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TERAPROOF:User:johntynanDate:08/11/2009Time:22:50:52Edition:09/11/2009ExaminerLiveXX0911Page: 10Zone:XX2

10 Irish ExaminerMonday 09.11.2009LOCAL NEWS

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Sinn Féin councillor Toireasa Ferris and husband Patrick Kelly outside the church in Ardfert, Co Kerry, following their wedding. The daughter of TDMartin Ferris smiled as a gust of wind took hold of her veil. Picture: Domnick Walsh/Eye Focus

Decision due on Blackrock developmentby Louise Roseingrave

A PLANNING decision isdue this week on a dramatic50 million residentialdevelopment that willtransform a waterside citysuburb if it gets the greenlight.Long-running plans to re-

develop a 1.3 acre site onthe banks of the River Leeat Blackrock village have at-

tracted much interest, with atotal of 22 submissions madeduring the current citycouncil planning process.Permission for the devel-

opment is being soughtby Cork Boat Club inassociation with GrangefieldDevelopments Ltd.The development has

been significantly scaledback from the original pro-posal. First submitted in

2006, it was subsequentlywithdrawn.The current proposal pro-

vides for a mixed-usedevelopment, ranging inheight from two to fourstoreys over basement level,with a total of 28 residentialunits.The new mini neighbour-

hood will be serviced by acentre, which includes arestaurant, three shop units,

and a boardwalk area.In keeping with previous

proposals for the site, theexisting Cork Boat Clubbuilding and one existinghouse adjacent to it will bedemolished.The plan proposes

reclamation of up tohalf-an-acre of publicforeshore, as well asprivate slips and pontoons.City Manager Joe Gavin

has previously expressed hissupport for a plan thatwould include a boardwalklinking Blackrock Castle tothe harbour at Blackrock,providing a walkway thatwould eventually span theriver’s edge from the citycentre out to Rochestown.The proposal is currently

with city council plannersand is due for a final deci-sion within days.

Tourist town clamps downon ‘tacky’ advertising signs

by Donal Hickey

A CAMPAIGN has beenlaunched in Killarney toremove ugly advertisingsigns not deemed to be inkeeping with the area’sreputation as a top touristdestination.Town manager JohnBreen yesterday said about70 businesses had beencontacted about the signsand the response so far hadbeen encouraging.“We’ve outlined ourefforts to win the top prizein the Tidy Towns compe-tition and are urgingpeople to work with us,”he said. “We appreciatethe difficulties people arein due to the current eco-nomic situation, but we’re

aiming to get tacky signageremoved.”Mr Breen said some ofthe signs were “well short”of standards that should re-flect Killarney’s image as ahigh-quality destination.Killarney mayor MichaelGleeson, who raised theissue at this week’s towncouncil meeting, called forbylaws to control the plac-ing of advertising postersand display materials inpublic places.“The existing free-for-all in a town committedto neatness and tidiness isvery inappropriate,” hesaid.Mr Gleeson said peoplehad put up advertisementsin places he thought werealmost impossible to reach

and he maintained the un-controlled advertising wasa form of littering.Fianna Fáil councillorTom Doherty suggestedthat outdoor advertisingand posters should be re-stricted to specified areasof the town.Independent councillorNiall O’Callaghan pleadedwith council officials notto act in a heavy-handedmanner with businessesthat were struggling tosurvive.Killarney has comewithin a few marks of win-ning the top Tidy Townsprize in the past two yearsand some councillorswarned that excessive ad-vertising could damage thetown’s chances.

Stylish Wayne is acut above the rest

by Eoin English

A HAIR dresser whoruns a salon in apicturesque village haswon one of his industry’stop global awards.Wayne Partridge, 41,runs Wayne Lloyd Hairin Ballydehob in WestCork.And he has just wonthe Global Stylist of theYear 2009 in the shorttrend category from theOMC Prestige Club inParis.The OMC (Organisa-tion Mondiale Coif-fure/World HairdressingOrganisation) is theworld’s biggest beautyorganisation.It describes itself as thebody representing theelite of the industry, withover 60 membercountries.Wayne Lloyd Hair inthe first Irish winner ofthe Global Stylist of theYear award.The award was basedon an stunning image ofa hair style worn bymodel, Muireann Levis,shot by Dublin-basedphotographer, BrendanDuffy.Wayne designed andcut a striking Purdy-stylebob for Muireann andthe photograph wasselected by the OMCPrestige Club from over250 applicants from 40countries.Originally fromLondon, Wayne has beena hairdresser for 26 years.He has lived and workedin Ballydehob for the lasttwo years.He is also a member ofthe Irish hairdressingteam.Despite the recession,he said his salon is busierthan ever.“We are so busy we areplanning to move to abigger premises in thenew year,” he said.

Wayne Partridge, below, who was named Global Stylistof the Year based on a stunning image of a hair styleworn by model Muireann Levis, above, shot byDublin-based photographer, Brendan Duffy. Wayneruns Wayne Lloyd Hair in Ballydehob in West Cork.

FLYAWAY FERRIS

Paramedic service to be deployed early next yearby Sean O’Riordan

THE advanced paramedicservice is set to be deployedin North Cork early nextyear and then rolled out intoCork city and Kerry.HSE spokeswoman Nor-

ma Deasy revealed the newsas the first five advancedparamedics in the southernregion were about to takeup their posts in West Cork.

These specialists could savecountless lives in emergencysituations, especially in iso-lated rural areas which aremiles from major hospitals.Ms Deasy said advanced

paramedics have a GraduateDiploma in EmergencyMedical Science from UCD,which takes approximatelytwo years to complete.These are the most expe-

rienced ambulance men and

women in the country. No-body is admitted to thecourse unless they have sixor more years experienceworking in the ambulanceservice.The diploma they take is

comprised of various aca-demic and practical mod-ules. These include majoremergency management,anatomy and physiology,pharmacology, health and

safety and law, along withpractical experience inhealthcare facilities such asGP practices, operating the-atres and maternity units.The service to be provid-

ed in North Cork will beidentical to the West Corkmodel. The advancedparamedic team will offer24-hour, 365-day cover inthe region.Ms Deasy said at present

she couldn’t provide anexact start-up date for theadvanced paramedic servicein Cork city and Kerry.The West Cork service

will be officially launchedtomorrow at Bantry GeneralHospital.Details of the service will

be outlined by the HSE’s di-rector of reconfigurationProfessor John Higgins, itsregional director of opera-

tions Pat Healy and assistantchief ambulance officerMichael Norris.The advanced paramedics

will also take part in anemergency response exerciseon the hospital groundswhich will involve a simu-lated collision between a carand a cyclist.The paramedics will be

equipped with a rapid re-sponse vehicle, which will

be fully equipped with thenecessary medical equip-ment to allow to deal withemergencies of all types —from heart attacks to strokesto road traffic accidents.They are specialists in

pre-hospital emergency carewho are trained to providecare in all types of medicalemergencies.They possess a wide range

of skills which include ad-

vanced airway management,initiation of IV fluids (drips)and administration of medi-cations such as pain reliefand anti-convulsing thera-pies. These paramedics canprovide advanced life sup-port in resuscitation situa-tions and complement othercare providers such asparamedics, doctors, nursesand first responders in thecommunity.

Special 30th birthday partyplanned for naval vessel

by Sean O’Riordan

SHE’S clocked up enoughmiles to travel twice to themoon and back, carried out5,000 fishery boardings andcollected 3.5 million infines.To salute the ship’s

achievements, a special 30thbirthday party is planned forthe LÉ Aoife later thismonth.During her career she has

clocked up 525,000 nauticalmiles and has been involvedin some notable operations.In 1985, LÉ Aoife was in-

volved in the operation thatfound the flight recorder —the so-called “black box” —from the Air India disasteroff the south-west coast.The aircraft was blown up

by terrorists, with the loss of329 lives.Seven years ago, LÉ Aoife

was the search and rescueon-scene coordinator toprovide assistance to theburning Canadian subma-rine, HMCS Chicoutimi,off the north-west coast,enduring some harsh seasover a prolonged spell.Built at the Verlome Ship-

yard, Cobh, in 1979, shebecame the sixth ship of theNaval Service fleet, joiningthree ageing minesweepersfrom the UK Royal Navyand her sister ships, the LÉDeirdre and LÉ Emer.Today she is part of a fleet

of eight ships, as one of themore experienced vessels.In 1997, the vessel was

adopted by Waterford City

Council and the ship main-tains close links to the city,the port and its people.The children’s ward in

Waterford Regional Hospi-tal is the ship’s designatedcharity and the ship’s com-pany makes regular contri-butions from funds raisedthrough various events.On November 27, she

will celebrate her 30th yearin commission, duringwhich time she has detained225 vessels, mainly for fish-ery offences.Navy spokesman Lieu-

tenant Commander TerryWard said a birthday partyto mark the occasion wasplanned.“A number of special

guests will attend, includingmembers of her original

crew commanded by Com-mander Eoin McNamara,”Lt Cdr Ward said.Her current captain, Lt

Cdr Brian Dempsey, saidcommanding a naval shipwas the highlight of all navalofficers’ careers and that he

was very proud to commandLÉ Aoife.“This anniversary allows

me to acknowledge the sig-nificant contribution she hasmade to the protection ofIreland’s maritime domain,”Lt Cdr Dempsey said.

The LÉ Aoife, which has detained 225 vessels, mainly forfishery offences, over her almost 30 years in commission.

Anne Finch, Castletownbere, leaves the newly-installedDursey Island cable car. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

Swinging in to Dursey with holy water and sheep droppings

With a little helpfrom Psalm 91, DanMacCarthybraves a force-sixgale to travel inIreland’s only cablecar after its

35,000 upgrade

IT’S blowing a force-sixgale. The newly-installedcable car to Dursey Islandin the extreme south-westof Co Cork rocks back andforth on its hawser.A drop of 100 metres to

the sea below is visiblethrough the cracks in thefloor. Surely no sane personwould entrust their lives tothe safety of this small tinbox? The car swings in thehowling wind. Cable caroperator Paddy Sheehan isundaunted. He will onlystop running the cable car ifit hits force eight. Onwardthe brave.The self-locking door

clicks shut. Sturdy benches

line each side of the air-borne car. Rain lashes offthe windows. In the corner,a font of Lourdes holy wa-ter hangs from a string anda photocopy of Psalm 91 issellotaped to the wall to re-assure the terror-stricken:“God will put his angels

in charge of you, to protectyou wherever you go.”Suitably emboldened, I

take my seat and the carwobbles across the strait,moving through two pylon-like towers. This is Ire-land’s only cable car and fornovelty value alone, is wellworth the trip.Fifteen minutes later it

comes neatly to halt.

The island has been with-out a cable car for severalmonths, The islanders, allfive of them, have had tomake do with boats tomake the 500-metre cross-ing. Not as easy as itsounds, for the seas thatcrash through the soundhave been known to sinkmany a boat.After negotiations with a

company in England werecomplete, the new cable carlink was installed in Octo-ber. It came as a relief toAnne Finch of Castletown-bere, who owns a holidayhouse on the island. Shebears witness to the danger-ous seas, having recently

suffered an injury herselfwhen climbing off a boat.A bracing walk to the far

side of the island and thereit is, a force eight. Hugewaves crash off the cliffs andoff the nearby Bull Islandlighthouse, protector to thesmaller Cow and Calf is-lands.The return walk leads

past an early 19th centurysignal tower and the ruinsof three hamlets, oncehome to around 300 peo-ple.Five permanent homes

and a few holiday homesare scattered among them.Back to the cable car forthe return trip.

The wind is a mere forcesix. Reassured by the dropin the Beaufort scale, Iboard for the return jour-ney.A certain group of fleecy

white animals have preced-ed me, for the floor is nowcovered in droppings.Without any signal, the

car suddenly moves forwardand lurches back to themainland. Just two passen-gers on the return journeyand no one waiting to goback. Still, the cable car is avital link to what wouldotherwise be an isolatedcommunity. For the farmersand fishermen, bird-watch-ers, hill-walkers and day-

trippers, the island is onceagain connected. Just re-member to recite Psalm 91as you cross.

■ The Dursey cable carruns from 9am to 11am,2.30pm to 4pm and 7pm to8pm, Monday to Saturday.