discussion should be heated,

performance will be redhot, and where opposing views are encouraged.

“We want to tell funny, devastating, exhilarating and joyous stories that imagine and re-imagine what our city and country could be.”

Plays from Oonagh Murphy, Tara Flynn, Peter Daly (above) and Veronica Dyas, an immersive exhibition from Eamonn Doyle, Niall Sweeney and David Donohoe and a one-off concert from The High Hopes Community Choir are just some of the events to look forward to during this creative fortnight.

The consequences of the financial crash of 2008 are a theme that features in several works.

Veronica Dyas’ play, Here & Now (I live here now), tells the story of how ridding herself of her possessions has made her a happier person.

In November 2011, Veronica travelled to the Camino de Santiago – a trip that she said changed

her life.

When she returned, she came back to a house that was €100,000 in negative equity with mortgage arrears.

One year to the day later, she handed her keys to an estate agent and become an unlikely and nomadic landlord, living with friends and family and slowly shedding herself all but the most basic of possessions – something she called Project Downsize.

‘Fear’ She tells Dublin Gazette: “When I came back I was just surrounded by all this stuff and what I realised was that I’d bought the house out of fear.

“I’d bought the house out of shame because people were saying ‘You have to get on the property ladder, you’ll never get a house if you don’t buy now’, all that kind of stuff.”

After renting out her house, Veronica contin-

ued to get rid of what she viewed as unnecessary possessions.

“I started giving away my clothes. I gave all the stuff from the house to St Vincent de Paul, to charity shops, to Oxfam.

I gifted specific books to specific people.”

With the house currently up for sale, Veronica said that, once she pays the bank what she owes she may only have enough to “maybe buy a van to live in” and says that Here & Now aims to highlight the social policies that have impacted on generations of Irish people.

Actor and chartered accountant Peter Daly’s play, Money, tries to get to grips with what actually happened on the path to, and beyond, that fateful day in 2008 when the country was plunged into recession.

The play also has an autobiographical element, with Peter unafraid to reveal some of his own financial missteps.

He says: “It’s me as me,

talking about money and and talking about the wider Irish economy but also my own relationship with money.”

Money also explores deeper themes, asking whether success equates to monetary wealth or something deeper.

“I try and cover how crazy we went during the boom and then the bubble and then the bust.

“I look into what was driving us and how could we be so blind to what was almost an inevitable collapse that was coming down the line, and most of the reasons were that there was huge money to be made.

“And where there’s huge money to be made, people will take big risks and when people take risks, the money gets bigger and when the money gets bigger, even more people pile in.”

We Live Here runs from March 6-18, with tickets for Where We Live events on sale now from www.thisispopbaby.com.

15 February 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 27

GAZETTE

CINEMA

An iconic shot from Get Out – but will the film get the top win at the Oscars?

OSCAR LEADERS GET EVEN MORE AWARDS AHEAD OF THE BIG SHOW NEXT MONTH WITH the Oscars looming next month, the last few ceremonies by lesser known but also highly prestigious awards bodies are wrapping things up, with the Writers Guild of America just the latest to give some unsurprising nods to the clear frontrunners.

Twin juggernauts Get Out, and Call me by Your Name scooped Original Screenplay and Adapted Screenplay respectively, with the biting satire on racism, and the gay coming of age tale, continuing to steamroll the opposition despite some superb competition.

At this stage, it’s beginning to feel that nothing than stop the films’ total domination of the planet’s film awards – and deservedly so, as they’re both terrific – but even though the Writers awards tend to be echoed by the Oscars soon afterwards, nothing is certain.

There’s a chance that the critics’ darling The Shape of Water – the film about a cleaner falling in love with a sea monster – will sweep away the top Oscars, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Television Things were less open and shut with the Writers’ television awards, with many critics still convinced that we’re in the golden age of television, such has been the remarkable calibre of shows that have popped up in recent years.

From new dramas to westerns, sci-fi to documentaries, the past year has seen some remarkable work on the small screen.

Dystopian but timely drama The Handmaid’s Tale nabbed Drama Series and New Series awards, while a plethora of old favourites, ranging from Curb Your Enthusiasm to Better Call Saul at least garnered awards nods in their categories.

“What you lookin’ at?” If you’ve any sense, it won’t be Cloverfield Paradox, just added in a surprise move to Netflix. Despite its high-profile cast – and Chris O’Dowd (right) seemingly playing his role purely for laughs – the film is a disappointing addition to the smash-hit Cloverfield legacy.

CLOVERFIELD PARADOX: INTERESTING GAIN FOR NETFLIX ULTIMATELY DISAPPOINTS

A monster of a mess

 SHANE DILLON

REMEMBER Cloverfield? The found-footage monster film that conquered the world back in 2008, followed by an indirect but decent sequel of sorts in 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)?

Well, how the mighty have fallen, because the latest addition to the Cloverfield oeuvre – Cloverfield Paradox (102 mins) – is an oeuvre-cooked monstrous mess – so much so that it’s been dumped straight onto Netflix by Paramount, rather than stink up cinemas.

It’s an interesting move for Netflix, which is no stranger to original programming, of course, but has a comparatively light record when it comes to

screening original big-name films.

Speaking of light, an exception came late last year with Bright, an underwhelming high-concept Will Smith vehicle starring him as a rather unpleasant cop in the ’hood teaming up with an orc partner to safeguard a powerful wand while some bad elves – oh, don’t ask, as it was anything but a magical experience.

However, Paradox goes a step further, leaving viewers scratching their heads and wondering what on earth Netflix took ownership of such a troubled production for.

Earth is central to the film, which largely follows a group of orbiting astronauts attempting

to fire up a McGuffin machine to create infinite energy for the planet, which is slipping into chaos below as our resources run out.

Tensions are running high both on terra-firma and terraspace-stationah, with the international crew at their wits end in trying to get their science project to work, watching war break out and adding to the pressure on their spinning station.

Perhaps they should have relied more on asking The IT Crowd’s Chris O’Dowd for tech support, as he’s also on board, but seemingly treating his role and the entire film as a flat-out comedy, despite the (admittedly impressive) earnestness on show from some of his fellow

cast members.

So far, so ... odd, given that the first two films in the Cloverfield universe were very much set in the ‘now’, whereas this tale just feels like some near-future offshoot that, frankly, is pretty hard to relate to the giant-monster flicks that its predecessors ultimately proved to be.

It’s not long before terrible things start happening on board the station, the crew start meeting grisly or unexpected deaths, and the film starts turning into some kind of mish-mash between Gravity, Sliders, Life, and Doctor Who. Believe me, that would be a better production to watch, as Paradox’s muddled tale of desperate astronauts and parallel

universes (spoiler alert there) fails to line up the easy shots that such a diverse sci-film should be able to take.

It’s almost worth watching for Chris’s funny turn (there’s an unintentionally absolutely hilarious scene where his neatly-severed-yet-still-alive arm wants to write the crew a warning, with Chris playing the scene like it’s a Red Dwarf offshoot), but the end result is just awful.

As such, Paradox is an early candidate for the worst-of-2018 film lists that you’ll see appearing near the year’s end.

If you’re looking for a great stompy-monster show, Netflix is still home to Stranger Things, but this thing is just strange...

Verdict: 3/10

MiniReviews...

PHANTOM THREAD

THE 15:17 TO PARIS

50 SHADES FREED

SUPPOSEDLY Daniel Day Lewis’s final film, Phantom Thread (Cert 15A, 130 mins) would be a terrific swansong to bow out on. It’s the type of role that Lewis can do in his sleep – playing a driven character who’s far from perfect, playing a dressmaker sewing and snipping his way through one muse after another (not literally) until one woman proves more

QUIETLY slinking into cinemas comes Clint Eastwood’s latest, The 15:17 to Paris (Cert 15A, 94 mins). It’s hard to know what to make of Clint’s latest, which tells the true-life tale of how three ordinary guys leapt into action to thwart a terrorist attack on their train – with the three guys playing themselves in the roles! While their act was undeniably heroic, the

ITS two stars may have all the charisma and chemistry of a concrete breeze block and a lonely hamster, but that hasn’t stopped 50 Shades Freed (Cert 18, 105 mins) becoming a financial smash-hit. Not so much a standard film as a loosely edited collection of property and luxury porn shots with two mismatched leads stumbling through its and-then-this-happened plot,

It’s definitely sew good

It’s rail-ly an odd film

than his match. Part period drama, and part sly comedy, director Paul Thomas Anderson stitches together a sumptuous-looking film that could also see it stitching up some Oscars in March.

A hundred ways awful

trio aren’t exactly the world’s greatest actors, let’s say, and in the current climate the film’s subject matter may rankle a little. At least Clint’s latest is an interesting move by the grizzled director.

the film is an utter mess – but its fans and viewers aren’t bothered about such matters as plot, dialogue, character development, and so on. As a plus point, at least Freed is the final film in the series ...

GAZETTE

28 DUBLIN GAZETTE 15 February 2018

DUBLINLIFE

FASTNews

The Skoda Vision X urban crossover

Skoda has new crossover Vision

SKODA will present a further development of its model range, with the hybrid Skoda Vision X model, due to be released at the Geneva Motor Show in March. This is a compact hybrid SUV, which Skoda claim has been designed for an active, urban lifestyle.

Ibiza delivers fresh style with connectivity

Compact cars, now often called superminis, are all moving to petrol fuel and for good reason, especially for low mileage city drivers. The Seat Ibiza is one of the new generation city car options that have enough space for a family in a stylish fresh design, as MICHAEL MORONEY found out during his recent test drive.

The car will come with distinctive bumpers, sporty side sills, a large panoramic glass roof and 20-inch alloy wheels create a powerful look. The sharp design is claimed to be inspired by traditional Czech glasswork.

The interior of the Skoda Vision X has a new wide, ergonomically contoured dashboard with freestanding colour display dominates the visual impression in the interior. The infotainment and connectivity services can be accessed quickly and intuitively via the screen. Illuminated elements made of cut crystal glass in conjunction with the colour display are designed to create atmospheric lighting effects.

The new Skoda Vision X Skoda’s vision of a modern crossover. By adding a third model to the SUV family, Skoda will be expanding their range of models with a focus on the fast-growing SUV segment. By 2025, Skoda will have brought out plug-in hybrid vehicles in addition to all-electric cars. Then, every fourth vehicle the brand delivers worldwide will have a plug-in hybrid or purely electric powertrain.

Promising start for Renault Group in 2018

RENAULT Group Ireland has claimed a promising start to 2018, taking fourth place in the combined new car and van market with a 10.1% share with almost 4,500 units sold in January. The Renault Group finished the month

THE Seat Ibiza has been a pillar model of the Seat car brand in Ireland with more than 30,000 sold over the five generations of the compact car. During 2017, Seat launched their fifth incarnation of the Ibiza with claims to bring a higher quality feel to the driving experience along with refreshed design while retaining the value for money image.

I’ve driven the Ibiza in the past and this new version is sharper to look at, smoother to drive and comes with new lower levels of economy. The Ibiza is in the smaller compact car market where there’s lots of competition.

Despite this, it retains its distinctive look and brings together the best of the Volkswagen Group technology in a design that individual to the Spanish

Seat Ibiza Xcellence Engine 1.0 litre Engine power 115hp 0 – 100km/hr 9.3 seconds Economy 21km/litre (4.71/100km or 60mpg)

Fuel Tank Capacity 40 litres CO2 emissions 108g/km Road Tax Band A3 €190 Main Service 20,000km/12 months Euro NCAP Rating 5 star (2017) Warranty 2 years Entry Price €18,745 origin brand. What’s very noticeable in the design is the Seat design full LED triangular headlights.

This Ibiza design is sharper as well as being significantly more modern. The new car has higher levels of connectivity than in the past with three options of Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Mirror

Link. This brings the Ibiza into the same connectivity league of some of the bigger cars in a compact and affordable package.

I found the system quick to set up and easy to use with my Apple iPhone package.

I took the Xcellence version of the Seat Ibiza for a recent test drive. The Xcel-

as the bestseller in counties Carlow, Louth, Waterford,

lence is one of four trim levels in the Ibiza range, second from the top which is the FR model, so I expected to get some useful specification in the car.

I was keen to evaluate the Ibiza’s compact threecylinder petrol engine in the new design. This engine is widely available in cars from across the Volkswagen Group, such as the Skoda Fabia and Volkswagen Polo, so the Seat offer has to be at least as good.

The engine is smooth and lively and rated at 115bhp and delivers good acceleration across the range of gears in the sixspeed manual gearbox.

The gear change mechanism is easy with a light feel clutch in support. This is just one of three compact engine options for

the Ibiza Xcellence, there are two smaller engine power options using the same engine design, that are programmed differently in terms of ability while the price difference is not that significant and the performance value far better as you go up the power offering.

Out on the road, the Ibiza Xcellence can deliver some pace, with the car achieving 100km/hr in just 9.3 seconds. You will have to work through the gears to get the most economical speed as with all modern petrol engines, so cruising at top motorway speeds can be less economical.

Mercedes-

Westmeath and Wexford.

Renault Group Ireland enjoyed its most successful year so far in 2017, achieving third position in the combined new car and van market with a combined market share of 9.8% and 15,226 vehicles sold. In January, Renault achieved a 6.2% share of the car market, while Dacia took 2.6%.

January saw a good start to the year for Renault Bank with €25.5 million lent to new car customers. Lending to business customers purchasing vans increased by 34% versus January 2017, indicating that the low rate of 3% APR across the Renault range is attractive to LCV customers. Dublin’s Renault dealers have attractive offers on models registered by 31 March 2018 across its Renault and Dacia PC and LCV ranges.

The new Mercedes-Benz A-Class will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March

MERCEDES-BENZ has lifted the covers off its all-new A-Class which will be unveiled to the public at next month’s Geneva Motor Show. The new A-Class claims to be more ‘grown up’ and more comfortable than before.

There are numerous body changes to give the new A-Class a larger appearance, noticeably a more sloping bonnet and lower, more angular headlights and grille with inset star. The car claims to have more front headroom, more rear elbow and shoulder room than the cur-

15 February 2018 DUBLIN GAZETTE 29

GAZETTE

MOTORING Fiat opens the order doors for stylish Tipo S-Design FIAT has expanded the Tipo range to include the new S-Design, a car with claims of more style and substance.

The new Tipo S-Design is only available in hatchback with entry prices starting from €22,995 for the 1.4 T-Jet 120hp petrol version.

This new version is immediately recognisable thanks to its distinctive wide grille with glossy black trim, which continue around the

The new Fiat Tipo S-Design

edges of the fog lights and on the

hatchback is now in Fiat Dublin

mirror caps. It also encases the Bi-

showrooms and is available to

Xenon headlights, which make their

order now

first appearance in the Tipo family.

New diamond-cut 18-inch alloy

The new Seat Ibiza Xcellence model comes with three engine power options and entry prices starting from €18,745. The new models are more stylish and are underpinned by the latest in Volkswagen Group car technology.

Sticking to the 2000rpm engine speed will bring fuel savings and achieve the rated figure of 21km/litre (4.71/100km or 60mpg), in reality, the feel of the car tends to force you to drive on and that economy level will be difficult to achieve on longer drives or in city traffic.

The car comes with the usual start-stop facility and although it’s lighter than some of the competition, including the Volkswagen Polo, it doesn’t achieve any better in terms of overall economy. The fuel tank capacity at 40 litres matches that of the competition, and I found that I was getting a range of almost 650km from

the full tank, which is very acceptable for a car of this size.

There are more specification features in the new Seat Ibiza. The standard kit includes Front Assist safety system as standard, while Adaptive Cruise Control, Wireless Charger and GSM signal amplifier are all available as options.

The new Ibiza rightly claims to have the largest boot in the segment with a capacity of 365 litres. That’s significantly bigger than the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo boots and that’s before the rear seats are folded.

Usefully, the Ibiza came with a space-saver spare wheel,

which for me is always a bonus.

On the safety front, this Ibiza comes with the impressive accolade of achieving a five star rating in the 2017 Euro NCAP testing programme. That’s a high rating and is based on the standard car specification across Europe, which includes Ireland. There are two ISO fix couplings in the rear and the driver protection rating of the car has improved with the new model, while the child protection rating has remained the same.

The front passenger airbag can be disabled to allow an additional rearward-facing child restraint to be used in

that seating position.

Entry prices for the Ibiza Xcellence models start at €20,180, which is very price competitive in the supermini league, making the car more competitive than the likes of the new Ford Fiesta, while Nissan’s new grown up Micra is keener priced for an equivalent entry model.

Seat has still some useful new car incentives that might help to add to the value that’s underpinned in a car that’s firmly based around the latest in the Volkswagen Group chassis and technology. That’s what adds the extra Xcellence factor to the Ibiza new generation deal.

Benz prepares for A-Class arrival rent model. The boot capacity is also 29 litres greater than before.

The car has a new dashboard design that is divided into two sections, one set above the other. The lower section separated from the other by appearing to ‘float’ before it in a three-dimensional way.

The new A-Class comes with what is claimed to be an ultra-modern multimedia and infotainment system, one of whose characteristics is a capacity to ‘learn’ thanks to its use

of artificial intelligence. Branded the Mercedes-Benz User Experience, MBUX, for short, this intuitive operating experience is claimed to significantly reduce driver distraction.

The new A-Class will be available with a range of new engines, including two four-cylinder petrol options of 1.4-litre and 2.0-litre capacity and a new 1.5-litre diesel with power outputs in the 116bhp to 224bhp range initially. higher performance AMG versions will follow. Transmission

options include a six-speed manual (on A220 version) and seven-speed automatic (on A250 and A180d versions).

The new car comes with advanced safety systems including see-ahead camera and radar with up to 500 metres range plus many ‘active’ features now common in MercedesBenz models, including Lane Keeping, Adaptive Braking, and various Distance Control and Driver Assist systems.

tainment system, fitted with high-

wheels, tinted rear windows and

resolution seven-inch touchscreen,

body coloured handles complete

and Apple CarPlay and Android

the look. It is available in a choice of

Auto to allow drivers to access

five colours, including the exclusive

their phone’s functionality while in

new Street Grey.

the car.

The new looks and equipment,

The interior has been restyled with new Techno leather and fabric

are underpinned by the nimble

seats. Double stitching on the

1.4-litre T-Jet 120hp petrol engine.

Techno leather and Airtex seats

Combined with a manual trans-

is replicated on the gear knob and

mission, it produces 139g/km CO2

steering wheel, while glossy black

while returning 6. l/100km on the

accents highlight the dashboard

combined cycle and travelling from

and Tecnico Grey fascia, which

zero to 100kph in 9.6 seconds.

The 1.6 M-Jet 120hp diesel with a

spans the entire width of the pas-

manual transmission, it produces

senger compartment.

The Fiat Tipo S-Design includes

98g/km CO2 while returning 3.7

some new technology as standard,

l/100km on the combined cycle and

including the next-generation

travelling from zero to 100kph in 9.8

Uconnectseven-inch HD LIVE info-

seconds.

Renault continues support for partner Pieta House RENAULT Group Ireland and its network of 28 dealerships around the country raised €5,000 for charity partner Pieta House during its recent Open Week. During this period, dealerships donated €5 for every test drive taken across the Renault and Dacia ranges, with the total amount raised matched by Renault Ireland. Renault Ireland has also provided Pieta House with a brand-new 181 Renault KADJAR for its fleet.

Patrick Magee, Country Operations Director Renault Group Ireland: “We are delighted to be in a position to support Pieta House’s incredible mission, and we hope this donation will make a positive difference in the charity’s everyday work.”

Brian Higgins, CEO Pieta House: “We deeply appreciate all the support from Renault Ireland over the years. We are very thankful to accept this generous donation from Renault Ireland, and all the dealers nation-

Renault Ireland recently raised €5,000 for

wide. These funds will go

its charity partner Pieta House, which was

directly to the delivery of

presented during the handover of a brand-new

our free service across the 181 Renault Kadjar by Liz O’Gorman, marketing country, helping people all manager at Renault Ireland to Brian Higgins of over Ireland.”

Pieta House

30 DUBLIN GAZETTE  SOUTH 15 February 2018

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32 DUBLIN GAZETTE  SOUTH 15 February 2018

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34 DUBLIN GAZETTE  SOUTH 15 February 2018

SPORT

FastSport HOOLAHAN CALLS TIME ON IRISH CAREER: FORMER Shelbourne star Wes Hoolahan retired from international football this week after 43 caps for the Republic of Ireland.

The Dubliner etched his name into Irish footballing history with his exquisite finish against Sweden in Ireland’s opening game of EURO 2016, while he also provided memorable assists for Robbie Brady’s goal against Italy in Lille and James McClean’s strike against Austria in Vienna.

Since making his senior debut in 2008, Hoolahan had to wait another four years before earning his second cap but went on to become the third most used player under Martin O’Neill with 35 of his appearances coming within the current manager’s era. Twenty-four of his caps came in the starting team.

SOCCER: TALLAGHT CLUB AIMING TO AVOID SIMILAR SLOW START TO LAST TERM

Rovers chase sun in bid to start season in sunny style

 DAVE DONNELLY sport@dublingazette.com

SHAMROCK Rovers boss Stephen Bradley says his squad’s pre-season trip to the Algarve has given them an edge in their preparation for the new League of Ireland season.

The Hoops were invited to take part in the week-long Atlantic Cup in Portugal, where they faced Swedish sides Dalkurd FF, Hammarby IF and IFK Norrkoping on their way to a fourth-place finish.

And Bradley feels that, added to the quality of the opposition in all three games, the warm-weather training has allowed them to focus more on the tactical side of the game.

“It helped us training,” Bradley told the Dublin Gazette. “We could do a lot of tactical stuff we wanted to do and not have to worry about the snow or the rain or the wind. That was a big part of why we went, that and the games.

“Yeah, the standard over there was good – really

Shamrock Rovers celebrating a late cup goal against Dundalk last season. Picture: Martin Doherty

intense games, really good games. I think the lads are ready to go, but it’s always different when it’s a league game, always.”

An up-and-down start to the 2017 season, which saw the Hoops lose six of their first ten matches, meant Bradley’s side were never really in

the title race as Cork City raced clear.

Gelling The Tallaght native had stressed all along that his squad – which was muchchanged from the one inherited from Pat Fenlon – would take time to gel.

That showed with wins over Cork and Dundalk in the final series of games, though they lost out to the Lilywhites in both the EA Sports Cup final and FAI Cup semi-final on their own turf.

With an away Dublin derby at Bohemians followed by Dundalk at home in the sec-

ond round, Bradley feels the pressure to perform early-on will create the ideal environment for his side.

“I think it’s perfect. Other than Bohs at home, [games] don’t come much bigger for us. A sell-out, it’s going to be a rough and ready game.

“It mightn’t be a great spectacle but we know what type of games it’s going to be and we’ll be ready for it.

“In these games, it all goes out the window. It’s about the rivalry of us and them. You get out there and it’s intense and it’s hostile and it’s a strange one.

“Any derby is like that around the world – they’re all the same. Very rarely is it pretty to look at.”

Bradley confirmed the signing of striker Dan Carr earlier in the week, while ex-Leeds Un i t e d a t t a c ke r E o g h a n Stokes may still earn a contract.

However, he was beaten to the signing of the former Liver pool defender Daniel Cleary – who spent the entirety of pre-season with his squad – when Dundalk made a late bit for the Dubliner.

Method in Liam Buckey’s ‘madness’ at St Pat’s  DAVE DONNELLY sport@dublingazette.com

St Patrick’s Athletic’s I an Bermingham at the Aviva Stadium this week at the League of Ireland launch

LIAM Buckley has called on his St Patrick’s Athletic side to find that little bit of “madness”’ to take them back to the top table of Irish football.

Speaking to the Dublin Gazette at the launch of the SSE Airtricity League at Lansdowne Road on Tuesday, the Dubliner was in optimistic mood.

A disappointing campaign last year saw Buckley’s young side battle relegation to the

very last day, when a draw away to Derry City was enough to see them to safety by the slimmest margin.

Experience Experienced players like Killian Brennan and Owen Gar van, both recr uited in the summer, were key to the great escape and they’ve been retained this year.

And ‘Bucko’ feels there is enough talent in his squad this year to challenge at the right end of the table and possibly for European football.

“I want my team to play as well as they can,” Buckley said. “I want them to play with desire, a bit of madness, a bit of passion – they have the ability. They need to just get on the pitch and play.

“We have enough players in the squad to do well and I’m excited about where we’ll go at this moment in time.”

Pat’s beat Shamrock Rovers to the signing of the defender Kevin Toner – who signs after making four Premier League appearances for Aston Villa.

Along with former Rov-

ers wingers James Doona and Dean Clarke, there’s a healthier balance of youth and experience this time around.

Enough for Buckley to sound a note of cautious optimism ahead of the league opener as double winners Cork City come to Richmond Park for the first time since a dramatic 4-2 defeat in October.

“Bring on Cork on Friday night – they’ll be a good test for us. They are league and cup champions” he said.

The tie gets underway in Inchicore at 7.45pm.

15 February 2018 SOUTH  DUBLIN GAZETTE 35

GAZETTE

FIRSTDivision

UCD consistent picture amid a flurry of change  DAVE DONNELLY

AMID all the change in the First Division with the introduction of three new teams and the shift to a ten-team league, UCD have been a picture of consistency.

Having fought off interest from Drogheda United for manager Collie O’Neill, the only real change has been Under-19 league-winning coach Ian Ryan replacing Evan McMillan as his assistant. Winger Simon Power – a peripheral figure last year – has moved on to Norwich City but captain Gary O’Neill has opted to stay, as have the bulk of last year’s squad.

And Dubliner Ryan feels that consistency will serve them well as they chase promotion back to the top tier for the first time since 2014.

“It’s probably the best squad I’ve seen there with the strength of the 20-22 players we have,” he told the Dublin Gazette.

“It’s all scholarships this year. Everyone in the first-team squad is on a scholarship – we don’t have any outside players.

“Ideally, we’d like to win the league, yes, but we’re there to develop the players and for them to realise their potential.”

A short trip down the N11 in Cabinteely, there’s been much change as senior figures Jason Byrne and Daire Doyle have left for coaching posts.

Strikers Ryan Swan and Gareth McCaffrey have moved on to Bohemians and Drogheda respectively, while former captain Victor Ekanem has also joined the Drogs.

Last year’s First Division player of the year, Marty Waters, remains with his local club, however, and Pat Devlin’s side will look to kick on from last season’s best-ever sixth-place finish.

Ireland Colleges & Universities star Joe Doyle and Dean Casey will provide competition up front, while Conor Earley scored twice as Cabo pushed Dundalk all the way in a 4-2 pre-season defeat. The club have announced they’ve allocated season tickets to all of their schoolboy players and managers. The total value of season tickets being given away exceeds €50,000.

All tickets are packaged and ready to be collected by the manager to distribute to their players ahead of the start of the 2018 season on Friday, February 23 ahead of Wexford at Stradbrook.

Bohs playing Long game on eve of new campaign Gypsies boss taking different approach with the hope of reaping rewards in 2018 despite a tight budget with evening trainings with a squad willing to take some leaps of faith  DAVE DONNELLY sport@dublingazette.com

KEITH Long believes his Bohemians squad for the forthcoming League of Ireland season is stronger than at the same point last year – when the Gypsies went on to finish fifth.

Bohs kick off their Premier Division campaign on Friday with the biggest game of them all – the Dublin Derby against fierce rivals Shamrock Rovers at Dalymount Park.

And the Dubliner says he’s got more strength in depth at his disposal than he did 12 months ago – despite losing firstteamers Fuad Sule and Warren O’Hora to league football in England.

Combative mid-

fielder Sule has moved to London to join up with League Two Barnet while the classy defender O’Hora signed a threeand-a-half-year deal with Premier League Brighton.

Speaking at the launch of Bohemians’ underage partnership with schoolboy nursery St Kevin’s Boys – former club of internationals Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick – Long said he will continue to have faith in young players.

“I think I’m happier than I was last year,” he said. “There’s more strength and depth to the squad than this time last year and the reason why is we’ve got a lot of games midweek and that will take its toll over the course of the season.

“Whether we’re stronger than last year... a lot of people would have had misgivings about us coming into the start of the season, but things evolve, things change.

“We brought a lot of young players into the squad and we’ve got some young players into the squad again this year, so who knows? We’ll see.

Pre-season can be phoney.”

Long has looked both inside and outside the league to strengthen with Kevin Devaney returning having starred despite Galway United’s relegation and JJ Lunney moving from St Patrick’s Athletic.

Irish under-19 internationals Darragh Leahy and Dylan Watts are also in situ at Dalymount,

Leahy signing from Coventry City and ex-UCD midfielder Watts on loan from Leicester City.

After new signing Ryan Swan was struck down with a pre-season knee ligament injury, Long says signing another striker would be nice but, with a tight budget, it’s unlikely.

“It’s ver y difficult to find a striker at this moment in time. We’ve got restrictions in terms of what we can bring in budget-wise, so we’re looking for a striker but it’s easier said than done. “ L o a n m ove s a r e options but it’s easier said than done, particularly when they’re coming from full-time clubs, because we’re part-time, albeit that we’re training as some of the full-time

All the League of Ireland teams gather for the new season which start on Friday evening. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

clubs.

“We train at night and that can be difficult to try and persuade fellas that are coming from a fulltime set-up to take a leap of faith coming with us.

“We believe what we’re trying to do with the players is as good as anything that’s around the league but trying to convince them to take what they perceive as a step backwards is difficult.”

Midfielder Ian Morris – who is also the club’s youth development officer – believes Bohs can kick on from last season and challenge for Europe in the reduced ten-team league.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.

Obviously with 12 teams, the player pool is bigger.

“Going down to ten teams, you’re nearly getting all the top players, the better players, into ten teams. I think the league is going to be a hell of a lot stronger this year.

“The tempo in our training is extremely high, the standards we set, and any of the players that come back into us now, that’s the first thing they say.

“Sometimes the socalled top clubs in the league don’t like playing against us because we’re so intense and we like to get on with the game.

“We’re hard to play against, and that’s what we’ll be looking to do again this year, upset teams and if we want to play, we can play.”

GAZETTE

36 DUBLIN GAZETTE  SOUTH 15 February 2018

SPORT

HOCKEY

BOXING: SALLYNOGGIN PUNCHER LOOKING TO FINISH THE JOB

Jane Gilsenan, left, celebrates. Picture: Adrian Boehm

Muckross flying high MUCKROSS’S young troops scored a formative 2-1 win over Old Alex at Milltown, moving them top of the Leinster hockey’s women’s Division One table at a key stage of the season.

It took three minutes for them to hit the front, Niamh Gowing stealing possession out of the press and then racing in to score one-on-one past American international goalkeeper Jess Jecko.

Sophie Barnwell’s good work in the circle created the chance for Jane Gilsenan to get the second, the goal standing despite ardent calls for a foot in the build-up.

Jecko made a double-save to keep Alex in the tie before the Milltown club had a glut of second half penalty corners. They could only score from one of them, though, with Lisa Jacob deflecting in from Pia Diepman’s ball.

That was with 12 minutes to go but Muckross held on for a big win, one that Sarah Scott says will stand to her squad.

“We set out at the start of the season to try and get into the top three,” coach Scott said postmatch. “The only game we lost before Christmas was against Alex but we have trained really hard, had a good game plan today and it worked.

“We were really focused from the get-go and knew what areas to try and exploit. We were very happy with the start; then it was about us keeping our shape and our heads and we ground out the result.

“We have 10 teenagers and the rest are 20 to 22. We do lack experience and have a lot to learn but today they really showed good composure as a team and we are looking to give it a really good shot at the end of the season.”

For Jacob, she said Alex rued their first-half performance: “We were under pressure for most of the first half and Muckross pressed us well; we didn’t really help ourselves. We were disappointed, probably more with our own performance rather than the two goals.

“In the second half, I am not sure how many corners we had in the end but they obviously had done their research, were quick out and fair play to them for that.”

The result sees Muckross replace Alex at the top, going a point ahead with five rounds of matches still to play for top spot which, along with the title, brings with it a pass through the first phase of national league promotion playoffs.

Colin O’Donovan, left, will face Sallynoggin fighter Stephen McAfee once again on March 24

McAfee to put down Rebel rousing sport@dublingazette.com

DECEMBER saw super featherweight warriors Stephen McAfee and Colin O’Donovan fight to a bloodstained standstill on Celtic Clash 4 at the National Stadium in Dublin.

The sixth and final round has already become a cult classic among boxing fans, a thrilling toe-totoe three minutes that will live long in the memory.

The fight quickly exploded into one of the best fights of the year, with the crowd still on their feet and cheering the pair the fight was ruled a draw. It immediately topped of every boxing fan’s wish-list

for 2018. Now the fight has been given the platform it deserves.

On Saturday March 24, the pair will face-off once again. The bout headlines Celtic Clash 5 fight night, run by Boxing Ireland Promotions and Tony Davitt Promotions in association with Dublin Plumbing and Gas. This time, the setting is Good Counsel GAA club in Drimnagh and it takes pride of place as the main attraction over eight rounds for the BUI Celtic super featherweight title.

While there may be bigger names and bigger venues, this fight has really captured the imagination of domestic boxing fans.

STAR MOTIVATION Olympian leads the field at Marlay parkrun DAVID GILLICK led the warm up for parkrun participants before completing the 5km free event last Saturday in Marlay Park as part of a special event organised by Vhi. The DSDAC Olympian was among the parkrunners who enjoyed refreshments post event at the Vhi Relaxation Area where a physiotherapist took participants through a post event stretching routine.

To register for a parkrun near you visit www. parkrun.ie.

Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

A well-worn cliché in boxing is that there are no guarantees in the fight game. This is not entirely true, because ‘McAfee v O’Donovan 2’ is a definite war that is certain to pick up right where the first fight ended.

McAfee [2(2)-0-1] was the hot prospect and hot favourite ahead of the first fight. The swaggering Sallynoggin slugger had scored two highlight-reel knockouts in his opening two fights.

O’Donovan [1(1)-1(1)1] on the other hand hadn’t garnered the same attention. The Youghalbased fighter seen as an ‘on-the-road’ boxer, taking short notice bouts as

the underdog. And the first McAfee fight was no different with The Rebel Rouser agreeing to the fight just seven days beforehand.

McAfee was left disgusted by the 58-58 drawn verdict. Caught somewhat off guard by just how game O’Donovan was, the 26-year-old was not happy with his performance.

That said, he was even less happy with the scoreline and looking back recalls how “I was disappointed I didn’t get the win – I felt like I did. After then, when I went home and I watched it, I definitely thought it.

“I’ve been in plenty of wars before. That’s noth-

ing new. I want to correct what was given the last time.

“This time out I know more, I’ve been in the ring with him, I’ll be able to work more with him, on stances, his hands, and the bit of awkwardness he has.

I didn’t know that the first time - I know now - and I’ll be working on it and I’ll be ready!”

A full undercard will also feature on the night including Ballybrack lightweight Niall O’Connor, Crumlin lightweight Martin Quinn, and Cavan light middleweight Owen Duffy. Tickets start from €15 via the Boxing Ireland Promotions Facebook page.

15 February 2018 SOUTH  DUBLIN GAZETTE 37

GAZETTE

SOCCER: INJURY TIME WINNER FOR THIRD YEAR IN A ROW

ATHLETICS

The DSDAC Under-17 boys winning team UCD celebrate their Collingwood Cup success. Picture: Sportsfile

O’Connor’s typically late Collingwood gold COLLINGWOOD CUP FINAL UCD 2 Queen’s 1  sport@dublingazette.com

DR AMA has become synonymous with the Rustlers IUFU Collingwood Cup Final in recent years and the 2018 edition was no different as Daire O’Connor netted a wonderful 93rd minute winner for UCD against Queen’s University in the QUB Upper Malone.

Last year’s final was decided by UCC’s Daniel Pender’s 94th-minute match winner and Mark Boland struck for UCD in the 89th minute in 2016.

Timmy Molloy had given the Dublin side the lead midway through the first half before Ronan Young equalised on the stroke of half-time with an excellent free kick.

Drama ensued before the interval when striker Georgie Kelly was sent off for a late challenge. Both sides went at it in the second half and there were chances to win it before O’Connor settled it with extra time looming.

Both sides made a couple of changes from

the semi-finals with Callum Smith and Conor Kerr put in from the start for Queen’s, and Jarlath O’Rourke brought into the side as a substitute.

UC D m a d e t h r e e changes. Darragh McConville was a forced change in place of the suspended Josh Collins and Greg Sloggett and Gavin Sheridan were put in ahead of Yoyo Mahdy and Conor Kearns.

UCD started the brighter and a good interchange of play between Sloggett and O’Connor teed up Molloy to open the scoring just inside the Queen’s box. It could have been two when O’Connor again teed up Jason McClelland but the 2017 World University Games player dragged his shot outside of the post.

Queen’s were brought back into the game when Ronan Young stepped up from twenty-five yards and curled his free kick beyond the outstretched Gavin Sheridan and into the top-corner.

The half ended in controversy when Georgie Kelly was dismissed for a lunge on Eamon Fyfe. Ini-

tially referee Ryan Hanna had issued the Donegal forward with a yellow card but following consultation with his linesman who was yards away, he then produced a red card for Kelly.

UCD were dealt another blow during the half-time break as captain Gary O’Neill was forced to end his involvement in the final after being on the receiving end of a hefty challenge from Callum Byers in the first half.

The Dublin side had the better chances in the second half with O’Connor and Liam Scales having the best of the oppor-

tunities. O’Rourke was brought off the bench and he nearly won it when he found space in front of goal and Sheridan pulled off a good save and released the ball up top where O’Connor broke away and forced an even better save from Conor Lally.

Deep into stoppage time, O’Connor picked the ball up outside the box 20 yards out on the left flank. He drove inside and curled the ball into the far corner to send the UCD bench into pandemonium and delivered their 47th Collingwood Cup success.

DSDAC the Dublin relay leaders DSDAC swept to another three victories on day two of the Dublin juvenile relay championships last Friday evening in Abbotstown, adding to their success a week before on the first weekend of the competitions.

The Under-19 girls team of Sarah Gaughran, Orla Walsh, Nicole Gallagher and Molly Hourihan took gold as the Under-17 boys (Tobi Edward, Gavin Doran, Liam Jenkins and Patrick Tucker) and U-11 boys (Cian Dunphy, Matthew McCarthy, Adam Mulqueen and Johnny Ellis) They also shone with silver in both the Under-17 and Under-15 girls while the Under-13 girls team took bronze.

A week earlier in the even age relays, the DSD Under-18 and Under-16 girls impressed with great front running and duly came home with the gold medals and qualification to the National Championships in Athlone in March.

As well as winning the Under-16 girls, their second team finished third to claim the bronze medals.

The Under-14 girls were third and the Under-16 boys second.

There were also plenty of individual winners last Saturday and Sunday at the Dublin indoor cham-

pionships, again in Abbotstown.

Double winners were Corinne Kenny (Under-17 800m and 1,500m), Molly Hourihan (Under18 200m and 400m); Morgan Clarkson (Under-16 800m and 1500m) and Liam Jenkins (Under17 high jump and 60m hurdles).

Laura Gallagher, the All-Ireland hurdles winner indoor and outdoor last year, duly won her Under-16 60m hurdles with clubmate Cara Murphy second.

Cian Dunne also won his Under16 60m hurdles and was second in the 60m and 200m. Aimee Kenna won the Under-16 800m; Claudia Moran was first in the Under-15 High Jump and Shot; David Bosch won the Under-15 60m hurdles and Georgia O’Keeffe won the Under13 60m hurdles.

Elsewhere, Hiko Tonosa had a stroll in the country at the Enniscorthy 10k, as he returned to action after an achilles tendon injury, and displayed no ill effects afterwards.

He won by over a minute in windy, wet conditions and is now looking forward to more competitive races in the future. A great run

by Linda Byrne saw her pick up the top spot in the women’s section, finishing 11th overall in a field of 400.



GOT A STORY? WE WANT TO KNOW!

Call our SPORT TEAM on 60 10 240 and SELECT OPTION 3 Match winner Daire O’Connor. Picture: Sportsfile

or email sport@dublingazette.com

GAZETTE

38 DUBLIN GAZETTE  SOUTH 15 February 2018

SPORT

FASTSport

FOOTBALL: SANDYFORD CLUB ON A HIGH AFTER TWO PROMOTIONS

Foxrock Cabinteely’s Sinead Goldrick makes a tackle. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Rebel rising repelled DUBLIN’S ladies footballers beat Cork in Croke Park for the first time last Saturday evening when they recorded a 3-9 to 1-14 victory to continue their winning start to the campaign.

The Rebelettes initially got off to a good start but the tide turned quickly and, after ten minutes of rapid points exchanged, Carey smashed home after she got onto a pass from Noelle Healy, making it 1-3 a piece.

Healy was playing a starring role, in fact, with much of the Jackies best play routed through the marauding forward.

She was again at the heart of the second three-pointer for the Dubs, as she charged through the Cork defence, before teeing up Carla Rowe on 16 minutes to complete the early turnaround, and put Dublin in front 2-3 to 1-4.

The game calmed a little going into the break, with the consistent Orla Finn and Healy doing the damage at either end, and the Dubs going in two points up at 2-5 to 1-6.

Clinical Carey was back into the action straight after halftime, grabbing her second goal and Dublin’s third, this time with Sinead Goldrick a key architect as Dublin looked to have put the contest to bed early.

Cork can never be taken for granted, though, having won ten of the past 12 All Ireland titles, and while Healy and Rowe briefly extended Dublin’s lead to a substantial eight points midway through the half, it was Cork who would end the game on top.

Finn and Ciara O’Sullivan, plus a series of kickable frees for the visitors had the home side on the defensive, and with Dublin having failed to score for the final 15 minutes, Melissa Duggan’s chip over the bar very nearly dipped the other side of the crossbar and - had it done so would most likely have handed Cork the win.

Frees from Finn and Scally brought about an exciting end to the contest, and Dublin will have some ‘saved by the bell’ concerns as a period of being overrun was put to and end with the home side still holding the narrowest of leads.

Cork are a big scalp, however, and a 3-9 to 1-14 win in their first league game at Croke Park is another step on what’s becoming an impressive streak.

Naomh Olaf’s Kieran Hanley in action last season in their playoff win over Na Fianna

Olaf’s back in the big time AFL1 PREVIEW  JAMES HENDICOTT sport@dublingazette.com

WHEN NAOMH Olaf open their Dublin AFL 1 campaign this Sunday, they’ll be taking the final steps on a meteoric rise up the county’s footballing divisions.

Olaf’s climbed out of division three after a play off in 2016, and went up the same way in 2017, having just failed to gain automatic promotion.

Having led division two for much of the year last time out, the club lost to Raheny in the final game of the regular league season, the result handing

Ballinteer St John’s the first promotion slot.

They then had to play Na Fianna in a play off, and turned them over to secure a lauded return to the top tier.

Heading into their third ever Division 1 season (and first in over a decade), Olaf’s chair of the Adult Game’s Committee John McGrath believes the team will have plenty of confidence, though their aims will be modest.

“I think if you’d ask me about our aims last year, I’d have said we’d have been happy staying in Division 2, and we ended up going up,” he said to

FITZGIBBON CUP UCD run ended as DIT experience highs and lows UCD’S DJ Foran gets a shot away ahead of

DIT’s Fiontan McGibb during their Electric Ireland HE GAA Fitzgibbon Cup quarterfinal match in Belfield.

DIT, however, prevailed to reach the final four of the competition with a 0-19 to 0-17 victory but they subsequently came unstuck on Tuesday afternoon at the hands of DCU in Parnell Park with Dublin star Donal Burke running up 1-10 for the northsiders Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

the Dublin Gazette.

“I guess this year the aim is to consolidate our place in Division 1, though I’m not sure the boys would agree with that.

“T hey’ve only lost three or four leagues games in two years, so they’re confident bunch, and they’ll be approaching it with bigger ambitions.

“I do think we’ll be stronger this time out,” McGrath continues. “We had six players who came from out of our minors into the team last year and they have that experience now. They’ll be stronger from that year,

and there are a couple of others that we expect to come through during this year.”

The side will be starting the new season under a new boss, however, with Shane Smith having stepped away after taking Olaf’s from the third tier to the first during his three years in charge.

“People move on, and that’s the nature of it, but we’re well under way under [new manager] Pat Stephens, the players have been on the go since early January, and they’ll be determined to make the most of this,” McGrath says.

“Our two junior teams

were both promoted last season so it’s going well all round. They’re now in division seven and division ten, and we’d be looking to get the second team to around division four or five, to improve the standard of football at the club overall. It’s all about renewal.”

To date, that strategy seems to be working well.

Naomh Olaf’s season begins with a game against another fast-rising club in the world of Dublin football, Castleknock, with the game scheduled for 10.15am on Sunday morning at Castleknock’s Somerton ground.

15 February 2018 SOUTH  DUBLIN GAZETTE 39

GAZETTE

GAELIC GAMES: BALALLY TEACHER HONOURED FOR INFLUENCE ON LOCAL GAA

SCHOOLS CAMOGIE

GRADAM AN UACHTARAIN

Iosagain through to AllIreland Senior B final

Gradam an Uachtarain for Olaf’s man Murphy

 sport@dublingazette.com

GERRY Murphy, Principal of St Olaf’s National School, was an honoured recipient of Gradam an Uachtaráin (GAA President’s Award) at Croke Park last Friday.

Accompanied by his wife Siobhan, his brother Richie and wife Mary and a number of members of Naomh Olaf GAA Club, Murphy was recognised for his long, continuous service to the GAA at both school and club level.

He was appointed to a teaching post in St Olaf’s, Balally, in 1979 and along

with the educational aims which he held, he also had the ambition to promote Gaelic games in the school.

Through his involvement with Cumann na mBunscol, the organisation which runs the very popular primary schools competitions which culminate in a big day out in Croke Park for many young pupils every year, and through his work at school level, he has certainly realised his dream.

Football and hurling for boys were the main sports in the early years of the school’s existence but, in more recent times, the school has seen the

Gerry Murphy, left, presented with the Gradam an Uachtarain by Aogan O’Fearghail

development of ladies football and the resurgence in camogie.

Mu r p hy ’s i nvo l ve ment has not alone been at school level but he has also contributed in no small part to the development of Naomh Olaf GAA Club which was founded in 1981, two years after Gerry’s appointment as a teacher.

A good hurler who never denied his Galway heritage, he played for

the club in the early years and has been involved in various other roles in the intervening years. His children Conor, Eoin, Eilis and Ciara are and have been important members of senior club teams.

A familiar figure, meanwhile, in the area and particularly in local schools over the last eight years, Darren Egan has moved on from his role as Games Promotion Officer at Naomh

Olaf.

Egan did a huge job in promoting Gaelic Games in local primary schools and in the club.

He was a popular visitor to the schools and was held in great respect by pupils, teachers and parents alike.

A large representation from both schools and club gathered in Naomh Olaf recently where a presentation was made to Darren to mark his valuable contribution.

COLAISTE Iosagain reached the Senior B All-Ireland post primary schools final thanks to a win over Presentation Wexford, 3-2 to 1-7 in the semi-final at Hollymount.

They got through to meet St Angela’s of Waterford in the final following their fourpoint win over Abbey CC Ferrybank.

Iosagain’s win was a low-scoring, nip and tuck affair throughout with the Dubliners fighting back after the Wexford side made the better opening.

Pres hit the front early on with the first five points in the opening 15 minutes before a first Iosagain goal reeled the lead back in and a second goal before half-time had the Booterstown school leading 2-1 to 0-5. They scored their third goal four minutes into the second half for a a six point lead and held on despite an injury time goal from the Wexford school.

CLUB NOTICEBOARD

BALLINTEER ST JOHN’S

LOTTO results (February 8): numbers drawn were 3, 22, 23 and 24. No winner. Next Thursday’s jackpot is €2,600, lotto joker is €600. Winner of €100: Brat Pack c/o The Willows, €50 John McCarthy and Nancy Jackson. Joker consolation prize Eamonn Lawler.

ELC forecast was won by Phil Kenny. Bingo continues every Monday at 8pm.

All membership payments must be paid online and submitted by February 25.

Please see instructions on how to pay your registration fees online on the club website.

Congrats to Marianna Watchorn who was presented with the NCBI bursary award.

Mariana, who is visually impaired, is a second-year student in Trinity and is daughter of BSJ Runai Gerry Watchorn.

Nice wins at weekend for U-14 and 16 Division 1 football teams. The U-11 footballers played an exhibition game

in Croke Park at half time on Saturday.

Adult football leagues commence on Sunday. Senior footballers return to Division 1 league with an away match v Thomas Davis at 10.15am. The junior As are away to Clontarf, the junior Bs away to Liffey Gaels and the junior Cs are away to Good Counsel in the afternoon.

BSJ Coaching info: all mentors who have not completed the following are encouraged to attend: Wednesday, February 21 - nursery workshop for mentors, 8pm, juvenile AWP. Thursday, February 22 child protection, 7pm in the clubhouse.

KILMACUD CROKES

ANOTHER good weekend for the Dublin senior men’s and ladies teams with wins over Donegal and Cork respectively. Paul Mannion and Cian O’Sullivan featured in the Dublin win over Donegal with Paul getting on the scoreboard for a long-

range point in the closing stages of the game.

For the Dublin Ladies, Eabha Rutledge and Lauren Magee featured as the Jackies edged out Cork in a close encounter, winning out by a point.

The U-16 Division 1 footballers lost out to Ballyboden on a score of Ballyboden St Enda’s 1-14 to Kilmacud Crokes 3-7. The U-14 Division 1 footballers had a good win over St Jude’s winning out on a score of St Jude’s 1-9 Kilmacud Crokes 3-8.

A fantastic night was had at the Crokes Gala ball on Saturday evening in the Clayton hotel. Great food, entertainment and a presentation to our senior players male and female who won All-Ireland medals with Dublin in 2017.

The night also included a performance from our very own Crokes Choir. Well done to all who organised the event.

The night however was tinged with sadness on the death earlier in the day of senior camogie player and

club stalwart, Aisling Meagher, after her long battle with illness.

The club extends our sincerest condolences and support to Sorcha, Ciarán and Máire and the wider Meagher family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

NAOMH OLAF

CONGRATULATIONS to Ger Murphy, Principal in St Olaf’s National School, who was awarded Gradam an Uachtaráin (President’s Award) by the GAA at a very enjoyable event in Croke Park last Friday.

Ger’s award recognises his long, continuous service to the GAA through both school and club. The event was televised by TG4 and anybody who wishes to see it can find it on the TG4 Player. It was televised 12.30 to 1.30pm on Saturday.

Adult football leagues kick off next Sunday. The seniors are in Division 1, away to Castleknock at 10.15am, Junior 1s are away to St Anne’s at 12pm and the

Junior 2s are at home to St Brendan’s at 2.30pm.

The club’s coaching committee have been working hard to produce material for mentors/coaches and to lay out their plans for the year. See https://coachingnaomholaf. net/index.php/coachingcalendar/ for details. Well done to those who have attended the Tuesday night workshops.

Lotto numbers were 6, 11 and 12. Congratulations to the sole winner, Bernard Gaughren, who won the jackpot of €2,300.

Next week’s jackpot is €1,000.

Play online via the website or get your ticket in the bar.

SHANKILL

THE juvenile academy, sponsored by O Donnell’s Pharmacy, is taking a break this weekend for the mid-term school break and will be back in action in St Laurence’s College at 10am on Saturday, February 24.

Times for various team training sessions will go ahead; contact your team coach for

details.

Despite the cold weather, the U-8 girls panel of players had a series of blitz games with our neighbours Cuala where great football skills were on view.

The club is trying to form a Ballad Group; contact Aine on 086 8646494.

First ever adult ladies football match this Saturday, February 17 against Stars of Erin at 1pm in Shanganagh Cliffs. All support welcome.

Check out our Facebook page and follow the link to the ladies Facebook group, e-mail stevedavis203@gmail.com or contact Steve on 087 6414123.

The men’s adult football team have ambitions to climb up through the league divisions so new players are always welcome; contact Kevin on 086 8449902.

For more information on the club, contact secretary. shankill.dublingaa.ie or call 086 4010438. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Join Shankill GAA Club, your community, your Village GAA club where everybody knows your name.

GAZETTESPORT

ALL OF YOUR SOUTH DUBLIN SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 34-39

THE REMATCH: Sallynoggin puncher Stephen McAfee is looking to put away the Rebel Rouser once and for all P36

FEBRUARY 15-21, 2018

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN: GazetteSport previews the Dublin club’s LOI hopes P34-35

Cuala one step closer Cuala’s fans travelled en masse to Thurles to witness yet another brilliant day out for their hurlers with a ticket to the All-Ireland final assured

Amid the icy wind and rain, Dalkey club pull clear in the second half to beat Liam Mellows and move within a win of historic SHC title retention  sport@dublingazette.com

CUALA boss Mattie Kenny is one step away from leading the club to a second successive All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship title thanks to last Saturday’s 1-17 to 0-11 win over Liam Mellows in Semple Stadium.

“We’re delighted and fortunate to be able to get back to Croke Park,” he said in the wake of the victory. It’s the pinnacle of every club hurlers’ career to represent his club on All-Ireland final day.”

They will face 2016 champions Na Piarsaigh in the decider on St Patrick’s Day, hoping to become the first club since Portumna

in 2009 to retain the title.

While Cuala finished nine points clear, Kenny added that it was never as comfortable as the final scoreline suggested, especially in ice-cold, wet and windy conditions as it took time to hit full flow.

“Ten minutes before half-time, I felt Mellows came back into it and the game was there for the taking so we had to be that bit more aggressive in the second half.

“Our last competitive game was December 3; we had a couple of challenge games cancelled due to the weather. It was so cold and wet that we weren’t getting the fluency into our hurling.

“I felt our hurling wasn’t as sharp as it normally is but, in the second half, we came into it more, carried it more, took them on more and got the scores that gave us a cushion.”

Player of the match Con O’Callaghan hit four points from play while David Treacy helped his side pull clear in the second-half with seven points, while substitute Brian Fitzgerald fired a late goal for the Leinster champions.

They did so without Paul Schutte who did not recover from injury in time for the tie.

Kenny says they will reassess where he is at with the hope he can add to their line-up for the final in March.

Asked whether he thinks being reigning champions and the know-how that brings will play a big factor against Na Piarsaigh, Kenny was unsure how big an impact it will make in the grand scheme of things.

“It’s hard to put your finger on it. What does experience mean? It doesn’t make it any easier for you.

“Experience tells you that every game is a banana skin. Every game brings its own challenges.

“Our mantra is ‘one game at a time’. We always just prepare for the next game. And maybe experience has taught us that- you don’t know what day you could be taken out.”