Swords

YOUR COMMUNITY • YOUR PAPER April 12, 2012

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BUSINESS .................... 19

MOTORS ........................21

TRAVEL ......................... 22

ENTERTAINMENT ........ 24

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INSIDE: Enjoying an Eggciting Easter at

Swords Pavilions P6

Are you the €1 million Easter lotto winner?Top prize ticket was sold in the Swords area

� NATALIE BURKE

COULD you be walking around with a million quid in your back pocket? Swords residents are being advised to check their Easter Millionaire Raffle tickets after the win-ning ticket, worth a massive

€1 million, was sold in the Swords area, officially mak-ing it an Easter to remember for one extremely lucky mem-ber of the community.

According to a spokesper-son for the National Lottery, the winning ticket has yet to be claimed and was sold at

Superquinn at the Pavilions Shopping Centre, Swords, in the run-up to Easter.

T h e w i n n i n g t i c ke t number for the top million-aire prize is 128 235 and the winner is advised to contact the National Lottery Claims Department.

New arrivals:First crop of potatoes is harvestedNORTHSIDE’S reputation as the food basket of Ireland, has been underlined once again with the announcement that the first of the new season Irish potatoes have been harvested by food, potato and onion producer, Country Crest, at their farm outside Swords.

Pictured showing the first of the new season’s crop is Coun-try Crest’s Yvonne Neeson.

Camogie: Local stars shine as Dublin run Cats closePage 31

Motor Racing: Local driver sixth in Circuit of IrelandPage 32

CHILDREN: Public’s views vital in helping to draft child legislation P4

2 SWORDS GAZETTE 12 April 2012

EVENT Inaugural Fingal Film Festival award ceremony

The Fingal Film Festival Team

Best Newcomer WriterDirector in

Fingal - Stephen Murray Oisín Reynolds - Best Animation Where the Sea Used to Be won Best Feature Film

Enjoying a feast of fine filmsT

HE inaugural Fingal Film Festival award ceremony marked the end of a success story for its organisers, who gave budding film-makers a chance to shine dur-

ing three days of film screenings and valuable workshops on the industry. What once was a casual conversation

between two friends, soon snowballed into a three-day sponsored event. The festival received film submissions from all over the world and from almost 300 entries, and the organisers had a tough job of whittling it down to the lucky few that screened in UCI Blanchardstown.

SWORDS has been chosen as the town of choice to hold a nation-al youth workers’ event this summer.

The National Youth Counci l of Ire land (NYCI), and YMCA Ire-land have teamed up to provide a new training course for youth work-ers and has chosen The Emmaus Retreat Centre, Swords, as the venue to host the hun-dreds of youth workers attending from around the country.

TrainingThe Global Justice in

Youth Work course is a FETAC Level 5 training programme designed to up-skill youth workers.

The aim of the course is to increase the capac-ity of youth workers to enable young people to make a meaningful con-tribution to a more just

and sustainable world. Some of the ele-

ments covered within the event include the issues of globalisation and global issues, per-spectives and values in development education, small group facilitation and project planning and resources.

On completion of the Swords-based course, participants will have an understanding of Development Educa-tion Theory and a prov-en ability to put this into practise in a non-formal setting.

The course consists of 40 hours learn-ing over two sessions, which take place from Thursday, May 10, until Saturday, May 12, and Thursday, May 24, to Saturday, May 26.

For anyone wishing to get involved, visit www.nycitraining.org

TRAINING: SWORDS IS CHOSEN FOR EVENT

Course for youth workers

12 April 2012 SWORDS GAZETTE 3

BIRDS Call for public to report signs of rare kites

Good signsfor the Red Kite Project � NATALIE BURKE

WITH spring finally in the air, the Red Kite Project is celebrating the season of “rebirth” with some of the rare kites already showing signs of pairing up and the begin-ning of nest building.

With the arrival of the new season, the Red Kite project team are urging landowners and members of the public to report any sightings they may have of Red Kites, particularly if you suspect the bird is carrying nest material or in the process of building a nest.

The kites took flight

for the first time at Newbridge Demesne last year, as well as loca-tions in Wicklow, and the project team have followed their path of flight ever since, in order to help re-establish the endangered breed of birds in Ireland.

The unusual bird has become a familiar sight around the Wicklow and Fingal areas, particularly Avoca village, and peo-ple are travelling from around the country in order to catch sight of the graceful, forked-tailed kite floating and glid-ing over the fields and towns.

The Golden Eagle Trust, in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Welsh Kite Trust supported by Coillte Teoranta, the Heritage Council and Greenstar Ireland, released a total of 120 kites in Wick-low and 39 in Fingal between 2007 and 2011, and each was fitted with a radio tag allowing the project team to monitor the birds following their release.

Since then however, a number of the beautiful birds have died from eat-ing rats that had already consumed an illegal poi-

Red Kite showing the unique wing-tags that identifies them. Picture: Marc Ruddock

son called alphachlora-lose, and were dead or dying. The team believe, however, with the addi-tional release of Red Kites in Fingal last year and a minimum of 29 young produced from wild Wicklow nests over the past two years, there is hope that the east coast population is secure and will continue to spread the species across the country.

As part of the celebra-tion this year of the Red

Kites return in Ireland, the Golden Eagle Trust are hosting a talk at the Woodenbridge Hotel, Wicklow on April 14, starting at 10.30am.

The project team will be providing an insight into the project over the past five years and the highs and lows of bring-ing the Red Kite home to Ireland.

With the event kindly sponsored by Wicklow County Council, Deirdre Burns, heritage officer

with Wicklow Council, says: “The reintroduc-tion of Red Kites is a significant milestone for biodiversity in Ireland. Now that the population has been established, the continued success of the project will rely on the interest and enthusiasm of the local community.”

For more information, or to report any sightings, please email redkites@goldeneagle.ie or on the project website www.goldeneagle.ie

Discount entry fees FINGAL County Coun-cil is formulating a plan for the management of its heritage properties, to address requests for discounted access from special needs groups.

This comes in response to local Fianna Fail Coun-cillors, Darragh Butler and Eoghan O’Brien, who put forward a motion at a recent council meeting, for the council to work with certain special needs groups, for free or dis-counted access to council facilities, such as New-bridge House Farm and Ardgillan House events.

According to the coun-cil, the visitor facilities in question are managed under licence by com-mercial companies and entry fees are already at a very low level. There is some limited potential for discounted entry fees for recognised special needs groups and supervising adults at designated times and by prior arrangement.

COUNCIL

Public is urged to offer views on child protection

STANDARDS Improving Ireland’s child welfare services

Tracy Cooper, chief executive of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)

IT is very clear from various reports in recent

years that have highlight-ed the scale and serious-ness of child abuse in Ire-land, that there is a need to significantly improve Ireland’s child protection and welfare services.

With this as our guid-ing principle, the Health Information and Qual-ity Authority (HIQA) has developed Draft National Standards for the Protec-tion and Welfare of Chil-dren that set out the key attributes of an effective and safe child protection service.

The setting of stand-ards by HIQA and the monitoring of compli-ance with them are important levers in driv-ing improvements in the effectiveness and safety of health and social care services for children and families.

The new draft Stand-ards have been launched for public consultation until May 17 next by HIQA.

The Standards docu-ment, and an easy-to-read guide to the draft Standards, can be down-loaded from the Author-ity’s website, www.hiqa.ie. HIQA has a legal duty to set standards, while the Health Service Execu-tive (HSE) has a legal responsibility to promote the welfare of children not receiving adequate care and protection and therefore it is critical to ensure that the system for protecting children is

effective and robust. The draft National

Standards have now been developed by HIQA to support continuous improvements in the care and protection of children receiving HSE child protection and wel-fare services.

The Standards put the needs of children at the heart of child protection services and promote the principles outlined in Children First, the national guidelines for the protection and wel-fare of children. HIQA is committed to ensuring that the safety and well-being of children is the top priority for the HSE.

The Standards will apply to HSE Children and Family Services and its statutory functions, which include protect-ing and promoting the welfare of children at risk in the community, and supporting and protect-ing children in the care of the State.

When finalised, the Standards will be the basis of HIQA’s future inspections of the HSE’s child protection functions and can also be used as a guide for self-assessment and improvement by all those involved in the pro-tection of children.

While HIQA will pub-licly report on the HSE’s performance, and hold the HSE accountable for these services, the Stand-ards will enable HSE child protection and wel-fare services to gear up to the best of their ability to

address concerns consist-ently and to a high stand-ard.

It is important to point out that, when imple-mented, HIQA would review HSE systems rather than individual cases. It is not intended that, as a general rule, the Authority should become involved in the detail of individual child protection cases. There-fore, people who are con-cerned about the welfare of children in any setting should continue to report any concerns about child protection and welfare to their local HSE health office.

The HSE has been consulted in the draft-ing of these standards as they are critical to the implementation of these standards.

HIQA developed the Standards assisted by a Standards Advisory Group. This is a group of key representatives from the HSE, Government departments, An Garda Siochana, other regula-tory bodies, people from the academic and legal fields, non-statutory organisations and other key stakeholders.

The expert group and HIQA looked at, and considered, interna-tional and national pub-lished research, stand-ards in Ireland and else-where, expert opinion, policy document and reports by national and international govern-mental and non-govern-mental organisations.

In general, our Stand-ards are not prescriptive but are calling for timely and effective action to be taken to protect chil-dren, and that children and their families have timely access to child protection and welfare services. A number of reports on child abuse cases were considered by the Authority and its Standards Advisory Group when developing these standards.

These Standards cover issues such as listening to children, assessment and planning, working

with other agencies, the protection of children across a range of set-tings and the training and support of staff, and are grouped according to six key themes as fol-lows:

• Child-centred services • Safe and effective services • Governance, leader-ship and management• Use of resources• Workforce• Use of information.

The Authority is now seeking the views of the

general public and chil-dren and young people on the draft National Standards. Informa-tion collected from this consultation process will be used to inform the development of the Standards.

Your comments can be submitted through an online survey on the HIQA website, www.hiqa.ie, or by download-ing and completing the consultation feedback form on our website and emailing it to consulta-tion@hiqa.ie. You can print off the feedback

form and post it to us, or you can write to us.

Once the consul-tation deadline has passed, the Authority will carefully analyse all the submissions made and we make further amendments to the Standards document. The finalised Standards will be presented to the Board of the Authority for its approval.

Following this, the Standards will be sub-mitted for approval to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

TRACY COOPER, chief executive of the Health Information and Quality Authority, says draft standards on child protection set out the key attributes of an effective and safe child protection service

SERVICE: HEALTH

RESIDENTS are invited to their local McCabes Pharmacy to meet the pharmacist during a Meet Your Pharmacist coffee morning.

McCabes Pharmacy, in Swords’ Pavilions, is holding the event on April 17 at 11am. Dur-ing the event, locals can have a cup of coffee and meet their pharmacist to discuss any medical con-cerns or health require-ments they might have.

Residents can also make an appointment for a free medication review from April 16-19, where pharmacists are on hand to advise on a variety of measures designed to reduce medical bills.

Other services provided include the Easymed sys-tem – a specially devised McCabes Pharmacy serv-ice that involves packag-ing customers’ medica-tion in easy-to-follow

labelled blister packs.Designed for custom-

ers who take a variety of medication, this Easymed system takes all the worry out of medication, and allows customers and carers to relax in the knowledge that the medi-cation will be taken at the appropriate times.

Marese O’Brien, phar-macist, said: “We are delighted to be running this event, at which we will provide information and one-to-one advice on the services we offer, and, in particular, on the Easymed system, which is specially designed for people who are tak-ing a lot of medication and might benefit from labelled packaging to remind them when to take their pills.”

For further informa-tion, contact McCabes Pharmacy, Pavilions at 01 840 6555.

An on-the-ball Fingal sports partnership with the FAI� BAIRBRE NI BHRONAIN

swords@gazettegroup.com

A COMMUNITY co-op-eration scheme between the FAI, Fingal County Council and Swords Pavilions has been given the support of Giovanni Trappatoni at the FAI headquarters in Abbots-town.

There are three after-school coaching pro-grammes in Balbrig-gan. There are also four other coaching projects planned for Swords, as well as a Road to Poland 4X4 tournament event.

Ian Hunter, centre director, Swords Pavil-ions, said: “We are delighted to be a FAI Community Partner, sup-porting their grassroots skills programme.

“Bo th the A f t e r Schools Skills, pro-gramme, and Road to Poland 4X4 Skills Pro-

gramme, are great ini-tiatives that provide an opportunity for kids to get involved in sport and learn new skills.

“We see this partner-ship as a key element of our involvement in our local community,” he said.

One lucky winner from this competition will become a mascot for the Irish team in the Aviva Stadium for the last home friendly match, which is the Republic of Ireland v Bosnia, on May 26.

Euro 2012After this match the

Irish team will set off for Poland and, hopefully, success at EURO 2012.

Marion Brown, princi-pal sports development officer, Fingal County Council, said: “Fingal County Council’s Sports Office and the FAI have

Swords Pavilions centre director, Ian Hunter, with Republic of Ireland manager,

Giovanni Trappatoni

Meet your local pharmacist coffee morning

SPORT Community-scheme given support by Trappatoni

a fantastic relationship and this programme is another example of how both organisa-tions working together, and are affecting young people in a positive way

at grassroots level by involving them in a game that encourages fun, par-ticipation and physical activity.”

For further details and a list of schools and ven-

ues involved, you can contact either of the FAI/Fingal County Council development officers; Paul Keogh at 086 044 4435, or Michael Pender at 087 127 3258.

Fingal’s finest set for US trade show� LAURA WEBB

swords@gazettegroup.com

CRYSTAL Eire, a crystal giftware company based in Swords, is set to put its mark on the American market when it will join businesses from across Fingal in showcasing their products at the Ireland Trade Show in the US.

The eight small compa-nies are hoping to trump at this year’s show which takes place in Secaucus, New Jersey, from April 21 to 24. The businesses hope to attract potential US buyers and secure combined export sales in excess of $200,000 in the next twelve months.

The businesses, known as Fingal’s Finest, are sup-ported by Fingal County Enterprise Board. The Ireland Trade Show is one

of the United States’ larg-est “Irish” trade shows, attended by hundreds of influential buyers and industry leaders every year.

It offers Irish compa-nies the opportunity to meet and impress key representatives from the lucrative Irish-American gifts and crafts market. The eight Fingal-based companies will repre-sent the jewellery, art and design, giftware and heraldic goods sectors.

According to the owner of Crystal Eire, Liam Caulfield, the initiative gives businesses like his the chance to reintroduce themselves to the Ameri-can market.

“We’ve been in busi-ness for the past twelve years and, prior to the Celtic tiger, we had a real-

ly good opening in the US for our products. Since things have changed, this has given us the chance to showcase once again.”

This year will be the second year in a row for Crystal Eire to showcase its work and, according to Liam, it wouldn’t be pos-sible without the help of Fingal County Enterprise Board.

“I think it’s essential to get the assistance from local authorities like that because it’s very expen-sive. Even with the help, there’s a lot of expense in doing the show but with the initiative it just makes it that bit easier. To know you have the support of the local council is really helpful,” he said.

Businesses from Fingal, who attended last year, secured an impressive

$70,000 in direct export orders with $200,000 in combined export orders projected for the rest of last year.

This result edges this year’s attendees to come back with a simi-lar achievement. Pre-arranged meetings with American buyers and enterprise development executives have already been set up by the Enter-prise Boards.

Oisin Geoghegan, CEO with Fingal County Enter-prise Board said: “This event is an opportunity for smaller companies to reach global markets they would otherwise find dif-ficult to access.

“Exposure to these influential international buyers can lead to new markets, higher sales and increased employment.”

EVENT: COMPANIES BIDDING TO BOOST BUSINESS

THE decision by the Department of Social We l f a r e to axe a Donabate-based com-munity welfare service, has been condemned by Socialist Party TD Clare Daly this week who said it was a “kick in the teeth” for the area.

With the Monday morning welfare serv-

ice in operation in Donabate for the past 17 years, Deputy Daly says that residents in the Donabate/Portrane area will suffer now more than ever.

“This is a huge blow to residents living on the peninsula. At a time when, unfortunately, more people than ever

need to access social welfare services, forcing people who have very little income to travel to Swords is adding insult to injury,” she said.

“The ser v ices in Swords are already over-burdened, not to mind the expense of having to get there. Let’s face it, operating in the area

one day a week was hardly a gold standard service anyway, but at least it was something. To remove it is a total kick in the teeth for the area.”

According to Deputy Daly, the recent decision to cut the local service is a “particular betrayal by Minister Burton and

the Labour Party and is a real indictment of gov-ernment policy”.

“Many people believed that voting Labour would protect the most vulner-able. Instead, we have even greater inequality than at any time in our history. This is not good enough. Social Welfare services should be local-

ly based so that people can access them.”

In response to Dep-uty Daly’s comments, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Welfare said: “An anal-ysis of the applicants from the Donabate/Portrane area indicates that the majority of con-tacts are already made at

the Swords office. The maximum number of customers accessing the service at the Donabate office does not exceed 20 on any day and the average number of cus-tomers presenting to the Monday outreach clinic in Donabate is consid-erably less than that number.”

Closure of community welfare service condemned by councillor

Owner of Crystal Eire, Liam Caulfield

DECISION Residents in Donabate/Portrane ‘will suffer now more than ever’

Green light for Holywell link road� NATALIE BURKE

RESIDENTS of Holywell, Swords, have received some positive news this week with the announcement that over half a million euro has been allocated by the National Transport Authority (NTA), for the construction of their long-awaited link road.

After seven years of waiting, residents are set to see the road completed by the end of 2012. The distribution road is vital for taking the large volumes of traffic that currently travels through the centre of the Swords housing estate.

Local Labour councillor, Cian O’Callaghan, has welcomed the news of

the funding of €0.575 million and insists it will make a huge difference to the com-munity in Holywell.

“This was something that had been in the original planning permission for the Holywell estate but the road was never constructed. The latest news is that the road is finally going ahead, which is great news for the local community as it will ease the large amount of traffic that has been driving straight through the centre of the estate,” said Cllr O’Callaghan.

“At the moment, the traffic passes by schools so it isn’t ideal. This link road will free up the estate from traffic and we are looking forward to seeing it completed.”

Hopping mad in SwordsT

HERE was plenty of Easter Eggcitement at Swords Pavilions on Easter Saturday when local children and their families were

invited to meet the Mad Hatter and join him for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. The event was a great occasion for all the family with arts and crafts and face-painting and Easter Eggs for everyone to enjoy.

There was also a Pirates’ Cove train which was a particular favourite with the excited kids.

Jack, Elena Brady, Aoife Huges, Haneen and Mashael Alamgir with the Mad Hatter. Pictures: Una Williams

Sara-Rose Dejong

Joshua Karabegovic and Sarah Kiernan, with the Easter BunnyEve and David Dhand

EVENT Local families enjoy a very special day of

Danielle Shannon paints Zoe Moran

Urylil, Unesse and Jed De Leon with Emma Shannon

Lindsay Hamilton and Carl Laffan

Monica Sandru and Carmen Lupei meet the Mad Hatter

Easter Eggcitement at Swords Pavilions Shopping Centre

EVENT Fundraiser makes almost €4,000 for foundation

Enduring painfor a good causeA

LMOST €4,000 was raised at a recent waxing fundrais-ing event, which was held at

Gibneys Malahide, in aid of The Ross Nugent Foundation.

A number of live performanc-es by local bands took place on the night, while nine of Ross’s friends braved the pain of being waxed in order to raise money for a cause close to their hearts.

According to the two organis-ers of the event, students Colm

Roche and Stephen Brooks, the night was a huge success, rais-ing a total of €3,890; enough to purchase two heart monitors on behalf of the Foundation, which was set up in memory of 18-year-old Ross, who lost a courageous battle against cancer in 2010.

Performances on the night featured a number of local bands, including Jack Ryan, Jessica Smith and Steven Finnegan.

Preparing, ready to go! Gone! Going...

The event was enjoyed by allNot done yet!

12 April 2012 GAZETTE 11

Top talent: A natural at wood turningJIMMY DEENIHAN, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, attended the Nation-al Museum to accept the muse-um’s most recent acquisitions from Kerry-based wood turner artist, Earl Allgrove (right).

Minister Deenihan said: “This extremely talented artist was brought to the museum’s atten-tion while participating in a craft development project with South Kerry Development Part-nership. Having started working with wood relatively recently – back in 2003 – Earl has shown tremendous natural skill in attaining this level of compe-tency with wood turning.”

Looking to our youth for ideas

COMPETITION: GETTING ‘HOOKED’ ON ENERGY

CELEBRITY broadcaster George Hook launched Tell The Future, a story-writing competition encouraging primary school children, North and South, to write a short story on how to power homes, hospitals, factories and schools into the future.

Now in its second year, the competition rewards the best ideas from young people in Ireland today regarding energy and the environment.

Rugby pundit and NewsTalk host, Hook, is spearheading this year’s competition and has made a special animated video for pupils, parents and teachers to learn more about it, which can be seen by logging on to www.tellthefuture.eu

Launching the compe-tition, George comment-ed that, as a nation, we need to pay more atten-tion to the creativity of our youth.

“Our young people today are not only more aware of innovation and new technologies, but also of the environmen-tal and energy challenges we are facing today and into the future. We need to take more notice of young people’s creativity, and Tell The Future gives them a nationwide plat-form to showcase their ideas on energy sustain-ability,” he said.

Bringing these writ-ten stories to life is a key feature of this year’s Tell The Future competition, and winners in the junior and senior categories will have the unique oppor-tunity to have their story transformed into a one-of-a-kind animated video narrated by George Hook himself.

In addition, first-prize winners will receive their own iPad and a special-ly-engraved trophy. The school of the winning pupil will receive five Netbook laptops, with branded mouse pads and t-shirts for his or her class. Second and third-prize winners will each receive a Kindle.

Tell The Future is part of a pan-European ini-tiative – Future of Rural Energy in Europe (FREE) – which is supported in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland by Calor Gas, and aims to highlight the environ-mental and energy-relat-ed concerns facing rural communities in particu-lar. Tell The Future will be launched for post-prima-ry school students North and South in autumn 2012.

The closing date for entries to the Tell The Future primary compe-tition is Friday, May 18 2012. For full details, please visit www.tellthe-future.eu

12 GAZETTE 12 April 2012

HEALTHCARE Food Solutions are producers and suppliers of ready prepared meal solutions for the Health sector (Hospitals and Nursing Homes).

With the current pressure on us to stay at home during our advancing years, we have launched Ireland’s first 100% Irish Home-care meal delivery ser-vice.

O u r c h e f s h ave designed a wholesome range of carvery meals to suit the age profile of our customers.

Once fully cooked all of our meals are freshly frozen and are ready for you to enjoy in less than 15 minutes from your

microwave or under 40 minutes from a conven-tional oven.

Our meals are deliv-ered weekly or fort-nightly to your door by our friendly homecare team.

Hea l thcare Food Solutions have been awarded the Love Irish Food mark for our work in only using 100% Irish ingredients and being proactive in Irish Employment with our produce being manufac-tured here in Ireland.

We only produce the most wholesome meals, such as our Tender Cooked Bacon as seen above, Roasted Irish Beef with Yorkshire pudding, Tender Cooked Turkey

and Ham with handmade stuffing and traditional Irish Beef and Stout Stew to mention just a few.

Homecare delivery has been proven to be grate-fully received in the Irish

market in the current cli-mate.

The main difference between Healthcare Food Solutions is that our produce is 100% guaranteed Irish, sup-

porting Irish jobs and Irish suppliers.

If you are an older per-son or if you have a par-ent living at home and are concerned about the quality of their daily meal, why don’t you visit our website at www.health-carefoodsolutions.com and visit our Homecare Shop.

We deliver our meals on a weekly or fortnightly cycle across Co.Dublin, we can be contacted via the web shop or contact one of our telesales team on 01 289 8823.

Once you are happy with our service you can set up a regular weekly or fortnightly order which will be delivered auto-matically.

100% fresh Irish homecare meals delivered to your door

COMMERCIAL FEATURE

Tender cooked bacon with cabbage, creamed potato, carrot and turnip mash with parsley sauce

Paul Kavanagh, Chief Executive, Healthcare Food

Solutions.

EVENT Getting a Lidl help for Happy Heart

Have a heart and help raise funds for foundation� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

FAIR City’s Tom Hopkins and TV celebrity, Caroline Morahan, have volun-teered to raise money for the Irish Heart Founda-tion’s 23rd Happy Heart Weekend appeal.

The weekend is on May 10 to 12 and the aim is to raise half a million euro to fight heart disease in Ireland.

The event is sponsored by Lidl Ireland and their staff, together with the team at 2FM, and the Irish Heart Foundation are appealing to Dublin-ers to volunteer and lend a hand in the mission to raise the target amount. Happy hearts will also be sold through Lidl stores.

“I support Happy Heart Weekend because I’m passionate about driving awareness of heart disease and stroke. A little bit of awareness can be the dif-ference between life and

death. This was the case for my cousin, who was able to spot the signs of his heart attack and man-aged to get help in time,” Caroline Morahan said.

Caroline has helped the Irish Heart Foundation before and been involved in previous years’ Happy Heart Weekends. She left Ireland for Los Ange-les but has returned and is looking happier and healthier than ever. She is a loyal patron of the charity.

The anticipation is building for the Happy Heart Weekend 2012 and preparations are already in full swing for what is shaping up to be the best Happy Heart Weekend yet.

Every year thousands of people all over Ireland give up their time during the weekend of May 10, 11 and 12 for The Irish Heart Foundation.

These volunteers scat-

tered across the country will hit the streets to col-lect donations and sell the Happy Hearts for €2 each.

They will provide you with a fundraising pack, heart badges, and details on local collection points, plus you can choose what day or days you would like to volunteer.

You can also raise money for Happy Heart Weekend your own way by registering for the events pack to keep hearts across Ireland happy and healthy.

Collect donations at work and discover new ways to gladden and strengthen your heart so that it will last a lifetime.

The spoils of the Happy Heart Weekend will pro-vide free heart disease education and fund a helpline to support heart and stroke patients. Every €2 raised from the sale of happy heart badges will

Caroline Morahan calls for volunteers to support the

Irish Heart Foundation’s Happy Heart appeal, with ‘Lidl

volunteer’, three-year-old Laura Ormsby

help to avoid 13 unnec-essary deaths from heart disease and stroke in Ire-land.

Hopkins said: “Even giving a small bit of your time can make a big dif-ference. Whatever you feel passionate about, preven-tion, research, CPR... the Irish Heart Foundation does it all and I hope the people of Dublin will vol-unteer to sell happy hearts this May.”

Hopkins is from Bal-lyfermot and has been on the show for many years. He began life as a civil servant but ended up treading the boards., and is well known for giv-ing his time to charitable causes.

To volunteer for Happy Heart Weekend in Dublin by selling happy hearts or by organising your own fundraising event, call Jena Clark on 087 3743367.

You can also donate directly to the charity online or find out more about the fundraising drive by going to www.happyheartweekend.ie

Dublin Dance festival set to delightDUBLIN Dance Festival is stopping off at several venues across Dublin and Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire, is one of them this year.

The Spanish company, Aracaladanza, will per-form a piece inspired by surrealist artist, Magritte. It will be a strange mix of puppets, dance, clouds and ladders sure to ignite the imagination of any audience.

The show is entitled Nubes (Clouds) and it has already delighted audi-ences across Europe. It is suitable for all ages from

four years and up. “Magritte would tip his

hat… for 50 minutes both children and adults were left speechless,” accord-ing to La Tribuna de Albacete.

You can catch the show at Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire, where there will be four performances, on Saturday, May 12, and Sunday, May 13, begin-ning at 2pm and again at 4.30pm.

Tickets are €14 for adults and €10 for Chil-dren. Concessions are €12 / €8 and Family tick-ets, €40 (for four people).

SHOW: PAVILION VENUE

12 April 2012 SWORDS GAZETTE 13R1

GazetteBEAUTYBEAUTY

CELEBRITIES and models across the world swear by it, and it can be seen in make-up bags of A-listers like Adele, Alexa Chung and Rhianna, so what is Weleda’s skin food’s secret?

Skin Food was created in 1926 and was the first skincare product developed by natural brand, Weleda. The replenishing skin repair cream, Weleda Skin Food is ideal for people constantly on the go, which can lead to tired, overworked and dehydrated skin.

The product’s main ingredients include nature’s best, includ-ing organic sunflower seed oil, and extracts of wild pansy, calming chamomile, caring cal-endula and revitalising rosemary extract to perk up even the weari-est skin.

A great rescue reme-dy for undernourished complexions – the rea-son why it’s the go-to skin care product for so many worldwide.

Weleda Skin Food is €6.25 (30ml) /€11.25 (75ml) and available from Nour-ish Health and Beauty Stores, selected independent health stores and pharmacies nationwide.

Weleda

nourishes

with its

Skin Food

Green Angel skin range nurtures with nature

Holistic Green Angel experience will leave you revitalised and ready to face the

busy world again

AN Irish-based company is showing just how won-derful Mother Nature can be with their exclusive range of seawood and essential oil beauty-based products.

Each product is hand-made using the very best in Irish products, sourced by a husband and wife team. Chris and Mary Mitchell developed Green Angel and have over 10 years experience in bringing, and devel-oping high-quality Irish products.

The Green Angel col-lection is a unique collec-tion of fresh and innova-tive beauty products with over 33 unique hand- crafted skin care, spa and hair-care products helping to rejuvenate and nourish all types of skin. The product is themed to be wellbeing from the ocean, which many users

would agree after testing it.

According to the own-ers, the top-to-toe holistic approach they provide leaves the entire body, revitalised and enriched, with nurturing ingredi-ents like vitamin E, jas-mine, ylang ylang, neroli and apricot all combined with the natural healing benefits of Irish seaweed. Yes, you heard right, sea-weed. Nature’s very own beauty product is added with care to ensure best results.

Each produc t i s blended meticulously to ensure that all the ben-efits of seaweed extract is captured. The seaweed is sourced from unpolluted waters off the west coast of Ireland, with all the benefits of natural, high- quality essential oils to deliver amazing results.

The Green Angel prod-

ucts have been making customers look and feel refreshed all day long.

The couple have always seen natural ingredients as an important part of their lives, whether it is in the food they eat, or the topical applications they use. The importance of which has been carried through into their work and development of Green Angel products on an ongoing basis.

The holistic Green Angel experience will leave you revitalised and ready to face the busy world again. Green Angel have their factory showroom in Rathcoole, where they continually develop new ingredients and products.

Green Angel Body Massage Oil with Neroli Geranium & Irish Sea-weed Extract is just one of the many products

available. It’s used to help relax; pour one drop into the palm of the hand and massage from the feet to the neck. Body massage is renowned for helping to clear toxic build-ups and for aiding relaxation. Another way of using this product is in

the bath – pour two tea-spoons into bath water and soak for at least 10 to 15 minutes to soothe and relax.

Check out the full range of Green Angel products by visiting greenangel.com, where products can also be pur-

chased. There is a also a wide

range of pharmacies and gift shops nationwide stocking the natural range.

For stockist informa-tion call 01-4124900 or visit their website for details of stockists.

Edited by

Laura Webb

Give yourself something to really smile aboutGIVE yourself something to smile about, and make that smile glisten with a whitening glaze, thanks to a new fuss-free treat-ment.

Not everyone can afford to get their smile matching celebrity smiles on red carpets all over the world. But who is to say we can’t try, and try is what Gazette Beauty has done. When we heard about PolarWhite Pro, a product used by some friends, we decided to find out if it really works

PolarWhitePro Teeth Whitening Glaze comes in a very stylish silver pen-like product, which says it is a fresh, affordable and fuss-free treatment to keep teeth looking healthy and pearly white. It’s a safe, pain-free way to whiten and brighten. Stains from

smoking, tea, coffee and red wine disappear with use. The light and small product can easily feet in to a bag or make-up bag when on the go.

As a heavy tea and cof-

fee drinker myself, it was time to put it to the test and see the results. It is recommended to use for five days once a month. and follow instructions carefully. It is a bit messy but worth it. Holding a smile after applying the application can make you

feel like a Chester Cat, but you won’t mind smiling once you see the finished results.

It takes 60 seconds to dry, but do not rinse because the gel remains active, slowly dissolving surface stains on teeth and you can’t eat or drink for 30 minutes after application. After using it for the full five days there was a noticeable change. PolarWhitePro has been developed by an Irish company in conjunction with a leading interna-tional dentist. It uses potent active ingredients, a formula that helps to whiten teeth up to six shades lighter after six applications.

For further informa-tion, or to purchase it, log onto www.polarwhite-pro.com PolarWhitePro Teeth Whitening Glaze

IT is estimated that about 20% of Irish people suffer from food intolerance and many of us are not aware of it. The term, “food intoler-ance”, refers to a reaction in the body that arises from an inability of the digestive sys-tem to properly digest cer-tain foods. These undigested foods lead to an accumula-tion of harmful toxins in the bloodstream, which causes our immune system to over-react. Food intolerance can manifest itself in many ways some of which include: IBS, indigestion, eczema, asthma, hay fever, and even headaches. A finger prick test in your local pharmacy may identify foods that you are intolerant to and help improve your quality of life.

With Thanks to the Staff of Lucan

Village Pharmacy

Food intolerances - Could you be suffering?

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

‘PolarWhitePro has

been developed by

an Irish company in

conjunction with a

leading international

dentist’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

GazettePETSPETSBrought to you by Miriam Kerins of

the DSPCA

THE FACTS: HOW TO SAFELY INTERACT WITH FAMILIAR AND UNFAMILIAR CANINES

Keeping children safe around dogsI WAS deeply upset to read about an incident reported earlier this week concerning a small child who was viciously attacked by a husky dog.

Now, before I go on, I want to say that this is not typical behaviour for such a breed. In fact, here at the Dublin SPCA, we have successfully, respon-sibly, re-homed many huskies over the years that have made wonder-ful, loyal family pets, so I would hate for any reader or prospective husky parent to shy away from this breed in light of the unfortunate and dreadful incident.

I don’t know the facts, only what I have read and I thank God for the quick intervention of the child’s neighbour and I believe

the little guy is recovering in hospital.

When my own, now adult, daughter was only three, she was savagely attacked by a neighbour’s dog and I can tell you I was mad beyond words.

Thankfully, Megan made a full and speedy recovery and I insisted on adopting a rescue dog, so she wouldn’t grow up fear-ing all dogs were going to attack her. That dog is my much lamented great-aunt Sophie, now 17, and I immediately set about educating Megan regard-ing her own personal safety around Sophie.

However, I would stress to all parents/guard-ians that no child should be ever be left alone or unsupervised with any dog, irrespective of breed.

Teach your child to NEVER pat a strange dog without

the owner’s permission

That is not to say the little lad in question was ever left unsupervised, it’s just a piece of advice from somebody who works in animal welfare.

As a mother and grand-mother, I can only imag-ine the poor mom’s utter horror as she helplessly watched the scene unfold before her very eyes. As a result of that unfortunate

incident, I want to give readers a few tips regard-ing safety around dogs; whether it’s your own family pet or a strange dog, because, believe it or not, there are a number of ways in which your child could come into contact with an angry dog. They are:

• The family pet.• A friend’s, neighbour’s

or relative’s dog.• An uncontrolled dog

on the street/in the park.• A dog under effective

control, on a lead, but who is approached by your child in a manner he doesn’t like.

All parents know that kids go off the rails when they spot a dog. Their natural instinct is to run up and pet the animal, try to hug it, pick it up and scream and squeal with excitement, often upsetting the dog, albeit unintentionally. So, what can you do to protect your child from being bitten by a dog?

• Teach your child to respect a dog’s instincts and, most importantly, its fears. When around a dog, ask your child to speak quietly and to move slow-

ly – no running around making mad, flapping movements.

• Never allow your child to ride a bike, a scooter or skate too close to a dog. Some dogs feel scared because they are not nor-mally used to these things and may even chase the moving object because such behaviour can trig-ger a dog’s natural prey instinct.

• If a strange dog gets frisky or excited around your child, teach the child to behave like a statue. Your child will need to drop any food or toy they’re holding and stand still like a statue or a tree. Statues are boring for dogs – they will usu-ally come over, sniff and go away. Practise this with your kids, so they

know exactly what to do if a strange dog rushes at them.

• Teach your child to NEVER pat a strange dog without the owner’s per-mission.

• With the owner’s per-mission, teach your child to approach the dog slow-ly and quietly and allow the dog to sniff the back of the child’s hand – then gently pat the dog’s chest, sides or back.

Again, these are guide-lines. Hopefully, the little lad will make a full recov-ery and I wish him and his parents the very best for their future.

� For more information, contact your vet or log onto www.dspca.ie or email me at miriam.ker-ins@dspca.ie

GazetteMUSICMUSIC

Supporting the sound on Pieta House release

We Cut Corners, one of the Dublin bands who feature on Life Support, released in aid of Pieta House

� ROB HEIGH

LIFE SUPPORT, a com-pilation of exclusive tracks from some of Ire-land’s finest artists was released last week in aid of Pieta House, the sui-cide and self-harm crisis organisation based in Lucan.

Life Support is the brainchi ld of Alan Jacques from the Green & Live Show on Limer-ick’s Live 95 FM, a per-ennial supporter of new Irish music. Among the 18 tracks on the compi-lation, many which are exclusive, are songs by Delorentos, The Coro-nas, Windings, Wallis Bird, We Cut Corners and The Flaws.

“Pieta House is a cause close to my heart. I wanted to support and raise money for Pieta House in a practical, pro-active way,” said Alan Jacques who con-ceived the album and approached some of his favourite Irish artists of the last few years to get involved.

“Music is a great way to express your emo-tions. We’ve very appre-ciative that so many art-ists have come together to support the work we

do at Pieta House,” said Joan Freeman, CEO and founder.

“We want to remind people that we are here to help, and we urge peo-ple who feel they can’t cope, or who find them-selves in crisis, to please contact us. Our services are free of charge and we’re equipped to help people get through their crisis,” she said.

Pieta House provides a professional, face-to-face, free-of-charge therapeutic service for

CHARITY: IRISH ACTS CONTRIBUTE TRACKS TO NEW RELEASE

people in the acute stag-es of distress.

The therapy is aimed at people who have attempted suicide but survived, those who have a strong urge to take their life and those who self-harm.

The primary aim of Pieta House is to reduce suicide by helping peo-ple get through that crit-ical phase when suicide becomes a plan rather than just an idea.

Pieta House opened its doors in Lucan in

January 2006. In the last five years, the organisa-tion has opened four more centres – three outreach centres in Fin-glas, Tallaght, and Bally-fermot in Dublin, as well as a second national centre in Limerick.

The unique, clinically-based model developed by Pieta House is used by the five centres across the country.

Aside from the con-tribution of the 18 art-ists who appear on the compilation, the album

has been made possi-ble with the support of Limerick’s Live 95 FM and The Delphi Label to allow all proceeds from the sale of the CD to contribute directly to Pieta House.

The album, priced €9.99, is released on The Delphi Label on Friday, April 20, and will be available to buy online and from selected stores in Ireland, and also as an iTunes download.

For more information, see www.pieta.ie.

COMING on the back of her recent acclaimed set at the O2, Florence Welch and her Machine are releasing the MTV Unplugged session recorded in New York recently.

The set features songs from Florence’s two albums, as well as covers of Johnny Cash’s Jackson, backed by Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, as well as a beautiful rendition of soul stand-ard, Try A Little Tenderness.

Go with the Flo: Machine release Unplugged set

FORGET bankers, bondholders and brokers - it’s the rockers we should have been looking to for financial advice all this time. Two major players in the rock world could be making (even more) big bucks very soon.

Bono’s tech-wise investments in the likes of Facebook and Yelp means some investors are saying “I Will Follow” to whatever the U2 frontman puts his money to. His invest-ment firm, Elevation, is set to pocket a billion dollars from Facebook alone, and the next trick up Bono’s leather sleeve is the company expected to take a huge bite out of Apple’s market.

Dropbox - an internet storage service - is still in its early stages but already has tens of millions of users, and with the first 2Gb free, they’ll be logging on in their droves.

Although, back in the music world, it’s yet to be seen if ALL Bono’s investments are “sound”. U2 have apparently enlisted the help of the songwriter who gave X-Factor losers (well they didn’t win, did they?) One Direction their debut hit. Bet they’re sorry they already used ‘Pop’ as an album title.

Another rocker with his eyes on a very big prize is Neil Young. Coming from the time of vinyl, the legendary musician thinks MP3 just isn’t up to scratch and wants to develop a new audio format with quality that’ll take the listener right into the recording studio.

Young wants the future of music to be com-ing from an online “cloud” as opposed to compressing audio like an MP3 would.

Don’t be fooled by his 66 years, Neil Young is down with the kids, and with one of his trademarked names for this new invention: “Thanks for Listening” — he’s polite too! They don’t make them like that anymore.

Listen to Dee Woods from Radio Nova every weeknight from 7pm to 12am on 100.3FM

FastTunes with Radio Nova’s Dee Woods

ANTONIO Macari’s parents came to live in Ireland in the late 1950s and early ’60s, respectively.

Borza Cafe on Braemor Road in Churchtown, was owned by Antonio’s aunt and uncle and his mother was working there at the time. She met and married Antonio’s dad soon after.

They went on to open a successful business, Macari’s, in 1966 at Harold’s Cross, but in 1972, they moved back to Italy.

Antonio was only five years old, so he was brought up in Italy until he decided to come back to Ireland in 1993.

He worked in Borza’s, in Tallaght, for a few months until he was given an opportunity to run the new Roma takeaway in Lucan Village, then a restaurant in Terenure and another takeaway.

In the year 2000, he co-founded Italtiles, a bathroom and tiles company, with a friend. It had showrooms in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, and he was involved until 2008 when he sold his shares.

He spent some time back with Borza’s again, which has always been his second home, until last year, when he decided to open Macari 66. The number 66 is very significant to him because his dad opened Macari’s in Harold’s cross in 1966, where it used to be a few doors down from the cinema. He kept it in the name to distinguish him from the other Macaris.

He then decided to do things a bit different from other chip-pers and cook fresh fish while you wait. His beef and chicken burgers are home-made and use Irish beef and chicken, and he fries with palm oil only.

Interview: Antonio Macari, owner of Macari 66

Cooking the best in fresh at Macari 66

Antonio Macari, owner of Macari 66

Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be?A: An airplane pilot.

Q: What was your first job?A: Serving sweets and ice

cream at the Borza on

Braemor Road in 1980.

Q: And your first pay cheque?A: Twenty pounds.

Q: When did you start your present job?A: November, 2011.

Q: What is the best thing about your job?A: I suppose it’s that I am the

Q: Have you ever done a job you loathed?A: No, not really.

Q: Have you achieved anything that you once thought you could not pull off?A: My house, I guess.

Q: What part of your working day do you ‘delegate’?A: Most of the cleaning, which

I supervise anyway.

Q: What’s currently on your desk that shouldn’t be?A: A holiday brochure, even

though I can’t go right now!

Q: What sport do you follow?A: Football and the Six Na-

tions’ rugby.

Q: What sport can you play?A: Football.

Q: What habits would you like to lose?A: Eating too much!

Q: At the moment, what are you looking forward to?A: Definitely a holiday.

Q: What is your guilty music/TV or movie pleasure?A: Rock music.

Q: Who best represents mod-

ern Ireland – David Norris or Jedward?A: Probably Jedward.

Q: What music/pictures/mov-ies do you have on your iPod/iPad?A: A lot of Pink Floyd, Red Hot

Chili Peppers and other rock

groups.

Q: Who do you follow on Twit-ter/Facebook?A: Mostly my friends status’.

Q: What was your last Tweet/status update?A: I shared a joke.

Q: Describe your dream meal?A: It would have to be my wife’s

lasagne and my mum’s home-

made sausages.

Q: Who would you rather have dinner with – Enda Kenny or Dame Edna?A: Definitely together at the

same table.

Q: Where do you enjoy spend-ing money frivolously?A: Fancy restaurants and on

holidays.

Q: How many pairs of shoes do you own?A: Six, plus four or five pairs of

sport shoes.

Q: What was your worst holi-day experience?A: I’ve never had a bad holiday.

Q: Describe your dream holiday?A: A round-the-world trip of

three months, at least.

Q: What would be your dream job?A: I would love to win the lotto

and then do charity work full-

Q: What do you plan to do when you retire?A: Travel as much as I can af-

ford to.

GazetteBUSINESSBUSINESS Supported by AIB

SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS A D V E R T I S E W I T H T H E G A Z E T T E C A L L 6 0 1 0 24 0

LOCALMATTERS

WHERE TO PLACE € 10,000

Q – I have €10,000 to invest. Would my best

option be to put it off my tracker mortgage and

keep same repayments to reduce the term ?

Or another option, to buy prize bonds ? Thanks.

Declan – Blanchardstown

A - There are a number of factors that must be

considered in making investment decisions. Age,

family and income are the three major considera-

tions, along with current savings and investments

strategies – do you have a Rainy Day Fund ? Ideally,

three to six months net annual income in an acces-

sible account for three reasons :

1. Emergencies (your engine packs in)

2. Sudden loss of income (one of you loses your job)

3. Investment opportunity (buying that le Broquy

for half nothing !)

Tracker rates are 1% currently and possibly likely

to go even lower for the next 24 months. Therefore,

you CAN earn more on deposit than you can save by

paying off your tracker mortgage. You are prob-

ably paying c. 1.75% interest on your mortgage.

Best demand deposit is 3.25% ( KBC Bank – email

me for details ) or net 2.275%... over 0.5% more

than your mortgage is costing. Investec Bank also

offer 4.52% (net 3.164%... 1.314% greater) on an 18-

month fixed deposit account.

As regards Prize Bonds, you are subject to the

vagaries of chance. While you do have a greater

chance than the Lotto, those chances are still slim,

but Prize Bonds are a good option in a balanced

portfolio.

� Contact John with your money questions at

jlowe@moneydoctor.ie or visit his website at

www.moneydoctor.ie. John Lowe, Fellow of the

Institute of Bankers, is founder and managing

director of Money Doctor

with light. There is access to the utility room from here, which is plumbed for a washer and dryer. The condenser gas boiler is housed here and this room is ideal for further storage.

The master bedroom is decorated with great flair and imagination, containing built-in ward-robes and triple win-dows maximising light. The flooring in all of the bedrooms upstairs is high-quality semi-solid. The master bedroom is also en suite, with cream ceramic wall and floor til-ing and a Merlyn shower enclosure.

The second bedroom is also en suite, a double guest-room with dual windows and built-in wardrobes. Bedroom three is another excellent double room with same flooring and quality-fitted wardrobes.

The master bathroom is fully tiled, comprising bath with shower attach-ment, WHB and WC.

Outside, the garden has a parking bay for two cars to the front, and dual

entrances to the land-scaped south-west- fac-ing rear garden.

For more information, contact Michelle Curran at Sherry FitzGerald on 01 820 1800.

Redwood rises high in Hollystown homes

Number 38 Redwood, Hollystown in Dublin 15, is on the

market for €315,000

SHERRY Fitzgerald are bringing No 38 Redwood, Hollystown, Dublin 15, a detached four-bedroom property in showhouse condition, to the market for the asking price of €315,000.

The best quality fix-tures and fittings adorn this turnkey property, situated near Hollys-town Golf Course, and it further benefits from a landscaped, sunny, south-west facing rear garden with water feature, split-level patio and garden lighting.

Inside, the accomoda-tion, which extends to 1,360 sq ft, comprises of an entrance hall with Canadian solid hard-wood flooring. There is particularly good under-stair storage here also.

The oversized guest WC is elegant in its sim-plicity with quality wall and floor tiling, compris-

ing WHB and WC.The living and recep-

tion room benefits from dual aspect, with a bay window to the front and a picture window and double glass doors which open to the rear garden. A contemporary style-stone fireplace has a gas inset fire.

The kitchen-breakfast room comprises an ivo-ry-fitted kitchen, and is complemented by a deep red-tiled splash back and cream ceramic floor tiles. The electrical appli-ances are mainly top-of-the-range Neff appli-ances, such as a double oven, five-ring gas hob, chimney-style extractor fan. There is also an inte-grated fridge freezer and dishwasher.

Tall, double, glass doors open to the patio and rear garden, and a sepa-rate window to the side of the kitchen fills this room

BLANCHARDSTOWN: DETACHED FOUR-BEDROOM PROPERTY

SHERRY FitzGerald in Castleknock are bringing No 3 Castleknock Court, Castleknock, Dublin 15, a two-bed ground-floor apartment, one of just eight apartments in this sought-after development, to the market for the ask-ing price of €245,000.

Built to extremely high standards and benefiting from a recent total refur-bishment, this property is in walk-in-condition, with an upgrade of wir-ing, plumbing and new double-glazed windows throughout. The ceilings have even been re-plas-tered to remove the previ-ous stipple plastering.

This property is further enhanced by having its own hall door and, there-

Courtly sought-after apartment CASTLEKNOCK: TWO-BED GROUND FLOOR APARTMENT FOR €245,000

fore, no shared communal hallway.

Built to extremely high standards and benefitting from a recent total refur-bishment, this property is in walk-in-condition, with an upgrade of wir-ing, plumbing and new

double-glazed windows throughout.

The new kitchen and electrical appliances are bound to appeal.

The accommodation, which extends to 700 sq ft, comprises an entrance hall with laminate floor-

The interior of No 3 Castleknock Court

GazettePROPERTYPROPERTY

ing and a storage closet/cloakroom which affords ample storage space for a clothes dryer, and there is a separate hotpress.

There is a large open plan living/dining room with matching flooring. Decorated in neutral cream paint finishes and cream-painted wood-work, the room also fea-tures wood surround fire-place has an electric fire. A large glass sliding patio door opens to a sunny balcony which overlooks communal gardens.

The new kitchen in the property is in high-gloss cream with wood veneer trim and matching coun-tertops. An electric oven, ceramic hob, extractor fan and washing machine are

included, and the floor is tiled in cream ceramic and there is a very attrac-tive natural stone splash back and window sill.

Both bedrooms are spacious double rooms with built-in wardrobes, while the bathroom com-prises a shower, wash-hand basin and WC, tiled flooring and extensive wall tiling.

Castleknock Court is located at the top of Beechpark Avenue at the junction with Castle-knock Road, right in the heart of the village.

Viewing is by appoint-ment and can be arranged by contacting Michelle Curran at Sherry FitzGer-ald in Castleknock on 01 820 1800.

Captivating Cove for new buyersHooke & MacDonald and Grimes Real Estate Alliance are opening showhomes on the waterfront at Skerries, at Barnageeragh Cove this weekend, and already only a small number of properties remain in the sought-after development.

The specification in Barnageeragh Cove is well above normal standards, both internally and externally.

The contemporary houses and apartments are nestled amidst grounds that incorporate a blend of hard and soft landscaping, with feature seating areas and pathways providing residents with a soothing environment.

In every property, kitchens are finished to a high standard as per the individual show-homes, and bathrooms and en suites focus on hygiene and clean modern lines.

The bedrooms feature contemporary wardrobes, while all the living spaces boast fine finishes.

The extra-large terraces are one of the main features of design of the apartments providing above-average outdoor space to residents.

There is high-efficiency gas condensing boiler, WormGlo central heating system, with contemporary style Stelrad radiators. All the houses and apartments at Barnageeragh Cove are covered by the ten-year HomeBond Guarantee Scheme.

The two bedroom apartments (70 sq m / 760 sq ft) are priced from €150,000; the three-bedroom duplexes (114 sq m / 1,230 sq ft) are priced from €220,000; and the three-bedroom-plus study houses are priced from €295,000 (125 sq m / 1,350 sq ft).

SKERRIES: RANGE OF PROPERTIES FOR SALE

Interiors at Barnageeragh Cove

pletely over the top, the car does stand out nicely from the crowd.

The front grille is low and large, almost giving it the look of a bask-ing shark. Just over this grille, the headlights have a stretched look, as

they wrap from the front back towards the wind-screen, really lending some expression to the front end.

There’s also fog lights that give a little bit more personality to the whole affair.

In terms of spec, the Clio Expression may be the entry-level model, but it does have quite a bit on offer.

It comes with a three-year/100,000km warran-ty, as well as ABS with EBD (electronic brake distribution) and electric windows up front.

There is an 80W radio-

CD MP3 with a separate display, and four speak-ers that can also be oper-ated from controls on the steering column.

The back seats get three headrests, and an electronic immobiliser is also standard.

In the rear, there are Isofix points on the seats, and the three-door model has Isofix points on front passenger seat.

The rear seats also fold down to allow for larger items in the boot.

There are a host of air-bags, a multifunction trip computer, Renault’s Anti Intruder Device (RAID),

as well as remote central locking and a normal-size temporary spare wheel.

The interior is dark grey cloth upholstery, and there are attractive chrome inserts on the dashboard and steering wheel.

Coming in at €12,990 for the 1.2-litre model, the price is a little steeper than some other, high-profile entries in to the market, but with Renault’s various trade-in offers, there are sure to be plenty of ways to bring that price down a bit.

GazetteMOTORSMOTORS

T HERE is an awful lot of buzz going a round about new compact cars

entering the market this year, such as the Skoda CitiGo, VW up! and the Seat Mii.

But, there are still other models around that should not be dis-missed altogether, simply because they cost a little more. One such car is the Renault Clio.

This week, I spent a few days with the entry-level Clio, also known as Expression, and it is cer-tainly a useful and eye-catching little motor.

The model I drove was of the three-door variety, which is always a good test of practical design when there are two kids under the age of seven to ferry around.

When it comes to pas-sengers, the idea of buck-

ling in the kids in the back seat of any three-door car always fills me with dread, but the real-ity is rarely all that bad.

The front seats in the Clio Expression do move quite freely, and the han-dle for tilting and sliding the seats is easy to get at and operate.

One trap this Clio doesn’t fall into is using overly-long front doors.

There are quite a few small cars that go large on the doors to make passenger access that bit easier – but that often leaves the driver with a heavy weight close, and, more often than not, swinging wildly against the next car in the car park. So far, so practi-cal.

Where the Clio does make a statement is with its design.

Without going com-

Renault Clio gets a fresh design

The Renault Clio – also known as the Expression – is an attractive entry-level, three-door vehicle, with a subtle

look that strays from recent Renault designs for a more refined style, replete with plenty of useful features

JAGUAR CON-FIRMS PRO-DUCTION OF F-TYPE: JAGUAR has confirmed that it will be bringing an all-new sports car to production – the F-TYPE.

Speaking at the New York auto show, Adrian Hallmark, global brand direc-tor, Jaguar Cars, said: “We showed the C-X16 concept in September 2011, and the reaction to it has been so positive that we’ve accelerated our development of an all-new Jaguar sports car.

“The core appeal of Jaguar’s cars is their sporting heart, and that heart will beat stronger than ever before in the F-TYPE.”

Full F-TYPE technical and range details will be announced later in 2012. It will go on sale in mid-2013.

RoadRoadSignsSigns

SKODA Ireland are sponsoring rally driver Robert Barrable and his team, Robert Barrable Rally Team, as he takes part in the Circuit of Ire-land rally.

A native of Swords, Barrable is a former Billy Coleman Award winner and 2010 British and Irish Citroen Racing Tro-phy Champion.

The rolling sponsorship agreement will see Skoda Ireland support the Rob-ert Barrable Rally Team with additional team infrastructure, including the provision of branded

merchandise, marketing, PR support and a team hospitality unit as well as investment towards event costs.

This season, Robert is competing in the latest specification ex-works Skoda Fabia S2000 rally car.

Last weekend’s Circuit of Ireland Rally formed the third round of the global Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC).

The circuit of Ireland is the second-oldest rally in the world. Steeped in history, many epic bat-tles can be recounted

after almost 80 years of rallying on the Emerald Isle. Skoda has previous-ly tasted success at the event with Eugene Don-nelly and Paddy Toner winning in 2009 with a Skoda Fabia WRC.

Speak ing a t the announcement of the new sponsorship deal, Barrable said: “I’m delighted to have such a great brand like Skoda supporting the team, the Skoda Fabia S2000 is a fantastic rally car; the added support from Skoda Ireland will hope-fully lead to further suc-

cess this season.”Raymond Leddy, mar-

keting manager of Skoda said: “Skoda Ireland is very pleased to be able to support rising Irish Sports stars like Robert and we hope this spon-sorship can help him further his career. We can see the potential in Robert and are delight-ed to be involved.”

For information on Robert Barrable Rally Team please go to: http://robertbarrable.com/

Or follow him http://twitter.com/#!/RBarra-bleRally

Skoda Ireland to sponsor Robert Barrable Rally Team

� CO2 emissions:(g/km) 132� Consumption: 8.3 litres/100km� 1.2-litre 16-valve� Fuel tank: 55 litres� Fuel type: Ethanol/unleaded� €12,990 for 1.2-litre

SPECS: RENAULT CLIO

Skoda Ireland are sponsoring rally driver Robert

Barrable and his team

Edited by

Cormac Curtis

Relaxing in the elegant surroundings of Ballymaloe� MIMI MURRAY

WHEN the sun shines in Ireland there really is no better place on earth. Our coastline takes on a glistening aquamarine hue, the lush countryside is several shades of green and, as we all know, the craic pores out on to the streets for some al fresco dining and drinking.

Just east of Cork city is the lovely village of Shanagarry, which is home to the Allen family estate, Ballymaloe.

This beautiful coun-try house is set on hun-dreds of lush acres, with plenty of elegant country pursuits available right on the grounds. These

include an outdoor pool, a croquet lawn, a tennis court and a small golf course.

We only stayed for 24 hours, but the intensely relaxing atmosphere in the house makes it feel like longer. We slept in the Blue Room, in the main house, which has double doors leading out to a very pretty garden, which leads into an area that houses pigs, chick-ens and a magnificent peacock.

No television can leave some guests a little wor-ried about the lack of a diversion on arrival, but we were thrilled to not have the distraction. A trip to Ballymaloe is all

about relaxation and din-ing. Oh, the dining.

After a lengthy drive from Dublin, we imme-diately wanted to sample some of the food, even if it was only a small sampling. I went for the scones with home-made jam, whilst my other half had an open roast ham sandwich – big meaty chunks served on home-made brown bread with lots of pickled cucum-bers and coriander. Eve-rything was bursting with flavour – delicious and not a mouthful of their famed relish in sight!

After some very sed-entary pursuits, includ-ing reading and a nap, we decided to explore

the grounds. The estate is breathtaking and we meandered into the near-by craft shop and cof-fee shop for a look. The walled garden should also be seen.

Perfection

And so to dinner. On Friday evenings, they do a hors d’oeurves buffet before the main event, which is really differ-ent and gets everyone buzzing about the meal ahead. There was every-thing from smoked fish, mussels, oysters, lots of delicious vegetables and a selection of pates and terrines. It is tempting to get stuck in here, but that would be inadvisable as there are five more courses to come, includ-ing, soup, main, cheese, dessert and coffee with petit fours. Everything is cooked to perfection and is very imaginative. Slow- cooked lamb for me and poached monkfish with scallops for him, were perfection.

We loved the way our waitress came around with a cheese trolley and the dessert trolley. It was quite 1970s, Fawlty Tow-ers but good fun and something a little differ-ent. Plus, the selection was outstanding. The French almond tart was sublime.

After that lot, there is nothing more for it than

an after-dinner drink in the bar or an early night.

On many evenings you can find Rory Allen in the drawing room playing tra-ditional music. In fact, you might run into any of the Allens, although we didn’t spot the illustrious Rachel or Darina during our stay. However, the elder matri-arch, Myrtle, was on hand to chat to guests.

After a very decent night’s sleep, brought on by the good country air, we looked forward to breakfast, which was again to an exceptional standard. We managed another quick jaunt around the gardens before we had to bid a very tear-ful farewell to Ballymaloe, with a definite promise to return very soon.

For information on deals at Ballymaloe House go to www.ballymaloe.ie or check out the Blue Book website on www.irelands-blue-book.ie.

The Ballymaloe country

The sixth-annual star-studded Isle of MTV Malta music festival is a must-see for music lovers

THE successful Isle of MTV Malta music festival will be taking place in Malta this year for the sixth consecutive year on June 26.

The music and entertainment organisation has already confirmed the attendance of multi-plati-num selling musician and producer, Will.I.Am, in what promises to be a stellar line-up.

The star-studded event will take place in Flori-ana, Valletta, and is a must-see for all music lov-ers. Concorde Travel is currently offering package holidays to this, or the neighbouring resorts, for the dates around the event. Early booking is rec-ommended as availability is limited.

Departing on June 21 for seven nights, stay at the three-star Bayview Apartments, in Sliema, on a self-catering basis, based on four sharing a two-bedroom apartment, from €654pp; the three-star Bayview Apartments, in Sliema, on a self-catering basis, based on two sharing a studio apartment, from €674pp; the three-star Tal Fanal Complex, in Gozo, on a self-catering basis, based on four sharing a one-bedroom apartment, plus car hire for the stay, from €684pp.

Stay at the four-star Mellieha Bay, in Mellieha, on a half-board basis, in a double/twin room, from €844pp or the five-star Le Meridien Hotel, in St. Julians, on a BandB basis, in a double/twin room, from €874pp.

Prices include return flights to Malta, return airport transfers, accommodation and board basis as indicated, and all taxes and charges.

To view videos of Malta and Concorde Travel accommodation, go to Concorde Travels YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/concor-detraveldublin

To book your Malta break, or for further infor-mation visit www.concordetravel.ie or phone (01) 775 9300.

FastTravel

GazetteTTRAVELRAVEL22 GAZETTE 12 April 2012

A spacious, tranquil standard room

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Valletta, the capital of Malta

house is set on hundreds of lush acres in the lovely village of Shanagarry, just east of Cork city

London tops the polls for second year as most popular overseas destination for Irish travellersLONDON has topped the poll for the second year in a row as the most popular overseas destination for Irish travellers, according to the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index.

The report shows that London was the most visited overseas city by Irish travellers in 2011, beating off competition from places such as New York and Paris to take the top spot.

Despite London topping the poll as the most visited city, the US was the most popular coun-try for Irish travellers in 2011, with six Ameri-can cities in the top 20. New York, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago all featured on the list as travellers took advan-tage of the strength of the euro against the dollar.

Short breaks to European destinations also remained popular in 2011, with Paris, Rome, Berlin, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Madrid and Nice all in the top 20. Closer to home, well- known soccer cities, such as Liverpool and Manchester, also made the list with Liverpool the fifth most visited destination in 2011.

Kate Hopcraft, senior PR manager at Hotels.com, said: “London is always a popu-lar choice for Irish travellers, thanks to its accessibility for both business and leisure travellers. High-profile media events, such as last year’s royal wedding, have really helped keep London top of mind with travellers and, with the Olympics just around the corner, we would expect to see London continuing to be a popular destination.

“It was also interesting to see that six out of 20 destinations on the list were US cities, indi-cating the popularity of the US for Irish travel-lers all year round.”

At home, Dublin was ranked as Ireland’s most popular destination for a ‘staycation’ in 2011, while cultural hot-spot, Galway, took second place. Cork was third on the list while Limerick, the destination with the lowest aver-age price covered by the report, took the fourth spot. The popular picturesque town of Killar-ney scooped fifth place to make up the list of most popular domestic destinations.

TravelBriefs

Edited by

Mimi Murray

ETIHAD Airways’ inau-gural passenger flight to Kenya touched down at Jomo Kenyatta Interna-tional Airport (NBO) in Nairobi, last week.

The new daily, two-class A320 service is the airline’s first passenger service to East Africa and a critically important step in expanding its presence in Africa.

The airline will also reach into West Africa with the introduction of flights to Nigeria in July, 2012. Etihad Air-ways commenced opera-tions to the Seychelles in November, 2011, and Libya in January of this year, building on existing services to Egypt, South

Africa, Morocco and Sudan.

An Etihad Airways delegation of senior executives, led by chief commercial officer, Peter Baumgartner, was on the inaugural Nairobi flight.

Executives from the airline will meet govern-ment officials and local tourism representatives during the visit to Kenya. The delegation will also host an evening recep-tion to celebrate Etihad Airways’ new flights.

Etihad Airways Presi-dent and chief executive officer, James Hogan, said: “We are delighted to introduce Etihad Air-ways to East Africa. This year will see consider-

able growth for us within Africa as a whole, as we observe strong and emerging markets across the continent.

“In particular, this new route services the con-siderable and growing flow of people and capi-tal between Kenya and north Asia, with major Chinese investment in Africa generating pas-senger demand in both directions.

“We expect to see strong loads to China, including our new des-tinations – Chengdu and Shanghai – and, of course Beijing, though the schedule allows sub-four hour connectivity to key destinations across

Etihad Airways new service to Kenya expands presence in Africa

north Asia, south-east Asia, the Indian subcon-tinent and Australia.”

The A320 aircraft has 16 Pearl Business class and 120 Coral Economy class seats.

Etihad Airways began dedicated cargo serv-

ices to Nairobi in March 2009 and will continue to operate five freight-only flights per week. The combined capacity of passenger and cargo air-craft will allow the airline to transport 340 tonnes of cargo each week.

Etihad Airways’ inaugural passenger flight to Kenya

touched down in Nairobi

st east of Cork city

A sinking feeling ...Group of human soldiers in boat, meet enormously powerful invading alien vessel. Aliens, meet some ants. Still, cinemagoers will know which

side to bet on in this latest tale of derring-do on the high seas. Luckily, Rihanna’s on board to help save the day. Hurray!

GoingOUT

GazetteENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

Kate’s left all at sea by a brash film that’s sure to leave critics floundering, but should make a splash at cinemas

�THE PAVILION THEATRE 01 231 2929Springtime Recital

MUSIC lovers are well served by the Dun Laoghaire School of Music’s spring lunchtime rehearsals, which returns to the Pavilion with what promises to be a delightful performance by acclaimed cellist, Sandra Vedras. She will perform music by Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, and will be accompanied by Declan Fitzpatrick, for a refined recital that will usher in a fresh feeling for the middle of the season. Her lunchtime recital is at 1pm on Saturday, April 14, with tickets priced at €9.50/€6.50.

MILL THEATRE 01 296 9340 Cause Celebre

THE social and cultural mores of the 1930s come to the fore in this 1977 play, which is based on a real-life story. Presented by the players of Sandyford Little Theatre, a young chauffeur, and his much older lover, is charged with the murder of her third husband. But who is really on trial, and who will society damn the most? Gender, class and the expectations of 1930s’ morality collide in this engrossing production. The play runs nightly at 8pm until Saturday, April 21, with tickets priced €18/€15.

CIVIC THEATRE 01 885 2622Our Father

STEFANIE Preissner’s remarkable performance examines abandonment, loss and acceptance as she uses rhyme and rap to explore the death of a parent, as, stanza by stanza, the familiar familial threads of love, birth, betrayal, regret and death are pulled back to create a moving, mesmerising production, courtesy of a rhythmic journey through the language of rap. Our Father runs from Monday, April 16 to Saturday, April 21 at 8.15pm, with a Saturday matinee at 3pm, and with admission priced €16/€10.

DRAIOCHT 01 885 2622Easter Integrated Dance Project

CROI Clan, a professional contemporary dance company based in Cork, invites both disabled and non-disabled dancers, aged between 13-18 years, to participate in this exciting and dynamic week-long project, which celebrates and encourages dance diversity. The week will conclude with a dance piece set in a professional show in Draiocht’s studio space. The free project will run from Tuesday, April 10 to Saturday, April 14. If interested to participate, email sarah@draiocht.ie or telephone 01 809 8029.

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� KATE CROWLEY

IF I ever find Liam Neeson trying to stuff any kind of cheap flyers through my letterbox (you know, for any kind of local takea-way or taxi firm, that kind of thing), I swear I’ll drop my Mariettas and teapot to race over to the front door as fast as my dainty Size 9s will take me.

Once I’ve flung open the front door, I swear, I’ll grab Mr Neeson by the strap of his leaflet delivery bag and drag him into the front parlour, ready to grill him on some of the roles he’s been taking on in recent years.

After all, choosing to enlist for a (brief) role as an admiral in Battleship doesn’t seem to have quite the same gravitas of other roles he’s had in the past, right? (Are you listening to me, Oskar?)

I’m sure that, like the rest of the Crowley house-hold, my dear readers can both instantly relate to

the raw tension and stress involved with the classic game, complete with end-less shouts of “G7!”, “E3!”, and the like, eventually culminating in the indig-nant coup de grace: “You sunk my battleship!”

Not, one may imagine, what one might call obvi-ous source material for a $250 million blockbuster, but hark! What sound of barrel-scraping breaks through yonder window?

Given that the thought of Liam Neeson play-ing Battleship against, I dunno, a CG panda, or a CG turnip (voiced by Eddie Murphy) for 90

minutes probably didn’t lead to high-fives at the movie mogul meeting, instead, we arrive at the completely logical and inexplicably previously omitted element needed to complete Battleship’s appeal – aliens.

Yes, that’s right, a bunch of them-tharr extree-turres teea l folk have sud-denly started splashing about in the ocean, where, as luck would have it, Admiral

Neeson (oh, and Rihanna) are standing by, ready to do a lot more than shout “F6!” from the deck.

(As normal for any film with plucky military types saving the day, I complete-ly fail to remember char-acter names, ending up with The Tall One or The Captain or The Sidekick – as such, it’s just easier to remember The Neeson or The Rihanna here.)

With several ships hap-pening to be in the area at the time, and caught una-

wares by the s u d d e n a p p e a r -

ance of vast (and vastly

s u p e r i o r ) i n v a d i n g alien ves-sels, it’s not long before the aliens have suc-ce s s fu l l y t u r n e d

pretty much all of the ships they come across into rather unsuccessful submarines, and started trashing urban areas, too. Oh dear.

Can the sailors wipe the deck with the aliens, or will there be an early bath for humanity?

Well, you’ll get plenty of bang for your buck with this one, which is, basical-ly, a much wetter version of Transformers. No doubt it’ll float yer boat if you’re one of those landlubbers that’s happy to send your brain on shore leave for a while, but Cap’n Crowley here found it all to be a lit-tle bit fishy.

Now. Hollywood. I have a fandabidozi idea for a new film, with car chases, a love triangle, a hot chick, and a nerve-wracking finale shootout on top of the Chrysler Building. It’s called “Tid-dlywinks”. Call me.

FILM OF THE WEEK: Battleship�� (12A) 131 mins

OUR VERDICT:TIMBERS are left well and truly shivered by the bombastic antics in this tale. It messes about a bit with the standard Hollywood trope of Vastly Superior Invading Aliens Get Spanked By Primitive Hoomans, but its cheerfully enthusiastic approach to chaos and destruction will delight audiences as much as deafen them. Intellectually empty, it’s an adrenaline-packing production that’ll do well.

Director: Peter BergStarring: Liam Neeson, Rihanna, Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker, The Tall One, The Sidekick, The Captain, Aliens

Meet Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson, in a

not especially memorable role)

� SHANE DILLON

LAST week, The Guard-ian published an interest-ing story that emerged at the Association of Teach-ers and Lecturers’ annual conference, in which the negative aspects of gam-ing were having on some children were discussed.

That word – “some” – is very important, as it is impossible to argue oth-erwise that regular expo-sure to violent and adult games has no effect on some children.

At the conference, it was discussed that many psychologists were report-ing negative behavourial traits in young children who played computer games extensively – of most note, and unsur-prisinly, there were some worrying trends associ-

ated with young children playing games designed for teenagers, or adults.

(Given that some of my siblings are teach-ers, these comments and insight backed up much of the anecdotal evidence I’ve heard from the coal face, in addition to my personal experience.)

SuggestedIt was suggested that

many children who expe-rienced such content (pri-marily, violent computer games) were prone to be more violent, potentially at greater risk to social exclusion, more physi-cally sedentary, and other such worrying traits.

Without wishing to sound too professor-ish, I’ve been gaming for more than 30 years, from the earliest days of home

computer gaming, so I’ve probably got more insight into gaming than an awful lot of people – and parents – out there.

With this in mind, while I’m passionate about gam-ing, and still can enjoy games from many points of view, I’m also much more aware, lately, of the ways in which gaming is still largely regarded by many parents and adults as, “you know, for kids”.

In this way, I’ve been pretty horrified by the increasing sight, and sound, of young children playing completely inap-propriate games, along with teens also being needlessly exposed to gory, graphic content,

Having just trotted past 40, my teenage years are some way past, although I can still (just about)

GazetteGAMINGGAMING

While many games that revel in slapstick violence can be age-friendly for all the family (such as Angry Birds,

left), many other titles are rated 18+ for clear reasons (such as Grand Theft Auto IV, right) – yet many parents

remain unconcerned about the potential negative impacts that such titles may have on their children

Gaming and its potential for a negative impact on kids

remember all of the things I, and my peers, did as teens in the 1980s, includ-ing the then media frenzy over “video nasties”, and the like, and how willing – of course – my friends and I were to dabble with our first steps into the adult world.

However, while of course games, and gam-ing, can be wonderful pas-times, and fun for families to share and spend time together with, it’s worry-ing indeed that too many parents don’t seem to know, or care, what their children are playing.

It’s safe to say that the

vast majority of parents wouldn’t know one end of a claymore from another – or, indeed, what a clay-more is – but it’s a pretty safe bet that their seven-year-old son does, given the amount of six- or sev-en-year-olds I’ve heard running around with guns and mines in games like the Call of Duty, or Battlefield franchises, with pretty disturbing language to boot.

While of course “play” takes many forms, and any child psychologist worth his or her salt would tell you that violent, explora-tory play is a normal part

HERE at The Gazette Group, we’ve teamed up with XBox to offer read-ers another great Kinect prize.

Following on from the recent launch of Kinect Star Wars for Xbox 360, five lucky readers can be in with a chance to win a copy of the game.

Using the Kinect sensor, Kinect Star Wars allows fans to physi-cally hone their Jedi skills, wield the power of the Force in their hands, pilot iconic ships and vehicles, ram-page as a vicious Rancor monster or even dance with iconic Star Wars characters.

Using full body motions, players can live out the ultimate Star Wars fantasy to use the Force, battle with a Lightsaber and more – no control-ler required.

To be in with a chance to win your copies, simply email The Gazette with the answer to the fol-lowing statement:

Complete the following Kinect for Xbox 360 tagline:

A. You are the bossB. You are the controllerC. You are the best

Email your answer, with the subject line “Kinect”, before 5pm on Friday, April 20, to: competition@gazettegroup.com. All correct entries will be entered into a draw, and five winners will be selected at random to win a copy, which will then be posted out.One entry per person.

Five readers can feel the

Force and win a copy of Kinect Star Wars, for the XBox 360

Control the Force with this great Kinect competition

of child development, as boundaries are explored and defined, gaming’s potential negative impact for some (but by no means all) children needs greater policing by parents.

While it’s clear that gaming is an acceptable, and welcome, part of chil-dren’s lives today, it’s to be hoped that parents take a greater interest in what, exactly, is being played.

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� sport@gazettegroup.com

THEY say that war is hell, and this weekend sees an opportunity to put that maxim to the test when one of the toughest adventure races in Ireland, the 53 Degrees North Wicklow Adventure Race (WAR) takes place at Glen-dalough.

On Saturday, April 14, over 600 competi-tors will run, cycle and kayak through some of

the most beautiful scen-ery in Ireland.

There is a choice of three courses for com-petitors new to the adventure race scene. For those serious tough guys and girls, there is the full WAR course of 75km, which takes in 21km of mountain run-ning, 52km of cycling and 2km of kayaking.

The course takes competitors along the Spink Run, over the Sally Gap, along the

challenging Djouce run before ending with kay-aking on Lough Dan.

There is the shorter WAR-Spor t opt ion, which will take in simi-lar spectacular scenery and route, but which will total only 44km.

And, for the first major race of 2012, there is the new WAR-Mini option, which avoids the gruel-ling heights of the Spink Run, but will be equally as challenging for new converts.

ADVENTURE RACE: RACE OVER WICKLOW MOUNTAINS SET TO CHALLENGE ATHLETES

Former Ireland and Leinster player Shane Byrne celebrates finishing his first WAR event

Competitors set for WAR at Glendalough

The 53 Degrees North WAR series of adven-ture races will be run to the BS8901 standard.

The standard defines the requirements for a sustainability event management system to

ensure an enduring and balanced approach to economic activity, envi-ronmental responsibil-ity and social progress relating to events.

Event T-shirts will be made for 100% recycled

polyester (each is the equivalent of five plas-tic bottles).

And instead of the traditional single use plastic goodie bags, dis-tributed at the end of the event, 53 Degrees

North WAR goodie bags will be reusable draw-string bags.

For more informa-tion, and to register for the race, log on to www.wicklowadventurerace.com.

GazetteSPORTSPINNING AROUND SPINNING AROUND Stephen Halpin on Stephen Halpin on his return to the top his return to the top level of cycling: level of cycling: Page 29Page 29

GazetteSportSportFastSport

Life Style Sports offer Euro 2012 competitionLIFE Style Sports in Blanchardstown Retail Park will this weekend host the quest to find the ulti-mate Irish sports fan.

The winning fan will feature in the Life Style Sports window campaign in all its 62 stores nationwide and win a trip to Euro 2012 to see the boys in green take on Spain including flights, accommodation and match tickets.

From 10am to 4pm this Sunday, April 15, the Life Style Sports store in Blanchardstown will host the fervent fans as they attempt to walk away with the title and the much-sought after prize of the Spain match package.

Vivienne Bushell, marketing director of Life Style Sports said: “We want fans to come to the store as if they were arriving at City Stadium in Poznan or PGE Arena in Gdansk. Nothing is too over the top or too green for us.”

A judging panel, which includes current Irish squad member Stephen Hunt will make the final decision.

All fans will be accommodated on a first come, first serve basis and must be available on Monday, April 16, for their Life Style Sports photoshoot.

Stephen, who will drop into Life Style Sports in Blanchardstown at 1.30pm on Sunday, said today “The support we get at home and abroad from our fans is just amazing. To see a stadium awash with the green, white and gold gives you such a great feeling and lifts the team. The fans really are the 12th man.”

While in Poland, the Life Style Sports Ultimate fan will blog on the Life Style Sports Facebook page and post photos so that they can share the excitement and give a sense of the atmosphere at the stadiums to all the Facebook followers.

Find out more on the Life Style Sports Ultimate Fan, and how simple it is to get involved via Face-book www.facebook.com/lifestylesports.

Dublin’s Under-21 footballers were in complete control at Pairc Tailteann when they saw off the challenge of Louth

LEINSTER U-21 FC FINALDublin 1-16

Louth 0-8

NAOMH Mearnog’s Kevin O’Brien captained Dublin’s Under-21 to the Cadbury Leinster Under-21FC title in emphatic fashion in Pairc Tailte-ann, Navan, last week.

The results sees the young Sky Blues claim the title for the third time in four years.

Full-back O’Brien, in his post-game trophy acceptance speech, said he is hoping the side are looking to kick on, say-ing that their success at provincial level is only “step four of six” in their larger plan, to claim the All-Ireland crown for 2012.

Such a situation is one which Martin Skelly, chairman of the Lein-ster Council, suggested

may come to pass when he handed the cup over to O’Brien.

“I think we may be looking at not only the Leinster champi-ons, but the All-Ireland champions in a couple of months’ time,” said Skelly.

O’Brien was joined in the side by another local player, St Sylvester’s Garry Sweeney, who kicked a point from the half-forward line, while Fionn Carney was part of the panel as well.

Dublin put on what was a dominant per-formance all round, and there could have been an even wider margin of victory but for some excellent goalkeeping from Louth netminder, Joe Flanagan, coupled with some brave last-ditch defending from their backline.

The Dubs’ shooting at

times, too, was slightly off course, but that mat-tered little, as Jim Gavin’s men were too hot for Louth to handle in the scoring department.

One forward whose radar did not let him down was Castleknock man, Ciaran Kilkenny, and his contribution helped Dublin to annex their tenth provincial title at this grade.

With a stunning per-sonal tally of 1-7, the schoolboy’s strength and power were pivotal throughout.

The game was less than two minutes old when Kilkenny palmed an enormous wind-assisted delivery from Mark Schutte to the net to give his side the dream start.

Less than a minute later, Philly Ryan had the ball in the Louth net after slick interplay in

the forward division, but he was adjudged to have been in the small square before the ball and the score was disallowed.

Desp i te Dubl in ’s dominance of posses-sion they failed to turn it into scores and it was not until the close of the first half that they gave themselves any breath-ing space approaching the break.

Two points from Kil-kenny, and one each for Jack McCaffrey and Paul Hudson, was reward for Dublin’s endeavours as the likes of O’Conghaile, Sean George, and Ciaran

Reddin got through a lot of work.

The second half fol-lowed a similar pattern to the first with the Dub-lin defence dealing com-fortably with whatever Louth could muster.

The Wee County’s chances though were few and far between — the final wides tally of Dublin 14, Louth hitting three, is an indication of what way the traffic flowed all night long in Pairc Talteann.

T h e D u b s n o w progress to face the Munster champions on Saturday, April 21.

Young Dubs secure Leinster

FOOTBALL: LOCAL PLAYERS HELP TO CLAIM PROVINCIAL CROWN

in association with

AFTER a year ravaged by a nightmare series of injuries and infections, Swords Cycling Club’s Stephen Halpin is lining up a rejuvenated 2012.

Relocating to his native city from Bel-gium, and a full pre-sea-son, sees him in positive mood, and the results have begun to flow for Halpin. He took two big wins in March, as he spies top form ahead of May’s An Post Ras.

Those wins included the Ras Naomh Finan in Clonard, Co Meath, and the Carrick Wheel-ers Cup in Carrick-on-Suir.

It gives a confidence fillip that he can get back on track af ter an 18-month period wracked by ankle prob-lems, as he told Gazette-Sport.

“I was injured for a lot of last year, from Octo-ber to maybe April or

May. Then I came back, did a few weeks training and then went into the Ras very unfit.

“I came out of that and got a blood infec-tion and chronic fatigue,

which put me out for the rest of the season.”

It tested his resolve but he cites the con-tinued support of his Swords’ clubmates and his sponsors, Metaltek Scott, who stuck with him despite the prob-lems.

Such issues have afflicted a number of Irish pro riders in recent seasons, pre-season struggles leading to on-going mid-season issues, with Phil Lavery and

Nicolas Roche lament-ing the long-term effects in recent years.

“It’s very important – that base training in the winter months – your fitness can be hit

and miss all year and then missing a couple of months of racing; you’re playing catch-up throughout the year. It’s hard to discipline your-self to take it slowly. I learned that the hard way last year, coming back too soon.

“But this year has been really good. I’ve been disciplined and the positives that came from last year were that I was really motivated. I missed it so much last

year, the winter was good enough this year, no snow to disrupt the training camps with the team, so it was very pro-ductive.”

“In the space of a week, I won in Clonard and then in Carrick-on-Suir. That, in itself, is very good for the confi-dence.”

A crash in Essex slowed that momentum while a trip to Scotland for the Tour Doon Hame was also fruitless, but Halpin is content with where he is at.

After five years in Belgium, he recently moved back to Dublin, moving in with top pro, Phil Deignan – a stage winner in the Vuelta in 2009 – in Terenure, something which he sees as another boost.

“ I t happened by chance; we were both looking for a place to stay. It’s great, training with one of the best.

“You do pick up bits as you go along, like diet, routines and treat-ments … little things that make a difference.

“Living in Dublin, when the contract came about in the UK with Metaltek, it was the per-fect opportunity to get a year at home. I could be living in London and a race would come up in Newcastle and you’re looking at a five-hour drive … so I’m prob-ably better off living in Dublin, with the airport

Comeback kid is ready for the RasStephen Halpin has bounced back from a tough year with the kind of form that sees him on the verge of a huge 2012, says STEPHEN FINDLATER

Stephen Halpin, in blue, training with the An Post team last year

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‘In a race, anything can happen, so I go out with every intention of winning.’-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FastSport

THE biggest ever cast of celebrities from stage and screen are set to take part in the SPAR Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park, Dublin on Sunday, April 15 as they come together to sup-port a range of charities.

Among the leading lights confirmed to take part are Ugly Betty star Eric Mabius (above), Boyzone’s Keith Duffy, radio and TV talk-show presenters, Matt Cooper and Craig Doyle, former Miss World Rosanna Davison, Diarmuid Gavin, Irish actor Jason Barry and Coronation Street star John Michie (Karl Munro) among others.

Many of the celebrities are taking part to support the events nominated charities, the Marie Keating Foundation and the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation. Others are running for Leukaemia And Lymphoma Research and other good causes.

Up to 10,000 runners, walkers and joggers are expected to participate in the event, which gets under way at 1pm and is shown live on RTE television.

A further 1,200 children have entered the Mini and Junior Runs for five-to-eight and nine-to-15-year-olds. These runs will make up the largest ever children’s running event in Ireland.

The Junior Run starts at 11:15 followed by the Mini Run at 11:30. The Mini and Junior Runs take place over a flat 2.5km course, which uses the same start and finish areas of the adult SPAR Great Ireland Run, which starts at 1pm. The nominated charity for the Mini and Junior Runs is the Baby Max Wings of Love Fund.

Entries for the SPAR Great Ireland Run are now closed, and those entering are required to collect their numbers and run packs at Lifestyle Sports in Blanchardstown during trading hours between noon on Thursday, April 12 and 4pm on Saturday, April 14.

Stars come out for the Great Ireland Run 2012

going to loads of loca-tions.

“Having family and friends around does make a huge differ-ence rather than being abroad. You do miss things, so it works out better for your mentality to training and overall for your performance.

“My programme with the team has been sort-ed since January. I know now what I’m doing for the rest of the year so it gives me time to plan where I go and when. I don’t need to be on call, like I was in Belgium.”

And it leaves the ele-ments in place for him to try and make a big impression in the Ras in the next month despite the growing crew of Irish pro cyclists.

“It’s the next big one. I’ll go out to win a stage but, if it happens that I’m in contention for the GC, I’ll race every-day.

“As for the Ir ish nationals, anywhere in the top five or ten would be great. But you see the likes of Matt Brammeier a couple of years ago winning it, so anything’s possible on the day.

“The good thing about having more than just one or two pros, they can mark each other out on the day and, in a one-day race, anything can happen, so I’ll go out with every intention of winning it.”

GazetteSportSport

ST FINIAN’S student, Megan Lynch, played her part, but was unable to turn the tide for the Republic of Ireland’s Under-15 girls’ schools side when, for the second year running, Northern Ireland pipped them in the final game of the Bob Docherty Cup.

The northerners won out 2-1 in the decisive game on day four of the tournament at the AUL Complex last Friday.

The Republic had made the perfect start to their campaign, beat-ing a Metropolitan Girls’ League (MGL) FAI

Selection last Monday evening, coming from a goal down to snatch a late equaliser and sub-sequently win 4-2 on penalties.

Northern Ireland’s 3-2 win over Scotland, and England’s penalties win over Wales, left a three-way tie at the top of the table after day two, before the Republic ran up an impressive win in their second game last Wednesday.

The wind provided an immense challenge for both teams, but a must-win situation added to the day’s events. The Republic hit the front from a free kick when

Colaiste Dhulaigh stu-dent, Courtney Higgins, crossed to the lively Roma McLaughlin in space. Megan Connolly waited patiently on the left side of midfield to apply the final touch.

The partnership of McLaughlin and Con-nolly was working well for the Republic, while Swords’ student Lynch had a super chance on goal, but her shot breezed just past the post.

But, on a rare coun-ter, the Republic gifted a free kick to the English. Alysha Stojko-Down endeavoured to reap the benefits of Ireland’s mis-

take, but her shot went right of the post.

The game, though, was put beyond doubt when Connolly again scored following some great link play with Savannah McCarthy for a 2-0 win.

With Northern Ire-land winning 3-1 against Wales, though, it left it between them and the Republic for the title.

The final was a fast-paced affair as the game kicked off in the Dublin sunshine on day four of the tournament.

The Republic of Ire-land created the first chance when a snap shot from Connolly saw her effort spring over

the woodwork. Further solid chances fell to McLaughlin and Con-nolly.

T h e d e a d l o c k remained until midway through the second half, when Northern Ireland were awarded a penalty.

McGlade was brought down inside the area and up stepped Mackin, who coolly slotted the ball down the middle of the goal past Brooke Dunne.

McGlade doubled the lead to put the North well on course before Zoe Power latched onto a ball from Courtney Higgins to pull one back for the hosts.

Local student stars for Ireland

SOCCER: REPUBLIC UNDER-15 SELECT MISS OUT ON CUP TITLE

Sarah McCarthy in action for the Republic of Ireland Under-15 footballers at the AUL Complex last week

FastSport

Local schools take to the field for the futureFINGAL’S Future Olympian (FFO) qualifiers were in full swing last week, which saw some 90% of schools in the local area take part in two of four regional blitzes for tag-rugby.

These blitzes saw St Patrick’s, Skerries, Lusk NS, and Balscadden NS, qualify for the FFO Finals Day, which will take place on on June 6.

Fingal’s Future Olympians Tag-Rugby quali-fiers saw 192 children from 16 local schools take to the field at events in Skerries and Balbriggan, which were organised by Fin-gal County Council’s Rugby Officer, Gerry McCleery.

Speaking about the event, McCleery said: “I was delighted with the numbers participating in the events. We had 90pc of the schools in the area participate; this figure is a credit to the principals and teachers who make such an effort to promote and prioritise sport.”

It is part of the Fingal County Council’s Sports Office series of events in 2012 to iden-tify future Irish Olympians.

Working with partner sports organisations the FAI, Leinster Cricket, Tennis Ireland, Leinster Rugby and Athletics Ireland, each sporting organisation will promote their sport in knock-out style tournaments to encour-age children from third- to sixth-class to get involved in sport in the months leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The Future Olympians of Fingal Finals Day will be held in Sportslink Santry on Wednes-day, June 6.

The Future Olympians programme is an opportunity to encourage children to get involved in sport, as well as creating an inter-est in the Olympic Games.

If your school would like to get involved in tag rugby, contact Gerry McCleery on 086-2422829 or email ger.mccleery@leinsterrugby.ie.

If your school wants to get involved in any of the other events, contact Fingal County Council’s Niall McGuirk on 01 890 6232, or email niall.mcguirk@fingalcoco.ie.

Batting back ingreen: RSA give Ireland supportRSA Insurance Ireland announced the renewal and expansion of their sponsorship of Irish Cricket to 2015 recently, with members of the Ire-land cricket team, including Trent Johnson, John Mooney, Andrew Poynter, Alex Cusack and Kevin O’Brien, joining Philip Smith, CEO of RSA Insurance Ireland and Min-ister of State for Sport and Tourism, Michael Ring, TD to celebrate the announcement.

in association with

CLUB NOTICEBOARD

Our Easter football camp last week

had over 250 kids taking part. Five of

the Dublin senior hurling team, Conor

McCormack, Ross O’Carroll, Finn

McGarry, Danny Sutcliffe and Simon

Lambert will be present at this week’s

hurling camp.

Club academy resumes next Satur-

day morning at 10am. New members

are most welcome.

Well done to Barry Rodgers and

Liam Nangle who competed in the

U-12 hurling ball wall competition in

O’Tooles on Good Friday.

Club awards night will be on Sunday,

May 6. Ticket details, time details, etc

will be available next week.

We done to Aoife O’Reilly who won

a college All-Star at midfield, repre-

senting Maynooth College.

It was a great week for the ladies,

with our seniors opening their league

1 campaign with a narrow win away

to Clontarf.

The club are delighted to announce

another addition to our coaching

staff. Nicola Fitzgerald started last

week. Nicola is from Swords and

played all her underage football with

the club. Her contact details are nico-

la.fitzgerald.gpo.dublin@gaa.ie

Social football is on every Friday at

8pm on Astro pitch. New players are

welcome.

The club have a recycling fundraiser

until April 29. Please donate all your

unwanted clothes, bedlinen, towels

and textiles including shoes, bags and

belts and soft toys. Mobile phones will

be accepted, but please keep sepa-

rate. No household bric-a-brac.

Bags can be dropped off on Satur-

days from 10am to 12 noon and week-

days from 7 to 9pm at the club bar.

ST FINIAN’SOnly five more days to our white-

collar boxing event, Friday Fight

Night, in the Wright Venue.

The first fight is 7.30pm sharp, so

make sure you have your ticket and

get there early. Tickets are €15,

or €25 for access to the VIP area

and Sliders’ barbecue. Tickets are

available from the club office on

01-8132656.

Best wishes to club members

David Hattie and Aaron Cullen, who

will be playing for Fingal hurlers

when they take part in the National

Hurling League Div 3A final versus

Monaghan. The match takes place

in Tullamore at 2pm on April 15.

Please ensure all membership

fees are paid as soon as possible.

The Lotto jackpot was €4,400. The

numbers drawn were 6, 15, 18 and

24. There was no winner.

The € 50 winner s wer e L iam

Markham and Ann Finn.

Nex t week’s jackpot wi l l be

€4,500.

FINGALLIANS

FINGAL RAVENSWe are holding a poker classic on

Thursday, April 26, at 8pm in Kettle’s

hotel, €50 per ticket; contact Desy

087-9957427 to book your place..

Our dinner dance will be held in

Kettle’s Hotel on Sunday, May 6

(Bank Holiday weekend).

Club membership is now overdue,

no players will be permitted to play

until their membership has been

paid, all managers and mentors

have been informed of this.

Boxing DVDs are still available,

please contact Declan on 086-

8587231 to order a copy.

Thanks to all the mentors who did

the defib training last Saturday

morning.

If there are any mentors that did

not do the training and would like

to, please contact Declan on 086-

2673830.

Lotto numbers drawn were 7, 8, 16

and 20. There was no jackpot winner.

€20 to Nigel Duffy and Mrs Shaper,

Bernadette and Declan, and Noel

Malone. Next week’s jackpot is now

worth €3,474.

ST COLMCILLE’STraining continues on Tuesdays

and Thursdays at 7.30pm sharp. All

are required to attend the training

sessions.

Update for Sunday training /

challenge game to be confirmed at

Thursday training.

Advanced fixture notice for Sun-

day - Championship game vs St

Francis’ Gaels, with throw-in at

New players are always welcome.

If interested pop down to the club on

Tuesdays and Thursdays and speak

to one of the mentors.

2012 membership is now due and

letters are been posted over the

coming weeks.

NCL DIVISION 1Kilkenny 2-9

Dublin 2-8

DUBLIN missed out on a rare senior camogie triumph over Kilkenny last weekend when their incredible comeback came up an agonising point short at O’Toole Park on Easter Sunday.

They were left to rue a tally of 13 wides from placed balls, while the concession of a soft sec-ond goal will rankle. But huge positives can be drawn from the tie.

Ten points down with four minutes to go at the break, the Dubs went on to outscore Kilkenny by 2-7 to 0-4.

In the entire second half, the visitors could only score once from play, and never threatened the Dublin goal, a testament to a wonderful defensive performance, with debu-tante Emma Whyte star-ring, and holding talented Cat, Aoife Neary, score-

less from play. Some of Dublin’s play

was outstanding, par-ticularly in the super four-minute spell before half-time. Louise O’Hara was central to much of this recovery.

An Ali Maguire-pointed 45 in the 26th minute was Dublin’s first score in 23 minutes, and this was fol-lowed by a superb cross-field pass by O’Hara to Amy Murphy who point-ed.

Another O’Hara mis-sile found Ciara Burgess in the 29th minute and the Raheny girl raised Dublin’s fourth white flag. Dublin weren’t finished, and O’Hara picked out Murphy whose rasping shot shook the net, reduc-ing the deficit to four.

It countered Kilkenny’s strong opening, in which they wiped out Murphy’s opener with Neary scor-ing three points before Katie Power cut in for their first goal.

Tara Corrigan had to retire injured shortly

afterwards and, from there on, Grainne Quinn had a tight watch on Katie Power (a cousin of Dublin player, Fiona Hayes), lim-iting her to one point.

A second Kilkenny goal by Siobhan Hyland saw them open a 2-5 to 0-1 lead by the 24th minute. when Dublin lost posses-sion going forward and compounded this error by indecision in the small box.

BreezyWith the breeze in

the second half, Neary clipped over a free, but Ali Maguire responded with a point from centre back. Four minutes later, Muireann O’Gorman cut the gap to a goal with a pointed free.

Confidence was grow-ing and the half back line of Whyte, Maguire and Ballinteer’s Fiona Hayes, were outstanding.

On the occasions when Kilkenny breached that line, Catriona Power stood in the way on more than

one occasion ably sup-ported by Grainne Quinn and Elaine O’Meara.

Neary’s fifth pointed placed ball put Kilkenny four clear in the 41st minute as Dublin intro-duced Aoife Kelly and Miriam Twomey. O’Hara was doing all she could to lead the charge and when her dipping shot nipped under the crossbar, the O’Toole’s throng were in full voice.

One sensed that if Dub-lin could draw level, they might just be able to drive on from there. But Neary notched another free to settle her side.

A minute later, O’Hara fired over a great point but Colette Dormer showed great leadership for Kil-kenny to strike their only score from play in the sec-ond half.

It got them just clear and, while Maguire put over a difficult free, despite three minutes of added time, the clock ran out on a great Dublin per-formance.

CAMOGIE: DUBLIN COMEBACK FALLS JUST SHORT

A battling and impressive Dublin side, which featured Naomh Mearnog’s Catriona Power, just fell short of a win

Camogie stars get close to the Cats

zetteSPORT

� swordssport@gazettegroup.com

SWORDS man Robert Barrable took sixth place in the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Interna-tional Rally last weekend after a quick, trouble-free run for the former Young Rally Driver of the Year.

The Armagh-based race provided him with a serious testing ground as he drove in his latest specification, ex-works Skoda Fabia S2000 rally car.

This year, the famous Circuit of Ireland Rally – the second oldest in the world – formed part of the third round of the global Intercontinental Rally Challenge and provided the former Billy Coleman Award winner, and 2010 Citroen Racing Trophy British and Irish Champion, with a key testing ground in the new car, which he was delighted to take up.

Speaking at the announcement that Skoda would continue to support him, Dubliner Barrable said: “The Skoda Fabia S2000 is a fantastic rally car. With the added support for testing, and just

basically giving us the opportunities, it is promis-ing and will, hopefully, lead to further success this season after this weekend in Northern Ireland.

“Being involved with a manufacturer like this will, hopefully, be quite good going forward. Try-ing to get used to the brakes and the handling is the main thing.

“Our season only really begins at the Rally of Ireland. It’s our home event and carries a good profile so it’s not easy.”

Barrable has already tasted success and this sea-son will build on the experience he has had in the car last year, highlights of which include winning the West Cork Rally and taking the outright win on the Sligo Rally, a counting round of the Irish National Rally Championship.

He also took part in several rounds of last sea-son’s IRC and scored two championship points, finishing ninth overall in the GEKO Ypres Rally, a specialist tarmac round of the championship.

His showing impressed but he was not able to apply pressure on the more experienced Scandi-

navians in the rally.Following a tremendous duel for top place that

lasted for most of the rally, Juho Hanninen and Mikko Markkula, of Finland, beat their Norwe-gian rivals, Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Floene, to take victory.

Hanninen led at the end of the first day, restart-ing the next morning just six-tenths of a second ahead of Mikkelsen, who promptly reversed the position on day two’s opening test. However, the Finn, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge win-ner in 2010, retook top place and opened a lead of nine seconds when defending IRC title holder, Mikkelsen, damaged a wheel on the Redrock stage.

Mikkelsen fought back, reducing the gap to 2.3 seconds with four stages left, but had a disastrous high-speed trip into protective bales on the first Lisburn City Centre stage, costing him 40 seconds and leaving Hanninen to cruise home to victory, only the second for a driver from outside the Brit-ish Isles in the 81-year history of the rally.

Barrable sixth Barrable sixth on Irish Circuiton Irish CircuitSwords native looking forward to life in the fast lane after quick start to 2012 with new Skoda in Armagh

Robert Barrable drove a well-controlled race to finish sixth in the Circuit of Ireland in his first major rally of 2012

NORTHERN LIGHTS: Swords starlet in

Irish U-15 side but NI get final victory P30

BLAZING SADDLES:Halpin ready for topreturn from injury P29

ALL OF YOUR SWORDS SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 27-31 APRIL 12, 2012

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