Northside People (West) April 1st 2015

Tel: 01 8621611. www.dublinpeople.com Vol.19. No.13 1 Apr - 7 Apr 15 WeST

Ciara (6) and Sarah Kelly (7), from Glasnevin, are pictured celebrating the launch of Bord Bia Quality Mark lamb for Easter. The food body is predicting that more than 84,000 legs of lamb will be sold over the holidays PHOTO BY ANDRES POVEDA

Jobs funding left unspent

find employment - and credit where credits due to all stake-holders involved, he said.

However, its also clear that a ball has been dropped here. Un-der no circumstances should we be allowing European funds flow back into the coffers in Brussels.

They should be kept in Bal-lymun. This is a great shame and a missed opportunity for the area.

Cllr Reilly believed the return of any funds was nothing short of mismanagement.

It is shocking that some of the meagre funds allocated to the Youth Guarantee scheme will be returned to Europe, she said.

Sinn Fin has said from the very offset that there was not enough funding allocated to the Youth Guarantee in Ballymun.

continued on page 2

Cllr Noel Rock (FG) and Cllr Noeleen Reilly (SF) claimed that 100,000 of just over 300,000 earmarked for the Ballymun Youth Guarantee project wasnt used.

However, the Department of Social Protection said no defini-tive figures were available as ac-counts are still being finalised, but it estimated the figure will be closer to 50,000.

The EU Commission allocated funds of up to 250,000 for the project with the Government pro-viding the rest.

Last week a conference in Bal-lymun on the scheme, which fin-ished last December, heard that

600 young jobseekers in Bally-mun were supported into jobs, work experience, education or training during the course of the project.

The scheme has been hailed as a success with recent CSO figures showing a drop of 29 per cent in youth unemployment in Bally-mun compared to just under 19 per cent nationally.

Cllr Rock said that while it was clear that the Youth Guarantee had worked, he described the underspend as a missed oppor-tunity.

Its clear that the Youth Guar-antee is working for Ballymun and is helping its young people

Jack Gleeson

LOCAL councillors have slammed an underspend on a pilot youth employment project in Ballymun after it was revealed last week that not all available funds were drawn down.

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Underspend of Ballymun Youth Guarantee fundsContinued from page 1

Lone parents who make up over 40 per cent of families in Ballymun were excluded from the scheme as well as those not on the live register.

The Government needs now to commence an independent review of the programme and de-termine why we are in a situation where we are handing back funds from an area where employment is above the national average.

The Department of Social Pro-tection said the project had been well managed and would come in under budget.

The funding was allocated un-der tightly prescribed headings, a spokesperson said.

Just over 120,000 was ear-marked for project administra-tion, evaluation and information dissemination, with the balance available for necessary external expertise, supports and services.

The additional funding was used to address gaps and support new innovative approaches.

It was not necessary to draw down all of the potential funding available.

Tnaiste and Labour TD for Dublin West, Joan Burton, said

the pilot Youth Guarantee proj-ect in Ballymun was important in finding ways to address youth unemployment nationally as well as locally.

We will use the lessons learned in Ballymun to further shape the nationwide rollout of the Youth Guarantee and improve our offering for young people, she said.

The early signs are encourag-ing.

Of every 10 young people in Ballymun who received a formal offer, six were offered further education or training, and four work experience or employment.

The objective for us now is to take the lessons from Ballymun and improve our services, both locally and nationally, so that we can further reduce youth un-employment and give our young people the opportunities they deserve to build productive ca-reers.

The Tnaiste also welcomed a new agreement between the De-partment of Social Protection and Dublin Chamber of Commerce to pilot an employer engagement liaison thats designed to make it as easier for employers to hire off the Live Register.

Glasnevin Trust practices areinvestigated

erect a headstone months after a burial and some were surprised to find a separate foundation fee was payable, in addition to the funeral directors fee, the cost of the burial plot and the head-stone. It was also alleged that Glasnevin Trust was waiving, or reducing, this foundation fee if the consumer opted to purchase the headstone from Glasnevin Trusts subsidiary company.

Funeral-related services are, by their nature, purchases that consumers have to make in the most difficult and stressful cir-cumstances, a spokesperson for CCPC said.

In this situation, they are of-ten unclear about exactly what they need to do and depend on a service provider, such as a funeral director or provider of cemetery services, to guide them through the process.

As such, it is a sector in which

The Competition and Consum-er Protection Commission (CCPC) carried out the investigation fol-lowing a complaint in relation to alleged anti-competitive practic-es by Glasnevin Trust.

It was alleged that the Trust was engaging in practices de-

signed to put competing head-stone providers at a competitive disadvantage.

The CCPC found that there ap-peared to be a lack of transpar-ency for consumers in terms of the final cost of burial services. Many bereaved families only

Jack Gleeson

NEW measures relating to the provision of burial plots, head-stones and headstone foundations are to be introduced following an investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices by Glas-nevin Trust.

It was alleged that Glasnevin Trust was engaging in practices designed to put competing headstone providers at a competitive disadvantage

transparency and compliance with competition and consumer protection law are of paramount importance.

Glasnevin Trust co-operated with the investigation and has agreed to implement a number of remedial measures to mitigate anti-competitive practices and ensure increased transparency.

These include making prices more transparent to consumers, making it easier for consum-ers to find a price list for burial plots and foundation fees on the Glasnevin Trust website and its offices.

The Trust has also agreed to inform consumers explicitly that foundation fees are not included in the purchase price of a burial plot and will also provide flexibili-ty to consumers in terms of when

these fees are payable.Measures are also being taken

to ensure that funeral directors inform consumers of the sepa-rate cost of the foundation fee.

Before applying for burial services in Glasnevin Trust cem-eteries, funeral directors are re-quired to confirm that they have informed consumers of the foun-dation cost.

Glasnevin Trust has also agreed to treat competing headstone providers in a non-discriminatory manner in terms of waiting times for permits and foundations, ac-cess to cemeteries and regula-tory requirements.

The Trust will allow competing headstone providers to advertise in its promotional brochures, subject to the payment of the same fees payable by its subsidi-

ary company, GCMW.A spokesperson for Glasnevin

Trust said: Glasnevin Trust wel-comes the Commissions recom-mendations, as they set best practice for the funeral industry.The Trust, as one of the largest providers of burial services in Ireland, is happy to implement the recommendations and looks forward to their implementation at other cemeteries across the country.

The Trust said its policy of charging separate foundation fees for graves was in line with industry practice but that it was happy to implement the Com-missions recommendation to ensure this is highlighted to the public, as well as providing a degree of flexibility as to when these costs need to be paid.

Community grants for 1916 events available

DUBLIN City Council has announced a new grants scheme to encourage public participation in the commemorations of the 1916 Rising.

The Council is accepting applications from community groups and organisations in Dublin that want to organise events and projects to commemorate the historic event.

A total of 150,000 is available in funding, distributed equally across the five local areas in the councils administrative district.

Grants are available for community-based activities focusing on the 1916 Rising and seeking to raise awareness in local communi-ties of the history of the Rising.

Events can include seminars, lectures, walking tours, publica-tions, exhibitions, theatre events etc.

Funds will be made available this year to facilitate planning of events to take place in 2016.

The deadline for applications is April 30. Further information and application forms can be accessed at www.dublincity.ie/decadeofcommemorations.

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Way of the CrossTHE Most Reverend Diarmuid Mar-tin, Archbishop of Dublin, will lead the annual Way of the Cross in the Phoenix Park, on this Good Friday (April 3).

The event is organised by the Catholic movement, Communion and Liberation and it will be the 13th Way of the Cross procession to be held in the Park.

While the procession began with modest numbers it has since become an integral part of preparation for Easter for many Dubliners, with at-tendance approaching 1,000 every year.

This Fridays procession will begin at the Wellington Monument at 12 Noon and proceed to the Papal Cross.

There will be five stages along the route at which there will be Gospel readings and reflections given by

Archbishop Martin.Music will be

provided by the four-part choir of Communion and Liberation.

Each year tens of thousands of people take part in similar processions organised by the movement in all five continents across the globe from Ground Zero, New York to Lagos, Nigeria.

Foreign gangs controlling drugs and illegal cigarettes

cember 2014 were jailed. Two received two year suspended sentences, one got 200 hours of community service and five

received fines of between 2,000 and 3,500.

Gilsenan says such penalties are meaningless and claimed fines were rarely if ever paid.

Most of the criminals involved in smuggling are making so much money that a few thousand euro is like small change to them, he added. We need the Government to start coming down harder on people who repeatedly break the law and conspire to put retailers out of business.

Mr Gilsenan also expressed concern that the Revenue figures included a number of Irish people who were caught selling illegal cigarettes.

We are worried that instead of being rivals, Irish and foreign crime gangs are now working together and are building up an international network, he said.

Among the measures that RAS are calling for to tackle the smuggling is-sue are more resources for the Revenue Commissioners, a ban on the sale of to-bacco at markets and the imposition of a minimum fine of 10,000 on conviction for smuggling offences.

Last month RAS represenatives met a delegation of Dublin TDs, including Maureen OSullivan (Ind), to outline their concerns about the impact of the black market on the independent retail sector.

Jack Gleeson

A NORTHSIDE retailer has warned that foreign criminal gangs see Ireland as a great place to do business in.

Benny Gilsenan, who owns a shop in central Dublin, claims theres at least four gangs controlling the drugs and il-legal cigarette trade in his area.

Gilsenan is a spokesman for Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS), which repre-sents approximately 3,000 independ-ent retailers across Ireland in the fight against black market trade.

The most recent Revenue Commission-ers defaulters list shows most people convicted for cigarette smuggling during the last three months of 2014 were for-eign nationals.

RAS say overseas crime gangs view Ireland as an easy target for smuggling and continue to operate here.

The message is clear; Ireland is still a great place to come and do business in if your business is crime, said Gilsenan.

The Revenue list shows that nearly all of the criminals convicted of smug-gling were foreign nationals. This shows that apart from our own home-grown criminal gangs at the border, retailers have to contend with foreign criminal gangs going about their illegal business

with impunity.None of the eight people convicted

of smuggling between October and De-

Dublin Central TD Maureen OSullivan (Ind) with Benny Gilsenan, spokesperson for Retailers Against Smuggling.

The Papal Cross in Phoenix Park

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Tony McCullagh

YOUD imagine that if the Govern-ment had a plan to strong-arm anti-water charges protesters into submission, theyd at least have the cop-on to keep it under wraps until after the general election.

Obviously, the Fine Gael/Labour coalition has learned little from the mistakes made when Irish Water was first established. When former Environ-ment Minister Phil Hogan suggested last year that those who refused to pay their water bills would have their pressure reduced to a trickle, it had an inflam-matory effect on the publics fragile tolerance for austerity.

People of all ages some of whom had never taken part in a protest in their lives found themselves chanting anti-Government slogans on the streets with tens of thousands of others. This was no longer just about money: the Government was now threatening to remove a basic human right and had succeeded in turning water charges into a highly-charged, emotive issue.

Changes announced in last years

budget did little to quell public anger and the Government was eventually forced into a partial climb-down on some of the more contentious aspects of water charges. No more requirement for PPS numbers; a standard charge for most of this decade; an ironically named water conservation grant of 100 per household; and, most importantly, the threat to disconnect or reduce water supply to homes was dropped.

While the anti-water charges protests continued, Government TDs and min-isters hoped the measures had taken some of the heat out of the controversy. On the other hand, anti-austerity par-ties believed the concessions repre-sented the beginning of the end for Irish Water.

Figures suggest that two thirds of potential Irish Water customers have now registered. Not exactly full compli-ance but certainly heading in the right direction. How many of them actually end up paying their bills will be another matter.

So while the softly, softly approach seemed to be working, last week we heard reports of proposed Government measures to bring defaulters to heel.

ANGER: there have been anti-water charges protests throughout the country. FILE PHOTO

Government seems to have a death wish on water charges

opinion >>

There was talk of far-reaching legisla-tion to introduce fast-tracked District Court sessions that would result in unpaid water bills being deducted from peoples wages or social welfare pay-ments.

The good news, however, is that this wouldnt be happening until some time in 2016. My question is this: with a general election now just one year away, why didnt the Government keep its powder dry on such bully-boy proposals

until after polling day?I can only conclude that Fine Gael and

Labour have a political death wish when it comes to water charges. Yet again, they have given the electorate a very large stick to beat them with.

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Northside jobseekers given skills boostYOUNG jobseekers from the Finglas and Blanchardstown areas had the chance to de-velop some practical employ-ment tools recently when they were hosted by Coca-Cola HBC Ireland during Skills for Work Week.

The Blanchardstown based beverage company, which manu-factures brands like Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and Deep RiverRock water, hosted 40 local young people on the Live Register for two back-to-back free day train-ing programs aimed at boosting their employment chances.

During the program, Coca-Cola employees shared knowledge of the skills needed for a career in the food industry, coached the participants in CV writing and interview skills and showed them how to use online tools to maximize their chances of find-ing work.

The program was part of Feed-ing Irelands Future - an initiative by the Irish food and grocery in-dustry organised in partnership with the Department of Social Protection.

Alison Doyle, who took part in the program, praised the ini-tiative and described how it had helped her.

The program has given me a lot of motivation going forward, not just looking for work but ap-proaching owners or senior staff for advice and information on getting ahead and hopefully get-ting stuck into my next job, she said.

Fellow participant, Alex Swan, echoed Alisons comments.

I can safely say I learned many new things and Im more confident about going into future interviews, he said.

Kiera Egan said the program had exceeded her expectations.

I have dyslexia along with other learning disabilities, she explained.

All of the work we did was so easy to follow and understand; the mock interview, the slides, reviewing my CV and how to write it properly, I didnt honestly know what a cover letter was.

Ive put my name down for an Interior Design course and am looking at taking business classes at night.

The program 100 per cent gave me the confidence to go for it!

Tnaiste and Minister for So-cial Protection, Joan Burton, who is also a local TD in Dublin West launched the initiative and visited Coca-Colas Ballycoolin of-fice to meet with participants on the program.

I want to congratulate the team at Coca-Cola HBC on this ex-cellent initiative to assist young jobseekers, An Tnaiste said.

Career development sessions such as these are an important step in helping young people explore career options open to them. The Department of Social Protections employment serv-ices are available to help every young jobseeker develop a ca-reer and achieve their goals.

Frank ODonnell, CEO of Coca Cola, said the company was pleased to support Feeding Ire-lands Future.

Over four days we hosted 40 local young people in our workplace, helping them upskill in the important areas of inter-view skills, CV writing and other aspects of preparing for and seeking job opportunities, he added.

A team of colleagues from the business facilitated the initiative and the feedback demonstrates the real benefit to the partici-pants and the wider local com-munity.

The food and grocery industry is Irelands biggest private sector employer. In addition to Coca-Cola, 26 other high profile com-panies in the food and grocery industry including Tesco, Mus-graves, Kelloggs, Keelings, BWG Foods, Mars and Unilever took part in the program, benefiting a total of 1,200 young people.

Participant Alison Doyle (centre) is presented with her Feeding Irelands Future certificate of completion by An Tanaiste Joan Burton and Frank ODonnell, CEO of Coca-Cola HBC Ireland. Alison was one of 40 local jobseekers hosted by Coca-Cola during the recent Skills for Work Week. PHOTO BY NAOISE CULHANE.

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Upgrade forLocal health centre planned

A REVAMPED and expanded health centre in Roselawn has taken a step closer thanks to a formal planning application lodged recently with Fingal County Council.

The application calls for a single storey extension to the rear of the existing building and a general upgrade of facilities.

If the permission is granted there eill also be a new two-way vehicular entrance to Roselawn Glade and car parking will be extended from 29 to 75 spaces.

As well as regular GP services, the refurbished and expanded Roselawn Health Centre will offer dental services, public health nurses, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, nutrition and diet advice, psychology, a social work service and speech & language therapy.

Capital funding of 1 million has been allocated for the project, which was announced by Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar.

This is a positive day for the Roselawn area and Blanchards-town as well, he said.

If planning permission is received then work should be able to start by at the end of this year or early in 2016.

The community has been waiting for a refurbished health centre at Roselawn for many years. It plays a central role in the community, and there is a growing demand for services like speech & language and occupational therapy.

Other healthcare investments in the area include the MRI scanner in Connolly Hospital, the Blanchardstown Primary Care Centre, the full opening St Francis Hospice, an upgrade of the Radiology Department in Connolly and the start of work on the Corduff Primary Care Centre after decades of broken promises. We will continue to develop healthcare services in Dublin 15.

The next big item will be the lodging a planning application for a Childrens Unit at Connolly Hospital, which will include a Childrens Emergency Department and Outpatient suites.

Council plans for new Liffey cycle route

The proposed route would run from the Phoenix Park to the 3-Arena in the Docklands.

The number of people cycling in Dublin has increased as better cycling facilities become availa-ble, said Michael Phillips, Direc-tor of Traffic with the council.

Off-road cycle routes can play an important role in encourag-ing people to take up cycling and also gives commuters more op-tions when they decide how they want to travel to work.

Four possible options for the cycle route are being consid-

ered including a two-way route along the north quays. This route would not see a reduction in the number of traffic lanes but a new section of boardwalk would be needed between Arran and Ellis Quays.

The second proposal is for a two-way route on the north quays with buses re-routed to a new public transport corridor on Benburb Street (between Heuston Station and Ellis Quay).

The third option is for a two-way, north quays route with buses rerouted to the north of

Jack Gleeson

DUBLIN City Council is seeking views on plans for a new, off-road Liffey cycle route.

An impression of how a two-way cycle route along the north quays would look. All four options can be viewed in detail online at www.cycledublin.ie

the Croppy Acre, which would be extended down towards the Liffey.

Option four involves one-way routes on each side of the Liffey. The cycle tracks would be along-side the buildings so bus and general traffic would not be af-fected.

All four options can be viewed online at www.cycledublin.ie, at Dublin City Councils Civic Offices on Wood Quay, or at the Central Library in the Ilac Centre.

The public and interested par-ties can state whether they sup-port the proposal or not. Dublin City Council will use the feedback to select a preferred route op-tion, which will then be subject to consultation and planning.

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Liams fast to help support Samartians

difficult to deal with, resulting in Id say four or five pints of water being drunk in two hours, along with chewing quite a bit of gum.

What I really missed the most were chicken goujons and chips from the bar on campus (at DCU).

It has become almost a tradi-tion for my friends and I to go to the bar in the evening for food to break up the working day.

Liam said that in the run up to the fast, he found himself eating a lot of Ben and Jerrys Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.

I had a fresh tub of it waiting for the day the fast ended, he said.

Liam chose to take on the chal-lenge for the Samaritans because of the great work it does in the area of suicide prevention.

I have witnessed too many cases of people feeling like they had no place to turn to, he stat-ed.

The Samaritans provides a freephone number (116 123) which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to any-one who may be in bother. It is a non-judgmental and confidential service.

Regardless of how much its talked about as a whole, there is still a stigma regarding someone admitting they are depressed.

Even though the fast has now ended, donations can still be made to Liams MyCharity page until April 9.

Liams target is to raise 1,250, and at the time of going to press, he was tantalisingly close to the target, needing just another 150.

I didnt know what a reason-able target was before undertak-ing it (challenge) and hoped that the more punishing idea of a sev-en-day fast would interest people that dont know me personally, said Liam.

Liam Frayne, a native of Kilken-ny who has been living in Santry for over five years, took on the challenge after being given the green light from his GP.

From March 9-16, the DCU stu-dent survived on just water, tea and coffee and a bit of chewing gum!

Liam, who loves Indian food in particular, said the hunger pangs didnt really hit him until around 6pm on day one, six hours into the fast.

Day two was very tough though, he conceded. I went to see a band, The Darkness, play in DCU and beforehand I met with friends to play pool.

The smell of food was very

A LOCAL man went without food for a week last month to raise funds for the Samaritans.

Liam Frayne who did a fast for seven days to raise money for the Samaritans.PHOTO BY DARREN KINSELLA.

By Pat ORourke

The donors have been bril-liant so far. There have been over 40 of them and quite a few that I dont know.

I have also had great support from close friends. A group of people that Id love to mention particularly, is the Chemistry Lab Techs in DCU for their help.

I realise that its a tough time to be asking for money, which makes it all the more uplifting and motivating to see the dona-tions coming in.

Liam is currently undertaking a PhD in Chemistry at DCU.

If what is raised from this fast saves even one life, then I think

that it has been a massive suc-cess, he added.

If you would like to donate to Liams challenge, visit www.my-charity.ie/event/liams_7_day_fast

Also, for further details on Liam Fraynes food-free week, you can check out his Facebook page.

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Historic markets to be revampedDUBLIN City Council has approved a 3 million redevelopment of the City Fruit and Vegetable Markets just behind the Four Courts.

The new Markets will combine the current wholesale market with retail units, new indoor and outdoor cafs and a new glazed wall leading out onto Chancery Street.

This development is very welcome and will extend the central business district of the City

Centre from Mary Street right up to the Markets area, said local Dublin Central TD, Joe Costello.

Dublin City Council will also develop a 150,000 Multi-Use Games Area on the old Fish Market site.

A presentation on the proposals can be down-loaded at http://bit.ly/DublinMarkets.

These exciting new developments will provide new facilities and new services for the local com-munity in the Markets area and further afield, Deputy Costello said.

Finglas based band Antos A Rat who are Alfredo Lopez, Mark Moloney, Lenny Mitchell, Adam Mooney and Kevin Kennedy were one of the acts who performed in the Axis Theatre during the 10th FAST Ballymun Youth Arts Festival that ran from Monday March 23 to Tuesday April 2. Also featured during the week was a series of workshops and exhibitions with over 2,000 participants taking part in this and previous festivals. PHOTO BY DARREN KINSELLA.

top actCash bonanza for amenities in Dublin 15

St Catherines Park, traffic calming at the east side of Carpenterstown Road Roundabout at the shops and Implementation of a one-way system at Strawberry Beds. Ar-eas throughout Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Clonsilla, Corduff/Sheephill, Hartstown/Huntstown, Mountview/Blakestown, Mulhud-dart, Strawberry Beds and Tyrrel-stown will benefit from footpath repairs costing 466,000.

Local parks are also set for im-provements worth a total of over 500,000 with Millennium Park getting 50,000 for restoration of the Walled Garden, repair of stone work and other projects.

Tyrrelstown Park will get a new playground and teenage area as well as two soccer, two GAA and one cricket pitches.

Major projects being funded also include the Liffey Quays Cycle Route, the Royal Canal Greenway and a cycle route on Royal Canal towpath.

The funding will cover road and footpath maintenance as well as improvements in traffic manage-ment, parks, public lighting, cycle paths and other projects.

News of the funding was wel-comed by local TD and Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar.

These projects will make a big difference to people living in Dub-lin 15 and across the local author-ity area, he said.

Its a significant investment that will benefit communities and allow some vital projects to go ahead. I want to thank the Deputy Mayor of Fingal Cllr Ted Leddy, Cllr Eithne Loftus, Cllr Kieran Den-nison and the Fingal County Coun-cil staff for helping to secure the funding.

Around 700,000 of the fund-ing will be used for either re-

surfacing or maintenance at Ladyswell Road, Mulhuddart, Blackcourt Road, Corduff, Lut-trellstown Road, Castleknock Avenue, Vale, and Rise, Oakview Estate and Lohunda Downs Road at Mountview Shops.

Traffic management schemes covered by 150,000 of the fund-ing include pedestrian Crossings at

OVER 2.5 million has been allocated by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Fingal County Council to upgrade roads, parks and other local amenities in Dublin 15 this year.

Theseprojects will make a big

difference to people living in Dublin 15 and across the local authority area

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Credit unionmergerA MERGER between Progres-sive Credit Union and Victory Credit Union in Glasnevin has been completed.

The new entity will serve 30,000 members and have com-bined assets of 90 million.

ReBo, the body established to oversee restructuring of credit unions to support financial sta-bility and long term sustainabil-ity, says the merger will provide all members with access to multi-ple branches as well as enhanced services and more products.

This is the fourth credit union to transfer into Progressive fol-lowing the successful transfers of Skerries, Donabate and Howth Sutton.

New teacher support for Down Syndrome children

a new model of allocating sup-ports that will remove the need for parents to pay for assess-ments, and for children to receive a diagnosis in order to receive additional teaching support.

In the meantime, I have decid-ed that the needs of children with Down Syndrome are sufficient to warrant an interim allocation.

While there are expected to be some additional costs aris-ing from this decision, Minister OSullivan made it clear that any additional costs that arise during 2015 would be met from within the existing budgetary allocation for 2015.

Tanaiste and Labour TD for Dublin West, Joan Burton, wel-comed the allocation of addition-al teaching hours.

I know this extra allocation will be of great benefit to schools in Dublin 15 in particular.

The Government is keenly aware of the pressure on re-source hours that schools can experience.

For that reason, Im delighted that my colleague, Minister for Education Jan OSullivan, has been able to provide this addi-

tional support to families. Children with Down Syndrome

experience particular difficulties in addition to general learning difficulties, including speech and language developmental delays

and therefore supports are being provided in recognition of this.

Information for schools on how to apply for these supports will shortly be available on the NCSE website www.ncse.ie

The Government has agreed that additional resources will be allocated to schools as an in-terim measure to support those children with Down Syndrome who are not already supported through the National Council for Special Educations (NCSE) an-nual allocation process.

Minister for Education and Skills, Jan OSullivan, is intro-ducing the measure now in rec-ognition of the length of time it will take to introduce the new resource teacher model recom-mended by the NCSE.

Under the interim measure schools will receive 2.5 resource teacher hours per week for each qualifying child.

These supports are being pro-vided in recognition of the fact that children with Down Syn-drome experience a cluster of difficulties relating to this syn-drome, in addition to general learning difficulties, including speech and language develop-mental delays.

The interim allocations will re-

main in place until the proposed new model for allocating teach-ing supports to children with spe-cial education needs comes into force.

In early February, it was an-nounced that it had not been possible to address fully some of the concerns relating to that new model in time for it to be imple-mented from September 2015.

The Department of Education and Skills is currently working to devise a pilot of the new model, which schools could opt into on a voluntary basis.

Minister OSullivan said she had the opportunity over re-cent weeks to meet with Down Syndrome Ireland, and different groups of parents of children with Down Syndrome.

It has been clear to me that the cluster of difficulties, which children with Down Syndrome face, require that some addi-tional teaching supports be made available, she said.

Over the next couple of years, we will pilot and then implement

NEWS that additional resource teaching support is to be allocated for children with Down Syndrome has been welcomed locally.

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10 01 Apr 2015 Northside people West

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Northsiders urged to sign up to spring clean

National Spring Clean chair-person Patricia Oliver said: Its fantastic to see the numbers of participants growing to over half a million from across the coun-try.

National Spring Clean is for everyone, adults and school chil-dren alike, and as we prepare for the 17th annual campaign, we hope more people will sign up, get outside and help each other and give something back to themselves, their neighbours and their local area.

All volunteers registering for

the campaign will be issued with a free clean-up kit which contains information, posters, colour cod-ed refuse sacks for segregation of waste materials, protective gloves and tabards to keep par-ticipants clean.

The campaign is supported by local authorities who help co-ordinate clean up activities for communities in their counties.

They also provide for the dis-posal of all rubbish and waste materials collected.

The campaign is organised by An Taisce and funded by the

Every year people from all over the country take part in clean up activities in their local area dur-ing the National Spring Clean campaign.

Since 1998, when the cam-paign was first established, it has grown from 2,000 to over half a million participants collecting nearly 6,000 tonnes of rubbish since 2012.

The campaign, which runs

throughout the month of April, has been built on the spirit of local communities helping each other and giving back with their time and work in cleaning up where they live.

This year An Taisce is encour-aging community members of all ages, backgrounds, and interests to sign up and make the 17th Na-tional Spring Clean the biggest one to date.

NORTHSIDE communities are being urged to get involved in Ire-lands largest anti-litter initiative, which gets underway this week.

A BRUSH WITH SUCCESS: National Spring Clean ambassador and model Sarah McGovern and her daughter Robyn are calling on local communities to register for this years campaign. PHOTO: NAOISE CULHANE

Department of the Environment, Community and Local Govern-ment and the Wrigley Company. Colour coded bags for recyclable

waste are supplied by Repak.All those wishing to take part

should register on www.national-springclean.org

ACTIVE RETIREMENT: Glas-nevin Village Active Retirement Association is seeking new members. Activities include dancing, table tennis, indoor bowls, bridge, movement to music and crafts. Outings, holi-days and other social events are organised.

For more information call into the Parish Centre, Our Lady of Dolours Church, Glas-nevin, Monday mornings 10.30-11.30am. Alternatively email [email protected] or phone 089-4506150 evenings 5-7pm.

INDOOR BOWLS: Glasnevin Village Active Retirement As-sociation is looking for beginners to play indoor bowls on Tuesday and Friday mornings. For more information please call into the Parish Centre, Our Lady of Do-lours Church, Glasnevin, Tuesday or Friday mornings 10:30am to 12:00 noon.

You can also contact the group

by email at [email protected] or phone 089-4506150 most evenings 5-7pm.

FINGLAS SAFETY: The Finglas Safety Forum hosts meetings of Finglas East, West and South where residents can seek solutions to neighbourhood crime and estate management problems.

Meetings are attended by Senior representatives from Dublin City Council, An Garda Sochna and local politicions.

The next meetings are: Fin-glas South, St Helenas Family Resource Centre, at 7.30pm on Tuesday, June 9; Finglas East, St Canices Boys School, at 7.30pm on Tuesday, May 5; and Finglas West, Finglas Celtic Football Club Hall, on Tuesday, May 26.

IRISH COFFEE MORNING: A Coffee Meeting as Gaeilge takes place every Tuesday afternoon at 3.30pm in Clarkes Coffee Shop

on the New Cabra Road. This is a great opportunity to practice your forgotten School Irish. No special ability is required. For more details call Ben Mac Loch-lainn on 086-2663392.

CARERS COFFEE MORNING: A coffee morning for carers takes place at 11.30am in St Brigids Community Centre, Blanchardstown Village, D15, on the second Monday of every month. Therell be time for discussion, speakers, informa-tion, Peer Support, occasional outings and light refreshments. All family carers welcome. For info call 086-3890620 or email [email protected].

BADMINTON: A badminton group meets on Saturdays from 10am 12.00pm at St Declans School, Cabra. The group cur-rently has vacancies for new members. Adults of all standards are welcome. Come along any

Saturday or contact [email protected] or 087-9249561 for more details.

PHIBSBORO CHESS: Phibsboro Chess Club is looking for new players, male and female, in all grades, both rated and unrated. The club meets at 7pm on Monday and Thursday nights in An Oige Hostel, 61 Mountjoy Street, Dublin 1. The club has three teams competing in the Leinster Chess Leagues. For more details contact Robert Leggett at [email protected].

FINGLAS CHESS. Finglas Chess Club is a friendly local club look-ing for new adult members. Be-ginners, casual and experienced players are all welcome. The club meets every Tuesday night at Brookville Senior Citizens Com-plex, North Road, Finglas. For more info email finglaschess@

gmail.com.

ADDICTION Narcotics Anony-mous is a non-profit, member-driven organisation that holds recovery meetings on a regular basis all over Ireland, with about 70 in Dublin alone.

NA believes that drug addic-tion is a grave concern and its purpose is to help people re-cover and lead drug-free lives. If you feel you might have a drug problem visit www.na-ireland.org where theres a full list of meetings in Dublin and the rest of Ireland. While NA is self-supporting, membership is free.

ADOPTION: Cnamh, Adoption Services, requires short-term foster parents for newborn babies. If interested in receiving further information please con-tact Cnamh at 01-6779664.

1916 RELATIVES: Do you have a relative or know someone

who has a relative who took part in the events surrounding 1916? If so, you are asked to contact The 1916 Relatives As-sociation.

This non-political group represents families whose relations fought in the 1916 uprising and includes the sig-natories of the Proclamation. Email [email protected] for more information.

AWARE MEETINGS: Awares North Dublin support group for individuals with experience of depression meets every Wednes-day at 7.30pm in Dominican College, Griffith Avenue. Support groups also meet in Swords and Lower Abbey Street. Aware sup-port groups are free of charge, and can help attendees to learn more about their condition as well as coping skills to help minimise its impact on their life. For more information call Katy on 087-6462079 or visit www.aware.ie

11NORTHSIDE PEOPLE wEST 01 APR 2015

Daith Riain

Remembering the establishment of Fenian movement in Ireland

ON St Patricks Day 1858, a small group of Irish republicans met in Lombard Street in Dublin to establish a new revolution-ary organisation.

The meeting was presided over by James Stephens, a veteran of the Young Ireland Rebellion.

Injured in that uprising, Stephens was presumed dead by the British and had spent nine years in political exile in France and America.

Returning to Ireland in 1857, he immediately began making links with old comrades and found that despite the defeat of Young Ireland, some remained ready to

strike another blow for Ireland. The organisation established

by this small group of patriots, soon become known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB).

The IRB were not acting in iso-lation. Stephens and his comrades were in close communication with a network of Young Ireland politi-cal exiles based in America. Fol-lowing the formation of the IRB, this group, led by John OMahony, launched an American based sis-ter organisation, known as the Fenian Brotherhood. OMahony, a Gaelic scholar, chose the name of the organisation in honour of the ancient Fianna of Fionn Mac Cumhaill. Members of the move-ment on both sides of the Atlantic soon became known as Fenians and before long that name would strike fear into the heart of the British establishment.

The Fenian movement gained a considerable boost shortly after its establishment, through the involvement of ODonovan Rossa and his Cork based Phoenix Na-tional and Literary Society.

Officially, this group met once a week to discuss national issues, but secretly, its members also James Stephens was a veteran of the Young Ireland Rebellion.

learned military drill and pre-pared for the next round of Ire-lands long fight for freedom.

In 1863, Stephens announced plans to launch a new republican newspaper to help spread the Fenian gospel. The driving forces behind the paper were Charles Kickham and Thomas Clarke Luby, both founding members of the IRB along with ODonovan Rossa, Denis Dowling Mulcahy and John OLeary. In an inspiring act of de-fiance The Irish People opened its offices at 12 Parliament Street, across the road from Dublin Cas-tle, the seat of British rule in Ire-land. The first edition of the paper appeared on November 28, 1863.

By the early 1860s the Fenians had grown in strength and had established a considerable pres-ence across Ireland. The organi-sation had also been successful in recruiting Irish soldiers in the British Army to secretly join the republican cause.

This task had been entrusted by Stephens to the leader of the IRB Circle in Kildare, John Devoy.

Devoy was one of the most able members of the movement and began this recruitment work in

1865. By the end of the year Devoy had recruited soldiers from every regiment of the British Army in Ireland, into the ranks of the revo-lutionary organisation.

The movement had grown in confidence and many believed that the time had come to act.

However, Stephens delayed the launch of an Uprising, which proved a fatal mistake.

Spies and informers acting within the organisation allowed the British to learn of plans for the Rising, and crucially about the Fenian honeycombing of the British Army. In September 1865 The Irish People was suppressed and many of the Fenian leaders were arrested. A revolutionary opportunity had been lost.

Despite this setback, the Fe-nians remained determined to strike another blow for freedom.

Over the course of the next 20 years the organisation would stage two uprisings against British rule. Although both were unsuccessful, the Fenians continued to reorgan-ise. By the early 20th century, the IRB had perfected the art of revo-lution and became a driving force behind the 1916 Rising.

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FARM FRIENDS: Pictured during a visit to Family Farm, developed by Agri Aware and Dublin Zoo, last week were Petar Kovachev, DG Agri in the European Commission with Una Smyth, Head of Education in Dublin Zoo and her colleagues and Dr Vanessa Woods, Chief Executive of Agri Aware.

Rising Festival set for Easter Bank Holiday

Highlights of the day will also include an Edwardian stage pres-entation of some of Irelands best known singers, musicians and bands that will perform mu-sic of the era.

Performers will include Jack L, The High Kings, and the Rath-mines & Rathgar Musical Soci-ety.

There will also be on-street displays and exhibitions, a vin-tage carousel, an Edwardian wedding, silent movies at a cine-mobile, a horse-drawn hearse, a hot air balloon, a steam engine, and cars from the era.

People on the day can choose from more than 60 lectures, talks and discussions that will take place at various locations around OConnell Street.

On the main stage of the Ab-bey Theatre historians and social commentators will consider and imagine a country on the cusp of revolutionary change. The talks will be enhanced by readings and dramatic performances.

The Road to the Rising is being organised by Dublin City Council, An Post and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, in partnership with RT and with the collaboration and support of the National Library, Transport for Ireland and the local busi-ness sector.

The Road to the Rising festival will recreate the streetscape in 1916 style and play out some of the events that led to the historic rebellion.

Organisers say OConnell Street will come alive with stage and street performances, vin-tage exhibitions, talks, tours and broadcasts.

Visitors will be able to experi-ence some of the sights, sounds and people of the capital as they were almost 100 years ago.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Christy Burke, is looking forward to the event and is hoping Dubliners will join in.

I invite everyone who has an interest in this period of our history to join us on OConnell Street on Easter Monday for what promises to be an enjoyable and memorable family day out as we look ahead to the Centenary just one year from now, he said.

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Hum-phreys, said Road to the Rising promises to be an excellent lead into the launch of Ireland 2016, the national initiative to mark the Centenary of the Easter Ris-ing.

Road to the Rising is a fantas-tic platform through which Irish people can approach the events of 1916 in a way that is interest-ing and engaging for all ages, she said.

On Monday at the GPO, the National Librarys team of archi-vists and historians are inviting the public to bring along items of interest connected with The Rising, where they can discuss how they would like to have their family memorabilia recorded for future generations.

This will be a free ticketed event and demand for these ses-sions is likely to be strong so ear-ly booking is essential (visit rte.ie/1916 or call 01-6030346).

Donal Connell, Chief Executive with An Post, said he was delight-ed to support what he described as a wonderful programme of events.

It is fitting that the GPO will be central to proceedings as it was over Easter weekend 1916, he said.

Its fitting also that the event will mark the countdown to the official opening of our own inter-pretive exhibition centre, GPO Witness History, in Easter 2016.

OCONNELL Street is set to be transformed next Monday for a su-per event that promises to send the citys main thoroughfare back in time.

Pictured at the launch of Road to the Rising are: Lorelei Harris Jackie Mountaine, Ciaran Olohan, Yetti Redmond, BarneyWhelanr, Minister Heather Humphreys and Lord Mayor of Dublin, Christy Burke

Good Friday charity concertTHE Northside based Car-michael Centre for Voluntary Groups is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a Good Friday concert in St Patricks Cathedral.

This year Elgars The Dream of Gerontius will be performed by the Goethe Institute Choir and the Gaudete Chamber Choir with conductor John Dexter, contralto Raphaela Mangan

Whyte, tenor Patrick Hyland, bass Gavan Ring and organist David Leigh.

The concert will begin at 8pm and tickets are available from www.carmichaelcentre.ie/events for 25. Tickets may also be purchased on the door on the night, on a first come, first served basis.

All proceeds raised on the night will go towards the front-line services of the Centres 45

resident members.The Good Friday Concert is

very special to the Centre and it has become a major event in Dublins music calendar, said CEO of Carmichael Centre Diarmiad Corrbu.

We are very appreciative of the many friends and support-ers that attend each year and who continue to be a really great source of encourage-ment.

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Gemma Hayes

Gemma Hayes announces UK and Irish tour

Michael Ball will star in Ireland tour of Mack & MabelDIRECT from its premiere at Chichester Festival Theatre, a major new production of the classic Broadway musical Mack & Mabel will embark on a UK and Ireland tour with double Oliver award-winning Michael Ball as Mack Sen-nett.

The show will play Dublins Bord Gis Energy Theatre from Tuesday, October 27 to Friday, November 6.

Based on the real-life ro-mance between Hollywood leg-ends Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, it tells the story of a group of pioneering filmmak-ers who changed the world, surrounded by the great fun of the silent screen: heroes in

capes, girls tied to the tracks, glamorous bathing beauties and the chaos of the Keystone Kops.

Mack & Mabel features an outstanding score by Jerry Herman and is widely admired for its classic Broadway hits including I Wont Send Roses and Time Heals Everything.

In a production by a multi-award winning team, with di-rection by Jonathan Church and choreography by Stephen Mear, this dazzling musical comedy is both a poignant love story and a riveting tribute to the grit and glamour of the era of silent movies.

The show received eight Tony Award nominations when it opened on Broadway in 1974.

Van the Man to play Dublin for 70th bashVAN Morrison has announced he will perform a fully seated concert at 3Arena on Friday, November 20 as part of his 70th birthday celebrations.

This announcement will come as fantastic news for all his fans who couldnt get tickets for his last sold out Dublin show at the O2 three years ago.

Van Morrison is currently enjoy-ing worldwide acclaim for his new album, Duets: Re-Working The Catalogue, which is being hailed as album of the week at RTE Radio 1 and Lyric FM.

Van Morrison is considered one of the most prolific record-ing artists and extraordinary live performers of our time. He has received a multitude of awards and accolades, including six Gram-mies, a Brit Award, an OBE and an Ivor Novello. He has been inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

and possesses honorary doctor-ates from Queens University Bel-fast and the University of Ulster, as well as entry into the French Ordres Des Artes Et Des Lettres.

He has collaborated with, among others, John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles, Lonnie Donegan, Mose Allison and Tom Jones, all confirming the breadth of his mu-sical reach.

His visionary songwriting and mastery of many genres continues to shine on albums celebrating and re-exploring his blues, jazz, skiffle and country roots.

With one of the most revered catalogues in music history, his talents as a composer, singer and performer are unmatched.

Some of Van Morrisons albums, such as Astral Weeks, Moon-dance and Its Too Late To Stop Now are widely viewed as among the best ever made.

Should be a highlight of 2015.

Celeb Spy Xtrawith Rebecca Lee

I was delighted to hear that Van Morrison is set to play the 3 Arena as part of his 70th birthday celebrations.

The legendary singer and songwriter has earned hordes of awards, including six Grammys, a Brit, an OBE and hes even been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Van Morrison is set to take to the stage of the 3 Arena on Novem-ber 20.

Brave Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has undergone surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes after cancer cells were detected in her body.

The 39-year-old says shes now in forced menopause and wont be able to have any more children.

Two years ago Angelina had a double mastectomy following the death of her mother, Marcheline Bertrand. She died from ovarian cancer at the age of 56.

Jamie Foxx is insisting he and Katie Holmes are just friends. Theyve been the subject of dating rumours for over a year and

last week they were photographed holding hands. In an interview I did with Jamie he insisted it was nothing.

I dont know about you but I dont hold hands with any of my friends!

Thats it from me. Until next week

Rebecca

in association with

X Factor producers are promising exciting changes which could include three new judges.

Simon Cowells the only one confirmed for the next series. Louis Walsh, Mel B and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini have all been told their jobs are not certain when the show returns on Sunday nights for its first five weeks from September.

As long as Simons still in, Im happy!

Dublin bound: Van the Man

FOLLOWING the release of her acclaimed new album Bones + Longing, Irish singer-songwriter Gemma Hayes has con-firmed a UK and Ireland tour.

Gemmas new single, Palomino, will be released on April 20, with a special limited edition 7-inch released for Record Store Day on April 18.

Gemma also contributes vocals to the upcoming single from Above & Beyond, entitled Counting Down The Days.

So far in 2015 Gemma has been busy in Europe, where Bones + Longing has just been released, including TV and radio ses-sions in Paris and Berlin.

entertaInment To sponsor or advertise on this page call 01 8621611


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Rick Steves

THE Italian tour industry is working hard this year to ac-commodate hordes of travel-lers hungry to experience their delightful cultures, so theres lots to look forward to.

The big news in Florence is the food scene. The steel-and-glass Central Market has undergone an exciting resurgence. The top floor is now an inviting, upscale food court and several of the restaurants stay open late. On the ground floor of the market, vendors still sell meat, fish, and produce.

The open-air San Lorenzo Market, whose stalls used to sur-round the Church of San Lorenzo, still sprawls down the streets.

Florence now has an EATaly, part of a growing chain of foodie mini-malls that are popping up in big Italian cities. The slick, mod-

ern mall has a gelato counter, pastry shop, gourmet grocery store (with kitchen gadgets) and a cluster of food counters serving pastas and pizzas, main dishes, and daily specials.

On the art scene, Florences Duomo Museum, with works by Michelangelo and Donatello, is closed for renovation until next November.

But in Siena, the Santa Maria della Scala museum is open after an extensive renovation, display-ing some of the most ancient Byz-antine reliquaries in existence - many made of gold, silver, and precious stones. And a new sec-tion covers Sienas history.

In Padua, you can now get 40 minutes inside the Scrovegni Chapel to view Giottos marvel-lous frescoes (instead of the usu-al 20 minutes) if you pay 4 extra and visit during evening hours.

If you want to see Bolzanos tzi the Iceman - the hiker found

entombed in a glacier after 5,000 years - without getting buried in lines, buy your ticket online at least one day in advance, print it, and bring it with you to the ar-chaeological museum.

If youre Romeward-bound, book your hotel room and Vati-can Museum tickets early. Pope Francis is a big draw and, as any-where, with crowds come pick-pockets.

Beware of any commotion - even caused by children and pregnant women - in the Metro and anywhere crowds form- and be sure to wear a moneybelt.

In ancient Rome, the southern part of the boulevard Via dei Fori Imperiali, near the Colosseum, has reopened to traffic. For a while in 2014, the road was a pe-destrian zone on weekends and only open to buses, taxis, and bikes during weekdays.

Throughout your travels around Italy make sure you enjoy

Youll get more time to study the exquisite detail of Giottos frescoes in Paduas Scrovegni Chapel if you visit after 7pm and pay an extra 4. PHOTO BY RICK STEVES

Explore the city you live in with Dublin Bus tours

DO YOU know your city - like, really know your city? How long has it been since you vis-ited the Natural History Mu-seum or the Wax Museum?

To see Dublin from a different perspective, why not try a Dub-lin Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Tour during the Easter holidays?

A Dublin Bus city tour offers families a great way to enjoy the city this Easter. And with two kids free with every adult, its great value too.

The tour departs from Dublin Bus Head Office on OConnell Street every 10 minutes - and with live Filte Ireland accred-ited guides, the tour is a great mix of old Dublin humour, mixed with fascinating back-ground of the fair city. The two routes on the Hop-On Hop-Off Tour are carefully designed to help you make the most out of the day out in the city, passing Dublins favourite family attrac-tions including Dublinia, Natu-

ral History Museum at Merrion Square and the Little Museum at Stephens Green.

Whats more, all customers of the city tour now have free entry into the Little Museum, regarded as Dublins Best Mu-seum Experience by The Irish Times.

So why not explore your city like never before and see what makes Dublin one of the most popular city break destinations in Europe. Dublin Sightsee-ing have operated bus tours in and around Dublin city and county for over 27 years, and their tours include the Hop-On Hop-Off city tour; Coast & Cas-tle tour to Malahide Castle and Howth and the Coast; and the Gardens & Glendalough Tour to Powerscourt Gardens and Glen-dalough in the lovely Wicklow Mountains.

For additional information, visit www.dublinsightseeing.ie or email [email protected]

lots to savour in Italy

Nantes goes all green to celebrate new Dublin flight

As well as hosting numer-ous celebrations across the city, Nantes Castle was lit up in green lights in a nod to the Emerald Isle.

This greening of the city also celebrated a brand new Aer Lin-gus flight from Dublin, which begins operation on May 2. Op-erating three times per week, the new service will allow visitors to easily travel between the Irish capital and the French city.

Dubliners will be able to ex-plore Brittany like never before thanks to the new direct flight, which will take less than two hours.

Nantes has long been a favour-ite with Irish tourists, who are

THE French city of Nantes went green recently for St Patricks Day to welcome Irish people from all corners of the globe.

Castle of the Dukes of Brittany by night in Nantes

charmed by its medieval streets, beautiful castle, awe-inspiring cathedral and gastronomic de-lights.

Located on the Loire River, this gorgeous metropolitan city also

has a wide range of museums, gardens and galleries, making it a perfect weekend destination.

For more information on France, visit www.rendez-vousenfrance.com

the classic, enduring sights and appreciate how they also change with the times to accommodate all the people who come to enjoy one of Europes top destinations.

Rick Steves (www.rickste-ves.com) writes European trav-el guidebooks and hosts travel shows on TV and radio. Email [email protected] and search for his blog on Facebook.

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Dogs Trust is based in Finglas, just off Exit 5 on the M50. Map and directions can be found on their website at www.dogstrust.ie. You can also pop up for a visit. Dogs Trust is open six days a week from 12-4pm. The centre is closed all day Tuesday. You can also find Dogs Trust on Facebook wwwfacebook.com/dogstrustireland or Twitter @DogsTrust_IE

Dublin People Newspaper Group has teamed up with Dogs Trust to help find homes for unwanted and abandoned dogs.

The Dog of the Week is Beautiful Beau who has been at Dogs Trust for far too long now. He is a five-year-old male Staffordshire Bull Ter-rier and is an absolute sweetie pie!

Beau gets on great with other dogs and loves getting out to enjoy a walk with his pals. He can be a tad shy when meeting people for the first time, but once he gets to know you, you can expect lots of snuggles and kisses from that super long tongue of his.

For more information call Dogs Trust on 01-8791000 or pop into the centre.

Dogs Trust are asking our readers to join their team for this years VHI Womens Mini Marathon. The Trust receives no Government funding whatsoever so this fundraising is a vital stream of income in helping them keep up their lifesaving work. Register today at www.vhiwomensminimarathon.ie

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whiskers are your cats radar system

head. If she is curious or on the hunt, shell press them slightly forward. Cats that are nervous or upset will pin the whiskers back toward the face.

Its important to remember that whiskers dont need trim-ming. Like other hairs on a cats body, whiskers shed. Thats nor-mal. But you should never trim them.

A cat with cut whiskers will become disoriented and scared.

If you cut them, its like blindfold-ing someone, taking away one of their ways of identifying whats in their environment.

Luckily for cats, even should someone be so cruel as to clip their whiskers or if their whisk-ers are otherwise damaged in a fight, as with other types of hair, whiskers will ultimately re-grow as long as the follicle itself isnt damaged beyond the bodys abil-ity to repair.

Whiskers are GPS and radar systems for your cat. Theyre actually a powerful and impor-tant part of how a cat senses the world.

Each thick whisker is filled with tiny, supersensitive nerves that help cats judge distance and space.

Its how she figures out if a box is too small to get inside or de-cides how far she needs to jump to reach that counter.

Its also how she detects whats around her. In fact, cats that are blind can navigate rooms very well by just walking around and letting their whiskers get a sense of where they are.

The follicles - the sacs that hold the hairs - are deep, with lots of nerve endings that send messages to the cats brain.

Theres also a sensory organ at the tip of each whisker. It picks up vibrations in the environment

that help the cat sense where she is and what other creatures are around her.

Most whiskers are rooted in the thick pads on the upper lip, but smaller sets are in the eye-brow area, along the chin and even near the feet.

The ones on the sides of the nose are the same width as your cats body so they can help her figure out whether a space is wide enough to squeeze through.

Whiskers on the back of the legs help cats climb trees and if you watch them carefully they can even help you determine your cats mood.

A complex set of muscles on the face moves whiskers back and forth and the way a cat arranges them will tell another animal - or us humans - how shes feeling.

When a cat is relaxed, her whiskers will remain still, sticking straight out from the side of her

THOSE stiff hairs on your cats face arent just for cuteness - they have real work to do.

Whiskers help cats judge distance and space.

A cat with cut whiskers will become disoriented and scared.

Did you know?

There is some evidence to suggest that whiskers aid somehow in helping cats detect odours.

Like human finger prints, every cats whisker pattern is unique.

In addition to the obvious whiskers in horizontal rows on the whisker pad of their cheeks, there are also whiskers between the corner of a cats mouth and the outer corner of the nose, on the chin, the eyebrows and on the back of the front legs.

The scientific name for a cats whiskers is vibrissae which hints at their sensitivity to vibrations

in air currents. The breed of cat called the Sphinx

often has few to no whiskers.

As you might have g u e s s e d ,

blind cats rely almost solely on

their whiskers to navigate. When a cat is angry or defen-

sive, the whiskers will be pulled back. When the cat is happy, cu-rious or content, the whiskers will be more relaxed and pushed forward.

Cats dont have a true collar bone, which allows them to twist their way through very narrow openings.

To be the cats whiskers is an idiom meaning to be better than everyone else.


Books To sponsor or advertise on this page call 01 8621611

Schizo-Poetry: Fragments of MindAuthors: Susanne Wawra, Kevin Nolan

CAROL Ann Duffy, the United Kingdom Poet laureate, has written: Poetry is a series of intense moments - its power is not narrative. Im not dealing with facts, Im dealing with emotion.

The poems in Schizo-Poetry: Fragments of Mind are just this - poems of intense moments filled with emotion.

The authors of the poems in this debut col-lection challenge the reader by presenting their unique perspectives on colour. These are poems of contemplation and meditation; they remind us of the singular sacredness of perception.

The work flies in the face of the stereotype that people with mental health issues cannot be of value, contribute to society and create. There is a mythical belief that the mist created by mental illness forever blinds those in its midst. The reality is that all of us can at some time be affected by mental health issues and we can re-cover.

Some are gifted with poetic talent and this gift can shine through the heavy fog of illness.

The idea of two poets writing on the same sub-ject provides an unwelcome allusion to the out-dated perception of schizophrenia as a split per-sonality. It is a challenge to history and confined

thought to under-stand that schizo-phrenia is not about two minds; more it is about the confused and disorganised sin-gle mind.

In this collec-tion the writers have demon-strated their clarity of thought and emotion as they paint their landscapes of colour. So let us package away our misconcep-tions and bias-es and look at this fresh writ-ing with vigour and a sense of intrigue.

The poems scream out with vivid images such as (in Flavescent 1): My eyes are closed, I am floating/in the juicy yellow of my view.

And in (Flavescent 2): The air is wet with Ave Marias; a solitary singer searchingly fingers her/

soul and moans low while city foxes dash by dizzy and w i l d - e y e d

with/question-ing snouts.Then theres

this line (Dark White): Sometimes your thoughts are so quick they stumble on your tongue/I bow down to retie their shoelaces.

These are poems in praise of light that should be read and re-read for new meaning. They are hymns to the beauty of col-our and the bravery of those who have recovered and in that proc-ess have discovered something new about themselves and the world.

As the poet Fiona Sampson declares: Poetry is often some-thing unexpected in the thera-

peutic context. Its newer and more conspicuous than a chat with a social worker. Its more per-manent than a conversation with another user at the drop-in. Its more public than a diary and more attractive than a feedback form.

About The AuthorsDUBLIN-BASED German visual artist and poet Susanne Wawra holds a Masters in English and Communication & Media from the University of Leipzig. After working in an international big name company, she decided to swap a secure career for life as an artist. In her art practice, Susanne investigates mental health and through painting, collage and video. Even though English is not her mother tongue, it is her preferred medium for poetry. Recent publications include Weyfarers, Valve Journal, Boyne Berries, The Galway Review and The Glad Rag. www.susannewawra.com

Dublin born Kevin Nolan holds an Honours degree in Philosophy from the Milltown Institute. His writing has appeared in Colony, The Galway Review, Bard, The Shine Newsletter, Skylight47, Studies, Decanto Magazine/ Anthology (UK), The Jack Kerouac Family Association News Letter and Yareah Magazine. A singer/composer, Kevin has also released his debut album Fredrick & The Golden Dawn, featuring a duet with Julie Feeney. Kevins music has been played on RTE Radio and BBC 6 Music. www.kevinnolan.info

Bookof THE

WEEk

Want to see your literary masterpiece on the Dublin People books page? Are you an author? Published, unpublished or self-published? Send Neil a 500-word synopsis of your book, a 100-word author biog, a scan of the cover of the book and an author photo (both must be jpegs) to this email address - [email protected] - and we do our best to feature your book in an upcoming edition.

Doyles trilogy chosen for One City One Book

New book Here I Am! accompanies exhibitionMARCH 21 marked the launch of Here I Am, a photographic collection that celebrates the unique personalities of chil-dren with Down Syndrome in Ireland.

The launch, which coincided with World Down Syndrome Day 2015, includes a book and na-tional exhibition tour and is the brainchild of Michigan born artist and photographer Dan Murphy.

The event took place in Dub-lin Castle, with further book launches taking place across the country over the coming weeks, in addition to a national Here I Am exhibition tour.

The book, which perfectly cap-tures each individuals personal-ity and shows that these kids are children first and foremost, has been a labour of love for Dan Murphy over the past two years.

Speaking about the book, Dan said: With the book and photo-graphic collection I have tried to capture the unique personality of each child and doing so was a lot of fun for everyone.

It was a great privilege to be able to spend time with these remarkable kids and their fami-lies. In creating this book, I have experienced first hand how every child has quite simply enhanced the lives of their families, in spite of the challenges that accompany life with a child who has this con-

dition.The idea for the book came

about after Dan, who now resides in Kerry, befriended a beautiful little girl with Down Syndrome named Peppy. Dan became close to Peppy and her family when his own family provided some res-pite care for her.

Dan recalls: I took a few pic-tures of Peppy with her family and through Rachel Fitzgerald, Peppys tenacious mum, we got talking about peoples percep-tions of Down Syndrome and how my images captured Peppys per-sonality.

From there, we started to

take more photos of children with Down Syndrome. The concept grew and now, two years later, we are launching Here I Am.

Broadcaster Brendan OConnor, who Dan credits with bringing the photographic exhibition alive through his tremendous advice and vision, added: The photo-graphic exhibition will challenge those who usually look away or who stare.

It will challenge those who just glance and make simple as-sumptions to look properly and see individual children in all the glorious complexity that every child contains.

Dan wants everyone to take a second look - a real look - and not just see someone with Down Syndrome. Dan does not want to fix people with Down Syndrome - he wants to fix the rest of us.

The images will be appearing at high profile events through-out Ireland over the coming year, organised by various Down Syn-drome Ireland branches.

The coffee table book will be available to purchase through Down Syndrome Ireland branch-es and through bookshops na-tionwide and will cost 24.99 with all proceeds going to Down Syndrome Ireland.

For further information on the book and photographic ex-hibition, visit the website www.downsyndrome.ie

Tony Geoghegan (6), from Tallaght, is pictured at the launch of Here I Am, a photographic collection that celebrates the unique personalities of children with Down Syndrome in Ireland. PHOTO: ROBBIE REYNOLDS

THE Dublin: One City One Book for 2015 is Roddy Doyles popular Barrytown trilogy.

Dublin City Councils Public Libraries have organised a packed programme of over 60 events that will bring to life the characters, scenes, sounds and era featured in Roddy Doyles Barrytown novels.

Many events are free and full details are available on www.dublinonecityonebook.ie

Dublin: One City One Book is supported by publishers Vintage, the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, RT Supporting the Arts and Dublin Town.

Roddy Doyle


Out & abOut

Frayed in the Dark - Loreto, Balbriggan. Queen of the Forest - Loreto, Balbriggan.

Shadow - Loreto, Balbriggan.

Supercalifasioniticexpialidocious - Larkin Community College, Dublin.

Riptied - Malahide Community School.

Denim in Distress - Donabate Community College.

Dendroderma - Loreto, Balbriggan

Students have designs on fashion awards

Eighty students battled it out when they took to the stage with carefully choreographed 90-sec-ond routines to showcase their

designs.The students were battling it

out to win one of the 20 places available in the coveted Grand Fi-

nal, which will take place on April 24 in the 3 Arena.

Pictured are some of the win-ning designs from local schools.

Secondary school students all over the country, including a large number from the Northside, showed off their recycled creations for Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture - Irelands premier recycled fashion competition on the catwalk at The Helix.


Get rid of stress and anxietyMOST of us feel stress or anxious at different times in our lives: looking for work, an exam, moving house, giving a pres-entation/speech, social situations, relationships etc.

Stress can come from a situation that makes us feel nervous or overwhelmed.

Anxiety can come from feelings of fear, worry and constant negative thinking. Stress and anxiety can come and go.

However, if you are feeling helpless, overwhelmed, unable to concentrate or focus; having difficulty coping with life, then it is time to get help. If you are avoiding situations or events because of irrational fears or constant worrying, it is time to do something about it.

How do you know if you are stressed or anxious? Muscle ache, headaches, stomach upset, palpitations, dizziness, rapid breath-ing, tiredness, sweating, diarrhea...

Often we cannot sleep, our blood pressure rises and we are constantly thinking the worst; feeling irritable, angry, sad, restless and/or insecure.

This can lead to avoidance, overeating, drinking too much, smoking more or abusing drugs. Everyone reacts differently. There is no need to continue suffering.

Using an innovative approach by learning to manage stress and anxiety, you can feel calm, relaxed and in control when there is stress around you.

You can practice proven psychological tools and techniques to overcome anxiety and fear. Feel freer and increase your confi-dence; learn how to react differently and make positive changes in your life now.

Increase concentration and focus, sleep better and take that important step to long-term, permanent change.

Wendy Quinn MICHP ADHP, Personal Development Clinic, Marine Hotel Business Centre, Sutton Cross. Phone 086-6848046 or visit www.wendyquinn.ie

Hypnotherapy gets results for a range of health conditionsSTEPHEN Travers has person-ally trained and worked with Paul McKenna so you can be as-sured you are getting the best treatments that are available in the field of hypnotherapy.

Stephen is Irelands best-known clinical hypnotherapist, for the excellent results he quick-ly achieves for his clients.

Would you like to Stop Smok-ing in One Session that comes with a 100 per cent lifetime guar-antee?

Would you like to achieve your ideal weight and regain optimum health?

Would you like to overcome your anxieties, panic attacks, ad-dictions, insomnia, depression, stress or phobias?

Would you like to feel more confident and happier within yourself?

Here are some of Stephens success stories:

I went for the hypnotherapy because I was smoking over 50 cigarettes a day and was having problems breathing. I completely quit smoking after the one ses-sion and that was over two years ago now. My breathing has dra-matically improved and overall I have a much better quality of life.

I have referred several of my family members to the clinic and they have had the same success too. I highly recommend doing this quit smoking session as it changed my life. Noel McNamee, Dorset Street, Dublin 1.

Before I came to see Stephen I was getting panic attacks every day and my life was a battle-ground trying to control anxious feelings. After the first session a big change happened and I never had an attack since. I am feeling a great sense of freedom. I high-ly recommend you go and see Stephen as the results are amaz-ing. Rory Brady, Drogheda

Thanks to Stephens Think Yourself Thin Programme I eas-ily lost 5 Stone 2 pounds. I am so delighted. Thank you so much. Rosie Bingham Higgins, Dublin

Visit www.stravershypnosis.com for further information and more clients video success stories. For a free consultation please call 01-4847834 or 086-1786809.

Margaret shares weight loss story

The mum-of-two found that setting small goals helped her to achieve her target weight loss of six stone by Christmas 2014 and she is now a healthy size 12.

It was the best Christmas present ever, she says.

Margaret explains that Slim-ming World is not like a diet but is a lifestyle change.

I can still enjoy treats and lose weight, she adds. Im not de-priving myself of any food. Food optimising is so family-friendly.

Margaret is excited to be open-ing her own Slimming World group on Monday, April 6 at 7.30pm in Jacquis Music School, Unit 35, Finglas Business Centre, Jamestown Road.

Margaret Bell was a size 20 when she joined in March 2013 after years of struggling with her weight. With her daughters Debs fast approaching she was deter-mined to get slim.

She says: I was fed up being

big and unhealthy. I was self-con-scious and embarrassed. I want-ed to be able to stand beside my daughter in photos, not hiding like I always did. I was over three stone lighter on the day and felt amazing.

AFTER shedding six stone and reaching her target weight, a local woman is opening her own Slimming World group.

AFTER: Margaret Bell shows off her new look. BEFORE: Margaret Bell

loveSlimming

WorldJoin a warm and friendly group near you today

Slimming

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By Edel Cox of The Beauty Dial (www.thebeautydial.ie)

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fashion

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Its an annual trend florals for spring. It keeps coming back because there are so many ways to wear it. Whether you go big and bold or subtle and subdued, theres no way to escape blooms this season. Multi-award winning department store McElhin-neys have outfits for every occasion bursting with florals, pretty prints and bright colour pops. This gorgeous Fee G Floral Print V-Neck Sleeveless Dress allows you to take a slightly more muted approach to the trend. A beautiful fit and flare sleeveless dress with a deep V-shaped neckline and cutout at the back that features an all over floral print with striped pattern at the bottom of the full skirt. Team with heels and simple accessories for maximum impact. To get this look or to see what else is on offer, shop from the comfort of your own home online at www.mcelhinneys.com

)PVTFPG'SBTFSGMPSBMUPQXJUIFNCFMMJTINFOUGMPSBMQSJOUUSPVTFSTThe House of Fraser Spring/Summer collection will have you covered top to toe this season. Centering around the flower power theme, you will look bang on trend as the sun comes out and have a huge range to choose from. This gorgeous floral top with embellishment (124) can be paired with the matching floral print trousers (215) to make sure you stand out in the crowd for all the right reasons. If you are looking for a more subtle look, pair either with a plain coloured top/trousers or skirt and look equally stylish. Stylish Orange Fara bag also available for 103. See www.houseoffraser.co.uk for further details.

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La Roche-Posays much acclaimed Serozinc has now found its way across the pond and finally landed in Ireland. Serozinc is a unique mist f

Northside People (West) April 1st 2015

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Transcript of Northside People (West) April 1st 2015