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14th February 2012 • Volume 19, Issue 05 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. • ISDN 8139966 • Tel: 8•400•200
Inspirational Swords Man Is Kick Boxing Champ By Patrick Finnegan A young Swords man is set to become an inspiration to anyone who feels they need to change their lifestyle and put their lives back in order. Darren Cummins, aged 28 recently became All-Ireland Kick Boxing champion, by showing the grit and determination of a person who set about changing his lifestyle for the better. The young man, from Forest Court in Swords, had never previously been involved in sport to any degree, took up the rapidly growing sport of kick boxing. He decided to focus on getting his health back, so much so that he dedicated much of his spare time to kick boxing. “I was doing Muay Thai kick boxing in Swords, and am now performing Primal Kick boxing in a gym in Kilbarrack. “I hope to go on and get into K1, which is the professional end of Muay Thai, which merges the two disciplines together.” Darren won the ISKA Kick Boxing Belt in the 64 Kg weight category. “I was Irish champion at after only two fights. It was a vacant title and Chris Boyle and Damien Crowther, my coaches put me All-Ireland Kick Boxing champion, Darren Cummins is pictured with his mother, Lorraine. forward when they saw the amount of effort I was putting in and I
Students, parents and teachers from Portmarnock Community School departed from Dublin Airport to Lesotho to carry out charity work with Action Ireland Trust. They will be there for two weeks. Pictured are some of the students, parents and teachers, having some fun with Fran Whelan, Director of Action Ireland, prior to their departure. See story on page 3
was lucky enough to win.” This prestigious belt now entitles Darren to go forward for the European title and he told the County Leader: “Hopefully, I can bring back the European title to Swords.” Darren had a history of drug abuse and spent much of his teenage years addicted to hash and cocaine, when a bizarre incident involving his mother, changed his life. You can read about Darren’s life changing moment in next week’s “North County Living’ feature, which is set to provide inspiration for anyone who is trapped in the black hole of drug addiction.
Launch Of Balbriggan Maritime Museum A unique ‘Pop Up’ Maritime Museum was launched at the Bracken Court Hotel, Balbriggan on Thursday last, 9th February. The attendance included Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan TD and Cllr Monica Harford, who deputised for Cathaoirleach, Grainne Maguire. This one day event, which was free, was well attended by the public. The museum, a first of its kind for the area, gave visitors a chance to glimpse into the past with various objects and artefacts on display. It featured cannon balls, fishing nets, whale bones and other items found by trawlers from Balbriggan in their nets down the years, as well as items from private collections. Schools and the community in general came out in force to view this unique glimpse into Balbriggan’s rich maritime tradition. Trevor Sargent, Chairman of the Balbriggan Maritime Museum spoke of how the concept was initiated. “It came from the Economic Forum in 2010. One of
the ideas floated was that Balbriggan should celebrate it’s maritime past.” He also urged Minister Deenihan to speak with Minister Leo Varadkar, with a view to getting funding for a
ating. You are doing something intrinsically important, by exploring your rich maritime tradition.” Chamber president, Joe English said: “It’s great to have the Minister in our town, at a time like this, when we need as much support as possible. Balbriggan is a fabulous town and we need to be proud of our place and showcase it to as many people
Pictured at the launch of the day long 'Pop Up' Maritime Museum at the Bracken Court Hotel, Balbriggan are: Luke Moriarty (Bracken Court Hotel), Trevor Sargent (Chairman of the Balbriggan Maritime Museum), Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, Joe English (President of Balbriggan Chamber of Commerce), Cllr Monica Harford and Brendan Ryan TD.
permanent home for the museum. Minister Deenihan was full of praise for the venture. “This is a great local community initiative, which has come about through the local Chamber, County Council and Town Council coming together and co-oper-
as possible. He was also very aware of the impact that such a museum would have on the town. “This is a lynchpin opportunity to increase footfall in Balbriggan, from areas far and wide. We have it all - this is just scratching the surface,” he concluded.