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5th April 2016 • Volume 23, Issue 11 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. EirCode: K67 P5W4. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie
Malahide March Hare The Jack and Jill Foundation ran a fund-raising campaign last month called; ‘Hares On The March’. For this initiative, they commissioned selected artists to design a 3 ft tall hare each. There were 110 hares completed and the finished pieces were then auctioned off with all proceeds going to the foundation. One of the artists commissioned to paint one of these beautiful pieces was local Malahide artist, Francis Leavey.
By Aoife Read Speaking to the County Leader about the endeavour Francis said; “Last year I did another piece for the foundation for an initiative called ‘Pigs on Parade’, it was the same idea but with a pig instead of a hare. I got an email from the foundation asking me to send in a design, and there was a panel of judges. Hundreds of artists applied and mine was one of the ones chosen which I was delighted with. It was the same format this year.” He went on to say: “Last year I picked a theme that would appeal to children rather than adults and I went with the 3 little pigs. This year, I wanted to choose something child friendly again, so I chose the artistic style of the movie Watership Down. I had read that book and watched the movie myself as a child and I love the animation in it, so that was why I went with that.” Leavey concluded by saying: “The design being split into two separate sides came from the Irish phrase, and the pieces title; ‘O Dhubh go Dubh’, which means from light to dark. So one side is black and greys and the other side is colour to show this. I also tried to draw from the mythology of hares and their connection with after world and reflect that in the piece. I was delighted to do it and it was a project I really enjoyed doing. This year I was told that my design was one of only four that was unanimously decided on, which was really nice to hear.”
Dave Southern, project manager of the ‘Hares on the March’ initiative with the Jack and Jill Foundation said; “It was a public art initiative and it is something The Jack and Jill Foundation have been involved with for many years. We did the ‘Cow Parade’ in 2003, the ‘Big Eggs’ in 2013, pigs last year and hares this year. Really it is a creative way to generate income for the 71 desperately sick children we have under our wing at the moment.” He went on to say; “The idea is to reacquaint the public with art in a way that doesn’t require them to go to a gallery. It makes art more accessible for people and that’s why there is always such a big interest in it. The hares were displayed in 53 different locations around Dublin, so people were able to see them when they were just out and about.” Leavey’s hare raised €800 and the campaign has so far raised in excess of €150,000 for the foundation. Dave said; “We had a live auction in the Royal College of Physicians in Kildare Street Dublin on 15th March which raised €63,000 and then we had an online auction which raised over €85,000. The final sum raised is still being calculated. There were coin slots on all of the plinths where the hares were mounted, so we had over 100 of them, each one was full to the brim, so we are still counting that. That is bound to bring us to a total well in excess of €150,000 which makes this the most successful initiative to date.” If you would like to donate to the Jack and Jill Foundation or find out more about what they do, visit their Malahide artist Francis Leavey with his Hare that he did for the Jack and website on Jill Foundations fundraising initiative 'Hares on the March'. Francis' jackandjill.ie hare raised €800 for the children’s charity.
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Burglaries Down Yet Families Still At Risk According to figures released by the CSO last week, burglary and related crime levels have decreased from 12,208 to 11,593 across the Dublin Metropolitan Region. In spite of this burglary remains unacceptably high with family homes in Fingal and across Dublin are under threat from ruthless opportunistic burglars. Speaking to the County Leader about the decrease in burglary, Malahide Labour Party Councillor Brian McDonagh said “I welcome the latest Cllr. Brian McDonagh reduction in burglaries by 5 per cent nationally, however the figures show again that Dublin is where the burglary problem is worst. My own apartment block recently suffered from a break in, where thieves were disturbed by a neighbour in the middle of the night and every month I hear of a friend or family being burgled. This problem gets less attention because individual burglaries in suburban areas are not news worthy. At the moment there is huge political focus on the demands of rural TD’s to pour resources into remote locations. While this is understandable it is not necessarily evidence driven”. Cllr McDonagh continued, “I am worried that North County Dublin and particularly suburbs like Malahide, Portmarnock, Kinsealy and Balgriffin will be further starved of Garda resources to satisfy the demands of rural independents as the price of cobbling together a Government”. The CSO report showed that 2170 burglaries had been recorded in the Dublin Metropolitan Region, Northern Division which includes Fingal, in the 12 months leading up to the end of December 2015. Cllr McDonagh continued: “Sources within the Gardai tell us that suburban stations like Malahide have an operational capacity well below their paper capacity. The burglary problem on the Northern suburbs from Balgriffin, Bayside and Kinsealy to Baldoyle, Portmarnock and Swords is still very serious. While mobile Garda burglary squads are to be welcomed and targeting gangs with dedicated operations is bearing fruit, there is also need for the next Government and the Garda commissioner to make sure that suburban stations like Malahide don’t lose out due to political deals and have sufficient capacity to meet normal operational requirements.” He concluded by saying; “The next government will also need to make sure we have a strong enough economy to provide resources to hire more Gardai and at decent rates of pay”.