dundrum

Wheelie interesting: Having a great time at Gravitation 2012AN CATHAOIRLEACH, Councillor John Bailey (FG) got some great insight into the demands of BMX riding from this expert when he officially launched the Gravitation 2012 event at the skate park at DLR Leisure Services Monk-

stown. A celebration of all manner of blade- and bike-related fun, the event attracted a lot of interest, with many gravitating to the celebration of alter-native sports and urban culture.See full gallery on Pages 8-9

Locals help gardai to find vehicle� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

MEMBERS of Neighbour-hood Watch in the Ballyo-gan Estate in Dundrum have pulled together and assisted gardai in tracking down a suspicious vehicle believed to be connected to burglaries in the area.

There have been a number of burglaries in the area, and the community set up a dedi-cated Facebook page to share information with each other

and the gardai relating to sus-picious activity.

In a statement, Gardai said: “On May 3, gardai from Cab-inteely arrested a man as part of an ongoing operation tar-geting burglary in the Dublin South Eastern Division.

“He was later released, pending a file to the DPP. Gardai are appealing to resi-dents to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity in their area to local gardai.”

Full story on Page 4

ALSOINSIDE: GALLERIES ..................... 2

BUSINESS .................... 20

MOTORS ........................21

TRAVEL ......................... 22

ENTERTAINMENT ........ 24

CLASSIFIEDS ............... 26

Cycling: Orwell see more success in Criterion LeaguePage 28

DUNDRUM • CHURCHTOWN • NUTGROVE • RATHFARNHAM • BALLINTEER • SANDYFORD • LEOPARDSTOWN • TERENURE • STILLORGAN

FREE GAZETTEGAZETTEDundrum

INSIDE: Style galore at the launch of Neola Boutique in Dundrum Town Centre P2

TREATY: Peter Matthews (FG) on voting Yes for a fiscal ‘safety net’ P6

MAY 17, 2012 Find us on

Rugby: Leinster boost as O’Driscoll announced fitPage 32

2 DUNDRUM GAZETTE 17 May 2012

RETAIL Neola Boutique opens at Dundrum Town Centre

Fabulous styles for fashionistasD

UNDRUM Town Centre recently hosted a lavish party at Neola Boutique to celebrate the outlet’s opening at the prestigious shopping centre. The

outlet’s owner, Neola Killeen, was on hand to welcome some of the city’s most stylish people, with everyone keen to see what the new outlet – the third in Neola’s boutique chain – had to offer.

Joining her on the night were several high-profile fash-ionistas, including TV3’s Laura Woods; style guru, Emily O’Donnell; and model, Roz Purcell. Located on the Gal-lery Level at the shopping centre, Neola Boutique stocks a wide mix of styles and top designer labels, including Rene Derhy, Diesel, 7 for All Mankind, True Religion and Hudsons, to name but a few.

Neola Killeen Rozanna Purcell Aleana O’Shea and Laura King

Avila Lipsett Emma Cogan and Johanna Cooney Saoirse Collins and Rebecca Gleeson

Call our SPORTS TEAM on 60 10 240 or

email [email protected]

LOCAL TEAM WIN?WE WANT TO KNOW!YOUR LOCAL PAPER,

YOUR LOCAL SPORTS!

17 May 2012 DUNDRUM GAZETTE 3

Reassurances over Braemor Rd worksDUN Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) is currently col-lating submissions relating to works planned for the Braemor Road.

The Gazette ran a story last week regarding concerns from many retail-ers along the road, including the fact that it could mean a drop in revenue for local businesses.

A council spokesperson said: “All valid submissions received will be considered during the preparation of a manager’s report, which will be presented to a county council meeting

later in the year.”Regarding the matter of traffic, the

council said: “On the issue of the traf-fic management during construction, it will be agreed with our traffic sec-tion and An Garda.”

The spokesperson assured resi-dents and businesses in the area that: “It should be noted that access to all premises will be maintained at all times, and Braemor Road will not be closed to traffic. All details of the scheme are available on the Council website.”

ENTERPRISE New jobs announced with firm’s expansion

Tom Moloney, managing director, CIS

‘Construction now seeing an upward trend’� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

[email protected]

SANDYFORD-based construction informa-tion service company, Construction Informa-tion Services (CIS) has recently acquired north-ern-Irish competitor, Unearthore, creating two more jobs and possibly more into the future.

Speaking about the takeover, Tom Moloney, managing director, CIS, said that it represents the start of an uphill trend now showing in the con-struction industry.

He said: “There will be two people employed to maintain the level of service for the former Unearthore custom-ers. We hope this will increase as time goes on.”

CIS supplies construc-tion related firms with planning and project data used to compile sales leads, build prof-itable marketing/sales plans, and win new busi-ness.

Unearthore, formerly based in Belfast, will be relocated to the Sandy-ford premises in Beacon Court.

Moloney said: “The company is a very similar one to CIS, and we are taking their clients and

integrating them into our own database.

“It will immediately increase our customer numbers by 550.”

This move is just the start for CIS as new mar-kets could open up to the Irish company, thanks to this expansion, in North-ern Ireland, Scotland and, hopefully, England.

There was not a huge upheaval involved in the move of Unearthore’s operations to Sandyford as the lion’s share of CIS’ business is predominant-ly done online.

Unearthore (formerly, Commercial Informa-tion Company) has been a major player in the Northern Ireland mar-ket since 1980, and was owned by Pat McGrath, who is joining CIS.

Moloney said: “We used to be paper-based,

but now it’s [our related work] nearly all done online, and our business has increased due to that, too.

“In 2007, we had 24 people employed and, today, we have 10, but we feel the industry is start-ing to move again.

“We see it in our busi-ness, with the increase in levels of inquiry, new sales and retention. These are our three markers to go by.”

At the height of CIS’ success, the company was turning over €2.5 million a year, but that has dropped by 63% in recent times. With this new add-on company’s business, Moloney hopes to see an eventual open-ing up of the British mar-ket to the company.

“The acquisition will mean a growth in turn-over for CIS of 25%; already, sales this year are up 39%,” he said.

CIS was founded in 1973, and is the lead-ing provider of market intelligence in the con-struction industry in Ire-land today. It has been involved in many major construction projects, both north and south of the Border.

At present, the compa-ny has more than 3,000 clients.

An ‘open garden’ for Sam� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

[email protected]

A FUNDRAISING event will be held in Knock-lyon in early June in aid of Rathfarnham boy, Sam McMahon.

Nine-year-old Sam suffers from Friedreich’s Ataxia, which is a degen-erative illness for which there is no cure. The fun-draiser is being organised by his mother, Caroline, and is an “open garden” at her home, and will focus on all things horticultural in their beautiful garden.

The open garden is on at Number 40, Tem-pleroan Avenue, Knock-lyon Road on Saturday, June 9, and Sunday, June 10, from 10am to 4pm.

To find out more about Sam, see www.sammcma-hontrust.ie.

FUNDRAISER

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

‘We see the construction industry is starting to move again, in the markers we use to judge it’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Tom Moloney,

managing director, CIS- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Gardai praise residents� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

[email protected]

RESIDENTS of Ballyo-gan Estate in Dundrum have assisted gardai in tracking down a suspi-cious vehicle believed to be connected to burgla-ries in the area.

The local Neighbour-hood Watch group had been on the look-out since gardai gave the group the description of the vehicle in the area.

There had been a number of burglaries in Ballyogan, and the com-munity set up a dedicated Facebook page to share information with each other and gardai relating to suspicious activity in the area.

Glencullen/Sandy-ford Sinn Fein member, Shaun Tracey said: “Last

Thursday [May 3], after the car was spotted in the area, gardai were alerted and the driver appre-hended.”

Tracey went on to con-gratulate the Neighbour-hood Watch programme at work in the area and sees such gardai-com-munity liaisons as a vital new trend in community policing.

ExampleHe said: “This is a

great example of a com-munity working together in conjunction with the gardai for the better of the whole community.

“I want to congratulate those involved, particu-larly those who created the Facebook page.”

Michael Turner, co-or-dinator of the Ballyogan Neighbourhood Watch

‘Showtime’ for Encore!

THEATRE: TERRIFIC SHOW STAGED BY TALENTED KIDS

� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

[email protected]

ENCORE! School of Performing Arts held its annual Showtime at the Mill Theatre recently.

The annual extrava-ganza gave students of the performing arts school the opportunity to display their talents, and some of the hard work they’ve been doing throughout the year.

Children from Sandy-ford, Knocklyon and other south Dublin areas strutted their stuff by re-enacting and performing scenes from many well-loved musicals, such as Annie, Grease and Alice in Wonderland.

Encore! currently has 650 students on its books, and the talent on display

was greatly appreciated by packed houses during this year’s eight-day run at the Mill Theatre.

The performers ranged in age from three-years-old to 18, and the musical fare on offer was as wide-ranging, with songs from Broadway to Disco.

Each student per-formed in a play, sang songs and did dance rou-tines.

Encore! currently runs performing arts classes all around South Dub-lin, including at the Mill Theatre itself.

Other venues are at Sandyford, Taney, Knock-lyon and WestWood, Leopardstown.

Classes include musi-cal theatre, voice training, ballet, drama, hip-hop and much more.

CRIME Neighbourhood Watch spots suspicious vehicle

Gardai praised Ballyogan residents’ Neighbourhood Watch for their role in assisting the gardai

in an ongoing operation targeting burglaries in the area in what Glencullen/Sandyford Sinn Fein

member, Shaun Tracey (inset) described as “a great example of a community working together in

conjunction with the gardai for the better of the whole community”

group, said that the Face-book page was a wonder-ful tool for vigilance and communication in this case.

He added: “Commu-nity officer, Billy Molloy, played a huge part in the apprehension [of the driver].

“Billy had been on holiday and, as soon as he came back, he was around knocking on doors in the area.

“He told us the make of the car involved, and that was enough. It all came together after that.”

In a statement issued by the Garda Press Office, Sergeant Sean Mac Seoin said: “On May 3, gardai from Cab-inteely arrested a man in his forties as part of an ongoing operation targeting burglary in the Dublin South Eastern Division.

“The man was arrested in the Ballyogan area of Carrickmines at approx-imately 4.30pm, and taken to Shankill Garda Station, where he was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

“He was later released, pending a file to the DPP. Gardai are appealing to residents to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activ-ity in their area to local gardai.”


Forcing EU countries to adhere to the rules

TREATY A Yes to the Stability Treaty provides safety net

Fine Gael TD , Peter Matthews

EUROPE is attempting to learn from its

economic mistakes. It was unwise of

Greece and Italy to main-tain huge national debts since the introduction of the euro. It was wrong of France and Germany to flout the rules and spend far more money than they were raising in taxa-tion.

The Stability Treaty addresses these mistakes. If this Treaty had been in place when the euro was launched, Greece and Italy would have been forced to reduce their national debts during the calmer times of the past decade. This might have enabled them to weather the storm when the financial crisis spread to Europe.

Germany and France would not have been able to abuse their position as large countries and ignore the rules because this Stability Treaty strengthens the rules.

It contains two basic rules about how coun-tries must manage their finances. National debts must be kept low and a strict limit is placed on the amount of money that countries can bor-row. These rules force Eurozone countries to adhere to sensible house-keeping rules.

It ensures that, over time, less taxpayers’ money will go towards paying interest on debt and more will be avail-able for schools and hospitals. It compels countries like Greece and Italy to reduce their national debts so that their public finances can-not affect the stability of our currency.

Most importantly, vot-ing Yes to the Stability

Treaty provides Ireland with a safety net as we face into an uncertain future. Voting Yes guaran-tees Irish access to a new European bailout fund should it be needed in the future. Access to this fund is our insurance policy as we work our way out of the current crisis.

If we don’t vote in favour of the treaty, we have no guaranteed funding for a future bail-out should it be needed. We have already bor-rowed more than we are entitled to from the IMF. If the IMF agreed to pro-vide us with further fund-ing, the rate of interest on IMF loans would be higher than the interest rate on funds from the new European bailout fund.

Furthermore, it is likely that we would only receive IMF funding for a brief period of time. This means that the budget would have to be bal-anced in a crash-course short period. The level of cuts and tax hikes that would be necessary would almost certainly be on a scale incompa-rable with anything we have experienced before. The economic hard-ship entailed would be extremely sudden and severe.

It is important that foreign multinationals do not fear such an eco-nomic crisis in Ireland. Twitter, Intel, IBM, Coco-Cola, Apple, Pfizer, MSD, PayPal and Fidelity are among the global giants that have invested in Ire-land since the general election. Voting Yes eases any fears these compa-nies would otherwise have and will encourage further investment in Ire-land.

The referendum shines

PETER MATTHEWS (FG) on how this treaty is pre-approval for another bailout if we need one and how it addresses the EU’s economic mistakes

a spotlight on Ireland over the next few weeks until May 31. In this con-text, I commend Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan’s recent com-ments that national governments shouldn’t be forced to pick up the bill for bailing out bank bondholders.

This bill should be shared by our European partners. The Stability Treaty is a first step in addressing the enormous problems in the Euro-zone. At the same time, all the leaders of Europe need reminding that the over-arching, imperative priority is resolving the European banking and financial crisis.

For Ireland, the refer-

endum provides us with a timely opportunity to demonstrate that the ECB’s insistence that Irish citizens pay and suf-fer for the foolish invest-ments of European banks was wrong and should be reversed. This is an opportunity we must not miss. We should use it in every possible way, by meetings and corre-spondence with the ECB and EU institutions, in public forums, in panel discussions, in the news-papers and on television and radio to drive this point home.

The choice facing us in this referendum can be put quite simply. Imagine a personal situation and the possibility that you

may need a loan at some stage in the future.

Voting Yes will ensure that you are pre-ap-proved for a loan with a low interest rate that can be repaid over a reason-able time period.

Voting No means that if you need a loan in the future, you would be forced to search for a lender, apply for a loan with a higher rate of inter-est that must be repaid within a much shorter period with no guarantee that the loan application will be accepted. This is the choice we face on May 31.

Peter MatthewsFine Gael TD,

Dublin South

ENTERPRISENEWS

This may be the right time and the County & City Enterprise Boards nationally, in conjunction with Senior Enterprise, are promoting training and networking focussed particularly on specific issues and challenges relating to budding entrepreneurs in this target group.

On May 8th-9th, a hugely successful and popu-lar Senior Entrepreneur Workshop was held in Portlaoise, with over sixty-five entrepreneurs from all over the country coming together to share their ideas and experience, and learning more about business planning and covering additional ele-ments pertinent to business owners in this catego-ry, such as succession and pension planning, and the use of social media in business.

Based on feedback, from this event, and as there are already waiting lists from disappointed appli-cants, the organisers are planning another event in the near future.

If you fall into the 50+ category and have, or are planning to start a business, and would like to meet your contemporaries with similar plans from all over the country – get in touch with us!

To receive more details, please contact Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Enterprise Board – (01) 494 8400 or [email protected].

Calling Senior

Entrepreneurs!Are you over 50? Ever thought

of starting your own business or

are you already running one?


May Fair fun at St Brigid’s, StillorganA MAY fair will take place in Stillorgan this weekend, with plenty on offer for all the family. If you’re looking for a day out, head along to the parish grounds at St Brigid’s, Church Road, in Stillorgan.

The fair will offer an array of stalls with many goods, including plants, cakes, deli delights, clothes, hats, acces-sories, books and CDs.

There will also be an assortment of miscellaneous fare on offer, and you

never know what you might find in the Aladdin’s Cave.

Many toys, sweets and a bouncy cas-tle will engage children on the day, while hamburgers and smoothies will provide the sustenance required to have great fun all day.

St Brigid’s May Fair will be held on Saturday, May 19, from 10am until 2pm. All of the stalls are covered so that even if it rains, the event will go ahead.

CHARITY Roy’s appeal to help fundraising drive

At the presentation of €1,000 to Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB) raised by staff

of the Radisson St Helen’s Hotel, Stillorgan were Padraig Mallon, chief executive,

IDGB; Roy Keane and the hotel’s Catriona McGroary, front of house manager;

Yvonne McNamara, director of sales and Neil Lane, general manager

‘Support for guide dogs with SHADES’� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

[email protected]

FAMOUS dog-lover, and former football star, Roy Keane took time out of his busy schedule to launch the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind’s (IGDB) SHADES fun-draising campaign at the Radisson Blu Saint Helen’s Hotel in Stillor-gan recently.

The launch was cel-ebrating the tenth year for SHADES, which ran from May 7 to 13.

Speak ing a t the launch, Keane praised the work of IGDB, say-ing: “It’s amazing to see the incredible difference a guide or assistance dog makes to an individual or family.

“I’m a great admirer of their work, and the effort put in by their volunteers and staff in making a dif-ference to others.

“I’m appealing to the public to support SHADES this year so that more people can enjoy the freedom and independence that these wonderful working dogs provide.”

More than 80% of IGDB’s revenue comes from voluntary dona-tions and fundraising. SHADES is one of the organisation’s biggest campaigns, with volun-teers helping to raise

funds by selling SHADES pins at locations across the country during the month of May.

Padraig Mallon, chief executive, IGDB, spoke at the launch about the organisation’s need for funds.

“Every donation helps us to train more guide and assistance dogs that will go on to significantly improve the lives of peo-ple waiting for our serv-ices.”

H e c o m m e n d e d Keane’s involvement, saying: “He has been an inspiration to many of our volunteers, who felt that his willingness to support us was a great encourage-ment to them.”

Mallon praised Tesco for providing a venue for volunteers to collect at

stores nationwide on May 12, and the Radisson St Helen’s Hotel, Stillorgan for its sponsorship of the SHADES campaign.

He said: “The Radis-son St Helen has really understood our organi-sation’s values, and they have always made our volunteers, clients and guests feel at home.”

The Radisson’s general manager, Neil Lane said: “We are delighted to be hosting the 10th anniver-sary of the launch of the SHADES campaign.

“To further support the event, the employees of the Radisson Blu St Helen’s have done some of their own fundrais-ing, and have collectively raised €1,000 for the charity.

“I am delighted to present that cheque to the IGDB team.”

To support SHADES, you can make a dona-tion online or buy a €2 SHADES pin at a collec-tion point near you.

Alternatively, you can organise an event at work or in your community, or volunteer to sell SHADES pins at a collection point in your area.

SHADES events are continuing all around the country until Mon-day, May 28.

For further informa-tion, call 1850 506 300, or see www.guidedogs.ie.

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

‘I’m appealing to the public to support SHADES this year so that more people can enjoy the freedom that these working dogs provide’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Roy Keane- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

GAMINGPAGE 25

�

Winging it:

‘Some happy

(sales) news

about those

Angry Birds’


A wheelie great Gravitation 2012A

N CATHAOIRLEACH, Councillor John Bailey (FG) looked tempted to swap his chains of office for a wheelie sporty BMX

when he officially launched the Gravitation 2012 event at the skate park at DLR Leisure Services Monkstown.

Joined by world-renowned skater, Snowy Brew, and master BMXer, Donnacha Carroll, amongst others, Cllr Bailey was keen to get to grips with the variety of particularly youth-

ful sports on display at the skate park, which saw a lot of skateboarders, in-line skaters, micro-scooter riders, BMX riders and more enjoying the annual event, which celebbrates all manner of blade- and bike-related fun, and the diversity of alternative sports and urban culture in Ireland. Cllr Bailey highly praised all the participants and expert skills on show at Gravitation 2012, which was hosted by DLR Events, and is an initiative of DLRCC.

SPORT Celebrating DLR’s diverse alternative sports

Cllr Bailey was ready to

Steady, steady ... A master of balancing An Cathaoirleach, Councillor John Bailey, gets some BMX tips from a young expert

Whether riding on a

skateboard, BMX, micro-

scooter or in-line skates,

the park suited all skills Cllr Bailey got some great insight into the demands of BMX riding


and urban culture at annual skate park party

show Snowy Brew and Donnacha Carroll a few tricks. Pictures: Lorna O’Brien

At first sight, it looks as though this skater is jumping over the lads Taking to a flowing ramp

An impressive turnout of local riders in several areas turned out for Gravitation 2012


EVENT Guests enjoy a charity lunch at Brasserie 15

Pat voices supportB

RASSERIE 15 in Castleknock, welcomed The Voice of Ireland winner, Pat Byrne, who took

time out of his busy schedule to sup-port his mentor and new best friend Bressie during a charity lunch held

in Castleknock. Pat played to a packed-out house

at the event in aid of LARCC (Lake-lands Area Retreat and Cancer Centre) hosted by the Voice judge Bressie.

Sophie Browne, Ann Marie Fay and Penny Warnock.

Pictures: Ania Sherlock

Denise Warren, Suzy Warren and Oonagh Foran

Winner of The Voice of Ireland, Pat

Byrne, John Quinn and Conor Quinn

Brian Kennedy and Bressie

Teresa Rocca, Celine Brady, Rosemary Duffy, Monica

McGinn and Sharon Mohan

Gill Pilkington and Louise

Rainey

Jackie Curly, Susan Lawlor, Alan Breslin, Louise

Hughes, Brigit Hughes and Steve Hughes

Mairead O’Keefe and

Mary Browne

Una Waters and Carmel

Muller

AWARDS Entries sought for contest

Growing enthusiasm for allotments rewardedT H E R D S h a s announced the launch of the 2012 RDS Allot-ment Awards.

Now in its third year, the awards have a total prize fund of €3,000, and strengthen the soci-ety’s commitment to promoting bio-diversity in Ireland.

Demand for allot-ments has never been higher, and the desire to grow fresh food at an affordable price is now stronger than ever.

The RDS Allotment Awards aim to recog-nise the hard work, ded-ication and attention to detail being undertaken by those involved in allotment gardening, and also to promote an area that encourages people to become more aware of rural issues.

The first award rec-ognises the individual allotment gardener, and is divided into two cate-gories: Experienced, and Novice Gardener.

With the aim of pro-moting excellence in allotment gardening, the winner in each category will receive €500, and an RDS silver medal.

The runner-up will be awarded €300, and

Last year’s RDS Allotment Award winners, Jim Spain and Sean de Barra, of Rathbeggan, Co Meath

third place, €200, with each receiving an RDS certificate of merit.

The second award rec-ognises the work of allot-ment providers, and is open to local authorities, allotment societies, com-munity gardening groups and individuals who are providing allotments.

The winner of this award will receive a cheque for €1,000 and an RDS silver medal.

This award seeks to recognise the work that has been carried out on the overall allotment

site, as well as the sup-ports that are provided to the individual grow-ers.

David Wiggins, chair-man, RDS Committee of Agriculture, said he is looking forward to meet-ing this year’s entrants.

He said: “Whether it’s for reasons of health or self-sufficiency, allot-ment gardening has never been more popu-lar in Ireland. Allot-ments provide fresh and healthy food, as well as many other benefits to those involved, such as

relaxation, enjoyment and recreation.

“Last year, the stand-ard of entr ies was extremely high, and we are anticipating that it will be just as good, this year,” he said.

Founded in 1731, the RDS continues to ful-fil its commitment to furthering the broad economic and cultural development of Ireland.

The RDS Allotment Awards are part of the RDS Foundation’s pro-gramme, which aims to promote excellence in

Irish agriculture through its diverse range of activ-ities and awards.

Application forms are available on the RDS website at www.rds.ie/agriculture, by emailing [email protected], or by calling the RDS Agricul-ture Foundation on 01 240 7215.

The closing date for entries is Friday, June 8.

Judging of the allot-ments will take place over the summer, with an award ceremony tak-ing place in the RDS in autumn.

17 May 2012 GAZETTE 11

Call our NEWS TEAM on 60 10 240

or email [email protected]

TELL US ABOUT

YOUR LOCAL EVENT,

CELEBRATION

OR FUNCTION

GOT A STORY?

� NATALIE BURKE

[email protected]

DESPITE being so preva-lent in our lives and com-munities, there is still a lingering reluctance to talk about depression and its effects.

Approximately 400,000 people suffer from depres-sion in Ireland and, between 2004 and 2008, 527 people died by suicide in Co Dublin alone.

Dr Harry Barry, a GP and board member of Aware, the support group for those affected by depression, is determined to break the silence with his latest book, which offers practical advice to those suffering from depression as well as their families and friends.

Flagging Depression: A Practical Guide, is the fourth instalment in Dr Barry’s bestselling Flag-ging series and, with a foreword by Paul Kelly, of Console, the national organisation supporting people in suicidal crisis and those bereaved by suicide, Flagging Depres-sion lays out a practical four-step approach based on Dr Barry’s mantra, “feel better, get better, stay well”.

The newest book not only reaches out to those dealing with depression but also offers vital assist-ance to those close to them.

Dr Barry told The Gazette: “I look after a lot of people with depres-

sion, and quite a number of them and their families asked me to create some kind of simple, practical guide.

“ W h e n y o u ’ r e depressed, your whole energy and concentration is down, and you’re strug-gling to focus.

“It’s a bit like you’re stuck in quicksand – you keep trying to move, but keep sinking, so you need something very hands-on that you can go to, imme-diately.”

With Flagging Depres-sion being a guide pri-marily aimed at sufferers themselves, it shows an insight into the disease

for both the person with depression as well as those around them.

“The person living with someone with depression doesn’t really understand it completely, and the book goes into the mind of a person suffering, and all the negative thoughts that can roll around their mind.

“Normally, a person could have a bad day, but their logical brain would switch back on and come up with a way of dealing with it,” he said.

“For a person with depression, however,

it’s not ‘just a bad day’ – they’re living in this terri-ble situation. Their mood is so down that they’re stuck at the bottom of a well, and they don’t know how to get out.

“There’s a difference between being stressed, or depressed ‘with a little d’ – which we all get – and actually suffering with depression.

“Lots of people mis-understand these condi-tions, so it’s important the symptoms are well laid out and easy to see,” said Dr Barry.

A medical doctor, Dr Barry has extensive expe-rience in the practice of

dealing with issues such as depression, addiction and anxiety and, as a board member of Aware, he is also a regular contributor to the national media on the area of mental health.

He said: “I was always very interested in the whole area of mental health and I suppose it was triggered by a very tragic suicide that took place in Drogheda, and I decided to write my first book to try and highlight depression.

“It started from there, and I was asked to join Aware shortly after-

wards.“This book itself is dedi-

cated to two lovely young guys who I knew, who both took their lives very tragically, and their fami-lies,” he said.

The practical, four-step approach outlined in the book by Dr Barry looks at ways of changing a person’s lifestyle so they start to feel better; taking exercise, nutrition and avoiding alcohol, into account.

It also looks at drug therapy for those unable to function with practical methods, and talk therapy to discover the issues that may have contributed to the person reaching such a low point.

“What people don’t realise is that it is a really treatable condition. Peo-ple often think that if they’re depressed, that it’s for life and there’s nothing they can do about it.

“[But] for people who treat it properly, most people can be back feeling better within two months, and can be completely better and off all forms of treatment by nine months, so it’s a real message of hope,” said Dr Barry.

With such a high rate of the population suffer-ing from depression at any one time in Ireland, Dr Barry admits the poor economic climate has played a role in the increasing figures.

“We’re beginning to see a lot of older people – men, for example – who

Depression is treatable, stresses GP in new book

MENTAL HEALTH Breaking silence

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

‘There’s a difference between depressed “with a little d” and actually suffering with depression’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Dr Harry Barry, author- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

12 GAZETTE 17 May 2012


Flagging Depression author, Dr Harry Barry, with Paul Kelly, Console

on illness that affects 400,000 people

have had major issues of unemployment, have lost their jobs and are in financial difficulty, and are starting to get very down.

“Maybe they would have been more resilient before, and less likely to get into difficulties, but we

are definitely seeing peo-ple who might not have appeared with depression up to this point, so there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s coming more and more to the fore,” said Dr Barry.

Flagging Depression raises awareness of the

issue that has taken such a strong hold of our society, for both the suf-ferer and their families, and Dr Barry said it was important to watch for warning signs when it comes to those suffering silently.

“The key things to

watch out for would be if someone was retreat-ing back into themselves and becoming quieter, maybe withdrawing a bit and spending more time in their room or on the computer, being tired all the time or not sleeping.

“If there’s anybody who

makes throw-out com-ments about the world being a better place with-out them, always zone in on them. Watch out for those warning signs.”

Flagging Depression: A Practical Guide is avail-able now from Liberties Press, priced €13.99.

GazetteContactsBlock 3A, Mill Bank Business Park, Lucan

Tel: 01 6010240 Fax: 01 6010251

Managing Director: Michael McGovernemail:[email protected]

Acting News Editor: Mimi Murrayemail: [email protected]

Production Editor: Jessica Maileemail: [email protected]

Sports Editor: Rob Heighemail: [email protected]

Picture Editor: Paul Hosfordemail: [email protected]

Ad Manager: Louise Fitzgeraldemail: [email protected]

Advertising Production: Anita Ward

email: [email protected]

Advertising Sales: 01 6010240email: [email protected]

Gazette Group Newspapers Ltd.

Terms and Conditions for acceptance of advertisements

Reserve the right to omit or suspend or alter any

advertisement(s) in any of its publications. We also decline

any responsibility in the event of one or more of a series of

advertisements being omitted for any reason whatever, nor do

we accept liability for any loss or damage caused by an error

or inaccuracy in the printing of any advertisement. If your

advertisement appears incorrectly, contact the Advertising De-

partment immediately, as responsibility cannot be accepted for

more than one week’s incorrect insertion. Responsibility cannot

be accepted if the complaint is made more than two weeks

after insertion. If one places an advertisement for more than

one week and then cancels it after the fi rst week, no refund or

credit will be given for weeks cancelled. The advertiser under-

takes to indemnify the Proprietors against any liability for any

civil action arising out of the publication of the advertisement

or any other matter printed or published in the Blanchardstown

Gazette, Castleknock Gazette, Clondalkin Gazette, Dundrum Ga-

zette, Dun Laoghaire Gazette, Lucan Gazette, Malahide Gazette

and Swords Gazette. The placing of an order or contract will be

deemed an acceptance of these conditions.

www.gazettegroup.com


Wedding fair at Red Cow

COUPLES: €10,000 PRIZE ON OFFER FOR THE BIG DAY

� SUZANNE BYRNE

PLANNING on walking down the aisle sometime soon, but worried you won’t be able to afford the kind of special day you always dreamed of?

Well, the Red Cow Moran Hotel has good news for you.

As part of its upcoming wedding fair jamboree, it has organised an online competition – at www.redcowmoranhote l .com – to win a free wed-ding gown from bridal designers, House of Tamem Michael; a hon-eymoon of your choice with Thomas Cook, and a reception at the Red Cow Hotel, for up to 100 people, in a prize valued at up to €10,000.

The winners will be announced at the fair.

Goods and services on display will include florists and invitation

companies, while car and limo firms will be there to offer transport that will not only get the bride and groom to the church on time, but also in style.

And, of course, the icing on the cake for any wedding is the cake – bakers with years of experience in designing cakes, from the modest and traditional to the outrageous, will be there to discuss what you want for your big day.

Also at the fair, visitors can enjoy front row seats at the Tamem Michael 2013 bridal collection.

To top it all, any wed-ding that is booked at the Red Cow Moran Hotel showcase will get a €1,000 discount.

The Red Cow Moran Hotel Wedding Fair 2012 takes place on Sunday, May 20, between 2pm and 5pm.

President Michael D Higgins will launch the BioBlitz at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre on May 18

Things to get a bit wild at Aras an Uachtarain� LAURA WEBB

[email protected]

WILDLIFE living in the grounds of Aras an Uachtarain will be sur-veyed for the first time as part of Ireland’s BioBlitz 2012.

President Michael D Higgins will launch the BioBlitz at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre this Friday, May 18.

Throughout a 24 hour period, from May 18 until May 19, over 200 scientists and wildlife surveyors will gather at four locations nation-wide to participate in Ireland’s BioBlitz 2012, to see which group can record the most species of wildlife.

This is the third year of the event which is organised by the National Biodiversity Data Centre. Last year a record 1,088 species were recorded in Killarney National Park over 24 hours in 2011.

Parks involved in this year’s blitz include Glen-garriff Nature Reserve, Co Cork; Lough Boora, Co Offaly; Phoenix Park, Dublin 8 and, for the first time, surveyors will gain access to the grounds of Aras an Uachtarain to record its biodiversity.

Director of the Nation-al Biodiversity Data Centre and organiser of the event, Dr Liam Lysaght said: “One of the objectives for host-ing the event is to open

up the wonderful world of wildlife to people, and to demonstrate that there is an amazing richness of diversity all around us.

“If we were to dimin-ish this diversity in our surroundings, we would greatly diminish our qual-ity of life also,” he added.

Dr Mary Kelly-Quinn, Chair of the National Biodiversity Data Centre added: “This is a mas-sive effort on the part of experts who are all par-ticipating in the event in a voluntary capac-ity to raise awareness of Ireland’s rich biologi-cal diversity resource, a resource that is estimated to contribute €2.6 billion each year to the Irish economy. Vital sectors

such as agriculture would be seriously impacted should this biodiversity be lost.”

Residents are being encouraged to take part in the recording effort by coming along on Fri-day 18 to one of the four sites.

The amount of spe-cies recorded within the day will be announced at 11am, 1pm, 3pm and all recording will cease at 5pm after which the winning team will be announced.

A programme of events at each site to introduce people to aspects of Ire-land’s biological diversity, such as bat walks, dawn chorus, pond dipping, bee and butterfly walks,

botanical walks, moth trapping and small mam-mal trapping.

Further details and live streaming during the event can be accessed on a special BioBlitz Web-sites http://bioblitz.bio-diversityireland.ie/ set up for the event.

The National Biodiver-sity Data Centre www.biodiversityireland.ie is the national centre dedi-cated to the collation, management, analysis and dissemination of data and information on Ireland’s biological diver-sity. It serves as a hub for the exchange of data between governmental organisations, NGOs, research institutions and volunteer recorders.

EVENT A BioBlitz challenge to find the most species

WE HAVE 135,000*

READERS EACH WEEK

ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESSYOUR BUSINESS

TO OUR READERS

CALL 60 10 240

*based on standard industry measurements

GazettePETSPETSBrought to you by Miriam Kerins of

the DSPCA

THE FACTS: AN ANIMAL-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT CAN BRING MANY BENEFITS

Man’s best friend making a difference in the officeA

CCORDING to an article in this week’s Sunday T imes , l ucky

staff at Google’s Euro-pean HQ in Dublin are allowed to bring their dogs to work.

Apparently this policy is already in operation at other Google offices around the world.

What a brilliant idea and well done Google for being so animal-friendly because, instead of saying goodbye to sad doggies in the morning, owners can bring their precious pooches into the office with them.

I know from personal experience working in an animal-friendly envi-ronment the happiness, positivity and joy that will shine from those offices; not to mention what a privilege it will be for staff.

So, with that happy sentiment in mind, if any dog lovers out there are lucky enough to be able to take their best friend to work with them or who may be trying to convince their bosses to follow Google’s exam-ple; here are a few of my Pet-iquette, (sorry,

couldn’t resist) guide-lines for you to follow; just to make sure the experience is a positive one for you, your dog and your colleagues.

Before you set out Make sure your dog

travels safely in the car with a secure doggy seat-belt or in an appropriate pet carrier.

Dog proof your work area

Before you br ing your dog into the office tape up loose electrical wires, put markers, tipp-ex, glue, plants and any other tempting items out of Fido’s reach.

Once you’re happy, take another quick look around then lie down on the floor to get your dog’s eye view.

What hazards have you missed?

Supplies Bring along sufficient

food, water, feeding bowls, paper towels and so on.

Vaccinations Make sure your pet’s

vaccinations are up to date and have your vet

give him a clean bill of health.

If you think he’s having an ‘off day,’ call the vet and allow Fido to stay at home and take a sickie.

Do your researchChat with colleagues

and make sure nobody suffers from dog aller-gies, dog phobias, or just doesn’t like dogs. And yes, I know it’s hard to believe but sadly, dogs are not everyone’s cup of tea.

Behaviour Your dog should be

socialised and happy to get on with other canines as well as humans.

If he’s a tad, er, over active, then why not take him for a long walk before you head into the office to let him use up some of that excess energy.

Make it familiar If your dog has a

favourite toy, blanket and bed, take it into the office with you to keep things familiar for him.

Also, make sure to cre-ate a safe haven for him so that he can retreat from noise, other dogs and the hustle and bustle of a busy office.

Monitor Carefully monitor what

your dog eats during the day and make sure co-workers understand not to feed him a variety of treats that may make him ill, may cause him to over eat or may give him an allergic reaction.

I personally do not allow anyone else feed my dogs and have trained them not to take food from strangers.

Proper ID Make sure your dog

is microchipped, wears an identity collar and tag, is fully vaccinated and is given a clean bill of health from your vet before taking him into the office.

Regular walks Take your dog outside

for regular pee and poo breaks and make sure to bring along a pooper scooper to pick up and dispose of any mess in a responsible manner.

Rubbish Dogs can’t resist the

delicious smell of an office bin so make sure you dis-card all unwanted and uneaten food outside and

Lucky staff at Google’s European HQ in Dublin may bring their dogs to work

in an enclosed bin where your pet can’t get at it.

InspirationYour dog-less col-

leagues may be inspired

to head for their nearest animal welfare shelter and adopt a dog thanks to seeing what lovable and good natured com-panion pets they make.

� For more informa-tion, log onto www.dspca.ie or contact your vet or email me at [email protected]



GazetteBEAUTYBEAUTY Edited by

Laura Webb

Top tips for radiant skin with a lasting faux-glowR

ADIATE th i s summer with help from Lancome make-up artist,

Shehla Shaikh.This week, she shares

her secrets to perfecting the faux-glow radiance in a few simple steps.

• Apply La Base Pro all over the face; the silky-smooth texture of this primer will ensure that make-up lasts all day.

• Using a foundation brush, apply Lancôme TeinteIdole Ultra 24hr foundation. Start on the cheeks and apply in a buffing motion, bringing the remaining product into the T-zone. Ensure to blend into the neck for a flawless finish.

• Brighten and correct

under the eyes by apply-ing Lancome Teint Mira-cle concealer, which has an illuminating finish.

Apply this in an upside-down triangle under the eyes, and using one shade lighter than your founda-tion.

Brush some product across the eyelids and set with a little translucent powder, which helps to balance and brighten the eyes as well as creating a base for eyeshadow.

• Apply Lancome’s Star Bronzer to the face where the natural light falls, across the temples, cheeks and under the jaw line.

Start with a little and build it up, blending and buffing in a circular

motion to mimic a sun-kissed look.

This is a great way to add glow and contour to the face, making the cheekbones pop.

• For a radiant, smoky look, smudge Lancome Kohl pencil in bronze into the lash line. Lan-come Kojl pencil in aqua is perfect against hazel eyes. Ensure you smudge softly into the lash line.

• Illuminate around the eye area using Lan-come’s OmbreAbsolue Moonlight, blending lightly under the eye-brows, along the lower eyelid and into the inner corner of the eyes for an instant lift.

Press a little of the eyeshadow on the water-

line, which will reduce any redness, making the eyes appear fresher and brighter.

• For long, luscious lashes and a wide-eyed look, start using Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes mas-cara on the outer corner of the lashes, and work the brush from the roots to the tip.

• Finish with a gor-geous coral lip for the summer. Rouge In Love 322M, a soft coral, is per-fect to add colour to the face.

Apply with your fingers to give a natural finish, or straight from the bul-let for a real injection of colour.

• To achieve a soft, can-dle-lit glow on the face,

Lancome make-up artist, Shehla Shaikh

highlight using Lancome Eclat Miracle.

Work a little into the bronzing brush and dab

where the light hits the face, top of the cheek-bones, bridge of the nose, forehead and chin.

Meet Shehla Shaikh at the Lancome Counter, Brown Thomas, May 17 to May 19.

� GERHARD HEYL

THE process of under-taking any building project in your home is a mix of mental adjust-ment, planning and hard labour.

If you’ve grown tired of limbo dancing around the gap between the din-ing table and the sofa and the kids’ toys are steadily invading the adult living space, then you have probably made the decision to seri-ously investigate how to go about building some extra living space.

First things first, in order to enlarge your home you will need to ensure you have suffi-cient space to extend the property.

Perhaps you can go up

into the attic? Or maybe you have a good size gar-den that will take a rear or a side extension.

Next, you need to get a plan drawn up. It’s a good idea to try and match the new build to the lifestyle of the occupants of the home, to ensure a good fit of space, to use.

There is no point in building a new games room if it can’t accom-modate that new snook-er table you have your eye on. Your architect and builder can advise on the best set of plans for your home.

You will need to ensure any works carried out on your home comply to planning permission guidelines. These are considered on an indi-

vidual basis and the size of the extension and the size of your garden/loca-tion of boundary walls will all have an impact.

Your engineer, archi-tect or builder will advise

you on this matter. With clever planning,

it is possible to generate excellent changes to your internal living accommo-dation in a cost effective manner. Once the plans

and budgets are agreed and in place, it’s time for the hard graft to begin.

You need to approach the period of the build in as calm a way as possible while visualising the end

goal of improved living space.

Your home will be a building site for the next while and it’ll be dirty and messy. Take into consideration that

you may have to pack up possessions or even move out for the dura-tion of the build.

In future articles, we will discuss steps to avoid common pitfalls in the planning, tender-ing and costing stages of a building project

When work moves from outside to inside, the place will begin to look a bit more like a home then a building site and you can begin to imagine living in your new space.

Once kitchens and bathrooms are installed and your new down lighters in the sitting room are in place, you are nearly there. All that’s to be done now is to decide what colours to put on the walls.


GazettePROPERTYPROPERTY

Extending the scope at home

Expanding your living space at home can make a huge difference to your quality of life

RENOVATION: GETTING READY FOR AN EXTENSION NEEDS PLANNING AND PREPARATION

Y O U R G U I D E T O E V E R Y T H I N G F O R Y O U R B A B Y BabyBABY

The Saturdays’ star, Una Healy, shines as a new mother� NATALIE BURKE

[email protected]

JUST hours before the Gazette’s interview with the beautiful and talented Una Healy, one-fifth of girl band sensation The Saturdays, instructions arrive from her manage-ment that requests we refrain from asking cer-tain questions.

Such a request is just one reminder of how far the 30-year-old singer/songwriter from the town of Thurles, Tipperary, has come. But after chatting to Una about her most recent role as a new mum, how she and her rugby star fiance, Ben Foden, have adapted to parent-hood and the inspiration behind the name of their new baby girl, Aoife Belle, it’s clear that this particu-lar celebrity mum hasn’t forgotten her roots and has her feet set firmly on

the ground. Having just given

birth to her and Ben’s first child eight weeks ago, Una is already back at work, launching the band’s brand new single, which was released last week.

“It’s only really the last week or two that I’ve really been back work-ing, I was just spending all my time with the baby before that,” Una told the Gazette.

“Going back to work isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do and I’m really, really tired. But

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

‘My father suggested Aoife, as I was struggling for a name

and I really liked it but I wanted something to go with it. As my

mother’s maiden name is Bell, I decided that would be a great

name. It’s nice for her to have an Irish name because she’ll

always have her Irish identity there’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


that’s the nature of the business, its like anyone who is self-employed – it’s not something you can take a lot of time off from; its not as easy as that, but I’m coping well.”

Una was reunited with her band-mates Frankie Sandford, Rochelle Wise-man, Vanessa White and Mollie King last week, when they started pro-moting their latest single, 30 Days.

“It’s a really fun pop song and it’s uplifting. The sentiment is actually quite sad, as the song is

counting down the days until you see the person that you love but when it comes to the tune, it’s definitely one that would get you up on the dance-floor,” said Una.

“We’ve been really busy doing radio interviews, photo shoots and other things to promote the new single, so between that and spending time with the baby, it’s been really busy.”

Health scare

Following Aoife’s birth on March 13, Una and her fiance have adapted well to their new roles as parents, despite their baby suffering a health scare just hours after being born.

“There was some fluid on her lungs when she was born which is actu-ally quite common but, at the time, she was making little grunting noises and then suddenly started choking so we were really concerned. She spent 24 hours in the neo natal unit but she was looked after so well by everyone and she’s perfect and healthy now!”

The new parents were spotted out for the first time last week, when they attended the Rugby For Heroes charity event held in the UK.

“Our whole life has changed since we had the

baby. It used to be Una and Ben and now sud-denly there are three of us, there’s Una, Ben and Aoife so it’s a bit crazy. It was great to spend some time together at the event as it was our first night out together since having the baby but we were excited to get home to her. It was nice to have some romantic time together, you need to be able to do that.”

Following an early music career playing gui-tar and singing in venues across Ireland, Una joined the band in 2008 and has always taken fame, and the pressures associated with it, in her stride, so it comes as no surprise that when it comes to losing baby weight, the singer hasn’t succumbed to the celebrity obsession.

“I didn’t really feel a lot of pressure to lose baby weight but I was quite fit and healthy when I was pregnant so I didn’t really gain a lot,” she said.

“Aoife was 7 pounds 13 ounces when she was born so she wasn’t a big baby, but as soon as I came home from the hos-pital I lost one of the two stone I gained during the pregnancy. I’ve also been really active and busy looking after the baby over the last few weeks and have been eating healthy and doing a lot of walking.”

Heritage

With many celebrity mums fighting to top the unusual baby name chart, Una admits she wanted to make sure her daughter held on to her Irish heritage.

KidStuffUdderly Gorgeous Maternity

range from CowshedWE all know our babies are the most innocent, beautiful and flawless creatures on the planet – but we also know they have a tendency to make their mothers look slightly less so.

Which is why bath and home care specialists, Cowshed, decided to develop the Udderly Gor-geous Maternity range and Baby Cow Organics.

The 100% natural range is designed not only to help protect babies’ delicate skin, but also to help mums keep their skin as soft and smooth as their babies. And they’re now available in Ireland.

Since its launch in 1998, Cowshed’s philosophy has been to create a complete range of honest, natural and therapeutic products, using the best organic and wild-crafted plants.

The Udderly Gorgeous range is totally natural and made from wild-crafted sea buckthorn oil. It’s also rich in vitamins, carotenes, minerals and fatty acids, which provide your skin with all the nourishment it needs. The Baby Cow Organics range is made from meadowfoam oil and is spe-cially formulated to pamper, protect and soothe your baby’s delicate skin.

For mums, check out the Udderly Gorgeous stretch mark oil at €19.95, or the Udderly Gorgeous Cooling Leg and Foot Treatment for €17.95. But at the end of a hard day, it has to be the Udderly Gorgeous Bath Salts at €23.95.

Cowshed products can be found at retailers nationwide.For full list of their products and prices call Naturelle De La Riche 01-8903070.


New mum Una Healy, one-fifth of girl band sensation The Saturdays, and her little one, Aoife Belle (inset)

KidStuffAll About Baby Fair to feature

leading products and servicesTHE All About Baby Fair 2012 is set to take place this July, when new parents and mums-to-be will have the chance to buy, try and test all the products and services they need for their new baby.

The fair will take place on Sunday, July 29 at the Plaza Hotel, Tallaght and will offer expert advice, professional services, shopping, enter-tainment and a guaranteed fun-filled day out for all the family.

Leading professionals in the industry will be available on the day to offer expert advice and information with a demonstration from Baby Wearing Ireland on all things sling and baby car-rier related, breastfeeding information from Certi-fied Lactation Consultants, Claire Bulfin and Nicola O’Byrne, nutrition information for during and after pregnancy by Gaye Godkin, infant first aid with Theresa Dwan and a demonstration of baby sign language by Miriam Devitt.

Many stalls will feature products and services unavailable on the highstreet with great dis-count offers, while Gymboree Music and Play will also be on hand with a dedicated Kid Zone to keep the youngsters entertained.

The event will be held from 10am to 4pm and admission is €5 for adults, while children under 16 are free. For more information, see www.allaboutbabyfair.wordpress.com.

“My father suggested Aoife as I was struggling for a name and I really liked it but I wanted something to go with it. As my mother’s maiden name is Bell, I decided that would be a great name. It’s nice for her to have an Irish name because she’ll always have her Irish identity there.”

After just two months of maternity leave, Una says The Saturdays already have a hectic schedule for the summer ahead. The band are set to return to Una’s hometown of Thurles for the first time next month, when they will take to the stage at Thurles Greyhound Sta-

dium on Friday, June 3, in what will be Una’s first performance since hav-ing her baby.

Excited

“I’m so excited about it. It’s the first time I’ve performed with the girls since we did the tour back in December so it’s the first post-baby gig. The girls have never seen where I grew up so it’s nice for them to see the sights of Thurles and where I’m from. It’s also nice to be able to perform in front of my home town and to bring the music back there.”

“We’re also planning on going to LA this sum-mer to film a pilot for a

reality show so that trip will be really good. The Wanted and One Direc-ton are over there and are doing really well so we’re hoping a girl band could do well over there too. It’s the next step for us.”

Broody

And what about baby Aoife Belle? “Of course she will be coming with us!” insisted the new mum. “The other girls love her and are so good to her. They’re always buying gifts for her and I’ve made them all really broody!”

30 Days is out now and is available from iTunes and all good music stores.

nset)


GazetteBUSINESSBUSINESS Supported by AIB

COPING WITH DEBTS

Q – Having taken my child out of a fee paying school, pared back on all costs til I can pare no more, the debts including our home loan (in negative equity and in arrears) seem to be mounting and never ending. We are at our wits’ end juggling the finances but seem to be getting nowhere. Have you any advice ? David – Dun Laoghaire

A - I really empathise with you and know that you are not alone. There are thousands and thousands in the same boat. Essentially, it is all about budget-ing, planning, prioritising and implementing. We have a three-step process for those wishing to address their financial issues called EAR – Evaluation, Action and Representation.

The first step, Evaluation : On agreement of this process, a Fact Find ( ALL financial advisers MUST comply legally with this Central Bank of Ireland directive every time they meet clients so that appropriate and personalised recommendations, strategies, solutions and action plans can be given.) is sent to the borrower. On completion and return of same by the client, a meeting is then arranged and all aspects of the issues discussed and evaluated. An email outlining the discussion outlining the strate-gies and recommendations is then sent to the client after this c. one hour meeting.

The second step, Action: This covers the comple-tion of the Standard Financial Statement – a must-do if negotiating with a mortgagee in particular. This is a comprehensive generic document that must be completed and also requires a list of attachments to corroborate those details. This generic form can be used for all creditors. An itemised schedule of those additional requirements for the mortgagee is also included. This process will take at least 45 minutes.

The third step, Representation: On your behalf or with you to the mortgagee if necessary- some clients want professional support when meeting mortgagees or creditors.

We all need support and no matter how bleak your situation may seem, not only is there a solution, but there is a manageable solution. Please email me for details.

� Contact John with your money questions at

[email protected] or visit his website at

www.moneydoctor.ie. John Lowe, Fellow of the

Institute of Bankers, is founder and managing

director of Money Doctor

HARRIS Heating was established in Dublin in 1979. Now 33 years in business, it has served over 40,000 commercial and domestic custom-ers.

“There is still a great family feel to the busi-ness, we are a local Dublin company serving our community,” says Tom Egan who has been the commercial and domestic development manager for Harris Heating for the last 10 years.

“It is challenging at present but we have adapted to suit the market and are getting a fantastic response to our current, We Love Boilers, campaigns as well as our Gloworm Gas Boiler and Firebird Oil Boiler campaigns. We are also about to launch our, Oh Solar Eco, campaign which will be a Firebird Solar pack-age for the summer.

“The majority of our service engineers and plumbers are more than 10 years with the com-pany.

“We have experienced professional staff, repeat business and competitive prices. To sum it up in one sentence? It would be trying to keep it simple.”

Interview: Tom Egan, Harris Heating

Q&A

Tom’s turning up the heat

Tom Egan, commercial and domestic development manager

When you were a kid, what did

you want to be?

I am 51 and still don’t know what I

want to be.

What was your first job?

Picking spuds in Rush.

And your first pay check?

£11.

When did you start your

present job?

10 years ago.

What is the best thing about

your job?

Definitely the people and the broad

spectrum of challenges.

What part of your working

day do you “delegate”?

I like a win/win situation and will

delegate and love to see initiative by

all stakeholders…

What sport do you follow?

All, but Bohs and the Dubs are extra

special.

What sport can you play?

Just walk these days, I need to shift

a few stone!

What is your guilty music, TV

or movie pleasure?

Action movie every time.

What music/pictures/movies

do you have on your iPod/

iPad?

All of our six (adult) children and

two grandchildren.

Who do you follow on Twitter/

Facebook?

Again it’s all family and friends.

Describe your dream meal?

Los Abrigos in Tenerife. Scappetas

Italian mushrooms in coconut

vegetarian rissota, cheese cake and

Italian sparkling water.

Where do you enjoy spending

money frivolously?

On our grandchildren. Our

granddaughter only has to say how

special the my little pony magazine

is and I buy it.

How many pairs of shoes do

you own?

Two pair of black shoes and one pair

of runners and one pair of crocs

(the kids hate them)

What was your worst holiday

experience?

A holiday is as good as my head is.

In Ireland, Carraroe, Co Galway and

abroad, Medano, Tenerife.

Describe your dream holiday?

Where ever I can get peace of mind.

In Ireland, Carraroe, Co Galway,

abroad, Medano, Tenerife.

What would be your dream

job?

I never chose a career. In 1978 you

took what you could get.

So where I am is where I’m meant

to be.

What do you plan to do when

you retire?

Prefer to use the phrase “change

direction”, continue enjoying life.

www.gazette group.comwww.gazette group.com

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

GazetteMOTORSMOTORS

TOP MARKS FOR OPEL: IN the recently published ADAC (German Automobile Club) breakdown statis-tics for 2011, all five Opel models listed achieved above-aver-age results, with the Opel Meriva leading the way. The Opel Corsa also achieved a top result: receiving the best ADAC rating in the registration years 2007 to 2009 and 2011 (2006 and 2010: second best grade). The best evaluation grade in the ADAC break-down statistics was also achieved by the Opel Astra, which also scored best in the individual ranking as the vehicle with the fewest faults accord-ing to the results of the “DEKRA Used Car Report 2012”. The compact van, Opel Zafira and Opel Insignia for registra-tion also received top scores.

RoadRoadSignsSigns

The Renault Kangoo Maxi Crew Van ZE has an ex-VAT price of €18,200

Kangoo goes electric� CORMAC CURTIS

THE recent surge in fuel prices is showing no signs of abating, and, as a result, a dramatic shift is taking place in the buying trends of motorists.

Any car dealer will tell you that people are opt-ing for the most economi-cal engines possible, both in new and used cars.

Car manufacturers have been quick to react to this shift in the mar-ket - scarcely a week goes by without new, more efficient and economi-cal technologies being introduced to make every drop of fuel go that little bit further.

In parallel to develop-ments of the traditional combustion engine, elec-tric vehicles are becoming a very realistic alternative for many drivers.

Personally, I support any initiative that allows people to avoid paying hundreds of euro per month in fuel bills sim-ply to drive to and from

work. And let’s not forget that half of those euros go to the Government, thank you very much!

So, what electric cars are available that will work in the real world?

My first experience of an EV (electric vehicle) was a wonderful week with the Renault Kangoo Maxi Crew Van ZE.

The Kangoo is aimed squarely at the business sector, with tradesmen a particular focus, but it slotted into my family’s lifestyle perfectly.

I’ll admit from the outset that I do love driv-

ing vans, so I am a little biased. But, the fact is that you can accommodate a family and an enormous amount of stuff into this Kangoo.

If you simply consider what you need in a car, as opposed to what you think you want, the Kan-goo ticks just about every box.

This car is easy to drive, with acres of windscreen and mirrors giving an almost panoramic view of the road.

It won’t break any records in the accelera-tion department, but it easily moves, even full of family members in the back and gear in the boot.

The interior isn’t luxu-rious, but it is both mod-ern and attractive in its simplicity, and very, very comfortable.

Side access to the rear seats is via sliding doors which makes getting the kids in and out a joy.

The enormous boot has a split, two-door access,

the downside of which is the slightly impaired view in the rear-view mir-ror as a result of the door frames. But, it’s a small price to pay for such a useful payload - this thing can carry as many bikes, scooters and ‘Flikers’ as you can throw at it.

Obviously, one of the real attractions here is the savings you can make on fuel.

Once you have a charge point at your house, you can “fill up” this car for between €2 and €3. A full charge will translate into a range of about 170km.

If you plan on taking the Kangoo on holidays, you would certainly need to plan your route very carefully.

Not all electric vehicles can take a fast charge (a quick, 25-minute boost at certain charge points) and unfortunately the Kangoo falls into this category.

For any kind of dis-tance, it is important to plan a stop of a few hours at a charge point along

the way.As it happens, the

charge point at my home was not working properly the week I had the car, and I was left with only 25km of range left in the “tank”.

I was really stuck, as the depot where the car need-ed to go back to is on the other side of Dublin.

There are charge points around the city, but I couldn’t find my swipe card to use them, and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving Renault’s shiny new Kangoo at a public charge point unattended.

Enter Airside Renault in Swords. They are a few miles up the road from me, and when I called ahead, my new BFF, Paula, very kindly arranged for me to leave the Kangoo safely charging at one of their charge points.

I have to send a big thank-you to the team at Airside for their help on this one – they really did dig me out of a hole there!

So, the Kangoo van can carry loads of people and stuff in comfort, and it has no problem get-ting around – what’s the catch?

Even though the actual fuel cost is quite low, cur-rently electric vehicle owners need to pay about €75 (ex VAT) per month to lease their car battery.

Considering most people pay at least this much for a single tank of petrol at the moment, this is not an awful lot of money, but it does feel like a kind of stealth tax to keep the sticker price low.

Speaking of sticker prices, the ex-VAT price of the car is a very affordable €18,200.

No doubt these vehicles will be the van of choice for surfers, campers, and all sorts of festival-goers in the future.

But, for now, it would be very encouraging to see people embrace electric vehicles and to see more of them on the road.


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

‘Once you get used to the silent running of the electric engine, it’s as straightforward as a golf buggy to operate’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Exploring the famous gardens of Normandy� DAVID PHILLIPS

BEYOND the D-Day beaches and within easy reach of a rental car, Nor-mandy offers a unique side of France, with its medley of hidden gardens and chateaux steeped in colour and history.

Claude Monet’s house and garden, where he based himself for over 40 years, is a must see. Located 80km outside of Paris, the tiny village of Giverny can be visited on a day trip from Paris. A stunning array of tulips, gladioli, and irises colour the garden in front of the house.

“This is an ongoing project,” explains head gardener, James Priest. “Since 1976, we have been restoring the gar-

dens based on Monet’s designs and from the memories of people who had visited. It is a con-stant process of interpre-tation and reinterpreta-tion.”

A second adjoining garden boasts the pond and bridge made famous through Monet’s Water Lilies paintings. The house, with its bright pas-tel interiors, is also open to the public, and as well as commanding views of

the gardens, offers a rare insight into the family life of one of the fathers of French Impressionism.

A half-hour drive from Giverny, with the aid of a GPS or a good map, you’ll find the 18th-century Château de Miserey.

On the 20 acres that surround the house, a garden has been culti-vated that represents a journey through hell, pur-gatory, and heaven – with all manner of spiked and poisonous plants giving way to an impressive alley of roses and apple trees.

This is a much wilder space than the care-fully preened gardens of Giverny, and Mme De Romilly, the current owner, is an excellent host and a mine of infor-mation on the plants

and symbolism found throughout the property.

Another must visit is Château du Champ de Bataille, which has to be seen to be believed. The owner, interior designer James Garcia, has worked for 20 years to restore this 17th-century castle, and the result is an interior and exterior that offer a glimpse of the splen-dour of pre-Revolution France.

While privately occu-pied, the house and gar-dens are open to the public at weekends and through-out the summer, and pro-vide a rare opportunity to access an unparalleled collection of antiques and art, where every inch is filled with history.

For more contemporary art, the Jardins de Bois-Guilbert and Château de Vascoeuil both act as open air sculpture galleries set in stunning locations. The former hosts a collection by Jean-Marc de Pas, and presents an amazing bal-ance between art and nature, with the art pieces elegantly accentuating the wooded landscape.

There are many ongo-ing projects at work here: statues slowly being coated with moss will take decades to develop and age; while a ring of Giant Redwood, the pur-pose of which is to give a telescope effect into the night sky, will come to full effect around a cen-

Claude Monet’s Gardens,

Get your shimmying shoes on

for Shakefest in Tullamore FORGET Electric Picnic. The place to be for dance nuts and culture fiends this year is Char-leville Castle, Tullamore, Co Offaly, where one of the most intriguing festivals on the community calendar – the Shakefest – kicks off on Saturday May 26.

A celebration of multicultural dance stylings - in particular those from the Middle East and the Ori-ent -- the day-long event will also include a series of cultural and artistic workshops and perform-ances.

This year, the special guest instructor will be acclaimed Egyptian Oriental dancer Joana Saahi-rah, who’ll be giving a workshop on Egyptian his-tory and folklore, together with performances of some dazzling and interpretive Oriental dances.

Having delighted audiences with her shows in Cairo and around the world, this is one to watch for serious dance fans.

While catering to visitors of all ages, Shakefest has also cast its eye over the younger dance enthu-siasts, who can look forward to a special work-shop ‘Dance like Michael Jackson’ hosted by Jacko tribute act Declan Kiely.

Kids can also look forward to a bouncy castle, juggling and stiltwalking show by Stagecraft Ire-land, and a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

For the more adventurous dance fans, there’ll also be demonstration of Poi (involving swinging tethered weights through a variety of rhythmi-cal and geometric patterns) and Ribbon dancing (similar to rhythmic gymnastics, where the dancer twirls ribbons), Bachata (a hip-based three-step that originated in the Dominican Republic) and Argentinian Tango.

New to Shakefest this year is a live history sec-tion – where medieval re-enactors will be treating audiences to combat simulations of the Crusaders Knight’s Templar.

As the day draws to a close, visitors can enjoy the annual multicultural Hafla, followed by a spectacular fire show from The Red Embers and some 40s swing from The Bugle Babes.

Playing the day out the day will be the North Strand Kontra Band, with a mix of original and traditional material, influenced by the music of Romania and Bulgaria.

Tickets for Shakefest can be purchased on www.shakefest.net or www.brownpapertickets.com and range from €10 general admission, €10 camping, €20 family day pass or only €15 for evening entertainment. Gates open at 12pm. All proceeds will be going towards Charleville Castle Restoration Fund.

FastTravel

GazetteTTRAVELRAVEL22 GAZETTE 17 May 2012

tury from now.The Château de Vas-

coeuil boasts outdoor works by Vasarely, Coc-teau, and Dali against the backdrop of a 15th-cen-tury manor. The pieces here are modern, col-ourful, and bold and the interior also serves as an indoor exhibit space and museum.

There are dozens more parks, houses, and gardens to visit in close proximity, which will offer something to cater for all interests.

The Parc du Bois des Moutiers is an impecca-bly preserved house rich in esoteric symbolism and history, the Sham-rock Garden has the world’s largest collection of hydrangea, and Les Jardins Suspendus in Le Havre is a multi-million euro horticultural rede-velopment of a First World War fort.

Dotted through Nor-Château du Champ de Bataille offers a glimpse of the splendour of pre-Revolution

France

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

‘Dotted through Normandy there are plenty of hamlets and villages to stay’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

near the village of Giverny, were made famous by the artist’s Water Lilies paintings

AFTER years in the culinary dol-drums, Denmark has finally taken its rightful place alongside the world’s most mouth-watering desti-nations for foodies.

Boasting 13 Michelin-starred eateries and the capital Copen-hagen’s famous Noma restaurant (voted San Pellegrino’s World’s Best for the past three years), it’s now the place to be for people who are seri-ous about their food.

And this summer, the famous New Nordic Cuisine will take centre stage with exciting culinary festivals cropping up countrywide.

Whether island hopping in the archipelago or staying at a classic seaside hotel you’ll find new and inspiring palate pleasers - from Scandinavian island cuisine to local artisanal cheeses and homemade Danish cherry pie.

First up on the itinerary is Copen-hagen’s gastronomical quarter.

Once the capital’s meat packing district, it is now home to a trendy culinary scene where unconven-tional bars and hygge (the Danish term for cosy) restaurants are front and centre

If only the best will do, Noma in the capital (Strandgade 93 1401. Ph: 0045 32 96 32 97) is a must see — but book in advance to avoid disappointment.

Failing that, check out the dynamic Geranium restaurant (Per Henrik Lings Alle 4, 8, Copenhagen, Denmark. 0045 69 96 00 20) which also features on the list of San Pel-legrino’s world’s best – and the gas-tronomic Relae (Jaagersborgaade ( 44 2200 Koenhawn N Ph 0045 369 66609), voted Copenhagen’s best new restaurant in 2011.

SAS fly twice daily from Dublin to Copenhagen from €75 one way, including taxes and charges. To book, log on to flysas.ie.

TravelBriefs

Edited by

Mimi Murray


mandy there are plenty of hamlets and villages to stay, which function as great bases for explora-tion, and offer excellent cuisine.

The expansive green countryside gives per-fect soil and weather for apples, so you’ll find the tipple is cider rather than wine. Cheeses are a regional speciality and as you’re never far from the coast, fans of seafood will be in their element.

Aer Lingus operate daily flights from Dub-lin to Paris Charles de Gaulle. One-way fares start from €39.99. For more information, visit www.aerlingus.com

Particularly recom-mended is Hôtel Le Grand Cerf in Lyons-la-Foret, a sleepy pictur-esque village where you’ll feel completely removed from the hustle and bustle of the port towns http://www.grandcerf.fr/

The Château de Vascoeuil boasts outdoor works by Vasarely, Cocteau, and Dali

against the backdrop of a 15th Century manor

Denmark the destination for epicures


Home sweet homeJeff gets out of the house, trying to prove his brother’s wife (Judy Greer) is playing away from home

GoingOUT

GazetteENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

Jason Segel is the man of the moment, but is this offbeat indie flick able to match Kermit and company?

�THE PAVILION THEATRE 01 231 2929Hairy Maclary and Friends

OUT of the gate and off for a walk, went Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy. Anyone with young children will recognise these immortal words instantly as the opening lines of the book Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd. With music, singing and several of your favourite Hairy Maclary stories, this show is a must-see for the whole family. Running for two shows on Saturday May 19 at 1.30pm and 3.30pm, tickets are priced at €10 and €8.

MILL THEATRE 01 296 9340 The Importance of Being Earnest

IN its 21st Anniversary year, Rathfarnham Theatre Group is delighted to stage this timeless and much loved classic in its most lavish production to date. Wilde, at his sharpest, weaves a tale of deceit regarding the courtship between two young men about town and two beautiful strong minded young ladies, which is laced with wit, elegance and paradox. The show takes place at 8pm from Tuesday May, 22 to Saturday, May 26. Tickets are priced at €15/12 For full list of dates for the great shows, see www.milltheatre.ie.

CIVIC THEATRE 01 462 7477Just a Song At Twilight

COME and have a good sing along to the Irish songs of a gentler era when Fil Campbell plays at the Civic. Fil presents an affectionate tribute to the Irish folk songs that generations of Irish grew up with – songs that were recorded by women like Delia Murphy, Bridie Gallagher whose lives Fil documented in her RTE documentary series Songbirds. The show runs on Tuesday, May 22 for just two shows, with a special Bealtaine performance at 3pm and a show at 8pm with admission €16/€12 conc.

DRAIOCHT 01 885 2622Chalk & Cheese

ERIC Lalor and Gearoid Farrelly are two of Ireland’s most in-demand comedians. While they’re both funny chaps, they couldn’t be more different. On this tour they will fight over the music in the dressing room, slag each others driving and say “you’re not wearing that on stage are you?” a lot. The only thing they agree on is that the audience will have a great night of comedy - two headliners for the price of one. Catch this show at 8.15pm on Thursday, May 24, with tickets costing €12.

� PAUL HOSFORD

HAVING stuck close to the biggest film of the week for the last fort-night, I felt it was time to stretch my indie legs a little this week.

That means that while Tim Burton and Jonny Depp rule all in Dark Shadows, my watch-ing has consisted of a Zac Efron movie (the almost-average The Lucky One) and a sweet little indie movie, Jeff Who Lives At Home.

Coming from the Duplass brothers, Jay and Mark, this rather odd drama comedy fol-lows the style and pace of their 2010 effort, Cyrus.

In that film a mem-ber of the Judd Apatow travelling comedy show played a socially awk-ward, bordeline narcis-sist who really should have left home by now.

In Jeff... a member of the Judd Apatow travel-

ling comedy show plays a socially awkward, bordeline narcissist who really should have left home by now.

Ok, so the boys stay with what they know.

This time around, however, it is Jason Segel taking the lead from Cyrus’ Jonah Hill.

In Cyrus, Hill was the obstacle to mother Marisa Tomei’s relation-ship with John C Reilly.

In Jeff... Segel is the obstacle to basically every relationship there is.

A n u n e m p l o y e d man-child who lives in

his mother’s basement philosophising on life, the universe and eve-rything in it, up to and including the prospect that maybe there are no wrong numbers.

Jeff is unhappy that he has not found his purpose in life and is desperate to attain his destiny.

A chance, or maybe not, meeting with his brother gives him a an opportunity to maybe, just maybe, do some-thing big for the first time in his life.

But, just what that is remains elusive for both

Jeff and the audience.Though it looks good

and contains some funny moments, the story itself never really settles into a rhythm.

Indeed, that is to sug-gest there is a story beyond the basic premise that Jeff lives with his mother and has not yet found his destiny.

From the moment Helms arrives on screen, however, a lot of that can be forgotten, such is the warmth and depth of his relationship with Segel.

Helms has begun to carve himself a decent career as Hollywood’s go-to prissy but ultimately lovable square and here it is no exception.

While Jeff has yet to leave the familial home, Helms Pat isn’t exactly faring much better.

He is, according to Jeff, “just drifting through this life”, being suckered into buying a Porsche while his wife (Greer) may or may not be having an

affair.The brothers’ attempts

to expose the infidelity bring some of the film’s highlights as their farcical efforts at ensnarement become more and more desperate.

Susan Sarandon, play-ing a supporting role as the (man)boys’ mother is outstanding.

She gives the film the emotional anchor that allows Segel and Helms the latitude to indulge their comedic sensibili-ties.

There is a sub-plot involving a secret admir-er for Sarandon that feels shoehorned in purely to fill out the meagre run-ning time, but any excuse to keep these character’s on screen is welcome.

Segel is fast-establish-ing himself as comedic giant, with The Muppets establishing him on the A-List and this film will do nothing to harm that as the big lovable lug works his charm again.

FILM OF THE WEEK: Jeff Who Lives At Home�� (15A) 82 mins

OUR VERDICT:IT CAN get cumbersome at times and the pace can sag a little, but sticking with it is a reward in itself. Underneath the slackers pace is a heart of gold as Helms and Segel have a real chemistry, displaying a tenderness towards each other that reveals the true nature of brotherhood. Watch also for a star turn from Susan Sarandon as their mother.

Director: Jay Duplass, Mark DuplassStarring: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer, Susan Sarandon, Rae Dawn Chong, Evan Ross


GazetteGAMINGGAMING

� SHANE DILLON

SEEING as my other pieces here this week have been connected to buildings and landscapes (with Angry Birds, below, about shattering them, and Minecraft, right, about exploring and con-structing), I thought I’d pick out a fairly recent PC title that’s also well worth exploring.

There’s a long-running debate that games can’t be regarded as “Art”, although, in recent years, several key titles have greatly strengthened the case that they can, and are, with one such critically-acclaimed title, Dear Esther , both opening eyes and raising

eyebrows, for some, at its engaging, atmospheric presentation.

For those with a pow-erful PC rig – and, make no mistake, Dear Esther makes some serious demands for enough graphic and processing power to reveal her mys-teries – the title creates a bizarre yet beautiful trip around a remote Hebri-dean island.

Remote, deserted and abandoned ... yet not quite an empty island, as the player/protaganist discovers on his travels, with minor events having perplexing weight, adding to his confusion about why he is there – and who’s Esther, anyway?

Whether wandering

past ruined boats on wind-blasted beaches, picking a path along narrow cliffside paths, watching the cold waters of the North Atlantic lap under a pale moon, exploring crumbling cottages by torchlight or stumbling through eerie caves, Dear Esther cre-ates a sense of physical, relatable space that few titles can match, with the barren landscape around the small island feeling tangibly real.

However, what makes the title so memorable are the triggered scraps of story and character mon-ologues that one hears at certain points around the island; an overall story that’s randomly revealed

in scraps and whispers.In the end, the player

– if “player” and “play” are the right words for the actions of exploring an open world with no objectives, no conflict, nothing more to do than to explore, to see and to learn – undertakes a jour-ney with more thought, and lasting effect, than a dozen loud shooters.

It has been this aspect that struck a chord with many critics, as well as with a range of non-gaming media who also picked up on Dear Esther’s charms, ranging from leading psychol-ogy magazines to some heavyweight business press; all fascinated by “an experience”, rather

than by “a game”.That’s an impressive

amount of respect for a title which originally started out as an explo-ration of what a stand-ard first-person game engine could achieve, or if it could be pushed to create another type of player-engagement.

In creating a modern ghost story, of sorts, for a character who may be as haunted as the ethereal, cold, solitary landscape around him, Dear Esther has crafted an experience that somehow transcends the medium, and makes a solid case for the Games As Art debate.

Dear Esther is available via Steam digital down-load.

Hebridean islands are not an obvious choice for a videogame setting, yet the

multi award-winning PC title, Dear Esther, sets out not just to redefine what a

‘game’ can be, but also to create a new type of player-engagement

Something to really get stuck intoREADERS may feel like kicking me into a deep, deep cave for mentioning this title yet again, but Minecraft has just been released on the XBox 360, priced 1600 Microsoft Points, marking a strong highlight of the 360’s notable LIVE Arcade series

As this is probably about the 2,714th time I’ve mentioned Minecraft here, I’m sure many readers already know that it’s probably the greatest “sandbox” game ever, with gamers left to make up their own gameplay on randomly-generated worlds full of cube-shaped materials, as they chop down trees, explore cav-erns, mine metals and craft all kinds of tools and items to make their world ever more impressive or do whatever they want to do – so, I need hardly repeat such noteworthy points again, here.

Not quite as expansive or as open as its PC big brother, the XBox 360 is, however, a much more accessible beast, with simplistic yet distinctive graphics, freeform gameplay that the gamer cre-ates, and, best of all, multiplayer fun, all of which makes it a title well worth digging into ...

Bytesandpieces

Exploring a concept

Something Angry that will make some people happy

Anotherweebyte...

AS THE public face (for many) of casual gaming, and as a love-it-or-hate-it brand that practically every-

body’s grandmother has played at this stage, Angry Birds has flapped onto this page

with regular updates.Now, in not-entirely-surprising

news, its developer, Roxio, has something to really squawk about – the overall franchise has been downloaded one billion times, thanks to appearing on (approximately) 2,347

platforms in lots of itera-tions. Angry news to make

some people happy, indeed.

Zynga’s move to draw some extra

value from sponsorship dealANOTHER app that generated lots of interest recently, Draw Some-thing has kept millions busy since being bought by Zynga for an esti-mated $210 million.

Perhaps in a reaction to the sharp drop in

users following the purchase

(with daily active users

dropping from 14.3 million to

10.4 million), as well as being an interesting marketing move, Zynga is working on sponsored challenges, with players being asked to draw well-known brands, and their imagery, ranging from KFC to Nike.

It could be a great way to reinvigorate the user base, as well as being a useful way to generate revenues, if Zynga can draw more companies into the project.

DUNDRUMclassifiedsGAZE

TTE

GAZE

TTE

Email us at [email protected]


To advertise, call us now on 01 60 10 240

WANT TO

TALK TO

YOUR

LOCAL

MARKET?

TALK TO

US FIRST!

Call your

local sales

person,

Imelda

Armstrong now on

01 6516239iarmstrong@

gazettegroup.

com

Dublin Metropolitan District An Chuirt Duiche

Auctioneers and House Agents Acts, 1947-1973 Part 111

Notice of Application for Certificate of Qualification

Applicant: Conall Forbes trading as Forbes Hamilton

Take Notice that Conall Forbes, trading as Forbes Hamilton of The Tram Yard, Castle Street, Dalkey,

County Dublin.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Auctioneers and House Agents Acts 1947 to 1973 intend to apply to the Judge of the Dublin Met-ropolitan District Court sitting at Court No 23, Old Public Records Building, Four Courts, Dublin 7 on Thursday the 28th day of June 2012 to 10.30am for the renewal of a Certificate of Qualification to hold and Auctioneers/House Agents Licence to carry on business under the name of Forbes Hamilton and having the principal place of busi-ness at The Tram Yard,Castle Stress, Dalkey, County Dublin in the City of Dublin in the aforesaid District. Dated this 17th day of April, 2012. Signed: Conall Forbes, Applicant. Signed: Messrs. Hugh J. Campbell & Co, Solicitor for the Applicant, Shannon House, Custom Place, Athlone, Co Westmeath. To: The District Court Clerk, Dublin Met-ropolitan District Licensing Office, 1st Floor, Aras Ui Dhalaigh, Inns Quay, Dublin 7. To: The Super-intendent of An Garda Siochana, Garda Station, Dalkey, Co Dublin.

NOTICE

15536

LAWNMOWERS

DUN LAOGHAIRE RATHDOWN COUNTY

COUNCILI, Paddy Ryan intend to apply for Permission for development on this site at No7 Mount Carmel Road, Goatstown, Dublin 14. The development will consist of the demolition of an existing single store garage structure attaching to No7 including a section of the party wall to neighbouring dwelling at No6 Mount Carmel Road followed by the construction of a new party wall and single storey home office attached to and accessible from within the main dwelling, includ-ing all associated drain-age and landscape works.The Planning Application may be inspected or purchased at the offices of the Planning Authority, County Hall, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin during its public opening hours - 10am - 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding Public Holidays. A submission / observation in relation to the application may be made to the author-ity in writing on payment of a fee of €20 within the period of 5 weeks from the date the application is received by the Planning Authority.

PLANNING NOTICE

15574

DUBLIN METROPOLITAN DISTRICT

AN CHUIRT DUICHE

AUCTIONEERS AND HOUSE AGENTS ACTS, 1947-1973

PART 111

NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF

QUALIFICATION

APPLICANT: OMK Property Advisors Limited

TAKE NOTICE that OMK Property Advisors Limited

trading as OMK Property Advi-sors & Rating Consultants of Tennant Hall, Christchurch,

Rathgar, Dublin 6

Pursuant to the provisions of the Auctioneers and House Agents Acts 1947 to 1973 intend to apply to the Judge of the Dublin Met-ropolitan District Court sitting at Court No. 23, Old Public Records Building, Four Courts, Dublin 7 on Thursday the 28th day of June 2012 at 10.30 a.m. for a Certificate of Qualification to hold and Auc-tioneers/House Agents Licence to carry on business under the name of OMK Property Advisors & Rating Consultants and having the principal place of business at Tennant Hall, Christchurch, Rath-gar, Dublin 6 in the City of Dublin in the aforesaid District. Solicitors for the Applicant: Connolly Sul-livan Solicitors, Market Court, Town Hall, Bray, Co. Wicklow

NOTICE

15532

BUILDING

PLUMBING

ROOFING

BATHROOMS

PAINTING

DVD SERVICES

BLINDS

DENTAL

GARDENING

RECRUITMENT

ACCOUNTS

BUILDING

CLASSES

NOTICE

DUN LAOGHAIRE RATHDOWN COUNTY

COUNCIL

Permission is sought for an attic room, modifica-tions to existing main roof at eaves and soffit level, ridge, two new roof lights, removal of chimney, altera-tions to existing front, rear and side elevations at 44 Kilteragh Road, Foxrock, Dublin 18, for Mr+Mrs S. Doherty. The plan-ning application may be inspected or purchased, at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of mak-ing a copy, at the offices of the Planning Author-ity, County Hall, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, during its public opening hours, excluding public holidays. A submis-sion or observation in rela-tion to the application may be made in writing to theP l a n n i n g A u t h o r-ity on payment of a fee of €20.00. Submissions must be made within 5 weeks from the date the application is received by the Planning Authority

PLANNING NOTICE

IA001


� [email protected]

THE prize of a lifetime is on offer at this week-end’s Tom Byrne Memo-rial race, which is taking place at 11am on May 20 in Lucan.

One lucky entrant will recieve, in his or her goody bag after the race, a pair of Olympic track and field tickets for London 2012. This special prize comes courtesy of Cad-bury, an Olympic Games sponsor.

With race entry limited to just 400 athletes, early entry is strongly advised, especially with such a unique prize up for grabs.

The 5km race route takes in 3km of Griffeen Park in Lucan, and it fin-ishes on the Lucan Har-riers track on Newcastle Road.

Senator Eamonn Cogh-lan and local TD Derek Keating will be starting the 2012 race, which is held in honour of one of the founding members

of Lucan Harriers, Tom Byrne.

The race starts and finishes on Esker track in Lucan and is one of the few, if not the only, road races in the country which finishes on a track. This really adds to the atmosphere at the finish, since the race is often still undecided as the leaders come onto the track for the final sprint in front of a big crowd.

This 5k is an event for anyone, from fun runners

ATHLETICS: ANNUAL MEMORIAL RACE SET TO SEE 400 RUNNERS TAKE TO THE ROADS

The Tom Byrne Memorial road race takes place from 11am this Sunday (May 20)

Olympic tickets on offer at the Tom Byrne race

to elite athletes to keep fit enthusiasts to walkers, footballers, joggers, and everyone in between.

Amongst previous men’s winners have been Olympians Gerry Healy and Cormac Finnerty,

and Peter Matthews of DSD who has repre-sented Ireland on many occasions at World and European Cross Country Championships.

Women’s champions have included Lucan Har-

riers’ own Niamh Beirne (multiple international for Ireland track and cross country), Emer Martin of Sportsworld and Irish cross country interna-tional, Orla O’Mahony of Raheny Shamrocks.

The online entry at www.runireland.ie is only €12 or €15 on race day.

Visit www.tombyrne memorialrace.com or call Derry McVeigh at 086 8322214 for more infor-mation.

GazetteSPORTJACKMAN BEGINS: JACKMAN BEGINS: Leinster legend on Leinster legend on his life in Dublin’s his life in Dublin’s rugby scene: rugby scene: Page 29Page 29

GazetteSportSport


ALL OUR GALLERIES ARE NOW

ONLINE FOR YOU TO BUY!

to celebrate the relaunch of GazettePhotos.com...

massive

20%OFF*

Simply enter Gazette20 to receive your discount

*Valid on all orders until end of May 2012

ALL OUR GALLERIES ARE NOW

gazettephotos


ROUNDS four and five of the Wheelworx Orwell Lad ies Cr i tLeague were held in the new Corkagh Park purpose-built cycling track near Clondalkin last week.

Round four saw a large turn-out of riders eager to try out the impressive new track.

Garda CC and Cuchu-lainn shared the main

spoils in both races. The B Race saw a

strong scratch group work well together to reel in the limit groups and secure the top six spots.

Annette Dawe (Cuchu-lainn) rode away at the end to secure the win, with Sorcha McKeating (U/A) in second, and Isabel Cogan (Orwell) in third.

Newcomers Sorcha a n d I s a b e l h a v e

impressed by consistently registering high placings in the B Division, and will be battling it out for the overall B title coming into the end of the league season.

Lynda Haran from Orwell was in great form on her return from a training camp in Majorca to take fourth place, with Ciara O’Hagan (Orwell) taking her best placing to date in sixth.

The A race was also hotly contested, with the welcome return of Sandra Fitzgerald from Garda CC to the racing scene following recent injury. She wasn’t show-ing any ill effects from her enforced break and, with new team-mate and former Cuchulainn

rider Eve McCrystal in the limit group, the stage was set for Garda CC to dominate.

McCrystal initially worked well with a strong limit group to stay away from scratch, but left nothing to chance by attacking solo with four laps remaining.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald had attacked from the scratch group and only Anne Dalton (Orwell) was able to go with her. The duo worked well together to reel in the limit group but, by the time they made contact, McCrystal was already clear.

With Fitzgerald’s team-mate burning up the road, it was left to Dalton to lead the chase

of McCrystal, but even with the assistance of Orwell team-mate, Lucy Soden, the lead proved to be insurmountable.

McCrystal used her time-trialling skills to secure a well-deserved win, with Fitzgerald tak-ing the sprint for second and Dalton third.

Fine weather for Round 5 in Corkagh Park made up in some way for the rained-off night it was replacing.

With reduced num-bers, the track lent itself well to running the A and B races together, with the Bs getting up to one full lap of a head-start.

The handicapping worked well, with all of the groups coming together in the final four

laps, and though there was a brief lull in the action, it burst back into life with two laps to go when Anne Dalton used the crosswind stretch to launch an attack.

Roisin Kennedy (ESB) was quickest to react and almost managed to catch Dalton’s wheel, but just couldn’t quite close the gap, leaving Dalton to solo in for an impressive victory.

Pa t r i c ia Buck ley (Orwell) set off in hot pursuit in defence of her jersey, but the gap was already too large, and Kennedy held on for a well deserved second, with Buckley finishing up third and holding on to her overall lead for one more day.

Corkagh hosts ladies’ league

CYCLING: LATEST ROUNDS OF CRITERION RACES SHOWCASE NEW FACILITY

Team Orwell working well together in the A race in round 4 of the CritLeague event at Corkagh Park

FastSport

Capital of European rugby ’13DUBLIN is set to become the capital of European club rugby next year after it was announced that the city will host both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup finals in May 2013.

Tournament organisers, ERC, announced that the RDS will be the venue for the Amlin Challenge Cup final on Friday, 17 May, 2013, with the Heineken Cup going ahead the next day at the Aviva Stadium.

With both 2013 finals being played in close proximity, up to 70,000 supporters will have the oppor-tunity to visit the city on an unmissable weekend of Euro-pean club rugby.

Sandra Fitzgerald happy on her return to racing


LEAVING home is not likely to leave Bernard Jackman with too many headaches over his now divided rugby loyalties.

The former Coolmine head coach will once again leave his home province next year in pur-suit of a new rugby chal-lenge, this time taking on the top job at Grenoble.

The 2009 Heineken Cup winner will step up to the head coaches’ posi-tion, having worked this season as defensive coach on a consultancy basis for the French side.

Working with the club for eight days each month paid dividends for Gre-noble – they went from conceding 30 tries a year to letting just 13 slip this term – and now Jackman

is getting ready to face what will be the biggest test of his career.

But he remains an ardent Leinster fan, mak-ing the last few weeks exceptionally busy, divid-ing his time between set-ting up home in Eastern

France and getting set for May 19’s Heineken Cup final.

He travels to Twicken-ham as a fan, but there was a dilemma he ini-tially struggled with when he stepped back from

playing.“Human nature is you

want to be playing. But last year’s semi-final got me back as a fan again,” he told GazetteSport at the Heineken Star Satur-day media day.

“Now I’m coaching

professionally, I have to have my coaching head on with Grenoble and, with my heart, Leinster are my team and I hope they win it again.”

Getting the Grenoble gig is part of Jackman’s coaching progression, one that he has been meticu-lously building.

His CV includes two big years at Ashbrook with Coolmine between 2007 and 2009, helping the club’s progression to Leinster League Division One and within touching distance of senior rugby.

Along with spells with Newbridge and Tullow, it is a time of which he speaks with fondness, all three clubs winning pro-motion during his tenure.

“I like coaching junior rugby. It’s very honest and uncomplicated. You give the guys a plan and a goal and you work towards it.

“Big steps, small steps, it depends on the players you have. Coolmine had very good skill levels, so it

was basically giving them a collective hardness.

“Once they got that, they could beat anyone. I really enjoyed it, a really young club with no poli-tics.”

He adds that he feels, with Donal Crotty taking the coaching reins, the Dublin 15 club have what it takes not just to get into the Ulster Bank league, but also to move up to Division 2A.

Since his Ashbrook time, he has stepped up incrementally, taking on the top job at Clontarf before linking up with Grenoble.

They will play next sea-son in France’s top 14, offering a superb top-lev-el opportunity, especially with big posts limited in Ireland due to the provin-cial system.

“Getting that oppor-tunity in Ireland is hard because there’s only four teams and all are on an upward curve. They don’t want to take a risk on a guy who is just starting off.

“I’ve always been willing to travel or drop down a level to learn. I went to Connacht twice to improve. I went to Sale to improve. I coached Coolmine, Newbridge, Tullow because I wanted to develop.

“To get a chance to go to France at that level is huge. To coach in a for-eign language will be a challenge, but the lack of French will hopefully make me a better commu-

Dark blue knight on club crusadeHis heart remains with Leinster, but Bernard Jackman is set to face the biggest test of his career with Grenoble, writes STEPHEN FINDLATER

Former Heineken Cup winner Bernard Jackman was

in Dublin to officially launch Heineken Star Saturday

which takes place this weekend, on May 19

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

‘You have to break out and compete on an international stage and be the best. That’s the challenge’-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FastSport

FORMER Olympic champion, Kip Keino will fire the starting gun for what will be an exciting and unique athletics meet at Morton Stadium next weekend, which forms part of Africa Week 2012.

SARI are partnering with the Dublin Mul-ticultural Resource Centre, Cradle, Integrated Academy for Athletics Performance and the Integration Centre for the One Race Human Race Africa Week athletics event.

The aim of the event is to introduce the sport of athletics to the community through this inter-cultural family event.

Africa Week 2012, which will run from May 21 to 27, will provide a high-profile platform for the unique athletics meet on the penultimate day, May 26, from 9am to 6pm.

Over 500 people are expected to gather at Morton Stadium to hear the gun start a full day of track and field events.

Most of the athletes will be drawn from the African diaspora, but in true intercultural style, the line-ups will be inclusively global and local.

The organisers, that include a host of sports and community NGOs, hope to raise awareness among the public of the benefits of joining their local athletics clubs.

It is no coincidence that two of the invited guests of honour hail from the Horn of Africa. Former Olympic champion, Kipchoge Keino (www.kipkeinofoundation.co.ke ), will fire the first starting gun, while current World champion, Mo Farah (www.mofarahfoundation.co.uk) is on Olympic duty, but said: “As a sportsman, I can think of no better way to celebrate Africa Week.”

As part of the fundraising intiative for the One Race Human Race event, SARI are holding a prize draw with the very special prize of round-trip flights for two to the African island of Zanzi-bar, with seven nights at the Kichanga Lodge, a beautiful hotel on the east coast.

Tickets are €20 each, and the winning ticket will be drawn on May 26 by guest of honour, Kip Keino. For more information, see www.sari.ie.

Legend Keino to open Africa Week athletics

nicator long-term. I want to use France to develop myself and come back to Ireland as a good coach.”

While many lament another Irish coach leav-ing these shores in order to get a high-grade posting while outsiders fill the top provincial jobs, Jackman is not overly perturbed.

“The reason they are going for these guys is because they have the top grade experience. The Irish provinces are under so much pressure to deliver results that they won’t take a chance.

“But if I have the expe-rience from France or England, I’d expect a fair crack at it but I’d only want to get a job if I’m the best candidate, not because I’m Irish.

“You’ve got to be pre-pared to move to build an international profile. There’s no reason we can’t go over to New Zealand or Australia, as long as you bring some skills and are good enough.

“You have to break out of the Leinster bubble and compete on an inter-national stage and be the best of those. That’s the challenge.”

Heineken invites rugby and soccer fans to enjoy the UEFA Champions League final and the Heineken Cup finals in the pub - the best sta-dium on earth. For par-ticipating Heineken Star Saturday venues across Ireland check out: www.heineken.ie/starsaturday


GazetteSportSportFastSport

Hurling Skills Tour on course for ParnellCENTRA are set to bring their Hurling Skills Tour to Parnell Park on Saturday, May 26, with Dublin and St Pat’s, Palmerstown, star Liam Rushe and Waterford’s John Mullane (above) in attendance to give Ireland’s future hurlers the chance to train with the best in the game at the free event.

The Dublin event will be supported by local Centra retailers in Dublin including McHugh’s Centra and Gaskin’s Centra, and will feature an array of family entertainment, including live music, a hurling simulator to test your hurling skills, face painting and a hurling skills session for children.

To register, email [email protected] or Free-text CENTRA followed by DUBLIN and your name to 50050.

YOUTH CHALLENGE CUPMount Merrion 1

Wexford Youths 2


GARY Delaney’s extra-time header saw Mount Merrion cruelly denied in the FAI Youth Challenge

Cup final last weekend, after Mick Wallace’s side saw off the Deer Park club.

Merrion had taken an early lead from a well-worked Marcos Byrne goal, but Wexford forced the match into extra time, thanks to Chris Fenner.

Both teams had chanc-es to win the match in extra-time, but Wexford’s dominance from set piec-es finally paid off when Delaney headed home the winner.

There was a tense open-ing to the match as both teams struggled to come to terms with the pressure of the occasion.

Wexford were the

quickest to settle and dominated most of the first half with their direct style of play keeping Mount Merrion in their own half of the pitch.

The breakthrough came for Mount Merrion on 31 minutes, however, when Adam Carroll set Mark O’Sullivan free. He drove into the box and passed to Byrne, who turned beauti-fully and finished well.

Wexford should have been back level in the 51st minute when Wallace made an excellent run and cross for Fenner, who steered his shot wide.

Wexford raised their game and when Wal-lace and Fenner again

combined, it resulted in the equaliser thanks to a fantastic finish from the latter.

In response, the Dub-liners went close after a determined run and shot from Karl Corbett was tipped over the bar. Corbett’s chance spurred on his team and it was their turn to exert pres-sure from set pieces, as Ffrench and McDonagh both went close with headers.

Byrne had a half chance to win it on the stroke of full time but was off balance when he shot and saw his effort drift just wide of the post as the game went to extra time.

Merrion had Wexford under pressure for most of the first half of extra time, but Wexford nearly scored on the break when a lovely cross from Duffy was spilled in the area but no Wexford man was close enough to finish to the empty net.

Wexford took the lead from a corner on the stroke of half time when Delaney’s header hit the crossbar and rebounded to the same man who headed it back into the bottom corner.

Mount Merrion drove forward searching for an equaliser but in spite of their pressure it was Wex-ford that held out to win.

Merrion denied in extra-time

SOCCER: MOUNTIES MISS OUT ON TITLE AFTER TOUGH FINAL

An extra-time winner from the Wexford Youths saw Mount Merrion miss out on the FAI Youth Challenge Cup title

Cumann celebration: Lorcain claim the Corn Nuiri crownSCOIL Divine Word, Marley, supporter Hannah Fitzgerald raised the sign and the rafters in support of her team against Scoil Muire is Seosamh, Bayside when they lined out against each other in the Allianz Cumann na mBunscol finals at Croke Park last week.

However, Bayside were to prove the victors in the Corn Olly Quinlan, thanks to goals from Hannah McElvanney and Shauna Murphy.

Picture: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE


a CLUB NOTICEBOARD

NAOMH OLAF

BALLINTEER ST JOHN’S

CONGRATULATIONS to our senior

hurlers who had two outstanding

wins in the senior hurling B champi-

onship this week by defeating Oliver

Plunkett’s in the Navan Road mid-

week (2-9 to 1-11), and Naomh Bar-

rog at home on Saturday with a final

score of 2-4 to 1-6.

These two back to back wins, posi-

tions us very well for the remainder

of the championship. Match reports

on naomholaf.ie.

Our junior hurlers had their first

defeat in the championship on a

score of 1-16 to 1-8 against Realt

Dearg in Kiltipper Road on Sunday.

Congratulations to the Naomh Olaf

boys football Feile teams who played

so well in Division 2 and Division 9.

The hurling Feile is on next week-

end and Olafs are hosting. Good

luck to our young hurlers and their

mentors in this very exciting and

enjoyable annual competition. First

game starts at 10.30am on Saturday

morning. Support appreciated.

Congratulations to Sean Saun-

ders, Dun Emer and Hillary Callanan,

Limerick on their recent wedding in

beautiful Dingle.

Sympathy is expressed to the the

Sunderland Family on the passing of

Bill Sunderland, Balally loving hus-

band of Terry.

THERE was no winner of last Thurs-

day’s Lotto draw. Next week’s draw

will be for €2,600. Numbers drawn

were 2, 3, 7 and 21.

Tickets are available online at

www.ballinteerst johns.com, or

from the usual outlets.

Congratulations to the Dublin

minor ladies - Maria, Shauna, Laura

and manager Fintan - on winning

the Leinster final, as well as Maria

getting Player of the Match.

The ladies’ football fundraiser is

on this Friday at 8.30pm.

Wednesday night is a great night

of traditional music, no cover

charge. Why not come up and join in

or enjoy a night of music and craic.

Spread the word to your friends,

family and neighbours.

Singalong in the bar on Tuesdays,

singers and musicians welcome.

Issue 4 of BSJ30 is now available

online on the website.

The new edition includes articles

on the inter-county senior foot-

ballers and hurling throughout the

years.

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’SCONDOLENCES to Peter Shovlin and

family on the death of his mother.

Hurling section quiz is on Thursday

next at 8.30pm. Table of four for €40.

Please support.

Congratulations to Scoil Treasa Fir-

house on winning the Sciath Aghais

Cup in Croke Park and to St Colmcille’s

NS as they took their fifth Herald Cup

title, to add to the previous victories

in 2001, 2005 2006 and 2008.

The summer camp will run this year

from July 9 to August 31. Application

forms will be available shortly on

www.ballybodensummercamp.com.

Intermediate and junior football

championship action this week, as

well as ladies’ football championship

matches - check website for details.

Lotto week 43: Numbers drawn were

2, 28, 14 and 3. The jackpot of €13,000

was won by Mark Wims, Knocklyon.

ST JUDE’SWELL done to Tom Devlin, Shane Gib-

bons, Fionn O’Rionn and all the Dub-

lin minors on a resounding victory

over Carlow on Saturday last.

The weekend saw two good wins

for the minor footballers, with the

As beating Erin’s Isle on a scoreline

of 8-9 to 2-2, and the minor Bs were

in action and beat Cuala 2-9 to 3-12.

While there were mixed fortunes

for the hurlers in the championship,

the junior As won a thrilling match

in Mobhi Road against Na Fianna by

two points, and the junior Bs were

beaten by a narrow margin away to

Clann Na Gael.

The senior footballers start their

championship campaign this Friday

night against St Vincent’s, the game

is being played in Newcastle with a

7.15pm throw-in.

All members are encouraged to

attend to support the lads.

Last week’s lotto numbers were

8, 9, 11 and 14. There was no jack-

pot winner, and Paddy Hackett, Billy

Roche and Jack Lernihan all matched

three numbers and share €250. The

jackpot remains at €12,700.

Naomh Jude bingo is on in the back

bar at 8pm every Wednesday night,

all welcome.

SHC GROUP ASt Pat’s Palmerstown 2-12

Ballinteer St John’s 1-12


A BRILLIANT clos-ing quarter saw St Pat’s, Palmerstown effect a six-point turnaround to reignite their hopes of reaching the play-off phase of the SHC, all but ending Ballinteer’s hopes in the process.

Shane Stapleton did not have a vintage night from frees but still gar-nered 1-3 in the closing stages, his 44th minute goal turning the tide.

It was the third of three very scrappy majors at O’Toole Park in a hotly contested tie that threat-ened to boil over on numerous occasions.

Pat’s got the first inside a minute before Ballint-eer cleared the bar four times to level matters.

James Gilligan and Aodan Clabby were among a host of tidy scorers while Fionan Clabby – lining out at

corner-forward – wrig-gled free from his marker only for Damian Gal-lagher to save brilliantly.

But the influential Glen Whelan was cred-ited with a soft goal when he out-muscled Liam Rushe. The St John’s man cursed his shot for being too short only for it to drop awkwardly for Gallagher who spilled into his own net, a score which helped the Mar-lay men to a 1-7 to 1-6 advantage at the break.

With Gavin O’Broin and Cormac O’Brien to the fore, it was a lead they looked to build on as Maher clipped over from a Whelan pass.

Scores from Aodan Clabby and Gilligan extended the lead to three. Pat’s had respond-ed with Rushe firing a huge point while Noel Sweeney made a big impact from the bench.

His first act was to play a great pass to Aidan Glennon – the game’s key midfield presence –

who slotted home com-fortably.

And the p ivo ta l goal again came from Sweeney’s delivery. It also owed a lot to Gra-ham Dunne’s impudent tackle, arresting Joe Maher’s run dead in its tracks with a delightfully clean clip.

S w e e n e y ’ s b a l l dropped into the square from where a couple of fumbles saw the ball pop up to Stapleton who bat-ted home whilst on the ground.

Gilligan’s free edged St John’s back ahead but three points in 90 seconds defined the late stages as Stapleton added two scores while Peter Keaney got a point his performance deserved.

Stapleton’s ’65 in the last minute created more breathing space before St John’s frustrations got the better of them with James Gilligan seeing red for dissent on the final whistle.

Elsewhere, Lucan

Sarsfields produced the result of the competition to date as they ran up a 0-16 to 2-6 win over six in-a-row chasing Bally-boden St Enda’s.

Lucan laid the founda-tions in the first 20 min-utes, scoring each of the first nine points on the night with Mick May to the fore.

Paul Ryan only got Boden on the board in first half injury time but a goal from Stephen O’Connor on the restart threatened a comeback.

Ryan added another goal in the 36th minute to make it game on but Stephen Nolan’s red card took the wind from the champions’ sails.

Matters improved for Boden in the 36th minute when Ryan bat-ted a high delivery to the net to reduce the deficit to four points.

Over the remainder of the game Lucan used the extra man intelligently as Ballyboden tried in vain to chase the game.

HURLING: PALMERSTOWN DEFEAT BALLINTEER

Ballinteeer St John’s just fell short of the mark in their match against St Pat’s, Palmerstown

John’s just miss out in SHC encounter

SAINTS STUNG: Ballinteer pegged

back by late Palmerstown flourish P31

ALL OF YOUR DUNDRUM SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 27-31 MAY 17, 2012

Ga

zetteSPORT


BRIAN O’Driscoll has given Leinster a major boost ahead of their Heineken Cup final date with Ulster on Saturday evening in Twickenham as he fights back from injury.

The Goatstown resident said that he was recovering well from a knee injury which ruled him out of last weekend’s Rabo Pro12 semi-final win over the Glasgow Warriors in the RDS.

But he said earlier this week that he was push-ing hard to be fit and available to play in the biggest game in European club rugby.

“I’m feeling good,” he said. “It was just a bit of a niggle last week. With the week that’s in it, I’m just looking forward to getting back into it and you pull out all the stops when it comes to Heineken Cup final week and I do expect to play on Saturday.”

While previous finals against Leicester and Northampton have seen Leinster fans tentative about their final hopes, this time round the Blues are pitched as overwhelming favourites as they

line up a third Heineken Cup title in four years and possibly becoming just the second side to retain the title.

But O’Driscoll says that over-confidence is not an issue that Leinster are having to manage.

“I don’t think we’ve been allowed to be com-placent at any stage this year. The coaching staff has done a great job, led by Joe Schmidt, in that we’ve never been allowed focus beyond the game in hand. Even last week, there was no talk of this week. It was about the semi-final of the Rabo and only that.

“Only this week were we allowed discuss Ulster and do our video. I don’t think compla-cency is an issue. You realise all bets are off in a final. Anything can happen, just look at last year! With that, the form any side brings into a final is irrelevant in a lot of cases.

“Brian McLaughlan and Dave Humphries have done a great job in progressing the Ulster squad. You’ve a nice mix of some experienced internationals, the South African contingent and John Afoa gives them some steel.

“They have big Irish players in Stephen Ferris, Rory Best and Andrew Trimble. Some of their younger guys have also really stood up to the plate like Craig Gilroy, Darren Cave has played really well.”

With Ruan Pienaar a huge threat from placed kicks, O’Driscoll was also keen to emphasise the importance of staying on the right side of referee Nigel Owens throughout.

“Discipline is going to be key when you have a guy [Pienaar] who can knock over penalties from 55 to 60 yards out, you can’t afford to give away silly penalties.

“Like all referees, they like to put their stamp on a game early on, particularly in the first ten or 15 minutes. We’ll have to be very aware of what we are doing defensively and in attack.

“Certain aspects to referees rulings have been targeted, sealing off from an attacking point of view and players not rolling away.

“We’ll analyse Nigel in the build-up to the game as well and try and play a fast open game the way, I know, he likes the game to be reffed.”

O’Driscoll fitness O’Driscoll fitness boost for Bluesboost for BluesGoatstown resident sees off knee ‘niggle’ to take place in Heineken Cup final squad for Twickenham

Brian O’Driscoll is pulling out all the stops as Leinster aim to make history with a third Heineken Cup title in four years on Saturday. Picture: Peter Doyle

DARK BLUE KNIGHT:Leinster hero bound for Grenoble stint P29

dundrum

Documents