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February 19 - 25, 2015

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INSIDE: Take a spin over to our motoring supplement for some great features P17

Soccer:

Stephanie Roche talks about her life in the game Page 29

Football:

Shankill return to adult game after 21 years Page 31

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ALSOINSIDE: GALLERIES...................... 8 DUBLIN LIFE...................11 MOTORS.........................17 CLASSIFIEDS ................26 SPORT ...........................28

EXCLUSIVE: Joan Burton and Frances Fitzgerald in their own words Pages 7, 14

Move to protect lodge is passed  BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

THE historic gate lodge at the entrance to the Daughters of Charity lands at Temple Hill is set for protected status, which will allay residents’ fears that it may be demolished to make way for a roundabout.

During a draft county development plan meeting, councillors voted unanimously for Cllr Victor Boyhan’s (Ind) motion to grant the

lodge protected status as part of the Blackrock local area plan.

On foot of a submission by St Vincent’s Park Residents’ Association, the Blackrock plan was further amended with building heights at Temple Hill and Dunardagh reduced to a maximum of four storeys.

Denise O’Neill, of the association, said: “The council has taken on board the opinions of the residents.”

Full Story on Page 3

What a cute dome-icile: Artists bring their message ‘home’ CAOIMHE Devlin joined her father,

Cllr Cormac Devlin (FF) to admire a piece by artist Jackie Ball, entitled For Sale, Owner Emigrating at an art exhibition at the LexIcon Library recently.

The council’s “Home” open

submission art exhibition in the library’s municipal library space runs until March 22, and features a diverse range of works from 37 artists, all based on the artists’ intrepretation of “home” for their works. Picture: Peter Cavanagh

2 DUN laoghaire Gazette 19 February 2015

courts Dun Laoghaire taxi robbery among several incidents

Addict admits to litany of crimes A MAN who threatened a taxi-driver with a knife hours after robbing a shop on New Year’s Eve will be sentenced later for these and other offences.

John Paul Lennon (34), of St Anthony’s Park, Rialto, Dublin 8, told gardai he was “out of his head on coke and snow blow” and didn’t remember much of the night.

The father-of-three pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two robberies on the night of December 31, 2013 at the Spar shop in Dolphin’s Barn, Dublin 8 and on nearby Basin

Street.

Garda Seamus O’Donovan told Noel Devitt BL, that Lennon entered the Spar wearing a balaclava and carrying a large butcher’s knife.

He threatened a frightened staff member to open the till for him and left with a quantity of cash, which he later told gardai was all spent on drugs.

CCTV camera footage showed that Lennon had been in the shop earlier that day, topping up his phone credit.

He was identified after phone provider Meteor identified the top-up

code with Lennon’s account.

Lennon was arrested and made full admissions, also admitting to robbing a taxi driver on the same night.

He told gardai: “I’m sorry for frightening people in the shop – and I did a robbery in a taxi – I might as well get it off my chest now.”

The taxi driver said he picked up Lennon and a co-accused in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2014 in Dun Laoghaire and, after they gave him confused directions, they told him to turn into Basin Street.

The driver said that when he asked for the fare of €39, Lennon showed him a six-inch knife and shouted at him to give him the money.

The woman on the back seat then held a scissors up to the driver’s neck, before telling him to get out of the car.

When arrested, Lennon said he was sorry and hadn’t meant to rob the man, but he was “in bits” after coming down off coke and taking methadone all day.

Lennon also pleaded guilty to possessing €2,025 of heroin for sale or supply on April 23, 2011.

The court heard that acting on a tip-off, gardai got a search warrant and called to a house on Derry Drive, Rialto.

Gardai searched Lennon and found just over 13 grammes of the drug concealed between his buttocks.

On arrest, Lennon said

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard how a taxi driver was robbed in Dun Laoghaire on New Year’s Day 2014 by an addict from Rialto

he had seen someone putting the heroin into cable pipes at the back of Dolphin’s Barn and had recovered it later himself.

Separately, Lennon pleaded guilty to the attempted robbery of the Esso Garage on Usher’s Quay on April 16, 2014.

The court heard Lennon threatened staff at the garage along with a co-accused, but that they both fled the scene after difficulties in getting

money from the electronic till.

All the offences were committed while Lennon was on bail.

Lennon has 26 previous convictions including robbery, false imprisonment and unlawfully taking cars.

Pieter Le Vert BL, defending, said his client had been a “ferocious drug addict” since the age of 19 but had managed to become completely drug-free while in cus-

tody and had completed a number of treatment programmes.

Lennon suffers from hepatitis C and another very serious drug-related illness.

“I’m truly sorry for the hurt I caused. If I wasn’t on drugs, I wouldn’t do these things,” he told gardai.

Judge Patricia Ryan adjourned sentencing until April 17 and asked for a probation report to be prepared.

Motorcylist dies in Blackrock crash  Bairbre Ni Bhraonain

WITNESSES are being asked to come forward with information after a motorcyclist died in Blackrock following a collision involving his motorbike and a parked car.

The fatal collision took place at around 4.40pm on Monday, February 16, when the 36-year-old man’s motorbike struck a car parked at Carysfort Avenue.

Following the collision, he was taken by ambulance to St Vincent’s University Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Gardai said their forensic collision investigators were examining the scene and traffic diversions were put in place on Monday night to accommodate this.

The coroner was also notified. Traffic diversions on Carysfort Avenue were lifted later the

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following evening (February 17).

Blackrock Cllr Barry Ward (FG) said: “It happened just south of the entrance to Avondale Lawn, between Avondale Lawn and Probe Square, and it seems to have been a freak, oneoff tragic incident, where the motorbike crashed into a parked car.

“I would say that this is not a dangerous stretch of road; there are traffic lights at Convent Road and the Monkstown bypass, and there is a speed notification sign on the downhill side of the road.

“Traffic can travel quickly there, but it is a wide carriageway and

we don’t have many accidents there. Obviously, there will be a full investigation and if something can or should be done to improve safety, it will be done,” he said.

Cllr Cormac Devlin (FF) said: “This is a tragic accident and the council and gardai will investigate the circumstances of it. My thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and friends.”

Gardai are appealing for witnesses in relation to the fatal collision.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Blackrock Garda Station at 01 666 5200, or the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111.

19 February 2015 DUN laoghaire Gazette 3

report

heritage: councillors’ move to safeguard three buildings hailed

Coroner adjourns inquest

Protection order for historic lodge  Bairbre Ni Bhraonain

RESIDENTS’ fears that an historic gate lodge at the entrance of the Daughters of Charity lands could be demolished to make way for a roundabout at the junction of Temple Hill have been addressed.

The gate lodge is now in the process of getting protected status, along with two other buildings in the county, which could prevent their demolition.

At a recent draft county development plan meeting, councillors voted unanimously to grant protected status to the lodge, along with Dun Leary House, and the old Wash House in Dun Laoghaire.

Cllr Victor Boyhan (Ind), whose motion it

was to protect the gate lodge, as part of the Blackrock local area plan, said: “I very much welcome the decision to designate Dun Leary House; the old ‘Wash House’ building on Kelly’s Avenue, and the period double-fronted Gate Lodge at the main entrance to Dun Ardagh, Temple Hill in Blackrock.”

Cllr Kate Feeney (FF) said: “I was delighted that we were able to add additional security to the Gate Lodge, and reassurance to residents.”

Other changes to the Blackrock local area plan include height restrictions at Temple Hill and Dunardagh, where potential building has been reduced from four- and

five-storey development to three- and four-storey, with the latter being assigned a sloping area.

This was on foot of submissions made by St Vincent’s Park Residents’ Association.

Association member Denise O’Neill told The Gazette: “It is a good and reasonable compromise.

The council has taken on board the opinions of the residents.”

Cllr Deirdre Kingston (Lab) said: “Crucially, the new building heights do not actually affect the densities, so we are still very much in line with national guidelines.”

The draft county development plan 2016-22 goes out to public consultation from next month.

Turn to the outdoors: Fun launching a healthy new initiative for children SCHOOL principal Aedeen Sweeney and An Cathaoirleach, Marie

Baker, had some fun at St Brigid’s GNS, Cabinteely with Sara Piare as fifth class pupils looked on recently. There was nothing ropey about the event that they were launching – the council’s new “green passport” initiative, which focuses on health and exercise for children. With 25,000 “green passports” issued to primary school children across the county, in association with DLR Leisure Services, the county’s youngsters are being encouraged to “fill in” their passports by undertaking a wide range of challenges, or filling in codes found around the county.

Once completed, a draw in late September will see several children, and one school, win a variety of prizes. Picture: Peter Cavanagh

TWO-year-old Hassan Khan from Ballybrack died of multiple penetrating wounds to his neck, the Dublin Coroner’s Court has heard.

The inquest into the child’s death was then adjourned until the trial involving the boy’s mother, Hazel Waters, is over. She is accused of his murder. Hassan’s father, Saleem Khan, told coroner Dr Brian Farrell that he had identified his son’s body on October 17, 2014 at Tallaght Hospital.

Dr Farrell said he had a full report on the circumstances of Hassan’s death, but would only deliver the cause. He warned the Khan family that the inquest would be upsetting. Mr Khan chose to remain as Dr Farrell gave the cause of death.

4 DUN laoghaire Gazette 19 February 2015

funding Range of DLR community organisations to gain

Council allocates €445,000 to groups  Bairbre Ni Bhraonain

DUN Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has allocated more than €445,000 in community grants this year.

T h e f i g u r e s we r e revealed at a recent council meeting with a presentation by the council’s director of environment, Richard Shakespeare.

He told councillors there had been 432 applications for grants in seven areas and, of those, 267 were recommended for funding. He went on to break down the number of successful applications by ward area.

In Dun Laoghaire,

there were 105 grants awarded, amounting to €164,500; in Glencullen/ Sandyford, 102 groups or clubs secured a total of €70,500; in Dundrum, €66,000 was awarded to 69 groups; Killiney/ Shankill saw just under €60,000 granted to 70 applicants; in Stillorgan, €32,000 was awarded to 33 projects; Blackrock saw 29 groups receive funding of €34,000, and 21 countywide projects were awarded €29,000 in funding.

Some of the successful applicants include the Blackrock Business Network, which is to get €6,000; The Ukulele Hooley will receive

€20,000; Nutgrove Arts Festival is to get €10,000; while Glasthule Opera Festival will also receive €10,000.

Among the spor ts grants awarded, Dublin Parks Tennis League is set to receive €10,000; Cabinteely Cricket Club will get €1,500, and Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd was granted €24,000.

The Gazette spoke to organiser and founder of The Ukulele Hooley, Tony Boland, about their €10,000 funding.

He said: “I started the festival in Dublin in 2009, but we moved it to Dun Laoghaire in 2011 because the council decided they could work

with us, and moving it to Dun Laoghaire has enabled it to work.

“We put on a festival that’s free for the people in The People’s Park, and runs for nine hours from 12pm until 9pm, and features ukulele players from all around the world.”

He went on to say everyone involved in putting the hooley on is a volunteer, that hotels and bed and breakfasts in the area are already booked out for this year’s festival in August, and that the artists only take enough to cover their costs to perform.

In respect of this year’s funding, Shakespeare

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has recommended 267 groups to avail of community grants this year

said: “By far, the greatest number of applications [was] from the community grants.”

In the funding, €150,000 was allocated to community grants, €110,000 to events or festivals, €63,000 to business promotion grants, €42,000 to arts, €31,000

to heritage grants, €26,000 to sports grants and €12,500 to environment grants.

Cllr Cormac Devlin (FF) said: “Last year was the first year of the amalgamated form [of the grants] and it seems to have streamlined it.

“This money will go to

organisations that really need funding for activities and events they’re going to run.”

S h a ke s p e a r e s a i d those who applied but were unsuccessful will be contacted privately by the council and told why they did not secure funding this time around.

don’sdublin

Donnybrook’s brawling past IT IS rare that a placename finds its way into the dictionary and becomes part of common language, yet Donnybrook has that singular distinction.

It is defined as a “wild fight or contentious dispute; a free-forall brawl” and comes from the famous – or rather, infamous – fair that was held in the neighbourhood for more than 600 years.

King John granted the Corporation of Dublin a licence in 1204 to hold a fair in Donnybrook, a border area on the banks of the Dodder. This was on the edge of Norman jurisdiction and, as a place for fording the river, was an important place where city dwellers and their rural neighbours met and traded.

There was a church and graveyard nearby; places commonly associated with gatherings for religious festivals and burials. The elements that are usually associated with such carnivals – namely, the indulgence in food and drink, music, gambling, sporting competition – were present.

However, it was the unbounded permissiveness and increased

violence that took place that it became known for, and for which the name is now attributed. This epitomised the wild, unrestrained behaviour of rural peasantry, and by the late 1700s lurid reports began to feature in local newspapers.

By the mid-18th century, fighting between the southside Liberty Weavers gang and the northside Ormond Butchers was drawing negative attention.

The movement for reform began in the 16th century, and after the 1798 Rebellion and the impact of the French Revolution that was stirring a new class consciousness, the authorities made a concerted effort to restrict the fair’s activities.

Through the early 1800s, the

movement for abolition gathered steam with local merchants, the nobility and the church joining forces. The end came on August 26 (the usual first day of the fair) 1866, when a new church, dedicated to the Sacred Heart in atonement for the sins committed at the fair, was opened only yards from the fairground.

The small crowd of fairgoers soon slipped away quietly – and that was the end. The fair soon became a memory, and the fair green was later developed in 1881 as a rugby ground (the former home of Leinster Rugby), where both Old Wesley and Bective Rangers now play (below).

Don Cameron www.donsdublin.wordpress.com

19 February 2015 DUN LAOGHAIRE GAZETTE 5

TRANSPORT Funding to support several improvement projects across county

€2.6m to smarten up travel in the borough  BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

MORE than €2.6m has been allocated to Dun LaoghaireRathdown by the National Transport Authority (NTA) under its Smarter Travel initiative, which supports more sustainable travel options, including walking, cycling, public transport, car-sharing or reducing travel.

The latest funding will go to several cycle lane and road improvement projects. They include Frascati Road Cycle Route, which is to receive the highest amount, at €1,500,000.

This scheme includes the construction of cycle facilities, revised bus stops, and road resurfacing on Frascati Road (Blackrock ByPass), Blackrock.

Food bank help for families  BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

CRAFT Aid – a fundraising sale in aid of a host of new family support services recently launched by the Cottage Home call-in centre – is now in place in Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre.

Cottage Home Child and Family Services offer a range of supports include counselling, therapy and parental guidance. Organisers also provide Christmas hampers and other subsistence services for families.

The decision was made to set up a food bank for basic non-perishable items and to run some

events, including the craft sale, to help stock the food bank, which will be accessible through a voucher system.

The initiative is selffunded and the week-long display and sale of craft items in Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre is thanks to from artisans, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Cottage Home cause.

The Cottage Home Child and Family support service has served the South Dublin Community for the past 140 years, with residential services located in Ballinteer and Bray and the call-in centre in Shankill.

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Other projects include improvements to the N11 Corridor, Belfield to Stillorgan Park cycle section, which has been granted €200,000, and the N11 to city centre cycle scheme, which takes in Foxrock to Loughlinstown, for which €150,000 is earmarked.

The Stillorgan Park Road to Brewery Road stretch, also

part of the N11 to city centre scheme, will get €100,000, as will another stage of this scheme, from Brewery Road to Foxrock.

A council spokesperson said: “Funding to complete the Frascati Road/Temple Hill Route Improvement Scheme in 2015 has been received, together with funding to continue the council’s programme

of cycle track improvements on the N11.”

Cllr Victor Boyhan (Ind) said: “We have to make our roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians. I wish to acknowledge and thank [the council’s] transport department for developing the concept for all 11 of these Smarter Travel projects to the level necessary for NTA funding.”

Deputy Eamon Gilmore (Lab) said: “The investment announced for the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown area is welcome and the communities involved will benefit greatly from this injection of funding.

I welcome this funding, which will not only improve the quality of life for residents but will also create employment in the community.”

6 DUN laoghaire Gazette 19 February 2015

council

Planning director retires  Bairbre Ni Bhraonain

THE retirement took place this week of the director of planning and enterprise with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Gerry Hayden, after more than 40 years’ service in Dublin local authorities.

At the council meeting on February 9, he said: “I got the opportunity to work in Dun LaoghaireRathdown [County Council] in the 1970s for five years and I really enjoyed my time there.

“I spent 16 or 17 years then in Dublin City Council and then came back to the new county council here in 1994. From Thursday [February 12], I’ll be just a member of the public and a pensioner, which will be great.”

energy German heating standard proposal sees councillors differ

Mixed reaction to ‘passive’ housing plan  Bairbre Ni Bhraonain

ALL future new builds in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown may have to be built to an environmental “passive” standard, following the passing of a Green Party motion in the draft County Development Plan.

According to An Cathaoirleach, Marie Baker (FG), the council approved a new requirement that all new homes built in the county from next year must comply with the German “passive house” standard.

Cllr Baker (FG) said: “Passive houses are ultralow energy buildings that require little fuel for space heating.”

T he new building standards were proposed

by Green Party councillors Catherine Martin and Ossian Smyth, and by Cllr Baker.

Cllr Smyth said: “Dun Laoghaire has, in the past, set higher building standards than the rest of the country and this is a continuation of that custom.

“The policy will also apply to new social housing and will help to

combat fuel poverty and health problems linked with mould and condensation.

“The development plan includes 1,200 acres of land zoned for housing.

We plan to permit 31,000 new passive house dwellings between now and 2022 in locations with high-quality public transport.

“We are planning that, in future, people in this county can stay warm in their houses without huge fuel bills. The proposal will now go out to public consultation and I urge

An example of German-style ‘passive’ insulation. Picture: Qehomes Facebook

people to support this change.”

However, while welcoming the initiative, Cllr Lettie McCarthy (Lab) said: “I agree with the concept and would encourage people to build passive housing if at all possible, but I am not in favour of making it mandatory, as this is a little too

dictatorial.

“We should try and educate our citizens on the benefits of this concept and encourage them, rather than force them.”

Cllr Chris Curran (SF) said: “I have grave concerns about this measure.

Much as I welcome the attempts to reach such a standard, I fear that the

build costs will increase the selling price to such an extent that the purchase price of a new home will become unaffordable to those wanting to buy a new home.”

T he draf t County Development Plan for 2016-2022 will go out to public consultation in March.

19 February 2015 DUN laoghaire Gazette 7

exclusive Minister Joan Burton talks to The Gazette

Tanaiste defends housing strategy  Keith Bellew

In an exclusive interview with the Gazette, Tanaiste Joan Burton has defended the Government’s housing strategy, her Department’s recently launched jobs schemes and voting against TD Clare Daly’s fatal foetal anomaly bill.

In response to comments made by Fr Peter McVerry that the Government’s plan to end homelessness by 2016 was unachievable, she said: “Minister for Environment Alan Kelly got the largest allocation for investment into social housing over the next three to five years, of any

Minister in the history of the Department of Environment.

“Minister Kelly is acquiring more houses for social housing through a variety of mechanisms including commencing the actual building of social housing which had died out in the country in the years of the boom. I have great respect for Peter McVerry and the work that he does but in all fairness Minister Kelly has really hit the ground running in relation to this.”

Opposition TDs have slammed Jobs Plus Youth and First Steps, along with all other such schemes saying they are “scams”

that force people to work for very little money.

“We don’t force anybody [into the schemes], on the contrary we have people queueing up who have been locked out of employment because the job closed down or they left school or college and when they came out there were no jobs available.

“In that context, getting work experience, or becoming a participant in work in your own community, it’s vitally important to let people get that experience particularly young people.

“I’m happy to say there have been really significant improvements in

terms of people getting employment and leaving the Live Register.

“I simply don’t see being on social welfare for a long time when somebody is in their late teenage years up to 25 as being a great start. If we contact people to whom we’re paying social welfare which is paid for by everybody who’s at work, and they don’t show up or contact us ... we will call them in again. “.. we do have the power to cut their social welfare payment. But that’s a very small group of people.”

As for voting against Clare Daly’s fatal foetal anomaly bill recently, she

Minister Joan Burton: “I simply don’t see being on social welfare for a long time when somebody is in their late teenage years up to 25 as being a great start”

said: “I was one of the people who campaigned against the Eighth Amendment ... I didn’t think it was an amendment which served women or babies particularly well, that’s always been my public position.

“When you are a member of Government under the Constitution, you have to act in the context of

there being constitutional requirements, that legislation that the Government puts forward should be constitutional.

“Notwithstanding the motivation behind the bill, which I accept and acknowledge, the clear advice of the attorney general to us is that it’s not constitutional. I have to abide by that advice.

“At the Labour Party’s forthcoming conference we will be discussing the Eight Amendment and there are motions on the agenda calling for the citizens to be asked to give their views. We will be revisiting and looking at the Eighth Amendment, but ultimately that is a matter for the citizens of the country to decide.”

8 dun laoghaire Gazette 19 February 2015

gazetteGALLERIES

Elaine, Joyce and Janine Harper, the owner of Harpers

ready to be a cut above: harpers salon has its official opening

T

HERE was a great turn-out for the recent official opening of Harpers extended salon and nail bar in Glasthule, as a wide range of fashionable men, women, family members, friends and local businesspeople stopped by to check out the stylish salon at Adelaide Road. The Gazette brushed the gathered guests to take a first-hand look at the wide range of goods and products that promise to treat customers to a luxurious makeover.

Principal Pat O’Connell with Liam O’Neill, president of the GAA, and Deputy Mary Mitchell O’Connor (FG)

schools: organisation’s president in foxrock

Pupils kick about some GAA topics

Kathryn Dredge and Audrey Glynn

T Phillip Reid and James Norton

Lloyd Chambers and Robert Byrne

Issy Clancy, Wendy Eadie and Nicole Kinsella. Pictures: Rose Comiskey

HE president of the GAA, Liam O’Neill, enjoyed a rousing welcome when he visited St Brigid’s BNS, Foxrock recently, as part of a tour of a wide range of schools. The Foxrock pupils were delighted to meet such an important figure from the GAA, with O’Neill happy to tell the boys and staff all about his own childhood interest in the GAA, some of the inside details about running the sporting organisation, and how the GAA matters to every community across the island of Ireland. Accompanying him were Deputy Mary Mitchell O’Connor (FG), who joined with school principal Pat O’Connell and the boys to applaud his encouraging words.

The GAA president fielding a raft of questions and comments from the rapt pupils

19 February 2015 dun laoghaire Gazette 9

Daniel Gifford and William Condren

Mark Gill and Christian Kenny

The juniors were very alert during their training

Even more than ever, the boys were keen to practise their GAA skills

10 gazette 19 February 2015

gazetteGALLERY

Singer/songwriter Damien Dempsey and his mother, Adrienne

Cast members Moe Dunford and Philip Jackson

Smithfield lights up for Patrick’s Day S

MITHFIELD’S lighthouse Cinema rolled out the red carpet treatment for those attending the premiere of award-winning Patrick’s Day recently.

Many of the film’s cast and crew were in attendance for

the film, which tells the story of a young man with mental health issues who strikes up a relationship with a troubled woman. However, his obsessive mother tries to separate them – but her love may be more dangerous than theirs ...

Leads Moe Dunford and Catherine Walker were happy to praise the film’s themes as they chatted to media and cinema fans at the cinema, with the film by Irish writer-director Terry McMahon proving a hit with the audience.

Declan Conlon

Madeline Mulqueen

Jack Reynor

Cast members Moe Dunford and Catherine Walker. Pictures: Brian McEvoy

Sil Wickremasinghe

Danielle Ryan

19 February 2015 Gazette 11

asdfsdaf opinion P27 P14

escape the mayhem p13

dublinlife Let Dublin Gazette Newspapers take you on a tour of the news and events taking place across the city and county this week

a day in the life: singer and actress Lisa Lambe has a packed schedule

what’son

‘A long walk will blow away the cobwebs’  Ian Begley

As a remarkably talented singer and actress, Lisa Lambe’s day-today life is packed full of rehearsals, tours and promotions.

Being a former member of trad group Celtic Women, Lambe’s current role as Sorcha in Ross O’Carroll Kelly’s on-stage production of Breaking Dad, along with promoting her debut album is certainly enough to keep her busy.

This week The Gazette caught up with Lambe to find out exactly what her day-today life entails.

“It depends on the week that’s in it. One week it could be nice and quiet then the following week could be all hands on deck with work.

“I love to have a bowl

of porridge in the mornings along with a nice big cup of tea and a glass of orange juice.

“If I have the morning free I like to go to the gym or stay at home to catch up with things, but if I have to be somewhere it’s a shower, breakfast and straight out the door.

“At the moment I get up at around 8am and spend an hour getting ready before I’m out the door to be at rehearsals for 10am.

“It’s a very exciting time at the moment doing rehearsals for Breaking Dad and promoting my new album, but it’s nice to just catch my breath now and again.

“A f t e r r e h e a r s a l s at about six o’clock I would either meet a friend in town for a coffee or just head home and learn my lines for

the next day.

“When I get home I love to go out and get some fresh air so I wrap up and go for a long walk around Blackrock to blow off all the cobwebs. If I’m not eating out with friends I love to stay at home and cook.

I find cooking really relaxing and it seems to make everything slow down for a while.”

Asked what she does in the hours leading up to bedtime, Sorcha said that she loves to watch documentaries or films online.

“I love to browse around on Netflix and I’m very thankful I have it, especially when I’m travelling or have nothing else to do.

“It’s brilliant just to switch off now and again and watch a few cooking shows, documentaries or films before I head to bed



Gazette

diary p12

evening of music for barnardos:

Lisa Lambe is currently starring in Ross O’Carroll Kelly’s Breaking Dad

around midnight.”

Lisa Lambe’s new album Hiding Away is now available in HMV

and on iTunes.

Breaking Dad is currently running in the Gaiety Theatre until

February 28.

For more information on her work visit lisalambe.com

Co-Orch, Dublin’s newest instrumental ensemble, has teamed up with Barnardos children’s charity to host an exclusive evening of music in Dublin on February 26.

Members of CoOrch volunteer their time and talent so that all proceeds from this event will go directly to support Barnardos work with children and families across Ireland.

Comprising some of Ireland’s most vibrant and talented orchestral musicians, CoOrch is an orchestra with a twist. No black tie, no evening dress, no concert halls – just musicians coming together to play the music they are passionate about.

In the intimate setting of St Catherine’s Church in Thomas Street at 7.30pm, Co-Orch will bring each piece to life and include an exclusively composed piece for Barnardos by composer Elis Czerniac.

Tickets cost €20 and are available at www.eventbrite.ie.

For more information about this event, visit www.co-orch. org.

Gazette

12 Gazette 19 February 2015

dublinlife

DIARY

Turn on the green light, for the day that’s in it!

The world is going green to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and major landmarks and iconic sites will be illuminated in the national colour, it has been announced.

To u ri sm Irel an d’s annual Global Greening has grown over the last number of years with new landmarks signing up to take part in the initiative.

The Colosseum in Rome, the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in the district of Montmartre overlooking Paris, the Jumeirah Etihad Towers hotel in Abu Dhabi and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville are some of the new land-

marks set to go green for the festivities.

The new sites will join previous “greeners” such as Niagara Falls (on both the US and Canadian sides), the London Eye, the Allianz Arena in Munich, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, the Sky Tower in Auckland, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland in Paris.

stephen’s beddy to meet mick After a somewhat theatrical appearance on

Gay Byrne’s The Meaning of Life Stephen Fry is back in Dublin filming a new movie and doing some celeb spotting of this own.

While in Dublin an advertisement for the king of all things dormitory, Mattress Mick, caught his eye, prompting him to tweet: “One day I hope to meet Mattress Mick. I think we’ll have lots to discuss.

Mattresses for example.

And prices.”

Mattress Mick must have seen dollar signs swimming before his eyes, as Fry’s 8.7million followers now know of

This is how the Colosseum in Rome may appear when it is illuminated in green

This advertisement for Mattress Mick prompted Stephen Fry to tweet it

the legend that is Mattress Mick.

Fry, a British television personality and all round legend, was spotted last week at Newbridge House in Donabate filming the new period movie, Love and Friendship.

As we went to press, Mattress Mick had not yet sprung to reply.

spitting mad over crackling rosie Some of the shoppers at St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre were spitting mad recently over an art installation displayed there.

The installation is part of a fundraising initiative by the Jack and Jill Foundation called The Pig Parade and features a colourful pig on a spit named “Crackling Rosie”.

Complaints were made to shopping centre management that the instalment was “sick” and lacked empathy and compassion for animals.

Complainants might find the reaction of

the originating ar tist, Niall O’Loughlin a bit pig-headed as he said: “Apparently it was offensive to animal rights activists. If they are so offended by this display, are they going to be offended at the ham sandwich that’s for sale in the shop next door? I never in a million years thought that this would cause controversy.”

Crackling Rosie is one of six pieces of pig art on display around the city as part of the Pigs on Parade initiative.

taking steps for a mini marathon The 2015 Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon is now officially open for entries. Over 40,000 participants are expected to walk, jog or run the 10km route through Dublin city on Monday, June 1.

The Vhi experts were also unveiled recently and include international athlete David Gillick, fitness enthusiast and DJ Louise Heraghty, Vhi’s Dr Ui May Tan and comedian Maeve Hig-

gins (Naked Camera) will support participants every step of the way to the 2015 event with a combination of expert advice and fun tips.

T he event gives women the opportunity to reach their fitness goals, have fun and raise money for their chosen charities.

Women can enter the 2015 Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon online by visiting www.VhiWomensMiniMarathon.ie.

The entr y window will close as soon as the maximum number is reached so those interested in running are being urged to enter as early as possible.

For further information on the marathon vis it w w w.Vhiwomensminimarathon.ie or www.Facebook/vhiwomensminimarathon.

A Picture paints a thousand words Yeats Among Schoolchildren is a competition marking the 150th anniversary of Nobel prizewinning Irish poet WB Yeats.

Primary school students all over Dublin and Ireland are being invited to submit an artwork based on a visual interpretation of a Yeats poem.

The competition has been launched through the Network of Teachers’ Education Centres in Ireland.

T he Yeats Among Schoolchildren competition invites children to draw, paint or write a poem based on one of WB Yeats’s poems.

A book, with all the winning entries, will be published by Yeats2015 with Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership and the Association of Teachers/Education Centres in Ireland, to be launched at a key commemoration event around Yeats’s birthday on June 13.

The book will be distributed to all primary schools and libraries nationwide, with each primary schools receiving two free copies.

If you would like more information you can go to www.Yeats2015.com.

19 February 2015 Gazette 13

escape the mayhem: Rugby pundit Brent Pope on his 13-hour days – and outsider art

Gazette

ESCAPE THE MAYHEM

Movies put stress out of the picture  Keith Bellew

Rugby pundit Brent Pope has a hectic schedule attending various sporting events, charity nights and is currently making a documentary for RTE in which he will seek to discover Ireland’s unsung outsider artists.

This week Pope tells the Gazette what he does to Escape the mayhem of his erratic schedule.

“I work unusual hours and a lot of the time I work weekends and I do a lot of charity work.

“Most nights of the week I’d be out speaking somewhere or doing something so it’s a busy schedule in an unstruc-

tured way.

“My life for the last 20 years has never been a nine to five.

“I could be working 13 to14 hours some days, so I definitely need some time to relax.”

When Brent is not immersed in the world of rugby, one of his favourite pastimes is to travel abroad to outsider art fairs.

He said: “I’ve visited galleries all over the world, I go to New York every year to see the outsider art.

“It’s quite a growing genre over there. The description of the art which I like is Uncooked

by Culture, meaning, I

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‘I love movies, even just going there by myself with a little bowl of gummy bears’

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think, that people who have faced social exclusion or adversity in their lives are using art to give them some normality and pleasure in life.”

Apart from his outsider art tours, he said that his most frequent means of escape was going to the cinema.

“I go to the movies two or three times a week if I can. Quite often it’s at unusual times because I go by myself to relax and it de-stresses me.

“If I get a bit of a break [during the day] I might go at three o’clock until five or something like that rather than at night at the main times.

“I just find it extremely relaxing. I love movies, even just going there by myself with a little bowl of gummy bears,” he laughs.

Pope’s documentary, Outsider Art in Ireland, which he is making with Firebrand Productions is in the making and due to be aired in the autumn.

Brent Pope: “I go to New York every year to see the outsider art.”

Gazette

14 Gazette 19 February 2015

dublinlife

Online initiatives to protect THE internet is giving tremendous opportunities to all of us.

From a professional, educational and social point of view, it is connecting us all in ways scarcely imaginable even 20 years ago.

However, there are some dreadful horrors associated with the internet, including online child sexual abuse – increasingly, an area which Garda law

enforcement is having to deal with.

Governments, families and parents have to be very vigilant in making sure that we get the very best from our modern technology while protecting our society – particularly our children – from its dangers.

As a government, we’re working with the tech industry to bring in forward-thinking legislation, and of course information and education is

the best way for all of us as parents to help our children be safe online.

In my work as a local TD, I regularly meet parents and teachers who are wary of the pitfalls facing their children.

I can relate to their worries: as a mother of three, and a social worker by training, the protection of children has formed a central part of my life for many decades.

As a politician, I have

Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald highlights her work to promote internet safety and to tackle cyberbullying

always sought to promote robust and innovative legislation to protect our children, both off- and online.

In my current role as Minister for Justice and Equality, I have carried forward this conviction from my previous portfolio as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

My department takes the lead on internet safety for children through the work of the Office for Internet Safety (OIS).

The OIS operates in the important area of prevention and awareness-raising, including the promotion of internet safety – particularly for children – and by raising awareness among parents and teachers about the importance of safety on the internet.

The OIS has pro duced a series of information booklets and other materials which are available to parents and teachers in hard

copy, free of charge, and electronically at www. internetsafety.ie.

This includes a booklet on cyberbullying, addresses for service providers, social networking sites, mobile phone companies and other sources of information.

Through the EU Safer Internet Programme, the OIS coordinates projects and funds four partner organisations for awareness raising, as follows:

– w w w.w e b w i s e . i e : Provides material and programmes to ensure children, teachers and parents understand the benefits and risks of the internet; – www.hotline.ie: Allows the public to report suspected illegal content or activities found on the internet; – www.childline.ie (1800 666 666): provides a 24/7 service where children affected by issues encountered on the Internet may turn for advice and guidance; – www.npc.ie: Antibullying training for parents.

I am proud to say that Ireland is an active member of international efforts to promote and strengthen internet safety.

The Irish hotline [site] was one of the founder members of the international umbrella organisation for hotlines, which is called INHOPE Ireland is also a member of the Global Alliance against Child Sexual Abuse Online.

In November 2014, An Garda Siochana launched a new initiative for blocking child pornography on the internet.

The Garda signed a memorandum of understanding with major internet provider UPC, whereby the Garda provide a list to UPC, and the blocking is carried out in accordance with the list.

I congratulate the Garda Commissioner for initiating this innovation in Ireland and I commend UPC for having the vision to participate

19 February 2015 Gazette 15

our children

Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald: “As parents, we live in a very different world to the one we grew up in. We are as likely to ask our kids, ‘How did you get on online today?’ as we are to ask them, ‘How did you get on today?’”

in this venture.

I am pleased to say that the gardai are working with other companies to extend the initiative. It should mean that there is less chance of a child or young person coming across illegal material on the internet by mistake.

Internet companies themselves are very conscious of these issues – just this month I held a roundtable with major players such as Facebook, Google and UPC, and I am encouraged by the steps they are taking to improve and enhance their safety features.

We cannot be vigilant enough when it comes

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‘In my work as a local TD, I regularly meet parents and teachers who are wary of the pitfalls facing their children. I can relate to their worries: as a mother of three, and a social worker by training, the protection of children has formed a central part of my life for many decades.’

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Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald

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to online bullying, and I will work closely with An Garda Siochana and all the major internet companies headquartered in our country to ensure that no stone is left unturned in creating a safer online

environment for our children.

As parents, we live in a very different world to the one we grew up in.

We are as likely to ask our kids, “How did you get on online today?” as we are to ask them, “How

did you get on today?”

Technology can transform our lives for the better, so we have to make sure that it develops in such a way that our children can use it in a safe and secure manner.

Gazette

OPINION

Gazette

16 Gazette 19 February 2015

dublinlife

business

www.dublingazette.com All of your latest local news, sport, features and pictures are now just a click away

Ian Talbot, chief executive Chambers Ireland, Dr Colin Edwards, general manager, Boehringer Ingelheim and Joe O’ Connor, editor In Business. Picture: Conor McCabe

awards: recognised for work with social and health entrepreneurs

Boehringer Ingelheim wins Best in Pharma Boehringer Ingelheim has received the Best in Pharma award for the second year as part of In Business magazines editors choice awards.

The award was given in recognition of Boehringer Ingelheim’s continued work with social and health entrepreneurs. This work consisted of social projects aimed at solving some of Ireland’s greatest challenges, through the transfer of skills, knowledge and expertise.

In Business said the award was given in recognition of the company’s corporate culture of taking social responsibility coupled with the ongoing commitment to research and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, while helping the medical profession deliver expert healthcare to patients.

The In Business editorial team considered a number of factors when

choosing the winner including: research and development, profile of the business, commitment to Ireland, with particular emphasis on the contribution made to the healthcare sector as a result of additional initiatives.

The team considered the number and quality of initiatives made by each company, relative to the size of the company, as well as how effective each company was in communicating their initiatives to key stakeholders in the healthcare sector.

Boehringer Ingelheim was selected from 28 pharmaceutical companies in Ireland and community and the editorial team felt that it had demonstrated a very high standard of excellence in terms of the number and potential impact of initiatives it sponsored as well as the proactive way it communicated with the

wider healthcare business and consumer communities.

A spokesperson for Boehringer Ingelheim said: “Taking social responsibility is an important element of the corporate culture at Boehringer Ingelheim. This includes worldwide involvement in social projects, such as the initiative Making more Health and caring for the employees. Respect, equal opportunities and reconciling career and family form the foundation of the mutual cooperation.

In everything it does, the company focuses on environmental protection and sustainability.”

According to the company, its focus is on researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing new medications of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine. Visit www.boehringer-ingelheim.com

Gazette

GETMOTORING

19 February 2015 Gazette 17

Cruise through our special supplement for all the latest motoring news

ford: popular hatchback gets a mustang heart

Focus RS ready to be unleashed  dave phillips

The launch of what is bound to be one of the most exciting cars of 2015, the Ford Focus RS, is just around the corner.

This third generation RS stands out against what has gone before in the range – with sales success expected across Europe, as well as in American, Australian, and Chinese markets.

Part of the projected global appeal of the hatchback lies in the careful balancing of

high-performance features with an accessible aesthetic. The 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine developed for RS and specially engineered to deliver well in excess of 320 PS. The bespoke unit shares its fundamental structure with the all-aluminium four-cylinder engine in the all-new Mustang.

This engine has, however, been significantly upgraded through a comprehensive package of design changes.

The work on the inside has been matched on

the outside too, with a dramatic exterior design that offers enhanced aerodynamics and cooling.

Sporting the RS badge, you could expect handling to be a major focus on this model, and Ford promise an unmatched experience through a new allwheel-drive system. At the heart of the system are twin electronicallycontrolled clutch packs on each side of the rear drive unit. These manage the car’s front/rear

torque split, and also can control the side-toside torque distribution on the rear axle – delivering the “torque vectoring” capability, which has a dramatic impact on handling and cornering stability.

The AWD system has been tuned to deliver exceptional grip and acceleration out of a bend – the end result looking to provide an incredibly agile drive that gives a new level of both handling capability and driver enjoyment.

The third generation Ford Focus RS is set to take the global market by storm

“We have created a car which will surprise and reward in equal measure,” said director of global Ford performance Dave Pericak. “We have ripped up the rulebook which says that AWD hatchbacks cannot be fun to drive.”

The car received a lot of attention at its unveil-

ing last week in Cologne, Germany with special focus on the inspiring soundtrack that the engine provides – maintaining the distinctive burbles, pops and crackles that are a RS signature. “This very special 2.3-litre ecoboost unit will inspire drivers – all delivered with a stirring

sound guaranteed to put a smile on your face,” Pericak said.

The third generation Focus RS is the first ever RS model that will be sold around the world and will be produced for all markets at Ford’s Saarlouis, Germany, manufacturing plant beginning late this year.

18 Gazette 19 February 2015

NOISE

car maintenance: customer satisfaction a priority

A world of experience

 laura webb

Turn to a family firm KINGSTOWN Motors is a family-owned company which has been serving the needs of motorists for more than 20 years.

Originally based in Dun Laoghaire, the continued strong growth of business and the expanding Hyundai range of cars prompted the relocation of the business to Stillorgan in 2002.

Its modern premises in Stillorgan carries the full range of new Hyundai cars to test drive. Whether purchasing a new or quality used car, the team can arrange finance, provide expert servicing, mechanical and body repairs, ensuring customers’ needs are met. For further information, contact 01 213 1700, or email info@kingstownmotors.com.



Gazette

GETMOTORING road Dublin’s fastest growing motor repair business, Atlas Autoservice, is giving back to its valued customers with its Atlas Rewards initiative.

With over 30 years’ experience in the industry, Atlas Autoservice is a car expert in motor maintenance and pride themselves on making customer satisfaction a priority.

In a bid to offer customers the best value possible, the business recently launched Atlas Rewards. When a customer signs up for this they receive 5% off their

first full service, 15% off a second full service and a whopping great 30% off a third full service.

This is the company’s way of giving back to the customer and thanking them for making Atlas their trusted mechanic.

Atlas Autoser vice looks after all aspects of a car’s well-being and fully qualified technicians will have the customer’s car running smoothly all year round.

From clutches and timing belts to tyres and brakes, they have all aspects covered.

Staff are continuously trained to a high

standard and are being up-skilled to degree and diploma qualifications in such areas as advanced mechanics and auto electrics.

Par ts and oils are carefully selected to ensure only the best of each goes into a car and they use only high grade, OEM parts and high grade oil to ensure each repair or service is carried out to an impeccable standard.

Atlas Autoservice has established relationships with major tyre manufacturers such as Bridgestone and Goodyear/ Dunlop Ireland and suppliers deliver brand new

Atlas Autoservice is rewarding customers with the Atlas Rewards initiative

tyres directly from the factories to ensure only the very best of tyres are fitted to each car.

All depots are equipped with the best of equipment to ensure a high standard of work and with the latest four

wheel laser alignment technology it ensures a car’s tracking is perfect which also helps the customer get the most out of a tyre’s life.

For further information on www.atlasautoservice.ie

19 February 2015 Gazette 19

Gazette

20 Gazette 19 February 2015

GETMOTORING

opel insignia: high performance policing

An Garda Siochana’s fleet gets turbo boost  dave phillips

Irish road safety is set to receive something of a boost this month when 20 new high performance Opel Insignia Sports Tourers join An Garda Siochana’s fleet.

These bespoke Insignias feature a 2.0-litre CDTi BiTurbo diesel engine with an output of 195hp that ensures rapid engine response from low revs, making them ideal for high performance driving and policing.

The vehicles, which are wrapped in the tra-

ditional traffic corps livery, were unveiled at an event with the Taoiseach and An Garda Siochana traffic corps last month at their headquarters in the Phoenix Park and are currently being sent out to Garda traffic units around the country.

The 2.0-litre CDTi BiTurbo diesel engine is unique in the fact that it is equipped with two turbos, one larger than the other. They can operate separately or together as required to ensure quick engine response.

The smaller turbo uses

an efficient water-cooled intercooler to minimise turbo lag, while the larger turbo uses a larger air-cooled intercooler at higher engine speeds.

Fuel efficient

Compared to singleturbo Insignia engines, this has higher performance pistons, cylinder head, gasket, and camshafts to deal with the extra power. But despite all this performancefocused technology, it remains extremely fuelefficient and boasts low CO2 emissions.

Gardai who will have responsibility for these Insignias will be pleased to travel in the utmost comfort, with award winning ergonomic sports seats fitted. These feature electrically adjustable lumbar support and height adjustment which are perfect for spending long periods in the car while also providing support during high speed manoeuvres.

A leather sports steering wheel with integrated cruise control and speed limiter buttons and audio controls improves steer-

Twenty new high performance 2.0-litre CDTi BiTurbo diesel Opel Insignia Sports Tourers are joining An Garda Siochana’s fleet

ing feel and performance while minimising time with hands off-wheel. A 4.2” colour dashboard displays trip computer information in a clear easy-to-see format, with the info pages also controllable via steering wheel buttons. The

custom models feature climate control, remote central locking with deadlocks as well as privacy glass on all rear windows for operational reasons.

The Insignia is fitted with the highest safety features with front, side

and curtain airbags.

Active safety front head restraints ensure minimal impact to the neck in the unlikely event of an incident. LED daytime running lights and front fog-lights have been fitted to enhance the already highly visible livery.

19 February 2015 Gazette 21

Gazette

road

launch: stylish and compact suv

New SsangYong Tivoli on the way  laura webb

The new SsangYong Tivoli is set to arrive in Ireland this May/June and Blanchardstown’s authorised SsanYong dealer, Ryan’s Garage, is taking orders now.

Launched in Korea earlier this year, the new Tivoli is set to receive its domestic launch in Ireland in May or June of this year.

Demand from around the world for a compact size SUV offering comfort, stylish design, space and

safety has been increasing, and is expected to continue, especially in the rapidly expanding B-segment of the market.

Tivoli is a car that offers the fusion of great design and sensible practicality, as well as class-leading safety and convenience, and will attract the style conscious customer who seeks form and function from their first entry into the SUV sector.

This all new car takes its name from Tivoli, the Italian town near Rome with a reputation for style.

Noted for its cultural heritage and beautiful location, the gardens at Villa d’Este have inspired many others to use the name, including the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.

Tivoli, SsangYong’s new compact SUV is designed to provide both pleasure and excitement, is the first new model to be launched following the merger of SsangYong and Mahindra & Mahindra. It is the result of 42 months of development and an investment of 350 billion Korean won, and

NOISE

Mondeo is star of Ford’s New Year

The new Tivoli is set to receive its domestic launch in Ireland in May or June of this year

will compete strongly on design, safety and convenience.

It’s the exterior design of the Tivoli features a dynamic, urban look with a contemporary silhouette, and embodies the rhythmical motion of SsangYong’s design language, Nature-born 3 motion – rhythmical, dynamic and dignified.

Meanwhile, the interior

offers the modernity of a luxurious living space, with a stylish and contemporary look.

Ryan’s Garage is the authorised SsangYong dealer in Blanchardstown. Orders can be placed now with prices for the Tivoli starting at around €20,000. Visit www.ryansgarage.ie or visit the garage on Main Street, Blanchardstown.

Things are buzzing in showrooms around Dublin as buyers are attracted by new models and enticing deals. At Rathfarnham Ford in Whitechurch Road, it’s the new Ford Mondeo which is grabbing most attention among prospective purchasers.

The Mondeo is equipped with 16” alloy wheels, front fogs, dual climate control, power windows and cruise control as standard. Priced from €28,995 excluding delivery and related charges, it comes with a number of special value upgrade packs if purchased before the end of March.

“The Mondeo has long been the mainstay of the range here for families and company car buyers, and there is a lot of pent-up demand for the new model,” says Aidan Kane of Rathfarnham Ford.

The new Ford Mondeo

Gazette

22 Gazette 19 February 2015

GETMOTORING

car financing: turn to a trusty lending method

Try a credit union loan THINKING of changing your car this year? Lucan District Credit Union currently has car loans available for members, at competitive rates.

Members can borrow at the competitive rate of 9.49% (APR 9.91%).

Whether purchasing a new car or upgrading a car for a slightly newer model, the local credit union can help.

Paula Maguire, chief executive, says: “There are no set-up or admin fees when taking a credit union loan. Members can

pay off the loan at a rate that suits them – weekly, fortnightly or monthly, over one to five years.”

Interest on a credit union loan is calculated on the reducing loan balance, so members pay a little less interest with each repayment. Plus, there are no penalties to members for paying off their loan at a quicker pace to clear it early, if the member has additional funds.

Maguire said: “The key difference between many garage finance deals and

With their focus on community funds, credit unions can be a great alternative to other car finance deals

the credit union is that a credit union loan is not a HP or lease agreement, so the member owns the car from the minute it is purchased, and not after five years. Also, there are no final ‘balloon’ payments to be made.

“Members who go car shopping with money already in the bank are in a strong position to

negotiate on price. That can make a big difference,” she said.

Members of Lucan Credit Union may now apply for loans online once their accounts have been registered. For further information on how to apply for a loan and the documentation that is required, see www. lucancu.ie.

Gazette

19 February 2015 Gazette 23

OUT&ABOUT

FOOD&DRINK

The Picky Eater MEMBERS clubs were big during the boom but have taken a hit in the past few years, with most clubs now welcoming one and all. One club that has kept it strictly membersonly is Residence, at St Stephen’s Green.

I had been invited along to Residence on a number of occasions; Dublin is so small that everyone knows someone with membership.

However, the club’s restaurant – Restaurant 41 – is open to all, so I recently jumped at the chance to have lunch with a friend there, partly to try out chef Graham Neville’s well-lauded food, but also to finally

check the place out.

Set in one of St Stephen’s Green’s old Georgian terraced houses, the interior is really inviting and the dining room on the first floor is one of my favourites, with lovely views of the green.

The restaurant was quite busy, with a mixture of business people and couples. The menu is quite short, with three starters and three mains.

I started with roast scallops, truffled garden onions and coral bisque.

Two plump scallops came on a bed of onions and were placed decoratively in the centre of the bisque. All ingredients married really well, and I

loved the strength of the flavour of the truffle.

My dining partner tried the Clogherhead crab on a bed of pickled seaweed and ponzu, a Japanese citrus-based sauce. This dish had bite and was dispatched quickly. A rich Gewurztrameiner really complemented these fish dishes.

For the second course, I was chuffed to see wild brill on the menu which was stuffed with prawns on a Noilly Prat sauce, which is Martini-based.

This elegant and light fish sat tantalisingly in the Noilly Prat and, again, this was a very well accomplished dish.

My companion tried

the roast breast of duck on red cabbage and preserved fruit. She prefers her duck cooked a little longer, but that’s purely taste.

After a filling two courses, the waiter recommended the milk jam, vanilla cream cheese and popcorn ice cream. He was spot on – this dish packed in all the flavour but was exceptionally light. My friend tried a cheese board, which did exactly as it said on the tin. They got the temperature of the cheeses just right, something you can never be guaranteed, surprisingly, even in very well run restaurants.

We used the oppor-

With its fine ambience and great views onto Stephen’s Green, Restaurant 41 offers diners a sophisticated setting in which to savour their dining experience

tunity to gatecrash our way into the bar afterwards, and got a peek at the beautiful people who frequent this place. They were actually all quite ordinary, which in my book, is a reason for going back!

Conclusion

SET in the heart of the south city centre, Restaurant 41 (at 41 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2; tel 01 662 0000; www.restaurantfortyone.ie) doesn’t disappoint. Despite its brief menu, lunch (€35 for three courses) is definitely a dining delight, thanks to some very well-considered dishes.

24 Gazette 19 February 2015

19 February 2015 gazette 25

HEALTH

Gazette

OUT&ABOUT

keeping on track: continuing regular exercise

Maintain motivation into the New Year  Maeve Halpin

Registered Counselling Psychologist

Our new year commitments to regular exercising can easily wane, but a number of techniques have been proven to help.

1. Make exercise part of your social life. Running clubs, gym classes and weight loss groups bring a social dimension to fitness. Getting to know others who are facing the same moti-

vational struggles helps people support each other.

2. Set yourself a goal.

Have a measurable goal with a clear timeline. You might have a favourite dress or pair of jeans that you would like to be able to fit into again.

For training goals, the online app “Couch to 5km” maps the steps that lead you to complete a 5km run.

3. Join online forums.

Online discussion groups allow people share

their experiences and offer useful advice on overcoming resistance.

Feeling part of what is a worldwide trend towards taking personal responsibility for our health and well-being is energising and motivating.

4. Schedule exercise ahead of time. Plan your week in advance, deciding where you can realistically make the time to exercise.

Write these onto a wall calendar in your kitchen and plan around them.

Each day, cross off the exercise listing.

This gives a visible record of your achievements and reminds you of what is possible.

5. Enlist an exercise “buddy” - a friend or family member to run or work out with. It is more difficult to back out of your exercise commitments when you know someone else is there waiting for you to show up! As your presence is doing the same for them, it creates a mutual support system that helps you both.

6. Think in terms of mental health. Feel-good chemicals like dopamine are released in the body through movement.

A routine of just three 30-minute sessions of exercise per week is as effective as a mild antidepressant. Exercise is also the single most important factor in preventing dementia.

7. Build exercise into your daily routine. If you drive or take public transport to work, consider parking further away or getting off a couple of stops earlier.

Commuting by cycling, power walking or jogging means daily exercise does not have to eat into a busy schedule.

8. Think variety and fun. Try out new activities like dance classes, tai chi or orienteering to discover what interests you most.

If you are exercising alone, listen to your favourite music or podcasts, or watch TV programs on your iPad while on the treadmill.

9. Link to financial incentives. On Stickk.

A routine of just three 30-minute sessions of exercise per week is as effective as a mild anti-depressant

com, you can pledge to donate to a cause or individual you support if you reach your goal, or to one you don’t like if you fall short.

At gym-pact.com, you pay if you miss your goals but get paid if

you achieve them, with funds from the money collected from the pactbreakers.

If you are unfit or have any medical conditions, start slowly and gradually, ideally with professional guidance.

Regular exercise can enhance your physical health, well-being and overall quality of life.

Maeve can be contacted at maeve@maevehalpincounselling.com and you can follow her on Twitter: @MaeveHalpinCoun

26 dun laoghaire gazette 19 February 2015

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19 February 2015 DUN LAOGHAIRE GAZETTE 27

DUN LAOGHAIRECLASSIFIEDS

PLANNING NOTICE DUN LAOGHAIRE RATHDOWN COUNTY COUNCIL

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ARE IMPROVING, THE HOUSING MARKET IS IMPROVING AND SO IS OUR DISTRIBUTION. YOUR BUSINESS CAN GROW WITH PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, JUST LIKE OUR LATEST ABC FIGURE

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PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS TO OVER 220,000 READERS*

Permission is sought for removing part of the roof at the rear of existing shop unit to create larger external yard space, at 12 Georges S t r e e t L owe r, D u n Laoghaire, Co. Dublin,

by Robert Furlong. The planning application may be inspected or purchased for a fee not exceeding a reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Authority, Marine Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, during its public opening hours.

A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the Planning Authority, on payment of a fee of €20 within 5 weeks of receipt of the application by the Planning Authority 23137

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Permission is sought for 1.Proposed widening of existing vehicular access exiting onto Weirview Drive. 2. A two storey front & side extension to consist of an entrance hall, study, w.c. & store at ground floor and a bedroom and bathroom at first floor. Conversion of attic space for use as a play room with a dormer window to the rear. 1 no. roof window proposed to the front, side and rear of roof faces. 4. Drop cill level of existing front living room window. All finishes to match existing.

All drainage structural and associated site works to be implemented. At 69 Weirview Drive, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin. By Matt Kuckovsky & Eimer Christian. T he planning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy at the offices of the Planning Authority, County Hall, Dun Laoghaire during its public opening hours. A submission or observation may be made on payment of €20 within a period of 5 weeks from the date the application is received by the Planning Authority.

23127

Gazette

28 Gazette 19 February 2015

SPORT

FastSport

LA GAlaxy hold training camp at rovers: MLS franchise the LA Galaxy will be holding an open training session in Tallaght Stadium on February 20 in conjunction with Shamrock Rovers FC. Galaxy are on a preseason tour of Europe and will face Rovers in a friendly at Tallaght Stadium on Saturday, February 21 at 4pm.

The match will see the return of 2014 Major League Soccer’s MVP Robbie Keane, Ireland’s captain and all-time leading scorer, to his hometown.

The training session will be a ticketed event with entry to the stadium from 3.30pm.

If you would like to go along to this free event talk to your local football club as arrangements have been made to distribute tickets through local clubs.

If you are not a member of a club, contact customer services in South Dublin County Council on 01 414 9000 to request a ticket.

Tickets are limited and minors must accompanied by an adult.

hockey: young stars step up for ireland in three-match series vs france

Locals star in national side’s test  sport@dublingazette.com

MONKSTOWN teenagers Jamie Carr and Lee Cole along with YMCA player Luke Chadwick were among a group of four players to make their Irish senior international hockey debuts

last week in a threegame series against France.

For 18-year-old Carr, it made him one of the youngest ever goalkeepers to line out for Ireland while Cole, at 19, put in a fine performance in defence as

the youthful Irish side earned a creditable 1-1 draw in game one.

Chadwick picked up a nasty jaw injury in the warm-up to the tie but came off the bench after seven minutes to line out in midfield, linking up with former

YMCA’s Luke Chadwick on debut

Monkstown goalkeeper Jamie Carr who has made his Irish senior international debut at the age of just 18. Picture: Adrian Boehm

UCD team mates Shane O’Donoghue and Peter Brow n. Banbridge’s Owen Magee was the fourth new cap on the night.

Just three of Ireland’s World League 2 panel – Ireland’s next major tournament – named by coach Craig Fulton were used in a much changed selection to the one that played in South Africa the previous last week.

But coach Fulton said he was more than happy with how his young side performed.

“I’m really pleased.

We have been lining up this game for our development group for the last four months. It was positive; there was

some good flowing play and we will bring some of these guys through to [the main squad in future],” he said.

In truth, it was a tie low on chances and excitement while most of the crowd – and the officials – were experiencing the new long corner rules for the first time.

Ireland saw their first penalty corner charged down in the opening quarter before France’s Olivier Sanchez clattered an effort into the side-netting from the pick of the openings.

O’Donoghue duly broke the deadlock in the 27th minute after Davy Carson’s ingenuity won the set piece,

his drag-f lick having too much power for Edgar Reynaud. For the most part, O’Donoghue provided Ireland’s main quality around the pitch at the base of midfield as did his counterpart Charles Masson – who plays in Belgium with the WatDucks.

The second half followed a similarly close-knit pattern with defences on top for the most part.

France began to push on in the closing quarter, though, and after Sanchez fluffed a simple chance, Kieffer made sure of the draw with a sharp finish, picking up a rebound off the post and volleying home in the 55th minute.

Night Run returns to light up the capital in April  sport@dublingazette.com

At the launch of the Samsung Night Run Dublin 10km were: Gordon D’Arcy and Teodora Sutra. Picture:Naoise Culhane

The sight of neon-clad athletes is set to light up the city again this spring when the Samsung 10km Night Run returns to the streets on April 26.

For the fourth year, the Samsung Night Run event will bring Dublin city to a close as 7,000 runners take to the streets of the capital.

The expected route for the race will start at Custom House Quay and take in the Convention Centre, North

Wall Quay, The 3Arena, East Wall, Samuel Beckett Bridge and continue to culmination around Grand Canal Basin, Pearse Street with the finish line also at Custom House Quay.

Race ambassador Gordon D’Arcy will be on hand to provide his fitness expertise and experience to entrants via the race blog between now and the day of the race.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Christy Burke said: “It’s great to see the Samsung

Night Run return to our calendar of events for 2015 and I welcome any activity which gets Dubliners out running through our historic streets.”

Linda Nolan, head of marketing at Samsung Ireland, said: “This year’s event will once again allow runners to experience Dublin and its many iconic landmarks and attractions in a whole new light.”

Last year’s 2014 Night Run Dublin was won by Peter Brandon Somba from

Kenya in a time of 30.09 and the first woman was Siobhan O’Doherty from Tipperary in a time of 35.35.

Second place in both categories were Raheny athletes Mick Clohessy (30.10) and Maura O’Sullivan (36.10).

The race will kick off at Custom House Quay at 9pm on Sunday, April 26.

Runners wishing to register for the event can do so at www.samsungnightrun. ie, where there will also be more information about the event.

19 February 2015 Gazette 29

Gazette

Pushing forward from the Puskas

A worldwide superstar in the wake of her world famous goal, Stephanie Roche tells STEPHEN FINDLATER about her football beginnings in Shankill and the rise of women’s soccer

WHAT Stephanie did next?

Currently, the options are being mulled over by the Puskas award runnerup.

It has been a whirlwind of late between media appearances, mixing with world football’s great and good, confidently striding past Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in “that” photo.

Throw in a Republic of Ireland training camp in Spain and different playing offers as she considers her next club after French outfit Albi, it has been quite the rollercoaster.

It is a far cry from her youth, growing up playing football around the borough in Shankill where she first developed her love for the game.

Roche’s formal days began with Valeview Shankill until she was 12 before moving to Cabinteely who had a girls section. It was there that she

came to the attention of then national women’s coach Noel King at the tender age of 13, something which made a lasting impression.

“I had a great experience,” she said of her time there. “Mick Caulfield was the manager there; he was very good to us and I still have good friends who I see now from there.

“We won a couple of things and it was when I was playing with them Noel King [then Republic of Ireland women’s senior manager] spotted me and, at a game against Stella Maris, he came over to myself and my dad. I remember him telling me ‘if you keep playing like that, you’ll get into the Irish team one day’.

“I don’t think he might even remember saying that but it stuck with me and gave me great confidence, a boost when I needed it because a lot of the girls I was playing

with at that stage dropped off. I don’t think I would have ever dropped off but it was nice to get that from someone that high up in the game.”

From there, she went to Stella Maris until she was 18, striking up a great relationship with Aine O’Gorman.

They would end up linking up again at Peamount at the dawn of the Women’s National League.

O’Gorman was to provide the cross that assisted Roche’s famous goal, something the pair recently commemorated with a certificate extolling it as “Underhit Cross of the Year”.

“It was just a bit of a joke; it was her assist but I tease her that she underhit it!”

And now she is hopeful the visibility of the women’s game will continue to rise with the extra exposure she has helped cre-

Former Munster and Ireland star Alan Quinlan and Irish footballer and FIFA Puskas award finalist Stephanie Roche at the new Topaz service station at Northern Cross, Clonshaugh. Picture: Conor McCabe Photography

ate, developing the sport she loves.

It comes with a specific focus with the national team beginning their preparations for their 2017 European qualifying campaign.

Initially, she thought that anything other than victory in the Puskas

gaining parity in terms of recognition with the men’s game, even from the governing body.

At the FAI’s annual awards night, the men’s players were all on the guest list but the women were not, something that Roche says needs to change.

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

I just thought if I win this award it will change people’s perception of women’s football - Stephanie Roche

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

award would have minimal impact but now says she has been proven wrong.

“I just thought ‘if I win this award, it will change people’s perception of women’s football’. But, having not won it, looking back on it and talking to people – even strangers in the street who say they don’t watch football – everything that I have done has been brilliant.

“Even though I didn’t win it, it has got attention and made an impact. It has brought football to a higher level and I want the attention to stay there and even higher. We have got a lot of support in the last few years but we need more if we are going to progress. I want it to keep on going and not drop off.”

Indeed, she says there is still some way to go in

“That’s one of the small issues I would have a problem with. It’s a mark of respect; they’re celebrating football for the year and all the men’s team get to go. I think it would give some sort of recognition for what we do.

“I know we didn’t qualify [for the World Cup] but we still did well, getting the highest points [in a qualifying campaign]. It’s something I would like to see change and I know a lot of the other girls would like to see it, too.”

And with that extra push, Roche says that the girls in green can rise to the highest levels.

“Last year, we had a lot of support out in Tallaght stadium and it brought a lot of atmosphere. We’re hoping to build on that for the qualifiers for Euro 2017. I would love to get to the finals!”

Ken’sDiary

Stepping up in distance with big hills on horizon Olympic silver medallist and Irish boxing legend Ken Egan is to take part in this year’s Laurels Charity Crew Cycle from Galway to Dublin on April 19. In the run-up to the event, Egan has partnered with Gazette Sport to document his preparation for the big day, and here is his latest report from the road.

NUMBERS were up this weekend which was fantastic to see with 33 bodies in total gathering at the Laurels Pub starting point to take off at 10am sharp on Valentine’s Day, the biggest crowd yet for this year’s event.

It followed a registration night in the Laurels last Thursday evening which seemed to have the desired effect.

So we departed from Clondalkin and touched on up towards Newcastle onto Celbridge towards Maynooth, down through Kilcock and pushing on past Clane before stopping at Sallins for coffee and some carbs.

The pit-stop lasted all of 10 minutes and then we proceeded up through Ardclough which, I must add, was a very fancy part of the country.

We came back down around by Newcastle, Peamount and Baldonnel and back to the base camp that was the Laurels, covering 87km from 10am to 3pm.

They said we were up on the target pace too so I was very happy with that. I mentioned hills to one of the pros and he obliged me and said we will be hitting them soon and to carb up the night before we take on that challenge.

I’m sure I will have a story for you in relation to the hills in a few weeks. Eight weeks to go and preparation is on song so I am a happy camper.

Over and out and I shall touch base next week!

For more information about the event, log on to www.facebook.com/laurelscharitycrew, and come back next week for the latest instalment of Ken’s cycling diary. The group has raised €520,000 for Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin through their efforts in recent years.

Gazette

30 DUN LAOGHAIRE gazette 19 February 2015

SPORT

FastSport

soccer: valeview see off leeview FAI Junior Cup

Rock and Seapoint back in UBL action BLACKROCK College and Seapoint look to get their Ulster Bank League Division 2A push back on track after a three-week hiatus with respective road trips to Bective Rangers and Banbridge, respectively.

Rock are sitting second in the table and while they are all but mathematically out of the running for top spot, they are in good shape to get one over a Bective side scrapping against relegation.

They meet at 2.30pm on Saturday in Donnybrook. To that end, Seapoint, in 14th place, will be hoping for a favour from their near neighbours as they face a tough trip to Co Down.

Old Wesley, meanwhile, extended their lead in the table with a 34-12 win over UCC last Saturday in Donnybrook to lift them 14 points clear of the chasers, meaning they will top the table should they win one of their remaining four games, starting with an away trip to NUIM Barnhall. Tries from Darren Horan and Johann Greyling along with 14 points from Ian Cassidy did the damage against UCC.

Meteors cling on to Premier playoff hopes METEORS kept their women’s basketball Premier League playoff hopes alive for another week at least with a 21-point win at Maxol WIT Wildcats, winning 68-47.

It was their first away win of the season and their second over Wildcats in the space of a week.

Meteors had a double digit lead by the end of the first quarter and extended it with threes from Kate O’Flaherty and Eime-

ar Mairtin. For the second week in a row, Meteors had broken the back of the game in the first half. Aoife McDermott looked back to full fitness while coach Eoin Chubb could field a five of Under-20 players in the second half.

Aoife McDermott landed 18 points with Christine Ganser scoring 16 and Kate O’Flaherty with 14 points.

They sit fifth in the table with two rounds of matches in the regular season, needing to make up four points on rivals DCU Mercy, Liffey Celtics and Brunell.

The Valeview Shankill side prior to their FAI Junior Cup tie with Leevale Athletic

Shankill’s cup romance  nathan kelly sport@dublingazette.com

THERE was definitely some cup romance in the air this Valentine’s Day as Valeview Shankill continued their FAI Junior Cup dream by defeating Leeview Athletic of Cork in Vale Park.

The win means that Shankill, as well as Liffey Wanderers, remain the last two LSL sides in one of Europe’s biggest amateur cup competitions.

Two goals in the final 12 minutes from Killian Cooney and Ben McShane were enough to get past the visiting Cork

side and set up a last 32 meeting with Nenagh Celtic of Tipperary on Saturday February 28.

Speaking after the win, Valeview secretary of over 30 years John Turner spoke to GazetteSport on the achievement of the club’s cup form this season. He said: “It’s been a tremendous run so far.

We’ve beaten some great teams just to get to where we are, such as Moyle Park and Portmarnock, and we’re confident we can keep going.”

The club has a senior section on the rise it seems, or on a resurgence to days past, with this side

all the young blues Blackrock boys take in Leinster being slayed LEINSTER supporters, from left, Sasha Clinton, Peter Montgomery, Luca Clinton and Simon Montgomery, from Blackrock, took in the Guinness PRO12 tie between Leinster and Newport Gwent Dragons at the RDS last Sunday.

The blues were left disappointed as they fell 16-14, ending a run of 21 successive wins at the venue, dating back to March 2013.

Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

clinching the LSL Premier Saturday Division in the last minute of the last game last season, while the club’s Sunday side are also chasing the LSL Sunday Division 3 title this year. While talking to GazetteSport, Turner shared a bit of club history.

He said: “Firstly, we’re a very old club, going since 1923 in Shankill. We actually reached the quarterfinal of the Junior Cup in 1969, but were beaten by Finn Harps before they were a League of Ireland club in controversial circumstances I’ve heard!

Apparently a number of

Derry City players playing in the Irish League togged out for Harps that day.”

On today’s side, the club secretary was quick to direct praise at the manager John O’Carroll, who has made big improvements in his time in charge. “We’ve got a really good, young manager in John. I mean he’s only in his early 30s and been managing around five years but he’s had a great effect on the side.”

Another thing possibly in Valeview’s favour is the sense of community felt at the club, with the vast majority of players growing up together, including

one local lad, Stephen Brennan, a former ROI Under-21 international once on the books of Newcastle United, as well as representing Shelbourne, St Pat’s and Bray Wanderers in the League of Ireland.

When asked if he thinks home advantage can see them overcome Nenagh and seal a last 16, Turner replied: “Definitely, we’ve a good pitch at Vale Park and home advantage always helps. We had a good crowd at Leeview game and hopefully can attract an even bigger one in two weeks’ time which can get us through.”

19 February 2015 DUN LAOGHAIRE gazette 31

Gazette

cuala quartet

Dalkey club provides four players for flying Dubs

Club Noticeboard cuala

PAUL Schutte, pictured, was part of a

strong Cuala presence as Dublin produced a superb performance to beat 2014 All-Ireland finalists Tipperary 2-20 to 0-14 at Parnell Park last Sunday in the National League.

His brother Mark scored 0-2 while Colm Cronin and Cian O’Callaghan also started.

WELL done to Cuala’s Paul Schutte,

Peter Dunne and B Campbell. Tickets

Cian O’Callaghan, Colm Cronin and

for next week’s draw can be bought

Mark Schutte and the rest of the Dub-

online at http://www.cualagaa.ie/

lin senior hurlers on their win over

lotto.

Tipperary in the league last Sunday.

Picture: Deryck Vincent

football: shankill return to adult competition

Cuala Awards Night has been

Cuala coaching are running a foun-

rescheduled for Saturday, February

dation award coaching course on

28. A full refund is available for any-

February 25, 27 and 28 in Cuala. Times

one who paid for tickets and is unable

are 7-10pm on the Wednesday and

to attend the new date. Please con-

Friday evenings and 9am-12pm on the

tact your table co-ordinator or the

Saturday. You can register at ken.fit-

organising committee (Damian - 086

zgerald.gpo.dublin@gaa.ie, contact

3855133) to get a refund or buy more

Ken Fitzgerald at 087 6830296 or con-

tickets.

tact any of the coaching team.

Cuala 2015 annual subscriptions are

Congratulations to Conor Mullally

now due. Take advantage of the new

and the UCD Sigerson Cup team who

early bird rates by renewing your

beat GMIT to reach the semi-final of

subscription before February 28. You

the Sigerson Cup last weekend.

can renew online here -http://www.

Congratulations also to Cuala’s Eimear Loughlin and Jennifer Dunne

cualagaa.ie/renewal-of-annualsubscription/.

who were named on the Dublin Under-

The Academy, Juvenile Boys and

16 ladies Gaelic football panel that will

Juvenile Girls sections are always

take on Meath in the Leinster champi-

looking for new players. If your child

onship on February 28.

is interested in trying Gaelic Games,

The lotto was not won so next week’s

check out www.cualagaa.ie for

jackpot will be €2,800. Our three €50

contact details for your child’s age

lucky dip winners were Pip Connolly,

group.

shankill THE juvenile academy is in action every

There was no winner of our Chase

Saturday morning at 10am in Rath-

the Ace Sunday night draw in Brady’s

michael School.

of Shankill, which currently has a jack-

The academy caters for children Shankill’s Darren Bootham fires home his side’s goal against Ballyboden Wanderers

Local club returns to field after 21 years O’Broin Cup Shankill 1-10 Ballyboden Wanderers 2-14  sport@dublingazette.com

“TWENTY-one years is a mighty long time” .... so the song goes. Well there was much to sing about around Shankill last weekend as their colours reappeared at adult level in a Dublin GAA competition after a 21-year absence.

The O’Broin Cup may not feature widely in discussions around the county but they’re definitely talking about it in Shankill.

Reformed just 23

months ago, last year the club fielded underage boys and girls teams and has a healthy academy catering for children from age four to 12 and this was their first adult outing since the club’s previous incarnation finished up.

Ballyboden Wanderers were the visitors on this historic day for the reformed club as they took to the field at the scenic Shanganagh Cliffs pitch.

The stiff breeze blowing in from the sea ensured it would be a tie that swung massively due to the conditions.

Playing against the wind in the first half and the combined force of the elements and the Wanderers’ strong running meant Shankill were in for a torrid opening.

The visitors hit the woodwork early and soon hit the front with a couple of well-taken points.

Shooting from distance was relatively easy with wind assistance and Wanderers lead by 10 points before Shankill found their third score through a placed kick by Fergus O’Donnell to trail 1-12 to 0-3 at the break.

With wind assistance in the second half, though, Shankill had a significantly better time of it with Eamonn Ryan’s introduction helping to steady the Shankill ship.

Shane Hanly opened the second half scoring which was quickly followed by two points from Ryan and one from the impressive Peter Morehan before Boothman hit the net for the home side.

Wanderers added 1-2 before Boothman slotted over a placed ball and proceedings came to an end with a monster point from Morehan.

from four to eight years old at only €2

pot of €1,800. The €50 prize went to Des and Ter.

per week; there is no annual subscrip-

Training for the adult football team

tion and covers Gaelic football, hurling

is in Rathmichael School on Thursday

and camogie. All equipment is supplied.

night at 9pm. We lost our first adult

New members are always welcome.

match to Wanderers. Next is a league

Girls Under-12 meet in Scoil Mhuire

match against St Francis Gaels on Sun-

at 10am. Boys Under-12 lost to Craobh

day at 2.30pm in Shanganagh Cliffs. If

Chiarain. The next match is against

you would like to join the team, please

Na Fianna on Saturday in Shanganagh

contact secretary.shankill.dublin@

Castle at 10am.

gaa.ie.

kilmacud crokes CONGRATULATIONS to Oisin O’Ruairc,

The Facebook page will be delivering

Ryan O’Dwyer and Ross O’Carroll of

some interesting features each week

the Dublin senior hurlers who beat

and they are looking for your pic-

Tipperary in the Allianz League.

tures, anecdotes, statistics or other

Transition year students might be

lies; memorable moments, Crokes

interested in working as a coach on

members in 15 countries, parish stal-

some of upcoming summer camps.

warts, the players still playing, par-

You will need to have completed the

ish icons, interesting facts, profiles

upcoming transition year coaching

of adult players, inter county players

course. Contact Paraic McDonald

and results across all four codes and

on paraicmcd@outlook.com or 086

levels.

2244265 to reserve a place.

Anyone with a shed of redundant

Membership subs must be paid

balls, cones, bibs, bottles, bags etc.

by February 28 – the club oper-

please get in touch and we will help you

ates a no pa y, no pla y policy

make more space.

and only paid up members can par ticipate on or wi th teams (players,management,coaches) or make use of any of the club’s facilities.

For this and any other query, email football@kilmacudcrokes.com.

Play the whistle, the results prediction game, launches again in March.

GazetteSPORT all of your dun laoghaire sports coverage from page 28-31

february 19-25, 2015

shankill’s return: Shanganagh Park club back in stephanie roche’s rise: The Dubliner tells the Gazette competitive adult football after 21-year absence P31 about her life in football P29

Irish ambition spurring Felix Jones  rob heigh

sport@dublingazette.com

FELIX Jones is hopeful he can work his way into the Irish selection to play England next week in the wake of captaining the Irish Wolfhounds a fortnight ago.

Since then, the Seapoint man came off the bench in the 6 Nations opener against Italy while he was also on the replacements list for last Saturday’s slug-fest with France in the Aviva Stadium.

But he knows that breaking into a back division that features Tommy Bowe, Rob Kearney and Simon Zebo – not to mention Luke Fitzgerald and Dave Kearney waiting in the wings –

that he can take nothing for granted.

“I want to play as much as I can and rack up as many minutes as I can for Ireland,” he told GazetteSport.

“Whether that is starting or coming in from the bench. In the November series, it was good to get on at an important stages of the games [against South Africa and Australia].”

And it is something he wants to experience more of, especially after his well-documented injury issues, something which, he says, means he “takes nothing for granted” now that he has had a sustained run.

It led to captaining the Wolfhounds side against the English Saxons, a welcome by-product for the work he puts in.

“Getting to captain the country; it is a massive honour. It has happened to me there and with Munster on a couple of occasions this season.

“I didn’t really think about this happening but it has just fallen into place.

You don’t go hunting for the captaincy but you do it to the best of your ability and treat it with the respect it deserves.”

And, with the World Cup on the horizon, he is hoping he can continue to knock on Joe Schmidt’s door and earn a place at that tournament.

He missed out in awful fashion in 2011, sustaining an ankle injury after being selected in the panel. It is something that spurs him on hugely.

“What happened with the last World

Cup, it makes me hungry to get there this time around. I am well aware that if you can say ‘I want to go there’ but you don’t have a plan in place. Then it becomes a wish.

“I’m very much process driven and those processes have been happening over the last couple of months. Currently, it is at a crucial stage with the 6 Nations because there are very few internationals in the summer.

“You are relying then on performances at club level so we focus on each game and each training leading up to them.

“Deep down, you may think about the World Cup in the back of your head but you need to keep focussed Seapoint man Felix Jones on the here and now.”