2013
Gazette review of the year that was
Gazette
Gazette
4 gazette 2 January 2014
top stories: january through march
Zoo has a tail of success; A colleague lost JANUARY Zoo proves a roaring success Dublin Zoo started the year on a good note with over a million people visiting the grounds. Tourists at home and abroad helped to break records with visitor numbers reaching over one million for 2012. The grand total for 2012 came in at 1,029,417, a 2.5% increase on the visitor numbers for 2011. At the time, director of Dublin Zoo Leo Oosterweghel said: “Reaching one million in 2011 was fantastic, but to do it again and add to the number is phenomenal.” He went on to say that the success of the popular tourist attraction is down to the “dedicated team” at Dublin Zoo.
€20,000 fund boost for Aspen At the beginning of the New Year, Aspen Counselling got the news that they would be given €20,000 in funding from the Department of Health. Aspen Counselling, which operates in Lucan Village, were told they would receive the money from the Department’s National Lottery fund, following an application
to support their work in the Lucan area. The group offer lowcost counselling, with founders Linda Balfe and Paula Richards saying that the non-profit group keep their costs low to avoid “roadblocks” to treatment.
The Gathering grows support The year kicked off with some good news for those in the county organising Gathering events as Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown pumped an additional €30,000 from their business grant fund to support the celebrations for those groups who did not qualify for the State support given to local authorities for local events. €5 million was initially earmarked by the Government for promotional costs nationwide to market the Gathering, and a further €2 million for Gathering projects was given to disburse to local authorities. A key factor in the evaluation process was an event’s capacity to attract overseas visitors.
FEBRUARY TD hits back over driving incident In February, local TD Clare Daly (Ind) hit headlines when she admit-
ted to drinking a “house measure” of hot whiskey before being pulled over by gardai on suspicion of drink driving. The local representative said she had consumed a hot whiskey as a remedy for a cold and did “not realise the implications”. Deputy Daly was pulled over by members of the gardai after she made an illegal right turn. When she was unable to give a roadside breath test, she was taken to Kilmainham Garda Station where a urine sample was taken. It was later revealed she had not been over the drink driving limit. The following week however, Deputy Daly hit back at gardai accusing them of deliberately attempting to discredit her by revealing details of her arrest to the media.
Protests call a halt to meeting The monthly meeting at South Dublin County Council was halted after protesters occupied the council chamber in February. Socialist Party MEP for Dublin Paul Murphy was one of the five people arrested at the protest, after campaigners against household and water charges entered the meeting. A 19-year-old protestor, Aaron Nolan, was
Alexander Fitzsimmons was over the moon to hear his bird was safe
d
Local TD Clare Daly was pulled over by gardai on suspicion of drink driving
The Gazette lost a colleague and
Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and director Steven Spielberg were in
friend, Peter Doyle
town for the European premiere of Lincoln
treated in hospital after the protest, after claiming he was manhandled by the gardai. Cllr Caitriona Jones (Lab) said: “The irony is that we were just debating a motion that carried a lot of sentiment against the property tax.”
MARCH Fires strike fear into residents Gardai were in pursuit of a suspected arsonist that was setting fire to bins before moving on to cars in Tyrrelstown. At the time there was a noticeable pattern taking place with cars being set alight in the Ballentree area of Tyrrelstown at weekends over a number of weeks in March.
Gardai said they were taking the matter very seriously and were investigating it. One local resident said: “It’s getting to a stage, that at night, you don’t know what is going to happen. It has moved from bins to cars, what happens if this person moves on from that? It is very worrying for residents in the area.”
Man flying high as bird returns A local Swords resident was feeling relieved in March after his beloved pet parakeet was found safe and well at Dublin Airport. The bird was reunited with its owner after airport workers spotted the
bright blue and green parakeet on the ramp where aircrafts embark and disembark passengers. The pet had gone missing from its Swords home four days earlier. “I was locking up the aviary when she flew out over my head. I was so worried about her because I didn’t think she could survive the frosty temperatures,” said Alexander Fitzsimmons, who was over the moon to hear his bird was safe and well.
Home safety under fire A resident from Foxford moved out of his home over concerns of fireproofing when he
discovered a lack of cavity barriers in his apartment, which act as firestoppers. Paul Kavanagh left his home in November 2011, fearing for the safety of his family at the development, which was purpose-built for South Dublin County Council by Newlyn Developments in 2004. A private engineer’s report carried out in February at the complex recommended “a competent contractor to carry out immediate remedial works to install fire-stopping”. South Dublin County Council said that because the homes are privately owned, the issue must be sorted between residents and the management company or developers.