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It’s a dog’s life: Dogs Trust is charity of choice for Carltonjean O’Connell, director of sales and marketing Carlton Hotel, had her hands full with some furry friends when she helped to announce that the Carlton Hotel group has selected Dogs Trust as their chosen charity for 2013. With hotels nationwide,
the Carlton Group have created a new package that allows you to bring your dog on holidays with you. Pictured with Jean are Blondie (lurcher, 11 weeks old), Pitch (rottweiler, 12 Weeks old) and Sugar Plum (jack russell, 14 weeks old).
Church attacks prompt inquiry natalie Burke
GarDai are continuing to investigate suspected arson attack on a church in rush.
On Monday, January 21, emer-gency services were called to a blaze at St Maur’s Church on Whitestown road. The fire is believed to have been an act of deliberate vandalism and has shocked the local parish
community in rush. The fire was the second attack on
the church, after the premises was burgled the night before.
Senator Darragh O’Brien (FF) branded the attack as “mindless van-dalism” saying, “This [act] has badly damaged a much-loved local church, i would urge anyone with information on the fire to contact the gardai.”
Full Story on Page 2
ALSOINSIDE: GALLERIES ......................6
DUBLIN LIFE ...................11
OUT&ABOUT ..................17
CLASSIFIEDS ................26
SPORT ...........................27
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2 swords gazette 31 January 2013
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blAZE ‘Act of mindless vandalism’ condemned
gardai in Balbriggan are continuing to investigate a suspected arson attack on st Maur’s Church in rush. Picture: www.rushparish.dublindiocese.ie
Garda suspect arson as church is badly damagedGardai in Balbriggan are continuing to inves-tigate what they believe was a suspected arson attack on a north Coun-ty dublin church.
On Monday, January 21, emergency services were called to a blaze at St Maur’s Church on Whitestown road in rush. Three units of the dublin Fire Brigade suc-cessfully contained and extinguished the fire.
The fire is believed to have been an act of delib-erate vandalism and has shocked the local parish community in rush.
according to a spokes-person for the Garda Press Office, the investi-
Balbriggan set to host cancer support runBalBriGGan is set to host its popular annual cancer sup-port run once again this year, with the event taking place on St Patrick’s day.
The Balbriggan Cancer Sup-port Group half-marathon and 10K walk and run will be held on
March 17. The fundraiser is set to be a
very successful event and will be starting from Balbriggan and continuing across the north Fingal countryside. The event will be judged using chip timing technology and the entry fee is
€30 for the marathon or €20 for the 10K walk/run. late entries received after March 9 will increase by a further €5.
all proceeds will go towards the Balbriggan Cancer Sup-port Group, a locally commu-nity driven and volunteer-based
organisation. For anyone interested in get-
ting involved, contact Balbrig-gan Cancer Support Group on 01 841 0116. registration is avail-able through the group at Unit 23, Balbriggan Business Park or via run ireland from March 4.
gation is continuing and the fire is being treated as suspicious.
The attack is believed to have taken place some-time between the hours of 10pm on Sunday, January 20 and 8.05am on Mon-day, January 21.
The spokesperson said the fire was the second attack on the church, after the premis-es was burgled during
the night of Saturday, January 19 and Sunday, January 20.
“There was also prop-erty stolen from the premises and the gardai are continuing to inves-tigate,” the spokesperson confirmed.
The attack on the local church was condemned by local Fianna Fail Sen-ator darragh O’Brien, who branded the attack as an “act of mindless vandalism”.
“This [act] has badly damaged a much-loved local church,” he said. “i would urge anyone with information on the fire to contact the gardai.
“The attack highlights
the impact of a lack of a Garda presence in rush. Criminals feel they can act with impunity because there are no gardai based in the town anymore.”
Senator O’Brien said that since the closure of the Garda station in rush last year, he has noticed that people have become increasingly concerned about burglaries and van-dalism in the area.
“We cannot have a situation where crimi-nals see the residents of rush as an easy target,” he stated.
“i am calling for a sat-ellite Garda facility to be established at rush Community Centre with
immediate effect.“We need to maintain
a Garda presence in the area and ease the worries of local people. i will be raising this with the Gov-ernment as a priority.”
With Garda stations continuing to be shut down and potential cuts to Garda numbers threatening to take place, Senator O’Brien said that the force is dwindling to danger-ously low levels: “all of this is happening as the rate of burglaries, thefts and attacks increases significantly here in north dublin and in communities across the country,” he concluded.
NataLie [email protected]
31 January 2013 swords gazette 3
Students launch bankStudentS from St Joseph’s Secondary School in Rush recent-ly launched their own school bank.
the new scheme is part of a larger programme run by Allied Irish Banks (AIB) for transition year students nationwide, which sees students take up the responsibility of setting up a bank in their own school.
the school held the off icial launch last thursday, January 24, which saw Kerry foot-baller Colm Cooper – a youth ambassador with AIB – in attendance.
S t u d e n t s i n t h e school can now set up accounts with AIB and lodge money in the new school bank, which is run by six fourth-year students.
st joseph’s
Suicide prevention campaign planned natalie burke
GoveRnment plans to launch a nationwide su ic ide prevent ion campaign have been welcomed by local Fine Gael councillor Antho-ny Lavin, who says there is a massive need for greater communica-tion on the subject.
“For generations in this country, suicide has been shrouded by a veil of secrecy and shame. With suicide on the rise, that has to stop,” Cllr Lavin said.
“In 2011, 165 teenag-ers and young men took their own life in the Republic of Ireland.
“Ireland now has one of the highest rates of suicide in europe, and
men are five times more likely than women to take their own lives.”
gratefullCllr Lavin said he
was grateful to learn that Fingal had the low-est suicide rate in Ire-land for the three-year period from 2009 to 2011, with a rate of 6.2 deaths per 100,000 peo-ple, compared to the national rate of 11.4 per 100,000.
“While there are serv-ices available for people suffering from mental health problems, there is a need for greater communication – both to the general public about the service’s abil-ity to offer support, and between the services
themselves,” said Cllr Lavin.
Campaignminister of State for
mental health, Kathleen Lynch (Lab) said: “We need to get involved in a massive public infor-mation campaign, spe-cifically geared toward specific groups.
“We have gone past the notion of not speak-ing about [suicide in Ireland].
Ciaran Austin, direc-tor of services with Console Ireland, the national suicide charity, said of the campaign: “We welcome it abso-lutely, statistics are at an all-time high and we do need to get the mes-sage out there.”
Better Late Late than never: terry takes home a new Renault Fluence Clonshaugh resident terry Higgins was recently given the keys to a brand new 131d Renault Fluence which he won on a recent Late Late Show. Pictured at the handover are left to right - Gary Breen, Renault Ireland; winner terry Higgins; michael and mike Grant. michael Grant Renault is one of Renault’s newest dealerships and carries the full range of new Renault models and vans.
counciLLoR Lavin: ‘theRe is a need FoR gReateR communication’
4 swords gazette 31 January 2013
Dublin Aiport defibrillators save 19 since introducedIt emerged this week that 19 lives have been saved at Dublin Airport since defibrillation was first introduced as a service on site.
In the decade since the life-saving technol-ogy was introduced at the airport, the Dublin Airport Police and Fire Service have saved the lives of 19 people who were suffering cardiac arrest.
One such person, 85-year-old Jack Healy, was only too happy to return to the airport recently, in an effort to say thank-you to the crew involved in his incident.
In September 2012, Mr Healy suffered a severe cardiac arrest outside terminal 2. With-in two minutes, members of the Airport Police and Fire Service were on the scene. As with all suspected cardiac arrest incidents, the team reacted quickly and resuscitated Mr Healy.
Back to full health, Mr Healy was recently accompanied by his family to the Airport Fire Station to make a presentation to the crew involved in his rescue.
In 2012, three lives were saved through the use of defibrillation at Dublin Airport. Defi-brillators are located at all main public access areas at Dublin Airport.
FastNews
Young Finian’s GAA player to act as Dublin team mascotFInIAn’S GAA club in Swords will be represented in Croke Park this weekend when one of its youngest players acts as the Dublin team mascot.
On Saturday, February 2, when Dublin takes on Cork, Conor Murnane from the club’s Under-7 team has been selected to lead the Dublin team out on the night.
Brendan ryan, Labour Party td for dublin North, has this week written to the Minister for Public expenditure,
Brendan Howlin, seeking the protection of incomes for low and middle income public sector employees
Ryan moves to defend public sector incomes NataLie Burke
A lOCAl representa-tive has defended those working in the public sector this week and has called on the Govern-ment to protect low- and middle-income public sector workers, including those of Fingal County Council.
Brendan Ryan, labour Party tD for Dublin north, has this week written to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Brendan Howlin, seek-ing the protection of incomes for low- and middle-income public sector employees. the negotiations, which are
a follow-up to the Croke Park Agreement, began in earnest this week and Deputy Ryan has criti-cised some of the “worry-ing language” emanating from parties involved in the negotiations.
“I’m calling for all stakeholders to pursue these negotiations with a view to protecting low- and middle-income earn-ers first. Many conserva-tive voices in the media have perpetuated a nar-rative suggesting that the majority of public sector workers are overpaid and underworked,” he said.
“the facts are this: 68% of public servants earn less than €50,000 and 82% earn less than
€60,000. this is not an extravagant wage and for a modest family with a modest home, such an income can be stretched to its limits just to keep a roof over their head and food on the table.”
Deputy Ryan said that in his own constituency, workers at Fingal County Council have seen a dras-tic decrease in their wages over and above the initial pay cuts. loss of over-time and pension and shift changes has seen further cuts of between €150 and €250 in weekly take-home pay depend-ing on the grade.
“the take-home pay for general operatives is averaging at €400 per
week. these cuts are reflective of many other low- and middle-income workers over many sec-tions within our public sector. these are the workers who have given so much already in terms of pay and have little or nothing left to give.”
“It’s vital that these low and middle earners are protected through whatever is drafted from this latest process. I’m sure public sector work-ers and unions will agree that further savings can be delivered through fur-ther efficiencies in work practices and cost cut-ting measures and not impacting on incomes,” he added.
jobs TD asks Howlin to protect workers’ pay
NataLie Burke
OvER 60 people have been recruited to take up temporary roles at Bal-briggan Passport Office.
the work at the local passport office required 62 local people from the live register to be hired on a temporary basis, for a minimum of five months.
the roles were filled by the local Employ-ment Services from the Department of Social Protection, who were this week commended by labour Party tD for Dublin north, Brendan Ryan.
Welcoming the initia-tive and complimenting the work of the local Employment Services, Deputy Ryan said the news highlights the potential for successful local linkages between unemployed people, their local employment agencies and employ-ers, to create and fill jobs locally.
“this is exactly what I have been promoting in Balbriggan through sup-porting local employ-ment organisations and through the Jobseekers Information Day in the Bracken Court Hotel in October 2012,” he said.
balbRiggan: filling local jobs
60 temp roles at passport office
A lOCAl Swords man who falsely claimed over €23,000 in jobseeker’s allowance from a post office in Malahide is trying to pay back the stolen cash with his legitimate social welfare payments, a court heard recently.
thir ty-seven-year-old Michael Cawley was charged with 116 counts of stealing money from the Department of Social Protection. He
made the false claims every week for about three years.
Cawley of Rivermeade Ave-nue, Swords pleaded guilty to six sample counts of steal-ing money from the Depart-ment at Malahide Post Office between February 20, 2009 and May 26, 2011.
Detective Garda Jonathan Hayes told John Fitzpatrick Bl, who was prosecuting, that Cawley had claimed a total
of €23,767 by using another man’s social welfare card and claiming to be that man.
Cathal McGreal Bl , defending, said that after his arrest in July 2011 his client told gardai he would pay all the money back and that so far he had brought €400 to court.
Counsel said that this was significant because “ironi-cally” the money was coming
out of his social welfare pay-ments.
Mr McGreal said Caw-ley, a father of four, owed money because of a previous cocaine addiction. He said he also had issues with alcohol addiction.
Judge leonie Reynolds adjourned sentencing until next October and said that Cawley needed to make meaningful efforts to pay
back the money due.She said that he has no
significant work history and there was no evidence to say he has addressed his issues with alcohol.
Det Gda Hayes said that after a report from the Department of Social Pro-tection, gardai searched Caw-ley’s home and found a social welfare card in the name of thomas Mongan.
Cawley told gardai he had met Mr Mongan at a wed-ding. He said Mr Mongan said he was going to the UK and Cawley began using his card to sign on after that.
the court heard that Caw-ley has 23 previous con-victions, including one for falsely using an instrument, one for burglary, five for theft and a number of road traffic offences.
Swords fraudster to repay€23k from social welfare payments
Jack Healy with dublin airport Fire station crew
31 January 2013 swords gazette 5
courts Disclosure of evidence issues likely
24m documents to be read in Anglo Irish trialThe trial of the former chairman and two former directors of Anglo Irish Bank could run for over three months and involves 24 million docu-ments as evidence, a court has heard.
Sean Fitzpatrick (64), William McAteer (62), and Pat Whelan (50), who hails from Mala-hide, have been charged with 16 counts of provid-ing unlawful financial assistance to individuals in July 2008 to buy shares in the bank.
After hearing that there will inevitably be
issues with the disclosure of evidence, Judge Mary ellen Ring fixed a trial date for the first day of term in 2014.
She also gave Mr Fit-zpatrick, of Whitshed Road, Greystones, Mr McAteer of Auburn Villas, Rathgar and Mr Whelan of Coast Road, Malahide a further mention date of March 6 next to deal with any matters arising.
She remanded them on continuing bail on the existing terms and condi-tions.
Una Ni Raifeartaigh SC, prosecuting, told
Judge Ring sitting at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the disclo-sure of evidence to the defence was continuing. She said it was lengthy and complex and could take months.
absorb
She said it was not sim-ply a question of provid-ing the defence with the documents but that it was necessary to give the defence an opportunity to absorb them.
Brendan Grehan SC, defending Mr Whelan, said that there are 24
the Criminal Courts of Justice: the anglo Irish Bank trial is likely to run for three
months, or even double that, according to one barrister
million documents to be considered as part of the State’s investigation and he said that issues will inevitably arise as part of this.
he said that the trial is likely to run for three months, or even double that, and that it is likely
to be considerably more complex than any previ-ous case.
Ms Ni Raifeartaigh asked the court to appoint a designated judge to deal with pre-tri-al applications in respect of disclosure issues. She said that under the cir-
cumstances it would be very useful.
Judge Ring told the court that if the disclo-sure of evidence couldn’t be completed in a year, that there was something wrong with the system and set the trial date for January 13, 2014.
School vies for Fit FactorA PRIMARy school in Donabate is looking for votes to help them in their bid to win this year’s Lidl Fit Factor competition.
Scoil Phadraic Cailini, which is based on the Portrane Road in Donabate, has reached the regional finals in the competition after placing first in Dublin.
The Lidl Fit Factor is a school programme designed for third and fourth class which teaches children about the impor-tance of healthy food and physical activity. So far, the third class in the school has won €1,000 of sport equipment and Lidl vouchers for their school and are eligible for the overall prize.
To vote online for Scoil Phadraic Cailini, visit www.fitfactor.ie.
DonAbAte
6 swords Gazette 31 January 2013
gazettegaLLeRIeS Have you seen yourself in the gazette? Buy photos online from only €6.99 at www.gazettephotos.comgazettegaLLeRY
Portmarnock community School claimed the U-19c all-Ireland Basketball crown last week, ris-ing to see off mount anville in the national Bas-
ketball arena. the game was very close throughout with
both teams taking turns to lead. But in the end mVP and top scorer megan connolly,
who netted 14, was in fine form and inspired Portmar-nock who ran out 50-37 winners.
Portmarnock power through to take title
Megan Connolly is presented with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award by Basketball Ireland Competition officers Louise
o’Loughlin and Conor Lilly. Pictures: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Portmarnock Community school’s Under 19 squad
robyn Keane, Portmarnock Community school, in action against aoife
Gillespie, Mount anville
talulah davey, Mount anville, in action against alex
daly, Portmarnock Community school
supporters encouraged their teams Competing for the ball
Caoimhe Mcdonnell
aoife Gillespie, Mount anville, in action against Caitlin
Glover, Portmarnock Community school
Megan Connolly, Portmarnock Community school, in
action against aoife Gillespie, Mount anville
31 January 2013 swords Gazette 7
8 SWORDS GAZETTE 31 January 2013
€10.65m is allocated for Fingal road improvements NATALIE BURKE
A TOTAL of €10.65 mil-lion has been allocated to roads across Fingal this week, which will see significant improve-ments made to local road projects and main-tenance plans.
Two separate fund-ing allocations were announced in the last week, with the Depart-ment of Transport pro-viding over €5 million as part of the 2013 Regional and Local Roads Alloca-tion, while the National Roads Authority (NRA) allocated just over €5.5 million to the local roads earlier in the week.
While the funding
from the Department of Transport will be direct-ed for the safety and res-toration of roads in Fin-gal, the majority of the funding from the NRA will go towards efforts to widen the road between Drynam and Lissenhall in Swords.
The news was wel-comed by a number of local representatives who agreed that the newly-allocated funding will help reduce com-muting time and traffic congestion across the area.
“This is good news for Fingal, and [the Department funding] comes on the back of the announcement of €5m to widen the M1 from Drynam to Lissenhall in Swords, a noted bot-tleneck for thousands of north county commut-ers,” said Labour Party TD Brendan Ryan.
“The Government and Fingal County Council have done great work in
difficult economic times in order to continually improve our road sys-tems.”
Funding from the Department of €750,000 will be spent on improv-ing the Naul Road in Bal-briggan, while approxi-mately €50,000 will be allocated for work on the Gerrardstown Bridge on the R108.
“Of this funding, €3,272,186 is allocated for other improvements and safety measures [across Fingal]. In addi-tion, low-cost safety improvements wi l l take place at [locations including] the Martello Tower in Malahide, Loughshinny Cross
Roads, the Whitestown Road and Healy’s Lane junction in Rush, among other areas,” Deputy Ryan continued.
According to Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell the funding from the NRA to projects in Fingal will not only reduce traffic congestion in the area but will increase safety for drivers in the Dublin North area. Of the €5.5 million allocated by the NRA, almost €600,000 will go towards other maintenance projects on Fingal roads.
“This project will reduce traffic conges-tion, particularly at peak hours, meaning reduced commuter times between
this part of Swords and the city centre. Facili-ties for cyclists and pedestrians will also be improved,” Deputy Far-rell explained.
“The allocation will greatly improve driving conditions in Swords and Malahide by increasing capacity for the growing number of commuters that travel on this road to and from work each day.
“Road safety is an important priority for this Government and fund-ing for these schemes will ensure that roads, bridges and footpaths remain at a satisfactory standard of safety for commuters and pedes-trians in Fingal.”
GOOD NEWS: CUTS IN COMMUTING TIME AND TRAFFIC CONGESTION HOPED FOR
Labour Party TD
Brendan Ryan
Turning heads: Citroen All-Stars ONE ALL-STAR met another in Citroen Dub-lin recently when Dublin footballer Paul Flynn picked up the keys of his new Citroen DS4. Rod-ney Deane (inset), dealer principal, Citroen Dublin in Swords was there to hand over the striking DS4 DStyle to Paul.
At the handover, Paul said: “I am delighted to be picking up the keys for my second DS4. I really enjoyed driving the car last year and look forward to another year of turning heads at every game I drive to. The attention the car gets really is amazing and I love the 18” alloys and LED lights!”
Rodney Deane com-mented: “We are thrilled to have Paul on board as our brand ambassador for a second year.”
Wright night of charity white collar boxingCHARITY white-collar boxing night will take place at The Wright Venue this Saturday, February 2 at 7.30pm. The Malin to Mizen Challenge and Cycle for Life will host Jaffa Thai Fight Night in aid of the Irish Haemo-philia Society and Irish Heart Foundation.
Boxers on the night include former Kil-kenny star Cha Fit-zpatrick and former Dublin football and hurling stars Shane Ryan, Cormac O’Brien, John Kelly and Cian McBride.
Tickets to the event cost €20, and include a free shuttle bus to the venue from Harcourt Square and night club entry.
For more informa-tion, log on to www.whitecollarboxing.ie.
Service charge increase at Fingal librariesFINGAL Libraries will be introducing some new and increased service charges at their facilities, which will come into effect this week.
Starting from Monday, January 28, reserving an item will increase from 50c to 60c, while using the popular BorrowBooks system to reserve books from outside Dublin will cost mem-bers €5.
For existing mem-bers, replacing a lost library card will now cost €1 for the first replacement, while subsequent replace-ments will cost €2.
Membership of Fingal County Librar-ies is free and open to everyone.
For more informa-tion or to contact your local library, contact [email protected].
FASTNews
31 January 2013 swords gazette 9
gathering €2m granted to tourism initiative
Fingal calendar fills up with flagship events natalie burke
Fingal will be holding a number of flagship com-munity events to mark the year of the gathering this year, after €2 million of funding was granted under the government’s gathering scheme to the international diaspora initiative nationally.
i t was o f f i c ia l l y announced by Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring, that a total of 1,322 events to mark the gathering ire-
land 2013 initiative will receive funding under the iPB gathering ireland Fund, at a launch event held recently at Castle-town House in Co Kil-dare.
The funding comes as a result of a €1 million phil-anthropic donation by iPB insurance, that was matched by the gather-ing ireland, in response to the enormous interest expressed nationwide in the tourism initiative.
The overall total of 1,322 funded events is made up of 82 county
flagship events and 1,240 local community events, and the €2m fund will be administered by city and county councils, based on agreed application crite-ria.
a key factor in the eval-uation process was the events’ capacity to attract overseas visitors.
Minister Ring said: “i’m delighted that we can present such a huge range of flagship events which shows what a great year we have ahead of us. There really is something for everyone, whether
Minister of state for tourism and sport, Michael ring: “i’m delighted that we can
present such a huge range of flagship events”
you live in ireland or are coming from overseas. The iPB gathering ire-land Fund will have a real impact on 2013 and i commend iPB insurance for its commitment to this project.”
Ronan Foley, chief exec-utive of iPB insurance, said: “The large number of applications received by City and County Councils is testament to the public
support and endorse-ment for The gathering. iPB insurance are proud partners of this fantastic initiative that reaches out and supports commu-nity and flagship events right across the country and hopefully will serve to lift the mood of the nation. These events will, i believe, reap long-term economic and social ben-efits for ireland.”
gathering ireland project director Jim Miley commented on the response they received.
“This support from iPB insurance has enabled us to provide funding for smaller and medium scale gathering events that might not otherwise have happened or that will help event organisers attract additional overseas visitors.”
Writers group returnsTHe Swords Writers group is reconvening following the recent win-ter break and is welcom-ing any new members from the local area who would like to attend.
The writing group is open to all members of the community who have a passion for writing.
The group is open to all levels of writers, from those who write for fun to those who are devel-oping a novel or similar work.
The group’s meetings are held every second Wednesday in the board-room at Fingallians gaa Club and last for 90 min-utes.
For anyone interested in joining or finding out more information, con-tact [email protected].
swords
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10 swords gazette 31 January 2013
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HUNDREDS of people gathered outside the Savoy Cinema in Dublin recently to get a glimpse of the star-studded red carpet at the European premiere of Lin-
coln. World famous director Steven Spielberg and the film’s lead actor, Daniel Day-Lewis, were joined at the screening
with guests including U2’s Bono and the Edge, Chris de Burgh, Rosanna Davison and Olympic gold medallist Katie Taylor. Some of the guests later went to the Burlington Hotel where props from the film were auctioned off in aid of the Wicklow Hospice Foundation.
Lights, camera, action! Watch out for Spielberg
daniel day-Lewis, sally Field and director steven spielberg
President Michael d Higgins and his wife sabina rosanna davison with her parents, diane and Chris de Burgh
shane Byrne and his wife Caroline
shane Macgowan and Victoria Clarke
oliver Callan with his sister, aine
olympic boxing gold medallist Katie taylor with her
parents Peter and Brigid
31 January 2013 Gazette 11
dublinlifeGa
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let dublin Gazette newspapers take you on a tour of the news and events taking place across the city and county this week, as well as the latest from our schools
centenary: events should be marked in ‘appropriate fashion’
descendants of 1916 heroes call for creation of museum paul hosford
The direct descendants of two of the leaders of the 1916 Rising have called on Taoiseach, enda Kenny, the Minister for Arts and Culture, Jimmy Deeni-han, and the Minister for Finance, Michael Noo-nan, to back their pro-posal for the the creation of a 1916 Museum at 16 Moore Street. The group is also calling for the site’s National Monument sta-
tus to be protected.The group want the premises to be ready so that the museum can be delivered in time for the 1916 centenary.
The members of the descendants group include Nuala O’Rahilly-Price, the granddaughter of The O’Rahilly, the only leader of the Rising to be killed in action. he died on what is now O’Rahilly Parade, just off Moore Street.
Also in the group is John Connolly, the son of Roddy Connolly, a former Labour TD for Louth and grandson of James Con-nolly, who was the de facto leader of the rising.
The O’Rahilly and both Connollys were present in the GPO in easter 1916.
John Connolly said that the museum would be a lasting legacy of a pivotal moment in Irish history.
“We want the centenary of 1916 to be marked with
a lasting legacy, not just another passing parade. The proposed museum will be the centrepiece of an enduring legacy for our citizens and for visi-tors alike.”
Ms O’Rahilly-Price added; “The pivotal events of 1916 need to be marked in an appropriate and fitting fashion.”
T h e g r o u p a l s o launched a newwebsite www.1916rebellion muse-um.com
Nuala o’rahilly price and John Connolly, grandson of James Connolly, with members
of the save No 16 Committee and Moore street traders’ association at the launch of a
new website and virtual tour for a proposed museum. Photograph: Eric Luke
feature p14diary p12 asdfsdaf p27business p16
12 Gazette 31 January 2013
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Healthy way to cook and eat
award-winning chef Neven Maguire was joined by Sophie Sherlock from
Collegiate Grammar School and tully Irvine from Portora Royal School,
enniskillen, to launch safefood’s take away My Way cookery competition for post-
primary students
StudentS from across dublin have been invited to take part in the take-away My Way contest once again this year.
t h e n a t i o n w i d e schools cookery com-petition, which was launched by award-winning chef neven Maguire, along with Safefood and St Angela’s College in Sligo, chal-lenges post-primary stu-dents to cook a healthier version of their favourite takeaway dishes.
now in its third year, the competition is open to al l post-primary school students, includ-ing students in Youth-reach centres.
Launching the com-petition, Fiona Gilligan, director, marketing and
communications Safe-food, said: “Learning to cook and eat healthily are skills that can last students a lifetime and we would encourage all students, whether study-ing home economics or not, to grab an apron, pick their favourite take-away dish, show us their passion for food and enter the competition.”
to enter, students can submit their recipe online at www.safefood.eu/takeawaymyway or complete and return by post the entry form sent to their school before February 22.
JIGS aNd ReelS GuaRaNteed to Get you MovINGIF you are looking for
something a little differ-ent and bit more ener-getic this Valentine’s day, then a Gathering event called Ceili for
Valentine’s could be just up your street.
You and your beloved can dance the night away to a live ceili band and, whether you are a set dancing aficio-nado or just like to leap around, the craic is sure to be mighty.
As well as live music from traditional Arts Col-lective (tAC), there will also be sean nos dancing displays on the night.
tAC’s aim is to bring ceili back with jigs and reels guaranteed to get you moving.
Special guest for the night will be Amaliya Morgan-Brown from Bandon, Oregon in the uSA – named after Ban-don in Co Cork.
the entrance fee is €10 at the Grand Social, 35 Lower Liffey Street on Valentine’s night from 8pm to 11.55pm.
CallING all voluNteeRS foR lollIPoP dayWIth just one month to go until the 12th annual Lollipop day, the Oesophageal Can-
cer Fund (OCF) is call-ing for the help of vol-unteers across dublin this February.
Lollipop day sees thousands of people selling lollipops for €2 nationwide every year, in an effort to raise vital funds for oesophageal cancer research, and the OCF are seeking the help of volunteers on Friday, February 22 and Saturday 23, 2013.
“We are very fortu-nate to have an ever-increasing number of dedicated volunteers, all of whom make Lol-lipop day a success every year,” said noelle Ryan, chairperson of the OCF.
“But we still need more volunteers, so if anyone or any group is interested in helping out, please contact us on www.lolli-popday.ie or on Lollipop day’s Facebook or twitter page.”
For more informa-tion on Lollipop day, to volunteer or to make a donation, go to www.lollipopday.ie or, to vol-unteer in dublin call Sara on 087-2320970.
Call our news team on 60 10 240 or email [email protected]
Got a Picture?
THE annual Hotel Stars Awards for Crowne Plaza Hotels in Europe were recently held in Dublin for the first time, and at this annual event, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) recog-nised hotels and people for their outstanding performance and con-tribution to the business and the local community in which they operate. The winners are the best performing IHG hotels and individuals across Europe.
At the awards cer-emony, Crowne Plaza Blanchardstown was awarded both the Torch-bearer Award and more importantly, the Crowne Plaza Hotel of the Year award for the Europe Region.
Hotel of the Year Award This category recog-nises hotels that have achieved outstanding results and have gone the extra mile to exceed expectations and bring their brand to life when looking after guests, employees and the local community.
31 January 2013 GAzette 13
Prestigious award for the Crowne Plaza
C o m m e r C i a l F e a t u r e
torchbearer Award T he To rchbea r e r
Award recognises hotels that have achieved the highest levels of excel-lence through outstand-ing service.
The guests at these hotels have responded with extremely high g u e s t s a t i s f a c t i o n scores.
Garret O’Neill, Gen-eral Manager, of Crowne Plaza Blanchardstown accepted the award at the IHG European Con-ference which was held in Dublin for the first time and said “I was very proud to accept these awards as it recognises all the hard work and team effort we’ve put in
this year.“We’re constantly striv-
ing to go the extra mile so guests can expect a con-sistently high standard when visiting our hotel and we’ll continue to work together to keep delivering the same expe-rience year on year”.
Angela Brav, CEO Europe said, “Our hotels are only as good as the people working in them, so we are fully committed to supporting and devel-oping our people.
“We aim to provide the right environment, sup-port and inspiration they need to fulfil their capa-bility and these awards are a reflection of the fantastic talent we have working in our hotels across Europe”.
Crowne Plaza Blan-chardstown is based at the Blanchardstown Cen-tre with 188 guestrooms and conference facilities for up to 600 guests.
For more information please contact: Jenni-fer McKenna, Director of Sales & Marketing, Crowne Plaza Blanchard-stown, Phone (01) 897 7741; email – [email protected].
tifco Group Photo – Mary Buckley (Group Operations Manager, tifco Hotels), Pius Furlong (GM, Crowne Plaza
Northwood), Niamh Murphy (GM, Crowne Plaza Dundalk), Garret O’Neill (General Manager, Crowne Plaza
Blanchardstown), Magda Rybka (Deputy General Manager, Crowne Plaza Blanchardstown), enda O’Meara
(Managing Director, tifco Hotels)
All of the staff at the Crowne Plaza Blanchardstown were delighted to learn that
the hotel has been awarded the acclaimed european Hotel of the Year Award by
the InterContinental Hotels Group
Receiving the Award – Angela Brav, CeO of IHG
europe, Garret O’Neill (General Manager, Crowne
Plaza Blanchardstown), Richard Solomons (CeO IHG
Worldwide) at the Bord Gáis energy theatre.
blanChardstown: EUroPEan hotEl oF thE YEar
14 Gazette 31 January 2013
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feATURe
When talking to the Gazette about his upcoming role in the musical, High Society
at the Bord Gais energy theatre, Michael Praed was happy to reminisce about his
roles in some of the smash-hit tV shows of the 1980s
BairBre ni BHraonain
WHAT a swell party this is! The stage version of Hollywood musical, High Society, is coming to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre for five nights this February with a cast that includes Michael Praed – one of the heroes of 1980s TV show, Robin of Sherwood.
The show is packed with well-loved Cole Porter songs such as True Love and Did You Evah, and also stars Sophie Bould as Tracy Lord, Daniel Boys as Mike Con-nor, and Keiron Crook as George Kittredge.
Ahead of its Dublin run, The Gazette spoke to Praed, who plays Dexter in the musical. He started by reminiscing about his love for the city.
“It’s been a long time since I was in Dublin, and that was for the musical, Carousel – it must be 19 years ago now. I can’t wait, because Dublin is my all-time favourite venue and I really don’t give false praise.”
He discussed the gen-esis of the current stage musical version of High Society. “It’s very similar to the 1956 film version, but its true origin was a play called The Philadel-phia Story in the 1930s.
“It was commissioned for Kathryn Hepburn on Broadway, and was then made into an award-winning film with Jimmy Stewart.
“Then, 17 years later, High Society was made and some changes were made to the original
story, such as the Bing Crosby character – that I play – had been a yacht builder in the original, but is a jazz pianist now in High Society.”
For Praed, who has been in a string of musi-cals throughout his career, the music in High Society is the main star.
“It has such a beautiful score. Now, when I say that, I mean that there are very few composers who are truly iconic, and Cole Porter is one of them.”
Praed has been per-forming in plays and musicals since the 1980s. “I got my lucky break with the Pirates of Pen-zance years ago. I love musicals, because there is a certain alchemy that can happen with them – when the music is good and the production is well done – that goes to the heart of truth.
Magic
“There is a magic in music that is different; it moves people in a dif-ferent way, and with an evocative scenario, can have a huge impact on an audience.”
Harking back to his TV days, he recalled his time as Robin of Sherwood in the mid-1980s show.
“There were two sea-sons of it and, to be abso-lutely truthful with you, it was incredibly hard work. We’d to be up at dawn and doing a fight scene, and work right through till evening. Yet, it was unbelievably rewarding, too, and the talented peo-ple I worked with were extraordinary.
“There was no time
From Pirates to Porter, Praed’s played them all
theatre: hiGh society star talks to the Gazette
for a private life though. It was brutal going but, having said that, it wasn’t like coal mining or fight-ing the Taliban or even driving a bus.”
Praed then went on to play Prince Michael of Moldavia in the smash-hit television show, Dynasty.
“It was the number-one show in the world,
and was a very well-oiled machine. I was welcomed with open arms and the crew was delightful.”
Special buzz
He does not have a preference between TV work and stage work. “I like them both, and you can’t really compare them. Yet, theatre does give you that special
buzz, thanks to the pres-ence of an audience, and I can’t wait to feel that with a Dublin audience again.”
High Society runs in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre from Tuesday, February 5 until Satur-day, February 9. Tickets are available from Tick-etmaster at 0818 719 377, and cost €20.
31 January 2013 Gazette 15
Gazetteschools
Dublin Gazette Newspapers are continuing to reach out to all the schools in our catchment areas to become a closer part of our community than ever before.
Schools are the beating hearts of communi-ties, one of the last places around which a com-munity can gather.
We are calling on budding writers and pho-tographers from all of our schools to help fill the schools pages and, in order to encourage the next generation of journalists and snappers to get involved, we are partnering with Harvey Norman to present the Dublin Gazette News-papers’ Cub Reporter and Cub Photographer of the Year awards.
For more details, contact [email protected], or on 01 601 0240.
Get involved with our Gazette Schools pages
HReporter of the
MoNTh
cub reporters and photoGraphers: december 2012 winners
dublinGazettenewspapers
HPhoto of the
MoNThclara kinsellaclara kinsella from st Finian’s community college in swords snapped a very jolly michael carruth when the olympic gold medallist visited the school for its annual awards evening. michael encouraged the students in a motivational speech that included the wise words, “if you believe, you achieve”. well, clara must have believed in her skills as a snapper, as she has achieved glory with this month’s prize picture.
conor whiteconor white from st conleth’s college proved neither shaken nor stirred when he told us all about the school’s build a bank challenge which was given a special agent sheen with a James bond theme. the mission was achieved and the project a big success, as was conor’s article about the event, which wins him this month’s prize.
16 Gazette 31 January 2013
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business
Q&a
The beauty of caring for your customers
laura webb
EXPLORING Dublin has taken on a whole new dimension, thanks to two film-makers who are behind a new smart-phone app that sets out to tell the capital’s hid-den stories.
The Storymap App was launched last week and aims to rejuvenate the old tradition of sto-rytelling, while combin-ing the latest technology in film and mobile apps to capture a portrait of Dublin life, past and present.
The app includes a library of 80 stories, presented in audio or HD video, each tied to a particular location in the city and told by a differ-
ent Dubliner. Co-founders Tom
Rowley and Andrew Fla-herty first launched the project in 2011 as a web-site, www.storymap.ie. They discussed how they came up with the idea.
“We both arrived back from working abroad and we were really frus-trated with the way the city was being represent-ed – bleak, empty and finished,” says Flaherty.
“For us, the things that made Dublin truly spe-cial were still there to be celebrated – its people, its stories, its humour and its charm.
“We couldn’t find work, and so we began Storymap as a way to use our skills to showcase the real cultural wealth
Each life stage needs a plan
GWEN O’Donoghue of Fresh Imag-es beauty salon in Churchtown is set to celebrate 20 years in business next month.
She qualified in 1989 at Loriam Beauty Therapy College in Daw-son Street, with ITEC, CIBTEC and CIDESCO qualifications.
When she spoke to Gazette Busi-
ness this week, she said: “I worked in a couple of salons before running a salon in Rathgar for three years, before opening my own in Church-town.
“I started with just a couple of rooms out the back of a tanning salon, and, after three years, I took it over. And here I am today, 20 years on.”
How long have you been in business?It’s hard to believe but it’s 20 years
this year. I opened my doors in 1993.
what makes your business success-ful?
I think it’s the personal touch. I’ve always worked in my business. There are so many salons where you are just a name. We get to know our clients, remember what treatments they like and how they like them done.
We remember their birthdays and get to know all about their families. It’s a friendship as well as a business.
what do you offer your clients that differs from your competitors?
We offer value for money and very competitive prices. We try to keep up with all of the latest trends and give the best customer care.
We really do care what our custom-ers think about us. We want them to feel that their hard-earned money is well spent at our salon.
How has the recession affected your business?
Yes, I don’t think that any business hasn’t been affected. The spending power of people has decreased, so we have to make sure that they feel that they are getting value for their money.
what have you changed about your business to combat the effects of the recession?
We invested in a new skincare brand called Guinot from Paris two years ago, and that has a large follow-
ing. We felt that people were looking for more results .
There was a time when they just wanted a massage – now, they want technology coupled with pampering.
We all want to look and feel good, and especially in a recession, morale can be low, but if you look good, you feel good too, and it reflects on in all aspects of your life.
We constantly run special offers which keep clients interested. We also have a loyalty programme that returns free treatments to our clients to thank them. This is very popular, because when you get something for free, it always feels sweeter.
Old loyalty programmes meant you had to wait forever before getting your free treatment but with ours, you see results after just a few treatments.
what law or regulation would you change overnight to help your busi-ness?
I would like to see a set standard of training across the board. When I was at college, you had to have several top qualifications to get a job; they allowed you to work all over Europe.
During the Celtic Tiger era, there were numerous beauty schools setting up and running courses, but they are only pieces of the courses instead of the full thing.
It means that not every salon has the same level of qualified staff performing treatments, but they are charging the same. That is why you get such a variation in therapists – some aren’t as qualified others.
GWEn O’dOnOGhuE, FrEsh imaGEs
Reasons to be ’appy when uncovering Dublin’s story
tom rowley and andrew Flaherty are pictured at the
launch of Storymap. Picture: Dominic Ledwidge O’Reilly
of Dublin, in a way no-one had ever seen before. The support we got from people amazed us.”
Co-founder Rowley says: “For a local person, it gives them a chance to see the city with fresh eyes.
“By using the app and seeing a well-told story on the spot, you get to see it in a whole new light, and build a new
connection with it.”Stories include The
Spire by Roddy Doyle, The Gap In The Map with Ciaran Wallace, and The Liberty Boys by Colm Keegan.
The app was devel-oped in DIT by Jamie Osler and Eoin Rogers, and overseen by Bryan Duggan, and is on sale in the Android and iPhone app stores for €2.59.
technoloGy: stoRymap tells capital’s stoRies
CONTINUING my examination of financial planning for each stage of your life, this week, I start by looking at where you may be after the “Young and free” stage (as detailed last week).
relationship and childrenIf you settle down with a partner, your financial
priorities will almost certainly alter, especially if you have children. The financial actions you may want to be thinking about include such thrills as:
• Creating an emergency fund.• Protecting both your incomes (if relevant) in case
you are unable to work.• Life insurance for both you and your partner.• Buying a home with the help of a mortgage.• Whether you should be saving money, in case you
want to send one or more child to private school, and/or in case one or more goes on to further education.
• Retirement planning.• Short-term saving for cars, holidays and so forth.If you have built up any debt, then becoming debt-
free should be a priority.
the Middle YearsFinancial priorities in your middle years will vary
according to how much money you have earned dur-ing your 20s and 30s – and how you have spent or invested it. For some, it can be a period of relative affluence with a higher level of disposable income
becoming available; for others, it is a period of worry as retirement looms. Your priorities may include any or all of the following:
• Creating an emergency fund.• Protecting both your incomes (if relevant) in case
you are unable to work.• Life insurance for both you and your partner.• Paying off your mortgage and any other debts.• Retirement planning.• Short-term saving for cars, holidays and so forth.• Planning for long-term care if you are worried that
your pension and/or the State may not provide for you sufficiently.
Although pension planning should have been a pri-ority as soon as you started work, the truth is it is not until many people are in their 40s or even their 50s that they begin to consider their retirement. Providing for a comfortable old age, therefore, may be the most pressing need. Next week: retirement.
contact John with your money questions at jlowe@moneydoc-
tor.ie or visit his website at www.moneydoctor.ie. John lowe, Fel-
low of the institute of Bankers, is founder and managing director
of money Doctor
31 January 2013 Gazette 17
A Presidential premiere rob heiGh
A bitterly cold Sunday in Janu-ary was brightened considerably last week when the stars and director of the acclaimed new movie, lincoln, came to town to support a cause close to the heart of lead actor Daniel Day-lewis.
the european premiere of lincoln at the Savoy theatre on O’Connell Street, and a special post-screening dinner and charity auction, were held in aid of the Wicklow Hospice Foundation, a fundraising organisa-tion of which Day-lewis, Katie taylor and Chris de burgh are among the patrons.
Wicklow-resident Daniel’s mother passed away in a palliative care cen-
tre in england and was moved to sup-port the campaign for the creation of a similar facility in his adopted county.
Speaking at the premiere, Day-lewis said: “i’m really grateful people turned out for this. We’ve been doing benefits like this for a while, but with the eco-nomic situation at the moment, we were not sure an event like this would be possible. but we explored it a little bit and it turned out we could do it. Hospices are vital facilities that every county needs. We need these places, and we need to take care of people in the late stages of their lives.”
the screening and gala event after-wards are believed to have raised over €250,000 for the foundation, bringing it ever closer to its fundraising target of €3 million.
Director Stephen Spie lberg explained how he came to debut his latest film in Dublin.
“Daniel really believed in the cause, and once he explained it to me, i believed in it as well. i’m very close to ireland. i made Private ryan here, and it’s a film close to my and tom Hanks’ heart, and that was my introduction to the culture. it was such a wonderful experience; we have come back to ire-land time and again ourselves, myself and my wife and children.
“Daniel didn’t have to convince me for long to bring the european pre-miere here. He threw it out as a pos-sibility, and i said we should commit to it now, it was a great idea.”
the film tells the story of the pass-ing of the 13th Amendment to the
Constitution that abolished slavery at a time when the country was in the midst of the Civil War, which lasted for four years and claimed the lives of 750,000 citizens. lincoln himself was committed to the reunification of the country at a time of extreme division, and his belief in democracy, the constitution and America helped to deliver peace and emancipation to the nation. Sadly, he only lived to see a few days beyond the end of the civil war before he was assassinated by John Wilkes booth.
the film has been roundly hailed as another Spielberg masterpiece, and the lead role appears to have been one that Day-lewis was born to play.
continued on Page 22
a remarkable line-up: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Stephen Spielberg at the premiere of Lincoln at the Savoy
OUT&ABOUTMOTORS P23STyle P18 aSdfSdaf P27
Never be out of the loop on what’s happening in Dublin! Let Out&About be your guide to all that is stylish, cultural and essential across the city and beyond this weekG
azeT
Te
Red caRPeT: leGendS Of cineMa cOMe TO dublin fOR lincOln fundRaiSeR
TRaVel P24
Petscan yOu GiVe faye a new hOMe?DUBLIN Gazette Newspapers has teamed up with Dogs Trust, Ireland’s largest dog welfare charity, to help find homes for unwanted and abandoned dogs.
Our Dog of the Week is Faye, a three-year-old Lurcher cross. This lovely lady was abandoned because she was pregnant and went on to break records in Dogs Trust having the largest ever litter, 15 puppies.
All of her puppies have found their forever homes and we now hope its Faye’s turn to finally get a chance to relax and look after herself for a while.
Faye is polite, sweet- natured, affectionate with a beautiful soul. This supermom just wants to snuggle up on a big sofa with plenty of toys to occupy her.
If you think you can provide a good home for Faye, contact Dogs Trust at 01 879 1000. Further information about their work can be found at www.dogstrust.ie. All dogs that are adopted from Dogs Trust are vet-checked, vaccinated, neutered and micro-chipped before being re-homed.
LAURA WEBB
LIFE STYLE SPORTS recently launched its first Men’s Fitness and Running Campaign – No Excuses. No Regrets.
This campaign is dedicated to men’s running and fitness and is supported by the store’s top brands Nike, Adidas, Asics and Under Armour.
Basically the message to everyone that as we all decide to get fit, following some overindulgence over Christmas, the one thing we need to make sure is that we train in the right cloth-ing.
With this in mind, the retail giant is also launching Fitness
Dressing right when getting fit Product Experts in store. Their job is to advise customers on the right footwear and clothing to wear for each sport.
Mark Stafford, chief executive, Life Style Sports said: “More and more Irish people are looking to fitness and outdoor training to give them a release from the pressures of modern life. We know that participation levels are at a record high as people take to the streets, beaches, roads and bootcamps everywhere, determined to get active and be social. At Life Style Sports we are confident we have the best running and fit-ness range on the high street.” All items featured are available at Life Style Sports.
18 GAZETTE 31 January 2013
GAZE
TTE
Adidas 3 Stripe Fitness Track Top €52 NOW €35
Miss Selfridge Zip Detail Embellished Dress €85 NOW €32
Nike Shape Medium Support Bra Top €35 NOW €25
OUT&ABOUT
Accessorize Leather Driving Gloves €34 NOW €16.90
Accessorize Egyptian Stud Belt €23.50 NOW €10.90
Adidas Kanadia €70Adidas Clima Core 3/4 tight €35
Under Armour Coldgear Compression Mock €55
Nike Steady €50
Nike slim shorts €28
Dressing right when getting fit
GAZE
TTE
Miss Selfridge Zip Detail Embellished Dress €85 NOW Miss Selfridge Zip Detail Embellished Dress €85 NOW €32
OUT&ABOUT
Accessorize Leather Driving Gloves €34 NOW Accessorize Leather Driving Gloves €34 NOW €16.90
Accessorize Egyptian Stud Belt €23.50 NOW Accessorize Egyptian Stud Belt €23.50 NOW €10.90
Under Armour Coldgear Compression Mock
Model Holly Carpenter wears:
Adidas Prime Zip Hoody - €46 (Life Style Sports Exclusive),
Adidas Clima Long Tank - €30, Adidas TF Perfect ¾ Pant - €35
LAURA WEBB
LIFE STYLE SPORTS recently launched its first Men’s Fitness and Running Campaign – No Excuses. No Regrets.
This campaign is dedicated to men’s running and fitness and is supported by the store’s top brands Nike, Adidas, Asics and Under Armour.
Basically the message to everyone that as we all decide to get fit, following some overindulgence over Christmas, the one thing we need to make sure is that we train in the right cloth-ing.
With this in mind, the retail giant is also launching Fitness
Dressing right when getting fit Product Experts in store. Their job is to advise customers on the right footwear and clothing to wear for each sport.
Mark Stafford, chief executive, Life Style Sports said: “More and more Irish people are looking to fitness and outdoor training to give them a release from the pressures of modern life. We know that participation levels are at a record high as people take to the streets, beaches, roads and bootcamps everywhere, determined to get active and be social. At Life Style Sports we are confident we have the best running and fit-ness range on the high street.” All items featured are available at Life Style Sports.
31 January 2013 GAZETTE 19
STYLE
Adidas Adiviz Jacket €65
Adidas Duramo 4 €50
Under Armour Coldgear Compression Mock €50
NIke Dri Fit Cotton Sleeveless Tee €22
Adidas Clima 365 pants €45
Nike Steady €50
NIke Flex €65
Adidas Response 7in Shorts €32 €25
Accessorize Egyptian Stud Belt €23.50 NOW €10.90Accessorize Egyptian Stud Belt €23.50 NOW Accessorize Egyptian Stud Belt €23.50 NOW €10.90Life Style Sports Team Member Alvaro wears:
Under Armour Storm Hoodie - €48, Under Armour Tech SS Tee - €22, Under Armour HG Mirage Short - €22
GAZETTE
OUT&ABOUT Gaze
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CINEMA
20 gazette 31 January 2013
TheatretHe pavilioN tHeatRe 01 231 2929David Meade- Mind ReaderBBC’s fastest rising star is returning to the stage hot on the heels of his smash hit record-breaking TV series Make Believe, after three years of unprecedented success on BBC One. With a show that is as hilarious as it is jaw dropping, Meade has just returned from a US tour February 4, tickets €20.
DRaiocHt 01 885 2622Beckett X 3GODOT Theatre Company London are back with three more short Beckett plays on Wednesday, February 6 at 8.15pm in the Draiocht Studio. Tickets are priced at €10.
civic tHeatRe 01 462 7477WaGFormer Fair City actress Gemma Doorly makes her directorial debut with her play WAG starring her former Fair City colleague and good friend Sorcha Furlong. Following its sell-out tour, WAG is a black comedy and modern fable. Set in the lavish surroundings of a sports star’s mansion while he is away, his wife has invited a guest around for a drink and a chat – his mistress. Running from Thursday, January 31 until Sunday, February 2, tickets are priced at €16 with €12 concessions.
IT IS one of the most famous stage musicals in the world.
It has continued to thrill audiences across the globe and has been the subject of countless school plays.
It is odd then, that Les Miserables would still, to this day, be with-out a definitive screen version.
It has been seen as unfilmable and a 1998 adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel, sans musi-cal numbers, limped to a paltry $14 million at the US box office.
The difficulty comes from a number of differ-ent factors.
Firstly, it is a story that jumps forward in time often and sud-denly.
Secondly, it is a story that is not about any one thing. It is ostensibly the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) , a convict attempting to
make a better life while evading the clutches of police inspector Javert (Russell Crowe).
But the s tor y of Valjean is weak as a central strand for a film that clocks in at two and a half hours.
Jackman does an admirable job, particu-larly vocally, in infusing his Valjean with what-ever humanity he can, but the film is so scat-tergun, the exposition so wanting that he just doesn’t have the room to be a character on which to hitch such a large film.
It is a shame, ultimate-ly, because Jackman does
his best and takes the film on Valjean’s famously broad shoulders.
He is aided by a star turn by Anne Hathaway, all blotched skin and short hair.
As her Fantine becomes more and more desper-ate, selling her hair, teeth and body, Hathaway excels and her version of I Dreamed a Dream, shot in one extended close-up, is spine tingling.
In one take, she claims the song as her own, demanding that hers be the definitive touchstone for the performance going forward.
Not revolutionary
It is incredible to see, particularly given that there were some who thought that Catwoman could not play the hero-ine of Les Mis.
There are less good performances, though.
Russell Crowe’s Javert is purposely rigid and inflexible, but Crowe’s complete lack of human-ity makes any late char-acter changes completely pointless.
Amanda Seyfried is another who, while obvi-ously talented, is hobbled by the script’s inability to nail down a central nar-rative.
Her Cosette, essentially the most important char-acter in the film, is lost in the maelstrom of songs, revolution and charac-ters.
Another criminally underused is Samantha Barks, the British actress making her film debut.
Her Eponine is excel-lent, but underutilised.
With the popularity of Glee, there is a weariness of musical film and tel-evision and much of that comes down to autotune and the lack of authentic-ity it brings.
Luckily, Hooper kept a dedication to live per-formance throughout the shoot and the results are mixed, but at least they are authentic.
Jackman struggles occassionally and Crowe slips into rock power bal-ladeer, but Hathaway, Barks and the surprising-ly good Cohen and Cart-er lift the film as close to definitive as possible.
Hugh Jackman takes anne Hathaway’s Fantine to safety
RevieW: les MiseRaBles Hits tHe scReeN, leD By HatHaWay
OUR VeRDICt:AMBITION is not a problem here, as Hooper takes on a massive task. He tries to capture a definitive screen version of one of the most famous musicals ever. Unfortunately, he comes up short, with excellent performances and some nice visual flourishes not enough to compensate for a weak script, muddled scenes and rushed characterisation making for a film that feels more like a missed opportunity.
Director: tom HooperStarring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, anne Hathaway, amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen
Film OF The Week: les Miserablesh h h (12) 158 mins
PaUL [email protected]
CINEMA
GAZETTEGAMING
FOLLOWING Christ-mas over-indulgences, I’m probably not the only per-son wishing to ditch a few, um, unexpected kilos that have mysteriously jumped onto my weight.
How did that happen? Why do I suddenly resem-ble Homer Simpson?
Well, step forward an interesting and well-de-veloped Kinect title that should get that unwanted flab moving.
Nike+ Kinect Fit-ness for the XBox 360 is something that seems tai-lor-made not just for the New Year (and all those resolutions to get fit and healthy that we all tend to make, and then ditch by the time February rolls around), but for the whole year round.
Certainly, given our gen-erally miserable weather,
and the continuing budg-etary pinch of the reces-sion, anything to help you exercise at a more than affordable price all year round at home is to be welcomed.
Enough wittering – what, exactly, is Nike+ Kinect Fitness about?
Well, as the name sug-gests, it’s all about getting fit, courtesy of a wide variety of programmes devised with Nike.
By picking a virtual fit-ness instructor, an initial fitness assessment then determines your general
Although I’m not normally a fan of such home
exercise titles, there’s no denying that Nike+
Kinect Fitness is a very well put together title –
with ubiquitous Nike branding here and there,
of course – and will reward those who want
to get fit and will make an effort. As always with
such titles, a decent amount of exercise space
is advised to help get the best results from
Nike+ Kinect Fitness.
fitness etc, right now. From that starting
point, the title – you couldn’t call it a “game”, – then puts you through your paces over the fol-lowing weeks, with a wide variety of exercises to put you through your paces.
And, believe me, there’s plenty there to face up to, as you’d be surprised how much you can do at home, and how challeng-ing it can be.
While we’ve seen plen-ty of similar titles before – the entertaining Wii Fit on the Nintendo Wii
springs to mind – there’s no doubting that Nike+ Kinect Fitness is a step beyond (no pun intend-ed), as the range of exer-cises, challenging goals, genuine sense of achieve-ment should be enough to motivate you towards becoming healthier.
Obviously enough, for such an all-round fitness title, you’ll need a decent amount of space for some of the more challeng-ing exercises (just as you would at a gym, or exer-cise spot), and also for the required Kinect sensor
attachment to properly track exactly what you’re doing.
And, of course, the big-gest “flaw” with Nike+ Kinect Fitness is you, the user – it’s a great title that’s very polished and pretty comprehensive, but, not unlike learning Latin, it’s either something you want to do, or you don’t.
However, as a well-designed title with a consistently good use of the Kinect sensor, and a genuinely motivating feeling of progress, it’s to be recommended.
NIKE+ KINECT FITNESS: STEP UP TO EXERCISE
31 January 2013 GAZETTE 21
Plenty of helpto fight the flab
A COLLAPSE OF NOTEHMV vouchers anger manyAT THE time of writing, HMV’s recent collapse in Ireland has stung a lot of consumers, angered at the now worthless HMV vouchers they have.
As was seen with the GAME chain’s collapse last year, the Irish wing of the international chain has been shut and shuttered, although the British stores have remained open and trading, as the Irish stores were placed into receivership, while the British stores entered administration – both procedures are disastrous for any company to face, yet have very different operations.
Of course, the most regrettable collapse of HMV in Ireland is the loss of hundreds of jobs across its 16 stores here (and the knock-on impact on local economies and sub-contractors). However, as extensive media coverage has shown, consumers have felt stung by its collapse, with the decision not to honour any gift vouchers sold in Ireland up to the point the chain closed its stores angering many.
This decision was not helped by the announcement that the still trading British HMV stores are honouring vouchers sold up to its administration, there.
With the news that restructuring firm Hilco has bought HMV’s debts, thus stabilising the firm – in Britain, at least, thus giving some breathing room to attempt to rescue the chain – HMV’s 90-year history isn’t fully concluded. Unfortunately, for now, it seems likely that HMV Ireland’s legacy has struck a sour note with many ...
BYTES&PIECES
WITHOUT more solid details, I’m not delving too much into this just yet, but given all the smoke sig-nals, wild speculation and pure gossip here and there, it looks very likely indeed that 2013 will see the successors to the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 released, follow-ing on the heels of the recently released Wii U.
All of the current-gen consoles (well, really, that just leaves the PS3 and the 360, now) have enjoyed
the longest lifecycle of any con-sole, to date, and both consoles continue to see remarkable games and franchises being rolled out – 2013 has some outstanding titles on the way for both consoles.
However, it’s no secret that both Sony and Microsoft are keen to release their next consoles, and given the evidence to date, 2013 looks set to be a lucky year for gamers (with deep pockets, of course). Watch this space ...
BYTES&PIECESTHE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
SHANE [email protected]
22 Gazette 31 January 2013
OUT&ABOUT Gaze
tte
MUSIC
Stephen Spielberg at the european premiere
the Joy Formidable: Matt thomas, Ritzy Bryan and Rhydian Dafydd
THERE are some things about music that are indesputab le . That Prince will always test your patience as a fan. That you will never completely get Captain Beefheart. That there are some people whose lives you’ll change when you introduce them to Tom Waits.
Another indisput-able truth is the enduring appeal of the power trio. Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, The Jam, Husker Du, Nirvana, Muse, the original PJ Harvey line-up — legends all.
Get set to reserve a place on that list for The Joy Formidable, who have just released their second album, Wolf’s Law, and who last weekend demol-ished The Academy with an astonishing live set.
The Welsh trio began to stake their claim for a place on rock’s pedestal with a couple of EPs and their debut release, The Big Roar, which collect-ed some of the stand-out tracks from their initial releases.
Their studio incarna-tion, though, is only a small part of the story — live, The Joy Formidable truly soar with an energy and ferocity few current acts in any genre can muster, and they have thrilled and awed crowds
MUSIC ReVIeW: SophoMoRe ReleaSe fRoM WelSh poWeR tRIo
Utterly Formidable and Joyous effort
at festivals international-ly over the last two years since the release of The Big Roar. You don’t get an opening slot for Foo Fighters without being a little bit special, and TJF are way more than just a little special.
Some of that lightnng has been caught in the bottle of Wolf’s Law. From the dramatic, oper-atic strings that open the record and lead into their explosive lead single,
This Ladder Is Ours, this is a stadium-sized state-ment of intent.
From Cholla onward, there is a progression through the record as TJF seem to be intent to document their growing maturity and confidence as a band. Drawing on what they have learned on stages across the globe and in the studio, the dynamic and drama that fill this record are unparalleled. Recording
in Maine in winter obvi-ously agreed with the band, and the fruits of those sessions have made for something that could well be high on the lists of the albums of 2013.
Even the beautiful acoustic Silent Treatment is filled with wisdom and power. When Matt, Ritzy and Rhydian play togeth-er, their unity of purpose comes out in the glorious rock noise they create.
Wolf’s Law is a pretty
amazing achievement for a second album. The kinds of heights achieved here are usually reserved for bands much further down their career paths.
Hopefully, this will lead to an absolutely legendary third record, which will have the added ingredients that the experience of loftier slots on festival bills will bring.
They are truly Formi-dable indeed.
InterviewStephen SpIelbeRG fRoM p17
In the movie, Day-Lewis utterly inhabits the title role as the iconic leader Abraham Lincoln, which has led to him being tipped for more Oscar glory come February 24. Spielberg was fulsome in his praise of the actor.
“I’m so grateful Daniel agreed to play Abra-ham Lincoln. I never imagined anyone could play Lincoln other than Daniel. I approached him three times over a five-year period, and, eventually, he said yes.
“We had to get the research right. Lincoln is the most compelling figure on the American national landscape. He saved the American experiment in democracy, and pretty much saved the constitution. He didn’t do it alone, a lot of people helped him do what he did.
“We’re only telling a small part of the gigantic Lincoln story, on the last four months of his life, but it’s enough of an intimate focus to give you a real idea who he was as a human being,” said Spielberg.
Although the movie documents a very specific and significant moment in American history, Spielberg said that he felt there was a message in the movie for an international audience.
“The film is really about the power and responsibility of personal, intimate leadership. It’s about a leader who was one of the people. There was no firewall between him and the peo-ple who elected him, and no firewall between him and the compassion he had for the people of the United States of America, and the tremen-dous anguish and mourning [he felt] for the war that took more lives than all of the American wars combined.
“I think it’s a great story, he’s one of the most amazing characters in global history. Every country has a Lincolnian figure who was inspi-rational and did great things in its formation or during a crisis, and everyone can relate to Lin-coln, based on figures from their own nation.”
31 January 2013 SWORDS GAZETTE 23
MUSIC
GAZETTEMOTORS
Awe-inspiring A3 isa cut above the rest CORMAC CURTIS
AS a rule, I don’t like to know too much about a vehicle I am testing until I’ve been behind the wheel for a few days. I have even gone so far as to avoid walking behind the car entirely in case I see what size engine is under the hood.
So, a few weeks back, while I was waiting for the keys of the Audi A3 that the dealer was trust-ing me with for a week, I happened to glance at the spec sheet of the model in question.
The car was packing a 4-cylinder, 2-litre die-sel engine pumping out 150bhp (almost as much pulling power as my first 6-cylinder, 2.5-litre pet-rol saloon), it was going
to go from 0 to 100km/h in 8.6 seconds, top out at 216km/h and produce a paltry 106g of carbon per km (combined).
But that’s not all.On top of all that, this
little beauty was going to sip an average of just 4.1 litres of diesel per 100km driven (combined).
If you’re anything like me, the first time you sit in this car, the build quality alone will give you pause for thought.
Combine that with an exceptional driver’s cockpit, and you begin to feel that you are about to drive something very spe-cial indeed.
Frankly, I get the dis-tinct feeling that the tens of thousands of euros more spent on each of Audi’s executive models
somehow trickles down to each of the A3s.
I was told that the air vents alone contain 42 moving parts, just so the driver can adjust the “shape” of the airflow – to me, that sounds like the kind of R&D reserved for the A8 fleet, but somehow makes it to this incredible entry-level model.
Even in the base-level trim, the driver is treated to a clean, uncluttered and incredibly intuitive set of controls.
The now-famil iar “i-drive” style wheel just rear of the gear stick takes care of much of the adjust-ments and settings of the sat nav, stereo and phone – there is even an option that gives the surface of the controller a touch-sensitive feature that ena-
bles the driver to write let-ters and numbers in order to prompt and control sat nav, telephone and stereo functions without taking their eyes off the road.
I will fess-up that it took me at least a day to figure out how to make the LCD screen disappear back into its housing in the dash, but when I did, it was a delight.
I’m not a fan of the new big screens that seem to be in every car, the ones that stick straight up out of the console I find particularly annoying as most drivers only use them occasion-ally.
Going to the trouble of making this feature available in the A3 speaks volumes of the attention to detail that Audi have committed here.
The test model I enjoyed was in Glacial White Metallic and is just so well-proportioned it almost seems a shame to offer it in a four-door ver-sion.
The front grille is almost disproportion-ately large… almost. In reality it, along with the gorgeous, slightly jaunty headlights, gives the front end of this car a perfect look and expression.
The body looks strong without resorting to an overly “muscular” look, so it really offers something different and attractive.
I’m not sure what I was expecting from the A3, but what I drove was something special, and I would gladly sit in it every morning for many years and never get bored.
The Audi A3 has a top speed of 216 km/h and goes from 0-100kmh in 8.6 seconds
CUTTING OUT THE NONSENSE ABOUT INSURANCE: LOW-COST car insurance company, No Nonsense, has announced the launch of SmartDriver – an innovative technology aimed at cutting out the nonsense in the car insurance market by offering cash back based on individual driver behaviour. This state-of-the-art telemat-ics technology aims to
cut out the nonsense in the car insurance market by rewarding safe drivers for their behaviour on the roads. The news comes as the EU gender directive has banned insur-ance discounts based on gender and will be seen by many younger women as an ideal way to avoid the significant increase in premiums and instead get cash back of up to 30% with No Nonsense.
Fiesta, a stylish mobile workshopTHE new Ford Fiesta Van, which has just arrived in Ireland, delivers class-leading fuel efficiency and segment-first technologies for both large and small businesses.
All diesel engines in the new van achieve sub-100 g/km CO2 emissions and 3.7 l/100 km (76.4 mpg) or better.
“The new Fiesta Van is a stylish mobile workshop for light duty tools and equipment that makes great business sense,” said Eddie Murphy, chairman and managing director of Ford Ireland.
“Both local tradesmen and urban delivery fleets will appreciate its sharp, professional looks, while relying on its versatility, dependability and excep-tionally low running costs.”
Fiesta Van powertrain choice now includes the new 75 PS 1.5-litre Duratorq TDCi diesel, alongside the 95 PS 1.6-litre Duratorq TDCi diesel and 82 PS 1.25-litre Duratec petrol units.
The van’s package of leading Ford driver assist-ance and safety features includes a number of impor-tant segment-first technologies.
In Ireland, the vehicle is available in three series: Fiesta Van, Trend Van and the really stylish Sport Van. Prices start at €14,620 excluding delivery and related costs.
AUDI: ENTRY-LEVEL MODEL WITH THE FEEL OF AN EXECUTIVE MODEL
NOISEroad
Kate Cepeola and Darragh Griffin (both four) and
Jackie McMahon, general manager of No Nonsense,
pictured at the launch of SmartDriver
24 swords gazette 31 January 2013
OUT&ABOUT Gaze
tte
TRAVEL NEWSfast
Set your heart on a romantic getaway for two Loved-up couples eve-rywhere have plenty of choice when it comes to planning a romantic geta-way this valentine’s.
W h e t h e r y o u ’ r e tempted to fly abroad for a romantic city break, or fancy making the most of the emerald Isle, there are plenty of special offers and idyllic escapes to choose from.
romantic escapesWhisking your one
and only off to west Cork will mean you find the perfect spot to enjoy long romantic walks at The Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery. From February 15-17, visitors will enjoy two nights’ accommodation with a full Irish breakfast and a romantic dinner in
druid’s Restaurant. The valentine’s and
R o m a n c e p a c k a g e includes some extra treats such as wine, chocolates, a love-heart balloon as well as a late check out. one night stays are available at €179.
For more information, visit www.selecthotels.ie
For those interested in spreading the love while still keeping it within the budget, the Clarion Hotel in Sligo is offer-ing the perfect escape for two.
The hotel is offering one night’s B&B on either February 15 or 16, with the addition of some subtle romantic touches.
offering valentine
dates a free upgrade to a suite – the package also includes a mini-spa treatment per person, a four-course dinner with a glass of bubbly and chocolates, as well as a complimentary drink. plus, the check-out time is extended to 2pm. Available at just €99 per person.
details: 071 9119000; www.clarionhotelsligo.com
If it’s that something extra you’re looking for, The Twelve Hotel in Bearna leaves no stone unturned with its special Lovebomb package. In keeping with its name, the hotel is offering 12 special valentine speci-alities.
First, you check into a suite. Next, petals are
there is plenty of choice in romantic getaways this Valentine’s day. Picture: Karolina Laser
Valentine’s Day: perfect escape for two
strewn across the bed and you enjoy some bubbly, two red-iced muffins from the hotel bakers, a packed picnic for a romantic stroll and a candlelit dinner.
Then comes the pam-pering in-room treat-ments, Love potion cocktails, fun framed caricatures of you and your other half , as well as a discount gift voucher for Hartman’s Jewellers (just in case the need to drop to one knee suddenly presents itself!) and a wrapped rose on checkout… And as for the twelfth? “The wonderful 12th itself!”. At €450 per couple, the package is available from February 13-15.
details: 091 597000; www.thetwelvehotel.ie
the twelve Hotel in Bearna is offering 12 special Valentine specialities
Loved-up chicWhile the infamous
Irish countryside pulls at most heartstrings, city chic can also spell romance.
A getaway to the four-star pembroke Hotel, located in the heart of Kilkenny City, promises a two-night escape with chocolates and cham-pagne on arrival.
Couples can enjoy dinner in Statham’s Res-taurant on the evening of their choice, as well as breakfast each morning. And since it’s just a two-minute walk from Kil-kenny Castle, the stun-ning canal walk and the city’s renowned nightlife can ensure you see some of the local sights on the second day. priced at €149pp.
details: 056 7783500; www.pembrokekilken-ny.com
Whites of Wexford has the ideal package to help couples unwind
Hotels.com have it all for a city breakIF you plan on spending this year’s valentine’s day enjoying a romantic city break, choosing the right place to stay isn’t as complicated as you may think. Since love is in the air, Hotels.com are offering some great offers on some of their top hotels in some of europe’s most romantic city destinations.
If it’s passion in paris you’re looking for, the platine Hotel is situated in the heart of this romantic city. The Art deco hotel is in easy reach of the eiffel Tower and plays homage to the life of Marilyn Monroe with pictures adorning every bedroom. prices start from €252 per room, per night.
Love can also be found in Rome and staying at the eurostar’s International palace means you’re within easy walking distance of some of Rome’s most popular tourist hotspots. prices start from €84 per room per night. For more information, visit www.hotels.com.
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Make haste north with great offersHeAdINg up north this valentines? If so, Hastings Hotels have some great offers to help ensure your romantic getaway is one to remember.
With valentine offers available from Thursday, February 14 until Saturday, February 16, why not enjoy a luxurious overnight stay, a romantic dinner for two, a glass of bubbly, as well as a full Irish breakfast (and an exclusive valentine’s duck) from just £65pps.
Choose to stay at the everglades Hotel in derry from £65pps, Ballygally Castle in Antrim from £70pps, europa Hotel in Belfast from £80pps or the Slieve donard Resort and Spa in Newcastle from £85pps. Culloden estate and Spa in Belfast is also available to book from £110pps.
Luxury extras are available at each hotel including champagne and chocolates in your room on arrival, or why not surprise your other half with a luxury spa treatment at the Culloden or Slieve donard.
See www.hastingshotels.com or call 048 9047 1066.
LOcALMattersS U p p O r T L O c A L B U S i n e S S
AdverTiSe wiTH THeGAzeTTe cALL 60 10 240
31 January 2013 swords gazette 25
Travel
Telling your loved one on the evening of Valentine’s Day to pack their bags for a flight the next day can only prove one thing – that your partner is clearly on to a winner.
For those looking to really spoil their partner this year, Thomas Cook Far and Away has two exotic Valentine destinations to offer.
Whisk your special someone off to the West Coast of Africa and stay in the three-star Hotel Seaview gardens in gorgeous gambia, just a short stroll from Kololi beach. A 14-night stay is priced at €1,249 per person sharing, departing on February 15 from gatwick.
Or how about celebrating Valentine’s Day itself on a romantic beach on the sun-drenched island of Cayo Coco in northern Cuba?
A hideout by buccaneers in the early colo-nial period, Cayo Coco is part of a chain of beautiful islands called King’s gardens. Thomas Cook is offering 14 nights on an all-inclusive basis at the three-star-plus Tryp Hotel, with all meals and drinks included from just €989 per person sharing, including transfers from gatwick, departing 15 Febru-ary. Connecting flights from irish airports can be arranged.
Call the Thomas Cook Far and Away team in Dublin on (01) 514 0316, log onto www.thomascook.ie or visit your travel agent.
Gazette
TRAVEL NEWSfast
Pack your bags and enjoy an exotic Valentine destination
there is plenty of choice in romantic getaways this Valentine’s day. Picture: Karolina Laser
whites of wexford
this Valentine’s. The four-star luxury
hotel is located in the heart of Wexford Town and its Valentine’s offer includes an overnight break with dinner and a glass of bubbly on arrival for just €69 per person.
Relish the time out with a treatment in the Tranquillity Spa fol-lowed by afternoon tea or candle-lit dinner in the Terrace Restaurant.
For more information, visit www.selecthotels.ie.
sultry spa Breakif you really want to
spoil your loved one, adding a special spa treatment to the roman-tic night away will win you major brownie points.
Just minutes from Dubl in , Dunboy ne Castle Hotel and Spa is the perfect setting for a romantic getaway.
From €112 per per-son sharing, guests can enjoy an overnight stay with a chocolate and rose-petal turn down, dinner in the hotel’s ivy Brasserie restau-rant with a compli-mentary glass of bub-bly and access to the award-winning Seoid Spa, offering a range of Valentine’s treatments, including couples mas-sages.
See www.dunboyne-castlehotel.com or call 01 8013500.
nothing else says i love you quite like a five-star escape and where better than luxury on our own doorstep at The Shelbourne Hotel.
enjoy an elemis facial for her and an indulgent hot-towel shave for him, plus full use of the hotel’s fitness and ther-mal suites.
To round off your pampering treat, cosy up in the Saddle Room
Restaurant for a gour-met dinner by candle-light before ending the evening with a night cap at the popular Shel-bourne Bar.
This overnight break is priced from €370 per room per night, and the package is available until February 17, 2013.
Details: 01 663 4500; www.theshelbourne.ie
Food LoversFood is the language
of love this Valentine’s Day, according to the Cliff House Hotel, a five-star hotel overlook-ing the historic village of Ardmore, west Water-ford.
And what other way to spend a romantic V-day evening then a feast at Martijn Kaiuiter’s award-winning, Miche-lin-starred cuisine.
The House Restau-rant showcases the best produce to be found on irish land and sea and
guests can savour the applauded delights of the prestigious chef. To complete the gourmet experience, wake in the morning to a full irish breakfast before depart-
ing for home. The Valen-tine’s gourmet package is priced from €360 per room.
Details: 024 87 800; www.thecliffhouseho-tel.com
Cayo Coco in northern Cuba
the Celtic ross Hotel in rosscarbery in west Cork
Cliff House Hote in ardmore, west waterford
the luxurious spa at the shelbourne Hotel
SWORDSCLASSIFIEDS 26 SWORDS GAZETTE 31 January 2013
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football: ballyboden man admits 2012 leaGue form did not reach full intensity
lucan make DReam Debut: CHESS teams from St Jude’s, Skerries, Lucan and Malahide all took part in the first com-munity games event of the year in Jobstown last Friday night.
At U-12 level, Lucan were competing for the very first time and claimed the gold with former national champions taking silver with the former, featuring Muhtarim Ul Haiq, Jordan Mal-dianu, Andrei Buda, Mustakim Ul Haiq and Brandon Amerai, making it through to the Leinster finals.
Malahide took gold at U-16 level with a team featuring David Deneher, Killan Burke, Aaron Cum-mins, Alessio Roselli, Jacob Flynn, David Kearney. The Leinster finals will take place in Longford on Sunday, April 7.
macauley hoping for fresh dubs’ outlook for new yearBALLYBODEN St Enda’s man Michael Darragh MacAuley believes there is a much stronger resolve around the Dub-lin senior football panel going into 2013 after a tepid reign as All-Ireland senior football champions.
Speaking at the launch of Setanta Ireland’s live coverage of the Allianz league last week, he admitted that the sky-blues “didn’t reach the intensity lev-els required last year in the league and consequently didn’t get results.
“In 2011 we reached the league final on the back of our high intensity levels
and this gave us a great platform for our successful championship campaign.”
But 2012 was a lower key affair in the league and it permeated into the cham-pionship campaign.
“I think we didn’t realise it at the time, but lads’ heads just weren’t as clued in as much as the year before, simple as that.
“I knew we’d struggle with that early in the year, but thought we’d get our heads together. But in talking to people, all the panel, everyone’s heads weren’t in the right place at the right time. Eve-
rything has to be 100%.“If one player is off, and we had a few
players not hitting full whack last year, that’s all it takes. It’s only a matter of inches in winning in All-Ireland, it really is,” he added.
But the Boden man says that, with the fresh impetus of Jim Gavin at the helm, the mood is confident.
“With Jim in place there is a blank canvas for all the players, consequently new players will want to show the new management team just what they can do and Cork will offer a great test first
day out.”He is speaking of the opening day
clash against the Rebel county on Feb-ruary 2 at 7pm in Croke Park.
The clash of the Dubs and Cork is not the only action from headquarters and at 5pm Kildare and Donegal throw in for what should be a great curtain raiser between the newly promoted Lilywhites and of course the reigning All-Ireland champions.
The third and final televised game of the opening weekend is the all-Ulster clash between Down and Tyrone.
michael Darragh macauley was on hand to launch Setanta Sports’ coverage of the allianz national leagues in Dublin city centre last week
athletics P28 awards P28 asdfsdaf P27
Fastsport
c o n ta c t sacting Sports
editor: Stephen Findlater
For more information or to send in news
and photos: [email protected]
Phone: 01 651 6205
Gaelic Games P31
28 SWORDS Gazette 31 January 2013
SPORTGaze
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DSDAC’S Joe Sweeney stormed to another decisive win in last weekend’s AXA 29th annual Raheny 5 road race but the star of the show was undoubtedly North Sligo AC’s Mary Cullen who lives in nearby Santry.
Her career has been blighted by injury and illness in the last two years but, in her first seri-ous competitive race in over 15 months, she smashed the wom-en’s course record finishing a remarkable 12th overall in the race in 25:55.
The magnitude of her achievement is underlined by the fact that she is the first Irish female athlete to dip under 26 minutes for five miles on Irish soil. The defending title holder and Olympic marathoner Linda Byrne, another DSD club mem-ber, stayed with Cullen in the early stages of the race but eventually had to give way. She finished second in the women’s race in 26:35.
The standard at the top of the field is underlined by the fact that 119 athletes finished under 30 minutes. At the head
of affairs Sweeney and his Tal-laght AC rival Tom Fitzpatrick had broken away from the rest of the field by the one-mile marker while Kilkenny’s Brian Maher was alone in third spot.
In the end Sweeney prevailed in 23:53; Fitzpatrick was second in 24:02 while Maher took third place in 25:00. Simon Ryan was the host club’s top finisher taking fifth place in 25:11 just ahead of Cillian O’Leary while Ian Conroy was eighth.
Notable too was the per-formance of 47-year-old Mick Traynor who finished a remark-
able 17th overall and won the O-45 category in 26:10; his clubmate Damien Martin was second in O-45 in 26:46.
Of the other local clubs involved, 17 athletes from Lucan Harriers took on the race. In the men’s field, First home for Lucan was Derek Taylor, in 29:40 ahead of Patrick Holden in 32:13.
On the women’s side, Lucan’s first home was Bernie Stapleton in 37:01, she was quickly fol-lowed by Lisa Convey in 37:26 and Deirdre Counihan was sec-onds behind them in 37:50.
Sweeney and Cullen the Raheny star attractions
DSDaC’S Joseph Sweeney in the lead Picture: Peter
Mooney /flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets
HSTARof the
MONTHjames cluskeytHe swords ltc club member had an amazing january, winning an ItF Futures doubles title in Germany before finishing as runner-up at another event in Germany and also in France, making for the perfect warm-up for the Davis cup
HTEAMof the
MONTH
2013 DublIn sports awarDs january nomInees
erIc lownDestHe naomh peregrine tyro enjoyed a hugely impressive month as he made a smooth transition from minor level to jim Gavin’s senior set-up, lining out to great effect in Dublin’s run to the o’byrne cup final despite his tender years
conor mcGreGorlucan resident conor mcGregor became just the second double weight world champion in the history of mixed martial arts with a first round knock-out against Ivan buchinger at cage warriors fighting championship on new year’s eve
AMID the winter weather and a glut of cancelled fixtures, local stars from around the city braved the elements to produce some truly stunning sporting feats, starting off the New Year in breathtak-ing fashion. Conor McGregor saw in the year with one of the earliest victories, further announcing himself on the world stage. A number of Dublin’s young stars made strong impacts in the O’Byrne Cup with Eric Lowndes, stepping straight up from minor into the senior ranks, chief among them while Swords man James Cluskey is in the form of his life on the tennis circuit. On the team front, January means basketball’s cup finals with Palmerstown CS shading out a number of other Dublin schools for this month’s nomination. Malahide United claimed All-Ireland glory to add to their 26-county title of last summer while St Joseph’s, Lucan made a significant camogie breakthrough.
st josepH’s colleGe, lucanIn QuIck succession, st joseph’s college in lucan landed the school’s first and second a camogie titles with their juniors starting the run with victory over st macDara’s. their senior side followed up with a win over maryfield to match the feat.
malaHIDe unIteDmalaHIDe united’s u-16 side added an all-Ireland title to the sFaI crown they won last summer when they defeated st oliver plunkett’s from belfast at the inaugural Db sports tour national cup finals in Dundalk’s oriel park
palmerstown csa breatHtakInG display in the mid-dle stages of their all-Ireland u-19b final at the national basketball arena saw palmerstown claim the national honours with cyril kwan scooping the most valuable player title into the bargain
DublinGazettenewspapers
31 January 2013 SWORDS Gazette 29
peter [email protected]
SWORDS LTC member James Cluskey says he can’t wait for his return to competition on Irish soil as he gears up to represent Ireland in the Davis Cup this weekend when they take on Esto-nia at the Riverview in Clonskeagh.
The 26-year-old is used to the big crowds having made it to a final in front of a jam-packed French audience at an ITF Futures event last week, but insists repre-senting his country is one of the big draws of
playing in the tourna-ment, as well as playing in a team full of friends and in front of his fam-ily.
“Well it is a huge hon-our to represent Ireland,” said Cluskey.
“It’s something that every athlete wants to do and I’m no different. I’m looking forward to play-ing in front of my family too.”
While a lot might feel pressure perform-ing in front of family and friends, Cluskey is very composed about the ordeal, insisting that his family do not place a huge emphasis on his
performances. “My Dad really isn’t a
tennis fan,” laughed the Dubliner.
“I don’t notice any difference in the way he treats me if I get knocked out in the first round of a tournament or if I win it.
“He is very supportive and he will come out to cheer me on even though he might not know what’s happening!
“My mum is the big tennis influence, she’s a good player and she likes to get a few games in at the club in Swords.
“She would follow all of the big events and I’m
sure she is very excited to see me playing in Dublin and I hope I can make her proud in my matches.
“ T h e y c e r t a i n l y wouldn’t put any pres-sure on me and it’s not something that I’m par-ticularly worried about.”
Cluskey also admitted that he was confident the Irish could pull off the victory when they face off against Estonia with an injury to Jurgen Zoop, a close friend of the Swords man, leaving a big gap in their team.
“I was talking to Jur-gen last year about this game when it looked
likely that our countries would be facing each other.
“He’s a good friend and although his absence might help the Irish it’s never nice to see a player missing their tennis due to injury.
“I do think we’ll pull off the win though, James McGee made it to a final last weekend in Israel, Sam and Eoin have made a final in a doubles event recently too, so I’m quietly confident.”
Ireland’s leading dou-bles player, Cluskey is likely to play in Satur-day’s pairs in the third rubber of the tie.
Cluskey’s home comforts
tennis: swords looking forward to riverview support
SPORTgaze
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30 SWorDS gazette 31 January 2013
Fastsport
FINgallIaNS’ Sinead Finnegan, pic-tured, was in attendance at the 2013 Ladies National Football League launch and Tesco Homegrown sponsorship announcement of the league. Croke Park, Dublin.The Jackies begin their campaign at
Finnegan’s home turf in Lawless Memo-rial Park in Swords on Sunday at 2pm when they meet Meath in the first divi-sion 1A league encounter.
fins’ woman on hand to launch national league
finnegan’s awake
LOCAL cage fighter Aaron O’Neill has earned a fight at the massive Cage Con-tender XVI event in Dublin on February 23, which is being billed as the biggest night in Irish Mixed Martial Arts since the UFC vis-ited Dublin in 2009.
The Swords man who trains at the Per-formance Martial Arts gym in Ashbourne will aim to continue his rise as one of Ire-land’s top fight prospects when he faces off against the tough County Antrim based Owen Kinney at the National Basketball Arena.
“I am calling on the people of Swords to throw the whole weight of their community behind Aaron O’Neill and support him at Cage Contender 16,” John Ferguson, the event’s promoter, said.
“He has the makings of a great athlete and their support will most definitely help. He is on a fight card with some of the planet’s biggest names and hometown support is important.”
Yet again, Cage Contender will treat their fan base to some of the world’s best fight-ers. This time round one of the world’s most controversial and best known welterweights UFC and Strikeforce superstar Paul “Sem-tex” Daley will headline the biggest fight card ever assembled in Ireland outside of the UFC.
His opponent is the popular Patrick Vallee who Daley said is “bringing himself a world of hurt” by creating an online campaign calling Daley out for this fight. A clearly dis-gruntled Daley has made no secret that he is happy to bring Vallee to Dublin and knock him out in front of the Irish fans.
“It is likely that this fight will see a fin-ish as Daley and Vallee have 89% and 76% finishing averages respectively which should ensure an explosive spectacle for the thou-sands in attendance and millions watching in over 100 countries around the world.”
Cage Contender 16 will take place in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, Dub-lin on February 23. Tickets from €30 and are available from www.cagecontender.com and Xtravision stores nationwide.
Swords O’Neill seeking Cage contender crowd
James cluskey, pictured right with James Mcgee, has been enjoying a superb run of form on the ItF Futures circuit since the turn of the year
Club NotiCeboard
Gazette 31 January 2013 SWORDS gazette 31
THE club wish to acknowledge the
very important sponsorship of a
second defibrillator by Swords Credit
Union. This will now be in place for the
start of the new season and give the
club and visiting teams the important
added facility in Balheary.
Sadly, Simon Lambert will be finish-
ing up with Fingallians this week. On
behalf of the coaching committee
and the club in general, we would like
to extend our thanks for all his work
over the past 12 months and wish him
all the very best in his future career,
including his playing career.
Next week is a big week for our U-13,
U-14, U-15 and U-16s footballers as the
opening league games of the 2013 sea-
son take place. The future is bright
but they need our support.
Players are reminded that the
mouthguard rule is now in place and
these are being sold in the club shop
at €3 each.
The coaching committee would like
to thank all those who attended the
first coaching forum of 2013 on Friday
night. It was very well attended and
our speakers kept them well enter-
tained on the night.
There will be Texas Hold’em poker
this Friday in the club - February 1
from 8.30pm. The first prize is a €150
voucher, sponsored by Halpenny
Golf.
A clothes recycling drive will take
place between 10am and 12pm each
Saturday until February 23. Unwant-
ed clothes, bedlinen, towels and tex-
tiles including shoes, bags, belts and
soft toys accepted.
The senior Scor competition (adults)
will take place on Tuesday, February
19 with the first round being held in
Naomh Mearnog. Competition format
is the same as for Scor na nOg. Any of
our talented members are welcome
to contact Liam at 086 3814422 for
further details.
Every Wednesday night in the
clubhouse at 9pm the Grupa Com-
hra meets. This is a great chance to
refresh your Irish in a relaxed envi-
ronment.
st fiNiaN’s
fiNGal raveNs
fiNGallliaNs
MEMBERSHIP fees for 2013 are now due.
The membership form can be found in
the downloads section of www.stfin-
ians.com.
The club has a lot of team registra-
tion expenses during this part of the
year and therefore requests the early
payment of membership fees.
The Gormanston indoor hurling
leagues are ongoing, with great wins
for our U-8 hurlers and U-13 cam-
ogie players. Our U-8 team are also
recruiting players, please contact
Barry Shelly or Mary Murphy.
Preparations are ongoing for the
Mock Wedding on February 16. Please
contact any committee member if you
haven’t got your ticket yet. The cere-
mony commences at 5pm in Peacock’s
function room. The reception will still
be afterwards at the Regency Hotel.
Juvenile football commences next
Saturday and we must remind all
parents that it is compulsory for all
juvenile and minor footballers to wear
a mouthguard,
We have agreed a deal with Cas-
tle Mill Dental, Balbriggan, to supply
and fit a mouthguard for €20. Team
mentors should arrange to visit as a
group. Individuals can also arrange
appointments by contacting Tonya
on 01-8410306 or email info@castlem-
illdental.ie.
THE club social night with a BBQ this
Friday, February 1 in Kettle’s Country
House Hotel; we will have our player of
the year presentations, minor league
winners presentations and a presen-
tation to Mick Deegan. We encourage
all members to come along.
2013 membership is now due, mem-
bership forms are available on www.
fingalravens.com or at the clubhouse.
As agreed at the AGM all members
must have their membership paid in
full by March 31. if any member would
like to pay by instalments they must
have their last instalment paid by
March 31. Only fully paid up members
can travel to Ventry in February for
the Paidi O’Se tournament.
We are holding a handbag sale on
Saturday, March 9 in Kettle’s, please
contact Ann Fox on 086 1771027 or
Maura Norton on 087 9936458 as soon
as you can to donate your handbag.
Please donate your unwanted/
unused handbags; they can be all
shapes, sizes, colours and brands.
It is with great sadness that we
learned of the death of a true GAA
legend, former Dublin player and
manager Kevin Heffernan. We would
like to send our condolences to his
family.
football: dubs uNdoNe iN extra time by kildare
Fingal Ravens’ man Darren Daly has been an ever present in this year’s O’Byrne Cup campaign
daly denied o’byrne title in extra timeO’Byrne cup finaldublin 0-17
kildare 1-16
DARREN Daly, Fingal Ravens, was in O’Byrne Cup final action last weekend for the Dublin senior footballers in the half back line, with Jim Gavin’s men coming up short in extra time against Kildare 1-16 to 0-17.
The goal came for the lilywhites in the first minute of the second half of extra time and would prove to be the deciding score, with Brigid’s stopper Shane Supple being beaten by a
cool finish from Clane’s Tomas O’Connor.
Daly had more to deal with toward the end of the tie when conditioned Dublin utility man Denis Bastick was given his marching orders from the midfield, giving the Ravens man a lot more to do.
The Dubs had put themselves in a winning position by half-time in extra-time when points from Paul Hudson (two, one free) and Pat Burke had carved out a three-point advantage for the home side.
K i ldare had also closed out the conclud-
ing moments of normal time on the up when points from John Doyle and Padraig O’Neill forced extra time.
In normal time Dublin squandered several sim-ple point scoring oppor-tunites which ended up costing them dear.
After 25 minutes Dub-lin lead 0-5 to 0-2 in this high tempo tussle but the Lilywhites respond-ed with points from two of their minors of last year Paddy Brophy and Niall Kelly to lead 0-7 to 0-6 before the Dubs regained the advantage through points from Paddy Andrews and Paul
Mannion just before half-time.
Immediately on the restart Mannion struck a fine individual point and Andrews quickly tagged on another to move 0-10 to 0-7 clear.
But typical of this game the pendulum swung back the other way with Kildare slotting the next three points to bring the sides level.
It was a portent of things to come as the sides battled to the end of normal time with Kil-dare deservedly grabbing the late scores to earn extra-time, 0-14 each, and went on to victory.
ALTHOUGH Fingal Ravens usually put on a formal dance for their annual player awards, this year’s event will have a twist as they celebrate the acheivements of their minor league champi-ons and bestow a special honour for long-serving senior manager Mick
Deegan.After eight years with
the club, rising through the ranks to senior foot-ball, Deegan stepped down to take up a role in the Dublin backroom staff but will be fondly remembered at the club.
“Although we maybe didn’t have the best of years at senior level last year, the juvenile sec-
tion was very successful and I’m sure all of our members will turn out in force,” said club chair-man Declan O’Brien.
O’Brien also claimed that it was only right that Deegan is presented with a something to mark his fantastic rein at Fingal Ravens.
“The impact he had will never be forgotten,
coinciding with the most successful spell the club has ever had and it’s only right that we acknowl-edge the fantastic effort he put in.
“Everyone at Fingal Ravens wish him all the best in his new role where we are sure he can help the Dublin senior footballers go on to great things,” he finished.
Deegan to be honoured by Ravens
all of your swords sports coverage from page 27-31 JaNuary 31, 2013GazetteSPORT
swords celtic’s u-14s are looking forward to a date with mungret regional in the last 32 of the sfaI cup
peter carroll
SWORDS Celtic are getting ready for one of the biggest weekends in recent times with two of their sides, Eddie Darcy’s U-13s and Stephen Kirwin U-14s, involved in SFAI All-Ireland Cup matches and another two teams taking part in league cup quarter finals.
The U-14 side started off the season with one objective – “to stay in the premier division” – after gaining a string of promotions over the past four years.
However, the talented group now find them-selves in a fantastic position, sitting third in the league, in the last 32 of the SFAI Goodson Cup
and the quarter-finals of their league cup. “We’ve had a terrific start to the season and
we’ll be looking to push on now,” said Kirwan. “The lads have shown some fantastic belief in themselves and each other and there’s a fan-tastic buzz in the team with regard to the All-Ireland competition.”
This is the furthest the team has ever reached in the national competition and standing in their way this weekend are one of Limerick’s top sides, Mungret Regional, who Kirwan believes have found it very difficult to find matches due to the poor weather.
“As far as I know they haven’t played a game in six weeks. It can only be a good thing for us but we know they’re a very good group of play-
ers. When I spoke to their manager last week, he said the council in Limerick are very strict when it comes to making pitches available,” said the manager.
With the Celtic side looking at a lot of action in the business end of the season, Kirwan has had to prioritise different cups over others, but is still adamant his side can do anything if they keep the confidence up.
“The lads have really stepped up to the plate this year. We’re in the quarter finals of the league cup and that’s probably our best chance of winning something.
“The league is dominated by two sides that are made of Kennedy Cup representatives, so the rest of the team are competing for third.
At the start of the season all we wanted to do was keep our premier status and the lads have shown they are far better than anyone expect-ed.
“We are under no illusions about the All-Ireland – it’s a fantastic experience. I think we can get all the way to the semis and if we do we’ll be playing either Shelbourne Premier or Corinthians in Cork.
“Obviously for the lads, the Cork game would be brilliant, if we beat Mungret our next draw is at home as well and I know they are dying to travel as a team.”
The club’s U-13 side, meanwhile, host Castle-bar Celtic in their last 32 tie with a trip to either Nenagh or Greenwood in the offing.
all-Ireland double billSwords Celtic host visitors from Limerick and Mayo on huge weekend for the club’s underage sides in the SFAI U-14 and U-13 competitions
daly show: Ravens man an ever-present in Dublin’s O’Byrne Cup title bid but Lilywhites prevail in Parnell P31
SPORTS STARS nOMIneeS: January’s shining lights up for monthly awards P28