dundrum

YOUR COMMUNITY • YOUR PAPER March 15, 2012

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

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

MOTORS ...................... 20

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

ENTERTAINMENT ......... 24

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

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EDUCATION: Discussing recent decisions on DEIS Schools Page 6

INSIDE: IT Tallaght students create a

Wonderland P3

Athletics: Iosagain star claims fourth All-Ireland titlePage 28

Hockey: Alexandra take the Leinster schools’ crownPage 32

Area set to welcome new all-Irish schoolGaelscoil for Stepaside in Minister’s plan

� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

A NEW gaelscoil for Stepaside is set to open in September, 2013. The news comes as Min-ister of Education and Skills, Ruari Quinn announced that four of the 16 new primary schools, which are to be built in the next few years, will be gaels-

coileanna.According to the Department,

the inclusion of four Irish-speak-ing schools in the programme is indicative of the “continuing growth” and demand for Irish-medium education.

A total of €1.5bn is being spent by the Department of Education and Skills on

schools over the next five years. Although the Department is alone responsible for targeting where gaelscoileanna will be located in the county, parent groups “have been campaign-ing diligently” for these schools, Minister Quinn said.

Full Story on Page 7

Conference: Branding Dun Laoghaire as a special destinationGAZETTE managing director, Mick McGovern, is pictured alongside An Cathaoirleach, Councillor John Bailey, and Tanaiste, Eamon Gilmore, at the Destination Crea-tion conference that took place last week. Dun Laoghaire is set to welcome cruise ships into its harbour as part of a new branding initiative outlined at the confer-ence. Full Story on Pages 4-5

2 DUNDRUM GAZETTE 15 March 2012

Rozanne’s new recipes

LAUNCH: DELISH NEW BOOK

CHEF Rozanne Stevens, owner of cookery school, Ish, is launching her new recipe book in Hughes & Hughes bookshop in Dundrum on St Patrick’s Day.

Rozanne will launch the book, entitled Delish, and also give a cookery dem-onstration at the event in Hughes & Hughes.

The book is her first and is a compilation of all of Rozanne’s favourite recipes from around the world.

Stevens is a regu-lar contributor to RTE Radio 1’s Today with Pat Kenny.

She says she insists on using the freshest pro-duce and utilises themes from around the world for her recipes to give them a Spanish-ish or Italian-ish element.

Rozanne’s cookery demonstration on St Patrick’s Day will be a “Mother’s Day-inspired” event, and kicks off at 4 pm.

LOCAL A host of festive events this week

Owner of the SuperValu Churchtown, Jim Treacy

All-new vigour at your local SuperValu� PAUL HOSFORD

[email protected]

WITH summer on the way, SuperValu Church-town in springing into the new season with vigour.

This weekend, the store will play host to a two-day St Patrick’s Day celebration, with tradi-tional musicians and a festival feel brought to the area.

Owner Jim Treacy says that the plans for this weekend mark just the beginning of a big couple of months for the shop, which he says is trad-

ing well over the last few months.

“This weekend, we’re looking to get people into the mood of the period.

“In the next few months, we’re making a number of improvements to the store, including a lot of improvements to our in-store bakery.

“At the minute, trade is buoyant, and we’re continuing to serve the people of the area and are constantly looking at how we can improve to better serve our custom-ers,” Jim says.

With that in mind, the

store is also looking at an improvement to the deli area.

“We are creating a new

and more enticing deli, to improve our customers’ experience.

“The last few months have been good, people are behind the store and behind me personally. We are striving to give the customers value and service.

“We’ve done that by providing better-than-ev-er parking, which means that customers can come in, do their shopping and not have to worry about the car.

“It allows the custom-ers to shop at ease.”

Heading into what is traditionally an extreme-ly busy time of year, Jim

is confident that his store has everything that it takes to attract custom-ers, some who won’t even need to come into the store.

“This is traditionally a very busy time of the year, particularly with the improvements that we are bringing about.

“We also recently start-ed doing home deliver-ies, where customers just have to log on to shop.supervalu.ie and have their shopping delivered to their door.

“That has been a huge success so far, and we hope it will continue,” he says.

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Nutgrove ready to celebrate THIS week brings us a long weekend where we get to celebrate being Irish on St Patrick’s Day, and celebrate our mums on Mother’s Day.

Nutgrove Shopping Centre will be getting into the party spirit from lunchtime on Friday, March 16, with Nut-grove’s answer to Michael Buble, the uber-talented and super-cool, Sean Reddy, will be singing classic love songs to one and all in the Foodcourt from 1.00 pm. Ladies are advised to get their requests in early!

The fun will continue on Monday, March 19, with face-painting and balloon modelling avail-able for children.

For more information, visit www.nutgroveshop-pingcentre.com or check them out on Facebook for further activities and events, and for a chance to enter one of their com-petitions.

PARTY FUN

EVENT Tea-ing off for charity in IT Tallaght

A Wonderland of an event for AlzheimersTHE Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland will this year again host their annual Tea Day, which is taking place in early May.

Members of the public are being encouraged to register to take part in the day, just like a group of ITT students have done. They have organised an event to take place on Wednesday, March 28, between 11am and 2pm on the ITT Dublin cam-pus.

The group of third year students, Rachel McClos-key, Des Dowling, Ian Hollinshead, Katie Jones, Sinead Keenan. Michae-la Grabovski, Jonathan Beatty, Sinead Carroll and Aoife McCrum, are

doing the event as part of an Event Management module, in their Advertis-ing and Marketing Com-munications course.

They will host an Alice in Wonderland-themed tea party on the college campus, where they’ll be selling tea, coffee, cakes etc to raise funds.

They also plan to cre-ate an outside picnic area and a long table inside a gazebo to mimic the film so people can sit and chat during their lunch break.

There will be live graf-fiti spraying taking place on campus too to create a 16ft long four-foot high fake wall themed to the film.

Two local males will

be spraying and donating some of their own work to be auctioned off on the day.

The college’s dance and DJ society will also be per-forming on the day.

Pe ter Mark , T he Square, Penny’s, Dun-drum, Milano Restau-rant, Dundrum, The Bad Ass Restaurant, Temple Bar, Urban Outfitters, Temple Bar, and The Outdoor Adventure Store in Bray have all donated vouchers and goods to raffle off on the day.

The Easy Learning Centre, Liffey Valley, Woodies DIY, Tallaght and Coffee Perfection of Dunboyne, Co Meath

The IT Tallaght students who are organising this year’s Tea Day in aid of the Irish

Alzheimers Society. The students aim to raise vital funds for the cause

have also sponsored the materials on the day to make the running of the event possible.

“For every €25 raised we can provide an

extra hour of care in your area; €25 is a very achievable amount to raise, and if we can pro-vide a few extra hours of care for people that

need it, our day will have been a success.” said Aoife McCrum.

For more information see www.alzheimers.ie or www.teaday.ie.


CONFERENCE Speakers share their ideas

Revealing how DLR the ideal location to � BAIRBRE

NI BHRAONAIN

[email protected]

THIS year will see Dun Laoghaire welcome cruise ships into its har-bour as part of a new branding development initiative outlined in the Destination Creation conference that took place last week.

Dun Laoghaire Har-bour Company (DLHC) has drafted plans to build a terminal to accom-modate cruise ships, at an estimated price tag of €18m. This coincides with Dublin Port’s recent announcement that it too will become a cruise ship destination, complete with the necessary facili-ties.

It is thought that the new Dun Laoghaire ter-minal will be double-sid-ed and be able to moor the largest cruise liners in the world.

A report, conducted by DKM, Arup and Strategic Transport Solutions Inter-national, was presented to the Government and other interested parties on behalf of DLHC.

The findings told of a significant fall-off in cruise ship visits to Dub-lin, as the city couldn’t accommodate the large vessels.

Dun Laoghaire claimed to have the potential and ideal geographic loca-tion to facilitate the most modern and largest of cruise ships.

The findings of these experts went on to say that Dun Laoghaire could conceivably receive 130 liners a year in five years’ time.

In monetary terms, that would translate into €365million over 30 years, with €112m of this going directly to Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown alone.

As part of a trial, a German cruise ship will dock in the harbour on April 24 with 100 pas-sengers and crew who have a strong affinity for the Irish countryside and Irish culture.

Speaking about the upcoming cruise ship visit, the CEO of Dun Laoghaire Harbour Com-pany, Gerry Dunne, said that they will be visiting Powerscourt and parts of rural Ireland.

“DLHC, local business associations and DLRCC will put on a cultural dis-play of hospitality to wel-come the passengers and crew on their first visit to Ireland,” he said.

A music and dance extravaganza is planned as part of a cultural evening, tailor-made to ensure that the visitors have an Irish experience they won’t forget.

The stopover will be the first of four due this year by liners that would otherwise have stopped in Dublin Port.

Advocates of the harbour development plan estimate that the entire project will be bank-rolled by a €10m loan from the European Investment Bank, along with €4m from the state Tourism Infrastructure Fund, €2m from the EU and the rest will come from local councils and others.

At the Destination Cre-ation conference, which took place on March 6 and 7, Dun Laoghaire

was targeted as an ideal location to develop and market as a “brand”.

Speakers from Belfast, Britain, New York and Kilkenny shared their own stories and advice on how best to market a spe-cific location as a unique experience for tourism and natives alike.

Mr Dunne outlined his plans to transform the harbour into a world-class marine, leisure and tourist destination.

He discussed the pub-lic consultation process that had led to the cur-rent masterplan’s design. In December 2010 there was a call for and then a harvesting of ideas relat-

Craft stall at St Olaf’s NS

SHOPPING: UNIQUE GIFTS

THREE students from the College of Further Education, Sydenham Road in Dundrum, are running a craft stall in St Olaf’s National School in Balally Drive this month.

The students are cur-rently doing the Craft and Textile course at the col-lege. Susan Frew and her colleagues claim to have “unique cushions, bags and aprons in beautiful

fabrics and designs”.They will also be sell-

ing cute little craft items for little cute customers.

Why not go along and support their enterprising spirit? All of the money made will go back to their college, Dundrum CFE.

Their stall is open on Sunday, March 25 in St Olaf’s National School, Balally Drive, Dundrum from 12pm to 4pm.

ing to Dun Laoghaire harbour’s improvement.

Armed with this data, a consultation masterplan was drawn up in June, 2011.

Feedback and analy-sis from public exhibi-tions was examined and submissions from stake-hoders sought to draft a proper masterplan. In October 2011, the final masterplan was adopted.

Mr Dunne said that the main aim of the plan was to maximise the potential of the harbour. He explained the strate-gic objectives the plan would put into effect to ensure this potential was released.

He said the first stra-tegic objective was to increase public access to the waterfront area.

Next, he concen-trated on protecting and enhancing Dun Laoghaire’s unique herit-age and environment.

He claimed the best way to involve locals and visitors alike was to develop more recreation and leisure amenities.

As a result of this activ-ity, he said that it was a major ambition of the DLHC to encourage and secure investment in order to foster growth and create 1,600 new jobs in the future.

Mr Dunne also pointed

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‘A music and dance extravaganza is planned as part of a cultural evening’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Maureen MacKeogh DLRCOCO, Richard Shakespeare, DLRCOCO and Maeve Buckley


on business an leisure potential

can become be ‘branded’

out the need to main-tain and develop har-bour functions, as well as actively encouraging more harbour integration with Dun Laoghaire and its hinterland.

This was part of his theme of “greater con-nectivity” which would see local, national and internat ional l inks strengthened.

Future projects in the harbour include a Diaspora Centre, to be located at Castle Pier. The centre will concentrate on positively exploiting and showcasing the spread of Irish culture worldwide and, in particular, those famous natives to Dun

Laoghaire-Rathdown who are world-renowned, such as Samuel Beckett.

An Urban Beach Project was another tar-get for the development, as was a “Marine Cluster” of businesses specific to the seafront and a “Pub-lic Pontoon Park” for the public to enjoy.

Other upcoming events include major interna-tional exhibitions, such as from the American Museum of Natural His-tory, Sir Ernest Shack-leton , ‘Endurance’ and the number of visitors to these and other attrac-tions is estimated to be 200,000 over the next two years.

from McManus Jewellers

Wessel Badenhorst, Economic Development Officer,

DLRCOCO welcomes Cllr Niamh Breathneach

Don Nugent, Dundrum Town Centre

Jackie and Bernadette, from Airlfield

Fred Kent, Project for Public Spaces, New York


ENTERPRISENEWS

Meet the entrepreneurs of tomorrow at the County Final of the annual ‘Student Enterprise Awards’, taking place in the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire this Thursday, March 22nd.

Over 80 students from 12 local secondary schools will display 30 projects – ranging from Jewellery Design to Music Management - across Junior, Intermediate and Senior Categories.

“These young entrepreneurs have been run-ning their own student businesses since last Sep-tember, so our County Final is the culmination of seven months’ hard work on their part,” explained Michael Johnson, CEO of Dun Laoghaire Rath-down County Enterprise Board, the initiative organisers.

“Judges will be assessing students on innova-tion, marketing, financial planning, teamwork and personal development and three category winners will represent Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at the National finals of the Student Enterprise Awards taking place in Croke Park on April 18th. ” he added.

Students are competing for a share of the €2,500 prize-fund with Cllr. John Bailey, Cathaoirleach Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Paddy Beare, Chairman, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Enterprise Board on hand to announce the category winners and runners-up.

The 12 schools involved in this year’s County Final are Ballinteer Community School, Blackrock College, CBC Monkstown, Cabinteely Community School, Colaiste Iosagain, Dominican College Sion Hill, Loreto Abbey Dalkey, Rathdown School, St. Brendan’s College, St. Killian’s Deutsche Schule, Willow Park and Wesley College.

Full details of the ‘Student Enterprise Awards’ programme can be found on www.studententer-prise.ie and www.dlrceb.ie/education

Enterprising students compete at local final

OPINION No Deis schools to lose a teacher in September

T H E r e c e n t announcement

by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn that no Deis 1 or Deis 2 school will lose a teacher next September is very good news indeed.

As a teacher, I have first-hand experience

of the great work tak-ing place every day in schools in disadvan-taged areas.

The latest Govern-ment announcement m e a n s t h a t t h e s e schools will retain 235 posts which were under threat because of the

Welcome for breakthrough on disadvantaged school posts

Cllr Michael O’Donovan

Education - the greatestMY good friend Joe Duffy - yes Live line Joe! reminds me regularly that the greatest gift, after life itself, that

my late mother Rebecca gave me was “Edu-cation”.

But being married to a teacher for over 30 years, I have learned from Anne, my wife, how our education system has let some people down. Overcrowding, difficult family circumstances, poverty issues and children slipping through the system because of class sizes are all too familiar.

A recent national study of children, enti-tled Growing Up In Ireland, is the most sig-nificant of its kind ever to take place in this country, and it gave us insight into under-standing all aspects of children and their development, including education.

The study was commissioned by the pre-vious Government and is being carried out by a consortium of researchers led by the Economic and Social Research Institute and Trinity College, Dublin.

One of the findings of the report outlines that our children are our most important asset, and they must be valued and cher-ished appropriately.

This Government has placed children’s issues at the heart of policy-making by establishing a dedicated Minister for Chil-dren, my colleague Frances Fitzgerald TD.

Another aspect of the Growing Up In Ireland study highlighted the impact of parenting on children’s outcomes in educa-

tion and it is here that the DEIS Schools play their part.

But the problem with the former Govern-ment’s answer was they threw money at eve-rything without assessment or planning.

DEIS (Delivering Equality of Oppor-tunity in Schools) supports various reports for both primary and post-pri-mary schools, which include reduced pupil/teacher ratio in areas of disad-vantage, the allocation of Administra-tive Principals, access to School Meals Programme, access to numerical and literacy programmes, a Home School Liaison service, enhanced library sup-port reading programmes and Language

Support Service.In DEIS, the reading recovery, which is

a school-based intervention programme designed to reduce literacy problems within our education system and is an early intervention programme giving children, who have particular difficulties in reading and writing over one year in primary school, a period of intensive and individual teaching.

I have been very concerned recently fol-lowing the news that Archbishop Ryan’s National Schools, both senior and junior, may suffer a loss of up to 16 teachers. I met with the teachers in the schools and the Principals and I have spoken direct-ly to the Minister and his Department because of the lack of a DEIS status for Lucan schools.

This Government is committed to edu-cation and to children and this is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the Minister this week has announced new schools for Lucan, new extensions to schools in Lucan and I am confident that he will reverse the decision to reduce the teaching staff at the Archbishop Ryan’s Junior and Senior Schools.

I support the DEIS School Policy providing it is focused and flexible.

Derek KeatingFine Gael Dublin Mid West Deputy

Fine Gael Dublin Mid West Deputy, Derek

Keating

country’s deep financial crisis.

Even at a time when cutbacks are inevitable, it is vital that we continue to invest in education.

In the last week, we have had news from the IDA of huge new invest-ments by multinational companies in new facil-ities in Ireland.

A low corporation tax rate, and a well-educat-ed work force, are key elements of the deci-sions by the multina-tionals companies that invest in Ireland.

Pay Pal, for example, which is adding 1,000 jobs to its Irish opera-tion, needs people with a high level of language and IT skills.

For individuals, edu-cation provides a pas-sage out of poverty and we can take pride in the

fact that, over the last eight years, our reten-tion rate to Leaving Certificate has risen from 82% to 88%, now one of the highest rates in the world.

This is a small, but important, victory for schools in our most disadvantaged areas and I congratulate the Labour backbenchers who went to Minister Ruairi Quinn and spelt out to him, in the clear-est terms, the potential damage that would result from these par-ticular cuts.

In welcoming this particular victory, how-ever, I don’t pretend that the education sec-tor is escaping com-pletely from the cuts.

The Capitation Grant for primary schools is being cut by 3.5%.

This is the grant that pays for heating, light-ing and photocopying, so schools will again be put to the pin of their collars.

But I am most con-c e r n e d a b o u t t h e upcoming cuts to the guidance service at sec-ond-level.

If these cuts kick in from September 2012 onwards, it may mean that guidance council-lors will have to spend a good deal of their time teaching exam subjects.

From my own expe-rience in schools the work that the guidance people do in preparing teenagers for their col-lege and career choices is really important.

Moreover, they are trained to provide a lis-tening ear for students going through a difficult

patch. This is a cut I intend to work to reverse.

Michael O’DonovanLabour Party councillor


Making wishes come true: Doherty accepts

donation from Radisson Blu St Helen’s Hotel KEN DOHERTY, legendary Irish snooker player and Make-A-Wish ambassador, accepted a cheque on behalf of the Foun-dation for €400 from the Radisson Blu St Helen’s Hotel in Stillorgan.

In the spirit of giving, last Christmas the Radisson Blu St Helen’s decided that for

every €100 gift card purchased, €5 would be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Presenting the cheque are Director of Sales, Yvonne McNamara, with General Manager Neil Lane who said: “We are proud to be donating to such a worthy cause as the Make-A-Wish Foundation.”

� BAIRBRE NI BRAONAIN

STEPASIDE is to get a new gaelscoil in Sep-tember, 2013, as part of four new gaelscoileanna included in the Depart-ment of Education’s announcement that 16 new primary schools will be created around the country.

Speaking in response to the Department of

Education’s plans to create the new schools, Mairin Ni Cheileachair, of Gaelscoileanna Teo, said: “We welcome the announcement by the Minister of Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, that four of them are to be gaelscoileanna. This is a positive decision that ensures that Irish-medium education will be available as a choice

for pupils whose parents have been campaign-ing diligently on their behalf. This progress confirms the significant demand from the public for Irish-medium educa-tion and the continuing growth, development and demand for gaels-coileanna.”

The three other areas to get the new gaelscoil-eanna are, Mulhuddart

(Sept 2012), Firhouse/Oldbawn (Sept 2013) and Knocknacarra in Galway, which will open in September 2013.

Delight as Stepaside to get a new gaelscoil in 2013EDUCATION Announcement of 16 new primary schools around the country

200200wdswds

The three Dublin gaelscoileanna will be under the patronage of An Foras Patrunachta. The new selection sys-

tem put in place by the Department of Educa-tion allows the Depart-ment alone to identify areas where new schools are needed.

Blathnaid Ni Ghreach-ain, CEO of Gaelscoil-eanna Teo (National co-ordinating body for Irish-medium schools) said that “while we recognise that today’s announce-ment is a positive reflec-

tion of the hard work done by the local found-ing committees and the cooperation of all the partners in the process, there are problems with the system in that it does not allow for the demand that exists in areas out-side of those identified by the Department, particu-larly those areas where the population is not on the increase”.

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‘This is a positive decision that ensures that

Irish-medium education will be available as

a choice for pupils whose parents have been

campaigning diligently on their behalf’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


A look back at the floods FINE Gael Councillor, Pat Hand, has made an appeal to the public to get involved in the pub-lic consultation process regarding the cleanup necessary in the after-math of last October and November floods in Dun-drum.

“It’s very important that local residents get involved in this consul-tation process, which is open from March 7 to June 8,” he said.

Comments are invited from the public until June 8, 2012, on the flood maps, draft Plan, the Strategic Environ-menta l Assessment (SEA) etc.

All of the documents are available online at www.dublincity.ie/WaterWas-teEnvironment/water-projects and are also on display until June 6, 2012 in the County Hall, Dun Laoghaire and Dundrum Area Office, Dundrum.

APPEAL COUNCIL Boyhan welcomes announcement of grants

Councillor Victor Boyhan

€100,000 is allocated to promote local business

� BAIRBRE NI BRAONAIN

[email protected]

AT a recent County Council meeting of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, €100,000 was allocated to promote local busi-ness in a new scheme called the DLR Business Promotion Fund, 2012.

In a statement welcom-ing the announcement, Cllr Victor Boyhan (Ind.) said: “This enterprise funding was part of the council’s commitment to support small local business in communities across the county.

“The key objectives of the Business Promotion Grants are to help gener-ate and sustain local busi-ness activity,” he said.

The initiative will dole out sections of the €100,000 total in amounts of €15,000 grants avail-able for projects in each local electoral area.

These grants can be up

to a maximum of 50% of proposed expenditure and will be paid towards promotion and market-ing activities aimed at spawning more business.

The objectives of the DLR Business Promo-tion Grants are to aid, increase and sustain business activity by cre-ating more opportunities through increased profil-ing.

The grants have been set up to encourage firms

in an area to work co-operatively to promote business in their area and encourage businesses to work more with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and other public agencies.

The criteria expected to qualify for the grants are manifold and specific – the business must be a local project; the long-term prospects of the projected business idea, or established business, must be taken into strict account; the benefits of the business to the local community must also be very relevant to the area involved.

Other business projects, which can be considered for grants, include pro-motional campaigns and events, including music, public art and other forms of performance; advertis-ing/marketing campaigns including radio, TV, print, street displays designed to

increase footfall in retail areas, on-line communi-cations and small-scale civic space projects, such as streetscape improve-ments.

Apar t from these grants, there will also be a €10,000 grant, which will be the awarded to the winner of a county-wide shop front com-petition, in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce.

“Applicants for this shop front grant have to be able to put up an equal amount of money for their business proposal,” said Cllr Boyhan.

Application forms are available at council offic-es and the deadline for receipt of the completed application forms is Tues-day, April 17, 2012. Those wishing to apply for such a grant should contact the council on 01-2054700 or visit the website at www.dlrcoco.ie

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‘The key objectives of the Business Promotion Grants are to help generate and sustain local business activity’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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Enjoying the magic of moviesA

CADEMY award-winning actress and Patron of Picture House, Brenda Fricker, was a special guest of honour at Leopardstown Park Hospital recently, where she was given a great welcome as she pre-

pared to open their new cinema screen.The hospital was hosting the launch of the Jameson Dublin Interna-

tional Film Festival (JDIFF) outreach programme Picture House; bring-ing the magic of cinema to people who would otherwise be unable to take part in the festival.

The elderly residents, many who will not have seen a cinema screen in many years, were very excited about the event, and they werent disap-pointed as they enjoyed a showing of Singing in the Rain.

Mary Sheridan was looking very glamorous when she

met Brenda Fricker. Pictures: Geraldine Woods

Johnny Wetherall gets the red carpet treatment for

his trip to the cinema

Florence Hogan, Brenda Fricker, Gerard McEntee, assistant director of nursing,

and Elaine Flanagan, director of nursing

George Nairn added a dash of colour to proceedings

PEOPLE Leopardstown Park Hospital’s special film launch

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Taking part in the Cycle4lifeTHE inaugural D.I.D Electrical Cycle4Life will take place on Saturday May 19, in Dunboyne, Co Meath.

Cycle4Life is a char-ity that has been set up by D.I.D Electrical to help raise vital funds for Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

The event will take place over three routes to suit all fitness levels and for all grades of cyclists, from the complete novice all the way up.

Those interested in participating, donating or volunteering to help in the D.I.D Electri-cal Cycle4Life can log

onto www.cycle4life.ie. There are training tips and advice available to improve your technique and assist you in reaching your overall goal, wheth-er it’s to cycle 15km or 147km.

Temple Street Chil-dren’s hospital continues to rely on external sup-port to assist it in the pur-chase of vital equipment. With the money raised by the D.I.D Electrical Cycle4life, Temple Street aims to secure essential equipment that will pro-vide the best possible environment for its young patients and purchase new specialist equipment

and technologies to assist in ongoing vital research.

By participating in the D.I.D Electrical Cycle4Life, those taking part are not only join-ing a fantastic event, but are also helping to make a real difference to the lives of the most precious patients at their time in need.

Register online now at www.cycle4life.ie or follow on Facebook for updates on upcoming events, useful tips and organised training ses-sions. There will also have an evening event in the Crowne Plaza that night and tickets are €100.

CHARITY: RAISING VITAL FUNDS

Showing a Lidl love: Pamper mum with

wine and chocs this Mother’s DayMOTHER’S DAY is a time for pampering, so whilst you are in the kitchen whipping up her favourite pancake brunch, let her sit back with her favourite tipple. Lidl has lots of great wines, bubble and liqueurs at incredible value. Opt for the smooth and luxuri-ous Deluxe Irish Cream Liqueur as an extra special treat or, as Mother’s Day is a celebration, pop some pink bubbles such as the popular Freixenet Cava Brut Rosé. For something sweet, you can’t go far wrong than Lidl’s JD Gross Pralines Selection box.

For further information about Lidl and its products, or to locate your nearest store, please log on to www.lidl.ie or visit www.face book.com/lidlireland.


GazettePETSPETSBrought to you by Miriam Kerins of

the DSPCA

THE FACTS: A GROOMING RITUAL MAY REDUCE COSTLY VETERINARY VISITS

Pampering good for pet healthT

HERE are so many wonderful reasons to get a dog. Regu-lar readers of this

column will know I’m a gal who’s nuts about her mutts. Those readers will understand my annoy-ance when, through my job, I often have to deal with pet parents who have gone out and bought a dog in order to “enhance” their own lives. However, they’ve never taken the time or had the desire to enhance their pet’s lives by giving them a regular bath or treating them to a trip to the groomers.

When speaking to these self professed “dog lovers,” I have to ask:

Do you enjoy the invig-orating feeling of being clean and fresh?

Do you visit the hair/beauty salon?

You do? Great. Well your pets

are no different. Ok, every pet has his/

her own personality; some love to be brushed and fluffed, some don’t and I will hold my hand up and say one of my dogs, (great aunt Sophie, the 17-year-old, does not like being brushed any-more but she’s an old lady and this is her right; she doesn’t have the patience for it). Let’s just say our Diva Dog is a bit of a chal-lenge these days; however, as her mom I know that regular grooming encom-passes many aspects of companion pet care and even though Sophie is no longer as energetic as

When grooming your pet check for areas of bumps,

tenderness, scabs or hair loss

she used to be, she is still in need of having a nice warm, gentle bath, getting her nails clipped, her ears cleaned, her anal glands squeezed, etc., And I do believe this regular ritual brings me and my dear old friend closer togeth-er…and can reduce costly veterinary visits.

Also, when I’m groom-

ing/petting my dogs, espe-cially Sophie, I check for areas of bumps, tender-ness, scabs, hair loss etc., because I do not wish them to run the risk of the following problems:

Ear Mites: A parasite that lives out its life cycle inside your pet’s ear canal; causing severe irritation and itchiness. I use a

soft facial tissue around my finger or a cotton bud dipped in cool olive oil and very gently wipe around the inside of my dogs’ ears making sure not to insert too deeply. If the dog has an open wound or the ear is inflamed, it’s straight off to the vet.

Fly strike: Also known as Myasis – a maggot infestation. This is more common in warmer months where flies lay eggs that go on to develop into larvae that eat dead and rotting tissue on your pet. For example, vomit, skin infection, mated hair, diarrhoea, etc., This condition can be fatal if left untreated. Bathe and groom your pet regularly, treat your pet for diar-rhoea immediately, and if

your pet becomes ill, keep them indoors away from flies. Always seek veteri-nary attention.

Anal Sac Impaction: Dogs and cats have anal sacs that can become impacted if not emptied properly. Ideally, anal sacs should empty with your dog’s normal bowel movements. You won’t even notice this, however, if your pet begins to drag his/her behind along the ground, take him/her to your vet. There could be other reasons for this dragging, such as a both-ersome growth, matted hair, an irritation or diar-rhoea. Only your vet can diagnose.

Minty Fresh Breath: When I’m rubbing my dogs’ faces I always take a

look inside their mouths to check for plaque build-up. If you do this and notice plaque, or bad breath, take your pet to see the vet for a dental check up. When there, ask your vet if he/she can demonstrate the correct technique best suited to your pet and follow the guidelines.

Please do seek your vet’s advice regarding any concerns about your pet and, if you don’t feel like grooming your new best friend yourself, there are plenty of profession-als who’d be delighted to provide that service for him/her. � For more information log onto www.dspca.ie or email me at [email protected]


GazetteBEAUTYBEAUTYMake your mum into an even bigger star with an A-list beauty treatment� LAURA WEBB

MOTHER’S day is approaching, and all we want to do for our

mums is to make them feel like the only woman in the world – so why not think about giving mum a makeover, and then treat her to a luscious meal to show off the fin-ished results?

To help out with this, Gazette Beauty takes a look at Hollywood’s newest mum, Natalie Portman, to show read-ers just how easy it is to achieve this glam, yet subtle look.

At this year’s Oscars, Natalie dazzled the red carpet with her polished

and subtle make-up.Most mums out there

– if mine is anything to go by – prefer “less is more”, and Natalie has this look down to a tee.

Soft, tumbling curls help to finish this look, and are a great way of making mums feel like a star.

To help achieve this

look, Maybelline New York cosmetics has eve-rything a daughter (or son) needs to help make mum feel a million dol-lars.

First, use Maybelline’s Dream Satin Liquid foundation (€11.99), which gives skins a dewy glow. This can be applied using either a brush,

sponge or finger tips.To ensure that skin

stays looking fresh and radiant, initially apply only a small amount as an all-over base, and then tap on excess prod-uct where more coverage is needed.

Natalie’s brown eyes are brought to life with a mix of soft, glimmering metallic hues; start by blending the two deep-est shades of Maybel-line’s Eye Studio Coral Drama Quad (€9.99) along your top lid and up into the socket line for definition.

Add a little under your bottom lashes to make them look thicker and fuller, giving a classic smokey-eye effect.

Using a smaller brush, apply the lightest shade of shimmering gold to the inner corners of eyes to reflect light and then softly blend it out, creating a seamless fin-ish where the light gold meets the darker shades.

To add depth and make lashes appear instantly thicker, apply a small amount of May-belline’s Gel eyeliner in Black (€11.99) along the top lash line.

Once you have the basic line in place, clean off the brush with a tis-sue and blend the line so it appears smoother.

Finish off with the Colossal Cat Eyes mas-cara (€11.99) on both top and bottom lashes

for fuller, thicker, fanned-out lashes.

Keep mum’s lips natu-ral, like Natalie, so not to divert from her eye make-up. Try Colour Sensational Lip Gloss in Exquisite Pink (€9.29) to give your lips a similarly beautiful and healthy-looking sheen.

Once make-up is complete, get the curl-ing tongs out, or hair straightening ones, to make loose curls. Dress mum in her favourite cocktail dress and she will be ready to turn heads at your restaurant of choice.

Remember, Mother’s Day is this Sunday, March 18. Happy Moth-er’s Day!

LA CREATIVE Acad-emy is offering com-plimentary eyebrow treatment with every makeover at the acad-emy for all of March.

When you book a make-up applica-tion for you and your mother on a Saturday, you receive a compli-mentary LA Thread Bar treatment for that perfect brow.

Make-up is then applied, as well as a threading treatment and a complimentary hair “touch-up” by one of their top artists

LA Creative Acad-emy is located at Chatham Street, just off Grafton St. For fur-ther information, call 01 675 1999.

Spoil your

mammy at

LA Academy

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

‘At this year’s Oscars, Natalie dazzled the red carpet with her polished and subtle make-up.

‘Most mums out there – if mine is anything to go by – prefer less is more, and Natalie has this look down to a tee.’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Edited by

Laura Webb

Natalie Portman wowed at this year’s Oscars with her subtle “less-is-more”

make-up – a natural look that would be perfect for your mum this Mother’s Day

FastBeautyCholesterol: Did you check your level recently?APPROXIMATELY 10,000 Irish people die each year from cardio-vascular disease (CVD).

High cholesterol is one of the major controllable risk factors for CVD, including heart attack and stroke. Cholesterol is a waxy sub-stance that is vital for the body to function as normal. The problem arises when cholesterol sticks to the blood vessels and blocks blood supply to the major organs.

Improving your diet, reducing alcohol consumption, quitting smoking and increasing physical exercise can help reduce choles-terol. Contact your GP or local pharmacy to get your choles-terol checked, and help to have a healthy Mother’s Day this yearWith thanks to the staff at Lucan Village

Pharmacy

Looking Bee-autiful: Gifts from Burt’sBURT’S Bees has put together two great gifts to keep mums refreshed from head-to-toe this Mother’s Day. Say a big thank-you to mums this year with products that will keep mum feeling revitalised and refreshed at home.

The specially-packaged prod-ucts come in two gift sets. Burt Bee’s Tips to Toes Kits (top, right) is perfect for hardworking hands and feet, with a collection of rich creams and softening butters to keep hands and feet naturally soft and beautiful, with a RRP of €15.95.

Alternatively, Burt’s Bees Head to Toe (above, right) naturally cleanses and nourishes every part of the body. Inside, mothers will find a generous assortment of Burt’s most popular natural

skin care products, from their beeswax lip balm to coconut foot cream and everything in between, with a RRP of €16.95.

Burt’s Bees Mother’s Day kits are available from Nourish and selected independent health stores and pharmacies nation-wide.


GazetteMUSICMUSIC

IF YOU look up the phrase, “Still Got It”, no doubt you will find a picture of The Rolling Stones nearby.

The band’s music and its members have not only stood the test of time, but they still rock out better than thousands of acts a quarter of their age.

Next month, The Stones celebrate half a century together and, if they needed any proof of their everlasting popularity, then Facebook is it.

Last week a picture of a chuffed Keith Rich-ards holding a piece of paper saying “9,000,000 Stones’ fans” was posted on www.facebook.com/therollingstones (actually it was missing the apostrophe but I guess you don’t have to worry about that when nine million people love you.)

The timeless calibre of songs, like Gimme Shelter and Waiting on a Friend, is some com-fort to the unsettling thought that a bunch of lads my dad’s age have more facebook follow-ers than Radio Nova has listeners. If a post goes up on The Rolling Stones’ Facebook page it can get over 50,000 ‘likes’. See what I mean? Still got it! And that’s only the fans that are on Facebook!

And now this flurry of online adorers begs the question, when will The Stones announce a 50th anniversary tour? And, more impor-tantly how much the tickets will be? (They’d probably have to tour for another 50 years just to satisfy their nine million fans on Face-book). Hey, lads: If the music dates back half a century then the ticket prices should too! A couple of quid should do it.

But a warning to Jagger, Richards and co: psychologists have found the more friends you have on Facebook, the more likely you are to suffer from stress and anxiety. And you guys don’t need any more wrinkles...

Keith Richards and the big news...

Springsteen breaks it down to build again

Bruce Springsteen has delivered what might be his first completely realised record this century

� ROB HEIGH

VERY few acts get as far as ten albums, let alone 17. And you would have to imagine that, over the course of 17 records, there would an early learning phase where they learned their craft, followed by a mature middle phase where they played at the top of their game, and it would be topped off by an end-game that saw them going through the motions while the records spun in decreas-ingly satisfying circles.

You would think that, but then, you wouldn’t be thinking of Bruce Springsteen.

The patron saint of New Jersey has returned this year with his 17th album, and it proves to be, possibly, the most complete summation of everything that makes Bruce Bruce in a single record this century.

I’ve always thought tha t Spr ings t een ’s albums since Tunnel Of Love in 1987 were almost there, but not quite — there was a feeling that they missed an uniden-tifiable something that entirely unified all of the songs under one flag, in

spite of there being some undeniably great song-writing and playing on those records. Wrecking Ball, however, feels like the first time in a very long time that the muse and the cause have come together to create some-thing special.

Opening with the apparently patriotic We Take Care Of Our Own, Wrecking Ball keeps its intentions just under the surface, until it’s time to let them spill over. Our Own is an angry volley that hides it’s ire and bile just as Born In The

REVIEW: HAS BRUCE MADE HIS BEST RECORD OF THE CENTURY?

USA did — the message is that wherever the flag is flown, the care and support for every class is most certainly lacking, despite what politicians and business might have to say.

That frustration directs the characters in many of the songs collected on Wrecking Ball — the petty criminal on Easy Money is all romance until he pulls his gun as he rails against “the fat cats who think it’s funny” who brought him low.

The anger turns to spiritual uplift, and the

theme turns at the mid-point on the title track, austensibly about the end of an era as the Giants stadium in New Jersey is demolished, but, equally, a metaphor for hope and resistance in a time of depression and financial hardship — “Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you got.”

The music brings together the best bom-bast of previous E Street Band outings while taking in inf luences from the country-folk inflected Seeger Sessions

album, as well as bring-ing in Irish trad stylings, New Orleans brass, civil war style marches, and even drum-loops and a rap on Rocky Ground.

I would suggest you seek out the E Street Band performances on Jimmy Fallon’s show in the US last week. There’s something elemental and uplifting seeing the band perform together, even without the talismanic presence of Clarence Clemons, the saxophone legend who passed away last year. The last gang in town are back to rock.

SOUL sensation, Michael Kiwan-uka, has released his much-antic-ipated debut album, Home Again. The North London singer-song-writer, whose magnificent show at the Sugar Club last month sent our reviewer in paroxyms of delight, seals the deal with the ten tracks on offer, a collection of songs that propel you back to the golden age of soul, thanks to brilliant playing and a stellar retro production job by Paul Butler from The Bees.

Coming home: Kiwanuka’s debut hitting home now

FastTunes with Radio Nova’s Dee Woods


CATRIONA Byrne has been working in the health service for the past 12 years and she has noticed an increased number of patients, of all ages, presenting with medical complaints which impacts on the con-dition of their feet. “These medical conditions vary from diabetes, obesity, joint replacement and back problems. In most cases, these patients have been encouraged to exercise more regularly in order to reduce weight and, in turn, help with their medical condition. However, if a patient is also having dis-comfort in their feet, the exercise plan soon goes out the window!” said Catriona.

In 2010, she completed training in Foot Health Management and Biomechanics, as she felt there was a gap in the health service providing both a chi-ropody and biomechanical service to patients. The biomechanics of the service includes assessing the patient’s gait / walk and includes recommending an exercise programme and / or orthotics as necessary. “The patients may present with complaints such as fallen arches, knee or back pain, hammer toes, bunion problems or indeed heel spurs, tendonitis or gener-alised foot pain. So, while I provide a full chiropody service to patients, my service focuses not only on treatment, but also on preventative measures also.

“I find the business extremely rewarding as clients always comment on how good they are feeling after their appointment!” she said.

Interview: Catriona Byrne, The Foot Clinic at Doc Morris, Superquinn SC, Blanch

Q&A

Happy feet lead to happy customers

Catriona Byrne, of The Foot Clinic at Doc Morris, Superquinn SC, Blanchardstown

Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be?A: It varied every year.

Q: What was your first job?A: McDonald’s

Q: And your first pay cheque?A: I can’t remember.

Q: Have you ever done a job you loathed?A: Not really – have done a

variety of jobs but my pet hate

is filing.

Q: When did you start your present job?A: 2010.

Q: What is the best thing about your job?A: As I am a Foot Care Practi-

tioner, I deal with all aspects of

foot pain, generally all patients

present with varying foot pain,

they all leave feeling much bet-

ter – there is immense satisfac-

tion in that.

Q: : Have you achieved any-thing that you once thought

you could not pull off?A: I like to set myself achiev-

able goals.

Q: What part of your working day do you ‘delegate’?A: Again, filing!

Q: What’s currently on your desk that shouldn’t be?A: It’s still the filing, unfortu-

nately.

Q: Is there anything about yourself that you would like to set the record straight on?A: Not really – I like to think

of myself as pretty straight

forward.

Q: What sport do you follow?A: Not a follower of any spe-

cific sport.

Q: What sport can you play?A: Badminton – not a great

player but really enjoy playing.

Q: What habits would you like to lose?A: I can’t think of any off-

hand.

Q: At the moment, what are you looking forward to?A: My summer holidays.

Q: What is your guilty music/TV or movie pleasure?A: Enjoy a good film.

Q: What music/pictures/mov-ies do you have on your iPod/iPad?A: I don’t have iPod or iPad

Q: Who do you follow on Twit-ter/Facebook?A: Not a follower of Twitter or

Facebook.

Q: What was your last tweet/status update?A: I don’t Tweet or Facebook.

I like to chat with friends face-

to-face.

Q: Describe your dream meal?A: Any meal that I don’t cook.

Q: Who would you like to have dinner with – Enda Kenny or Dame Edna?A: Preferably Dame Edna – I

like a laugh!

Q: How many pairs of shoes do you own?A: Maybe eight or 10

Q: Where do you enjoy spend-ing money frivolously?A: Holidays, if possible.

Q: Describe your dream holiday?A: A nice beach, good book,

good food and excellent com-

pany - works perfectly!

Q: What would be your dream job?A: I like a challenge. Maybe

run the county for a while, as

I’d like to make some major

changes, like restore a bit of

equity and accountability to

the system and give the county

a major kick-start regarding job

creation.

Q: What do you plan to do when you retire?A: No plans to retire yet. How-

ever, if I won the lotto, maybe I

could be persuaded.

GazetteBUSINESSBUSINESS Supported by AIB

RETIREMENT SAVINGS

Q – My PRSA has only € 23,000 in it and I am due

to retire next May. I have been told I will receive

very little by way of a monthly pension and,

coupled with the State pension, I am scared that

I just simply won’t be able to afford to retire.

Finding a job at 66 is not easy, but I may have to.

How can I maximise my PRSA fund? Joan – Blan-

chardstown

A – While I am a great advocate of starting a pension

as early as you can, I am also an advocate for getting

to grips with how the pension system works as early

as one can, too. Like a bricklayer laying brick upon

brick, but without having to see the bigger picture,

most pension investors are happy to make minimum

contributions not knowing what the consequences

will be. The end game is just so important, as you are

now unfortunately experiencing. With only a fund of

€ 23,000, you can take € 5,750 as a tax free lump sum,

and invest € 17,250 into an annuity – essentially a fixed

interest rate deposit account guaranteed for life.

You take this interest then as your income for life but

when you die, the insurance company keeps the fund.

You are therefore buying a guaranteed income for

life – the ideal, of course, is to live as long as possible

and outlive the annuity ! Taking a rate of c. 4.5%,

this equates to €64.68 per month and, even with the

annual State pension, a total of c.€13,000 per annum,

you can afford to earn at least another € 5,000 per

annum free from income tax.

The lesson is a hard one. There are thresholds on

the amount of contributions that can be made to a

pension fund based on age, e.g. aged between 40 and

50, you can contribute up to 25% of your net relevant

earnings in an occupational pension scheme apart

from the employer’s contribution. Investing 5% while

the employer invests 5% into the fund is substantially

short of the recommended and allowable amount

that can be invested into such a fund. Remember the

three reasons for having a pension

1. Monthly contributions attract tax relief up to

certain limits at your marginal rate. The top rate is

earmarked to decrease to the 20% rate over the next

three years, so make hay while the sun shines.

2. All growth in the fund is tax free. Remember even

if you are on the lower rate of tax, it means because

you receive 20% tax back, the fund has to drop by

over 20% in one year for you to lose money in your

investment.

3. On retirement, 25% of the fund up to a maximum of

€200,000 can be taken as a tax-free lump sum.

Very best of luck Joan in your retirement.

� 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

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

LOCALMATTERS

GazetteMOTORSMOTORS20 GAZETTE 15 March 2012

Ford gives the new Kuga a right kicking

Owners can open the boot by waving a foot

LAST week, the Ford motor company managed to give one of its own models a right kicking!

As part of the compa-ny’s 2012 Geneva Motor Show presentation, they revealed the first ever kick-activated automatic boot on their all-new Kuga.

Owners of the car will now be able to open and close the tailgate simply by waving a foot beneath the rear bumper, an espe-cially useful feature for those carrying the weekly shop or other gear to load into the car.

Ford perfected the system with the help of volunteer “kickers”, and, after six months of test-ing produced the opti-mum settings.

“This is a perfect exam-ple of how we’re evolv-ing existing technology to further improve our customers’ experience with Ford vehicles,” said Dominik Nical, security electronics expert, Ford

of Europe. “The result is a practical and unique solution to a common problem – opening the tailgate when your arms are full. It’s a solution that will really work for customers in their every-day lives.”

The development team spent six months work-ing with Ford’s Human Machine Interface labo-ratory, using volunteers to test prototype systems fitted to a previous gen-eration Kuga.

Rigorous real-life test-ing perfected the required kick and ensured there was no interference with other systems.

The hands-free tailgate builds on Ford’s Intelli-gent Access push-button start. It allows customers, who have their key on their person, to unlock and start their vehicles without having to take it out of their pocket or purse.

Two sensors in the rear bumper detect a

FORD also used last week’s Geneva Motor Show to unveil the new, production-ready Fiesta ST in advance of the per-formance hatchback’s launch in Europe in 2013.

Customers have clam-oured for a new Fiesta ST since the last model dis-appeared from European showrooms in 2008.

The all-new model is set to take the car’s per-formance to a new level, and the numbers tell the story: 180PS 1.6-litre Eco-Boost, 240Nm of torque, 0-100km/h in under seven seconds, and top speed of more than 220km/h.

At the same time, the EcoBoost technology delivers a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions com-pared with the previous

New Fiesta ST gets show debut

Fiesta ST.Developed by Ford’s

Team RS, the new model delivers significant ride-and-handling improve-ments through the intro-duction of a specially tuned chassis that sits 15mm lower than the standard Fiesta; Ford’s

enhanced Torque Vector-ing Control system, and three Electronic Stability Control modes.

The technologies were put to the test over 5,000 kilometres of driving on Germany’s Nurburgring Nordschleife.

“We believe Ford cus-

Customers have clamoured for a new Fiesta ST

tomers will be blown away by the new Fiesta ST, and not only by the exhilarat-ing performance but by the styling and specifica-tion, too. This dynamic new hot-hatch is undoubt-edly our best Fiesta ST to date,” said Jost Capito, Ford’s director of Global

person’s shin and kick-ing motion. The system safeguards against acci-dental opening by being programmed to open with leg motions – not when an animal runs under the car or when the vehicle hits a bump on the road.

The system made its debut on Kuga’s sister model, the Ford Escape, in North America, late last year. Ford engi-

neers re-calibrat-ed the system for Europe to ensure it would still work if a tow bar had been fitted - as this is an option frequently chosen by European Kuga customers.

T he au tomat i c hands-free tailgate is launched as an option with Keyless Entry on the all-new Kuga later this year.

Ampera and Volt Share the Honours in GenevaTHE Opel Ampera and the Chevrolet Volt were unveiled as the “shock” winners of the 2012 Car of the Year award at the Geneva Motor Show last week.

The news comes as Opel Ireland prepares for delivery of the highly anticipated vehicles, where orders across Europe are currently exceeding expectations, with 7,000 orders placed.

The Opel Ampera / Chevrolet Volt came in as convincing winners with 330 points against the VW Up (281) and Ford Focus (256).

The Opel/Vauxhall CEO, Karl-Friedrich Stracke, and Chevrolet’s president and manag-ing director for Europe, Susan Docherty, were both handed the Car of the Year 2012 award by the President of the COTY judging panel, Hakan Matson.

The Ampera and the Volt emerged as the joint overall winner in a field of seven COTY finalists. The selection criteria applied by the judges were based on attributes such as design, comfort, performance and especially innova-tive technologies as well as efficiency.

Honour“It is a proud moment for us and an hon-

our to receive this award from Europe’s lead-ing jury of automotive journalists,” said Susan Docherty, president and managing director, Chevrolet Europe.

“Our car demonstrates that electric driving can be fun and reliable without ever compro-mising the owner’s lifestyle.

“We are extremely pleased that our revo-lutionary electric vehicle has emerged as the winner in such a tough field of competitors.

“And we are very proud of this accolade,” says Karl-Friedrich Stracke.

“This encourages us further to continue our leadership role in the area of e-mobility.”

The Ampera and the Volt are the first electric vehicles in the market that can go anywhere anytime. A 16 kWh lithium ion battery powers the 111kW/150 hp electric motor.

Depending on the style of driving and road conditions, distance of between 40 and 80 kil-ometres can be covered in the purely battery-operated mode, completely free of emissions.

The new Opel Ampera

yn

cs n n er

Performance Vehicles.The high-contrast

i n t e r i o r f e a t u r e s unprecedented levels of equipment and specifi-cation to suit the sport-ing driver, with stand-ard Recaro sports seats appearing in a Fiesta ST for the first time.

It also will be equipped with MyKey, which allows owners to limit perform-ance and ensure activa-tion of safety features for when less-experienced drivers use the vehicle; and SYNC, Ford’s voice-activated in-car connec-tivity system.

A new bold and dynamic exterior design drives home the high per-formance message and features the latest Ford design signatures.

THE moto r ing world is about to launch into a phase of sibling

rivalry, as Skoda, VW and SEAT each release their first small cars.

Named the Citigo, the up! and the Mii respec-tively, these little motors have been affectionately christened “the triplets” by many in the motoring fraternity.

The international launch of the Skoda Citigo took place in Lisbon this month, and the Gazette was lucky enough to be invited along.

I have to be honest, I am not a petrol-headed, rev-counting purist type of motoring correspond-ent. There’s no doubt I like a little fire in a car’s belly, but it is the practi-

cal nature of most motors that sticks with me, long after the novelty of a fine-ly tuned sports coupe has worn off.

It’s for this reason that car launches make me nervous.

These events always seem to involve twisty, narrow, mountainous roadways, in countries that are not exactly renowned for their man-nerly drivers.

And so it came to

pass, that the launch of the Skoda Citigo, a car that is aimed directly at urban and suburban drivers, involved the type of driving I like to avoid - through a narrow, bendy, mountainous route, that eventually brought my driving companion and I to a very picturesque coastal area close to Lis-bon, much to our relief.

The danger here was that my first experience in the Citigo was going to be a nervous one and leave me with a bad impression.

Thankfully, this was not to be.

For starters, this small car has more interior room than you would ever expect, certainly more than enough for two substantial men to

travel side-by-side in the front seats more than comfortably.

Next is the finish. The tactile points of this car feel very solid, almost as though they have have been swiped from their saloon stablemates.

Nothing gives you the impression that you are in a small car where economy was the driving force behind the design.

EnthusiasmAnd, speaking of

design, the overall look and available options in the Citigo scream fun and enthusiasm.

My particular favour-ite was a glossy, white finish with black racing stripes down the middle, finished off with black alloys – a very tasty look

indeed.In practical terms, the

five-door option makes all the sense in the world, it’s a €500 option, but makes the car far more usable without sacrificing any of its visual appeal.

The drive itself was another surprise.

Admittedly, carrying three adults, you need to get the revs up a bit more than usual to get it going up near-vertical moun-tainous roads, but the point is that this car does get going.

Keeping in mind that it has a modest one-litre engine producing 60 or 75bhp, depending what model you go for, it moves surprisingly well.

There was certainly no problem keeping up on the motorways, and

it was as nimble as any-thing as we took a few wrong turns navigating the small, cobbled city streets around Lisbon.

It’s refreshing to see car manufacturers putting such serious thought and consideration into their entry-level models.

From the incredibly attractive fuel economy and running costs, to the interior finish and design, cars of this size really are competing for our atten-tion.

Skoda’s fan base in Ire-land is certainly increas-ing, and it will no doubt find the VW Up! very tough competition, but the Citigo put a smile on my face, and having to pick between these two would certainly have me scratching my head.

Go, Citigo, go!The new Skoda Citigo is set to compete with both VW and SEAT, as they take their first steps in to the small car market in 2012

THE NEW A-CLASS IS UNVEILED AT MOTOR SHOW: AMONG the many new cars debuting at the Geneva Motor Show last week, was the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

The German mar-quee believes that the new model boasts the kind of appeal that will bring them into a new, more youthful market segment when it arrives here next year.

The taller, more upright, design of the present model has been replaced by a lower-slung body that sits 18cm closer to the ground.

Built on the B-Class platform, the new A-Class will come in a range of petrol and turbo-diesel engines, and the one likely to grab the limelight in Ireland is a 1.8-litre diesel, seen as the greenest of them all with CO2 emissions of just 99g/km.

All engines offer an idle-stop system as standard and can be mated to a six-speed manual, or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, transmis-sion.

One feature certain to appeal is a facility that allows what might be termed “the i-class generation”, to con-nect up and use the full functionality of their iPhone Siri voice-activated units or play their iPad music and apps through the car’s infotainment system.

Electronic elements extend to safety with a collision warning system and adaptive brake assist amongst its standard features.

RoadRoadSignsSigns

� Top speed: 171 kph

� 0 – 100km/hr: 13.2 sec

� Economy: 4.7 l/100km

� CO2 emissions: 108g/km

� Road Tax Band: A (€160)

� Entry Price: €10,000 est

SPECS: SKODA CITIGO (75bhp)


TRIPLETS: SKODA REVEAL THEIR CONTENDER FOR THE SUBCOMPACT SHOWDOWN

The new Mercedes-

Benz A-Class

Edited

by

Cormac Curtis

Make the most of a special day for mumIF YOU have found your-self caught short for a special Mother’s Day gift this year, there’s always the option to whisk her away for a break – with-out the kids.

To give you a little inspiration, and to keep you out of the dog-house this weekend, here is a selection of destina-tions around the coun-try that would be perfect for a break for mum this March 18 ...

The five-star g Hotel, Galway

The five-star g Hotel, Galway is offering the perfect indulgence for you and your mum to relax and reconnect.

Discover ESPA at the g’s Pamper Perfection for Two experience and com-bine your spa experience with luxurious overnight accommodation and full

Irish breakfast.Your spa journey will

start in ESPA at the g’s glorious thermal suite, offering a range of heat and cooling experiences which cleanse the body and soothe aching mus-cles.

Enjoy a 55-minute spa treatment, selecting from an ESPA-intensive facial, full body massage or body wrap, and experience rituals that will take your mind to a calmer place and nurture your body.

Conclude your spa journey in the rooftop relaxation area overlook-ing the zen garden with a handmade chocolate and a refreshing smoothie.

It costs from €155 per person sharing, bookable from Sunday to Thurs-day.

For further details, see www.theghotel.ie or call 091 865 200

Druids Glen Resort, County Wicklow

The Mother’s Day package includes gor-geous five-star overnight accommodation in the resort that is nestled between the Irish Sea and Wicklow mountains.

During the day, enjoy a blissful facial in the resort’s popular spa, where you will also receive a special Payot spa gift.

Later on, you can toast your girlie evening with a glass of Prosecco, before a delicious dinner in the Druids Brasserie.

Then, retire for the night and watch a “movie for mum” together in the comfort of your cosy room.

Waking up to a satis-fying full Irish breakfast, your mum will feel well and truly spoiled.

The Druids Glen

Mother’s Day package is available Mother’s Day weekend from €170 per person, subject to avail-ability. For further infor-mation, call 01 287 0848, or see www.druidsglenre-sort.com.

The Westin Hotel, Dublin

This Mother’s Day, show your mum just how much you love her and appreciate all that she does by marking the date with a special Mumm Champagne Afternoon Tea at the luxurious Atri-um Lounge in The Westin Dublin hotel.

The Atrium Lounge is offering a special treat for mums on Mother’s Day. Take time out to catch up together with an afternoon tea, including home-made scones with jam and clotted cream, and a selection of pastries

and other sweet treats, and receive a compli-mentary glass of chilled Mumm champagne for mum – all for just €24.

For further informa-tion and bookings, con-tact The Atrium Lounge directly on 01 645 1324 and quote “Special Moth-er’s Day package”.

The Imperial Hotel, Cork

Enjoying some self indulgence is a luxury most busy mums rarely get the chance to experi-ence.

Rectify that this Moth-er’s Day by treating her to an extra-special Indulge Me spa package at the blissful Escape Salon and Spa in the Imperial Hotel, Cork city.

The sensuous package does exactly what it says on the tin and includes an Aveda comforting tea on

arrival, time in the Vitality Suite’s hydrotherapy pool, Brine Grotto and Aroma Grotto, a pure focus facial tailored to suit her skin type, an anti-ageing eye treatment, nurturing hand and arm massage, and soothing scalp mas-sage As an extra-special gift, your mum will also receive an Aveda gift of two travel-sized products so that she can feel fabu-lous wherever she is.

The Indulge Me spa package costs €149, and you can indulge her even further by turning her visit into an overnight stay with room rates in the charming, four-star city centre hotel from just €89, so she can also pay Patrick Street a visit and shop until she drops.

For further informa-tion, see www.flynnho tels.com or call 021 427 4040.

Whether taking a trip to luxurious Druids Glen Resort (main), or making Mumm the word for champagne in the Westin (above), spoil your mum this Mother’s Day

Croatia’s many charms to woo you this EasterIF YOU are thinking of taking a trip this Easter, Croatia could be just the place, with its glistening coastline and a preserved, his-toric beauty.

Concorde Travel has just launched new special offers to Croatia during the Easter holiday period, with many offers to suit all budgets.

For example, departing on April 1, spend seven nights at the three-star Antun-inska Apartments in Dubrovnik Old Town, on a self-catering basis, from €549pp.

Alternatively, depart on April 6 and stay at the two-star-plus Hotel Adriatic in Dubrovnik, on a B&B basis, from €530pp; the four-star Grand Park & Villas Hotel in Dubrovnik, on a B&B basis, from €610pp or the beautiful five-star Rixos Libertas Hotel in Dubrovnik, on a B&B basis, from €800pp.

To book your Croatia break, or for further information, see www.concord-etravel.ie or phone 01 775 9300.

FastTravel

GazetteTTRAVELRAVEL22 GAZETTE 15 March 2012

Edited by

Mimi Murray


Cruise control to France with Irish FerriesTAKING a trip to France by boat need not be a dull experi-ence, thanks to Irish Ferries.

The Oscar Wilde offers a wide range of onboard facilities, including three res-taurants, two lounge bars, two cinemas, mall-style shopping, a cafe, gaming area, hair and beauty salon, Wi-Fi internet access, and much more, operating between Rosslare to Cherbourg and Roscoff.

For further infor-mation and reser-vations, see www.irishferries.com, or call 0818 300 400.

FastTravelHead East or West for some terrific holidaysLOOKING for some-thing a little different to the usual sun, sea and sand? Joe Walsh Tours specialist tours are designed to cater for clients who want some-thing unique that they will remember for a life-time, such as to Taiwan and South Korea.

Spend 15 unforget-table days travelling through areas such as Taipei, Sun Moon Lake, Taichung, Seoul, Daegu, Gyeongju and Busan, visiting such sights as the Paoan Temple, the Shilin Night Market, Taroko National Park, and The

Tunnel of the Nine Turns, all located in Taiwan.

In South Korea, you will visit several memora-ble sights, including Cho-gyesa Temple, Cheom-seongdae Observatory, Beomosa Temple and Yongdusan Park.

Price includes return flights from Dublin with China Airlines, 14 nights’ B&B, accommodation, 12 evening meals, eight lunches, a luxury air-conditioned coach for the duration of the tour, the services of Joe Walsh Tours’ local guides for the duration of the tour, entrances as stated on

the itinerary and an inter-nal flight from Hualien to Taipei.

Depart on July 16 and spend seven nights in Taiwan and seven nights in South Korea, at a cost of €2,929 per person, excluding tax of €295pp.

Alternatively, head Stateside in Septem-ber to join an American Civil War Battlefield pro-gramme.

Highlights include the Capitol Building, Ford’s Theatre, the Lincoln, Jefferson, Vietnam and WWII memorials, US Navy Museum, New Market Battlefield and

For those looking for a break from the norm, why not take in the modern sights of

Taipei (main), or the Antietam National Battlefield in America (inset)?

Museum, National US Museum Corps Museum, and Antietam National Battlefield, to name just a few.

The price includes direct return flights from Dublin to Washington, 10 nights’ hotel accommo-dation on a B&B basis in the Hotel Monaco, Alexandria and the Best

Western Historic, Freder-ick, one welcome dinner, a luxury air-conditioned coach throughout the duration of the trip, entry fees to all historic sites and museums as per itinerary, and the assist-ance of Captain Donal Buckley, on behalf of Joe Walsh Tours.

This package costs

€1,749pp, plus tax of €265pp.

Tours are subject to minimum of 20 passen-gers to operate for the Taiwan and South Korea tour, and 40 passengers to operate for the USA tour.

For further information on these tours, or to book, see www.joewalshtours.ie or call 01 241 0800.

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Monkeying aroundWith two giant, multi-limbed, bloodthirsty and blind white apes charging in on him, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) should make like a banana, and

split – however, it’s all just one more dramatic event for the Earthman to get through on his bizarre adventures on Mars

GoingOUT

GazetteENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

This popcorn sci-fi epic feels like too many films you’ve already seen, with nice design but overly familiar setting

�THE PAVILION THEATRE 01 231 2929Showstopper!

THEY’RE making it up as they go along! Luckily, that’s entirely the point, as Showstopper! The Improvised Musical sees an entirely new musical created from scractch in every performance, with the audience helping to create a show on the spot with their suggestions and direction, leading to a unique show to remember. This award-winning production, which has played sell-out shows in London’s West End, is set to delight and entertain at The Pavilion on St Patrick’s Day, at 8pm, with tickets costing €18/16.

MILL THEATRE 01 296 9340 Jack Wise Magic & Comedy

MEANWHILE, also being held on St Patrick’s Day, famillies looking for fun in Dundrum will find plenty at the Jack Wise Magic & Comedy show, presented as part of the Paddy Laughs Festival. As the title suggests, Jack will blend magic and laughter to great effect, in a show described as David Blaine mixed with Tommy Cooper, creating great tricks and lots of fun for all the family in the Irish magician’s memorable festival show. Catch the magical performance, at 3pm, with tickets priced at €8/€5.

CIVIC THEATRE 01 885 2622Carthaginans

CONTINUING with The Civic Theatre’s run of strong, memorable drama, Frank McGuinness’ striking play, Carthaginans, runs until St Patrick’s Day, March 17. Influenced by Bloody Sunday, and delving into certain facets of The Troubles, this production, set in a graveyard, both helps to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and provides some thought-provoking entertainment for theatre fans. Catch the show nightly at 8pm, with tickets costing €20/16.

DRAIOCHT 01 885 2622Coolmine Goes to the Movies

DRAIOCHT is getting ready for the upcoming Coolmine Goes to the Movies show, which is set to feature a wonderful night’s entertainment, influenced by all manner of movie magic. The accomplished Coolmine players will take the audience through a delightful tour of Hollywood hits, with everything from Disney to Bond to much, much more to savour in their presentation. Coolmine Goes to the Movies – and so will you – on Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31 at 8pm, with tickets priced €16/€14.

� KATE CROWLEY

WHILE the entire world and his wife waits for Abraham Lincoln: Vam-pire Hunter to chop and stake its way to our screens – I know, I know, I was born to review some-thing so gloriously titled – there’s an awful lot of underwhelming films to get through first, which even an undead-slaying, stovepipe-hat wearing president couldn’t make any better. (Sorry, Abe.)

Speaking of under-whelming, here’s John Carter! He’s a bit of a Tarzan character, one might say, seen as some-thing of a wild character amongst the locals – appropriately enough, as he’s a much-lesser-known work by Tarzan’s creator, Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Through some not par-ticularly well-executed scene setting, it’s not long before we’re in the late 1800s or so, saddled up with Civil War veteran

Carter (Kitsch), who, it turns out, isn’t quite the grizzled, unfeeling and authority-hating maverick that he appears to be.

Anyway, after some slightly dull scene-setting (oh, if only he’d rucked up in Deadwood), it’s not long before Carter finds himself accidentally transported to another planet – as you do – and discovers that it – Mars – is full of life. (I guess good ol’ Edgar didn’t sit too near the front during his 19th-century schoolin’.)

Carter’s just a puny earthling – a grizzled, unfeeling and authority-

hating maverick at odds with the towering, multi-armed locals, who may all appear to be bloodthirsty savages at first sight, but, in fact, have a complex society that a puny but plucky Earthling could help sort out and ...

Hmmm. This doesn’t feel a million miles away from a certain other sci-fi film from a few years ago, but let’s jump back the 36 million or so miles to Mars to continue.

Blessed with superior strength and abilities, due to the planet’s different gravity, it’s not long before Carter’s leppin’ about the

place, helping the locals with their somewhat pressing issue of civil war. Oh, and their imminent destruction by a superior race. Who will then tackle primitive Earth.

You may think that all of this would be a lot for a grizzled maverick-soldier-turned-gold-prospector-turned-intergalactic-lead-er to sort out, but Carter’s a have-a-go kind of guy, and isn’t about to let mistrustful aliens, blood-thirsty politicians, dragon-flyish warships and bloody big beasties get in his way of sav-ing the day, the girl, the planet, our planet, and every-thing – and then go back to a mun-dane life on Earth – oh no!

A n d t h a t ’ s yer lot.

Of course, there’s a wee bit more to it than just that, with lots and lots of CG-enhanced scenes and characters.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to say that there’s any-thing new in this film, over which the ghost of Avatar hovers. Oh, and the ghost of Star Wars. And Dune. And several other films.

Kitsch (left) does his best, but the role doesn’t exactly demand much, bar standing around looking buff, angry, alarmed, or – nope, that’s pretty much

it, and the other humans don’t exactly have a lot to work with, either.

To be fa i r, they’re working with material that’s already weak – there’s a reason why so much Tar-zan exists, but Carter’s a vir-tual unknown, making this a poor, Kitsch film.

FILM OF THE WEEK: John Carter�� (12A) 130 mins

OUR VERDICT:THERE’S too much here that you’ve already seen in a variety of other films. Deadwood, Gladiator, Avatar, Dune – take your pick, and you’ll see all these, and more, in this mash-up of movies. It’s not truly terrible, and would while away a couple of hours ... just don’t expect anything particularly special, or even memorable, and it could be just the ticket for a while...

Director: Andrew StantonStarring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, lots and lots of CG sights


� SHANE DILLON

THE wait is over – the Reapers have finally arrived at Earth, where it seems that it’s very much a case of Game Over for our species.

Or, rather, game on, as Mass Effect 3’s long- awaited arrival has been keenly met by gamers, keen to continue the notable franchise with the

final part in the trilogy.I reported last week on

the title’s problems with being stocked at Game, but, this week, we’ll leave any such negativ-ity behind to focus on the game itself.

And what a game. Although it’s (just about) accessible to complete newcomers to the series, this is a title that very much builds up on all of

the expansive back story already established in the prequels, as well as the established characters, to deliver a title that’s very much more of the same, but ramped up to a much higher standard, and, of course, with an explosive finale.

To recap, the Mass Effect series, and universe, follows humanity’s role in the future as its expansion

GazetteGAMINGGAMING

In Mass Effect 3, Shepard must lead his team to fight back against the Reaper menace to the Galaxy – but Earth comes under attack ...

Scaling creative download heightsCONTINUING the XBox 360’s coverage this week – and why not, given such strong content – another “House Party” downloadable title has popped into view, priced 1,200 Microsoft Points.

Running with what I’m terming the popular Apres-Arma-geddon genre (as seen in several instances, such as cinema’s The Road, television’s The Walking Dead, and any number of recent gaming titles, such as Enslaved), I Am Alive is a notably polished download-only title, featuring a desperate character’s attempts to survive in a post-apocalyptic urban setting.

Despite its lengthy-development period, which led many to doubt it would ever actually emerge from Development Hell, it’s finally been released, and has turned out to be a decent survival-horror title, where, perhaps a little controversially, the player is battling fellow survivors’ lawlessness as much as the ruined city’s dangerous environment.

It’s a good way to round off the 360’s House Party season, which featured some great titles and, as another enjoyable downloadable title, I Am Alive shows that there’s certainly plenty of life in this interesting gaming avenue for the 360.

Bytesandpieces

Making a stand against the Reapers’ menace

An extra effect from

Kinect’s hardwareXBOX 360 gamers can avail of their Kinect hardware to get an extra boost to their gameplay, in another sign of how determined Microsoft is to make the most of their hardware to enhance a number of key titles.

So, this means that Kinect users can make the most of a number of Kinect features – principally by making use of audio commands to manage their squad on a number of fronts as they battle the Reapers and their minions.

Seeing as squads play a significant

role in a number of titles, and given the natural immersion that such a feature could add to a game, it seems like a natural addition to the title – one that may not be for every gamer (given the paper-thin walls in my new-build apartment, my flatmate and neighbours would be unlikely to appreciate my intergalac-tic battling by blathering to myself), but one that will feel like a natu-ral fit for many gamers, keen to get any help they can to help tackle the Reapers’ plans.

Anotherweebyte...

into the galaxy puts it in conflict with older, more established civilisations, none of whom are too impressed by our upstart race.

Luckily enough, some plucky humans are just what the galaxy needs, given that an ancient race of sentient machines have reawoken, and are hell-bent on eliminating – or reaping – all sentient life across the galaxy, whose lifeforms would do very nicely to power their alarm clocks, show-ers and spaceships, thank you.

In Mass Effect 3, the game can either start with a new character, as defined by the player, or, by examining the gamer’s previous saves, can load up their character from the previous game and, based on their playing and choices so far, shape the story from that point on, creating what feels like a unique experience.

Here, the action con-tinues with Shepard and

co trying to unite all the species for a desperate stand against the Reap-ers (Earth doesn’t fare too well, early on), with a pretty explosive mix of intense action, giving the gamers an awful lot of bang for their buck.

Again, there’ll be lots of player choice along the way, with actions and conversations taken along the journey deter-mining how things play out – and who lives, and who dies.

Of course, there’s an awful lot more than this simple summary to the game – despite the streamlined experience, there’s substantial depth to the title – but, for those looking for an all-out action title, with quieter moments of debate and real choice to make, it’s hard not to be impressed by this stand-out title.

So, for a sweeping sci-fi opera, with some great action, Mass Effect 3 is a superb conclusion to a strong series.

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Permisson is sought for Proposed front extension single storey 1.5m deep. New 2 storey extension to rear with attic conver-sion and new velux roof-lights to rear, new window ground floor to side at 15 Llewellyn Lawn, Rathfarn-ham, Dublin 16 by Anne Roche THE PLANNING APPLICATION MAY BE INSPECTED OR PURCHASED AT A FEE NOT EXCEEDING THE REASONABLE COST OF MAKING A COPY AT THE OFFICES OF THE PLANNING AUTHOR-ITY, COUNTY HALL, DUN LAOGHAIRE, DURING ITS PUBLIC OPENING HOURS. A SUBMISSION / OBSER-VATION MAY BE MADE ON PAYMENT OF €20 WITHIN A PERIOD OF 5 WEEKS FROM THE DATE THE APPLICA-TION IS RECEIVED B Y T H E P L A N -NING AUTHORITY.

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We, Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, intend to apply for permis-sion for development at 19 Roebuck Road, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14. The development will consist of new security office, security barrier, a green keepers store and all associated site works. The planning applica-tion may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the rea-sonable cost of making a copy at the offices of the planning author-ity, County Hall, Dun Laoghaire during its public opening hours. A submission/observa-tion may be made on payment of €20 within a period of 5 weeks from the date the appli-cation is received by the planning authority.

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Over the coming May bank holiday weekend, 12 men and women from St Michael’s Rowing Club in Dun Laoghaire will take part in a biennial rowing race across the Irish Sea known as the Celtic Chal-lenge.

The race sets off from Arklow, Co Wicklow, with the finishing line in Aber-ystwyth, Wales.

At 150km, this relay race is billed as the long-

est rowing race in the world, and draws together 27 teams from Wales, Ire-land and beyond.

The team is taking on this challenge to raise funds for a clubhouse in Dun Laoghaire, for the first time in the club’s 90 year history.

Not many races start and finish in different countries, a source of pride to the Welsh and Irish oarsmen and women involved. So, too, is the sport of coastal rowing

itself, which differs from the Olympic or Oxford v Cambridge code of row-ing in a number of key ways. Seats are fixed, not sliding, and boats are of a more substantial con-struction to tackle the swell on open seas, which can reach several metres.

St Michael’s take things a step further by using quarter-ton wooden clinker-built east coast skiffs rather than the modern fibreglass models, used by all other competi-

ROWING: AMBITIOUS DRIVE FOR DUN LAOGHAIRE CLUB IN EPIC CELTIC CHALLENGE RACE

The east-coast skiff that St Michael’s will be piloting in the Celtic Challenge race in May

St Michael’s to row their boat all way to Wales

tors in 2010. Their solid wood oars are three times heavier than carbon fibre equivalents, requiring strength and a particular technique. In common with other clubs of Dublin and Wicklow, these boats originate from the Hob-blers of old; crews of local men who would engage in unlicensed pilotage of

merchant shipping.Each competing team

in the Celtic Challenge consists of three rotat-ing crews of four rowers and is accompanied by a support boat for naviga-tion and for accommo-dating the resting crews. Changeover strategy is down to each team, but most opt for a one-hour-

on, two-hours-off format. Depending on weather conditions, the race may start in Arklow on the afternoon of the Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Crews row through the night, arriving in Aberyst-wyth the following morn-ing or afternoon.

The squad is actively seeking sponsorship for

the challenge, in a drive to raise funds for a new club-house in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Currently, the club lacks space to store their three wooden boats, space for indoor training and changing facilities. It is hoped that the money raised can be put towards achieving this long-stand-ing goal.

GazetteSPORTDRIVING HOME DRIVING HOME Touring car starAaron Touring car starAaron Smith on coming Smith on coming back to Ireland: back to Ireland: Page 29Page 29

GazetteSportSport


Colaiste Iosagain’s Siofra Cleirigh Buttner with her winners’ medal after claiming the intermediate title last weekend


SIOFRA Cleirigh Buttner was a clear winner of the intermediate girls’ race from Colaiste Iosagain schoolmate Sarah Ni Mhaolmhuire and Jessica Coyne (Crescent).

This was Buttner’s fourth Aviva All-Ireland Schools’ Cross-Country title in a row, becoming the first athlete ever to do so.

Commenting after the race Buttner said: “This was my last cross-country race of the season and I wanted to finish off the season with a confident run. I will take a short break now and then start training for the track sea-son, where I will target the 800m.”

Colaiste Iosagain again won the team title from Ballyclare HS.

Clar NicCarthaigh (Colaiste Iosagain) ,

meanwhile, claimed the senior girls’ race from Lorna Fitzpatrick (Sacred Heart, Newry) and Mary Mulhare (Scoil Criost Ri, Portlaise). NicCarthaigh also had the added sat-isfaction of leading her school to the team title over Dublin rivals, St Dominic’s, Cabra.

CBC Monkstown’s Kevin Dooney ended a six-year wait for his first school’s cross-country title as he got the better of High School, Clonmel’s Sean Tobin in a thrilling tussle in the senior boy’s race

Both athletes battled fiercely over the fast and undulating course for the 2012 Aviva All-Ireland Schools’ Cross-Country Championships.

Dooney made the break with a lap to go, opening up a gap of 15m over Tobin. Coming up the finishing straight, Tobin

challenged Dooney in a thrilling sprint finish to the line.

But the Monkstown student just had enough to hold on to claim his first All-Ireland Schools’ Cross-Country title. Commenting after the race, Dooney said: “I have been waiting six years to win my first title, it was a tough race but I found the strength in the end to hold off Sean.”

Siofra O’Flaherty (St Leo’s, Carlow) impressive-ly won the minor girls’ race from Emer Fitzpatrick (Our Lady’s School) and Rose Finnegan (Eureka Kells). Colaiste Iosagain won the team race from Eureka Kells.

DSDAC, meanwhile, last week played host to Rosie Daniels, through the Coaching Ireland sponsored by Lucozade sport, to give a nutrition talk.

She had been with the club’s 18 months previ-ous and this time placed a Distance amd Endur-ance twist on the talk with Linda Byrne, cur-rent National Marathon Champion, also invited to discuss her own expe-rience of nutrition and hydration.

Thirty DSD athletes from older juveniles to seniors and Meet and Trainers to parents all

interested in distance running packed into a classroom in Ballinteer Community School after training last Tuesday for the talk.

It provided a tour de force of science and experience, with Daniels delivering information applicable to both top-end performers and those developing into the sport either from early age or advanced ages.

Siofra’s All-Ireland win

ATHLETICS: FOURTH NATIONAL TITLE FOR DSDAC RUNNER

FastSport

Areas invited to take part in Healthy EventsThe HSE Community Games is inviting Community Games areas around the country to participate in the Healthy Events Awards 2012.

Community Games president, Gerard Davenport, launched the awards last week, saying: “We are excited to announce this new programme which has been developed over the last year with the HSE.

“We want to encourage local areas and volunteers in their development of Healthy Events and this training, with the added bonus of an awards scheme, really fulfils this criteria.

“As well as practical assistance, it offers the invaluable advice that all local organisers can use while running their events,” said Daven-port.

Areas will be invited to attend Healthy Events seminars around the country in March and April. The seminars will cover the planning of Healthy Community Games events, and will include the topics of sun safety, nutrition, physical activity, mental health and substance use (tobacco, alcohol and drugs).

Two or more volunteers from an area can attend a seminar, and once they have attend-ed, they are then free to participate in the awards process.

To apply for the award, an area must make their events more health-promoting. A com-prehensive list of ideas to improve events will be provided. Areas may choose their own ideas too. At least ten actions must be planned in order to enter the competition. The more actions, the better their chances of winning.

For more information, contact Peggy Con-nolly, PR and marketing director on 086 172


in association with

RATHFARNHAM man, Aaron Smith, has come a long way since his days of karting when he was 14. The driver was last year crowned Motorsport Ireland’s Young Rac-ing Driver of the Year in 2011.

His journey to the upper eschelons of the sport have taken him to Britain and Italy to com-pete in drivers’ champi-onships in those coun-tries, to great success.

Last year, Aaron com-peted in the UK’s AirAsia Renault Clio Cup and he also made his debut in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Champion-ship, and, in 2012, Smith is all set to make his mark in the British Touring Car Championship with the Motorbase Performance team.

Aaron will join some of the biggest names in world motorsport at the Bavaria City Racing Dub-

lin when it arrives in the city centre in June this year, and he was looking forward to the experi-ence when he spoke to GazetteSport last week.

“I don’t know the last

time a touring car driver got the chance to drive in Ireland. I’ve always raced across the sea, and it’s really nice to be able to come home and drive in front of a home crowd. The event will be a huge success, but I’m delighted more to be coming home to drive before Irish fans of the sport.”

Aaron has cut his teeth at some of the most pres-

tigious and well-known tracks in Europe, and, when driving in the Ital-ian Clio Cup, was able to drive on the hallowed concrete of Monza and Immola, where he regis-

tered a number of stage wins.

Returning to Britain for the Clio Cup, he spent 2011 racking up some impressive drives, lead-ing to him claiming the Graduate Cup, for young drivers under the age of 25, and finishing second overall in the champion-ship.

All of that success was part of the masterplan,

explained Smith.“My aim from when

I started driving was to take part in the British touring car champion-ship. That was the pin-nacle of motor sport to me in Europe. Coming back from Italy, I knew I would be able to do well in the Clio Cup, and I knew that would open the doors to the touring car teams. Everything has come together for this year.”

With his Motor Race Per formance t eam behind him, Smith is looking to shape up for 2012 and the test of the touring cars.

“There are ten races, and it is one of the big-gest championships in Europe. It’s really mas-sive - there are about 12 million TV viewers across the continent.

“The MRP team just missed out on winning the overall championship last year, so they have great experience that I can draw on. As well as that, Matt Jackson is my teammate this year, and driving alongside him has been hugely instruc-tional and informative for me. I’m learning so much watching him on the track, and it brings you on in leaps and bounds without realising it.

“It’s just the impart-ing of experience, really. I’m on the way over to Britain, to Snetterton in Norfolk, to do some test-ing there with the team.

Smith happy to be driving homeMotor racing ace, Aaron Smith, is a rising star of the touring car scene, and is relishing the prospect of racing in the Bavaria City event this June

Aaron SMith is relishing prospect of returning to Ireland this summer

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‘It’s nice to be able to come home and drive in front of an Irish crowd. I think it will open people’s eyes as to how motor sport is thought of here’-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FastSport

DUNDRUM cycling legend, Stephen Roche, will return to his old racing grounds when he will be the guest of honour at the Irish Cycling Show at the RDS on May 19 and 20.

The legendary Dublin cyclist is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his extraordinary 1987 racing season when he won the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the World Road Race Championships.

Roche will open the show on Saturday and will be in attendance during the weekend on the dedicated stand, which will feature vari-ous memorabilia from his fabled career.

Among the exhibits on the Stephen Roche stand will be the Battaglin bike with which he won the 1987 World Road Race champi-onships in Villach, Austria, as well as various items of clothing and trophies from a career that spanned 13 years at the very top level of cycling.

Roche, whose 1987 “triple crown” of major wins places him in an exclusive company of two with Belgian Eddy Merckx, is looking forward to an opportunity to remember his famous year with fans in Ireland.

“I’m really excited to be appearing at the Irish Cycling Show,” says Roche, who now lives in Anitbes, France. “It’s high time there was an exhibition of this kind in Ireland and it’ll be great to be able to remember 1987 in the company of friends.”

Roche is still connected to the cycling world through Stephen Roche Cycling Holidays and Training Camps in Mallorca, his cycling vacations firm, which will be fea-tured on his stand.

The Irish Cycling Show will feature exhibi-tors from every facet of cycling and related industry, including cycle retailers and dis-tributors and there will also be emphasis on general feature attractions to entertain the whole family.

Plans in the pipeline include a test track around the venue, demonstrations, shows and seminars throughout the weekend. Fur-ther details on the show’s attractions will be announced in the coming weeks.

For more information, log on to www. irishcyclingshow.com

Roche returns to help to launch Irish Cycling Show

We will both be driving our cars, and overlay-ing the data [from Matt and Aaron’s cars] to see where we can both improve our driving.

“The back-up team is very important - driving is only 10% of the job, and the rest is down to the backroom team.”

The season begins on April 1 at Brand’s Hatch, and Smith is hoping to capitalise on all he has learned in the preceding years.

“It’s a big learning curve, and I’m hoping to hit the ground running, and maybe get a top ten finish this year. I never like setting goals, but I’d like to think I can get some good results.”

As much as he appre-ciated the challenge of touring cars, however, coming home is some-thing that Smith is more than happy to do.

“I’ve never driven competitively in Ireland. It’s a shame as I would love to race at home, but the opportunity has never arisen. It’s always been the only choice to fly away from home.

“I’d love to think the Bavaria event can open people’s eyes as to how motor sport is thought of in Ireland. I think you’ll see a massive increase in the number of peo-ple who will want to go to the driving school in Mondello after the day, and that is what the scene needs over here.”


GazetteSportSport


NICOLAS Roche never fully recovered from an early setback in the Paris-Nice stage race when he was caught in a cross-wind on stage two, eventually ending 20th in the overall race.

On that second stage, he fin-ished in 28th place in wet and windy conditions on the 185.5km stage.

Cross-winds played havoc with Roche’s gameplan, leaving him behind when the peloton split midway through the stage as they chased down the early breaka-

way leader, Oliver Kaisen.Roche was never able to make

up the ground and was left in the second pack, eventually finishing 2:29 behind stage winner, Tom Boonan.

And while he recovered to a certain extent over the remain-ing stages, rising back up to 20th, and ending with a credible final time-trial in Nice with a time of 21m13s, he did not threaten the top ten.

Next on the agenda is the Volta a Catalunya before a cou-ple of classics lead in to the main touring season with the Tours of

California and Switzerland being used as the build-up for the Tour de France – just after the Irish national championships.

Elsewhere, Sanrda Telford was Orwell’s best finisher in the senior programme of races at Bohermeen last Sunday, winning the bunch gallop to take fifth place in the opening round of the Women’s National League.

Telford was the quickest of a strong Orwell contingent, who took every place from fifth to eighth in the race. Ciara Kinch was sixth in the sprint for the line, with Anne Dalton seventh, and

Aideen Collard rounding out the prizes in eighth.

The A3 race saw Orwell’s Barry Dunne finish very strongly to grab sixth place in a hard charging fin-ish that saw Eddie Lynch also in the prizes with eighth. Dunne looked comfortable through much of the race, moving up the bunch nicely for the gallop and finishing in the points despite having to ride on the grass verge for much of the finale. Peter Ger-rard was also prominent in the final lap, riding hard on the front of the bunch to bring back the break.

Roche gone with the wind in France


DE LA SALLE College Churchtown won the Under 16 Leinster Schools Badminton Champion-ship title last week when they overcame the chal-lenge of three other top schools, Kilkenny Col-lege, Gallen Commu-nity School and Colaiste Bhride, taking the county title for the first time in 21 years.

In the championships, held at the Baldoyle Bad-minton Centre, the teams played each other in a round-robin format.

The first match for De La Salle was against a strong Gallen Com-

munity School team. De La Salle’s captain, Kevin Flanagan, took the first singles match, beating Donal Grogen 21-17, and Danreb Matcha followed suit, edging out Ethan Rowe-McCormack 21-19 in a very close match.

Anees Niazi also won his singles tie, 21-8, hav-ing too much firepower for Jack Clancy, and Jamie McMahon won the final singles game 21-7 against Conor Devens, giving a clean sweep of the sin-gles.

Although the doubles pairing of Flanagan and McMahon lost the first game against Grogen and Rowe-McCormack, 17-21,

Matcha and Niazi won the second doubles, 21-12, resulting in a 5-1 win for De La Salle.

Next up for De La Salle was Kilkenny College. Flanagan, more confident now after winning his first singles game, defeated Kilkenny College’s Ian Atkinson 21-10. Matcha was too good for Andrew Levii, coming out on top 21-14 and Niazi, going point for point against Graham Armatege, won his singles game 21-18.

Jamie McMahon fell behind early in his sin-gles game against Tom Jackson, but rallied to win 21-17.

In doubles, Flanagan

and McMahon were beat-en narrowly by Atkinson and Levii, 18-21. Matcha and Niazi were also defeated 19-21 in a close match against Armatege and Jackson, but these losses mattered little, as De La Salle still won the match 4-2 overall.

De La Salle’s third and final match was against Colaiste Bhride. Flana-gan faced a very powerful Peter Wudding in their first game, but Flanagan was too good and won 21-7.

Matcha then defeated William Conroy 21-6, and Niazi beat Eoin Moylan 21-10. McMahon continued the trend, win-

ning 21-6 against Stephen Keke.

Flanagan and McMa-hon got their first vic-tory of the day in doubles against Wudding and Conroy, winning 21-16, and Matcha and Niazi were also successful against Moylan and Keke, winning 21-17, meaning that that De La Salle won the match 6-0.

By virtue of their over-all results, De La Salle College, Dublin won the Leinster title, an impres-sive showing from the players, and credit also to Jacek Szalowski, the team’s sub who trained and played extremely well all year.

De La Salle take Leinster

BADMINTON: CHURCHTOWN SCHOOL TAKE UNDER-16 CROWN

The De La Salle CHurchtown team, Jacek Szalowski, Danreb Matcha, Kevin Flanagan, Jamie McMahon and Anees Niazi

FastSport

Meteors claim trio of titles at the OblatesMETEORS celebrated a superb season with three trophies last week when they took the lau-rels at U-14, U-15 and U-16 level while they were also able to add the U-17 and U-18 silverware to their trophy cabinet from the finals weekend at the Oblates.

At U-14 level, spurred on by a solid defensive performance, the result was in no doubt after the third quarter in which Meteors held a command-ing 31-18 advantage.

The U-15 team played Liffey Celtics in a very tight and exciting match from start to finish. Lauren Mitchell was top scorer with ten points and Liadain Tobin Snittger and Shauna Fox both contributed greatly with seven points each.

The U-16 final was equally exciting, Meteors prevailing 34-33, coming from behind to claim victory against the Cup holders, Templeogue.

The brilliant run was not able to carry through to the U-17 and U-18 sides as DCU Mercy had too much in the tank at both levels.


in association with

a CLUB NOTICEBOARD

ST JUDE’S

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’S

WELL done to Danny Sutcliffe who

won man-of-the-match in Croke

Park on Sunday. Danny scored

five points in the one-point defeat

against Cork.

Also, well done to Colm Murphy

who came on in the footballers’ fine

win over Armagh.

The senior footballers suffered

a one-point defeat at home to St

Brigid’s on Saturday, while the

inters drew with Man O’War.

Yesterday saw defeats for both

our adult camogie teams.

Good luck to Eoghan Mangan and

Pauline O’Neill who tie the knot this

Friday.

Hard luck to the MacDara’s boys

who lost 0-9 to 1-4 against Foxford

in the All-Ireland final, but well done

on being Dublin and Leinster cham-

pions; you did yourselves proud,

lads!

Naomh Jude Bingo in the back bar

at 8pm as usual next Wednesday

night (and every Wednesday night).

NAOMH OLAF

Our junior footballers continued

their run of good wins by beating St

Mary’s of Saggart under lights away

last week, 4-5 to 2-6. Opportunistic

goals by Chrissy Fennell and Jack

Lee showed up the main difference

between the teams.

Olaf’s AFL3 travelled to the north-

side with a very depleted team to

take on Na Fianna in the second

round of the league. They were

beaten by a very strong team, 0-13

to 0-7.

Congratulations to Olaf’s junior

hurling goalkeeper, Ian Whelan, on

being selected by Italian racing

car giant Ferrari to join its engine

development team. We wish Ian

every success with this exciting

opportunity won against very stiff

competition.

C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s t o C a r o l

McLaughlin, Sandyford Road, and

Jimmy Cronin, Kanturk, on their

recent marriage.

Lotto: Numbers drawn were 1, 8

and 23. No jackpot winner. The jack-

pot next Sunday will be €1,100.

The five €30 winners were Kay

Kelly, Eamon Mc c/o Gary Walsh,

Jim Kirrane , Noel O Neill and P Cor-

rigan.

BALLINTEER ST JOHN’S

THERE WAS no winner of last week’s

Lotto draw.

Next week’s draw will be for €7,000.

Tickets are available online at

www.ballinteerst johns.com, or

from the usual outlets.

There were good wins for senior

and junior B footballers against

St Peregrine’s and St Finian’s of

Swords.

Every Wednesday night sees a

great night of traditional music,

no cover charge. Why not come up

and join in or enjoy a night of music

and craic? Spread the word to your

friends, family and neighbours.

Singalong in the bar on Tuesdays,

singers and musicians welcome.

Senior footbal l fundraiser -

Christy Moore tribute band in the

clubhouse on St Patrick’s Day. Tick-

ets available in the clubhouse bar.

Issue 2 of BSJ30 is now available

on the website.

WELL done to minor A hurlers on

League 2011 win.

Annual gala and presentation night

on St Patrick’s weekend at Citywest

on Sunday, March 18. In a year in which

Sam returned to the capital, Sam will

be proudly displayed. Between club

and county success, there is much to

celebrate: Junior A footballers, senior

A and B camogie, U-21 hurlers and the

history-making five in a row senior

hurlers. We will have minor cups in

football, ladies’ football, hurling and

camogie on display and players from

winning Dublin teams in attendance.

The club will honour our All-Ireland

winners, Michael Darragh and Dara

Nelson, and our Allianz Hurling League

winners. We also have our two All-

Stars, Michael Darragh and Gary from

our club to honour - when you think of

it, some counties are still waiting for

their first All-Star player.

We have great teams and great play-

ers to celebrate with. It is an occasion

for all club members across the club,

friends and supporters. I would ask

you to make every effort to come,

honour and support our players and

be part of a great club night. Tickets

on sale this week at €50 (€35 for play-

ers and partners) to include bus to

and from Citywest. Call Liam Deane

087 647 1121.

AFL 1St Jude’s 0-13

St Brigid’s 0-14


ST JUDE’S came up just short of adding to their opening day draw in AFL 1, when they met Castleknock’s St Brigid’s last Saturday in a match that turned out to be a very tight affair, with only a point sepa-rating the two sides at the final whistle at Wel-lington Lane.

The Templeogue side are finding their feet in AFL 1 after an amazing season last year, and, with four players from the Under-21s taking squad roles on Saturday, this tie against Dublin champions, St Brigid’s, was always going to be one in which they faced a stiff test.

Jude’s led the march in the opening passages of the game, taking the lead on four separate occasions, only to have the Blanch side reclaim

their advantage once again.

Brendan McMenamin and Declan Donnelly were playing out of their skins for Jude’s, but it was championship hero, Lorcan McCarthy of Brigid’s, who pushed his side ahead at half time, with the score at 0-7 to 0-9.

The open, f lowing nature of the game con-tinued in the second half and the arrival of former Dublin star, Ken Darcy, proved decisive for Brigid’s, taking a nice score from play as well as two frees in the early stages of the sec-ond.

McMenamin and Donnelly were on song in the second, too, in a game with a high con-version rate, and Shane Gallagher got himself among the scores for the St Jude’s men as well.

Lorcan McCar thy took a point when he was staring a goal in

the face, which led the Brigid’s men into an awkward last five min-utes, with the Temple-ogue side fighting back to within a point of the champions.

The last five minutes remained scoreless, despite Jude’s coming close with an effort that just went wide.

M a n a g e r C i a r a n McGovern spoke to GazetteSport after the AFL 1 fixture, and was pleased with his side’s performance in spite of the defeat.

“Nobody looked the

likelier to lose out there, with just one point in it, it could’ve been any-one’s.

“We had a few young lads in the squad today and they’re only getting used to the football at this level, and it’s games like this where they’ll learn a lot.

“We don’t set targets in this team, we just look to go out and play our football and that’s what we’ll be doing for the rest of the season, and if we play at our best, we can do very well,” said McGovern.

FOOTBALL: SINGLE POINT THE DIFFERENCE AT HOME

St Jude’s missed their chance to claim the points at Wellington Lane against St Brigid’s. Pictures: Fergus McNally

Jude’s just miss out on their first AFL1 win

ALL OF YOUR DUNDRUM SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 27-31 MARCH 15, 2012

SUPER SIOFRA: Colaiste Iosagain

student claims fourth All-Ireland title P28 GazetteSPORTGazetteSPORT


ALEXANDRA College retained the Leinster Schoolgirls’ Senior Cup title with an emphatic 4-1 final victory over Wesley College at Grange Road last week in front of a fervent crowd.

It took the Milltown team scarcely a minute to get up and running, when youth Olympian, Emily Beatty, slid in to score and put them on track.

She finished in razor-sharp fashion as Alex marauded forward from the tip-off, winning a free inside the Ball-inteer school’s 25.

Beatty took the auto-pass quickly, burst into the circle and pushed for the far post to start the game in perfect style for her team.

The clinical nature of the play was to shine a light on the difference between the teams.

Wesley controlled much of the play throughout, but they could not break down a defence marshalled by Mil-lie O’Donnell to near perfection. And they had the speed and skills to coun-ter with precision.

Indeed, it was a similar story in their semi-final in which they ran up a 6-1 win over High School despite carving out the same number of shots over the hour.

Only one further circle penetra-tion occurred in the next 25 minutes as Sarah Robinson’s corner strike was dealt with by Alex’s Leigh Porter.

When the Milltown side did ven-ture forward, though, it was ruthlessly effective. It was 2-0 in the 26th minute when Erika Hinkson scored the first of two corner goals. Her second came a few minutes after the break from the third phase of a string of penalty cor-ners and was the clinching effort.

Irish U-16 Anna Roopnarinesingh added a fourth on the counter before Niamh Sweeney finished off a penalty corner move to get Wesley a consola-tion two minutes from time.

Sweeney had earlier gone close with the same move but was brilliantly denied by Porter, scampering across the goal to shut down her near post.

It was a rare opening as Alex claimed back-to-back titles and are still in the

mix for a double as they remain in Pre-mier League contention. They also now go into the Kate Russell All-Ireland championship on March 22 and 23 where they will face Munster champi-ons, Bandon GS, Connacht ’s Colaiste Iognaid and hosts, Ballyclare HS.

The Ulster side look to be Alex’s

main opposition, having taken over the Ulster mantle from Lurgan High School.

Earlier in the day, Loreto Foxrock won the U-14 A cup final with a 1-0 win over Mount Anville, with Laura Hammill scoring the vital goal in the first half.

Alexandra College with the Senior Schoolgirls’ Cup after their win

Alex take Leinster schools’ title

DRIVING FOR IRELAND:Touring Car star on his return to Dublin P29

dundrum

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