Northwest Express - February 21 2011

22 Feb - 10 March 2011 Issue 4 - Volume 12

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Confidence highdespite gloomSurge in new business start-ups

By Linda Sherlock

THE number of highly-skilled,educated unemployed indi-viduals is rising steadily in the

north-west. For many, emigration isseen as the only way out of this prob-lem; for others, however, this is notacceptable and they have opted for amore courageous, alternative solu-tion. Not content to sit around andwait for the warring politicians todrag Ireland from the mire and getits citizens out of the dole queue, awhopping 571 people in the countryhave set up their own businesses inthe first two weeks of February.

According to figures published in theVision-net.ie Business Barometer, aweekly online business report, there were1,761 business start-ups from the begin-ning of this year up to February 14th.There was a 3.9 per cent increase in thenumber of new companies formed in thefirst six weeks of 2011, compared to thesame period last year.

The top seven most-popular industriesfor start-ups in 2011 account for almostthree quarters of all incorporations thisyear. The highest percentage of start-upswas in the Legal and Professionals Serv-ices sector at 21.7 per cent, Social andPersonal Services were next at 9.8 percent. Continued on Page 2

Enniscrone beach was alive with horses & their riders for the North Mayo Harriers Charity Hunt, where funds were raised forthe Irish Kidney Association. Photo by Richenda Barrett

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ELECTION 2011SPECIALINSIDE

ELECTION 2011SPECIALINSIDE PAGE 24-29PAGE 24-29

Ballina-born GardaWilliam Horkan,currently based inLaytown, Co.Meath, proved tobe the hero of thehour when hedrove an ambu-lance to hospitalto save a patient’slife.

Garda Horkanjumped to the aidof stretchedparamedics asthey treated thestricken man fora massive heartattack. As theywere preoccu-pied to save theman’s life the offi-cer quickly wentbehind the wheel

and drove the ambulance to the A & E inDrogheda.

The Garda said: “Sometimes we are asked todo things outside our training in life and deathsituations. But the real heroes are the paramedicswho worked on the man to save his life. All I didwas drive the ambulance”.

The emergency pair were needed to treat man,who was in danger of dying. The man was recov-ering well this week after Sunday night’s heroics.

Garda Horkan admitted he was not trained todrive the ambulance, but the primary concern atthe time was the health of the patient.

William’s mother, Peg (Walsh), is from Esker-agh, just outside Crossmolina, while his father,Willie, is from Westport. They lived in Ballinasome years ago, where William was born.

IBS Publications, Unit 3,Riverview House, Barret Street, Ballina, Co. Mayo. Advertising: 071-9154538 Editorial: 096-77743 Production: 071-9154538 Fax: 096-75641

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Confidence high despite gloom Continued from front page

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The percentage for IT start-ups was 7.4 percent with 6.5 per cent attributed to Hotels andRestaurants. Construction, once top of the list,has now dropped to seventh. One companywhich has taken the plunge in the harsh economicenvironment of this new year is Maigh eo Media,who launched their online television station,Mayo TV, on Monday, February 21. Accordingto company director Mairead Ni Mhaoilchiarainthey have been working on the project for the lasttwo years and despite the difficulties they feel nowis an ideal time to launch such a project. “Thereis so much doom and gloom at the minute but inMaigheo Media we deal with the creative and dig-ital side of things, and by providing training inschools and working with the Western Develop-ment Commission, who are nurturing the cre-ative sector, we will be able to create jobs in thefuture.” The company already employ five peo-ple and with the young people of Mayo trainingin areas such as animation and other creative dig-ital processes, they hope they will have the op-portunity in the future to stream live 24 hours aday. The TV channel hopes to showcase Mayo asa fantastic place to do business and to visit as aholiday destination. According to Mairead, it cer-

tainly was not an easy road and they received nogovernmental financial help, only their own cap-ital and help from a few private investors.

“It was very hard but we believe in the projectand the local businesses are behind us.”

Liam Kiely, assistant CEO of Sligo County En-terprise Board, agreed that there has been an in-crease in people approaching them in relation togetting grants or other support packages for busi-ness start ups in the last six weeks. The Countyand City Enterprise Boards throughout Irelandoffer a range of financial support packages tosmall businesses that are starting out as well as of-fering mentoring programmes and running ‘StartYour Own Business’ courses.

Having already filled one of these courses theyhave nearly filled a second course due to take placein the first week of March. According to Mr.Kiely, the reason people are now more interestedin starting up their own businesses is due to theincreased number of people who have been maderedundant in the past year. He says the CountyEnterprise Board is trying to bolster positivityamong people and nurture the good ideas thatpeople are coming up with.

Most people do want to work, says Mr. Kiely,

and people who cannot find employment in theirindustry are now looking at self employment asan option.

Another way that innovative Irish people havebeen utilising their existing skills and expandingtheir experience is by volunteering, with morepeople undertaking unpaid work as a route to ca-reer change. There was a 400 per cent increase invisitors to volunteering website vso.ie (VoluntaryService Overseas) in January as people explorenew ways to develop skills and experience, whichcould perhaps stand to them in starting a busi-ness. Numbers attending information talks havealso doubled, according to VSO.

“Research supported by VSO found that 94per cent of employers agree that long term over-seas voluntary activities broaden skills and experi-ence, and 48 per cent claim that it increasesemployability” said VSO spokesperson DeirdreFinlay. Although philanthropic motivation camefirst, the research showed that there was a signifi-cant realisation among jobseekers that volunteer-ing could help career development in terms ofmeeting new people, learning new skills and as aroute to professional development.

Many also felt it was time for a new challenge

or wanted a change from their current role. Onein ten mentioned they had been encouraged tovolunteer in order to develop their professionalskills or broaden their business and managementskills. VSO volunteers live and work in commu-nities in over 40 countries abroad and have alltheir costs covered including flights. It is not sur-prising then that more people are eager to get in-volved, particularly single people who will get achance to travel and leave unemployment behindwhile honing their employment skills for whenthey come back.

According to the Sligo Volunteer centre web-site there has been a significant increase in thosewishing to volunteer in the past two years. Vol-unteers are now looking for roles where they canuse their existing skills while still gaining new ex-perience.

The Volunteer Centre Ireland website lists anumber of professional volunteers who are bring-ing their talents and business skills to non-profitorganisations throughout Ireland. These includedmarketing managers, book-keepers, graphic de-signers and solicitors who are giving their timeand skills but also improving their own CVs andfuture job prospects.

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SwansongSWANSONG: the story of Occi Byrne bySligo native Conor McDermottroe re-ceived much-deserved recognition at Sat-urday nights Irish Film and TelevisionAwards.

In a star studded evening which saw thelikes of Amy Hubermann and SaoirseRonan receive the prestigious awards thepromising Irish actor Martin McCann wasannounced Best Actor for his part in theSwansong film.

McCann overcame world-renownedLiam Neeson, Colm Meaney and CillianMurphy to win the award. Despite fiveother nominations Swansong failed to winany direct awards.

Yet, young McCanns victory is a tributeto both the talented actor and developingMcDermottroes production abilities, in thismulti-million industry.

ALTHOUGH only beginning the second month of theyear, the number of fatalities on Sligo roads has alreadysurpassed the entire total for last year with the tragicdeath of 30year old Patrick O’Hora at 5.30p.m onSunday evening.

O’Hora, known in his local Foxford as “Wolf” waspronounced dead on his arrival to Sligo General Hos-pital following a collision involving his motorbike anda car.

It is believed Mr. O Hora was traveling to Tubber-curry, when the accident occurred between Tubber-curry and Curry on the N17.

Gerry Lundy, local FF councilor was one of the firstto encounter the devastating scene and was quick toinsist “if the badly needed by-pass was in place, thenthis bend would have been eliminated” before ex-pressing “my sincere sympathy is with the family of theyoung man”.

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Devastating beginning to2011 on Irish Roads

Carrick-on-Shannon’s cultural infrastructure has re-ceived a major boost with the upcoming opening ofthe “Very Small Gallery” in the Bush Craft Yard. The of-ficial opening is scheduled for March 11th and thegallery promises to focus on the artistic talents in thelocal area.

Paintings and sculptures based on a diverse subjectrange will be exhibited and visitors to the gallery willhave the opportunity to commission their chosenpainting from the wide selection of artists available.

Management of the “Very Small Gallery” encourageany budding and existing artists who feel their workmay be suitable for exhibition in the Gallery to con-tact 071-962527 or 087-2943853 or e-mail [email protected]

Small Gallery promises big things

2010 recorded the highest occurrenceof forest fires in Ireland, in many years.

Elected farmers, the forest industry,the Fire Service, the Gardai, membersof the Defence Force, Coillte, Teagascand the National Parks and WildlifeService formed a committee whichaims to reduce the occurrence of illegaland uncontrollable burning.

2010 saw the Coillte estate sufferover 1900 acres of damage as a resultof forest fires.

Minister Connick insisted “burning ofvegetation poses a grave and unaccept-able risk to the lives and livelihoods offarmers and forest owners”.

“Spring is generally unsuitable forburning vegetation due to dry condi-tions, strong wind and the presence ofdry and dead vegetation” he warned.

Minister warns of forest fires

COUNTY Mayo is set to get itsvery own TV channel thismonth with the official launch ofMayoTV.ie taking place inCastlebar this coming week.Broadcasting live over the inter-net 24 hours a day, MayoTV.iewill showcase county Mayo allover the world with regularnews and sport updates, lifestylefeatures, business interviews,

entertainment news, tourismfeatures and live studio basedshows every week.

MayoTV.ie is the brainchild ofWestport journalist and broad-caster Piaras Ó Raghallaigh whoalso founded the award winningMedia Productions and Com-munications Company Maigh EoMedia three years ago.

“MayoTV.ie is about connect-

ing Mayo communities all overthe world and bolstering Mayobusinesses everywhere. Wewant to showcase Mayo to theworld as a wonderful place tolive in, to do business in and tovisit as a holiday destination,”commented Ó Raghallaigh thisweek. “MayoTV.ie will give avoice and TV presence to everyaspect of life in Mayo. We will

be broadcasting everything fromfootball to farming and fishing tofashion on MayoTV.ie,” he said.

MayoTV.ie goes on air for thefirst time next Monday, Febru-ary 21st at 8.00pm with an ex-clusive live political debatefeaturing candidates from theMayo electoral area. Viewerswho log onto www.MayoTV.ienext Monday night will betreated to lively debates, engag-ing discussions and insightfulopinions from the Mayo candi-dates ahead of the GeneralElection on Friday, February25th. “We have already fivepeople employed on the projectand we hope to have twenty fulltime staff before the end of theyear,” commented MayoTV.iefounder Piaras Ó Raghallaigh.“We have already recruitedsome of the west’s best TV pro-ducers, directors and editorsand we will be adding new pre-senters, researchers and re-porters in the coming weeks,”he said.

On the launch night, May-oTV.ie will feature interviewswith Mayo senior football teammanager James Horan, Interna-tional boxing star Ray Moylette,Mayo County Manager PeterHynes, Mayo Person of the yearPat Jennings and Former MayoGarda Commissioner NoelConroy. MayoTV.ie goes live at8.00pm on Monday, February21st and you can access it bylogging onto www.MayoTV.ie.

CASTLEBARS Jobfit offices in Market Square are setto close down permanently at the end of March as aresult of severely reduced funding.

Established in July 2010, Jobfit employs seven peopleand as area business manager David Hordle explains

“was set up to target those unemployed” Previously funded by the European Social Fund and

the Labour Market Activation Fund of the Depart-ment of Education, the program’s funding is set to ex-pire on March 31st.

The program has immensely benefitted the labourforce of Castlebar enabling 21participants to go on tosecure employment and a further 73 pursuing educa-tion, in the form of FETAC Certificates.

Castlebar set to lose out

Mayo to get its very own TV channel

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Countdown continues to inaugural Bundoran Run

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THE countdown is on to the much-awaitedannual Cara Bundoran Run – 10 Mile Chal-lenge which takes place on Saturday March 5that 11am.

Following the successful launch in Bundo-ran Town Library on January 27th to membersof the press, Tir Chonnaill AC, Cara Pharma-cies and Athletics Ireland representatives, var-ious speakers, involved in the event, spoke ofthe importance of this race to the local econ-omy. Ocean FM are proviving official coverageof the popular run and information on thepreparations underway can be heard on Dar-ragh Coxs’ show.

Despite the challenging economic conditionsentries for the race remain largely unaffectedwith many walkers, joggers and runners en-rolled to participate.

The local community of Bundoran alongwith visitors are expected to turn out in largenumbers to support the participants.

Registration for the upcoming-event will beheld at Water World on Bundoran seafrontfrom Friday March 4th 6pm -9pm. Last-minuteentrants can also sign-up on the Race day from8:30am – 10:30am.

The entrants who are planning to walk theCara Bundoran 10 Mile Challenge will beginfirst on the day starting at 10am.

Paddy Donoghue from SAF fitness, one ofthe event sponsors, will provide a warm-upsession from 10.30 on the morning of March5th to reduce the likelihood of muscle crampsand aches. More information is availible onwww.bundoranrun.com and on the dedicatedFacebook page!

The crowd hangs on every word Enda Kenny says in his recentvisit to Roscommon

Enda visits the Rossies

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The latest survey published by the Irish Auction-eers and Valuers Institute shows it is more difficultto sell a house in the West of Ireland than any otherregion.

However, the continuing economic recession theaverage length of time it takes to sell a house hasonly risen by three weeks.

A 4% rise in the number of residences advertisedfor sale has been recorded, however Connacht andDonegal suffered an overall 7% decline in sales.

While the East of the country struggles with anaverage decline of 27% the West’s sales for the lastthree months of the 2010 were only marginallydown in comparison to the same period in 2009.

The unease within the Government and the un-welcome arrival of the IMF has caused much spec-ulation over the future of real estate in 2011.

Major shake-up at the Showgrounds

FOLLOWING one of the most successful sea-sons in the clubs history, Sligo Rovers manage-ment committee has undergone majorchanges.

The sudden resignation of club ChairmanDr.Dermott Kelly, who was widely respectedby both supporters and players alike, has led tothe re-appointment of Michael Toolan, for hissecond stint as Chairman. Toolan previouslyoversaw Rovers gain our much-awaited pro-motion from the 1st Division and secure auto-matic European qualification.

The AGM also saw Mary McGowan step

down as club secretary. Mary who has been in-volved in the club for 23years has volunteereda huge amount of her time to the club’s devel-opment.

Ivor Parke, Padraig Burke, Paul Hynes, VincentNally and Hughie Blain were appointed to themanagement committee having nominatedthemselves while Paddy Houze and Noel Mc-Cloats hard work was recognised as they werere-elected. The major changes undergone atThe Showgrounds will provide new ideas andopinions for what is set to be another equallysuccessful year.

Preparations underway for St.Patricks Day ParadeCLLR Johnnie O’Malley, chairperson of BallinaSt.Patricks day parade has announced that localindustry Ballina beverages will lead the 2011parade.

Scheduled for 4.30pm on March 17th themain theme of the parade will be salmon as Bal-lina is Ireland’s salmon capital.

Local community groups and sports clubsare been encouraged to create original ideas

to reflect Irish culture in the parade.The annual parade is considered a solid foun-

dation for recognising local achievements andresidents. The running cost of the parade is ex-pected to reach 4,000, funding for which willbe sought by Ballina Town Council.

If your club or society may be interested inparticipating in this fun-filled festival contactAnn on 096-74000.

MAYO’S promising potential todevelop their wind-energyprospect may be worth up to7billion per year to the localeconomy.

The newly established AtlanticCoast Energy Co-op, Bella-corick, Ballina has revealed thatMayo, is considered one of Eu-ropes most suitable locationsfor wind-energy generation.

ACE is a community initiativewhich aims to generate and sellrenewable energy produced onlocal land.

It will also seek for changes toallow the development ofstrategic wind zones.

ACE is encouraging Mayo vot-ers to challenge election candi-dates on their commitment todeveloping this industry.

With rising nationwide unem-ployment it is hoped the hun-dreds of jobs can be created inMayo alone within manufactur-ing green energy.

SLIGO County Enterprise Board is delivering arange of Spring courses and workshops for allowner/managers of small businesses (under 10employees) and those thinking of starting abusiness. The focus of these programmes willmainly be in the Finance and Marketing/Salesarea. The training will be posted on our websiteat www.sligoenterprise.ie. Businesses can alsosign up to our e-mail database on the home-

page of our site – which will ensure that youreceive a notification of each Training Pro-gramme the Board will run during 2011.

Small Businesses can also join us on Face-book at www.facebook.com/SligoCountyEn-terpriseBoard and/or follow us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/SligoEnterprise to get up-dates on various business training programmesand relevant business information.

MAYO County Council’s excellent level ofacheivment was recognised by the National Dis-ability Authority (NDA) in the Ballina Civic Of-fices in integrating accessibility into the provisionof services to the public.

The Excellence through Accessibility (EtA)Awards were held at the Department of Educa-

tion and Skills in Dublin. The integration of ac-cessibility into the design and provision of serv-ices enables people with disabilities access topublic services with ease. These aspcts were ac-claimed as the Eta Awads were presented at theDepartmen of Education and Skills in Dublin.

In order to improve accessibility within the of-

fices, low counters are now available, along withinduction loops and appropriate bathroom facil-ities. Public terminals have been provided, somewith a large-key keyboard and tracker-ballmouse for ease of use.

The Ballina pages of the Mayo website havealso been designed with accessibility in mind.

Ballina Civic Offices wins Accessibility Award

President McAleese at her most recent visit to the Peace Park in Ballina

Sligo Women in Business NetworkSligo Women in Business Network (SWIBN)focuses on 'money matters' with a new FREEevent on Tuesday February 22nd. Get answersto yourpension questions, taxconcerns andinsurance issues. Our panel of specialists willbe on hand to help and includes:Maura Howeof the Pensions Association, accountant GaryReynolds and insurance advisor, Siobhan Mc-Sharry of McSharry Foley.When: Tues 22nd FebWhere:The Glasshouse HotelWhat time: 7.30pm to 9.30pmWhether you are new to start up or have beenin business for sometime, Sligo Women in Busi-ness Network is here to support you. Fundedby the Sligo County Enterprise Board, mem-bership is FREE. Just go tohttp://swibn.sli-goenterprise.ie/and register your details.

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Commencement of Spring Training programmes at Sligo Co Enterprise Board

Pictured was Kevin Keegan, Executive Arhitect, MCC, Aidan Mulvihill, Assistant StaffOfficer, MCC, Cllr. Frances McAndrew, Mayor, Ballina Town Council, Mary Gordon, SeniorStaff Officer, MCC and Paddy Mahon, Director of Services, North East Region (MCC).

LEADING figures from Mayoexpat communities all over theworld are set to descend on theold county for a major Mayoconvention in May – and the of-ficial opening will be performedby President of Ireland, MaryMcAleese.

‘Power by Land and Sea – aFuture for our People’ is thetheme of the world Mayo con-vention which will attract over100 worldwide delegates.

Following a long tradition ofemigration, the worldwide con-vention reflects a desire by ex-

pats to “give something back”to their native county.

The convention will featureworkshops focusing on existingand developing multi-nationalenterprise in Mayo, and will ex-plore the prospects for energycreation.

President McAleese will per-form the official opening on Sat-urday morning, and allinterested members of the pub-lic are encouraged to attendvarious workshop sessions thatwill be held throughout the day.

President McAleese will open World Mayo Convention

Promising Start toSligo General HospitalExtensionAFTER suffering the severe loss of cancerservices Sligo General Hospital received atimely boost with Minister for Health and Chil-dren Mary Coughlan’s announcement that shehas given her approval for the HSE to requestthe National Development Finance Agency toappoint technical advisors to the proposedproject.

It is hoped that planning application for thebuilding can be made through a public privatepartnership early in 2012 for a major newstructure and extension to the hospital whichwill provide 57essential surgery beds and newaccommodation for A&E departments, paedi-atrics, obstetrics and an Intensive Care andHigh Dependency Unit.

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FOLLOWING multiple Oscar nominations“The Fighter” has been hailed as the great-est boxing movie since Rocky and RagingBull.The realistic setting and culture ensures un-deniable links to rural Ballyshannon.

Renowned Ballyshannon boxer Jack‘Jackie’ Lally, who has since re-located toBoston was coaching in his local club whenscouted by Director David O. Russell, to playthe part of an authentic Irish boxing trainer.

Lally’s family are still deeply involved in theboxing scene in Ballyshannon as Jackie’syounger brother Gerry, trains current mem-bers of Ballyshannon Boxing Club, while an-other brother, Patsy, was also anaccomplished boxer in his day.

Based on a true story, The Fighter ex-

plores the inspirarional rise ofMassachusetts-born, “Irish”Micky Ward. A determinedboxer whose career in thering was shepherded by loyalhalf-brother, Dicky, a hard liv-ing boxer turned trainerwhose own ring career was al-most halted due to drugs andcrime. But underdog Mickycomes back from a devastatingseries of defeats to enjoy im-mense success as a result of afierce combination of determi-

nation and hard work. Jack plays the role ofShea Neary’s trainer, the world champion,who stands against Ward winning the worldbelt. Speaking of his experiences on set Jackadmits it was a learning experience fromsmall-town Ballyshannon to bustling Boston.Following his experiences, Jack is lookingforward to returning to his belovedBallyshannon this summer.

This inspirational, upbeat emigrant con-cludes encouraging:

“If I can make it anyone can - That is thegreat American dream, with a splash of Irishgood luck”

Do You Have any news or photos for us?Email them into us at

email: [email protected]

IN an attempt to portray the vital role played bylocal football clubs in the wider community The JohnGiles Foundation in association with 3 is delighted tolaunch the Sligo/Leitrim ‘Walk of Dreams’, which willtake place on Sunday, 27th March in Sligo at 3pm.

It will involve many of the Sligo & Leitrim footballclubs to walking as the football family whilst raisingfunds both for the Club and the John Giles Founda-tion to continue the development of football in Sligoand Leitrim.

The John Giles Foundation is active in many com-munities, and aims to use football as a vehicle forsocial change to build community cohesion, increaseparticipation and to improve health and educationoppurtunities.

Brochures and sponsorship cards will be distrib-uted to every club and it is hoped each club will ap-point a ‘Walk of Dreams’ captain to manage theirclubs fundraising and walk on the day. Each club willwalk under their own clubs banner and are encour-aged to get not only those involved in the club butas many people as possible from their communityto participate.

Half of the funds raised will be retained by thefootball club themselves, while the other half willbenefit the Foundation for community football proj-ects. Clubs, schools or community groups can applyfor funding to implement or improve football basedcommunity projects. For further information logonto www.johngilesfoundation.com

John Giles Foundation Walk of DreamsSligo/Leitrim launch INEFFICIENCIES in

the social welfare sys-tem are leaving thou-sands of unemployedpeople waiting monthsfor benefits, accordingto Fine Gael Mayoelection candidate andSocial ProtectionSpokesperson MichaelRing.

“Government fig-ures published todayshow that almost11,000 people lodgedappeals after theirclaims for unemploy-ment payments wererejected last year.Thousands of themshouldn’t have been

refused in the first place, yet they were left waiting up to ayear for the decision to be overturned.

“This means that people who are out of work and strug-gling to make ends meet are thousands of euro out ofpocket by the time their cases are settled. Why shouldthese people be forced to get by without any support, dueto inefficiencies in the system?

“The Fianna Fail-led Government has created a bloatedand broken public sector over the last decade and a half.

“A key element of Fine Gael’s 5 Point Plan to get Irelandworking, is to modernise our public services by rewardinginnovation and penalising waste and inefficiency.

“Currently there are more than 20 Government bodiesthat process various citizen entitlements, including socialwelfare payments. Fine Gael will set up a new “One StopShop” Payments and Entitlements Service to make gettingwhat you are entitled to easier, and more effective. This willhelp to cut down on fraud and mistakes in social welfarepayments.

“A failure by Fianna Fail to improve the way our publicservices are delivered has given rise to this situation wheregenuine jobseekers can’t get the state support they needafter losing their jobs. Not only will Fine Gael drive reformsto create a more customer focussed service, we also havethe plan to get Ireland back to work” concluded DeputyRing.

Devastating beginning to2011 on Irish RoadsALTHOUGH only beginning the second month of the year,the number of fatalities on Sligo roads has already sur-passed the entire total for last year with the tragic death of30year old Patrick O’Hora at 5.30p.m on Sunday evening.

O’Hora, known in his local Foxford as “Wolf” was pro-nounced dead on his arrival to Sligo General Hospital fol-lowing a collision involving his motorbike and a car.

It is believed Mr. O Hora was traveling to Tubbercurry,when the accident occurred between Tubbercurry andCurry on the N17.

Gerry Lundy, local FF councilor was one of the first toencounter the devastating scene and was quick to insist “ifthe badly needed by-pass was in place, then this bend wouldhave been eliminated” before expressing “my sincere sym-pathy is with the family of the young man”.

Johnny giles was a legendary player for both Manchester United, LeedsUnited and West Brom, as well as representing and managing theRepublic of Ireland

Remarkable ‘Oscar’ story with a realBallyshannon punch

From Left, Jack Lally from Ballyshannon, Co Donegal; Anthony Molinari, MarkWahlberg and Christian Bale in The Fighter.

INCREASING oil prices have led to aspree of oil thefts in rural Sligo areas.Grange Gardai are investigating nu-merous reports within the area wherea recognized gang of thieves have at-tempted to steal home-heating oil.

Reports suggest that the samegroup of individuals may be responsi-ble for the robbery of Ellens pub inMaugherow recently. It is thought thatthis group choose their target loca-tions where there is little activity andno dogs nearby.

Gardai have advised all County Sligoresidents to be diligent about theirprivate property and report any sus-picious activity immediately.

Lollipop Day

THE 10th annual national Lollipop Day will take place onFriday 4th and Saturday 5th of February 2011.

The annual fundraiser in aid of the Oesophageal CancerFund involves thousands of volunteers selling lollipopsthroughout the country, with all proceeds going directly tothe OCF.

However, in order to make this worthy event a success,more volunteers are needed in Sligo.

Noelle Ryan, chairperson of the OCF, urged anyone whomay be available to assist for even a few hours to contact01-2897457 or www.lollipopday.com.

Unacceptable appeal timesdelaying benefits – Ring

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Congratulations to Majella, Markand the staff on their last 10 yearsin business and the best of luck for

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Majella and Mark Carr tookover the well known locallandmark Muddy Burns Bar &

Restaurant, situated in the pictur-esque village of Castleconnor on themain Ballina to Sligo road in Decem-ber 2000.

It has become a popular food, drinkand entertainment venue for localsand the proprietors have had greatsupport from the people of WestSligo and East Mayo since they tookover the establishment.

Their business has gone fromstrength to strength over the pastten years and with a fine selection ofales, stouts and top shelf liqueurs,Muddy Burns will quench your thirst,no matter what your preferred tip-ple is. Majella and Mark's establish-ment offers a warm welcome to all,whether you are a local or a stranger,and if you are looking for somewhereto meet for a social drink or evenfancy a bite to eat - Muddy Burns hasit all!

The large but intimate public house

is a great place to come and listen tolive music and to catch up withfriends. The quick-witted bar staff arealways ready to quench your thirstand banter with the clientele.

If you are looking for a place towatch the football, hurling or soccer,sit down in Muddy Burns and watchthe game along with a lively atmos-phere - Muddy Burns is always filledwith friendly punters who will makeyou feel at home. There is always asmiling face to greet you on your ar-rival and to see you off.

Muddy Burns regularly hosts livemusic events and well known musicartists such as Mike Denver, DeclanNerney, Jimmy Buckley have playedthere. For upcoming music events, alldetails are advertised through thelocal media. No matter what time ofyear it is, a trip to Muddy's is alwaysa night of entertainment.

In just 10 years, it has become partof the heart and soul of Castlecon-ner, supporting local events. Therestaurant is a popular meeting place

with both locals & tourists alike, andit offers a consistently high standardof quality food & excellent servicealong with value for money, and a re-laxed atmosphere.

They are open seven days a weekand offer an extensive a la cartemenu from 5pm as well as breakfast,daily lunch specials, sandwiches andchildren’s menu .

To celebrate 10 years in business,Muddy Burns are generously offeringtheir most popular dishes at just 10.If you are in the North Mayo / WestSligo area and you would like to booka meal for yourself, family, or a largegroup, why not call us to discuss yourrequirements - attention to detail isalways guaranteed.

Majella and Mark would like totake this opportunity to thank theirstaff, suppliers and customers forhelping to make Muddy Burns a greatsuccess. For further details on theirpub or restaurant feel free to contactMark or Majella on 096 36267 [email protected]

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MY WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEYWeek Date Current

WeightPounds

-/+TotalLost

- 12/11 22st 4lb - -

1 17/11 21st 10lb -8lb 8lb

2 24/11 21st 3lb -7lb 1st 1lb

3 1/12 21st 5lb +2lb 13 lb

4 8/12 20st 14lb -5lb 1st 4lb

5 15/12 20st 9lb -5lb 1st 9lb

6 22/12 20st 11lb +2lb 1st 7lb

7 29/12 21st 5lb +8lb 13lb

8 5/01 21st 2lb -3lb 1st 2lb

9 12/01 20st 10lb -6lb 1st 8lb

10 19/01 20st 8lb -2lb 1st 10lb

11 26/01 20st 4lb -4lb 2st 0lb

12 02/02 20st 2lb -2lb 2st 2lb

13 09/02 20st 1lb -1lb 2st 3lb

“I don't really like the idea of putting my weight on herefor everyone to see, but I think it is crucial to my successin this lifestyle change. I need to learn that it doesn'tmatter what people may think of my weight. I am tryingto get healthier and happier and that's all that matters”

14 16/02 19st 13b -2lb 2st 5lb

15

ShouldRecent comments by Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny that suggest if he

is successful in becoming Taoiseach he will allow students the op-

portunity to choose whether they want to study Irish in secondary

school, or not has sparked widespread discussion.

Having just completed, my Leaving Certificate last year I can honestly say

gaeilge was my favourite subject and although I was far from fluent in our

“teanga duchais” I really enjoyed the challenge and opportunity of learn-

ing a language, that plays such an important role in our identity and cul-

ture.However, for many of my friends and classmates Irish was a

continuous struggle. Yet, I blame this on the outdated curriculum taught

around the country. Despite the fact that “beatha teanga i a labhairt” the

Irish curriculum is comprised almost solely of a written exam.

The oral, which accounts for a measly 20% of the overall grade and the

aural, which adds a further 15% to the result poses little problem to most students.

Yet, the pros and depressing filiocht force many students to lose interest in our “teanga

aitiul”. While “Peig” and Mairtin O Direain may be expert poets in my opinion they do lit-

tle to promote the struggling language.

Likewise, the mountains of grammar including the Aimsir Fhaistineach, Tuiseal Ginideach

and Modh Coinniollach are really irrelevant and greatly discouraging.

If we are afforded, the opportunity to speak Irish we will gradually understand these

daunting concepts through trial and error.

Most students receive the highest marks on the listening comprehension and oral sec-

tions of the exam and I believe these should account for more than expressing the emo-

tion of isolation in a dated poem. Recently, the State Examination Commission introduced a Foundation Level Irish leav-

ing cert exam. There is no foundation level paper available in any of the European languages

despite the fact we have all been learning Irish eight years longer. Surely, this raises ques-

tions as to how gaeilge is thought.

The establishment of TG4 and RnaG prove that there is still many members of the Irishpopulation practising and participating in the Irish language.Regional radio station i102-104 also broadcasts “Ar Eileamh” a light-hearted showusing informal Irish and English. The widespread popularity of this show proves thatmany teenagers and young people are willing to participate in Irish.While, many adults argue that we, todays youth have minimal interest in preserving ourhistoric language they overlook the reality that every summer thousands of studentsflock to the Gaeltacht areas in an attempt to develop their gaeilge, away from the con-fines of the classroom. Certainly Irish as a language plays a minimal role in internationalaffairs. While multi-national companies are eagerly seeking graduates with French orSpanish few appreciate my beloved gaeilge as a very effective means of communication.When I began writing this article I was admittedly indifferent to Enda Kenny’s plan tomake Irish a choice yet I now realise the devastating consequences this would have notonly on our education system but also on our culture, our history.Irish is one of the most challenging and difficult subjects available on the Leaving Cer-tificate so if made a choice most students in an attempt to obtain the most CAO pointswould not study Irish. If Irish is no longer a mandatory in secondary schools, there willinevitably be little emphasis on it in primary schools.Irish plays such a major role in our countrys history, that without Irish much of ourancestors struggles, hardships and achievements will fade and be forgotten over time.Our language provides our idyllic little island with a unique identity.I really,really hope that Enda Kenny does not succeed in removing Irish as an obligatein the Irish education system. Instead, I feel and strongly hope that our new governmentdo all they can to preserve and promote our native tongue.If this is to be successful the Department of Education need to urgently address thedated curriculum. By placing more emphasis on the spoken language and reducing thetedious grammar that dominates the course, students will be more than willing to con-tinue learning Irish, The ancient poems and short stories that conflict so much hardshipon students must be replaced with more modern pieces, relevant to todaysworld. We are all aware of the celebrity dominated culture that we live in. Per-sonalities such as Daithi O’Se, Sile and Grainne Seoige and Hector are cur-rently raising the profile of Irish. A recent documentary “In the name of thefada” by American comedian Des Bishop followed his attempts to learn Irishand attracted much media coverage. Enda Kenny ,must realise that if he pro-ceeds and allows students not to study our native language it will ultimatelybe the end of Irish. And, while we as students sit down to tackle our Irishcomprehension homework although, it may be time-consuming and challeng-ing we must remember that we are an important link in preserving our his-toric language. Without students learning Irish our country will become “tirgan teanga, tir gan ainm”I for one am extremely grateful that I have learned Irish and although mygrammar may not be perfect and my tenses muddled up at times, I will con-tinue to use my “cupla focail” as long as possible. I really don’t think that onepolitical leader should be allowed to deprive our future generations of ournative language.

Irish remain

compulsory

or not?? by Rachael Kelly

This week Northwest Express is outearlier than usual because of the

general elections. Hence myweigh in has been brought for-ward by 5 days.

Over the last 7 days Ivemanaged to lose just 2pounds when really Ithought that I might havedone a little better thanthat because I really stuck

to the basic meals. Maybe ithad something to do with mebeing on antibiotics for ton-silitis for 4 or 5 days.

I think that it is time forme to call over to Kathrynand see if there is some-

thing that Im doing wrong. It

could be something assimple as the candida albicans in my system notbeing under control. When I spoke to Kathrynlast week and informed her that I was eating fruiton a regular basis she advised me to stay off it fora while because the fructose in the fruit wouldkeep the candida alive. So since last week I havehad no fruit or anything that contains sugar or soI thought up until the other day. Apparantley allbreads have a certain amount of sugar in themand I have been getting yeast free from my bakersthinking that I was ok with that. But maybe Imnot? I will have to ask my wife to make the breadfor me from here on in minus the sugar.

Im off to Disneyland in Paris for the next 4 dayswith the young lad and herself so hopefully I canstay away from the fast food joints and stick morewith the frogs legs etc and heres hoping that Iwill be down around the 19 and 1/2 mark in afortnight.

Candida Albicans is a yeast overgrowth. Yeastis found in all manufactured citric acid and in mostfruits; in vinegar, which is made of fermentedwines, and in ciders from such fruits as grapes,pears, apples, and some herbs. Vinegar is used asa preservative for mustard, catsup, olives, mayon-aise, many dressings, pickles, horseradish, spices,soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and dried fruits.Canned or frozen fruit juices contain yeast, onlyhand-squeezed and fresh juices are yeast-free.Fruit and fruit products that are canned com-mercially have a higher yeast content than thosethat are canned at home. Melons (especially can-talopes) and oranges are loaded with mold andyeast on the outside skins. Fruit should be peeled,not cut into, because in the motion of cuttingthrough the skin with a knife, the meat of the fruitis contaminated. Mushrooms and cheeses of allkinds contain or actually are specific types ofmolds or yeasts; for instance, Roquefort cheesecontains the mold Penicillium Roqueforti. Otheryeast-containing milk products are buttermilk,sour cream, cream cheese, ricotta cheese, icecreams, powdered milks and milk itself.

In order to eliminate Candida Albicans, onemust eliminate all yeast containg foods.

Tea, pepper, coffee, coffee substitutes, manyspices and tobacco acquire molds or yeast intheir drying processes. Left-overs from a previ-ous meal should be frozen for future use, as theywill become mold-containing within 24 hours.Brown spots on any food are yeasts and moldsthat have begun their job of breaking down thatfoods nutrients for their own survival. Vitamins,such as the B-comples thiamine, niacin and ri-boflavin are usually yeast-grown, although it ispossible to obtain them with a brown rice base.Yeast-free antibiotics such as penicillin mycindrugs, tetracylines, linococin and chloromycetinare derived from mold cultures.

Other foods that encourage Candida Albicans

are baked goods, breads, biscuits and pancakemixes, soda crackers and any other foods requir-ing the use of baker's yeast. Ice cream, candy,malted milk drinks and soda fountain drinks con-tain sugar yeast.Some Simple Suggestions to elminate Candida Al-bicans

Avoid any food you're allergic to for a monthor two, then, because food allergy is 'like a firethat dies down', cautiously try eating a food trou-blemaker again. If it doesn't trigger your symp-toms, eat it occasionally, but no more often thanevery 4 to 7 days.

Include more vegetables in your diet - vegeta-bles of all kinds, even some you don't usually eat.

How about dairy products? Many people, in-cluding those with CRC (candida related com-plex) are bothered by intolerances and allergiesto milk - especially whole milk. (It also containslots of undesirable saturated fat) So use dairyproducts with caution. However, sugar-free fruit-free yogurt is generally well tolerated, even bysome people who are sensitive to other milkproducts. Home-prepared yogurt (using yogurtstarter) is especially good because it containsmore friendly yeast-fighting lactobacilli.

How about fruits? Along with other specialists,I've found that fruits often trigger symptoms inpatients with CRC. So I usually tell my patients toavoid fruits for the first three weeks, until theyimprove. Then begin eating them on a trial basis -cautiously.

Canida albicans is among the many organismsthat live in the human mouth and gastrointestinaltract. Under normal circumstances, Candida albi-cans lives in 80% of the human population withno harmful effects, although overgrowth resultsin candidiasis. To infect host tissue, the usual uni-cellular yeast-like form of Candida albicans reactsto environmental cues and switches into an inva-sive, multicellular filamentous form.

“The toughest part of a diet isn't watching what you eat. It's watching what other people eat”

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Beauty TipsTIP: The trick is to keep your make-up SIMPLE. You’re make-up willcompliment your dress a lot more ifyou wear very neutral colours likegreys, light-beiges, etc.

LashesLash curlers work moreeffectively if preheatedprior to the curling. Becareful not to heat yourcurlers too much, though,or else you will singeyour eyes.

Eye ShadowIf you use a damp eyeshadow brush and applya layer of face powderto your lids and allowset, the shadow will stayin place for the day.

NailsManicured nails look best with agown so either pick up a do-it-your-self-manicure-kit, a set of prostheticnails or splash out on a manicurefrom your local beautician’s.

Latest Invention: Packaging that ShowsWhen Food is Spoiled

SCOTTISH researchers managed to createfood packaging that can changes color as soonas it identifies when a food is going bad.

The packaging represents a "smart plastic"film developed at Glasgow's University ofStrathclyde.

The intelligent film is going to be used to-gether with modified atmosphere packing.The latter is a process that prolongs the lifeof food by replacing the air inside its packag-ing with nitrogen carbon dioxide. The at-mosphere packaging usually has insertedlabels that show the level of freshness.

According to the researchers, their plasticcould be incorporated into the production ofpackaging, thus eliminating the need of mak-ing and inserting labels separately.

"We hope that this will reduce the risk ofpeople eating food which is no longer fit forconsumption and help prevent unnecessarywaste of food," stated the lead researcher Prof.Andrew Mills. He added that the new pack-aging is expected to have "a direct and posi-tive impact on the meat and seafoodindustries."

Company Develops Enginethat Generates ElectricityUsing Sound WavesA prototype of anengine able toproduce electric-ity at a high levelof efficiency,while being morecost-friendly hasbeen developedby Etalim, a firmwith headquar-ters in Vancouver.

The device canshow the effi-ciency of a fuelcell, but cost al-most like an in-ternal combustion engine. It is about the sizeof a basketball. According to the company theinvention can reach efficiency in excess of 40percent. The engine is based on a number ofprinciples of the Stirling engine, being able toturn heat into mechanical energy.

However, the most interesting thing is thatthe engine uses Thermoacoustics, whichmakes use of heat to manage the intensity ofsound waves in a preserved cavity, reportsTechnology Review.

Etalim looks forward to making its enginefor a rate of less than $1 per watt. But thecompany's long-term aim is 15 cents perwatt.

science news

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SONY ERICSSON has announced thelaunch of a new gaming phone.The Xperia Play will have a large touchscreen and a pad that slides out to revealcontrol buttons similar to those on aSony PlayStation Portable console.

It looks similar to the PSP Go, a ver-sion of the PlayStation Portable releasedin 2009.

The Play phone will run Google's An-droid operating system and play modi-fied PlayStation games that will not runon other phones.

It marks the first time Sony has al-lowed its PlayStation games to run onhardware not made by Sony. The licenceis not exclusive to Sony Ericsson, so otherphone makers could follow, but Sony Er-icsson will have a substantial head start.

Sony Ericsson chief executive BertNordberg demonstrated the phone inBarcelona, a day ahead of the opening ofthe Mobile World Congress trade show.He said he did not know how much thephone will cost.

The Xperia Play will launch in April.

& technology

THE Powerski Jetboard prototype originally de-signed in 2002 is finally ready to go into massproduction.

The Jetboard is a combination surfboard/Jet-Ski incorporating a 25 x 43 x 16 cm high, two-stroke, water-cooled, 45hp engine and an axialflow jet pump into a (slightly larger than aver-age) surfboard to deliver a stand-up ride over flatwater at speeds up to 25mph. Using sophisticatedCAD software and new composite productiontechniques, the original Jetboards featured inGizmo have been substantially reduced inweight, improved in drag co-efficient and haveimproved air intakes and safety features.

The companyhas now deemedall Jetboards pre-viously manufac-tured to be betaproduction boardsand to be used bythe dealers / dis-tributors for pro-motion andmarketing only. Asophisticated handoperated throttle in-cludes a start/stopbuttons, independ-ent left and rightthumb throttles,safety kill switch, plusspeedometer and fuelgauges are found on a modular handle unit con-nected to the board via a 1.2m arm-pole madeof rubber coated steel cable.

The current version weighs around 18kg butthis is expected to be shaved back as the designevolves. The drive train includes gear-reductiontransmission built into the bottom end of the en-gine that optimises the transfer of engine rpminto the jet pump. Development of an electricJetboard is now well underway. An announce-ment in December 2003 flagged the formationof a joint venture between Powerski Internationaland Global Electric to create a Powerski Jetboard'

powered with by a Lithium-ion electric motor. Bob Montgomery , CEO of Powerski stated,

'It has always been our plan to build a futuristicPowerski Jetboard' that was smaller, lighter, qui-eter and cleaner than any other watercraft on themarket. Offering electric power is a perfect tran-sition for Powerski International Corp. If we canmeet our design goals by utilizing the lithium-ion technology of Global Electric, we can expandour sales to include such areas with strict emissionstandards, such as California. We could possiblyincrease our sales by 40% with the inclusion ofclean electric power.'The Powerski Igniter 330Jetboard made its public debut at the Miami In-ternational Boat Show on Last week.

Jetpowered Surfboardto go on sale

Sony unveils 'PlayStation' phone

CAN your iPad or iPhone bring you closer toGod? A new application for the devices aims tohelp Roman Catholics who have not been to theconfessional booth in a while keep track of theirsins, one Commandment at a time.

The app's designers and some believers see it asa way to spur Catholics back into the habit of re-penting. "There's a reason we designed it for thesemobile devices: We want you to go to confession,"said Patrick Leinen, one of the developers and aco-founder of the company Little iApps.

Over the last several decades, American

Catholics have been receiving the penitentialsacrament less frequently, and many of them maynot know how it is done.

"As somebody who's heard thousands of con-fessions, there are some people who get so scaredcoming in that they lose their train of thought andthey're not able to remember everything theyplanned to say," said the Rev Dan Scheidt, pastorof Queen of Peace Catholic Church inMishawaka, who advised the developers.

The text-based app takes the user through theTen Commandments, with a slew of questions at-

tached to each, a process known as an examina-tion of conscience, which penitents undergo be-fore confession. Questions range from "Have Iwished evil upon another person?" to "Have Iused any method of contraception or artificialbirth control in my marriage?" and users cancheck a box next to each sin they've committed.

Once that's done, the app lists the user's sinsand displays a written act of contrition, a prayerrecited by the penitent. From there, it walks theuser through the rest of the steps of confessionand even advises when to say "amen".

App helps you keep track of your sins

Gardener banned fromvillage show

A gardener has been "banned" from his vil-lage vegetable show - because he keeps win-ning.

David Stirzaker, 73, has won 12 cups in thepast four years for his prize-winning carrots,parsnips and tomatoes but has now been askednot to exhibit.

North Cadbury and District HorticulturalSociety, near Yeovil, Somerset, told him his suc-cess was putting other people off entering.

Mr Stirzaker said: "This is my hobby and Ihave been supporting their show for four years.

"I find the request very insulting - it is a com-petition so I would have thought it is down toother growers to try harder if they want to beatme.

"I want nothing more to do with the society.I won't be showing there again and I have toldthem that they can come and collect their tro-phies."

'Drink driver' pulled herself over

A US drink driver allegedly pulled herself over- after mistaking a roller skating rink's flashingsign for police car lights.

Police say Nicole Scott, 27, stopped her carafter spotting lights from the Skate Worldtheme park in Sandusky, Ohio, in her rear viewmirror. But she got stuck in a snowdrift by theside of the road and a passerby, who stopped tooffer help, called police after noticing sheseemed intoxicated.

Police say that Scott told the passerby she hadthought the flashing lights from Skate World'ssign were police lights, reports the SanduskyRegister. Scott denied being the driver of thevehicle to police and claimed her friend hadbeen driving but had run off.

Officers claimed she told them the friend'sname was variously Ray, Samantha, Courtneyand finally Brittany. She refused a sobriety testbut police say they found a half-full bottle ofbeer in the car and only one set of footprintsnear the vehicle.

They also claim Scott had trouble walkingwhen she left the vehicle and had to be helpedto a waiting police cruiser.

She was arrested and charged with drinkdriving and having an open container in a ve-hicle.

Do You Have any news or views for us?

email: [email protected]

Get your advert hereTelephone: 071-9154538, today!

w rldnewsA woman rescued her husband from a tiger attackby hitting the beast over the head with a soup ladle.

The big cat pounced on Tambun Dedin while hewas hunting squirrels near his home in northernMalaysia.

Luckily for the rodent catcher his 55-year-old wifeHan Besau heard his screams and ran to his rescue.

Armed with just a wooden spoon she had beenusing to cook soup, she bashed the tiger over thehead, causing it to flee.

Speaking from hospital where he was being treatedfor cuts Tambun paid tribute to his brave wife.

He said: "I was terrified and I used all my strengthto punch the animal in the face, but it would notbudge."

Tambun explained he had tried to climb a tree totry to escape but the tiger had dragged him down.

He added: "I had to wrestle with it to keep its jawsaway from me, and it would have clawed me to deathif my wife had not arrived."

Local wildlife officials said rangers planned to trackdown the tiger and chase it deeper into the junglewhere it would not pose a threat to people.

A GROUP of taxi drivers took revenge on aclamping company after one of its operatorstried to extract a fine from a cab dispatcher.

Maureen Lansley's car was clamped andblocked by a clamper van, even though she hada parking permit. The clampers demanded thatshe paid a fine on the spot.

When Maureen, 53, phoned work to say thatshe'd be late and told them why, a convoy oftaxis immediately rushed to the scene to help her.

Within minutes, over 20 taxis had formed aroadblock that prevented the clampers fromgoing anywhere.

The police were called when the taxi driversrefused to shift until the clamp was removed.Riot vans arrived but the standoff continued

until, after nine hours, Maureen's boss agreed topay the £80 fine.

However, the actions of the cabbies meantMaureen escaped an additional £150 towingcharge.

The clamp had been put on her car becauseshe failed to display her permit, according to theclampers, but Maureen said that the permit was,in fact, on display, and had simply slipped be-hind the tax disc.

The remarkable incident highlights the angermany motorists feel towards private clampingfirms. However, new Government legislationdue to be announced this week could see rogueclampers go to jail.

Under new proposals due to come into effect

in 2012, clamping on private land will becomea criminal offence. Those caught will be hit witha £5,000 fine, which, if unpaid, could turn intoa prison sentence.

The laws will also see fines made illegal, to pre-vent clampers simply switching tactics by hand-ing out huge fines for 'illegal' parking.

More than half a million drivers are clampedon private land every year. Speaking to 'TheSun', Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstonesaid: "I have been outraged by cases of driversbeing frog-marched to cash points late at nightor left stranded by rogue operators. This Gov-ernment is committing rogue clampers to his-tory and putting an end to intimidation andexcessive charges once and for all."

Cabbies' revenge on clampers

A New Zealand radio station has beencriticised for running a contest giving malelisteners the chance to win a wife.

The winner of The Rock FM's compe-tition will be flown to Ukraine for 12nights to pick their future wife from abride agency, reports Metro.

"It's actually going to happen. And ohboy are there going to be some peoplewith their panties in a twist over this one,"says the blurb on the station's website.

"The Rock is giving away a wife! Butwe're not going to give this opportunityto just anybody... to weed out the no-hop-ers and time-wasters, we've developed theapplication form below.

"If you're interested in holy matrimonywith a potentially hot foreign chick, fill itout to the best of your abilities."

Not to be put off by the complaints, nu-

merous men have entered the competitionand appear happy to have their profilesshown on the radio's website.

Defending the station, The Rock FMprogram director, Brad King, said thecompetition was "a bit of a laugh".

"At the end of the day, it's up to bothpeople if they decide to get married andreturn to New Zealand. We're not actu-ally marrying anyone or bringing womenback to New Zealand," he said.

However, social activist Sue Bradfordsaid the competition took "commercialradio to new depths".

"It is unusual and somewhat disturbingthat a commercial entity would commer-cialise what should be one of the mostmeaningful human relationships and ac-tually offer it as a prize for a radio show,"she said.

'Win a Wife' contest sparks outrage

Woman beats off tiger with a spoon!

By Megan Fennell

The heart is designed to last a lifetime, but theway you lead your life - what you eat, your ac-tivity levels and how you spend your leisuretime - can help prevent heart disease and pre-mature death.Get Active

Physical activity is defined as any bodilymovement produced by skeletal-muscles thatrequire energy expenditure. Physical inactivity,(a lack of physical activity) is an independentrisk factor for coronary heart disease, and Ap-proximately 10,000 people die each year fromit.

Regular physical activity – such as walking,cycling, or dancing – has significant benefits forhealth. For instance, it can reduce the risk ofcardiovascular disease, diabetes and osteoporo-sis, help control weight, and promote psycho-logical well-being. If you do 30 minutes ofmoderate intensity activity on five or more daysof the week, you can halve your chance of de-veloping heart disease. If you have a busy sched-ule, you can break up the recommended 30minutes into several shorter sessions - it's the

total time per day that you exercise that counts.You can benefit from physical activity at any

age. But it's important to build up your activ-ity levels gradually - if you're not used to rigor-ous activity it can be harmful. Also, findactivities you enjoy and can do safely and con-veniently.

There are a wide range of options, includingbrisk walking, cycling, dancing, swimming orgoing to the gym. The more vigorous the exer-cise, the more you can reduce your risk of heartdisease. Your activity doesn't have to be a sport- try gardening (for example, raking leaves ormowing the lawn) or just taking the stairs in-stead of the lift. Walk instead of driving or tak-ing the bus. They all count.

Building activity into your daily routine canprevent it becoming a chore. Choosing an ac-tivity that you enjoy can be one of the mostpleasurable ways to look after your health.

There are very few medical reasons not to bephysically active, but check with your GP be-fore starting an exercise-programme if you're indoubt. The risk of doing yourself any harm isvery low if you start gently. Always build uphow often you do the activity (the frequency)before you increase how hard you work duringa session (the intensity).

Stop SmokingEach year, over 430,000 people die as a re-

sult of a smoking related disease. Yet, over 50million continue to smoke, including over 3million teens. An estimated three thousandteenagers begin to smoke each day, and1,000of them will eventually die as a result. Accord-ing to the American Lung Association, cigarettesmoking leads to 87% of lung cancers, emphy-sema and chronic bronchitis.

Giving up smoking not only reduces yourrisk of developing heart disease, but also re-duces the risk of many other serious illnesses,like cancer and emphysema.

Whatever your age, it's never too late to stopsmoking. As soon as you do, your health willimprove. Five years after giving up, your risk ofdeveloping heart disease will fall to a similarlevel as someone who has never smoked.

Giving up smoking isn't easy and it may takeseveral attempts before you succeed. As expo-sure to passive smoking (inhaling smoke fromnearby smokers) may also increase your risk ofheart disease, you should try to prevent yourexposure to this.

Manage Your DrinkingModerate consumption of alcohol (between

one and two units of alcohol a day) may help toreduce the risk of ischaemic heart disease inmen over the age of 40 and women after the

menopause. But we know that peo-ple who drink heavily are morelikely to die of heart disease thanthose who don't. So, if youdrink, do so in moderation.

A safe limit of alcohol formen is no more than three tofour units of alcohol perday, and for women, nomore than two to three units per day. If youhaven't had any alcohol during the week,don't assume it's safe to drink 21 units (formen) or 14 units (for women) at the weekend.The list below shows the number of units of al-cohol in various drinks.• A pint of ordinary strength lager or bitter con-tains around two units.• A pint of ordinary strength cider containsaround two units.• A 175ml (standard) glass of red or white winecontains around two units.• A pub measure of spirits contains around oneunit.• An alcopop contains around one and a halfunits.• Try and be aware of the number of units thatyou drink. Some drinks may be stronger thanyou think. The labels of many bottled andcanned drinks will tell you the number of unitsthey contain.

Eat HealthilyEating healthily can help you prevent heart

disease. Change to a low-fat, low-salt diet thatincludes plenty of fruit and vegetables. Re-member that a healthy diet will include all thefood categories.

Choose healthy cooking methods (grill, bake,steam or microwave instead of frying), trim fatoff meat and remove skin from chicken. Eatingmore fish may help to reduce your intake of fat.Use more fruit and vegetables every day. Veg-etables taste delicious on their own, so try notto add butter or spread.

Use herbs and spices rather than salt toflavour food. Many people watch their salt in-take because of raised blood pressure.

Use little or no oil when making a healthylow fat dish. All oils are 100% fat, even oliveoil, so use a maximum of 2 tablespoons of purevegetable oil for 4 portions.

The five foods that are extra healthy for yourheart are Blueberries (because they containfibre, vitamin C and anthocyanins, the antiox-idant responsible for their dark blue colour),Salmon (because cold-water fish is a greatsource of protein and is also packed with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Try eating salmonand other omega-3 rich foods twice a week forbenefits that go beyond heart health), Soy Pro-tein (because it’s inexpensive and contains fibre,vitamins, and minerals -- all the ingredients fora heart-healthy meal. Also, a diet rich in soyprotein can lower triglycerides, which help pre-vent cardiovascular disease and keep your heartstrong and healthy).

Oatmeal (be-cause it contains

plenty of roughage, nourishing whole grainsand a great source of vitamins, minerals, andcholesterol-lowering fibre), Spinach (becausespinach is the powerhouse of the vegetablekingdom, it’s rich, dark colour comes from themultiple phytochemicals, vitamins, and miner-als especially iron that also fight disease, protectagainst heart disease, and preserve your eye-sight).

Reducing your Cholesterol LevelsReducing cholesterol levels in your blood can

help you prevent heart disease. Eat a healthy,low-fat diet. Even if you already eat healthily,you may still have high cholesterol levels, par-ticularly if other members of your family havehigh levels. As a last resort, medicines can beused to reduce high cholesterol and slow oreven partially reverse the progress of heart dis-ease.

Maintaining a Healthy WeightBeing overweight increases your chances of

developing heart disease. Your GP will be ableto advise if you need to lose excess weight. Tolose excess weight you will probably need to fol-low an exercise programme, as well as eatinghealthily.

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By Megan Fennell

STRESS is a normal physical re-sponse to events that make youfeel threatened or upset your bal-ance in some way. When yousense danger – whether it’s real orimagined – the body's defenceskick into high gear in a rapid, au-tomatic process known as the“fight-or-flight” reaction, or thestress response.

The stress response is thebody’s way of protecting you.When working properly, it helpsyou stay focused, energetic, andalert. In emergency situations,stress can save your life – givingyou extra strength to defendyourself, for example, or spurringyou to slam on the brakes toavoid an accident. The stress re-sponse also helps you rise to meetchallenges. Stress is what keepsyou on your toes during a pres-entation at work, sharpens yourconcentration when you’re at-tempting the game-winning freethrow, or drives you to study foran exam when you'd rather bewatching TV.

But beyond a certain point,stress stops being helpful andstarts causing major damage toyour health, your mood, yourproductivity, your relationships,and your quality of life.

Many health problems arecaused or by stress.

Stress can cause anxiety, moodswings and fatigue as people tryto juggle long working hours and

busy home lives. The other healthproblems brought on or wors-ened by stress include: pain ofany kind, heart disease, digestiveproblems, sleep problems, de-pression, obesity, autoimmunediseases, skin conditions and lungdisease caused by smoking be-cause of stress.

So how can you reduce stress?Recognize stress

Stress Management is the abil-ity to maintain control when sit-uations, people, and events.

Ask for helpIf you feel that stress is affect-

ing your studies a first option isto seek help through your educa-tional counsellor.

Look aroundSee if there really is something

you can change or control in thesituation.

Set realistic goals for yourselfReduce the number of events

going on in your life and you mayreduce the circuit overload.

Exercise regularlyExercise can relieve you of

stress building up. Try getting in30 minutes of exercise each day.

Remove yourself from the stressfulsituation• Give yourself a break if only fora few moments daily.• Don't overwhelm yourself• Handle each task as it comes, or

selectively deal with matters insome priority.• Don't sweat the small stuff• Try to prioritize a few truly im-portant things and let the restslide.• Learn how to best relax yourself- Meditation and breathing exer-cises have been proven to be veryeffective in controlling stress.Practice clearing your mind ofdisturbing thoughts.Change the way you see your sit-uation; seek alternative view-points• Stress is a reaction to events andproblems, and you can lock your-self in to one way of viewing yoursituation. Seek an outside per-spective of the situation, compareit with yours and perhaps lessenyour reaction to these conditions.

Avoid extreme reactionsWhy hate when a little dislike willdo? Why generate anxiety whenyou can be nervous? Why ragewhen anger will do the job? Whybe depressed when you can justbe sad?

Do something for othersDo something to help others tohelp get your mind off yourself.

Get enough sleepLack of rest just aggravates stress.

Alcohol and drugs can maskstressThey don't help deal with theproblems.Try to "use" stress

If you can't remedy, nor escapefrom what is bothering you, flowwith it and try to use it in a pro-ductive way.

Try to be positiveGive yourself messages as to howwell you can cope rather thanhow horrible everything is goingto be. "Stress can actually helpmemory, provided it is short-termand not too severe. Stress causesmore glucose to be delivered tothe brain, which makes more en-ergy available to neurons. This,in turn, enhances memory for-mation and retrieval. On theother hand, if stress is prolonged,it can impede the glucose deliv-ery and disrupt memory."

Most importantlyIf stress is putting you in an un-manageable state or interferingwith your schoolwork, socialand/or work life, seek profes-sional help at your school, localdoctor’s surgery or from a friendor relative.

Manage the Stress in Your Life

blastpastfrom the

ConstanceMarkievicz

CONSTANCE Gore-Booth wasborn into a famous Anglo-Irish fam-ily on Feb. 4, 1868 at BuckinghamGate, London. The Gore-Boothswere known as model landlords inSligo.Raised at the Gore-Booth estate atLissadell, Co. Sligo, ConstanceGore-Booth and her sister, Eva, livedchildhoods of privilege, but weretaught concern for the plight of thepoor.

Constance once said of her Sligohome, "We lived on a beautiful, en-chanted West Coast, where we grewup intimate with the soft mists andthe colored mountains, and whereeach morning you woke to thesound of the wild birds".

In 1887 she and Eva were pre-sented at the court of Queen Victo-ria with Constance being called "thenew Irish beauty" by some. Butyoung Constance was not aspiring tothe ornamental life of a "greatbeauty," she had ambition, she in-tended to be an artist and in 1893she went to London to study at theSlade School. mistspq.gif - 1.90 K

Then, in 1898, she left for Pariswhere she attended the JulianSchool. It was there in Paris that shemet Count Casimir DuninMarkievicz, an artist from a wealthyPolish family that owned land in theUkraine. Markievicz was a Catholic,and he was already married, but hiswife was back in the Ukraine and se-riously ill. In 1899 she died andCasimir and Constance married therecently widowed Count CasimirDunin Markievicz on Sept. 29, 1901becoming Countess Markievicz.

She founded the United Arts Clubin 1905, but was not satisfied withthis life.

In 1908 she joined Sinn Féin andInghinidhe na hÉereann. In 1909she founded Fianna Éireann teach-ing young boys military drill and theuse of firearms.

Released from prison during theGeneral Amnesty of 1917, she con-verted to Catholicism.

and became the first womanelected to the British Parliament,running as a Sinn Féin candidate.She did not take her seat, refusing totake the oath of allegiance to theKing.

When the Irish Civil War brokeout Constance was involved with theactual fighting. After the Civil Warshe regained her seat in the Dáil. Shewent on hunger strike and was re-leased after a month. She joinedEamon de Valera's Fianna Fáil partyin 1926 and was elected as one of it'scandidates in 1927. However, amonth later that she became sick anddied.

Sport in Connacht

By Rachael Kelly

Now one of the most success-ful clubs in the country SligoRovers Football Club was es-

tablished on September 27th 1928 asa result of the amalgamation of twojunior sides Sligo Town and SligoBlues. Their first game was a 9-1 winagainst Ballyshannon in the Con-naught cup. They eventually wentout of this competition at the semi-final stage to Athlone Hibs. The clubplayed in junior leagues followingtheir establishment and in their firstseason won the Irish Free State JuniorCup. The novelty of professionalfootball was new in Sligo and a crowdof 3,000 witnessed Rovers Cup Tri-umph.

This was followed by the Con-naught Junior Cup in 1930 and theMiller Shield and Sunday Allianceleague in 1932. From their initialformative years Sligo Rovers havecalled “The Showgrounds” home,and still do today. Likewise, the clubhave always favoured a home red kitwhich earned them the nickname“The Bit O’Red”.

In August 1932 Rovers entered theLeinster senior league. In their firstseason they finished third with no-table victories against former Cham-pions Brideville and Bohemians 'B'squads.

1933/34 was a hugely successfulseason for the ever-developing club,which saw Rovers win the Intermedi-ate Cup, defeating Tramore Rookies5-1 in the final, the Leinster SeniorLeague and the Metropolitan Cup.

Following their success the club ap-plied for a licence to participate inFootball League of the Irish FreeState. Their application was acceptedand they were elected to the league onJune 28th 1934.

In 1934, Rovers entered theLeague alongside newly-establishedWaterford.

Bob Preston, having had brief en-counters at Bray, was appointedcoach to guide the club through thetransition from junior to professionalfootball. Tommy Callaghan becamethe first Rovers player to score in sen-ior football as Sligo Rovers era of sen-ior football began difficulty with theclub losing 3-1 away to Crumlin. Ittook five games in the shield beforeRovers registered their first win in

senior football against Cork. Roverseventually finished ninth in the shieldand hoped their newly sought experi-ence would begin to act.

Rovers shield campaign of1936/37 was no reflection on whatwas to follow. Despite finishing intenth position, Rovers had graduallyassembled the side which they hopedwould suit the leagues style of foot-ball. Jimmy Surgeoner successfully at-tracted promising talents and moreexperienced players to The Show-grounds.

Following a great beginning,Roversform dropped slightly in the secondhalf of the season where they securedfive wins, two draws and three moredefeats. On a historic occasion TheBit O’Red were crowned LeagueChampions of 1936/1937, prompt-ing jubliant celebrations throughoutSligo.

The unresting economic condi-tions led to many of the successfulleague side leaving The Showgroundsin 1937/1938. The beginning of thesecond world war in 1938 led to thesuspension of most of Europe's foot-ball leagues however Ireland's neu-trality meant that play continued inthe League of Ireland.

Rovers continued the season butthe absence of more influential play-ers was obvious as early Cup exits anda disappointing League finish con-cluded a somewhat dissappointingseason.

The arrival of Dixie Dean to Sligoduring the 1938/39 season inspiredRovers form. 1938/1939 was set tobecome one of the most enduringpieces of the club's history. Althoughopening the campaign with a defeatto Shelbourne, Rovers progressed ona six match unbeaten run.

Dixies’ widely recognised, as thebest footballer of his generation deci-sion to sign for a small, rural Irishclub, having spent seasons with Ever-ton was sensational. And ,true to hisword, he didn’t dissapoint. His firstappearance saw him score as Roversbeat Shelbourne 3 - 2.

In his seven league games forRovers Dixie scored ten goals includ-ing five in a 7-1 win over Waterford.Rovers eventually finished runners-up in the league nine points behindthe winners Shamrock Rovers.

Dixie also played in four FAI Cupgames for Rovers. Having reached theFAI Cup Final a crowd of 36,601turned up for the historic game.Forty-three minutes in, Dean headedRovers into the lead. Shelbourneequalised straight from a corner withonly ten minutes left to leave thescore at 1 - 1. The replay was won byShelbourne by a slender 1-0 margin.

In 1940, following another reason-ably successful season Rovers an-nounced that because of the ongoingwar they were no longer in a positionto participate in senior football.

They tendered their resignation tothe league and the Football Associa-tion, however both refused to acceptthe clubs resignation.

The club then withdrew from allcompetitions for that year blaming fi-nancial difficulties. Eventually the

league were forced to accept Roversresignation. And despite advertisingfor a replacment club, a replacementwas never found. Sligo Rovers wereirreplacable.

The club re-emerged after the warand began raising funds for a returnto league football. Applications to re-join the league for the 1946/47 and47/48 seasons were unsuccessful asthe league decided to remain withjust eight participating teams. Fol-lowing facilities development in TheShowgrounds, Rovers were re-electedto league for the start of the 1948/49season.

The 1950‘s were turbulent times atThe Showgrounds with the clubs in-abaility to attract and maintain amanager. Although the club didntacheive any major success duringthese times it still enjoyed lenghtycup runs and were constantly devel-oping the squad.

The clubs development continuedand they were eventually crownedCup Champions in 1983 under themanagment of Jim McLaughin.

The 1990‘s saw major changes forthe Club. Having always receivedhuge local support Rovers attendancepeeked during the 1992/1993 and1993/1994 seasons. Willie McStaysarrival as senior manager was widelywelcomed. Rovers, seemingly at lastcomfortable under new managmentwon a "treble" of the First Divisiontitle, the First Division Shield and theFAI Cup, beating Derry City in thefinal. In 1994 they got through thepreliminary round of the EuropeanCup Winners Cup by defeating Flo-riana of Malta 3-2 on aggregate inwhat would be the last Irish victoryin Europe during the nineties. Theythen lost to Club Brugge in the firstround, 5-2 on aggregate, after onlynarrowly losing the first leg 2-1against the Belgian giants. In thesummer of 1996 they drew 3-3 in aInterToto cup group game againstFrench side FC Nantes who twomonths previously had played in theChampions League semi-final.

Former Fulham manager LawrieSanchez managed the club in the1994-95 season. Steve Cotterill, for-mer manager of Burnley succeededSanchez as manager.

The late 1990‘s were troublingtimes for the club. Cup triumphs andLeague wins became a thing of thepast as Sligo Rovers were relegated tothe First Division under Tommy Cas-sidy.

Don O’Riordan was appointedclub manger and despite great hopes

he failed to build a side capable ofpromotion. Although, he did lay avery successful youth policy whichstill benefits the club today.

Sean Connors career as Roversmanager began successfully as ourclub gained our much-awaited pro-motion to the Premier League in2005. Sligo Rovers then proceeded toreach the FAI Cup semi final in the2006 season and managed a verycredible 5th place finish in their firstseason back in the Premier Division.Connor left the club in controversialcircumstances days after the Cup de-feat having underacheived with a tal-ented side.

Paul Cooks arrival as manager wasthe beginning of a new era in TheShowgrounds. In Paul Cook Rovershad found what was badly missing, amotivated, success-hungry, realisticyoung manager.

Almost immediately the atmos-phere and on-pitch performancesbegan to improve. Having reachedthe FAI Cup Final Rovers werebeaten 2-1 by Sporting Fingal, inwhat was a dissapointing perform-ance by the club.

Paul Cooks managerial decisionsfor the 2010 season can only be de-scribed as brilliant. The introductionof quality players such as CameronInternational Joseph Ndo and re-cently named Airtricity Player of theYear Richie Ryan combined with thepromising talents of Gary McCabeand John Russell assured Rovers au-tomatic European qualification.

The clubs much-awaited search forsilverware also concluded in Septem-ber as Rovers became EA Sports CupChampions for the first time in his-tory.

Paul Cooks army marched on andovercame League winners ShamrockRovers in a tense penalty shootout tobecome FAI Cup Champions.

Rovers skilled performances thisyear has opened many eyes to the factthat quality football can be, and isplayed outside the boundaries ofDublin.

From their establishment in 1928,Rovers have encountered early Euro-pean exits, disappointing releagtions,Cup triumphs, league wins and mostrecently spectacularly skilled per-formances on an almost weekly basis,yet one thing is certain: whetherrooted on the bottom of the First Di-vision or winning European qualifi-cations:

Sligo Rovers will always hold a spe-cial place in the hearts of Sligo peo-ple,as it has since 1928.

The Sligo Rovers

PUZZLE TIME

Most babies born in August19.5% of new August babies are born in India and 11.6% inChina, respectively 6 and 4 times more than in the United States:approximately 2.2 million and 1.3 million vs 0.4 million. Whichmeans two babies are born every second in India and China vsa new baby every 8 seconds in the US. World-wide, 5 beautifulnew babies are born every second. The global fertility rate is2.61 while the United States has a fertility rate of 2.05 childrenborn per woman. One in every 31 new cuddly earthlings bornglobally is born in the US, thus 3% of all new births.

You blink 15 000 times a dayThe muscle that lets your eye blink is the fastest muscle in yourbody. It allows you to blink 5 times a second. On average, youblink 15 000 times a day. That’s about 10 times per minute, ormore than five million times a year. Women blink more thanmen. Jean-Dominique Bauby, a French journalist suffering from“locked-in” syndrome, wrote the book “The Driving Bell andthe Butterfly” by blinking his left eyelid – the only part of hisbody that could move.

One billion bicyclesThere are about a billion bicycles in the world, twice as many asmotorcars. Almost 400 million bicycles are in China. Every yearsome 50 million bicycles – and 20 million cars – are produced.Although Leonardo da Vinci drew some rough sketches of acontraption that looked like a bicycle, the Frenchman De Sivracbuilt the first bicycle-type vehicle in 1690. It was referred to asa hobbyhorse. However, it did not have pedals. Those wereadded in 1840 by a Scottish blacksmith, Kirkpatrick Macmillan,who is credited with inventing the real bicycle. On a penny-far-thing bicycle, one pedal gave the wheel one turn. A lot of ped-alling was needed to get around! With the advent of gears,bicycles could move as fast as cars. Air-filled tyres were used onbicycles before they were used on motorcars. The bicycle as weknow it today – with two wheels of the same size – looks al-most exactly the same as one from 1900.

Birds that bark like dogsThe Antpitta avis canis Ridgley is a bird that looks like a stuffedduck on stilts and barks like a dog. The bird was discovered byornithologist Robert S. Ridgley in the Andes in Ecuador in June1998. Thirty of these long-legged, black-and-white barking birdswere found. It apparently had gone undetected because it livesin remote parts and, of course, doesn’t sing. The size of a duck,it is one of the largest birds discovered in the 20th Century.There also are dogs that do not bark! The basenji, smallish dogwith a silky copper coat, does not bark. Instead, it yodels whenit get excited. Wild dogs like the African Wild Dog also do notbark.

What breaks a diamond?

A diamond is the hardest natural substance on earth, but if it isplaced in an oven and the temperature is raised to about 763degrees Celsius (1405 degrees Fahrenheit), it will simply vanish,without even ash remaining. Only a little carbon dioxide willhave been released. Diamonds are formed over a period of abillion or more years deep within earth’s crust – about 150km(90 miles) deep – and is pushed to the surface by volcanoes.Most diamonds are found in volcanic rock, called Kimberlite, orin the sea after having been carried away by rivers when theywere pushed to the surface. A diamond is 58 times harder thanthe next hardest mineral on earth, corundum, from which rubiesand sapphires are formed. It was only during the 15th centurythat it was discovered that the only way to cut diamonds waswith other diamonds. Yet, diamonds are brittle. A diamond willshatter or splinter If hit hard with a hammer.

DOWN

1. Key link includes north initially over in city on the Nore,once the capital of the kingdom of Ossory. (8)2. Jack loses out initially in the main body of the church. (4)3. "They make truth serve as a stalking horse to -----"Henry St. John. (5)4. Cut back and enquired in stage Irish! (4)6. Once around on your knees? (3)7. Of sound quality in Midleton alcohol. (5)8. Sees R.C. mingling in Connemara beauty spot with greenmarble quarries. (6)9. Catch up with decimal base. (3)12. Ferry grin O.K. (anag.) Tour route around the beautifulIveragh Peninsula. (4,2,5)15. This provides a sound reception in the Clonea region.(3)16. "The famous Northern reticence, the tight gag of -----".Seamus Heaney (5)

17. "Every man desires to ---- long, but no man would beold." Swift. (4)20. Meal's over for the place where witches were very un-safe once. (5)21. Spirited ending to 26 across. (3)22. "He that spareth his --- hateth his son." Proverbs Chap.13 Verse 24. (3)23. "Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace theday's disasters in his morning ----." Goldsmith. (4)25. Ogre Rene troubled in Louth resort at the entrance toCarlingford Lough. (8)28. Weapons on the road out of Dublin towards Belfast,where there is a pentagonal castle. (5)29. Open barrel put up conditionally. (3)31. What goes to start the process in Kilorglin putatively. (5)32. One hundred and fifty over the donkey show style. (5)34. A religious doctor can put it together. (3)35. Latin fiddler in Enniscrone romance. (4)36. Greedy turn up to see the opera star. (4)38. Rathkeale estate conceals Cork's flower. (3)

LAST ISSUE’SANSWERS

Name: Address:Telephone number:

To be in with a chance of winning, fill out the crossword and your your name, telephone number and address and post to Puzzle TimeCompetition, Northwest Express, Unit 3, Riverview House, Barret Street, Ballina, Co. Mayo. - Good Luck!!

WIN! 25

SAMPLE PUZZLEHere are some words that can be found in this sample matrix:any chant panel path trench

Here are some words that are not valid in this puzzle:chance - uses the 'c' twicechaps - 's' is not adjacent

Word Puzzle!Here is a game that you can play to test your skill. This game will present you with a matrixfilled with letters. The objective is to form words by concatenating adjacent letters. Lettersthat are to the left, right, on top, bottom, or on a diagonal to each other are all acceptable.

ACROSS

1. Kneading up in quiet Westmeath village near theMeath border. (8)5. Confusing result in one of the four green fields ofIreland. (6)10. One of amorous disposition in Cashel over there.(5)11. "Oft in the stilly night, --- Slumber's chain hasbound me" Thomas Moore. (3)13. Cap in disarray when there's a mad rush. (5)14. Eat on the return through Ballaghaderreen ideally.(4)16. Nothing negative in steep Lusk environment. (4)18. Rag us about sweetener. (5)19. Nose I tweaked made a din. (5)22. Far back to start with on the floater. (4)24. A valve of a C.O. (anag.) Wicklow beauty spot muchpraised by Thomas Moore in song of the bright waters.(4,2,5)26. " ---- denial is not a virtue: it is only the effect ofprudence on rascality." Shaw (4)27. Coder unravelled the appearance of the room. (5)29. "I am escaped with the skin of my -----" JobChap.19 Verse 20. (5)30. Sudden fancy in Mallow himself included. (4)33. Building used to store crops in the Swanlinbarneighbourhood. (4)37. Some of the Kildare Pelagians will not cause attrac-tion. (5)39. Infuse with colour in Limavady every day. (3)40. Spanish friend is hidden on the way back from thebog, I'm afraid. (5)41. Irish hunting dog who creates puzzles? (6)42. Jumbled loss rare in Wexford resort and gateway toIreland from Wales. (8)

1. cense 2. censes 3. cog 4. cogs 5. coke

6. cokes 7. cox 8. cue 9. cues 10. cuke

11. cukes 12. ecu 13. ecus 14. ens 15. ensue

16. ensues17.eocene18. esne 19. excuse20.excuses

21. goes 22. gox 23. ken 24. kens 25. kue

26. kues 27. kune 28. nene 29. nenes 30. neuk

31. neuks 32. nuke 33. nukes 34. nun 35. nuns

36. nus 37. oes 38. oke 39. okes 40. sen

41. sene 42. skene 43. sue 44. sues 45. suk

46. suks 47. sun 48. sunn 49. uke 50. ukes

51. uns 52. use 53. uses 54. zek 55. zeks

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FROM the 17th-26th of February, one of the most well-known traditional fairytales will come alive onstage atthe Hawkswell Theatre Sligo. Beauty and the Beast, asproduced by Disney, tells the heart warming story ofhow appearances can be deceiving.

Belle, a beautiful princess grows tired of the small,rural life in her village and along her travels encountersthe Beast, a charming young prince before being castunder a spell. In the beginning Belle views him as noth-ing more than a monster, he views her as difficult andstubborn. But the two soon realise that people canchange and the importance of admitting your mistakes.

Performed by the hugely successful Sligo Musical So-ciety Beauty and the Beast runs from the 17th to the26th of February incorporating matinees on Sunday20th and Saturday 26th. For more information visitwww.hawkswelltheatre.com or e-mail [email protected]. Tickets are priced at 18/15 con-cessions.

Following their much-anticipatedreunion in 2007, Boyzone returnto the Royal Theatre in Castle-bar on March 17th.

One of the most successfulIrish bands of all time, followingthe sudden,untimely death ofbandmember Stephen Gately in2009, Boyzone will perform as afour piece with Ronan Keating,Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham andShane Lynch.

Their most recent album,Brother named in memory ofStephen, is the lads fourth studioalbum, their first released in

twelve years.This show will see Boyzone

return to the West coast wherethey played some of their firstshows ever. If you want to cele-brate Paddys Day in what is setto be a heartfelt and emotionalconcert tickets are available onwww.ticketmaster.ie as well asfrom the Royal Theatre Box Of-fice on 0818 300 000. Tickets are44.50 incl. booking fee, otherservice charges may apply. Forfurther information please checkthe Royal Theatre website on:www.theroyal.ie

Sligo’s Musical Society Presents: Disneys Beautyand the Beast

BOYZONE RETURN TO THEROYAL THEATRE, CASTLEBAR

BALLET Theatre UK's New Pro-duction of the classic ballet Cin-derella tells everyone's favouriterages to riches story.

Cinderella is tormented by herspiteful stepsisters and would doanything to attend the Price'sglamerous ball. Rejected upset andalone, Cinderella's Fairy God-mother intervenes and transformsher into a glittering Princess whoshall go to the ball.

Join Cinderella on her adventureof daring magic, hansom princes,glass slippers, and see if she can

find her "happy ever after"....Prokofiev'ss uplifting score to-

gether with sumptous costumesand sets conjure up the magicalfantasy world of Cinderella per-fectly.

Ballet Theatre UK promises toenchant you with this fairytale pro-duction of breath taking beautyand delight, showcasing a companyof young and talented internationaldancers.

Tickets are on Sale now 18.00- 20.00 on www.ticketmaster.ie.

BALLET THEATRE PROUDLY PRESENTS CINDERELLA

Who?Where?

Who?Where?

Pool Tables Video JukeboxesCoin & Note Operated Machines

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Tel: 087-2435463

Airport TransfersWeddingsStag NightsHen NightsChristmas PartiesSight Seeing

HotelsNight ClubspartiesCorporate HospitalityNationwide ServiceTel: +353 41 6855873Mobile: +353 87 781 4814

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Where Are The Parents, is wellknown actor and musician FergusClearys’ first stage-production run-ning on Thursday March 10th andFriday March 11th in The Balor ArtsCentre. Depicting the challenges offamily life in the impoverished mid-

80‘s Where are the Parents tells thestory of hard working lorry driverJoe Boyle (Eoghan MacGiollaBhride)and his wife, Bridie (Mairead Hen-nessy) as they attempt to raise ateenage family in the struggling eco-nomic times. Fergus takes a capti-vating and unique slant on therealities of rural family life duringthe last Irish recession. As many Irish families experiencesuch trials and tribulations in todays21st century recession this emo-tional and realistic act allows manyof the audience to empathise withthe struggling characters.

The world-renowned Tedfest on InisOirr, Aran Islands, Galway returns fromthe 24th to the 27th of Februaury. The is-land becomes a homage, for the three

days, to the fictional Craggy Island as fes-tival-goers come attired as nuns andpriests, with altar-servers and bishopsalso present.

This isn't so much a festival but a jour-ney into the heart of the cult comedyprogramme. The last episode of FatherTed may have been made more than adecade ago, but the fans' appetite for theprogramme has not been quelled. Thisunique series set on the fictional CraggyIsland is a TV sitcom that filmed its finalinstalment 10 years ago. The show, writ-ten by Graham Linehan and ArthurMathews, sold more than 1 million DVDbox sets. A wide range of organised events are setto occur throughout the three day spec-tacle including a Virtual Confession serv-ice, Craggy Island Kill Bill Festival, PirateCruise and the Walking Tour to AmishCommunity. Entertainment will also beprovided throughout the weekend by DJAltered Boy DJ Sister Scratch, FatherMick Mac and Sister Assumpto alongwith The Christian Brothers.Tickets are priced from 150 and acco-modation is also availible, by reservation,on the island. For more information onthis truly unique festival log on to:www.tedfest.org

The World-Renowned Tedfest

HAVING beenpraised as “thestrongest come-dian on the cir-cuit right now”Andrew Maxwellperforms for onenight only onMarch 9th in TheRoisin Dubh,Galway.

A regular onRTEs’ The Panel,Maxwell needsno introduction

to Irish audiences. This stand up comedian wasrecently voted Best Irish Comedian at the en-tertainment.ie awards.

Maxwell is currently one of the most soughtafter Irish comedians having performed a newshow at the Edinburgh Festival, completed acomplete tour of Ireland and guest appearing onITV’s Celebrity Juice and BBC’s Have I Got NewsFor You.

Support on the night is provided by TrevorBrowne and Joe Rooney. For more informationor to book tickets for what promises to be aside-splittingly hilarious night go to www.roisin-dubh.net, where tickets are priced 15.

Marquees for HireFor all Occassions

Mayo areaCall 087-6433793 or 087-9933698

1210

WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?ANDREW MAXWELL ATTHE ROISIN DUBH

When?When?

Michael RingMayoQ1.Maritial status - MarriedQ2.How many children - Three Q3.Occupation - Full Time Public presentativeQ4. Type of car that you drive - Volkswagen PassatQ5.Favourite food - Fish Q6.Favourite drink when socialising - WaterQ7.Favourite TV program (no current affairs) - Only Fools& HorsesQ8.Favourite actress - Julia RobertsQ9.Favourite actor - Jack NicholsonQ10.Favourite singer/band - Christy MooreQ11.What music are you currently listening to - Anything on Midwest Radio Q12. What was the last movie that you rented out - I do not have time to rent out moviesQ13.What book are you currently reading - John Giles: A Football Man My AutobiographyQ14. Sports star you admire the most - Johnny GilesQ15. If you could have dinner with five people who are either dead or alive who would your 5be - Michael Collins, Brigadier General Joe Ring, Sean O'Rourke, Diana Princess of Wales and mywife, Anne

Martin KennyRoscommon / South LeitrimQ1.Maritial status - MarriedQ2.How many children - 4_Q3.Occupation - County Councillor and Community WorkerQ4.Type of car that you drive - MondeoQ5.Favourite food - SpudsQ6.Favourite drink when socialising - GuinnessQ7.Favourite TV program (no current affairs) - The SavageEyeQ8.Favourite actress - Demi MooreQ9. Favourite actor - Mel GibsonQ10. Favourite singer/band - U2Q11. What music are you currently listening to - U2Q12. What was the last movie that you rented out - InseptionQ13. What book are you currently reading - The Three Lawsof PerformanceQ14 Sports star you admire the most - Mickey HarteQ15 If you could have dinner with five people who are either dead or alive who would your5 beMy Camapign Team (I think I owe them a few dinners)

Frank McBrearty JnrDonegal South WestQ1. Maritial status - MarriedQ2. How many children - 4, 1 boy & 3 girls Q3. Occupation Full Time public representativeQ4. Type of car that you drive Range RoverQ5. Favourite food Fillet steak & Fresh SalmonQ6. Favourite drink when socialising - pint of HeinekenQ7. Favourite TV program (no current affairs) Greys anatomy,Resuce me, Mrs BrownQ8. Favourite actress Nicole KidmanQ9. Favourite actor - Robert Dinero & Daniel DaylewisQ10. Favourite singer/band Michael BubleQ11. What music are you currently listening to - all typesQ12. What was the last movie that you rented out - expendables

Q13. What book are you currently reading - last book I read was Blue wall ofsilence by Vicky ConwayQ14. Sports star you admire the most- Mohamid Ali and Roy KeaneQ15. If you could have dinner with five people who are either dead or alive who would your 5be Ruben Hurricane carter, Mohamid Ali, JFK, Martin Luther King and Billy Connolly

Marc Mac SharrySligo / North LeitrimQ1. Maritial status - MarriedQ2. How many children - TwoQ3. Occupation - Public RepresentativeQ4. Type of car that you drive - BMWQ5. Favourite food - Bacon & CabbageQ6. Favourite drink when socialising- Guinness Q7. Favourite TV program (no current affairs) - Deadliest CatchQ8. Favourite actress - Meryl StreepQ9. Favourite actor- Al PacinoQ10. Favourite singer/band - U2 Q11. What music are you currently listening to - EverythingQ12. What was the last movie that you rented out - Toy story 3Q13. What book are you currently reading - Tony Blair autobiographyQ14. Sports star you admire the most - Charlie HarrisonQ15. If you could have dinner with five people who are either dead or alive who would your 5 be - Elvis Presley, John F. Kennedy, James Connolly, Countess Markievicz, Jack Yeats

77 51 20 6 4 2 5 1

Date LOSS GAIN Constituency Change

08/04/08 Mayo Beverley Flynn re-admitted to Fianna Fáil

07/06/09 Donegal South West Election as MEP of Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher

05/08/09 Sligo Leitrim North Jimmy Devins resigns the Fianna Fáil whip

05/08/09 Sligo Leitrim North Eamon Scanlon resigns the Fianna Fáil whip

25/11/10 Donegal South West Election of Pearse Doherty

13/1/11 Sligo Leitrim North Eamon Scanlon regains the Fianna Fáil whip

25/1/11 Sligo Leitrim North Jimmy Devins regains the Fianna Fáil whip

77 51

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The Irish general election of 2007 took place on 24 May 2007 after the dissolutionof the 29th Dáil by the President on 29 April 2007, at the request of the Taoiseach.The electorate was given the task of choosing the members of the 30th Dáil who

met on 14 June 2007 to nominate a Taoiseach and ratify the ministers of the Governmentof the 30th Dáil. While Fine Gael gained 20 seats, Fianna Fáil remained the largest party.The election was considered a success for Fianna Fáil; however, Fianna Fáil's junior coali-tion partners in the 29th Dáil, the Progressive Democrats, lost six of their eight seats.

On 12 June 2007, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party reached agreement on a draft Pro-gramme for Government, this was subsequently ratified by the Fianna Fáil parliamentaryparty and Green Party members on 13 June 2007. This resulted in the formation of acoalition government on 14 June 2007 between Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and the Pro-gressive Democrats. The government was initially supported by four Independent TDs.

Looking back at May ‘07

Changes during 30th Dail 2007 General ElectionGeneralElection 24 May 2007Theintentionofthispageistoshowpartygainsandlossescomparedwiththe2002result. Wherethese gains and losses correspond directlywitha particularcandidate, this isindicated.

Rose Conway-WalshMayoQ1. Maritial status - MarriedQ2.How many children - 2Q3.Occupation - Community Development Manager & County CouncillorQ4.Type of car that you drive - Toyota AvensisQ5.Favourite food - FishQ6.Favourite drink when socialising - Vodka and TonicQ7.Favourite TV program (no current affairs) - RAWQ8.Favourite actress - Helen MirrenQ9.Favourite actor - Liam NeelsonQ10.Favourite singer/band - Bryan AdamsQ11.What music are you currently listening to - Matt CardleQ12. What was the last movie that you rented out - Can’t rememberQ13.What book are you currently reading - Lorna Siggins – Once Upon a Time in the WestQ14. Sports star you admire the most - Katie RowlandQ15. If you could have dinner with five people who are either dead or alive who would your 5be - Nelson Mandella, Mother Teresa, Ghandi, Regina Mc Nulty, Rachel Monaghan

General Election: 24 May 2007 Sligeach Liatroim Thuaidh

Sligo Leitrim North

Sligo Area (Connaught)

3 Seats 10 Candidates 5 Counts

Electorate: 57,517 Quota: 9,984

Candidate Party 1st Pref Share Quota Count Status Seat

§ Eamon Scanlon 9,258 23.18% 0.93 5 Made Quota 1

° John Perry 7,910 19.81% 0.79 5 Made Quota 2

° Jimmy Devins2

7,102 17.78% 0.71 5 Elected 3

Michael Comiskey 4,937 12.36% 0.49 (5) Not Elected

Sean MacManus 4,684 11.73% 0.47 (4) Eliminated

Imelda Henry 2,837 7.10% 0.28 (3) Eliminated

Jim McGarry2

1,555 3.89% 0.16 (3) No expenses

Brian Scanlon 1,209 3.03% 0.12 (2) No expenses

Andy McSharry 353 0.88% 0.04 (1) No expenses

John Higgins2

89 0.22% 0.01 (1) No expenses

Total valid 39,934 69.43%

Spoilt votes 396 0.98%

Total poll 40,330 70.12%

° outgoing TD for a different area

§ outgoing Senator

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Sligo Leitrim North




Transfer of

votes from

McSharry

and Higgins

Transfer of

votes from

Scanlon

Transfer of

votes from

Henry

and McGarry

Transfer of

votes from

MacManus

Candidate Party Count 1 Count 2 Count 3 Count 4 Count 5

+59 +73 +272 +1,109

§ Eamon Scanlon

9,258 9,317 9,390 9,662 10,771

+42 +134 +1,407 +870

° John Perry

7,910 7,952 8,086 9,493 10,363

+66 +120 +616 +1,283

° Jimmy Devins2

7,102 7,168 7,288 7,904 9,187

+79 +155 +1,561 +1,025

Michael Comiskey

4,937 5,016 5,171 6,732 7,757

+100 +291 +694 -5,769

Sean MacManus

4,684 4,784 5,075 5,769 Eliminated

+26 +124 -2,987

Imelda Henry

2,837 2,863 2,987 Eliminated

+16 +258 -1,829

Jim McGarry2

1,555 1,571 1,829 Eliminated

+31 -1,240

Brian Scanlon

1,209 1,240 Eliminated

-353

Andy McSharry

353 Eliminated

-89

John Higgins2

89 Eliminated

Non-transferable papers not effective +23

23

+85

108

+266

374

+1,482

1,856

Total valid 39,934 39,934 39,934 39,934 39,934

° outgoing TD for a different area

§ outgoing Senator

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1027,

+59 +73258 3179, 3909,

+42 +134910 9527, 0868,

+66 +120102 1687, 2887,

+79 5155

+272 109+1,6629, 77110,

4077+1, +8704939, 36310,

+616 283+1,9047, 1879,

561+1, 025+1,

ahcMi

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2

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+79 5+155937 0165, 1715,

+100 +291684 7844, 0755,

+26 +124837 8632, 9872,

+16 +258555 5711, 8291,

561+1, 025+1,7326, 7577,

+694 - 7695,7695, ddetaniimiiEl

- 98772,ddetanimiimEl

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+2323

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+266374

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Sligo Leitrim North


3 Seats 10 Candidates 5 Counts Electorate: 57,517 Quota: 19,968

Party Share of Vote in 2007

40.97%

39.27%

3.89%

3.03%

11.73%

1.11%

16,360

15,684

1,555

1,209

4,684

442

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2007

sount8

97%40.

97% 27%39.

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36016,

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360 68415, 5551, 2091,

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209 6844, 442


General Election: 24 May 2007 Maigh Eo

Mayo

Mayo Area (Connaught)




* Enda Kenny 14,717 20.62% 1.24 1 Made Quota 1

* Michael Ring 11,412 15.99% 0.96 2 Made Quota 2

John O'Mahony5

6,869 9.62% 0.58 8 Made Quota 3

Dara Calleary 7,225 10.12% 0.61 8 Elected 4

* Beverley Flynn 6,779 9.50% 0.57 8 Elected 5

* John Carty2

5,889 8.25% 0.49 (8) Not Elected

Michelle Mulherin 5,428 7.60% 0.46 (7) Eliminated

* Jerry Cowley 3,407 4.77% 0.29 (6) Eliminated

Frank Chambers 4,345 6.09% 0.37 (5) Eliminated

Gerry Murray3

3,608 5.05% 0.30 (4) Eliminated

Harry Barrett 831 1.16% 0.07 (3) No expenses

Peter Enright 580 0.81% 0.05 (3) No expenses

Tommy Cooke 296 0.41% 0.02 (3) No expenses



Total poll 72,086 73.04%

* outgoing TD

42:noitceEllarenGe

oEhgiMa

oyMa

7002yaM4

Seat5

ecEl

didnCa

oyMa

aerAoyMa uanno(C

sSeat datandiC13

69698,e:atort

etad ytrPa P1st

t)hgu

esdat sountC8

898,11:atoQu

efrP eraSh atoQu tnuCo

sutaSt taSe

* adEn

* ahcMi

John

CaarDa

* revBe

ynneK 71714,

gniRlea 41211,

ahonyM'O5

8696,

yraellCa 2257,

nnylFyelr 7796,

717 6220. % 241. 1

412 9915. % 960. 2

869 629. % 580. 8

225 1210. % 610. 8

779 509. % 570. 8

atouQedMa 1

atouQedMa 2

atouQedMa 3

detceEl 4

detceEl 5

* CnhJo

ehcMi

* CyrrJe

ankFr

yrrGe

yrrHa

ytraC2

8895,

nirehlMuelle 4285,

yelwoC 4073,

sberhamC 3454,

yarruM3

6083,

tterraB 831

889 25%8. 490. )(8

428 60%7. 460. )(7

407 77%4. 290. )(6

345 09%6. 370. )(5

608 05%5. 300. )(4

831 16%1. 070. )(3

dteclet Eo N

dteainlim E

dteainlim E

detanimiEl

dteainlim E

sesnepx eo N

retPe

mTom

valatTo

vtlioSp

platTo

thgirEn 580

eookCym 296

dilva 38671,

setov 700

llop 08672,

580 81%0. 050. )(3

296 41%0. 020. )(3

386 33%72.

700 97%0.

086 04%73.

sesnepx eo N

sesnepx eo N

* ng goiout

TDng

General Election: 24 May 2007 Maigh Eo

Mayo

Mayo Area (Connaught)



Transfer

of

surplus

from

Kenny

Transfer

of

surplus

from

Ring

Transfer of

votes from

Barrett

and Enrig

ht

and Cook

e

Transfer

of

votes

from

Murray

Transfer

of

votes

from

Chamber

s

Transfer

of

votes

from

Cowley

Transfer

of

votes

from

Mulheri

n

Candidate Party Count

1

Count

2

Count

3 Count 4

Count

5 Count 6

Count

7

Count

8

-2,819

* Enda

Kenny

14,717 11,898 11,898 11,898 11,898 11,898 11,898 11,898

+1,029 -543

*

Micha

el

Ring

11,412 12,441 11,898 11,898 11,898 11,898 11,898 11,898

+675 +215 +244 +714 +138 +732 +4,149

John

O'Mah

ony5

6,869 7,544 7,759 8,003 8,717 8,855 9,587 13,736

+23 +3 +187 +261 +1,104 +542 +1,924

Dara

Callea

ry

7,225 7,248 7,251 7,438 7,699 8,803 9,345 11,269

+352 +81 +175 +656 +1,279 +1,362 +566

*

Beverl

ey

Flynn

6,779 7,131 7,212 7,387 8,043 9,322 10,684 11,250

+37 +11 +54 +528 +1,306 +389 +89

* John

Carty2

5,889 5,926 5,937 5,991 6,519 7,825 8,214 8,303

+449 +139 +400 +265 +82 +881 -7,644

Michell

e

Mulher

in

5,428 5,877 6,016 6,416 6,681 6,763 7,644 Eliminate

d

+80 +42 +381 +874 +558 -5,342

*

Jerry

Cowle

y

3,407 3,487 3,529 3,910 4,784 5,342 Eliminate

d

+41 +20 +93 +206 -4,705

Frank

Chamb

ers

4,345 4,386 4,406 4,499 4,705 Eliminated

+52 +8 +177 -3,845

Gerry

Murray3

3,608 3,660 3,668 3,845 Eliminate

d

+65 +21 -917

Harry

Barrett

831 896 917 Eliminated

+14 +3 -597

Peter

Enright


+2 -298

Tomm

y

Cooke


Total

valid 71,386

71,386

71,386

71,386

71,386

71,386

71,386

71,386

* outgoing TD

42:noitceEllarenGe

oEhgiMa

oyMa

aerAoyMa uanno(C

2yaM4 007

t)hgu

Seat5

ecEl

aerAoyMa uanno(C

sSeat datandiC13

69698,e:atort

ansTr

rsu

t)hgu

esdat sountC8

898,11:atoQu

erfans

of

s ulpr

erfansTr

of

s ulprsu

oferfansTr

omrfesvot

tterrBa

and girEn

ht

Tr

erfans

of

esvot

erfansTr

of

esvot

mofr

erfansTr

of

esvot

Tr

erfansTr

of

esvot

mofr

didnCa

*En

Ke

*

Mi

el

Ri

rsu

fr

Ke

etad ytrPatnuCo

1

Co

-2,adEn

ynnKe 71714, 11,

+1,ahcMi

gn41211, 12,

s ulpr

mofr

ynnKe

s ulprsu

mofr

gnRi

ht

and koCo

e Mu

tnuCo

2

tnuCo

3tnuCo 4

Co

8192,898 89811, 89811, 11,

029+1, -543

441 89811, 89811, 11,

esvot

mofr

yarrMu

mofr

rebmaCh

s

esvot

mofr

yelwCo

Mu

tnuCo

5tnuCo 6

tnuCo

7

Co

89811, 89811, 89811, 11,

89811, 89811, 89811, 11,

mofr

irehlMu

n

tnuCo

8

89811,

89811,

Ri

John

O'

ony

Da

Ca

ry

Be

gn11, 12,

+675John

haM5

ony5 8696, 7,

arDa

aellCa2257, 7,

+352lrevBe

11, 11,

+675 +215 +244

544 7597, 0038, 8,

+23 +3 +1877

248 2517, 4387, 7,

+352 +81 +175

11, 11, 11,

+714 +138 +732

7178, 8558, 5879, 13,

+261 104+1, +542

6997, 8038, 3459, 11,

+656 279+1, 362+1,

11,

149+4,

73613,

924+1,

26911,

+566

* ey

ynnFl

*Jo

Ca

Mi

e

Mu

in

ey

ynn7796, 7,

nhJo2

ytrCa2

8895, 5,

+449ch lel

rehlMu 4285, 5,

131 2127, 3877, 8,

+37 +11 +54926 9375, 9915, 6,

+449 +139 +400

877 0166, 4166, 6,

0438, 3229, 68410, 11,

+528 306+1, +3895196, 8257, 2148,

+265 +82 +881

6816, 7636, 6447,El

25011,

+893038,

- 6447,

etaniinmiimEld

*

Jer

Co

y

Fr

Ch

ser

Ge

Mu33

y rer

ewlCo4073, 3,

ank

bmaCh

s3454, 4,

yrrGe

yarrMu6083, 3,

+80 +42 +381

487 5293, 9103, 4,

+41 +20 +93

386 4064, 4994, 4,

+52 +8 +1777 -

660 6683, 8453,iEl

+874 +558 - 3425,

7844, 3425,etaniinmiimEldd

+206 - 70554,

7054, ddetaniinmiimEl

- 84553,etaniimiidd

Ha

Ba

Pe

En

Tom

y

Co

yrrHa

tterrBa 831

retPe

thgirEn 580

mTom

ekoCo296

+65 +21 -9177896 917 ddetanimiimEl

+14 +3 -5977594 597 ddetanimiimEl

+2 -298

298 298 ddetanimiimEl

dd

To

va

* ng goiout

latTo

dilva38671,

71,

TDng

38671, 38671, 38671, 71,

38671, 38671, 38671,

38671,


Independent

General Election: 24 May 2007 Ros Comain Liatroim Theas

Roscommon Leitrim South




§ Frank Feighan 9,103 19.76% 0.79 4 Made Quota 1

° Michael Finneran 9,982 21.66% 0.87 4 Made Quota 2

° Denis Naughten 8,928 19.38% 0.78 4 Elected 3

° John Ellis 7,915 17.18% 0.69 (4) Not Elected

John Kelly8 4,539 9.85% 0.39 (3) Eliminated

Martin Kenny 3,876 8.41% 0.34 (2) Eliminated

Garreth McDaid 836 1.81% 0.07 (1) No expenses

Hughie Baxter 832 1.81% 0.07 (1) No expenses

Noel O'Gara 66 0.14% 0.01 (1) No expenses

Total poll 46,077 73.80%

° outgoing TD for a different area § outgoing Senator

42:noitceEllarenGemiortaiLniamCosRo

Ro

7002yaM4m Theas

SitiL

ht

Seat3 ecEl

didnCa

ommocsRoeaArgo iSl uanno(C


etad ytrPa 1st

SmirtieLnot)hgu

esdatandi 4 atoQu

efrP eraSh atoQu nuCo

htuo

sountC4 025,11:

tn sutaSt taSe

§ ank Fr

° ahcMi

° sinDe

° nhJo

nhJo

ghanFeiank 1039,

narenniFlea 9829,

nethguNas 9288,

sillE 9157,

ylleK 8 5394,

103 7619. % 790. 4

982 6621. % 870. 4

928 3819. % 780. 4

915 18%17. 690. )(4

539 85%9. 390. )(3

atouQedMa 1

atouQedMa 2

detceEl 3

dteclet Eo N

dteainlim E

nitrMa

errGa

hgHu

O'leNo

platTo

n ynnKe 8763,

diDacMhte 836

retxaBei 832

arGaO'

llop 07746,

876 41%8. 340. )(2

836 81%1. 070. )(1

832 81%1. 070. )(1

66 14%0. 010. )(1

077 80%73.

dteainlim E

sesnepx eo N

sesnepx eo N

o N esexpens

° ng goiout§ ng goiout

eaarenterffdia orfTDng orenatSng

General Election: 24 May 2007 Ros Comain Liatroim Theas

Roscommon Leitrim South



Transfer of votes from

McDaid and Baxter and O'Gara


Kenny


Kelly

Candidate Party Count 1 Count 2 Count 3 Count 4

+404 +914 +1,644 § Frank Feighan

9,103 9,507 10,421 12,065

+153 +394 +1,488 ° Michael Finneran

9,982 10,135 10,529 12,017

+426 +316 +1,378 ° Denis Naughten

8,928 9,354 9,670 11,048

+145 +1,287 +303 ° John Ellis

7,915 8,060 9,347 9,650

+300 +683 -5,522 John Kelly8

4,539 4,839 5,522 Eliminated

+242 -4,118 Martin Kenny


-836 Garreth McDaid

836 Eliminated

-832 Hughie Baxter

832 Eliminated

-66 Noel O'Gara

66 Eliminated

Non-transferable papers not effective +64 64

+524 588

+709 1,297

Total valid 46,077 46,077 46,077 46,077

° outgoing TD for a different area § outgoing Senator

42:noitceEllarenGemiortaiLniamCosRo

ommocsRo

2yaM4 007saehTm

SmirtieLno

htuo

Seat3 ecEl

ommocsRo

eaArgo iSl uanno(C


SmirtieLno

t)hgu

esdatandi 4 atoQu

oferfansTresvot mofr

diaDMc oferfansTr

htuo

sountC4 025,11:

oferfansTr

didnCa

§ F knra

° Michael

etad ytrPa nuCo

k ghanFei1039,

hael annnerFi9829,

diaDMc

and retxBa

and arGaO'

oferfansTromrfesvot

ynnKe

tn 1 tnuCo 2 tnuCo 3

+404 +914103 5079, 42110,

+153 +394982 13510, 52910,

oferfansTromrfesvot

yllKe

tnuCo 4

644+1,06512,

8488+1,01712,

° D s eni

° nhJo

nhJo

nitrMa

s nethguNa9288,

sillE9157,

8ylleK 8

5394,

ynneKn

+426 +3166928 3549, 6709,

+145 2877+1,915 0608, 3479,

+300 +6833539 8394, 5225,

+242 - 11884,

8378+1,04811,

3+3036509,

- 5225,dddetanimiimEl

nitrMa

errGa

hgHu

O'leNo

ynneKn8763,

diDacMhte836

retxaBei832

arGaO'

876 1184, ddetanimiiEl

-836836 ddetaninmiimEl



nNo -tr

latTo

° ng goiout§ ng goiout

etivceffeffft eo nsrepa plebareffesnatr

dilva 46,

eaarenterffdia orfTDng orenatSng

+6464

+524588

077 07746, 07746,

+7092971,

07746,

General Election: 24 May 2007 Dun na nGall Thiar Theas

Donegal South West

Donegal Area (Ulster)




* Mary Coughlan 10,530 26.42% 1.06 1 Made Quota 1

* Pat Gallagher1

9,606 24.10% 0.96 2 Made Quota 2

* Dinny McGinley 9,167 23.00% 0.92 3 Made Quota 3

Pearse Doherty 8,462 21.23% 0.85 (3) Not Elected

Seamus Rodgers 1,111 2.79% 0.11 (2) No expenses

Sean O Maolchallann 589 1.48% 0.06 (2) No expenses

John Doherty2

388 0.97% 0.04 (2) No expenses



Total poll 40,274 66.21%

* outgoing TD

42:noitceEllarenGe

raihTllGanannDu

oSlagenDoaeArlagenDo tels(U

7002yaM4

Theas

tseWhtuor)te

Seat3

ecEl

didnCa

* yrMa

* GtPa

sSeat datandiC7

82960,e:atort

etad ytrPa 1st

nalhguoC 10,

rehgalla 1

esdat sountC3

469,9:atoQu

efrP1st eraSh atoQu Co

53010, 4226. % 061. 1

6069, 1024. % 960. 2

tnuCo sutaSt taSe

atouQedMa 1

atouQedMa 2

* ynnDi

sraPe

maSe

naSe

DnhJo

yelnGicMy

ytrehoDe

sregdoRsu

nnallahcloaMO

ytrehoD2

1679, 0023. % 920. 3

4628, 23%21. 850. )(3

1111, 79%2. 110. )(2

589 48%1. 060. )(2

388 97%0. 040. )(2

atouQedMa 3

) dteclet Eo N

) sesnepx eo N

) sesnepx eo N

) sesnepx eo N

valatTo

vtlioSp

platTo

* ng goiout

dilva 39,

setov

llop 40,

TDng

85339, 52%65.

421 05%1.

27440, 21%66.

Donegal South West

Donegal Area (Ulster)



Transfer of

surplus from

Coughlan

Transfer of

votes from

Rodgers

and O Maolchallann

and Doherty

Candidate Party Count 1 Count 2 Count 3

-566

* Mary Coughlan

10,530 9,964 9,964

+370

* Pat Gallagher1

9,606 9,976 9,976

+82 +1,032

* Dinny McGinley

9,167 9,249 10,281

+89 +712

Pearse Doherty

8,462 8,551 9,263

+9 -1,120

Seamus Rodgers


+7 -596

Sean O Maolchallann

589 596 Eliminated

+9 -397

John Doherty2

388 397 Eliminated

Non-transferable papers not effective

+369

369

Total valid 39,853 39,853 39,853

* outgoing TD

oSlagenDo

tseWhtuo

Seat3

ecEl

aeArlagenDo tels(U

sSeat datandiC7

82960,e:atort

r)te

esdat sountC3

469,9:atoQu

oferfansTr

morfs ulprsu and O Ma

oferfansTr

omrfesvot

srrsegdRo

nnallahcloMa

didnCa

* yrMa

* GtPa

* Di

etad ytrPa Co

nalhguoC10,

1rehgalla

1

lGiM

morfs ulprsu

nalhguCo

and O Ma

and

tnuCo 1 tnuCo 2

-566653010, 9649,

+37006069, 9769,

+822

nnallahcloMa

and ytrehDo

tnuCo 3

9649,

9769,

032+1,

* ynnDi

sraPe

maSe

Sean

yelnGicMy

ytrehoDe

sregdoRsu

O nnallahcloMa

1679, 2499,

+894628, 5518,

+91111, 1201,

+77589 596

+1,28110,

+7122639,

- 1201,ddetanimiimEl

-596ddetanimiimEl

DnhJo

nNo -tr

latTo

2ytrehoD

2

etivceffeffft eo nsrepa plebareffesnatr

dilva 39,

+9388 397

85339, 85339,

7-397ddetanimiimEl

+369369

85339,

* ng goiout

TDng


• Cancer Services & Sligo General Hospital

• Commercial Rates, Jobs & More Jobs• P.A.Y.E. Workers• Infrastructure• Water Charges & Domestic

Meter Charges• Banks & Bankers• Home Owners in Negative Equity• Closing our Airports while

exporting our People• Respect for our Senior Citizens• Garda Stations

By John McTigue

Inclusion Ireland are worried that citizenswith an intellectual disability may be disen-franchised come polling day. Due to anti-quated legislation and neglect from theoutgoing government people over 18 butwith an intellectual disability may be deniedtheir right to vote come polling day.

The Fianna Fail-PD government signedup to the UN Convention on the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities in March 2007.Despite this the government have still toupdate legislation to bring it in line with theconvention.

The issue in relation to voting concernsthe right of the adult individual to maketheir own decisions. As it stands the legisla-tion defining the ability of an intellectuallydisabled person to make their own decisionsdates from 1871. This legislation providesfor an individual being made a ‘Ward of theCourt’ in which case many of their basicrights are stripped. This legislation must beupdated if it is to brought in line with theconvention the government signed up to.

Inclusion Ireland, is the national associa-tion for people with an intellectual disabil-ity. They have highlighted this lack of legalsupport. In a press release from March2010, the organisation identified the ab-sence of a definition of ‘capacity’ as the cruxof the issue.

“Ireland does not have any legislation thatgives a definition of what capacity is andhow it can be judged so it is down to indi-viduals to decide. Inclusion Ireland is awareof people being refused access to vote, withno recourse to object to this, given that vot-ing takes place over one day.”

They also say that there should be a pre-sumption of capacity, that is it must beproven that an individual does not have ca-pacity before their rights can be infringed.

The Northwest Express spoke with In-clusion Ireland who said no movement hasbeen made on the issue.

“It’s something we’ve been crying out forand there’s been no progress.”

The absence of defining legislation meansthe individual presiding officer is put underimmense pressure to make their own call.Leaving such a delicate decision up to anunqualified individual without any legal ref-erence leaves citizens with an intellectualdisability open to disenfranchisement.

The National Intellectual DisabilityDatabase lists over 25,000 people in Irelandas having an intellectual disability. Many ofthese people live in northwest and theirright to vote should be supported by lawand legislation must be brought into linewith the UN Convention on the Rights ofPersons with Disabilites which this nationhas pledged to honour. Inclusion Irelandrun voting workshops to inform peoplewith intellectual disabilities. “The purposeof the workshops is to support people bygiving them the practical informationneeded, in order to vote.”

A workshop will take place in Dublin onWednesday, 23rd February. Interested peo-ple can contact Inclusion Ireland for furtherinformation. There is an online petition totake action on this lack of full legal protec-tion for people with intellectual disabilities.(Disclosure – this journalist signed the pe-tition) Found at http://www.inclusionire-land.ie/signup.as

Legal Gaps Could Disenfranchise Intellectually Disabled

BUILDER MICK WALLACE ISamong a number of independent can-didates that are set to win seats in thenext Dáil when the country goes tothe polls next Friday.

A virtual poll being run onBoards.ie since February 4, has ac-crued nearly 14,000 votes with mem-bers of the site ranking candidates intheir constituency in order of prefer-ence, the same as on a ballot paper.

So far it shows that independentcandidates are set to make big gains atthe general election.

Wallace, a political activist whose

construction company has gainedprominence from displaying his polit-ical views on its hoardings, tops thepoll with a 30.4 per cent share of thevote in the five-seat Wexford con-stituency.

Two independents could be electedin Dublin South-East with entrepre-neur Dylan Haskins currently toppingthe poll there with an 18.7 per centshare of the vote.

Markets analyst and economiccommentator Paul Somerville couldalso be elected in the constituency, heis currently on 17.9 per cent.

Luke Ming Flanagan, a social cam-paigner, could be elected in Roscom-mon South Leitrim where he holds amassive 45 per cent of the vote, wellahead of anyone else in the poll.

Thomas Pringle could be elected inDonegal South-West where he is cur-rently polling second behind SinnFéin’s Pearse Doherty.

Elsewhere, David McCarthy, an in-dependent in Micheál Martin’s con-stituency of Cork South-Central, iscurrently polling above the Fianna Failleader with both set to take two of thefive seats in the constituency.

In Dublin South, independent sen-ator and business editor of the SundayIndependent, Shane Ross is leadingthe poll with 30.5 per cent of the voteso far.

www.inclusionireland.ie/signup.as

Mick Wallace among high profile Independents set to do well at election

Mick Wallace

Luke Ming Flanagan

Northwest Express - February 21 2011

Documents

Transcript of Northwest Express - February 21 2011