blanch

Field of dreams: Local firm wins business competitionGEORGE Howlett and Philip Gillen, directors of local firm, Safefood 360, proudly show off their award after they were announced winners of the LINC JumpStart 2011 Annual Business Competition recently.

As winners of the competition they received a prize worth €25,000. Safefood 360 is a web-based safety management system.

Full Story on Page 5

€6m for work onvital N2- N3 link route

LAURA WEBB

CONSTRUCTION on a vital piece of infrastructure in Dub-lin West linking the N2 to the N3 will get underway this Sep-tember following the allocation of €6m worth of funding by the Department of Transport.

Transport Minister and local TD Leo Varadkar said: “This is a major breakthrough for the transport network in Dublin West, as the road will provide

a crucial link between the N2 and the N3.

“The new road will relieve traffic on the N3 in the Mul-huddart and Hollystown areas, and open up new industrial lands in north Blanchards-town for job creation. The total cost of the project is €24m but some €15m will be recovered from levies imposed on land owners and developers.”

Full Story on Page 3

YOUR COMMUNITY • YOUR PAPER August 18, 2011

ALSOINSIDE: GALLERIES ....................10

MOTORS ........................18

BUSINESS .................... 21

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

ENTERTAINMENT ........ 24

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

Football: St Peregrine’s ladies maintain run in Cup tiePage 31

Cycling: Local rider takes Euro track gold in ItalyPage 32

RECYCLE THIS COPY. KEEP DUBLIN TIDY.

INSIDE: Remembering a blooming good

fl ower festival P10

EXHIBITION: Show of paintings and photographs of bygone era See Page 8

FREE GAZETTEGAZETTEBlanch

Discovering

Limerick’s

hidden

treasures

TRAVEL: P22 & 23

2 BLANCH GAZETTE 18 August 2011

LAURA WEBB

[email protected]

A LOCAL estate was held to “ransom” when out-of-control youths pelted council work-ers, who were attempting to fix a broken fire hydrant, with stones in Dublin 15.

The attack on the council staff has been condemned by local Fine Gael council-lor Kieran Dennison who said: “How in a city like

Dublin can this type of thing happen, that a group of kids can hold a whole estate to ransom like that? It is just unacceptable.”

“The council staff tried to fix it and they were stoned. They had no option but to turn off the whole water to the estate.”

Council staff were finally forced to cut off the water supply to the entire Fort-lawn area in an attempt to

deal with the situation.Speaking to the Gazette, a

spokesperson for FCC con-firmed there was “interfer-ence with fire hydrants in both Wellview and Fortlawn Estates”.

Fingal said that normal water supply was restored a few days later adding: “Because of water conservation issues through-out the Dublin Region, avoid-able water wastage cannot be tolerated.

“Fingal County Council apologises for having to take drastic action to deal with these situations. Residents are encouraged to report any inci-dents of criminal damage like this in the future, including the identity of any vandals, so the council and the gardai can take appropriate action,” the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, Councillor Dennison said he was urging parents to see if their children

were involved in the incident: “I would ask parents in the area to check to see if their kids were involved and to what extent.

“Obviously these kids have parents somewhere, and most

likely in the estate and there seems to be no parental con-trol or parental interest in what happened. It was probably the first good weather for a while, and obviously someone had the bright idea to do this.”

LAURA WEBB

THE HSE dismissed claims by the Socialist Party that it plans to turn the accident and emer-gency service at Connolly Hospital into a daytime-only service.

According to local Councillor Ruth Cop-

Youths pelt council workers with stones in D15ATTACK Local estate is held to ‘ransom’ by group of kids

HSE denies daytime-only plan for A&E at Connolly Hospital

HEALTH: AUTHORITY RESPONDS TO SOCIALIST PARTY CONCERNS

Launch: Roses

red-dy to helpTHE Rose of Tralee International Festival 2011 finalists helped celebrate the launch of the new Carlton Hotel in Blanchardstown recently. Formerly The Plaza Hotel, Tyrrel-stown, the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown was launched in the company of the 32 Roses.

The Carlton Hotel Group is one of the main sponsors of the Rose of Tralee, and every year the Roses begin their Official Rose Tour at the Carlton Hotel Dublin Airport. This year the location of the Ball was changed to the new Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown to coincide with its launch. The Roses then travelled to Carlton Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe in Co Galway on Wednesday and met their escorts at the Carlton Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick yesterday. On Friday they were due to arrive at the Carlton Hotel Tralee for the world-famous festival. Pictured is last year’s Rose of Tralee winner, Clare Kambamettu with Daithi O Se.

Stations are to be upgradedA NUMBER of Dublin 15 train stations are set to be refurbished on the Maynooth line as part of a €2m upgrade project.

The stations will include Ashtown, Castleknock and Coolmine.

We l c o m i n g t h e announcement by the Department of Trans-port, local TD and Min-ister Joan Burton said the objective of the project would be to “enhance customer’s facilities and presentation at train sta-tions along the Maynooth line”.

“This is to be greatly welcomed as the May-nooth line is one of the fastest-growing routes in the Irish Rail network with approximately 15,000 passenger jour-neys daily.

“In recent years, the fre-quency of the service has improved and the MP3 Parkway Docklands route was introduced. However, the stations have not been upgraded since they were constructed and are in need of modernisation. These works will provide a more welcoming envi-ronment for customers and it is anticipated that the works will be com-pleted by the end of the year.”

pinger (SP) the HSE is currently costing a day-time-only accident and emergency service for Connolly.

This week the local councillor called on the HSE to clarify its plans for the A&E service at Connolly.

But when contacted by the Gazette, a HSE spokesperson said: “(The) HSE Dublin North East must comply with its statutory obligations and remain within its allocated budget.

“Every effort will be made to do that in a way that has the least impact on patients and clients.”

Management at the

hospital are examining all options to ensure they remain within budget by year end.

“There is no plan to change the role and func-tion of the Emergency Department at Connolly Hospital.”

Resisted

Representatives of the Socialist Party in Dublin West, including Joe Hig-gins TD and Cllr Cop-pinger, say any attempt to downgrade Connolly will be “resisted by the community who depend on it”.

“Staffing of the A&E and hospital generally has been run down to

intolerable levels. “There are now only

half the number of reg-istrars required for casu-alty, with nursing levels pared back and all locum recruitment banned by a formal instruction to hospital management in a threatening letter of July 22,” said Cllr Cop-pinger.

“If the HSE is allowed to downgrade to an 8am-8pm A&E, the entire hospital would effectively be downgraded. It would also place huge pressure on the A&E at Mater, Beaumont and other Dublin hospitals, already under strain.

“Savage cuts in the

order of €20 million have taken place in the hos-pital’s budgets in recent years. This is in the con-text of a greatly-increased population in greater Blanchardstown and the wider catchment,” she added.

Meanwhile, local TD and Minister for Trans-port, Sport and Tourism Leo Varadkar accused the Socialist party of “exploit-ing concerns over Con-nolly Hospital’s Emer-gency Department”.

“The HSE has con-firmed that there are no plans to ‘change the role and function’ of the emer-gency department in the hospital.

“This hasn’t stopped the Socialist Party from running to the barricades and stoking up concerns for its own political ends.

“Instead of trying to find practical solutions to the deep problems afflicting Ireland, time and again the Socialist Party prefers to indulge in cheap rhetoric.

“Fortunately, the Government prefers to take a more level-headed approach. I will be meet-ing with Health Minister James Reilly to discuss the finances at Connolly Hospital, and to high-light the need to safe-guard critical services,” he said.

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18 August 2011 BLANCH GAZETTE 3

Teams to battle it out in aid of St FrancisMEMBERS of An Garda Siochana and Dublin Fire Brigade will bat it out in a cricket show-down at the Phoenix Park in aid of St Francis Hospice in Blanchards-town later this week.

Cricket is the chosen sport for the charity match between mem-bers of An Garda Sio-chana and Dublin Fire Brigade. The game will take place on Friday, August 19. Local Blan-chardstown s is ters , Clodagh and Louise, are running the event in memory of their late father.

On the day there will be a range of raffle prizes with tickets being sold in advance of the game and on the day. Buckets will also be on hand to help with fun-draising.

CRICKET TRANSPORT Works due to begin in September

Local TD and Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar says he is hopeful the new road will relieve traffic

€6 million worth of funding for vital infrastructure

LAURA WEBB

[email protected]

CONSTRUCTION on a vital piece of infrastruc-ture in Dublin West, linking the N2 to the N3, will get underway this September following the allocation of €6 million worth of funding by the Department of Trans-port.

It’s hoped the new link will relieve traffic on the N3 between Clonee and Blanchardstown.

The first phase of the road, from Clonee/Damastown to Tyrrel-stown is the only part of the link road complete. This final phase is con-structing a road between Tyrrelstown and the Cherryhound junction on the N2.

Once the final part of the road is complete, local TD and Minister for Transport Leo Var-adkar said he was hope-ful that the new road will relieve traffic on the N3 between Clonee and Blanchardstown, on the Ratoath Road through Hollystown, and the rural road that currently links Hollystown to Tyr-relstown.

Planning permission is already in place, and Fingal County Council has approved a con-tractor to carry out the work, due to start in September.

The Department made the €6 million funding available under the con-dition that the money is spent this year. The fund-ing for this project was diverted from another road project that has stalled.

The Minister said the funding represented a major breakthrough as the road has been planned for years, but was never progressed due to a lack of finance.

“I am very pleased to allocate €6 million to this important road project. This is a major break-through for the transport network in Dublin West, as the road will provide a crucial link between the

N2 and the N3.“The new road will

relieve traffic on the N3 in the Mulhuddart and Hollystown areas, and open up new industrial lands in north Blan-chardstown for job crea-tion. The total cost of the project is €24 million but some €15 million will be recovered from levies imposed on land owners and developers.”

Meanwhile, local Cllr Kieran Dennison (FG) added: “This new road will take north bound traffic away from local roads in Blanchards-town, and provide better access to business parks and residential areas such as Hollystown and Tyrrelstown. It will eventually form part of an outer ring route from the Naas road to the M1 north of the airport.

“I have long cam-paigned for funding for this project and I’m delighted that Minis-ter Varadkar has given

approval.“This road also clears

the way for development of a large retail park,

One Five West, beside the Park Plaza Hotel at Tyrrelstown,” Cllr Den-nison added.


Call our NEWS TEAM on 60 10 240 or

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SUMMER Many politicians planning staycations

TDs divulge their plans for a holiday

HIROMI MOONEY,

LAURA WEBB AND PAUL

HOSFORD

WITH everyone tighten-ing their belts and count-ing the pennies, most TDs are planning staycations this summer.

This week, the Gazette chats to them about their favourite holiday spots and how they plan to relax over the summer break.

Tourism Minister and TD for Dublin West Leo Varadkar is also joining the staycation clan with a holiday in Ireland this summer. However, he does hope to spend some time in either New York or Spain too: “I’m taking at least one holiday in Ire-land this year, and would encourage everyone to do the same. There are some great deals to be had in Ireland, even at this late stage. All the signs sug-gest the tourism industry is picking up this year, which is great news for our economy. I also hope the Jobs Initiative, which focused heavily on the tourism sector, will help to kick-start economic recovery and create jobs.

“For myself, I intend to take a few days in Kerry. I’ll be staying near Killar-

ney, where the Tourism & Sport sections of my Department are located. But I intend to get plenty of time off to explore the county.”

Meanwhile, Dublin North Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell says that he will not be holidaying abroad this year due to “the immi-nent arrival of my first child”, but says that he may visit his sister’s fam-ily in Louisburgh, County Mayo.

“I regularly visit Lou-isburgh, both off-peak and during the summer months, and, is an ideal place to relax after busy periods in political life,” he says. “I would certainly encourage people to holi-day at home and spend their money in the Irish economy.”

Minister for Children and Dublin Mid West TD, Frances Fitzgerald, is a huge fan of West Cork and says she plans to visit friends in Schull and spend time in Connemara this August.

“This summer I will be spending time in Conne-mara, which is one of my favourite places in Ire-land. I plan to revisit West Cork as I have had some fantastic family holidays

there in Schull over the years.”

One of the two women in the Cabinet with a sen-ior portfolio, the Minister also plans to catch up on some books: “I have been inundated with recom-mendations from friends so I have a nice pile accu-mulating. I am looking forward to reading Room, by Emma Donoghue and also A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan.”

But the mum of three says it will be a shorter break than usual, adding: “My summer break won’t be long as I have a lot of work going to do in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs so most of my time during the Dáil recess will be spent work-ing in our new office in Mespil Road.”

Meanwhile, In Dun Laoghaire, Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore also plans to holiday in Ire-land while Dublin South TD, Olivia Mitchell, who recently became a grand-mother again, said she plans to spend as much time as she can with her grandchildren.

Fellow Dublin South TD, Alex White, says that he was going to Portugal

with his family during the last week of July and spending the rest of his time in Ireland.

“During August I’ll be spending time in Wex-ford, Kerry and in County Sligo. I plan to bring my bike and to enjoy long summer evenings cycling the country roads of rural Ireland,” he says.

Independen t TD Shane Ross says he plans to holiday with his fam-ily by travelling by boat from Rosslare to Fish-guard in Wales, drive south and then take the ferry to France. He goes to France almost every year, and says that he also hopes to travel to the west of Ireland this year.

And Fine Gael TD for Dublin South, Peter Mathews, also hopes to spend some time on the west coast of Ireland. He says that he is looking forward to his summer break. “I enjoy the west coast. We’ve been up in Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and maybe this year, we might go down towards Kerry,” he says. “We hope to enjoy the local countryside and the people and any of the events that might be hap-pening in the areas that we’re going to.”

Minister Leo Varadkar would encourage everyone to holiday in Ireland while Minister Fitzgerald TD plans to spend time in Connemara


JUMPSTART Safefood 360 receives €25,000 prize

Dublin 15 firm wins business competition

LAURA WEBB

A DUBLIN 15 company has been given a major business boost after win-ning the 2011 JumpStart Competition.

Local business, Safe-food 360, was announced the winner of the annual competition recently at a special ceremony with judge and Dragon Den star, Gavin Duffy, pre-senting them with their award.

The winners of the competition, organised by The LINC, ITB, received a prize worth €25,000.

Safefood 360 is a web-based safety management system. It allows food processing businesses

manage all aspects of food safety in one fully integrat-ed solution. Owners and co-founders Philip Gil-len and George Howlett are both experienced in the technology and food industry. The company was launched in April 2011 and the software application has received a very warm welcome from the food industry globally and has already received interest from plants on all five continents.

“Clearly the winners, Safefood 360, showed the benefits of start-ups being well supported in an incu-bator programme like the LINC. The Special Award to Woods Whelans is merited because Brendan

Woods demonstrates all the qualities of an entre-preneur driving a start-up with great potential,” said Duffy.

Meanwhile, Lucia O’Riordan, Regional Retail and SME Man-ager, AIB added: “AIB is delighted to be the lead sponsor of JumpStart for the second year. The standard this year was very high, which made the judges’ job difficult. Safefood have made great strides in developing their business model to-date – this was clearly dem-onstrated in their presen-tation and they deserve this recognition. Brendan Woods, of Woods Whe-lan, shows clear determi-

George Howlett (left) and Philip Gillen, directors of Safefood 360, winners of the

LINC JumpStart 2011 Annual Business Competition, pictured with Lucia O’Riordan,

Regional Retail and SME manager of AIB

nation in developing his software and I am sure we will hear more about Brendan in the future.”

The four companies shortlisted for JumpStart 2011 were Woods Whe-lan Ltd., 2020feedback.com, Safefood 360 and ZUP Manufacturing and Distribution Ltd.

Each company was judged by a panel of well-known entrepreneurs,

including the Dragon Den’s Gavin Duffy, Lucia O’Riordan, Regional Retail and SME man-ager, AIB, yourlocal.ie managing director, Emer Jameson, bizstartup.ie editor Sorcha Corcoran, Oisin Geoghegan, Fingal County Enterprise Board and Assumpta Harvey, manager,The LINC.

Oisin Geoghegan, CEO Fingal County Enter-

prise Board, said there had been a particularly high quality in this year’s entries: “The quality of applications for JumpStart 2011 was very high and it ensured a lively and thor-ough discussion among the judges.”

Jump Start 2011 is proudly supported by AIB and, Fingal County Enterprise Board and Enterprise Ireland.

Sweet time for SocietyR E H E A R SA L S f o r the Coolmine Musi-cal Society’s next big stage production are to begin next week dur-ing an information and enrolment night for new members.

They will be bringing the show, Sweet Charity, to Draiocht this Novem-ber but, before the big event, practise must make perfect and rehearsals are set to begin this Monday, August 22.

Sweet Charity is a show that captures the rhythm, sounds and fun of 60’s New York.

Sweet Charity will run from November 15 to 19 in Draiocht. Rehears-als for the show will start on Monday, August 22 with an Information and Enrolment Night in Scoil OIlibhéir, Coolmine at 7.45pm.

For further information contact the society’s sec-retary at [email protected]

DRAIOCHT


Irish lore inspires a modern horse unit

HIROMI MOONEY

DISBANDED in 1919 due to civil unrest, it would be almost a centu-ry before a new mounted unit was established by the Gardai in the grounds of Aras an Uachtarain, in the Phoenix Park.

While there had been numerous attempts to re-establish the unit, it would only be when the North Yorkshire disbanded, allowing the Gardai to acquire the horses and equipment, that Garda Commissioner at the time, Pat Byrne, decided to set it up as a national unit in May, 1998.

The facilities include a 15-horse box stable, with a yard, tack rooms, a wash room, paddocks and an all-weather training sand arena that is used for pub-lic order training.

They operate as an operational support unit, alongside the air, dog and water support units.

Today, the mounted support unit comprises 14 indigenous Irish Draught geldings, two civilian sup-port staff, 12 Gardai, and

Sergeant Brendan Duffy.All of the horses are

named after Irish folklore figures – Cumhall, Deag-lan, Lir, Connall, Conn, Donagh, Fiachra, Cian, Embarr, Setanta, Fionn Rua, Ruairi, Lorcan and Finn.

The horses serve on average up to 13 years in the unit before retiring, with 15-year-old Lir cur-rently the largest horse, measuring 19 hands.

Four-year-old Embarr is the newest, having joined the unit in June, and is sponsored by Horse Sport Ireland.

And, although Embarr’s the new kid on the block, Sgt Duffy says he has been getting on well since join-ing the unit.

“He’s still a baby, so we’re not going to rush him. He’s still doing patrols in the park, and kind of getting used to meeting and greeting peo-ple,” he says.

The mounted unit has a variety of duties, but shares the same duties as their colleagues on the ground. They operate based on both proactive deployment (which is self-determined deployment), and reactive deployment (which is deployment when requested).

“Our main duties are high-visibility proactive policing, dealing with crowd control at major events, and public order events on occasion,” says Sgt Duffy.

“We do open ground and rough terra in searches, on occasion, for missing people, or for evidence, and we tend to do a lot of community engagements as well, with community schools, com-munity group visits and special needs visits.”

When joining the Force, the horses must be between four and six years

of age, be even-coloured, pass a vetting, be a mini-mum of 16.3 hands and have a six-week trial with the unit.

The trial will determine whether they are temper-amental, and are capable of facing various obstacles without panicking. This means that only one in every 10 horses that are trialled is chosen.

The in-house train-ing is a slow process that involves gradually introducing the horses to various hazards, and building confidence in dealing with smoke and other obstacles that they may be faced with whilst on duty.

“With a young horse, what we start doing is lunging them – circling them around with a long reign – and eventually we start riding them in our all-weather arena, slowly introducing them to walk-ing over tyres, plastic – let them see different things – and drape flags over their heads,” says Sgt Duffy.

“Then, we slowly start to introduce them to slow traffic – you know, it’s not

Heroes of old provide fitting inspiration for a thoroughly modern Garda support unit

POLICING The Gazette learns all about how Garda horses

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‘Our primary function is to police on the horses, but we do everything else as well’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Sgt Brendan Duffy- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mounted Gardai officers, Richie Owens and Lisa Halligan, going out

Garda horses, Fiachra and Cian. Pictures: Paddy Barrett

busy in the Park.“If you see that they’re

getting fearful of some-thing, you don’t keep pushing them. You back off, and you try again the next day, and you try and encourage them.

“Eventually they build up this level of trust – that’s the theory, anyway.

“Sometimes, they just don’t get it, but we should have that identified dur-ing the six-week trial.

“At the end of the day, they’re horses. They’re ‘fight or flight’ animals – that’s their two instincts, and they’re prey animals, so they think that every-thing bigger than them is going to eat them, and their first reaction is they want to go.

“You have to try and

get over their natural instinct to flight, and to try and build up this level of trust, that they start get-ting accustomed to it and start getting happy with it; that there’s no major threat here.

“Then, with the younger horse, we bring them out with older, more estab-lished horses, and they draw confidence from the other horse.

“Horses work particu-larly well in public order situations, or with big-ger numbers [of people], because they have reas-surance – they’re back in the herd.

“That’s the way you have to think about it. You have to try and get into their heads and see,” says Sgt Duffy.

The horses are at work every day, whether they are on patrol or crowd control duties. They have an 8am to 4pm shift, a 2pm to 10pm shift, and also a night shift, on Fri-day and Saturday nights.

They also work accord-ing to particular events, such as outdoor concerts, when required.

“Our primary function is to police on the horses, but we do everything else as well. It’s all hands-on, then. If something needs to be done we’ll do it – it’s not selective.

“The main emphasis is that the horses are being worked, that they’re not flighty, that they’re ready for patrol, and that they’re well turned out,” says Sgt Duffy.

Part of the perfectly-kept setting of the Garda stables


are prepared for their support roles on the Force

on patrol with their

Some of the Garda horses look out from their immaculate stables

Sgt Brendan Duffy and Donnagh

The littlest member of the team, Fred, leads out Cumhall

Lir Embarr


With Jim LaceyPhone: 087-2401308

Email: [email protected]

Laurel LodgeCarpenterstown

An old photograph showcasing an event of historical note in the Dublin 15 area, with

an exhibition at Blanchardstown Library highlighting other fascinating events

FINGAL South West Heritage Society asked yours truly to

gather and select a col-lection of prints and pho-tographs of the Fingal South West area – which is, essentially, greater Blanchardstown/Castle-knock – with a view to exhibiting them for Her-itage Week.

I have a large collection of pictures and photo-graphs dating back to the time I was researching and writing A Candle In The Window – A History of the Barony of Castle-knock.

Many of these images appeared in the book, but many didn’t, owing to pressure of space, and some appeared in black and white where full colour would have been better.

Some of my favourite pictures have now been selected, cleaned up, where necessary, and

enlarged, where possible, and will go on display in the foyer of Blanchards-town Library next Sat-urday, August 20, until the following Saturday, August 27.

The official launch of the exhibition will take place on Monday, August 22 at 6.30pm, when Labour councillor Gerry McGuire, the Mayor of Fingal, will perform the official opening of the exhibition.

The exhibition consists

of 62 images, including paintings and photo-graphs – the work of Fr Eugene Kennedy, who greatly assisted me when I was writing my book, which I am now delighted to present in the full col-our that these beautiful works of art deserve.

There are the magnifi-cent landscape paintings of this area, executed by Gabriel Beranger in the 1760s and 1770s.

I also sourced images relating to this area from

THE Castleknock Lions recently elected Alan Halford as their new

president. Alan, a member of Castleknock Lions since 1994, when the club was first char-tered, previously served as president in 2005.

He has held many senior positions in Lions Club Ire-land, and is a former Vice-Dis-trict Governor for Lions clubs in Ireland.

The Lions District Cabinet

presented him with the Bert Mason Humanitarian Award in 2010.

Alan has selected the Mes-sage in a Bottle project as his major project for his term of office.

This is an initiative that will be of great benefit to elderly and vulnerable people in the community.

The initiative is aimed at providing crucial information to emergency services when

they call to a household in dif-ficulty.

It entails placing a particular bottle in a fridge, containing all relevant medical details, such as their medication, allergies etc, relating to the occupants of the household.

ParticipantsInside the front door, beside

the lock, there will be a sign indicating that the household are participants in the scheme

and, on the front door of the fridge, there will be a similar notice.

The immediacy of the access to the medical information can save lives – but more of this in September, when the initiative is being launched.

Last week, the club sent 10 local children to Birr Activity Centre for an introduction to outdoor pursuits.

The club have been doing this for many years, and it has

been a great help to youngsters who might otherwise not get a summer break.

This year, for the first time, it included a photographic competition, also funded by the Lions.

So, there’s a busy time ahead for Alan and his colleagues in their work for Lions projects that support the community.

We will hear more of their work over the next few months.

Local Lions appoint Alan Halford as new president

FATHER Mick Cullen, PP St Thomas the Apos-tle Parish Laurel Lodge, is off on his annual walk to Santiago de Compost-ella again this year, in aid of St Francis Hospice, Blanchardstown.

It will be Fr Mick’s fourth walk on the Cami-no for the charity – a subject that readers will have seen many times in The Gazette.

This year, he is doing the final section – but with a change. This time, he will be approaching Santiago from the south – the Old Portuguese Pil-grim Trail.

Gruelling sunHe will be walking

22kms per day for six days, so it is a fairly stren-uous undertaking under a Spanish sun, and requires plenty of stamina.

The new St Francis Hospice is up and run-ning now, but still needs our continual support to help provide the services that are so important to its patients and their families.

Fr Mick is pragmatic; he knows that people are finding it tough in the present economic cli-mate, and says he will be glad of any sponsorship whatsoever.

SupportTo support Fr Mick’s

efforts, and to subscribe to a really worthwhile cause – St. Francis Hos-pice, Blanchardstown – contact the Parish Office Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Laurel Lodge in Dublin 15.

Alternatively, contact Fr Dan Joe O’Mahony in the Oratory, Yellow Entrance, Blanchards-town Shopping Centre.

You can also tele-phone the Parish Office at 01 820 8112, or 087 634 4248.

Fr Mick to walk again for Hospice

Exhibiting fascinating views of a bygone era

other collections in the National Gallery and the National Library.

Many of the old pho-tographs on display date back to the early 20th Century, and are the work of anonymous pho-tographers and, perhaps, this exhibition will help to reveal their identities.

The Fingal South West Heritage Society,

of which I am a member, gave much support, but so did many local people, such as Norah Comiskey, Sheila Browne, Maureen O’Rourke, Marie Cum-mins, Fr Eugene Kennedy, Gerry and Loretta Tynan, Celia Burke and Mary Eustace.

The National Gal-lery of Ireland, and The National Library, were

most kind in allowing me to exhibit pictures in their collections.

Finally, I want to thank the management and staff of Blanchardstown Library, who have always been unfailingly helpful.

So, come along next week and visit the exhibi-tion, and I feel sure that you will enjoy the images on display.

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‘The exhibition consists of 62 images, including paintings and photographs. Many of them date back to the early 20th Century, and are the work of anonymous photographers and, perhaps, this exhibition will help to reveal their identities.’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

R1

18 August 2011 BLANCH GAZETTE 9R1


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Cultivating young mindsat BloomM

EMBERS of staff from the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown, together with the students from St Philip’s,

Mountview, Clonsilla, attended the official opening of the ITB garden.

It was one of 27 stunning gardens on dis-play at Bloom, Ireland’s largest gardening, food and family event that took place during the June bank holiday weekend for five days.

This is the fifth year of the event and has been the most successful yet. Bloom attracted almost 90,000 visitors to the 70-acre site at the Visitor’s Centre in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.

The garden itself was officially launched by the children from the Gardening Club of St Philip’s, Mountview, Dublin 15, who helped to create the inserts for the water feature.

Kaleigh McEntee, Sinead Brady, Janice O’Riley and Saoirse DalyLee Daly

Emma Gilhooly and Sarah Maples

Megan Gallagher

Lauren Riordan

PICTURES Gazettephotos.com Spot anyone you know here?

18 August 2011 GAZETTE 11

12 GAZETTE 18 August 2011

PEOPLE Singer a Byrne natural to star in the hit musical

A delighted Mary’s up to her eyes in Grease

LAURA WEBB

MARY Byrne captured our imagination with her amazing singing voice when she starred on the multi-award-winning show, The X-Factor.

Now, she is taking cen-tre stage with a different role, as Teen Angel in Grease – The Musical, at the Grand Canal Theatre, a role she hopes she can make her own.

The Dublin mother-of-one has seen her life turned upside down – for all the right reasons – after appearing on the hugely popular TV show last year.

Since becoming a household name, Mary has gone on to achieve the kind of accomplish-ments that most sing-ers and artists can only dream of.

Speak ing to the

Gazette before the show started on August 9, Mary said she was excited about her new venture.

“I am excited and quite nervous as well. It is really the first time to do anything like this in my life, but I am absolutely looking forward to it, big-time!” she said.

Mary plays Teen Angel, a role that was played by a man in the original film, but, despite this, she

Despite her lack of experience, Mary byrne told The Gazette she was “delighted” with her role in the hit show

is determined to make it her own.

“There was only one other woman who played Teen Angel; a South Afri-can woman.

“I went over to see the show in Bedford, Leeds, and when I watched the show, I just thought: ‘God, I am not going to be able to do this’.

“Then, you realise the person that goes into the show puts a bit of them-selves into it, so I am

going to have to put a bit of me into it,” she said.

Being a huge fan of the film, Grease, Mary says it’s like a dream come true to be part of the show.

“I remember when it first came out; I dragged my nieces to see it so many times!

“I also bought the vinyl album, and the video when it came out first, and then I got the DVD, so I have always been a big fan. It is a dream

come true. I am really so honoured to be asked to do this.

“The show is just great. It has everything and more that the film has; it works so well on stage. People will just have so much fun – it’s great.”

If someone had told Mary five years ago that she would perform in front of millions on TV, sing for Queen Elizabeth II, and support a Neil Diamond concert in Ire-

land’s biggest stadium – the Aviva – Mary said she would have laughed at them, and asked: “What planet are you on?”

“I would have never dreamt anything like this would have happened. This is the stuff that fairy-tales are made of.

“You are expecting somewhere, along the line, that the Fairy God-mother will come along and say: ‘Okay, wake up now’.

“I am so grateful for the way my life has changed since I went on The X-Factor,” she said.

Acting as a future career for Mary is some-thing she might look at. “I said to someone the other day: ‘I would love to do a play or musical’.

“I have never had any experience in it. I have no training, but people put challenges up to me, and it is only in the last five years that I am really accepting the challenge and, when you accept the challenge, whether you can do it right or not, it makes you feel alive.

“Life is all about trying stuff. We can sit back and be bored out of our heads, or we can get up there, face the challenges and enjoy them – that is what I love doing,” she said.

Grease the Musical runs until August 27 at the Grand Canal Theatre.

For further informa-tion, see www.grandcan-altheatre.ie. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster.


GazetteMUSICMUSIC

Rap regency roll ROB HEIGH

COLLABORATIONS are the current corner-stone of most modern music, whether it be a “featuring” credit or a guest appearance from either a legend or someone completely unknown who the lead artist wants to propel into the spotlight.

Seldom is it the case that legends of a genre come together to cre-ate an entire project — although this is the month that Superheavy, which features the stel-lar talents of Mick Jag-ger, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart and son of Bob, Damian Marley, release the first music from their association — but

that is exactly what rap superstars Jay-Z and Kanye West have done on their new release. Finally, eight months after HAM, the first fruit of the collaboration that would come to be known as The Throne, comes the gold-plated, beat-encrusted Watch The Throne.

With Jay and Kanye insisting that this would be “no ring-in”, where most collaborations see artists recording in opposite sides of a coun-try, or even the planet, and their product being married together in a studio in another time zone, both these colos-sus of the rap game were in the same studio at the same time — something

that makes it a stronger, more coherent, album from start to finish.

And, to start at the beginning of the begin-n ing , when Kanye dropped the tempo on the Jackson 5’s I Want You Back to cre-ate the beat under Izzo (HOVA), a track that began to push Jay-Z into legend status, a marriage of minds was born.

Kanye provided pro-duction duties to some of the best tracks on The Blueprint , the album that defined, and still defines, Jay-Z’s career, and Hov return-ing the compliment later on that record, that “Kanyeeze you did it again, you a genius!”.

In return, Jay provided verses and suppor t throughout West’s still immense debut album, The College Dropout, these two giants of music coming together to create something more monolithic than their individual careers have delivered to date was inevitable.

Both Jay and Kanye are undoubtedly at the pinnacle of their careers; it would be debatable whether they were both at the top of their games. Jay’s Blue-print 3 featured some tracks that define him as a recording artist in the wider cultural hori-zon (Empire State of Mind, Run This Town) it was a sprawling and,

NEW RELEASE: JAY-Z AND KANYE WEST COME

Diamonds up: Kanye West and Jay-Z


out regal new release TOGETHER TO PRODUCE OFFICIAL COLLABORATION ALBUM

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at times, overinflated record.

Meanwhile, Kanye comes into this project on the back of one of the best records of the last decade, My Beauti-ful Dark Twisted Fan-tasy, that saw his imagi-nation as an artist and his production skills rise above any negative criticism thrown at him over recent years (“Even if it goes through Taylor Swift, tell her this”)

Watch The Throne, therefore, is an act of alchemy, the melting of minds and styles and skills to create some-thing more, but the same things said about the previous recordings by the pair ring true once again, still present

in the mix.It is an epically well-

produced record, taking some inspired samples (Otis Redding, Nina Simone, and the inevi-table James Brown) and beats to create another widescreen collage.

It’s a record so know-ing as to allow Kanye to drop in a Will Ferrell quote (“It doesn’t actu-ally mean anything, it’s provocative”) to lighten the tone with a self-deprecating moment, something Mr West would not previously be noted for.

But under the sur-face is the feeling that Kanye is the one push-ing the envelope, while Jay only sporadically provides the quality of

rhymes and verses that his long-time fans know he is capable of.

But when the fates conspire and the light hits the throne right, there are some mag-nificent moments here, and you remember why every release by the two kings remain an occa-sion deserving of a pub-lic holiday.

There are more ideas than only one record can contain, and that’s maybe why it feels as though there are bet-ter things to come. And the ongoing sense that when Jay-Z and Kanye West work togeth-er, something really inspired and historic will appear. Long may they reign.

The opulent cover of Watch the Throne, by Italian

designer Riccardo Tisci

Models Teo Sutra and Angelica Salomao were pictured indulging in Afternoon Tea with a stylish twist as Carton

House, one of Ireland’s most luxurious hotels, officially opened the doors of the most fashionable café in the

heart of Dublin – Browns Bar & Cafe by Carton House, which is housed within the iconic department store

A fabulous new cafe for Brown ThomasBROWNS Bar & Cafe by Car-ton House will be housed on the lower ground level of the Brown Thomas flagship store on Grafton Street.

Cathal Kavanagh, executive chef and creative mind in the kitchen at Carton House, has chosen a selection of some of the most popular and mouth-water-ing dishes from Carton House for the new menu, along with a wide range of coffees created by the Carton House barista.

The cafe will also sell products from the gourmet Carton House food range such as dressings, sauces and seasonal offerings, including Christmas and Valen-tine’s Day products.

The indulgent rest stop will offer visitors a selection of gourmet sandwiches, including Smoked Salmon Croque Mon-sieur, Rare Roast Irish Beef, Pear and Blue Cheese; a selection of salads, including Carton Cae-sar Salad and Seasonal Mixed Salad; Anti Pasti and Afternoon Tea by Carton House, including mini scones, finger sandwiches, fruit cake and pastries with clot-ted cream, a hot beverage of your choice and a glass of chilled champagne for €14.90 per per-son

It’sTreasure Island, but not as you know itFOR five fun-filled days from August 22 to August 26, Ballet Ireland’s Annual Summer School will be running workshops on art, mime and dance. This will lead to the main event on Friday, August 26, with their take on Robert Louis Stephenson’s classic, aptly renamed Treasure Island, The Bal-let! The performance takes place at the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire at 4 pm.

The ballet will be a culmination of the efforts put in by two separate workshops, one for Dance and Art and the other for Arts and Craft, which will be running from Mon-day to Thursday of that week.

Ballet Ireland’s Annual Summer School is now into its 11th year and is open to all ages and competency levels. The company mounts two major new productions a year.

For more information on the workshop and performance, con-

tact the box office on 01-2312929 or visit www.paviliontheatre.ie.

Let’s hear it for our RoseDUBLIN is rooting for its very own Rose to do well in this year’s Rose of Tralee festival this weekend.

Clondalkin native, Siobheal Nic Eochaidh, was picked from hundreds to represent Dublin in the world-famous festival that is watched by nearly every household in Ireland every year, whether they like to admit it or not.

Her self-taught dance moves, and her bubbly personality bowled over the judges at the Dublin Regional finals recently and it is hoped that she can win over the festival judges again this weekend.

The festival begins this Friday, where Siobheal will take centre stage with 31 other international Roses from around the world in front of an audience of thousands. Siobheal will be joined by Darragh McGrath, who was deemed the 2011 Dublin Escort of Year.

Tune into RTE 1 on Monday, August 22 and Tuesday, August 23 for a live broadcast from the Festival Dome at 8pm and support our own Dublin Rose – Come on Siobheal!

DIARY

SNAPSHOT The stories of the day

Time for a spot of tea at Time for a spot of tea at Browns Bar and CafeBrowns Bar and Cafe

Disappointed with attitude of some dog owners

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DEAR EDITOR,

I HAVE had two expe-riences recently, which made my regular Sunday

walk particularly unpleasant, a walk on which one, or both, of my grand-daughters frequently accompany me.

The first experience took place a few weeks ago when I chose to walk to the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire to enjoy the views of the north city and coastline. On approaching the pier, a sign, which is clearly displayed and mounted on the wall, informs peo-ple walking their dogs that they must keep their animals on a lead at all times. They are also advised to clean up after their pets or risk a fine, and possible prosecution, if they fail to do so.

Despite this, dog owners repeated-ly and blatantly ignore this law and, as a result, the pier has become an unpleasant place to walk. I believe this selfish disregard of the law by many dog owners, not all – I hasten to add – should be addressed by the authorities. In all the times I have walked on either of the piers, which is usually once a week, I have never once seen a warden or port official patrol the area.

The second experience I refer to is when I went walking recently through Killiney Hill Park, where the same problem exists. An even

higher number of dog owners let their pets loose here, where fouling on the paths and grass areas is very much in evidence, despite the fact that children run, play and roll in the grass. Again, despite visiting the park frequently, I have never seen a park warden on patrol.

The recent protests by Dogs Unleashed Group in Dun Laoghaire show how many dog owners think their animals should be treated like humans. Expecting them to be allowed run free in public seems to be acceptable to them, despite the fact it is against the law, outside the safe confines of the owner’s proper-ty. Most people like animals, to some degree, but a great many are nervous of dogs and should not be made to feel frightened or uncomfortable by such animals running loose in our parklands, beaches, open spaces or any public place.

I do agree that many more of the larger parks should follow the excel-lent example of Marley Park and Shanganagh Park and introduce dog pens. I have a lovely Labrador and use the dog pen in Marley Park and find it very successful. Also, the park is very well maintained, with regular patrols and enjoys a strict adherence to park laws, making it a pleasure to visit.

Name and Address with the Editor

LETTER TO THE EDITOR


GazettePETSPETSBrought to you by Miriam Kerins of

the DSPCA

THE FACTS: A POOR DIET AND LITTLE EXERCISE CAN PUT YOUR PET’S HEALTH AT RISK

Pets can pile on the pounds, but what may be the cause? You!W

OULD it sur-prise you to k n o w t h a t approximately

53% of cats, and 55% of dogs, are overweight?

Well, they are, accord-ing to the findings at the fourth annual Association for Pet Obesity Preven-tion (APOP) which, in my opinion, clearly suggests we’re placing our pets at a serious risk of dying early.

So, I hear you ask: “What constitutes an overweight animal?”

Overweight animals, or pet obesity, sees an excess of body fat that’s enough to impair the health, wel-fare and lifestyle of the animal.

To put it simply – and setting all lame excuses aside – your pet is taking in more calories than he requires, and any excess weight in an otherwise healthy animal is very likely to be due to overeat-ing.

When experts speak about humans being obese, they usually define it as being 20-25% above ideal body weight.

However, in animals, the degree of obesity that impairs health, welfare and quality of life has not been fully defined, and will vary from one indi-vidual animal to another, but it’s more likely to be similar to that seen in people.

Still, it must be stressed that obesity is a serious health issue in pets for several reasons:

• It causes suffering, and can be disabling for the animal.

• It can affect an ani-mal for a long period of its life.

• It’s preventable.What are the causes of

obesity?

The main reason is the type of food being fed to the animal. This is some-thing that’s controlled by you – the owner. If your dog eats too much and doesn’t exercise enough, he can become obese.

Let me explain a typical scenario. A lovely pet par-ent visits the clinic, and the dog is clearly over-weight, so I very politely and respectfully suggest that, err, perhaps Fido could do with losing a few pounds. Here are just some of the replies...“Ah, but you don’t

understand – he barks

all night if I don’t give

him his choccie bic-

cies.”

No, he barks all night because he’s copped on

that the more noise he makes, the more he gets attention.

You give in, and reward him with a biscuit. You’re training a beggar!“But he never eats

a thing, and I worry

about him, so I give him

some of my own din-

ner.”

He does eat; he’s just a grazer who goes back and forth to his food to nib-ble during the day. That’s normal.

However, when the humans eat, they feed him from the table, which fills him up, leaving no room for his dog food.

This means his total calorie intake is excessive, and now he’s a roly-poly! What are some of the

health risks of obesity?

• Diabetes mellitus, or sugar diabetes.

• Complaints in joints and bones.

• Heart disease.• Problems with breath-

ing. • Heat intolerance.• Surgical risk.• Risk giving birth.• Constipation. • Cancer.The link between obes-

ity and certain forms of cancer is unknown.

There have been studies suggesting that obese dogs tend to have an increased risk of developing certain types of cancers.

A recent study has found that dogs who are obese at one-year-old are at a greater risk of developing mammary tumours.

How do you tell if your

animal is obese?

Here are just a few tell-tale signs:

• Excessive panting, particularly in hot weath-er.

• Lagging behind dur-ing walks.

• Sluggish behaviour.• Reluctance to exercise,

resulting in fewer calories being used up, thus being stored as fat.

• No visible waist. When viewed from above, your pet should have slight curves; as in a gentle dip after the ribs, turning to a gradual slope to the hips.

If he hasn’t these curves, perhaps he’s over-weight.Steps in avoiding obes-

ity:

• Only offer food rec-ommended by your vet.

• Offer no snacks/scraps.

• Measure food intake carefully.

• Increase exercise; this is easier for dogs than cats. Put your cat’s food upstairs, thus encourag-ing her to walk up to get it; play with her more, and rotate her toys.

• Ensure everyone who plays a part in your pet’s life understands how important his health is.

Remember, these are only guidelines, and there are some diseases that can cause obesity in your pet – so, if in doubt, check with your vet.

For more information log onto www.dspca.ie or email me at [email protected]

Miriam warns that, in many cases, Fido’s obesity can be blamed on one thing – the

owner, who may be failing their pet’s care in a number of areas, from diet to exercise

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‘Your pet is taking in more calories than he requires, and excess weight in an otherwise healthy animal is very likely to be due to overeating’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

GazetteMOTORSMOTORS

SEAT is back in strength with new model designs that aim to boost

the company’s image. Seat is part of the

Volkswagen group so naturally we can expect lots of Volkswagen bits and performance from the new Seat range.

And that’s just what I found with the new Seat Alhambra that I’ve been driving. This is designed as a family MPV with seven seats and lots of comfort. The car has all of the VW bits under the skin in terms of things mechani-cal, while the Seat badge means that the price is more competitive.

Look closely and you’ll find that the body styling is also similar, more so than with the previous Alhambra models.

Seat provided me with the 2.0-litre, turbo-diesel, entry-level Reference

version for my test drive. While it sports the Seat badge front and rear, in every other sense it’s almost the identical in terms of dimensions to the related Volkswagen Sharan.

The test car came with seven-seat capacity. The third row of rear seats on the test car folded eas-ily out of use to give a big boot, five-seat car if needed. Seat also offers a

slightly cheaper five-seat version.

For the test car, the rear row of two seats was easy to use. I found that the seats folded into action in seconds and with ease. This rear space is adequate for children, not adults, while there is great room in the middle row for your bigger pas-sengers.

When the third row of seats is tucked away, the boot is very sizeable. You can pack loads in there, and the floor is level with the boot rim.

The new Alhambra is powered by a 2.0-litre Volkswagen turbo-diesel engine. This engine has some eco features to allow it to compete in fuel econ-omy with the Volkswagen Sharan, which has similar Blue Motion technology.

These features include stop-start systems, gear selection indicator and

low-rolling resistance tyres.

In power terms, this 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine produces 140bhp and 320Nm of torque. That’s a perfect match for the performance of the Volkswagen Sharan. It’s also a match for Ford’s Galaxy when fitted with a similar size engine.

The Sharan is margin-ally more economical than the Seat; you’ll get an extra kilometre for your litre of diesel, while the Galaxy is, economy, similar to the Alhambra. All three use six-speed gearboxes which, on the Alhambra, was very smooth to use.

I found the Alhambra an easy car to drive as I quickly got used to the electronic handbrake and stop-start system. That economy perform-ance was almost matched with my driving style, so I

came close to the official figure of 17.8 km/litre (5.6 l/100km).

I covered over 900km on the test drive and there was enough fuel to bring that nearer to 1,000km before a re-fill of the 70-litre fuel tank. The safety fittings are a match for the competition with seven airbags, iso-fix seating in the rear and a recent Euro NCAP crash test rating of five-stars.

The car comes with a Volkswagen-type car computer system that’s easy to use and under-stand. The radio is also clearer than that fitted to other Seat models, which is a welcome change.

Because of the brand relationships you just have to compare the Alhambra to the Volkswagen Sharan because it simply offers more value.

Volkswagen re-sale prices are still holding up

higher than those of Seat and that alone may be a factor that’s putting some buyers off the Seat brand. The features and the equipment levels on the new Alhambra model will change that a little.

At €38,130 before deliv-ery charges, the entry price for the Alhambra is nearly €4,000 cheaper than the Volkswagen Sharan and almost €4,500 cheaper than the equivalent Ford Galaxy, with equal driving performance and some additional features.

On the figures, the Seat deal may well be more competitive than either Volkswagen’s or Ford’s where you pay that bit more for the brand image. That means that you’ve a little more room for a lower valuation when the trade-in day looms in the future. In the meantime you’ll be impressed with what’s on offer from Seat.

New Seat Alhambra arrivesSeat’s new Alhambra MPV is a big family car with a similar design and almost identical fittings to the Volkswagen Sharan. The entry price for the seven-seat version is

more competitive at €38,130 before delivery charges

CRASH avoidance technology is noth-ing new. Car manufacturers, such as Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, have already implemented collision-avoidance sys-tems on select vehicles, such as the sys-tem used on the new Volvo XC60.

Toyota is the latest company to

announce a new offering along these lines. Unlike the others, Toyota is devel-oping technology that will both slow the car and steer it away from an impact with another vehicle or pedestrian.

Toyota’s system claims to use both cameras and sensitive “millimetre-wave”

radar to detect objects in the vehicle’s path. It then calculates the amount of both braking and steering necessary to avoid a collision. If steering away from a pending crash is an option, the system takes control of the vehicle’s steering and executes an avoidance manoeuvre.

Toyota has defined an idealised goal of zero injuries and zero fatalities. Other safety systems under development at Toyota include a pop-up hood, and shaded high-beams, which reduce glare from high-beam lights for oncoming traffic.

Toyota develops its own crash avoidance technology

Top speed: 194 km/hr 0 – 100km/hr: 10.9 secs Economy: 17.8 km/litre

(5.6 l/100km) CO2 emissions: 146g/

km Road Tax Band: C (€302) Euro NCAP Rating:

5-Star (2010) Warranty: 2 years Entry Price: €38,130

SPECS: SEAT ALHAMBRA

Seat has upgraded its range with the new Alhambra model, which MICHAEL MORONEY took for a drive


DEALERS CLAIM CHAIRMAN’S AWARDS: DUB-LIN Ford Dealers, Ashley Ford, North Circular Road and Finglas Ford have both claimed prestig-ious Ford of Europe Chairman’s Awards.

Ashley picked up the award for its out-standing customer service last year whilst Finglas Ford collected their award for parts sales and aftersales performance.

The Ford of Europe Chairman’s Award programme is based on direct feedback from customers who have purchased a vehicle from the deal-ership and is in rec-ognition of a dealer’s performance in meet-ing those customers’ expectations.

Extensive research has been carried out by Ford in assessing these expectations and providing guide-lines to dealers to satisfy them.

RoadRoadSignsSigns

OPEL IS NOT FOR SALE, SAYS GM CHIEF: GENERAL MOTORS CEO, Daniel Akerson, has weighed in strong-ly to say that Opel, its European business, is not for sale.

Speculation about Opel’s future was mooted back in June by German media as they reported that Opel could be sold and that possible buyers included Chi-nese automakers or Volkswagen.

I n 2 0 0 9 , G M dropped plans to sell Opel to the Cana-dian Magna Interna-

tional after months of negotiations. GM stopped the sale of its Opel brand in 2009, and it has been rumoured that some GM management had concerns Russian car companies would gain access to Opel’s tech-nology and patents.

Since then GM has launched a restruc-turing Opel, which lost $1.6 billion last year and brought it back on track.

GM Europe posted a profit in the first quarter and the com-pany claims that Opel had gained market share this year.

RoadRoadSignsSignsNew Honda CR-V – a first lookHONDA has the first photographs of the new CR-V Concept, providing the first official glimpse of styling direction. The new, fourth-generation CR-V is set to go on sale in the United States by the end of 2011, and in Europe in autumn 2012.

The new CR-V Concept embraces a new styling direction. Compared to the previous generation, the concept-model Honda claims that the new model takes on a more aggressive stance, with deeper sculpting of the body lines and a bolder front fascia. The lower front bumper wraps smartly upward to convey SUV capability. The overall, lower front-bumper design now integrates more smoothly into the fascia for improved aerodynamics. The CR-V’s vertical tail lights remain for the next model with a more three-dimensional style that wraps further into the design of the vehicle. Honda claims that the new CR-V will be equipped with more efficient engines compared to the current model. The new CR-V is expected to deliver a significant improvement in fuel economy.

The CR-V is one of the top-selling SUVs, sold in more than 160 countries throughout Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Africa.

The new Honda CR-V Concept will be on first

public display in California next month and will be

on sale in Ireland during 2012

The new-look 2012 Toyota Hilux will go on sale in Ireland towards the end of the year

Hilux builds strength with new design

CASSETTE tapes that once revo-lutionised in-car audio entertain-ment were driven out of the dash-board by the compact disc revo-lution. Now in-car CD players are poised to follow a similar path as Ford and other car companies respond to customer demand for all-digital systems with increased connectivity.

With the new Ford Focus, Ford has scrapped once-popular multi-disc CD changers, while a USB connection and Bluetooth are standard equipment in the UK – both of which cater to the increasing popularity of iPods

and other digital music players.Music industry studies show

that sales of CD albums have fallen by more than 35% between 2006 and 2010, while the number of digital album sales increased more than seven-fold.

As music-lovers relocate their CD catalogues to digital storage and move to digital download purchasing of music, Ford plans a targeted move towards “all-dig-ital” in-car entertainment.

Across Europe, Ford currently offers USB and Bluetooth audio connectivity, as well as auxiliary inputs for MP3 devices, to sup-

plement the existing CD player. But as CD usage becomes less prevalent, these digital devices will become the norm.

“Ford will obviously continue to offer CD players while there is demand,” said Ralf Brosig, multimedia manager, Ford of Europe. “However, over time we expect customer preferences will lead us quickly into an all-digital approach to in-car audio enter-tainment.”

Ford will take a big step for-ward with the arrival of the advanced SYNC with MyFord Touch system in Europe, arriving

first in the Ford Focus.The system will cater directly to

the demands of Ford’s tech-savvy customers, offering a sophisticat-ed multimedia infotainment hub providing connectivity options, including multiple USB inputs, SD card ports, RCA inputs and Bluetooth connectivity.

The system also will act as a password-protected wireless hotspot for up to five devices, providing connectivity through USB or mobile phone broadband modems. Ford expects two mil-lion SYNC equipped vehicles to be on the road by 2015.

Fords moves to digital as CD sales drop

TOYOTA’S “inde-structible” Hilux has been given a

new look and some addi-tional hi-tech features for 2012.

The pick-up has been given a re-style from the A-pillar forwards, with a new bonnet, radiator grille, headlamps and bumper, plus new wheel designs and new side bars and steps for the top-of-the-range Hilux models.

The interior has been given a new look, too, with new upper dash-

board design and hori-zontal instrument clus-ter that emphasise the breadth and roominess of the cabin.

The revised lay-out incorporates the new Toyota Touch multime-dia unit with a full colour 6.1-inch touchscreen. The Touch package, fit-ted as standard to the high-end models, also includes Bluetooth and a USB port for connecting digital music players.

The quality feel of the cabin has been improved with new, uniform dark

finishes and new chrome surround for the instru-ment binnacle on the Invincible.

The 2012 Hilux car-ries forward its current engines, the 142bhp 2.5-D-4D and 169bhp 3.0-D-4D units, but these now comply with the Euro 5 light commercial vehicle emissions stand-ards ahead of their intro-duction at the beginning of next year, thanks to the adoption of a diesel particulate filter (DPF).

With these engine changes the CO2 emis-

sions for the 2.5 D-4D (Double Cab) have been cut by more than 10% to 194g/km, becoming best in class, and combined fuel consumption has also improved by more than 10% to 13.7km/litre (38.7mpg).

The emissions figure for the 3.0-litre D-4D Double Cab automatic has fallen to 227g/km and the manual to 203g/km. Combined fuel consumption figures are improved from 31.7 to 32.8mpg and 34.0 to 36.7mpg respectively.

The standard five-speed manual transmis-sion and the optional five-speed automatic for the 3.0-litre D-4D engine, exclusive to the Invinci-ble, are also retained.

From launch, Hilux will be available with a comprehensive choice of accessory packs to tai-lor the vehicle to suit the needs of both business users and those owners who need to use Hilux for more everyday driv-ing duties, or want to give their vehicle an extra dash of style.

GazetteMOTORSMOTORS20 GAZETTE 18 August 2011

ANSWERS TO YOUR PERSONAL FINANCE QUESTIONS

GazetteBUSINESSBUSINESS

QUALIFYING FOR MORTAGE TAX RELIEF

Q – How do I qualify for mortgage interest

relief and how are the rates of payment cal-

culated ? Jean - Greystones

A – When you receive your final mortgage

documents, your monthly repayment will be

the first item to catch your eye.

Generally Tax Relief at Source (TRS) is

deducted automatically from this pay-

ment and your direct debit to your current

account is the NET mortgage repayment

after tax relief.

If you bought your property after 1st

January 2004 and up to 31st December 2011,

you are entitled to TRS on mortgage inter-

est paid up to €10,000 per annum for single

people, and €20,000 for married couples.

By 1st January 2013, all mortgage relief

will be withdrawn. Currently there are three

rates up to 2017 applicable; first two years

– 25% tax relief, second three years – 22.5%,

and Last two years – 20%

To give you an example, a mortgage of

€200,000 at an interest rate of 3.85% will cre-

ate a € 7,700 per annum interest bill.

For the first two years, whether single or

married, because it is under both thresh-

olds, the relief at 25% will amount to €1,925

per annum or €160.42 monthly.

In the third to fifth years, because the tax

relief has dropped to 22.5%, the monthly

relief will be €144.37 – €16.05 less than the

first two years.

Be very careful also about claiming TRS if

you in fact have rented out your property –

this is a no-no and you must advise Revenue

using a TRS 4 form.

Contact them at 1890 46 36 26 or trsadmin@

revenue.ie for all enquiries.

Contact John with your money questions

at [email protected] or visit his website

at www.moneydoctor.ie. John Lowe, Fellow

of the Institute of Bankers, is founder and

managing director of Money Doctor

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

‘If you bought your property after 1st January 2004 and up to 31st December 2011, you are entitled to TRS on mortgage interest paid up to €10,000 per annum for single people, and €20,000 for married couples. By 1st January, 2013, all mortgage relief will be withdraw’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


New look for Argos to mark 15 years

MIMI MURRAY

ARGOS has launched 21 revamped stores through-out Ireland this month as part of a €4 million refur-bishment and develop-ment project.

The new layout and format was unveiled on August 6 in 21 stores across the country.

Celebrating 15 years in Ireland and securing more than 1,300 jobs, the refurbishment of the stores comes at an excit-ing time for Argos as they enjoy the 15-year mile-stone, while continuously updating their services, stores and catalogue to ensure customers have a satisfying shopping expe-rience.

Speaking about the launch, Alison Evans, Argos Regional General Manager for Ireland, said: “This extensive refurbish-ment shows that Argos is

committed to developing and improving its stores in Ireland.

“We are dedicated to continuing our invest-ment in Ireland, and increasing the number of stores across the coun-try, in order to give our customers more choice, value and convenience when shopping.”

The refurbished stores include a new format with updated jewellery and watch galleries, allowing customers to try on items before pur-chasing.

New dedicated tech-nology display areas showcasing cameras, video cameras, plasma TVs, mobile phones and satellite navigation sys-tems will also give cus-tomers a chance to view and handle technology products before purchas-ing.

Each store has benefit-

REVAMP: TOP STORE RINGS THE CHANGES

Models Pippa O’Connor and Rosanna Davison unveil the newly-designed Argos

store in St Stephen’s Green as part of the company’s €4 million revamp

ed from new lighting and eye-catching displays, giving them a more con-temporary look.

New state-of-the-art touchscreen browsers have been installed in each store, enabling cus-tomers to browse and search easily for items to buy.

All of the stores have new quick pay kiosks, where customers have the option to pay for their items electronically rath-

er than queuing up for a cashier.

“Our new-look stores have a fresher, more contemporar y fee l , which we hope our cus-tomers will enjoy, and the new facilities such as the computer systems and payment kiosks, will make their shopping experience much easier and more convenient,” Evans said.

To celebrate Argos being in Ireland for 15

years, every month from August 2011 through to January 2012, Argos is giving Irish consumers the opportunity to win €1,500 of Argos vouch-ers to spend on whatever they want.

The competition went live at midnight on July 30 and to enter all you have to do is go online at www.argos.ie/15years .

For more information on Argos, please visit www.argos.ie

HARVEY Norman has revealed that worldwide sales from its Australian, New Zealand, Slov-enian, Irish and Northern Irish businesses totalled a whopping €4.45 billion for the 12 months to June 30, 2011.

The company said that, when compared to sales for the same period in 2009, this was an increase of 1.7 per cent.

The Republic of Ireland operation managed to stabi-lise sales with only a slight decrease of 0.2 per cent for the same period, while sales in Northern Ireland increased by

3.2 per cent. Both Irish divisions grew

sales for the second half against last year, with the Republic of Ireland operation growing sales in quarter three by 1.9 per cent and quarter four by 4.6 per cent.

“It was really a year of two halves for us, with sales flat before Christmas, and then some encouraging growth in the six months to June,” said Blaine Callard, chief executive of the Irish operation.

“Consumer sentiment con-tinues to be very weak, and

shows no signs of recovering soon.

“Big ticket retail sales in furniture and electronics have been hit the hardest, so it’s about getting a bigger slice of a smaller pie.

“We will continue to improve our operation, investing in our people, our service and our stores.

“The strategy for us is to focus on growing market-share. Revenue growth in the second half is very positive for us against such a difficult eco-nomic backdrop,” he added.

Harvey Norman takes in almost €4.5bn

On the mend: Harvey Norman

has stabilised its Irish interests

No. 1 Pery Square was launched two and a half years ago and is in a quiet area of Limer-ick beside the People’s Park.

A stylish old Geor-gian building, it houses a restaurant, an under-ground spa, a bar and is all very compact.

After a quick drink we headed out towards O’Connell St and our destination that night, the Corn Store.

This was a real find, with some delicious seafood on the menu.

After dinner we were happy to discover there was a live jazz band set up to play for the rest of the evening.

We fell in with a fun crowd who took us on a tour of some of Lim-erick’s choice venues, including The Sin Bin, where we danced the night away to some sus-pect 90’s music.

One thing I will say about Limerick – eve-ryone is exceptionally friendly and helpful, and, at one point when we appeared a little lost, a very nice young lady offered us direc-tions without us having to ask.

The following day the underground spa allowed us to rejuvenate and our weary bones and feet that had taken a battering the night before got some much needed pampering.

Next it was off to pic-turesque Adare, which really is worth a look.

It has some stunning boutiques offering top-end designer labels. Many are perfect for bridal and mother-of the-bride outfits.

We spied a wedding about to take place at the stunning local church and waited around to see the bride step from her vintage car and wave at the gathering crowds.

After gorging on all things bridal we headed back to the city for din-ner.

The restaurant staff were very well versed in Brasserie One and

our friendly waiter rec-ommended a bottle of Slovenian wine, which was perfect on a sunny summer’s day.

The menu was slight-ly wintry for the time of year but was tasty none-theless.

B e e f c h e e k a n d

Onglet steak were inter-esting, as was the pork belly.

There was one fish dish but more could be added and, having dined on hake the night before, I didn’t want to go for the same again.

The Milk Market is worth a look on Satur-day and Sunday morn-ings and all the locals gather to catch up over coffee and peruse the many stalls on offer.

So, back to that bad rap: Limerick is a cool city with plenty of inter-esting people and is def-initely worth a look.

Limerick’s hidden treasures and lovely people make it a cool trip

MIMI MURRAY

LIMERICK, bless it, gets a bad rap. Howev-er, when asked to sam-ple the county recently I jumped at the chance, having never been and being easily accessible from Dublin, we headed off on a Friday evening.

We were eager to sample both a country and city location and decided to stay in the Mustard Seed at Echo Lodge which is just past the quaint village of Adare.

The place is a charm-ing old country house painted in deep, rich colours and is kitted out with comfy antique furniture.

The staff couldn’t be friendlier and on arrival the owner, Dan, gave us a warm welcome.

We ate in the charm-ing dining room that evening, which was quite busy.

Our French waiter was attentive and we thoroughly enjoyed the fresh country kitchen cuisine, much of it com-ing from the garden that morning.

The next day, after a comfortable night’s sleep, I was treated to a Thai massage.

Having been to Thai-land recently I know only too well the merits of this type of massage if done right, and this one didn’t disappoint.

I was lef t feel ing relaxed and rejuvenated as we set off for Limer-ick city.

Above: A bedroom in No. 1

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

‘No. 1 Pery Square was launched two and a half years ago and is in a quiet area of Limerick beside the People’s Park. A stylish old Georgian building, it houses a restaurant, an underground spa, a bar and is all very compact ’--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FastTravel

GazetteTTRAVELRAVEL

60th anniversary of The Quiet Man honoured at Ashford CastleIN 1951, John Ford’s greatest movie; The Quiet Man starring John Wayne and Irish-born actress Maureen O’Hara, was made in the beautiful landscape of the west of Ireland. John Ford’s award-winning comedy has been both reviled and celebrated for its larger-than-life portrayal of Ireland. The Quiet Man outdoor scenes were shot in various locations in coun-ties Galway and Mayo - mainly around the scenic Maam Valley on the shores of Lough Corrib, Ashford Castle and the nearby village of Cong.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the making of the movie, the five-star Ashford Cas-tle Hotel is offering two unique and luxurious Quiet Man packages, which will be available until September 30, 2011.

Package one consists of two nights accom-modation in a Corrib View room; full Irish breakfast for two people each morning; five-course dinner for two people in the George V on one evening; one-hour tour by Gerry Collins visiting five local sites that were featured in the film in the village of Cong; entry into the Quiet Man Museum in the village of Cong. It also includes dressing up in the costumes in the Museum and allowing pictures to be taken. This package costs €415 per person.

Package two consists of two nights accom-modation in a Corrib View room; full Irish breakfast for two people each morning; five-course dinner for two people in the George V on one evening; half-day tour visiting most of the locations used in the film capturing the splendour of Connemara, Galway and Mayo. This costs €500 per person. For reservations contact 094 954 6003/ www.ashford.ie


Above and below; images from Echo Lodge

Pery square, Below, right: The hotel’s underground spa

Beaches by day and nightlife provide fun and sun in equal measureIT HAS great beaches by day and great action by night. Tenerife’s Playa de las Americas is rightly famed as an all-round attraction for holiday-makers seeking sun and fun in equal measure. For those itching to get away this month, Direct Holidays has online offers from just €469.

All-inclusive packages, with meals, drinks and entertainment, includ-ed in the price, are flavour of the season this year, and the 3-star Playa Olid in Costa Adeje, with its multiple swimming pools and bars, is a real bargain at just €569 per person for seven nights departing Dublin on August 20.

Playa Fanabe, close to the exclusive Playa del Duque, offers a relax-ing stay but with a great choice of restaurants and nightclubs. Alongside its great location, the 4-star Sunwing Resort Fanabe features exciting shows several nights a week. Departing August 20, Direct Holidays are offering seven nights at the resort for just €469 per person on a self-catering basis. All prices are based on two sharing.

Packages or flight-only holiday deals this

month along Bulgaria’s stunning coastlineBULGARIA’S Sunny Beach resort on the stunning Black Sea is famous for its beautiful beaches, sunny climate and safe, warm sea.

Concorde Travel are currently offering package holidays or flight only deals at great prices.

Concorde Travel Self Catering Packages at the 3-star Golden Dreams Apartments start from €385 based on six sharing a two-bedroom apart-ment; €399 based on four sharing a one-bedroom apartment and €494 based on two sharing a studio apartment.

Hotel prices start from €564 in the 3-star Grand Hotel Sunny Beach on a B and B basis. Packages include return flights, transfers, seven nights accommodation, rep services and all taxes and charges. Flights operate every Monday from Dublin and Cork. Visit www.concordetrav-el.ie for more details.

Cyprus calling for sun and relaxationESCAPE to the stunning birthplace of Aphrodite, the ancient goddess of love this August.

Concorde Travel has the ultimate romantic escape to Paphos in Cyprus. The beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site combines historical sites with the warmth of the Mediterranean Sea where relaxing and sunbathing will be an unforgettable experience.

Stay at the 4-star Hotel Avanti on a B and B basis from only €699pp, which has been reduced from €974pp.

Package includes direct flights from Dublin to Larnaca, return transfers to the Hotel, rep assistance and seven nights accommodation on a BB basis, based on two sharing. Visit www.concordetravel.ie for more details.

BeachTravel

Edited by

Mimi Murray


The perfect sun getaway awaits in Tenerife


GazetteENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

Some japes with apesAs suitably bananas as anything Hollywood usually reheats,

this franchise reboot looks to ape the success of its forebears KATE CROWLEY

WITH serendiptous tim-ing – or perhaps with one film seeking to ape the likely success of another – there are not one, but two films starring our simian sidekicks on release this week.

One is a fascinating glimpse at the efforts to humanise a monkey, in a documentary about a half-forgotten project, while the other is a glimpse at how the worm could turn and enslave us all.

By “worm” I mean “monkey”, of course, as Rise of the Planet of the Worms sounds rather less menacing than Rise of the Planet of the Apes – which comprises most of this week’s review.

First, as an entree, it’s worth mentioning Project Nim; a new documentary about Nim Chimpsky – a chimpanzee raised from birth with humans, and which was studied exten-sively (in controversial

circumstances) to see if he could learn language skills, thus shedding light on how humans develop language and rationalisa-tion abilities.

The late Nim, who died in 2000, would possibly conclude that humans are all bananas, on the basis of this fascinat-ing film, which is more a study of human ambition and vanities than about whether well-meaning projects with chimpan-zees are doomed.

Then again, I imag-ine that “bananas” was rarely far from Nim’s mind, much as “bananas”

comes to the forefront when faced with Rise of the Planet of the Apes – yet another Hollywood re-imagining and reboot of an old franchise.

Will Rodman (James Franco) is a well-meaning research scientist working away in San Francisco on developing a cure for Alzheimer’s, with the lab performing tests on lots and lots of monkeys, or one species or another.

An exc i t ing new “cure” – which I’ll call the McGuffin – is given to an ordinary chimpan-zee, called Caesar (Andy Serkis), whose mental

powers begin to rapidly accelerate and develop.

Caesar’s growing intel-ligence is a marvel – and a menace, as the McGuffin has given him The Smarts to realise that – wait a minute – all the humans want to do is monkey around with him and his kind, with a nice little trip to the Dissection and Autopsy labs awaiting him, down the road.

Caesar’s new-found self-awareness, and his realisation that he, and the other test subjects, serve only to serve the humans’ experimentation needs, lead him to rebel against his role.

Will believes that the McGuffin is of enormous importance, and that it’s the breakthrough that the lab have been looking for – but he’s deeply troubled by the ethical questions and consequences of their playing God in this way.

However, all hail Cae-sar – as the chimpanzee follows the well-worn

phrase of monkey see, monkey do.

He decides to put the boot on the other paw, spreads the McGuffin to many of his peers, and, suddenly, instead of there being just one smart ape, there’s an army of fast and angry apes going bananas in San Franciso.

Banana skins or not, it’s possible that human-ity faces a slippery slope, with an ape army on the loose. But what can a bunch of not-so-dumb apes really do? (Hint: what’s the name of the film, folks?)

Held back as a summer blockbuster, it’s likely to do swingingly well at the box office, despite being a little more thoughtful than Transformers, et al.

Not quite as ridiculous-ly entertaining as Troy McClure’s showboating role in the musical, Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off!, it’s the best film about monkeys around, bar one.

All hail Caesar (a motion-captured Andy Serkis), a chimpanzee given a giant intelligence boost by well-meaning scientists looking for a

cure for Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, Caesar’s new-found self-awareness will lead him to spark a rebellion against humans ...

FILM OF THE WEEK: Rise of the Planet of the

Apes (12A) 106 mins

OUR VERDICT:THOSE looking for one smart monkey would do well to catch up with a fascinating documentary, Project Nim. However, the big release offers an interesting version of how the well-known film franchise’s back-story could have started out, telling of how the first apes came to rise up against Man. So, your box office choice is: a cute chimp in a red jumper, or angry apes out to seize the planet. Over to you ...

Director: Rupert WyattStarring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Tom Felton, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, one smart monkey

GoingOUTGoingOUTPAVILION THEATRE 01 231 2929Treasure Island

BALLET Ireland’s annual summer school sets sail for the Pavilion Theatre with a twist on the classic tale of Treasure Island, which will be presented by the participants of the summer school.

Four highly-skilled dancers from Ballet Ireland’s core company will lead the participants, preparing and training everyone for the grand finale. Running from Monday, August 22 to Friday, August 26, the week-long course costs €90. For full details, see www.paviliontheatre.ie

THE HELIX 01 700 7000Panto Camp

A WEEK-long course for children aged from 6 to 13 will give children a wonderful experience to remember, as they all have the chance to work with the production team to participate in the Christmas panto production of Aladdin, which will run during the Christmas period.

With a choice of two week-long panto camps to take part in, there’s something for all children to enjoy. Running from 10 am to 2.30pm daily, the course costs €120. For full details, see www.thehelix.ie.

Summer Films

AS PART of its summer season of family films, The Helix has a number of favourites for all to enjoy. Running at 2pm, and priced €6, €4 conc, or €20 season ticket (phone booking only), James and the Giant Peach plays on Saturday, August 20; Matilda on Wednesday, August 24; Fantastic Mr Fox on Saturday, August 27; and Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory on September 3.


ENTERTAINMENT

ADAM MAGUIRE

ONLY a few years ago, a fierce battle raged between two new video formats, both of which were vying to replace the DVD.

Both offered better quality video and audio, more flexibility and plen-ty more space; eventually, Blu Ray won out.

However, since it became the de facto next generation of video for-mats in early 2008, the format has struggled to really gain a foothold in the market.

This is despite the cost of Blu Ray players and discs plummeting in the past few years, and despite the migration of viewers to high-defini-tion TV sets that suit the format perfectly.

So, what barrier has

impeded the brand’s march to dominance?

To some degree, people were put off investing in Blu Ray because they were only just getting over the switch from V H S t o DVD; the prospect of another e x p e n s i ve upgrade was more than a little unpalatable.

However, the real rea-son for the slow growth of the Blu Ray has been the hesitance of the early adopters – those who buy

into technology before it goes mainstream.

For them, technology has moved passed the disc format, and there is no reason for them to invest in equipment that they no longer need. They have gone the digital download route instead.

What made this pos-sible was a perfect storm

of ele-ments; hard drives have got bigger and cheaper, internet connections have got faster, and the computer has become a part of the sitting room,

instead of the bedroom.Just as the iPod made

CDs less necessary, the vast improvement in computer technology is making the DVD (or Blu Ray, as the case may be) redundant.

Companies such as Apple have seen the way the wind is blowing. A few years ago, they released

the MacBook Air; a super-slim,

super-light laptop with

no d i sc drive.

L a s t w e e k , t h e y

released a new version of their Mac Mini desktop, one that dropped the disc drive, too.

They also made the lat-est version of their oper-ating system (reviewed

below) download-only, meaning you could not buy a disc version of it, even if you wanted to.

The attraction for com-panies such as Apple to do this is obvious. They now have tighter control on software, so it is hard-er to pirate, and they do not have to waste money printing and distributing discs to send out to shops around the world.

For the user, it also makes sense – it is quick-er, less messy and often cheaper than physical discs.

However, there are downsides, and we are likely to hear plenty about how having a dig-ital film is not the same as a physical one.

That said, this is the way the trend is going, and it is only a matter of time before people will

have to go out of their way to find a computer with a disc drive.

Mac IS X Lion

THE latest release of Apple’s OS X – the oper-ating system used on Mac computers – show a company clearly trying to blend its desktops and laptops with the iPad.

Following the big cat theme of previous OS X releases, this latest ver-sion is called Lion, and is arguably the most blatant upgrade from the compa-ny in a long time.

Many new features are now in place, includ-ing Mission Control and LaunchPad, which make it easier to see what is running and open to applications respectively.

The latter is effectively

the same as the iPad and iPhone home screen, and there is no doubt that Apple has applied a lot of its learning from those devices here.

If you are not used to gestures, this can take a bit of getting used to, but in many ways it can be handy.

Overall, the same can be said for Lion – it has plenty to like, but a lot of things that existing and even new Mac users may feel uneasy about.

Expect some of these creases to be ironed out when the first tweak is released in the weeks ahead.

Mac OS X Lion is available on the Mac App Store, for €24.

Visit teic.ie for the lat-est tech news, reviews and views.

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GazetteSportSport


Coolmine TagEnd of the summer of rugby fun

Daff Taggers team were all smiles

THE Coolmine-organised summer of tag rugby came to an end recently when the final of the competition was held in

Barnhall’s Parsonstown grounds. Fifty teams from all over the country took part in the one-day competition. This year, three teams from Coolmine RFC were invited to play in this prestigious competition, Super Injunction, 3 Girls 1 Tag and Odd Shaped Balls. Each side played exceptionally well, with Odd Shaped Balls reaching the final of the Bowl competition.

Doyler’s Dreamboats in action

3 Girls 1 Tag

Odd Shaped Balls reach the final of the Bowl competition but they lost to Raging Hormones

Mary Callaghan heads for the linePaypal untouchable in attack

Super Injunction were not to be put under wraps Aoife of Odd Shaped Balls

in association with


Local triathlete Irene Walsh on her way to victory in the Focus Ireland triathlon in Dun Laoghaire

Home win for Walsh in triathlon event

[email protected]

THE Borough of Dun Laoghaire Kingstown was once again host to this year’s Focus Ire-land sprint Triathlon last week.

Local lady Irene Walsh stormed home to take the women’s title for the third time in four years, just missing out on the tri hat-trick last year by coming in second place.

Having undertaken her first Ironman in 1989 in a time just over 14 hours, she is one of Ireland’s longest-competing female athletes, well known and respected by her peers.

Her winning time of

1:14:25 secured her top spot on the podium, along with the male top performers from Pulse Tri, who put on an impressive show.

King for the day was John Connolly with a win-ning time of 1:06:39. The shorter tri distance male and female event was won by Brian McCann, in 1:16:05, and Alexandra Birney in 1:15:21 respec-tively.

The early start for vol-unteers, marshals and the 200 competitors was taken in good spirits. Accord-ing to Joyce Loughnan of Focus Ireland, “91 cent in every €1 goes towards providing core services

for the homeless charity. The triathlon event alone has raised over €490,000 since 2005, with a target of €100,000 for 2011.”

The multi-sport event of swimming, cycling and running attracts many new competitors, as well as experienced athletes and weekend warriors, training up for more chal-lenging events later on in the season.

After a quick bike check by local husband and wife team, Eddie and Monica Roe, of Mike’s Bikes, the first wave set off at 8.15am.

The swim conditions for the 350m or 750m distances in the East Pier

were close to ideal with, a bit of a pull needed on the way out, and somewhat easier on the turnaround.

The closed road and no drafting on the bikes made it safe and achieva-ble for all levels, while the two loop run of the pier made perfect viewing for the many spectators who had gathered to join in the atmosphere and cheer home the entrants.

The cost of hosting the event is made possible by donations from the main sponsor, KBC Bank, pro-motion through Q102 and the participants, who raise sponsorship and train to compete in the event.

TRIATHLON: CHARITY RACE SEES LOCAL WINNER

STARof theMONTHSHEENA MCELROY

GRANGE golf club’s Sheena McElroy

secured her third Irish senior title

at Adare Manor when she defeated

Pauline Walsh in the final of the

national event, another accolade in

what has already been a success-

ful year, continuing to underline her

dominance of this event in recent

years by closing out the match on

the 13th green. This win came on the

back of her international success

earlier in the year.

AUTUMN has more than arrived, well ahead of schedule, and the sporting success of our teams and individuals continues to impress.

Sheena McElroy continued the form that saw her lead the Irish Sen-iors Team at the European Senior Team Championships in Berlin last August and winning the Portuguese Senior Ladies’ Golf Competition at Vilamoura in the Algarve in January, with her success in the Irish senior competition.

Insaka FC are attracting to soccer children from all sorts of different backgrounds, building a capacity for integration. Their coach said: “We

can encourage them to go on and join clubs in their locality, like Hart-stown or Corduff. They develop their skills through us and then go off to play for the local clubs.”

Let us know!Let us know about your achieve-

ments in sport, so that the Gazette can tell the rest of Dublin — and give you, or your team, a chance of being one of our monthly stars.

Contact us on 01 601 0240 or [email protected] to tell us all about your successes, and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/gazettesport.

INSAKA FC

THE fledgling club’s

maiden double arrived in

style when they claimed

the Ronnie Bradshaw Cup

and U-18 NDSL Premier

titles this season, vin-

dication of the manage-

ment’s faith in their

abilities and commit-

ment to soccer, moulding

Blanchardstown-based players from Angola, Congo, South Africa,

Nigeria, Poland, Romania and Serbia into a cohesive unit.

TEAMof theMONTH

U C D A F C h a v e announced recently that they will host two friend-ly matches at the Belfield Bowl against Scotland’s St Johnstone FC on July 10, and Spain’s Villarreal CF on July 16.

St Johnstone finished eighth in the SLP last season, and have a long tradition in Scottish football. Former players include Sir Alex Ferguson and Ally McCoist.

Villarreal finished fourth in last seasons La Liga and so are qualifiers for next season’s Cham-pions League. As well as this, they have a wide range of talented foot-ballers at their disposal with Barcelona target and former Manchester United player, Giuseppe Rossi, on the top of the list.

GazetteSport and UCD are giving lucky

readers the chance to win pairs of tickets to these matches.

Simply answer the fol-lowing question:

Where was Villarreal striker Guiseppe Rossi born?

Send your answer, together with your name, address and mobile phone number, to [email protected], with “UCD Friendlies” in the subject line of the mail.

Win tickets to see UCD in friendlies

UCD’s Robbie Benson

Big winner: Hession reward for performanceATHLETE Paul Hession of Athenry Athletic Club is presented with a cheque after the best perform-ance of the weekend at the Woodie’s DIY AAI Senior Track and Field Championships at Mor-ton Stadium, Santry.

Picture credit: Pat Murphy / SPORTSFILE

2011 DUBLIN SPORTS AWARDS JULY WINNERS

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

GazetteSportSport


No long faces here: Carrick claims title in charity challengeTWENTY-one teams competed in the Supporting Ovarian Cancer Knowledge (SOCK) Team SJ Challenge last week at the Cheval Riding Club in Oldtown as part of the Blanchardstown-based fundraiser.

Taylor Cummins and Laura Carrick were the only two captains who managed to keep all poles in place. Laura Carrick, riding My Foxy Lass, was the eventual winner on a time of 34.69 while Taylor Cummins passed the finish line on 38.22.

IRL INTER-PROVINCIALLeinster 24

Munster 23

[email protected]

A LEINSTER side featur-ing four North Dublin Eagles’ players claimed the province’s first ever interprovincial success, wrestling the title from Munster in Limerick last week.

Conor McNally put in a player-of-the-match performance, and he was joined in the panel by clubmates Peter Carr, Mick Fitzmaurice and Stephen Boyle as they edged home in a hum-dinger of a match.

In what would turn out

to be a nail-biting clash, Brian O’Brien took just three minutes to open the scoring when he slipped in down the right-hand side to put Leinster ahead.

Munster gathered themselves and came straight back at the cham-pions-elect when they won possession and, after sustained pressure, Joe Keane crossed over to put his side back in the game.

Shane Mullally failed to add the conversion, leav-ing Leinster in front by just two points, but it was a margin that was over-turned when a 20-yard break from Brendan Guilfoyle gave them the perfect platform.

Prop Aaron McCloskey pushed towards the Lein-ster try line and touched down for Munster’s sec-ond try of the game.

It pushed into an 8-6 lead with the half-time whistle looming. It left Munster looking to kick on in the second half as they needed to win by 22 points if they wanted to retain their interprovin-cial title.

And they did just that when what appeared to be a loose kick from Mullally found its way in behind the Leinster defence was chased by wing Mark Tuohy, who outpaced everyone field to touch down.

This time Mullally added the extras as Mun-ster took a ten-point lead.

The Blues needed to rally, and forcing a mis-take at scrum time, Wayne Kerr gathered possession and crashed over to pull his side back to within two.

Munster bounced back, thanks to Lemaki Veipulu rounding his opposite man to touch down in the corner, leaving the score at 18-12 to Munster.

Stephen Mullhall found his way over the line to make the game 18 apiece.

Mullally slotted over a drop goal to give his side a one-point lead going into the closing moments

of the game.True to their form Lein-

ster bounced back once more, thanks to substitute Peter Carr who put them 24-19 up with just one minute left in play.

All Leinster had to do was gathered the kick-off but great work from Mun-ster meant they were back on the front foot. After getting into the Lein-ster ten-yard line, a swift back-line move put Alan McNamara into the cor-ner to set up a nail-biting finale.

Luckily for Leinster Mullally missed for the fourth time on the day to hand Leinster a hard- earned win.

Locals shine as Leinster win

RUGBY LEAGUE: TENSE INTERPROVINCIAL ENCOUNTER NETS CUP

Leinster, featuring four North Dublin Eagles players, brought home the province’s first ever provincial title last week

FastSport

CLONEE Cricket Club, with the support of group of local people, organised a T-20 cricket match at the new Porterstown Park to raise funds for the Imran Khan foundation.

A number of food stalls were set-up in the park where it was estimated over 250 people attended during the day.

Special guest on the day was the Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sports, Leo Varadkar along with Cllr. Eithne Loftus and the chair-man of Cricket Ireland, David Williams, also attended the event.

A special thanks to Fingal Co Co for their continued support in developing cricket in West Dublin.

Clonee host debut T20 match at Porterstown

in association with

. CLUB NOTICEBOARD

ERIN GO BRAGH


LAFL DIV 2 CUPSt Margaret’s 0-9

St Peregrine’s 2-6

[email protected]

ST PEREGRINE’S con-tinued their fine form in the Ladies Cup recently when they followed up a draw against Kilma-cud Crokes a week ear-lier with this fine win over St Margaret’s in Balreesk.

Against the side man-aged by Pat Stritch, the current Dublin B ladies’ manager, Peregrine’s started the brighter, but struggled in the final third of the pitch against a good St Mar-garet’s back line.

Although they were finding the breaks hard to come by, they did manage to get on the scoreboard through Jenny Judge in the fourth minute.

Margaret’s equalised shortly thereafter, but a Helena Reddy goal in the 14th minute put the Clonsilla side three points clear.

That precipitated a

Margaret’s onslaught, and they went on to dominate the remain-der of the half, but could not convert in front of the posts, kick-ing five wides in 17 min-utes, along with being blocked down four times by the brave Per-egrine’s defence, who were doing everything in their power to keep their rampant oppo-nents at bay.

Amongst that defen-sive rigidity, stand-in goalkeeper, Orla Caw-ley, pulled off a super top-corner save while, at the far end, Annette Redican sent over a fine point from a pass back out on the edge of the D from Judge in the corner for a 1-3 to 0-5 half-time lead.

Again, the second half saw St Margaret’s up the ante further when they went in search of scores, and were relent-less in the first 10 min-utes.

But for solid defend-ing from Niamh Brady and Louise Kidd, the

hosts could have been well ahead shortly after the break.

It was Brady’s first game back after three weeks in the States on holidays, which made it all the more impres-sive.

Both chased down runners and put pres-sure on kickers as St Margaret’s amassed ten wides in the second half alone.

Nonetheless, they had equalised after six min-utes of the second half and looked the better of the two sides, dominat-ing the play.

Peregrine’s were in no mood to lie down, though , and Judge showed her form to point once again in the 40th minute before her side found a new gear.

Dublin Duo Louise Kidd and Emma Travers won four of the next five kick-0outs, taking huge pressure off the back line and set up a plat-form for attack.

A superb pass from Reddy inside to full for-

ward Judge set her free and she found the net to relieve the pressure.

Margaret’s added two more points in the final ten minutes. However, Megan Leech was sub-stituted back on into corner forward and she won two fine balls and laid off both for Judge and Reddy, both in great form at this stage, to register vital scores and wrap up the win.

Speaking afterwards, manager Conor Barry was delighted with the progress his side was making.

“It was a great result, and great to back up last week’s huge draw a g a i n s t K i l m a c u d Crokes, a team who had beaten us 5-20 v 0-04 only 15 months ago before I took on the job.

“W hat was mos t impressive was our work rate in the last 15 min-utes when Margaret’s had equalised, we didn’t lie down and, just like last week, we worked extremely hard.”

Peregrine’s keep up their flying form

LADIES’ FOOTBALL: MORE IMPRESSIVE SHOWINGS

St Peregrine’s ladies footballers registered a fine win over St Margaret’s at Balreask

THE final summer camp week will

run from August 22 to 25. Get your

application form from www.stbrig-

idsgaa.com.

Congratulations to Paul Winters

and the Dublin minor hurlers on

their superb win over Waterford to

reach the All-Ireland final.

Hard luck to Alan and Daire on

their defeat to Tipp. Best of luck to

Daire vs Antrim this Saturday in the

All-Ireland U-21 semi-final.

Well done to Eoin Kennedy who

advanced in the 60x30 All-Ireland

handball s ingles. Eoin faces a

quarter-final showdown vs Ducksie

Walsh this Saturday.

Best of luck to Aisling McKenna,

Colleen Barrett, Sorcha Furlong,

Elaine Kelly and Noelle Healy in their

All-Ireland quarter-final vs Cork

this Saturday.

Senior footballers face Plunkett’s

on Sunday at 10.30am in Martin

Savage Park. Senior 2s face Per-

egrine’s in Blakestown on Sunday

at 10.30am.

Junior A and B footballers also

play league games on Sunday at

12pm in Russell Park.

Club lotto is on its summer break

and will resume on September 1

with a jackpot of €15,000.

Club night at the dogs will take

place on Friday, October 21 in

Harolds Cross.

ST BRIGID’S

THE annual Erin go Bragh golf classic

will take place in the K Club on Friday,

August 26. The format is scramble. A

team of four is €320. For more infor-

mation, please contact George Burke

on 087 9709 795.

Annual club dinner dance is taking

place on Saturday, November 5 in

Park Plaza, Tyrrelstown. Tickets are

€60 per person (strictly over-18s).

Five-course meal, band, DJ, and

bar extension until 2am. Deposit of

€20 required and people can pay in

instalments over the coming months.

Contact Natasha on 087 959 5048,

Maria on 087 238 0741 or Carol-Ann

on 087 629 2024.

There was no winner of last week’s

lotto jackpot. Numbers drawn were

12, 15, 17 and 22. This week’s draw

jackpot will be €1,500. The draw will

be held this Friday in Kelly’s Bar in

Ongar.

To be in with a chance to win the

jackpot, please return your com-

pleted lotto tickets to the box in the

Paddocks before 9pm this Friday.

It is so easy to forget to return your

Lotto tickets, so why not sign up to

the annual draw membership.

ST PEREGRINE’S

CONGRATULATIONS to Eric Lowndes

and the Dublin minor hurlers on

reaching the minor All-Ireland final.

Hard luck to the Dublin senior hurl-

ers in their defeat to Tipp, they did

the county proud.

Adult ladies were unlucky in their

defeat in cup game last week.

Back to football this week: AFL 2

footballers are home to St Brigid’s on

Sunday at 10.30am; AFL 6 footballers

are home to St Sylvester’s Sunday at

12pm; AFL 9 footballers also home to

St Sylvester’s Sunday at 3pm.

Tickets for the Dublin / Donegal All-

Ireland semi must be ordered ASAP;

please contact Ciaran Murtagh on

086 359 4194.

All the best to Dan Smyth on his

travels.

Club lotto was not won; numbers

drawn were 6, 7, 11 and 26. Next

week’s jackpot is €3,800.

Any member not buying lotto tick-

ets, visit CNP.ie and support your

club for only €2 a week, and is also

available to play online using the link

on the club website.

Club shop is open on Mondays,

Wednesdays and Fridays from 6 to

7pm, and on Saturdays from 10am to

12pm.

Club will be running a fundraising

initiative, Take Me Out, based on the

popular TV series. This is planned for

September 17.

Follow GazetteSport on Facebook and Twitter and online at www.gazettegroup.com

ALL OF YOUR BLANCHARDSTOWN SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 28-31 AUGUST 18, 2011

PEREGRINE’S FLIGHT: Blakestown

ladies continue to shine in football cup P31 Ga

zetteSPORT

[email protected]

STEPHEN McNally has described his gold medal ride in the European Masters Track Championships as his “best moment in cycling.”

The Dunboyne resident took victory in the final of the 3km Pursuit in the 45-49 year-old category at the Fassa Bortolo Velodrome in Mon-tichiari, Italy, beating Britain’s Trevor Burke in the final by just over 2.3 seconds in a time of 3m35.641s.

McNally had qualified fast-est in a time of 3m33.801 sec-onds, fractionally under three seconds faster than Burke.

Heading to Italy for his first international competition, indeed his first-ever com-petition on an indoor track, McNally had expected that he would need to better his best Sundrive Road 3km time of 3m45.69s by at least ten sec-

onds to challenge for a medal. Lowering his personal best by almost 12 seconds was, there-fore, a matter of some personal pride.

“This is my best moment in cycling,” he said afterwards. “I went out a bit fast in the qualifying run, and eased back slightly in the second kilome-tre. Luckily, I still had some-thing in the tank.

“We only had a couple of hours before the final and it was oppressively hot in the velodrome, but I guess it was the same for Trevor, too. I just tried to recover as well as I could, drink plenty of water and keep my feet up.

“The plan for the final was to track Trevor all the way and wind it up with three or four laps to go. I guess he had a similar plan and he pulled the trigger with four laps to go. I waited another lap before beginning my finishing effort

and I managed to pull out a decent gap by the finish.

“The final was the hardest pursuit ride I’ve ever done, it was so hard to even match Trevor for the first two kilome-tres.

“This was my first indoor competition so hopefully there’s scope for improvement, particularly on my lines.

“I’ve had great encourage-ment from many people but I’d like to say a special thank you to Aidan Ryan and Mark Kiely who helped with my training, and to Aideen Collard who kept me updated every lap during both rides and espe-cially my family who have been very supportive throughout my training.”

McNally hasn’t had much opportunity to celebrate his success as he is due to com-pete in the 750m Time Trial on Wednesday and the 10km Scratch Race on Thursday.

McNally claims a McNally claims a Euro gold medalEuro gold medal

Orwell Wheelers’ Stephen McNally on the podium at the European Masters’ Track Championship event in Italy last week

AWARDS July’s winners revealed inside P29

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