MEATH ECHO June 2011

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Issue 136 - June 2011

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Legislation is on the way to protect small contractors and companies who can’t get paid for their work, according to Meath TD Dominic Hannigan, Gordan Adamson Writes.Deputy Hannigan raised the issue of contractors who have been left out of pocket by larger developers, with the Tánaiste in the Dáil recent-ly. He asked the Tánaiste and Min-ister for Trade when the Construc-tion Contracts bill will be brought before the Dáil.“The economic crash has been par-ticularly hard on smaller contrac-tors and I am aware of several small companies in Meath who have been left high and dry when the larger organisation they were working for hit financial trouble. The Construc-tion Contracts Bill will provide some protection and redress for them,” said Hannigan afterwards. In Leinster House Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore told Deputy Hannigan the Construction Contracts Bill will be brought to the Dáil before the sum-mer recess.

Pic: Deputy Dominic Hannigan.

“On behalf of companies in Meathand nationwide I will be working hard to ensure this bill gets passed as soon as possible,” Hannigan con-cluded.

Help Is On The Way For Unpaid Small Contractors

Pictured Here: Zara Phillips competing at the Tattersalls Interna-tional Horse Trials & Country Fair at Fairyhouse recently.

Fire In Ratoath

Traffic in Ratoath was brought to a standstill last week on the Fairyhouse Road when a fire broke out in a shed at the back of an abandoned house. It took two fire engines to bring the fire under control. Watch our video coverage of this on www.Tele.ie

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JohnHenderson

To advertise phone: 01 8254434 or 086 33 555 60. The Meath Echo is the best read FREE Newspaper in County Meath. Editor, Joe Doyle. Proofing, Lynsey Dreaper. URL www.meathecho.ie email: [email protected]

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Printing: 1st July 2011Advert deadline: 10am Wednesday 29th June 2011

Next Issue 4th July 2011

To advertise in the Meath Echo, call 01 8254434 or email [email protected] Meath Echo, the best read column-based newspaper in the County.

Summer Projects a distant memory

Editor Meath Echo

JOEDoyle

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When the call from the Meath Echo Corporate headquarters came through earlier today looking for my column I was delighted to be able to tell them I was holidaying in the South of France. Despite the lack of emotion detectable from the faceless bureaucrat on the other end of the line I knew he was impressed. ‘Whatever’, he mut-tered ‘just send me 750 words of the verbal diarrhoea you call humour’. But as he said this I could sense a certain amount of envy in his voice. And when he hung up the phone I could tell he did so in an admiring fashion. And when I hung up my phone I realised I hadn’t really hung up a telephone for years and neither had anybody else but I convinced myself that whatever point I was try-ing to make was still relevant. For a long time the South of France has had a sort of exotic quality. When people talked of holidaying in the South of France we pictured them driv-ing along the Cote D’Azur in

their Ferrari to where their yacht was moored in Monaco. When I, and many people talk about holidaying in the South of France now, we’re referring to getting cheap flights to the many airports now serviced by Michael O’Leary in the south-ern half of France. It must be a source of immense frustration to someone with a villa on the French Riviera when they say, ‘well, yes we have a little place in the South of France’, only to hear ‘aw deadly man, we were just there. We got flights into Car-cassonne for 20 Euros and found a campsite for a tenner a night.’It is probably similar to the dis-gust felt by the horsey set who put downs roots in the equestri-an environs of Ratoath only for the floodgates to open 10 years ago when we all arrived en mass from Finglas and beyond. ‘Aw yeah man I’ve got a horse too you know. We named it Anto after me and me mate Anto. Isn’t that right Anto’. ‘That’s bang on inananyways, Anto’. Flying on Ryanair or indeed most other short haul flights causes certain dilemmas for the nuclear family. Most of you will know that two adults and two children don’t fit into the three seats on a plane. So what usually happens is one parent sits with

the children and the other sits across the way alone. But which is better? Because I say the other sits across the way alone but this is of course untrue. So is it better to mind the kids or sit across the way and wait, playing the overweight, smelly, nutter lottery game. I know it’s statis-tically impossible but we’re all convinced we get the nutter sit-ting beside us most of the time aren’t we. And if you don’t think you get the nutter most of the time, hey guess what ...... So we sit there and attempt to put off nutters from sitting beside us. The best way to do this as you know is to try and look like a nutter yourself. Whenever I’m getting on to a plane late and I’m looking for a suitable place to sit I always try and sit beside the person who’s obviously trying to look a bit mad in a bid to keep the seat to themselves. Although I have to say this policy has of-ten backfired spectacularly. On the flight over this time as I sat alone, my wife having surrounded herself with our offspring, I spotted my nutter as soon as he stepped onto the plane. I was just going through that false secure phase when we actually think that ‘hey this might be ok, everyone seems to be walking straight by me I

might get all these seats to my-self ’. As soon as I saw his over-weight sweaty frame enter the plane all those feelings passed and I knew he was my nutter. I could see the pointyness of his elbows. They looked like he’d sharpened them especially for the journey and even before he sat down I was able to feel them poking into my ribs. He paused halfway down, looked around in a confused fashion and said something to one of the Ryanair hostesses. When I heard her say, ‘no, no you can sit in any seat’ I thought, ‘oh yes he’s mine.’ I was almost beckoning him at this stage ‘come to me’ it was like he was my penance. Penance for leaving my wife to look after the children, penance for being rude to the person selling Rya-nair credit cards at the airport. ‘Is that seat taken?’ he said, ‘no’ I said, ‘it’s just for you me and the Holy Ghost, come let’s cleanse our souls’. This almost sent him scuttling by but I’d already stood up from my aisle seat to let him in. So he squeezed in. I sat down and put on my seat belt again. A bit too tightly this time, like Silas the albino strapping that thing to his leg in the DaVinci Code. Another nutter I’m sure I’ve sat beside a couple of times.Now the thing is I use the term

nutter a bit generally here. These people aren’t really nutters, if they were genuine nutters they might even be slightly enter-taining. I’m talking about the kind of people who have the audacity to breathe audibly for the entire journey or attempt to fold the Irish Times. Now this guy was the worst kind. He was one of these guys that as soon as he sat down beside me he was extremely busy. This guy was up to his eyes, loads to do, most of it involving his pointy elbows. He had to get his bag down and decided that this was the perfect time to rearrange everything in his bag. I was expecting him to start washing his socks or do a bit of light ironing. He had things he needed to get from about his person all of which he kept in the back pocket of his trousers. Items, the retrieval of which caused him to throw his elbows about without so much as an ‘on guard’ or a ‘touche’. I did manage to have my revenge when he mentioned he had a place in the South of France and myself and the rest of the people on the Ryanair flight were able to bring him down a peg or two. This issues article may lose some of its humour in the trans-lation from my native French.

Lost In Translation On Flight 64

18th June fun-run for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin.

Last week, I was driving through Ratoath and I saw a lady standing at the bus stop wearing a head scarf. It’s been a long time since I have seen someone wearing a head scarf, indeed, my own mother always wore one. When I saw her, memories flooded back to me of a time when everything seemed so much simpler. We had long hot summers, colder winters with more snow and a new jumper was something you got when your brother out- grew his. Looking at where we are now, we need to get back to those times. We need to prioritise between what we need and what we want. When I was growing up, the tenants asso-ciation would often run bus-es from the community cen-tre to Portmarnock for the day. Lots of men and women would volunteer their time to run the summer project and for a few pence, you would have a great time watching a movie in the local commu-nity centre. Now it’s summer camps that cost a small for-tune. Let’s get back to basics. If you are unemployed or have a few hours to spare, why not volunteer your time, your skills and your exper-tise and do something you in your community this sum-mer. Ok, volunteering won’t pay the bills but will give you the sense of doing making a difference to peoples live.

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Summer Works Additions WelcomedDeputy Regina Doherty has welcomed the announcement of additions to the School Summer Works Programme 2011.Earlier this year, it was announced that the Summer Works programme fund-ing would be confined to the categories of Gas, Electrical and Mechanical works; However, with yesterday’s Jobs Initiative announcement came more positive news regarding the Programme. It was an-nounced that a further €30 million is be-ing made available to schools in Ireland to improve facilities for our children.There are four additional categories that are to be included in the Works Pro-gramme 2011, these include projects to facilitate inclusion and access for special needs pupils, toilet facilities, roof works and window projects.Doherty said, ‘This is great news for the schools in Ireland and, moreover, for the 15 schools in Meath that are to benefit from this funding.’‘There is no question that the pupils that attend the schools will benefit from this funding, whether they know it or not; but the fact that the school authorities have the discretion to put the project out to tender for local businesses to bid and ben-efit from is a really positive move.”

The Venue Theatre has just launched the 2011 Meath’s Got Tal-ent Competition. €1000 euro first prize & 2nd & 3rd prize of 500 euro plus musical instruments, electric piano’s, drum kits for best female & male performances. The contest starts on Thursday 23rd June in the Venue Theatre with the final to take place on Friday 9th September. This Talent Contest is aimed at young & old, male & fe-male, who have stars in their eyes & have a talent to sing, dance, play an instrument or whatever they feel is entertainment.A very experienced judging panel will be there to offer advice to all contestants with a Grand Final on 9th September 2011 where 10 suc-cessful finalists will take part.This event would have been im-possible to present, only for the assistance of our very generous sponsors - DBASS Chartered Ac-countants & W P O’Reilly & Asso-ciates Financial Consultants from Ashbourne & The Ratoath School of Music. The hosts for the contest will be Tommy Mangan & Niamh O Reilly, herself a singer of renown. At the launch Dermot Brennan a partner with DBASS Chartered Ac-countants stated “We are delighted to be associated with The Venue & Meath’s Got Talent.” Pat O ‘Reilly of WP O’Reilly is also very support-ive of musical talent not just from County Meath. In this difficult time for the economy those gifted with musical talent must be encouraged to perform, as the successful out-

come of music can lead to a career path of music for part time employ-ment at a time of scarce employ-ment opportunities.Victor Hugo once said “Music ex-presses that which cannot be put into words”. There is no fee to en-

ter this competition so I would en-courage as many to enter Meath’s Got Talent as possible. DBASS Chartered Accountants and W.P. O’Reilly & Associates Financial Consultants wish the contestants and our friends at the Venue Thea-

tre every success.The Venue Manager Nick Killian invites entries, closing date 10th June, Application forms are down-loadable from www.meathsgottal-ent.com or direct from The Venue Box Office @ 01 6895600.


03

By Gordon AdamsonThe bankers who helped bring about our economic crash cannot be al-lowed to evade the law, Meath TD Dominic Hannigan has stated.Speaking in Dáil Eireann recently, Deputy Hannigan said the public is “fed up” with a justice system they see “as not fit for purpose when it comes to jailing criminal bankers and developers.”In his contribution to the debate on the Criminal Justice Bill 2010 Deputy

Hannigan said there will be no im-punity for white collar criminals and this message must be conveyed to the public.“People are asking themselves why they should bear the brunt of austerity measures when rogue individuals face no consequences. Last year 500 peo-ple were jailed for not paying TV and dog licences or parking fines. Peo-ple who are only able to pay partial instalments on money they owe are being brought to court. Others who

have fallen on hard times are losing their homes. Against this backdrop they see developers with huge debts fleeing our shores. They see lengthy delays in bringing these people be-fore the courts. They see billions in taxpayers’ money being sunk into the banks who lent recklessly during the boom and created these hard times. But they see no justice when it comes to tackling rogue bankers and devel-opers,” he said.Speaking afterwards the Meath Depu-

ty said the Criminal Justice Bill 2010 includes changes to speed up inves-tigations into white collar crime in-cluding enabling Gardaí make people hand over encrypted computer files and the passwords to access them. “It is right that we strengthen our laws. People need to believe in their justice system. They need to know that it does not matter who you know, how much you earn or where you live - if you break the law you will be pur-sued,” Hannigan concluded.

www.Tele.ie

Over 500 runners from all across the North East are expected to take part in the annual Tara Dawn Run on the Hill of Tara this June to raise funds for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin. Beginning at 4:00am on Saturday 18th of June, the four kilometre “fun-run” is antici-pated to attract its largest number of par-ticipants yet as people travel from all across the North East and beyond to take part in this novel event. Now in its fifth year, The Tara Dawn Run has established itself as an event with the X-factor that attracts people to run on the seat of the High Kings of Ireland around the summer solstice each June. The event has raised over €25,000 to date for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin and is again raising money for the same cause in 2011.Local organisers James Gibbons of Skyrne, County Meath and Shay Sheridan of Dun-leer, County Louth were speaking at Sun-day’s launch. “Last year we didn’t get any sleep during the night before the event at all. From mowing the course to setting up the post-race barbeque, there is something to do all the time in those final few hours. This will be the biggest event yet and a challenge for everyone involved but when you see the result, it makes it all worthwhile. People can even come along this year dressed in their pyjamas if they want. We will take dona-tions from anyone regardless how they are dressed!” the guys continued. Johann Fox, Corporate Fundraising Man-ager with the Children’s Medical & Re-search Foundation at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin was quick to praise for the organizers but also sent out a plea to those considering taking part: “If you think about it, you are asking people to come to one of Ireland’s most historical of sites in the pitch black on a Saturday morning and run for 4km. Credit is due to everyone who will take part and all we can say is that the hospital really needs the support of every-one in the North-East on June 18th. ”This year’s funds will go towards providing evening services for teenagers attending the hospital as well as contributing to the ex-pansion of the new Cardiac unit due to be built in the second half of 2011. To register, log onto www.taradawnrun.ie.

Up Early For A 4km Run

Rogue bankers and developers won’t evade the law

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Pictured Here : At the launch of Meath’s Got Talent, Guitar Playing Sonia Mangan, also included (from left to right), Tommy Mangan, Musical Director Ratoath School of Music, Dermot Brennan, Partner, DBass Chartered Accountants and sponsor, Niamh Reilly, Host of Meath’s Got Talent, Noel Taafe, Marketing Manager DBass, Nick Killian Manager Venue Theatre Ratoath, Paul Doran Partner, DBass, Pat O’Reilly, Managing Director WP O’Reilly Financial Consultants Ashbourne, sponsor. MGT is also sponsored by the Meath Echo and Tele.ie

Meath’s Got Talent - Last Call For Entries

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DEAR DR. GOTT: I was so happy to see your colon-cock-tail ingredients in print, as I have a real problem with con-stipation. Do you have other ways to stop this annoyance?DEAR READER: The gas-trointestinal tract slows as we age, with dietary and lifestyle changes often being to blame. For example, it is often far easier to eat a frozen dinner or a prepared meal that may be nutritious but that may lack the necessary fiber to keep you regular. Or your previous, fast-er pace of daily living might be slowed, so you don’t exercise as much as you once did. Both scenarios can lead to consti-pation. Perhaps a diet that in-cludes fruits and vegetables, whole grains and unprocessed bran, an increase in the amount of fluids you consume daily and moderate exercise will get you back on track quickly. Try to consume between 20 and 35 grams of fiber each day, but

begin slowly. You may find a piece of fruit each day is suf-ficient to keep you regular. To overdo it too quickly is to turn constipation into diarrhea, and you don’t want that to happen. Be sure to avoid foods high in sugar and fat, such as ice cream and cheese, that can ag-gravate constipation.Be sure to take sufficient time when you feel the urge to def-ecate. Being rushed and think-ing you may be forced to strain will definitely have a nega-tive impact on the result. The longer you delay, the more water will be absorbed from your stool, and the harder it becomes.If your problem persists, visit your physician or a gastroen-terologist to ensure nothing else, such as a blockage, is going on. Have you had any testing along those lines? For example, noninvasive proce-dures are available to deter-mine how well food passes through the digestive system. You might choose to speak with your physician about them.

While you don’t mention any medical issues in your brief letter, you could have undi-agnosed irritable bowel syn-drome, might be overusing laxatives, have diverticulosis, be on specific medications such as those to combat hyper-tension and depression, or you may have hypothyroidism or hemorrhoids. The possibilities are almost limitless.For the record, my colon cock-tail may take up to two weeks to become fully effective, so you might wish to do it on a permanent basis. Beyond that, consider drinking 4 ounces of warm prune or apple juice dai-ly. You also might do well with a simple stool softener, fiber supplement or an osmotic to help fluids move through your colon. There are several over-the-counter products such as magnesium citrate that might do the trick. I’m sure that your local pharmacy will have a large supply from which to choose. You might even ask your pharmacist his or her opinion regarding which prod-uct might meet your needs

best.Avoid using laxatives on a regular basis. Habitual use of them can cause the colon to become dependent. As with any drug, even over-the-coun-ter ones, their use can involve increasing the dosage time after time until the colon re-lies completely on an outside source to allow it to function. Laxatives should be taken only under a physician’s su-pervision.

That Burning SensationDEAR DR. GOTT: I have re-cently been diagnosed with burning-mouth syndrome. What can you tell me about the cause and treatment? I’ve found Breneton on the Inter-net. Is this a good treatment to try?DEAR READER: Unfortu-nately, the cause of this con-dition can’t always be easily determined. It is thought to be

related to problems with taste and sensory nerves of the pe-ripheral or central nervous sys-tem; or it might be caused by a nutritional deficiency such as vitamin B, folate, iron or zinc. Direct links for the dis-order can include an oral yeast infection, anxiety, depression, some medications, an underac-tive thyroid, reflux, hormonal imbalance or irritation to the mouth. Whatever the cause, the pain can affect your lips, tongue, gums, inside of your cheeks, roof of your mouth or all of the above.Symptoms include numbness or tingling of the affected por-tion of your mouth, pain that worsens as the day progresses, a loss of taste and dry mouth. You may notice an unpleas-ant metallic taste. Whatever symptom or symptoms you have can occur every day or may come and go. This condi-tion can last for years or may disappear without treatment.Your doctor may choose to order blood tests, cultures to rule out viral/bacterial/yeast infection, allergy testing or

even an MRI or CT to rule out other possible but unidenti-fied health issues. If you suf-fer from dry mouth, a salivary test can confirm or rule out a reduction in salivary flow.Treatment will depend on your specific symptoms. Mouth-washes, specific antidepres-sants, B vitamins, capsaicin as a pain reliever or behavioral therapy might be considered. On the home front, experiment with different toothpastes, drink additional fluids, refrain from using tobacco, and avoid foods with cinnamon or mint, as well as those high in acid, such as tomatoes and orange juice. Above all, make an ef-fort to reduce the stress in your life, if appropriate. This might be accomplished with yoga or tai chi.Breneton is a combination of rheum rhabarbarum, Indian olibanum tree, torchwood tree, ginger, operculina turpethum and scammony. My guess is as good as yours whether this will work or not. My guess? No.

Fighting constipation naturallyBy Dr Gott

TimeWise fostering provides foster care for young people between the ages of 11 – 18. The young people are placed with our foster carers for a period of 9 and 12 months where TimeWise staff work directly with them to assist the young person return home to their family of origin. To become a TimeWise foster carer it is essential that:• Youhaveasparebedroomfortheyoungperson.• Yourownchildrenare11yearsofageandover.• YouliveinNorthDublinarea,Co.LouthorCo.Meath. Our foster carers receive 24 hour support, a weekly foster carer support group, comprehensive training and a generous foster carer allowance.We welcome enquiries from families, couples, and single people with or without children. If you feel you have the ability to become one of our foster carers, please give us a call now on 01 842 45 25, or log onto www.timewisefostering.ie.

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By Brendan Boylan

In every era every sport has compet-itors who raise the bar and set the standards which those who come in the generations that follow aspire to emulate. For instance, in Golf, Seve Ballesteros was a hero who inspired future generations. Follow-ers of Soccer – depending on their seniority – might nominate Bobby Charlton or George Best where the younger generation will more than likely plump for Lionel Messi. In terms of National Hunt Racing, Arkle stands out like a lighthouse. It is a mark of the class of the ani-mal, the esteem he was held in and the impact he had on the sport that over a half a century after his career ended, his name still reverberates therein.Arkle was quite simply the greatest. That fact is acknowledged across the Racing spectrum. No horse has ever held a higher Timeform rating (212) following a glittering career which amassed three Cheltenham Gold Cups, a King George, an Irish Grand National, two Hennessey Gold Cups and a Whitbread Gold Cup among a

plethora of other honours, and his head-on battles with the English contender Mill House were one of most highly anticipated Ireland v England sporting events.Meath is a county with a very rich heritage in Racing and the mighty Arkle is at the very epicentre of all that. Trained by the late, great Tom Dreaper, in Greenogue near Ash-bourne, the horse had other exten-sive local connections with local men like my great friend Nick Con-nor, as well as others like Joe Fing-las, Paddy Woods, Charlie Reilly and Liam McLoughlin, the father of current trainer Dermot McLough-lin very much associated with the legendary horse. Arkle’s memory is preserved with races in both Leopardstown and Cheltenham named in his honour, but plans are currently afoot to add a very special local flavour to the honouring of the equine great as a life sized bronze statue of the equine great is to be commissioned and erected on the main street of Ashbourne. While a statue of Arkle stands at Cheltenham racecourse, there is no fixed memorial to this

racing hero in Ireland. Ashbourne lies in the heart of the area where Arkle was bred, born, reared and trained. This area has produced the best, the very best racehorse of all time and has every right to celebrate and be proud of this fact. Now, obviously such an undertak-ing will not come to fruition cheaply and it is for that reason, the com-mittee behind the plans, chaired by trainer Jim Dreaper, son of the late Tom, are seeking the support of Racing enthusiasts, anyone who would like to contribute to celebrat-ing a home-bred champion, and those who remember his glorious achievements and would like to see them preserved as part of Ash-bourne’s history. Anyone wishing to donate to this novel and most worthy cause can do so at the AIB bank in Ashbourne, to the Arkle Memorial Statue Fund, Account Number 36332183, Sort Code 92-23-96 (and don’t forget to include your name) or contact the committee secretary Lynsey Dreap-er on 087-1504022 or visit www.arklememorial.com for further in-formation.

Arkle All The Way

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Franco DeBonis

A while ago I wrote an article on the difference between at-traction marketing and pursuit marketing (read it at: http://alinkto.me/jxc). A really good example of a company that does attraction marketing to perfection is “Red Bull”.When you watch a Red Bull ad on TV, they don’t push the product down your throat (pardon the pun), but rather tell a witty story that always ends with the person flying away to their tagline “Red Bull Gives You Wiiings”. But that kind of advertising, implemented in a vacuum, would be disastrous. So why

does it work? It comes down to 2 reasons: Saturation and Consistency.

Saturation:There aren’t many com-petitive sports or adrenaline-pumped sports people that Red Bull doesn’t sponsor. You would also be hard-pressed to find an exciting event that Red Bull doesn’t sponsor or at least participate in. From For-mula 1 racing to Air Racing and Snow Boarding to Beach Volleyball, Red Bull are there. They even sponsor individu-als like Basejumper Felix Baumgartner and the Jet-man! This saturation means that adrenaline junkies and high-energy individuals (Red Bull’s target market) literally can’t move without seeing Red Bull’s brand.

Consistency: Red Bull have been market-ing their drinks the same way for almost two decades. In

“marketing years” that’s like one hundred years! OK, I am joking, but the reality is that consistency in marketing de-livers the very best results be-cause every time you change, whether it’s a product name, messaging or even a colour or font, you fragment the effec-tiveness of everything that has gone before and possibly even have to start from scratch building up your brand recog-nition.Just look at how much was invested in making us think of “Olay” rather than “Ulay” or “Cushelle” instead of “Charmin”.

How Does This Apply To Small Businesses?So you’re probably think-ing “that’s all fine, but I run a small accountancy business/estate agents/hair salon in a small town. How does this

apply to me?”Red Bull’s budgets may be bigger, but they also have to think globally. In other words you CAN achieve the same things if you just think about your specific catchment area.An example of this is a local accountancy business (they are our accountants as it hap-pens). Almost everywhere I go locally and whatever events are happening, I see their brand. They have trail-ers with witty slogans and eye-catching colours, they sponsor local groups and events and they get involved in local initiatives and busi-ness groups. They even run breakfast meetings after every budget. This all builds up to a high level of brand recog-nition and builds trust and loyalty before a potential cus-tomer ever contacts them. The results? They are a vi-brant and growing company even during the harshest of economic times.There is very little to stop any

SME business owner enjoy-ing the same success. Just get involved in your local com-munity!By the way, if you want to know who the accountants are, just give me a call and I’ll give you their details.

Franco De Bonis has more than two decades of experi-ence in sales and marketing promotion and was previously the global marketing man-ager for a major international technology company before setting up The DG Group in January 2007.The DG Group is based in Dunshaughlin and is dedicat-ed to delivering all the mar-keting solutions any company may require, from websites to leaflets and brochures.Contact: Franco De BonisTel: 01 824 1100email: [email protected]: www.thedggroup.eu

Attraction Marketing For Small Businesses www.Tele.ie

We’ve all seen the expensive ad campaigns promoting the ben-efits of one limescale removal product over another. Irish home owners spend hours of their all too precious time (and money) scrubbing limescale scum from their shower units, toilets, even their sinks on a weekly basis. “The worst thing about cleaning limescale scum is that you know in a weeks’ time it’ll be back and you’ll have to go through that same laborious cleaning routine all over again. It’s a lifelong sen-tence of back breaking, unappre-ciated work for some home own-ers” writes Oliver Ginty, director of EW Technologies. Over time Limescale build-up will causes appliances like hot water cylinders, showers, ket-tles, washing machines and dish-washers to break down costing the poor home owner a fortune to repair or replace. “Some of our customer were replacing shower units and washing machines every 2 years” writes Oliver. The limescale was even irritat-ing adults and children that had dry skin disorders “Not only was this costing them €400+ per year, they were also spending another €300+ per year on products such as skin cream limescale remov-ers, toilet cleaners, detergents, and toxic chemical cleaning products which are extremely expensive and harmful to the environment. That’s over €700+ per year the average family are

spending because of the lime-scale problems in their homes. But there is an easier way of re-moving limescale in your home FOREVER.For almost a decade now EW Technologies customers have ex-perienced the fantastic benefits of 100% limescale free water. And how do they do this? It’s simple really – they’ve installed a EWT Water Softener in their home. According to the MARCH 2011 Water Quality Research Founda-tion study Water Softeners: • Can Increase Efficiency of wa-ter heaters such as hot water cyl-inders, washing machines and shower units by up to 24% - that’s a €300 - €600 SAVINGS per year for the average Irish household.• Can SAVE 70% on washing de-tergent, shampoos and cleaning products.• Are 100 times more effective at stain removal than increasing temperature or increasing deter-gent dose.• Are 6 times more effective at reducing spotting and reduces filming on delph and glasses by half.EWT water softeners Remove 100% limescale scum around shower doors and taps making cleaning easy. The even stops Shower heads washing machines and Kettles from clogging up. “What most people also don’t realise is that the EWT water softener breaks down lime-scale build up in existing appli-

ances from the moment they’re installed”, states Oliver Ginty. “Your hot water cylinder, shower unit, even your washing machine will be completely lime free within a few weeks and almost as good as new. All the disgusting limescale scum you’ve seen on your shower doors and taps will be a thing of the past”. Don’t just take our word for it, logon to our website www.ewtechnologies.ie and see for yourself what our customers in YOUR AREA say about our systems.So if you want to continue your life time sentence of cleaning li-mescale scum from your home and paying a fortune in the pro-cess then please do so. It’s a Free world.

HOWEVER if, you like our 10,000 customers across Ireland, you want to remove 100% of li-mescale scum in your home, and save hundreds per year on deter-gents, cleaning products and ap-pliance costs call EWT now on 1850 39 28 37 and ask about our fantastic half price water softener offer. But hurry this extra bonus offer ends 5pm JUNE 28th so

CALL NOW. For more informa-tion on EWT Water Softeners and water treatment systems see our full page advert on page 5 of this newspaper, local on 1850 39 28 37 or visit www.ewtechnolo-gies.ie

Limescale, A Problem Which Can Be Solvedadvertiorial

Just north of Ashbourne you will find the Ashbourne Business Park and there you will find one of Meath’s finest kitchen and fitted bedroom furniture manufacturers, Oakleaf kitchens. Established in 2002, Oakleaf Kitch-ens have prided themselves on only providing the highest quality of kitchens to their customers. “When we opened out company in 2002, we promised that we would source only Irish wood and mate-rials for the manufacturing of our kitchens”, Brian Murphy, Co-Owner of Oakleaf Kitchen’s said. “And nine years on, we have kept our promise. By us only using Irish sourced ma-terial, we help keep other people in Ireland in employment”. Stephen McDonald, co-owner ex-plained, “We know by using Irish products that we can hold our hands up and say that our kitchens are 100% Irish made”. Oakleaf moved to Ashbourne two years ago from their previous prem-ises on the old N2. “Our old prem-

ises were fine for the time that we were there”, said Brian, “but we needed to modernise our equipment and the old premises were just too small. In the business park now, we have ample room and have pur-chased some of the latest equipment on the market today to manufacture our kitchens. This ensures that our customers are getting kitchens made only to the highest quality & stand-ards”. Stephen went on to explain about customer satisfaction. “Customer satisfaction is paramount with any business to survive. However, we have found that some companies would often ignore their customers once the kitchen was supplied and fitted. We would often get calls from people requesting us to fix poor and shoddy workmanship done by other so-called tradesman. This is not ac-ceptable. We take pride in our work and in the unlikely event that any of our fitted kitchens need additional attention, our aftersales service is second to none”.

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Each year, millions of people limp into doctors’ offices and emergency rooms with knee pain. Often, the pain is the result of an injury such as a ruptured ligament or torn car-tilage. But certain medical conditions can also bring you to your knees, including arthri-tis, gout and infections.Depending on the type and severity of damage, knee pain can be a minor annoyance, causing an occasional twinge when you kneel down or ex-ercise strenuously. Or it can lead to severe discomfort and disability.Many minor knee problems re-spond well to self-care meas-ures. More serious injuries, such as a ruptured ligament or tendon, may require surgicalrepair. But knee surgery can often be performed with a pro-

cedure that uses a few small incisions rather than a single large one. Because there’s less tissue disruption than with tra-ditional surgery, you’re likely to heal more quickly and com-fortably.

Lets examine some of the most common conditions that affect the knee ?What is chondromalacia?

Chondromalacia patella is a common cause of kneecap pain or anterior knee pain. Of-ten called “Runner’s Knee,” this condition often affects young, otherwise healthy ath-letes. Chondromalacia is due to an irritation of the undersurface of the kneecap.The undersurface of the knee-cap, or patella, is covered with a layer of smooth cartilage. This cartilage normally glides effortlessly across the knee during bending of the joint. However, in some individu-als, the kneecap tends to rub against one side of the knee joint, and the cartilage surfacebecome irritated, and knee pain is the result.

What happens to the carti-lage with chondromalacia?Chondromalacia is due to changes of the deepest layers of cartilage, causing blistering of the surface cartilage. The pattern of cartilage damage seen with chondromalacia is distinct from the degeneration seen in arthritis, and the dam-age from chondromalacia is thought to be capable of repair, unlike that seen with arthritis. Who gets chondromalacia?Chondromalacia is interesting in that it often strikes young, otherwise healthy, athletic in-dividuals. Women are more commonly affected withchondromalacia. Exactly why this is the case is unknown, but it is thought to have to do with anatomical differences between men and women, in which women experience in-creased lateral forces on the patella. Chondromalacia is irritation under the kneecap (patella)What is the treatment for chondromalacia?The treatment of chondroma-lacia remains controversial, but most individuals can un-dergo effective treatment by resting the knee and adhering to a proper physical therapy

program. Allowing the inflam-mation of chondromalacia to settle is the first step of treat-ment. Avoiding painful ac-tivities that irritate the knee for several weeks, followed by a gradual return to activ-ity is important. In this time, cross-training activities, such as swimming, can allow an athlete to maintain their fit-ness while resting the knee. The next step in treatment is a physical therapy program that should emphasize strength-ening and flexibility of the quadriceps and hamstring muscle groups. Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication is also helpful to minimize the pain associated

with chondromalacia.Treatment with surgery is declining in popularity for two reasons: good outcomes without surgery, and the small number of patients who actu-ally benefit from surgical treat-ment. Aidan forde Bsc ph.th miaptMore information on Forde-

clinic go to web:www.forde-clinic.comFor and appointment call Littlepace, Medical Centre, Clonee on 8225630 OrJackie Skelly Fitness Ash-bourne on 8352992 or mobile: 087 6032911Official Therapist to Ratoath Harps, Ashbourne United, Clonee United, Kilbride GAA.

Physical Thearpist

Aidan Forde

KNEE PAIN

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Happy Valentine’s DayAll in all this meal, which was served

with efficiency and professionalism,

was of a quality I’d only before en-

countered in Singapore. It wasn’t

just the lack of culinary cliches - like

shredded duck with plum sauce - it

was novel, skilful and very sophisti-

cated cuisine. Finding such authen-

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Happy Valentine’s DayAll in all this meal, which was served

with efficiency and professionalism,

was of a quality I’d only before en-

countered in Singapore. It wasn’t

just the lack of culinary cliches - like

shredded duck with plum sauce - it

was novel, skilful and very sophisti-

cated cuisine. Finding such authen-

tic and excellent Chinese food in

Ireland would be remarkable in it-

self, but finding it outside the capital

made was all the more of a surprise.

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Live Music From 7.30pm on Valentine’s DayFollowing an update of the unauthorised de-

velopments along the N2 to the Dunshaugh-

lin Area Council, Cllr. Regina Doherty has

told the Meath Echo that it is time for Meath

County Council to get serious with anybody

in breach of the Planning and Developemnt

Act, 2000. “There are a large number of unauthorised

developments operating all along the N2,”

Doherty siad, “some of which have been

there for seven years or more. Whilst I ap-

preciate that there is a legal process to be fol-

lowed there are some developments where

we have not even managed to serve a notice

on yet, even though they are there for more

than 3 years. “This sends out completely the wrong mes-

sage to all the law-abiding people who apply

for planning in the correct manner, some of

which find it extremely difficult to secure

planning even on their own land.”Doherty stated that even though there is

no planning permission for some of these,

Meath County Council are actually collect-

ing Commercial Rates from some of these

developments. “I am putting down a Notice

of Question to the Manager for Junes Council

Meeting to seek clarification on this matter. It

would beggar belief that we would be collect-

ing rates from unauthorised developments,

thus giving them validity whilst pursuing

then through the courts.” Doherty concluded.

Council Collect Rates From Illegal Developments

Mary Wallace TD has, over the past 12 months, expressed very serious concern about the fact that there remains vacant Local Government offices in Ashbourne funded by the Irish taxpayer, while Meath County Council continue to rent offices from the private sector in Na-van. Speaking to the Meath Echo, Deputy Wallace siad, “This makes absolutely no sense to me what-so-ever, in the present financial circumstances that we continue to fund renting accommoda-tion from the private sector while we have high class accommodation in the County funded by the taxpayer lying idle in Ashbourne”. Meath County Council, last week re-

sponded to Deputy Wallace, concerns with confirmation that plans are now well advanced in the process of devel-oping the Ashbourne Civic Offices/Li-brary as an Adult Learning Centre via a partnership arrangement with FAS and the Library Services. The County Manager has also con-

firmed to Deputy Wallace that addi-tional facilities for community groups will be identified once the space and IT requirements of the Library Service and

FAS are catered for in the Ashbourne Offices. The development of the Adult Learning

Centre will involve alterations to the in-ternal layout of the offices with connec-tions to the Ashbourne Library at first floor level. Two very positive meetings have been

held between MCC and FAS officials over the last three to four weeks and the last meeting was facilitated by an architect. A preliminary report from the architect is expected at the end of this week which will identify modifications and associated costs. Once revised lay-outs are agreed it will then be necessary to carry out the alterations and to put in places an interagency agreement for the operation and maintenance of the cen-tre. “I am delighted with the plans for these high quality government offices in Ash-bourne and the Adult Learning Cen-tre when fully developed will provide improved interagency public service facilities to Ashbourne citizens”, said Wallace. “These developments are important, as

we are determined in Ashbourne to look ahead positively and my substantial

complaint with Meath County Council will be resolved with the honouring of this commitment in September of this year.”Wallace said that she was very annoyed with Meath County Council for allow-ing these offices to “virtually close to the public” and “I was simply not in a

position to tolerate the neglect and waste of such a fine facility in our town,” she concluded. It is envisaged that the proposed centre

will be operational in September 2010 subject to concluding agreements. FAS are fully committed to the project.

Ashbourne Adult Learning Centre Planned For September 2010By Gordon Adamson

It is scientific fact that you must create a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1lb of real weight. Now if you stop and think about that figure it can transform your un-derstanding of and achievement in weight loss for a number of reasons. To lose 2lbs a week would re-quire a deficit of 7,000 calories and 3 lbs a week a deficit of 10,500 calories. Now consider that the average person will burn about 500 calories in a 1 hour brisk aerobic workout. If you were to do this 4 times (a realistic amount for most peo-ple), that would be 2,000 calo-ries per week. Now add to this the savings you can make from food. For most people the recommended and realistic amount is to cut back by 500 calories a day giving you

3500 calories a week. To cut back more than this is difficult to maintain and rigidly imple-ment and can lead to hunger and cravings. Now put the exer-cise and food together and you have 5500 calories per week or just over 1.5 lbs of weight loss. From all this I hope you can see that to lose 1.5lbs a week consistently week in week out is actually a great achievement and quiet a difficult thing to do. You have to be good with your food every day and you have to stick to the 4 aerobic sessions every week – all easier said than done. It also does not allow for the odd slip up and break out or social events like parties and weddings and certainly does not allow for alcohol consump-tion which at 200 calories a pint and 150 calories large glass of wine will quickly eat into these reserves. These figures will tell you that the margins are tight and a few small breakouts here and there can really ‘eat’ into deficit and so your results!! It should also be clear from this

that you cannot lose weight without exercise. If you were to take the contribution of ex-ercise away then you would be totally reliant on your food and the margin for error gets small-er and smaller. Enter the critical missing key to weight loss, the most important key of all – your metabolism! This is the key that dramatically changes weight loss. This is the key that greatly stacks the odds in your favour. This is the key that makes weight loss easier and far better. It makes stunning results like 3 or 3.5lbs a week possible. It helps you lose weight from the right places and not the wrong places. It makes sure you get stronger and healthier as you lose weight. But that’s for the next Issue! If you would like more informa-tion or would like to book a free consultation call Adrian @086 259 8867 or visit www.leanery-ou.ie offer this month is €30 off 6 & 10 week monitored plans. And one week free .

It Takes a Deficit of 3500 Calories to Lose 1lb of Weight

Ask Dr. Gott:Foot problem makes walking painful

The Meath Echo 27Christmas Issue 86

echohealth

Dear Dr. Gott: I have two foot-related issues. I know that you are not a podia-

trist but hope you can help any-way, since I reserve doctor visits for physicals and severe illness.

First, my daughter has flat feet and regularly suffers from leg pains that her doctor says are due to her flat feet and overac-tivity. She is only 5, and I worry that this is something she will have to suffer with for the rest of her life. Is there anything I can do to help her? I also worry that this will only worsen, as she is estimated to be nearly 6 feet tall when she is done growing.

Second, I have high-arched feet. I have recently developed a heel spur on one foot that over the course of about eight months caused worsening pain. It no longer aches the way it did, but it is still painful to stand on it after sleeping at night. The stiffness and feeling of swelling usually disappears within about 30 to 60 minutes. What do you recommend?

Dear Reader: You are correct that I am not a doctor who spe-

By Peter H. Gott, M.D.

cializes in foot disorders. I can, however, offer you some general advice.

In the simplest terms, the feet are made of four regions, the toes, ball, arch and heel. The toes aid balance, the ball and heel are the primary walking surfaces, and the arch is like a spring that connects the two sur-faces. As humans walk, the heel makes contact first, followed by the ball and toes. The arch cushions the impact by flatting slightly to absorb the weight. It returns to normal when the weight has been removed.

Flat feet refers to feet that flatten too much during normal walking or standing. They tend to roll inward, which strains the tissue on the bottom of the foot. Essentially, the arch compresses too much. This can lead to heel pain, bunions and hammertoes. It can also cause shin splints in runners and ankle swelling and pain in more sedentary people.

Treatment for adults with flat feet generally involves shoe inserts that create an arch. I am unsure whether these are avail-able in children’s sizes. Speak with her pediatrician about possible orthotics or a referral to a podiatrist or orthopedic specialist.

In my experience, high arches are not as common as are flat feet. In your case, the arch isn’t

as flexible as it should be and doesn’t absorb the shock of walking correctly. Essentially, your feet are the opposite of your daughter’s. High arches tend to cause the foot to roll outward, putting pressure on the outer ball, heel and big toe of your feet. The condition can also cause heel pain, sprains and inflammation of the tendons of the ankle, stress fractures on the outer part of the foot and pain and calluses.

Treatment generally consists of gel inserts for shoes, which act as artificial shock absorbers; avoiding running and walking on hard surfaces (use grass or dirt surfaces instead); and wear-ing high-topped shoes with extra cushioning.

Both flat feet and high arches will benefit from regular stretch-ing and strengthening exercises of the calf and foot. For severe or persistent pain, a podiatrist is the best option.

Your weight-loss success depends on your readi-ness to take on the chal-

lenge. These questions can help you judge whether now is the best time to start your weight-loss program.• Are you motivated to make

long-term lifestyle changes that require eating healthy foods and exercising more? Be honest. Knowing you need to make changes in your life and feeling up to the challenge are two different things.

• Do you currently have dis-tractions in your life that may prevent you from com-mitting to your weight-loss program? You may set your-self up for failure if you’re dis-tracted by other major events in your life, such as marital problems, job stress, illness or financial worries. Give your life a chance to calm down be-fore you start.

• Do you truly believe that slow-er is better? Losing weight at a relatively slow pace has proved safe, healthy and effec-tive over the long term. You should aim for a weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week.

• Are you realistic about your weight-loss goal? Remem-ber, losing as little as 10 to 20 pounds can improve your health if you’re overweight or obese. Ask your doctor how much weight you can safely lose.

• Do you have family and friends to support your weight-loss efforts? It certainly helps to have someone in your corner. If you don’t have someone you can rely on, consider joining a weight-loss support group.

• Do you believe that you can change your eating habits? Sounds easy to do in theory, but in practice, it’s often dif-ficult. It’s hard to cast aside established behaviors.

• Are you willing to become more physically active? In-creasing your level of physical activity is essential to losing weight and keeping it off.

• Do you have time to keep re-cords of your food intake and physical activity? Keeping records increases your chance of success. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how helpful it is to track your progress.

• Are you willing to look at past successes and failures in weight loss and other areas of your life? Learn from the past about what motivates you. Keep working to resolve barriers that might prevent success.

• Do you view a healthy-weight program as a positive expe-rience? Lose weight because you want to and not because you think it’s expected by oth-ers.

• Have you resolved any eating disorders or other emotional issues that make it difficult for you to achieve a healthy weight? If you have a ten-dency to binge, purge, starve or overexert when you exer-cise, or if you’re depressed or anxious, you may need profes-sional help.

• Do you believe that a healthy weight is a lifelong commit-ment? Achieving and main-taining a healthy weight is a lifelong process. There’s no going back to your old behav-iors. Are you ready to make a permanent change? If you answered yes to all of

these questions, you’re ready to make the lifestyle changes neces-

sary for permanent weight loss.If you answered no to one

or more of these questions, you may not be ready. And that’s OK. Explore what’s holding you back and face those obstacles. In some cases it may be a simple matter of timing. For instance, you may need to resolve other problems in your life. In other cases, you may need to work on related issues - such as your feel-ings toward weight loss or your willingness to commit to perma-nent changes.

You may be able to make these changes alone, or you may feel you need additional help. Educating yourself about the process of successful weight loss and maintenance is a start. For example, learn more about the dietary changes necessary for losing weight. See a dietitian or enroll in a behavioral-based program - a program that can help you change the behaviors that can interfere with weight loss, such as eating when you’re stressed or bored.

If you’re ready for weight loss but fear you’ll become discour-aged quickly, think toward the future. As you become more physically active and make di-etary changes, you’ll feel better and have more energy. And rath-er than thinking of weight loss as a short-term drudgery, view it as an enjoyable lifestyle change that persists indefinitely.

If you would like more informa-tion on a weight loss programme, please see advert or call Adrian on 086 2598867 or visit www.leaneryou.ie

Adrian Deane Writes

Weight-loss tip: First, make sure you’re readyAsk yourself these questions to see if you’re ready to

start a weight-loss program.

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Local Labour party Council-lor Niamh McGowan has wel-comed Meath County Coun-cil’s latest plans to develop the library and vacant council offices in Ashbourne. The of-fices have been closed for over a year when cutbacks in staff and funding made it impos-sible to provide a full range of

services from the offices. The new proposals will enhance the facilities available to com-munity groups through the provision of additional meet-ing rooms and performance spaces while providing gallery and cultural experiences on a year round basis.

Councillor McGowan said “I am delighted to see the latest proposal which will ensure that the facility is open once again for public use and par-ticularly because it will allow community groups access to facilities which could not be accommodated before.” Councillor McGowan had pre-viously resisted the removal of counter services from Ash-bourne but accepted its inevi-tability when it became impos-sible to maintain staffing levels. “Ashbourne residents deserve to have their needs met and if we cannot provide counter services then the opportunity to have a lively dynamic space which meets their cultural and community needs will go a long way to filling that gap. I look forward to the early com-mencement of the works and the re-opening of the newly enhanced facility” announced Councillor McGowan.

Development proposals for Council offices in Ashbourne

Ratoath Gets Cleaning

Ratoath Tidy Towns Com-mittee, pictured above, were presented last week with their SuperValu Tidy Towns Committee Starter Pack by SuperValu Ratoath’s Manager Derek Gavin. The packs included digging fork, spades, gar-dening gloves, refuse sacks, litter pickers and seeds. SuperValu has sponsored the National Tidy Towns Competition since 1992. The Ratoath Tidy Towns committee meet on the second Tuesday of every month at the SuperValu carpark at 7.30pm and the third Saturday of the month at 10am. Anyone interested in finding out more or lean-ding a hand are very wel-come to attend.

Changes to

back to school

allowance scheme

The addition of an extra €4.6 million to this year’s back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme has been welcomed by local TD Domi-nic Hannigan.

The Meath TD wants to inform parents and guardians in the county about changes to the scheme which will be intro-duced this year.

“The start of the new school year can be particularly diffi-cult time on household budg-ets. The Government is com-mitted to helping families who are under pressure financially. This is why we have increased the funding for the back to school allowance from €77.4 million last year to €82 million in 2011,” said Hannigan.

The rates for this year’s back to school allowance scheme are

€200 for children up to age 11 and €350 for children aged 12 and over.

Deputy Hannigan said changes in the operation of the scheme this year mean that application forms are no longer required.

“Allowance entitlements will be fully automated. Customers will simply receive a letter from the Department of Social Pro-tection in mid-June telling them when and how their payment will be made. Families who have not re-ceived an automated pay-ment will be required to complete an application form and these will be available from 30th June”, he said.

Call 01 [email protected] www.Tele.ie

Ratoath/Rathbeggan Community Games

Ratoath College Graduation



Ratoath School Centenary Celebrations

Ratoath School Centenary Celebrations

You can watch our video coverage of the Graduation and Centenary on www.tele.ie




Congratulations to Liz Doherty from Tudor Grove, the latest winner in the Ashbourne Credit Union car draw. Liz is seen here receiving the keys for her brand new Toyota Yaris (supplied by Tadg Riordan Motors) from Mary Prior, Marketing Committee. Also in the picture is Ann Mulligan, Credit Union Manager. Many years of happy motoring.

Le Crunch Nature Hero winner Toby Clarke Carr, from Rathoath Junior N S with Maurice Coffey Asst Manager, Claire Coleman Le Crunch, Philip Osman Fruit and Veg Manager and Leila Clarke Carr at Dunnes Stores, Ashbourne Mullingar. Photo Molloy Photography.

Call 01 [email protected] 13www.Tele.ieAshbourne Credit Union Car Draw Winner.


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WHAT WILL BEE

BY BEE FLANAGAN

How would you like to wake up every morning feeling happy, fulfilled and ready for the day ahead? Would you like to feel positive and enthu-siastic on a daily basis? This is something that you can real-istically achieve over a quick period by looking at bringing about some changes in your life. It is possible to make many changes in several areas of your life however chang-ing your thought process first, will set you up for success. The power of your thought is enormous and having positive thoughts as often as you can enhances this power, tenfold. When you think positively on a regular basis you will begin to feel happier in your day to day life. The thoughts you have determine the real-ity you live. The thoughts you had yesterday brought about the reality you are experienc-ing today and your thoughts from today will determine your reality tomorrow. When you become aware of how your thoughts become things, you will learn to think huge powerful thoughts which will then become your reality. It can be great fun when you see the manifestation of your thoughts! Think big amaz-ing and wonderful thoughts and that is exactly what you will bring about. It may be overwhelming to face change in some areas of your life as life can bring with it many challenges and lessons. Re-member you can change your thoughts or your actions and not someone else’s thoughts or actions. Be the change you want to see in the world, in your reality, one thought at a time. Life is filled with lessons on a constant basis however it is not what happens that matters but how you react to what happens which actually brings about the result. Think before you speak, think before you react. By choosing the correct thought process you

will learn to react in a more positively inquisitive way so as to become aware of the les-son behind the situation. This system is simple. When you have a negative or challenging thought change it to a positive thought. Making the deci-sion to do this as often as you can you will see the benefits very quickly almost instantly. What you think about, you will bring about. Just because this process is simple that doesn’t necessarily mean it is easy- but it is simple. Become aware of your thoughts and how they determine the out-come of your situations on a daily basis and throughout life. Hear yourself think, what are your thoughts and what why are you thinking. Look at how your thoughts are as-sociated with different situa-tions in several areas of your life. Do other people deter-mine your thoughts? Do you change your thought process depending on the company you are in? If you are with someone upbeat and happy what are your thoughts? How do you feel? If you are with someone challenging, some-one who is draining your en-ergy what are your thoughts? How do these thoughts make you feel? Can you tell the dif-ference? This, I believe should determine how you spend your time and with whom you spend it. Becoming aware of your thoughts in different situations and with different people you encounter both professionally and personally, will enable you to understand the connection between your thoughts and your reality. What you think about you will bring about so why not bring about a wonderful fabu-lous reality!If you would like to discuss anything written in this ar-ticle please either call me on 086-8094924 or email me on [email protected] you are interested in Life or Business Coaching please give me call. I also can give you guidance and structure in your life through a Per-sonal Life Direction Read-ing through Numerology. Check out my website www.whatwillbewithbee.ieWhy not bring the workshop to your home or your office. I will bring the workshop to you. This is a great alternative

to a night in with your friends or a quirky coffee morning. These workshops cost €20 per person and the minimum at-

tendance is 8 people and there is now limit on how many can attend. Would you like your teenag-

ers to attend one of my work-shops over the summer? My new workshop “The Secret To Teen Power” is an introduc-

tion into The Law Of Attrac-tion and how important it is to have this thought process from a young age.

The Secret To A Successful Life

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Main StreetRatoath - Co. Meath

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€2,000 in prizemoney

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Unfortunately when chess is in the media it’s often for the wrong reasons. But at the same time, the stories are generally amusing and bad publicity is better than no pub-licity. The French chess federation announced recently that it had suspended three of its prominent members. They were accused of ‘organized cheating, serious breach of sport ethics and undermining the image of the national Olympic team’. The players were grandmas-ter Feller, grandmaster Hauchard and master Marzolo.Feller was one of the members of the French team and won a gold medal at the 2010 Olympiad. Dur-

ing the tournament suspicions were raised about Feller’s games as they were flawless. Most of the moves he played were the first choice of the strongest chess en-gines. This was not enough to take action as grandmasters obviously do have the ability to find strong moves. Also Feller was always sit-ting at his board, didn’t have a mobile phone with him and didn’t wear a cap which could hide elec-tronic devices.Later it became clear how Feller found all these strong moves. At the start of one of the rounds Marzolo accidently left his mo-bile phone in the room of Joanna Pomian, the vice-president of the French chess federation. She read one of the text messages that came in from Hauchard who was the captain of the French team. The message read: ‘Hurry up … send moves!’ Pomian then discovered that Marzolo had sent hundreds of text messages to Hauchard, most of them during Feller’s games. All these messages contained a code of 10 digits, like a telephone number.The key to the code was found.

The important digits were three to eight. Three and four indicated the move number in the game. Five and six the coordinates of the square of the piece that had to be played and seven and eight the des-tination square. Every match at the Olympiad was contested by eight players and the letters a to h and numbers 1 to 8 were given to each player, like the coordinates on the chessboard. So the player on the first board for France was a and 1 and his opponent h and 8.The system was simple. Marzolo, sitting behind a computer, sent coded text messages to Hauchard who was present in the playing hall. Then Hauchard indicated the move to Feller by pausing behind the back of certain players, repre-senting a letter and a number. Thus Feller knew which move to make.The text messages were not per-missible as evidence. Still the French federa-tion decided to punish the three collabora-tors. Marzolo was sus-pended for five years, Hauchard won’t be al-

lowed to be team captain for the rest of his life and Feller is suspended for three years, followed by two years of vol-unteer work for the federa-tion.Cheating accusations and incidents are nothing new. In 2006, two people were accused of cheating at the World Open, the biggest year-ly tournament in the United States. A year later, a Dutch player was banned for three years for using PocketFritz, a hand-held version of a popu-lar computer program. In December 2006, an In-dian player was caught with a receiver in his cap and was banned from playing in In-dia for 10 years. The picture shows Sébastien Feller.


By Rick Goetzee

(Diagram # 1)

White wins with a Queen sacrifice, breaking down the defence around the black King. 1.Qd3xh7+ Kg8xh7 2.Nh4-f5+ Now the Rook on h1 gives check to the King; we call this a discovered check. 2…Kh7-g8 3.Rg1xg7 mate. Or 2…Bg7-h6 3.Rh1xh6 mate.

(Diagram # 2)

The second diagram is the new puzzle. White plays and wins. Please mail your suggestions to [email protected]

Puzzles

Scribble Box

22

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Ratoath

Earlybird SpecialAppetizer + Main Course + Ice Cream (or Tea or Coffee)

ONLY €15Choose From A La Carte Menu

Only €4 extra for Fillet Beef ( Main Course )Only €6 extra for Fillet Fish ( Main Course ) Rice or Chips Are Included.

Sunday Lunch Special Main Course + Vanilla Ice Cream

ONLY €10Add A Starter For Only €3

Now Booking For Communions, Comfirmations & Mother’s Day Join us Over This St.Patrick’s FestivalWishing You A Great St.Patrick’s Day.

Your Party Destination, Great Food, Brilliant Athmosphere and Afterwards Retire To Our Amazing Karaoke Room

For A Night to Remember

Earlybird SpecialAppetizer + Main Course + Ice Cream

Choose from our à la carte menuOnly €4 Extra for Fillet Beef (Main Course)

Only €6 Extra For Fish (Main Course)Rice Or Chips Are Included

Only €15

Summer Party Nights At MIX

Hurry up … send moves!

4years & 5 Years 3.15 - 4.00 Tuesday’s Ratoath Community Centre.

TAEKWONDO Beginners Class

15 Places Available

This Taekwondo School Is Affiliated With ChungDoKwan Ireland, One Of The Largest Taekwondo Organisations In Ireland

Children MUST be School Going New Class

AGE CLASS TIME DAY WHERE


6years & 11Years 4.00-5.15 Tuesday’s Ratoath Community Centre.


5 Places Available

Waiting List Will Be In Place

After These Places Are Filled.

6 Places Available


After These Places Are Filled. 12years & 17Years 5.15 - 6.30 Tuesday’s Ratoath Community Centre.


Adults Only 7.30-9pm Tuesday’s Ratoath Community Centre.

8 Places Available


After These Places Are Filled.

For More Details Go To www.CDKIreland.com

Our classes are conducted by 5th Dan Master Joe Doyle. The classes are ver structured with clear goal set to achieve. We teach self defence, pro-mote self confidence and during training, you will learn everything from how to punch correctly to kicking and defence skills. W.T.F. style Taekwondo is a Korean Martial Art and is studied by over 24 million people world wide.

You are invited to come to a class and have a go for free. Our Taekwondo is part of ChungDoKwan Taek-wondo with clubs in Stradone, Coothill, Finglas, Dalkey, Loughlinstown, Wicklow, Diswellstown, Coolmine and Popintree. For further details about our clubs or about classes in Ratoath or to book your place, text your name, class you are interested and age ( or adult for adults class ) to 086 33 555 60.

6.45

6

7 to

to

verygoals


18On The Road

By David Walshe

I know cars companies watch each other like hawks, with their trendy Xenon eyes, and as soon as one discovers a niche the other copies it thus removing the niche.Ford and VW constantly duel with each other in the model for model battle and this lat-est duel follows on from last months EchoMotors duel be-tween the Mondeo and Passat. Last months battle was nar-rowly won by the Passat. Who will win this time? Before this duel begins let me establish some rules. Whilst the cars compete with each other the test models I had were not of equal spec in terms, doors, engines, etc. I’ll leave the detailed compari-sons to those who have either on their shopping list who must do the homework. Contender Number One is the Ford C-Max.

This comes in two body ver-sions - 5 and 7 seater. The seven seater has a sliding rear door whereas the 5 door is conventional. I had the 7 seat-er in diesel with an automatic gearbox. Best combo for this pilot for sure. Quietness. This car is in the premier league for quietness. It is so silent. I loved it. New to me was the interior LED/Xenon courtesy lights. Very bright and give off a cool, white light. For sure these will be standard on all cars very soon. Both this car and the Touran benefit form wide opening tailgates to eas-ily load the annual shop, let alone the weekly one. Parking was a surprise as the turn-ing circle is wide. I know this because it is the first time I noticed it in a car in a while. I’ve no other explanation for it and I had to plan my maneu-vers more carefully. The inte-

grated stereo/trip computer/media centre is so compre-hensive I couldn’t find one of the simpler features like next channel or song on the MP3 player. My natural intuitive sense deserted me in the C-Max. When the sound was playing it was very good and compliments to Ford. The roadhandling in this car was tremendous defying it’s MPV credentials. It handles better than some other normal sa-loon/hatchback cars. Contender Number Two is the Volkswagen Touran. Straight up it looks classier but looks more van like. At times it feels a bit like it too. You sit on a Touran but in a C-Max. It feels much bigger and I had the 7 seat version. It’s the same size as the 5 seater with the last two seats a purchasable option. If you want 7 in the C-Max it’s a different body shape

entirely. A surprising gripe is the quality of the interior fin-ish. It was not as good as you’d expect from a VW, especially the seats. They felt spongy and suggest the need for an up-holsterer in a few years time. While the diesel engine in mine was responsive and ad-equate, it lacks somewhat is speed.It is an easy car to drive and, major contradiction alert now, it benefits from the sameness of corporate looks I usually dislike. Storage was better in the Touran too. This bus was designed to transport people and their belongings over dis-tance and the touran was very much at home on the new M3. Wind is not it’s friend though, especially cross ones. So there you have it. The fig-ures don’t lie. The Ford wins this battle and by the narrow-est of points victory which is

my own thoughts entirely - only this time backed up by the numbers. I would opt for the C-Max, and with the 7 seat requirement for me now unnecessary, the 5 seater C-Max would be the version I’d choose. It’s better looking. If the 5 seater had rear sliding doors then I don’t know what

could beat it.

Full details at www.ford.ie and www.volkswagen.ie

Feedback [email protected]

Twitter @echomotors

Ford C-Max v VW

How do I put this? If ever a car went from being an ugly duckling to a swan the Sportage is it. The last mod-el was rugged looking and olde worlde styling. The new model is so up to date it is in the future. It is stunningly beautiful and when I first saw it on the road I thought Fer-rari started making SUV’s or whatever flavour Kia calls them – “an SUV for urban ad-venture”. Ahem, right.

I’ll allow them call it what-ever they like because this is a wonderful motor vehicle. I’ll get my major gripe out of the way now. It is not a 4wd. It so looks like it has and if it had it would be top of my shop-ping list for the money they’d probably want. More on price below. Peter Schreyer, the de-signer, designed some pretty classy Audis in the past most notably the TT. This man knows about design and Kia have appointed him Design Director so expect more lead-ing edge design cars in the future from Kia. Back to the present the Sportage is so, so special. It tops all other urban SUV’s. I can’t think of an SUV that can hold a candle to it. I award Peter 10/10 for reach-ing his target.

I have reprinted below how Kia describes the design in full below.

“Let’s create an object of de-sire,” said Kia’s Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, to his team of international design-ers. His plan was to ‘wow’ the public, first and foremost, with a stunning design. Once ‘smitten’, the car’s inner quali-ties and exceptional warranty would make his art of se-duction complete. So what‘s Schreyer’s solution? An SUV that’s more stylish and sportythan ever – with a face that’s unmistakably Kia. The signa-ture grille with its large head-lamps sets the scene for the powerfu ‘clamshell’ bonnet shape. Key to the vibrant sil-houette is the sharp, dynam-ic angle of the windscreen sweeping seamlessly into the roofline with its high shoul-ders. Combined with the nar-row ‘glasshouse’, the Sportage creates a sports-car-like ratiobetween sheet metal and glass. And, as the final show-stopper, the reverse-angled

C-pillar adds to the athletic profile.

Fair dues to the brochure writer because it describes a car they are justifiably proud of and I’d let them away with the liberal use of superlatives. I drove this car twice to Cooley. I was looking forward to the second trip as much as the first. It is so comfortable and composed. It has a 1.7l diesel engine that I’d swear Kia was lying about as it feels so much more powerful. Were talking comparable feel to a 2.0l or 2.5l turbo diesel. It wasn’t noisy and felt willing to rev to deliver the power. The quietness factor is very hight too and combined with excel-lent roadholding the Sportage is a desirable motor to tackel any journey in. The interior is a new league for Kia. If you put false badges on this car and asked driv-ers what they think they’d be all pointing to a German manufacturer. The dash and

controls are super-easy and super-simple. It just all works so well. I loved the high view from the cabin and could live with the narrow rear window which, because of the parking sensors, makes it so much easier anyway. Speaking of kit the spec. is truly impressive. Check out the www.kiamotors.ie for the spec and then amaze your-self at the price. I had the EX spec and Kia are asking €27,800, before the soon to end scrappage discount is even applied. If you spend €2,195 more you get the top of the range GSE model with leather and Xenon lights plus lots more. Put in perspective, a basic diesel Tiguan starts at €27,250. As soon as you start to spec match with the Sportage the difference is in the thousands. There is so much going for this car already that with the 7 year warranty Kia offers there simply isn’t a better car on sale in this category.

As for other categories if you try them I bet you’d still come back to the Sportage.

I know I would.Full details at www.kiamotors.ie

Feedback [email protected]

Peugeot 308 Ecomatique 1.6HDI 110bhp

Issue 103 01 - 13 September 2009

echofeatures

The Meath Echo 21

When I test cars I usually start anticipating the next one to be tested

halfway during the current car

being tested. Sometimes the an-ticipation is exciting and some-times it’s covered in trepidation (OK, strong word). Some cars don’t float my boat and I wish I could be left with the current car a bit longer. That’s exactly what happened me when I was test driving the 200bhp VW Scirocco. The next car for testing was the Peugeot 308 Ecomatique. It only packed 110 bhp and was fitted with a semi automatic gearbox,

electronic controlled manual gearbox or whatever description describes what’s purported to be an automatic gearbox to you and me, which I was not too fond of when I tested one before. As you can imagine I wasn’t exactly filled with glee. This was so un-fair in prejudging a car before I’ve even driven it. After all, if I know what a car is going to be like before I drive it, what’s the point in driving it?

By David Walshe

The point in driving it is to accurately record the experience from an unbiased perspective, which is what I’ll do now.

Looks, however, cannot be changed by a drive and to my eye the 308 is not a looker. The rear looks like it could shed a few pounds and looks unfinished, rushed and - I won’t use the word ugly - unattractive. The front, whilst similar to the 207, is not as successful here. Its predecessor the 307, I’d have to say, is better looking but neither of them are beauty contest entrants, let alone winners.

Looking over my notes I noted that a) on the interior, Peugeot didn’t bother to fit the suit hook on the right side of the car, an at-tention to detail that scores four faults! b) the gearbox in automat-ic mode is a joke and at no stage did I like driving it in that mode using the steering wheel paddles or the floor shift to change gear and c) there was a very adjust-able steering wheel to ensure the

best possible position. Not a lot to note in a new

car you’d agree. But what I did write was that this was the best, I repeat the best, ride of the year so far. The French seem to have mastered comfort better than the rest and this was easily my most comfortable test this year. I undertook two long journeys in it and the 1.6l diesel engine had more than enough power for the trip making cruising and overtak-ing effortless. But man, the com-fort. Bumps eliminated, no wind or road noise and adhesion to the

road that made me feel very safe and secure. I’d love if all cars felt this way and made me feel this way. I didn’t record the fuel con-sumption but this Ecomatique version was parsimonious in its consumption of diesel.

The Ecomatique label denotes frugality, achieved predomi-nantly by the gearbox. It works, and more importantly, not at the expense of anything. By that I mean it felt like any other diesel I’ve driven eliminating the feel-ing that something was omitted. The gearbox in auto mode is sup-posed to adjust to your driving style. Mine must be terrible be-cause given ample time to adjust it didn’t and I used the manual shift all the time.

The Ecomatique claims to be 12% more fuel efficient than the equivalent manual version which has got to be some kind of first for a car with an “automatic” gear-box. Only recently a similar car broke the world record for fuel economy averaging 2.2l/100km (that’s 126mpg in old money) no less when they circumnavi-gated the UK (5,954kms) and used two full tanks of diesel. I’m sure the driving technique didn’t make for a pleasurable trip but the achievement is incredible. It cements Peugeot’s position as the leading low CO2 Company in Europe for the third year run-ning. In Germany the 308 was the winner of the Gold Steering Award for Quality. That’s some achievement considering the home brands it was up against. After driving it I can see why.

An old expression has been re-learned by me, “Never Judge a Book by its Cover” or slightly revised for cars, “Never Judge a Car before Driving it”.

Full details available at www.peugeot.ie

www.ashmerc.com

Hyundai IX20 1.4 Diesel 90bhp €18,995

Call 01 [email protected] 19www.Tele.ie Call 01 8254434

[email protected]

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‘Tendon’ is one word nobody in-volved in sport wants to hear in the diagnosis of any injury. From a human perspective, the Achilles Tendon is one area nobody wants to hurt as, apart from being one of the most painful injuries going, it is also among the most awkward to treat and come back from.In equine terms, tendon injuries are an even bigger nightmare. They are the worst possible news any horse owner or trainer can get. If the in-jury is at the bad end of the scale it can be career ending and if it des-perate enough it can even be fatal for the horse.Unfortunately, since yours truly has become more heavily involved in the Racing scene, first hand expe-rience has been had of the dreaded ‘T’ word. Dreams very seldom manifest themselves in reality, so when they do – even partially – it is all the more heartbreaking when those dreams are destroyed – even temporarily – by the scourge of the equine world.Now, it is known only too well that the one quality one needs more than any other when involved with horses is patience. And with a ten-don injury that is the only remedy. Well, that and pin firing. Thank-fully, things have advanced to such a degree that the latter is nowhere near as severe on the animal as it once was and horses stand a very good chance of recovering and re-turning to action.No trainer or owner wants their charges to be struck by tendon in-juries, yet, it is a sad reality of the sport that one may only be around the corner. It is that realisation that franks the fact the agony often outweighs ecstasy in Racing but for those of us who love it the lure never fades.Of course, horses can be lost to oth-er injuries besides tendon trouble as well. Nobody likes to see it happen and when a yard does lose a horse through injury it leaves a mark and a dark feeling for a long time. For owners who invest so much to de-rive what is an indescribable thrill to see a horse running in your own silks the hurt and heartbreak is im-measurably worse.To lose one horse out of a yard ow-ing to injury is bad enough, but, to-wards the conclusion of the last Na-tional Hunt season and in the early part of the current one, Noel Meade endured the sort of horrendous run that nobody would want or would wish on anybody for that matter ei-ther, losing four of his inmates.Losing any horse is horrible. Per-haps, however, losing a young one like the very promising 5-year-old Joe Smooth – fatally injured in a fall at Punchestown is even worse. He was the first horse to emerge

from Tu Va in Michael O’Leary’s famous Gigginstown House Stud colours and what made the situ-ation even more unpalatable was that the particular setback was to kick off a rotten streak of luck for the yard as they also lost stable stalwarts Sigma Lifestyle and Chip Tea while the very unfortunate Aran Concerto’s latest attempt at a comeback from injury also ended tragically.The mark of true class though is be-ing able to overcome these setbacks and come back stronger. There is no secret that Noel does not have the firepower he once had at his disposal but the evidence is forever there that he remains one of the best in the business. And if things turn out the way it is hoped they will, someday certain animals will hope-fully end up in his care.For all the bad luck that has af-flicted Tu Va in recent times, prior to the conclusion of the 2010/’11 NH season and in the early part of the current one the string from the famous Castletown yard have been in fine form indeed. The most nota-ble success recorded was undoubt-edly the victory of Texas Jack in the Goffs Landrover Bumper at the Punchestown Festival. Johannis-berger finished fourth in the same race and both look to be ones for the future.Since then, wins over timber have followed courtesy of Tom Horn and Jakros and Original Option and Eirland. There was something a bit special about those particular horses winning as well. You might wonder why given that it is actu-ally the quietest time of the year from a jumps perspective. Well, the significance is thus: all the horses mentioned have been trying for some time to get their heads in front over obstacles. For one thing, it proves that Meade – and indeed all top trainers for that matter – can eke out wins with horses regardless of their levels of ability. And for

another thing, while patience is an extremely vital ingredient when in-volved with horses, it can indeed be rewarded. More of all that anon...There is a very select group of trainers, however, who can achieve success in the National Hunt sphere and on the Flat. Meade has proven himself to be a dab hand at it over the years and already this term on the level he has engineered success with youngsters Bat Masterson and Still Point and further success seems sure to follow with many versatile performers among the stock.For the main part of this Racing offering however, I must give men-tion to another Meath man known quite well to me who is also one of Ireland’s top trainers – the one and only Tony Martin! Many times in the past it has been stated on these pages that when the Moynalvey based handler engages the services of Ruby Walsh, more often than not, it is as good as a licence to run to your bookmaker!And all of Dunboyne was delighted that such again proved to be the case recently at Cork. The locally based 8 member Plenty Of Spock Syndicate – comprising Paul Fagan, Neil Hackett, Michael Dunne, Mi-chael Reilly, Chris Moran, Darren Dunne, Stephen McCrossan and Gary Farrell – made their maiden trip into the winner’s enclosure af-ter their 7-year-old Ashkalani geld-ing Uncle Taffy was delivered late with typical Walsh coolness to see off Menwaal and Barry Geraghty.As far as the Racing ‘career’ of the occupant of this seat is concerned, the nearest that was experienced to the thrill the lads enjoyed was finishing second in a Fairyhouse Bumper. That is why it was with a medium degree of envy I looked on from afar at the joyous scenes that ensued in Mallow and again in Ballinrobe three days later when Taffy followed up again under Walsh.This might surprise a few people, but, having seen Meath win All Ire-lands and Dunboyne claim county championships, I can categorically say that nothing has ever come close to the thrill that was felt that day in Fairyhouse. Tragically, cir-cumstance has decreed that it could be quite some time before such a happening occurs again, if it ever does, after things went horribly wrong compared to what should have and would have been expect-ed to happen in certain places.Still, where there’s life there’s hope and as the members of the Plenty Of Spock Syndicate will vouch for, the glorious feeling one gets on the day everything does click into place is extremely well worth the wait!To move codes, most people will easily recall the point at which their interest in a given hobby was fuelled. In many cases, it will be a natural progression handed down by tradition. So it was with this writer’s fondness for all things GAA and agricultural. On other fronts, it often takes an especial happening or occasion to kick things off. In terms of Racing, reg-ular readers of these offerings will

know what the catalyst was, but, what is a very deep and passionate interest in the political scene was ignited when a friend ran in the lo-cal elections some years back and asked for a hand with his efforts.Not too long ago, mention was af-forded to the fact that it was very probable that Tiger Woods had inspired many youngsters to take up Golf. No matter what anyone thinks of the man away from the greens and fairways, the fact re-mains that when he is on his game he is still the best in the world, and that’s all that should count.Even Woods himself had to be in-spired by something or someone. Now, there’s no doubting the in-fluence which his late father Earl exerted on Woods. Have no doubt however, there were most likely other players he looked up to be-fore he hit the big time himself in the mid to late 90’s.Every sports fan will identify iconic figures no matter what the code. For once, the usual list of this hack’s favourites will not be rolled out. One of the great things about sports writing is that an in-terest – however minimal – can be retained in so many different topics. The thing about matters at what we’ll call the lower end of the passion scale more often than not need something special to happen to plant a flicker of interest in the first place.A generation of new pugilists prob-ably came on stream owing to the achievements of Michael Carruth and Wayne McCullough in Barce-lona in 1992. Not to mention those of Steve Collins. Aside from Den-nis Taylor’s unforgettable glorious moment, the World Championship successes of Stephen Hendry and our own Ken Doherty and Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins prob-ably prompted plenty to pick up a Snooker cue.To go back to Golf though, apart from Woods, other greats of the game like Ernie Els and Colin Montgomerie and even the newer breed like Luke Donald and Lee Westwood will have idolised some-body before they themselves began to occupy that roll for the4 next generation coming down the line.Most of those mentioned above recently openly went on record as saying that the man in question was one Seve Ballesteros. Now, not much is recalled of the sensational Spaniard’s playing exploits because at the time he was at his zenith your columnist either hadn’t arrived in the world or was too young to com-prehend what was going on therein.Thus, the acquisition of a video recorder – remember them? – was an absolute blessing. Not only from a golfing perspective but with other sports too. For now though, the focus will remain of matters with the clubs. Having watched the tapes though, Seve’s genius was extremely obvious. Whether it was the mesmeric rescue shots he often produced to extricate himself from what looked impossible po-sitions or the impeccability of his short game, he never failed to leave crowds awestruck.To many however, his greatest leg-

acy will forever remain his indel-ible influence on European Golf. Both in terms of his achievements as a player and – perhaps more pointedly – what he did to all but bring about the European Tour and indeed the Ryder Cup itself. Re-member, there was a time when those matches were only between teams from Great Britain and Ire-land and the Americans.Ballesteros was the man who was the driving force behind the rest of the continent being brought on board. Even if, ironically, Irish players – Christy O’Connor, Philip Walton, Paul McGinley and Grae-me McDowell – have sunk the win-ning putts in the past. Still, having the others on board has made an al-ready enthralling event even more special. What would it have been last year – or any year for that mat-ter – without the likes of Miguel Angel Jimenez or the Mollinari brothers?Perhaps the most especial Ryder Cup moment of all was when Seve captained the blue and gold stars to victory at Valderrama in his home-land in 1997. There was hardly ever a more fitting golfing success and it was no surprise to see it mentioned so often following the legend’s re-cent and untimely passing.Now, I have always had an interest in Golf. It would be hard not to giv-en the family connection to the late Tom Craddock – former Walker Cup player and co designer of the famous Druids Glen – and the fact that my uncle Austin Geoghegan is a former Captain and President of Co Meath GC in Trim.Tom once gave me a gift of his ‘Golden Goose’ putter – which he used in the Walker Cup. Though it might seem impossible to some, for a while there was a golf hole on one of our lawns at home and, wheel-chair or not, many an hour was of-ten spent out on the ‘putting green’!Speaking of gifts, forgive me while I digress a little. Your columnist recently entered his third decade. It takes a fair bit to render yours truly speechless, but that is the only way one could describe one’s own reaction when presented with a new friend as a birthday gift – Buddy the Labrador!Buddy’s arrival wasn’t the only shock though. There was also a plasma television and access to a plethora of new channels unveiled in my office as well. Which, as a writer, allows an awful lot more to be seen and thus a broader range of topics can be covered here.It could hardly have been better timed either. What has resulted is getting hooked on Golf all over again! And it all seems poignantly fitting, coming as it did, in the days leading up to Seve’s death.The action in the intervening peri-od has been outstanding too. There has been something of a changing of the guard in the sport of late. That is not to write off the likes of Woods et al, far from it, but, since the improvement in television cir-cumstances, it has become appar-ent that there is a new breed of star on the up. Some rather flamboyant ones too!John Daly will probably always be

the ultimate enigma as far as Golf is concerned. That unforgettable character seems to have faded a bit from the limelight in recent years, well, if there’s an heir to his throne on the current circuit it is surely none other than Bubba Watson.No, not in terms of Daly’s cheq-uered life off the course, but most certainly when it comes to the col-ourful way in which he does things on it. And that’s without mention-ing the colourful orange outfits he sports every weekend he makes a cut, in tribute to Oklahoma Uni-versity.Phil Mickelson was the first left handed player that can be recalled hitting the big time. The four time Major winner is still one of the best in the world and never fails to en-tertain. In fact, his short game and ability to rescue himself from un-likely situations is not that dissimi-lar to that of Ballesteros. However, his position as the best southpaw golfer in the world may not be as clear cut as it has been for so long, for much longer.Watson’s quirky side was very much in evidence during what turned out to be a very memorable weekend for him in Quail Hollow. Owing to him being left handed, the player stated that when he lined up a shot all he could see was water on every side of him, that he didn’t like the course and that the only reason he entered the tournament was because his mother – who lives close to the venue – wanted to at-tend.He quickly learned that sometimes it’s no harm to listen to mammy as – after an enthralling weekend’s action – he emerged triumphant following a dramatic conclusion involving himself and Webb Simp-son.Golf could often be justifiably termed a volatile game. After one brilliant week, Watson quickly got a dose of the of the other side of the sport the following one when he endured a torrid few days during the Player’s Championship at TPC Sawgrass. No shame in that though, the course is notoriously tough and the 17th hole in Sawgrass must surely be the most difficult hole anywhere in the world.Unfortunately, Bubba wasn’t the only one to experience a bit of a golfing collapse of late. Reference was made before to the manner in which Rory McIlroy imploded during the US Masters at Augusta, well, it couldn’t be said he col-lapsed when trying to defend his title at Quail Hollow as he never actually got himself into conten-tion, but sadly the tale of Graeme McDowell at Sawgrass was a dif-ferent story.The outgoing US Open Champion hadn’t been in the best of form of late, missing three out of five cuts. Around Quail Hollow though the light switch appeared to be flicked on again, and the return to form seemed to be completed when, midway through his final round he still held a two shot lead at -13.Sadly, the theory about lightening never striking twice was emphati-cally disproven as G-Mac endured as horrendous a final round as Rory

On The Ball

Brendan Boylan

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went through at Augusta to slip all the way back to -5 as David Toms made a valiant attempt to score a win for the veterans only to eventu-ally fall short against KJ Choi.Mind you, the old dictum regard-ing form being temporary and class being permanent was soon proven to be right once again when Toms put that heartache behind him two weeks later to score a victory dur-ing which he went around in 62 shots twice before recovering from a hellish third round to cap his win-ning final one with a magnificent Eagle 2.Ironically, earlier on the same day as McDowell endured the disas-ter, Darren Clarke enjoyed a mag-nificent resurgence in form as he claimed the Ibadrola Open in Spain. Having been up with the pace of the tournament for its entirety it was a totally merited success and it was especially great to see the big pop-ular Dungannon man back in the winning groove.All in all, it would have to be said that from an Irish perspective, Golf is in pretty good shape. McDowell and McIlroy were again to the fore at the World Matchplay Champion-ships with the older actually beat-ing the younger at the quarter final stages of a Championship that was eventually won by Ian Poulter after an epic playoff. With McIlroy and McDowell, Clarke and Padraig Harrington in fine form – not to mention other players who continue to increase their prominence on the European Tour – and some of the season’s biggest tournaments still to come it appears all but certain that there will be further Irish success before long.Having said that, while comment-ing on Golf, I cannot let the oppor-tunity pass without giving further mention to Harrington. Being a three time Major winner, his ability or class is surely beyond question. However, it must also be said that he must be one of the most unlucky players ever to set foot on a course.Now, apart from the errors he has made on the course himself – and every player makes them – one could also be easily left with the impression that somebody or some-thing has placed a curse on the Ballyboden man. Last year, he was disqualified from a tournament he was leading because some busy-body of a viewer with little else to do phoned in and reported him for ‘moving’ his ball illegally when in reality the ball just rolled off its marker of its own accord.For something like that to happen once could be considered bad luck, but, when the same thing recently happened during the same week as McIlroy struggled and Quail Hol-low, the curse theory gained a few more pounds in weight. And more still when the man Tiger Woods calls Paddy was forced to miss the recent PGA Championships at Wentworth.Every road has to have a turn at some point though and the hope and expectation would be that the son of the former Cork hurler will be hitting the headlines for the right reasons very soon again. There are times when within the

GAA it appears that, from a jour-nalistic point of view at least, there is more going on off the playing fields than actually on them. Sadly, another dose of that type of cods-wallop has erupted following Sea-mus McEnaney’s recent decision to recall Graham Geraghty to his panel.What has been most bile-inducing has been the fact that most of the furore has come from within the county. Perhaps the most sicken-ing aspect of all of this needless nonsense is that gut feeling sug-gests that if it were any other player other than Graham that had been at the centre of this there wouldn’t be an idle word about it.And the fact that it wouldn’t take Einstein to figure out the reasoning behind at least some of the objec-tions to his return make the said rumblings all the more unpalatable. Look, any other county with love to have had Geraghty at their disposal when he was in his prime and yet the overwhelming feeling one gets is that at times very close to home the tendency has been to pick holes wherever possible. Some who should know better have even had the audacity and the ignorance to imply that he never really fitted in with Meath’s style and wasn’t that popular with fans. Apart from this being a fundamentally flawed as-sessment of the situation, people in glasshouses would be well advised to desist from throwing stones.Yes, the player is now 38, but if he is still playing well enough at club level for it to be considered that he could still make a contribution to the Meath setup, his age shouldn’t come into it. Rather than being seen as a threat to or insult to any of the current players, Graham’s presence around the squad should be seen as an infusion of what could be very vital and helpful experience to the surroundings.It will of course be trotted out that Graham himself called time on his county sojourn at the end of the 2008 campaign. True, but come-backs aren’t unheard of, not even in Meath. Do people forget Bernard Flynn returning in 1994 or PJ Gillic coming back in 1997 or John Mc-Dermott in 2001? Over the years, many Meath players have excelled in the longevity of their careers and yet, because the picture is now be-ing assessed from a different angle, Geraghty’s latest coming has been reacted to with a surprising and frankly disappointing amount of negativity. Rather, the feeling that games have been lost since he departed the scene which may have been won were his services availed of, is inescapable. Mind you, the for-mer Seneschalstown player wasn’t the only one overlooked at a time when, if they were included, Meath may well have ended up with even more silverware to their name than they presently have.Worse still, one cannot help feeling that the Geraghty return is being used as a smokescreen, the reason for all evils. This, it most certainly is not. To engage a Racing analogy, sometimes it pays to read the form book. When something happens once, an explanation will be ac-

cepted and presumed genuine.Over time though, trends develop and form lines begin to emerge. The excuses don’t wash anymore and the old adages about a leopard not being able to change his spots and the inability to teach an old dog new tricks are proving to be right.Seamus McEnaney has made mis-takes during his tenure in charge, there’s no doubt about that, player selection would be among the least of them however. Calls for him to go and comments from within the homestead that he stands almost zero chance of being in charge in 2012 are ridiculous, malicious and unhelpful.What do people want, Meath to be the Chelsea of the GAA? The Stamford Bridge club have changed manager six times in eight seasons and if ‘Banty’ is dispensed with, in 2012 Meath will have a fifth new supremo in what will be seven years since Sean Boylan va-cated the Royal throne in 2005.That in itself is damning statistic. All the managers can’t have been bad though. Eamonn Barry and Eamon O’Brien were certainly harshly treated. The problems lie elsewhere though, and have done for a long time. Constant musical chairs regarding team bosses is not the answer. Change further up the food chain is what’s needed and the overriding fear would be that things will rumble from one disaster to an-other until it happens.Regardless of how Championship 2011 turns out, I feel it is impera-tive that ‘Banty’ is left in situ for at least one more season. Apart the fact that the Monaghan man was mandated for a three year term – albeit with a review after two, for Meath to have another managerial switch would only add to what is rapidly becoming an off field cir-cus at a time when what is actually needed is a degree of continuity.Solid foundations – if they are in place – will not survive if they are constantly being attacked with a jack hammer. And in Meath’s case, the foundations are definitely there in terms of having top quality play-ers at their disposal. In fact, ironic as it might seem, Meath could do worse than observe the strides made by the Dublin hurlers so far this year.Throughout the early part of the year the progress they have made has been lauded on these pages. Though the point was also made that it could be seen as something of a defining year for the tenure of Anthony Daly.Well, if that was the case, it most certainly must now be deemed a success after the metropolitan stickmen annexed their first Na-tional League title in well over half a century with a swashbuckling dis-play against Kilkenny. And don’t think for a moment that Cody’s Cats had their foot off the gas. What was disappointing and actu-ally very surprising was the manner in which Kilkenny reacted to being usurped in their second Final in a few months.Winning the League is all well and good – indeed a great and deserved boost for Dublin hurling. However, it was only the sight of the silage

being cut and action returning to Semple Stadium that proved that summer, and the serious segment of the season was upon us.And when it did, very quickly, the difference between the sec-ondary competition and the race for Liam McCarthy became very obvious. Firstly as Dublin were given the fright of their collec-tive lives against ever resilient Offaly and the later that day in the home of Hurling when Cork made a mockery of the formbook against Tipperary. Granted, they eventually lost by eight points, but the manner in which they performed that day suggested they will still be quite a force to be reckoned with in 2011.And Hurling needs as many counties as possible to be com-petitive to ensure its mere sur-vival. Former Meath hurler An-ton O’Neill was recently doing a job in the homestead. To those not au fait with the small ball code in the Royal County, his name may not ring too many bells. There’s a degree of tragedy in that. There has been much coverage in many places recently about how the ancient game is struggling to sur-vive in some places and is, in fact, to some extent, extinct in others.Cavan’s defection from inter coun-ty competition, be it short term or otherwise, must be seen as a new low for hurling and a very graphic illustration of the way things might be going in certain quarters. There’s nearly no point in asking will there be more cases akin to that of the Br-effni County for sadly that seems a foregone conclusion.Thankfully, things are nowhere near that juncture for Meath. For a county outside of those in the top rank, smaller things take on a greater deal of importance. To put it a slightly different way, to win a competition which some sectors of sporting society might scoff at or pour scorn upon would mean a hell of a lot to those who are striving to get to where others constantly perch.Thus, winning the All Ireland SHC B in 1993 was a massive thing for the stickmen of Meath. One sus-pects it was on the back of that boost what were then – and would still be – considered shock National League victories against (then All Ireland Champions) Offaly and Wexford – both in Athboy – were fashioned.Now, this may seem a tad strange, but, apart from those two great wins, some of the other most influential things in terms of taking Meath hurling forward in the interim have actually arisen from defeats. Cue Anton’s return to our story. One of the most memorable occasions this writer can recall from a Meath hurl-ing perspective was when the then John Davis trained outfit got within six points of an Offaly team which eight months earlier contested an All Ireland Final against Clare.Two aspects of the day stand out. Firstly, Nicky Horan – who was also still playing Minor football with Meath at the time – scoring nine points from midfield. Even more noteworthy was Anton’s im-perious display in curtailing no less

than Joe Dooley earning him the Man Of The Match award.Young lads or ladies get hooked on a given sport by those they follow doing well at it. Players become heroes. We recall the ‘I am Ti-ger Woods’ adverts that probably started a lot of budding golfers off. Cora Staunton can be most likely be credited with doing a similar job in Ladies Footbal when Mayo were at their zenith.Even though Meath have endured some torrid luck in underage hurl-ing finals, the fact that the likes of Horan and O’Neill inspired more youngsters to take up the game and thus keeping the conveyor belt of players coming through.Mind you, having the players is one thing, putting structures in place to allow them to compete at a realistic level for them to compete at and indeed prosper in. To give credit where it’s due, to this end, the GAA must be acclaimed for the inception of things such as the All Ireland ‘B’ and even ‘C’ Championships at Mi-nor and U-21 levels. Not to men-tion competitions like the Ring, Rackard and Meagher Cups.But what about those for whom that is not enough? Without rehashing the actual figures, no team should have to suffer some of the beatings that were inflicted upon Cavan this spring. Have no doubt it was those very results the led to them declar-ing a hiatus. Who could blame them either. Simply letting them disappear of the hurling landscape is not the solution though. Apart from the fact that it is an insult to those in Cavan who are interested in hurling, it could be fatal for the game on a broader scale.And what’s being done about it? Recently, the individual who is supposed to driving the Association forward engaged in a tirade of ut-ter rubbish regarding team manag-ers getting paid. Anyone that takes the amateur status still holds firm unilaterally is probably still wait-ing for the tooth fairy as well. More luck to anyone that gets a few bob out of what they do. If they didn’t provide their input, things wouldn’t be as good as they are. Even though they need drastic improvement in

many places.It is that fact that highlights the ut-ter hypocrisy of the furore about manager payments. The suited brigade up in Croke Park are on ridiculous amounts of money for doing jobs which the likes of the Cavan situation would suggest they are at best just making a shambles of doing at the minute or at worse are incapable of doing at all.Rather than cribbing over manag-ers being remunerated, those who are in a possession to do so should do the decent thing and take a slash in their own monies and put the cut slice into funding for things like the future development and in the shorter term mere survival of hurl-ing in places like Cavan. For it is crucial to emphasise that this situ-ation is not confined to the Breffni County. Have no doubt others are teetering on the same brink.Things can hardly get any worse for Cavan than where they are cur-rently at. Others cannot be allowed to fall into a similar abyss. To do that, structures will need to be put in place. Doing so would require a massive effort in manpower and that’s without even mentioning the coaching that would need to ensue at all levels once the said structures are in place.Such work needs to be encouraged and those who carry it out need to be encouraged, thanked and hand-somely rewarded. Not vilified ow-ing to what is nothing other than utter and disgraceful hypocrisy. Let the Cavan case be a positive water-shed for hurling. Not the beginning of an obituary.

FOGRA: Sympathy is extended to the Keegan family (Clonee and Coolmine) and the Fahey family (Dunboyne and Claremorris)

FOGRA II: Congratulations to Mary Sheridan, Grainne Nulty, Shauna Bennett and Katie O’Brien who were selected on the Bord Gais Ladies National League Team of the Season.

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Coal Delivery 13cmx3 28/10/2010 3:28 pm Page 1

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Fully Qualified Gas EngineerGas and Oil Boiler Service €70SEAI Grant approved installer for heating upgrade workFree consultation on SEAI Grants

All makes of Boilers repairedAll heating and plumbing work carried

out to the highest standard

RGII Registered SEAI Registered

Roycon 086 051 313601 825 4322

[email protected]

ComputerRepairs

Business &Home Serivce

Ph: 01 8240029Mob: 086 8542879Phoenix Computing

Est 2002work Guaranteed

Pre-Booking Advised

CONTACT MICK MCGUINNESS.............087/2931782

CONTACT BRIAN MAGUIRE...............086/1613278

CHEAP TAXI FARESRECESSION BUSTERS

FROMRatoath Or

Ashbourne Or

Dunboyne Or €30Airport0r City Centre

To ONLY

Dunshaughlin Only €35

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2

Buy 4 Business Card Size Adverts For Only €105 + VAT

Use The Services And Businesses In

This Section. Keep The Economy

Of Meath Alive.

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Plumbing & HeatingTCn ��n ��n ��n ��n ��n ��

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Attic Laddersn Aluminum Attic Ladders Only €165n 100sq ft Attic Flooring Only €190n Wired In Florescent Light Only €65

PACKAGE DEALAluminum Attic Ladders

Florescent Light100sq ft Attic Flooring

Only €399Ph: 046 9483849

or 087 9708115

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“When disasters happen we are there to help”

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Meath’s Got TalentEvery Sunday

7pm - The VenueRatoath

Tickets Now On SalePhone 01 6895600

Buy 8 Ads This Size & Get 4 More Ads FREE. Call 01 8254434 NOW

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Easy Living

Easy Living

Ea

sy

Liv

in

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FittedKitchens & Bedrooms

SlideWardrobesSpecialising In Replacement

Doors & WorktopsHuge Savings For A Whole New Look

Ph: 0868240019 / 0860420526

Electrician AvailableFor All Commericial &

Domestic Work

Specialist in exterior Christmas

lighting displays

Ph: Thomas on 087 921 2317

Fully Insured

Electrician AvailableFor All Commercial &

Domestic Work

Specialist In Exterior Christmas

Lighting Displays

Ph: Thomas087 921 2317

B.J Metalworks

n ��n �� n �� n �� n �� n �� n ��087 2544737

We Have Cut The Cost Of Advertising In Our Meath Advertiser Section. Now

You Can Advertise In This Section From A

Little As €35 Per Issue.

Job Vacancy��

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A-Rated Boiler Service

The Winters On The WayThe Bills Are Getting Higher

Save 20% on your Heating Bills

A Boiler Service Brings Your Boiler Back To Working

At Efficient Capacity and Reduces Your Bills

01 8256268 or 086 4064557

24 hour Emergency Service

Contact Shay Keanewww.energyefficentboilers.ie

Don’t Let Your Heating Let You Down This Christmas

Top Quality Fuels

CoalKeroseneBriquettesFirewood

Kilmoon Cross, Ashbourne, beside the Snail Box Pub

SPECIAL OFFER40kg bag Premium coal €13.50Ph:01-8354746

[email protected]

Gas Boiler Service Including VAT & Full

Efficiency Test€70Evening & Weekend Calls At NO EXTRA CHARGEPowerflushing From Only €37525 Years ExperienceC2 Registered

Call Wayne AtAdvanced Gas ServicesTel : 087 686196901 8258395

[email protected]

Only

Home Heating

OilDELIVEREDKeenest Prices

086 100 3675

Full web design service for all your needs.

Includes domain name, emails and unlimited number of pages!

No hidden extras.Serving the people and Businesses of Meath.

Check our websitewww.activwebdesignmeath.com or call on 086 2053680

01 442 9101

WEB DESIGN

Frank Whyte Fuels

01 802 788840kg Polish Coal €1540Kg Hi Heat Coal €14

Briquettes €3Turf 3 x €10Logs 3 x €10

All Fuels Under One Roof

Delivery Available

Garden SwingsSingle SwingDouble SwingTreble SwingFor Sale Or HireDelivered & AssembledAlso Baby Swingsand Slides For Sale

01 835 4146087 940 1825

2

2

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Ace DrainsWe clear n Blocked drains n Sinks Showers n Urinels

n Dishwashers n Okeway Tanks We Service all makes of sewerage pumps.

Also CCTV Surveying of drains, shimleys & pipes.All work is carried out to the highest standardn NO CALL OUT CHARGE n 24/7 Service

Call Brian on 087 2497233 Office 01 8256633

n Cleaning Service n Window Cleaning n Gutter Gleaning n Chimney Cleaning n Garden Cleaning n Power Washing Decking Washing and repainting n Repairs n Roof repairs n Plumbing repairs n Drains repaired

WE CAN FIX ANY PROPERTY PROBLEMSOLUTIONS FOR ALL YOUR PROPERTY PROBLEMS

Property Care & Repair

085 16 999 24

Page 24 June 2011 The Meath Herald To Advertise 087 316 7013 or email: [email protected]

Documents

MEATH ECHO June 2011