dundrum

Engaging smiles: At an event to encourage public involvementTHERE were big smiles from Isabelle Blanco and Martha Haering at a fundraising discussion forum with a motivational edge held recently at the Irish Management Institute. With several experts – AKA The Pink Tank

– on hand to encourage people from all kinds of backgrounds to become more involved in public life, there was a high turnout for the event, from business to social entrepreneurship.See Gallery on 0

Tributes paid to heroic Garda Jones

DAWN LOVE and MICHAEL

HANNAN

TRIBUTES have been paid to the heroic Stepaside Garda who tragically lost his life on Monday night after his body was swept into the Liffey near his home after he attempted to warn fellow motorists not to cross a bridge.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter described Garda Ciaran Jones (25) as a “dedicated member of the Stepaside Garda Station”,

adding that his “courageous actions were in the finest tradi-tion of the Garda Siochana”.

Fellow Dublin South Fine Gael TD, Olivia Mitchell, said: “It is simply tragic that Garda Jones, only starting out on his career, has been taken away from us in such a way.

“He has died in the most heroic way, although at this time this is little comfort for his grieving family, who are foremost in my thoughts.”

Dundrum flooding, Page 8

YOUR COMMUNITY • YOUR PAPER October 27, 2011

ALSOINSIDE: GALLERIES ....................10

MOTORS ........................18

BUSINESS .................... 21

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

ENTERTAINMENT ........ 24

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

RECYCLE THIS COPY. KEEP DUBLIN TIDY.

SPOOKTASTIC FUN: Your guide to Dublin’s creepiest ‘haunts’ See P4

FREE GAZETTEGAZETTEDundrum

Hurling: Boden’s Maguire claims his All-Star honourPage 32

Sports Awards: October nominees are announcedPage 29

A CITY UNDER WATER: Send your flood pictures, [email protected]

A CITY UNDER WATER: Send your flood pictures, [email protected]

2 DUNDRUM GAZETTE 27 October 2011

DAWN LOVE

[email protected]

THE mammoth task of replac-ing the antiquated watermains system in Dublin and its sur-rounding areas will reach the 100km mark this month.

There are more than 9,000km of watermains in Dublin and, since the rehabili-tation project started in 2007, 100km of old mains have been replaced, and 11 million litres of water per day that was leaking through the old water mains has been saved.

Since work commenced in 2007, the Dublin Region Watermains Rehabilitation Programme has replaced cor-roded and leaking pipes across Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, including Blackrock, Mount Merrion, Deansgrange and Monkstown.

The mainly Victorian water-mains have been replaced with new heavy-duty polyethylene pipes.

An Cathaoirleach of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Councillor John Bai-ley, said: “The Dublin Region

Watermains Rehabilitation Project is making tangible progress to reduce Dublin’s water leakage, and saving the 11 million litres of water per day that were previously leak-ing through the old water-mains is equivalent to the water needed to supply 27,000 homes.

“The 100km of leaking watermains that have so far been replaced across Dublin is the equivalent of the width of the Irish Sea from Dublin to Holyhead.

“This is a great achieve-

ment, and I thank motorists, residents and business people for their co-operation during these vital works,” he said.

Every day, Dubliners use 510 million litres of clean drinking water – that’s equivalent to 204 Olympic swimming pools.

Alongside continuous maintenance and repairs

work by the local authorities in the Dublin region, there will always be a need to replace watermains, due to their age and wear and tear.

Dublin City Council, who manage the project on behalf of the local authorities, says that even if it continued to replace 60km of watermains

per annum indefinitely (which is the minimum level required to continue to reduce leak-age), based on current popu-lation levels and economic activity, rehabilitation alone is not enough to ensure a sustainable future water sup-ply for the Dublin region, and an alternative water source is required.

This project is managed by Dublin City Council on behalf of the local authorities in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin, Kildare, Wick-low and Bray.

Water mains contractors to reach 100km markWORKS Council’s pipes replacement project set to hit milestone this month

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‘Every day, Dubliners use 510 million litres of clean drinking water – that’s equivalent to 204 Olympic swimming pools’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A tram to remember: Celebrate the area’s rich literary heritageFAIR City actress, Margaret Twomey (left), donned period costume to help promote the upcoming Meet the Writers – All Aboard the Dalkey Tram literary event.

WB Yeats and Maeve Binchy are just two of the writers set to be featured in the event, which will take place at 8pm in Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre on Saturday, October 29; Sunday, October 30 and Monday, October 31.

Selections from the writers’ work will be woven together by “Tim, the Dalkey Tram driver”, who – allegedly – knew all of these writers as he travelled back and forth from Dalkey to Dublin, and all stops in between.

Meanwhile, live musicians will feature through the live theatre performances, while a duet of dancers from Damhsa Dance Com-pany will complete the show. Meet the Writers will give you a taste of the broad sweep of the work of the award-winning writers, which led to Dublin securing the prestigious designation of UNESCO City of Literature. Admission costs €15.

DAWN LOVE

[email protected]

A STATE-of-the-ar t mini-golf-themed indoor venue opened its doors at Dundrum Town Centre last weekend.

At more than 16,000 sq ft, Rainforest Adventure Golf is a purpose-built, high-tech facility that will be the only themed indoor mini-golf venue of its kind on such a scale in Ireland.

The new facility will house two 18-hole South American-themed mini golf courses in a rainfor-est setting; one “Aztec” and the other “Mayan”.

Both courses weave through lush tropical

foliage, authentic Mayan/Aztec carvings, and ani-matronic special effects.

Meanwhile, the Can-opy Cafe will stock ice-cream from Ben & Jerry’s, and will offer organic Fair Trade coffees, speciality teas, snacks, and souve-nirs.

The cafe will cater for birthday parties, corpo-rate events and all types of get-togethers, from casual to black tie. WiFi will allow visitors to stay in touch with the outside world.

The new, indoor-themed venue is the brainchild of business-man, Ross Ivers, who said it was on a wet Irish holiday with little to do

for the kids that he felt something like the Rain-forest Adventure Golf would work in Ireland.

“Similar leisure con-cepts are very popular in America and in Britain, but there is no themed indoor venue like this in Ireland.

Got idea on holiday

“It was on yet another wet Irish holiday, with lit-tle to do for the kids, that I thought something like this would really work here.

“There are many indoor play venues around for younger chil-dren, but it’s baffling that, for such a wet country as Ireland is, there is still

so little variety in indoor venues which also cater to older children, teens and adults.

“Rainforest Adventure Golf is somewhere that all age groups can spend time having fun togeth-er, no matter what the weather is like outside,” he said.

The venue is located at Dundrum South, Level 3 and opposite the entrance to the Tesco car park.

It can be accessed from the main shopping centre on Level 3, through the main doors beside Tesco.

Rainforest Adventure Golf will be open seven days a week, from 9.45am to 11pm.

Models Georgia Salpa and Rosanna Davison help Emer O’Connor tee-off at Rainforest Adventure Golf

RETAIL: DUNDRUM TOWN CENTRE’S NEW VENTURE

‘Ancient’ mini-golf is centre’s newest hit

27 October 2011 DUNDRUM GAZETTE 3

Ceremony: InterTradeIreland’s Acumen

and Fusion graduate programmeSEVEN GRADUATES from Dublin were among 63 participants of InterTradeIreland’s Acumen and Fusion graduate programmes being honoured at the 2011 graduation ceremony which took place in the UCD Memorial Hall in Dublin recently. At the graduation, InterTradeIreland announced that of the 2011 class, 44 graduates had been offered permanent positions by their host SME compa-nies. Through InterTradeIreland’s Fusion programme, Michael O’Shea (above) from Glenageary undertook an innovation project with J&P Best Farms and Gavin Galligan (inset) from Foxrock worked with James Hackett Ltd (Fusion).

Awards for centres DAWN LOVE

[email protected]

FOUR leisure centres run by Dun Laoghaire Rath-down Leisure Services (DLRLS) have scooped the ILAM White Flag Award for 2011.

Glenalbyn, Loughlins-town, Meadowbrook and Monkstown received the top award last week fol-lowing an external audit.

Meadowbrook was also was awarded the White Flag of Excellence, a new award that reflects the

centre meeting a higher standard of excellence.

Speak ing to the Gazette, Tom Mowlds, CEO of DLRLS said he was “especially proud of the standard and awards our centres achieve when audited by external organisations”.

Opportunities

“The audit covered all areas of the centre opera-tions, and reflects the work centre managers and staff do on a daily basis to provide quality,

affordable leisure sport and healthy living oppor-tunities to the community we serve,” he said.

“The Gold Standard award for disability pro-vision – and the first award in this category for Loughlinstown – high-lights our commitment to all members of our com-munity,” he said.

Meanwhile, Meadow-brook, Loughlinstown and Monkstown were awarded Disability Provi-sion awards, with Mead-owbrook and Monks-

town reaching the gold standard, and Loughlin-stown receiving a bronze award. DLRLS were also awarded the Staff Train-ing Ethos Award.

Commitment

Launched in 2001, the ILAM White Flag Award is the quality mark that all leisure facilities must strive to achieve, and highlights the leisure centres’ commitment to achieving the highest standards of quality in the leisure industry.

SPORT White Flag celebrates high standards

DAWN LOVE

SUPERMARKET chain Aldi opened its latest store in Sandyford last week, creating 15 new jobs.

The new store is situ-ated at The Boulevard at Rockbrook in Sandy-ford and brings the total number of Aldi stores in Ireland to 85.

Speaking at the open-ing, Rod Harte, manager of Aldi Sandyford said: “Each Aldi store we have opened so far has been a fantastic success and we are looking forward to serving the local Sandy-

ford community.” The company said

it was committed to growing its Irish supply base and increasing the number of Irish products available throughout its Irish stores.

Almost 50% of all grocery sales at Aldi are generated on products bought from Irish suppli-ers, producers and manu-facturers.

Meanwhile, Aldi’s fresh meats, fresh poultry, eggs, bread, flour, and many of its teas, coffees, soft drinks, waters and snacks come from leading Irish

suppliers. Aldi’s Irish suppliers

won more titles than the suppliers of any other retailer in Ireland at both the 2010 and 2011 Blas na hÉireann National Irish Food Awards, netting a total of 28 awards.

And to top it all off, the company said its Irish suppliers also per-formed strongly at the prestigious Great Taste Awards in London this year, picking up 21 titles, while three of Aldi’s Irish cheeses received awards at the 2011 Irish Cheese Awards.

Aldi opens a new store in Sandyford


LAURA WEBB

AS the nights get longer ghosts and ghouls from around the world get ready for another fright-ful night this Halloween, so the Gazette has gath-ered together some local scary stories to get read-ers ready for October 31.

The holiday that cel-ebrates the dead has a number of different tradi-tions associated with it, including trick or treat-ing, bonfires and costume parties, but one thing that everyone loves about it is ghostly stories of haunted houses or places near and far. Here are some fright-fully good stories from places more close to home across Dublin.

In Dublin West, the Strawberry Beds has many a story of ghosts but there is only one true villain and that is Henry Luttrell. He is said to have sold his soul to the devil, and was a member of Dublin’s most known paranormal club – The Hellfire Club.

Luttrell was a supporter of King James I of Eng-land. Once hailed a hero after fighting in the Battle of the Boyne, his life soon spiralled downwards fol-lowing a wave of deceit and treachery. After his death, there were many street ballads about his string of mistresses and

his out-of-wedlock off-spring.

Doubts over his alle-giance to Ireland were confirmed after he was court marshalled for treachery after given vital information about a ford on the Shannon during the Siege of Limerick. But, connections with Patrick Sarsfield saved him.

Local legend believes the Devil’s Mill, known at Shackleton’s Mill today, is where Luttrell wagered the devil that he couldn’t

build the mill in a day. To his anger, the devil placed the last stone on one of the tallest mills in Liffey Valley.

Years later, the Devil collected his debt at The Hellfire’s Club, but Lut-trell – devious in his ways – tricked the Devil by pre-tending his shadow, cast

from candlelight, was the real Henry Luttrell. As the Devil grasped the shadow, Luttrell escaped. In 1717, he was shot dead. No-one was ever convicted, as there were too many people with a motive to assassinate him.

Nearer to the coast, Malahide Castle has its fair share of mysterious sightings. One such story is of the White Lady. For years, the portrait of a beautiful, unidentified lady hung in the Great Hall of the Castle. The

artist is also unknown. Wearing a white, flowing dress, legend has it that she would leave the paint-ing to wander the castle on quiet nights. She has been spotted by a number of people over the years and is now known as the White Lady.

Meanwhile, Cabinteely House in South Dublin was built in 1769, by Rob-ert Nugent, Earl Clare. The 18th-century house has been associated with some strange happenings. It has been said that staff in the house have, over the years, encountered some ghostly experiences, with footsteps coming up a long corridor toward a room where staff were working. The footsteps stop outside the door, and when the door was opened, no one was to be seen.

No one is sure who it might be, but it’s thought it may be the gardener [of Robert Nugent], Pos-tule who was arrested in 1798 and tortured and hanged.

Local legend believes the Devil’s Mill, known at Shackleton’s Mill today, is where Luttrell wagered the devil that

he couldn’t build the mill in a day

A look at the area’s most haunted sites

SCARY STUFF A Gazette guide to Halloween fun around Dublin

GHOULISHFUN

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Join in Airfield’s annual Halloween celebrationIN Dundrum there will be a Halloween Family Fun Day on Saturday, October 29, between 12-4pm at Airfield. Join in Airfield’s annual Halloween celebration for all the family, an unmissable day of fun and seasonal activities to celebrate the festival of ghosts and ghoulies. There’s lots to enjoy, including a special Halloween trail, the chance to make a miniature ghost and a live ceili. For the past two years, Airfield has asked people to come along and help build scarecrows at Hallowe’en. Now Airfield wants you to take their place! They would like you to come along dressed as a scarecrow, with families of scarecrows particularly welcome. You can come along as any type – the more weird and wonderful the better! There will be spot prizes for the most imaginative costume in different age categories. Price included in entry fee to the walk. Season ticket holders come free.

Haunted

Forest this

Halloween at

Marlay ParkON Sunday, October 30, Marlay Park will be a FREE fright-fest of spooky thrills and chills for Samhain hosted by DLR Events. Families flock to Marlay Park in their Halloween costumes every year for a spooky walk through the haunted forest with ghosts and ghouls and frightful sights! The haunted woods are not for the faint-hearted and, in 2011, are longer and bigger with spooky characters, scary noises and eerie fog! The Haunted Woods will be open between 4pm and 9pm. Entry is FREE. The walk is approx 1.5km long and is on a path suitable for buggies/wheelchairs. Halloween costumes are recommended, but this is an outdoor event so warm clothing is recommended.

A Trip to The

Hellfire ClubGUIDED Trip to The Hellfire Club Monday, October 31. Bus Leaves from the Square Luas Stop at 5pm SHARP. Age 12+Advance Booking Essential and is €3 per person. Contact Alison 0868516669 / Paula 0868292443

ENTERPRISENEWS

Join the one of the Enterprise

Board’s Business Networks and

move your business forward!

Self Employed? Want to meet new business con-tacts? Want to receive expert advice on developing your business? Your local Enterprise Board runs three business networks to help and support busi-nesses . Guests are welcome at any of these net-works free of charge for first visit and they are run in the evenings 7pm to 9pm in the Stillorgan and Killiney areas.

START will bring together new or early stage businesses for structured learning and network-ing and give you the opportunity to promote your business and expand your network of contacts in a supportive environment. If you are starting up or in the early development stages this is the network for you.

Enterprising Women is for female-run businesses across all sectors. Each meeting features a speaker or workshop on relevant business challenges in the current environment. This network will help you to exchange ideas, build linkages and share experi-ences with other female entrepreneurs.

Trading Post is a B2B network for owner manag-ers of all types of businesses and will introduce you to a wider group of business contacts while helping you overcome business challenges with practical talks and workshops.

Each network has its own members-only social networking site which provides an additional opportunity to build contacts and win business online.

For more information visit the Enterprise Board’s website: www.dlrceb.ie/networking or Contact Angela Tynan, [email protected] / 01 4948400

In addition to being a very cost-effective way to

market your business, networking is a proven way

to extend your business reach and build professional

relationships. By learning to introduce yourself and

what you do succinctly in a business environment

you will perfect your sales pitch and open up

opportunities to do business.


DUN LAOGHAIRE RATHDOWN

COUNTY COUNCIL I Benn Handley of Pizza Express intend to apply for planning permission to display advertise-ments for development at Milano, Civic Square, Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin 14, for the follow-ing a) 2 x face illuminated built up roundals and b) 3 x reverse applied frosted vinyl decals.The Plan-ning Application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy at the offices of the Planning Authority, County Hall, Dun Laoghaire during its public opening hours. A submission / observation may be made on payment of €20 within a period of 5 weeks from the date the application is received by the Planning Authority.

PLANNING NOTICE

13871

DUN LAOGHAIRE RATHDOWN

COUNTY COUNCIL Retention Permission sought for 2 no. side by side project-ing solar panels located on top of existing flat roof dor-mer window (incorporating alterations to elevations) and ancillary works to dormer residence at No 9 Embassy Lawn, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14 by Mr Arthur W. S. Cater.The planning application may be inspected or purchased at the offices of the Planning Authority, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, County Hall, Marine Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin during its public opening hours 10am to 4pm Monday - Friday excluding public holidays. A submission or observation in relation to the application may be made in writing to the plan-ning authority on payment of the prescribed fee (€20) within the period of 5 weeks begin-ning on the date of receipt by the authority of the applica-tion. Signed:- Flynn Marron Architectural Services, 41 Bridge Street, Cootehill, Co Cavan (049) 555 2766

PLANNING NOTICE

13910

FLOODS Council is accused of failing to help local residents

Chaos in Dundrum after deluge DAWN LOVE and

MICHAEL HANNAN

[email protected]

PARTS of Dundrum came to a standstill after the east coast was swamped by 80ml of rainfall on Monday afternoon.

The rainfall caused huge hardship for local residents, some of whose homes flooded.

Parts of the M50 were closed, and extensive flooding on roads in the Dundrum and surround-ing areas caused mas-sive traffic tailbacks for commuters on Monday evening and the following Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, manage-ment at Dundrum Town Centre were forced to close the exclusive

southside shopping mall after 10cm of floodwater come through the store’s entrances and windows.

The flooding of the centre made international headlines after video foot-age of it was posted on YouTube.

Met Eireann confirmed that the rainfall set a new record for a single 24-hour period during the month of October.

A helpline provided by Dun Laoghaire-Rath-down County Coun-cil (DLRCC) failed for approximately one hour on Monday evening, due to what the council said was the sheer volume of incoming calls.

Labour councillor Grace Tallon accused the council of failing to help

and support Dundrum residents.

She said: “I was walk-ing around in knee-deep flooding, and we knew before close of business that this was coming.

“I appreciate that they [the council] had eve-rybody out, but people whose houses were get-ting flooded couldn’t get through to anybody on the council helpline.”

She highlighted the problem of blocked drains as being possibly a major contributing factor to the flooding.

“There’s a massive problem, in that it’s not just a case of fallen leaves, but the drains are blocked and it needs to be sorted.

“This has been going on for years, and nothing’s

been done, and it’s come to a point where it’s just not good enough,” said Cllr Tallon.

When contacted by The Gazette, Frank Aus-tin, director of Water Serv-ices at DLRCC, said that, following unprecedented levels of rainfall, the coun-cil’s engineers were ana-lysing the full extent of the deluge, area by area, across the county.

He said that reports sent in by the public had been “absolutely critical in gaining an overall under-standing of the impact” of Monday’s events, and said the “drainage intrastruc-ture in the county found it difficult to cope with such levels of water”.

In anticipation of Mon-day’s rainfall, he said that crews had been deployed since the previous week-

end to clear drains and gutters in any identified hot-spots.

“Additional crews were also brought in from across a number of serv-ice areas to work with the Emergency Services on Monday night, and to assist with the huge number of reported inci-dents,” he said.

Cllr Tallon said she believed there was a “lack

of manpower” on the council’s side to deal with a situation such as this.

“At least if residents can feel that they’re get-ting through to somebody, and that they know what’s going on, that’s alright, but people weren’t answering the phones.

“I appreciate that the council had as many peo-ple out as they could, but I just don’t think that things were put in place early enough during the day to make the situation better for people whose houses were getting flooded.

“I feel that they could have put some sandbags in place earlier on in the day and, then, long-term they need to sort out the drains,” said Cllr Tallon.

For many in south Dublin, like these Leopardstown Inn staff, there was nothing for it

but to grab brushes and do their best to beat back the water. Picture: Geraldine Woods


ENTERPRISE Hand-made wares at DLR Pop-Up shop

Showing the skills of local artisans

STAFF REPORTER

SOME of the finest hand-made holiday gifts will be available to purchase at Dun Laoghaire-Rath-down County Council’s (DLRCC) Pop-up shop, just in time for Christmas.

For the next month, three local artists will be based at the Pop-Up store – Studio 3 – with an array of unique Christmas gifts on display.

Printmaker, Fan Regan; milliner, Laura Cas-sidy, and jeweller, Chris-tina Goldston will be at the shop until Sunday, November 27.

The Pop-Up shop, a Dun Laoghaire-Rath-down County Council initiative, is situated oppo-site the People’s Park on George’s Street, and has been showcasing local talent since last April.

Laura Cassidy com-pleted a master’s degree in millinery at The Royal College of Art in London, and gained experience working with a diver-sity of hat designers, such

as Philip Treacy, Misa Harada and Fred Bare.

Laura established Laura Cassidy Design in her home town of Dublin, and set up her website, www.lauracassidydesign.com. Her millinery collec-tion consists of a range of eye-catching hair accesso-ries and fascinators.

The range of daywear hats combine traditional shapes and fabrics with new design ideas, and contemporary materials.

Presented alongside the millinery collection is a line of contemporary hand-made jewellery.

Laura makes each piece using a combination of Swarovski crystals, pearls, semi-precious stones, ster-ling silver and other beads and findings, resulting in a rich and varied collection of delicate and feminine pieces.

A bespoke service is available for exclusive items, which can be cus-tom-designed and made to order.

Meanwhile, native New Yorker and gemolo-

Above and below, right: This model displays some delicate and striking ChristinaBelle Jewellery pieces

gist, Christina Goldston’s passion for jewellery has taken her on a 20-year journey, from working with her family in their Brooklyn Fine jewellery business, to grading dia-monds at Tiffany & Co, New York, and working with Appleby’s and Boo-dles here in Dublin.

She now travels the world, sourcing inspi-ration and materials to create her ChristinaBelle Jewellery Designs (with her website available at www.christina-belle.com).

Featuring semi-pre-cious gemstones, fresh-water pearls, crystals and metals such as sterling silver, oxidised silver, and gold vermeil, the collec-

tion offers something for every woman – from clas-sic, vintage-looking pieces to cutting-edge design.

Finally, The Printing Rooms (whose online site is www.theprintingrooms.com) love print, from the design, to the creation of the print, through to the finished product.

Throughout the month, hand-printed linen can-vases and cushions by Fan Regan, creator of The Printing Rooms, will also be available to purchase at the pop-up store.

For more information about Studio 3 and its art-ists, visit it at www.studio-3popup.wordpress.com; follow Studio3.popup on Facebook, or follow @stu-dio3popup on Twitter.

THE Avoca chain will open their tenth outlet in Ireland when they will launch a new Food Market and Salt Cafe in Monkstown in early November.

The new outlet will have two areas – the Salt Cafe and a Food Market.

The Salt Cafe will serve seasonal dishes, with largely indigenously-sourced ingredients.

New experiences

Besides the familiar Avoca food hall, deli and salad bar, the Food Market will offer a whole range of new food expe-riences under one roof, including fresh fruit and vegetables, its own spe-cialist craft butcher and a French-style rotisserie.

Partners include Artisan Foods, who will be looking after fresh produce, and Poulet de Bonne Femme, with a chicken and duck rotisserie in-store.

The Salt Cafe’s head chef, Mark Macgillicud-dy, has previously worked with Dylan McGrath at Mint.

The menu will include plenty of salads and light-er lunch dishes.

Dinner will be served on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and will feature steaks from the in-store craft butcher’s own farm; fresh whole fish done on the char-grill and rotis-serie duck.

Avoca all set for outlet’s opening

RETAIL: OPENING


TRANSORT Almost 400 cyclists a day using inbound track

DAWN LOVE

IT ONLY got under way last Jan-uary, but already 100,000 cyclists have passed the cycle counter on the inbound track on the N11.

The operation commenced last January. It is the first cycle counter of its kind introduced in Ireland, and was funded by the National Transport Authority.

Over the nine-month period, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown

County Council said there was a daily average of almost 400 cyclists using the cycle route.

Almost 90% of all weekly trips take place Monday to Friday, with 57% of these trips between 8am and 10am, mainly consist-ing of commuters and students.

The highest recorded days since the counter was installed occurred towards the end of September, with 833 cyclists recorded on September 27, and

876 cyclists recorded on Septem-ber 28. The council said Tuesday is the busiest day for cyclists on the cycle route.

The data is obtained by detec-tor loops, located on the cycle lanes, and then passed on to the counters. The cycle numbers and trends can be monitored over the longer term via the internet.

Speaking to the Gazette, Fianna Fail councillor Cllr Gerry Horkan said: “I welcome the

high numbers of cyclists using the N11 route on a daily basis, as indicated by the cycle counter.

“Overall, it shows the great work being carried out by the council to promote cycling and to improve cycle facilities throughout the county, in par-ticular the cycle track upgrades along the N11.”

It is planned to introduce fur-ther cycle counters in the county in 2012.

100,000 cyclists pass N11 cycle counter

Talking it out: Impressive words at a debateTHE recent Belvedere Junior College Mace debating competition, organised by Belvedere College and spon-sored by Matheson Ormsby Prentice, saw the speakers deliberating over a number of fascinating topics.

Participants included students from Wesley College in Ballinteer and St Mary’s College in Rathmines, with the overall winner coming from Castleknock Commu-nity College. RTE’s Brian Dobson chaired the event,

and complimented the teams on their engaging debates, which were delivered with thoughtful points.

Pictured are Belvedere Conveners, Barry Maguire and Cian Henry; Turlough Galvin, partner, Matheson Orms-by Prentice (competition sponsors); Nadia Armstrong and Alex De Valera, Wesley College; Brian Dobson, RTE, debate chairman and Belvedere Conveners, Rian Hayes and Conor Browne.

Call for bonfires not to be used to dispose waste

DAWN LOVE

WITH just days to go before the Halloween cel-ebrations get under way, local residents and busi-nesses in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown (DLR) have been urged not to use bonfires to dispose of household or hazardous waste.

The warning from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comes after a major public awareness

campaign was launched by Dun Laoghaire-Rath-down County Council about the dangers associ-ated with bonfires.

Fines

With many people now collecting materials for use in bonfires, the EPA said that only someone with a waste collection permit is allowed to stock-pile waste.

The agency said that breaches of waste regula-

tions can lead to fines of up to €3,000.

Gerard O’Leary of the EPA said: “Halloween is a fun time of year for eve-ryone but should not be used as an excuse to burn waste. The EPA wants everyone to enjoy a safe and happy Halloween, so it is unfortunate when some people use this fes-tive time to dispose of waste illegally.

“We want to remind people that Halloween

should not be used as an excuse to burn waste. Burning waste in this way contributes to over half of all dioxin emissions in the country.

“It is important that people in DLR know the dangers of burning materials such as tyres. Burning these and other waste materials causes the release of dioxins. This creates a real hazard for people’s health.

“In addition, it’s illegal,

and can result in pros-ecution by your local authority. People need to remember that burning household waste in your back garden, fireplace or a waste burner can lead to a fine of up to €3,000,” he said.

Backyard burning, and unauthorised bonfires, can be reported to the local authority or to the national lo-call “Dump the Dumpers” phone line at 1850 365 121.

COUNCIL: MAJOR PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED


ENTERPRISE Experts’ advice on community involvement

Joining in The Pink Tank for motivationB

USINESS people, entrepreneurs and community-minded citizens were encouraged to “think pink”

and join in with a fundraising discus-sion forum with a motivational edge at the Irish Management Institute (IMI), Sandyford recently.

Held in aid of the Rosemont School

Development Fund, the evening saw Nicola Byrne, Orlaith Carmody, There-sa Lowe and Linda O’Shea-Farren – aka The Pink Tank – come to the IMI to help encourage men and women of all backgrounds to engage more in public life, such as in the commu-nity, in business, in media or in social

entrepreneurship. Drawing upon their notable experience in broadcasting, journalism, media, politics and busi-ness, The Pink Tank experts shared their insight and advice, underlining some serious points with humour and wit, and helping to foster an upbeat, highly-focused feeling to the event.

Olivia Scanlon

Isabelle Blanco and Martha Haering. Pictures: Geraldine Woods

Nicola Byrne, Theresa Lowe, Orlaith Carmody and Linda O’Shea-Farren

Elizabeth Mulvin and Margaret Kelly

Carol HannaOrla Higgens Geraldine Whelan

27 October 2011 GAZETTE 11

12 GAZETTE 27 October 2011

GazetteNUTRITIONNUTRITION

LEILA JOHARI

TRICK or treat, what to eat? There is something scarier than witches and ghouls this Halloween. It is the amount of sweets and chocolate that we eat.

It’s not only children who aren’t afraid to over-indulge in candies and chocolate, ninety percent of parents admit to occa-sionally dipping into their kiddies’ stash. Maybe this fact should scare us more than the ghosts.

Do not fear. There are ways to banish those sugar demons and have

a healthy Halloween. Pumpkin, nuts and kale are all traditional Hal-loween foods that are nutritious and provide a healthy alternative at this time of feasting.

Pumpkin contains no saturated fats or choles-terol; but is a rich source of dietary fibre, mono-unsaturated fatty acids and anti-oxidant vitamins such as vitamins A, C and E. Vitamin A is a power-ful natural anti-oxidant and is required by the body for maintaining the integrity of the skin and mucus membranes. It is also an essential vitamin

for vision not to mention an excellent source of poly-phenolic flavonoid compounds like alpha and beta carotenes. The B-complex group of vitamin-folates, niacin, pyridoxine, thiamine and pantothenic acid are also in this Halloween staple.

Pumpkin is a rich source of minerals like copper, calcium, potas-sium and phosphorous. Pumpkin seeds are a healthy snack rich in zinc, which nourishes the brain. They also contain magnesium, which helps muscle, nerve, heart and bone function and help

A healthy Halloween

the body generate protein and absorb energy from food.

Peanuts are rich in energy and contain many health-benefiting nutri-ents, minerals, anti-oxi-dants and vitamins that are essential to optimum health. They are especially rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids that help to lower LDL or bad choles-

terol and increase HDL or good cholesterol.

These nuts are a good source of dietary proteins with amino acids that are vital for growth and repair of body cells. They contain high quantities of minerals, such as copper, manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and selenium.

Just a handful of pea-nuts a day provides the recommended levels of phenolic anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins and protein. A word of warn-ing though – honey-roasted and sugar-coated should be avoided, choose whole and raw instead.

Finally, Kale is a dark

green leafy vegetable that is a traditional part of the Irish Halloween feast. It is used in a potato dish known as colcan-non. Kale is an excellent source of vitamins A, C and K and a good source of calcium, iron, magne-sium, potassium and vita-min C while being low in sodium. If you really can’t fly away on your broom-stick and crave something sweet, the traditional Irish Halloween fruit cake, known as Bairin Breac, is a nutritious and delicious alternative. For a healthy, happy Halloween why not try this spicy pump-kin dip? Served with warm pitta.

Spicy Pumpkin Dip

1½ cups canned pumpkin puree

1½ cups canned chick-peas, drained and rinsed

3 tablespoons tahini, sesame paste

1 clove garlic1 teaspoon cayenne1 teaspoon cumin 2 tablespoons olive oil2 tablespoons lemon

juiceSalt and pepper

In a food processor, blend pumpkin and chickpeas until fairly smooth.

Add remaining ingre-dients and process until smooth, season to taste.

As well as making a great Halloween decoration, pumpkin is a very healthy food


GazettePETSPETSBrought to you by Miriam Kerins of

the DSPCA

THE FACTS: WORMS ARE ONE OF THE MOST COMMON HEALTH PROBLEMS FOR DOGS

Dealing withthose pesky parasitesA

S an animal wel-fare education officer, I’m asked a variety of ques-

tions regarding all sorts of health queries concerning dogs, but the most popu-lar one seems to be: “Do I need to de-worm my puppy/dog and how do I do it?”

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d focus this week’s column on worms - one of the most common health problems affecting dogs and why it’s impor-tant to try to eliminate the risk of your pet being infected by them.

Before we start, please bear in mind that para-sites or worms are very common in pets; especial-ly those who live closely with other animals or who roam freely, ie. hunt-ing dogs, as this makes them more susceptible.

Remember many inter-nal parasites have inter-mediate hosts; animals or insects that ingest or harbour the early stages of development and then pass the parasite onto your own family pet.

For example, tape-worms are carried by fleas and heartworms are car-ried by mosquitoes.

So, below, are your FAQs and my attempts to answer them. I hope they prove helpful.

Is it important to

de-worm?

Absolutely.

What about pup-

pies?

N o m a t t e r h ow healthy mom is, her puppies are highly likely

to have worms. This is normal and

treatment – under veteri-nary advice – should be carried out from as early as two to three weeks, depending on the health status of the animal and the product being used.

Always, always, check with your vet and fol-low his/her advice and instructions to the letter.

When the puppy has reached three months, he should be wormed every four weeks until he reaches six months and then he can be treated as an adult.

Again, it depends on the product and health status of the animal and I recommend you seek the advice of your vet and don’t purchase so-called over-the-counter medi-cations as they are never strong enough to elimi-nate all parasites.

How often do I de-

worm an adult dog?

Again this depends on the risk factor and status of the dog.

If, for example, you have a nice little house dog who hardly ever goes outside to play or dig and is only ever walked on a lead and never mixes with other dogs; then the risk is low and my advice would be to de-worm this animal

every three months, but, again, check with your vet.

If, however, you’ve right little rascals like mine who are forever foraging, digging, running through the woods and getting up to all sorts of activities, then prevention is better than cure and, depending on the time of year and their activities, I usually de-worm my babies once a month but never allow it go any longer than three months.

You see, every dog is different, but the most important thing to remember is to do the follow-up treatments because the first dose kills the worms that are living, the second kills the ones that have developed since the previous treatment.

How do I know if my

dog has worms?

Well, in order to be cer-tain of an infestation and type, a fecal examination needs to be performed. If you feel unable to do this yourself, then visit your vet with a fresh sample of your dog’s poo. However, here are some guidelines.

• Bloated stomach – often visible in puppies that’ve been infected from their mother.

• Weakness, increased appetite, constant hunger, weight loss – all signs the parasites are stealing your pet’s vital nutrition.

• Diarrhoea – contain-ing blood

• Worms visible in vomit

• Worms visible in dog’s poo

• Worms visible in dog’s

fur or around his ear area – tapeworms can appear as moving segments which can dry out and resemble grains of rice.

What types of

worms are likely to

affect my dog?

Round Worms: The most common type of parasite. They can be life-threatening but are usually not considered as dangerous as hook worms, which can cause bloody diarrhoea and dehydration.

Very common in warm, moist weather.

Both round and hook are transmitted through poo, so it’s important to keep kennels and gardens clean.

Tape Worms: Can be transmitted through the infestation of a flea. Effec-tive treatment is available from your vet.

Heartworms: Carried by mosquitoes. These are an insidious insult to the circulatory system, heart, lungs and kidneys of the poor infected animal.

If your dog has an active case of heartworm, I recommend an imme-diate visit to your vet for treatment and he/she will most likely prescribe annual blood tests.

Remember, my advice is only a guideline and is not a substitute for profes-sional veterinary care. If you have a concern about an animal in your care, contact your vet.

For more information, log on to our website at www.dspca.ie or email me at [email protected]

It’s very important to try to eliminate the risk of your pet dog becoming

infected with worms

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

‘The most important thing to remember is to do the follow-up treatments’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


GazetteMUSICMUSICColdplay shine in the light of reflection

Coldplay have produced another collection of engaging pop classics

ROB HEIGH

THERE are some bands that everyone loves. There are some bands everyone hates. And then there’s Coldplay.

Having divided music fans since 2000, Chris Martin’s band of broth-ers tend to fall into the Marmite hinterland for bands.

But anyone paying attention at this year’s Glastonbury festival on the Friday and Saturday would have seen some-thing quite remarkable and that should give an indication of how far Coldplay have come, 50 million record sales not-

withstanding.On the Friday, the pala-

pable sense of expectation around U2s’ set, delayed a year after Bono’s back problems forced them to pull out, fizzled out pretty quickly when the first half-hour of their set turned into a blatant advert for the 20th anni-versary of Achtung Baby (coming to a record shop near you in all formats, music lovers!) As Bono ad-libbed lyrics straight from his teleprompter, the deflation felt immense. A career-defining moment to bookend the period from their appearance at Live Aid went AWOL.

Saturday saw the other

“biggest act in the world” take to the stage and, frankly, Coldplay smashed it. Ninety glorious minutes saw a confident band play their biggest hit second in the setlist, and included an unfamiliar selection of songs from an album that would not see the racks until four months later among their singalong classics. U2 should con-sider their time with the torch over.

And at last, those four months have rolled around, and Xylo Myloto arrives with as much fanfare as vitriol poured upon it’s graffiti-adorned sleeve.

Five albums in and they

are still doing what they do better than almost anyone else, reaching the parts few other acts can in this day and age.

The first six complete songs (the record features interludes and motifs that introduce and pref-ace tracks) are those that anyone who saw Coldplay over the summer at one of the many festivals that they appeared at across the world will recognise.

The euphoric Hurts Like Heaven and Every Teardrop, the songs that opened and closed those performances are pop classics, while Charlie Brown and Major Minus are stand-outs in their

REVIEW: NO REINVENTION BUT NO PROBLEM

own right, alongside the new single, Paradise. As for the newer songs, the one that will get the most attention will undoubt-edly be the collaboration with Rihanna, which is a huge grower.

To the haters, get over yourselves. No one else does Big Music this well.

Yes, there’s not much sub-stance in the lyrics; yes, it’s unashamedly poppy; yes, it is populist and connects with huge numbers of people. So what? People enjoy what they do and while the record is a step forward, it’s not a massive one - but when it’s not broke, why fix it?

If I had one criticism, it’s the fact that the huge sound the band create live, and especially the piledriver drumming of Will Champion, is a little diminished in the mix. They are a revelation in a live setting, and here’s hoping they make a return to the O2 soon.


GazetteBEAUTYBEAUTY

IT’S THE multi-talented high-lighter that hides a multitude of sins and, for this season only, the legendary Touche Eclat is to don a velvet strip in a special edition that celebrates the history and beauty of the YSL tuxedo look.

With its unique formula, Touche Eclat sculpts the features and banishes shadows in a stroke. With just a few sweeps of the brush, the face lights up with radiance.

Launched in 1992, Touche Eclat has never fallen from its pedestal, with one sold world-wide 20 seconds.

And if you fancy discovering new ways to apply this magical pen, why not check out the Touche Eclat website, www.touche-eclat.com/en

Available at YSL counters nationwide whilst stocks last. Recommended Retail Price: €35.

A special edition of the

popular YSL Touche Eclat Give dry, irritated skin the heave-ho and go organicI’VE always been con-scious of ingredients in cosmetics and skincare ranges, probably ever since I read beauty jour-nalist Josephine Fairley’s book, Organic Beauty. Since I’ve become a mum, I’ve become even more conscious of what I put on my skin and my family’s.

Now, one of my favour-ite ranges, Burt’s Bees has launched a new Sensitive Skin Care Line. It’s an ideal range for people who tend to react to various ingredients or products, or whose skin feels tight and sensitive or, indeed, can be dry and irritated.

Burt’s Bees has launched a new Sensitive Skin Care Line

Packed full of gentle, skin-friendly and dis-tinctly formulated with cotton extract, rice extract and aloe, the new range includes a Soap Free Facial Cleanser (€12.95) that has been clinically

proven to moisturise sen-sitive skin, while gently cleansing away dirt, oil and make-up without drying or causing redness or irritation.

Meanwhile, the Daily Moisturiser (€17.95) has

also been designed to leave your complexion nourished and protect-ed.

Other products include a lightweight Eye Cream (€17.95) and Night Cream (€17.95).

All products from the sensitive range are soap-free and fragrance-free.

Burt’s Bees new Sen-sitive Skin Care Line is available from pharma-cies and health stores nationwide.


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Edited by

Dawn Love

Let your complexion glow this winter with KaroraTHE days of slathering yourself in primitive fake tanning creams are long gone and, thankfully, many of the products now on the market leave you with a healthy, glow-ing complexion rather than the tangerine shade of old.

Natural

One of the latest creams to come on the market is Irish brand Karora’s organic Grad-ual Bronzing Moistur-iser with Barrier Cream. Combining leading-edge skincare with advanced tanning ingredients, this delicious new cream will leave you with a natural golden radiance, while protecting your face

against the cold and windy Irish winter.

Formulated for all skin types, Karora’s Gradual Bronzing Moisturiser has an array of special ingredients, including jojoba oil to guard and protect the skin against environmental stress and it is rich in natural nutrients.

Meanwhile, Karora’s signature ingredient, argan oil, has a naturally high concentration of Vitamin E and essential fatty acids, which allevi-ate dry skin and rough patches.

Argan i s rap id ly absorbed by the skin and provides a high-level of balanced moisturisation to help keep your skin

protected, energised and glowing. With advanced organic tanning ingre-dients, it develops over one to two applications per week.

Verdict

My verdict? Well, as a mum of a 17-month-old toddler who had a bad dose of teething last week, I looked like I had a month’s sleep after just one applica-tion. Definitely one for the Christmas stocking this year!

Karora is available at Unicare, McCabes, Sam McCauleys and Inde-pendent Pharmacies nationwide, or you can shop online at karora-cosmetics.com

One of the latest creams to come on the market is Irish brand Karora’s organic Gradual Bronzing Moisturiser

with Barrier Cream


GazetteMOTORSMOTORS

PEUGEOT’S new 508 is a spacious and solid look-ing car. The car

has been designed as a purpose-built estate, and that gives it a presence and standing on the road that’s volumes ahead of the previous 407 model.

The comfort levels are good and there’s plenty of space on board, from the large boot to the rear seats. The car has a solid, functional feel to it that was made special by the

extra features included in the test car.

The inside is made feel more airy with the pano-ramic sunroof that runs the length of the car, well almost. This is a stand-ard feature as the car is available with the Active specification as the entry level.

This has an electrically operated curtain on the inside if the high light gets too much for you. That’s not likely to hap-pen between now and

Peugeot’s 508 brings

The new estate version of the Peugeot 508 called the SW has great looks, good economy and reasonable pulling

towing power, with an entry price of €30,600

RoadRoadSignsSignsIN RECESSION,

SUPER RICH BUY

A ROLLS: SUPER rich people across the world are investing in Rolls-Royce cars as a means of beating a possible global reces-sion caused by cur-rency fluctuations.

The BMW-owned luxury British car brand has reported full order books. The com-pany is operating three production shifts to meet demand, accord-ing to the company CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes, in an inter-view with Automotive News Europe.

“The Rolls-Royce brand holds its value. We represent a valu-able long-term asset, particularly in times of uncertain investment opportunities,” Muel-ler-Oetvoes said.

MICHAEL MORONEY gives his view on the new, spacious Peugeot 508 SW


style in SW format

Top speed: 210 km/hr

0 – 100km/hr: 10.1 sec

Economy: 20 km/litre

(5.0 l/100km)

CO2 emissions: 125g/km

Road Tax Band: B (€156)

Euro NCAP Rating: 5

Stars (2011)

Warranty: 2 years

Entry Price: €30,600

SPECS: PEUGEOT 508 SW 2.0 TDI

next May, so I opted to keep it open for much of the test drive.

Sometimes it’s the little things that attract me to a car. The bits that you take for granted include good comfort, economy and road-holding where you never feel nervous and they are a feature of this Peugeot 508 SW.

Then there are the extras and, for me, a cof-fee cup holder is a must, as I do a lot of driving each week. And there are two on the dash of the Peugeot 508, which fold out of the way when not in use. And they are mounted high enough that you are not bending down to find that cup.

Peugeot offers two engine choices for the car. I had the bigger 2.0-litre turbo-diesel version

on the road for a recent test drive.

There is a difference in power and pace from the bigger engine version, which adds about a little less than €2,000 extra to the price. Opting for the bigger engine gives significantly more power and torque without much loss in fuel economy.

Both cars are within

Band B for annual road tax purposes, so equally competitive to run. That’s why the 2.0-litre version had to be my choice.

This is a big car, weigh-ing in at 1.6 tonnes before the load, so the extra engine power allows it to accelerate from 0 to 100km/hr in just 10.3 seconds. That’s over 10% faster than the small 1.6- litre engine version.

It’s also heavier than the 2.0-litre Ford Mondeo estate and the Toyota Avensis estate and it’s fast-er and more economical than both. The economy figure for this big car is 20 km/litre (5.0 l/100km).

The Peugeot 508 SW has a 72-litre capacity fuel tank and should give well over 1,200km on a full tank. That’s what we have now come to expect as

fuel economy barriers are shattered with each new model in a range.

I didn’t get the rated economy figures – I came in somewhere closer to 15% more, but the car still had the capacity to cover 1,200km before a re-fill.

Volkswagen’s Passat presents a different chal-lenge and it’s the one that Peugeot was aiming at. With its BlueMotion technology the Passat 2.0 TDi is heavier, more eco-nomical and faster than the equivalent engine Peugeot 508 estate.

There will be a differ-ence in price, even if the entry-level Passat looks attractive. The Peugeot deal is better with the entry-level 508 packed with features for an entry price of €30,600, before delivery charges.

The kit on the car is impressive. It includes rear parking aid, automat-ic wipers and headlamps and new-style electric child locks. The Bluetooth connection was easy and very effective.

The car comes with decent size, 17-inch alloy wheels and there’s even a full-size spare, which in the case of the 508 seems to have no detrimental impact on the car’s weight and CO2 rating. The hill- assist system is easy to use and effective, without being too obvious or a challenge.

The car has achieved a five-star Euro NCAP crash safety rating this year and that’s due to the driver, passenger, side and curtain airbags fitted. It also comes with stability control, traction control,

emergency brake assist and an electronic brake force distribution system for good road handling in difficult situations.

In the estate form, this car is particularly impres-sive and different. My per-sonal preference is that the rear-end design of the estate is better matched to the front end, giving an overall better looking car than in saloon format.

The Peugeot 508 is not on the road long enough to judge its reliability per-formance. The 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine has lots of road experience to be as reliable as it is eco-nomical.

The 508 SW is a solid and good-looking car, where the small things are as important as the impressive overall pack-age.

erty has a cobblelock drive for three cars, and a side entrance to the rear garden.

The garden features a deck area, a timber garden shed, and is fully walled.

The property is with-in walking distance of all amenities, includ-ing Malahide village and DART station, and is located byside Mala-hide estuary.

Viewing is by appoint-ment, which can be arranged with Property Team Noel Kelly Auc-tioneers’ representa-tive, Darren Kelly on 01 8462752.

CARTY Estate Agents in Trip are bringing 4B Castlelawns in Athboy, County Meath, a mod-ern red-brick-fronted detached dormer bun-galow with detached garage to the market for the attractive price of €180,000.

Situated in a small residential develop-ment, which is within walking distance of the town of Athboy, number 4B, Castlelawns, was constructed to a very high standard and has been maintained in excellent condit ion throughout and would make an ideal family home.

The accommodation comprises entrance

hall , a lounge with open-plan dining area, a kitchen with dining area, four bedrooms, of which the master is en suite, and two bath-rooms, situated on each level of the property.

The property also benefits from a detached garage with utility area.

Particular features of 4B Castlelawns include PVC double-glazed win-dows, oil-fired radiator central heating, as well as not being overlooked to the rear. The property is approached by a tarmac driveway with lawns to the front and rear. There is also a patio area to the rear. The property also features a large, detached garage

plumbed for washing machine.

Athboy has an excel-lent range of amenities and services. For the commuter there is easy access to the new M3 motorway and a regu-

lar daily bus service to Dublin City Centre.

Number 4B, Castlel-awns, would provide a perfect family home which is ready for immediate occupation and viewing is strictly

by appointment only.To arrange a viewing,

contact Carty Estate Agents on 046-9486860, or email [email protected].

For more informa-tion, see www.carty.ie

Good-priced living at CastlelawnsATHBOY: FOUR-BEDROOM ACCOMMODATION IN MEATH FOR €180,000

Number 4B, Castlelawns, is on the market for €180,000

GazettePROPERTYPROPERTY

Home on the range high on Texas Lane

Number 2, Texas lane, Chalfont, Malahide is on the market for €495,000

PROPERTY Team Noel Kelly Auctioneers are bringing number 2, Texas Lane, Chalfont in Malahide, a four-bed-room semi-detached family home offering bright generously pro-portioned and a flexible layout, to the market for €495,000.

The property, which extends to c 1,650 sq ft, has been extended throughout and is situ-ated in a much sought-after location.

The accommodation comprises an entrance hall, a guest WC with ceramic tiled floor, mir-ror, understairs storage, accessories, WC and WHB.

The property features a garden conversion wth timber f looring. There are two recep-tion rooms which are conjoined by double doors, and the larger

is an extended dining room or tv room, featur-ing sliding doors to rear garden, and recessed lights.

There is an extended kitchen and breakfast area, which contain fit-ted wall and floor units, and all electrical appli-ances are included. The utility room also has all electrical appliances included.

The landing at the top of the stairwell allows access to the attic and has a hot press.

The four bedrooms in the property are upstairs, all of which feature timber floors, and the main bedrooms have built- in ward-robes.

The master bath-room has a ceramic tiled floor, tiled walls, w.c, w.h.b, Triton T90i shower, accessories.

The front of the prop-

MALAHIDE: FOUR BEDROOM SEMI-DETATCHED HOME FOR €495,000A Merrion mansion in Wilson RoadHASSETT & Fitzsimons are bringing number 36, Wilson Road, Mount Merrion, Dublin 4, a spacious four-bedroom bungalow, to the mar-ket for the asking price of €540,000.

Set in a sought-after residential area close to Belfield University, the property compris-es three reception rooms, sitting and living rooms, kitchen, four bedrooms and a garage.

The accommodation comprises a porch with coloured leaded lights, which leads to an inner and outer hell with modern white wood panelling.

The sitting room features a white marble gas fireplace, and has sliding doors which lead to an open-plan dining room and kitchen. The kitchen is well-appointed and contains an electric oven and gas hob, an extractor fan, dishwasher and fridge. The utility room con-tains a washing machine, dryer and freezer.

The living room contains double doors to raised decking in the rear garden.

The buildings contain built-in units, and two are contained in the attic conversion in the property which is accessed by a stair-case.

Number 36, Wilson Road has a mature landscaped front garden with parking for up to five cars. The property also has a garage, and has a side entrance to the rear garden.

The rear garden features a garden shed, a raised decking area, a sizable area of rear decking and an equally large lawned area.

Viewing is strictly by appointment with Hassett & Fitzsimons. For more information, see www.hassettandfitzsimons.ie or e-mail [email protected].

MOUNT MERRION: FOUR-BEDROOM BUNGALOW

Number 36, Wilson Road, Mount Merrion is on

the market for €540,000



THIS year, the Marlay Craft Fair is celebrating its 10th birthday. Originally the brainchild of Valerie McGurdy, one of the Marlay Craft Courtyard’s chief go-doers, organiser Sonja Ewen tells the Gazette a little about the history of the event.

“To start out with, it was a very small affair, where the Craft Courtyard studios invited their regular custom-ers to view their works before Christmas. They would have served up mulled wine and mince pies to add to the festive cheer. This kind of snowballed when it was decided to bring in a range of other craftspeople that were not based in the courtyard.

“When I moved to the Courtyard as a full-time jew-eller in about 2003, I was keen to help out with the fair, actually I think it was a given, I just had to help out. It was all hands on deck,” she says.

“Times have changed; there are fewer of us still surviving on craft alone; Marlay Ceramics and I have both had to find other sources of income with this new economic climate in Ireland.

“But, true to my heart is to keep Marlay Craft Fair running as a makers’ craft fair.

“What is fantastic about the fair is that it now has a reputation of being a ‘high-standard craft-makers’ fair. Every year we take on a new charity, we ask for a small entrance fee of €2.50 and this enables us to support the charity.”

For more information, contact Sonja on 087 675 33 58 or visit the website www.MarlayCraftFair.comMarlay Craft Fair November 25-27, 2011.

Interview: Sonja Ewen, Organiser of Marlay Craft Fair

Q&A

Crafting very high standards for fair

Sonja Ewen, Organiser of Marlay Craft Fair

Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be?A: I come from a creative fam-

ily, so I think I always had an

idea to work as a crafts person

of some sort.

Q: What was your first job?A: My first job as a student was

in McCullough’s Department

Store of Dun Laoghaire, the

old-fashioned style shop.

Q: And your first pay cheque?A: I can’t remember, but I

saved like mad to buy a canoe.

There used to be a little sports

shop in Blackrock called

Venture Sports, I think it was.

I managed to scrape enough

money for that boat. I loved it.

Q: Have you ever done a job you loathed?A: Yes, I worked as a secretary

for a while and hated it.

Q: When did you start your present job?A: I moved into the Marlay

Craft Courtyard in approxi-

mately 2003, and was roped

into assisting Valerie McGurdy

to organise the running of

Marlay Craft Fair at about the

same time.

Q: What is the best thing about your job?A: What’s good about organis-

ing the Marlay Craft Fair is be-

ing able to keep it as a proper

craft fair.

Q: What part of your working day do you ‘delegate’?A: I need to be able to delegate

in the running of the fair. This

year, Des Keaney is my right-

hand man and there are things

that he can do much better

than I can, and vice versa. so

I don’t have any issues just

handing stuff over to him

Q: What sport can you play?A: I’m a sea kayaker, so playing

in the waves is my game.

Q: What is your guilty music/TV or movie pleasure?A: I love all sorts of music, so

play lots of varied sorts. We

don’t have a TV, but love to

watch the odd replay on the

computer.

Q: Who best represents mod-ern Ireland – David Norris or

Jedward?A: Oh jeepers, poor David

hasn’t had the best time of it

recently with the presidential

saga, and thinking back to Jed-

ward and the last Eurovision

just makes me laugh – have

you ever seen such unreleased

energy just busting to get out…

Q: What music/pictures/mov-ies do you have on your iPod/iPad?A: iPod/iPad “món” if I were so

lucky, haven’t made it to that

plateau yet, I’m working on it

though!!

Q: Who do you follow on Twit-ter/Facebook?A: I like to keep tabs on the

Whale and Dolphin society.

They get continuous listings

of sightings of whales and

dolphins around the coast of

Ireland – fascinating stuff.

Q: Where do you enjoy spend-ing money frivolously?A: I do have a secret shoe fet-

tish. I could always buy shoes,

needed or not, in fact, suitable

or not, it never really matters.

Q: How many pairs of shoes do you own?A: Ha! That’s not fair! Maybe I

should have read all the ques-

tions first!!

Q: What would be your dream job?A: Well the dream job would

have to be the one that would

have lots of time off and that

would pay well enough, so that

when it was time off, you’d

have enough money to be able

to go and do something.

Q: Describe your dream holiday?A: I like the idea of pootling

around in a camper van with

no fixed agenda and no time

restraints and there would have

to be nice places to go and eat

out and good scenery. I’ll send

you a postcard when I find out

where it is.

Q: What do you plan to do when you retire?A: Well, maybe that’ll be when

I’ll go off pootling in that

camper van.

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD…. OR IS IT ?

Q – Gold prices reached over $1,760 per troy

ounce during the last weeks. I was told over

four years ago to buy the yellow metal then –

what is your view in 2011 ? Pauline - Templeogue

A - James Goldsmith once quipped “When you see

a bandwagon, it’s too late” – but the statistics

about gold are both startling and alarming. In

1980, gold reached an all-time high price of $850

per troy ounce (slightly lighter than our own

avoirdupois ounce) BUT it took 27 years to return

to this high of € 850 only four years ago in 2007.

Add inflation to the 1980 price, and you are looking

at a more realistic value of over $2,500. At the

current price - an increase of over 107% in those

four years since 2007 - 2 lbs of gold will cost you

just short of €40,000 ... a lot of money for a small

amount of metal.

JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, however, came

out in recent weeks to predict gold WILL reach the

$2,500 price before the year end. But more impor-

tant than price is tradability. The reason why gold

prices are surging ahead is the market volatility.

Only when governments, banking, stockmarkets

and property regain confidence will we see a

normalisation in gold prices.

Originally, all Bank of England notes for instance

were backed by gold bullion in their mint – “I

promise to pay the bearer the sum of…” Quanta-

tive easing i.e. printing your own money, among

other things put paid to that.

Peter Schiff is a major precious metals analyst

in New York (regularly on CNBC TV) and has pre-

dicted the price will go to $5,000 per troy ounce.

Not sure that I agree with him, but I do think that

if you have a fairly sizeable portfolio, you should

have about 10% exposure to this commodity. The

decision though to make is what form you buy

the precious metal – mine shares, Gold funds

(exchange traded funds – the cheapest way on

the stock market) krugerrand – the world’s first

one ounce gold bullion coin, brought to market in

1967 and costing up to $ 2,000 each currently –

and similar style coins like gold sovereigns etc, or

through the innovative Perth Mint Gold Certifi-

cate programme ? With this latter option, your

gold bullion is stored in the Perth Mint in Australia,

guaranteed by the AAA-rated Western Australian

government (the only government to give such a

guarantee) and you receive a certificate that you

can redeem at any time rather than hold the bul-

lion, saving security problems.

Email me for details of this or any gold issues

you may have.

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

THE ANSWERS TO ALL OF YOUR PERSONAL FINANCE QUESTIONS

GazetteBUSINESSBUSINESS Supported by AIB

Enjoying the city you’re living in

LAURA WEBB

IT HAD been a few months since my partner and I had taken a city break to let loose and leave the responsibilities of parenthood behind with the grandparents. When thinking about where to go, we decided we wanted to do something different and enjoy a city we both love – Dublin.

Even though we live in the suburbs and going out usually only means a taxi into town, it can often be an expensive round trip, so we thought we would stay in a city hotel, as there are some amazing deals around at the moment.

I had tickets to Mamma Mia at the Grand Canal Theatre and we thought we could stay at the D4 Berkeley.

Stylish

Our room was both spacious and stylish, and with a couple of hours to spare before dinner time, we headed out to see what the hotel’s location had to offer. Just a five minute walk from the RDS and located just minutes from the Aviva

stadium, the hotel is ideal for anyone going to watch a match, concert, exhibition or show.

We walked back just in time for dinner and were greeted by the lovely res-taurant manager, Oscar, and the waiting staff in Berkeley Brasserie were just as friendly. The live piano added to the relaxed atmosphere of the contemporary res-taurant.

For starters, I ordered crispy calamari with a

tomato and chilli sauce. Johnny went for soup- of-the-day and for his main, Irish grilled fillet steak, served with home cut chips, onion rings and peppercorn sauce. I chose the chicken supreme with wilted spin-ach, sundried tomato and orzo pasta. Describing his meal Johnny said it ticked all the boxes for flavour, portion size and afford-ability, as did mine.

We headed off to the Grand Canal Theatre

to see the show and enjoy the many smash-hit songs from Abba. Even though he’s not a fan, Johnny reluctantly agreed he enjoyed it. The next morning. we headed to the Berkeley Brasserie, which was also delicious.

Although we weren’t far from home, it was still a great a mini-break and it actually made us appreciate what Dublin has on offer.

D4 Berkeley offers a variety of special deals for theatre, sport and concert goers, which are available to see online at www.d4berkeley.ie or by phoning the reservation team at 01- 4373444.

D4 Berkeley offers a variety of special offers for theatre, sport and concert goers

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‘Although we weren’t far from home it was still a great mini-break and it actually made us appreciate what Dublin has on offer’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ONE of our very own tourist hot spots is on the shortlist as one of the new Seven Wonders of Nature competition.

The Cliffs of Moher are in the final 28, which is hardly surprising given the magnificence of this landscape in County Clare. The Cliffs are 320 million years old and are Ireland’s most visited natural attraction, with almost 100 million visi-tors every year. The reasons for the popularity are manifold, some visitors flock to see a Special Pro-tected Area for seabirds, as the Cliffs are home to over 30,000 nesting pairs each year, including puf-fins, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, and kittiwakes and makes for a bird watcher’s paradise. However, for most, it is the striking scenery where nature, history and geology merge.

To vote for the Cliffs inclusion, log onto www.new7wonders.com or Text MOHER 53131 (€0.30C) to vote for their inclusion in the New 7 Wonders of Nature. For more information on inspirational places to visit and great value holi-days check out www.discoverireland.ie

FastTravel

GazetteTTRAVELRAVEL22 GAZETTE 27 October 2011

Take in the wonder of the Cliffs of Moher and explore the West

The Cliffs of Moher in County Clare

QUICK GETAWAY: A STYLISH NIGHT AT D4 BERKELEY

Irish Ferries is welcoming the New Year with great offers, so book your 2012 reservation early

Though January may be months away, Irish Fer-ries has already welcomed in the New Year with the announcement that their reservations system has been opened for 2012 bookings on their services to France.

To get bookings off to a quick start and encourage those anxious to secure preferred sailing dates and choice of cabin accommodation, the company is offering a three-tiered incentives package, beginning with an early booking discount of 10% off all fares booked before December 15.

The second offer is the chance to secure one’s booking on payment of a low €100 non-refundable deposit with the balance payable six weeks before departure – one that contrasts with others who seek payment in full or a more significant deposit at time of booking.

Finally, repeated again, next year is the offer of a free trip to Britain for a car plus two passengers for all motorist return bookings to France during June, July and August.

For bookings and information, visit www.irishferries.ie or call 0818 300 400.

Scandinavian Airlines offering bargain fares to Bangkok and all this exotic city has to offer

SCANDINAVIAN Airlines have some bargain fares to Bangkok at the moment.

Bangkok is fantastic for shopping, nightlife, restaurants and culture and is a great place to stop off before head-ing to the luxury of the tourist resorts.

SAS can offer quick connections through Copenhagen airport where you only need 45 minutes to connect. For Irish travellers travelling to Bangkok, it is normally only a 15-metre walk from gate to gate to change plane in Copenhagen Airport. Fly from Dublin to Bangkok from as little as €799 return, including all taxes and charges.

Book before November 1, 2011 to secure this special fare. Go to www.flysas.ie for more details.

Concorde Travel is offering great deals to the Por-tuguese capital of Lisbon for a great city break

ARGUABLY one of the nic-est European capitals, Lisbon is a city that captures the imagination of the visitor with its magnificent architecture, reminiscent of a glorious maritime past as well as the majestic Tagus River and the dominant Castelo de San

Jorge. Exploring the city on foot is a delight – there is something around every corner that will surprise you. Lisbon is a lively city boasting bars, clubs and cafes, where you can simply relax and enjoy a powerful Portu-guese-style coffee or party all night long in some of the trendiest clubs.

Concorde Travel is offering great deals to the Portuguese capital this winter from only €349. Stay three nights on a B&B basis at the three-star Hotel Evidência Tejo, from €349, four-star Tivoli Jardim, from €419, and five-star Tivoli Lisboa, from €499.

Visit www.concordetravel.ie to book your city break to Lisbon today.

TravelBriefs

Edited by

Mimi Murray


Go ghost hunting in haunting ScotlandFANS of ghouls and ghosts should make their way to Scotland this Hal-loween. With haunted castles, churches and streets, there are few countries with a more fascinating or spookier history than Scotland.

Fans of the Da Vinci Code will be captivated by Rosslyn Chapel, the church built for the Sin-clair Family in the 15th century. Ghostly flames apparently flicker in the burial vault when one of the Sinclairs is about to die and an appari-tion of the apprentice who carved the famous Apprentice Pillar and was murdered by his teachers, can sometimes be seen or heard.

With a long and bloody history, Edinburgh Cas-tle is said to be home to many spirits, including that of a headless drum-mer boy. Rumour has it, that the appearance of

HALLOWEEN: HAUNTED CASTLES AND STREETS

FOR anyone consid-ering a long-haul trip, Thomas Cook Ireland’s newly launched Far and Away brochure is a must. The range covers tradi-tional package holidays, escorted tours to exotic destinations and far-flung cruises.

Customers can also tailor their holidays to suit their preferences and schedules.

Feature

Cuba, Mexico, Domin-ican Republic, India (Goa), Gambia, Jamaica and Florida all feature strongly in the new Far and Away brochure.

As Thomas Cook can avail of its own accom-modation and charters from the UK to these des-tinations, customers can find more competitive

Travelling Far and Away

A Mexican beach and (inset) Old Havana in Cuba

and comprehensive pric-ing. Eleven nights in the four-star Laico Atlantic in Banjul Beach in Gambia next March is available

all-inclusive from just €849, while 14 nights over Christmas and New Year in Goa in the three-star Colonia Santa Maria

at Baga Beach, also all inclusive, is on offer for €1,789, departing December 20. (Prices are from UK airports).

the ghostly drummer boy is a warning that the cas-tle is about to be besieged and was first seen in 1650, before Oliver Cromwell and his English army attacked.

Believed to be the most haunted place in Edin-burgh, The Royal Mile as it is known, is the street leading from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of

Holyroodhouse. Taking a stroll down this street you may be in for a few surprises as No.1 Mary Kings’s Close, which was bricked up during an outbreak of the plague, is said to be haunted by the spirit of a young girl.

Cruden Bay, located on the Aberdeenshire coast, may seem like a pleasant looking fishing village,

but you may be surprised to know that, in the 19th century, it was the holiday haunt of Bram Stoker.

The ruins of Slains Castle, which drape down from the headland inspired Stoker’s vision of Count Dracula’s Castle. The Kilmarnock Arms Inn, where Stoker stayed in 1895, is still there for those brave enough to pay a visit.

On the west coast of Scotland, close to the town of Oban, lies Dun-staffnage Castle. The cas-tle is said to be haunted by a lady dressed in green, who walks the ramparts when events are about to unfold for the castle own-ers. When she is smiling it said that good fortune awaits but if she is weep-ing, trouble lies ahead. The castle is open daily, but visiting hours are restricted in the winter.

For more details www.visitscotland/surprise

Rosslyn Chapel


Germinating ideasMitch Emhoff (Matt Damon) can’t quite take in the news from a doctor that his healthy wife, Beth (Gwynneth Paltrow) has suddenly died

from a mysterious new virus, with a mass outbreak killing thousands of people around the world in this week’s film, Contagion

GoingOUT

GazetteENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

What if ... a new, deadly virus sprang up all around the world? The prognosis is poor in this interesting new film

KATE CROWLEY

NOW is the winter of our discontent most keenly felt ... largely through red noses, hoarse throats and a thousand rasping coughs, it would seem, as the emaciated Flu crow has slowly but surely flapped its way back to Ireland’s shores for its annual winter sojourn.

Thanks to this unwant-ed visitor, all around the Crowley household, a hundred flu sufferers seem to be blearily mak-ing their way through the streets, while Mr Crowley has a touch of Man Flu, which, he tells me, is “a thousand times worse than ordinary flu” (yet which doesn’t seem to stop him from eating chocolate biscuits and watching football).

However, as unpleas-ant as the flu is for those battling it – such as yours truly, still croaking her way through a lingering two-week chest infection

– for most, it’s not the end of the world.

No, the end of the world is, instead, the underlying theme of this week’s film, which takes the flu theme and runs with it to a much more frightening, logical outcome.

In Contagion, several plotlines converge as a business exec (Paltrow) returns from a business trip to Hong Kong with a bad dose of jet lag.

That’s “jet lag” as in “she’ll be dead within two days of a mysterious new virus, folks” jet lag, of the kind that most travellers would rather avoid.

Exit Paltrow, leaving bemused hubby (Damon) to soldier on, despite the fact that their family isn’t quite through the worst of the horror just yet ...

Of course, his wife’s death is just one of many deaths, as it’s obvious that a deadly pandemic is spreading across the world at frightning speed, with equally frightening mortality rates.

Although, as with any virus and contagion, there are plenty of people who are immune – such as Damon’s character – most people aren’t, and, with-out an antidote, it looks

like goodnight, Seattle, for most of humanity.

For those readers shouting at my review: “Science will save us!”, that sounds like an appro-priate time to send in the clow- err, scientists, in the forms of Winslet and Fishburne.

That almost sounds like a double act, but there’s nothing amusing about their characters as, working in different ways, they’re on a race against time to trace the virus back to Patient X – the first recorded victim – and then, with a bit of luck, figure out where the infection came from, and thus possibly come up with an antidote.

However, all of this takes time, and, as every passing day exponentially increases the pandemic’s infection – and conse-quent sudden mortality – rates around the world, there’s a desperate race against time to get ahead of the virus’ deadly infec-

tion, and stop the global contagion.

Unfortunately, quite apart from the dangers of the virus itself, the char-acters are also faced with problems posed by peo-ple, whether that’s nefari-ous journalists (Law) or the bureaucracies of vari-ous political and medical systems.

With social order rap-idly collapsing all over the world, and with govern-ments resorting to des-perate measures to quar-antine people, the race is on to find a cure ...

As usual, director Sod-erbergh has created an unconventional tale, with lots of Hollywood stars and stalwarts fighting for screen time in an occa-sionally busy story.

Not a film for the germ-wary, it’s a thoughtful tale that shows that, maybe, just maybe, there are worse things than the flu to worry about. Now, Man Flu, that’s a thousand times worse, I hear ...

FILM OF THE WEEK:

Contagion (12A) 106 mins

OUR VERDICT:LOTS of stars with lots of storylines, yet one overall plot ... While the world seems to have mostly forgotten the perils and fears over Swine Flu and Bird Flu, here comes a film to play on the fears of those recent pandemics. Slow-moving, and perhaps constrained by being a film about, well, deadly germs, it’s still an interesting tale that director Soderbergh helms well enough ...

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude

Law, Laurence Fishburne

PAVILION 01 231 2929Snow Play

CHILDREN aged from three to seven will be delighted with this show, which tells of how snow-hating Mr Green returns from his Christmas holidays only to find that Mr White has moved in, and covered everything with snow! Children will help to make a giant snowman, have a snowball fight and more in this highly-interactive production. Snow Play takes place on at 2pm and 4pm on Saturday, October 29, and at 2pm on Sunday, October 30, with tickets priced at €8 for children, and €10 for adults.

MILL THEATRE 01 296 9340 One Act Festival

THEATRE lovers are in for a treat, thanks to the Mill Theatre’s quick-moving festival that will present eight plays across two nights. Actors, directors and drama enthusiasts from all across the country will be found at the theatre, as an eclectic range of productions whirl through their paces. Following the plays’ productions, adjudicator Tom Byrne will provide an engaging analysis. For full details of the plays, which take place from 7pm on Friday, October 27 and Saturday, October 28, see www.milltheatre.ie.

DRAIOCHT 01 885 2622My Way

GARVAN Gallagher’s commendable exhibition examines the “invisible” status of older citizens, with a diverse range of work examing the status and self-image of our elders. Whether personal texts, short films, or even fashion shoots replacing younger models with more mature citizens, My Way is an excellent, diverse project underlining how valuable our “invisible” citizens are. My Way runs at Driaocht’s ground floor gallery until Saturday, November 5.


SHANE DILLON

THE hit Playstation (and, more latterly, also avail-able on the XBox 360) Final Fantasy franchise is set for another stab at the previous cross-plat-form title in the series, Final Fantasy XIII.

In a similar manner to the last major title I reviewed, last week (Dead Rising 2: Off The Record), Final Fantasy

XIII-2 is a largely simi-lar, but rejigged, version of its predecessor title, FFXIII.

However, much as twins may appear to be quite similar at first sight – and I say that as a twin, myself – there are sev-eral notable differences between the two, mak-ing XIII-2 similar, but yet quite different to, its predessor, XIII.

The Final Fantasy series of games have had a long and illustri-ous past on a number of platforms, yet, argu-ably, found their greatest success on Sony’s Play-Station 2 – at least here in the West – while the franchise has remained a key part of Sony’s Play-Station brand.

Here, “Final” is some-thing of a misnomer, as the series has been spun out through many titles that far exceed the numer-ical titles in the series, with characters from the franchise popping up in everything from farm-ing games to dance titles, beat-em-ups to platform-ers, and more.

However, at heart, the Final Fantasy series remains a fundamentally structured role-playing game, typically created with strong undercur-rents of Japanese culture, gaming memes, and ideas that seem unique to the series, with regular recur-ring themes of personal

More Final Fantasy XIII-2 facts emerge

GazetteGAMINGGAMING

strife, responsibility, duty and honour appealing to a global audience.

Wi th i t s supe rb designs, always evolv-ing gameplay and game mechanics, striking music and a generally strong direction, it’s been no surprise that, today, the “Final” franchise is a key PlayStation brand, with Microsoft also coming on board for the release of previous title in the series, Final Fan-tasy XIII.

Curiously, despite

being a game that was specifically developed for, and aimed at engag-ing Western audiences, rather than, debatably, a core Japanese and cult American fanbase, FFX-III was largely greeted with a lukewarm criti-cal reception, and not especially notable sales figures.

Still, early next year, a “remodelled” ver-sion of FFXIII – neatly called FFXIII-2 – will be released, set in the same world as its pred-

ecessor, and with many of the same characters, yet with a new storyline, new characters, and new gameplay mechanics – all with the hope for the developer, Squaresoft, to create greater respect for (and higher sales fig-ures) for an experimental title that was, perhaps, a little overlooked once released.

Collectors’s edition packs will include all of the usual items, ranging from CDs of the game music, to t-shirts, art

books, special cases and more, creating releases to take up plenty of space on gamers’ shelves – and leave plenty of cor-responding space in their wallets, too.

It’s an interesting devel-opment, seeing game companies take a “Take Two” attitude towards titles that didn’t quite hit expectations on release, but which were perfectly decent. If this sequel, of sorts, does well, perhaps it won’t be the final case of such rejigged releases.

A typically exotic and stylish branding design for Final Fantasy XIII-2, with strong artwork helping shape the series

It’s a case of so four-za, so goodIN ONE of the most predictable gaming events of the year, Forza Motorsport 4 – or Forza 4, for short – recently roared straight to the top of the charts, with racing and motoring fans driving the XBox 360-exclusive title straight to the top.

For those who like exquisitely-modelled cars, stunning landscapes, top-notch graphics, a Top Gear association (with Clarkson on voiceover duties) and an awfully big game to play around with – and that’s an awful lot of gamers – it’s hard to see any other racers appearing in the rear mir-ror in the near future, with Forza 4 set to hold pole position in the racing genre for quite some time.

Bytesandpieces

Forza 4 certainly sets a noticeably-high

benchmark in graphics on current platforms

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PLANNING NOTICE

13920

Permission is sought for i) Amalga-mation of cottages 3, 4, 5 & 6 into a single restaurant unit. ii) Insertion of two glass doors into the rear extension of no. 6. iii) Erection of new canopy with retractable fabric pitched roof over the rear garden of no.3, apex height 4.3m above ground floor level, plan coverage 41m2 iv) Paving of the rear gardens of nos. 3 and 4 (60.2m2). v) Erection of screens with stainless steel frames and opaque glass inserts to the rear North West boundary wall of no. 3 and the rear garden party wall between nos. 3 & 4. vi) Erection of movable / removable steel and glass windbreak modules to the front of the cottages on the Pembroke District Pedestrian Walkway to delineate the open air seating areas. vii) Erection of two movable / removable parasols, one to the front of no. 6, one to the front of no. 3. Both apex height 3m above ground level, both plan cov-erage 8.9m2 viii) Discreet logos and decals on the windbreak modules to the front of the cottages. ix) Bin Store to rear of No. 5, plan area 1.4m2 x) Associated fit out and improvement works. Retention permission is sought for a) Demolition of modern extension to the rear of no. 4. b) Partial demoli-tion of the modern extension to the rear of no. 6 c) All ducting, coolers, compressors and services located on the roof of the rear extension to no. 5. d) Increase in height of the rear garden party wall between nos. 5 & 6 to 3m. e) Erection of screens and door with stainless steel frames and opaque glass

inserts to the rear Southeast bound-ary wall of no. 6. f) Erection of new canopy with retractable fabric pitched roof over the rear garden of no. 6, apex height 4.3m above ground floor level, plan coverage 60m2 g) Erection of movable / removable parasol, to the front of nos. 4 & 5, apex height 3m above ground level, plan coverage 17.7m2. h) Discreet logos and decals on the glazing in the front windows of all four cottages i) Discreet logos and decals on the glazing screens and door to the rear Southeast boundary wall of no. 6. j) Dormer style weathering to duct penetrations thru’ rear roof of no. 5. k) Erection of new ground floor flat roofed extension to the rear of no. 4, with new access into the rear exten-sion of no. 6, floor area 19.9m2, height 2.75m above ground floor level. Generally planning regularisation is sought for the complete develop-ment. All at 3 to 6 Pembroke Cot-tages, Ballinteer Road, Dundrum, Dublin 16 for Pintxo Pincho Ltd 3 to 6 Pembroke Cottages are in an Architectural Conservation Area. The planning application may be inspect-ed or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy at the offices of the Planning Authority, County Hall, Dún Laoghaire dur-ing its public opening hours.A submis s ion/obser va t ion may be made on payment of €20 within a period of 5 weeks from the date the application is received by the planning authority.

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JAMES Cluskey contin-ued his superb recent run of form last week on the ITF Futures tour as he reached the final of the doubles at the Le Roche-Sur-Yon F19 event in France.

It was his fifth final in his last six outings since mid-September – the other seeing him make the semi-final – marking one of the his best runs on the circuit.

On Sunday, playing with South African Jean Anderson, he was denied the title in a super-set by home-town pair Jeremy Blandin and Gleb Sakha-rov.

It was a tight game, losing the first set on a tiebreak before bouncing back to claim the second 6-3. But the super-set was lost ten points to seven, leaving the Swords’ man to have to be content with a third runners-up medal in October.

In the other competi-tion played this month, though, Cluskey and Andersen claimed the F16 Futures title in Forbach, beating Germany’s Sebas-tian Fitz and Russia’s Vitaliy Kachanovskiy.

Again, the final was decided on a super-set as the Irishman was part of a superb comeback having fallen a set down, 7-5.

He and Andersen snagged the second in comprehensive fashion with a 6-1 success before

TENNIS: SWORDS STAR HITTING THE HEIGHTS ON THE ITF FUTURES TOUR IN EUROPE

Tennis ace James Cluskey maintained his fine run of form, reaching another final last week in France

Cluskey makes fifth final out of six competitions

closing out the deciding game 10-3.

It continues a bril-liant run of form on the hard court and carpets of France, taking in an F18 Futures final in St Dizier, Mulhouse and Nevers as

well as that semi-final in Brusoporto, Italy.

It is a superb return to form following a summer in which Cluskey was part of the Irish Davis Cup side, and also reached the final of the Irish Open.

In the wake of that competition, the Swords LTC man has been quiet in August and September, but this sustained period abroad has been a very fruitful one.

Elsewhere, former St

Andrew’s student Amy Bowtell earned a place in the women’s singles main draw at the AEGON GB Pro Series Glasgow after defeating number three seeded Michaela Honco-va (SVK) in Scotland.

GazetteSPORT27 October 2011 DUNDRUM GAZETTE 27

OCTOBER STARS: OCTOBER STARS: Nominations for Nominations for Dublin Sports Stars Dublin Sports Stars are announced are announced Page 29Page 29

R1

GazetteSportSport


All-Stars 2011

Super Stars saluted at gala nightT

HE immense achievements of the Dub-lin senior football and hurling teams in 2011 was recognised at the National

Convention Centre when a total of eight players collected their GAA GPA All-Star awards last weekend. Footballers Bernard Brogan, Paul Flynn, Michael Darragh MacAuley, Kevin Nolan, Stephen Cluxton and Alan Brogan, and hurlers Liam Rushe and Gary Maguire received their plaudits in front of a packed audience, with Alan Brogan being named Player of the Year.

Fingallians’ Paul Flynn makes his way to the National Convention Centre stage to collect his All-Star football award. Pictures: SPORTSFILE

Football All-Stars Bernard Brogan, Paul Flynn, Michael Darragh MacAuley, Kevin Nolan, Stephen

Cluxton and Alan Brogan, front right, with Hurlers of the Year, Gary Maguire and Liam Rushe

Paul Flynn and Bernard Brogan on the red carpet

Bernard Brogan Snr, Lydia Brogan, Footballer of the Year Alan

Brogan, Bernard Brogan and Marie Brogan

Kilmacud’s Michael Darragh MacAuley

Dublin hurlers Liam Rushe and Gary Maguire

in association with


FastSport

THE first Celtic Open Masters Short Course swim meet was held at the National Aquatic Centre, Blanchardstown last week.

The meet, jointly organised by Aer Lingus Masters and NAC Masters swimming clubs, attracted 285 entries from the length and breadth of Ireland, ranging in ages from 20 to 80.

The competitors represented no fewer than 43 Masters clubs, including six overseas clubs from Britain and Spain, all competing in a packed gala programme.

It is envisaged that the Celtic Open Mas-ters could go on to become a regular event, adding to the existing Masters Swim Meet calendar in Ireland.

Masters meet at NAC a

massive swim success

WELCOME to the 2011 Dublin Sports Awards, as we mark our local sportsmen and women’s October sport-ing achievements across the capital and, indeed, across the nation.

We’re delighted to once again be able to celebrate the finest achievements in Dub-

lin sport, with some huge efforts at local levels coming to our attention in a variety of well-known, and some, less prominent, sports.

Every form of sporting achievement, at any level and in any sport, is valuable and gives an indication of the diversity of sporting commit-

ment there is around our fair city at all times of the year.

Let us know!

Let us know about your achievements in sport, so that the Gazette can tell the rest of Dublin — and give you, or your team, a chance of being one of our monthly stars.

Contact us on 01 601 0240 or [email protected] to tell us all about your suc-cesses, and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/gazettesport.

You can also check out the latest stories from Gazette-Sport at our new website, www.gazettegroup.com

STARof the

MONTHJAKE CARROLL

A YOUNG man who has

graduated through the

ranks of local soccer

to attain the heights of

a place in the League

of Ireland firmament,

Carroll was instrumental

in helping St Parts to the

Leinster Senior Cup title.

PAUL RYAN

BALLYBODEN St Enda’s

Paul Ryan has been at

the forefront of his

club’s drive for five,

thumping 2-6 against

Lucan Sarsfields in the

Dublin SHC semi-final

including 1-4 of his side’s

opening 1-5.

ALAN BROGAN

THE “other” Brogan

brother’s immense con-

tribution to Dublin’s All-

Ireland campaign in this

and every other cham-

pionship run he has been

a part of was rewarded

with a hugely deserved

Player of the Year award.

TEAMof the

MONTH

2011 DUBLIN SPORTS AWARDS - OCTOBER NOMINEES

SOUTH DUBLIN SWANS

THE South Dublin Swans,

featuring a number of the

players who annexed the

International Cup title in

Melbourne earlier in the

year won the Irish Aussie

Rules Premiership title

this month, defeating

Leeside Lions in Laois

LUCAN GOLF

LUCAN Golf CLub’s ladies

players claimed the

Miele All-Ireland Fourball

title this month in a

nail-biting finale to the

national competition at

Kilkenny GC, defeating

Faithlegg on the fifth

play-off hole.

EGAN AND FLEMING

SALMON Leap Canoe CLub

members Peter Egan

and Neil Fleming took

the Liffey Descent title

to add to their huge

achievements in claim-

ing the Irish and British

canoeing championships

in 2011.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Fingal futsal

competition a

local success ST FINIAN’S Community College, Swords, played host to the FAI co-ordinated All-Ireland Secondary School Futsal competition for first year boys.

The tournament was a great success with three schools from Swords — St Finian’s, Fingal Community College and Colaiste Choilm — and Donabate Community College competing for the title and the opportunity to represent their area at the Dublin finals.

The title went to Donabate Community College with a 3-1 win over

Fingal Community College in a competitive final.

Next up is the girls’ competition in St. Finian’s on October 26, with teams representing Balbriggan, Donabate, Rush and Swords all taking part.

The winners of these North Dublin Sections will progress to the Dublin Finals, which take place in Corduff, Blanchardstown, on November 16.

For further information on the FAI/Fingal Secondary Schools Futsal Competition contact Paul Keogh, Football in the Community Development Officer at 086-0444435 or email [email protected]


GazetteSportSport

FastSport

BALLINTEER St John’s claimed the Under-14 C camogie championship title when they edged home by the narrowest possible mar-gin.

They won out 2-4 to 3-0 against Ballybod-en St Enda’s at the 12th Lock last weekend to take home the trophy. Aoife Kelly was named Player of the Match for her contribu-tion in the game.

It was a historic day for host club, Lucan Sarsfields, meanwhile, when they annexed the U-16, 15, 14 and 13 A titles.

Meanwhile, this weekend Boden take on Oulart-the-Ballagh in the Leinster senior camogie final.

Ballinteer claim the U-14C championship

Summerfest

set for next

weekendTHE 2011 Tesco mobile SARI Sum-merfest, the largest intercultural soccer tournament in Ire-land, is set to take part this year at the Garda and Camogie Sports Grounds, in Phoenix Park on September 10 and 11 from 11am to 5pm each day.The Summerfest will also coinciude with the CONCERN kitefest, where kite flyers from around the world will dis-play their kites and give kite workshops for children.The two-day festival also includes a wide array of entertain-ment for all the family.

For more informa-tion, see www.facebook.com/sar-ireland.

Castleknock

Celtic seeking

ladies talentCASTLEKNOCK Celtic FC’s ladies and girls section are recruiting new talent to the cllub for the soccer season start-ing later this month.

If you were born in 1996 or earlier, visit the club’s website at www.castleknock-celtic.com, and pass on your name and contact details in the How To Join section provided on the site.

The club are also looking to recruit girls born in 2001/2002 to play soccer in the Dubli-Girls Soccer League.

Captain’s day: Club celebrate their 10th anniversaryA COLLECTION of captains were on hand to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of Dublin City Golf Club’s affiliation to the GUI. Patrick McMahon, Des Dignam, Tony Car-ton, Bob Ockenden, Paddy O’Brien and Ray Colgan converged at the Ballinascorney club to raise a toast to its continued success. For more information, see www.dublincity-golf.com or email [email protected].

[email protected]

FORMER St Joseph’s Boys duo Sam Byrne and Dylan Hayes played key roles as the Republic of Ireland pipped Kaza-khstan to second place in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifying round Group 4 in a section dominated by the Czech Republic.

Going into the last day in Almaty, hosts Kaza-khstan were three points behind Ireland with a goal difference deficit of ten; the home side overcame Liechtenstein 8-0, but it proved one short as John Morling’s side went down only 1-0 to the Czechs.

Byrne was the key man for Ireland on matchday one with a hat-trick in the 8-0 defeat of Liechten-stein and the margin of victory proved critical.

Ireland got the break-through on 11 min-utes through defender Ryan O’Reilly, and they remained in command.

Ireland’s first-half dom-inance yielded four more goals in the lead-up to the break. Wolves’ attacker O’Neill made no mistake on 21 minutes when put clear on goal while striker Byrne headed home a Jack Grealish cross anoth-er seven minutes.

Jonathan Leddy was clinical from the penalty

spot on 32 minutes when Grealish won the spot-kick and Kyle McFadden headed in the fourth four minutes after.

Four minutes after the break, Aston Villa wing-er Grealish grabbed a deserved goal by nodding home O’Neill’s delivery.

Ireland continued to produced openings and Byrne rattled the net with a penalty on the hour, fol-lowing a trip on O’Neill inside the area.

Seven became eight in stoppage time as Byrne notched his third from close-range to complete the scoring.

The following tie against the hosts was

always going to be tighter but victory would have been deserved given the side’s dominance.

Ireland enjoyed the vast majority of possession and scoring chances with-out showing the required clinical edge.

The host nation led at the break through Ivan Antipov’s 14th-minute opener. Incessant pres-sure from Ireland finally yielded an equaliser three minutes from time when Grealish struck home from the edge of the box.

The results put Ireland in second place of the group on four points after two games, two behind leaders Czech Republic

who beat Liechtenstein 6-0 in the other game in the pool contest.

Ireland could only be edged out for the second qualifying berth into the elite phase on goal dif-ference should the Czech Republic defeat Ireland in Tuesday’s concluding fixture.

It proved a tight-run affair in the end as the home side overcame Liechtenstein 8-0 but it proved one short as John Morling’s side went down only 1-0 to the Czechs.

Earlier in the week, the club’s Liam Traynor rep-resented Ireland’s U-16s in their friendly win over Latvia.

Joey’s duo aid Ireland

SOCCER: LOCAL PAIR ASSIST IN INTERNATIONAL VICTORY

Ireland’s Under-17s finished second in the qualifying group in Almaty, Kazakhstan with contributions from Sam Byrne and Dylan Hayes


in association with

a CLUB NOTICEBOARD

NAOMH OLAF

BALLINTEER ST JOHN’SLotto: Numbers drawn were 1, 8, 21

and 23. There was no winner.

Next week’s draw wil l be for

€3,200.

Tickets are available online at

www.ballinteerst johns.com, or

from the usual outlets.

Congratulations to the Under-14

camogie team and mentors Phil-

lip Browne, Breda Kelly and David

Gardiner on winning the Under-14

Camogie Championship in a thrill-

ing final, beating Ballyboden by the

narrowest of margins.

This completes a fantastic year

for the team, who also won the

Dublin Feile.

The minor B footballers qualified

for the championship semi-final

with a victory over Ballyboden St

Enda’s.

Table quiz in the clubhouse on

Thursday next at 8pm. A table of

four costs €40 for entry.

Follow GazetteSport on Facebook and Twitter and at www.gazettegroup.com

HUGE congratulations to our minor

footballers and their mentors on

their great away victory (0-10 to

2-07) over Naomh Fionnbarra in the

MFC C last Sunday. They are now in

the semi-finals of the championship

– full details in due course.

It was also a good weekend for

our juveniles in the games that went

ahead. Our U-13 footballers had a fine

win over Ballymun Kickhams in Divi-

sion 2. Our U-13B footballers followed

that when they secured runners-up

spot in league Division 8 with an away

victory over Whitehall Colmcilles,

while our U-11 hurlers continued the

run with a victory over Erin Go Bragh

in league Division 4.

Important f ixtures this week

include the minor hurlers in action

in the MHC D on Sunday, October 30

away to Naomh Peregines with an

11am throw-in, and our U-13 hurlers

play on Saturday away to Kevin’s in

League Division 3, with a 2pm throw-

in.

A reminder that the AGM will be

held on November 10 in the Club.

This Friday at 7.30pm, we are hold-

ing our annual fancy dress family quiz

in the bar. Tickets are €20 per family/

per table and there will be prizes for

the quiz winners, best-dressed boy,

best-dressed girl and best-dressed

family.

Tickets at €40 for the 30th anni-

versary dinner dance on November

26 are on sale now.

BALLYBODEN WANDERERS

CONGRATULATIONS to Dublin’s hurl-

ing and football All-Stars from all at

the club, in particular young hurler

of the year Liam Rushe and foot-

baller of the year, Alan Brogan. Well

deserved.

Congratulations also to the 16 new

football and hurling coaches who

successfully completed their train-

ing last weekend in the club. Good

luck with your teams in the seasons

ahead. Thanks to Niall for organising

the sessions.

U-15 boys’ training is on Tuesday

nights at 7.30pm and U-15 girls’

training is on Wednesdays at 6.30pm

at Frank Kelly Park. All new players

welcome. For more information con-

tact Niall on 086 885 7303.

Ladies training is on Mondays and

Wednesdays at 7.30pm. Contact

Darren on 0876647205.

Congratulations to the Healy

brothers who scooped our lotto

jackpot of €1,600. Numbers drawn

were 2, 7 and 13. Jackpot next week

is €500.

Wanderers’Halloween Parties will

be held on Sunday, October 30. Kids

party from 2pm to 5pm, free entry.

Adults party from 8pm to late and

tickets are €10 each. Fancy dress

prizes on the night. See club website

and Facebook for more information,

or contact Gabby on 087 244 4444.

Club quiz night will be held on Fri-

day, November 4, and the end of

season party and dinner dance will

be held on Saturday, November 26,

both in the Merry Ploughboy.

Wanderers club car stickers avail-

able to purchase this week, contact

any committee member for details,

€3 each.

The new club website is now live at

www.wanderersgaa.ie.

DUBLIN SHC SEMI-FINALBallyboden St Enda’s 6-10

Lucan Sarsfields 1-8

STEPHEN FINDLATER

[email protected]

BA L LY B ODEN S t Enda’s semi-final hoo-doo over Lucan Sarsfields continued last Wednes-day night in Parnell Park as the Firhouse Road club eased into the final with a comprehensive showing.

Indeed, had Emmett Carroll or Paul Ryan shown even more ruth-lessness in the first half, the scoreline could have been even more chasten-ing than the 2-7 to 0-2 half-time tally.

Lucan just never got any momentum together, falling to Boden for the fourth time in five seasons while it is now also four semi-final defeats in five.

Indeed, it was a miser-able night for the 12th Lock side, compounded by Padraig O’Driscoll’s stretchering off with bare-ly a quarter gone due to a dislocated knee-cap.

By then – despite the absence of talismen Stephen Hiney and Conal Keaney – Boden had already exerted their influ-ence with Mal Travers and Stephen Nolan bossing the half-back line while Ryan was getting busy on his own personal account – he ended with 2-6.

It took him scarcely 20 seconds to get that going as Conor McCormack dropped one in from the throw-in and Ryan nipped in around the square to clip home a soft goal.

Their speed of control, and the availability of run-ners at close range, made it easy for them to shift play quickly and Lucan were penned in their own 40 for much of the first phases.

Carroll was blocked out at the near post by a scampering Cronan Doo-ley at the last while David O’Connor was denied by a fine Darragh Cunning-ham save from two gilt-edged goal chances.

It was not the most

accurate of nights for Boden but they still man-aged to tack on more scores from Ryan with just Kevin O’Reilly’s free in response.

David Curtin, though, picked out McCormack for what felt like the game-breaker just before half-time and the lead was extended further when Ryan completed the third goal from Dean Curran’s pass.

Lucan rallied with a couple more O’Reilly scores and further efforts from Robert Lambert and Trevor Lee, and they had the boon of minor skipper

Chris Crummy’s major ten minutes from the end.

It reduced the margin to seven points briefly but Boden awoke from their low-key spell to crack home three more goals in the closing stages as McCormack nabbed his second as O’Connor and the influential Tim Sweeney also weighed in.

O’Tooles are the final opponents, seeking their first title since 2002, while Boden go in search of a first five in-a-row from any club in this competition in over 80 years, dating back to Garda who completed their run in 1929.

HURLING: BALLYBODEN TO FACE O’TOOLE’S IN FINAL

Ballyboden outpaced and outplayed Lucan Sarsfields in their senior hurling championship semi-final

St Enda’s reach final with ruthless display

ALL OF YOUR DUNDRUM SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 27-31 OCTOBER 27, 2011

Ga

zetteSPORT

Ballyboden’s ambitions for a quintet of titles is underlined with All-Star award for Gary Maguire

Dublin hurlers Liam Rushe, left, and Gary Maguire with their GAA GPA All-Star Hurling awards at the GAA GPA All-Star Awards 2011

STEPHEN FINDLATER

[email protected]

THE drive for five remains very much on track as Ballyboden St Enda’s aim to take down O’Toole’s next Sunday in Parnell Park in the senior A hurling championship decider.

They do so with the impetus of an additional boon — Gary Maguire’s All-Star recognition last Friday night at the National Convention Centre.

And selector John Kirwan was quick to sing Gary’s praises following an outstanding year in the Dublin jersey which yielded the National Hurling League and an All-Ireland semi-final.

“He’s an excellent leader apart from being an excellent goalkeeper,” Kirwan told the Gazette.

“He’s been playing from U-11 with the club and, certainly in his juvenile days, he was good enough to play a year ahead of his age. We weren’t sur-prised he ended up with an All-Star even though that position is very strong, with Brendan Cum-

mins and David Herity just two examples of fel-las he had to beat. It is a reflection of the form of Dublin during the year, which is great to see them improving.”

A former captain with his club side, those leader-ship qualities have been a big boost in a year when talisman like Conal Keaney, Stephen Hiney and David Sweeney have been out injured.

Cillian Moffat is another to miss much of the season but Boden appear to be hitting form at just the right time following their 6-10 to 1-8 thumping of Lucan Sarsfields in last week’s semi-final.

“We were very pleased. Maybe Lucan hit a bad day but we controlled the game from start to finish. We were expecting a bigger challenge but it didn’t manifest itself.”

Asked whether he would have preferred a bigger test to fine tune the side ahead of the final, Kirwan added: “it’s always a difficult question. It’s a semi-final and you want to win through to the final.

“How you get there, you’re not too worried

about it. Certainly, our fellas performed very well regardless of the challenge. You could say it was partly because of the hunger of our fellas that mili-tated against Lucan producing their best form on the day.”

As for the challenge of O’Toole’s, he envisages a cracking encounter after they eliminated St Brig-id’s: “We’ve had some good battles with them, a very strong team. We’re certainly expecting a huge challenge.”

It could prove an historic day for the Firhouse Road club, with victory yielding a first five in-a-row success since Garda completed their run in 1929.

Asked whether the build-up week gets any easier, Kirwan says that tunnel-vision comes firmly into play to limit any sense of the occasion overwhelm-ing the players: “Just like a player, you always get nervous before a match. Stakes are high; you always want to just win the next championship. It’s just the fact that it’s five in-a-row but otherwise we wouldn’t be mentioning it.”

Five-in-a-row gets an extra Star rating

ANSWER THE CALL: Local soccer

stars assist Ireland in Euro qualifiers P30

OCTOBER HEROESSports Awards nomina-tions announced P29

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