Kilkenny Observer 1st April 2022

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Carey probe widens UP to 39 complaints against former Irish hockey player Catriona Carey after more people came forward with allegations of fraud regarding her asset management company, according to Garda sources.

As the investigation into Careysfort Asset Estates continues, those who handed over large sums of money to the Kilkenny businesswoman are now appealing for the help of legal professionals in a bid to recover up to €500,000.

One woman and her husband paid Ms Carey €10,000 two years ago after she offered to buy their debt from their lender and provide them with a new loan that would help them keep their family home.

This never materialised, despite numerous promises and after holding out hope for two years, there is now a real possibility that their home will be repossessed.

“I’ll never forget the day we met her. How she rubbed my

shoulder and told me that all my worries would now be gone,” the woman said. “My worries were only beginning.”

Some of those who made complaints to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) fear a lack of resources, plus the fact that her company is registered in the UK, may lead to lengthy delays in the investigation.

Said one man: “It’s not just about the money. People have fallen out with family mem-

bers over this and relationships have broken down. People’s mental health has also suffered.”

However, there are concerns over their chances of getting anything back after it was revealed that Carey spent more than €200,000 from the Careysfort account on personal items.

The biggest spend using funds from the company account came on July 21, 2020, when money was used to buy a BMW

at a cost of €55,226. Carey also went on ski trips to Switzerland, took a holiday to Florida, and splashed out at high-end boutiques and outlets.

On March 9, members of the GNECB seized the BMW from a property in Co Wexford.

Ms Carey had been spending some time at a house near Courtown and Gardaí met her at the property, where they also took away some documentation.

The investigation continues.

House prices up again in county The price of the average second-hand three-bed semi in Co Kilkenny has risen by 2.1% to €245,000 in the last three months, according to a national survey by Real Estate Alliance. And the survey has shown that 35% of sales in the county are to first-time buyers, with 30% of all purchasers coming from outside the area.

See also Page 6

4.3 million kids displaced by war Five weeks of war in Ukraine has led to the displacement of 4.3 million children – more than half of the country’s estimated 7.5 million child population. This includes more than 1.8 million children who have crossed into neighbouring countries as refugees and 2.5 million who are now internally displaced inside Ukraine.

Refugees from Ukraine have been arcing in Kilkenny.

Paul Hopkins, Page 8 Special reports Page 14 & 15

Scientific thought:

You’ve got mail!

Daniel Connolly (9), Liadan Kelly (10) and Fiadh Kelly (10) brush up on their knowledge in preparation for the Primary Science Fair, for students from 3rd to 6th class.

Can it be that people are drowning in a deluge of communication and are unable to stay on top of in boxes and respond by deleting virtually everything?

Marianne Heron, Page 12

Full story, Page PHOTO: Fennell Photography

Kilkenny pupils flock to new varsity WITH just weeks to go to the launch of South East Technological University (SETU), busloads of school students from Co Kilkenny, across the region and beyond have been descending on Waterford to find out what it will be like to study at the region’s first university.

EVERY FRIDAY

Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) and its partner Institute of Technology Carlow (IT Carlow) will become SETU on May 1. The Schools’ Open Day on Friday, April 1 was the first opportunity Kilkenny school leavers had to explore the SETU Waterford campus at an in-person

The Kilkenny

Observer UNIT 7, FRIARY STREET, KILKENNY, R95 VHY7

open day since 2019 CAO applicants across Co Kilkenny wanted time asking lecturers, support staff and students the questions that matter.

“The most recent feeder school stats highlighted the popularity of Waterford as a place to study for the class

of 2021,” says Dr Richard Hayes, Vice President for Strategy at WIT. WIT is the largest recruiter of students from the South East. One in three school leavers who go onto higher education from the South East come to Waterford’s WIT to study, more than

UCC, UL and UCD combined.

In 2021, 838 Kilkenny school leavers went to college; in 2021 24% (197) of these started on one of WIT’s 70 CAO courses. Of the 2,534 graduates of 2021 who were recently conferred 281 are from Co Kilkenny (11%).

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GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE TEAM

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Summer schools demand following pandemic SCHOOLS are again struggling, with new waves of Covid now affecting teachers and students.

Lockdown closures in the past two years also hampered learning, as families adjusted to the challenge of remote schooling.

Educators say that demand for grinds, half-term courses and online learning supports has risen dramatically. Parents are paying up to €55 an hour for one-to-one learning, and around €325 per subject for Easter revision courses of one hour a day, over four days.

Those studying for exams now can check out free online learning resources and multi-choice revision questions on Irish websites, such as iRevise. There are also more extensive online tutorials, notes and sample exam questions for all subjects, priced at €7.99 for a monthly subscription, at https://irevise.com.

For those worried that summer exams won’t live up to expectation, Euro Languages College (ELC) is a relatively new Gaeltacht type experience to help teens catch up on missed languages learning. Courses cover Junior and Leaving Cert French, Spanish and German curriculum, where students brush up on exam questions and fluency for their oral and aural tests.

This summer’s ELC courses are detailed online at https:// elc.ie and involve an immersive three-week residential course in established boarding schools around the country.

It’s like the Gaeltacht for European languages, and is packed with sport and leisure activities too, for a fun learning experience that helps socially and academically.

Starting on June 6 next, courses are taught in boarding schools including Clongowes in Kildare, Cistercian College Roscrea, Saint Flannan’s College in Ennis, Villiers School in Limerick and Bandon Grammar School in Cork.

Padraig Ryan, ELC Managing Director, says students benefit from what amounts to 40 hours of formal learning over a theeweek holiday stay.

“Some families are still concerned about foreign holidays this summer, so teens can brush up on their language skills, and have fun with friends at one of our residential summer schools here in Ireland.

Priced at €1,395, these summer language courses are excellent value, costing less than €80 a day for full tuition and board, compared to grinds costing €50 an hour.

“We see huge improvements in the students’ ability to speak, to understand, and to read and write their chosen language during this immersive educational experience. We focus on improving exam performance across orals, aurals, and the written sections of the Junior Cycle and Leaving Cert”, the Euro Languages College Managing Director explains..

House prices continue to rise as Government fails to invest in affordable housing BY: DEPUTY KATHLEEN FUNCHION SINN FEIN TD FOR KILKENNY CARLOW SINN Féin TD for Carlow Kilkenny Kathleen Funchion has commented on the publication of the latest Daft.ie House Price Report and research from MyHome.ie and the impact on house prices in Carlow and Kilkenny.

Both reports highlight how house prices are continuing to spiral out of control.

Teachta Funchion said: “The latest Daft.ie House Price Report shows further unsustainable house price increases across the state. House prices are now 8.4% higher than this time last year, with the average asking price at €299,093 across the state.

“According to the report, we have now witnessed seven straight quarters of house price inflation.

“In Carlow prices are up approximately 11%, this is against the national average of 4%.

While, Kilkenny saw increases

of 6% and are at the lower end of national increases, it suggests a worrying trend.

“Staggering house price inflation is now a feature of the housing market across the state.

“A research report published

by MyHome.ie paints an equally worrying picture. This report has house price inflation running at 12.3%, with the median asking price for a home across the state now at €295,000.

“The government has failed to get to grips with the crisis and has shamefully extended and introduced policies like Help to Buy and the Shared Equity Loan scheme will inflate prices further.

“The government is continuing to over rely on private investors and developers to deliver homes, which will never be truly affordable for the majority of ordinary people.

“It must first of all accept this fact. Then it must revise its affordable home targets upwards

to at least 8,000 homes per year.

“A Sinn Féin-led government would prioritise investment in public housing, which would be genuinely affordable, to meet the growing housing need across the state.”

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Dublin Airport plans to get back in tip-top form A SMOOTHER operation for passengers at Dublin Airport is being planned in a number of initiatives by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), Are Lingus and Ryanair In a statement on Dublin Airport’s Twitter account, the

DAA apologised “for lengthy delays experienced by passengers at Dublin Airport in recent days”.

The company continued: “We are taking immediate action to address the issues which continue to cause delays at busy

times. Like other airports all over Europe, we are currently working extremely hard to build back our operation after the collapse of international travel, including the recruitment, training and mandatory background checks required

for all staff working at an international airport” The ramp-up of staff levels at Dublin Airport is against a backdrop of increased passenger numbers, absences due to Covid and time taken to be processed at security.

The DAA advises anyone travelling through Dublin Airport to “be prepared for things to take longer” and advises all passengers to be at the airport a minimum of two hours before boarding a short-haul flight and three hours before a

Social house waiting list down by 62% in Kilkenny FIGURES published in the 2021 Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA) which show a substantial reduction of 62% in the Kilkenny social housing waiting list since the first annual assessment was conducted in 2016.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, TD, has welcomed the report.

The SSHA shows 656 households in Kilkenny were assessed as being qualified for, and in need of, social housing support as of November 17, 2021. This figure is down 178 (21.3%) from 834 households recorded on November 2, 2020. This figure also represents a total decrease of 1,065 (62%) households since 2016 when annual recording of the SSHA began.

Nationally, 59,247 households were assessed as being qualified for social housing support as of 17 November 2021, down 2,633 (4.3%) from 61,880 households on 2 November 2020. This figure is a reduction of 32,353 (35.3%) since 2016.

The Minister also published the social housing statistics for Quarter 4 2021. Nationally, a total of 4,010 social homes were delivered in Quarter 4, including 2,053

new build social homes, 810 acquisitions and 1,147 homes delivered through leasing programmes.

Overall in 2021, a total of 9,183 new social homes were delivered, an increase of 17% on 2020 figures. This total includes 5,202 new build homes (an increase of 2.6% on 2020), 1,270 acquisitions and 2,711 homes delivered through leasing programmes.

The Minister welcomed the publication of the data, noting that for a fifth consecutive year the overall number of households on local authority waiting lists continued to decrease.

He also welcomed the fact that 9,183 social housing solutions were found for people despite the significant impact which the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent construction sector shutdowns had on efforts.

At a glance, the breakdown is: • 1,065 fewer households on social housing waiting list in Kilkenny compared to first annual assessment conducted in September 2016.

• Kilkenny’s 2021 social housing waiting list falls 21% on 2020 figures • 9,183 social homes delivered nationally in 2021

Better wi-fi access for three black-spot county areas KILKENNY County Council Library Service has announced the launch of Eduroam Wi-Fi in Ferrybank, Thomastown and Callan Libraries as part of the Eduroam Everywhere initiative.

Eduroam stands for education roaming. It provides secure and easy-to-use wi-fi access in thousands of locations across more than 100 countries. Students whose college/university participates in Eduroam can simply open their laptop or mobile device

within an Eduroam hotspot to have immediate internet connectivity.

Eduroam in Ireland is pioneered by HEAnet, Ireland’s National Education and Research Network. They helped enable over 200 Eduroam hotspots mainly in Universities, Institutes of Technology and other third-level educational organisations . HEAnet is now working to extend Eduroam beyond the campus walls as part of their Eduroam Everywhere initiative.

long-haul flight. Also, Aer Lingus is reintroducing ‘Evening Before Check-In’ Whereby if you have a flight departing next day between 0530 and 0800, you can checkin at Dublin Airport between 1600 and 1945 the day before.

Under scrutiny: Liadan Kelly (10) and Fiadh Kelly (10) pictured ahead of the Primary Science Fair, a highlight of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition for primary school students from 3rd to 6th class PHOTO; Fennell Photography

Primary Science Fair shines light on budding brains PROJECTS from 33 schools across 12 counties exhibited to a team of judges made up of some of the most well-known alumni of the core BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

Does practice really make perfect? Do screens affect our mental health? These are just some of the 40 project ideas that were examined at the BTYSTE Primary Science Fair.

For more than two decades the fair has cele-

brated the wonderfully inquisitive minds of children between 3rd and 6th class, as they take their first deep dive into researching ideas, collaborating with their classmates and presenting their findings to a team of judges.

For many young students, it’s their first practical introduction into science related subjects, to encourage them to see the wonders of science and the infinite possibilities it

offers.

This year, projects from 33 schools across 12 counties will exhibit to a team of judges made up of some of the most well-known alumni of the core BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

Cormac Harris and Alan O’Sullivan, who won the BTYSTE in 2020 are just two of this year’s judges.

Cormac said: “STEM forms such a crucial part of everyday life and it’s brilliant

to see so many very young students coming up with such innovative ideas to inspire real change in the world.”

Alan added: “The Primary Science Fair is such an important platform for children to explore the possibilities of science. It’s brilliant to see the impact it has, with so many students going on to partake in the core BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition at secondary school level.”

Five schools for Student Enterprise finals THE Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny has announced that winning entrepreneurs from five secondary schools will represent Co Kilkenny in the next stages of this year’s Student Enterprise Programme.

The local students will now compete against approximately 80 student enterprises from all over the country for a place in the Top 15 shortlisted teams to make it to a live

event on Wednesday, May 18 at The Helix in Dublin.

This year’s live event will not only be a special one as it’s the first in-person event since 2019, but also as this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Student Enterprise Programme.

This enterprise education initiative, funded by the Government through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the

31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country, is the most successful and largest programme of its kind. The programme supports students to create, design and market their own business, all with the hope of reaching the National Finals.

More than 850 students from 14 schools which included Castlecomer Com-

munity School, Coláiste Cois Siúire, Coláiste Éamann Rís, Coláiste Mhuire, Coláiste Pobail Osraí, Duiske College, Grennan College, Kilkenny CBS, Kilkenny College, Loreto Secondary School, Presentation Secondary School, Kilkenny Vocational School, St Brigid’s College and St. Kieran’s College took part in this year’s Student Enterprise Programme locally.

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News Opinion

The Fact Of The Matter PAUL HOPKINS

Why Putin may lose his propaganda war In the Boer War at the battle of Spion Kop on January 23, 1900 there were three figures on that hilltop 24 miles southwest of Ladysmith who would survive the fighting and become luminaries in their own right. Louis Botha, a soldier who would become the first president of the Republic of South Africa; a stretcher bearer by the name of Mahatma Gandhi; and one Winston Churchill, then a correspondent for The Times of London.

Churchill wrote his reporting on the war by hand on reams of paper which were then concealed in an everyday ham sandwich, the would-be lunch of a driver taking his train on the long trek from Durban to Cape Town, from where the ‘sandwiched reportage’ boarded a ship bound for Southampton.

All of this arduous operation was to avoid censorship by the authorities. The ‘filing’ of Mr Churchill’s copy for The Times took about 12 days to see print.

Talk about breaking news!

Over a pint in my local I am watching the war in Ukraine, more than 2,000 miles away, unfold frame by frame, effectively in real time. On a small gadget in the palm of my hand.

I am watching the war on BBC News or CNN or Sky — I constantly switch — but for others, particularly the younger generations, what with Twitter and Insta and Facebook and WhatsApp and Telegram, a veritable flood of videos and selfies of fleeing refugees or those under constant bombardment allows us 2,000 miles away to identify Russian tanks rolling over Ukrainian bridges and Russian helicopter gunships blasting mercilessly away at people’s homes.

Yet, for all of the visuals of death and mayhem surging across the internet, one wonders whether they are, in any real way, helping people understand the unfolding moment-by-moment horror. Is

too much knowledge a dangerous thing, in that it desensitises us? I would suggest, too, that the intensity and immediacy of social media are creating a new kind of ‘fog of war’, in which information and disinformation are continuously entangled with each other — clarifying and confusing in almost equal measure.

The modern combination of smartphones, social media and high-speed data links are providing images that are now certainly faster, more visual and more voluminous than in any previous military conflict. The mass mobilisation of Russian military forces has been broadcast for weeks on TikTok, the newest and fastest growing social media app, with hundreds of videos from nearby onlookers showing the movement of ballistic missiles and armoured vehicles.

Such media outlets, however, have also brought, I would contend, new efforts to deceive,

while the war is unfolding alongside an aggressive and widely distributed campaign of disinformation heralded by Vladimir Putin that makes it difficult at times for ‘crowdsourcing’ to establish the facts on the ground.

Still, there is a positive aspect to all this. Before the war, Kyiv Digital was the official city app for Ukrainians to buy tickets for transport and pay for parking or utility bills in the country’s capital. Now Kyiv Digital has been transformed into a lifesaving tool that warns of air raids, and directs people to the nearest bomb shelter or safe house. With the help of the country’s chief digital transformation officer – Kyiv Deputy Mayor Petro Olenych – the app’s focus changed within just 24 hours of the Russian invasion.

And another thought. After the invasion of his country, Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo

Fedorov launched a campaign urging global technology companies to withdraw from the Russian market — to join the growing group of firms across many industries that have called it a day with Moscow.

“They kill our children, now kill their access!” he tweeted at Apple.

‘They kill our children, now kill their access!

”

The Russian regime has made substantial use of Staterun ‘news’ channels on social media to spread propaganda both at home and abroad, but the growing opposition and everyday civilians gain just as much — if not more — from the ability to see and to share real stories on other media that diverge from the Kremlin narrative. This is especially true now that Russia’s independent media have been silenced.

Information technology has gained a significant foothold in Russia, making it difficult for the State to blot out the messages it abhors, and the country’s younger people have been exposed to too many Western experiences, through travel and social media, to ever again swallow whole Putin propaganda.

By all accounts, Mr Putin, already losing the war, is also losing his extended propaganda war on the home front...

See also, Page 14

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Man (60) dies in house fire ONE man died and his brother was injured trying to rescue him after a fire started in the middle of the afternoon at their Kilkenny family home.

Oliver Brennan, aged in his 60s, was killed when the blaze broke out on at the house in the Jenkinstown Park area of Kilkenny city.

His sibling Dominic discovered the blaze when he returned to the house and was injured attempting to get inside before being forced back by the flames.

He was later treated for smoke inhalation. Gardai are treating the fire as an accident.

Speaking on KCLR96FM, Fi-

anna Fáil Councillor Pat Fitzpatrick and friend of Mr Brennan’s described him as, “a quiet, quiet man, who would love to have a chat”.

Cllr Fitzpatrick said: “I would like to offer sympathy to his brother Dom. He lived with Oliver. I worked alongside him (Oliver) in the box

company in the Hebron Industrial Estate. I knew him a long time.”

He explained that Mr Brennan’s brother Dominick returned to the house to an “unfolding scene”.

“Oliver passed away in sad and tragic circumstances. He was from a big family, there

Voice of young in vital discussions MORE than 200 young people from across Ireland tackled a wide range of issues under the overarching theme of equality at Dáil na nÓg 2022 which recently took place at Dublin’s Convention Centre. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the biennial event which platforms the voices of young people on the issues which matter most to them. Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman engaged with young people at the event.

This year’s event explored the theme of equality as young people, through their local youth councils (Comhairle na nÓg), have been investigating the challenges and opportunities in a variety of areas including mental health, climate change, body image, drugs and alcohol, youth facilities and LGBTIQ+.

This theme was chosen by young people as the area of most importance to them and a vote took place on three areas of equality on the day.

Previous years’ themes included climate action, education, and transport. In 2019, a debate and vote on sustainable transport solutions saw delegates from the Comhairle na nÓg councils propose a new policy to offer reduced fares to young people in response to the recognised need to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable transport options; this was successfully introduced by Government in Budget 2021 as well as the Government’s Climate Action Plan.

Participants at Dáil na nÓg 2022 were looking to influence policy at Government level to advance the areas of equality they see as important.

A panel discussion saw Cllr Yemi Adenuga, Ireland’s first black female elected representative, RTE Radio DJ and LGBTQI+ advocate Stephen Byrne, Children’s Rights Alliance CEO Tanya Ward, and Aoife Price, disability advocate with Disability Women Ireland engage in an exciting discussion on equality.

Homes for seniors get €1.97m. funding THE Minister for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD, today (28 March 2022) announced €1.97 million in funding for Housing Adaptation Grants for older people and people with a disability living in Kilkenny. The allocation is an increase of €27,375 on 2021 and continues the year-on-year increases in the grant since 2014.

Grants of up to €30,000 are available to assist disabled people in carrying out necessary works to make a house more suitable for their needs.

Additionally, grants of up to €8,000 are available to assist older people to have necessary repairs or improvements carried out on their homes and grants of up to €6,000 are available for mobility aids.

Minister Noonan said: “I am delighted to be in a position to allocate increased funding to Kilkenny County Council so that they can continue to support older people and disabled people to live independently in Kilkenny.

“Importantly, home adaptations help reduce the dependency on our health services

by supporting independent living for as long as possible and in other instances facilitate an early return from hospital, taking pressure off already over-burdened services.

“These grants will also provide a boost to Kilkenny’s economy, creating employment opportunities for local contractors,” the minister said.

“I am pleased that funding for Kilkenny County Council to administer this scheme has been increasing year-on-year since 2014. This shows the importance that is attached to the scheme and the Government’s commitment to older people and disabled people.

“These grants have a huge impact on the quality of life of the many beneficiaries in Kilkenny and play a vitally important role in helping disabled people and people who are reaching an age in life when they are less mobile, " he said.

The fund, supports home adaptations for older people, disabled people and those with mobility issues, provides 80% Exchequer funding.

were 10 in the family. Dominic was away from the house that morning. I spoke to him on John’s Green myself that morning.

“The pair lived together. It’s a terrible, terrible tragedy. The two lads were always happy to know what was going on and had a big interest in GAA.

Poor Oliver is gone to his eternal reward. A nicer man you would not meet”.

The victim is survived by his brothers Peter and Dominic, sisters Breda, Margaret, Alice and Terry. His brothers-in-law Shem, Eamonn, Pat and Martin, sister-in-law Marie and extended family.

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Opinion AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON

Sometimes I feel like that guy in Walter de la Mere’s spooky poem The Listeners.

“Is there anyone there?” said the traveller, Knocking at the moonlit door.

No one answers.

A look in my sent email folder induced that kind of feeling recently. There, stretching back over weeks, were mails sent to a variety of people for different reasons which had never received a response. It’s a bit like another weird situation where you drop a pebble in a well expecting to hear a splash, instead there is an uncanny silence.

It doesn’t matter who the mail is for or what it’s about the result is the same. Nada.

It could be a god-child, failing either to thank or confirm that a special gift has arrived. It could be a business contact about matters concerning a long and fruitful relationship, it could be an Editor not responding to ideas pitched for possible stories, despite my previous contributions, or a publisher (publisher of several of my books) about a submission.

There is simply no response and that silence prompts feelings like those of the traveller so eloquently evoked in

Hello.... is there anyone there?... hello, hello? the poem as he stood “perplexed and still by a host of phantom listeners And he felt in his heart their strangeness, Their stillness answering his cry.”

The prevalence of this no response phenomenon has to mean that something has shifted in attitudes to communication. It’s too

widespread for the reason to be down to individual discourtesy. Don’t tell me that it’s because everyone is communicating by WhatsApp, which is great for brief communication and messaging and for groups yapping on about trivia but not for more detailed business stuff.

Can it be that people are drowning in a deluge of com-

munication and are unable to stay on top of in boxes and respond by deleting virtually everything? Are they aiming for zero inbox, that phrase coined a couple of decades back by US lifestyle guru and enthusiast for getting things done, Merlin Mann.

It could hardly be that my plight is an extension of the cancel culture can it? I

haven’t done anything like drop kicking my cat like Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma.

Seems to me that the no response problem has accelerated since the Covid pandemic. With a situation where early everyone was obliged to WFH (work from home) emails proliferated.

Combine that with increased reliance on social media in

place of real time contact it could be that people are suffering from cognitive overload.

Shunting mails into different folders (one of Mann’s solutions) only makes life more complicated, although it would result in a zero inbox. Ringing people isn’t an alternative when people have their cell phones switched off with “can’t take your call right now” messages on them. Ringing offices now that we are returning to them doesn’t work either.

The PA or receptionist’s response “ X is in a meeting” has been replaced by: “Let me give you her/his email.”

Some chance of a reply. Actually, PAs and secretaries are a vanishing breed, but at least if you got one on the line you were speaking to a real person.

I have heard of folk who have several mobile phones and different email addressed so that they can deal with a hierarchy of contacts, people you want to hear from, people you might want to contact and contacts to be avoided.

Generally, SRP (speaking to a real person) is getting more and more difficult.

You either have to communicate through a website or, if phoning, choose between pressing 1,2,3 or 4 and then wait for an answer that doesn’t come. That’s it! Maybe we are losing the ability to communicate.

Time to go back to messenger pigeons or ESP.

Look after your gut with Solo FloraFifty CLAIR WHITTY

WORKING in the natural health business is an exciting place to work as there is always something new to talk about. We love when we find something that is locally made, or a new supplement to solve a problem, especially digestive issues. Let me tell me about two of these new products.

Soft Paws soaps are made locally in Rosslare by Tata.

Soap making has always been a passion of hers and now she has turned it into an exciting new business venture. She moved to Ireland a couple of years ago with her family and her pets to start a new life here in County Wexford.

Soft Paws Cosmetics was born out of her passion for animals, and her dedication to using ingredients that are

safe for both people and the environment. I love the fact that all the Soft Paw soaps have the name of different animals such as Fierce Lioness, FlaminGlow, or Monkey Business. These local soaps are beautifully presented, they will leave your skin soft and well-hydrated, plus they smell amazing. And most importantly, she uses only natural ingredients that are not tested on animals. We think you will love these soaps as much as we do.

Solo FloraFifty microbiotic is a new microbiotic supplement to support gut health. Solo Ultra® Magnesium 375mg and Turmeric 1200mg are two of our most popular supplements so we are delighted to try this one too. Solo Nutrition’s extra high potency FloraFifty contains a total of 50 billion live ‘friendly’ bacteria, consisting of 22 different strains plus the prebiotic fibres inulin and psyllium husks. They have developed a delayed-release capsule to help the ‘friendly’

bacteria pass the stomach and reach the intestines intact. Their biochemists who enthusiastically developed this product boast that there is nothing like this on the market! The benefit of combining the bacterial strains with prebiotics is that the prebiotics provide food for the bacteria to flourish and grow once they reach the gut. Stress, antibiotics, and a diet that has too many processed foods, especially sugar, will have a negative effect on the bacteria that live in your gut. You might be interested to try this new supplement, no harm in changing it up a bit.

It is also nice when new products become permanent products like NHP Advanced Sleep Support, this has become one of our fastest selling supplements to help get a good night’s sleep.

Many of our customers are delighted with it as it helps them to get to sleep faster, stay asleep for longer, and helps to switch off unwanted thoughts that normally persist all night long.

Shop online at www. naturalhealthstore.ie where you’ll be able to take a look at these brands.

Natural Health Store, Market Cross Shopping Centre Phone: 056 7764538 Email: info@ naturalhealthstore.ie

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Ukraine Invasion FOR a good many, social media messaging has become a crucial battleground complementing the Ukrainian military’s performance on the physical front lines, as images and information ripple out on Instagram, Facebook, Telegram and TikTok. Such media has transforms Ukraine into a nation at war as stark. And so it has especially resonated with Western audiences.

Social media has long been a place where activists organise and share news, as well as a place to recruit fighters or seed disinformation. But in this battle, the proliferation of pictures showing the human toll of the war has helped Ukraine project an image of a country of stalwart survivors with the moral high ground, while casting Russia as a merciless aggressor — an impression reinforced by global condemnation and sanctions.

Russia had not engaged in the same level of disinformation as it has in the past, in part because the government in Moscow has denied the extent of the war.

But Russian government accounts have actively questioned the veracity of verified Ukrainian civilian accounts appearing on social media.

Those efforts have only deepened Anastasiya Magerramova’s determination to show the world the devastation in Ukraine. Ms. Magerramova, 27, press secretary for the Okhmatdyt pediatric hospital in Kyiv, said she felt that she was fighting her own battle — a struggle for truth alongside the conflict among soldiers — as her compatriots take up arms.

Ms Magerramova and a handful of colleagues have documented the civilians streaming in with injuries. She and some others have moved into the hospital, sleeping in the wards and working around THE Ukrainians’ effective resistance is forcing President Biden to make a delicate calibration that he is fortunate to be in a position to make: How much embarrassment can Putin suffer without taking a catastrophic step — use of a tactical nuclear weapon?

Biden’s calculation occurs in this context of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s saying US objectives are the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. This might maximally imply the reversal of Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

The rhetoric of imagined but rarely attained precision is common in modern governance. Policymakers speak of ‘fine tuning’ an economy that is powered by hundreds of millions of people making hundreds of billions of daily decisions and subject to “exogenous” events unanticipated by policymakers.

Military planners contemplate ‘surgical strikes’ as ‘signaling devices’ as conflicts

How social media brings stark war in to our lives

the clock, phones in hand and cameras at the ready. They post the images on Instagram, Facebook, and Telegram with detailed descriptions of what happened to those shown in the pictures.

“I feel that my job is important, it is also like a weapon,” she said. “I want to show the people the consequences of this war: poor children with shrapnel in their legs, their arms, in their heads. It’s not OK, it shouldn’t be like this.”

The hospital’s social media accounts have become a running documentation of the civilian toll, showing — often in excruciating detail — the suffering of those caught up in the war.

Ms Magerramova posted a photo on social media of

a young mother, Olga, who had used her body to shield her baby from shelling. The family’s travails — the father was also injured — instantly reverberated around the world, picked up first by the government, then by activists, Ukrainian news media and later, international outlets.

The personal stories keep Ms Magerramova’s phone ringing as she fields calls from journalists around the world.

Civil society groups and humanitarian organisations based inside and outside of Ukraine have also played a vital role in amplifying voices, turning into a sort of activist army to verify and disseminate information.

Marta Barandyi set up Promote Ukraine, a nongovernmental media hub,

in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. When the full-scale invasion began in February, the group’s volunteer ranks swelled and it expanded its online presence.

Dozens now volunteer, spending their days posting information online, some working remotely from Europe and some sharing updates from Ukrainian cities under siege.

“We are trying to be a deep communication platform for Ukrainians who are in Ukraine, as well as for Ukrainians who have fled Ukraine who have stories to share,” Ms. Barandyi said. Her group translates reports from those on the ground and from government sources into English, and has begun staging news conferences to further amplify

the stories.

Some of her group’s volunteers are working out of a Ukrainian civil society hub recently opened in a European Parliament building in Brussels.

Maryna Yaroshevych, head of advocacy for Promote Ukraine, said she thought the power of some of the images had already contributed to public pressure for sanctions on Russia.

“They are opening the hearts of Europeans and people around the world,” she said.

“This way, average people can pressure politicians to intervene and do something.”

While some information sharing is co-ordinated, many of the most wrenching images have spread organically.

There have also been a

number people aggregating details shared on Telegram accounts run by the government and written in Ukrainian, and then sharing them on Twitter in English, putting them in front of the eyes of thousands of international journalists.

While some information sharing is co-ordinated, many of the most wrenching images have spread organically.

There have also been a number people aggregating details shared on Telegram accounts run by the government and written in Ukrainian, and then sharing them on Twitter in English, putting them in front of the eyes of thousands of international journalists.

“There are definitely funnels which are releasing more raw war footage into Twitter,” Mr. Brooking said.

“So it is coordinated in that fashion, but after those images are released, my sense is really viral momentum is based more on the images themselves.”

With the fighting has made some parts of Ukraine inaccessible to all but a handful of journalists, the personal tales shared by civilians on social media have become even more compelling.

The only international journalists who had remained in recent weeks were a team from The Associated Press.

But they were forced to flee last week after appearing on a Russian hit list.

Joan Donovan, research director at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy who has studied how information spreads online, said that while social media sometimes allows disinformation to thrive, it can also be an amplifier of unheard voices.

She said she hoped to see the focus remain on the accounts streaming out from Ukraine, particularly if and when the Western media’s focus on the war wanes.

plary’. As Biden calibrates, we might be rising from Rung 20 ‘Peaceful’ World-Wide Embargo or Blockade’.

After 1945, it was understood that nuclear weapons might, by deterring military interventions to counter aggressions, enable wars of considerable conventional violence. Biden, however, has orchestrated a symphony of sanctions and weapons deliveries that has — so far — nullified Putin’s attempt to use nuclear threats to deter effective conventional responses to his aggression.

Presidents are pressured by friends as well as foes. In 1976, as Republicans convened in Kansas City, Ronald Reagan was almost tied in the delegate count, having potently attacked President Gerald Ford’s policy of USSoviet detente, including Ford’s refusal to meet with Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

In Kansas City, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, detente’s architect, asked Tom Korologos, a Ford aide who enjoyed tormenting Kissinger, who would be Ford’s

running mate. Korologos answered: “Solzhenitsyn.”

Volodymyr Zelensky is to Biden what Solzhenitsyn was to Ford, someone whose prestige encourages firmness.

The Ukraine president illustrates Churchill’s axiom that courage is the most important virtue because it enables the others. Zelensky has stiffened the West’s spine, made something like victory seem possible, and made it impossible to blur the conflict’s moral clarity. So, a collateral casualty of the conflict is a 19th century German philosopher.

Before sinking into insanity, Friedrich Nietzsche propounded a theory that still reverberates in the intelligentsia: There are no “facts,” “only interpretations.” That today’s war has been caused by one man’s wickedness is a fact.

War is a harrowing means of embarrassing the faux sophisticates’ moral relativism, but by doing so this ill wind has blown some good.

What is the real threat of a nuclear fallout? ascend the ‘escalation ladder’.

In 1965, war theorist Herman Kahn postulated 44 rungs on that ladder. The 22nd, ‘Dec-

laration of Limited Nuclear War’. The 44th, ‘Spasm or Insensate War’. Rung 21 was ‘Local Nuclear War — Exem-

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Ukraine Invasion

Lost planes worth billions RUSSIA has paved the way for domestic airlines to appropriate hundreds of foreign-owned planes trapped in the country, after foreign registries suspended certification of planes leased by Russian airlines.

Russian airlines currently operate about 515 foreignowned planes, the majority form Irish-based leasing companies, with a total of around $10 billion. Airlines often lease

planes from foreign owners to expand capacity quickly without needing to raise the capital to buy planes themselves. But due to sanctions imposed by the EU, foreign jet lessors are being forced to cancel contracts with Russian airlines.

After nullifying contracts, however, jet lessors have few means to get their planes back from Russia — and even less chance of doing so following Russia President Vladimir

Putin’s latest manoeuver.

The Kremlin has passed a law that allows domestic airlines to register foreign-owned planes in Russia, creating a veil of legality for domestic operators to continue flying foreign- owned aircraft after jet lessors cancel their contracts.

The government will also grant airworthiness certificates to foreign-owned planes, which certify that a plane has been fully maintained and is fit to fly.

Bermuda and Ireland — where many foreign-owned planes in Russia are registered — said they would suspend all airworthiness certificates for Russian-operated planes.

Bermuda’s civil aviation agency said that sanctions meant the agency was “unable to confidently approve these aircraft as being airworthy”.

Russia’s new law will allow Russian airlines to substitute foreign airworthiness

certificates with ones issued by Russia.

But Russia’s jet grab will clear the formerly foreignowned planes to fly domestic routes only. Earlier this month, Russia’s airspace regulator recommended that Russian airlines with foreign-owned planes halt their international flights to prevent their planes from being seized abroad.

That same day, Russian airlines PJSC Aeroflot and

S7 Airlines halted all their international flights, except for flights to Russian ally Belarus.

Keeping foreign-owned planes in the air will create a divergence between maintenance and flight records held by the lessors and the actual state of the plane.

These records are critical to ensuring a plane can then be leased to other airlines — if lessors get the planes back, and that is going to be a tough task.

Bluebird Kilkenny in big fund-raiser for the Ukrainians BLUEBIRD Care Kilkenny and Carlow has just finished its 10-day fundraising initiative to offer support and humanitarian aid to those in desperate need in Ukraine.

Over the 10 days Bluebird Care Ireland hosted fundraising events across Ireland with all money going to the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC). A Bluebird Care JustGiving page was also set up to encourage donations from those who can’t attend these events.

As an act of solidarity Bluebird Care also removed the colour orange from their online branding for the period of the fundraising campaign. This meant Bluebird Care’s online brand colour was blue and yellow for this time.

Hannah Banfield, Marketing and Communications Director for Bluebird Care said: “We are fundraising for the Disasters Emergency Committee to offer as much as we can in support of the humanitarian aid needed for Ukrainians. We are dedicated to helping care for people and if we can assist those in most need, we will. Like everyone, we are

deeply appalled by the suffering of those impacted by the war; those that have lost loved ones; or lost their homes and now fleeing their country. At Bluebird Care we Stand With Ukraine.”

Bluebird Care Ireland started in 2007 and today they are proud to be one of the largest providers of homecare services in Ireland. Bluebird Care Ireland provides direct care to customers on behalf of the HSE and other agencies in addition to providing services to customers in a private capacity.

Building on their extensive experience within the caring professions Bluebird Care has revolutionised the way care is delivered in Ireland by concentrating on high quality customer service, whilst at the same time upholding the very best in nurse led care.

Each Bluebird Care office employs a clinical nurse manager who is responsible for clinical governance and is accountable for service delivery, insuring quality of service, risk management, standard compliance and people management.

New English classes being set up locally THE local Education and Training Board (ETB) in Kilkenny and Carlow has just confirmed that they’re going to roll out extra english classes for Ukrainians.

Details will be provided when people present at local social welfare for PPS numbers and refugees will be given information pertaining to their nearest class.

Classes are ready to go and they are looking to start asap.

See locations and contact numbers at https:// kilkennycarlow.etb.ie/ what-we-do/publications/locations-andcontact-details-for-theorganisation/?cn-reloaded=1 Or get more information at https://kilkennycarlow. etb.ie/

Glimmer of hope: hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness... Painting by Ukrainian artitst Kirill Zavadskiy and published with his permission

Schools ‘need to be sensitive’ to refugee pupils SCHOOLS welcoming Ukrainian pupils have been advised to be sensitive at times of family celebrations such as Easter and Father’s Day. The advice is included in guidance issued to schools to support the well-being of Ukrainian children and young people who have fled their country.

While they have reached safety, usually with their mothers, they have left fathers and other family members behind in dangerous situations. Be-

cause of this, feelings of trauma, separation and loss will persist.

The guidance, drafted by the Department of Education’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), provides information on how to make pupils feel safe.

It covers a wide spectrum, including ensuring the prospect of a school tour does not trigger trauma for pupils whose last experience of a bus was a one-way journey from home to escape the horrors of war.

It also touches on potential sensitivities in curriculum content and, at primary level, urges caution around stories of loss, separation and war.

In secondary schools, teachers are asked to be mindful of certain aspects of the history and English literature curricula.

While assuring pupils they are safe, schools are advised to be mindful of the losses they have experienced.

It states: “Some will have dealt with frightening and stressful

situations, others will have experienced grief, and others too will have been vulnerable prior to the outbreak of this war.”

Schools are told to expect that the newly-arriving pupils’ responses to their recent experiences will vary.

“In the early days they may appear very quiet and hypervigilant. They may tire easily.

This is all normal and is an expected, typical and adaptive response for young people who have experienced a traumatic event,” it says.

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 April 2022

Your Money

BY JOHN ELLIS FINANCIAL ADVISOR

GROWING up in Ireland getting a car was a rite of passage. You got a credit union/bank loan and applied for your provisional and away you went, your own means of freedom. It was the sign you had arrived. And today Ireland continues to rely on the car as the main means of transportation, but experts say the trend may soon be away from car ownership with peoples’ appetite for transport alternatives increasing.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) recent report shows new car registrations for the month of January are down slightly -0.2% (25,093) when compared to January 2021 (25,140).

While used car imports saw a 40.8% (4,041) decrease in January, when compared with January 2021 (6,821), new electric car registrations reached their highest month on record with 2,714 registered in January 2022 (+178%), compared to 977 January 2021.

Even though electric cars accounted for 11% of the new car market, an increase of 178% on last year, car sales are 22% behind pre-pandemic levels (2019).

In a recent nationwide survey conducted by Bolt, the

Baby, you can drive my car...

European mobility company app, apart from the decrease due to the pandemic the reasons why car owners might choose not to buy a new vehicle or even give up their existing cars are the overall running expenses, rising fuel costs and environmental reasons, with some citing improvement in public transport (24%) and the lack of car parking spaces (13%).

The survey shows more than one-third of drivers (38%) are aiming to reduce the

number of car trips they take each week with respondents mainly looking at cutting out driving for recreational trips (43.7%) and one-third (33.5%) looking to stop commuting by private car. A further 27.9% hope to reduce using the car for grocery shopping. Even so, one in 10 (11.6%) Irish car owners feel they can’t give up their vehicle despite the options available.

Bolt, which launched in Dublin in 2020, has an alternative for its already thou-

sands of drivers on its platform. They aim to “build cities for people, not cars”. They offer a “use as you need”, operation with a range of mobility services including shared cars, e-bikes, scooter hire, and food and grocery delivery. These services are already provided to more than 100 million customers in 45 countries across Europe and Africa and they are looking to further roll out the operation in Ireland.

Commenting on the findings, Aisling Dunne, Head of

Public Policy for Bolt Ireland, said: “Bolt’s mission is to reduce the need for private car ownership through offering multiple transport modes in the same app. We believe Ireland has the highest potential for doing this, as there is intrinsic high car usage, but many journeys are short. The research supports a clear willingness to look at alternative means of transport.

“Therefore, Bolt is to start a major drive to track sentiment as they wish to support drivers

taking the initiative to give up the private car with long term choices.”

But what are the options and are they viable? According to those surveyed. to decrease their car usage they would look towards the bus and train with 37% and 12% respectively considering the move to each form of public transport.

A total of 15% of respondents would give up the car and use a bike and 8% would consider electric scooters.

Nearly 10% of the respondents would opt for a taxi while 11% would be open to the idea of car rental.

This shows that a range of transport offerings will be needed to get a wide-scale shift in behaviour, but over 70% (72.7%) would estimate they would need to hire a car at least once per week if they were to give up the use of their private vehicle. But, most importantly, availability, price and the flexibility of the service will be key factors if the process is to work.

Bolt believe Ireland has the required characteristics to reach world-leading levels of shared car ownership. They are seeing significant shifts in how people use these services in areas where they have rolled out the model and believe there is evidence that this additional flexibility is being sought by Dublin drivers and those in other major cities in Ireland.

John@ellisfinancial.ie 086 8362633

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 April 2022

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News

Kilkenny debut for Caoimhe and Séamus Uí Flatharta CAOIMHE and Séamus Uí Flatharta’s recent performance of the lament Anach Cuan on the Late Late Show in honour of Aishling Murphy captured the mood of the nation. The siblings hail from the Gaeltacht region of Connemara in County Galway and make their Kilkenny debut on Sunday, 10th April at the stunning Medieval Mile Museum.

The talented pair are multi-

All Ireland winning performers who keep their language and heritage at the heart of all their musical endeavours.

Born into a musical family in the village of An Áird Mhóir, they were exposed to traditional Irish music at a very young age and have since developed into accomplished singers, multiinstrumentalists and dancers.

The Ó Flatharta duo are noted for their unique arrangements of both Irish and English language songs, taking a particular interest in vocal arrangement and harmoni-

zation. Both Caoimhe and Séamus are multi All-Ireland winning performers who keep their language and heritage at the heart of all their musical endeavours.

Tickets priced at €12 including booking fee. Concert starts at 12pm. Full proceeds from tickets go to Irish Red Cross Ukraine and Unicef emergency appeals.

April Sounds is delivered locally by Kilkenny County Council Arts Office and funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media.

Chocolate is good for you ANDREW MCDONALD HYPNOTHERAPIST

EASTER (noun); annual festival when children, and some adults, gorge on sweet things.

Also, the part of the Christian year commemorating Jesus of Nazareth’s crucifixion and resurrection. However, for the young, and youthful at heart, it means chocolate.

Yes, limiting sugar is important for health. Yet, at this point in the calendar, perhaps we can afford to enjoy ourselves just a little? For persuasion’s sake, how about some reasons chocolate is actually good for us?

Cocoa, the base substance of chocolate, contains blood pressure-reducing flavanols. Like ACE inhibitors, they stimulate production of nitrous oxide in blood.

Research in Australia found regular consumption of cocoa reduces blood pressure both entering and exiting the heart.

Those helpful flavanols also dilate blood vessels. This may improve blood flow in the liver, thereby helping to prevent liver damage. Following up every bite of chocolate with a whiskey chaser probably still

isn’t a good idea, though!

Polyphenols, chemicals found in cocoa, could lead to better cholesterol levels.

Chocolate contains stearic acid, a saturated fat. However, unlike most saturates, stearic acid doesn’t raise cholesterol.

By lowering blood pressure, opening up blood vessels and reducing inflammation, chocolate can keep our hearts healthier. A study review demonstrated that of more than 114,000 people, those who ate most chocolate were 37% less likely to suffer coronary heart disease.

Furthermore, they were 29% less like to have a stroke than those who ate least chocolate.

Chocolate makes you feel good too. Eating it releases endorphins and serotonin, the body’s own pleasure chemicals. In turn, people feel an upswing in their mood after eating cocoa products.

There is debate on whether chocolate increases the desire to exercise. Well, a wish to engage in a certain form of exercise. The Aztecs were the first people to ascribe aphrodisiac qualities to cocoa.

For those with their minds on higher things, cocoa also boosts brain power. Tests on older people in Norway

found those who eat more chocolate, as well as drinking more tea and wine, had significantly higher cognitive performances than those who didn’t.

Now a quick quiz question to test cognition: Which country has the most Nobel laureates per capita?

Answer: Switzerland.

Additional interesting fact: The Swiss are the world’s highest consumers of chocolate.

What are we to learn from this? Cocoa turns you into a genius. Maybe.

For those more concerned with their physique, chocolate also makes you slim. This doesn’t equate to eating gargantuan amounts of the stuff being a serious weight loss plan. However, research has demonstrated that people who eat chocolate a few times a week are typically thinner than those who don’t.

The above all comes with the key caveat of moderation.

Consuming enormous quantities of chocolate isn’t an elixir for good health. It does, perhaps, offer a few reasons for losing the guilt whilst we indulge over Easter, though.

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 April 2022

Science & Wellbeing 1. Ditch the cigarettes Every puff of tobacco is packed with 250 harmful chemicals. Nearly 70 of them cause cancer. And it’s more than just lung cancer.

Cigarettes are linked to 12 other kinds, including stomach, bladder, kidney, mouth, and throat. The sooner you stop, the better.

Ask your doctor for advice on quit-smoking methods.

2. Eat more broccoli Fruits and veggies pack an anti-cancer punch because they’re high in nutrients and fibre, and low in fat. Try broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, watercress, or other cruciferous vegetables. They protect against DNA damage that can turn cells cancerous. Or eat colourful berries. Studies show they have cancerfighting chemicals that ward off damage to cells.

3. Cut back on drink Tip back too many martinis each day, and your odds of cancer go up. Alcohol is linked to cancers of the mouth, breast, liver, oesophagus, and others. The more you drink, the higher your risk. If you drink, do it in moderation. Women should stick to one drink a day, men up to two.

4. Keep moving Do you spend too much time lounging around? Cancer prevention is one more reason to get moving. Exercise fights obesity and lowers levels of hormones like estrogen and insulin, which have been linked to cancer.

Aim for 30 minutes of aerobic exercise — the kind that gets your heart pumping — on most days of the week.

5. Use sun screen Baking in the sun might give you a healthy-looking glow, but under the surface, UV rays cause skin damage that could lead to cancer.

IS nostalgia a thing of the past?

Or perhaps nostalgia is not what it used to be. Either way, nostalgia is a peculiar feeling.

It is the sentimental reminiscence of happy times, and yet it leaves us feeling curiously sad. Nostalgia reveals that we do not live only one life but many lives. We look back on our past selves with a poignant and disconnected sense of change.

Now, new research shows in what ways nostalgia is good for us. It even acts as an effective method of pain relief.

As we get older, we spend more time looking backward.

We reflect on all those happy days in our past, reminiscing about days of warmth, laughter, security, and love. Our memory is a funny old thing. It is not some photographic record, but rather it selects, exaggerates, and warps everything.

Our peaks and troughs, our highs and lows, come looming out from the great fog of time.

Nowhere is this truer than with nostalgia. Nostalgia is a peculiar feeling — slippery

9. Know your family history You inherited more than your mother’s eyes or your father’s grin. They may also have shared their chances for having diseases like cancer. Some genes that parents pass down to their kids have flaws. They don’t repair damaged DNA the way they should, which lets cells turn into cancer. Learn about your family’s medical history and ask your doctor if a genetic test is a good idea for you.

10. Get screened Screening tests catch cancer early — sometimes even before it starts. A colonoscopy often finds polyps in the colon and rectum before they turn into cancer.

The Pap test locates precancerous and cancerous cells in a woman’s cervix.

Mammograms and lowdose computed tomography (LDCT) look for early breast and lung cancers. Ask your doctor when to start getting these tests, and how often you need them.

12 things that help ward off cancers Because you can burn in just 15 minutes, rub on sunscreen before you go outside. Pick a broad-spectrum product with an SPF of 30 or higher. Reapply whenever you sweat or swim. And when you’re out in the sun, wear a wide-brimmed hat and wraparound sunglasses.

6. Practice safer sex Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) aren’t your only worry during unpro-

tected sex. Some of these infections also increase your odds of having cancer. About 70% of cervical cancers start with human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18. Some types of hepatitis can cause liver cancer. To stay safe, use a latex condom every time you have sex.

flu shot. Some can protect against cancer, too. Certain HPV vaccines prevent cancers of the cervix, vulva, vagina, and anus. The time to get vaccinated is between ages 9 and 26. The hepatitis B vaccine wards off the virus that causes liver cancer. It’s part of the childhood vaccination schedule.

7. Get vaccinated When it comes to vaccines, think beyond your annual

8. Avoid toxic chemicals Chemicals called carcinogens damage DNA in your

cells and raise your chance of having cancer if you touch, eat, or breathe them in. Asbestos, radon, and benzene are a few that some people come into contact with at work or home.

Chemicals in weedkillers, plastics, and some home products may also be risky.

You can’t avoid every chemical, but know which ones are in products you use and switch to safer options if you can.

a much subtler place. It is the heart-aching reminiscence of your parents singing you to sleep. It is in the laughter of friends we once knew, but

which now echoes into an empty space.

It is in first love, childhood pets, video nights, Christmas mornings, and final goodbyes.

It is great joy, shadowed with sadness and longing. It is that dark well of poignancy that makes you feel lonely and without something you once had. It is the tear-soaked smile of happy times, no longer here.

Nostalgia plays a foundational role in who we are. It juxtaposes us as a now against what we once were. As the French essayist, Michel de Montaigne, reflected, “To be able to enjoy your former life again is to live twice.” It is a keen observation, and one which highlights a remarkable aspect of the human condition.

The older we get, the more we realise that life is made of episodes and stages.

There are facets of ourselves that are more or less constant, but who we are today can feel strangely remote from our childhood. We look on our past like some oddly familiar story to reread.

How nostalgia can be good for us and, in many ways, indefinable — but it’s a key aspect to being human. According to new research, it might even make being human a bit easi-

er, as well.

There is great depth to nostalgia. While love, fear, or anger might move and evoke great passion, nostalgia lies in

11. Take your medicine Some drugs lower your odds of getting certain cancers. Tamoxifen (Nolvadex, Soltamox) and raloxifene (Evista) can reduce breast cancer risk but may have serious side effects. Aspirin may protect against colorectal and prostate cancers.

Be wary, though, of supplements that promise to keep you cancer-free. Many haven’t been proven, and some have side effects.

12. Lose excess weight Extra weight around your middle could add up to a greater chance of having cancer, especially of the breast, colon, uterus, pancreas, and gallbladder.

Researchers say one reason may be that fat cells release substances that encourage cancer cells to grow.

Hence, there is a disconnect and alienation that comes with nostalgia. We look back on our previous selves and we feel as if we have changed. We see that our path has wandered far from its original way, that we hardly know who we once were, or who we are now.

The reason nostalgia is so peculiar is that it’s really hard to say if it’s good or bad. The reminiscence of past happiness feels nice, but the longing and sense of absence it leaves can be deeply upsetting.

What’s interesting, though, is a recent study has shown that nostalgia can also make pain more bearable. It even goes some way to numbing that pain altogether.

When we reflect on our past with the glow of nostalgia, there is a whole host of benefits. It promotes psychological wellbeing, increases physical comfort, and reduces distress.

But, what the paper from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed is that it even serves as an analgesic — it relieves pain.

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 April 2022

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Travel & Leisure GREECE, long-time popular holiday spot with Irish tourists. Is a place where relaxation and renewal reign supreme. And, if you’re really looking to kick back and do nothing at all, there are plenty of all-inclusive resorts in Greece to try, too.

From adults-only and family-friendly to spa getaways and adventurepacked fun, here are 10 of the best all-inclusive resorts in the Greece.

1. Aeolos Beach Hotel, Corfu Modern and chic, the Aeolos Beach Hotel is the spot to be for those looking for a hotel they never have to leave to have fun. The Greek island resort includes two pools, a full-service spa, and plenty of activities like tennis, fitness classes, beach volleyball, and more. The hotel also offers nightly entertainment featuring local musicians and dancers.

The all-inclusive option includes all meals at the main restaurant, unlimited bottled wine, beer, soft drinks, sun beds and umbrellas at all pools and the beach, kids club, access to the sauna and fitness room, and more.

2. Ikos Olivia, Halkidiki Ikos Olivia is another excellent family-friendly option. At the all-inclusive resort, children stay free and can play all day in the kids club, which comes fully staffed on-site. Guests can choose between classic rooms or private bungalows, but no matter which one they choose, they’ll Ind Mediterranean-inspired furnishings and floor-toceiling sliding doors that open to either private balconies, patios, and even some with private pools.

Here, guests also have access to the hotel’s private beach, several pools, a full-service spa, and more.

AUSTRALIA and Singapore will further ease Covid entry requirements, decreasing costs for travellers and streamlining the travel experience.

From April 17, Australia will drop the requirements for pre-departure testing.

Passengers will no longer be required to present Covid test results, removing a significant cost burden for tourists headed down under.

International travellers into and out of Australia will still be required to provide proof of double vaccination against Covid-19. Travellers will also still be required to wear a mask while on international flights based on medical advice.

Australia’s Health Minister, Greg Hunt, welcomed the changes as a practical step towards rebuilding the tourism industry.

“Given that the vaccination requirements remain and the masking

& Spa, Rhodes For a kid-free, all-inclusive getaway, make your way to Sentido Port Royal Villas & Spa on the island of Rhodes.

The hotel comes outfitted with luxury furnishings, local artwork, manicured grounds that include plenty of olive trees, and a glimmering pool that is perfect for a dip in the middle of a hot day. Guests can choose from rooms, suites, and bungalows, including beachfront accommodations that also come with private pools. Just make sure to grab the all-inclusive package at checkout to ensure your meals are included.

Seven heavenly spots for a family holiday in Greece 3.Kiani Beach Resort, Crete Kiani Beach is yet another family-friendly spot.

However, this one comes with a little bit of a twist.

It comes with so many activities for children (and even baby care) that parents may not even see their little ones during the entirety of the holiday.

And that’s okay because there is plenty of fun to be had for adults, too, including sun loungers by the pool, spa packages, water sports activities, and more. At night, the entire family can come together again to watch the live entertainment, ranging from local music to magic acts that are sure to delight.

Further easing of Covid rules down under

4.Creta Maris, Crete Attention foodies, this one is for you. As we mentioned above, Greece is a food lover’s paradise. Honour that by booking a stay at Creta Maris, a hotel that is home to six restaurants and seven bars, including casual spots you can belly up to right off the beach and upscale dining venues

that you’ll most certainly want to look your best for in the evening. The resort will even set up a spectacular private dining experience for you overlooking the craggy seaside so that you can dine by the sea with just some candlelight and the moon lighting your way.

5. Sentido Port Royal Villas

6. Blue Lagoon Village, Kos While the Blue Lagoon Village in Kos is most certainly beautiful with its earthen rooms and massive picture windows, the real star of the show here is the drop-dead gorgeous landscape. The all-inclusive hotel includes direct access to the beach, so guests can walk right from their rooms into the ocean.

The resort is also home to Aegean Main, a restaurant with indoor and outdoor sections, the Thalassa Fish tavern, the Susshimi Sushi restaurant, and the Golden Sun Chinese restaurant for anyone looking for a global meal. The resort is located less than 30 minutes from Kos Town, making it a great jumping-off point for exploration.

7. Lux Me White Palace Grecotel Luxury Resort, Crete With a name like “Lux Me,” you know this place has to be posh. The name certainly Its; this all-inclusive resort in Crete boasts white-washed rooms, including several “swim-up” suites located by the massive pool. There are also panoramic views of the ocean, an outdoor cinema for entertainment, and plenty of activities to try out as well. The resort even comes with its own working farm that guests of all ages are welcome to visit during their stay.

requirements, the medical advice is that [the test] would no longer be required,” he said.

Meanwhile, Singapore has now scrapped its Vaccinated Travel Lanes and Passes, replacing the program with a ‘Vaccinated Travel Framework,’ as the country moves closer to pre-pandemic tourism levels. Fully-vaccinated travellers will no longer need travel passes to enter, and all flights will be treated the same.

Despite the removal of past-arrival testing, travellers will still be required to take a PCR test before traveling to Singapore. Additionally, incoming visitors must have insurance of SG$30,000 ( €20,000) or higher that also covers Covid treatment expenses, as well as fill out the streamlined electronic SG Arrival Card. There will be no test upon arriving in Singapore.

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‘DAVID’ gains traction across Ireland THE Twilight Community group received some great news from their Diversity Awareness Visibility Inclusion Development (DAVID) Team recently on the traction this programme is gaining with not just the LGBTQAI+ Communities but their families, friends and colleagues across Ireland. The young vibrant team that Inclusion Officer Stephen Mungovan has developed are making contact directly with the Student Union bodies and the LGBTQAI+ communities to inform all their members of the DAVID project and what its aims and aspirations are.” They team, which has young members who are engaging directly with these groups and institutes, show that this programme is welcome and needed as we strive to have a society for all men, women, boys and girls in their diversity” Mr. Mungovan said recently after the Trans life Kilkenny meeting which was held in the Twilight International Cultural House Kilkenny.

He also said” This is one of the objectives of DAVID, A safe and secure space where all groups can meet together to talk and as we say hold ‘courageous conversations’.

That is where all comments and views are welcome and everyone’s point of view is

valued” Emmanuel Samuel is a WIT graduate and a veteran of many Erasmus + programmes across Europe and Africa.”

The DAVID pro-gramme aligns perfectly with the Erasmus + programmes.

These are projects of exchange and education in a non-judgmental, soft learning environment, where all are welcome regardless of your sexual orientation or gender” Emmanuel added that his peers and colleagues in our European partners are enquiring as to the possibility of Twilight’s DAVID project becoming a European wide programme in the near further. The Twilight Community Group Management and Board of Directors believe this is a strong possibility for their 2023 programme of events.

Kilkenny’ GLOW UP Ireland Star Michael Ryan spoke to Frank Tynan about his living experiences growing up in Urlingford, moving to Dublin and his career as a Make Artist and this is available now in Twilight’s YouTube channel studio TEN and their website DAVID: Michael Ryan – Twi-

light Community Group The Project DAVID is named lead after Ireland’s leading LGBTQAI+ Advocates,

David Patrick Bernard Norris (born 31 July 1944)] David Norris is an Irish scholar, independent Senator and civil rights activist Internation-

ally, Norris is credited with having “managed, almost single-handedly, to overthrow the anti-homosexuality law which brought about the

downfall of Oscar Wilde”, a feat he achieved in 1988 after a fourteen-year campaign. He has also been credited with being “almost single-handedly responsible for rehabilitating James Joyce in once disapproving Irish eyes”.

Senator Norris is a former university lecturer and a member of the Oireachtas, serving in Seanad Éireann since 1987. He was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in Ireland.

A founder of the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform, he is also a prominent member of the Protestant Church of Ireland.

He was a candidate for President of Ireland in the October 2011 election. He topped numerous opinion polls and was favourite among members of the Irish public for the position but withdrew from the race months before the election, before returning to the race in September 2011, eventually losing out to Ireland’s current President Michael D Higgins.

Mr Norris has a wonderful video message for all the team and participants and will be aired shortly as part of a short documentary on Senator Norris’s life and great deeds to date.

This programme will be available on www.twilight.ie

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Up to 4,658 complaints heard by finance ombudsman THE Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Acting), MaryRose McGovern, has published an Overview of Complaints for 2021, detailing the activities of the Office of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) in 2021.

The overview details the 4,658 complaints received by the FSPO in 2021 and details the value of more than €7m in complaint outcomes during 2021, including:

• €4.6m in mediated settlements in 1,153 complaints in the FSPO’s Dispute Resolution Service.

• €941,328 in compensation to complainants directed in the Ombudsman’s legally binding decisions following the formal investigation process.

• €944,167 paid to complainants by providers to resolve complaints during the FSPO’s formal investigation process.

• A further €667,993 in redress from providers, available for acceptance by complainants. 91 complaints were not upheld because the offer in question was reasonable and adequate to redress the conduct leading to the complaint, and no formal direction by the Ombudsman was required.

In total, the FSPO closed 5,010 complaints in 2021, and the overview details the manner in which these com-

plaints were closed and the outcome of complaints. In accordance with the FSPO’s governing legislation, the overview identifies those financial service providers against which three or more complaints were upheld, during 2021.

Key statistics in the overview include: • 4,658 complaints were received in 2021 and 5,010 complaints were closed through the FSPO’s various processes.

• The FSPO received complaints from every county in 2021, including 85 complaints from consumers in Kilkenny.

• 23% of complaints concerned an issue of customer service.

• Banking complaints represented 57% of all complaints received, and the conduct most complained of for those banking complaints was customer service.

• Complaints concerning mortgages accounted for 23%

Pandemic toll on hotel biz is threatened by VAT increase ESCALATING business costs, particularly in energy, are placing an incredible strain on hotels and guesthouses across Ireland seeking to rebuild after an unprecedented two years of the pandemic, according to Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, President of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF).

Speaking as over 450 hoteliers and guesthouse operators gathered for the IHF’s annual conference, she said the Government must do everything within its power to minimise the impact of the current economic scenario on tourism, with the first step being to scrap the proposed increase in tourism VAT rate planned for later this year.

“Having only just weathered the storm of Covid-19, hoteliers and guesthouse operators are now facing into a gale of spiralling operational costs which are putting an unbearable strain on their businesses. Our sector – which is at the heart of a communities throughout the country supporting more than 270,000 livelihoods pre-pandemic – is being placed under real pressure by price hikes across all areas of operation.

“Hotels and guesthouses are reporting year-on-year increases of 88% in energy, 22% in water and 18% in food and beverage, as well as significant insurance increases. Given that we already operate in a highcost environment, these levels of increase are placing an incredible strain on businesses, with three in four hotels (77%) significantly impacted by escalating business costs.

Ms Fitzgerald Kane said that to maintain international competitiveness in this escalating cost environment it was essential for the Government to provide certainty on the continuation of the 9% VAT rate for the tourism industry.

“The Government has gone the distance throughout this very trying pandemic in terms of supporting livelihoods and businesses in the tourism sector, and this has put us in a stronger position to recover than some of our international competitors. Continuing that support now with an extension of the 9% VAT rate, until business levels stabilise, will underpin this great work and have a direct impact on the 270,000 tourism and hospitality livelihoods which one in 10 of all Irish jobs, with 70% of these jobs located outside of Dublin,” she said.

“The certainty over the 9% VAT rate is vitally important.

Many hotels – as well as tour operators – begin contracting for international business up to two years in advance. Our current 9% VAT rate has only been committed to until September this year and this date is now looming large. The continued ambiguity is causing uncertainty in our highly competitive international marketplace and particularly as we seek to restore international connectivity to our island nation and rebuild international tourism in the aftermath of the pandemic.

“Increasing Ireland’s VAT rate to 13.5% would make Ireland a European outlier. Of the 27 EU countries, the VAT rate on accommodation is lower than 9% in nine countries, is 9% in six countries and exceeds 13.5% in only one country: Denmark.”

She said tourism would recover, but it would take time, and businesses needed certainty to allow them to plan properly for this year, and indeed years, ahead.

The 9% VAT rate had proven to be the right rate of VAT when compared to our European competitors and must be maintained.

of all complaints received in 2021. This includes 250 new tracker mortgage complaints during 2021, twelve years after the first tracker mortgage complaints were received in 2009 by the FSPO’s predecessor, the Financial Services Ombudsman’s Bureau.

• 27% of complaints (1,257) received related to insurance products, with complaints most commonly concerning claim handling or rejection of an insurance claim.

Well-being: Orna and Niamh Murray, co-founders of Move2B and graduates of the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Ideas Academy

Drive for improved mental health SOCIAL entrepreneurs are stepping up to address urgent social problems and fill the gaps in services and supports across the areas of mental health, the environment and gender equality.

That’s according to notfor-profit organisation Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) as the deadline approaches for its 2022 programmes. The organisation says it has seen a growing number of applicants putting forward innovative solutions to these problems in the past three years.

Since its foundation in 2004, SEI has supported more than 500 social entrepreneurs around Ireland who have directly impacted the lives of millions of people. Alumni include Pieta House, the Irish Men’s Shed

Association, FoodCloud, GIY, the Shona Project and Women for Election.

Commenting, CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, Tim Griffiths said: “Social entrepreneurs play a crucial role in solving existing and emerging social problems.

In the past three years, we’ve seen close to a quarter of all applications to SEI addressing mental health problems in response to escalating demands on our health system.

“We’ve also seen significant numbers of people coming up with innovative solutions in the areas of education, the environment and active citizenship, of which gender equality emerged as a key issue in applications last year,” he said.

“This year SEI has up to 50 programme places and €140,000 funding available to people all across Ireland who are stepping up with solutions to the social problems they see impacting their communities. It is often the people closest to the problems who have the best solutions, but the least resources to put those ideas into action.

“We want to let everyone know that their idea or solution does not need to be perfect or complete. We’re looking for people from all backgrounds with courage, ambition, and a passion for social change who want to take the first step in their journey, or those who have already taken those first steps and who need support to grow their solution and

take it to the next level.”

SEI’s Ideas Academy is a three month programme for people with innovative early-stage ideas to solve social problems. With up to 45 places available, the programme aims to support a new generation of social entrepreneurs by providing participants with the training and direction they need as they take the first steps from idea to action.

Participants also have the opportunity to pitch for a portion of a €40,000 seed fund at the end of the programme to pilot their idea. * Applications are open until midnight on Tuesday, April 5. Interested candidates can apply or find out more at socialentrepreneurs.ie.

Clune joins Euro Covid-19 study group THE Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune has been appointed to the new European Union Committee investigating the Covid-19 response.

She is the only Irish representative among the 38 members of the Special Committee.

Ms Clune will be part of the grouping charged with investigating the bloc’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Fine Gael MEP is the

only Irish representative among the 38 members of the special committee to study Europe’s reaction to the pandemic and prepare us for future emergencies, which is beginning its work this month.

MEP Clune told The Kilkenny Observer: “We have learnt so much about Covid-19 in the last two years but it is still affecting thousands of people in Ireland and many millions

throughout the wide world.

“As we continue to respond to these challenges it is vital that we put this experience to good use.”

The committee would be studying how the EU institutions responded to the pandemic, the vaccine strategy, and the level of co-ordination between member states.

Measures such as lockdowns, border closures, mask

mandates, and the effect on work would also be evaluated.

Ms Clune said Ireland had a unique perspective on this pandemic and it was vital that it was included in this European evaluation.

In the next 12 months the committee would prepare a set of recommendations to ensure we were better equipped to deal with future pandemics and global emergencies.

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Feature Michael ‘Ducksie’ Walsh, champion of champions

Neighbourhood project highlights powerful Community history The Kilkenny Observer takes a trip down memory lane with the Butts Community Centre PHOTO CREDITS: COMMUNITY HALL PROJECT; MIKE KEALY; PAT SHORTALL A QUESTION? What community in Kilkenny boasts the most All Ireland titles?

It’s an interesting question and would deserve to be

included as a tiebreaker in a pub quiz.

One obvious answer would be Bennettsbridge with their haul of fortyseven All Ireland medals.

During their heyday in the 1950’s and 1960’s Bennettsbridge gained an enviable reputation, featuring in many inter-

Jenny Cooke, Centre Supervisor, pictured at the photographic exhibition with Siobhán O’Brien of the ETB

county hurling tournaments and proving to be the major attraction.

The club produced marvellous teams, and one such team was known as ‘The Ring Dazzlers.’ It included Dave DeLoughry, Frank Brady, Dick ‘Stokes’ Power, Jim ‘Sam’ Carroll, Paddy ‘Galar’ Kelly, Seamus

Cleere, Martin Treacy, Mick McCarthy and Larry Cleere.

The team coach was James Hayes.

Other prominent Bridge players who won All-Ireland medals with Kilkenny were: ‘The Lovely’ Johnny Dunne, who hurled with the great Kilkenny team of the 1930’s. Later success came

Sean Fitzgerald and Noel Deevy attending the Photographic exhibition at St Canice’s hall

courtesy of Paddy Moran, Dick Carroll, Sam Carroll, Martin Treacy, Jim Bennett, Liam Cleere, John Kinsella, Timmy Kelly, Tony Kelly, Pat Lalor and recognised by many as the greatest goalkeeper of all time the legendary Noel Skehan, the first man to win nine senior all Ireland titles. In more

recent years we can add James McGarry and Liam Simpson to the list. Some haul!

INCREDIBLE STATISTICS IN BUTTS COMMUNITY However, you would have to travel a long way to top the medal haul accumulated by the Butts Community in

Enjoying the photographic exhibition at St Canice’s hall: Josie Woods, Rita Hayes, Mary Minogue and Betty Brennan

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Feature

Time for a chat….John Brennan and Sydney Ramsbottom

Kilkenny city. Admittedly, we are comparing chalk and cheese. The Bennettsbridge tally is in hurling while The Butts trophy case includes a variety of sports such as, Handball, Basketball, Soccer, Snooker, Billiards, Darts. The list goes on.

Even more incredibly, one man is responsible for what can only be described as a mountain of trophies. That man is Michael ‘Ducksie’ Walsh Here is a brief look at the legends tally. 16 All-Ireland 60x30 Senior Singles titles; 7 All-Ireland 40x20 Senior Singles titles;10 All-Ireland 60x30 Senior Doubles titles; 5 All-Ireland 40x20 Senior Doubles Titles; 1 Waterford National Crystal Singles; 7 Handballer of the Year awards; numerous underage All-Ireland, USA and World Titles.

Ducksie holds a record thirteen successive Senior Softball Singles titles 1985– 1997.

Michael who died in 2016 put his sporting success down to the fact that he found a great mentor in the late Tommy O’ Brien when he took up the game as a nine-year-old on the outdoor, corporation courts adjacent to St Canice’s Church in Kilkenny City.

Local rules dictated that winners stayed on court.

“I’d be there all-day Sunday and I’d come home with a good few bob,” Ducksie stated in an interview some years ago.

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE Last week The Kilkenny Observer took a trip to St Canice’s Community hall to view a photographic exhibition that gives a social history of The Butts and includes sport, politics and community spirit.

Obviously Ducksie is included but so too are numerous other sportsmen and women who have contributed to bringing success and joy to the area.

According to Jenny Cooke, supervisor of the Community Centre, the idea of such an exhibition came from a casual chat.

“I was just shooting the breeze one day with Kay Brennan and one word borrowed another.

Before we knew it, the seed was sown to gather

as many photographs as possible to remember and acknowledge the proud tradition of the Butts.” Jenny went on to say that it’s all very well coming up with an idea, but then you have to put it into action.

“All of us at the centre decided that we were going to have a positive approach and decide to work under the umbrella of ‘Community Project’”, added Jenny.

All these things cost money and the centre needed help explained Jenny. Enter Siobhán O’Brien from the Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board (KCETB) Siobhán explained that in summer 2021 KCETB launched its first Arts and Culture Grant. This grant was available to community groups to fund a project related to Art, with specific emphasis on Personal Development, Family and Community, Health, Well-Being, Education and Employment.

St. Canice’s Neighbourhood Hall was successful in securing the funding which allowed their project to develop.

Launching the exhibition Siobhán said “she was delighted to be involved with such a lovely project.”

Speaking at the launch Ms O’Brien thanked all involved and acknowledged those who donated photos. She was highly complementary of the great community spirit that culminated in such a wonderful photographic exhibition.

Concluding her speech, Siobhán thanked the dedicated tutors who gave so willingly of their time.

Closing the event, Jenny Cooke said she hoped that residents of the local area and people from the wider

The construction of Thomas’s square 1930’s

Chum Dwyer Trophy: Timmy Clifford, Michael O’Grady, Michael Dwyer, Tommy Blanche, Willie Pratt

Kay Ramsbottom from St Canices community, pictured in Dublin, training with the Irish soccer team, preparing for the first international tournament in France 1972

Happy youngsters enjoying their outdoor playground at St Canice’s

Proud St Canice’s Boys club members display trophies won at billiards and snooker 1985. Seated: Greg Blanchfield, Mick Reade, Jimmy Glennon, Standing: Bobby Falsey, Billy O Sullivan, Joe Waldron, Dick Walsh and Liam Dewberry

Music lovers and music makers, part of the Exhibition at St Canice’s hall

community would visit the exhibition. “Viewing the photographs will bring the hall to life and allow us to remember stalwarts of the

community who contributed so much to the area, and our intention would be to add to the exhibition in the future”, concluded Jenny.

FÓGRA The Butts Green got its name from the word targets or “butts’’ as the military practiced their archery in

the vicinity. This location was often used as a meeting place for the people of Kilkenny as all roads intersected in this area.

Two well-known characters Bridgie and Con Malone are part of the St Canice’s project

Linsey Kerwick and Chris Proctor enjoying a look back on the history of St Canice’s Community

Attending the launch of the ‘Neighbourhood Project’ . From left: Pat Shortall (photographic tutor), Tom Casey, Peggy Taylor, Ger Cody, Mike Kelly

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Kilkenny City Vocational The Queen of Country, Margo is heading for Lyrath School fundraised for Climb with Charlie

Craig Kennedy, Deirdre Cullen, Carolota Clemente, Hazel Butler, Sheila Sheehy, Joey Holden and Joe Malone

KILKENNY City Vocational School fundraised and donated €600.00 to the Climb with Charlie fund.

The cheque was presented

by Kilkenny Vocational

School to Joey Holden, captain of the 2015 AllIreland title winning season on behalf of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and Pieta House.

Thanks to the board of management, Chairperson, Deirdre Cullen, teachers, staff and students for their contribution in the fundraising.

THE Queen of Country and Irish, Margo, is commencing her nationwide tour at the Lyrath Estate in Kilkenny on Tuesday 5th of April. This will be MARGO’s first concert since 2019, and her legion of fans are delighted to see her back on stage after a three year absence due to the pandemic.

Margo had planned to tour last year to celebrate her 70th birthday but the plans were again postponed because of the lockdown at the time.

Margo said recently “I am just so looking forward to being back again in the beautiful Lyrath Estate for my first concert on April 5th. It really was something special when I last performed there in 2019.

The atmosphere was amazing.

I am also delighted have some very special guests join me on the night, Brendan Shine, John Hogan and of course my good friend Trudi Lalor. KCLR’s own James Lakes is MC and I am looking forward to meeting up with James again too” The concert will begin at 8pm sharp and doors open at 7.15.

Tickets are available from the Lyrath Estate reception now on 056-7760088.

Don’t miss MARGO’s 70th Birthday Celebration Concert Tour at the Lyrath Estate on Tuesday 5th of April. Book now!!

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The Kilkenny Observer raised funds for Cois Nore Cancer Support Centre and we were delighted to present Mary Dolan, Manager with a cheque These funds were raised by The Kilkenny Observer together with the support of our advertisers and we would like to thank them most sincerely for their generosity.

Cois Nore – Kilkenny’s Cancer Support Centre is a local service for local people.

Centre Manager, Mary Dolan told The Kilkenny Observer “Cois Nore Cancer Support Centre offers a range of practical, emotional and therapeutic supports to people with a diagnosis of cancer and to their families including children and young people.

Our main objective is to create a safe and confidential setting where our professional staff members and trained volunteers can provide compassionate, practical and emotional support. Our service covers all areas of Kilkenny city and county, and all services are provided free of charge.”.

Community rallies as fire causes devastation

Lorna Fletcher of the Kilkenny Observer makes a cheque presentation to Mary Dolan, Manager of Cois Nore Cancer Support Centre

THANK YOU TO ALL THE SPONSORS OF COIS NORE

Peter Cleere

Wednesday 23rd March saw tragedy unfold in the lives of two elderly brothers in Jenkinstown, six miles outside Kilkenny City when a fire broke out in their family home, completely destroying the residence and all its contents.

The fire also took the life of one of the brothers, Oliver Brennan, who was not able to escape the flames. Dominic (or more commonly known as

Dom), the remaining brother, is left with absolutely nothing and a Go Fund Me Page has been set up to raise funds to help Dom rebuild his life. The family members involved in organising the fund-raising appreciate that everyone is under financial strain at the moment, including contributing to the welfare of Ukrainian citizens who have arrived in Ireland as a result of the dread-

ful war in their country. We want to assure all contributors to our Go Fund Me Page that all contributions will be greatly appreciated.

*A little help will go a long way* The link to the Go Fund Me page is: https://gofund.me/0cb7676a

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Feature WEEK SEVEN Kilkenny is home to the most famous cats in the world. For over two hundred years, people everywhere have heard of the fierce Kilkenny Cats.

They are part of our history; part of our DNA. They reflect Kilkenny in all its glorious past, its developing present and exciting future.

In week seven, local author Donal Cadogan and illustrator Gemma Aloisi share their unique view of Kilkenny’s history and culture, as seen and told by its magnificent and ever-present Kilkenny Cats.

This week we meet Gorta, Cattie and Art .

These are taken from their recent illustrated children’s book We are Kilkenny Cats!

Sad times of a workhouse and a war, followed by a new design in Kilkenny Gorta – A Hungry Cat Once, a little girl called Katie grew up on a small farm with her cat Gorta. Life for her family was hard but they were happy together. They lived in a rented house on a small piece of land where they grew potatoes. With eggs from their few chickens, this was their main food.

In 1847 her father noticed that the potato plants were withering. This had happened the year before with other people. Worried, he dug up some plants and found the potatoes were turning black and rotting.

The family had a little money saved and they bought food for a while. But they didn’t have enough for the rent and, after a few months, they were thrown out of the house. The family and its cat were on the side of the road with nowhere to live.

Their only choice was to ask to be taken into the workhouse.

This was a hard place to be.

Katie was separated from her parents and had to live with a big crowd of children she didn’t know. Her mother and father were also separated and had to live in different parts of the workhouse. There was no place for a cat.

Food was poor and in short supply in the workhouse.

Outside, Gorta had to be careful all the time. Some people were so hungry that a fat cat looked like a nice dinner.

Over a few weeks the cat grew thinner and thinner with no one to feed her. The same was happening to Katie in the workhouse.

Finally, one day, a cousin of Katie’s father lent him some money and the family left the workhouse and walked to the coast. There they boarded a ship and left Ireland forever, to make a new life in another country. They brought Gorta with them. Neither Katie nor Gorta ever saw Kilkenny again but, many years later, their descendants returned to see where their journey had started.

Cattie – A Brave Cat Cattie was born on Brennans’ farm in the Kilkenny countryside in 1912. She grew up playing around the barns and fields and her best friend was the farmer’s third son, Mousey. As Mousey’s eldest brother was to take over the

farm from his father, he had to find work and a life elsewhere.

One day in 1914 he came home to say that he had joined the British Army. A Great War was being fought in Europe for small nations. Mousey and all his friends were joining up for adventure and to earn a living.

His family were very happy for him and cheered him off in his new uniform. Cattie hid in Mousey’s knapsack.

In France they saw nice green fields like at home in Kilkenny but soon an enemy army came and bombs dropped on them.

Green fields became fields of mud. Everyone dug down into the earth to protect themselves and the land was crisscrossed with these trenches. These places became home for everyone fighting for many

years.

Mousey fought the Germans who were trying to get into the trenches and Cattie fought the rats. Cattie cared for Mousey when he was shot and Mousey cared for Cattie when she was gassed. Meanwhile many of their friends went missing or died.

They came home to Kilkenny occasionally but over time, while they were away, people at home turned against the British and their army. His family were no longer happy to see Mousey in his uniform.

Mousey and Cattie returned to France on Christmas 1917.

On the day they returned to the trench, a bomb exploded under them and neither was ever found again. Cattie had used up all her nine lives.

Over 3,000 people from Kilkenny fought in the Great War. Over 800 never came home alive. No one counted the cats.

Art – Crafty Cat Not very long ago, Ireland wasn’t a very modern place.

Whether it was music, art or the style of clothes we wore, there were few new ideas. The world was changing.

Irish people started to watch television and learnt how the rest of the world thought.

To see if we could make things better it was decided to open a place where new ideas could be tried and new ways of making things explored. A search for a home for this new centre decided that Kilkenny would be the best place.

Opposite the main castle gate were large stables which once belong to the lords in Kilkenny Castle. They were now lying empty. Everyone agreed that this was the best place in Ireland to test the new ideas.

However, while the stables no longer had horses, there were still mice, so the first job was to clear them out. A clever Kilkenny cat called Art was given the job. He quickly saw the mice out the door and in came the artists, potters, jewellers, weavers and other crafts people.

They brought in new people to teach them how to design and make new Irish designs.

Soon the students set up their businesses. Whenever they needed a model they could use Art. A shop was opened to see if people would like the new things made. Whether it was cups, scarves or jewellery, everything sold quickly. Soon you could buy Kilkenny designed goods all across the country and, not long after, in other countries.

People came in large numbers to Kilkenny to learn new skills. They became copy cats. Art was always there to help them. He sat as a model if he was needed and if he was not busy chasing mice. Now, although the workshops are closed, the many designers that Art helped teach still fill Kilkenny and make it well known around the world for great design.

‘We are Kilkenny Cats’ is available in Kilkenny bookshops

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 April 2022

Feature

The Journey to Calvary to feature on Community Radio with all-star local cast The crucifixion scene captured at Saint Bennetts church cemetery in Bennettsbridge

by Kilkenny photographer Pat

BY PAT SHORTALL IT is a natural human instinct to love hearing good news, unless of course there is begrudgery lurking. The story of the Passion and Death of Christ Jesus is anything but good news!

In what is often titled “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, we must patiently wait until The Resurrection, to learn of a successful conclusion.

Happy ending perhaps, but not happy ever after.

We are all familiar with and remember very well, this story associated with the rosary’s sorrowful mysteries. Most of us were just seven or eight years beyond our embryonic stage as we learned about the happenings during Holy Week 2000 years ago. Our feelings ranged from concern to sympathy when first we learned of the young Man tragically put to death for what would appear to be nothing at all. An injustice difficult to comprehend.

Being told that He died for all our sins seemed to be beyond our comprehension too. It was even more depressing for young minds, when realising that this was the Baby, who had being born in a stable at Bethlehem just a few months previously, but was now a grown-up adult. We were quickly educated as to understanding about the passage of time and how a few months can be squeezed to become many years.

Yes, the sad series of events was difficult to accept at the time. There was the final meal - The Last Supper, where Jesus surprisingly announced to his loyal and trusted friends that, “Someone is about to betray me”. Then later that evening, He asks His Father, if it be His will, to intervene in what was about to unfold.

Jesus had possessed the knowledge of His betrayal.

We learned of the shock and horror of the slicing off of a soldier’s ear and then whip-

ping and beating. So much to take on board.

As we are all now well aware, the tragic sequence of distress did not end there; we learned that someone went to a lot of trouble, twisting some brambles into a crown with piercing thorns and placing it on Head of Jesus, we almost felt the pain. Then the deafening shouts from the crowd, as they agreed what punishment should be meted out to the King of the Jews. At this stage, most of us I’m sure, had heard enough.

Once again, revisiting my classroom days, certain sections of the story seemed to be explained more vividly.

Nevertheless, it was unlikely to be forgotten. We also learned that all those present at the place of the Skull on that Good Friday, experienced the moments of darkness at 3pm, followed by a most violent thunder and lightning storm.

It is no wonder then

that clever film producers latched on to story and in many cases made it a box office success. It is also no wonder that in the year 1634 the villagers of Oberammergau in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps brought the harrowing tale to a new level. It was agreed that in their promised depiction of the passion, that the person who was to be crucified must not object to being nailed to a cross with real nails. The story of the passion is re-enacted in thanksgiving for deliverance from the scourge of the bubonic plague of 1633.

The pledge was in gratitude from the local community and they kept their word.

Not even one person in the village of 5,000 died during the plague.

The Oberammergau passion play takes place every tenth year between May and October. It is reported, that at least half a million people oversubscribe the event.

The promise was kept intact

until 2020. Then because of the worldwide Coronapandemic, the passion play had to be postponed for two years. Thus, the 42nd Oberammergau Passion Play will now entertain its following from the 14th May to the 2nd October 2022.

Closer to home, in Ballylinan, Co. Laois, a group in the village community have also taken the passion to the stage. Their inspiration was gained as a result of some local people actually visiting Oberammergau in the early nineties.

Speaking to one of the Ballylinan passion play members recently, I learned he was credited with having played the part of one of the soldiers in the last two performances. That meant he was involved in the act of beating Jesus at the pillar.

I asked him, how hard was the beating? His reply was that he asked the person who played the main role the same question. He was advised to “beat so hard

that skin would be broken, the audience must see blood and scars.”

In Kilkenny, The Passion was staged on each Good Friday from 1997 to 2008 in St. John’s Church. It was christened, The Journey to Calvary. It was a muchsevered version to that portrayed in Oberammergau or Ballylinan. The local writers concerned themselves with the happenings between both Palm and Easter Sunday. Only the most important elements of the week were highlighted, but was just as much meaningful and thought provoking as the others.

The Journey to Calvary can be heard on the Sunday Serendipity programme on Community Radio Kilkenny City (88.7FM) on Palm Sunday with a repeat broadcast on Easter Sunday. It is produced and directed by Lake Productions in association with Sunday Serendipity.

Listen out for many familiar voices.

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 April 2022

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 April 2022

Food & Drink

Dine Me Come

With

Easy roast pork shoulder Prep: 20 mins Cook: 3 hrs and 30 mins Serves: 6

Master roast pork with crispy crackling using our easy recipe. This makes for a special Sunday lunch, served with roast potatoes and veg.

Ingredients • 2kg pork shoulder joint • 1 tbsp vegetable oil • 1½ tsp fine sea salt • 1 large onion, sliced

Method STEP 1 Heat the oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 9.

Remove any packaging from the pork, retaining the string, and pat dry with kitchen paper – you want the skin to be as dry as possible. Score deep cuts into the skin in a diamond pattern using a sharp knife (you want to cut into the fat). If the skin is already scored, make sure each cut is dry and can be easily opened. Rub the oil into the skin, rubbing it well into each cut, then sprinkle the salt over in an even layer, rubbing this into the cuts, too.

STEP 2 Scatter the onion slices over the base of a large roasting tin and sit the pork joint on top. Roast for 20-30 mins, or until the skin starts to blister and bubble. Put the kettle on to boil.

STEP 3 Pour half a kettle of boiling water around the joint to cover the base of the tin, ensuring it doesn’t drip onto the skin. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roast for another 2 hrs 30 mins, or until the meat under the skin is very tender when pressed. There’s a lot of fat in pork shoulder, so cooking at a low temperature this way ensures the meat doesn’t dry out – if needed, it can cook for up to 3 hrs.

Cinnamon crêpes with nut butter, sliced banana and raspberries

STEP 4 Turn the oven back up to 220C/220C fan/ gas 7 and continue to roast the pork for 2025 mins until the skin is very crisp and has started to harden – it should feel brittle when tapped with a knife. If needed, cook for 10 Prep: 5 mins Cook: 10 mins Serves: 2 Use gluten-free flour in these thin breakfast Ingredients • 75g gluten-free brown bread flour • 1 tsp ground cinnamon • 1 medium egg • 225ml semi-skimmed milk • 1 tsp rapeseed oil , for frying • 2 tbsp almond nut butter (make your own with recipe in ‘goes well with’, right) • 1 banana , sliced • 140g raspberries • lemon wedges • pancakes served with almond butter, fruit and lemon.

Method STEP 1

mins more to achieve this. Remove the pork from the oven and rest for 20 mins in the tin, loosely covering with foil. Remove the crackling in large pieces, then break into smaller chunks. Carve the meat and serve alongside the crackling and your favourite sides.

Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl with the cinnamon. Add the egg and milk, and whisk vigorously until you have a smooth pouring consistency.

STEP 2 Place a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a little of the oil. When the oil starts to heat, wipe most of it away with kitchen paper.

Once the pan is hot, pour a small amount of the batter into the centre of the pan and swirl it to the sides of the pan in a thin layer. Leave to cook, untouched, for about 2 mins. When it is brown underneath, turn over and cook for 1 min more.

STEP 3 Transfer to a warm plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Divide the warm pancakes between 2 plates and serve with the nut butter, banana, raspberries and lemon to assemble at the table.

Top 5 health benefits of green tea All types of tea, even your regular cup of builder’s, are made from the camellia sinensis plant. Green tea gets its name from the emerald green colour created when brewing these unprocessed, unfermented leaves.

With origins dating as far back as 5,000 years, green tea is commonly drunk and grown in East Asia where the health properties are highly valued.

There is no nutritional value in terms of macronutrients in green tea, but the drink’s primary benefits lie in the bioactive compounds it contains.

The tea you use, the temperature and the steeping time all have a significant effect on the levels of these compounds. Warm and ambient temperatures are best to retain antioxidant compounds, so allow the boiled water to cool slightly before pouring over the tea leaves, and steep for between 2-3 minutes.

1. High in protective polyphenols Compounds called polyphenols are known to protect the body against disease and make an important contribution towards a healthy, balanced diet. These antioxidant compounds are found in a wide range of fruit, vegetables and other unprocessed foods. Green tea has numerous health benefits many of which are attributed to the fact that it is largely unprocessed and rich in these plant compounds. The main bioactive compounds in green tea are flavonoids, with the most potent being catechins and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

2. May boost brain function Green tea contains a number of natural stimulants, including caffeine, which although not as high as coffee, may still help maintain alertness and focus.

In addition to this, green tea is a source of the amino acid L-theanine, which has a relaxing effect; it does this by increasing mood-enhancing brain chemicals including GABA, dopamine and serotonin. The beneficial polyphenols of green tea may also help slow the effects of aging on the brain.

3. May boost fat burning Some research suggests that green tea may boost metabolic rate and increase fat burning. This is thought to be thanks to the natural thermogenic properties provided by caffeine, and by the plant compounds such as catechins.

4. May support blood sugar control Studies suggest green tea may improve insulin sensitivity and as a result have a beneficial effect on blood sugar control.

5. May reduce the risk of heart disease Research suggests green tea is a useful beverage for helping to reduce the risk of heart disease and associated conditions, such as stroke. One way it may help is in its beneficial effects on cholesterol management.

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 April 2022

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Advertisement TV & Streaming

New movie on Monroe 12 years in the making

5

new ones to stream right now

Bridgerton returns with its second season. This time around, the series focuses on the eldest Bridgerton male Anthony (played by Jonathan Bailey). As explained in a press release, his “search for a debutante who meets his impossible standards seems ill-fated until Kate and her younger sister Edwina Sharma arrive from India”. He attempts to pursue Edwina (Charithra Chandran), but her older sister Kate (Simone Ashley) protects her.

On Netflix now

MANY viewers been waiting forever for the semi-fantastical biopic of Marilyn Monroe from Netflix. Since the idea of adapting Joyce Carol Oates’ book Blonde — a loose reimagining of Marilyn’s life — was first proposed in 2010, the production has faced multiple delays.

But filming commenced in 2019, with Ana De Armas in the lead role, and now we can finally set our sights on the possibility of seeing this spectacle by the time 2022 is over.

Some people have already seen it though: namely, the Motion Picture Association, who have given the film an

NC-17 rating (the equivalent of an 18 here) meaning it’s bound to be as messed up as those early rumours of talking foetuses, violence and bloody sex suggested.

“If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the audience’s problem. It’s not running for public office,” Dominik joked to Screen Daily. “It’s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe, it’s kind of what you want, right? I want to go and see the NC-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.”

In fact, it’s probably what the sexually-empowered, risque Marilyn would have wanted. Got your attention?

Since it began production

all the way back in 2010, a number of actresses have been linked to the role. Originally Naomi Watts of The Ring and Birdman fame was cast, before the film was taken in a different direction and Jessica Chastain (Interstellar) took on the role. However, with the production slow to start due to financing issues, it was shelved.

Eventually, when production restarted in 2019, the role was given to Ana De Armas (Knives Out and No Time To Die). “I only had to audition for Marilyn once and [director Andrew Dominik] said ‘It’s you,” Ana told Vanity Fair. She’s Cuban,

and so to prepare for the iconic Hollywood role, she trained with a dialect coach for a year to get it right.

Alongside Ana is Bobby Canavale (I, Tonya) and Adrien Brody (The French Dispatch) as Marilyn’s second and third husbands, the Yankee’s player Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller respectively. Her mother, actress Gladys Pearl Baker, will be played by Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown) while John F. Kennedy, Marilyn’s rumoured lover, will be played by Caspar Phillipson.

Caspar also played JFK in another biopic: Pablo Larraìn’s Jackie.

Scary: when art imitates life ...

A NEWBORN baby is greeted by its parents with joy and tears streaming down their faces. It should be one of the happiest moments of their life.

And it is — until the attending doctor soberly rattles off a list of alarming statistics about their child’s health, including their likely death by age 30 due to a heart condition.

In the following scene, the parents have opted to conduct state-of-the-art genetic screening of the embryo of their next child to ensure it is free of genetic diseases and comes with their pre-

ferred hair and eye colour.

“This child is still you. Simply the best of you,” the doctor says, intending to reassure the parents — but there is something sinister in the implications of his speech.

Released in 1997, Gattaca now on Netflix was ahead of its time in examining the potentially chilling ramifications of a eugenicist society where widespread genetic testing is available, creating a stark divide between ideal ‘designer babies’ — known as ‘valid’ — and those who are conceived without prescreening — referred to derogatorily as ‘invalid.’

Nearly 25 years after its release, are we any closer to making Gattaca a reality?

And perhaps more importantly, should we?

According to Ronald Green, author of the book Babies by Design: The Ethics of Genetic Choice and the founding director of the OSce of Genome Ethics at the National Human Genome Research Institute, the answer to both questions is a resounding no.

“Most people don’t want a perfect child,” he says. “They want a child just like themselves and free of serious disease. And that’s how the

technology will mostly be.”

In the movie, a scientist combines sperm from a father with the egg of a mother to create several embryos.

Among those embryos, the scientists select the “most competent candidate” — the ideal embryo that is free of disease and best represents the parent’s preferred characteristics.

As it turns out, the fictional system in Gattaca bears a resemblance to the real- life practice of embryo selection, a technique used in invitro fertilisation for parents experiencing fertility issues.

Scary, but worth watching.

Based on Min Jin Lee’s bestselling novel of the same title, Pachinko tells the story of a Korean immigrant family across multiple generations. Youn Yuh-jung (Minari) plays the role of older Sunja, Lee Minho (The King: Eternal Monarch) plays Hansu, Jin Ha (Love Life) plays Solomon and Kim Minha plays teenage Sunja.

On Apple TV now.

After winning three Emmys, Russian Doll is returning with its sophomore season. Nadia Vulvokov (Natasha Lyonne) continues to navigate the never-ending time loop that keeps her stuck on her 36th birthday. She comes across Alan (Charlie Barnett), who is experiencing the same situation.

On Netflix no4.

Ozark is coming to a close with the second part of its fourth and final season.

The crime drama follows Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman), who finds himself in a money laundering scheme. He and his family move from Chicago to Missouri, where they build a larger operation in the Ozarks.

On Netflix now.

Based on a 2013 novel of the same title, Shining Girls is a thriller TV series about Kirby Mazrachi (Elizabeth Moss), a newspaper archivist who works with a detective (Narcos’ Wagner Moura) to find a killer.

On Apple TV now.

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Picture special

Yvonne and Abagail Moriarty

Jason Morrissey

Laura Coyne, Kate Cleere, Ciara Mackey, Sinead Treacy and Sarah Walpole Angie and Margaret Walsh American tourists enjoying Kilkenny

t u o b A Out &

WITH

y n n a D art Lah

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Picture special

Mick and Kerrie O’Connor

Billy Ryan and Anne Drennan

Aisling Doyle

Ronan and Rian Howell

Jacqueline and liam Norton

Stephen Byrne

Eve and Yvonne Dwyer witk Mary Brophy

John Corcoran and Jason Morrissey

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Community & GAA Notes

The St. Kieran’s College( second year team) who won the Leinster League final

LEINSTER SUCCESS St. Kieran’s College won the second year Leinster League final last Wednesday with a one sided victory over Kilkenny CBS. Central to the win was a dominant performance by an all Clara half back line of Philip Carrigan, Davy Barcoe and Luke Lawlor. Joe Power also came on as a substitute to complete a great Clara representation on the school team. Well done lads!

SENIOR FOOTBALL Clara suffered their first defeat of this year’s Senior Football League on Friday evening, when going down away to Muckalee. Both teams entered this contest with full points and it was a very competitive tussle from the word go. Indeed it took 16 minutes for a score to be registered, with neither team wanting to give an inch. It was Muckalee that broke the stalemate with a point from former county hurler John Mulhall. David Langton levelled matters with a fisted effort.

Muckalee edged ahead again through Joe Maher before Killian Phelan blasted Clara into a two point lead with a fine goal, following an intricate build up. Two exquisite Joe Connolly pointed frees from distance and another fine point from Muckalee’s Joe Maher left Clara 1-3 to 0-3 ahead at the interval.

Muckalee opened the second half with a John Mulhall point. The next score was a hotly contested Muckalee point, which looked wide to most observers. Worse was to follow for the Clara men when Muckalee broke through for a goal. Now with their tails up, they pushed on and scored the next three points. Clara had yet to score in the new half and now found themselves 1-8 to 1-3 behind. To their credit, they didn’t throw in the towel. Two points by Jack Langton and Sean O’ Shea left it a one goal game and just before the end Clara had claims for a penalty when there appeared to be a foot block on a James Nolan shot. However it wasn’t given and Muckalee held on for a win that they probably deserved on the night for the football that they played in the first 20 minutes of the second half.

The finalscore was 1-8 to 1-5.

Team - Dermot Nolan, Paul Murphy, Jack Langton 0-1, Sean O Shea 0-1. Liam Ryan, David Langton 0-1, James Casey. Ciarán Prendergast, Alan Coleman. Peter Nolan, Joe Connolly 0-2f, Dara Glynn. Killian Phelan 1-0, James Nolan, Shane Staunton. Subs used Ruairí Breen, Thomas Armitage.

ATHLETICS Congratulations to Billy Coogan from Clara who

finished 9th in the Intermediate Schools International Cross Country finals in Pembrey Country Park, Wales on Saturday 26th March. Billy was the second Irish competitor to finish and this helped the Irish Team to claim the silver medal.

CAMOGIE Hard luck to Claire Nolan and Aisling Curtis who were on the losing Kilkenny Intermediate camogie team against Wexford in Glynn Barntown on Sunday.

LGFA Well done to Danica Tervit Kruger who was part of the Kilkenny U14 ladies football team that won the Division 4 Leinster final on Saturday by beating Laois.

Billy Coogan in his Irish singlet

CLUB LOTTO There was no winner of this week’s Club Lotto (March 22nd). Numbers Drawn 3, 23, 24, 26 Bonus 28. Next week jackpot €7,200. Play now at www.oloughlingael.com/lotto Promotors Draw: Danny Treacy c/o Michael O’Halloran. Mary Tierney c/o Mick Nolan Lilly & Eileen c/o Eileen Kinchella. Myra Fox c/o Pauline Greene. Mary Deegan Shannon Greene c/o Paddy Greene. Michael Twomey c/o Online. Conor Heary c/o Online Sean Hogan c/o online. Thank you for your continued support.

U13s COUNTY FINAL Well done to our u13s who advance to the Roinn A Football County Final after a big win over Danesfort on Sunday morning. Brilliant result for the club. The final is scheduled to be played at St. John,s Park on Saturday at 5pm v Dicksboro.

Please support.

Sponsors : McCarthy’s Eurospar Ireland PLAYER NEWS Our teams are back in earnest and it’s great to see all teams enjoying game time at training in and around St. Johns Park. O’Loughlin Gaels would like to thank St. Johns Senior school for the use of their new pitch at Ballybought Street for our juvenile teams. On Friday,our minors get their League up and running with a fixture v James Stephens at St. Johns Park , closely followed by the B team heading to Carrickshock on Sunday morning and the As again out to Dunnamaggin on Monday evening. The first round of the Senior Football championship see our boys up against Clara in Clara on Sunday morning at 11:30 which is already a bumper weekend for club games. Please support our teams.

Well done to club players Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Paddy Deegan, Danielle Quigley and Aoife Shealy who wore the Black and Amber jersey at the weekend with their respective teams with a mixed bag if results. Lovely hurling PLAYER REGISTRATION The deadline is fast approaching player registrations to be complete. All players must log into Foireann.ie to complete their club membership. Any problems please contact club registrars Niamh Carroll (GAA) 087 640 0078 OR for Camogie Joan Galwey at 086 812 2000

KILMOGANNY BRIDGE CLUB

Results for 23/03/2022: 1st: Mary Delany and Philip Brennan. 2nd: Emer Wallace and Gerry FitzGerald. 3rd: Eileen Grace and Theresa Walsh.

Bridge is every Wednesday night at 7.30pm in St. Eoghan’s Centre, Kilmoganny. All welcome.

NATIONAL CHAMPS National Champs from St Leonard’s National School! On 21st March, two teams from St Leonard’s NS travelled to UL to compete in the volleyball nationals. Hopes were high for both teams, they had trained hard all year and were ready to compete. Both teams won all their games in the group phase. Confidence was high going into the quarter-finals, which they both won easily and winning their semi-finals meant both teams were into the finals! The boys faced Briarhill from Galway and the mixed faced Kerry opposition Spa NS. Both teams started nervously, the boys falling behind for the first time all day. The mixed had similar fortunes and their coaches were encouraging both sides to settle. Both teams did and scores were level for both games. Unfortunately for the mixed team, Spa NS hit a purple patch and closed out the game 25-19.Despite being disappointed, they immediately turned to cheer on the boys who had taken control of their game. When the magic number of 25 was reached, the boys and mixed team celebrated together. Their coaches, Ms. Delahunty and Ms. O Dwyer were proud to see both teams receive their medals before heading back to Dunnamaggin. On the way, they stopped for food, arriving back at the school, wrecked but delighted. It’s never easy to win All-Ireland medals and for both teams to do so was truly amazing!

LOCAL LOTTO Local Lotto Results: Winning Numbers: 7,9,22.

Congratulations to Winner: Sarah Power (Ellen Delahunty). Jackpot next week € 1,000. Draw on March 28th in Delaney’s Pub at 9pm. All Welcome KILMOGANNY TIDY TOWNS Kilmoganny Tidy Towns will host a Fashion show in St Eoghan’s Centre on April 15th at 8pm. Clothes worn on the night will be sold. All models clothes will be donated items. Anyone who wishes to donate clothes can leave them into the centre every Tuesday before the show from 7.30/9.30pm. Casual, occasion/evening wear, sportswear all welcome. Queries to Alycia Kearney 051 648118/087 6757490; Jackie Kenneally 051 648138/087 9953532. A donation will be made to Ukraine from the proceeds.

ROSARY Rosary at The Grotto Baurscobe will take place the first Monday in May.

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Community & GAA Notes All Ireland Champions Boys volleyball team fromm Dunnamaggin NS

DUNNAMAGGIN DEVELOPMENT GROUP Last Sunday on Mother’s Day we had our Community Gathering where we welcomed Natasha, Anastacia, Alex (junior), Alex senior and David from Ukraine who will be living in our local community and attending our local schools.

A lovely morning was had playing games and consuming tea and cakes. Our Markets start again on Easter Sunday in Madges Garden alongside the Pat Walsh commemorations.

Beginning at 12 noon all our stalls holders will be back, a raffle, childrens art competition and treasure hunt. The pop up Café will be open as well as food from Eamons BBQ. All proceeds to Dunnamaggin Development Group for work in the village DUNNAMAGGIN LFC HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Róisín Bass, Amy O’Shea and Katie O’Shea who made part of the U14 winning county panel today who beat Laois in the LEINSTER FINAL. The girls who all played in the forwards did themselves and the club so proud. Well done also to mentors Séamus Knox and Sarah McCarthy.

KELLS HANDBALL CLUB MSD Q6: Kilkenny (Patrick and Peter Funchion) defeated Mayo (Joe McCannand Joe Dowling) 21-9, 21-9. Well done to the Funchion brothers and best of luck in the next round next weekend.

Dunnamaggin NS mixed volleyball team

In the County Championship GU13 B singles Molly Cunniffe from Kells defeated Kilfane 15-13 15-14 in two very close games. Well done to Molly for all her efforts and training and well done on a great victory.

GOWRAN PARISH Ukraine Donation envelopes collection is still open. If you need an envelope, one is available on the parish newsletter table, Gowran Pharmacy and Gowran Filling Station. The collection will remain open until Sunday 3rd April.

The total collection will be sent to the Irish Red Cross for their services to the Ukraine people.

Lenten Station offering are presently being received with thanks. You can place your envelope in the collection box at the church door at weekend mass or you can drop your envelope into the Parochial House anytime.

GOWRAN PARK The next fixtures are Thursday April 7th and Wednesday 13th 2022, first race goes to post at 4:30pm both days. Tickets now available online, you save 33% by getting yours today at www. gowranpark.ie YOUNG IRELANDS CAMOGIE CLUB The Buffet and Boogie that was due to take place

on Saturday, 2nd April 2022 at 7pm in Gowran Park has been postponed. Thanks very much for all support. Refunds are being issued for tickets purchased.

THE KILKENNY COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL The festival is back this year in Gowran Park, and it will take place on Sunday 3rd July featuring a host of top-class Country Singers. Performing on the day will be Mike Denver, Cliona Hagan, Robert Mizzell, Trudi Lalor, Jimmy and Claudia Buckley with backing band The Conquerors.

Tickets now on Sale and for further information, check out kilkennycountrymusicfestival.ie or email kkcountrymusic@gmail.com GOWRAN FESTIVAL OF SPEED The festival is taking place on Sunday, 21st August. All acts will be announced in the coming weeks.

GOWRAN AC Well done to the Junior, Senior and Master athletes that competed at the Leinster indoor championships held in Athlone. Peter Dunne won the senior men’s high jump with a 1.75M clearance, brilliant. Tom Corrigan is proving a fine wine taking home 3 gold medals for 200M, 400M and Long Jump in the Over 40s category.

While it was a welcome return to the track for Marty Kelly who won bronze in the over 70 400M. Senior Men 60m Sprint. Shane Webb came 4th in the heats in a time of 7.49 Senior Men 200m Sprint. Shane Webb came 3rd in the heats, and was unlucky not to qualify for the finals, losing out by one place. Master Men 200m Sprint Tom Corrigan won gold in the Men’s O40.Marty Kelly came 4rth in the Men’s O70.

Master Men 400m Tom Corrigan won the Men’s O40 in time of 58.07 sec.Marty Kelly won bronze in the men’s O70 Senior Men High Jump. Peter Dunne won the senior High Jump with a 1.75M clearance.

Master Men Long Jump.Tom Corrigan won the men’s O40 long jump with a 4.95M jump.

Senior Men Pole Vault. Peter Dunne finished 4th in a very competitive field.

SPORTS ROUND UP MICHAEL O’LEARY DANNY DELIGHT ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY There was glorious success for Gowran Jockey Danny Mullins in Cheltenham on St. Patricks Day, as he partnered Flooring Porter to repeat last year’s pillar to post victory in the featured Stayers Hurdle, 12 months after piloting the Gavin Cromwell trained winner to his first Cheltenham triumph.

Flooring Porter’s victory was part of another memorable week for the Irish at Cheltenham who finished the week with 18 winners, highlighted by Rachael Blackmore historic win aboard A Plus Tard in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Danny’s Uncle Willie Mullins had another week to remember at the Cotswolds as he finished the week as leading trainer once again with a record 10 winners, 5 of those winners coming on the Final Day of the Festival.

GOWRAN SCHOOL MAKES WINNING RETURN TO ACTION Gowran National School made a winning return to competitive action as they defeated Danesfort National School 2-14 to 3-6 in the Hurling Competition.

Meanwhile, well done to the Gowran NS Camogie 7’s team who have qualified for the next stage after 3 great performances against St. Canices, Kilmanagh and Clara.

Also, the U-13 Footballers lost out 4-8 to 1-2 against Dicksboro in the County Roinn A Football Semi-Final last Friday morning.

DICKSBORO CLUB LOTTO Club LOTTO Results March 24th. Nos: 25–22– 2– 29. Jackpot: €8,650– not won.

Draw Prizes – €50: Leanne Rochford c/o Seamus Rochford. €25 each Katrina Fitzpatrick c/o Brian Fitzpatrick. €25 each John Hackett c/o Tommy Hackett.€25 each Mucky Muray c/o Tommy Hackett. Co op draw ticket Mick Kelly c/o Paddy Maher. Promotors prize Tommy Hackett. Next weeks draw €8,800 31st of March 2022.

CONDOLENCES Dicksboro GAA & Camogie Club would like to send condolences to the Stapleton Family.

Gerry Stapleton, Bolton Road, Chiswick, U.K and formerly of 22 St. Francis Terrace, Kilkenny City died suddenly on 16th March 2022 in hospital surrounded by his loving and devoted family.

Deeply missed by his children Geraldine, Elaine and Liam, grandchildren Keeley, Mollie and Alfie, brother Podge and sister-in-law Margaret and all his friends in Dicksboro GAA Club.

PALMERSTOWN CLUBHOUSE REOPEN Dicksboro Clubhouse Bar is reopened Thursday from 8.30pm and every Thursday going forward.

Thursday nights is Lotto Draw and Cards Night.

All are welcome out for a social drink, a chat and if there is interest, a beginners cards table.

We are offering a particular welcome to all of our senior citizens members, it’s been a difficult past two years and we would be delighted to see you out to the club for a chat. We have a selection of non-alcoholic beers, barista coffee and all the usuals. We look forward to seeing you all.

CLUB REGISTER 2022 We are delighted to announce that Registration for Dicksboro GAA and Camogie Club for 2022 is now open. There are a number of ways for existing and new members to register with the club. Click on the link below ( For existing members enter your e mail address to retrieve all details from last year’s registration process ).

Go to the membership page on Clubs App and sign up. https://dicksborogaa.com/membership_signup

CLUB NEWS Last week March 22nd saw the welcomed opening of the club bar and restaurant with head chef Tom Carberry taking charge. The bar and restaurant is open every day 10am to 6pm with a great range of food and drinks, these facilities are open to members of the public also. The club wish Tom and his staff the best of luck going into the busy summer season.

The good weather over the weekend also saw the return of the opening of all 18 holes for all members and guests to enjoy.

MENS SECTION The club is looking for members to represent it in upcoming various men’s team competitions, expression of interest sheets for each team are located in the men’s dressing room.

RESULTS Men’s Open Singles Stableford 15 hole - 23rd March 2022. Overall winner - John Mitchell(10) 36 points. Overall runner-up - Tommy Phelan(19) 24 points (countback). Overall third - Derek Hally(19) 34 points. Gross - Martin O’ Halloran(0) 26 points.

LADIES SECTION The Spring League attracted huge numbers and the 1st round has now wrapped up well done to all who have made to the next round. The results are posted on the notice board in the ladies locker room.

With summer like conditions this week the ladies came out in their droves.

RESULTS Tuesday March 22nd 12 Hole S/F.1st Bridget Holohan 25pts (29).2nd Patsy Murphy 25pts (29).3rd Mary D Grace 21pts (31).4th Betty McGrath 20pts (21) c/b Senior Ladies 12 Hole Thursday 24th. 1st Alice Walsh 27pts. 2nd Patsy Murphy 26pts.

3rd Rose Brophy 23pts c/b.4th Bridget Holohan 23 pts. 5th Marie O’Riordan 21pts Starting from next week Tuesday 29th we will begin our 18Hole Competition and there will also be a nine hole.

LOTTO RESULTS Week 7. Numbers drawn: 5, 12, 29. No winner.

Lucky dip winners: P Skehan. M O’ Mahony. C Healy. Next week’s Jackpot €1950. Thanks for your continued support.

We welcome all GAA Club and Community notes for publication in The Kilkenny Observer email to sales@kilkennyobserver.ie

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 April 2022

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Hurling matters

Sport

Two Mikey’s - Carey & Butler in action

Allianz National Hurling League Semi-Final Cork 1-27 (30) Kilkenny 2-20 (26) Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork

Billy Ryan hit 4 lovely points

Paddy Deegan was back in the stripes

Rebels rise to cut Cats down Cork win by 4 to secure final berth

BY NIALL SHERRY SPORTS EDITOR SPORTSEDITORKILKENNYOBSERVER.IE

Huw goes there Lawlor stands firm

CORK stunned Kilkenny with a second-half comeback on Leeside last Saturday night, as they advanced to their first league final since 2015 with a 4-point win over the Cats in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. They will now face Waterford in the final showdown.

While the home sides energetic display in the second period earned the Rebels the victory, their extra man in the shape of referee Sean Stack, ensured a steady supply of frees for Cork throughout proceedings, that allowed 11 of the winning teams total to come from the placed ball, with Glen Rovers Patrick Horgan notching eight scores from frees.

Based on this display, I’d like to think that this match official won’t be in charge of many other Kilkenny games as the season progresses.

Back to the game itself, we’ll come across Mr. Stack at various stages in this piece.

The visitors started like a team that meant business. Shamrocks Ballyhale forward Eoin Cody pointed in the opening seconds to give the Cats the lead. Cork replied immediately through Darragh Fitzgibbon, who surged through the Kilkenny half

before slotting over a nice point.

Eoin Murphy then played a short puck out to Mikey Carey, who drilled the ball towards Padraig Walsh. The Tullaroan man made in-roads towards the Cork goal with a storming run. As he attempted to fashion a shot, a combination of red shirts surrounded him and the sliotar came loose. As a little bit of pin-ball ensued, the ever-alert Mossy Keoghan stabbed the ball into the home net, with less than 2 minutes on the clock.

Young Irelands Mikey Carey turned provider again in the 4th minute when we played a lovely pass to Billy Ryan. The skillful attacker took the pass on the run, showing good skill before firing over a well-worked score. The Graigue-Ballycallan man repeated the feat moments later when he pointed after some lovely support play from Alan Murphy. Eoin Cody then picked up possession on halfway before striking a fine point from distance, to leave Kilkenny leading 1-4 to 0-1 on 6 minutes.

Patrick Horgan opened his account shortly after from the placed ball, after the referee adjudged the Cats wing-

backs to have fouled a Cork attacker.

Young Hurler of the Year Cody then fired over another point following some good pressure applied by Glenmore’s Alan Murphy.

Blackrock’s Alan Connolly then headed for goal, before being stopped in his tracks, illegally in the view of referee Stack. Horgan popped the resulting free over the bar for his sides third score of the game with almost 13 minutes gone. Midleton’s Conor Lehane then set-up Connolly for a fine point, to reduce the deficit to 4 points, but again Brian Cody’s men responded straight away when nice play from Dicksboro’s Cillian Buckley, saw him pass to Cian Kenny who dispatched a fine point between the Cork posts.

O’Loughlin’s Paddy Deegan, restored to the starting line-up at centre-back, was harshly adjudged to have fouled, and Patrick Horgan popped over another ‘handy’ free, before Alan Connolly left his marker Conor Delaney in his wake before splitting the posts, to make it a onescore game. Cheered on by the large home support, Cork had a little more spring in their step in the second

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Hurling matters

quarter, and this was emphasised when wing-back Ciaran Joyce struck one of the scores of the opening half, with a monster effort from his own half.

The game was being played at championship tempo with lots of robust challenges and big hits going in from both sides, but only those in black and amber appearing to be catching the eye of the very fussy Dublin whistler.

Kilkenny wing-back David Blanchfield was then blown up for a challenge, and again, Patrick Horgan punished this decision by scoring the free, to leave just one between these great rivals. Horgan was again on the score sheet moments later, when another soft free was awarded. Stack, sorry, Cork were now level.

The impressive Mikey Carey then produced some good hurling before setting up Alan Murphy for a lovely point, to edge the Cats back in front on 22 minutes. The visitors followed this nice score up with another. The Village’s Cian Kenny combined with Walter Walsh to set-up Blanchfield who struck over a long-range point from out on the left side of the pitch.

Kieran Kingston’s side then created a good goal-scoring opportunity.

Conor Lehane took the ball and sprinter in on the angle towards the Kilkenny goal. His arrowed shot across the goal, was brilliantly stopped by Eoin Murphy. The Cats netminder got up quickly to thwart

Brian Cody - Championship now in focus

the rebound, and a scramble ensued, before the sliotar was ushered out of play for a ‘65. Horgan mis-hit the ‘65, but the alert Alan Connelly reacted quickly to fire the ball over the bar from close range.

On 27 minutes, three of Kilkenny’s attacking unit combined for a great team score. Padraig Walsh picked up possession, before passing to the supporting Eoin Cody. The Ballyhale man had the vision to pick-out Billy Ryan who completed the move with another fine point.

Corks main threat from open play appeared to be Charleville man Darragh Fitzgibbon in midfield.

Fitzgibbon is a big unit and his surging powerful runs from the engine room were causing problems for the likes of Cian Kenny, Cillian Buckley and Alan Murphy. An example of this came on 29 minutes, when a nice pass from Blarney’s Shane Barrett was taken by the Cork No.8 who duly rifled over a nice point.

With just one point between them, Kilkenny struck for their second major of the night. Mikey Carey, who was finding space on the right flank, struck a long pass to Mossy Keoghan.

The Sash forward turned his man brilliantly before racing towards the Cork goal and striking a powerful low shot beyond Patrick Collins in the Rebels goal. The Cats now led by four, 2-9 to 0-11.

It would come as no surprise that Cork’s next score would come from the placed ball, and the usual recipient, Patrick Horgan. Again, those in stripes responded. The ball was worked out to Padraig Walsh on the left touchline who struck a stunning point over his shoulder, to the cheers of the travelling Kilkenny support. From the restart, Cork keeper Collins found his centreforward Shane Barrett who pointed from wide-out on the left side.

Billy Ryan then beat his marker, Daire O’Leary and made an angled run towards the Cork goal. Just as a gap opened up in front of him, he struck his shot high over the bar.

There may well have been a goal chance, had he have opted for a hard and low finish.

The continual mesmerizing decisions by referee Stack, were causing both the Kilkenny players and officials to seek clarification or question the Dublin man’s calls.

With 33 minutes gone, the referee had awarded Cork 12 frees, to just 1 in favour of the Cats. Cork free-take Patrick Horgan popped over another placed ball, to leave just a goal between the sides.

The clock would have 37 minutes and 17 seconds on it, before Kilkenny ‘earned’ their second free. Alan Murphy stepped up and fired over the placed ball right on the stroke of halftime, despite the noisy attempts of some unsportsmanlike home supporters. On the short whistle, the Páirc Uí Chaoimh scoreboard read, Cork 0-14, Kilkenny 2-12.

Cody’s Cats started the second half, exactly like they did the first. Alan Murphy fired over his second point from play with just 7 seconds on the clock. Cork’s Robbie O’Flynn then made a lung-bursting run down the right touchline, before sending over a lovely point on the run. Eoin Murphy’s puck out was picked off by Conor Lehane, whose shot sailed over the bar, as the home crowd found their voices.

A long searching ball into the cork half-back line was broken down by Walter Walsh, and the on-running Cillian Buckley collected the ball and slotted it between the posts for a good point. The Rebels then went on a scoring spree. The Cork manager’s

Mikey Butler tussles with Connor Lehane as Mikey Carey looks on

son, Shane Kingston, who had been having a very quiet afternoon, sprung to life and took a fine point. The dangerous Lehane then sent over a monster score from half way, before Alan Connolly pointed from over the shoulder to make it a one-point game.

The raucous crowd then gave their biggest roar of the day as substitute Tim O’Mahoney rifled over the equalising score in the 45th minute.

The Rebels seemed to be gaining momentum, and with that came a new energy and hunger. The red shirts were first to every break and were winning the crucial battle in the middle third. Brian Cody responded by withdrawing Cian Kenny and sending on the more physically imposing James Maher. Kilkenny needed a score, and it came in the shape of an Alan Murphy free from roughly half way. Eoin Cody then struck a lovely point from out the field

Eoin Murphy had a mixed bag vs Cork

to put the Cats two ahead. With 54 minutes on the clock, the Cats looked jaded and a little leggy.

Patrick Horgan was then gifted another scoring opportunity from his new best friend from the Capital, before the same player scored from play following a very sloppy pass out of defence from keeper Eoin Murphy.

The sides were deadlocked again, 0-22 to 2-16. The next change for the visitors came on the hour mark, when 2-goal hero Mossy Keoghan was replaced by Thomastown’s John Donnelly.

With Patrick Horgan having been called ashore by Cork, the beneficiary of the official’s generous decisions was Conor Lehane. The Midelton players first opportunity from the placed ball came on 62 minutes and he made no mistake.

The next passage of play saw John Donnelly rise highest of all and claim a fantastic catch. Donnelly turned away from the Cork defenders and fired over a lovely point from out on the left wing. This year’s captain, Richie Reid then replaced Cillian Buckley as the Cats sought to tighten things up a little as the game approached its closing stages.

Kilkenny’s placed ball man, Alan Murphy then sent a long-range free between the Cork posts to nudge his side ahead.

The game then took another twist as Cork raised their only green flag of the day. Conor Cahalane struck a long searching pass out of the Rebels defence, which was secured by substitute, Jack O’Connor. The sub managed to lay the ball off to the steam train that was powering forward in the shape of Darragh Fitzgibbon. The Towering midfielder took the pass and, in a few strides, was bearing down on the Cats goal.

Fitzgibbon batted his shot towards the net. Keeper Eoin Murphy got

something on it, but couldn’t prevent the effort from crossing the line.

Lehane then popped over what seemed like the hundredth Cork free of the day to leave the Rebels up by 3 points on 67 minutes. The menace that was Fitzgibbon then struck his third point of the day, to almost rubber stamp the outcome. A Conor Lehane free on half way left the home side 5 points ahead, as the game reached stoppage time. Alan Murphy then fired over a Kilkenny free as 4 minutes of additional time were signaled. Cork’s final score of the day dame moments later, from another Lehane free.

The Cats scrambled to try and gain possession of the ball. John Donnelly and Walter Walsh applied serious pressure to the Cork defence, forcing the turnover. Padraig Walsh struck the ball over the bar to reduce the arrears to four points, but time was not on Kilkenny’s side. Brian Cody’s men forced one final free, a goal was needed to give the away team the remotest chance of forcing extra-time. Alan Murphy stood over the ball, knowing that the odds were heavily stacked against him.

He drove his effort towards goal, but Cork repelled the shot and Cork referee, sorry, Dublin whistler Sean Stack blew for full-time. Final score in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork 1-27, Kilkenny 2-20.

Scorers Cork: P Horgan 0-9 (0-8 f), C Lehane 0-6 (0-3 f), D Fitzgibbon 1-3, A Connolly 0-4, S Kingston, S Barrett, R O’Flynn, T O’Mahony, C Joyce 0-1 each.

Scorers Kilkenny: M Keoghan 2-0, A Murphy 0-6 (0-4f), E Cody, B Ryan 0-4 each, P Walsh 0-2, D Blanchfield, C Kenny, C Buckley, J Donnelly 0-1 each.

CORK: P Collins; N O’Leary, D O’Leary, D Cahalane; R Downey, M Coleman, C Joyce; D Fitzgibbon, G Millerick; R O’Flynn, S Barrett, C Lehane; A Connolly, P Horgan, S Kingston.

Subs: T O’Mahony for D O’Leary (half-time inj), S Harnedy for Barrett (47), C Cahalane for Kingston (52), J O’Connor for Horgan (59), S Quirke for Millerick (69).

KILKENNY: E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, C Delaney; M Carey, P Deegan, D Blanchfield; C Kenny, C Buckley; W Walsh, P Walsh, E Cody; B Ryan, M Keoghan, A Murphy.

Subs: J Maher for Kenny (46), J Donnelly for Keoghan (61), R Reid for Buckley (64).

Referee: S Stack (Dublin possibly)

>> SHERRY SAYS...

Congratulations to Cork on reaching the Allianz National League Final 2022. The Rebels will now face-off against Wexford’s conquerors Waterford.

To summarise, Kilkenny couldn’t cope with the Cork pressure in the second half. The Cats only managed 8 points after the interval. The Rebels on the other hand notched 1-13.

Eleven of the winners scoring total came from frees. Over the course of 74-odd minutes of hurling, the referee awarded Kilkenny just 9 frees, with only 2 coming in the opening half.

If there was an assessor in attendance on Leeside, I would like to think referee Stack’s performance will have been rated in low numbers. I genuinely feel that the official called many things incorrectly on the night.

Hopefully we won’t encounter Mr. Stack over the course of the championship.

Right, back to the game. Mossy is certainly a goal getter. Eoin Cody and Billy Ryan looked sharp and contributed 8 points between them. Alan Murphy hasn’t been found wanting in TJ’s absence in hitting the placed balls. He also gets through a mountain of work all over the park.

In defence, a big shout out to the 2 Mikey’s, Butler & Carey. These new additions to the Kilkenny cause are welcome and add some much-needed depth Brian Cody’s options. O’Loughlin’s Butler is a great little warrior. As the saying goes, he would put his head where many a man wouldn’t put a spade.

Being the son of a hurling great isn’t easy. Being the son of a Kilkenny hurling great is even more difficult. Young Irelands Carey showed a real eye for a pass last Saturday night, and was instrumental in a number of scores.

Paddy Deegan was back in the county jersey at No.6 and this outing will stand him in good stead, come championship hurling. Behind him, Huw Lawlor is purring nicely.

I would say that Eoin Murphy will be annoyed with a couple of little things from the semi-final defeat. But, make no mistake, this man is not an All-Star for no reason. I certainly wouldn’t swap him.

There are still a couple of players to come back in as well. TJ, well we know what he will add to the entire set-up.

All in all, a National League campaign that has taken our men to the semi-final stage, plenty to work on over the coming weeks. Brian Cody will relish the prospect of leading his beloved black and amber into another championship season. Bring it on.

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Motors Classifieds

Classified section To advertise your business in our classified section call in or telephone: 056 777 1463, or email: accounts @kilkennyobserver.ie

NOW OPEN SATURDAY MORNINGS 9.30am to 12.00pm

CAR WASH – 056 7726289 TYRE BREAKDOWN SERVICE

JOE PARSONS GARDEN MAINTENANCE SERVICES INCLUDE • Hedge cutting • • Grass cutting • • Power washing • • Dry rubbish removal • • Tree pruning •

CONTACT JOE: 086-8587568

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 01 April 2022

News

Planning Memoriams/Miracle notices prayers

Planning notices KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCIL We, Patrick Butler and Siobhan Anderson Butler, intend to apply to above authority for permission for the following at Knockshanbally, Johnswell, Co. Kilkenny. (a) Erection of Dwelling House (b) Prior to erection of Dwelling House at (a) Temporary installation of cabin as 1. Family Home 2. To provide necessary full time oversight of nascent agricultural enterprise (Agricultural Enterprise is Class 9 Exempt Development) (c) Installation of New Waste Treatment System (d) Entrance from Public Road (e) Associated Works The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Department, Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny, during its public opening hours 9.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.

Monday to Friday, and a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the Planning Authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee (€20.00) within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the Authority of the planning application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the Planning Authority in making a decision on the application.

The Planning Authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission.

Patrick Butler Siobhan Anderson Butler KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCIL I, Victoria Tennyson intend to apply to Kilkenny County Council for planning permission for a Proposed new bungalow style dwelling, proposed shared entrance, driveway, borewell, proposed wastewater treatment tank and percolation area, stormwater soakaways, landscaping and all associated site works at Kilmacshane, Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny. The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Department, Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny, during its public opening hours 9.00 a.m.

- 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m. Monday to Friday, and a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the Planning Authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee (€20.00) within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the Authority of the planning application. The Planning Authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission. Signed: Nextgen Design, www.ngdb.ie.

KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCIL Planning Permission is sought by Jenema Consultants Ltd. for the relocation of a single storey detached building comprising an ESB sub-station with switch room and a recycling unit, to service a 90 bed 3 storey Nursing Home (granted planning permission under Pl. Ref. No. 16403), and all associated site development works. Alterations to above-mentioned single storey detached building shall include a) the change of the previously permitted enclosed recycling unit to an external recycling area, b) the proposed addition of a new water tank room, c) the proposed addition of a new generator room, all at Golf Links Road, and Newpark Lower, townland of northern part, Kilkenny.

The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Department, Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny, during its public opening hours 9 a.m.- 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.

Monday to Friday, and a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the Planning Authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee (€20.00) within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the Authority of the planning application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the Planning Authority in making a decision on the application.

The Planning Authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission.

KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCIL I, John Kirwan intend to apply to Kilkenny County Council for Retention Planning Permission to retain existing extension to the side of existing dwelling house and retention of existing shed and all associated site development works at Radestown South, Co. Kilkenny.

The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Department, Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny, during its public opening hours 9 a.m.- 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.

Monday to Friday, and a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the Planning Authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee (€20.00) within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the Authority of the planning application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the Planning Authority in making a decision on the application.

The Planning Authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission.

KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCIL We, Joseph & Geraldine Lawlor intend to apply to Kilkenny County Council for Retention Planning Permission to retain existing detached garage and all associated site development works at Park House, Kilfera Court, Bennettsbridge Road, Co. Kilkenny.

The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Department, Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny, during its public opening hours 9 a.m.- 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.

Monday to Friday, and a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the Planning Authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee (€20.00) within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the Authority of the planning application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the Planning Authority in making a decision on the application.

The Planning Authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission.

KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCIL Planning Permission is sought by Roche Injury Clinic Ltd. for change of use from existing filling station / residential use to injury clinic use; & also to include the following: 1. Partial demolishing of the existing building.

2. To construct 2no.single storey extensions to both sides of the remaining building; comprising of proposed clinical spaces, gym spaces, staff areas and ancillary accommodation.

3. Internal and elevational modifications to the existing building.

4. Totem pole signage.

5. Development is accessed via existing vehicular entrance; with proposed modification to same.

6. Connection to existing public mains water system.

7. New ancillary carpark and all associated site developments works at Arden, Drakeland Lower, Co. Kilkenny. R95 DA21.

The planning application may be inspected, or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the offices of the Planning Department, Kilkenny County Council, County Hall, John Street, Kilkenny, during its public opening hours 9 a.m.- 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.

Monday to Friday, and a submission or observation in relation to the application may be made to the Planning Authority in writing on payment of the prescribed fee (€20.00) within the period of 5 weeks beginning on the date of receipt by the Authority of the planning application, and such submissions or observations will be considered by the Planning Authority in making a decision on the application.

The Planning Authority may grant permission subject to or without conditions, or may refuse to grant permission.

TO PUBLISH PLANNING APPLICATION, CONTACT US: Call to our office at: Unit 7 Friary Street Telephone: 056 7771463/086 2395370 Email: sales@kilkennyobserver.ie

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Memoriams / Miracle Prayers

JAMES (JIM) POWER 2ND ANNIVERSARY In loving memory of James (Jim) Power late of 2 The Ring Bennettsbridge and Reeden, Ballycallan, Co. Kilkenny who died on 5th April 2020 As each day dawns we think of you And each night falls we pray for you And throughout our lives, no matter where In our hearts you are always there Your life was a blessing Your memories a treasure You are loved beyond words And missed beyond measure Sadly missed and remembered by his wife Geraldine, daughters Nicola and Elaine son-in-law Kenneth, grandchild Daniel, his sister Anna Bergin sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. H.D

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. H.D

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. M.M

Masses offered

St. Anthony Prayer,

JOSEPHINE RYAN BIRTHDAY REMEMBRANCE Birthday remembrance of Josephine Ryan, Greenfields, Freshford Road, Kilkenny whose birthday occurs at this time.

Loved and missed every day.

Phil, Fran, Martin, Anne, Richard grandchildren and great grandchildren.

O Holy St. Anthony gentlest of Saints, your love for God and charity for His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers.

Encouraged by this thought, I implore you to obtain for me (request).

O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the sweet Infant Jesus, who loved to be folded in your arms.

The gratitude of my heart will ever be yours.

Amen M.M

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer. M.D.M

The Miracle Prayer

Dear heart of Jesus, in the past I have asked many favours.

This time I ask you this special one (mention favour).

Take it dear heart of Jesus and place it within your heart where your father sees it. Then in his merciful eyes it will become your own favour not mine. Amen.

Say this prayer three times for three days and your favour will be granted.

Never been known to fail.

Must promise publication of prayer.

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