Kilkenny Observer 25th March 2022

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Friday 25 March 2022

Ukraine Invasion Latest news ... and opinion & analysis  Pages 3, 10 & 14

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Mum’s The Word A special celebration of all our mothers  Page 15

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Observer Ukraine hits home kilkennyobserver.ie

INFLATION not seen in Ireland since the 1980s, with rising fuel, food and housing costs straining budgets, is looming because of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Prices rises are expected to peak at around 8.5% this summer, according to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). The sharp pick-up in inflation will cost the average household around €2,000 in spending power this year.

The surge in inflation would drain around €4bn in consumer spending power, KBC Bank said.

Wages and Government supports are unlikely to keep pace with average inflation of 6.7% for the year.

This means disposable income could fall by around 2%, the ESRI warned in its quarterly economic forecast. Energy and food costs are already rising as a result of the pandemic, with consumer price inflation hitting 5.6% in February.

The war will put further strain on oil and gas, cereal, cooking oil, fertiliser and metals exports from Russia and Ukraine.

This will lead to hikes in the cost of home heating, transport, electronic goods, building materials and basic foods such as bread and pasta.

Meanwhile, Gardaí will carry out vetting within seven days on prospective homes for people arriving here from Ukraine, following discussions with the Government. Up to 40,000 refugees are expected within the next month, with nearly 10,000 having arrived already.

The Garda vetting will only be required in cases where a child or a vulnerable adult is being placed in shared accommodation.

More than 20,000 people have pledged spare rooms or whole properties to those flee-

Clocks forward

Don’t forget, the clocks go forward one hour at 1.00 am on Sunday, March 27, as part of daylight savings time.

Enjoy the stretch...

Business award Mint Medusa has won Investment in Skills Training and Development of Staff at the 2021 Kilkenny Business Awards.

Full story, Page 10

100,000 visitors In the biggest St Patrick’s Festival Kilkenny has ever seen, an estimated 100,000 people visited Kilkenny City over the six-day festival with a peak of 40,000 people coming out to watch the St Patrick’s Day Parade.

Consumer rights A new law proposed by the Government will make it easier for consumers to group together and seek redress if they have been affected by a breach of their rights, either in Ireland or in another EU country.

See Page 6 Self-defence: a young woman, merely a girl, armed and ready in Kyiv. The photo was posted on social media

ing the Russian invasion with a number of them from Kilkenny and Carlow.

Student accommodation will be made available for the refugees , the Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris has said.

Irish colleges and universi-

ties will make student beds available to refugees when they fall vacant at the end of the term.

Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has confirmed that the welfare payments of those accommodating Ukrainian people in their

homes will not be affected.

Elsewhere, Irish people are being urged by the Immigration Council of Ireland not to send any more items for Ukrainian refugees in Poland, but instead to consider putting welcome packages together for people arriving here.

Finally, Kilkenny TD John Paul Phelan has challenged the State consumer watchdog to police price gouging at petrol stations as motorists are hit with soaring fuel costs.

Paul Hopkins, Page 8 Background, Page 14

Curbs lifted ‘ too brutally’ sees Covid jump SEVERAL European countries, including Ireland, lifted their Covid curbs “too brutally” and are now seeing a rise in cases likely due to the more transmissible BA2 variant, the World EVERY FRIDAY

Health Organization (WHO) has said.

WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told a press conference in Moldova that he was “optimistic but vigilant” about the

The Kilkenny

Observer UNIT 7, FRIARY STREET, KILKENNY, R95 VHY7

pandemic’s latest development in Europe.

Covid is on the rise in 18 out of 53 countries in the WHO European region, he said.

“The countries where we see a

particular increase are tIreland, the UK, Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy and Germany”.

“Those countries are lifting the restrictions brutally from too much to too few,” he said.

In the latest figures, the next highest infection rates were seen in Naas in Co. Kildare and Wicklow.

And also in Mulling, in Co Carlow.

INSIDE Paul Hopkins............... P8 Marianne Heron.......P12 John Ellis ...................P16 Health & Science......P18 Travel & Leisure.......P19 Gerry Cody ...... P28 & 40 Picture Special .... P36-39 Food & Drink ............P42 TV & Streaming .......P43 Sport ...................... P48-50

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GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE TEAM

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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Enjoy a day out at the Wildfowl Reserve AFTER closing its doors in March 2020, Wexford Wildfowl Reserve Visitor Centre, only a short drive away, has now re-opened with an enhanced visitor experience.

A new, fully accessible walking trail of around 500m now allows access around the enclosed area of the Visitor Centre ponds. More picnic benches also make a trip to the Centre a chance to relax and enjoy nature, whether you’re a keen birdwatcher, photographer or just someone seeking a quiet escape from the stresses of the day.

The trail creation is the initial stage of the redevelopment of the Visitor Centre grounds, and we are pleased to invite you to come have a look.

The Visitor Centre (with its display area and observation tower) and the grounds (with short trail and birdwatching hide) are now open four days a week, Sunday to Wednesday, 9am to 5pm (closed for lunch between 1 and 2pm, last admittance 4.45pm). All are welcome but, as WWR is a wildfowl and hare reserve, there are strictly no dogs (other than guide dogs) allowed within the grounds.

While the Visitor Centre has been closed, the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve lands have continued to operate at full

strength for our wintering wildfowl population, with thanks to the very capable local farmers who manage the Reserve lands, under a lease specifically designed to benefit wildfowl and wider biodiversity value. Our wildfowl populations can be viewed from the observation tower or bird hides, and will be present for a few weeks yet.

Our wildfowl populations are easily disturbed, particularly our Greenland Whitefronted Geese, of which up to a third of the world’s population is on the WWR and North Slob for winter.

They are used to the wide open tundra of Greenland for their breeding grounds, so are particularly prone to disturbance by people on foot or on bikes, so we ask the public not to walk, run or cycle on the North Slob farm roads. You are very welcome to walk our new Visitor Centre trail or the woodland trails of the nearby Raven Nature Reserve. * For further information on the re-opening, or to keep up to date on what is happening down on the Reserve, please follow on: Facebook: npwswexfordwildfowlreserve Instagram: wexfordwildfowlreserve, or on our website: www. wexfordwildfowlreserve.ie

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New law aids consumer rights A NEW law proposed by the Government will make it easier for consumers to group together and seek redress if they have been affected by a breach of their rights, either in Ireland or in another EU country.

The legislation will give designated qualified entities new powers to take enforcement

action on behalf of a group of consumers.

Such entities will be able to take a company to the High Court on behalf of a group of individual customers.

The new law is part of an EUwide response to recent mass consumer rights breaches by private companies, such as

Govt backs bid for us to host Euro 2028 THE Government has issued a letter of support for Ireland’s bid to co-host Euro 2028. The application is a joint bid with Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland.

According to RTE, it is understood there was no discussion regarding the cost of jointly hosting the event at the latest Cabinet meeting.

The deadline has now passed for national football associations to confirm their interest in bidding to host the event, the world’s second biggest international football tournament.

Around 150,000 football fans could travel to Ireland for the tournament.

The Government will likely provide funding for venues, transport, security and fan zones.

It looks likely that the joint Ireland and UK bid may be the sole expression of interest to host Euro 2028, as UEFA has ended the Russian bid, while Turkey ended its bid to host the tournament.

Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers has said there would be “massive economic benefits” if Ireland’s joint bid to host Euro 2028 was successful, as well as “huge regional benefits” across the island.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Drivetime, Mr Chambers said analysis by

Deloitte has suggested there could be €300m to €600m of direct spend, with a net value of between €180m and €290m.

He said there has been significant investment in the Aviva and Croke Park in recent years, meaning there would be “limited costs there” compared to other countries that might not be able to frontload that investment.

The predominant costs would be around security and policing, he said, adding that while there might be additional specifications to stadia and there is no tournament or staging fee.

He said initial figures suggest the security cost could be between €26m and €35m.

He also said there is a contingency around inflation in all of the figures.

Mr Chambers said the GAA has had engagement with the FAI and has had “positive early discussions”.

There will be a collaborative process in the next year to work through the details, he said, adding that the GAA has held “many other major events” in Croke Park.

“It could be a case that Croke Park could have one or two matches and the Aviva could host the vast majority of them,” he said.

Kilkenny visits Tourism Ireland in New York REPRESENTATIVES of Kilkenny County Council, who were in New York for the St Patrick’s Day, have met with senior executives from Tourism Ireland.

They were briefed on Tourism Ireland’s extensive promotional programme in the US for 2022, which is in full swing right now.

This year, Tourism Ireland is rolling out its biggest ever programme of promotions in the US, to restart overseas tourism to Ireland. Following a devastating two years for the tourism and travel sector, the

programme will allow Tourism Ireland to upweight its campaigns, punch through the noise and convert ‘lookers’ to ‘bookers’, in order to save businesses and create jobs.

Tourism Ireland’s message is that Ireland is open for business again and cannot wait to welcome back American visitors.

Alison Metcalfe, Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America, said: “We are rurging American travellers to ‘press the Green Button’ and book their trip to Ireland this year.”

the 2015 car emissions scandal and mass flight cancellations in 2017.

It will allow for several crossborder qualified entities to come together to represent European consumers, where they have been harmed by the same alleged infringement which has been caused by the

same trader in several member states.

The new law is being drafted by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar.

“I know people can often feel intimidated and powerless when there’s been a largescale consumer rights breach.

By providing a way for them to act collectively with representation from a qualified entity, this new law will massively strengthen their position. Ireland currently has no mechanism for collective redress,” Mr Varadkar said.

“This is different to the US class action regime. Only cer-

tain, non-specified, non-profit entities will be able to take a case,” he added.

The Government says the new scheme will not impose an extra administrative burden on businesses and will not affect the vast majority of traders who treat their customers well.

owners can register for free via https://www.petmania. ie/webinar-signup/ and submit a question about pet health for consideration.

Operation TransPAWmation is an eight-week health and wellbeing programme run online with weekly updates, a food diary, exercise and diet hints and tips plus exciting weekly health steps to complete. Participants automatically gain access to

the special webinar presented by Operation TransPAWmation’s panel of experts.

Small animal vet Carol Doyle said: “I find in my clinic pet owners are often shocked to learn that their pet is overweight. It is imperative to manage their weight correctly as obesity can lead to devastating health complications and can shorten their life expectancy and quality of life. Even a few

extra pounds can leave your pet listless and less energetic than usual.

“The good news is, with some simple habits and diet adjustments, this can be corrected. I am looking forward to sharing my tips at the Webinar on March 26th. I hope you’ll join me,” she said.

Paws for thought with vet webinar PETMANIA Kilkenny is inviting pet parents to join vets Dr Carol Doyle and Dr Bobby Ortiz for an exclusive Webinar on this Saturday March 26 at 1:00 pm. The pet specialists will share their expertise on managing pets’ weight, health, and wellbeing as Petmania concludes Operation TransPAWmation for 2022.

Operation TransPAWmation was designed around Petmania’s five ‘Pillars of Pet Care’ leading to healthier, happier pets. During the hour-long webinar, Dr Doyle and Dr Ortiz will answer commonly asked questions about dogs’ and cats’ diet, fitness, and overall health in the exclusive webinar.

The five ‘Pillars of Pet Care’ are: Weight, diet, and body condition score (BCS) 1. Exercise and play 2. Pet dental care 3. Grooming 4. Parasite protection and prevention The webinar is available for Operation TransPAWmation participants and pet

See www.petmania.ie for more.

See also Page 18

Got a great idea? Here’s €140,000 for you A LIFE-SAVING blood donation campaign (the Vampire Cup), a nature-based experiential education initiative (Seed Scholars) and the first ethnic minority interest and multilingual community radio station in Ireland (GOCOM Radio) are among the projects being supported by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) across the country.

SEI is now encouraging anyone who has an innovative idea to solve a particular social problem to apply for a place on its Ideas Academy – aimed at those with an early-stage idea to solve a social problem

or Impact Programme – aimed at high-potential social entrepreneurs looking to grow the impact of their organisation.

SEI has up to 50 programme places and €140,000 funding available.

Since its foundation in 2004, SEI has supported more than 500 social entrepreneurs all around Ireland who are who are championing and driving solutions in areas such as mental health, housing, the environment and education.

One recent graduate of SEI’s Ideas Academy is the Vampire Cup, founded by UCC medical student Glenn Curtin. The

Vampire Cup is a national blood donor recruitment strategy in the form of an intervarsity competition that pits colleges and universities against each other to see who can donate the most blood and save lives across the country. In the next Academic Year, 16 colleges from across the country representing over 200,000 students and staff will undertake the Vampire Cup challenge and become blood donation advocates.

Other social enterprises currently being supported by SEI include Seed Scholars, founded by Eliya Lavine, an immer-

sive environmental education programme for primary school children, and GOCOM Radio, founded by Islammiyah Saudique Kadejo, the first ethnic minority interest and multilingual community radio station in Ireland that is providing ethnic representation opportunities, bridging language barriers and promoting migrant skills.

Applications for the Ideas Academy and Impact Programme are open until midnight on Tuesday, April 5. Interested candidates can apply or find out more at socialentrepreneurs.ie.

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News Opinion

The Fact Of The Matter PAUL HOPKINS

When selective empathy ignores global suffering The phenomena of recent decades that is continuous ‘breaking news’ and expanding social media allows the world to watch with fear and loathing as Ukrainian people — going on about their every-day lives only a few weeks ago — are now seeking shelter from Russian airstrikes in underground train stations and making Molotov cocktails to launch against Russian tanks rolling in on once peaceful streets. Men saying goodbye to their mothers, wives and daughters at a border crossing before going back to join their beleaguered brothers in arms.

Collectively we have responded with condemnation, compassion and support for Ukrainians and the determined President Volodymyr Zelensky; equalled only by our utter contempt for Putin whose bombing of a maternity hospital is repellant to all.

Not closing air corridors and arguments about neutrality

aside, many countries have opened their doors to Ukrainian refugees, with the numbers fleeing at three million and rising. The exception, arguably, is Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel raising concerns with our Government that our “opendoor policy for the refugees could potentially endanger the UK”. That Downing Street is worried about migrants reaching the UK via the back door.

Her remarks have been roundly condemned in the Dail as “disgusting”.

For the rest of us, our collective outcry is exactly the damning indictment one would hope to see when people are fleeing for their very lives. That said, there is debate among a very good few across all media, of all leanings, about the West’s portrayal of Ukraine’s plight as somehow “different” and labelling Ukrainians as more “civilised” compared to those suffering from wars in countries like Yemen, Libya, Ethiopia, Syria, and

Palestine, although there has always been strong support in Ireland for Palestinians.

The other night one veteran American TV reporter, describing the Ukrainian crisis, said: “This is not Iraq or Syria... this is a civilised and European country.”

Ukraine’s very own Deputy Chief Prosecutor emphasised European ‘white’ features when he said: “This is very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed.”

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said: “These people are intelligent, they are educated people. This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists...”

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee of the French National Assembly, one JeanLouis Bourlanges, speaking on TV the other night, said: “This

is going to be an immigration of great quality, intellectuals that we will be able to take advantage of.”

What can I say? Not only is it shameful to treat refugees as a resource to be exploited for one’s own benefit but the statement itself is steeped with a racist, colonial mindset, one that looks to place an assigned value on people’s worth.

Some will balk at this insinuation, refuse to acknowledge there may well be double standards at play here. The thought is uncomfortable. Others in this debate about our selective empathy say it is hard to hear the condemnations of Putin’s Russia by the US — a country that has just as ruthlessly and indiscriminately bombed innocent civilians, invaded and occupied countries throughout its history and continues to supply much of the hardcore weapons used in many global heinous slaughters this very moment.

Selective empathy is danger-

ous because it enables ‘otherisation’ and racism on the basis of skin colour, religion and ethnicity. Empathising with one group or cause and refusing that empathy to others has led to many atrocities in human history.

To us here and to all Europeans, Ukraine is geographically

‘Selective empathy enables otherisation otherisation...

”

and even culturally close and so is the war. Refugees are no longer crossing continents but rather several hundred miles. In my column of two weeks ago I asked: “What’s next? Where will Putin stop?”

The Ukraine invasion and mass refugee exodus has disturbed our sense of complacency that wars in ‘our’ part of the world are a matter of the past. That wars in Yemen, South Sudan or Syria do not affect us.

Perhaps not, but they do affect those countries’ — and myriad others’ — people with murdering and maiming. People going about their every-day lives.

Just like the ‘white, blue-eyed’ Ukrainians.

Just like you and I. I would like think the massive (and deserved) coverage given Ukraine by all media here and throughout the ‘West’ would from here on be given to all wars and conflict everywhere.

But I’m not holding my breath anytime soon...

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How business can help refugees THE Tech For Good Dublin community has launched a new website — Pryvit.ie — which enables Kilkenny businesses to welcome refugees escaping from Ukraine. It is a not-for-profit initiative.

Pryvit means hello in Ukrainian and the aim of the site is to allow people who have been displaced by the war to access

special offers and discounted goods listed by businesses. It facilitates companies across Ireland to place a ‘welcome offer’ of discounted or free goods or services to those arriving in Ireland from Ukraine.

Examples include deals from all types of businesses including grocery shops, cafés, gyms, pharmacies and draperies.

Máirin Murray, co-founder of Tech for Good Dublin,said: “Pryvit.ie is a simple idea that allows businesses to offer a helping hand through a welcome offer for their goods or services to Ukrainian refugees.

“The easiest way for Irish business to help the people of Ukraine is through its core products and services, and I

am hopeful that, as it grows, Pryvit.ie will act as a very useful directory of what is available. It will also be a testament to the kindness and generosity of the Irish business and tech community,” she said.

The website is a result of a recent Tech for Good Dublin event — Ireland Supports Ukraine — which aimed to

mobilise the Tech for Good community to support Ukraine. Tech solutions can be scalable, efficient and quick to deploy — all needed to address the humanitarian crisis created by an illegal war.

Tech for Good Dublin is a community formed in 2017 and now has over 2,200 members. The group is run on a

voluntary basis and members believe in the power of technology to positively impact people, communities and the planet.

It was shortlisted for a Red Cross Innovation for Change award in 2018.

Please see https://techforgooddublin.org/

300k. households defy property tax MORE than 300,000 property owners have yet to file a local property tax (LPT) return, months after the deadline - but Revenue is stalling on taking action against them.

Officials said recently-lifted Covid restrictions mean families are only starting to emerge from the financial impact.

Revenue has suspended most of its sheriff enforcement activity, including actions against those who are failing to comply with LPT rules.

Around 316,000 property owners continue to defy the tax authority by failing to provide an updated valuation for their homes, a Revenue spokesper-

That's the business: John Hurley, CEO, of Kilkenny Chamber, with Lucie Dowling and Vickie St. John of Mint Medispa

son said. The failure of so many to provide a current valuation means they are likely to be underpaying the tax — and could face large interest-rate penalties.

The news comes as Revenue this week takes funds from the bank accounts of homeowners who have opted to pay by annual direct debit.

The rules were changed for this year's LPT, requiring a new valuation for homes as of last November.

The rate of non-compliance means the tax amount for these houses, where no updated valuation has been provided, is based on estimated values for the area in question..

Our Mint Medispa wins coveted Business Award MINT Medispa has won Investment in Skills Training and Development of Staff at the 2021 Kilkenny Business Awards.

Mint Medispa by Pembroke Kilkenny on Patrick Street is a laser, skincare and holistic therapy clinic.

A development from the traditional spas, Mint is a place where people come for a more advanced approach to a client’s selfcare needs.

The team are passionate about customer care and serious about skin. Mint

Medispa offers Candela GentleMax Pro Laser that can treat Laser Hair Removal, Pigmentation Removal and Rosacea. Mint Medispa treat skin concerns with Rejuvapen and AlumierMD Bespoke Skin Peels. For all Clinic treatments, Mint Medispa offers free consultations and can create a personalised Mint Journey Plan.

Lucie Dowling, HR Manager at Mint Medispa, told The Kilkenny Observer: “This is a fantastic achievement, we are so proud of

the work that has gone into making Mint Medispa a fantastic experience not only for our clients but also for our team in house.

We were up against tough competition this year. Congratulations to all the finalists and winners. Mint has such a strong hardworking team, it’s their win!”

Developing a relationship with Ormonde College and Kilkenny School of Beauty & Sports Therapy has become a significant advantage for Mint in attracting the right candi-

dates and offering training programmes.

Mint Medispa and Pembroke Kilkenny have won the Kilkenny Business Awards on several occasions including in 2015 for Investment in Skills, Training & Development of Staff and Employee of the Year for Courtney Power.

Lucie Dowling won Employee of the Year in 2014.

In 2013 Pembroke Kilkenny won Excellence in Hospitality and Excellence in Customer Service 2012.

Congrats to all!

Visa rules scupper plan for new city A HONG Kong real-estate businessman who had proposed to build a city in Ireland to host 50,000 emigrants has said he has abandoned the project over the State's immigration laws, according to the Sunday Independent.

Ivan Ko, the founder of the Victoria Harbour Group (VHG), an international in-

vestment company, wanted to find a 50 sq km site between Dublin and Belfast to create a new city, named 21st Century New City.

But the plan, which was discussed with the Department of Foreign Affairs, is now off due to Ireland's immigration policy, which Ko has said "currently is just

providing to investment immigrants”.

"The target group which VHG wants to serve are not those who can migrate under investment schemes but rather the mass middle to lower middle-income group,” he added.

The businessman said his company's objective was to

provide an opportunity for Hong Kong people "to build a harmonious community in the free society of the host country”.

However, such an initiative would only work with the support of the host country which, he said, was of "paramount importance to a new city”.

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Opinion AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON

Do you ever come across cringe-making photos of the fashion fads you fell for in the past? I found one recently, I wore bright yellow hot pants, teamed with a yellow top with green elbow patches, thigh-high yellow socks and wedge heels. I was a fashion writer at the time – don’t even go there!

The recollection does make the point though that before you have even said a word you will have told the people around you a good deal about yourself. Clothes can do the talking for you. From the conservative message of classical outfits to the oneof-the-herd look featuring jeans/ trainers/ puffer jacket, they are part of a cultural conversation.

Fashion, especially women’s fashion, can be a social commentary on contemporary society. So what are we saying with the mixed messages sent out by current styles? Today’s in look features girly dresses with long skirts in pretty floral prints, a look as demure as any Jane Austen heroine. These floaty frocks are teamed with heavy-soled boots that wouldn’t be out of place on a building site plus BLJ’s — Marlon Brando eat your heart out — black leather

Dedicated followers of the way we wear...

jackets. Maybe it’s that old friend nostalgia at work, harking back to rock concerts starting with Woodstock and Glastonbury where romance (frocks) met practicality (boots). Or maybe there’s a message in femininity combined with Nancy Sinatra’s song from 1966 – these boots are made for walking and

one of these days. You get the idea...

Some previous fashions are easy to interpret: like Dior’s 1947 New Look, which provoked riots over opulent skirts with yards and yards of fabric and cinched waists and signalled a return to femininity and luxury after the austerity and uniforms of

the war years.

The messages in the different subcultural styles in the Sixties and Seventies and Eighties were clear. Blackclad Beatniks reflected the anti-conformism of Jack Kerouac’s Beat Generation, the swinging youth cult of Mods and the rival subculture, leather-clad biker Rockers

clashed in style wars, sometimes literally.

Hippies with beads flowers, long locks and bell bottoms embraced free love and giving peace and chance in an anti-war stance, while Punks, with looks designed to shock featuring Doc Martins, ripped clothing and safety pins signalled nihilism.

Looking back, women especially have put up with the most extraordinary torments in the name of fashion.

Can you imagine wearing a crinoline dress supported by whalebone hoops and half a dozen petticoats over a corset designed to pinch your waist to a required 18 inches?

It was a look reflecting the affluence of the Victorian era, of importance of a rising middle class where a wife was the angel of the house and her clothes rendered her quite unable to work never mind walk through a normal size door.

Nothing can seem quite so ridiculous as an outmoded look (until it has a revival that is). Remember those giant shoulders designed to break through the glass ceilings in soap operas Dallas and Dynasty back in the Eighties? Now we probably think we wouldn’t be seen dead looking like Sue Ellen or Alexis but bet your high heels the look will be back one of these years.

What am I wearing now?

PJs topped with a cardie and a dressing gown not to mention fleece lined slippers. Certainly, it’s a commentary on the times we live in, there’s the WFH (Working From Home) angle accelerated by Covid and there is the climate crisis. I am wrapped up, doing my bit to lower carbon emissions and to avoid paying for more heating oil when prices are soaring thanks to Putin’s warmongering.

Preparing for exams CLAIR WHITTY

ARE you studying for exams and you find that you can’t remember what you are learning? There are a couple of things that you can do to help improve your memory. First and most important is sleep, you cannot underestimate the value of good quality sleep.

Stress, fear, worry, and anxiety will affect your ability to concentrate and to remember what you are reading.

Mindfulness, relaxation, and meditation can help relax the

body and the mind so that your adrenalin is not pumping and you’re in a more relaxed state of mind.

A healthy diet will fuel the brain. Omega oils found in fish, nuts, and seeds are the basic brain food. A variety of grains and rice will provide B vitamins for energy. Iron found in red meat, molasses, dried fruit is important for cognitive function. Eggs are rich in choline also a food for the brain. Water is super important so that you keep hydrated. Exercise too plays its role, as it will get the blood flowing around the body and keep you in good health.

If you don’t eat a varied

diet, you may benefit from a supplement. Omega oils are the most important in my opinion. You’ll need to start taking them now. As it takes time for them to build up in the system. I like Eskimo Oil as it is a good quality, high strength omega oil, you simply take one teaspoon per day. It doesn’t taste fishy and is also available in capsule form.

Revive Mastermind is one I have spoken about before.

This contains omega oils as well as B vitamins, choline, vitamin C and Zinc. I like this because students need only take one sachet per day three times a week. This means that a box of thirty will last you ten weeks.

If you’re feeling anxious one of our customers’ favourite remedies is Higher Nature Balance For Nerves. It works well for many of them. This contains a mix of magnesium, passion flower, L Theanine and B vitamins. You simply take between two and four tablets depending on your needs. Customers tell us that it helps with sleep too.

Let us know if you have any questions so that we can help get you on the right track.

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

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Ukraine Invasion ONCE upon a time Kyiv’s official city app previously used to buy tickets now warns of air raids and directs users to bomb shelters.

Now Kyiv Digital has been transformed into a life-saving tool that warns of air raids, and directs people to the nearest bomb shelter or garage with petrol supplies.

With the help of the country’s chief digital transformation officer (CDTO) – the Kyiv deputy mayor Petro Olenych – the app’s focus was changed in just 24 hours as Russia invaded.

It has already issued thousands of warnings and alerts, shared maps of bomb shelters, disseminated information on how to support the army and provided links to official sources of information.

According to a spokesperson for CDTO, the app now has 1.5 million users and is one of the top free applications in the Ukrainian app store.

“Kyiv Digital has become the essential tool for warnings and alarms in the city. The novelties include a map of bomb shelters, map of available pharmacies and the access of insulin, a map of grocery stores, a map of points with free water and bread, pet shops, humanitarian headquarters, and more,” the spokesperson said.

“The app has been around for a while and l found it very useful [before] because you could pay for parking on it and buy tickets for buses and trolleybuses,” said Denys Malakhatka, a scientific academic researcher.

“Since the war started, they changed the app. They now send you alerts about when to take shelter and I also really like the fact that they let you know when the potential attack has ended,” said Malakhatka.

“I think it’s great that they tell you when it’s over and you can relax,” he said.

In peacetime the underground train service

Transport app now a life-saving data tool

was used by about a million people a day; now the stations serve as emergency shelters for an estimated 15,000 Kyiv residents, who bed down on platforms and in hallways once the city’s curfew begins

at 7pm Ukrainian local time..

The Metro is running on one track every 90 minutes while the opposite platform has stationed carriages for people to wait, sit or sleep.

As part of the digital war

support, the government has also beefed up wifi access across the city, providing internet links to more than 200 bomb shelters to maintain emergency information links and allow people to keep in

touch with relatives.

“We must adapt our services and we have done. Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities are working more cohesively and productively than ever.

The reason is obvious. We

defend our country, our cities, our residents, our parents, our children and our future. This is our home so we will fight to the last,” said Olencyh in a statement.

Google has also rolled out rapid air alert systems for android phones in Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian government. “This work is supplemental to the country’s existing air raid alert systems, and based on alerts already being delivered by the Ukrainian government,” it said on a company blog.

Not everybody appreciates their phone apps’ change of focus to the conflict.

“There are eight to 10 alarms a day – and when I’m sleeping I don’t want to hear them as well,” said Kyle Kondratiev, a lighting designer-turned humanitarian volunteer.

But for many other Kyivans, the app has become essential, not least because it includes a map of working petrol stations. With public transport severely limited, and many petrol stations closed, drivers without the app can face long queues or lengthy searches for fuel.

Meanwhile, to bolster their sprits and demoralise the enemy, Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s defending troops have been uploading videos to social media taunting Russian troops with tales of drones, Bayraktar TB2, and their lethal strikes executed out of the blue.

Turkey’s very first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) may not be anywhere near as state-ofthe-art as General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper or SkyGuardian drones. Yet its appeal lies in a brutally efficient cost-benefit ratio on the battlefield.

At a price tag estimated to be as little as $1 million, these aircraft are easily expendable compared with other hightech armaments. And while they have a range typically limited to 150 km (93 miles), they can loiter in the air for over 24 hours, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Ryanair rejects it raised price of refugee tickets ACCORDING to sources reported by the Guardian newspaper, the Irish Government is or will be holding talks with Ryanair after accusations that it hiked fares on flights from Poland to Ireland as demand soared from Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.

Ryanair has rejected outright the claims made by the Ukrainian Ambassador to

Ireland, Larysa Gerasko, at a parliamentary committee meeting.

The airline’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, said the claims were “completely false” but, according to the London newspaper, Ireland’s transport minister is under pressure to take up the matter.

Interviewed on RTÉ radio Minister Eamon Ryan was

repeatedly asked whether Ryanair should lay on humanitarian flights.

He declined to answer the question, telling Morning Ireland: “We’re in constant touch with Ryanair. Through the previous Covid crisis, on a number of occasions, they helped us in terms of getting people out of difficult places in different ways.

“Let me first of all talk to the ambassador and then I’ll talk to Ryanair without a doubt.”

Demand for flights to Dublin from Warsaw has escalated since Russia invaded Ukraine and Ireland lifted visa restrictions for Ukrainians.

Flights in the coming days are all sold out with one-way fares on Sunday being adver-

tised at €144, the first day the route is showing availability.

Flights the following day drop to about €60, then €44 and €23 the following days.

Minister Ryan told RTE that Ireland had welcomed 10,000 refugees into the country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Asked about the price fare claims last week, Mr O’Leary

said: “We already carry thousands of refugees around Europe with fixed fares of €20 and €30 and €50. This story that we are hiking the fares out of Poland is completely false.”

He said the business model it operated allowed cheap fares but “if a flight fills, the last few fares will be sold at the highest fares”.

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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News Depending on which side of the fence you reside, you may consider the Biblical Eve the first mother in the history of mankind when she gave Adam, the first Man, two sons, Cain and Abel.

If the Greek classics is your bag then Pandora — she of the box of evil spirits you open at your peril — is considered the first, with her daughter Pyrrha (Fire), the first-born mortal child.

However, in the more exact field of human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve, who is thought to have lived about 190,000 to 200,000 years ago, is considered the first mother of us all, the most recent woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother’s side, and through the mothers of those mothers and so on, back until all lines converge on one person.

Whatever way you look at it, mothers have been around for some considerable time, otherwise, obviously, you and I would not be here, nor the rest of the planet’s 7.8 billion inhabitants.

A mother is specifically a woman who has given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that united with a sperm which grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother’s social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally acceptable definition for the term. Indeed, mother can often apply to a woman other than the biological parent, especially if she fulfills the main social role in raising the child. This is commonly either an adoptive mother or a stepmother (the biologically unrelated wife of a child’s father), wicked or not.

The term ‘othermother’ is also used in some contexts for women who provide care for a child not biologically their own in addition to the child’s primary mother.

Adoption, in various forms, has been practiced throughout history, most often where the woman or man has not been blessed with the ability to conceive their own baby. But it is only in the last 100 years or so that adoption has tended to be governed by comprehensive rules and regulations. And only in more recent times that adopted children have rights, in certain jurisdictions, to know who their biological mother is.

In recent decades, international adoptions have become more and more common.

Surrogacy too is a relatively new and growing phenomenon, as highlighted last week with our story on surrogate babies in Ukraine. A surrogate mother is, commonly, a woman who bears an embryo, that is from another woman’s fertilised ovum, for a couple unable to have children.

Thus, she carries and gives birth to a child that she is not the biological mother of. This is different from a woman who becomes pregnant via in vitro fertilisation. The latter has made pregnancy possible at ages well beyond natural childbearing age, and has generated

When mum’s the word ‘Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunhill of a world, a mother’s love is not’, wrote James Joyce. As we celebrate the wonder and joy of motherhood on Mothers’ Day, PAUL HOPKINS considers their enduring quality

ethical controversy and forced significant changes in the social meaning of motherhood.

With the huge advances in ‘ re-productive technology’, the function of biological motherhood can be split between the genetic mother (who provides the ovum) and the gestational (commonly known as a surrogate) mother (who carries the pregnancy).

The possibility for lesbian and bisexual women in samesex relationships (or, indeed, without a partner) to become mothers has increased in the last few decades thanks again to new technology. Modern lesbian parenting (the ‘new’ term that somewhat rids us of the bisexual case) originated with women who were in heterosexual relationships but who later identified as lesbian or bisexual, and, thankfully, the changing attitudes of some of us provided more acceptance for same-sex relationships.

There is also today the option of self-insemination and ‘clinically assisted donor insemination’, modern forms

of artificial insemination.

With so many modern ways to becoming a mother, every woman has a good chance to become one, though not all women want to carry and give birth to and rear a child and would indeed argue that maternal instinct is something of a misnomer.

One more thing: in 2008 American Thomas Beatie became the world’s first pregnant man and has gone on to give birth to three children.

Born a girl, Thomas still has a womb but now also has a penis, following his re-orientation surgery.

Historically, the role of women was confined mostly to being a mother and wife, with women being expected to dedicate most of their energy to these roles, and to spend most of their time taking care of the home.

In many cultures, women received significant help in performing these tasks from older female relatives, such as mothers-in-law (a sometimes misunderstood species and the

‘A mother is the truest friend we have...

”

butt of many a joke) or their own mothers.

Of course while mothers have historically fulfilled the primary role in raising children, since the late 20th century the role of the father in child care has been given greater prominence and social acceptance in many Western countries — perhaps primarily because the same decades also saw more and

more women entering the world of paid work. (The late Garret FitzGerald caused a furore when in the 1980s as Fine Gael Taoiseach he tried to put a ‘price’ on stay-at-home mothers by proposing to pay them for being so. The princely sum of £9.50 a week was what he reckoned they were worth...

Google ‘mothers in literature’ and it helpfully gives you suggestions ranging from ‘bad’ mothers in literature to ‘worst’ and ‘evil’ (including a sub-genre of ‘psycho mums’) with ‘best’ mothers trailing meekly behind. From Medea to Grendel’s mother, Queen Gertrude to Gertrude Morel, Mrs Bennet to Mrs Winterson, litera- ture is strewn with dreadful mothers somewhere on a scale from meddlesome to murderous.

And the ‘good list, much shorter, isn’t much better.

You wouldn’t want to spend a coffee morning with gruff old Marilla Cuthbert from Anne Of Green Gables. And as for sugary ‘Marmee’ Mrs March in Little Women — well, give me Paul

Simon’s racy coocoo, cachoo Mrs Robinson any day.

Seamus Heaney once said his father was notably sparing of talk but his mother “notably ready to speak out’’, a circumstance which the poet believed to have been fundamental to the “quarrel with himself ” out of which his poetry arose.

I like to think the novelist Washington Irving put it succinctly when he wrote: “A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavour by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate and cause peace to return to our hearts.”

But, as we celebrate mothers and motherhood on Sunday, let’s leave the last lines to Oscar Wilde: “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.’’

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

Your Money

BY JOHN ELLIS FINANCIAL ADVISOR

DAIRY and beef farmers have been urged to grow crops amid Ukraine shortage fears due to the expected serious price hikes on staple items such as bread as grain supplies are curtailed due to the war.

Psychology Today, quoting the famous Minnesota Starvation study conducted in the 40s, warns that lack of food creates an “insecurity in us that can override our sensibilities”. We have seen examples of hoarding of food and essentials pre-pandemic.

The Central Bank has written to banks and financial firms to be on their guard against increased risks from cybersecurity criminals. You will have noticed an increase in warnings when you log in to your online accounts.

It’s all causing a sense of insecurity and feeds the idea that we are at the mercy of the vagaries of fate and the decisions of other people and powers, leading in some cases to a sense of helplessness. But, according to a recent study into spending behaviours, we can be our own worst enemies as bad spending habits are costing us thousands of euro every year.

Problem is we live in a time of ‘instant gratification’ and when we have a problem we

How you can better manage your spending

accumulates to a sizeable amount.

Stop wasting food Buying vegetables in bulk, for instance, because they are under a euro or less can lead to high food wastage as you often throw out your mouldy carrots and red peppers a weeks later. At the beginning of each week plan your meals and this will show you exactly what to buy. And stick to it.

Set long-term financial goals Saving a little bit each month will eventually accumulate but setting savings goals for the months ahead can better inform your spending decisions.

look for the quick fix, hacks to cut down on costs, while completely overlooking our spending habits. Everyone’s spending habits are different and, while it’s difficult to cut down on little treats here and there, it’s worthwhile – delayed gratification, they call it – when trying to save for something important.

Try some or all of the following ideas:

Eat before you shop Everything is essential when going up and down the supermarket aisles on an empty stomach Think before spending during sales Buying something that has been slashed by 70% in a sale is an actual loss if you don’t need the item in question.

Cheaper is not always a savings Saving in the short term usually means losing more in the long run. iI’s better to spend a little more and go for better quality.

Saving a certain amount from your wages immediately on receipt It’s natural to prioritise other expenses on payday

but by reorganising your budget to put aside a certain amount each time it will bring results. For example, try using the 50/30/20 rule – 5% on necessary expenses, 30% toward “wants”, cinema, eating out etc. and 20% goes towards savings.

Stop ‘coffee on the go’ The cost of one cup a day

Use budgeting software You will not be bothered by the amount you squander unless you know. You need insight to make improvements. Many financial institutions have ‘free’ budgeting software on their apps that are underused. They will give you an instance and true time breakdown of your spending and savings habits.

The press of a button brings up graphs of your monthly spending and savings.

In spite of everything that you have no control over, you do actually have the reins as to how you allocate your hard-earned cash.

John@ellisfinancial.ie 086 8362633

Nore Valley Park Easter Egg Hunt now offers new double gokarts which lets parents and children pedal together!

Nore Valley Park also has some exciting news this year!

They are getting 2 new additions…. ALPACAS! These are to complement all their other animals such as deer, owls, peacocks and ostriches.

THIS year’s Easter Egg Hunt at Nore Valley Park is taking place from the 9th-16th of April!

(Except Sunday April 10th) Nore Valley Park has been running their famous Easter Egg Hunt for over 30 years, so not only is it one of the longest running, but the most established in Ireland. It is exciting for kids and parents (some came here when they were kids and can now bring their own!), to enjoy the thrill of finding the elusive golden egg!

The objective of the Easter Egg Hunt is that kids will search the farm for eggs which will then be traded in for chocolate eggs at the end of

the hunt! While on their search for eggs, kids can see a lot of baby animals such as lambs, rabbits and chicks. They can also take part in petting and handling or feeding sessions.

There are lots of exciting things for kids and parents at Nore Valley!

They offer a picnic area for parents to relax with a cup of tea/coffee and

Nore Valley Park is situated 15 minutes south of Kilkenny city in Bennettsbridge, by the scenic river Nore, and is only 4km from junction 9 on the M9. For more information you can check out their website www. norevalleypark.com or call them on 0567727747.

a home-baked scone or biscuit while their kids are having fun in the playground or sandpit! All of this is at an affordable price as the farm entry fee is already included in the

egg hunt ticket so you can stay on the farm as long as you like after you finish your egg hunt!

On completing the egg hunt, each child will get more chocolate than it is safe for them to eat in one day! Children can also enjoy other attractions such as tractor rides, crazy golf and go-karts. Nore Valley Park

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

Science & Wellbeing MULTIPLY your dog’s age by seven to calculate how old they are in human years.

Right? In other words, the old adage says, a four-year-old dog is similar in physiological age to a 28-year-old person.

Not necessarily so, for a new study by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine throws that out the window.

Instead, they created a formula that more accurately compares the ages of humans and dogs. The formula is based on the changing patterns of methyl groups in dog and human genomes — how many of these chemical tags and where they’re located — as they age. Since the two species don’t age at the same rate over their lifespans, it turns out it’s not a perfectly linear comparison, as the 1:7 years rule-of-thumb would suggest.

The new dog age calculator methylation-based formula, published in the journal Cell Systems, is the first that is transferrable across species.

More than just a parlour trick, the researchers say it may provide a useful tool for veterinarians, and for evaluating anti-ageing interventions.

“There are a lot of antiageing products out there these days — with wildly varying degrees of scientific support,” said senior author Trey Ideker, PhD, professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Centre. “But how do you know if a product will truly extend your life without waiting 40 years or so? What if you could instead measure your age-associated methylation patterns before, during and after the intervention to see if it’s doing anything?”

Ideker led the study with first author Tina Wang, PhD, who was a graduate student in Ideker’s lab at the time.

The formula provides a new “epigenetic clock,” a method for determining the age of a cell, tissue or organism based on a readout of its epigenetics — chemical modifications SO, your cat comes over and rubs himself against your legs, or even hops up and rubs against your sides and arms.

At first glance, this behaviour might seem to be a display of affection, and you might think that your cat is cuddling up with you because he loves you.

However, the real reason behind your cat’s behaviour isn’t quite as flattering. So why do cats rub themselves against you? It all has to do with your cat’s instincts and how he relates to other cats.

According to www.PetMD. com, the behaviour of rubbing against you or other objects is your cat’s way of using her sense of smell to relay and distribute information about the environment. When your cat rubs her head against you, she’s marking you with her scent. Your cat has scent glands all over her head and neck, including in her cheek, chin, and forehead, as well as on the base of her tail. When your cat rubs against you,

Why your family mongrel may be older than you think

like methylation, which influence which genes are ‘off’ or ‘on’ without altering the inherited genetic sequence itself.

Epigenetic changes pro-

vide scientists with clues to a genome’s age, Ideker said — much like wrinkles on a person’s face provide clues to their age.

Ideker and others have pre-

viously published epigenetic clocks for humans, but they are limited in that they may only be accurate for the specific individuals on whom the formulas were developed.

They don’t translate to other species, perhaps not even to other people.

Ideker said it was Wang who first brought the dog idea to him.

“We always look at humans, but humans are kind of boring,” he said. “So she convinced me we should study dog ageing in a comparative way.”

To do that, Ideker and Wang collaborated with dog genetics experts Danika Bannasch, DVM, PhD, Professor of Population Health and Reproduction at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and Elaine Ostrander, PhD, chief of the Cancer Genetics and Comparative Genomics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Bannasch provided blood samples from 105 Labrador retrievers. As the first to sequence the dog genome, Ostrander provided valuable input on analysing it.

Dogs were an interesting animal to study, Ideker said.

Given how closely they live with us, perhaps more than any other animal, a dog’s environmental and chemical exposures are very similar to humans, and they receive nearly the same levels of health care. It was also important that we better understood their ageing process, he said, as veterinarians frequently used the old 1:7 years ratio to determine a dog’s age and used that information to guide diagnostic and treatment decisions.

What emerged from the

study was a graph that can be used to match up the age of your dog with the comparable human age. The comparison is not a 1:7 ratio over time. Especially when dogs are young, they age rapidly compared to humans. A one-year-old dog is similar to a 30-year-old human. A four-year-old dog is similar to a 52-year-old human. Then by seven years old, dog ageing slows.

“This makes sense when you think about it — after all, a nine-month-old dog can have puppies, so we already knew that the 1:7 ratio wasn’t an accurate measure of age,” Ideker said.

According to Ideker, one limitation of the new epigenetic clock is that it was developed using a single breed of dog, and some dog breeds are known to live longer than others. More research will be needed, but since it’s accurate for humans and mice as well as Labrador retrievers, he predicts the clock will apply to all dog breeds.

Next, the researchers plan to test other dog breeds, determine if the results hold up using saliva samples, and test mouse models to see what happens to their epigenetic markers when you try to prolong their lives with a variety of interventions.

Meanwhile, Ideker, like many other dog owners, is looking at his own canine companion a little differently now.

“I have a six-year-old dog — she still runs with me, but I’m now realising that she’s not as ‘young’ as I thought she was,” Ideker said.

stay behind for all that long, a cat who knows you well may repeatedly mark you to make sure her scent remains.

This rubbing and marking process isn’t necessarily saying “I love you” but is more grouping you into other objects that also share your cat’s scent. This is reflected when you see cats who live together rub against each other. They’re spreading their communal scent and are also indicating acceptance of one another.

Your cat’s act of rubbing up against you is, essentially, a way of marking you as his territory. Leaving his scent behind tells other cats that you’re already his.

Rubbing isn’t the only way that cats communicate that you or an object are theirs.

Purina notes that cats use scratching in a similar way, rubbing the scent glands on their paws against objects and leaving their scent behind.

That’s why your cat may scratch at your sofa or doorjamb; these areas see high traffic and carry many scents.

Your cat is scratching to mark them as part of her territory, too.

In some cases, your cat might pee on objects to mark her scent. While much more inconvenient and undesirable than rubbing and scratching, peeing on things also transfers your cat’s smell.

If your cat starts peeing on objects, she’s likely trying to mark them and establish that they’re her territory. Peeing is sometimes prompted by bringing a new cat into the home, or by other changes that make your cat feel unsettled and insecure.

Cats show their affection in many ways, and while your cat rubbing up against you might seem like he’s looking to cuddle, that’s not quite the reason behind this behaviour.

Instead, your cat is marking you as his and showing other cats that you’re a part of his territory. Your cat’s efforts to claim you might not be driven by the affection you’d imagined, but be flattered. If your cat is taking the time to mark you as his, then you’re something he cares about.

Your cat rubbing you more paws for thought she’s leaving behind her scent.

Your cat who knows you well may mark you, but a cat who’s meeting you for the

first time may also rub against you, marking you but also gathering information about you. Since the scent doesn’t

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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Travel & Leisure HOW many planes are in the air at any moment is a question you have most likely have asked yourself. Particularly when 35,000 miles high in the sky yourself and are now mostly like planning a trip somewhere with the easing of pandemic regulations allowing for such.

It’s a fair question! And given that pretty much every single plane is tracked in some capacity, it’s actually one that can be answered. So we asked the experts at Fight-tracking software company FlightAware to help us figure it out.

So, how many planes are in the air right now?

Back in 2017, FlightAware determined there to be an average of 9,728 commercial airplanes in the sky at any given time. Of course, that number fluctuates on a minute-byminute basis, given that planes are constantly taking off and landing.

These days, however, there are fewer planes in the air due to the pandemic. “We tend to see about 10,000 to 20,000 fewer fights a day since the pandemic and into 2021 and 2022,” says FlightAware spokesperson Kathleen Bangs, a commercial pilot and former airline pilot. That’s about anywhere from 10% to 20% less than normal, according to FlightAware data provided to the online website Travel + Leisure.

Doing some rough math based on that estimate, it’s likely that there are anywhere between 7,782 and 8,755 commercial planes in the air on average at any given time these days.

There is some seasonality to consider, though. “Overall, summer months are the busiest for most countries, as that’s when they see the biggest demand for leisure travel, and

ALL Covid quarantine measures for international travellers have been lifted by Vietnam which has now reopened its borders, becoming the latest destination to ease pandemic-related rules.

According to the Viet Nam Government Portal, all tourists will be required to arrive with proof of a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of their departure or a negative rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours of their departure.

Travellers must also make a health declaration before arriving, download a coronavirus-related app, monitor their own health for 10 days, and obtain insurance that covers at least €10,000 in expenses.

Children under two are exempt from pre-arrival testing requirements.

“In order to carry out the safe and effective opening of tourism, the [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism] has issued guidance documents and asked localities to urgently prepare for the reopening of tourism, which focus on ensuring safety,

So, how many planes are in the air right now?

of course, over major holidays and especially those that go over a long weekend,” says Bangs. “January is traditionally the lightest month for travel.”

And all of this doesn’t even consider other types of fights, such as cargo, military, and private jets. According to FlightAware, commercial aviation only comprised about 46.4% of all fights in 2021, so the total number of planes

in the air at any time might actually be twice as high — somewhere in the ballpark of 15,500 to 17,500!

Most fight-tracking companies use a technology called Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) to track fights.

The majority of planes today are equipped with ADS-B transponders that automatically relay data like

their location, altitude, and air speed to air traffick controllers; Fight-tracking companies use this public data to inform their own systems.

FlightAware, for instance, has its own network of 33,000 ADS-B receivers on the ground around the world, plus satellite receivers orbiting the earth.

“We can track Fights anywhere on the globe, including previously

‘Somewhere in the ballpark of 15,500 to 17,500..

inaccessible areas such as across wide expanses of ocean, large deserts, and the north and south poles,” says Bangs.

Sound like a security hazard for high-profile fights? It can be, but there’s a way to ensure privacy. “There are some military fights that are blocked to our coverage, and additionally, many private aircraft — think celebrities, politicians, and large

Vietnam once again open to tourists

corporations — often pay to ‘block’ their tail number or aircraft registration from the public,” says Bangs. “We, meaning FlightAware, still see them, but can only release that data if on request from a government agency.”

FlightAware is primarily used by aviation-related companies, including airlines and airports, to monitor fights, but regular consumers can tap into its data, too. Another popular option, particularly for enthusiasts rather than professionals, is Flightradar24, while a third is Plane Finder.

All three tracking companies offer free and paid versions of their software, both on desktop and via mobile apps, with higher tiers of service offering more data. Flightradar24 even has an augmented reality mode, in which you can hold up your camera to a plane flying overhead and find out the airline, fight number, altitude, and origin and destination.

And if you have an iPhone, you don’t even need an app to ID nearby planes. Just ask Siri: “What planes are overhead?” and she’ll list off what’s around you!

implementing tourism stimulation programmes, developing products, improving service quality, upholding promotion activities, supplementing human resources and strengthening inspection and examination,” the ministry said in a statement.

While government offcials previously indicated there would be a vaccine requirement to enter the country, neither the government’s news site nor the tourism ministry have mentioned such.

Vietnam fully has opened its borders to international tourism three months earlier than the country initially planned.

Vietnam is currently seeing a spike in Covid-19 cases and is reporting an average of about 254,000 new infections each day, according to Reuters. But the country has vaccinated more than 80% of its population.

Last month, Australia began welcoming international tourists. And next month, South Korea plans to welcome visitors followed by New Zealand, which plans to reopen its borders to the world in May.

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The benefits of feeling it will all be OK ANDREW MCDONALD HYPNOTHERAPIST

Thinking is both a blessing and a curse. Properly harnessed, wonderful creativity emerges. Allowed to run free, it frets over the uncontrollable, big questions of life.

We have the highest intelligence level of all animals. Whether that means we’re the smartest species though is up for debate. Other creatures seem happier with fewer work pressures.

Higher cognitive ability brings great benefits.

Without it, inventions would be impossible. We would live in an unsophisticated world.

The problem is it can run wild, particularly when facing major crises.

Loss of work, divorce, illness, bereavement. All challenge us mentally and the helplessness involved can feel torturous.

Faith traditions, both religious and secular, are as old as humanity itself. In seeking answers to questions outside our control, belief in a higher idea can be a great comfort.

That word “idea” is critical here. Many atheists talk about relief in not feeling part of some grand plan just as those with a belief in a God find help in the concept that there is someone in control.

Atheism provides comfort in the idea that this life is all there is. Atheists believe you don’t need to worry about the next life because there isn’t one.

No afterlife, nothing to be frightened of.

It is also perfectly possible to be religious and atheist. Just ask a Buddhist monk. Contrary to popular belief outside of Buddhism, the Buddha repeatedly said he was not, and he is not viewed as, a God. Ideas of events after death is also something which is different in Buddhism. The goal is nirvana, which translated to English means “extinguishing”. In other words, the end of samsara, “suffering”, which all sentient beings endure.

There is an unfairness in labelling atheism “faithless”. In fact, it often requires a great amount of belief. Likewise, it can bring great comfort in life-changing moments.

Dismissing theistic beliefs would be a major mistake too though. If they have brought comfort to billions of people over the centuries, there are solid reasons why.

The idea that living a good life ends with reward after death is a wonderful support in difficult times, particularly when someone passes away.

In an Irish context, these ideas would be most commonly found in Christianity. However, they also underpin most of the other religions around the globe. In Ireland, there was, until recent decades, a strong Jewish tradition, particularly in Dublin, and Islam is growing here now.

Regardless of whether somebody finds comfort through faith in an afterlife or not, those beliefs are worthy of respect.

Tolerance is fundamental. What is right for one, doesn’t necessarily work in the same way for another.

Unfortunately, we will all face difficult times in life. It is how we cope with those periods which is vital. Faith, religious or secular, can be incredibly powerful in those moments.

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Annual Kilkenny Book and Coin Fair - Sat. April 2nd. 2022 Club house hotel 11 am to 5 pm THE Annual Kilkenny Book Fair will be held in the Club House Hotel on Saturday 2/04/2022 starting at 11 AM and finishing at 5 PM. There will be in attendance around 10 Book sellers from all over Ireland bringing together an eclectic mix of Books, pamphlets, maps and ephemera etc.

Topics and Titles covering such subjects as History, Military, Topography, Biographies and Politics will be on display. Many of the antiquarian collections are from 200 t0 300 years old.

Upwards of 5,000 books will be there for both the avid and average reader to peruse.

Included also are two Coin and medal stands displaying many rare and collectible items from the past and present.

These items are being offered for sale by Seamus O’Connor Dublin and Kieran O’Brien from Wexford. These two coin specialists have attracted great interest in the past couple of years and many new enthusiasts have been impressed by the collections on view A collection of maps, charts and topographical prints both local and national are also included by several dealers.

Local Kilkenny History

publications printed over the past century will also be for sale at very reasonable prices. Booksellers from other adjoining counties will also have a similar selection of historical works. Many topographical publications covering most of the 32 counties will also be on offer.

Local and National writers of both fiction and non-fiction will also be available such as Donal Mc Cauley, Frances Mc Manus, John B Keane, John Bradley, John Kirwan etc.

Back issues of annual publications like the Old Kilkenny Review, The Irish Sword, The Steeple and many more will be of interest to many collectors.

Geata Buidhe Books from Thomastown, also provides a wide variety of both local,National and International titles and topics to interest all bibliophiles. Its propreitor Joe Doyle is one of Kilkenny’s local historians and his collection includes many publications of both County and Provincial interest.

Both Joe Doyle and Noel Bourke have published books of Local Interest in the past year.

These will be available for sale and signed by the authors.

Other local Booksellers attending are Paulstown Books, Well Read Books,Waterford,

Call for submissions

Kilkenny poetry broadsheet issue 22

O’Neill Books Thomastown, Bourke Books Kilkenny, Kieran O’Brien Wexford, Pat Dunne Kildare Many of the books on offer are from private libraries carefully collected over a lifetime and will be of great interest to the more serious browser who is in search of that elusive gem.

Not all books have a serious relevance as there are books to suit every conceiveable taste on offer, including works of Fiction, Romantic novels and that bizaar unusual publication that now and then catches the eye and incites further investigation.

After an absence of over two years due to Covid restrictions we would like to welcome all our regular patrons and new ones back again to our venue at the Club House Hotel.

We also welcome the general public to visit us and peruse the diverse range of books on offer at very reasonable prices where a bargain or two can be availed of on 02/04/2022.

KILKENNY County Council Arts Office is delighted to announce their annual call out for submissions for the twenty second issue of the very popular KILKENNY POETRY BROADSHEET. The aim of the publication is to give Kilkenny writers, born or based in Kilkenny City and County, a platform for their work. We are thrilled to have Elaine Feeney as this year’s editor.

Last year 50 writers answered the call out for submissions, sending in 90 poems for consideration. Twelve poems, by eleven poets, were selected

by Editor Jessica Traynor for publication and a further thirteen poets were shortlisted.

Following publication, the Broadsheet is available free throughout the city and county via the library branches and other venues.

Closing date for receipt of submissions is no later than 4pm on Friday 1st April 2022.

Elaine Feeney lectures at The National University of Ireland, Galway, where she is also

a founding member of the Tuam Oral History Project.

She has published three poetry collections including The Radio was Gospel & Rise.

Feeney wrote the award-winning drama WRoNGHEADED commissioned by the Liz Roche Company. Her novel As You Were won the 2021 Dalkey Book Festival’s Emerging Writer Prize, The Kate O’ Brien Prize and The Society of Authors’ McKitterick Prize. It was nominated for Irish Novel of the Year, shortlisted for the

Rathbones-Folio Prize and featured in many Best of 2020 lists, including The Telegraph, Sunday Times, Evening Standard, Telegraph, Guardian & Observer. Feeney was chosen by the Observer as a top debut novelist for 2020.

For details on how to submit work to the Kilkenny Poetry Broadsheet visit the Kilkenny County Council Arts website at: https://www. kilkennycoco.ie/eng/services/arts/news

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Pensions: women work out far worse than men THE average women in Ireland has half the pension pot that has been accumulated by their male counterparts.

Women have been found to be consistent in contributing to their retirement savings plans but they tend to put less aside than men, according to research conducted by Standard Life.

The average pension pot for women is €89,000, whereas for men the average is €170,000, according to the Standard Life Retirement Pulse, which surveyed over 1,100 people across Ireland.

Women are more likely to contribute to their pension plan monthly, but they are putting around €63 less per

month into retirement savings on average.

They are also less likely to feel confident that they are taking the tax relief available on their contributions.

Almost a quarter do not feel confident that they are making the most of their pension.

The findings highlight that men have more confidence in

their pensions and are more likely to keep up to date with how their funds are performing.

The deficit in both contributions and financial confidence is leaving many women shortchanged and emotionally burdened throughout their retirement planning journey, Standard Life said.

More than half of women of all ages reported feeling anxious when thinking about their finances, with pensions seen as a contributing factor to this.

Those without a pension were more likely to report feelings of anxiety, according to the survey.

Despite being more likely to be looking forward to it and

having plans to make the most of it, women continue to be less likely to have a plan and feel prepared.

Four out of 10 women have no retirement plan and feel unprepared compared with a third of men. Women are more likely to be looking forward to retirement than their male counterparts.

Ifac is named as finalist in this year’s Spider awards IFAC has been shortlisted for Ireland’s leading technology awards. Ireland’s farming, food and agribusiness specialist professional services firm — the 8th largest, diversified professional services firm in the country — has been shortlisted in the Best Website category at the 2022 Spider Awards.

IFAC developed its website with leading digital and design partners Together Digital and Zero-G. The Spiders are considered an important benchmark for distinction and excellence in webbased business strategies. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Spider Awards, making them the longest-running digital awards in Ireland.

The judging committee is made up of Ireland’s leading web experts, business leaders, luminaries and visionaries, while previous winners have been on the cutting edge of their chosen fields and have since gone on to great success in their respective industries.

The Best Website category recognises best-in-class website design and websites that succeeded in the overall business objective of revenue generation or enhanced customer engagement. In particular, the judges

are looking for websites that deliver results through creative design, layout, functionality, and intuitiveness, as well as a seamless user experience.

Speaking about the nomination IFAC Chief Executive John Donoghue said: “There’s no doubt that the pandemic has accelerated technology usage across our farming communities and the food and agribusiness sector so it’s important for us to have a great website, especially as we grow our business.

“At the heart of our brand approach is a promise to our clients to provide them with the full depth and breadth of our financial expertise and sectoral experience to help them grow their businesses. This includes working proactively with them to advise and support them with sound financial practices, providing foresight to anticipate issues, and identifying growth opportunities. This same approach has been at the heart of our website development, working with excellent partners in Together Digital and Zero-G;” he said.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday, March 31, at the Mansion House, Dublin.

• For more information see www.ifac.ie.

Our work since the pandemic A SURVEY among Irish workers has found that two out of three people (64%) said they now work in a flexible environment. This is an increase from the same survey in 2019, before the pandemic when 53% said they worked in a flexible environment.

The survey conducted by recruitment firm Employflex found that almost half of people said their company did not have a flexible work policy (48%). Worrying also is that 16% said they had been refused a request for flexible work by their boss.

The survey shows that flex-

ible work is high on the agenda when it comes to the workplace.

All survey respondents said flexible work would give them a better work/life balance while 96% said it would make them more productive.

Interestingly, although almost half said they would like flexibility for a better work/life balance, more than a quarter (27%) said they would like it so that they can do school drop offs and collections. In addition 93% said they would change jobs all things considered if they were offered more flexibility in a new role.

Orla Reddy, (left) Adult Guidance Service and Gabrielle Carroll, KCETB FET Solutions for Business at the Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board Information Event in MacDonagh Junction, Kilkenny.

Start your new journey today by upskilling...

KILKENNY and Carlow Education and Training Board (KCETB) recently held a series of information events to publicise the range of fully accredited and funded further education and training courses, which are offered in Kilkenny.

There are a range of learning opportunities for adults who wish to return to education, change career, upskill or reskill. Adults can learn at their own pace as they can access courses from levels one to six on the National Framework of

Qualifications (NFQ).

There are also opportunities for community and voluntary groups who wish to bring learning into their community. KCETB’s Adult Guidance Service can offer information and guidance on the range of further education and training courses and assistance with accessing available supports, including financial supports The event also highlighted further education and training opportunities for people in employment, including a range of online courses.

KCETB FET Solutions for Business can support employers to identify employees training needs, explore the range of government funded education and training options, design customised training (on/off site and in person/ online).

Currently, KCETB FET eCollege courses for employees include: • Project Management • Prince 2 • Information Technology • Graphic Design

• Web Design • Digital Marketing • Software Development • Basic Computer Literacy – ICDL • Microsoft to Adobe and more * Contact: Orla Reddy, Adult Guidance Service 056 7764448 I orla.reddy@kkadulted.ie Also, Gabrielle Carroll, KCETB FET Solutions for Business 087 3999972 I gabrielle. carroll@kilkennycarlowetb.ie

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Feature RENOWNED actor, Stephen Rea hosts Saíocht, a beautiful evening of music and poetry in St. Canice’s Cathedral on Saturday 9th April 2022. Saíocht features Ireland’s leading poet Gabriel Rosenstock and spoken word artist Felispeaks, together with acclaimed Irish traditional musicians, Louise Mulcahy, Michelle Mulcahy and Neil Martin the super-group will explore the fascinating artistic relationship between the Irish literary tradition and Irish traditional music. In addition Stephen Rea will read two poems from Kilkenny poets Robert McLoughlin and Emily Murtagh.

This incredible celebration of music and poetry made its debut in January at the stunning Peppercanister Church in Dublin with special guest and long time supporter of entertainment and the arts, President Michael D. Higgins.

An internationally acclaimed actor, Belfast born Stephen Rea has appeared in films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire, Breakfast On Pluto and Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game – for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Works by Kinsella, Heaney, Mahon, Muldoon, Rosenstock and remarkable contemporary spokenword artist FeliSpeaks have achieved national and international acclaim. Together they will celebrate this rich legacy.

A multi-award-winning performer on both uilleann pipes and flute Louise Mulcahy has performed around the world and is a regular performer and contributor on television and radio. Louise’s research

Acclaimed actor, Stephen Rea hosts Saíocht - a celebration of music and poetry

work on women in uilleann piping was released in a landmark documentary for TG4 titled, Mná na bPíób in 2021. Alongside four album releases with father, Mick, and sister Michelle,

Louise released her highly acclaimed début solo album titled ‘Tuning the Road.

Mulcahy recently performed at the National Concert Hall for International Women’s Day and alongside Paddy

Glackin, Matt Molloy & more to celebrate the life and legacy of Liam O’ Flynn.

Michelle Mulcahy is considered to be one of Ireland’s most talented multi-instrumentalists

in Irish traditional music today. Awarded the prestigious TG4 Young Musician of the Year in 2006 and was also awarded Female Musician of the Year in 2005 and in 2013 at the Live-Ireland awards in the United States.

Gabriel Rosenstock writes in Irish and English across a wide range of genres, mainly poetry, tanka and haiku. His latest publications are Mullah Nasrudin Is Alive and Well new tales inspired by the eponymous Sufi eedjit, and Brightening of Days, a trilingual volume of 5-7-5-7-7 tanka in Irish, Croatian and English, both titles published by CrossCultural Communications, New York Belfast-born Neil Martin is a composer and musician with an international reputation who enjoys a most varied and rewarding career encompassing dance, opera, theatre, film, television, radio, concert hall and studio. His most recent work, a violin concerto, d’allombra, written during lockdown, is scheduled for its world premiere in the autumn of 2022.

FELISPEAKS is a NigerianIrish poet, performer and playwright. FELISPEAKS was commissioned by RTE in 2020 with the poem Still about Ireland’s response to the COVID pandemic.

In recent events, FELISPEAKS has performed at St. Patrick’s Festival, Dublin 2022, National Concert Hall: Notes from A Quiet Land as well as various online livestreamed events and symposiums. Felicia has been nominated ‘Best Performer’

by Dublin Fringe Festival in September 2018 judged for her performance in ‘BOYCHILD’, a co-written play

by Dagogo Hart and herself.

FELISPEAKS has graced some prestigious stages such as National Concert Hall, Dublin Castle, opening for THISISPOPBABY’S RIOT show and Kate Tempest on the Vicar St stage as well as for Saul Williams on the Sugar Club stage, Olympia Theatre in response to Repeal the 8th, Theatre Stage at Electric Picnic, Smock Alley Theatre in 2018 and 2019.

FELISPEAKS has also had the opportunity to perform her poetry at Concern’s 50th Anniversary in Dublin Castle in September 2018 that included speakers such as UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, President Bill Clinton and Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.

Tickets priced at €20 including booking fee. More information available from Rollercoaster Records, Kieran Street, Kilkenny. www. rollercoasterrecordskk.com April Sounds is delivered locally by Kilkenny County Council Arts Office and funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltcht, Sport & Media

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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St Patrick’s Day showcase at MacDonagh Junction HUGE crowds gathered at MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with families

Great fun with Larry the Leprechaun at MacDonagh Junction

travelling from far and wide to enjoy the festivities last week.

DJ Paul Kavanagh kick started the pre parade entertainment before visitors were treated to spectacular performances from young, local talent including singers from Alize’s School of Singing, dancers from CMD Dance School and Dragon’s Lair who showcased amazing talent with an incredible marital arts demonstration.

Leprechauns Lucky and Larry were full of fun entertaining the crowds with hugs and high fives for everyone in the audience while brave explorers joined the search for (pretend) snakes that were lurking in dark corners throughout the Centre. The day’s activities culminated in a live trad session, that had both young and old up showing off their dance moves!

Centre Manager Marion Acreman commented “today

Beautiful singing by Alize’s School of Music at MacDonagh Junction

CMD Dance Scool entertained the crowds at MacDonagh Junction

felt joyous as we returned to hosting family fun and entertainment in the Centre after a long two years without it. We were delighted to support the City’s St Patricks

Day Festival again by organising our in-centre events. We loved seeing children, parents and grandparents gathered to celebrate our National Day in person once again. It was

heart-warming to see the pride of grandparents and parents watching their young performers on stage after missing out on these live performances for so long.

Our staff team were completely energised by Customers getting into the St Patrick’s Day the wonderspirit at MacDonagh Junction ful feedback from customers throughout the extended festival ported weekend. We would like to our business across the thank all the people that supweekend.”

Darkness into Light 2022 FROM our first Darkness into Light walk in Kilkenny in 2015, more people than ever are relying on the lifesaving services that Pieta provide free of charge, to those in suicidal distress, those who are self-harming and those who have been bereaved by suicide. But there is hope and by joining together for Darkness into Light on Sat May 7th we share a collective moment for hope and the belief in a brighter future. To register for this year’s event go to www.darknessintolight.ie you can take part your own way or join an organised walk in Inistioge or Kilkenny City.

Over the past two years the world has changed rapidly, anxiety and loneliness in our communities has increased the demand for services provided by Pieta house and other support agencies.

Pieta first opened its doors in Lucan, County Dublin in 2006. Since then, they have seen and helped over 60,000 people in suicidal distress or engaging in self-harm.

Pieta now employs over 200 therapists and support staff, and the demand for our service is increasing. In 2020 Pieta delivered over 52,000 hours of intervention and bereavement counselling.

They managed over 70,000 crisis support calls and texts through our 24 freephone helpline and we directly supported over 600 households devastated by the loss of a loved one by suicide.

Everything is free of charge and the staff are fully qualified, providing a professional one-to-one therapeutic service for people who are experiencing suicidal ideation, people who have attempted suicide and people who are engaging in selfharm. Pieta is 80% funded

by the public, and together we share a common goal, where no-one among us should ever feel so alone or afraid that suicide or selfharm becomes the option they choose.

Together we can build a brighter future and give hope to all who have been impacted by suicide across Ireland. If you would like to be on the Darkness into Light Committee you can contact us at Kilkenny@ darknessintolight.ie or 087 9178910.

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Feature

Authentic portrayal of ‘Kings’ meets former social workers approval The excessive drinking was a cry for help with many Irish rekindling their love of home through drink, songs and tears

BY JAMES TREACY Since retiring to south Kilkenny over twelve years ago, my life in the beautiful village of Kilmacow has been one of peace and tranquillity.

Having spent over thirty years in the Kilburn area of London, working mainly in social services, I never realised what a stressful life I was living. It was a life of hustle and bustle as I dealt with crisis after crisis.

Therefore, intrigue set in, when, on my once monthly visit to the Thomastown farmers market, I saw a poster for the play ‘The Kings of The Kilburn High Road’.

I purchased a ticket and headed to the Community Hall to see what this play was about.

It was ironic in a way that

the night I choose to view this production was on St Patrick’s Day. During my working life in London, I often frequented establishments on the great feast day where many of my clients not only wet the Shamrock but drowned it.

While many saw the excess of drinking as sinful,

there was, in my opinion, a deeper side to the day and the people.

The excessive drinking was a cry for help with many Irish rekindling their love of home through drink, songs and tears.

Those, who at a young age couldn’t wait to depart the Emerald Isle, now drank,

Kilkenny singing group Sola, who attended the ‘Kings of the Kilburn High Road. Clare Lynch, Siobhán Cody, Bridget Cody

cried and sang songs of missing their land and yearning to return.

EMMIGRATION AND LONELINESS WENT HAND IN HAND In the decade following 1955, tens of thousands of Irish men and women left their homes in Ireland and

set sail for London in search of work. Their experiences were not always happy ones.

Often, there was loneliness.

Poverty. Depression.

Alcoholism. This was the reality of enforced emigration for many Irish men and women When the curtain opened, it was like being brought

Front Of House crew from Lake Productions include Delia Lowery, Rosey Hayes, Sabine O’ Dwyer

back in time to my days visiting pubs (as part of my work) such as The Lion, The Duke, The Coopers Arms and The Crown.

I couldn’t believe how authentic the set was. The seating, the dart board, the wallpaper.

But pride of place was the real jukebox on stage. Surely a collector’s item?

In its day, it belted out all the Irish ballads to a generation of lost Irish. It was, in a way, their facebook of the day as it reminded them of ‘The four green fields’ and ‘Paddy’s dear shamrock shore’.

DREAMS OF MAKING A FORTUNE The storyline tells the tale of a group of middle aged Irishmen who had moved over to England, dreaming of making their fortune.

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Feature Now as older men, they toast the death of an old friend. They rethink their decisions that brought them to England as they talk of home. Secrets unfold and consequences ensue as the day goes on.

During the play, one of the actors sings a few lines from a song which sums up the show.

‘Far away from the land of the shamrock and heather, in search of a living in exile we roam. But whenever we chance to assemble together, we think of a country, we once called our home’.

For the cast, and the thousands of Irishmen like them, disappearing was easier, and the constant working and drinking, helped take their minds of things.

This was the harsh reality for many Irishmen who moved over to England in search of work in the ‘70’s.

Many arrived in London in the post-war years with only a few pence in their pocket and a suitcase holding no more than a couple of pairs of socks. They soon found out the streets weren’t paved with gold; in fact they weren’t even paved. Even worse: they were expected to pave them.

Despite working hard, the Irish in Britain regularly suffered blatant discrimination. The sign outside boarding houses proclaiming “No dogs, no Blacks, no Irish” is no folk myth.

For many, their lives were spent in an endless drudge of backbreaking work, decrepit lodgings, and in the evening, if not too dogtired, going to the pub. This was the only chance for some diversion, and also a crucial way to preserve the link with home. Indeed, the traditional music session — ubiquitous in Ireland and branded now as a tourist attraction — was a direct product of these times. The session was a spontaneous response to alienation in a strange country. During the 1940s, dance halls in Britain and Ireland had become ever more showbandorientated, and the céilí bands virtually disbanded in the face of this opposition from a more popular dancing form. Immigrants were now deprived of an important connection with home.

HARD WORKING, HARD LIVING HARD DRINKING My work in London in the 70’s and 80’s brought me into contact with men just like those characters in the play.

Hard working, hard living and hard drinking.

If the truth be told I was blown away by the performance.

Each of the five actors brought a great individuality to the table.

The roguery, the cheating,

Gemma Grant and Evie Lynch who attended the production of The Kings of the Kilburn High Road

Volunteers at Thomastown Community Centre: Mary Butler, Seamus Quigley, Marie Dempsey and Mary Wallace

Stoneyford ladies attending the Lake productions play at Thomastowm: Sheila Ragget, Rose Kelly and Shauna Kelly

Paul and Eileen Clifford who attended the ‘Kings’ production in Thomastown

Kenneth Heffernan , Brian Dargan and Fergus Heffernan at Thomastown hall for the production of Kings

Marina Boyd and Mary Cradock supporting Lake Productions

Husband and wife team Brendan Maguire and Siobhán Hegarty, part of the production team of The Kings of the Kilburn High Road

Community Radio presenter Pat Shortall chats with stage Manager Clare Gibbs at Thomastown Community Hall

Thomastown Community Centre where The Kings of the Kilburn High Road is being staged

the lying, the alcoholism.

In all such groups there was always one who

accepted his lot and at times, though feeling trapped in a foreign country,

it proved the lesser of two evils.

Indeed the bad language

and gruffness epitomised all that was real in these situations.

A glance through the pen pics of the cast showed a very experienced team of players with an abundance of experience racked up in the world of theatre. And just as well. This play would be a disaster if played by a less experienced crew.

This all male cast got every inch possible from this Jimmy Murphy play. The jokes, the male chauvinistic comments, the false bravado and the silences. As a team of players they got all the nuances from the script. We as an audience laughed with them at their sometimes cruel language and sexist jokes. We also empathised with them in their loneliness and sadness.

However when you peel back the text, what comes out most strongly is the loneliness endured by these men.

A SENSE OF BITTERNESS In her programme note for Lake Productions, Catherine Dunne spoke about the home-sickness, displacement and hand to ‘mouthness’. Author Dunne informed us that many of the Irish who worked on construction were cheated out of their entitlements by unscrupulous employerssome of whom were Irish.

Men who worked all their lives believing they were paying their stamps.

The money was deducted from their wages but no contribution was made on their behalf.

She recounted that the sense of bitterness that these men felt and the sense of injustice that dogged them at the end of their lives.

Alienation, culture shock and loneliness – these were the staples of the reluctant emigrant’s diet in the fifties and sixties.

EXCELLENT PORTRAYAL OF LOST IRISH I offer huge congratulations to the cast and crew for an excellent production.

Well done to Jimmy Murphy who told a story exactly how it was and the cast portrayal gave voice to the many lost Irish.

I thoroughly enjoyed the production- warts and all. I would recommend a visit.

Continues until Saturday 26.

Cast includes Michael Hayes, Eoghan Fingleton, Alan Grant, Declan Taylor and Derek Dooley.

Stage Manager was Clare Gibbs with lights and sound controlled and designed by Brendan Maguire. The very realistic set was the work of Siobhán Hegarty, while the productions was directed

by Gerry Cody. *James Treacy worked in Social Services in the Greater London area and now resides in South Kilkenny

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

Community Community Group

The chicken or the egg?

AS I was driving into town last Sunday, I overheard one of the Dublin 4 economists tell us that no one would mind paying an extra 5 to 10 cent per egg due to the conflict in Ukraine. 10c per egg? Now that started my mind spinning. Ever since my better half passed away, God rest her good soul, I have my little morning ritual. I arise nice and early, put on my two eggs, shave and by the time I get dressed and back to the stove I have two hard boiled bullets waiting for me, two slices of toast, mug of hot tea and I am set for another day.

But now it will cost me another €1.40 for my little morning treat per week and then more. As I drive nice and slow, to save the bit of petrol in my 2010 Nissan Micra, that I used to put €25 into the tank, now rise to €30 maybe €35, then the little man in the radio tells us the wheat and flour we need will increase substantially over the coming months also. Ok I thought, I’ll only buy a half sliced pan rather than a full one and cut the toast to one piece per morning? That

means I can save 7 slices a week. Just when I thought it was starting to come together, he opens his mouth and out comes more disturbing news.

My ESB bill will increase by 30%. Ok maybe if I stopped watching daytime TV and, in the night, leave the light off and let the TV light up the room, and then another blow to my new Budget plan.

The gas will increase by 40%!

Oh my god. My brain is now working overtime. Gas? Ok if I don’t turn on the heating during the day, and if it is cold maybe put on an extra jumper that may keep me warm.

Cooking that is a problem.

How can I cut back on the cooking? If only herself was still here I am sure she would think of something. Boil a kettle in the morning and get a flask to keep the water hot maybe? Worked for me when on the building sites. Yes, that might work.

As you can imagine the journey home was a little bit of a depressing one. The thoughts of the future were looking bleak. Our Dublin 4 economist was still firing out figures and hitting me as if it was a scatter gun he was using. Milk, carrots, the auld spud you name it, it was going to be hit by an increase and sure his view was “No one will mind or complain as we are all going to have do

our bit” I heard the words of CJ coming back to haunt me “, As a nation we are living beyond our means and we all must tighten our belts”. I pulled into the drive in a little bit of a daze and opened the front door and was met with my good old reliable friend ‘Rusty’. Wagging tail, smiling face and the current love of my life. My god how am I going to feed my one and only faithful companion? Then it struck me. I’ll skip my morning ritual. No boiled eggs, no toast! It is the least I can do for Rusty the dog.

This might sound some what laughable to the economist from the Dublin 4 set who after the show probably headed to the Grandstand Restaurant and had a ‘Brunch’ of one or maybe two eggs benedict and asked his friends who joined him did they hear his take on what the country should do and put their shoulder to the wheel as they flick through the Travel brochures to select their summer holiday.

Unfortunately, these are the choices our seniors have to make. Eat or stay warm, what to have for each meal. Get up or stay in bed, eat and stay warm and healthy or not and become ill and then they will tell us we are a burden to the state that made us this way. Is it the chicken for the dinner or an egg for the breakfast.

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Climb with Charlie fundraiser

Charlie Climb with

Charlie Bird and his wife Claire visited Kilkenny last Saturday March 19th to take part in a fundraising walk, organised by Cllr. Joe Malone.

The walking group gathered at the Canal Square where musical entertainment was provided at the band stand.

The walk began by walking down the canal onto the Bennettsbridge Road to finish at Kilkenny Castle.

Charlie and his wife were greeted by school children from St. John’s Senior School, Ballybough Street along the route.

Joey Holden, captain of the 2015 All-Ireland title winning season presented a hurl to Charlie Bird and Charlie’s wife Claire was presented with a bouquet of flowers gifted by Flowers by Lucy.

All monies raised will go to the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and Pieta House.

Myles Elvis Kavanagh and Charlie Bird

Mayor Andrew McGuiness with Charlie Bird

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Climb with Charlie fundraiser Joey Holden presents Charlie Bird with a hurl

Pupils from St Johns national school who made a presentation to Charlie Bird

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St. Patrick’s Day parade

KILKENNY

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St. Patrick’s Day parade

KILKENNY

2022

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St. Patrick’s Day parade

KILKENNY

2022 Legendary irish goal keeper Packie Bonner enjoying the St Patrick’s day parade in Kilkenny.

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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St. Patrick’s Day parade

KILKENNY

2022

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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Feature WEEK SIX 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 four, 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 Digger, Christy and Smithy These are taken from their recent illustrated children’s book We are Kilkenny Cats!

The ‘Comer mines, penal laws and fasting on beer Kenny –A Saintly Cat’ For over 300 years many people in Ireland were kept warm and cooked their meals with heat from burning coal.

This was dug out of the ground around Castlecomer, a large town in north Kilkenny.

In the beginning shallow pits were dug and miners removed the coal using picks and shovels. This lasted for a long time but eventually this coal was used up. The discovery of steam power allowed long holes to be dug deep into the earth to find more coal.

Each day hundreds of men disappeared into the dark underground to work. The tunnels were narrow. There wasn’t room to swing a cat.

There they faced danger from water, gas, collapsing walls and rats. The rat’s worst enemy is the cat.

Digger was a miner’s cat whose job was to catch the rats before they went down the pit.

You could often see him and his family hard at work around the yards hunting the rats. He was lucky as he didn’t have to stay down the mine. Other animals did live underground.

Ponies and donkeys were used to pull the carts of coal in the tunnels. They stayed down there all year, only coming up for their summer holidays.

Once on the surface, the coal was crushed into smaller lumps. Then it was washed and loaded onto carts, and later trains, where it was sent to Kilkenny to be sold around the country. The coal was very important for thousands of people. It provided a living

during the life of the mines.

There was work for miners and cats in Castlecomer until 1969. Then the mines were closed. The tunnels were flooded. Millions of tonnes of coal had been dug out of the ground around Castlecomer but it was now too expensive to continue. The miners and their cats were out of work.

Many moved away but even today you can see Digger’s descendants around the area, still watching for rats.

Christy - A Clever Cat Growing up in Kilkenny in the middle of the 18th century, there was no school to go to if you were a Roman Catholic.

You had to be a Protestant to go to the only legal ones. This was one of the Penal Laws, which excluded Catholics from

many things. Some children however went to illegal schools called Hedge Schools, so called because some were held in fields. Travelling teachers came and taught classes secretly.

One boy who was educated this way was Edmund Ignatius Rice. He lived in a thatched cottage near Callan and his secret teacher was a friar from the town nearby. When he grew older, Edmund went to live with his uncle in Waterford, where he learnt a trade. In time, his uncle died and left Edmund the business. He married, but his wife died in an accident while still young and a daughter was born to her as she died.

Edmund realised that he was better off than many other people in Waterford and decided it was because of the

education he received when he was young. He decided to use his money to start schools for the poor boys of the city, as nuns taught the girls. He found it hard to find teachers but he found two young men from Callan to join him. With them came a cat called Christy.

Edmund received special permission to open his first school. It was in a barn. Here Christy went to school. He kept the mice under control, while the teachers taught. As the children grew up they found work because they could read, write and do numbers. Their lives improved. More teachers joined and more schools were opened. Edmund called the teachers the Presentation Brothers and later started another group of teachers called the Christian Brothers.

Eventually, there were hundreds of schools opened, most in Ireland but some were overseas. Every school had teachers and a school cat, not always called Christy.

Smithy – The Brewer’s cat When monks set up a monastery in Kilkenny in the 13th century they found a well with sweet water on their land.

They decided to make the water better by turning it into beer. Monks had to fast from food on certain holy days but beer was regarded as bread you could drink because it was made from grain. So they had that instead. Fasting was never so popular.

To make the beer they needed barley as well as water.

They grew this in the fields around Kilkenny and brought it

into their barns. Word went out among the mouse world and armies of hungry mice came to feast on the piles of grain. The answer was cats. Lots of them!

There were many cats over the centuries but the most famous was Smithy, the cat of Edmund Smithwick.

Edmund was a grocer and wine merchant. In 1827 he decided to buy the land where the monks had once brewed beer. His great granddad John had run a brewery in the same place over 100 years before.

Edmund was a business man and his Smithwick’s beer was put on sale in England, Scotland and Wales, as well as Kilkenny.

People liked his beer. His business grew and his barns of grain got bigger. The mice were back in business. That is when Edmund found Smithy, his best ever mouse catcher. The grain was safe forever more.

The brewery in Kilkenny became very big with loads of humans and cats needed.

One cat leads to another.

Edmund passed the business to his family and onwards until eventually the brewery was bought by another company and then, unfortunately, it was closed.

However, the beer was too good to stop making and Kilkenny beer is still made. It is famous around the world.

Each bottle has a drawing of the abbey where it all started.

Maybe it would look even better if a brewery cat like Smithy was on it instead.

‘We are Kilkenny Cats’ is available in Kilkenny bookshops

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

Food & Drink

Dine Me Come

With

Spiced carrot and lentil soup Prep: 10 mins Cook:1 5 mins Serves: 4

A delicious, spicy blend packed full of iron and low in fat to boot. It’s ready in under half an hour, or can be made in a slow cooker.

Ingredients • 2 tsp cumin seeds • pinch chilli flakes • 2 tbsp olive oil • 600g carrots, washed and coarsely grated (no need to peel) • 140g split red lentils • 1l hot vegetable stock (from a cube is fine) • 125ml milk • plain yogurt and naan bread, to serve

Frosé Prep:5 mins (plus freezing overnight) Serves: 4 to 6 Make the coolest drink of the summer: frosé (frozen rosé). Blend rosé wine with strawberries, lemon and sugar to make a batch of this very grown-up slushie.

Ingredients • 1 bottle dry rosé • 300g strawberries , hulled and halved • 50g caster sugar • juice of 1 lemon Method STEP 1 Pour the bottle of rosé into a deep roasting tin and carefully put it in the freezer overnight.

STEP 2 The next day, mix the strawberries with the sugar and leave to sit for 30 mins until the strawberries begin to release their juices.

STEP 3 Blend the frozen rosé, strawberries, sugar and lemon juice together, then divide between glasses for the ultimate refreshing summer cocktail.

Passion fruit martini Prep: 5 mins Serves: 2 This easy passion fruit cocktail is bursting with zingy flavours and is perfect for celebrating with friends.

Top with prosecco for a special drink.

Ingredients • 2 ripe passion fruits (they should have a crinkly appearance), halved • 60ml vanilla vodka • 30ml passoa • 1 tbsp lime juice • 1 tbsp sugar syrup • prosecco , to serve

Method STEP 1 Heat a large saucepan and dry-fry 2 tsp cumin seeds and a pinch of chilli flakes for 1 min, or until they start to jump around the pan and release their aromas.

Method STEP 1 Scoop the seeds from one of the passion fruits into the glass of a cocktail shaker, add the vodka, passoa, lime juice and sugar syrup. Add a handful of ice and shake well, strain into two martini glasses, top up with prosecco, then add half a passion fruit to each.

Serve immediately.

STEP 2 Scoop out about half with a spoon and set aside. Add 2 tbsp olive oil, 600g coarsely grated carrots, 140g split red lentils, 1l hot vegetable stock and 125ml milk to the pan and bring to the boil.

Hurricane cocktail Prep: 5 mins Serves: 2

STEP 3 Simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have swollen and softened.

Our tropical, rum-based hurricane cocktail is easy to make and sure to get your party started. Garnish with orange and cocktail cherries for a kitsch touch.

STEP 4 Whizz the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer).

STEP 5 Season to taste and finish with a dollop of plain yogurt and a sprinkling of the reserved toasted spices. Serve with warmed naan breads.

Broccoli pesto and pancetta pasta

Cocktails for Mothers’ Day

Prep: 10 mins Cook: 15 mins Serves: 4 Serve this healthy bowl of pasta topped with cherry tomatoes for a quick and easy midweek meal. It’s tossed with broccoli pesto, and takes just 25 minutes to make.

Ingredients • 300g head broccoli , broken into florets • 300g pasta (we used orecchiette) • 1 tbsp pine nuts • 1 large bunch of basil • 1 large garlic clove • 2 tbsp parmesan, finely grated • 1 tbsp olive oil • 50g smoked pancetta, diced • 200g cherry tomatoes, halved

Method STEP 1 Bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil.

Add the broccoli and boil for 5 mins. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside.

STEP 2 Put the pasta in the same pan and cook following pack instructions. Meanwhile, tip the broccoli into a food processor with the pine nuts, basil, garlic, parmesan and oil, and blitz until smooth. Season with black pepper and a little salt (the pancetta is very salty).

STEP 3 Set a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the pancetta for 2 mins. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 mins, or until softened. Toss the pasta with the broccoli pesto, tomatoes and pancetta, and loosen with a splash of pasta water, if needed.

Spoon into bowls and serve.

Ingredients • 50ml dark rum • 50ml white rum • 1 passion fruit • 1 orange , juiced • 1 lemon , juiced • 50ml sugar syrup • 2 tsp grenadine • To garnish • 4 cocktail cherries • 2 orange slices Method STEP 1 Fill a cocktail shaker with ice then add the rums.

Scoop the flesh and seeds from the passion fruit and add to the shaker along with the orange and lemon juices, sugar syrup and grenadine.

STEP 2 Shake well until the outside of the cocktail shaker feels icy cold. Fill two hurricane glasses with fresh ice then double strain the drink into the prepared glasses.

STEP 3 Garnish each one with an orange slice skewered onto a cocktail stick and a couple of cocktail cherries.

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Advertisement TV & Streaming

Bridgerton to tone down sex scenes in Season 2

5

fantasy movies to watch now on Netflix

Technically a superhero film, The Old Guard (20200 brings a swathe of impressive action scenes, popping off with each of star Charlize Theron’s gunshots. Theron plays Andy, leader of a group of immortal mercenaries, including a knight who fought in the Crusades. The centuriesold warriors head out on a revenge mission, bringing progressive heroes and slick fights, although it can’t dodge every cliché.

Steven Spielberg and the late Robin Williams bring us the most swashbuckling of adventures with this 1991 outing.

Hook imagines an adult Peter Pan who becomes a workaholic lawyer, until his old nemesis captures his children and he must return to Neverland to save them. Although Hook tore audiences apart at the time of its release, drawing criticism for sentimentality and lack of freshness, its central performances from Williams as Peter and Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook had people... well, you can finish that sentence.

IT wasn’t that long ago that Netflix introduced a steamy trailer for Bridgerton season two. However, sources close to the show have talked about how the series has reportedly toned down on the explicit sexual content in the second season.

Since its release in December 2020, Netflix viewers were enamoured by the opulent ball gowns, regal courting season and lavish parties thrown by the upper echelons of the aristocratic society in Regency-era London.

Created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes, the show is based on Julia Quinn’s eponymous novel series, the first season had plenty of sex scenes, emotional

conflicts and melodramatic tension and revolved around the romantic exploits between the eldest Bridgerton daughter, Daphne and the Duke of Hastings, Simon Bassett.

The second season will give the viewers an insight into the love life of the eldest Bridgerton sibling, Anthony who is notorious for being a womaniser. As he tries to woo the sweet and demure Edwina by winning the favour of her older sister, the spirited Kate Sharma, he finds himself getting slowly and increasingly attracted to the latter.

The trailer hints at plenty of drama, gossip, forbidden love and tension. However, a source close to the show has promised a tamer ver-

sion of romance this season which will not be as racy.

Apparently, Anthony and Kate’s “lust never progresses beyond flirtation and a nearly kiss.”

While Netflix is yet to confirm the news, the trailer shows off quite a few steamy moments that might appeal to the viewers.

The reprising cast for this Emmy-nominated show includes Jonathan Bailey, Nicola Coughlan, Adjoa Andoh, Phoebe Dynevor, Lorraine Ashbourne, Bessie Carter, Harriet Cains, Ruth Gemmell, Martins Imhangbe, Florence Hunt, Luke Newton, Claudia Jessie, Luke Thompson, Golda Rosheuvel, Polly Walker, Will Tilston and Julie Andrews.

They will be joined by

a new cast comprising Simone Ashley, Charothra Chandran, Shelley Conn, Rupert Young and Calam Lynch.

Watched by a record 82 million households globally (and counting) since it began streaming, the period drama swiftly became Netflix’s “biggest show ever,” the streaming service announced, and we don’t doubt it for a second. Bridgerton is everywhere: from Saturday Night Live to Kim Kardashian’s girls night in.

Much like London society, we’ve all been hungry for any gossip about season 2!

Below, we’ve compiled everything we know.

Bridgerton season two will arrive on Netflix Friday, March 25.

Now, Disney + in major expansion THE streaming wars arguably entered a new phase when Disney announced that its D+ service would branch out into a new advertiser-supported tier. This follows an earnings report that mentioned a betterthan-expected jump in D+ subscribers: the company

signed up 11.8 million users versus seven million per Wall Street projections.

It made everyone forget about the pandemic, with just over two million additions in the previous quarter.

Disney now has 130 million subscribers compared

to the 95 million reported a year ago. Disney’s D+ service will have a new tier that uses advertising to fund a lower price point.

This move will help the service grow, and is perhaps predictive of how Netflix will eventually view ads.

Disney may also want

to change up the content strategy for D+ to reflect this point of differentiation, perhaps with a third tier.

The company could also look to its other platforms to promote a novel kind of synergy with streaming.

The stock continues to be a long-term buy on pullbacks.

Before Jumanji was reimagined as a video game in the 2017 sequel film, the 1995 story of a supernatural board game released its junglebased hazards on siblings Judy and Peter Shepherd. To make the giant mosquitos and swarms of monkeys disappear for good, they must beat the game with the help of a man who’s been trapped within it for 26 years.

Let Neil Gaiman and Charlie Cox transport you to the magical kingdom of Stormhold.

Based on Gaiman’s novel of the same name, Stardust (2007) follows Tristan Thorn (Cox), a young man who helps protect a fallen star in the form of a young woman. Do they fall in love? Does the sun rise in the East? With Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sienna Miller, Mark Strong and Robert De Niro among the luminous cast, Stardust provides delightful escapism, even if it can go wild with its silliness at times.

An Australian-made sci-fi thriller starring Hilary Swank and Rose Byrne, I Am Mother (2019) tells the post-apocalyptic tale of Daughter, a character raised by Mother, a robot tasked with helping repopulate the Earth. Very tense, very strange, very good.

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Picture special

Rosie Dunne and Maeve Walsh

Liz Kavanagh and baby Florence Doyle

Marian Flannery Yvonne Walsh and Darragh and Mikey Aylward

The Aylward family

t u o b A Out &

WITH

y n n Da art Lah

The Kennedy and Prendergast families

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Picture special

Nora Russell and Claire Bird

Maureen McCormack and Eugen Kealy

Tibor and Julie Tarsoly Margaret Hennessy, Maureen McCormack and Claire Doyle

Richie Moylan, Jimmy Comerford and Sean Doyle

Norma Dreeling and Seamus Murphy Miriam, Liam and Holly Smith.

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Community & GAA Notes

Pia Langton (No. 626) takes her place on the podium at the National Indoor Athletics Championships MINOR FOOTBALL Clara bowed out of the Roinn B championship at the semi final stage on Friday away to Tullogher. In the end it was the Tullogher lad’s sheer size and physicality that won the day. For a long time the Clara lads had countered that advantage by cleverly moving the ball and retaining possession. They worked some tremendous scores and deservedly led at halftime by 2-3 to 1-3. All of their scores had come from play and by contrast two of Tullogher’s points had come from frees. Rory Glynn had scored both goals, the first when he was quickest to pounce on a rebound from a saved shot, and the second when he blasted home at the end of a flowing move involving Sean Carrigan, Conor Hoyne and Ned Langton. Rory also added three points in this half. At the other end of the field Cian Kelly, Ben Murphy, Tommy Delaney and Ben Crow were repelling most of what was thrown at them and Zach Lawlor and Harry Boyle were holding their own in the middle of the field against bigger opponents.

The second half started with a pointed Tullogher free. This was immediately countered by a smart Conor Hoyne effort. Then Ned Langton opted to take a close in free off the ground. His low shot was saved but the rebound fell kindly to him and he duly rifled it home. This left the Clara lads six points to the good and seemingly in the driving seat. However the huge work rate that they had exerted up to that point began to take its toll and Tullogher suddenly began to dominate possession. In 6’5” Marty Murphy and Jamie Lyng, both county minor hurlers, they had two lads that proved too hot to handle for the rest of the game. A solitary Ned Langton pointed free was all that Clara could muster for the remaining 20 minutes, while Tullogher added 1-6 to their total. It was a valiant effort by the Clara lads but they won’t meet many teams this year as physically strong as these Tullogher lads.

Others who tried their hearts out were Davy Barcoe in the goals, Philip Carrigan, Alex McDonald, Luke Lawlor and Joe Power.

2-10 to 3-5 was how it finished.

Team - David Barcoe, Ben Murphy (capt.), Cian Kelly, Philip Carrigan. Tommy Delaney, Ben Crow, Sean Carrigan. Zach Lawlor, Harry Boyle. Conor Hoyne 0-1, Ned Langton 1-1, 0-1f, Alex McDonald. Rory Glynn 2-3, Luke Lawlor, Joe Power.

MINOR CAMOGIE Hard luck to Clara girls Laoise Nolan, Emma Shortall, Rachel Whelan and Emma Corr who were all part of the Kilkenny minor camogie panel which was beaten by Galway in the All Ireland semi final on Sunday in Edenderry. 0-14 to 2-3 was how it finished and Emma Shortall scored one of the Kilkenny goals.

At least Emma, Rachel and Laoise have the consolation of having won a winners medal in 2021, while Emma has another year underage to try her luck.

LEAGUE QUALIFICATION Well done to Matt Kenny and Conor Phelan who were involved with the Kilkenny senior hurlers as they qualified for the League semi final by beating Waterford 2-21 to 0-21 in Nowlan Park on Sunday. Conor is one of three selectors for Brian Cody while Matt was included in the match day panel. They now face Cork in the semi final.

ATHLETICS Congratulations to Clara’s Pia Langton, running in the colours of Kilkenny City Harriers, on her bronze medal winning performance in the National Championships held in Athlone on Sunday. Pia, who ran at 800m, ran a splendid time of 2.20.99.

Pia also plays camogie and football for the county. Well done Pia! What versatility!

CLUB LOTTO There was no winner of Club Lotto (Mar 15th).The numbers drawn were 1, 8, 18, 24 and the bonus number was 14. Nior bhuaigh eínne an chrannchur cumann seo caite (Márta 15). Na úimhreacha a bhi tóghta amach ná 1, 8, 18, 24 agus an uimhir breise 14 Next week’s Jackpot will be €7,000 (March 22nd) www.oloughlingaels.com/lotto Promotors Draw:1. The Sunday Six. 2. Aimee Tallis c/o Niall Tallis 3. Keith Kinchella c/o Eileen Kinchella. 4. Eddie Carroll c/o Noel Tyrell 5. Breda O’Dwyer c/o Ann Cullen 6. Nuala Bryan co Dan Driscoll. 7. Stephen O’Neill c/o Gerry Buckley 8. Noeleen Breen c/o Online. 9. Georgina O’Shea c/o Online.

10. Mrs Jackie Smith Ralph c/o Online. Thank you for your continued support MATCH DAYS It will be a busy day in the club on Sunday. Stewards and volunteers will be needed. Please let Eddie Maher know if you are available to steward on (087) 291 0569 Also, anyone willing to help out in any way during the year can email pro.oloughlingaels.kilkenny@gaa.ie or message here with name and contact details. Let us know if it’s stewarding, serving in the lounge or bar, selling lotto tickets, fundraising, coaching, first aid or other. It could be photographs, reporting, media production...we’d love to hear from you or give the opportunity to develop a talent in that field. All help greatly appreciated PLAYER NEWS Well done to Mikey Butler and Huw Lawlor as they gave another telling performance in a Kilkenny jersey during Kilkenny’s win over Waterford last Sunday. All eyes to Cork on Saturday evening where no doubt former club chairman Brian Murphy will be cheering on our Gaels. Lovely hurling.

RESULT U13s Football Championship. O’Loughlin Gaels 3-8 to 3-6 John Lockes There was great excitement at John Locke’s Park on Sunday when our u13s took a major scalp to advance to the Football Championship semi-final next week v Danesfort. Brilliant work by a brilliant bunch of young fellas.

Badminton Champions

Best of luck too to our Minor lads who start their League campaigns with games verses James Stephens and Carrickshock next week. Please watch KilkennyGAA.ie for updates on fixtures Sponsors: McCarthy Eurospar Ireland BADMINTON TJ Comerford, AJ O’Keefe and Ava Butler were all on the U15 Kilkenny A Badminton team who were crowned Division 2 Leinster Champions on Saturday. Its Ava’s second in two weeks, after winning one with her school Presentation Secondary School. TJ & AJ are part of the U15 hurling panel and Ava is U14 O’Loughlin Gaels Camogie Club. Well done all.

FEILE LACHTAIN 2022 Féile Lachtain 2022 began in Freshford on Saturday last with an historic ecumenical service led by both Bishops of Ossory.

The service, titled “Celebrating our Shared Christian Heritage, was devised by Monsignor Kieron Kennedy, P.P., and Canon Richard Marsh of the Church of Ireland. It began in St. Lachtain’s Church of Ireland at 3.00 p.m. where Bishop Denis Nulty, Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Ossory spoke. He emphasised the equal importance of the home missionaries in Ireland as well as those who ministered abroad during the history of the church. A procession took place to St. Lachtain’s Roman Catholic Church where Bishop Michael Burrows of the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory spoke.

He mentioned the iconic Hiberno-Romanesque doorway at St. Lachtain’s Church and spoke of the importance of it being an open and welcoming doorway for the community in Freshford.

After the service an informal reception was held in Freshford Community Hall where an exhibition of artifacts connected with St. Lachtain was on display. These included a replica of the Shrine of St. Lachtain’s Arm executed by local artist Kevin Buckley and a wooden interpretation executed by local student Pádraig Donnelly. Two drawings of the hand by local artists Gemma Fullam and Seosamh Ó Faoláin were shown with an artistic interpretation of the hymn “Lachtaín Naofa” by Larry Hamilton. Souvenir bags and cards depicting the shrine, the church doorway and the townslands of the parish will be on sale in the craft shop which opens next weekend. It will remain open at weekends for the rest of the year.

Féile Lachtain 2022 commemorates the 1400th anniversary of Freshford’s patron, St. Lachtain. It celebrates more than 1400 years of worship in the parish and in particular on the site of St. Lachtain’s Church of Ireland. A series of events will run throughout the year. Information can be found on www.ionadlachtain. com and on Facebook and Instagram at Ionad Lachtain. .

IONAD LACHTAIN The Committee at Ionad Lachtain Heritage centre would like to acknowledge the work of Kilkenny County Council in completing the railing and wheelchair access to the annex which houses the museum and craft shop recently. Thanks also to local Cllr. Michael McCarthy and the other local councillors for their support.

SYMPATHY Sincere sympathy is extended to Mrs.Teresa Doyle of Woodview and the Kennedy family of Kilkenny Street Freshford on the death last week of her niece and their cousin respectively Mrs Marian Brennan (nee Cuggy) late of Greenshill Kilkenny and Newpark. Funeral mass took place in St.Canices Church on Friday morning last followed by burial in St.Lachtains

O’Loughlin Gaels Juvenile Boys get ready to march the St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Marion Acreman, MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre, joins O’Loughlin Gaels Camogie teams for St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Cemetery, Freshford.

HOCKEY CAPTAIN Congratulations to local girl Keelin Walsh of Cooleshall Freshford who captained the Kilkenny U12 Hockey team in their great win over Carlow on Sunday to become Leinster champions.

NO LIBRARY Another big loss to the village is the recent withdrawal of the mobile library. The service which was running every 2nd or 3rd Tuesday for the past number of years has now been withdrawn due to declining numbers. You can avail of other libraries or have special home delivery service if you wish by contacting Kilkenny County Library.

COMMUNITY CAFE Great work is being done presently on Freshfords new Community Café. Work has commenced on the premises at Buncrussia Street Freshford and the volunteers are making great progress at present. The subcommittee are most grateful for the very generous donations of building materials from local families and businesses and greatly appreciate all the materials, time, labour, advice that has been given and they say that they are well on their way to having a fabulous community café by the community and for the community. Anyone that would like to donate item or give their time or expertise would be most welcome SOCCER Freshford Town had no games at the weekend either at junior or schoolboys level. The Junior side had another good win in their last game when they took on one of the table toppers Thomastown in a home league game. They finished convincing winners on a 5-0 scoreline. Scorers for Freshford were Shane Donnelly (2) Ml Kenny, Ml Burke and Niall Kenny . They have two games left to play and must win these two away games to win the league. They play St.Canices away on Sunday morning next and would appreciate all the local support .

In the schoolboys section recently the U13 boys took on river Rangers on Saturday at home and came out winners on a 2-0 scoreline with goals from Charlie Kavanagh and Jack Marnell The U17 boys were at home to Evergreen and the game finished level at 1-1. James Comerford scored for the home side The training sessions for U8s continue each Saturday morning (weather permitting) from 12noon to 1pm at the Sportsfield at Woodview and all boys from 5-8 are most welcome to come along and join in SPLIT THE POT The weekly split the pot draw started up again recently and last weeks lucky winner was Joan Connnolly of Ballylarkin who won €125. Tickets are just €2 and the winner gets half of the takings.

The draw is held each Wednesday and boxes and envelopes can be found in Kavanaghs Bar, Mace, O’Shea’s corner shop, Girls& Guys Hairdressers, Oasis Creche, Freshford Creamery, Freshford Butchers and Prague House. This months proceeds are going to Freshford Community Café. The Committee would ask you to please support this fund raiser.

DARTS The final of the C League was played in Killeens on Saturday night last when the Valley 5 took on local side McGraths 1. With the Valley Inn coming out winners on the night. Player of the match was Pa Doheny. This Friday the 25th March the final of the John McGrath Cup takes place in McGraths with two local teams in contention when Kavanagh’s B1 will take on Farrells A. SPRING SERIES OF TALKS Threecastles Community Hall Committee would like to invite you to their Spring Series of informative talks and Coffee morning as well as a” movie” night. The series consists of three talks, a Coffee morning and one “movie” night. The Committee are hoping that local people as well as the public from Kilkenny City and County will come along to our Community Hall, Tulla Road, to hear very interesting information as well as being able to catch up with friends and neighbours and be entertained at the “Movie” night.

The first talk titled – “Fire Safety in the Home” takes place on Wednesday 30th March at 8pm. This talk will be given by Jason Bowden, Station Officer, and other members of the Freshford Fire Brigade and will be very informative for all of us to stay safe at home.

“Waste and Recycling at Home” is our second talk which takes place on Wednesday 6th April at 8pm. This talk will be given by Bernadette Moloney, Environment Awareness Officer, Kilkenny County Council. We are all probably recycling but we can always learn how to manage our waste and recycle better.

“Magical Memories at the Movies” takes place on Saturday 9th April at 8.30pm. This will be a night to remember as the renowned videographer Tommy Butler, from Freshford, will show hours of footage from events, hurling matches, shows, school pantos and lots more which he has recorded over years and years. You will enjoy recognizing familiar faces and reliving memorable events. (This is the only event that will have a charge of 5euro.)

“Easter Social Coffee Morning” is on Monday 18th April from 11am - 1pm. This is a chance for everyone to enjoy a chat and a cuppa in our Community Hall. We will also have a raffle so you might even go home with a prize!!

“Discovering the Archaeology of Threecastles” is our third talk and this will be given by widely acclaimed archaeologist Coilin O Drisceoill, on Wednesday 11th May at 8pm. Coilin has vast experience in successful “digs” both locally and nationally.

Everyone is welcome to come along to one or all of these

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Community & GAA Notes Mary Delaney.

A big thank you to all who sponsored prizes, to the local shops and people who sold tickets and to all those who bought tickets to support St Joseph’s Home. A particular thanks to Mary Moylan for all her hard work in organising the raffle. We raised a staggering €4240 of much needed funds for the home.

St. Lachtain 1400 Celebrations events. Refreshments will be provided at each of the talks and “movie” night. We would love to see you there and be sure to let other people know about our Spring Series. For further information contact Brenda Cooper Phone 0871369253 COMMUNITY ALERT Freshford /Threecastles Community Alert group hold their AGM on this Friday 25th March at 7.30pm in Freshford Community Hall. All welcome to attend.

WORKS Cllr Michael McCarthy welcomed the major improvement works that have taken place recently at St.Lachtains Church of Ireland in the village. The provision of a ramp and handrail will facilitate wheelchair access to the annex. This is a welcome development and will provide safety for all.The works are timely given the impeding important celebrations in 2022 to mark and commemorate the 1400th anniversary of the Patron saint Lachtain.Great credit is due to the Area Engineer and his staff for all their help Phase one of the macadam overlay on the Lisdowney to Clone road commenced and finished recently also.

GAA St.Lachtains GAA Club will once again run an Easter Camp this year. THE CAMP will run from Monday 11th April to Thursday 14th April at St.Lachtains GAA Grounds from 10am to 2pm each day and will accommodate boys and girls from 6-13 years.

Great fun is guaranteed with top quality coaches.. The cost is €50 per child l(first 2 children per family)€40 for third child onwards The camp can be booked online with link to book on St.Lachtains Facebook and Twitter pages. For more info you can contact Eoin on 087 6191381 , Paugie on 087 9692153 or Michael on 085 1283075.

St. Lachtains Gaa club was well represented on Sunday last when Kilkenny senior hurlers beat Waterford. Darren Brennan was sub goalkeeper and James Maher was also on the bench but was introduced in the second half and scored a great point late on in the game.

The Clubs shop is open and 2022 range is soon to be uploaded onto the O’Neills club shop. Details can be found on St.Lachtains Social media pages or by O’Neills sportswear& searching for St.Lachtains Gaa. PARISH NEWS Attendance at indoor settings are now back to full capacity and attendance at Mass almost back to normal here to. Mass is held in the Parish Church each Wednesday morning at 9.30am and on Sunday morning at 11am.wiith Mass in Tulla church on Saturday evenings at 7.30pm.

The Stations of the Cross in the Church have now been completely refurbished. Help to complete this special project of restoration through donation or contriubution is more than welcome . Yours also very welcome to sponsor a station either as a family or with a group The sum involved is €2,000 per station.

PILGRIMAGE Pilgrimage to Lourdes will be held from 9th to 13th May 2022 .

Staying at the 4 star Hotel Astrid the trip costs €645 pps – (single room supplement payable). Accompanied by spiritual director.

Includes return direct flights from Dublin to Tarbes, coach transfers breakfast, lunch and dinner each day, full religious programme, services of a Marian pilgrimage guide, mass daily and spiritual activities, all taxes and travel insurance. For more details contact C.Flynn on 089 4638769.

SQUASH The Masters Nationals was held in Fitzwilliam and Mount Pleasant Dublin recently and two local men Pat Morrissey and Noel Walsh took part in the competitions. Pat won his first game but lost out next day to Kevin Knox of Celtic Squash Club Waterford who went on to be the overall winner. Noel Walsh was up 1-0 in his game and was very unlucky to get injured and had to retire from the competition. Pat is off to Galway in April to represent Ireland in the Home Internationals. He would like to thank local businessman Damien Lennon THM on his generous sponsorship of the Over 40s Ireland team. Freshford Squash Club welcome new members anytime for squash and the gym.

MACRA NA FEIRME Macra na Feirme are looking to establish a new club in the Freshford area. Macra na Feirme is an organisation for young people between the ages of 17 and 35 who are interested in getting involved in sports, travel drama, debating or just want to meet new people and have some fun. To be a member of Macra you must join a Macra club in your area. This will open the door to new fiends and new activities. There are hundreds of clubs across Ireland bursting with activity who always welcome a new face. For more information please

contact Training and Development Officer – Michael Wall on 0868359891 or email him at mwall@macra.ie HELP FOR ALL Are you struggling with anxiety or depression or finding life difficult or feeling isolated at this time GROW is there to help you. Their Mental Health support Groups are free and confidential and open to all no referral or booking is needed. For more information on same you can contact Mary on 087 284342 If you can’t cope and need support text HELLO to 50808.

SAMARITAN - Whatever you’re going through a Samaritan will face it with you – available 24 hours a day 365 days a year – Freephone 1161Alone is available for older people who need support and you can call them on 0818 222024 (8am to 8pm) AMBER KILKENNY WOMENS REFUGE – is available for confidential support relating to domestic violence - call them on 1850 424244 (24/7) or on 056 7771404 or email into@amberwomensrefuge.ie.

DUNNAMAGGIN GAA SYNDICATE Monthly winners:- FEBURARY.Caroline Doyle, Shane Roche €100 each. Ciara Fitzpatrick, Marie Hickey and John Hale, Katie Fitzpatrick, Ciaran Moore €50 each.

MARCH:-Liam Heffernan, Eoghan Kearney €100 each. Michael & Mary Delaney, Martin Cahill, Margaret Hayes, Seamus Knox €50 each. Thanks to everyone for your continued support LOCAL LOTTO Local Lotto Winning Numbers for March 14th. 19, 20, 33. No Winner. Winners of Draw for 5 X €30. Brian Ireland ( Malachy Hogan ), Aine O Donnell ( Malachy Hogan ), Clare Kelly ( Marie Kelly ), Keelagh Sheridan ( Joe Sherian ), Jody Crosby ( Petes ) Jackpot next Week March 21st € 6,250 Venue Townsends Bar Dunnamaggin 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 648118/0876757490; Jackie Kenneally 051 648138/0879953532. A donation will be made to Ukraine from the proceeds.

KILMOGANNY BRIDGE CLUB Kilmoganny Bridge Club wish to acknowledge the funding of €670 towards the cost of providing protective screens and ancillary equipment. This has allowed for the re-opening of the Club in a safe manner for local people and parishioners.

The bridge results for the 16/03/2022: 1st: Mary Dunne & Betty Cuddihy.

2nd: Mary Delaney & Philip Brennan. 3rd: Ellen Delahunty & Pascal Grace.

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

DUNNAMAGGIN DEVELOPMENT GROUP Dunnamaggin Development Group will host a Coffee Morning and Cake Sale in aid of Ukraine after mass Sunday next March 27th from 11.30am.

Thank you to everyone who came to the launch of the Vision last Sunday. We will have hard copies of the recommendations and the concept for Madge’s Garden to distribute shortly. Those that would like a pdf copy of the full report please email dunnaparish@gmail.com.

Our markets start on Easter Sunday and will continue through the summer and into the autumn. See our Dunnamaggin Community News Facebook page for more details.

KELLS HANDBALL Kells newest All Ireland Champions. A fantastic day of handball at the Juvenile 4wall All Ireland Championships. Matty Murphy, Mia O’ Connell, Cathal Buckley and John Hayes. Congratulations to them all and their respective double partners, parents and coaches. This has been the clubs most successful year ever at juvenile level so a huge well done to all involved in the club.

SAINT JOSEPHS HOME The winners of the St. Josephs Home raffle: 1st Prize,Two night break in Talbot Hotel Wexford Claire Prendergast. 2nd Prize, Afternoon Tea in Butler House Shauna Healy.

3RD Prize, 100e voucher Chancellor Mills Stella Tennyson. 4th Prize, Hamper Bernie and Ann O Grady. 5th Prize, 100e voucher Chancellor Mills Anne Hickey. 6th Prize, Hamper Pamela Kennedy. 7th Prize, Hamper Noel Kenny.

8th Prize, Hamper Shane Power. 9th Prize, Cat and Dog Food

MICHAEL O’NEILL Our sympathy is expressed to Willie O’Neill, Foxcover, Cuffesgrange on the death of his brother Michael, late of Jenkinstown.

JACK KEOGHAN Sympathy is expressed to the Keoghan family, Dowrath, Ballycallan on the death of John (Jack) Keoghan, Liss, Tullaroan, to his wife Agnes, sons Frank and Liam, daughters Catherine, Oonagh and Eithne, sister Lily Kirk, brothers Fr. Michael, England and Francis, Australia, sons in law, daughters in law, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and many friends. Jack is predeceased by his brothers Pierce and Paddy and his sister Mary. His requiem mass was celebrated at the Church of the Assumption, Tullaroan and burial took place in the local cemetery.

PHILIP BYRNE Sympathy is expressed to the Byrne families of our parish on the death of Philip Byrne, late of Castletobin, Callan. His requiem mass was celebrated in Callan Parish Church and burial afterwards in Drinagh, Co. Cork.

UKRAINE The people of Ukraine are undergoing enormous suffering at the present time. On next Friday at 4pm Irish time, Pope Francis will consecrate Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is a special appeal to Our Lady to intercede for peace in the Ukraine. Fr. Liam will offer mass on Friday morning at 10.00am for this intention also.

NAOMH AODHÁN COMMUNITY CENTRE Naomh Aodhan Community Centre is planning an Open Evening on Monday March 28th, at 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend. Come along and see the progress on the centre refurbishment and hear about the plans for the future.

SPRING CLASSES AT NAOMH AODHAN COMMUNITY CENTRE Naomh Aodhan Community Centre, supported by Community Education, Kilkenny and Carlow Education Training Board (KCETB), are holding classes in the following:- Exercise for All; Men’s Bootcamp; Photography; Beginners Yoga; Flower Arranging. Each class will take place once per week for a period of 6 weeks. Cost of 6 sessions will be €30. You must be over 18 to attend. Learners must complete a Learner Detail form for KCETB. If interested in joining any of the above classes, please text 083 207 4358 with your name and the class or classes you would like to attend.

G.A.A. NEWS Well done to Billy Ryan, Kilmanagh who played on the victorious Kilkenny Senior Hurling Team versus Waterford on Sunday last. They now face Cork in the semi-finals this weekend.

KILMANAGH NOTES Anyone wishing to submit news items, events, announcements etc. can do so by email only to elanigan18@gmail.com. If you have any photos that you would like included, please send as an attachment.

CLUB LOTTO Dicksboro GAA Club LOTTO Results March 17th. Nos: 19–18– 31– 31. Jackpot: €8,500– not won. Draw Prizes, €50: Mars Devlin c/o Pasty Phelan. €25 each Noel Tyrrell c/o Joe Phelan. €25 each Eanna Brady c/o Online. €25 each Dinny and Mag c/o Dohertys.Co-op, draw ticket Shannon Quinn c/o Billy Walsh.

Promotors prize Joe Phelan. New weeks draw €8,650 24th of March 2022.

SAINT PATRICK’S DAY PARADE Great day out for our juvenile hurlers and camogie players at the St. Patrick’s Parade. Huge crowd of our girls and boys and their parents out in the Boro colours. Well done all involved U13 FOOTBALL Our u13 footballers had a great win over Young Irelands on Friday morning in Gowran. Our lads are now into the semi final.

Well done to all involved.

PALMERSTOWN CLUBHOUSE 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 SAINT KIERAN’S COLLEGE Hard luck to St Kieran’s College in the schools final. Very proud to have had three of our club men on the Croke Park pitch that day and another three on the panel. There will be better days.

Well done lads.

CLUB REGISTER 2022 We are delighted to announce that Registration for Dicksboro GAA & 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

Best Buddies

Making Friends 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.

CALLAN GOLF NOTES CAPTAINS DRIVE IN 2022 Captain John Ryan and Lady Captain Anne Croke drove into office in glorious March sunshine on Saturday March 19th. They were joined by Junior Captains Charlie Grace and Anna O’Brien.

Also driving into office were Presidents Coleman Loughnane and Ann O’shea.

Before driving off Lady Captain Anne Croke asked for a minute’s silence to be observed for all those who lost their lives during the past two years of the pandemic. Golf clubs have played a central role in the community over the past two years.Club Captain John Ryan thanked all in attendance and wished all the very best for the coming season.

Following the Drive in there was a twelve hole scramble.

Winners: Catherine David/Eleanor Dunne/ Caroline Healy/ Nicholas Fennelly. Thanks goes to the ladies catering committee for the lovely scones/soup and sandwiches served on the day.

South East Junior Alliance New Ross March 14th.

Two of the Callan Ladies featured from a very big field in the 12 hole competition at New Ross Golf Club. Maria Gorey took 3rd spot with Mary D Grace in 12th place. Ladies 3 person team event 15th March. Breda Ryan/Anne Wemyss/Rita O’Neill

L to R Jnr Capts. Charlie Grace/Anna O’Brien, Captain John Ryan/Lady Captain Anne Croke/ President Coleman Loughnane/ Lady President Ann O’Shea

Club Captain John Ryan, Ladies Captain Anne Croke

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 25 March 2022

kilkennyobserver.ie

Hurling matters

Sport

BY NIALL SHERRY SPORTS EDITOR SPORTSEDITORKILKENNYOBSERVER.IE

Allianz National Hurling Division 1 – Group B Kilkenny 2-21 Waterford 0-21 UPMC Nowlan Park

AN impressive 6-point win over the Deise, saw Kilkenny claim a semifinal berth in this year’s Allianz National Hurling League. The winning margin didn’t flatter the home side, who were full value for their win at UPMC Nowlan Park.

The small matter of a trip to Leeside to face Cork now awaits Brian Cody’s men tomorrow evening.

Waterford rolled into town knowing that they had one foot in the last four, but the early exchanges showed that neither of these sides wanted to taste defeat. Goals win games, as the Marble County’s two majors proved the difference between the teams at the final whistle.

Although Glenmore’s Alan Murphy opening the scoring in the first minute from the placed ball, following a foul on David Blanchfield, it would be Liam Cahill’s team that bossed the opening quarter. Abbeyside’s Michael Kiely levelled matters before Ballygunner’s Pauric Mahony struck his first free of the day.

With five minutes on the clock, a lovely cross field ball from Mossy Keoghan picked out Walter Walsh in space, and the Tullogher Rosbercon man split the posts with a nice point.

The visitors then stepped on the gas and hit four unanswered points, first up was Pauric Mahony who popped over his second free of the day, before Austin Gleeson struck a monster of a score from way out the pitch. Another of the Ballygunner boys, Dessie Hutchinson then took a great catch before turning his marker and firing over a fine point. The final point of this burst came from wingforward Neil Montgomery, as the Deise opened up a 4-point lead by the 9th minute.

The home side responded with a fine score of their own via Walter.

Nice work by Padraig Walsh saw him find Walter out on the right, and the No.10 duly fired over to the delight of the home supporters. Dungarvan’s Darragh Lyons then rifled over a fine point from half-way, before the visitors created a goal chance, following fine play from Pauric Mahony, the ball was popped to Austin Gleeson, who struck his shot across Eoin Murphy’s goal behind and wide.

The impressive David Blanchfield then burst out of defence, before slipping a pass to Padraig Walsh and the Tullaroan man struck a lovely point from way out on the right touchline on 16 minutes. Waterford hit back straight away when Adrian Mullen switched off and his marker, Jack Fegan fired over after picking up a loose ball. Bennettsbridge man Blanchfield then powered forward and again laid the ball off to Padraig

Cork calling as Cats defeat Deise Semi-final battle set for Pairc Uí Chaoimh

David Blanchfield take a great catch

All pix: Danny Lahart

Cian Kenny had another impressive display

Walsh who made no mistake and hit Kilkenny’s fifth point of the game.

Some great defensive work by Mikey Butler and Cian Kenny saw Dessie Hutchinson blown-up for over-carrying. Kenny in particular, was like a man possessed, he lost his hurl, but continued to harry and harass. Alan Murphy then pointed from the placed ball to reduce the Deise lead to just 2 points.

Challenges were going in from both sides, on and off the ball, lots of little niggles, as both counties flexed their muscle. The best example of this came in the 23rd minute when Walter Walsh shouldered Waterford’s Conor Dalton over the

sideline. A good hard fair shoulder, one of those challenges that’s as good as a score. To Dalton’s credit he got to feet quickly, but did require medical attention to ensure he got the wind back in his sails. Waterford continued to keep the score board ticking over with further points from Pauric Mahony and Neil Montgomery, to leave the away team 3 points up.

Kilkenny then registered their first major of the game on 26 minutes.

The goal was well worked and a great example of how this version of Cody’s Cats are evolving. Mossy Keoghan passed to Padraig Walsh, who found the supporting David

Blanchfield, who played the killer pass to Dicksboro’s Cillian Buckley.

The No.9 fired his shot across Billy Nolan in the Waterford goal and to it nestled in the corner of the net. The game was now tied, as the black & amber Gaels found their voices and urged their team to power on.

Waterford appeared rattled, and midfielder Darragh Lyons was booked for a high challenge on James Stephens man Cian Kenny.

Goal scorer Cillian Buckley then took possession and passed to Adrian Mullen who fired over a lovely point from over his left shoulder to give Kilkenny the lead for the first time in ages. Mullen and Billy Ryan then

forced Waterford into conceding a free, which the accurate Alan Murphy slotted over. Colligan’s Colin Dunford then hit the Deise’s first score in a while, following a nice run. The final score of the first half came from Alan Murphy, who struck a long-range free from deep inside his own half to leave the score board reading Kilkenny 1-10, Waterford 0-11.

When play resumed in the second half, Kilkenny struck first with a fine point from Graigue-Ballycallan’s Billy Ryan after just 22 seconds.

Walter Walsh, who was getting through lots of work all over the pitch, then hit his third point of the

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

49

kilkennyobserver.ie

Hurling matters Tommy Walsh rises high

Mikey Carey Catch!

Richie Reid - captain blocks!

Buckley. Final score, Kilkenny 2-21, Waterford 0-21.

SCORERS – Kilkenny: A Murphy 0-5 (4f), P Walsh 0-5, B Ryan 1-1, C Buckley 1-0, W Walsh 0-3, E Cody 0-2, A Mullen, E Murphy (f), C Kenny, J Maher, J Donnelly 0-1 each.

SCORERS - Waterford: A Gleeson 0-7 (4f, 1 ‘65’), P Mahony (3f), N Montgomery 0-3 each, D Hutchinson 0-2, M Kiely, D Lyons, J Fagan, C Dunford, C Dalton, C Daly 0-1 each.

KILKENNY – E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, T Walsh; M Carey, R Reid, D Blanchfield; C Kenny, C Buckley; W Walsh, P Walsh, A Mullen; B Ryan, M Keoghan, A Murphy. Subs: E Cody for Mullen (42), J Maher for Kenny (57), J Donnelly for Keoghan (59), C Delaney for Butler (temp 62-65).

WATERFORD – B Nolan; C Wadding, I Daly, S McNulty; J Fagan, T De Burca, C Dalton; C Daly, D Lyons; N Montgomery, A Gleeson, P Mahony; C Dunford, M Kiely, D Hutchinson. Subs: DJ Foran for Mahony (h/t), Shane Bennett for Kiely (48), K Bennett for Dunford (53), M Harney for Wadding (59), M Mahoney for Lyons (65).

REF – J Murphy (Limerick)

>> SHERRY SAYS...

Padraig Walsh hurler supreme

Walter Walsh gets the ball away

day, as the towering forward made a strong case of a championship start. Cillian Buckley then found Padraig Walsh with a nice pass and the Tullaroan magician rifled over a stunning score. Mount Sion’s main man, Gleeson then fired over another free as Waterford got their first score of the second half on 39 minutes.

Some strong pressure from Ballyhale’s Adrian Mullen saw the ball picked up by Cian Kenny who struck a lovely point from a tight angle out on the right side. Mullen was then replaced by his club mate Eoin Cody for his first outing in county colours this season. Clonea’s

Conor Dalton then got on the end of some nice team play.

Then on 45 minutes, Kilkenny struck for their second green flag of the day. The influential Padraig Walsh played a lovely pass to Billy Ryan who struck his shot hard into the ground and beyond the despairing dive of Waterford keeper Billy Nolan. This left the home side 7 points up with 46 minutes gone in this exciting contest. Gleeson struck over another placed ball to keep his side in touch.

The sides then exchanged scores, as Eoin Cody and Neil Montgomery pointed. Managers Cody & Cahill made changes to their teams as they

sought for an advantage. James Maher replaced the hard-working Cian Kenny while Thomastown’s John Donnelly replaced Mossy in attack.

Eoin Cody then showed some nice stick-work before splitting the Nowlan Park posts to make it a 6-point game. Then on 60 minutes any real chances of a Deise come back were put to bed, when substitute DJ Foran was shown a red card following a reckless frontal challenge on Mikey Butler.

Ironically, Waterford hit the next 3 points, through Dessie Hutchinson and a brace from Austin Gleeson.

The first of Gleeson’s two, came

via a ‘65 after David Blanchfield prevented a certain goal and ushered the ball behind.

Four of the final five scores of the game came from the home side.

Alan Murphy struck his 4th free of the day, and his fifth point in total.

As the game entered additional time, James Maher hit a huge point from distance and John Donnelly fired over a nice score from out on the left. Waterford’s final effort came from a fine effort by midfielder Carthach Daly.

Tullaroan’s ‘Rolls Royce’ Padraig Walsh then scored the final point of the day, and his fifth from play, after more good work from Cillian

So, we’re all off to Cork tomorrow for a National League semi-final under the lights with the Rebels.

A thoroughly deserved 6-point win over the Deise last week ensured our hopes of a league title remained alive.

The TV people gave the MOTM award to the very impressive David Blanchfield. The rangy, powerful and skillful Bennettsbridge man is proving to be a real find for Brian Cody’s Cats. Surely nailed on for a championship jersey.

Padraig Walsh – what more can we say about the Tullaroan star?

Operating at centre-forward so far this season, this fella is simply different gravy. He is just a phenomenal hurler. A scorer of 5 points from play last week, Walsh is a joy to watch.

Cillian Buckley scored a lovely goal, but his contributions all over the park were very impressive.

Again, Huw Lawlor was a colossus at the back for the black and amber. There are not many better full-backs around the intercounty scene at present.

Dessie Hutchinson. The lively attacker tormented Ballyhale in the club final last month, but found O’Loughlin’s Mikey Butler a really tough nut to crack. Butler was brilliant.

We will know a lot more about this Kilkenny team tomorrow night. The challenge that Cork will bring on their own turf will be formidable. This will be the biggest test for the Cats to date this year.

Get past the undoubted challenge that Cork will present, and we can look forward to a league final against the winners of Wexford and the Deise.

Something tells me that we owe Cork one. Tomorrow would be the perfect time to take down the Rebels.

50

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

kilkennyobserver.ie

Camogie

Sport Kilkenny 2-3 Galway 0-14

Kilkenny minor manager Mike Wall

BY MARTIN QUILTY KILKENNY will have to wait another while to make it back-to-back AllIreland titles since the early 2000’s, as Galway defeated the stripey women in last Sunday’s semi-final with a five point victory in Edenderry. It was a repeat of last year’s game as the teams did battle for a place in the All-Ireland final.

It was Galway who struck first with a point from play from Catherine Hanley.

Kilkenny were sluggish for the first few minutes of the game, they came to life in the 7th minute when Emma Shortall got in for Kilkenny’s first goal.

After a scramble for possession in around the large square the ball fell to Shortall who shot a low stroke into the back of the Galway net. This was quicky followed up by the kittens second goal.

Good work from the Kilkenny defence saw captain Amy Clifford receive the ball, she gave a pin perfect pass into Amy Brennan who hit a bullet of a shot passed the helpless Laura Freeney in the Galway goal. Kilkenny were now on a roll and at this point Galway supporters must have been wondering what was happening. Things got almost worse for the tribeswomen when Amy Clifford found herself one-on-one with Freeney but her shot was magnificently saved to keep Galway in the game.

By the first quarter Kilkenny had a sizeable lead 2-0 to 0-1 and things were looking good for the stripey women who had the help of the elements in the first half.

In the 19th minute Emma Shortall put over a lovely point from play to extend the lead to six points. Galway were been outplayed and didn’t know how to get back into the game, but things were about to change. Galway were awarded a 20m free but a serious injury to Shannon Corcoran saw a lengthy delay to allow the player receive treatment.

This would prove detrimental to the Kilkenny girls.

Galway brought on Aoibheann Barry and she turned the game on its head. The Westerners then rattled over six points without reply, Niamh McInerney, Alannah Fahy, Aoibheann Barry and Catherine Hanley saw the team’s level by the 30th minute.

Kilkenny would get the last point of the half when Emma Manogue scored a point from play to leave the reigning champions a point ahead at the break 2-2 to 0-7.

It was a disappointing half for the Champions as they had enough possession in the attacking third, but Kilkenny failed to convert those chances. Kilkenny needed to start the second half like they did with the first but that plan went right out the window.

Galway were on fire they rattle off four points in a row Aoibheann Barry (3) and Alannah Fahy now had Galway in front 0-11 to 2-2.

It took Kilkenny thirteen minutes to register their first point of the second half, a point from an Amy Clifford free. Mike Wall’s side were in serious trouble, Galway played with style and flair and they played for each other as a team. Kilkenny backs were under severe pressure from wave after wave of Galway Attack, but to their credit Galway never really threatened the Kilkenny goal.

After Clifford’s free Galway then got three further points and by the third quarter were ahead 0-14 to 2-3.

Minor crown slips as Galway make final Wall turns attention to Leinster title For all their dominance, Kilkenny were still in the game to a degree and things got worrying for Galway as they had Olwen Rabbitte sent off for two yellow cards, but for the remainder of the game it was like Kilkenny were down to 14 players, that was how dominant Galway were. Kilkenny kept plugging away and they never game up and battled right to the very end.

Galway wanted the win more – they had a hunger.

Some tactical and sometimes cynical fouling by the Galway defence in the second half appeared to be the tactic used to stop Kilkenny getting further goals, and this led to no scores being registered in the last ten minutes of the game. It was heartbreak for Kilkenny who had gone into the semi-final undefeated and perhaps Galway’s extra games going into the Semi-Final gave them the edge and a sharpness that you only get from competitive games, but at the end of the day when you only score one point in thirty plus minutes of play in a semi-final, you’re going to struggle to come out on the right side of the result.

It’s very hard to do back-to-back All-Ireland finals at minor level. The girls will now prepare for the Leinster Championship that begins in April.

Final score in the All-Ireland Semi-

Final, Kilkenny 2-3, Galway 0-14 Scorers – Kilkenny: Emma Shortall 1-1, Amy Brennan 1-0, Emma Manogue, Amy Clifford 0-1 each Galway: Catherine Hanley 0-4 (4f), Aoibheann Barry 0-4, Niamh McInerney 0-3, Alannah Fahy 0-2, Ciara Hickey 0-1 Teams: Kilkenny: Ruth Phelan, Nathania Jackson, Moya O’Brien, Laoise Nolan, Katie Byrne, Emma Manogue, Rachel Brennan, Claire Doheny, Aine Rohan, Ellen Gunner, Amy Clifford, Amy Brennan, Emma Shortall, Sofia Kerr, Emma Mulhall Subs: Sarah Hudson for Rohan, Lauren Ronan for Mulhall Galway: Laura Freeney, Hayley Kenny, Jacqueline Glynn, Ava Crowe, Reitseal Kelly, Ally Hesnan, Keisha Coleman, Megan Gannon, Ciara Hickey, Niamh McInerney, Olwen Rabbitte, Aisling Dillon, Catherine Hanley, Alannah Fahy, Shannon Corcoran Subs: Aoibheann Barry for Corcoran, Tara Maher for Glynn, Aoibhe Carr for Hickey, Orla Mullins for Fahy, Molly Mulryan for Dillon Referee: Andy Larkin (Cork)

Goal scorer Emma Shortall

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

kilkennyobserver.ie

51

News Planning notices

Memoriams/Miracle prayers

Planning notices KILKENNY COUNTY COUNCIL We, John & Luisa Hayes intend to apply to Kilkenny County Council for Planning Permission to build an extension to the front and rear of existing dwelling house, raise the front and side boundary walls, install electric gates and all associated site development works at 3 Parkview Drive, Freshford Road, 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 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, Kate Brennan wish to submit Significant Further Information P.21/723, to Kilkenny County Council to install a Tertiary Treatment System and Infiltration/Treatment Area at Westcourt North, Callan, Co. Kilkenny.

Significant Further Information/Revised Plans has/have been furnished to the Planning Authority in respect of this proposed development, and is/are available for inspection or purchase at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, at the Offices of the Planning Authority during its public opening hours of 9:00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

A submission or observation in relation to the further information or revised plans may be made in writing to the Planning Authority within a period of 2 weeks from the date of receipt of the revised public notices. A submission or observation must be accompanied by the prescribed fee of €20, except in the case of a person or body who has already made a submission or observation and such submission or observation 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, Ricardo Lopes & Kersti Tammus intend to apply to Kilkenny County Council for planning permission for a Proposed single storey front extension, demolition of existing front elevation, internal renovations and all associated site works at Spellbound, Garringreen (Garrincreen), 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

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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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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

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CONTACT JOE: 086-8587568

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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Classifieds Motors

BOOKS FOR SALE IN AID OF UKRAINE “CARRIGANS” THE HISTORY & ANTIGUITIES OF THE

DIOCESE OF OSSORY VOL 1 TO 4 Kilkenny through the centuries & some other books of Kilkenny interest.

All donations to Ukraine.

Phone: 051 - 832673

Advertise your Legal Notices/Licence Applications with us at The Kilkenny Observer.

Call: 056 7771463 / 086 2395370 or email: sales@kilkennyobserver.ie for extremely competitive rates.

Call 056 7771463 for all your classified advertisements.

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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Memoriams / Miracle Prayers

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

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. B.H

St. Anthony Prayer,

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.P.L

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.B

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. P.L

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. B.H

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. MDM

The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022

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Memoriams / Miracle Prayers

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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 25 March 2022