Swords

On the ball: Trap’s trip to Swords to launch new bookREPUBLIC of Ireland manager, Gio-vanni Trapattoni, was on hand to help launch, 50 years of Football, by Swords Celtic Football Club at Balheary Foot-ball Grounds, Swords, recently. Back in 1962, little was it realised the way the club would progress to its present size. The fact that some founder mem-bers are still around to see the transfor-

mation is testimony to their dedication. Today, club membership is over 600 and includes 31 schoolboy and girls’ teams, three senior teams, four full-size and three schoolboy pitches, an all-weather pitch and state-of-the-art clubhouse. Pictured at the launch with the Ireland manager is Cathaoirleach, Cllr Gerry McGuire, (Lab).

Casino set to create 50 new jobs � NATALIE BURKE

THE opening of a brand new contemporary casino in Swords is set to create 50 jobs in north county Dublin.

The Penthouse Casino and Card Club will be Ireland’s first luxurious casino and will be opened by KaiRo Interna-tional in Airside South Quar-ter, Swords, on Friday, May 18. While the job creation is welcomed by Mayor of Fingal,

Cllr Gerry McGuire (Lab), he admits he has concerns for vulnerable people in the area. “Going back a number of years ago, there was a big outcry over gambling casinos so I would be concerned that some people who may have a gambling addiction could be affected by it but I would cer-tainly welcome the job com-ponent of it,” he said.

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INSIDE: Ghana Union Inauguration and

Dinner Dance P8-9

TREATY: Senator Darragh O’Brien on why FF wants a Yes vote See Page 6

Rowing: Olympic dream comes true for Kinsealy rowerPage 30

Soccer: Trapattoni the guest of honour at Swords CelticPage 32

2 SWORDS GAZETTE 10 May 2012

� NATALIE BURKE

AN “Autism and Nutri-tion” event is set to take place in Swords next week, when McCabe’s Pharmacy hosts an awareness and informa-tion evening for parents and children with autism, in association with Irish Autism Action.

The event will fea-ture a number of special presentations by a range of expert speakers, who will discuss the role that diet and nutrition can have in the progress of children with autism as well as highlighting the difference that occupa-tional therapy can make in their development. The event is free of charge and will take place at 6pm on Thursday, May 17 at the Carlton Hotel, Dublin Airport.

Guests speaking at the event will include CEO of Irish Autism Action, Kevin Whelan, UK Nutri-tionist Tim Gaunt, occu-pational therapist, Marie Murphy, and Marese O’Brien, a pharmacist at McCabe’s Pharmacy.

Discussing the event, C i a r a M c C a b e o f McCabe’s Pharmacy, said: “We are delighted to be hosting the autism awareness event, which is being run in partnership with Irish Autism Action and will offer advice and information for parents and families. There are sig-nificant links between the development of autistic children and their nutri-tional health so the event will feature input from nutritional experts who will share their advice.”

Pharmacy to hold autism evening

EVENT: AUTISM ACTION

Carer of the year: Sharon’s service to her

mother lands her award from association SHARON Salem from Swords, pictured here with her mother Margaret, has been named as this year’s North Dublin Carer of the Year 2012. Each year, The Carers’ Association invites members of the public to nominate family carers to recognise the wonderful service they provide to family members who need extra support. The association received a very moving nomination from Margaret Salem nominating her daughter. Sharon, an only child, returned from her new life

in Australia without a moment’s hesitation when Margaret was diagnosed with cancer. Margaret told of Sharon’s sacrifice in leav-ing her job in Australia to become her full time carer. “I wasn’t always an easy patients” she wrote “but Sharon never wavered.” Thankfully Margaret is now in remission and Sharon’s dedication was acknowledged when she received the North Dublin Carer of the Year Award in The Bracken Court Hotel in Balbriggan this week.

� NATALIE BURKE

LOCAL first year stu-dents from Fingal Com-munity College learned a few things about recy-cling recently when they took part in National Spring Clean Month around the Swords area.

The 26 students came up with the idea for the local spring clean as

part of the initiative run by An Taisce, which ran for the month of April, and with the help of their teacher, Siobhan Lynch, started to clean up the area around their school.

“We decided as a school to participate in the An Taisce pro-gramme and it was my first year Civic, Social and Political Educa-

tion class that decided they would like to do a spring clean,” said Siobhan, CSPE and art teacher at Fingal Com-munity College.

“We divided into four groups and had our green, yellow and blue bags to collect recy-clable materials. We cleaned up around the Seatown Road, Colm-cille’s Church, North

Street and Main Street of Swords before we came back to do a sur-vey on what materials we found most of.”

Ms Lynch’s class dis-covered recyclable paper made up the majority of rubbish found in the area, and included mostly sweet wrappers and car parking tickets.

“There was great feedback from mem-

bers of the public dur-ing the spring clean and a lot of residents came out of their houses to commend us for doing a great job. They seemed really impressed that students were clean-ing so it was nice to be doing something for the local area,” she contin-ued.

The class followed the spring clean up

with a visit to their local recycle centre, where they learned about the importance of recycling both at home and at school.

“It was a nice way of making students aware of littering and that it’s not nice to have to go back and pick it up so I think everyone, includ-ing the students, appre-ciated the project.”

Students leave local area spic-and-spanSPRING CLEAN First years learn the huge benefits of recycling

Casino isset to openin Swords� NATALIE BURKE

THE opening of a brand new contemporary casino in Swords is set to create 50 jobs in north county Dublin.

Ireland’s first luxurious casino and private mem-bers club will be opened by KaiRo International in Airside South Quarter, Swords, on Friday, May 18. The international gaming, leisure and entertainment firm will be employing 50 people when The Pent-house Casino and Card Club first opens but is set to increase its workforce to 70 within six months.

The objective of the company is not just to pro-vide jobs but to empower employees with lifetime career skills.

Training will be a huge focus for the company, which has already cre-ated a training school in Swords specifically to teach skills in the vari-ous casino games such as American roulette, black-jack, and different ver-sions of poker.

While the job creation is welcomed by Mayor of Fingal Cllr Gerry

McGuire (Lab), he admits that he has concerns for vulnerable people living in the area.

“I’m concerned about the impact it may have on people who may have an addiction problem. Going back a number of years ago, there was a big outcry over gambling casinos so I would be concerned that some people who may have a gambling addiction could be affected by it but I would certainly welcome the job component of it.”

Commenting on the opening of the new casi-no, development director of KaiRo International, John Loudon, said he was delighted to be opening a casino in Ireland.

“The future prospects are very exciting and the new legislation is well under way which will open up an exciting new field for employment opportunities.

“The casino is built to very high standards and will certainly be setting the standard for future operations in Ireland, both technically and from a well-trained locally sourced workforce.”

R1

10 May 2012 SWORDS GAZETTE 3

IRELAND SHOW Businesses’ succeed at trade fair

Fingal’s finest secure €51k export orders� LAURA WEBB

BUSINESSES from Fin-gal’s Finest are coming back from the US with smiles on their faces after securing direct export orders of $66,500 (€51,180) and over $329,569 (€253,569) pro-jected for the next year.

Eight small craft com-panies from across Fingal, known as Fingal’s Finest, signed multiple deals in New Jersey last week.

The companies secured direct export orders of €51,180 with €253,569 in combined export orders projected for the year ahead.

Fingal’s Finest, led by Fingal County Enterprise

Board, went to New Jersey for the Ireland Show to showcase their products and secure direct and potential sales from US buyers.

Last year, six Craftspeo-ple and Designers from Fingal’s Finest secured €154,005 in advance orders.

Oisin Geoghegan, CEO of Fingal County Enter-prise Board, highlighted the increasing importance of trade fairs to small Irish businesses, saying: “The Ireland Show in New Jer-sey is one of the biggest and most commercially important trade shows in the US for companies involved in the craft and gift markets. The eight

small businesses from Fin-gal made excellent retail and wholesale contacts during the show and we anticipate very substantial sales orders for them all, as a direct result of their involvement this year.”

Liam Caulfield, from Swords-based company Crystal Eire, secured substantial orders for his range of cut crystal, while Maura O’Rourke from Oldtown secured com-missions for her original art of Irish landscapes.

Meanwhile, other Fin-gal businesses had similar success stories. Killian O’Driscoll from Heraldic Gifts in Sutton, signed up a number of new retail outlets for his com-

Liam Caulfield, director, Crystal Eire, Swords

memorative gift plaques. Greg and Mary Whelan, owners of Castleknock business, the Irish Linen House, met with high-end retailers, securing orders for their embroidered table-runners, placemats and napkins.

Philip Gaffney from O’Gowna Studios in Naul, launched a range of Titanic memorabilia and wall plaques at the

show, marking its cente-nary. Michael Fahy and Patrick McCartin from Privatmark in Baldoyle, re-launched the Mullins Map of Ireland which sold over 100,000 copies since its original launch back in the 1960s.

Making their Ireland Show debut was Teresa Gaffney from Exclusive-ly Irish, in Naul, selling handmade cards and

block mounted prints, and jewellery-designer, Sinead Cooke from Lusk.

Geoghegan went on to say that such international trade shows were proving to be “vital sales platforms for small companies”.

“An increase in export sales orders will help to sustain and create more jobs locally, which will in turn give a welcome boost to our local economy.”

Plans for new hub mootedMINISTER for Health, James Reilly, has not yet commented on recent media reports that claim a massive new €1.2bn medical hub may be on the cards for a greenfield site near Dublin Airport.

Recent reports claim that the project is being seriously considered by Minister Reilly as being a solution to the children’s hospital predicament and as part of a larger health, business and edu-cation campus.

A spokesperson for the Depar tment of Health confirmed the Minister has established a review group to con-sider the decision of An Bord Pleanala to refuse planning permission for the National Paedriatric Hospital.

It is, however, the Min-ister’s intention to await completion of the work of the review group before making any further com-ments on the matter.

HEALTH


Free consultations on offer to publicFREE private consultations with Invisalign will be taking place at Swords Dental Practice this month, where members of the public can meet with the dentist and avail of spe-cial discounted offers on the day.

Invisalign is the metal-brace alter-native designed to help its custom-ers achieve a winning smile and is used by many celebrities world wide including Oprah Winfrey, Cheryl Cole and Michelle Obama.

The Invisalign technology moves teeth gradually until they have

straightened to the final position pre-scribed by your dental practitioner and consists of a series of subtle, almost invisible, custom-designed removable aligners that are changed every two weeks.

The treatment can correct 98% of tooth alignment issues with little inter-ference to your daily life and benefits can be seen early on in the treatment.

The free consultation event will be held on Saturday, May 19, and appointments can be made with the Invisalign team on 1890 989 500.

SCHEME Council to extend successful policy

Millennium Playground, Blanchardstown. Picture: Courtesy of Fingal County Council

Smoke-free playgroundsget green light� LAURA WEBB

THE success of a pilot scheme in one Fingal playground has led the county council to roll out a smoke-free playground policy across all its 50 public playgrounds.

Fingal County Council is proposing to adopt a council wide no-smoking policy for public play-grounds across the county following the success of its pilot scheme in Blan-chardstown last year.

According to a spokes-woman for the council, the proposal is set to go on public display “very soon”, with the public consulta-tion process taking six weeks. Once complete, it’s hoped to adopt the scheme as council policy by councillors at the July full county council meet-ing.

The spokeswoman said: “It’s important to understand that the cur-rent scheme that applies in Millennium Play-ground, Blanchardstown and, hopefully, soon to all of the 50 or so public playgrounds in Fingal is based on research, best practice and the pilot study. It arose from an initiative of the HSE who approached us to discuss areas of health promotion

and it was out of this that the idea of the smoke-free playgrounds as a health promotion initiative came about.

“We partnered with the other agencies to carry out the pilot in Millen-nium Park Blanchards-town and the findings of the pilot showed clear and measurable advantages to the denormalisation of smoking to children and

young people. First hand primary data (the results of the pilot) showed there was a significant reduc-tion in smoking among the young people who vis-ited the playground and a significant reduction in litter,” she added.

The smoke-free initia-tive was put in place at the playground in Millenni-um Park on May 27, 2011, and aimed to encourage people from smoking in a children’s environment and to denormalise tobac-co use and reduce litter

from cigarette butts. During a presentation

to representatives on the Strategic Policy Commit-tee in April, the council outlined how it is impor-tant to protect children and others from second-hand smoke. It said that such smoke was a signifi-cant cause of death and disease with pregnant women and children being particularly vulner-able.

Key findings pre and post the pilot smoke-free initiative showed num-bers in favour of no smok-ing in the playground had increased from 77% to 95%. Support for reduc-ing second-hand smoke exposure had increased from 87% to 95%. The percentage of smokers who smoked in the play-ground had decreased from 50% to 20% and the number of smokers disposing of litter in the bins increased from 17% to 75%.

The council decided to pilot the initiative at Mil-lennium Park because of its size, the fact that local park rangers were assigned to it, the frequent use of the playground and its proximity to Connolly Hospital which became a smoke free campus in May 2009.

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‘Support for reducing second-hand smoke exposure had increased from 87% to 95%’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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Voting Yes provides a more secure future

TREATY Pact ‘will not cure all our economic woes’

Senator Darragh O’Brien (FF): “EU will play central role in Ireland’s recovery”

THE vote on May 31 on the Stability Treaty

is extremely important for Dublin, for Ireland and for Europe. The trea-ty sets out a new frame-work for countries so that the crisis of budget defi-cits and high debt can’t threaten the Eurozone in the future.

I will be honest and say that the treaty will not cure all our economic woes of today, but it will definitely allow Dublin and Ireland to have a more secure foundation

for our future. By voting yes, we will have access to the funds needed for our public services at a lower interest rate.

We will be sending a message that Irish people want to have a strong voice at the Euro-pean table when growth opportunities and invest-ment in job creation are being discussed. We need to maintain strong ties and influence in Europe and make sure our voices are heard and we will do this by voting Yes.

There has been much

debate in my party about this treaty and what it means for Ireland and Europe.

At the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis, 50 years ago in 1962, Sean Lemass told delegates that the alter-native to joining would be that “Ireland would be an isolated unit on the fringe of a dynamic European confederation”. The last thing Ireland needs to do today is to retreat to the fringes of Europe.

The European Union will play a central role in Ireland’s recovery.

That is why Fianna Fail is vigorously campaign-ing for a Yes vote. This fiscal crisis has been a crisis of globalisation. It has crossed borders and many other countries, not just Ireland, are facing unprecedented pressures in controlling budgets and raising the money to fund public services. A crisis of this massive scale requires collabora-tion, co-operation and a joined up approach to achieving solutions amongst the countries of Europe.

Fianna Fail has con-sistently been calling for three principal issues to be addressed: chang-ing the mandate of the European Central Bank; increasing the central funding of the EU; and federalising financial regulation.

If the euro is to be saved and if it is to retain democratic legitimacy, these measures must be taken up and Fianna Fail will continue to press this.

Many of the problems facing people in Ireland are shared by other coun-tries. The budgets in cap-ital cities around Europe, like Dublin, are under huge pressure. It makes sense, therefore, that the best way to tackle them is for countries to work together. This treaty rein-forces the rules to make sure that budgets are better controlled so that major debt is avoided.

In return for agreeing these controls, countries will find it easier to raise money to fund public services, like the ones we benefit from in the city every day, our buses, gardai, schools and hos-pitals. It provides a more secure future for our country.

SENATOR DARRAGH O’BRIEN (FF) explains why his party believes the Stability Treaty will give Ireland more growth opportunities and employment

In fact, had this new emergency funding sys-tem and other new poli-cies been in place years ago Ireland would never have required a bail-out. Its support programme is based entirely on tar-gets that were already proposed by the then Irish government, and Ireland’s debt is due to top out at a level of less than that of Italy today or Greece after all their adjustments.

In the 2009, refer-endum on the revised Lisbon proposal, public support for a Yes vote

actually rose during the campaign. This was because we worked hard to bring a positive mes-sage directly to people.

That re ferendum changed the nature of EU debate in Ireland and this is what is reflected in the current large majority indicating an intention to vote Yes, including 70% of my party’s voters.

One of the key reasons for Ireland’s attractive-ness is its export platform to the rest of the EU.

Today nearly 100,000 people are directly employed in over 600

US firms in Ireland. US companies have a $190 billion cumulative stock of investments in Irish- based operations. I really believe that Ireland’s full and active membership in the EU is critical for stability and investment across Dublin.

I believe Dublin needs a strong Yes vote on May 31 to secure sta-bility and eco-nomic recovery.

Darragh O’BrienFianna Fail Senator for Dublin

North and Seanad Spokesper-

son on Finance


RETAIL Retailer to create 20 new jobs for area

New Lidl store is set to openin Swords� NATALIE BURKE

SWORD’S first discount food store is set to open its doors next week.

Popular retailer Lidl will be opening the long-awaited new store on the Rathbeale Road for the first time at 8am on Thursday, May 17, creating 20 new jobs for the area.

The new store will offer a total of 76 car parking spaces to local shoppers but with the store’s location situ-ated on the site of the former Rathbeale serv-ice station along one of the busiest roads in Swords, Mayor of Fin-gal, Cllr Gerry McGuire

(Lab) admits it remains a topic of concern for locals already suffering from traffic in the area.

“I have my doubts about the level of traffic, but I have to accept the advice given by the traffic management team. They told us people shopping in Lidl will spend at least 20 minutes shopping whereas people going into the petrol station might have only been in there for five minutes and there was a greater turnaround of vehicles,” he said.

“They’re saying that traffic flow won’t be as great but the Rathbeale Road has become very busy and I think it could

add to the congestion.” Despite his worries

about the level of traf-fic the new store could generate, Cllr McGuire believes it will be good for Swords to have a discount food store.

“I think competition is good. JC’s supermarket is very competitive already and has a very trustful line of customers over the years but I don’t think it will do any harm to have a little more competition in the area.”

The new Lidl branch will be providing Swords and the surrounding areas with “great qual-ity food for less” with its range of award-winning own-brand products.

Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Gerry McGuire (Lab), says Lidl will be good for Swords

The new-look store will feature an innova-tive new baking facility and will be featuring many Irish suppliers in the production of its own brand products.

Speaking in advance of the opening, Chris Bell, sales operations man-

ager for the new Swords branch, said the store looked forward to wel-coming Swords locals to the new supermarket and have a fun-filled day planned for the official launch.

“We look forward to being part of the town.

We have so many excit-ing activities planned for the opening. There really is something for everyone and it prom-ises to be a great local event for families and anyone else who wants to come along and join the fun!”

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Plenty of high notes for NaulA NUMBER of events is set to take place over the coming weeks at The Sea-mus Ennis Cultural Cen-tre, Naul, Fingal.

Rock singer Hazel O’Connor starts the sea-son off and returns to her soul-folk roots when she performs an acoustic set with celebrated Irish harpist, Cormac DeBarra, in a captivating, intimate one-off performance on Friday, May 11.

Three influential and creative musicians, Donal Lunny, Padraig Rynne and Sylvain Barou, will be returning from a suc-cessful trip to Paris to per-form a traditional Irish music evening on Friday, May 25, while native Texan, Kimmie Rhodes, performs a selection of her top selling songs in a special trio show on Sat-urday, May 6.

For more information on tickets and events, visit www.seamusenniscentre.com.

MUSIC


Dining and dancingT

HE Carlton Hotel in Tyrrelstown hosted a very special event recently when it hosted the Ghana Union Ireland Inauguration and Dinner Dance.

The event celebrated all things African and a large number of African ambassadors were in attend-ance with the guest of honour, His Excellency, Prof Kwaku Danso-Boafo (Ghana High Commissioner UK/Ireland) visiting. Guests enjoyed some great food and drink and were entertained with some fantastic music. Fingal Mayor, Cllr Gerry McGuire (Lab) was also an honoured guest.

Randy Asante, Owusu Agyeiwa and Joan Asante. Pictures: James Devon

Erica Birch-Abban and guest artist, Twi Teacher

Ahenfie Drummer GroupRichard Mtow and Jacqueline Mtow

EVENT The Carlton Hotel in Tyrrelstown hosts the Ghana


Aba, Cassandra, Sharon, Gizzella, Emmanuella and Gabriella

Rose Yeboah, Ghana Union Letterkenny Dr Nana Yao with children

Gerry McGuire, Fingal County Council mayor attended

the event to show his support

Nigerian ambassador to Ireland, Felix Y Pwol, and Ghana High

Commissioner, Prof Kwaku Danso-Boafo

Union Ireland Inauguration and Dinner Dance


EVENT 2012 Dublin Gala Rose Ball in the Carlton Hotel

Setting the ball rollingT

HE Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown hosted the 2012 Dublin Gala Rose Ball on April 27. The event was a great occa-

sion for potential Dublin Roses to meet and greet guests and chat to former Dublin Roses. There was plenty of excitement as the Roses themselves spoke about the forthcoming 2012 Dublin Rose of Tralee Selection which will also take place at the hotel from May 18 to May 20. Over the course of the event, all Dublin Rose contestants will enjoy a compli-mentary three-night stay including breakfast and dinner at the Carlton Hotel.

Eleanor Hession, Jennifer Ward, Nicola O’Donoghue and Sinead Grant

David Farrell and Shauna Lawes

Saoirse Bardin, Paige Bardin, Monijka Bardin, Mary Bardin and Shannon BardinFionan Henry and Tara Talbot, Rose of Tralee 2011

Alan McEvoy, Ellen OBrien, Carleen Stringer

and Shane Collins

Darragh McGrath and Siobheal Nic

Eochaidh, Rose of Dublin 2011

Grace Nixon, Mark Nixon and Mel O’Conghaile

Peter Richardson, Christina Ryan, Ann Ryan and

Thomas Ryan

Julie Beathie, Ciara Ross and Aoife McManus

Susan Dowdall, Sarah Fitzgerald and

Mark Dowdall

10 May 2012 GAZETTE 11

The Emmet Suite

Summer Wedding Open DayT H E C a s t l e A r c h Hotel in Trim will host its Summer Wedding Open Day on Sunday, May 13, from 2 to 5pm.

The Castle Arch is one of the leading wed-ding venues in County Meath and this event will be one of their best open day’s with the hotel set up as it would be on the bride and groom’s special day.

ExperienceThe management

team have years of experience with wed-dings and will be on hand to guide you through the planning of your special day.

Their hallmark is attention to detail at all times by experienced staff in the art of creat-ing a perfect wedding.

The Castle Arch loves

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12 GAZETTE 10 May 2012

weddings and this is obvious from the atten-tive service you receive from the initial enquiry through to departure the next morning after your perfect wedding.

The Emmet Suite is the hotel’s dedicated wedding suite and will be set up with beauti-ful chair covers and a choice of sashes, as well as luxurious floral arrangements on each table and a fairylight backdrop.

Civil weddingThe hotel is also reg-

istered for civil wed-ding ceremonies and the Arch Suite will be decorated as it would be on the special day with linen chair covers, flow-ers and candles.

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EVENT Charity lunch at Brasserie 15

Bressie’s boost to mum’s support centre� LAURA WEBB

[email protected]

HE has fast become a household name after judging, and mentoring the winning act of the Voice of Ireland, but his new found fame hasn’t inflated his ego, as he uses his celebrity status to fundraise for charity.

Earlier this year, Bres-sie, aka Niall Breslin, was named the ambas-sador of LARCC (Lake-lands Area Retreat and Cancer Centre) a cancer support centre located just outside his home-town of Mullingar in Co Westmeath, where his mum, Mandy, is the director.

To help raise funds for the centre, he hosted a charity lunch in Brasserie 15 in Castleknock, Dub-lin 15 last week.

His best friend helped get the venue and he brought the entertain-ment, with thanks to his protegee, the Voice of Ireland winner, Pat Byrne.

Speak ing to the Gazette this week, he talked about his involve-ment in the charity and what’s next for the singer/songwriter and producer.

Respected

“It ’s a very well-known national charity. It is very well respected. A lot of cancer charities deal with the physical aspect of cancer; this is looking more at the emotional and psycho-logical aspect of it. It is a residential treatment centre where parents can go for a week with the family, and that

Bressie with mum Mandy. Picture: Ania Sherlock

is unique – there is nowhere in the whole country where you can do that.

“The HSE has cut funding by 50-60% and a lot of people don’t realise there is an emo-tional side to cancer, so people don’t really dedicate money to it.

“There was no way I was going to let it lose out. I thought I could bring something to it, but then the show [The Voice] started and then I knew I could really bring some-thing to it and it has.

“We are starting with

this event, and then there will be a big event in the summer and we are not talking about trying to keep one open, we are talking about opening others – that is where I am going with it,” he said.

Joining Bressie at the lunch was fellow Voice judge, Brian Kennedy, who said he was only too happy to be part of the charity event.

Although he won’t be on our screens every Sunday night with the Voice, Bressie is still very much involved

in it as he gets ready to work with his win-ning act Pat Byrne, and also help his other act, Conor Quinn.

“Pat hasn’t even got a day off yet. He asked about it, but I quickly told him – you’re in the music business now, there is no such thing,” he joked.

“We have star ted writing for the album for Pat. Then I will work with Conor and then work on my own. It’s a busy time.”

For further informa-tion on LARCC log onto www.larcc.ie

Encouraging healthy eating

INITIATIVE: PROMOTING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

STUDENTS across the country will be kept busy throughout May as Agri Aware’s Incredible Edibles Healthy Eating Month challenges stu-dents to record their daily intake of potatoes, fruit and vegetables.

Launched in Family Farm, which was devel-oped by Agri Aware and Dublin Zoo, Minister of State Shane McEntee (FG), was on hand to commence the month-long initiative which will see students note their consumption of these foods in a special healthy eating diary as part of the overall Incredible Edibles initiative.

With childhood obesity levels in Ireland reaching epidemic proportions, Agri Aware’s Incredible Edibles is a healthy eating initiative that encourages primary school children to eat more potatoes, fruit and vegetables. The project, now in its fourth year, is delivered by Agri Aware and is supported by Bord Bia, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Irish horti-culture industry.

The sponsors of the Incredible Edibles project will deliver healthy eating awareness activities, dem-onstrations and food tast-ings as part of Incredible

Edibles Healthy Eating month at Family Farm, Dublin Zoo during May.

Students nationwide are collecting the Incred-ible Edibles tokens and/or the Bord Bia Quality Mark from Irish potatoes, fruit and vegetables to win some amazing prizes for their class. The public are encouraged to help out by collecting the tokens and/or the Quality Mark from Irish potatoes, fruit and vegetables in support of their local schools par-ticipating in the project.

Speaking at the launch, Minister McEntee com-mented: “In light of the current levels of obesity, especially in our younger population, and the over-all need to increase fruit and vegetable consump-tion, I am very pleased that the Incredible Edi-bles has evolved to have a stronger emphasis on the need to increase con-sumption; I see Healthy Eating Month as a key part of this process.”

Encouraging a positive attitude to healthy eat-ing, Bernard Donohue, chairman of Agri Aware, said: “Incredible Edibles Healthy Eating month is a great opportunity for parents and teachers to communicate the impor-tance of healthy eating to children.”


GazettePETSPETSBrought to you by Miriam Kerins of

the DSPCA

THE FACTS: YOUR CAT’S DIET MAY NEED AN OVERHAUL AS SHE GETS OLDER

Helping kitty stay fit and healthy as she gets olderA

H yes, it’s a cool for cats kinda time right now because it seems

readers just can’t get enough of our feline friends… well, if your calls to the shelter are anything to go by.

So , th i s week , I

thought I’d continue my, ahem, CAT-alogue of kitty columns and delve a little into the world of the senior feline and her specific dietary needs and requirements.

You see as Kitty gets older, her nutrition-al needs will start to

As your cat gets older, her nutritional needs will start to change

change. She may have a slower metabolism and gain a few pounds, she may become less active and wish to stay indoors more therefore to help her stay fit and healthy into her senior years, you, as her parent, will need to give her diet an overhaul.

However, I must add, always check with your vet before you change your pet’s diet, especially if there are specific health problems that need to be addressed.

Levels of ActivitySome cats go out

and hunt and are pretty active, others are pam-pered and lie around the house all day.

It makes sense then that the less active Kitty may require 10% less maintenance energy.

This is also quite dependent on the weath-er. For example, keeping the body warm or cooling it down will use up more energy, so keep in touch with your vet in the event the temperature plum-mets and the same goes if we ever manage to get a heatwave… although the latter hardly ever occurs in Ireland.

Health StatusIf Kitty’s had surgery or

an illness, she may have increased nutritional requirements in order to help her heal. Again, keep in contact with your vet who will best advise regarding periods of ill-ness and recovery.

Portion Control is Important

Work with your vet to ascertain which senior cat food provides the best nutritional balance for Kitty. To help her main-tain her recommended weight, measure out the portions as per manu-facturer’s/veterinarian’s instructions.

Dividing the Spoils Usually it’s recom-

mended you feed your cat two meals per day using portion control.

Divide the amount suggested as per your vet or food manufacturer advice and allocate them approximately eight hours apart.

As cats require tau-rine, (an amino acid important to maintain normal heart function, reproduction and vision) and… here’s a little tip; most mammals can make taurine, but cats can’t, it’s important to feed Kitty animal-based protein which means a meat-based diet in order

to meet her nutritional requirements.

Remember you may need to adjust intake according to your cat’s level of activity or your vet’s recommendations.

TemperatureA senior cat’s sense

of smell may diminish slightly, so try to offer her food at room tempera-ture to make it easier for her to be attracted to the aroma.

Water OnlyForget the saucer of

milk, it’s bad for Kitty. Cats cannot process enough lactase in order to break down lactose

in milk, therefore allow-ing Kitty to drink milk or milk-based products will cause her to vomit or experience diarrhoea.

Give water only and make sure you encour-age her to drink it often, as some senior cats may be prone to medical problems such as urinary tract infections and an increased water intake may reduce the risk of this. It will also reduce the risk of dehydration.

So, following the all clear from your vet, make sure Kitty gets enough gentle exercise in the form of some play with toys or a little potter around the garden while you’re tend-ing to the plants.

The above is written as a guideline only, so if you’ve got a senior cat, why not pop her along to your vet today for a quick check up because with his/her help, there’s no reason why you and Kitty can’t enjoy the golden years together and optimise her health and wellbeing.

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


GazetteGROWINGGROWING

Can’t beet thisTHIS month, we will be harvesting the first of our new-season beetroot.

Okay, so they will be no bigger than golf balls, and will have been grown in the polytunnel – but they will be all the tastier and more tender as a result.

I was turned off beet-root as a kid because the only way I ever saw it pre-sented was pickled and floating in vinegar – fresh beetroot plucked straight from the soil and baked to retain all the goodness is a different matter: earthy, tender, wonderful and incredibly good for you.

Interesting to note that we also still have about half a dozen beetroot from last year in a box of sand in the shed – they were sown in July, lifted for storage in October,

and we’ve been eating a couple a week since. They have held up well.

They are an altogether hardier affair than the new season ones – about the size of large oranges, and not quite as tender, but they still taste pretty good and make a useful addition to salads (raw, grated).

To my mind, this brings home why beetroot is the perfect GIY crop – it can be difficult to source fresh in the supermarket, it’s easy to grow, doesn’t demand much space and, with a little planning, it can be enjoyed fresh all year round.

By the way, if you are heading to Bloom in the Phoenix Park (May 31 to June 4), come and visit us at the GIY Zone.

We will be showing people how to sow seeds and generally spreading GIY joy. We’re also aim-ing to break a Guinness World Record for the most people sowing seed-lings at the one time, and creating a giant seedling mosaic!

Tip of the week: Best way to sow beetroot

Beetroot likes a deep, sandy soil, manured the previous winter. Apply organic fertiliser about a week before sowing.

Germination is in about 10 days, and you will have roots to eat in about three months.

I always sow beetroot in module trays and then carefully transplant them about a month after sow-ing.

They should be planted four inches apart, in rows about 12 inches apart.

Bear in mind that a beetroot seed is actually a “cluster” of up to five seeds, so even if you sow just one seed, you may end up with a small clus-ter of plants – thin them out to just one seedling.

Sow every two weeks from April until July (for a continuous supply of young beets), although you can start even earlier (March) in a greenhouse or polytunnel.

Sow another batch in July, which will be ready to lift in October for win-ter storage.

� Michael Kelly is a

freelance journalist,

author and founder of

GIY Ireland

In association with

Ingredients:

• 12-15 baby beetroot

• Two TBSP lemon juice

• 80ml extra virgin olive oil

• One TSP Dijon mustard

• 70g baby spinach leaves

and some small beetroot

leaves

• A bunch of flat-leaf

parsley leaves, roughly

chopped

• 100g soft goat’s cheese,

crumbled

• 75g toasted walnuts

TWIST off the leaves from

the beetroot (don’t cut,

this causes them to bleed),

leaving about two inches

of stalk attached to the

beet. Wash them well and

pat dry. Place them in a

tinfoil parcel, and bake in a

hot (220C) oven for about

35-45 minutes.

They will be very tender

when cooked – pierce with

a knife to check. Take a

beetroot and rinse under a

cold tap (so you can handle

it), then quickly remove

the skin by rubbing with

your fingers – if it is well

cooked, it should come off

easily.

Repeat with all the

beetroot and cut them

into quarters. Whisk the

lemon juice, olive oil and

mustard together in a

small bowl. Season to

taste.

Place the spinach,

beetroot leaves and

chopped parsley in a large

bowl. Add half the dressing

and toss well.

Divide among four

serving plates (or leave in

the large bowl, if desired),

then scatter with

beetroot, goat’s cheese

and toasted walnuts.

Garnish the salad with

some parsley, drizzle with

the remaining dressing

and serve immediately.

Recipe of the WeekBEETROOT, walnuts and goat’s cheese make ideal bedfellows for a salad. This delicious salad serves four.

TASTE: NO NEED TO ROOT AROUND FOR A GREAT TREAT

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GazetteBEAUTYBEAUTY

LANCOME announc-es its June 2012 designer gift collabora-tion with luxury design house, Jenny Packham.

This is one of Lan-come’s most exciting designer collaborations to date. The style of the make-up purse has a vintage feel to it, fea-turing romantic floral designs created exclu-sively by de Gournay for the Jenny Packham Lancome bag.

From June 2012, Lancome customers can own this unique bag by simply purchas-ing two Lancome products (one to be skincare) from a Lan-come counter.

Available nation-wide from June 8, 2012, whilst stocks last.

A designer

gift from

Lancome The essential L

et’s face it, the sooner we go on holidays to catch a few rays from

that shiny ball in the sky, known as THE SUN, the sooner faces will be smil-ing again.

The travel season is among us and Gazette Beauty is on a mini mission to give readers an idea of some of the essential products that should take up space in that 20kg bag.

Forget packing lug-gage to the brim with flip flops and sarongs, you know you won’t use, think about items that you can’t live without on a sun holiday.

Helping to take the stress out of travel this summer is Burt’s Bees and its mini kits.

The kits have mini-

ature versions of all it’s full size favourites with Tips and Toes Kit, Head to Toe, Radiance Healthy Glow and the Essen-tial Burt’s Bee Kit – our favourite.

This essential Burt’s Bee’s kit (€16.99) con-tains soap bark and chamomile deep cleans-ing cream, hand cream, nourishing milk and honey lotion, coconut foot cream and beeswax lip balm.

Of these, the lip balm is a must to keep with you at all times to avoid dry lips while sun bath-ing.

The coconut foot cream gives great relief after a day’s walking, or a night’s dancing and the coconut scent boosts that happy holiday feel-ing – available at health

stores and pharmacies nationwide.

Take care while in the sun, and so it’s not unusual that we say sun factor is a MUST for eve-ryone.

Don’t let skin burn – red is not a sun-kissed colour, it’s sun-kissed pain. Apply sun factor as often as you can.

If money doesn’t mat-ter, Piz Buin is a favour-ite here as it is great for sensitive and dry skin, and works on building a glowing natural tan.

Saving pennies? Then try out Lidl’s very own range from Cien. The range is available in vari-ous sun protection fac-tors to suit every need from factor 8 to factor 50, kids to adults, it has the lot.

Here’s something eve-Enjoy the summer holiday season but take care while in the sun with an appropri-

ate sun screen to prevent burning


Edited by

Laura Webb

products for a spell in the sunryone should know – sun protection factor (SPF) refers to how long you can stay in the sun with-out getting burned.

The higher the fac-tor the longer you can stay out without burn-ing. The Cien range is priced between €2.99 and €4.99.

Another essential is, of course, after sun. One suggestion from Gazette Beauty for a good after sun, essential for sooth-ing is Green People After Sun (€15.99). This product is made with cooling peppermint and helps to maintain a healthy tan – available at Nelson’s Homeopath-ic Dispensary, Duke St, Dublin 2.

Travelling can take its toll on some stomachs and so a travel sickness preventative is worth bringing along, helping you enjoy your sum-mer rather than loath it because of travel sick-ness.

Our recommendation is, also available from Nelson’s, is Travella, a homeopathic prepara-tion to aid with symp-toms of travel sickness, this costs €7.25.

Exfoliate before head-ing to the beach with

Dead Sea Skin Magik Brushing Salts (€17.95).

This is a mix of Dead Sea salts and coconut oil, perfect for pre beach exfoliation and a great treatment for cellulite, also available at Nelson’s Homeopathic Dispen-sary.

Take care of your hair when away. The Aus-sie hair care range, not only smells fantastic but works wonders for dry/damaged hair.

Tried and tested by Gazette beauties, the range recommended this summer is the Miracle Moist Range.

This range makes hair soft, shiny and fabulously conditioned.

It brings moisture to dry damaged hair, which is often a result of sun exposure.

Miracle Moist Sham-poo is used to lock mois-ture in all day long.

After that, use Miracle Moist Conditioner for some serious moisturis-ing. But the one thing we advise not to leave behind is its Miracle Hair Insurance.

This leave-in condi-tioner is a little miracle for detangling hair by conditioning and nour-ishing it, while also pro-

tecting hair from every-day wear and tear, a must when out and about this summer – Aussie hair products are available at Boots nationwide.

Rub away your stress and worries with the new Spa Collection Abso-lute Calm Massage Oil, €8/100ml from Marks & Spencer.

This non-greasy mas-sage oil has been special-ly formulated with sweet almond oil to condition and nourish the skin whilst a soothing blend of essential oils of man-darin, chamomile and lavender help relax and unwind.

This is perfect for try-ing to unwind after a day sightseeing.

Also available in this range is the Spa Collec-tion Absolute Calm Bath Essence, €5.50/300ml and Spa Collection Absolute Calm Pillow Mist, €5.50/50ml.

Now obviously we are not saying take all these essentials with you, because if you do, that 20kg will be full before you get a chance to put in any summer shorts, so just take in our advice and then find what best suits your top five travel essentials.

Help take the stress out of travel with Essential Burt’s Bees Kit

Lidl’s very own range from Cien has factors to suit every need

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GazetteMUSICMUSIC

All our love and respect to the end

Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys had an influence on a generation of music fans

� ROB HEIGH

W H E N i t w a s announced last week that Beastie Boy Adam Yauch had died after a three-year battle against cancer, the wave of gen-uine shock and sadness that passed through the world of music was pal-pable.

Although the portents were not good when he was unable to attend the band’s induction to the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame in April, there was still hope that this essential part of one of the most influential and beloved bands of the past three decades would beat the disease that afflicted him.

Yauch’s gravelly rasp counterpointed Dia-mond’s pally vibe and Horowitz’s amped cra-ziness on the mic. Their skills combined to cre-ate a unique bouilla-baisse – a Beastie Boys record was instantly recognisable, not only because of their rhyme styles, but because you felt that the way their personalities were right there on the track.

Every record, which never sold less than a

million copies on release, was a new adventure in sound – the Beasties took the influences of their world, mashing up Japanese pop, Jamaican dub, old-school hip-hop, soul and hard rock riffs and made something uniquely their own. At the same time, they wrote some of the most memorable, quotable, referential and – don’t forget or underestimate this – fun rhymes in rap.

The fact that the band seemed like a band of brothers, transmitting a genuine enjoyment in what they did, never appearing po-faced or serious, even in the face of serious illness in the last three years, defines why the Beastie Boys meant so much to so many people. They loved what they did, and they wanted you to be a part of the party they fought for the right to throw. You were invited, and welcome – the door was open and theirs was not a closed world of gang-sta mores or outrageous bling that you had no access to.

They opened a whole new world of music to

this impressionable teen – the Beasties were the link to Run-DMC, to Public Enemy, to NWA, and on, and on… Not only to their contem-poraries, but also to the artists they sampled on their tracks, too innu-merable to mention, especially on their best album, Paul’s Boutique.

Creating some of the most memora-ble moments in music video history – Inter-galactic, Body Movin’, So What’cha Want – was another of Yauch’s talents that was most immediately on display in the public domain, but his activism and charitable work for Tibetan freedom and the recovery of New York in the wake of 9/11 were other aspects of the work he did, which underlined his humanity and humanitarianism.

There has been noth-ing but the Beasties finest moments on the playlist since last Friday, and they will always be one of of my most dearly loved, and missed, musi-cal heroes.

Thank you, Boys. Thank you , Adam. Namaste.

SHE’S been called one of the most controver-sial women in rock, and I think Courtney Love whole-heartedly deserves that crown. Brawls, court cases, drugs...this woman has stared the usual rock cliches in the face (and in some cases, punched it), but only she could continue the on-again off-again relationship with her fella, 18 years after his death.

Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain died in 1994 and the rights to his image were in

the hands of his wife. Although tumultuous, their relationship was one that seemed to survive all sorts of chal-lenges...until Courtney needed a quick buck, it seems.

It’s emerged the Hole singer gave up her rights to Cobain’s name, like-ness and appearance in exchange for €2.1m. Surely, she wouldn’t be so shallow...

I hear you ask, where is she getting the money? Oh, that’d be from her teenage daughter, Frances Bean

FastTunes with Radio Nova’s Dee Woods

Cobain’s, trust fund. So, Courtney gets the loan of a couple of million, but until she can pay it back, will no longer be head of the company that looks after the Cobain cash-flow: Frances Bean is. The 19-year-old is tak-ing over her 47-year-old mother’s job and giving her a loan? Talk about role reversal.

In fairness to Court-ney, she’s doing her best to earn a few quid in the meantime. Her first art show was launched in New York last week.

It featured drawings and lyrics by the Hole frontwoman and the piece de resistance: a designer gown which she claimed was to be worn to her marriage to Ed Norton that never hap-pened.

Now, there’s a woman with an appropriate surname - what’s not to Love?


INTERNATIONAL singer and actress Tracy Leonard runs a new stage school in Lucan and Rush, known as DAS Academy (Dancing, Act-ing, Singing Academy).

Tracy trained at the Gaiety School of Acting, Dublin and the Royal Academy of Music, Lon-don on its world renowned Musical Theatre Course and has worked professionally in Ire-land, the UK and on a cruise ship as the main singer for Broadway style shows on the US high seas.

Tracy loves to perform on stage and has done so since a young age, she now wants to help new up-and-coming actors, singers and danc-ers achieve their dreams or even just enjoy it as something to help them gain more confidence in themselves in everyday life.

Interview: Tracy Leonard, DAS Academy in Lucan and Rush

Q&A

Helping people achieve their dreams

International singer and actress Tracy Leonard runs a new stage school in Lucan and Rush

MORTGAGE RELIEF

Q – We bought my first house in 2004, bought the

second in 2010, as the family grew. We could not

sell the first, as it was in negative equity and

rented it out in 2010, losing the mortgage inter-

est relief. Should we still qualify after recent

changes ? The rent doesn’t cover the mortgage

capital and interest repayments.

Colin – Terenure

A - Measures brought into effect last Budget would

have meant that, had you stayed in your first

house, you would now be enjoying 30% mortgage

interest relief until 2017 ! Unfortunately, moving

meant that you lost out on being a first-time buyer

and, therefore, precludes you from receiving the

new life changes announced in the last Budget. At

least you stopped the TRS (tax relief at source) as

soon as you started renting your former home.

There are so many people who were forced to

rent out their homes because of their inability to

maintain repayments, but did not stop the TRS. This

could come back to haunt them. Presumably, you

are also making the usual offsets against the rental

income tax liability:

• 75% of the mortgage interest

• Service charges (including block insurance)

• Repairs and maintenance

• 12.5% of furniture and fixtures (keep receipts)

for each of the first eight years

• PRTB fees

• Property management fees

• Contents insurance if contents are your own

The NPPR and household charges are not allow-

able for offsetting against your rental income tax

liability.

As regards tax relief on your second home, the

original allowance of seven years has now expired –

the last two years being at 20% tax relief.

� Contact John with your money questions at

[email protected] or visit his website at

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

Institute of Bankers, is founder and managing

director of Money Doctor

GazetteBUSINESSBUSINESS Supported by AIB

When you were a kid, what did

you want to be?

A singer.

What was your first job?

Farmer’s daughter and then helping

run a video shop when I was 15. I

didn’t want to get muddy anymore!

And your first pay check?

I remember wanting these runners

and thought if I work for two weeks,

I’ll be able to get them. It made me

feel great to be able to get them

myself.

When did you start your

present job?

August 2011 with the stage school and

singing forever it seems. Before that

for weddings, shows and events.

What is the best thing about

your job?

The kids. Seeing them achieve a

dance move they couldn’t do before

or hitting a note that seemed out of

reach, not being shy to read out or

“act” in front of their peers.

What part of your working day

do you “delegate”?

I leave the dancing to Thomas…we

work on production pieces together,

but when it comes to choreography, I

have a cuppa…

What sport do you follow?

I like rugby.

What sport can you play?

I used to play camogie and Gaelic

football, but now I just walk a lot and

run around after my toddler…keeps

me fit to say the least!

What is your guilty music, TV or

movie pleasure?

I just love Sky Plus. I get to watch it

all after baby is in bed and I can wind

down with the soap stories, a nice

cuppa and some choccy.

What music/pictures/movies

do you have on your iPod/iPad?

Everything from Heads Shoulders

Knees and Toes to Rhianna for DAS

Academy classes.

Who do you follow on Twitter/

Facebook?

Just friends and family really, as my

husband is American, so I keep in

touch with all my friends and in-laws

that way. It’s great for sharing photos

and stories.

Describe your dream meal?

Cooked oysters and then a big, thick

medium-rare steak and cheesy

potatoes.

Where do you enjoy spending

money frivolously?

On my son and my husband – online.

That way it’s a surprise when it

arrives. I’m not a complete martyr

though, I do get myself stuff too.

How many pairs of shoes do

you own?

Mmm, let me think … about 40. BUT

can’t wear half of the really high heels

at the moment. I do intend wearing

them again in the future, so refuse

to throw them out (not sure if I’m in

denial or not though!)

What was your worst holiday

experience?

My last trip to California (where my

husband is from). The holiday wasn’t

the problem, the travel was! Dublin to

London to San Franciso was so long

and my son was only six months old at

the time. He was great on the flights

but I hate flying! So, while hubby and

son snoozed away, I was envisioning

all sorts of scary airplane movies!

Describe your dream holiday?

Me, hubby and son by a pool with a

maid to do all the cooking and cleaning.

What would be your dream job?

Singing/acting a couple of days a

week and teaching the DAS Academy

kids a couple of days a week too – I

have done both, but not together yet.

What do you plan to do when

you retire?

IF I retire, which will probably only

ever be part-time retirement, as I

love singing, acting and teaching. I will

travel, relax and spend time with my

son and future children and me and

my husband’s family.


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GazetteMOTORSMOTORS

� CORMAC CURTIS

YEAR in , year out, car compa-nies the world over tease us

with incredible concept designs that they prom-ise indicate the direc-tion their latest models are following.

Unfortunately, year after year, what eventu-ally rolls off the assem-bly line doesn’t quite live up to our, admit-tedly juvenile, expecta-tions.

A certain part of every driver’s psyche (well, mine at least) wants to see a car that breaks the rules and doesn’t apolo-gise for it.

I have an insatiable appetite for a car that has all the charm, char-acter, looks and power of a James Bond villain, just in motoring form. Something that really has a menacing person-ality.

S o , w h e n O p e l released their concept images of the new-est incarnation of the Astra GTC at the Paris Autoshow in 2010, not too many members of the motoring press held their breath in anticipa-tion of the final product matching the beauty of the concept.

How wrong were we? Very.

With the exception of the alloys and the racing seats featured in the pre-release images, the Opel Astra GTC is almost exactly as prom-ised.

As many wi l l be aware, the Astra hatch-back has been held close to the hearts of many a young boy racer over the years.

And, as those boy racers have matured, Opel have kept a close eye on how the Astra has developed to match the needs and, indeed, the desires of their cus-tomers.

This time, though, the design team led by

Opel’s vice-president of design, Mark Adams, has produced some-thing wonderful.

You simply can’t help but grin from ear to ear when you lay eyes on this car.

The contours appear to have been modelled on the lines in a speed tunnel , making the car’s profile similar to a cross section of an aeroplane’s wing.

This thing looks like it’s moving when it’s standing still.

External chrome has been kept to a styl-ish minimum – only appearing on the front grille and as a highlight-ing arc over the side windows.

The front lights have all the subtlety of a snarling panther, and, at night, the effect is exaggerated with some beautifully designed illumination.

Let’s just say you’ll notice this car from a mile off – and you will feel like giving it plenty of space and avoiding eye contact.

This Astra is also the first Opel coupe that offers an option of 20” alloy wheels the model I tested was sporting this option, and I couldn’t imagine the car without them.

The biggest issue for my kids is rear seats – do they have enough room, and can they buckle themselves in to their booster chairs?

In the Astra GTC, this was, surprisingly, abso-lutely no problem. Not only that, but, both kids could even flip the front seats forward them-selves to get out.

Practicality reaches further back in to the

The Astra GTC is well worth a test drive if you can drag yourself away from the

beauty of the outside

RoadRoadSignsSignsEircom calls on Kuga for its new fleet IRELAND’S leading telecom services provider, Eircom, has taken delivery of 20 new Ford Kuga Commercial vehicles for its national team of radio site engineers. The Kuga is powered by Ford’s effi-cient 2.0-litre TDCi diesel engine and has four-wheel drive capability, enabling the Eircom teams to gain easy access to off-road sites.

Michael Lynch, head of transport and logistics for Eircom, said: “Our teams need a tough, reliable vehicle in their daily work and the initial reaction to the new Kuga has been very positive. The Kuga has the right mix of style, versatility and tough-ness.”

Ford Ireland’s commercial vehicle sales and Marketing manager, Ciaran McMahon, said: “Our Kuga Commercial is the ideal stylish package for any business user who needs that little bit more muscle in their daily work. And with prices from €26,604, it truly is a great value package”.

Volkswagen claims number one spot VOLKSWAGEN Ireland has claimed the number 1 position in the Irish motor industry during April, with 867 registrations, a market share of 12.9%.

So far this year, Volkswagen has registered 6,513 vehicles representing a market share of 12.3%, up 0.5% (on 2011).

This performance places Volkswagen imme-diately behind Toyota, and suggests it is closing the gap.

Commenting on the figures, John Donegan, head of sales and marketing for Volkswagen Ireland said: “We are delighted with our per-formance during April and credit must go to our dealership network and their exceptional efforts.

“With a gap of just 200 registrations between Volkswagen Ireland and the top spot we will be doing our utmost to continue this strong performance in the second quarter of 2012 and maximise a strong order bank.”

Volkswagen Ireland’s strong performance is against the backdrop of an overall motoring industry that year to date is 7.2 % down on 2011 with April down 22% on April 2011.

New Astra lives � Engine: 2.0 CDTI � Economy: 49.6mpg� CO2 emissions: 127g� Price: €27,995

SPECS: OPEL ASTRA GTC 2.0-LITREDIESEL SRI

car, as the boot pro-vides between 380 and 1,165 litres of volume – over 200 litres more than some of the com-petition.

I was impres sed with the high-quality materials that feature in all GTCs, and with the attractive chrome-edged instruments in deep-set binnacles that give drivers clear and well laid-out informa-tion.

S t anda rd on a l l GTCs are DAB stereo and USB functionality, while the SRi gets an onboard computer and leather-rimmed steering wheel.

My test car came in a beautifully striking More-llo Red, and featured the

new premium leather trim, and a six-way adjust-able driver’s seat.

I was relieved that the sports seats in this car were forgiving enough to allow me to drive in incredible comfort – which is not always the case with figure-hugging sports seats!

This car would not be complete without some serious performance ability – and the 2.0-CDTi packs 165PS with an exceptionally strong 350Nm of torque from just 1,750rpm.

T h i s he lps i t to achieve a 0-60mph time of just 8.4 seconds and 50-70mph in 6.4 seconds, together with a combined fuel con-sumption of 58.9mpg

and emissions of just 127g/km.

In short, enough poke for some laugh-out-load fun on the road.

Driver comfort is fur-ther enhanced as the engine is bolted in posi-tion via hydraulically-damped mount ings that minimise vibra-tion through the body structure. Opel’s Start/Stop system is fitted to all 2.0-CDTi models as standard and works nicely.

So, there is a lot going on in the new Astra GTC, and it won me over quicker than it can reach 60mph.

It’s well worth a test drive if you can drag yourself away from the beauty of the outside!

R1


up to expectations

R1

GazetteTTRAVELRAVEL

AMERICA: BEAUTIFUL BEACHES, FANTASTIC THEME PARKS AND CARIBBEAN CRUISES

Whether you’re look-ing to see the beau-ty of Cape Cod, get Mickey Mouse’s

autograph, or chance your luck in the casinos, American Holidays have some great US offers at the moment.

Orlando and Clearwater

Beach

Stay 10 nights at the 4-star Crowne Plaza Universal Orlando and four nights at the 4-star Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort, with 14 nights car hire included, from only €1,049pp.

The Crowne Plaza Univer-sal Orlando Hotel, located on Universal Boulevard, is just a quick walk from Orlando’s world-renowned International Drive. It offers an outdoor pool, fitness and business centres, and offers high-speed and wireless internet access.

Complimentary shuttles

whisk visitors from the hotel to SeaWorld, Wet ‘n’ Wild, and the Disney and Univer-sal Orlando theme parks.

Overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, the Hilton Clearwa-ter Beach Resort stands on 10 acres of white-sand beach in Clearwater Beach and Pier 60, positioned adjacent to the resort, hosts nightly sunset celebrations.

The Show Queen River-boat is docked two blocks from the hotel.

Price includes: Return flights from Dublin to Orlan-do, 14 nights accommodation and 14 nights car hire with fully inclusive insurance. Price based on two adults and two children sharing.

Boston and Cape Cod

Spend three nights in the 3-star Midtown Hotel Boston and four nights in the 3-star Cape Codder Resort and Spa Hyannis from only €1,219pp

Centrally located in down-town Boston, the Midtown Hotel blends comfort and convenience with affordabil-ity. This moderately priced hotel, nestling in the heart of Boston’s Back Bay, puts the city at your doorstep.

Boston is an exciting city to visit and the Midtown Hotel is the place to stay.

At the award-winning Cape Codder Resort and Spa, enjoy the crisp ocean air and rolling sand dune scenery, providing numerous attrac-tions, shopping and dining for its guests.

Comfortable lodgings and excellent restaurants are available as is fun for all the family in the complex’s amaz-ing indoor wave pool.

Price includes: Return flights direct from Dublin to Boston with Aer Lingus, seven nights accommodation and four days car hire. Prices based on two adults sharing.

Orlando Stay and Western

Caribbean Cruise

Stay five nights in the 3-star Rosen Inn Pointe Orlando Hotel and seven nights aboard Royal Carib-bean’s Freedom of the Seas from only €1,329pp.

Take the family to Orlando this Christmas and stay in the Rosen Inn Pointe Orlando Hotel on the famous Interna-tional Drive, within driving distance of Universal Orlando, Sea World, Walt Disney World Theme Parks and many other Orlando attractions. The hotel also provides a complimentary scheduled shuttle transporta-tion service to each of these attractions.

The newly-enhanced Free-dom of the Seas is a marvel of maritime engineering, packed with awesome innovations to stir your imagination. Catch a first-run movie in the 3D theatre or poolside under the stars on the outdoor movie

screen. Infuse colour into your cruise with the artworks of the BRITTO Gallery or with the frosted confections of the Cupcake Cupboard.

Plus, enjoy all the revolution-ary features Freedom of the Seas has always been known for - FlowRider surf simulator, rock climbing wall, ice-skating rink, Royal Promenade, canti-levered whirlpools, mini-golf course, H2O Zone water park, and much more.

Price includes: Return flights from Dublin to Orlan-do, five nights accommoda-tion in Orlando, seven nights full-board cruise and taxes. Excludes gratuities. Terms and conditions apply. Price based on two adults sharing.

Las Vegas and Cancun

Stay three nights in the 3-star Excalibur Hotel and seven nights in the 3-star Viva Wynham Maya in Cancun, Mexico from only €1,479pp.

Stay in royal accommoda-tions in the Excalibur Hotel in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. Excalibur offers every-thing you’d expect from a Las Vegas hotel - from top-notch dining and entertainment, to non-stop Las Vegas casino action.

Surrounded by pristine beaches and submerged among coral reefs, the Viva Wynham Maya is enchanted by ancient Mayan ruins.

The all-inclusive resort experience shines with a seemingly endless array of exciting possibilities. Dine at one of seven restaurants, offering a tempting array of cuisines in a variety of beau-tiful settings.

Price includes: Return flights, internal flight, 10 nights accommodation and airport transfers in Cancun. Prices based on two adults sharing.

Call American Holidays to book on 01 6733800.

Get away to the USACancun is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world


Enjoy the crisp ocean air in Cape Cod

Enjoy non-stop Las Vegas casino action

Edited by

Mimi Murray



GazetteENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

This slice is staleSeann William Scott and Jason Biggs explain to the rest of the gang what it felt like to have a career beyond the American Pie films. Out of

shot, Chris Klein plots Rollerball 2.

Thirteen years after their first adventure, the American Pie gang are reunited, but they’ve left the charm behind� PAUL HOSFORD

AVENGERS Assemble may have announced the arrival of summer in cineplexes, but another reluctant team are com-ing together this week to fight off their own demons and play dress up.

Unfortunately for the cast of American Pie: Reunion, Joss Whedon didn’t work his magic on the fourth (or eighth, depending on whether you class direct to video sequels) instalment of the series.

Because, whereas the characters you know and love are back, they are basically the same people.

Sure, Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are now par-ents of a two-year-old, Oz (Chris Klein) has become a sports caster with a blonde girlfriend (30 Rock’s Katr ina Bowden).

Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) has settled into the life of a house-husband, Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is a well-travelled man of the world, Mena Suvari’s Heather is a doctor, Stif ler’s (Seann Wil-liam Scott) still Stifler, and Tara Reid’s Vicky is... living in New York, which is all we learn, but that’s ok because her character was the worst.

So, 13 years after their graduation, the gang are back in town for a reunion and all rumi-nating on how their

lives haven’t gone as expected.

It’s an odd fit, trying to make a mid-life crisis comedy of a franchise that got famous for its unconventional use of baked goods.

So, we have the gang wistfully looking at the kids these days, won-dering where their own youth has gone and alternately being their usual selves, which is the film’s biggest flaw.

Jim will have his cus-tomary mishap, Finch will become obsessive about a toilet, Oz and Heather will look at

each other doe-eyed, Stif ler will scam on younger girls and get the best lines, while Kevin and Vicky will continue to be massive, lumberingly unfunny, millstones around the neck of the franchise.

Directors Hurwitz and Schlossberg cre-ated the Harold and Kumar series, itself a race-concious hom-age to American Pie, so you would feel that this project was right in their wheel-house.

Unfortunately, the pair seem to have mis-taken watching the first film for making the fourth.

Most of the jokes are callbacks to the original instalment, and nothing more than that.

The only character given room to grow is Jim’s Dad, played with typica l dr yness by Eugene Levy.

With his wife, Jim’s Mom, dead, his attempts

to get back into the dat-ing game are peppered with brilliant Levy dia-logue.

Of course, there is the inevitable meeting with Stifler’s Mom (Jennifer Coolidge) and the two play off each other mag-nificently.

But, this all feels like an afterthought. Like somewhere through filming, someone point-ed out that Levy and Coolidge are two gifted comedians and the fans would probably like to see them get together.

The actors struggle manfully with the mate-rial and, to an extent, seeing characters that you have built a genu-ine affection for back on the screen isn’t the worst way to spend two hours, but that alone just isn’t enough.

This is why reunions are short-lived affairs; after the initial buzz of being back together, you realise why you left.

FILM OF THE WEEK: American Pie: Reunion�� (15) 113 mins

OUR VERDICT:ONLY nostalgia gets this film such a high score. A film without characters as warmly built and easily recognised may have dipped below three stars. That said, there are genuinely funny parts and some that are laced with the good-hearted sweetness that made the series so successful. It is definitely worth a watch, but not worth rushing to.

Directors: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden SchlossbergStarring: Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Tara Reid, Eugene Levy, Mena Suvari, Jennifer Coolidge

FOR ALL THE LATEST THEATRE,

CINEMA, GAMING AND TECH NEWS!SEE THE GAZETTE


GazetteGAMINGGAMINGPuppets string out a fun FableFROM chicken-kicking to lute-playing, the Fable series of games has always had much more to do than merely saving the kingdom, for those look-ing for a dash of fun with their adventuring.

Now, build-ing on the well-established world seen throughout the series, we’re presented with Fable Heroes, a not-entirely-obvi-ous (but fun, nonetheless) title launching on XBox Live Arcade, priced 800 Microsoft points.

Adding to the rush of quality titles winging their way to Live Arcade, Fable Heroes sees bright, colourful and intensely competitive multiplayer action rolling out across the land of Albion, with puppet heroes joining forces to battle evil, level up their characters, unlock ever-greater weapons and powers and compete for gold rewards. As for any chicken-kicking – well, play the game to see ...

Anticipated with some puzzlement by the gaming press, the silly, cheeky and intense battles are lots of fun, presented with a gorgeous art style in the instantly memorable land of Albion. Boss battles, party games and side-scrolling action are certainly fun reasons to sally forth with your hero.

Bytesandpieces

� SHANE DILLON

IT’S not that long ago when the (then) ubiq-uitous Blackberry was half-jokingly referred to as the “Crackberry”, given its near-addictive hold over its owners, and their seemingly constant need to be toying with it, checking up on their emails.

Flash forward a few short years, and Black-berry’s maker, Research in Motion (RIM) faces terribly civilised barbar-ians at the gate, in the form of Apple and Sam-sung – but barbarians, nonetheless, threatening to hack and slash what remains of the Black-berry’s collapsed share of the mobile smartphone/internet phone market.

In a bid to beat back its rivals’ ever-advancing pincer movements, RIM’s alchemists have emerged with the Blackberry 10 – an almost all-or-nothing device that RIM hopes is the secret weap-on it needs to guarantee its survival, or, at the very least, provide some mar-ket breathing space.

Of course, as an awful lot of current-gen Black-berry owners will tell you, there’s nothing very “wrong” with their devices – it’s just that the general expectation of the mass market for what their phones (at heart) can do has shifted, incre-mentally, with the public perception that, foot by foot, RIM has been left behind on the way to the all-conquering peak of

Blackberry’s battle

market dominance.And so, the Blackberry

10 has a number of con-temporary features, with de rigueur touchscreen helping to maximise a new OS aimed at keep-ing pace with its peers (assuming, of course, developers row in behind the new OS – given the

comparative paucity of Blackberry apps, they have to).

However, what’s most striking, from the pro-totype, is that the iconic keyboard has been ditched, in line with mod-ern smartphone stylings, helping to retool the Blackberry into a more

streamlined smartphone.With shareholders

fielding blows to stock values, profit warnings and its first quarterly loss, coupled with other woes, RIM’s bosses must be praying Blackberry 10 can beat back the hordes, or the Blackberry’s very future could be axed ...

Research in Motion (RIM) chief, Thorsten Heins, unveils the Blackberry 10 (inset) at

RIM’s annual BlackBerry World gathering in Orlando, last week

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GOLFERS all over the city are being called upon to show their skills in a new initiative from the Golfing Union of Ireland and Kellogg’s.

The Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Golf Skills Chal-lenge compet i t ion , which is being run to mark a new partnership between the organisa-tions, aims to find Ire-land’s most skilled golf-ers.

There are seven skills involved in the chal-lenge — driving, 135-metre shot, pitching, up-and-down, bunker play, difficult lies and putting.

There will be a number of regional qualify-ing events, from which qualifiers will progress to a national final. These include qualifying events at Donabate Golf Club on Friday, June 22 and Hollystown Golf Club on Friday, August

10, prior to the national finat at the GUI Nation-al Golf Academy at Car-ton Demense.

Ireland rugby player and Kellogg Nutri-Gra in ambassador, Rob Kearney, attended the launch of the new partnership at the GUI National Golf Academy, and said: “As a profes-sional athlete, I fully appreciate the need to practise basic skills and drills day in, day out. If I could bring the disci-

GOLF: KELLOGG’S SKILLS COMPETITION TO TEST THE BEST OF COUNTRY’S GOLFERS

Rob Kearney (right) with pro at the GUI Academy, Kenny Fahey, and Jim McNeill of Kellogg Ireland

Challenge is set for Dublin’s golfing stars

pline and time I devote to rugby to my golf game, I’m sure I could drop another few shots off my handicap.”

Speaking on behalf of the GUI National Golf Academy, Alan Kelly

said: “The Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Golf Skills Challenge presents golf-ers from around Ireland the opportunity to chal-lenge themselves and really make all their practice pay off.

The idea of skills challenge came about after we saw the reac-tion to our short game clinics over the last cou-ple of years, and now we have the opportunity to establish the challenge

in golf clubs.”The competition is

open to all golfers over the age of 18, who have an official GUI or ILGU handicap. Online entry is available at www.learntogolf.ie.

GazetteSPORTWONDER WARD: WONDER WARD: Portmarnock’s Portmarnock’s Ireland star on his Ireland star on his hopes for Euro 2012: hopes for Euro 2012: Page 29Page 29


GazetteSportSport

Celtic celebrate

Swords say Ciao to Trap at BalhearyA BIG crowd of players and parents

turned out at Swords Celtic last weekend for the visit of Republic of

Ireland manager, Giovanni Trappatoni. He was at the club launching the club’s 50th anniversary book. The book documents the history of the club since its foundation in 1962, and includes many photographs of sides past and present. While at Balheary, Mr Trappatoni took time to sign autographs for the children and posed for lots of photo-graphs, which was greatly appreciated.

Ciara McGrane and Charleigh Kavanagh at the celebration

Giovanni Trappatoni arrives to great acclaim at

Balheary for the Swords Celtic book launch

Walter Galvin, George McGrane, Johnny O’Sullivan, Robbie Byrne

and Frank Monaghan

Mayor Gerry Maguire and Giovanni

Derek Evans, Ray Kelly and Frank Monaghan

Players assemble in a guard of honour for the arrival of the Republic of Ireland manager


AT TIMES, Stephen Ward has to pinch himself. His most vivid childhood memories were defined by Ireland’s appearance in major international tournaments, but now he stands ready to take his European championships bow.

As a four-year-old, he remembers “causing car-nage” at street parties in 1990. In 2002, his parents “allowed” him to skip a fifth-year engineering exam to watch Robbie Keane strike late for a 1-1 draw against Germany in the World Cup.

Now, it is the Portmar-nock man’s time to shine on the international stage.

Wolves’ relegation from the English Premier League means his focus is already firmly trained on Poland and, hopefully, Ukraine, with the time to create new memories on the agenda.

“Your best memories are when Ireland are in major tournaments,” he said at the launch of the FAI Summer Schools this week.

“I was only four in 1990

but I can still remember street parties, no cars and tables up the road. I knew something big was going on.

“From there, I remem-ber where I was for all the games in 1994 and 2002.

It’s a dream come true. For kids growing up now, hopefully, this will be part of their memories and we can give them some of the highlights.”

Having such a carrot has offered some respite for Ward. He has played every minute of Wolves’ ultimately doomed cam-paign this term, one of the club’s top performers in an ultimately forgetta-ble campaign.

Such setbacks, indeed, do not always lead to a loss of form. In 2002, Matt Holland bounced back from relegation with Ipswich to score for the Republic in their opening World Cup game against Cam-eroon.

It is an irony not lost on Ward when reminded of the stat: “I’d take that! It’s not nice going as a relegated player.

“It’s been devastating, but the writing has been on the wall for a few

weeks, so we’ve had a bit

of time to reflect on what has happened.”

Terry Connor has offered Ward a chance to rest in recent weeks but is keen to finish off a com-plete season and build toward Poland.

It is quite the position to be in for the former Bohs’ man who opted to stay in Dublin at the start of his professional career rather than move across the water in his mid-teens, owing a lot to club mate, Kevin Doyle.

“I certainly don’t feel I’d be where I am today if it wasn’t for the League of Ireland.

Opportunity“It definitely helped me

grow up. Hand on heart, I don’t know how I would have reacted going away at 16, moving to an envi-ronment where everyone is trying to make it.

“Doyler opened a door for a lot of people with how easy he took to it in his first season. He keeps telling me I owe him! It is true, though.

“If he hadn’t gone over and done as well as he did, we wouldn’t have this opportunity. There are still a lot of players over here that could make it in England but it’s just about a manager taking a chance on you.”

Ireland manager, Gio-vanni Trapattoni was another to take a chance on Ward, and he has become a key player on the left in recent time.

Green manifesto for Euro gloryStephen Ward is set to put a tough season behind him when he travels to Poland with Ireland for Euro 2012, writes STEPHEN FINDLATER

Stephen Ward

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

‘There are still a lot of players over here that could make it in England but it’s just about a manager taking a chance on you’-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FastSport

TRANSITION year students throughout Dublin are being challenged to take on their teachers as part of a new annual multi-sport challenge taking place during May in aid of humanitarian agency, GOAL.

Launched nationwide last week, the GOAL Sports Challenge provides all school-children — from junior infants right up to Leaving Certificate level – with the opportu-nity to compete against each other in a wide range of popular sports and games.

The event is aimed at boosting fitness levels amongst children and teenagers, and raising money and awareness for some of GOAL’s programmes for vulnerable children throughout the developing world.

Teachers are also being encouraged to participate, by either taking part in as many events as they can, or by arranging and supervising games for the younger children.

“We expect the students versus the teach-ers event, in sports like rugby, soccer, Gaelic football or hurling to capture the imagina-tion of most schools, but we have proposed a number of other games, such as skipping, hula-hoop rolling, long puck and long kick events, GOAL miles and relays as types of events that will suit boys and girls of all ages and fitness levels,” said GOAL’s develop-ment education officer, Maeve Seery.

“However, schools are more than welcome to come up with their own ideas, too.

“We have also suggested Friday, May 11, as a day to hold the GOAL Sports Challenge, but it may be easier for schools to run the event at another time, whether it is during a sports day, a lunch break, or even a PE class.”

Participating children and teachers are being encouraged to donate whatever they can afford towards GOAL.

For more information, including tips and guidelines for individual games, students and teachers should log on to www.goal.ie, or call Maeve at GOAL on 01-2809 779.

GOAL calls on Transition students to get active

So much so, he is now in a position to emulate the vintage of Jack Charl-ton’s 1-0 victory over Italy in 1994 – one Ward watched enthralled with 15 family members in his house.

“No one gave us a chance in that game, and no one will do that against Spain. I know it’s a different scale, but you look at what Chelsea did to Barcelona, it can hap-pen – these teams can be beaten. In the last World Cup, Spain lost to Swit-zerland and went on to win it.

“They can slip up and, hopefully if they do, it will be against us. I think we can shock a lot of people. Not many people will give us a chance of getting out of our group. I think that will suit us.

“We always seem to do well with an underdog tag. We’re going there with a world-class man-ager. Qualifying is down to him and the way he prepares us. Obviously there are better techni-cal teams in the tourna-ment – Spain and Italy are among the best teams in the world. But when it comes to 90 minutes, we can make it really tough for anyone.

“The first game will be vital but if we’re still in contention coming into the Italy game, we’ll have a great chance of pro-gressing. After that, you just hope you can go as far as possible.”

GazetteSportSport


FastSport

Get your spot picked out for Star SaturdayTHIS year, the UEFA Champions League final and the first all-Ireland Heineken Cup final both take place on May 19.

This sporting feast of a day will deliver exhil-arating viewing experiences for rugby and soc-cer fans alike, and key sponsors, Heineken, are inviting fans to catch both finals at specially prepared venues on what they are describing as Star Saturday.

In a monumental day for Irish rugby, two Irish provinces meet in the Heineken Cup final for the first time.

Leinster clash with Ulster in Twickenham at 5pm and, with both provinces having tasted Heineken Cup glory in the past, they will be keen to recreate their respective heroics to claim the coveted trophy once more.

In the UEFA Champions League final, Bay-ern Munich will look to use their home advan-tage and lift the famous trophy in front of their adoring fans.

However, they face a stern test against a rejuvenated Chelsea team that recently elimi-nated Barcelona. This huge fixture kicks off at 7.45pm.

Throughout Ireland on May 19, Heineken will host Star Saturday in participating pubs, with competitions running across nine ven-ues, allowing fans to win some special prizes.

The action-packed day is set to be filled with sporting drama, and Heineken are invit-ing fans to get down to participating pubs to enjoy the action with friends, and snap up the best seats to both finals.

Fans can locate their nearest Heineken Star Saturday venue on www.heineken.ie/starsat-urday.


DUBLIN Dragons were unable to capitalise on an under-par performance by West Dublin Rhinos at ALSAA last week to help revive their IAFL season with a much-needed win.

Coming off the back fo three losses on the bounce, Rhinos looked like they were big-game fodder for the Dragons, but they proved able to fight fire with fire on their D as the northsiders threatened.

Rhinos made hard work of what many had thought would be a routine win, when their offence failed to fire. But their defence

led the way, and the 8-6 win put them back into the play-off hunt.

The game started brightly enough for the Rhinos, with penalties and some solid running putting them within 20 yards of a score. How-ever, Dragons intercepted Stephen Macken on the goal line.

With the defence tak-ing the field with a long field to defend, the Rhinos rampaged, forcing false-start penalties and fero-cious tackles, before an errant snap led to a safety that put Rhinos 2-0 up.

From there, the game entered a familiar pattern, with the Rhinos O start-

ing and stopping, the D making big plays and not allowing the Dragons an inch.

After a long drive, the Rhinos managed to punch the ball in late in the second quarter, with Robert Pops slaloming through the Dragons D before stretching out to pierce the goal line.

Pops played like a man possessed all day and his touchdown was reward for his effort.

A high snap meant the point after wasn’t kicked and the subsequent pass was dropped at the back of the endzone.

That left the Rhinos with an 8-0 at the break,

and the Dragons still very much in the game.

On the first drive of the second half, Macken was picked off, leading to a six-point runback and the Dragons given a chance to tie the game.

The Rhinos D, as it would all day, stood firm and stopped the run, leav-ing the visitors just two points ahead.

That settled a pattern in the game, with the Rhinos trying to figure out ways to move the ball, while the Dragons were wondering what hit them.

Adam Skelly ripped a ball clean from a Dragon receiver, Dan Breslin picked off Murphy, Nick

Newby stripped the ball out to force a fumble and the Rhinos were getting production all over the D.

However, a late deep pass left the Dragons with nothing but endzone, and a win, in front of them. That was before a magnif-icent strip by Dan Breslin turned the ball over just 18 yards from the line.

The Rhinos were able to chew up some clock from there, but a late Dragons surge forced the Rhinos to give one last stand. That was achieved as Barry Bolton made a huge tackle to seal the win and keep the Rhinos hopes of the post-season alive.

Dragons fail to fire at home

AFL: WEST DUBLIN SIDE REVERSE RECENT RUN WITH VICTORY

West Dublin Rhinos faced off against Dublin Dragons at ALSAA last weekend. Picture: Lynn Walsh


KINSEALY res ident Sanita Puspure showed her Olympic potential when she finished fifth at last weekend’s World Cup regatta in the single scull event in Belgrade to qualify for the London Games.

The 30-year-old – a former Latvian Under-23 international, who has since settled in Ireland and who became an Irish citizen in the past year

– started strongly, run-ning in second after 500 metres, but the world-class field reeled in to see her finish the race in fifth.

It came a day after she produced one of her best performances on Satur-day in the semi-final in a heat featuring Xiuyun Zhang of China and world champion Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic.

They zipped clear, a feat they managed again

in the final, but Puspure stayed strong to stay ahead of Estonia’s Kaisa Pajusalu to nab the third qualification place.

It came just two week-ends before the Olympic qualifiers in Lucerne with Puspure seeking one of the three remaining spots left at the Games in the single scull.

N i n e r owe r s a r e already qualified for the Games, with just 12 places available in the final list.

Puspure reaches Olympic standard

Sanita Puspure has qualified for London 2012


CLUB NOTICEBOARD

OUR celebration and awards night

took place on Sunday night in the

club hall.

The hall of fame award went to the

very popular Nellie and Wally Galvin.

Club Person of the Year went to Paul

Flynn after an extraordinary year.

The Footballer of the Year was Gary

Donnelly; Hurler of the Year was

Peter Daly; Ladies Footballer of the

Year was Catherine Keaney.

Minor Footballer of the Year was

David Gahan; Inter Footballer of

the Year was Fiachra Hoey; Junior

Footballer of the Year was Bengi

Gallagher; and the Junior Ladies

Footballer of the Year was Aoife

Johnson.

Feile weekend: Well done to Fingal-

lians who started the day off with

three wins against Lucan Sars-

fields, St Monica’s and Whitehall

Colmcilles and then beat Erin’s Isle

in the semi-final.

The winning run came to an end on

Sunday against St Vincent’s in the

final.

A special word of thanks to man-

ager John Williams and his back-

room team of Alan Comiskey, Aiden

Harford, Declan Brady and Kevin

O’Brady.

Hard luck to Donall Keane as the

Dublin U-21 footballers claimed

their third All-Ireland with a very

strong finish in Tullamore last Sun-

day afternoon.

Croke Park Stadium is currently

recruiting voluntary stewards to

work on match day and for other

selected events.

To be part of the match day action

and hosting of concert events, log

on to www.crokepark.ie.

ST MARGARET’SSt Margaret’s GAA extends its deep-

est sympathy to the O’Connor family

on the recent loss of Mona, Ar dheis De

go raibh a hanam.

There is an adult committee meet-

ing this Thursday at 9pm. There are no

competitive fixtures this week.

No lotto numbers available at time

of notes.

There is a €80 and €150 annual lotto

ticket available this year. Please check

the website for full details, or contact

Mary Madigan.

Club membership for 2012 is now

overdue. Players are now not insured

if not paid up, furthermore only paid up

members can apply for Dublin match

tickets this season, no exceptions.

FINGALLIANS

FINGAL RAVENSTHERE was a great win in Junior D

championship last Thursday against

St Brigid’s.

Well done to all the lads. They now

face our close neighbours, Bally-

boughal, in the next round on Sun-

day, May 20, at 3pm in Rolestown.

Senior team play Na Fianna in Gar-

ristown on Wednesday, May 16, in

the senior championship.

We are hosting a senior champion-

ship game in Rolestown on Friday,

May 18, Skerries vs St Anne’s.

Anyone that can help out, please

let Declan know on 086 267 3630.

Under-14 Feile was a great day,

thanks to everyone who helped out;

hard luck to the lads, and well done

to Cuala.

Thanks to everyone who support-

ed our poker classic last Thursday.

Well done to the winner, Pat Keane.

We are running our predictions for

the Provincial Championships again.

Entry costs only €5, and forms are

available from your mentor or com-

mittee member or can be download-

ed from www.fingalravens.com.

ST FINIAN’S

THE past week was dominated by the

intermediate championship second-

round match versus Fingallians, which

the lads won by a single point in a very

exciting finish.

The Under-14s took part in the foot-

ball Feile last Saturday, and had no

luck at all in the three matches, nar-

rowly losing out in each match.

Our Under-12s had a good win in the

Under-12 blitz.

Congratulations to the Dublin Under-

21 footballers who were crowned All-

Ireland champions when they beat

Roscommon last Sunday.

We have a date for your diary with

the Annual Fun Day taking place on

Sunday, June 17.

We remind members that outstand-

ing membership fees must be paid as

soon as possible.

The Lotto jackpot was €4,800 and

the numbers drawn were 8, 11, 15 and

18. There was no winner. The €50 win-

ners were David Malone and Darren

O’Loughlin.

ALL-IRELAND U-21 FINALDublin 2-12

Roscommon 0-11


CA S T L E K N O C K ’ S Ciaran Kilkenny played a key part for the Dublin U-21s part for the Dub-lin Under-21s when they helped Dublin to claim the county’s third Clark Cup with victory over Roscommon in Tullam-ore last Sunday, adding to the Sky Blues’ suc-cess at this level in 2003 and 2010.

The Dubs finished like a freight train to capture the title, with manager Jim Gavin becoming the first Dublin manager to lead the county to two All-Ireland glories, hav-ing managed the team in 2010.

Dublin led 1-5 to 0-6 at the interval thanks in part to the clinical accu-racy of Paul Hudson. Indeed, it was the Tho-mas Davis sniper whose goal in added time in the first half that proved

to be the only major of the first half, after he skillfully jab-lifted the ball before rifling to the roof of the Roscommon net.

The goal arrived in the 32nd minute when John Kelly’s delivery was broken down by Ciaran Kilkenny, and Hudson showed terrific guile to find the net.

The Dubs could real-ly have held a stronger advantage, but failed to convert possession into scores, and were guilty of not combining to tell-ing effect up front as the Rossies dominated ter-ritory and possession for the first 30 minutes.

Roscommon threw caution to the wind after the restart and were rewarded with four points without reply as the lively Donie Smith (two), Cian Connolly and Colin Compton were all on target.

But when his side needed h im mos t , Emmet O’Conghaile

regained a foothold for the Dubs at centrefield, while the introduction of Paddy O’Higgins, like nearly all the substitu-tions, helped to turn the balance of power the way of Gavin’s men in a frenetic second half. At the back, the likes of team captain, Kevin O’Brien, and Sean George kept their oppo-nents at bay with some heroic defending.

Now on the front foot, Dublin began to open up Roscommon with some direct running from the likes of Gary Sweeney and sub Harry Dawson and, over the conclud-ing ten minutes, Dublin hit 1-6 without reply as they turned on the turbo drive to finally shake off a very committed Ros-common side.

Ciaran Kilkenny put in an excellent last ten minutes, while centre-back John Kelly’s points summed up the “never say die” attitude of the Dublin team as they

stretched themselves to the limit to capture vic-tory.

Deep in injury time, Paul Mannion raised Dublin’s second green flag after being denied at the original attempt, to add All-Ireland glory to Dublin’s provincial success.

SCORERS: Dublin: P Hudson 1-4, C Kilkenny 0-4 (0-1f), P Mannion 1-0, P Ryan, J Kelly, G Seaver, H Dawson 0-1 each. Ros-common: D Smith 0-4 (0-2f ), C Compton 0-3 (0-1f), D Keane, C Connolly 0-2 each.

DUBLIN - JB Carthy; S George, K O’Brien, M Con-car, L Fletcher, J Kelly, J McCaffrey, E O’Conghaile, C Reddin, G Sweeney, D Byrne, M Schutte, P Hud-son, P Ryan, C Kilkenny. Subs: P Magu ire for Schutte (ht), G Seaver for Byrne (34), H Dawson for Ryan (41), P O’Higgins for Reddin (42), P Mannion for Hudson (58).

FOOTBALL: THIRD NATIONAL TITLE IN A DECADE

Dublin manager Jim Gavin and team captain Kevin O’Brien with the All-Ireland trophy

Dublin secure All-Ireland U-21 crown

ALL OF YOUR SWORDS SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 27-31 MAY 10, 2012

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performance takes Puspure to Olympics P30

MAKING MEMORIES:Ward spies potential Euro surprise package P29G

azetteSPORT


SWORDS Celtic celebrated their 50th anniversary last Sunday with Giovanni Trapattoni launching a special book for the occasion at a ceremony in Balheary.

The event saw throngs of members from the club, many from their schoolboy section, on hand to pay tribute to the greats of the club formed by Warlly Galvin, Oliver Dignam, Jim Rogers and George McGrane back in 1962.

Since then, the club has grown massively, mov-ing to its Balheary home in 1974 as McGrane and Frankie Monaghan organised a lease from the then north eastern health board.

It came as part of the club’s expansion from a two-team senior entity to one which had intro-duced a schoolboy section in 1972 – again with Monaghan to the fore – but grew beyond all rec-ognition a decade later after amalgamating with St Cronan’s Boys.

The club now plays host to 31 underage teams and three senior elevens with a clubhouse, an all-

weather and high quality main pitch among their prize efforts.

Plans are on hand to resurface the current all-weather in due course but club secretary Eddie Darcy said there has always been a will to take on such challenges.

“Great football clubs aren’t built on people who can run a great schoolboy team for a year and have a winning season,” he said at the ceremony.

“Great football clubs are built by people who have vision and people who are prepared to put huge work in to achieve that vision.

“At times, the club has been lucky to always have people with this vision. Like George [McGrane], Frankie [Monahan], people who have put their life and soul into the club.

“It was a hard, tough struggle. The reality is, those men did put their own houses on the line in terms of raising the money to build that initial club. Their wives probably don’t even know about that so I won’t mention any names. They were dedicated to this club and put them up as collateral for it.”

“People had the vision to say that’s an old dirty

reservoir down there, full of rubbish. We can turn that into an all-weather pitch. We needed to raise €300,000; well, they went out there and they did it.

“Our latest development is our pitch number one. Again, to get a pitch of that standard, we need-ed €100,000. We had people with enough dedica-tion to do that. What this club needs going forward is people to have that vision to say we want to make this a club the people of Swords and north county Dublin can be proud of. A club where every player who plays for it can be proud to say they play for Swords Celtic and be able to say the same in 20 years’ time.

“That’s what the club is about, creating that sort of feeling. What the club needs going forward is people of vision, not just to run teams, but to get involved behind the scenes to make this one of the best clubs in North County Dublin and Ireland.”

He paid tribute to the FAI for their support and Trapattoni who signed autographs for the many children who were in attendance whilst a com-memorative plaque was also unveiled.

Swords celebrate Swords celebrate their golden jubileetheir golden jubileeGiovanni Trapattoni on hand for Swords Celtic’s club celebrations as they toast 50 years of football

Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni receives a commemorative plaque from Swords Celtic founder member, Walter Galvin. Picture: Una Williams

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