Castleknock

Skye’s song: Talent on display at Colaiste Pobail Setanta Skye O’Brien was one of the many great acts to take to the stage when Colaiste Pobail Setanta held their annual talent competition recently.

Setanta’s Got Talent saw some 450 staff, students and parents

entertained by a range of musical and comedy acts.

Organised by two of the school’s music teachers, Audrey Ward and Philip O’Callaghan, the night was a huge success.Full Gallery on Page 6-7

Cemetery planning sought by developer laura webb

A PlAnninG application for a 5,000-plot cemetery on lands in Castleknock has been lodged with the local authority.

Fingal County Council received the planning application from Verson-wood ltd, which seeks permission to change the use of residential premis-es to a cemetery at Priorstown House in Scribblestown, Castleknock.

The new cemetery will accommo-date 5,000 grave plots. The proposed

development includes creating a caretaker’s living facility and convert-ing the existing outbuilding to form a crematorium, create a car park to accommodate 114 vehicles, with a further 45 vehicle spaces in an over-flow car park, plus seven designated spaces for staff parking.

Mulhuddart Cllr David McGuin-ness (FF) said residents have cam-paigned for years for this service to be provided and says this may be the solution for all concerned.

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OUT&ABOUT ..................17

CLASSIFIEDS ................26

SPORT ...........................27

Month XX, 2012

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CounCil Car park, crematorium proposed

5,000-plot cemetery plan for scribblestownFINGAL County Coun-cil has received a plan-ning application for a 5,000-plot cemetery on lands at Priorstown House in Scribblestown, Castleknock.

Ve r s o nwo o d L t d (in receivership) has applied for permission to change the use of residential premises to cemetery and associ-ated facilities.

The proposed devel-opment includes creat-ing a caretaker’s living facility and converting the existing outbuild-ing to form a cremato-rium, create a car park to accommodate 114 vehicles, with a further 45 vehicle spaces in an overflow car park, plus seven designated spaces for staff parking.

The new cemetery w i l l a ccommoda te 5,000 grave plots.

Cllr David McGuin-ness (FF) said residents have campaigned for

years for this service to be provided. He said this may just be the solu-tion for all concerned, adding that there is need for an increase in grave plots for a greater Blanchardstown popu-lation which has grown to over 100,000 people.

“ R e s i d e n t s h ave always made the case, par t icular ly in the Castleknock region, that a cemetery close to their homes was the ideal solution to an issue which has caused significant anxiety due to the ever-increas-ing age profile in the community,” said Cllr McGuinness.

Meanwhile, vehicular

access will be restored to Mulhuddart Cem-etery on Sundays after the community put pressure on Fingal County Council to make a u-turn on proposals to close it all day.

The council recently put opening restrictions in place closing vehicu-lar traffic access Mon-day to Saturday from 5pm to 8am and all day on Sunday.

The closure on Sun-days sparked outrage among the commu-nity, and many voiced their opposition to the council and thousands signed a petition to have it reopened on Sundays.

This week, the coun-cil have said vehicular gates will remain open until 5pm on Sundays.

In a report to coun-cillors at a recent area committee meeting, a council spokesperson said: “The access and

opening arrangements for Mulhuddart Ceme-tery are currently under review following the recent decision to have the main vehicular gates closed at specified time in an effort to control high levels of littering and anti-social behav-iour in the area, partic-ularly at weekends.

“A solution to the problem of Sunday vehicular access using existing staff resources is being pursued. The internal discussions in this regard are at an early stage and a further report will be brought to the area Commit-tee once the matter has been resolved. In the meantime the vehicu-lar gates will open until 5pm on Sundays,” the report added.

Speaking at the recent meeting, Cllr David McGuinness (FF) said this will be seen as a welcome development,

particularly for those who have deceased loved-ones at that cem-etery.

Cllr Kieran Dennison (FG) said he is “delight-ed” it will reopen on Sundays, while Social-ist Party Cllr Ruth Cop-pinger welcomed the decision but said the council should have discussed the plans with local councillors first.

Dublin West TD Pat-rick Nulty (Lab) said this news is a “tremen-dous victory” for people power. “The entire com-munity should be very proud for signing peti-tions, organising pro-tests and contacting the local council. It shows that when people in the local area get organised and work together on an issue, we can force, whether it is the local council or the govern-ment, to change their mind whether they like it or not.”

LAuRA [email protected]

Castleknock residents have campaigned for years for a cemetery to be provided locally

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4 April 2013 CASTLEKNOCK GAzETTE 3

corduff HSE to lodge facility’s planning application

30-year wait for care centre is almost over LAurA wEbb

[email protected]

PROGRESS on the long-awaited primary care centre for Corduff has stepped up with the HSE set to lodge a plan-ning application later this month.

The Corduff communi-ty has been fighting for 30 years to get a primary care centre in the area. During a meeting last month, the HSE said the centre has been progressed by the “traditional mechanism” through the services capi-

tal plan. The project’s design

team intend lodging a planning permission application for the pro-posed primary care centre on the HSE site adjacent to the Corduff Shopping centre on Blackcourt Ave-nue by mid April.

“Subject to the plan-ning application not being delayed or appealed to An Bord Pleanalla the HSE hope to be in posi-tion to have the works commenced by the end of 2013. It is estimated that the construction duration

will be approximately 18 months,” the HSE stated.

This week the HSE confirmed that they hope the works will commence by August or September.

Local TD Patrick Nulty (Lab) welcomed the pro-gression and said he “is putting pressure on the HSE to get the planning application in as quickly as possible and hopes Fin-gal’s planning department will process it as quickly as possible as well.

“It’s essential that the capital funding is ring-fenced and construction

Corduff residents have been fighting for over 30 years for a local primary health

care centre

will go ahead at the end of the year – as promised… it’s about time promises were delivered on.”

Dublin West Sinn Féin representative Paul Don-nelly commended the community in Corduff saying they have waited over 30 years for this proc-ess to begin.

Meanwhile, the pro-

posed primary care cen-tre on the Navan Road is being progressed by the HSE lease mechanism as part of the HSE pri-mary care infrastructural scheme.

“The HSE are in legal agreement with a selected preferred provider for this location. Planning per-mission for this proposed

centre has been granted and it is hoped that the construction works will commence on site for the proposed primary care centre by Aug/Sept 2013.

“It is expected that it will be in the region of 18 months from commence-ment on site until the building is complete,” the HSE stated.

Support for breast feedingFRIENDS of Breastfeed-ing is piloting their peer support programme The Breastfeeding Buddy Sys-tem across Dublin, includ-ing Carpenterstown.

This aims to provide local, easily accessible breastfeeding peer sup-port, to increase breast-feeding initiation and sustainability. The con-cept is that someone who has herself breastfed and has undergone training in breastfeeding manage-ment is available locally to be an advocate for breast-feeding and to support breastfeeding mothers.

Support is given on a voluntary basis, either by direct contact or through telephone support.

For more, call Jolene Keating on 087 799 2144 or visit www.friendsof-breastfeeding.ie.

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safety residents concerned over speeding at junction

Calls have been made for Fingal to implement traffic calming measures in Roselawn.

Green Party Dublin West representative Roderic O’Gorman said a number of residents

along Roselawn Glade raised the issue with him about speeding, particularly in relation to the junction with the Roselawn Road and the entrance to st Francis Xavier Ns.

Fingal County Council confirmed to O’Gorman that there is no funding in this year’s council budget for improved signage rumble strips or other traffic calming measures. He says the

council should make finances available in the 2014 council budget. “This is a busy road, particularly as it is an access route to a nation-al school. a council spokesperson said that

while the needs of Rosel-awn Glade will be exam-ined, the 2014 budget for road safety measures will be allocated in accord-ance with the identified priority areas across the county.

Call for traffic calming measures at Roselawn

Playshapers project to instal temporary works LAurA Webb

[email protected]

HOW teenagers move around Carpenterstown is about to get very interest-ing, thanks to transition year students from lut-trellstown Community College, who have worked with an architect team to find fun ways to combat pedestrian boundaries in the area. The school took part in the Playshapers architecture and urban design initiative for young people in Fingal.

During a recent area committee meeting, the students took time out from their school holidays to present their findings and designs to elected

representatives. The Play-shapers project was initi-ated by the Irish archi-tecture Foundation and the council’s arts office. architects Kate Dowling and Robert Bourke, in collaboration with film maker Peter Kelly, were commissioned to work with the students.

The students investi-gated the built surround-ings and areas in their neighbourhood that are important to them, look-ing at ways to change or improve them. They then developed their ideas and propose to tempo-rarily install these ideas. They displayed their scale model of the area surrounding their new

school building currently being constructed in lut-trellstown, and identified boundaries that restricted them from moving around freely.

student samantha explained the first phase and outlined problems teenagers face in the area, such as lack of benches, no play facilities for teens and lack of shelter for when it rains. another student, Ross, presented their scale model, while student aoife outlined their proposed ideas which included a lad-der going up one side of a fence leading to a slide that goes down the other side, a tree-house type shelter with a platform

on top with shelter under-neath to protect from rain. The third idea was to have a net attached to a fence at their new school, offering a simple shortcut for students.

architect Robert said they realised they won’t get permission for these exact concepts, so the design team worked to try to incorporate all three into one design that they hope to instal for one day in mid-May. He said the project will start a community discussion on boundaries residents face in areas. They have now identified a site for the final proposal at a local park. It will be a platform shelter, “it sums

up all the projects… it centres around the issue of boundaries and creates as unique fun solution”, he said.

The students were con-gratulated on their ideas with Cllr Eithne loftus (FG) saying she was “gob-smacked” with what they did. “It’s amazing, the fact that you’ve taken owner-ship of this project shows you are interested in your community,” she said.

socialist Party Matt Waine said it’s a “very interesting” project and said it’s an “extremely positive contribution to the community”.

Follow the project’s progress at http://place-shaperslcc.blogspot.ie.

teen sPaCe: LuttreLLstown CommunIty students’ bIg Ideas

donation: €10k for hospitalpiCTured Are some attendees of aoib-heann’s Pink Tie’s inaugural Pink Tie Ball at Dunboyne Cas-tle. Karl Henry from Operation Transfor-mation was the guest on the night. TV3’s sinead Ryan and five recently qualified army cadets in full dress army unifor were also present. The cadets helped raise over €10,000 for Crumlin Children’s Hospital.

we wanT To know!


NATALiE burKE

[email protected]

COMMUNITIES across Fingal have played their part in helping Ireland increase its recycling rates and decrease levels of solid waste by 17%.

Waste figures released in recent weeks by the Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA) show that Ireland’s municipal solid waste generation has

decreased by 17% since it peaked in 2007.

According to the EPA, this is largely as a result of the recession and a decline in personal con-sumption.

The report states that a total of 96,665 tonnes of household waste was collected from the Fin-gal region in 2011, while Dublin City Council had a total of 155,486 tonnes collected.

The results show that almost 46,000 tonnes of mixed or residual waste (from black bins) was col-lected during 2011 in Fin-gal, while a total of 19,651 tonnes of mixed dry recy-clables (green bin con-tents) was collected from the area. Fingal had the highest amount of organ-ic waste (brown bins) col-lected in the entire Dublin region with 18,117 tonnes reported.

A total of 4,631 tonnes of glass bottles and alumi-num cans were collected from bring banks.

Mayor of Fingal Cllr Cian O’Callaghan (Lab) welcomed the results, say-ing that Fingal residents are helping Ireland reach its recycling targets.

“It’s very positive news for Fingal and for indi-vidual households. Not only is it helping Ireland meet its targets, it’s also

better for the environment and better for individual households in terms of the costs,” he said.

According to the EPA, Ireland now produces less household waste per cap-ita than the EU average and is recycling 40% of its municipal waste. Ireland is also achieving all its EU waste recovery targets with the exception of End of Life Vehicle recovery.

Commenting on the

figures Dr Jonathan Der-ham, EPA, said: “Ireland is well advanced towards achievement of all of its EU obligations across a broad range of waste leg-islation, in particular in relation to recovery and recycling. In fact, a recent European Environment Agency report showed that Ireland was one of the countries in Europe with the fastest growing recycling rates.”

Fingal Expo set to returnTHE first Fingal Volunteer Expo of the year is set to take place on Thursday, April 11 at the Blanchard-stown Centre.

The event will be held from 11am to 7pm on the main concourse on the upper level of the centre.

This volunteer expo aims to help organisa-tions attract people who are interested in becom-ing volunteers but who may not know where or how to go about getting involved.

The expo will take place for the second time on Thursday, May 16 at Clare Hall Shopping Centre, and for the third time on Thursday, September 19 at the Swords Pavilions Shopping Centre.

For more information visit www.volunteerfin-gal.ie.

volunteer

neil hits on a sweet discovery in his latest documentary NATALiE burKE

[email protected]

A LOCAL documentary filmmaker was celebrat-ing the official launch of his most recent docu-mentary The Story of Chocolate, last week.

Nei l Elwor thy, a Castleknock native and resident of Clonsilla, created the documen-tary which aired for the first time on RTE on Saturday, March 30. The award-winning documentary maker cel-ebrated the launch with a special viewing event at Myos Bar in Castle-knock.

The Story of Choco-late – from bean to bar-chronicles the story of the cocoa bean to its final destination: the chocolate bar.

“The launch went really well and there were quite a few people there. The premiere was in the Radisson on Gold-en Lane on Wednesday [March 27] so we had a busy week,” Neil told the Gazette.

The documentary, which features TV per-sonality Lucy Kennedy, was made in Ghana in West Africa and was organised by interna-

tional development char-ity VSO and chocolate manufacturer, Cadbury. Central to the story is Cocoa Life, an initiative supporting sustainable cocoa farming across West Africa. Neil, who has over 20 years’ experi-ence in the industry and is director of media pro-duction company Kelt-Tek Audiovisual, said he was “delighted” with the end product.

“It was a really inter-esting experience. It’s an unusual story because we all know there are certain household items that we all use like coffee, tea, sugar and chocolate, but nobody knows a lot about where they come from or the communi-ties that produce the raw content.

“It was my first visit to Ghana. I really didn’t know what to expect. Being a documentary maker, I’ve done Bang-ladesh, Mongolia, Viet-nam and South America – you name it, we’ve been there. Each place throws up its own challenges but Ghana is lovely. The people are so friendly, they are so proud and they dress to the nines even if it’s just to go to the shop.”

Neil Elworthy, whose recent documentary, The Story of Chocolate, aired last week on rTE

good news Hike in recycling rates welcomed by Mayor

Fingal plays role in cutting waste by 17%

television: local filM Maker delves into tHe story of cHocolate

The documentary crew spent two weeks in Ghana, the first week organising fixtures and the second filming with Lucy Kennedy.

“We were very lucky that Lucy wanted to work with us. She said she was a chocoholic so it was great to have someone with a pas-sion for it,” Neil said. “We needed someone who wasn’t going to be a complete diva, but who

was going to enthuse about it so who better than a chocoholic and someone who is genu-ine both on camera and behind camera?”

After the filming, it took several days, nights and long weekends to edit the footage. “When you wind up with 32 hours of footage and you have to get it down to 24 minutes, it’s a big proc-ess.”

Having worked on

documen ta r i e s on depression and breast cancer in recent years, Neil said he wanted to tell a positive story this time.

“We feel we need a complete change on how we view charitable work and how we view humanity. It’s not about them and us, it’s a one world inclusive package and the sooner we get used to that, the better,” said Neil, who is already

thinking about his next project.

“Now that we’ve done the story of chocolate, why not look at the story of tea, coffee and everything else? Lucy’s already hinted that she would love to come and do the story of coffee and said she would follow us around the world.”

The Story of Choco-late is currently available to view on RTE Player. Visit www.rte.ie.

DUBLINGazetteNewspaperHaVe 169,000reaDers eaCH weeK

aDVertIse yoUr BUsINess to oUr reaDersCaLL 60 10 240

*based on tGI-roI 2012

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Hafssa Barry, Alla Sharrif, Buky Omibokun and Venessa Omo-Adeoye. Pictures: Ronan O’Sullivan

Kevwe Marks

Caoimhe Kenny

Nicola Tully and daughter

Audrey Ward and Phillip O’Callaghan


Have you seen yourself in the Gazette? Buy photos online from only €6.99 at www.gazettephotos.com

Bags of talent on display at schoolColaiste Pobail setanta held their

annual talent competition recently, setanta’s Got talent. staff, students and

parents were entertained by a total of 16 acts ranging from bands to solo singers and a comedian. the show was won by a sixth year student Kevwe Marks. Yaroslava Kozyr came second with an original piano composition

and erika Volodka with an original song. this year’s show was attended by well over 450 people. the event was organised by two of the school’s music teachers, audrey Ward and Philip o’Callaghan, with the school’s music department. they were assisted by a committee of students and transition year students.

Presenters Georgie O’Sullivan and Nonso Anny-

Nzekwue Georgie O’Sullivan and Caoimhe Kenny

Colaiste Pobail setanta: aCts WoW oVeR 450

The fifth class pupils took part in

the bookmark fundraiser

The fifth class pupils participate in an awareness campaign through

handmade bookmarks. Pictures: Ronan O’Sullivan

st Ciaran’s school have decided to donate the proceedsof their World Book Day book sale towards the education of a child in a developing country.

the school’s fifth class pupils have just completed an irish aid project on global education, in which they surveyed adults about their best memories of primary school. through this project, they learned that 67 million children worldwide do not get a chance to access education, so they decided to make a series of bookmarks to inform people about this. their project showed the long-term impact that recycling and buying Fair trade products can have on education in a developing country.

bookmaRks: making a diffeRenCe

The pupils designed this poster

PJ Sinnott and Debra O’NeillTeacher Amanda Jolliffe

Skye O’Brien

Lauryn McLeod

Presenters Darragh Cummins and Ayo Adegbesan

8 CASTLEKNOCK gAzETTE 4 April 2013

SEN AvEriL POwEr

(FiANNA FAiL)

THROUGHOUT Dub-lin parents are strug-gling to balance the demands of raising their kids, keeping their jobs and paying the bills. Thousands of families are fighting this battle while living under the shadow of enormous personal debt.

For working moth-ers in particular, it’s a constant day-in, day-out battle to keep the show on the road and juggle the demands of their hectic lives. Many find that childcare costs exceed their takehome pay. But they choose to stay at work because they believe that main-taining their long-term career prospects is in the best interests of their family.

ArrearsThere are 186,000

households with mort-gage arrears in Ireland that may have to avail of the new arrange-ments for personal debt relief. Last week it emerged that the Gov-ernment planned to give lenders the power to make parents in such homes quit their jobs if their childcare costs are too high. Many families are already struggling to cope with cuts in maternity benefit, child benefit and back to school payments. Now Minister Varadkar has revealed that mothers in particular may be forced to jeopardise their long-term career prospects because of short-term childcare problems as well.

Not only is this meas-ure incredibly anti-

women and anti-family, it is also economically stupid. It would deprive our workforce of skilled female employees and damage their long-term employabi l i ty, with resultant costs for the Exchequer.

The lives of these parents are being held to ransom by a bean counting attitude in Government Buildings that is completely out of touch with the sac-rifices that many par-ents are already mak-ing to keep their fami-lies afloat. By focusing solely on the personal debt issue, Ministers are completely ignoring the bigger issue of bringing down childcare costs.

OutrageousIt is outrageous that

for many families the cost of childcare exceeds an entire income. Last May in the Seanad, I listened as Minister Burton promised a new “Scandinavian style childcare system” while simultaneously cutting the one family parent allowance. The cut was delivered, but we are still waiting on the new child care system.

Instead, we’ve had Ministers going on the airwaves and setting out new arrangements for women to give up their jobs if their childcare costs are too high. In the face of understand-able public outrage, the Taoiseach appears now to be rowing back on this plan. But he is still washing his hands of the real issue here – the exorbitant costs of childcare, the respon-sibility for which lies firmly at his door.

The new personal

Senator Averil Power (FF): “The Taoiseach is still washing his hands of the real

issue - the exorbitant costs of childcare, the responsibility for which lies firmly

at his door”

insolvency system is already deeply flawed. It basically gives banks a veto that will allow them to continue to penalise homeowners who are working hard to keep their heads above the water.

These are hard times

for families. The burden of debt, rising unem-ployment and the high cost of living are all making it harder than ever to give our children the start they deserve in life. Yet in spite of the circumstances, mothers and fathers are working

hard to do the best they can for their kids.

Instead of adding fur-ther obstacles like those revealed this week, it’s time for the Govern-ment to start listening to parents and deliver-ing for the families who need it most.

‘Childcare costs the issue – not mothers working’

opinion Anti-woman, anti-family, economically stupid - power

*based on TGI-ROI 2012

WE HAVE 142,000 READERS IN DUBLIN ALONE

Too Cul: Action-packed week at GAA Camps for childrenRYAN AND SAM ENRIGHT of Naomh Peregrine enjoy a day out at Kellogg’s Cul Camp, which included a visit from Dublin stars Eamon Fennell and Bernard Brogan. Kellogg’s GAA Cul Camps provide boys and girls – between the ages of six and 13 – with

an action-packed and fun-filled week of activity during the summer holi-days. This revolves around maximis-ing enjoyment and sustaining partici-pant involvement in Gaelic games.Picture: Ian FlemingFull Gallery on Pages 8-9

Second level school breaks mould� LAURA WEBB

EDUCATE Together opened a new chapter this week when its long-awaited second-level school model became a real-ity for Blanchardstown West parents.

Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn announced 14 new post-primary schools for 2013 and 2014, with Educate Together having patronage of a new school in Blanchards-town West and a joint patron-age with Co Louth VEC in

Drogheda.Over the past decade, ET

has been progressing to open its first second-level education school.

Michael McLoughlin, chair of the Dublin 15 ET Second-level Campaign Group, said: “We are delighted. After all the hard work parents in the area have put in, the dream that our children will be able to attend an ET second-level school is to become a reality.”

Full Story Next Week

ALSOINSIDE: GALLERIES ......................8BUSINESS .....................18MOTORS ....................... 20TRAVEL ......................... 22ENTERTAINMENT ......... 24CLASSIFIEDS ............... 26

Football: St Peregrine’s star wins fourth Leinster titlePage 32

Hurling: Brigid’s pick up crucial Cuala league winPage 31

INSIDE: St Brigid’s GAA sets up camp and

has summer fun P2

HIGH NOTE: Frank McNamara plays to raise funds for Temple Street Page 3

Irish Olympian discusses basketball way back when

SEE PAGE 15

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Exciting line-up ahead at DraiochtIT MAY not feel like there is going to be any change to seasons, weather wise, but the show must go on for the team at Draiocht as they prepare for their very own new season.

Draiocht recently announced their new sea-son events, with a range of performances and exhibitions taking place between the months of April and August. There will be drama, comedy, art, interaction with the local community, and much more.

As part of the many youth programmes and workshops taking place, there are tours for primary school pupils where they can visit two exhibition spaces and be encouraged to examine and voice their

opinion about the artist and their work. They can also explore the rest of the building, including two theatre spaces, backstage and dressing rooms.

On Saturday, May 18, families will dress for mess when they take part in National Drawing Day with artists Kathy Herbert and Dorothy Smith.

Comedy acts within the programme include: Neil Delamere, Aidan Bishop and Abie Philbin Bow-man.

Dance acts include Bal-let Ireland with their story of what happens after the fairytale ending in Cin-derella – After the Ball, and Monica Loughman’s Ballet School present their Ballet Summer Gala.

In music, Juliet Turner

is back in May and Chris Kavanagh will once more grace the stage with his show The Legend of Luke Kelly. The team will also be Swinging in the Sixties with Coolmine Musical Society and We Banjo 3.

For the kids, all the way from Spain as part of the Spreacha Fingal’s Inter-national Arts Programme for kids, is The Forest of Grimm for children from age six.

The Mini Music Acad-emy comes in June and caters for babies from just six months old, to chil-dren aged six.

These are just some of the events that will take place at the theatre.

For the full list of what’s on this season, see www.draiocht.ie

in the spotlight: local theatre announces new season events Gardai

appeal for detailsGARDAI have renewed their appeal for informa-tion regarding a cash-in-transit robbery that occurred last December outside a Carpenterstown supermarket. The incident was reconstructed on last week’s Crimecall on RTE.

At approximately 12.45pm on December 3, two men, one believed to be armed with a handgun, approached a CIT staff member and took a cash box with an undisclosed amount of money con-tained within. Two sus-pects made their getaway in a silver vehicle.

Anyone who may have any information should contact gardai at Blan-chardstown on 01 666 7000 or the Garda Con-fidential Line 1800 666 111.

robbery

Message to revenue: protesters tear up property tax formspiCTurEd iS Cllr Matt Waine (Socialist Party), who protested in the Blanchardstown Town Centre on Saturday with members of the Campaign Against Property Tax and Austerity (CAPTA). The group was launching its public meetings planned for Dublin 15 over the next three weeks. They brought their property tax forms to the pro-test, where they were symbolically ripped up. Cllr Waine said: “We are sending a message to Revenue that we will not be bullied and intimidated into paying this hated tax. We call on all those opposed to this tax, to boycott the tax and asking them to stand united with their neighbors and friends.”

let our advertisers tell you why:

why advertise with the gazette?

b e c a u s e l o c a l M a t t e r s

“

“

C&S Windows Ltd have been advertising with the

Dublin Gazette Newspapers for a number of years to

communicate with our customers on any special offers

we have available at different times of the year.

We find the service we receive is excellent and they

always give us good value for money. Our salesperson

is very efficient and always makes sure our advert

is correct. The Lucan, Clondalkin, Castleknock and

Blanchardstown editions are really working well for

us, reaching all the areas we need to cover locally.

We would have no hesitation in recommending the

Gazette to other companies to promote their company.

10 cASTLEKNOcK gAzETTE 4 April 2013

Have you seen yourself in the Gazette? Buy photos online from only €6.99 at www.gazettephotos.comGazetteGaLLeRY

MANY stars flocked to the Ballsbridge Hotel recently for the Green Angel Skincare

fashion show for Barnardos.Models on the night included

some of the cast of Fair City, Louis Copeland and Celia Holman Lee.

The glamorous fashion show was

hosted by TV3 presenters Noel Cun-ningham and Cathy O’Connor.

The latest trends were on show on the catwalk, with collections from The Ivory Closet, Karen Millen, House of Fraser, Lara Boutique, Avoca and Louis Copeland. Stars from the reality television shows Dublin Wives and

Tallafornia also attended the fundrais-ing event.

Mary Byrne, 5th Base and Eva Cof-fey Creative Communications provid-ed some entertainment on the night.

The organisers were delighted with how the event turned out, and are said to be already planning the next one.

Tailor-made for celebsMaster tailor Louis copeland with business woman and Newstalk presenter Nora casey. Pictures: Una Williams gina Mccormack

Suzie O’connell and Aine O’Neill

Liam geddes and Emma Doogan

4 April 2013 GAzette 11

dublinlifelet dublin Gazette newspapers take you on a tour of the news and events taking place across the city and county this week, as well as the latest from our schools

family fun: landmark event kicks off april 9

Treats galore for everyone at Five lamps Arts FestivalThe Five Lamps Arts Festival in Dublin will begin with treats galore for music lovers, theatre enthusiasts, children and everyone up for entertainment in a vari-ety of forms.

This will be the sixth year for the Five Lamps festival which is one of the most popular festi-vals in Dublin. The fes-tival name celebrates the famous Five Lamps landmark and the sur-

rounding community of north inner city Dublin.

Many of the events will deal with the centenary of the 1913 Lockout.

Such events include a piece in the Sean O’Casey Theatre called Ballads, Banter and Ban-ners, a visual art exhibi-tion in the LAB in Foley Street called exiles, and an architectural exhibi-tion in Amiens Street called Re-imagining Sean McDermott Street

from Findlaters to the Five Lamps.

Other highlights are Maruczella, a mime play from Poland’s The-atre Nikoli, Julie Mai-sel’s flute performance, French-Irish storyteller Fiona Dowling , Johnny Taylor Trio Jazz session, and in the LAB on Foley Street, a poetry reading by Rita Ann higgins and Paula Meehan

One of the big draws for children at the festi-

val will be a production of The Gruffalo, which will be presented by No Strings Theatre Compa-ny on April 13 at 2pm in Charleville Mall Library and in Killarney Court at 4pm.

The festival will run from April 9 to 25 and you can find out more by going to fivelamp-sar tsfestival@gmail .com or by ringing 087 9737401 for programme details. Mime play Maruczella, a treat in store from Poland’s theatre Nikoli

schools p14diary p12 asdfsdaf p27business p16

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12 Gazette 4 april 2013

Hey petal, support Daffodil Day 2013!

Irish Cancer Society volunteers Gary Reed and Valerie abbott tried not to let the dreadful weather on this year’s

Daffodil Day dampen their enthusiasm. However, with the society’s main national fundraising event badly

affected by the day’s downpours, the society is appealing for online donations to help reach its €3.4 million target.

DEDICATED volunteers support-ing the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) were left devastated after a wash-out day made it hard for them to reach the charity’s fundraising tar-get on Daffodil Day.

Despite the heavy rainfall on Fri-day, March 22, volunteers braved the elements to sell daffodils for the ICS.

However, initial indications showed funds being collected from street sellers were significantly lower than on previous years.

And so, the ICS is asking all those who would have given to support them on the day to give online donations, instead.

It’s not too late to support Daffo-dil Day and help the society reach its target of €3.4 million.

Without a successful Daffodil Day, the society will struggle to continue to provide information, care and support to those with, and affected by, cancer in Ireland services in 2014.

You can make a secure donation online at www.cancer.ie, or call 1850 606060 to donate.

Alternatively, you can text Daff to 50300 to donate €4, with 100%

of your donation going to the Daf-fodil Day fund.

You can even buy a virtual daf-fodil on the society’s Facebook page.

fun DepReSSIon-eRa paRty foR fIlm fanSBONNIE and Clyde, the ultimate gangster-love road movie, is to be screened on Saturday, April 13 at 8pm, and on Sunday, April 14 at 3.30pm, at Film Fatale in the Sugar Club on Lower Leeson Street.

Film Fatale is celebrating films from the 1930s with a screening of the cult classic heist film, Bon-nie and Clyde, which is based on the true-life exploits of notorious Depression-era bank robbers Bon-nie Parker and Clyde Barrow.

The film chronicles the short lives of America’s most infamous criminals, with the screening to be followed by a Dirty Thirties -themed vintage party.

Those attending are encouraged to dress the part and come in their best vintage finery, with Bonnie and Clyde as fashion inspirations.

Tickets to Film Fatale are €15, while tickets to the Dirty Thirties

party are €5, and are available on the door from 11pm.

be a SpoRt anD Help SuppoRt HoSpICeSTHE Association of Schools’ Unions of Ireland is organising a fundraising event for the Black-rock and Harold’s Cross hospices by celebrating sport in all its forms in a thanksgiving service.

This year’s Annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service for the Gift of Sport will see Liam Harbison, chief executive of Paralympics Ire-land, delivering an address to the congregation.

All of the singing at the service will be led by The Belvedere Col-lege Chamber Choir.

The first such service, support-ed by the Association of Schools’ Unions, took place in 1949.

This will be the 64th such annual sports service, and organisers are hoping a large crowd of all denom-inations will attend the service in St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street at 7pm on Sunday, April 14.

All proceeds from the collection will be donated to the Blackrock and Harold’s Cross hospices.

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dublinlifeGaze

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Post-Primary stu-dents from schools across Dublin took sci-ence to the next level last week, displaying more than 70 projects at the recent sciFest 2013@Dit.

on Friday, march 22, secondary school stu-dents from across Dub-lin gathered at Dit to showcase their science projects, and to begin the first of 15 regional sciFest science Fairs.

more than 70 science projects were displayed at sciFest@Dit, with about 150 students from schools across the coun-ty displaying their scien-tific projects.

Entries to this year’s sciFest have broken all records, with up to 4,000 students to exhibit their projects at 15 venues over the next three months.

officially opened by Deputy mary mitchell o’Connor (FG), the fair featured a range of sci-entific discoveries and explorations.

For example, the event saw the “five second” food rule being put to the test, and radioactive material found in north County Dublin seaweed being investigated, as well as whether or not smiling is contagious.

sciFest is an all-inclusive, all-island sci-ence competition where second-level students showcase their science, technology and maths projects at a series of one-day science fairs.

the winners from each science fair will go on to compete at the national final in Novem-ber.

the sciFest pro-

gramme is primarily sponsored by science Foundation ireland’s Discover science and Engineering wing, and intel ireland.

it is also supported by a number of other com-panies and organisa-tions.

top prize

the top prize on the day went to fifth-year student tom mcDon-ald from skerries Com-munity College with his project, Coastal Erosion in skerries, which exam-ined coastal erosion and deposition over a period of two years on his local beach in skerries.

He discovered that the beach profile changes seasonally due to wave and wind action experi-enced.

mcDonald will now go

on to the national final of sciFest which will take place in the science Gallery in Dublin.

Dit sciFest coordina-tor Dr Julie Dunne said: “it is hugely encouraging to see such high-quality entries for this year’s sciFest@Dit.

“Dublin’s post-prima-ry students are display-ing a real interest in the sciences, and you only need to take a look at the variety of projects and experiments on show to see that they have taken sciFest very seriously.

“it bodes well for the future of institutes of technology that there is such a high stand-ard being set, and [the event] shows the value of sciFest as an outlet for students to explore sci-ence in ways that interest them,” said Dr Dunne.

Electrifying projectsschools: science fair ‘bodes well’ for institutes’ future

emma Holmes, Holly Madigan and Katie Furlong from the teresian School in Donnybrook, who investigated the electrical properties of fruit and

veg as part of their SciFest Science Fair entry at DIt recently

youNG people from Dublin were among a group of people from across the country that attended a recent think Big workshop in o2 headquarters in Dublin.

think Big is a pro-gramme designed by o2 and Headstrong, the National Centre for youth mental Health, designed to inspire young people around the country to promote positive mental health in their local community.

the young people attending the workshop on February 16 were each awarded a place on the national think Big programme, after suc-cessfully submitting an idea for a project in their community.

think Big has granted initial funding of €300 to help get each project off the ground, along

with a mobile phone (with €50 top-up), and a think Big start-up pack.

aisling Flynn,think Big coordinator, Head-strong, said: “the young people taking par t are leading the way in changing how we think about mental health in ireland.

“young people intui-tively understand the importance of mental health, and are ide-ally placed to promote positive mental health among their peers.”

she added: “Each project attending the t ra in ing has g rea t potential to make a pos-itive difference in their community and, in join-ing more than 250 other think Big projects, they are helping to transform our understanding of mental health.”

Encouraging the young to Think big

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

4 April 2013 GAZETTE 15

‘Gazette gave me a great insight into newspapers’ ROISIN PUTTI

Ursuline Secondary School,

Thurles, Co Tipperary

AS A transition year stu-dent, a huge part of my year is based around work experience in vari-ous careers.

The aim of work expe-rience is to get a feel for individual careers and to learn skills vital for the workplace.

More of ten, how-ever, work experience involves photocopying, shredding and making coffee.

Students understand how difficult it is for workplaces to facilitate 15- and 16-year-olds, so we are thankful for the

opportunities we get, and we try to photocopy, shred and make coffee with as much enthusi-asm as we can muster.

When I applied for work experience in the Dublin Gazette News-papers, I thought there would be a limited amount of jobs I could do – that’s why I was so surprised when I got there.

ReleaseOn my first morning, I

was given a press release that was sent to the newspaper, to shorten so it could be published. Later that day, I was handed another one.

I was so busy typ-

ing, proofreading, and rephrasing, the working day went very quickly. In fact, the whole week flew, in a blur of rephras-ing long passages and putting press releases into article form.

EventsDuring my week, I

wrote about upcom-ing events and projects, travel and local news. I edited pieces, and tried to shorten the amount of words so they would fit into the paper.

I observed the jour-

nalists, and the great work they do, and saw the emphasis on local news stories.

I spent some time watching the produc-tion of the newspaper, which answered the many questions I had about the making of a newspaper.

I observed the adver-tising staff negotiate with local businesses. I witnessed a bright, happy atmosphere in the offices, which made The Gazette a lovely place to spend a week in.

I have a genuine inter-est in studying journal-ism after secondary school, which is why I chose to travel from Tip-perary to get work expe-rience here.

CareerAfter my week in the

Gazette, I am even more interested and view jour-nalism as an exciting career.

I’d like to thank eve-ryone at Gazette Group Newspapers for all their help and support over the last week.

SCHOOLS

CALLING all students! Dublin Gazette Newspapers continue to reach out to schools in our catchment areas so that we become a closer part of our community than ever before. Schools are the beating hearts of communi-ties; one of the last places around which a community can gather.

We want all budding writers and photog-raphers from all of our schools to help fill the pages and, in order to encourage the next generation of journalists and snappers to get involved, we are partnering with Harvey Nor-man to present the Dublin Gazette Newspa-pers’ Cub Reporter and Cub Photographer of the Year awards. For more details, contact [email protected] or telephone Rob Heigh at 01 601 0240.

Get involved in our schools pages

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All of your latest local news, sport, features and pictures are now just a click away


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business

Q&a

Game on for business and social initiatives

natalie burke

AN EVENT solution company is celebrating its first year in business this year. EventEase.ie is an Irish company, founded in February 2012, which was established to assist event organisers and concert promoters with their specialist accredita-tion needs and a person-alised service for all types of events.

The innovative com-pany is the brainchild of its director, Neil Dowl-ing, who has more than 25 years’ experience in all aspects of the concert and event industry.

With the company achieving great success in its first year, Neil says the company is looking towards a bright future.

“We are going to be chasing market share in Ireland next year; we’re

going after everything. We want to expand the com-pany rapidly,” he said.

EventEase offers what Dowling described as a “unique, wraparound service”, managing the operational risk for event promoters, festivals and venues.

“We supply and man-age staff for areas such as the accreditation of all event personnel, box office, guest list, entrance managers, wrist-banding and ticketing operations.

“We are the only com-pany supplying this serv-ice in Ireland, and are available for festivals, venues, concerts, corpo-rate and sports events,” he said.

The company supplies wristbands and lanyards of all types and currently supply to a number of prestigious events and venues nationwide,

dealing with recruitment agencies

ANTHONY CARROLL heads up Tab Tech and Street SoCcer Ireland. He is evolving from a business entrepreneur into a social entrepre-neur, creating products that have a positive social and community benefit.

Through his new company, TabTech & SportsTech, he is developing mobile applica-tions focused on the football, sports and fitness community as well as the education and health sectors. The firm is creating a suite of apps and housing them online where customers can cus-

tomise their own functional apps using a subscription-based model.It is also selling mobile device solutions, including portable coaching, teaching

and presentation solutions. Street Soccer Ireland is a non-profit social enterprise that improves the knowl-

edge and life skills of young people through fun events using football as the vehicle.

How long have you been in busi-ness?

I have been running my own busi-ness since 2003. I have two current businesses: Street Soccer Ireland and TabTech. Street Soccer Ireland is running since early 2011. TabTech is just recently established and is a spin off from another company in which I was a partner, called Seismic Online.

What makes your business suc-cessful?

In general, it’s the staff, the prod-ucts and the way we do business.

What do you offer your clients that differs from your competitors?

Products that make a positive impact on our customers’ lives, and staff who genuinely care about our customers needs.

What have you changed about your business to combat the effects of the recession?

Put a greater emphasis on the power of the mind among our staff. At all times, we do our best to rise above the doomers and gloomers always trying to keep a positive outlook. We see setbacks as simply positive lessons to learn from and continue moving forward.

How has the recession impacted your business?

It has been just a greater challenge

to keep positive, be persistent and to keep following our goals.

What law or regulation would you change overnight to help your business?

It’s not a law that can be upheld in court, but if I could change a law, it’s the law of negativity that so many people seem to prefer to view or focus on and abide by!

What is your ambition for the business?

To create a global business(es) that really does have a significant positive impact on our customers, while building a reputable brand and credibility in the marketplace.

How do you use social media to help your business?

Everyone needs to embrace the social digital age and we are no different. We have a good presence online via the main social platforms, however we are human beings sell-ing to other human beings and we focus more efforts on providing a personal approach to our customer relationships. It’s ironic that social media is not very social at the end of the day

What’s the worst job you’ve had?Door to door insurance sales,

although it gave me a great neck and ability to deal with rejection.

anthony carroll, entrepreneur

a wraparound solution for event management

neil Dowling, director, eventease.ie, with some of the

event solution company’s bus advertising

including Body and Soul, Electric Picnic and For-bidden Fruit. The com-pany also sell direct to the public.

“No order is too big or too small. We also endeavour to offer prefer-ential discounts for regis-tered charities, independ-ent promoters and new bands, and we are always available to advise and assist clients.

“We’re ultra profes-sional. I have people with me 20 years, and we know

how to run gigs. We don’t know it all, by any means, but we know enough,” said Dowling.

EventEase are hoping to expand for 2013 and are in the process of cre-ating more jobs in Ireland over the coming year, according to Dowling.

For further information, contact EventEase on 01 864 5000, or see its web-site at www.eventease.ie, or visit its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/eventease.ireland.

ambition: company aims to chase market share

HAVINg worked in recruitment for a number of years, I know what it’s like to sit on the other side of the desk. It is a hard, sales-driven business, but job candidates are not products. They are people who have feelings, who need jobs and who can let you down.

I also know that while most agencies abide by a professional code of conduct, there are some who won’t acknowledge your CV, persuade you to go for jobs you’re not suited to and send your CV to employ-ers without your permission.

As agencies are considered to be about the third most successful method of securing work, it’s worth keeping a few things in mind:

Be as specific as possible about what type of work you are looking for. Recruiters don’t have the time to help you clarify your career path. If you don’t know what you want, you are difficult to place and may be filed under miscellaneous.

Don’t blitz agencies with your CV. If working close to home is a priority for you, contact the local agen-cies first. If you specialise in a particular area like IT or accountancy, contact specialist agencies.

It is up to you to make contact with them. The most common gripe about agencies is that you never hear from them again. If you have sent them your CV, you should receive an acknowledgement. If you leave them a message, they should call you back, that’s nor-

mal business practice. Recruiters speak to and inter-view dozens of people a day, however, so – unless you are looking for interview feedback – don’t expect much more communication unless you initiate it.

If you are applying for an advertised position, call and speak to the consultant dealing with the job before forwarding your CV. Find out as much as you can about the job and tailor your CV accordingly. Ask the consultant how they work, when you can expect to hear from them and if it is okay for you to call them in a few days.

A word on confidentiality: You expect a recruiter to keep your personal details confidential. If they give you the name of a client company which is recruit-ing, and ask you to keep it confidential, do that. Like many other things, it’s all about developing positive relationships, and remember, recruiters are people too.

rachael kilgallon is a qualified career coach and founder of

the career hub. contact rachael at [email protected] or

visit www.thecareerhub.ie.

localmattersS u p p o r t l o c a l b u S i n e S S

advertiSe with the Gazette call 60 10 240


Splash out to help children lAurA webb

PARENTS, babies and toddlers are diving in to support the Water Babies Splashathon fundraiser in aid of three national children’s hospitals.

Leading baby and toddler swim school Water Babies announced that the sponsored swim for the little ones will take place across Ireland during Water Babies classes between April 15 and 21.

The Water Babies Splashathon will raise vital funds for our three national children’s hospitals: Our Lady’s Chil-dren’s Hospital, Crumlin; Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, and The National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght.

During the fundraising event, babies and toddlers will complete sponsored challenges in Water Babies classes, from swimming solo underwater for the first

time to swimming through a hoop or even completing a splashathon circuit challenge in the pool.

Speaking on behalf of the fundrais-ing teams of our three children’s hos-pitals, Anne Cooney explained: “[The] Water Babies Splashathon is a fun way to make a real and lasting difference to the children and babies attending our hospitals.

“The money raised by parents and Water Babies’ young Splashathon fun-draisers will help purchase vital life-saving equipment such as baby incuba-tors, dialysis machines, ventilators and patient monitors.”

Supporting the cause, 98FM presenter and TV personality Ray Foley, whose son, Matthew, attends Water Babies classes, said: “As a parent myself, I appreciate how important it is for children to learn

to swim at an early age, so I’m delighted to be taking part in the Water Babies Splashathon with Matthew.

“We will be splashing for cash and raising money to support the great work of our children’s hospitals.”

Carol McNally, who runs Water Babies lessons across Dublin, says: “Our previous Water Babies charity event in 2011 raised more than €44,000 for Tem-ple Street Hospital.

“Since then, Water Babies has grown nationwide, with classes now in Dublin, Louth, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, Gal-way, Cork, Sligo, Wexford, Waterford, Tipperary and Kilkenny.

“We are confident that, this year, with the help of all our lovely little splashers, we will be able to raise more than ever, to provide those all-important funds for our children’s hospitals,” said Carol.

In Ireland, Water Babies has four regional franchises teaching more than 2,400 babies and toddlers each week across Ireland.

Classes in Dublin include locations such as Baldoyle, Castleknock, Swords, Blackrock and Liffey Valley.

According to the team, most partici-pants will happily be swimming distanc-es underwater by about 30 months, then naturally start swimming on the surface as their strength increases.

Water Babies was named Best Activ-ity Provider for Tots and Toddlers at the Families First awards held in Dublin last year.

To donate to the Water Babies Splashathon Fund, visit www.mycharity.ie/charity/waterbabiessplashathon.

To find out more about Water Babies, visit its website at www.waterbabies.ie.

eoghan and Gillian Casey with 98FM presenter and tV personality ray Foley and his son, Matthew

OUT&ABOUTMOTORS P24cineMa P20 aSdfSdaf P27

Never be out of the loop on what’s happening in Dublin! Let Out&About be your guide to all that is stylish, cultural and essential across the city and beyond this weekG

azeT

Te

fundinG: waTeR babieS SPlaShaThOn in aid Of ThRee naTiOnal hOSPiTalS

TRaVel P25

Petscan yOu GiVe ROMan a new hOMe?The Gazette Newspaper has teamed up with Dogs Trust to help find homes for unwanted and abandoned dogs. Our Dog of the Week is romantic Roman, a six- year-old male Boxer with a heart of gold.

he arrived into Dogs Trust in quite poor condition recently and has been given oodles of TLC from all the staff and is now thriving and full of personality! he is a true gent and would need to go to a loving family who can continue his development by bringing him on several short walks a day to help him build up his muscles again. he is happy to hang out in his new forever home with big kids (10+) and a canine pal.

If you think you could give this handsome man his perfect forever home, please contact Dogs Trust on 01-879 1000. They are based in Finglas, just off exit 5 on the M50. Map and directions can be found on their website www.dogstrust.ie. You can also find them on Facebook www.facebook.com/dogstrustireland or Twitter @DogsTrust_Ie.

Faith €84

Miss KG Cork wedges €91

18 GAZETTE 4 April 2013

GAZE

TTE

OUT&ABOUT

Butterfl y sequin ombre vest €53

Faith Metallic Glitter Heart Bag €54

Jenny Packham sequin dress €233

Betty Jackson Hematite Spike €12

Faith Rose Padded Faux Leather Clutch Bag €49

IT’S not a look that people warm to easily, as most feel they could end up looking more like baking foil than fashion forward. But fear not, as this look is easily achievable and can really bring an outfit to life. For instance, an LBD can be spruced up with some metallic accessories, such as those shown on this page. Be red carpet ready, with this amazing number from Jenny Packham (€287),

which teamed with some subtle accessories makes it a perfect evening gown. A metallic top teamed with white jeans can be transformed from day to evening wear in a flash. With this in mind, play around with metallics, and let the inner magpie loose.

All items featured are

available in participating

Debenhams stores.

METALLICS ATTRACT

Betty Jackson Hematite Spike €12

Betty Jackson Hematite Spike NL €23

Call it Spring Silver ‘Schapp’ Shoes €59

4 April 2013 GAZETTE 19GAZETTESTYLE

DON’T wait until a birthday or Valen-tine’s day to get perfume, treat your-self this month to summer fragrances such as Emporio Armani Diamonds.

This summer 2013, Emporio Armani Diamonds is re-interpreted in sum-mer fragrances.

Emporio Armani Diamonds for Women – Edition Summer is a musky, floral fragrance that sparkles with freshness.

According to the beauty brand, this fragrance gives a raspberry and litchi accord on top cooled down with

a green apple sorbet to give a crispy identity to the fragrance.

Emporio Armani Diamonds for Men – Edition Summer is a woody aroma. For this, the brand says fresh mint and iced lemon come together for a fusing icy crescendo start.

The limited editions of the original Emporio Armani Diamonds fragrances offer a cool, fresh summer fragrance.

Emporio Armani Diamonds for Women and Men, Summer Edition is available nationwide from mid-April, RRP: €34.00 for him and €41.00 for her.

LAURA WEBB

[email protected]

ON the calendar it looks like we should be bath-ing in sunshine, but real-ity hit us hard last week when we wrapped up warm to face the snowy weather. So in a bid to bring a little sunshine to our lives, this week, we are talking all things tan, how to avoid blend-ing in with the snow and instead be a bronzed goddess.

Like many of us, we don’t always have the time to go to a salon and get the spray tan done, so instead it’s a little DIY job at home.

For instant tan, try Karora Self Tan Mist (€24.99). This tan is a quick and easy way to transform skin from pasty to sun-kissed. What’s great about this product

is that it’s made using only organic and natural extracts, making it suit-able for sensitive skin.

Coverage with this tan was given top marks from our beauty tester, with Jessica saying: “It sprayed on easy and, used with their exfoliating prod-uct [Karora Micro Peel €14.99], it made sure it was an even tan.

“As a newbie to fake tan, I was very surprised and happy with the results – I went back to looking American,” she laughed.

Karora is available at McCabes, Doc Mor-ris, Sam McCauleys and independent pharmacies and salons nationwide or online @ www.cloud10-beauty.com.

Another instant tan is He-Shi with its hint of sparkle that really radi-

Believable bronzing

Some Diamonds, dahling?

ates on dull days. This product first appeared on our beauty radar last December, but as it still feels like that same month, why not add a

bit of Christ-mas Sparkle to our so -

called spring m o n t h s . A p p l i e d with a mitt, like all tans s h o u l d , th i s t an goes on s m o o t h -l y a n d w i t h o u t

a ny f u s s because it has

a cream texture. It’s light and being an instant tan it’s easy to see where to blend and even out the tan.

Beauty tester Natalie said: “After applying the tan, I felt the colour was really natural and my skin had a really nice glow to it. It would be the perfect tan for a night out or a special occasion.”

The He-Shi range has a youth revivé opti tan formula that rejuvenates your skin’s appearance, whilst helping to fight the signs of ageing. Other products include their He-Shi Face & Body Gel €21.50.

Available at partici-pating stores, salons and spas nationwide.

Mousse

Express , se l f - tan mousse Cocoa Brown (€7.99) is easy to apply and develops into a nat-ural tan within just 60 minutes – yes you read correct, one hour.

This mousse is nicely fragranced, glides on to the skin, is lightweight and fast drying. Testing this one, I gave it the full 60 minutes and jumped straight into the shower at 61 minutes.

Afterwards there was a slight difference, but

not dark enough for my liking. So it is recom-mended by the prod-uct makers to try it for two consecutive nights for a darker tan, which worked out better. It can also be left on for three hours before washing off to insure a darker look. See www.cocoabrown.ie for stockists

These products are just a few of what is available out there, so test and trial before making up your mind. Don’t forget to exfoliate and treat drier areas like to the elbow, knees and ankles with extra care by moisturis-ing well.

Don’t forget to send in your style question for our Style Q&A with Littlewoods Ireland Ambassador, Caro-line Morahan. The Star Question will win €50 voucher for Littlewoods Ire-land. Email [email protected] The next Q&A is out April 25.

Call it Spring Silver ‘Schapp’ Shoes €59

KARORA Multi-Action Micro Peel €14.99

KARORA Self Tan Mist Original

200ml €24.99

Cocoa Brown by Marissa Carter

€8.00

He-Shi Luminous Shimmer 150ml

THE BB craze is very much a hot topic in the beauty word and another coming on to the scene is Avon’s Ideal Flawless Skin Loving BB.

This Beauty Balm (BB) is a lightweight for-mula that is SPF protected.

It also aims to tackle dull and dry skin.

The BB can be applied quickly and smoothly, helping to create a flawless looking skin tone.

This BB balm is mineral and vitamin E infused without block-ing pores. It is also developed to hydrate and mini-mises redness.

Available in six shades: Ivory, Shell, Nude, Natu-ral Beige, Medium Beige and Nut-meg, it’s easy to find your perfect match.

Avon’s Skin loving BB balm

20 gazette 4 april 2013

OUT&ABOUT Gaze

tte

CINEMA

TheatretHe pavilioN tHeatRe 01 231 2929Douglas Kennedy in Conversation with Nadine o’ReganDOUGLAS Kennedy ranks among that rare breed, the bestelling author whose novels attract critical praise. In his new novel, Five Days, we meet Laura, a model wife and mother who through a chance meeting in a hotel lobby is reminded of the young woman she used to be and the woman she could have become. Douglas will discuss the book and his career with journalist and radio presenter Nadine O’Regan. April 9, tickets €10/€8.

MY name is Paul and I quite like professional wrestling.

At 26 years old, this confession still raises eyebrows, but the abso-lute daftness of it all, mixed with the levels of athleticism on show, make the squared cir-cle a favourite form of entertainment for me.

With that in mind, and remembering that I grew up in his heyday, I also love The Rock.

S u r e , n o w a d a y s he goes by the name Dwayne Johnson and likes to be thought of as an actor and occasional wrestler, but to me he’ll always be The People’s Champion, The Great One, The Brahma Bull: The Rock.

Such is my love of Johnson, I have subject-ed myself to some of his, shall we say, less glori-ous filmic output.

Faster, Doom, The Game Plan and more

Hardly Rock solid

have been consumed with gusto, with John-son continuing to prove himself a talented actor (outshining everyone in the absolute wreck that was Be Cool).

Another thing that I carried over my child-hood is an appreciation of GI Joes.

Four inch plastic fig-ures that consumed many hours of my formative years, GI Joe was brought to the big screen in 2009 with a star-studded cast and a woeful movie.

Such was the poor reception of 2009’s Rise of Cobra, the produc-ers did the only logical thing: call The Rock.

Of course, gI Joe:

Retaliation also fea-tures one Bruce Willis and a certain Channing Tatum (cumulatively setting a world record for biceps in a film).

But, really, this is a play directly from the Fast Five playbook. In the fifth instalment of the car-chase franchise, The Rock reinvigorated the whole thing with his stern gaze and unbeliev-ably built body.

Again the role of shot in the arm of a flagging franchise is left to The Rock because, spoiler alert, Tatum bolts early doors and Bruce Willis,

one of the biggest stars on the planet, is margin-alised in favour of story building.

Normally, a focus on story is a good thing, but this is a GI Joe movie.

The whole premise is so preposterously non-sensical that the only way to make a decent film is to have some fun with it.

Unfortunately direc-tor Jon M Chu (direc-tor of the Justin Bieber movie), didn’t get that memo and decided that a film based on action figures, starring The Rock, had to be a dead-ly serious thriller.

It’s the filmic equiva-lent of having a band with Slash in it and mak ing a dubs tep album.

Chu seems weighted by the ridiculousness of the premise established by the end of the first film (an evil doppelgang-er has taken the office of the US President).

So we igh ted , he seems, that he fights it with every inch of his being, trying desperate-ly to establish his film as something else.

But Eliza Doolittle, GI Joe: Retaliation is not.

Two collaborations with Bieber put Chu in enough stead to be given a budget of $185 million and despite the early buzz of this being almost singularly nega-tive, he has been handed the reins to The Masters of the Universe reboot.

But based on this, he does not have the power to revive a franchise.

Dwayne Johnson’s Stupidly Sculpted arms would be a good name for a band

Review: explosioNs! fiGHts! bRuCe willis! tHe RoCK! teRRible film!

Paul [email protected]

ouR VeRDICt:BAFFLINGLY poor. It’s not even a good bad film, in the way the original was. That at least had the good grace to be hilariously bad. This is just bad. Which is a shame because Johnson really deserves a vehicle worthy of his star power and easy action charm. He also needs some laughs, which Chu fails spectacularly to deliver at all. Save your money, see Fast and Furious Six.

Director: Jon M ChuStarring: Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing tatum, Ray Park, adrianne Palicki, Rza

Film OF THe Week: Gi Joe Retaliation h (15) 100 mins

4 April 2013 GAZETTE 21

CINEMA GAMING

READERS with decent memories may recall that, ooh, ages ago I had a preview of Bioshock

Infinite.After taking a great deal

longer in development than expected, and hav-ing taken a few sidesteps along the way, the keenly-awaited title has finally arrived – and, boy (or girl), was the wait worth it ...

Infinite is the spiritual successor to the critically lauded – and commercial smash-hit title – Bioshock, from a few years ago.

As with Bioshock, Infi-nite is “just” another first-person shooter, where you wander through the game, shooting this and that on your way to the ending.

However, where both titles (I’m skipping past the slightly undercooked and underwhelming Bioshock 2) greatly impress are not just in their gameplay and graphics, but with their story and characterisa-tion – things rarely done well in the FPS genre, yet mastered once again, here.

It is 1912, and Booker DeWitt has been sent to somehow gain access to the mysterious floating city of Columbia – a vast city of state-of-the-art everything, encapsulating the very best of American

ideals of the time.Booker’s task is to find

a young woman, Eliza-beth, and spirit her back to the world below.

However, Columbia – a stone, steel and glass marvel that celebrates art, science and progress – is far from the happy utopia that it at first appears.

In fact, Columbia is a society sharply defined by ultra nationalism and isolationist policies; it’s a city that’s only meant for “proper” folk (basically, American, caucasian, God-fearing and rich).

The f loating city’s endless posters and propaganda rail against the menace of “foreign hordes” and the corrupt-ed world below, with all of the “normal” standards of its prim and proper 1912 setting.

It’s also a place where the rich cavort gaily in the sunshine on the sur-face, while the poor toil and languish in the city’s underbelly, below – and it’s all ruled over ruthless-

BIOSHOCK INFINITE: FLOATING CITY MAKES A MEMORABLE SETTING

Elevates a genre to new heights

In Bioshock Infinite’s strikingly realised portrayal of the floating city of Columbia

in 1912, it’s difficult not to see many design echoes of the truly spectacular 1893

World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago (below); two worlds – one real, one

fictional – both seeking to encapsulate the brash confidence of their times

BYTES&PIECES

SQUARE ENIX PRESIDENT RESIGNSWada steps down as losses loom in quarterly reportIT’S barely been a couple of weeks since Lara Croft’s great, if gory reboot saw her turning into a mud-spattered cross between Rambo, Chuck Norris and Kate Middleton on a remote Japanese island, but despite the game’s sales racking up about 3.4 million units, so far, Tomb Raider seems to have been deemed a retail flop.

That’s bad news for its publisher, Square Enix, which has been putting out critically well-enough received and reviewed titles such as Sleeping Dogs, and Hitman: Absolution in the past year or so, yet which has consistenty seen such titles return underwhelming numbers – and profits – in stores.

Okay-ish sales in Europe haven’t been matched in the US, with Square Enix sales facing the same weak sales slump in the States that almost all publishers have been hit with in the past 18 months or so, in particular.

Tomb Raider’s weak sales there have now added to Square Enix’s list of decent – or even great – titles that have somewhat inexplicably failed to make much of a dent at market and, while the company still has substantial assets and a rather big cash pile, to face such commercially uninspiring returns must undoubtely affect its future projects.

Such sales were accounted for in a recent company statement that said it expected “to incur extraordinary loss in the settlement of the accounts for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2013”.

While Square Enix has a number of interesting games and projects in the pipeline, seeing such key titles failing to meet company targets, and the related impact on their expected profits, both for individual returns and for collective quarterly results, have seen company president Yoichi Wada (above) resign.

This marks an interesting – and unfortunate – development underlining the growing air of uncertainty surrounding even top-notch titles and franchises. When even these fail to meet their targets, and when acclaimed companies start to feel the effects of this gaming lull, it begs the question of what (unwelcome) changes are now hitting the gaming industry, in general.

With several skilled developers under its wing, and a number of interesting titles on the way, here’s hoping that Square Enix has just hit one of the bumps in the road that all publishers, and developers, have been hitting lately ...

SHANE [email protected]

ly by Father Comstock.Somehow, Elizabeth –

an isolated young woman who has seen almost nothing of Columbia, let alone of the world below – is key to the city’s future, and possibly a great deal more, besides.

The only problem is, how on earth can Booker and Elizabeth be expect-ed to escape a city that’s on the edge of a social revolution, when all of Father Comstock’s forces are determined to stop them, and to keep Eliza-beth there?

Like I said, Infinite is anything but a stand-ard FPS, which have too often descended in recent years into noisy, chaotic and rather forgettable set-pieces.

By wandering through Columbia, using a range of upgradeable “Vigours” (basically, near magic powers) alongside con-ventional weapons of the era, Booker and Elizabeth run into some terrific set-pieces, all presented with

great design throughout.Elizabeth deserves

particular praise, as fears of the game being little more than an extended escort mission are soon set aside, due to her help.

With such a particu-larly accomplished world setting – even if it’s a deliberately provocative one, at that – great graph-ics, interesting characters and a singularly memo-rable setting, the long-

delayed title deserves to be the smash hit that its chart sales suggest it is.

Bioshock Infinite is available now on PC, XBox 360 and P l a y S t a -tion 3; as always, l o o k a r o u n d for the best price.

An interesting cross between

a damsel in distress, guide,

innocent abroad, travelling

companion and rebellious

protaganist, Elizabeth makes quite

an impression as a strong character

‘250,000,000 GAMERS’ ON FACEBOOKMilestone figure announced by social media giantIF I could distract you a moment from Facebook, I’d

like to mention that it has just announced that more than 250 million users play games through the site

on a monthly basis, and that it also plans to add a dedicated gaming section to its Timeline.

Personally, while I’m about as much a fan of games on Facebook as I am of Eastenders’ Christmas episodes, obviously 250,000,000 of you are very happy to tend your farms or match

jewels or whatever, there. Watch this space for news of 500,000,000 Facebook gamers to appear ...

GAZETTE


OUT&ABOUT Gaze

tte

the lights are on and the studio is ready for the launch of 8radio.com, the brainchild of Simon Maher, right

ROB HeIGH

As every avid music fan knows, the variety of music available on Irish radio is, erm... limited. Niche stations, like Radio Nova, break the mould by catering to a specific style of music and find there are huge audiences dis-enfranchised by playlist-driven broadcasting that clutters the dial.

Rock has its saviour in Nova, but what about our taste? That scattershot love of everything on the spectrum, from Adam and the Ants to Yeah Yeah Yeahs and back again?

It looks like our saviour has risen in the form of 8radio.com, a new sta-tion set to light up Dublin every weekend on 94.3FM until July, as well as online every day and on its Apple and Android apps.

Their eclectic mix has been putting a big smile on faces in this office and everywhere else it has been heard across the city, and Gazette Music caught up with its creator, Simon Maher, and asked where the idea for the sta-tion came from.

“I was general manager and one of the presenters on Phantom when it was

taken over, and when I left, I was thinking about what I wanted to do next.

“As my day job, I teach media at Ballyfermot Col-lege, and I was asking stu-dents about what they lis-ten to now, they said they tend to put on iTunes and hit shuffle. I asked them to hit shuffle and tell me the first five tracks that came up, and they were a really eclectic mix. I realised people are able to cope with an unexpected mix of music, so why don’t we create a radio station that does exactly that?”

The audience that 8 are looking to capture are a

unique group, something that Simon’s experi-ence in broadcasting has taught him is possible to achieve.

“When we went to the BII to get the temporary licence, they asked if we would be taking people away from the established radio stations, and the fact was that we wouldn’t. A lot of the people who would listen to 8 would have been lost to tradi-tional radio, and we knew that would be our target audience. It’s a different kind of radio.

“The majority will always listen to traditional

radio or watch traditional TV, but it’s the other peo-ple who we are after.”

Simon is keen to spread the word, and hopes that this fledgling period for 8 will lead to a more per-manent place, whether that be online or on the airwaves.

“We would hope by July that we would have around 2,000 to 3,000 listeners a week logging on to the web version of the station. The 15 weeks of the temporary licence will be used to drive peo-ple toward that. If people trust us musically, we will see where we go next.”

FASTtunes

with Radio Nova’s Dee Woods

FoRGeT about God saving the Queen, it’s a revamped arena spectacular that’s keeping the band’s music alive on stage these days. We Will Rock You has been doing just that to 12 million Queen fans for the past decade, and the musical is in town this week ahead of a worldwide arena tour.

Directed by writer/comedian Ben elton with Queen guitarist Brian May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor as the musical supervisors, We Will Rock You delivers 24 Queen songs to your ears through the magic of rock theatre.

The show is celebrating its 10th anniversary with this arena tour which features a bigger and better design than previous performances. And Brian May says you won’t be disappointed, prom-ising audiences will have “a big night out” with this big show.

We Will Rock You rocks The o2 for four per-formances from this Thursday, April 4 to Saturday, April 6th with tickets from €40, including book-ing fee.

or, if you like your Queen shows to feature the real thing, here’s something really special. Brian May will be turning off the lights at Dublin’s olympia Theatre this summer for one night only as part of The Born Free Tour.

The man behind Queen anthems such as We Will Rock You, I Want It All and Fat Bottomed Girls is playing an acoustic show, by candlelight alongside vocalist Kerry ellis, who’ll be singing songs that have been hand-picked and rearranged by May. It promises to be a show with a difference. Brian May and Kerry ellis play the olympia The-atre on Sunday, June 30 and tickets are €36.50, including booking fee. God save us a seat!

interview: a new sound for dublin music lovers emerGes

8’s eclectic dream

MUSIC

NICK Cave and The Bad Seeds and John Lydon’s Public Image Limited are among the headline names in the first batch of acts to be confirmed as appearing at Body & Soul 2013, the boutique festival which takes place again this year at Ballinlough Castle in Co Westmeath from June 21 to 23. With more acts to be announced, this is already gearing up to be one of the most magical and unique events of the summer. For more information, see www.facebook.com/Bod-yandSoulIreland and www.bodyandsoul.ie.

nick cave and Pil among first acts for body & soul

seeds set for festivalWe hAve 142,000* reAders in dUBlin

*based on standard industry measurements

did YOU KnOW We hAve 142,000 reAders in dUBlin AlOne*based on TGi-rOi 2012

T O p l A c e A n A d c A l l F i d e l m A O n 6 5 1 6 2 3 9 O r e m A i l F c l A r K e @G A z e T T e G r O U p. c O m

4 April 2013 CASTLEKNOCK gAzETTE 23

8’s eclectic dream


OUT&ABOUT Gaze

tte

MOTORS

More efficient and better equippedn COrmAC CurTiS

I recently took the 1.4tSI Act Highline spec Golf with 140bhp for a week-long road test.

the test model I drove may have had enough poke to leave me with a grin as wide as O’connell Bridge, but its fuel effi-ciency betrayed its boy-racer appeal.

this is thanks to VW’s active cylinder technol-ogy, or Act.

this helps to create an extremely efficient engine capable of 4.7 l/100km (combined cycle) and 109 g/km thanks to the ability to deactivate the central two cylinders under light loads. this makes it 23% more efficient than the equivalent engine in the previous version of the Golf.

the petrol engine range available for the new Golf starts with a four-cylinder 1.2-litre tSI unit produc-ing 85 bhp, rising via a 1.2-litre tSI 105 bhp up to the all-new 1.4-litre tSI 140 bhp engine with the active cylinder technology mentioned above.

the two diesel engines at launch are a 1.6-litre tDI 105 bhp and a new 2.0-litre tDI 150 bhp unit. Both feature the latest common rail diesel tech-nology for maximum effi-ciency. All new Golf mod-els – both diesel and petrol – come with a Stop/Start system as standard, along with battery regeneration. A 90bhp diesel will follow in Q2 of 2013.

On trendline models, the standard composition colour system includes a five-inch colour touch-screen, FM/AM radio as well as eight speakers (front and rear) and a cD drive (MP3 compatible). the cD drive is located in the glovebox along with the SD card slot.

It’s the host of other features that sometimes makes road testing a car that bit more difficult – in this case, I find myself thinking of the features that I could do without to bring down the price a bit (I’ll get to the price later), but, at the same time I know that it is often the sum of the parts that make this particular model so

The golf is a stunningly well built and beautifully designed car

volkswaGen: the new Golf 1.4 aCt tsI hIGhlIne 140bhp

Ford launches the new Fiesta ST tHe new Ford Fiesta St is Ford’s fastest and most dynamic small production performance car ever, employing a precision-tuned and driver-focused powertrain and chassis to deliver the ultimate Fiesta driving experience.

Developed by Ford team rS, the european arm of Ford Motor company’s Global Performance Vehicle group, the new Fiesta St is equipped with a 1.6-litre ecoboost petrol engine to achieve 0-100 km/h in 6.9 seconds and offer 182 PS and 240 nm of torque. top speed is 220 km/h.

Ford team rS tuned the powertrain, suspension, steering and brakes for optimised driving dynamics; and introduced features only previously found in larger performance cars – including enhanced torque vectoring control (etVc) and three-mode electronic stability control (eSc), six-speed manual transmission and rear disc brakes.

everyday practicality is underlined by fuel efficiency of 5.9 l/100 km and 138 g/km cO2 – a 20 per cent emissions reduction compared with the previous generation Fiesta St, though it produces almost 20 per cent more power than the first-generation model’s 2.0-litre engine.

the new Fiesta St features a large trapezoidal grille with a unique honeycomb construction and dramatic rear diffuser element.

the refined high-contrast interior is equipped with recaro seats, and a new sound symposer channels the engine note to the cabin to ensure the distinctive engine roar is integral to the driving experience.

electronically-optimised enhanced chassis etVc applies brake force to the inside front wheel of the Fiesta St when cornering to improve road holding and reduce understeer without affecting speed. new software controls the Fiesta St’s balance in response to steering inputs under acceleration and braking – and eSc offers full system intervention; wide-slip mode with limited intervention; and full eSc deactivation.

electronic power assisted steering offers a sharper steering ratio of 13.69:1 and a shorter steering arm for a more direct response.

the Fiesta St debuts rear disc brakes on the Fiesta platform and introduces a larger tandem brake master cylinder that boosts braking performance.

NOISEroad

The Fiesta ST

thoroughly enjoyable.let’s start with what’s

included in the highline spec. there is the impres-sive 5.8” composition media radio with tFt display and Bluetooth connectivity; climatic air conditioning; electric windows front and rear; electronic parking brake with autohold function; cruise control; sport seats with lumbar support, front; front fog lamps including static cornering lamp; fatigue detection;

eSP (electronic stabil-ity programme) including multiple impact braking.

Phew!I would say that for

such a generous supply of kit, the highline spec Golf is definitely good value for money.

But the model I was driving had even more tasty treats, such as the sport pack that included 17” “Madrid” alloy wheels and 65% light absorbing tinted rear windows; it had a winter pack, a Dis-

cover pro’ navigation sys-tem, park assist including park distance control, pre-mium multi-function dis-play, adaptive cruise con-trol with front assist, lane assist including dynamic light assist, xenon head-lamps with leD daytime running lights.

But these options alone came to an extra €6,336.

Which would make the beautiful Golf that I drove cost a whopping €33,081.

the moral of the story is – do your homework.

Denning’s Cars win the coveted bodyshop of the Year award

sIMI Motor InDustrY awarDs

LOCAL business Denning’s cars have won the nationwide award of Bodyshop of the year at the recent SIMI Motor Industry Awards in associa-tion with castrol and attended by niall Quinn (right). Denning’s are a bodyshop repair special-ist which are approved by major brands such as BMW/Mini, Mercedes-Benz and Honda, whilst also being the chosen repair centre for many major insurers. Pat Denning started the business in the 1960s and since then, Pat and three of his children have grown the business from strength to strength. For more information visit www.den-nings.ie or www.facebook.com/denningscars

4 April 2013 CASTLEKNOCK gAzETTE 25

TRAVEL

GazetteMOTORS

TRAVELfast

There’s Norway better to holiday in

P&O cruises are offering a chance to explore Norway aboard the new Azura, this May.

Departing Southampton on May 24, take in beautiful Bergen (above), the Briksdal glacier near Olden, and Stavanger from €719 per person. The Azura features 11 restaurants, five shopping boutiques, four swimming pools, two lounges and an open air cinema.

From Southampton, enjoy a Norwegian summer on the classic Oriana, which includes the Gary Rhodes-inspired Oriana Rhodes restaurant. First stop is the world’s most northerly capital, Reykjavik, famous for its nightlife and views. After taking in the fishing port of Isafjordur and the city of Akureyri, it’s on to the spectacular Faroe Islands. The holiday departs July 7, priced from €789 per person.

Prices are per person sharing for these seven night cruises, unless stated, and do not include gratuities. To book, call the Thomas Cook Cruise team (exclusive agents for P&O) in Dublin at 01 514 0336, or see www.thomascookcruise.ie.

The golf is a stunningly well built and beautifully designed car

Getaway: from the bahamas to vietnam, dream cruises await couples

Romantic breaks you’ll love NATALiE burKE

IT ISN’T hard to imagine a romantic break on the high seas and this year, Thomas Cook have a range of roman-tic cruise destinations perfect for Irish couples hoping to savour some of the magic of

the sea this summer, from just €1,399 per person sharing.

Couples can discover the beauty of the Caribbean this summer aboard the Freedom of the Seas, with the serene beaches of the Bahamas and stops at the idyllic islands of St Maarten and St Tho-

mas providing the ultimate release.

Couples can relax in the adults-only solarium, with two cantilevered whirlpools extending 12ft from the side of the ship. This seven-day voyage starts at just €1,399 per adult, including flights.

If a trip to the exotic is called for, South East Asia provides a spectacular back-drop for a couple’s paradise.

Operated by the world’s only authentic boutique cruise line, a five-star luxury voyage through the timeless wonders of Vietnam, Cambo-

dia and the Mekong River is available from €3,348 for 16 days, cruise only, taking in the oriental beauty of the Nokor Bachey Temple and the Ang-kor archaeological area.

To book, call Thomas Cook Cruise at 01 514 0336, or see www.thomascookcruise.ie.

NATALiE burKE

WITH the month of March finishing up with showers of snow, the idea of finally availing of some much-needed sunshine has been a thought play-ing on all our minds.

Perhaps setting sail on a sunshine cruise could be just what you need to help brighten your mood!

Whether it’s a tropical cruise through the Car-ibbean or a more adven-turous exploration of

Canada you have in mind, American Holidays is offering some great cruis-ing rates for the month of April, and their staff are even offering to tailor an option to suit you.

Start your holiday by spending three nights at the three-star Stay Hotel in Miami, Florida, before hopping aboard a 14-night cruise on the Norwegian Pearl, and spend another three nights at the four-star Stay Hotel in Los Angeles, California, from

€2,035 per person.Price includes return

f lights from Dublin, accommodation as stat-ed, taxes and charges. The option to upgrade to an ocean-view room is available from €235 per person, travelling on April 18.

Why not spend five nights at the three-star Hotel Orlando in Florida before taking a seven-night cruise on an all-inclusive basis aboard the Freedom of the Seas from

€1,199 per person?Travel on September 10,

with a price that includes return flights from Dublin, accommodation as stated, taxes and charges. An option is also available to upgrade to an ocean view from €129 per person.

For a chance to see the Big Apple and the sights of Canada, spend three nights at a three-star New York hotel before set-ting sail on a seven-night cruise aboard the Norwe-gian Gem, from €1,435

Let The Americas lift your spiritschoice Galore: continent has so much on offer for Great holidays

The delights of Nhatrang beach, Vietnam, could await you on a Thomas Cook five-star luxury cruise

per person when you trav-el on September 18.

The price includes return flights from Dublin, taxes and charges, while upgrades are available for €55 per person.

For further dates and prices, call American Hol-idays at 01 673 3804, call into their office at 18-19 Duke Street, Dublin 2, or see www.americanholi-days.com.

Cruise in style aboard the Freedom of the Seas

CASTLEKNOCKCLASSIFIEDS 26 CASTLEKNOCK GAZETTE 4 April 2013

MAN WITH A VAN

Noel: 085 272 4714Email: [email protected]

REMOVALS


WE HAVE 142,000 READERS IN DUBLIN ALONE T O P L A C E A N A D I N T H E C A S T L E K N O C K G A Z E T T E C A L L F I D E L M A O N 6 5 1 6 2 3 9 O R E M A I L F C L A R K E@ G A Z E T T E G R O U P.C O M

Sugar and Spice: Little Niamh gets to meet a fashion iconTWO-YEAR-OLD Niamh Carbery from Castleknock had a once-in-a-lifetime meeting recently with a certain posh spice girl. Style icon and fashion designer Victoria Beckham was at Brown Thomas Dublin to promote

her two womenswear collections, Victoria Beckham and Victoria, Vic-toria Beckham, carried exclusively at Brown Thomas.


Council braced for €2m cut in funding� LAURA WEBB

LOCAL government funding to Fingal County Council is to be cut by €2 million to make up for the shortfall in income from the household charge.

The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government notified local authority managers of changed allocations in respect of the local government fund.

Fingal’s allocation is pro-posed to be reduced by

€2,181,140, a 10.66% cut.Fingal county manager

David O’Connor said the department have stated that “the adjustment to the alloca-tion is based on the level of compliance [of 57%] achieved to date, in relation to house-hold charge payments”.

Adding it “is extremely bad news” for the local authority at a time when “many of our income sources [are] continu-ing to be under pressure.”


ALSOINSIDE: GALLERIES ......................8BUSINESS .....................18MOTORS ....................... 20TRAVEL ......................... 22ENTERTAINMENT ......... 24CLASSIFIEDS ............... 26

TOUGH TREK: Local ‘Compadres’ get set to conquer Camino See Page 7

FREE GAZETTECastleknock

JULY 26, 2012 Find us on

Irish Olympian discusses basketball way back when

SEE PAGE 15

INSIDE: St Brigid’s GAA sets up camp and

has summer fun P2

CASTLEKNOCK • CARPENTERSTOWN • LAUREL LODGE • ROSELAWN

Football: St Peregrine’s star wins fourth Leinster titlePage 32

Hurling: Brigid’s pick up crucial Cuala league winPage 31

S E R V I N G 8 T H R I V I N G C O M M U N I T I E S O F S U B U R B A N D U B L I N .F O R U P T O D A T E N E W S F O L L O W U S :@ D U B L I N G A Z E T T E

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dublinsport let the Gazette keep you up to date with all the best local sporting action from around the city as we cover all the stories that matter to you and your communityGa

zett

e

cyclinG: national breast cancer research institute to benefit from race

JudE’S hOpE TO rAiSE ThE bAr: NEXT Saturday, April 6 is the deadline to vote for Dublin rep-resentatives St Jude’s in Etihad’s Raise The Bar competition with the winning club announced.

Voters are asked to decide which of the final four clubs are most deserving of a year’s sponsorship package with the Abu Dhabi-based airline.

Jude’s are up against Limerick’s Na Piar-saigh, Cork’s Black-rock and Wexford’s Kilanerin

This vote, along with the views of a panel of judges consisting of Nicky English, Des Cahill and Micheal O’Muircheartaigh, will decide which club comes away with the ultimate sponsorship package. For more information, go to eti-hadgaa.ie.

ryan and finnegan in croker to launch charity cycle eventA HOST of top sports stars past and present joined forces with top world track cyclist Caroline Ryan in Croke Park last week to officially launch the Race the Ras charity cycle.

Entering its third year, the charity race will see almost 150 amateur cyclists, accompanied by a host of current and former GAA stars – among them Fin-gallians and Dublin ladies football star Sinead Finnegan – lining up to bike across Ireland from May 19 to May 26.

All money raised will go to the Nation-al Breast Cancer Research Institute.

The charity cycle is linked with the An Post Ras, Ireland’s most prominent cycling event. The cyclists will start three hours ahead of the professionals and will travel through 13 different counties.

Stage finishes will be in the towns of Longford, Nenagh, Listowel, Glengarriff, Mitchelstown, Carlow, Naas, and Sker-ries on the final day.

EnduranceCurrent Dublin Senior Football selec-

tor Declan Darcy spoke of the endur-ance needed to undertake the cycle:

“This is a serious undertaking. Each of the eight stages averages 146kms in length - 1,260kms in total - and will take over five and a half hours to complete, so the eight-day cyclists will be on the bike for almost 50 hours in total.

“Most families in Ireland have been affected in some way by cancer and this is just a small way former GAA players can help raise much needed money.

“We are also delighted that more women will be taking part this year and Dublin vice captain Sinead Finnegan was here to show support.”

Broadcasting legend Micheal O’Muircheartaigh was also on hand to launch the charity race and said: “Race the Ras has been a huge success raising €260,000 to date since it began in 2011.

“I would ask people to donate no mat-ter how small as it will make a huge dif-ference to the National Breast Cancer Research Institute.”

To register for the cycle, log on to http://racetheras.com. With eight stages to choose from, cyclists can opt to do all eight stages, a single stage or opt for a combination of two or three stages.

Garda cycling club’s Caroline ryan, left, and Fingallians’ Sinead Finnegan launched the race the ras charity cycle in Croke park last week

sport awards p29oisin faGan p28 asdfsdaf p27

Fastsport

Gaelic Games p31

c o n ta c t sSports Editor:

rob [email protected]

For more information or to send in news

and photos: [email protected]

Phone: 01 651 6205

28 CASTLEKNOCK GAzETTE 4 April 2013

SPORTGaze

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WITH 15 years separat-ing Oisin “Gael Force” Fagan from his Friday night opponent Chris Goodwin, the Portmar-nock scrapper says the gulf in experience gives him plenty of reasons for belief ahead of their date in the Grays Civic Hall in Essex.

After an initial date in Cork fell through, 39-year-old Fagan is looking forward to get-ting back in the ring for the first time since January 2011 against the current World Boxing Federation lightweight champion despite being pitted as the underdog.

“Obviously, I’ve been out of the ring for a cou-ple of years but I keep in tip-top shape all the time,” he told Gazette-Sport. “I can count on two hands and two feet the amount of days I have taken off in the past 20 years; I just keep fit anyway, waiting for the call to come.

“Obviously, the odds will be stacked against me but I’m mad for it. He’s 24, I’m 39 and the Irishman in England never goes down too well.”

The relocation of the bout to Goodwin’s home turf from Ireland is a glitch for Fagan but he says that it does not overly bother him. During his career, he has made a habit of putting it up to some of the world’s best, facing

down a packed house of screaming Mexicans in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas against Cesar Chavez Junior while also encountering a hostile crowd against the Pitts-burgh kid Paul Spada-fora in Pennsylvania.

Both times he went the distance against the soon-to-be world cham-pions while he also tus-sled with Amir Khan whom Fagan tussled with in London, showing little fear of travelling.

Such a situation came of a necessity for the Dubliner who arrived to the professional game late by chance, seek-ing only to earn enough money to fly home from the US.

“I was never well pro-moted in the States and was always the man brought to places and putting it up to the home-town boy. In one way, it’s not great for your record but I’ve only really lost to world champions.

“I had to start [fighting professionally] because I was in a tough place in my life and needed a few quid to get home from America. I’ve always thought in the back of my mind, if I started as a kid,

I might have been able to box a bit cleverer.

“I was never experi-enced as an amateur, only having three fights, before I was pushed into being a pro. But it did work for me because I’m afraid of nothing and I don’t have any fear going to Essex.”

Fagan made his debut a little over 10 years ago and says the lack of ama-teur training has left him with a unique, all-action style, something he says Goodwin is unlikely to have seen before.

That style is the antith-esis of the work he is currently doing with the IABA and Dublin coun-ty council, working as a community development officer to help develop the sport.

“I wouldn’t teach kids

to box like me because I don’t box, all I do is fight! I know there are 12-year-olds out there who are better boxers than me but it would be hard to find a better fighter. I know my strengths and weaknesses and I know I’m a world class fighter.

“Nobody really has a style like mine. I don’t say that to brag but I get bored by boxing and I like when people say ‘he’s a good scrapper’, that I’m exciting and never take my foot off

Age just a number for evergreen FaganPortmarnock man Oisin Fagan’s colourful career brings him to Essex on Friday as he looks to put a check on Chris Goodwin’s world title ambitions with his unique style

Oisin Fagan, right, says his experience will help him see off Chris Goodwin

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

‘I wouldn’t teach kids to box like me because I don’t box; all I do is fight’ - Oisin Fagan- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SHANE Byrne was among the sporting lumi-naries who turned out to support the launch of a new multimedia campaign, Get In The Game, ahead of the final of the Heineken Cup being played at the Aviva stadium on May 18.

The campaign was launched to a packed house of rugby fans, players and legends in Dub-lin last week, with Byrne, Frankie Sheehan, Alan Quinlan, Bryn Cunningham and pundit Brent Pope on hand to take part in the digital event.

Designed to bring the Heineken Cup experi-ence from the pitch onto fans’ mobiles, comput-ers and into pubs and homes across the country, Get in the Game offers a range of opportunities between now and the date of the final to get involved and be part of the ultimate rugby spec-tacle.

Fans can get involved with Get in the Game via www.heineken.ie/game, or by stepping up to challenges featured in pubs throughout Ire-land. Arcade-style games such as Conversion Challenge and Catch will be available to online players who will also have their Heineken Cup knowledge tested with quizzes. It is all linked in a single contest where the overall winner will receive a once-in-a-lifetime VIP experience at the final.

Karl Donnelly, Heineken’s sponsorship brand manager, said: “Sports fans are increasingly looking for new and engaging ways to enrich the Heineken Cup experience. We have developed an innovative and multifaceted approach that lives on mobile devices, computers and in pubs. Wherever you are, you can Get In The Game with the aim of scoring points and winning prizes.”

Donnelly, said: “Today, so much of the con-versation around sports events takes place across social media. Heineken recognises how important this space is. We are utilising this rich conversation and harnessing it with visual ani-mations and projections over the weekend of the Heineken Cup final. A custom built structure for this visual display will also provide an interac-tive virtual kicking game; fans can literally kick conversions which will, in turn, send tweets in support of various teams. A social sentiment project like this has never been seen before in Ireland.’

Munch and bunch Get In The Game for Heineken Cup

the pedal.”And he reckons this

method could be key to landing another couple of decent fights in the future.

“I’ll be his tough-est to date. On the flip side, I’ve had about 10 opponents who were

on a better level than this guy. You can’t really take that too much into account but I’m quietly confident. I like going in as the underdog and I’m happy enough to take on that role.”

STEphEN [email protected]

Fastsport

4 April 2013 CASTLEKNOCK GAzETTE 29Gazette

Whitechurch Boxing club were celebrat-ing recently when their six entrants into the Dublin championships returned with two gold and two silver medals.

Sean McGuirk and Seamus Maughan picked up their first championship medals for the club, with McGuirk beating a current irish champion on his way to silver, while Sean Mari and Megan Felton progress to the All-ireland championships as county champions.

the youngest member of the team, Seamus Maughan, met a great opponent in Michael McDonagh from Darndale Bc in his final but can be proud of his performance over the three rounds.

the club’s first ever national champion, Megan Felton, continued her winning ways by pipping an excellent Niamh Kelly from Baldoyle Bc by 12 points to 8 in a high-tempo final.

reigning irish champion and irish interna-tional boxer Sean Mari claimed his county title this year by virtue of a walk over, and is now focused on defending his national title this month.

the two other members of the team, Dylan Fox-reynolds and Paddy Maughan, both showed great improvement in their boxing over the course of the championships.

Four medals for Whitechurch at Dublin championships

Fastsport

HstaRof the

MONtH

2013 dublin sports awards march winners

dublinGazettenewspapers

HtEaMof the

MONtHmonkstown hcmonkstown hockey club ended their 99-year wait for irish senior cup glory, finally breaking their hoodoo in the competition in the most thrilling of finals as andy ewington, for the second time in a week, netted a silver goal winner.

fiona coGhlanlucan teacher coghlan has been the leader of the pack with ireland’s women’s rugby team, captaining the national team to their historic set of achievements in the 2013 6 nations championship run, only the third cap-tain ever to claim the Grand slam.

[email protected]

De LA Salle Palmerston hosted their fifth annual under-12 festival of rugby last week in the new surround of Bally-corus road.

Over 25 teams took part, with the guests of honour being the Lon-don irish rFc squad whose visit was part of the Gathering event.

Most of the partici-pating clubs were from within the Metro area which covers Dublin, Meath, Wicklow and Kildare but DLSP were also delighted to wel-

come Wicklow, Naas, NuiM Barnhall, cool-mine and terenure for the first time.

the club were par-ticularly indebted to the likes of Vivian har-rington, John connolly and Michael Nugent for organising an event of this magnitude while they also were thankful for the support provided by Old Wesley rFc.

they stepped in to provide their impressive Ballycorus road facility as a venue, after Kirwan Park had been declared unplayable due to water-logged pitches.

Local teams line out in U-12 contest

Fantastic Fins win in Athlone FiNGALLiANS Ac were in flying form last week at the national championships in Athlone, with fine performances from the travelling panel.

Marie torsney won the under-17 girls’ national indoor shot putt title with a per-sonal best of 13.54m, and Fiona tuite won the under-18 title in the same event, with another personal best,

14.54m, which was also a new national record.

Meanwhile, in the boys’ under-18 1,500m Sam Martin placed third, as did ciaran McManus in the boys’ under-13 60m race.

torsney, tuite and Martin were all award winners in Fingallians’ 2012 athletic awards.

Notable perform-ances were also recorded by Bronwyn Keogh, rachel Mur-ray, Brian Markey, Stephen O’connor and conaill tuite.

[email protected]

D u BL i N G a z e t t e Newspapers is delight-ed to announce that we have teamed up again this year with the SPAr Great ireland run to recognise runners in each of our papers’ local areas.

the Gazette will rec-ognise the fastest man and woman from each paper’s circulation area with a specially designed plaque as well as prizes

of sports gear. After the run, we will also be pub-lishing a results list of the top local male and female finishers.

the SPAr Great ire-land run 2013 will take place in the Phoenix Park on Sunday, April 14, at 1 pm.

this year’s run will more than ever be about enjoying a full family running day as a mini run for five- to eight-year-olds over a one mile lap has been added to

the programme along-side a junior run for nine to 15-year-olds over 2.5km. the mini-run and junior run will pre-cede the main event and an adult can run or walk alongside each child in the mini-run.

up to 12,000 entries are expected and every adult entrant will receive an exclusive technical t shirt as well as a medal and a generous goody bag after completing the run.

Participants are being encouraged to raise funds for good causes and the event’s nomi-nated charities are the Jack & Jill children’s Foundation and SPAr’s charity partner, the 3ts – turn the tide of Suicide. the Baby Max Wings of Love Fund is the nominated charity for the junior run and mini run.

entries can be made online at www.greatire-landrun.org.

Get set for the Great Ireland Run

Dundrum athlete Ava

Hutchinson at the launch

of the Great Ireland Run

SPORTGaze

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STEphEN [email protected]

COOLMINE swim-ming club celebrated the success of their 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams last week at the Leinster long course champion-ships, parading the team on Good Friday at their annual swimathon.

The club event drew over 150 swimmers to the club on the Grove Road in which they swam a combined dis tance equivalent to travelling to Eyre Square in Galway in under five hours.

They started at 7am, with the elite swimmers putting in a huge stint

to complete over 200km early on before the devel-opment group added over 60km to the tally before the elite swimmers returned to the pool.

It came just a few days after the quartet of Lauren O’Brien, Laura Fallon, Sophie O’Brien and Marissa Scallon had landed silver medals for the club on the provincial long-course stage.

The two O’Briens and Fallon were on hand at the swimathon as the club toasted their achievements. The club had 22 swimmers who entered the various races across the board and club chairman Tom O’Brien

said that while the relay teams produced the stan-dout performances, the club produced quality performances across the board.

“They really hit the mark. It’s not so much about winning med-als, because these kids are about 14 or 15 rac-ing against 17, 18 or in some cases, 25-year-olds, some of whom went to the Olympics, like Barry Murphy.

“That makes it very dif-ficult to actually get to the level where they win med-als but they can beat their personal bests and they train to do just that.”

Numerous swimmers

ended up reaching A and B finals, showing the depth of ability but the chairman is keen to stress the key part of the club is enjoyment.

“We have a lot of swim-mers in the pool who don’t go to galas but it’s all about enjoyment for them, getting a level of fitness. When they go out and play football or some-thing else, it really benefits them. It’s all about having a good time at the club; they make great friends and cheer each other on.

“And if they want to go on and compete at the highest level, they can. Today, they are filling out applications for the

nationals in the NAC and they’ll be doing their best at them when it comes along. It’s an open com-petition and they’ll be up against the likes of Sycerika McMahon and Grainne Murphy who were in the Olympics.”

Coolmine’s elite swim-mers train seven times a week and the club are open for new members of all levels.

“If you can swim one length, we’re happy to take you on and build up your stamina and progress you through the club. Just come along and a coach will access your abil-ity and fitness and find a group accordingly.”

a swimathon celebration

swimminG: club salute achievements of leinster teamsFastsport

MANAGER Marc Kenny could not have asked for a better result in the first round of the FAI Senior Cup last week when his Phoe-nix side saw off tough opposition in St Mary’s of Cork, 1-0, after Sean Gleeson shot the side into the second round of the tournament in the 71st minute of a game that was played in the rebel county.

“It’s fantastic to be into the senior rounds,” said Kenny. “Phoenix has only been a club for five years and this is the second time we’ve made it into second round of this Cup. It’s a big ask for an amateur side, and it really puts us on the map.”

As far as their next opposition in the tour-nament, Kenny knows exactly who he would like to see the Blanchardstown men drawn against.

“I’d love to draw Rovers given the history that not only I have, but between me and the assistant manager we have eight years with them, and obviously the bigger club the better from our perspective.

“Anyone from the top flight would be fan-tastic. The Cork manager, Tommy Dunne, showed up to the last game and he said he would sort out a night’s accommodation if we end up drawing them. I know the lads want to travel, so that would be fantastic,” said the manager.

However, there are more pressing issues for Kenny to deal with as his team gear up for semi-final action in the FAI Intermediate Cup this weekend, where they will face off against high-flying Bluebell.

“Bluebell have really started to play well in the league now and they’re narrowing in on Crumlin in the top spot of the league.

“It’ll be a very tough game for us and we will show up and do our very best, but I hope that Bluebell have an off day, our record isn’t great against them.

“We are basically out of the running for the league now, we had a couple of bad results, and now we’re completely focused on taking some silverware from the Cup competitions,” he said.

Phoenix progress in Senior Cup opener

Lauren O’Brien, Laura fallon and Sophie O’Brien at the Coolmine swimathon event last week. Teammate Marissa Scallon was not able to atten

COOLMiNE RFC’s Albert O’Connell Cup second round date with Malahide has been refixed for next Saturday at 3pm in Estuary Road.

The initial tie was meant to be played last Thursday, March 27 but was post-poned amid the inclement weather that has blighted the local sports scene in recent weeks.

Coolmine were also set to host a tie between England and Ireland’s U-18s but the conditions saw the fixture cancelled.

coolmine revise date with malahide in cup

in from the cold

Gazette 4 April 2013 CASTLEKNOCK gAzETTE 31

[email protected]

FIRST-half goals from Brian McCarthy and Peter Daly helped Fin-gal to a 2-11 to 1-9 vic-tory over Donegal in a dress rehearsal for the Allianz Hurling League Division 3A final in a fortnight’s time.

An understrength Donegal s ide went

into the encounter at O’Donnell Park, Let-terkenny unbeaten, but were outplayed in the final 20 minutes when the north Dubliners scored seven points in succession.

The visitors led by 2-3 to 0-7 at the break, but found themselves behind within a minute of the restart when

Paddy Hannigan scored the goal for Donegal and put them back in contention.

But the home side — who hit nine wides in the first half and also missed a penalty — could only add two more points to their tally as Fingal took control with Fingalli-ans men John Matthew

Sheridan and Peter Daly leading their final quarter scoring charge.

I t saw the nor th Dublin region finish the opening half of the campaign unbeaten with four wins from five outings, the only blem-ish being a 0-15 to 1-12 draw with Louth in the first round of the com-petition.

Fingal fire to league victory over Donegal

St Brigid’s Noelle Healy provided some impressive pace but the Jackies were no match for Monaghan

[email protected]

ST BRIGID’S Alan Nolan returned the starting line-up for the Dublin hurlers last weekend as part of a much changed line-up for the visit of Carlow to Par-nell Park.

Nolan has swapped the number one jersey with Ballyboden St Enda’s Gary Maguire for the past couple of weeks, stepping out for the win over Wex-ford a week earlier after lining out against Limer-ick two games ago.

He was largely untested as the 13-point victory means the Dubs now have an NHL Division 1B final

date against Limerick as they helped the side to victory by 15 points with Niall McMorrow weigh-ing in with 2-1 while Paul Ryan came off the bench to snag seven points.

Carlow were reasona-bly efficient at the far end, clipping over seven points in the first half while Dub-lin laboured but still man-aged to finish the half 2-5 to 0-7 up.

The second half was tidier with Ryan coming off the bench to land seven points while McMorrow scored his second goal, setting up a final date with Limerick next Saturday in Thurles at 7pm.

Earlier in the day, the Dublin ladies were uncer-emoniously put to the sword by a Monaghan side flying high who con-tinued their unbeaten run in the NFL division one to date in 2013.

Brigid’s Noelle Healy put in some surging first half runs down the right flank but the side strug-gled at the back to keep out a rampant forward line.

They were wi th-out the likes of Sinead Goldrick (hamstring), All-Star Sinead Aherne (illness), goalkeeper Cli-odhna O’Connor, Niamh McEvoy (knee), Orlagh

Egan (shoulder) and Kim Flood (broken foot) while Aimee Hazley and Emma Merrigan were also una-vailable.

Monaghan raised the green flag on four occa-sions in the opening half. Therese McNally and Caoimhe Mohan got a goal a piece while full for-ward Ciara McAnespie hit Dublin on the double, resulting in Monaghan taking a 12-point lead at half time.

Despite Denise McK-enna’s second half goal, 10 more points from the Farney county saw them run out 4-15 to 1-5 win-ners.

dublin Gaa: mixed fortunes for county teams

altered dublin sides see different results

club noticeboardA big thank you to all of the coaches

and, of course, brendan who ran the

Easter camp last week, despite the

terrible weather conditions.

Well done to the Dublin senior hurl-

ers on making it to the Division 1b

League Final next week.

The club would like to send its sin-

cere condolences to the Kindlon fam-

ily on the death of gerry’s mother,

Mary, and grandmother of Kevin,

John and Orla.

The annual club Mass will take

place in Laurel Lodge Church on April

6 at 6.30pm.

The club executive encourage

members to contribute to the bond

scheme in the hope that the building

of the clubhouse can begin in 2013. The

bond scheme form is on the website,

and please dont hesitate to ask any of

the executive members for details.

Please continue to send in your

registrations for the coming year. if

you are not registered you are not

insured to play, so please make sure

you have done so.

Please continue to send in pictures

and match reports for the new web-

site. All content can be sent to web-

[email protected].

The nursery is being run every

Saturday at 10am in Somerton, and

all new players and families are as

always very welcome to join. if inter-

ested, please contact Louise at 085

153 4270.

Signs surrounding the main pitch

in Somerton are now on sale, for

more information on how to pur-

chase a sign please contact Charlie

at 0851101008.

st oliver plunkett’s

st briGid’s

castleknock

ALL players, team managers, men-

tors and members who have not

paid membership fees for 2013 are

requested to do so immediately.

Lotto numbers drawn for March

31 were 2, 3, 4 and 28. There was no

winner. Match 3 winners were Rose

McCauley and Thomas Maher.

Jackpot next weekend will be

€7,500.

To join up for the Lose A Tonne And

Keep Fit Challenge, contact Stephen

Harrison on 087 689 5064.

Confidential weigh-in and get fit

advice available.

Mara Cycle 100km on June 16, con-

tact Tomas O’Friel on 087 647 3569

or Noirin boland on 087 284 7637 for

details.

Fixtures:

Saturday, April 6:

Senior hurling vs ballinteer St

John’s, Marlay Park at 6pm.

inter football, Joy Cup vs Kilma-

cud Crokes, MSP at 6pm.

Sunday, April 7:

Junior A hurling vs St brigid’s,

Russell Park at 11am.

Junior A football, Parson Cup vs

Erin go bragh, MSP at 11am.

Minor hurling vs Faugh’s, MSP at

11am.

Junior b hurling vs St Joseph’s

OCb, Fairview Park at 3pm.

THANKS to all who took part in the

brilliant Easter camps last week.

A great time was had by al l

despite the snow.

2013 membership is now overdue,

any player without their member-

ship paid will not be allowed to train

or play for insurance reasons.

Any member with issues regard-

ing membership can contact our

club secretary Mary O’Connor at

[email protected].

Club nursery for four- to seven-

year-olds resumes after Easter

break this Saturday morning (and

every Saturday morning) from

9.30am to 11am. New members and

families welcome. Contact Paul on

0879154748 or email info@stbrigids-

gaa.com for more information.

Club lotto is in The Roselawn inn

this Thursday evening. The jackpot

remains at €15,000, and the reserve

will be €1,800.

Watch out for our new fitness

classes in our new High Perform-

ance Centre. Full memberships for

gym also now available online. Make

sure to follow our TWiST Facebook

page for more updates.

Well done to our 30-plus gaelic4-

Mothers And Others who continue

their training this week. Newcom-

ers (no experience needed) are wel-

come every Wednesday at 7.15pm.

best of luck to our adult hurling

and adult ladies football teams who

begin their cup / league campaigns

this week, while the SFC and iFC

begin next week also.

Finally, make sure you tune into

The Throw-in on 92.5 Phoenix FM on

Monday evenings at 7.30 for all your

local gAA news.

all of your castleknock sports coverage from page 27-31 aprIl 4, 2013GazetteSPORT

castleknock native James mcgee has returned to home soil to help Ireland’s David cup team against finland this weekend

stephen fInDlater

[email protected]

CASTLEKNOCK LTC is set for top quality tennis this weekend as Ireland host Finland in the second round of the Davis Cup with home favourite James McGee hoping he can continue his excellent recent form.

Ireland’s number one recently broke into the world’s top 300 with two good back-to-back showings in ATP Challenger events in Canada and Guadaloupe despite the diverse climates, reaching the quarter-finals of the former.

Just a couple of days separated the two events, the first in Rimouski played indoors amid minus 10 temperatures and a snowstorms outside, the

latter played in uncomfortably humid condi-tions. McGee, though, says he is currently feel-ing no ill effects ahead of Friday’s singles ties.

“It wasn’t so much the heat but the humidity of Guadaloupe. I sweat more than most play-ers and I was finding it hard to grip my racquet and you really feel it in your legs and your lungs going from indoor to outdoor.

“I adapted well. Going back indoors this week, it’s a bit of a change but you get used to it. The body is thankfully feeling good. The tough-est thing was the flight back which took 24 hours and you’re holding onto jet lag for two days but I should be fine for the weekend.”

It’s a tie he has been particularly looking for-ward to ever since helping Ireland overcome

Estonia in round one.He won his first singles tie before playing a piv-

otal role in an epic five-set doubles win, recover-ing from match point down in the decider.

Castleknock was named as the second round venue soon after, something McGee never envis-aged could happen: “When I was growing up here, they didn’t even have the indoor courts. I used to only play outdoors in the wind and the rain so I couldn’t imagine it. But they’ve built a great facility and it’s a great surface and have basically made it ideal for Davis Cup. The players are very happy with the court and, for me personally, to play in front of this crowd is superb. I know a lot of the people here growing up through the years. I’ll just try and do my best

and put on a good show.”That possibility has been boosted by world

number 49 player Jarkko Niemenin’s inclu-sion in the Finnish panel after a dispute with his national federation saw him sit out the last round against Bulgaria.

But McGee says his return offers a great showcase for tennis over the weekend.

“It’s good for everyone, good for the players and the public. With a top 50 guy around, peo-ple will be interested. He’s just come back from Miami where he lost to Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and has won ATP titles and beaten some of the big-gest names. For me, if I do play him – I’ll have to wait until Sunday to see – it is a great oppor-tunity.”

McGee back in businessHomeground hero returns to Castleknock to face Finland having broken into top 300 with good showings in Canada and Guadaloupe

GoinG swiMMinGly: Coolmine club celebrate success of teams in Leinster long-course event P30

maRCHinG OnwaRd: Last month’s Sport award winners are announced P29

Castleknock

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