Malahide

Fifty years a’ growing: Smiles and cake light up birthday bashCARMEL Prizeman had every reason to look so pleased as she recently celebrated her fiftieth birthday at St Sylvester’s Hall. Carmel was joined by family and friends who came to celebrate with her on this milestone occasion. A great party was enjoyed

by all who attended with plenty of tasty food and drink as well as a huge cake. A DJ provided some great music who had everyone on the dance floor late into the night.

Full Gallery on Page 2

Smoke free play for Fingal’s children� NATALIE BURKE

PUBLIC playgrounds across Fingal are set to become smoke-free areas after approv-al of Fingal County Council’s tobacco-free initiative.

The council will be one of the first local authorities in the country to adopt the smoke-free policy in all its play-grounds, a move welcomed by Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Cian O’Callaghan (Lab), who said it

is a positive move for the area. “It’s mainly symbolic in that

it’s saying it is an outdoor space, but it’s specifically designed for children, and I think it is a very good idea.”

The initiative was first pilot-ed in Fingal in 2010 at the Mil-lennium Playground in Blan-chardstown, with a primary aim of discouraging people from smoking in a children’s environment.

Full Story on Page 3

ALSOINSIDE: GALLERIES ......................8

BUSINESS .....................18

MOTORS ....................... 20

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

ENTERTAINMENT ......... 24

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

Football: Sylvester’s set for inter semi-final datePage 31

Soccer: Malahide United youngsters get Ireland callPage 30

RINGING IN THE SUMMER: Fingal Dublin Chamber party See Page 2

FREE GAZETTEGAZETTEMalahide

M A L A H I D E • P O R T M A R N O C K • K I N S E A LY • C L A R E H A L L

JULY 19, 2012 Find us on

Mind man Keith Barry on books, Hollywood movies and taking the stage

SEE PAGES 12-13

INSIDE: Walking the dog for a worthy cause at

Malahide Castle P7

2 MALAHIDE GAZETTE 19 July 2012

SOCIAL Local fiftieth birthday bash a huge success

Carmel and Willie Prizeman. Pictures: Una Williams Camilla O’Connor and Stefanie Prizeman

Maureen Prizeman, Breda

McCormack and Bridget Poole

Marie Doyle, Sharon Keogh and

Angela Prizeman

Joe and John Prizeman with Peter

Keogh (middle) Mary and Frank Gill

DJ Pamela Jackson

Monica and Sean Prizeman

Jubilant birthday celebrationsC

ARMEL Prizeman woke up this week to a very special day: her fiftieth birthday. Carmel organ-ised to celebrate the auspicious occasion with

her friends and family in St Sylvester’s Hall. And celebrate they did. There was of course food, drinks and a big cake.

A DJ was on hand to play music and to keep the party going well into the small hours of the night. The party had a wonderful turnout and was thor-oughly enjoyed by all present, especially for the birthday girl who is sure to remember it for a very long time.

� NATALIE BURKE

[email protected]

T H E P E O P L E o f Malahide will have the chance to capture the heart of their village next week, when the Malahide Lions Club and Malahide Camera Club launch the second year of their Capture It photographic competi-tion.

Following on from the success of last year’s inaugural competition, the two local clubs have got together once again to organise a photo competition alongside this year’s Malahide Has It festival.

Entrants are invited to capture moments dur ing the fes t ival and then submit them online for the chance of winning a cash prize and, with a full schedule throughout the weekend of festivities, there will be plenty of material to fuel amateur photogra-pher’s imaginations.

According to Brian Dooley, PRO for the Malahide Lions Club, this year’s competition is set to be even better than last year.

“It is the second year of the competition, and it has been very suc-cessful. The Malahide Chamber of Commerce had the idea for it last year and, because we’ve a lot of dealings with

them, they asked us to run the event for them.

“It raises funds in a small way but it’s mostly about raising awareness visually of Malahide. It went really well last year and we were sur-prised at how successful it was,” he said.

There will be two cat-egories in the competi-tion, catering for both under- and over-18s. While entry is free, pho-tographs being entered into the competition must be taken during the festival weekend, and submitted before the closing date on Tuesday, July 31.

The winning photog-raphers in both the sen-ior and junior category will each win €100, a prize sponsored by Fowler’s pub, while the runners up will each win smaller monetary prizes.

All winners will be notified and the prizes will be presented in September – the junior section on September 18 at Malahide Public Library from 6pm, and the senior section on September 20 in Fowl-er’s Pub from 8pm. The winning photographs will be on display for at least a week after the presentation.

Log on to w w w.malahidehasit.com for competition rules and details on how to enter.

COMPETITION: PHOTOS OF FESTIVAL WEEKEND HAVE CHANCE AT PRIZES

People to capture their town on film

19 July 2012 MALAHIDE GAZETTE 3

HEALTH FCC among first to adopt tobacco-free policy

Fingal opts for smoke-free playgrounds� NATALIE BURKE

PUBLIC playgrounds across Fingal are set to become smoke-free areas following the recent approval of Fingal Coun-ty Council’s tobacco free initiative.

The council will be one of the first local authori-ties in the country to adopt the smoke-free pol-icy in all its playgrounds, a move welcomed by Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Cian O’Callaghan (Lab).

“I think it is a positive move. It’s mainly sym-bolic in that it’s saying it is an outdoor space, but it’s specifically designed for children, and I think it is a very good idea,”

he said. Since the scheme

was put out on pub-lic display, the council have received a positive reaction from Fingal residents. In a report presented to local coun-cillors during a recent council meeting, a FCC spokesperson noted that a total of 15 submis-sions were made during the public consultation phase, which came to a close on June 22.

“Of the 15 submissions received, 14 were welcom-ing of this initiative as a positive step in promoting the protection of children from second hand smoke and the denormalisation of smoking in the com-

munity. There was one negative view submitted,” the report said.

According to local Cllr Gerry McGuire (Lab), the negative submission could be in response to a fear of overregulation.

“Obviously there are some smokers that feel that it’s an infringement on their rights to be able to smoke outdoors. As a smoker myself, I would support the project. The health of the children is paramount no matter what we do,” he said.

The smoke-free play-ground initiative was first piloted in Fingal in early 2010 at Millennium Play-ground, Blanchardstown, through a partnership

Response to the idea of tobacco-free play areas has been positive, says council

between FCC, the HSE Dublin North East, Con-nolly Hospital and the Tobacco Free Research Institute with a primary aim of discouraging peo-ple from smoking in a children’s environment.

Following the success of the pilot scheme, FCC has gone on to make

all of their playgrounds smoke-free.

Whether the latest initiative will play a role in preventing children taking up smoking at a young age or not, Cllr O’Callaghan believes it is just one of the small steps that need to be taken.

“I would just see it as

one of a number of ini-tiatives that need to be taken to help decrease the amount of people who are smoking.

“It is a small one given that playgrounds are spe-cifically designated for children and recreation. It’s not an appropriate place for smoking.”

Matches affected by grassTHE growth of grass on local playing fields is likely to return to nor-mal this week, according to Fingal County Coun-cil (FCC), after a number of matches were called off recently due to the overgrowth following the recent warm weather and heavy rains.

Local Cllr Anthony Lavin (FG) voiced his concerns at a recent council meeting, where FCC confirmed that the grass on local pitches is cut approximately every ten days by the council’s Operations Depar t-ment.

However, the grass has been growing across the county at up to six inches a week.

The council noted that they do not have the resources to cut 365 acres of playing pitches twice in one week but have averred that growth rates are set to subside in the next week.

COUNCIL



GOT A STORY?WE WANT TO KNOW!

Call our NEWS TEAM on

60 10 240 or email

[email protected]

Council set to limit new link road noise� NATALIE BURKE

THERE was good news for Holywell residents this week after it was announced that noise barriers will be put in place to limit the impact of the proposed link road, which is due to be constructed later this year.

The announcement was made at a recent Fingal County Council (FCC) meeting, where it was noted that, with the essential link road in place, there is a potential for a significant noise impact on properties along Holywell Drive.

The council confirmed, however, that in order to reduce the contribution of road traffic at these loca-tions, a low-noise road

surface will be used along the length of the new road. In addition, screening in the form of a solid wall to a height of 1.8 metres will be constructed along the boundary with Holywell Drive to further reduce noise levels.

Local Fianna Fail councillor, Darragh But-ler, was relieved to hear the concerns of local resi-dents would be taken into account, and said he was happy with the council’s response.

“We [local politi-cians] wanted to make sure as much as possible was done to protect the residents from noise and pollution, so I’m reason-ably happy. The road is essential in terms of public safety and, for the school there, it has to go

ahead. “I’m delighted that it

is going ahead at last. I do think the manager has taken the concern seriously and I’m happy enough with that.”

The design of the Holy-well Link Road was car-ried out with due care and attention for the residents of Holywell Drive, according to FCC, and specialist consultants were employed to carry out a noise impact assess-ment on the proposed road.

An environmental noise survey was also conducted at various locations within the estate to establish the existing baseline noise environment, where it was determined that the current noise environ-

ment is dominated by passing road traffic, typi-cal of an environment within a suburban area adjacent to a busy road network.

At the recent meeting, Cllr Peter Coyle (Lab) also asked that an environ-mental noise barrier solu-tion be provided instead of an ordinary wall.

However, the council stated that the proposed masonry wall is consid-ered more suitable for this location.

“A timber noise type barrier would be incon-gruous with existing boundary treatments. Timber barriers are easily damaged and offer little or no protection from errant vehicles crashing onto the gardens,” the council said.

HOLYWELL: SPECIAL SURFACE AND SCREEN TO BE USED

THE countdown is on for Flavours of Fingal, Dublin’s only agricul-tural show, which is set to take place this weekend at Newbridge Demesne, Donabate.

Bringing together farmers, food producers, crafts and cookery dem-onstrations, along with

an extensive programme of family fun including livestock competitions, vintage cars, music, crafts and games, the event promises a great day out for all the family.

With North Dublin known as one of the fore-most market gardening areas in the country, the

latest event to be hosted by Fingal County Council (FCC) showcases the best of what the local farming community has to offer, according to FCC’s Caro-line Kelly.

“We’re very conscious of the need to provide a value offering for all fam-ily outings these days,

which is why we’ve devel-oped such an extensive programme to make sure there is something for eve-ryone who comes along.”

“The main exhibitor area focuses on local food producers with cookery demonstrations making the most of top quality local ingredients,” Caro-

line explains. “If animals are your

thing, you can then join in on livestock competi-tions, get up close with the Connemara ponies or watch the dog trials. The biodiversity corner is certain to fascinate with golden eagles, red kites, bird- and bat-box making

and bee-keepers taking up residence in the beau-tiful walled garden.

“Along with local crafts, bouncy castles, face paint-ing and ice cream cones, all we’ll need is some sun-shine for the best family day out,” she added.

Running from 11am to 5.30pm on both Saturday,

July 21, and Sunday, July 22, a €12 ticket gives an adult and two children access to all events. Stu-dents and seniors are only €9 and additional children are charged at only €5 each.

For more information, visit www.flavoursoffin-gal.ie.

Fingal festival to serve up flavoursome fare

Local Fianna Fail councillor Darragh Butler was happy with the council’s response

NEWBRIDGE DEMESNE Dublin’s only agricultural show takes place this weekend


Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Cian O’Callaghan (Lab) said being nominated is an honour

Three towns tussle for Pride of PlaceBALSCADDEN, Sker-ries and Baldoyle are set to battle it out this week, as the three Fingal towns are judged in the national Pride of Place competi-tion.

The towns were entered into the competition by Fingal County Council (FCC) earlier this year, in recognition of their efforts in improving their envi-ronment.

The competition, which has become a recognised community event hosted by Co-operation Ireland, is financially supported by Irish public bodies and Failte Ireland, and is acknowledged by the Department of Environ-

ment, Community and Local Government. It is directed towards recog-nising improvements by local communities to cre-ate civic pride in their area and focuses on people coming together to enjoy all that is good about their area.

The council nominated Balscadden in an effort to reflect the hard work it puts into building a strong community with volun-teerism at the centre. With a population of just 667, the small community have been busy refurbish-ing the church, replacing local school prefabs with permanent structures and renovating the local com-

munity hall with the help of FCC and a number of local fundraisers.

The Greenfingers Com-munity Garden in Bald-oyle was also nominated by FCC, after a number of the gardening group’s members completed a plant care and mainte-nance course and are set to train other community members in maintaining vegetable plots and flower beds.

The green project has also hosted pupils of the local primary school, where they learnt how to plant herbs, vegetables and flowering bulbs.

This year will mark the 10th year of the Pride of

Place competition and in order to celebrate the sig-nificant milestone, local authorities were asked to nominate a town that represents their best prize winner of the last decade.

Having won a Pride of Place award in 2006, Skerries has continued to work on developing com-munity initiatives around the environment, com-munity development and sustainability.

In the intervening years, these projects have included a new school and a number of local refurbishment projects. The level of volunteer-ism has also increased which was poignantly

marked last year when the town won a national award in recognition of the tremendous commu-nity response to a fish-ing tragedy which took two young lives in April 2011.

According to Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Cian O’Callaghan (Lab), to be nominated for the compe-tition is an honour for the towns involved.

“Communities, resi-dents’ groups and tidy towns put a huge amount of effort on a voluntary basis to keep their areas tidy and it’s a huge credit to the small number of volunteers that have been nominated,” he said.

Play area proposed for Seapark estateMALAHIDE residents could be set to see an all-weather play-ground built in the Seapark estate, following suggestions by Fingal County Council (FCC) that a public consultation could be on the cards.

The announcement was made at a recent council meeting, where Cllr Eugene Coppinger (SP) asked FCC to consider the provision of an all-weather play area at the estate.

According to the council, a majority vote on the proposed

playground was originally taken by the Seapark Residents Asso-ciation six years ago.

“Several locations were con-sidered, but a number of residents had objected to the proposal and to the locations being considered. The proposal did not go to pub-lic consultation,” the council’s response stated.

Following Cllr Coppinger’s query, the council has requested that the Seapark Residents Asso-ciation identify a suitable location acceptable to the vast majority of

residents and a proposal for the playground, which can be then prepared for a possible public consultation phase.

The consultation under the regulations of the Planning and Development Act 2000 is subject to the approval of the Malahide/Howth Area Committee.

“I think the council are amena-ble to the idea, but they might not have the budget at the moment,” Cllr Coppinger explained.

“They feel the residents have issues, as some want the play-

ground in one area and others were objecting, so the council will go with what the majority decide. At this stage, it’s down to the residents to have a meeting and decide where it is going.”

The proposed playground would be 400 square metres in area and, according to the origi-nal plans for the playground, the play equipment would be suitable for children under eight years of age only. In 2006, the approxi-mate cost of the playground was believed to be €30,000.

AWARD Balscadden, Skerries and Baldoyle nominated


Huge clean-up effort called for� NATALIE BURKE

[email protected]

WITH just a week to go until the Malahide Has It Festival, the Mala-hide Tidy Towns com-mittee are calling on the local community to help them ramp up their efforts to prepare for the big event.

Over the last few months, the efforts of the Tidy Towns committee have prepared the town for the annual festival, which is set to take place from Thursday, July 26, until Sunday, July 29.

With just days to go, however, the committee have asked local busi-nesses and residents to help clean their own homes, gardens and stores.

“I would really encour-age the local community and business owners to

help tidy up their areas, and I’d like to say ‘thank you’ to those who have already made such an effort to help prepare Malahide for the festi-val,” said Heidi Bedell, secretary of the Mala-hide Tidy Towns com-mittee.

“People have made a huge effort with the likes of the Church Road, and the residents of Seabury have put a lot of work in, it’s fantastic. It’s great to see and it’s really encouraging.”

The committee have been working every Saturday morning for the last few months and have been hanging flower baskets, tidying the Dublin Road, paint-ing the lamp posts and traffic lights throughout the village and planting new flowers in the her-itage garden in the train

station. “It would be great if

people kept an eye on the patches of grass outside their houses, it’s the little bits that make a huge difference. It’s very much up to us and the local community; we cannot rely on the coun-cil as they don’t have enough resources. If we want to show off our town to the best it can be, we’ve got to get out and showcase our beau-tiful village,” said Heidi.

The Tidy Towns com-mittee will be hosting their annual fundraiser on Thursday, July 26, at the Grand Hotel in Malahide. The Great Malahide Quiz is open to all members of the public and tickets (€10 per person) can be pur-chased by calling the committee on 086 809 7123.

Dog Day Afternoon: Taking the dog for a walk for a worthy causeZOE Flynn wasn’t the only one with a furry friend or two at Malahide Castle recently as she was joined by dozens of locals who came with their pet dogs for the annual Family Dog Walk.

Friends, families and their pooches attended the hugely popular event to help raise funds for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind is a national charity provid-ing services to persons who are blind and vision impaired and families of children with autism.

FESTIVAL: TIDY TOWNS COMMITTEE ASKS FOR PUBLIC SUPPORT

gazette photos

ww

w.

Seen yourself

in the Gazette?

All our galleries

are now online

for you to buy

Buy photos

online now!From only

€6.99

.com

Free golf lessons on offerFINGAL County Coun-cil Sports Unit are set to provide free golf lessons for visually impaired peo-ple this summer, hosting an eight-week course in August.

The course will take place at Drynam Park Golf Range on the Feltrim Road, Swords, from Wednesday, August 22, between 8pm and 9pm.

Limited to six places only, lessons will be allo-cated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Barry Power, resident golf professional at Dry-nam Park Golf Range will tutor, and the lessons are open for all levels of play-er, from beginners up.

Any players who do not already have their own set of clubs will have access to clubs at the driving range.

To book your place, contact Stephen McGinn on 087 986 4611 or email s t ephen .communi [email protected].

COUNCIL


GARDEN PARTY Fingal Dublin Chamber hosts informal social

Danielle O’Rourke and Neelie Murray from the Clarion Hotel,

Damien Keely, Niall MacMahon and Lorcan Fields from AIB, Commercial Centre, Airside. Pictures: Conor McCabe Photography

Enjoying the social side of businessT

HE members of the Fingal Dublin Chamber got together to ring in the summer at the Wright

Venue recently. Fingal Chamber president, Siobhan Moore, wel-comed a wide range of companies

which were in attendance. The pent-house and roof top gardens were the perfect place for members to meet and network with their colleagues from other businesses in the area.

Chamber members and guests

enjoyed some fine food and drink and plenty of networking.

Fingal Dublin Chamber is the leading and most influential network of businesses in the Fingal Dublin Region.

Jan Prylucki, O2 Swords, Andrea Cauley, Metro Hotel and Sean Sandford from Sandford Freight

Chamber president Siobhan Moore

David Duffy and Dermot Dooley from NPP

Group

Joe Harford, Fingal County Council Enterprise Board, Vincent Shannon from

Shannons Solicitors and Nicky Carvin from Carvin Property Management

Richard Flood from Goodbody Stockbrokers, Eugene Haines from Haines

Fleet and Mick Coffey from ORYX


evening for members to meet and network with colleagues

Dublin Airport

Kamila Burcon from Sands Office Interiors and

Joanne Moody from Crowne Plaza Northwood

Lynn O’Brien and Conor Dewey from Specsavers

Siobhan Kinsella from Nifast, Tony Lambert from Fingal Chamber and Martina

Hilliard from 02 Swords

Morgan McStay, Aisling McStay and Jack O’Donoghue from McDonalds, Swords


A feast of fashion at finale of event T

HE eBay.ie Online Fashion Show took place at the Smock Alley Theatre, as part of the

finale of eBay.ie Online Fashion Week.

Over 300 of Ireland’s top fashioni-stas attended the show.

Presenter and fashion guru Dar-ren Kennedy hosted the show and four stylists were given three themes to style their looks around and a set budget to use on eBay.ie.

Gavin Norton, Leanne Woodfull, Roisin Flanagan and Laura O’Brien

were eBay.ie’s super styling stars and showed their creativity on the catwalk.

The event was Ireland’s first eBay.ie fashion show and with the great success it enjoyed, it is sure to be back bigger and better in 2013.

Conor Clinch and Lisa Byrne

Aine O’Hara and Lisa McKee

Deirdre Wallace and Sinead Durnin

Caitriona Flood

Emily Cramp and Lauren Wilkinson Gavin Norton and Trevor Mulhare

Elaine Foss and Olya KhimchenkoCynthia Baloula Leanne WoodfullMelanie McCabe and Aislinn Dunne

SHOW Enjoying Ireland’s first eBay.ie fashion show

19 July 2012 GAZETTE 11

‘We need wonder life – I try to bring

� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

[email protected]

KEITH Barry is a busy man these days. Not only has he a new show at the Olympia theatre, he is also writing a book, helping people to over-come their phobias on television, motivating some of the Irish Olym-pic squad and has just finished consultancy work as chief mentalist on the set of a new Hol-lywood film.

Keith returned to the Olympia this month with his new show, 8 Deadly Sins, which goes on throughout July.

“The show really makes people laugh. Fifty people end up on the stage by the end of it. I do this lottery thing to highlight greed and various other parts of the act are about the other deadly sins. It’s hilarious and different every night.

Damage

“I also show how psy-chics do damage and how easy it is to con people. Most people don’t realise the dam-age psychics have done throughout history, Hit-ler and Stalin used them and they changed the course of history. Even nowadays, they are used: – the Bush administra-tion used psychics, too.”

The main thrust of the show, however is to re-introduce a sense of wonder and magic into people’s lives.

“We need make-believe and wonder in life, and I try to bring that back for people. My shows allow them to escape from their lives and all their stresses and worries.”

Keith’s magical jour-ney began in Waterford where he was born and raised, and has been performing magic for around 30 years now.

“I’d been doing magic

since the age of six and began gigging not long after that at parties.”

He moved to Dublin to study chemistry at 18 and met his wife who was reading psychology. That’s where the idea of mixing mesmerism and science took hold. After graduating with distinc-tion, Keith worked as a scientist for a cosmetic company in Dublin for a number of years.

Journey

“I was making wom-en’s make-up, but I got fed up with science in general after working at it for two-and-a-half years. I wouldn’t have changed the journey I went on, though. A lot of young magicians don’t go to college or have day jobs, and I think they miss out because of that.”

The moniker of chief mentalist is not one most mortals get to enjoy, but Keith had this strange title for his consultancy work on the upcoming heist film, Now You See Me, which comes out in January next year.

“The film is about mentalists who use their skills to pull off a huge heist. It’s like Ocean’s 12 but instead of guns, these guys use their minds. It was a great experience. I spent two weeks work-ing with screenwriter Ed Solomon, assisting him as he rewrote the script. We worked for 12 hours a day.”

The stars of the film, Woody Harrelson, Mor-gan Freeman, Mark Ruf-falo and Jesse Eisenberg, also availed of Keith’s expertise.

“I was kept on par-ticularly to help Woody Harrelson. First, we Skyped and then I went to Los Angeles and New Orleans with him and the film crew to help him make his mental-ist character believable. He really learned it

ENTERTAINMENT Busy man Keith Barry

12 GAZETTE 19 July 2012

Keith Barry has returned to the Olympia this month with his new show 8 Deadly

Sins, which continues on throughout July

and makebelieve in that back’

well, he’s a true method actor.”

Keith was rewarded with a cameo in the film as a French tourist, and even had a line of dialogue. “They’ll prob-ably dub over me,” he laughed.

He is in the prepara-tory stages of writing a book about probing the subconscious mind and “restructuring or pro-gramming your mind to achieve anything. I wanted to headline at Vegas and I achieved that ambition through a system I came up with. It’s scientific and any-one can use it.”

He is looking for a ghost-writer to assist with the book as he admits

he’s no writer himself. Yet, he insists that every word in it will come from his mind. “It will take a lot of time and energy to create as there’s so much information to go into it, so it won’t be available too soon.”

Healer

More recently, Keith has been appearing as a healer of sorts as he helps people to over-come their phobias and fears on TV3’s Ireland AM show. He said this side of his work is not new.

“I’ve been doing it quietly for years for no charge, just for friends. Nobody knew about it until recently, so it was a

surprise for people. I’ve always loved anything to do with psychology and I get great satisfaction from helping people. I do intend to open a consultancy clinic next year, but won’t work in it every day as that would be too draining.”

Since curing many volunteers’ phobias on the morning TV show, Keith has been inun-dated with interest from professional psycho-therapists.

Unorthodox

“I’ve had so many emails about it from hypnotherapists, ask-ing what my methods are. But it’s a very per-sonal thing and my style

is quite unorthodox. I can’t explain it except to say that you need to have serious confidence in your ability to do it. You have to know it’s going to work, it’s kind of like a placebo effect.”

Keith would like to meet with the profes-sionals and exchange ideas at some stage. “I don’t even know if there is a hypno-therapy organisa-tion of Ireland but I would be inter-ested in that kind of setting and we could meet.”

As Kei th doesn’t carry out private con-sultations he will give a short talk from the

on books, Hollywood movies and taking the stage

THE recent violence and tragic deaths ensuing from a concert in the Phoenix Park last week sparked a debate on security for such events in the Dail.

Fine Gael Dublin Mid West representative Derek Keating TD called for airport-style security checks to be introduced at large concerts.

“The trouble that broke out at last Saturday’s con-cert in the Phoenix Park must never be allowed to happen again. Wide-spread public order, extreme violence and dis-turbing levels of drinking and drug-taking cannot be tolerated,” said Deputy Keating.

He went on to suggest that new security meas-ures be compulsory for all “high-risk” concerts. “If, following a risk assess-ment, there are concerns that there may be an increased risk of violence, then airport-style security checks should be manda-tory.”

Debate in Dail over concerts

SECURITY


stage at the end of each night at The Olympia. Tickets for 8 Deadly Sins are priced at €29.50 and €30.50 including booking fee.

T h e s h o w contin-ues on at the Olympia throughout July and you can buy tickets online at www.ticketmaster.ie

ox. Iceptd tonce

o it.it’s t’s bo

o-e

d ould

a cPadsu

MDeforchat

oucemuto spexturanbeKe

thurall“Ifmeth

stage at the endof each night at The T h e s h o w contin-


Hollywood starlet Mischa Barton with iconic TV soap star Anne Charleston for the Irish stage version of Steel Magnolias

Mischa takes the stage at the GaietyHOLLYWOOD starlet Mischa Barton is making her Irish stage debut as she joins forc-es with iconic TV soap star Anne Charleston for the Irish stage version of Steel Magnolias.

Anne, who is better known as Madge in Neighbours, was in Dublin with Mischa for the launch of the show in the Gaiety Theatre, which will tour countrywide, from Septem-ber 2012. The show is based on the 1989 film with Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, and Julia Roberts. It tells the story of pretty young Shelby Eatenton, to be played here by Mischa Barton – a diabetic, who, following her fairy-tale wedding, risks pregnancy and her life by having a baby.

Twenty-six-year old Mischa who was born in London to an Irish mum, Nuala Quinn, is delighted to be performing on stage in Ireland for the first time in her career.

Tickets are priced from €20 and will be available from Ticketmaster and www.steel-magnolias.ie

A chance to release your inner thespianTHE National Theatre School of Ireland is giving you the chance to release your inner

thespian in the coming weeks then they host a series of film, TV and radio workshops at the Gaiety School of Acting on Essex Street West in the old quarter of Temple Bar.

The school will host a radio presenta-tion workshop on July 21, a TV presentation workshop on July 28 and a casting and audi-tion workshop on August 11.

These courses are to be taught by experts in each relevant field, including well-known TV and radio personalities, Bill Hughes and Chris Donoghue, and renowned cast-ing directors Maureen Hughes and Gillian Reynolds.

These workshops will be specially tailored to people looking to enhance their skills in these specific areas, but beginners are also welcome.

Patrick Sutton, director of the Gaiety School of Acting said: “We are delighted to have acquired the amazing talents of Bill, Chris, Gillian and Maureen to help deliver these interesting new workshops.”

See www.gaietyschool.com for more infor-mation.

Brussels sprouting green over launchBRUSSELS was sprouting green last week when Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar addressed members of the Irish diaspora at the launch of The Gath-ering.

At the launch, the Minister invited the thousands of Irish people living and work-ing throughout Europe to get involved in The Gathering Ireland 2013, a year-long festival celebrating the Irish diaspora next year.

Get involved

Minister Varadkar called on expatriates to get involved and organise their own Gather-ing events within Ireland next year.

Speaking to the assembled expatriates, he said: “Next year, we will celebrate everything that is best about Ireland, right across the country, and we want the world to join in.

“I am asking everyone to get involved in The Gathering and do something unique and positive for our country. As well as vis-iting Ireland, I would ask you to plan your own Gatherings of family, friends or col-leagues.”

DIARY

SNAPSHOT The local stories of the day

Gazette Group Newspapers Ltd.

Terms and Conditions for acceptance of advertisements

Reserve the right to omit or suspend or alter any advertisement(s) in any

of its publications. We also decline any responsibility in the event of one or

more of a series of advertisements being omitted for any reason whatever,

nor do we accept liability for any loss or damage caused by an error or

inaccuracy in the printing of any advertisement. If your advertisement

appears incorrectly, contact the Advertising Department immediately,

as responsibility cannot be accepted for more than one week’s incorrect

insertion. Responsibility cannot be accepted if the complaint is made more

than two weeks after insertion. If one places an advertisement for more

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

will be given for weeks cancelled. The advertiser undertakes to indemnify

the Proprietors against any liability for any civil action arising out of the

publication of the advertisement or any other matter printed or published

in the Blanchardstown Gazette, Castleknock Gazette, Clondalkin Gazette,

Dundrum Gazette, Dun Laoghaire Gazette, Lucan Gazette, Malahide Gazette

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

acceptance of these conditions.

GazetteContactsBlock 3A, Mill Bank Business Park, Lucan

Tel: 01 6010240 Fax: 01 6010251

Managing Director: Michael McGovernemail:[email protected]

Acting News Editor: Rob Heighemail: [email protected]

Production Editor: Jessica Maileemail: [email protected]

Acting Sports Editor: Stephen Findlateremail: [email protected]

Picture Editor: Paul Hosfordemail: [email protected]

Ad Manager: Louise Fitzgeraldemail: [email protected]

Advertising Production: Anita Ward

email: [email protected]

Financial Controller: Carly Lynchemail: [email protected]

Advertising Sales: 01 6010240email: [email protected]


Get healthy meals right to your door

SERVICE: COST-FRIENDLY MEALS-ON-WHEELS

� LAURA WEBB

[email protected]

A SOUTH Dublin-based company is offering the greater Dublin area a high-quality, nutritious and cost-friendly meals-on-wheels service that comes frozen, direct to your door, so clients can eat whenever it suits them.

Chef Direct, the trad-ing name of Health-care Food Solutions, is becoming a household name among residents in need of a meals-on-wheels service. With fully trained chefs among their workforce, the Nutgrove-based company uses the finest ingredients which are quality assured by Bord Bia and the vegeta-bles sourced from Irish farmers.

Quality

The company says the quality of its food makes it different from similar services: “Our meals are delivered frozen, which is the safest way. Others deliver tepid food and if you don’t answer the door, it could be left out-side.

“We have a telesales team in place to ring you – if you are not there, we don’t deliver until you are. If your daugh-ter, son or carer is there, we can give it to them and it goes straight into your freezer. When you want to eat it, you take it

out of the freezer, pop it into your microwave for 12 minutes – the food is safe and tastes good,” Chef Direct CEO Paul Kavanagh said.

“All our meals carry full nutritional values, calorie counts and pro-tein. We deliver seven days a week, unlike some services who are deliv-ering three, four or five days,” he continued.

Standard

According to Paul, there is no standard cost for meal services in hos-pitals, with reports that some pay almost €41 per meal, while others say it is just €2 per meal, which he says needs to change.

“There is a huge imbal-ance there. If you have a €2 meal, obviously, there is no nutrition in it, whereas we have full nutritional on all our produce. I am shocked how much it is costing the HSE. The solution is sitting right under their nose – we cost €5.50 per meal.

“Volume is not a problem. Our plant is 18,000sq ft, so we could look after the whole of Dublin if they asked. We would like to provide the meals-on-wheels service for these people,” said Paul.

Contact Chef Direct on 01 491 6262 for fur-ther information, or log on to www.chefdirect.ie.

FAMILY Snowflakes Autism Support launch

Charity targets families hit by autism� PAUL HOSFORD

A NEW charity aimed at helping families affected by autism in the Fingal area was launched with great fanfare this week.

Snowflakes Autism Support was officially launched at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry by the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly, and the new Mayor of Fingal, Cian O’Callaghan (Lab).

Popular TV presenter Martin King was named as the group’s patron. The TV3 weatherman was in fine form as he announced his support for this worthy cause.

Snowflakes Autism Support was set up in January of this year by a group of parents for fami-lies affected by autism in the north Dublin and Fingal areas.

The group has grown over the months and what started off as just a hand-ful of families, has grown into a support group with over 120 families from all over Dublin.

Their aim is to organ-ise events for children

with Autism Spectrum Disorder, their parents and their siblings. They will also be looking to provide whatever support they can to parents, pre- and post-diagnosis.

The name Snowflakes was chosen for the group because “children with autism are like snow-flakes – they are beauti-ful, each one is uniquely different and they are liable to meltdown at any time,” say the group.

Snow f lakes have attracted approximate-ly 120 members, and the number is growing daily.

One of the key facets of the group is support. From swapping stories and sharing an under-standing of the needs of children with autism, members have gained an abundance of support and comfort from being involved with the organi-sation.

Events enjoyed by the whole family, such as visits to the zoo or to a bowling alley, have also been a huge success. The feedback from parents

Snowflakes Autism Support chairman Robert Brown and Jo Jordan from Dublin

Housewives

from these events has been very positive, and more outings are planned throughout the year.

Snowflakes also run practical workshops for parents to assist them in their child’s develop-ment, the first of which was a presentation of the Grace app for Autism by software developer, Lisa Domican.

The Grace App for Autism for iPhone and iPad helps autistic and other special needs chil-dren to communicate effectively, by building semantic sequences from relevant images to form sentences. The app can be easily custom-ised by using picture and photo vocabulary of your choice.

These workshops will continue over the com-ing months.

The launch served as confirmation that, in their short existence, the group has brought much needed hope and positiv-ity into the lives of fami-lies affected by autism.

For more information, visit www.snowflakes.ie or call 01 5241544.

Health Minister Dr James Reilly, Fingal Mayor Cian O’Callaghan (Lab), Eithne

Brown and Martin King, TV3 weatherman

GazetteMUSICMUSIC

Dave Grohl was saluted by his hometown

An Ocean apart as Frank plots the future

Frank Ocean’s first album proper maintains the high standard set by his Nostalgia Ultra mixtape

� ROB HEIGH

THERE must be some-thing in the water - does not compute. The sum-mer continues to limp on through the downpour. and, simultaneously, the rain of fantastic new releases continues uba-bated.

The latest, and pos-sibly best and most enduring of the albums that have landed lately, is Frank Ocean’s Chan-nel Orange, which was released on digital down-load a week ahead of schedule to combat what was expected to be a slew of piracy.

If I were of that per-suasion, I would have my eyepatch on and parrot on my shoulder, as this release from the Odd Future alumni is easily one of the finest R&B releases this century so far.

Ocean, whose name sounds like he should be headlining the Sands with the Rat Pack, has a smooth and silky flow and a lyrical mastery that already has the pedigree of contributing and co-writing two of the stand-out tracks on Watch The Throne, No Church In The Wild and Made In

America.There is a vision

and empathy that goes beyond the usual tired and lame R&B mores, both lyrically and musi-cally, that puts Ocean on a pedestal in a different galaxy to his peers.

It’s not every R&B act who paints a picture of decay and sadness asso-ciated with crack addic-tion, while simultane-ously holding a mirror up to his peers who exist as Super Rich Kids, and sees the inherent vacuousness and waste of both exist-ences.

REVIEW: AN ALBUM THAT SINGLEHANDEDLY REINVENTS SOUL

Ocean has been fight-ing a legal battle with The Eagles after “co-opting” some aspects - well, actu-ally, the entire melody - of Hotel California on his highly acclaimed mixtape earlier in 2011, Nostalgia Ultra, but here, his plun-dering of pop culture for the foundations of his sound and style are more subtle, and their integra-tion into the musical tap-estry of this record show an innate understanding of everything that makes the genre influential and important.

The Stevie Wonder

rolling, stoned melodies of Sweet Life, the nod to Elton John on the aforementioned Super Rich Kids, and the multi-faceted Prince homage in Pyramids - flipping through a suite of styles, from pre-Purple Rain era electro-funk all the way to an expressive guitar solo - show Ocean’s knowledge and assimilation of the best aspects of the cul-ture’s touchstones.

But in the lyrical con-tent, Ocean draws on Marvin Gaye’s finest moments, showing him to be a young artist able to

look into the milieu and skewer the issues of the day with his own unique vision and wordplay.

There is such a level of imagination, as well as the integration of so many genres and ideas in the 50 minutes Channel Ultra takes to play out, it may be that Frank Ocean will be responsible for the reinvention of soul music for the 21st century.

There is set to be an unholy battle for the top five releases of the year. Part of that future will undoubtedly be Ocean’s Orange.

BLANCHARDSTOWN three-piece, HyperGiants, whose first single Lost Souls soared to the top of the iTunes rock charts, release their much-anticipated follow-up, Halogen, in The Grand Social on July 20.

The band, Laura Walsh, John Lynch and Jonathon Savino, have been hard at work on their debut album and the performance of Lost Souls has whet the appetite of the public for this exciting band.

Light it up: Local band HyperGiants release new single


DAVE Grohl’s CV just keeps getting longer. He’s the drummer who kept Nirvana’s beat for four years, and following Kurt Cobain’s passing in 1994, he didn’t let the rock die, founding the Foo Fighters that same year.

The Foos have gone on to record seven hit albums and win numerous awards, includ-ing five Grammys this year alone. Their latest album, Wasting Light, earned them Album of the Year and Best Rock Album at the iconic American industry awards last February.

Well-deserved when you consider the album was recorded in Grohl’s garage on real analog tapes because he feels music is meant to be made by musicians, not computers. And if you think shunning computers to get work done wouldn’t take up enough time, Grohl’s also been involved in other rock groups like Them Crooked Vultures and Queens of the Stone Age, as well as cropping up as a session musician on albums by the likes of Slash, Tom Petty and Nine Inch Nails. Does this guy sleep?

NME called him a god-like genius but he comes across as the salt of the earth in inter-views and a guy who really is just all about the music.

Last year he stopped a Foos’ concert in London, mid-song, to kick out a fan who was causing trouble in the crowd, telling him “you don’t come to my show and fight you come to my show and...dance!”.

Little wonder really that they’re queuing up to honour Dave Grohl. And he can now add giant artwork and a street named in his honour to his list of accolades.

His hometown of Warren, Ohio will soon be home to a 400kg sculpture of two massive drumsticks on Dave Grohl Alley. You know you’ve made it when you’ve inspired a giant piece of artwork in your home town.

I’m expecting a giant sofa in Portmarnock any day now...

FastTunes with Radio Nova’s Dee Woods

GazetteBEAUTYBEAUTY Edited by

Laura Webb

A little bit of pampering

Getting organic with natural cosmetics from Dr Haushka THE brand is known for its amazing skin care range but now Dr Hauschka has launched its latest line of organic and natural cosmetics.

Foundations, lipsticks, powders, eyeliners and eye shadows are some of the new range available by the skin care experts.

For anyone used to using the skin care range, you will be happy to know the cosmetic range has that great scent of its skin care range.

The make-up range is made from mineral pigments and organic extracts that help to pro-vide long-lasting colour and deliver a healthy-

looking radiant glow. These mineral cosmet-

ics are suitable for sensi-tive eyes and contact lens wearers.

Foundations, tint-ed moisturisers and bronzers help create a flawless complexion.

Beneficial

The organic lipsticks, lip glosses and lip liners are lead-free, petroleum-free and are made only with natural ingredients containing beneficial plant nutrients that help soften and hydrate lips while adding great col-our.

International make-up artist for Dr Hauschka

Skin Care, Karim Sattar said the great make-up range is entirely based on natural formulations and is “incredibly easy to apply”.

“They literally become like a soft veil, or better, a second skin and blend fantastically into one’s skin tone and texture. Dr Hauschka is also a natural step in both my professional and per-sonal development. I am delighted that the com-pany wants to have me on board and I hope to contribute my expertise in many different ways,” he said.

Karim recently joined Dr Hauschka’s crea-

tive team of decorative cosmetics experts. He is involved in developing new decorative looks for the natural and organic cosmetics brand, and is set to hold make-up training sessions world-wide.

Dr Hauschka’s cosmet-ic range has gained seri-ous attention from make-

up artists and Holly-wood’s blockbusters and TV shows. The products have been used on the set of Twilight’s Breaking Dawn, Black Swan, Wall Street 2, Something Bor-rowed, The Devil Wears Prada and The Women and shows such as Gos-sip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, Sex and the City and

Desperate Housewives.Dr Hauschka Decora-

tive Range is priced at €15-€35 and is stocked in selected health stores pharmacies, all Life Pharmacies, McCabes@Clery’s Avoca and Har-vey Nichols.For details of a nearest stock-ist, log onto: www.drhauschkaireland.ie

Inner Glow - Limited Edition Lipstick (top), Eyeshadow Palette Stone Colour (left)

Collection and Eyeshadow Solo 02 from Dr Haushka


PAMPER yourself or someone else this summer with Carton House’s summer spa day specials. The luxury resort in May-nooth launched their Summer Spa Day Specials this week, which has some great packages for two sum-mer treatments for just €100, Monday to Friday. Here are just two of the many spe-cial offer treatments available: Caribbean Body Scrub one hour – normal price €90 which includes a foot massage, body scrub and body massage. Elemental Custom-ised Facial one hour – normal price €90. For more informa-tion, email at [email protected] or phone 01-6517744.


GazetteBUSINESSBUSINESS

JOHN Clifton is general manager of Ballsbridge Hotel (formerly Jury’s Hotel) in Dublin 4. Ballsbridge Hotel has 392 guest rooms and is located next to Aviva Stadium and the RDS, making it a popular accom-modation choice for sporting events and concerts. John says it’s the hotel’s close proximity to the city centre, O2 arena and Bord Gais Energy Theatre that also con-tributes to its popularity.

“Our location really is the key to our suc-cess. We’re close to everything, yet removed enough to give guests peace and quiet when they want it. Ballsbridge is also a very pretty area and very safe.”

John has been working in the hotel industry for over 30 years – with 20 years’ experience in general manager positions. A native of Blackrock, John attended Willow Park School and Blackrock College before training in hotel management at the Doyle Burlington Hotel and went on to study in Lucerne Hotel School, Switzerland.

Ballsbridge Hotel is now operating as part of the Dalata Hotel Group and John says the hotel is continuing its refurbish-ment plans after revamping the lobby and conference centre earlier this year.

Interview: John Clifton, general manager, Ballsbridge Hotel

Q&A

Location is key at Ballsbridge Hotel

John Clifton, general manager of the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin 4

Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be?A: A pilot.

Q: What was your first job?A: Trainee hotel manager.

Q: And your first pay cheque?A: £5 a week.

Q: Have you ever done a job you loathed?A: Gardening bob a job…

Q: When did you start your present job?A: I started the beginning of

this year.

Q: What is the best thing about your job?A: Interacting with people.

Q: What part of your working day do you delegate?A: All of it!

Q: Have you achieved any-thing that you once thought you could not pull off?A: I worked on a charity

building project in South

Africa.

Q: What’s currently on your desk that shouldn’t be?A: Paper!

Q: Is there anything about yourself that you would like to set the record straight on?A: No comment.

Q: What habits would you like to lose?A: Eating too many biscuits!

Q: What sport do you follow?A: I am interested in all sports

really – depending on time

of year… Rugby, tennis, golf,

GAA.

Q: What sport can you play?A: I love fly-fishing, skiing,

motorbike touring, walking,

swimming and rowing.

Q: What is your guilty music/TV or movie pleasure?A: I sometimes listen to my

teenage daughter Ella’s music

collection!

Q: Who best represents mod-ern Ireland – David Norris or Jedward?A: David Norris.

Q: What music/pictures/movies do you have on your iPod/iPad?A: Pictures of an Antarctica

trip I did two years ago, stun-

ning place.

Q: Who do you follow on Twit-ter/Facebook?A: I’m one of the few not on

social media.

Q: At the moment, what are you looking forward to?A: My next holiday!

Q: Describe your dream meal?A: Grilled collar bacon,

creamed potatoes and peas.

Q: Who would you rather have dinner with – Enda Kenny or Dame Edna?A: Enda Kenny would be

interesting.

Q: Where do you enjoy spend-ing money frivolously?A: Travel… If I could spend it

frivolously!

Q: How many pairs of shoes do you own?A: Five to six pairs.

Q: What was your worst holiday experience?A: I lost my passport in

Canada and missed my flight.

Q: Describe your dream holiday?A: Skiing in Canada or motor

biking across France, Spain

and Portugal.

Q: What would be your dream job?A: Flying a sea plane in

Alaska.

Q: What do you plan to do when you retire?A: Live near the sea and

watch the sun go down with

my wife and daughter.

SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS A D V E R T I S E W I T H

T H E G A Z E T T E

C A L L 6 0 1 0 24 0

LOCALMATTERS

Supported by AIB

BACK TO SCHOOL

Q – I dread the start of the school year and find it increasingly difficult to cope financially. The books get more expensive each year, plus there is the uni-form, sports gear and the rest. Could I be entitled to any government subsidies ? Patricia – Rathmines

A - I really empathise with you and the thousands of

families similarly affected. Families are spending on aver-

age €400 per child for returning to school, according to

research carried out by the Irish League of Credit Unions

last summer. The average cost for secondary school

children was found to be €470, with primary school costs

coming in at €320.

The report also showed that uniforms were the most

expensive items, coming in at €229, followed by books at

€182. The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance

(BTSCFA) helps meet the cost of uniforms and footwear for

children going to school for those eligible to claim.

2012 SCHEMEIn 2012, the Department of Social Protection will pay the

allowance automatically to a large number of qualified

people. This means that many families do not have to apply

for the payment. If you received this payment last year

and your circumstances have not changed, you should

have received a letter by June 20, 2012 stating when and

how your allowance will be paid. If you haven’t received a

notification letter by June 20 and are eligible for the allow-

ance, you should make an application. Application forms

are available in all social welfare offices or online at www.

welfare.ie . You can also request a form by texting FORM

BTSCFA followed by your address to 51909 (normal sms

rates apply). If you do not receive an automatic payment,

you must apply for the allowance. Applications must be

received before the end of September.

You may qualify for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance if you are: • Getting a social welfare payment (including Family

Income Supplement) or a Health Service Executive pay-

ment, or

• Taking part in an approved employment scheme (back to

work scheme) including JobBridge, or

• Taking part in a recognised education or training course,

or

• Involved in an Area Partnership Scheme, or

• Attending a Fás, Failte Ireland or LES training scheme

You may also qualify for the BTSCFA if you are: • Getting a social welfare payment (including Family

Income Supplement) or a Health Service Executive pay-

ment, or

• Taking part in an approved employment scheme (back to

work scheme) including JobBridge, or

• Taking part in a recognised education or training course,

or

• Involved in an Area Partnership Scheme, or

• Attending a FÁS, Fáilte Ireland or LES training scheme

Your child must be aged between four to 22 on or before

September 30. If they are aged between 18 to 22, they must

be in full-time education in a recognised school or college.

Subject to means testing :- The allowance paid for each eligible child aged four to 11

on or before September 30, 2012 is €150.

- The allowance paid for each eligible child aged 12 to 22 on

or before 30 September 2012 is €250.

Best of luck next September

� Contact John with your money questions at [email protected] or visit his website at www.mon-eydoctor.ie. John Lowe, Fellow of the Institute of Bankers, is founder and managing director of Money Doctor


Love me tender to keep on top of costs

Making your house a home with renovations needs close management

IF YOU are planning a new build or a renova-tion, you need to get to grips with the ins and outs of the tendering process if you want to make sure you are on top of your costings.

The tendering process or a ‘Request for Tender’ (RFT) is a structured invitation where you, the home owner, invite building companies to give you a detailed quotation or cost esti-mate for a building job based on your plans and requirements which you have previously drawn up.

It is imperative that before you enter into the RFT process that you are decided and happy with your plans as all cost-ings will be based on your plans and design requirements. The plan is the crucial part and it is vitally important that your budget is defined up front and that you match your design to your budget. Bearing this in mind, there are three key steps to a suc-cessful plan.

Design the area Know your access

points, be aware of

where you may need to relocate services and plumbing as that will have an impact on cost.

PlanningGet plan drawn up

by a professional. This should be well drafted, legible and logical, real-istic in its design and matching your budget.

SpecificsYour plan needs to be

specified; the required materials from glazing, to kitchen cabinets, to light switches and sock-ets need to be defined up front and in detail.

Once your specifi-cations are complete, you will send it out to the builders you have selected, who will then price as per your speci-fications.

You will be getting quotations from several sources so it’s important that all involved have the same information. Quality specification is crucial if you want an accurate tender.

Make sure you are 100% satisfied that what you need is on the cost-ings the builders bring you back and that it

NEW BUILD AND RENOVATIONS: MANAGE EXPENSE FROM THE OUTSET

GazettePROPERTYPROPERTY

matches your specifica-tions. If the documen-tation doesn’t match, you may find yourself in a situation where an element of the build may be removed from the project (as it wasn’t on the list the builder brought back) or, it could be added in later at an extra cost.

Once prices come in, you must then meet your builder. You could be entering into a three-

of four-month project and the building team will be onsite daily. You must be able to commu-nicate with them.

Once you are close to making a decision, you need to go and look at prior work and talk to old customers. But don’t let positive feedback sway you into making a decision. The quality of previous work will hope-fully speak for itself.

When you come to the

contracts stage (don’t attempt any work with-out contracts) ensure the fees for the Certifi-cate of Compliance are included as part of the costings, as you will need this to sign off the completed build.

To get in touch with HSLC visit us online at www.hslc.ie or call Gerhard on Ph: 087 7749470 email: [email protected]

THE SUN may not be shining but that’s no reason not to put a splash of colour into your life as B&Q invite you to live life in multicol-our, where there is a rainbow to drive the clouds away.

The variety of vivid items on offer include the Sunlounger (€24.85) and the Janeiro Armchair (€31.00), pictured here, as well as a glorious green Bucket Charcoal Barbecue (€12.40) and multicol-our raphia lanterns for €14.25.

For more, see www.diy.com.

It’s a rainbow: B&Q brighten up summer gardens

gazette group

ww

w.

.com

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


GazetteMOTORSMOTORS

Dublin comes sixth in congested list MOBILE navigation giants TomTom have launched the first quarterly congestion index that accurately identifies and analyses traffic congestion in major cities across Europe.

The report, initially covering 31 cities, finds Warsaw to be the most congested city in Europe with a 42% congestion level. Our own fair city of Dublin was found to be sixth.

On average, journey times in Dublin are 30% longer than when traffic in the city is flowing freely and 70% longer during morning rush hour. This is a significant rise in traffic congestion in Dublin from last year when Dublin was the 24th most congested city with a 24.2% congestion level. The TomTom Congestion Index, including individual city reports, can be found at www.tomtom.com/congestionindex.

The TomTom Congestion Index is the world’s most accurate barometer of congestion in urban areas. The index is uniquely based on real travel time data captured by vehicles driving the entire road network. TomTom’s traffic database contains over five trillion data measurements and is growing by five billion measurements every day. The overall congestion level for all the cities analysed in Europe is 24% - meaning journey times take 24% longer than when traffic is flowing freely.

The top 10 most congested cities, ranked by overall congestion level, between January and March 2012 were: 1. Warsaw, 42% congestion level. 2. Marseille, 41%. 3. Rome, 34%. 4. Brussels, 34%. 5. Paris, 32%. 6. Dublin, 30%.7. Bradford – Leeds, 28%. 8. London, 27%.9. Stockholm, 27%. 10. Hamburg, 27%.

The offer for Citigo includes three years of servicing

Skoda enters small car market with flair THE increasingly popular car manufacturer, Skoda, has launched a brand new entrant to the small car market.

Retailing from just €9,995, the Citigo is avail-able for test drive at Skoda dealerships nationwide.

Having attended the official European launch earlier this year, the Gazette will be featuring a full Irish road test in the coming weeks.

The Citigo is available in three and five-door alternatives with two petrol engine options including 1.0-litre 60bhp and 75bhp power units with fuel economy from 4.5l/100km.

VRT and road tax falls into Band-A thanks to emissions of just 105g/km.

With ESP (electronic stability program) and side head thorax airbags fitted as standard the new Citigo is one of the safest cars in its class achieving a five-star rating from the EuroNCAP.

Marking Skoda’s entry into the small car market, Skoda Ireland has cre-ated an attractive finance option for Citigo called PCP Solutions.

This package provides customers with an attrac-tive 1.99% APR over three years which also includes three years servicing, war-ranty and roadside assist from €99 per month.

Manual transmissions are the norm in this seg-ment. However Skoda are confident they can grow sales with their new auto-matic transmission.

For just €750, custom-ers can avail of their new ASG five-speed automatic transmission that also has the benefit of sequential gear changing.

Satellite navigation is also rare in this segment but all Citigo models come equipped with a mobile-sat-nav docking station as standard to which Skoda’s optional mobile navigation system (€349) can connect.

This system also pro-

vides BlueTooth hands free and mp3 play back functionality for increased safety and comfort.

Commenting on the launch, Raymond Leddy, head of marketing, Skoda Ireland, said: “The Citigo has already won several motoring awards across Europe and is really going to shake up the small car market here in Ireland.

“From a financial per-spective the Citigo ticks all the boxes. Customers can avail of our PCP Solu-tions plan with an incred-ibly low APR combined with monthly repayments of €99 inclusive of servic-ing over three years. For

further peace of mind we have three years warranty and roadside assist.”

Leddy expanded: “The Citigo will appeal to a wide range of motorists from the family looking for a viable second car to the more mature motorist seeking a small car with comfort and efficiency to the first-time buyer who is looking for new car technology at an afford-able price. We are also forecasting demand with Ireland’s lowest priced automatic car - the Citigo 1.0MPI 60bhp ASG from just €10,745.”

The offer for Citigo includes three years’ serv-

icing in the €99 monthly cost. Based on Citigo 1.0MPI Active model RRP including delivery is €10,595. The cus-tomer pays deposit/part exchange of €3,245,23, followed by 36 month-ly instalments of €99 (€88.01 Solutions PCP payment and €10.99 for the interest free provision of three years’ servicing), an optional final payment (GMFV) of €4,197.90 is at the end of the con-tract and may be dealt with using one of the three options below. The minimum deposit / part exchange for Citigo PCP Solutions is 10%.

VW offers €500 to new customersVOLKSWAGEN Ireland cannot guarantee sunshine this summer, but it can guarantee savings, providing every new Volkswagen customer with a welcome cheque for €500.

This could be described as the perfect antidote to the poor Irish summer weather, customers who purchase a new Volkswagen will not only receive €500, they will also get free car insurance and road tax for 12 months.

With Volkswagen’s innovative financial packages provided by Volkswagen Bank, customers can avail of some of the cheapest ways into a new car in the Irish market. Examples of this include the ever-popular Polo for just €149 per month, the Golf or Jetta from just €199 per month and the Passat from just €299 per month.

So don’t hang about! Get down to your local Volkswagen retailer, log on to www.volkswagen.ie or check out our Facebook page on www.facebook.com/VolkswagenIRL.

RoadRoadSignsSigns


OPEL ASTRA GTC GETS A RED DOT: A FEW months back, the Gazette fell head over heels in love with the sexy new Opel Astra GTC, a car that was a lot closer to the concept drawings than most.

It would seem we’re not alone in our affec-tions for this classy motor, as the car has been given the pres-tigious “red dot design award” by a panel of international judges in this year’s product design category.

The compact coupe is widely recognised for being sporty, effi-cient and packed full of innovative technol-ogies with captivating design.

The 30 judges on the red dot award

panel praised the Astra GTC for “scor-ing points with its striking and sporty design”.

The judges also remarked that the “panoramic wind-screen that stretches all the way to the middle of the roof without a transverse spar ensures that all passengers benefit from maximum driv-ing fun”.

According to Mark Adams, vice president of Opel/Vauxhall Design: “We are very proud to have won this award. This is fur-ther proof that our Opel design philoso-phy of ‘sculptural artistry meets Ger-man precision’ has enormous potential.

RoadRoadSignsSignsFiat 500 – wake up and smell the coffeeAFTER five years and 800,000 sales, the FIAT 500 has welcomed a new sibling: The FIAT 500L! Combining the iconic style of the FIAT 500 with the functionality of an MPV, the new FIAT 500L occupies its own unique niche combining the best attributes of the B and C segments in a funky and innovative package.

Yes, this car has bucket loads of useful space; yes, this car has more gadgets than a PC World catalogue; yes, this car has a bewildering level of safety equipment and choice of engines, but what really sets it apart is the coffee machine!

You heard me right. The new Fiat 500L boasts an exclusive collaboration with legendary coffee machine producers Lavazza that will make it the first production car in the world to offer a fully-integrated espresso machine.

Make sure to spring for a leather interior, those coffee stains can be murder to get out of fabric!

The new Fiat 500L is loaded with gadgets

The car clearly follows Kia’s latest design direction, but it stands out with a bold, athletic and sporty appeal

Kia hits the spot with sporty Optima� CORMAC CURTIS

KIA motors certainly enjoyed a good start to 2012 when the Kia Rio scooped the Irish Con-tinental Car of the Year award, as voted by the Irish Motoring Writers Association.

The company are cer-tainly not resting on their laurels, as the new Opti-ma has been launched to the Irish market in recent weeks, and it is already grabbing attention.

The design team, head-ed up by Kia’s chief design officer, Peter Schreyer, have clearly been given a clear vision, and some artistic latitude, to come up with this new look.

The car clearly follows Kia’s latest design direc-tion, but it stands out with a bold, athletic and sporty appeal. Kia claim to have been striving for a “unique exterior with a driver-ori-ented interior”, and, from my point of view, they have hit the nail firmly on the head.

The Optima is longer, lower and wider with an extended wheelbase com-

pared to previous D-seg-ment offerings from Kia, all of which contribute to its sporty appeal.

From the front, the swept-back approach to the design of the lighting clusters and grille give the car that desirable “mov-ing while standing still” appearance - it really does stand out.

The new model is avail-able with a 1.7-litre turbo diesel, which is expected to account for the major-ity of sales in Europe. The other option is a 2.0-litre 170 ps petrol engine.

The diesel unit offered is a new 1.7-litre ver-sion of Kia’s popular U2 engine. It produces 136 ps and 325 Nm of torque

at 2,000 rpm for excellent driveability, and delivers best-in-class perform-ance for an engine of its displacement.

A number of measures designed to enhance engine efficiency, includ-ing fitting an overrunning alternator decoupler and an innovative battery management system, also mean that Kia Optima will have low tailpipe emissions – producing just 133 g/km CO2.

Drivers keen to reduce the environmental impact of their car even further can select Kia’s optional EcoDynamics pack, with an ISG start/stop sys-tem that automatically switches off and restarts the engine in heavy traffic conditions.

Fitted with EcoDynam-ics, Kia Optima is able to deliver a remarkable CO2 output of just 128 g/km, placing it among the lower vehicle tax bands in most European countries.

The 2.0-litre petrol engine is an all-new unit. Called ‘Nu’, the 1,999 cc all-aluminium lightweight engine will also offer best-

in-class performance and competitive fuel economy. The Kia Optima will be offered to buyers with a choice of six-speed man-ual or six-speed automatic transmissions – whatever the engine customers specify – providing greater refinement and efficiency while cruising at higher speeds.

The automatic model I tested was a joy, I can’t recommend automatic transmissions highly enough, even for fans of sporty driving, don’t be put off.

One of my favourite features of the car was the reversing camera.

In the Optima, the reverse view appears in the rear-view mirror when the reverse gear is select-ed, leaving the dashboard and centre console free of any large screens – a big plus in my opinion.

The Kia Optima is fit-ted with generous levels of specification as stand-ard, and buyers will also be offered a number of optional high-tech fea-tures typically found on vehicles from more

expensive premium brands, including LED daytime running lights and dual-zone automatic climate control air-condi-tioning.

Standard on middle-grade trim models are heated front seats, with cooling (air ventilation) for the driver’s seat.

The new Optima fea-tures an all-new body shell incorporating a large percentage of ultra high-tensile steel and advanced structural engi-neering techniques that have proven their safety performance in numer-ous Kia models – ena-bling them to achieve a five-star safety rating in Euro NCAP crash tests.

Every Optima comes with a four-wheel disc braking system sup-ported by ABS (anti-lock braking), ESC (electronic stability control) and VSM (vehicle stability management) systems as standard.

This senses when the driver is making an emer-gency stop and flashes with brake lights to warn following drivers.

MOTORS

� Type speed: DOHC, four-cylinder in line, 16-valve with single VGT� Capacity: 1.7-litres, 1,685 cc� Max power: 136 ps (100 kW) @ 4,000 rpm � PMax torque: 325 Nm (33.1 kg.m) @ 2,000 rpm

SPECS:

KIA OPTIMA

1.7-LITRE / 136 PS

DIESEL

Edited by

Cormac Curtis

Copenhagen delighted us with its truly great Danes� SHANE DILLON

JOINING some friends for a weekend break, I set off for Copenhagen recently with Scandina-vian Airlines (SAS, www.flysas.ie) – the perfect choice to head not just to Denmark, but Scandina-via, and beyond.

Settling into my busi-ness-class seat, and under the attentive care of the crew, I noted that the perfectly smooth flight to Copenhagen was a snip at under two hours – Copenhagen is a lot closer than I’d thought.

Once there, a refresh-ing stop at the SAS lounge was a great way to momentarily adjust, count the kroner in our pockets, and set off for the hotel via the quick, driverless metro.

A short walk from the city centre station, the historic Admiral Hotel (www.admiralhotel.dk) is ideally located by the water, with Tall Ships bobbing about below the rear rooms’ balconies.

A vast structure with plenty of history, the Admiral was full of hall-ways, wood, marble and Armani models mas-querading as helpful receptionists, making it a pleasant and comfort-able base within strolling distance of the city’s key tourist spots.

From there, a canal

cruise (www.canaltours.com) proved a leisurely way to see several key parts of the city centre, helped by our friendly guide who pointed out one fascinating structure after another in several striking neighbourhoods.

That evening, exqui-site dining awaited in the trendy meatpacking dis-trict, with starters at strik-ing Fiskebaren (www.fiskebaren.dk), followed by a main course across

the plaza at Nose2Tail (http://nose2tail.dk), fol-lowed by nipping back to Fiskebaren for dessert.

Whether dining below mesmerising luminous jellyfish swirling around a glass pillar before us at Fiskebaren, or listening to a meat-loving chef’s phi-losophy by candlelight at Nose2Tail, we loved the restaurants’ unpreten-tious staff and owners – and, of course their deli-cious food and wine.

A nightcap was called for – even though, in Copenhagen, night doesn’t truly fall as it does

at home, with a pale hori-zon even at 3am – and we retired to Ruby (http://rby.dk/#/0), an upmarket yet welcoming cocktail bar, and which really was a gem of a place ...

Next morning , a hearty hotel breakfast was followed by my very first kayaking excursion (www.kajakole.dk).

Displaying the patience of Job, our good-natured instructor guided us on what turned out to be a

lengthy trip down several canals, bays, and water-ways, giving us a different perspective yet again of the lovely city.

A traditional Danish lunch followed at Peder Oxe (www.pederoxe.dk), which saw local speciali-ties presented in a novel multi-sandwich process, and served, yet again, by one of Copenhagen’s notably friendly wait-resses.

Walking off my deli-cious dessert, I strolled up The Round Tower (www.rundetaarn.dk) – an observatory tower in

the city centre built for, I heard, a fat king who didn’t want to take any any stairs on his way to look at the stars.

Its fine city views took in Stroget, Europe’s long-est pedestrian street, which celebrates its 50th birthday this year, and which is full of leading Danish and international stores – including, I noted, brands that even London doesn’t have – making it a shopper’s delight.

The world-famous Tivoli Gardens awaited (www.tivoli.dk), with its vast, sprawling mix of restaurants, bars, thea-tres, fairground rides, per-formance spaces and so much more – no wonder thousands of Danes, and tourists, filled its welcom-ing grounds, even late at night.

The lights, sights and sounds of the truly enchanting gardens were set aside – briefly – for some six-star dining at NIMB Terasse (www.nimb.dk).

As the sun set, the immaculate staff whirled like clockwork around us, while the food, and pres-entation, was as sumptu-ous as one could hope for.

The Tivoli Gardens transform once dark-ness falls, as thousands of lights convert the park into a night-time won-derland – no wonder the

A lovely city-centre view

city that’s full of history,

Hop on over to Malta or Tenerife with website’s great family dealsIF YOU’RE still undecided about your plans for getting away with your family this summer, GoHop.ie is fast becoming one of Ireland’s lead-ing online travel companies, and is the ideal site for some last-minute summer holiday shopping.

Travel to Malta on Thursday, July 26, and stay at the three-star Hotel Euro Club for seven nights from €2,052.

Prices are based on two adults and two chil-dren on a B&B basis, and includes return flights from Dublin, taxes and charges.

Alternatively, you could travel to Tenerife on Thursday, August 16, and stay at the three-star Vime Callao Garden on a self-catering basis for seven nights, from €1,464.

The price is also based on two adults and two children, and includes flights from Shannon Airport, taxes and charges.

GoHop.ie offer some of the lowest fares on all airlines out of Ireland. For further information on these and other holidays, or to make a book-ing, see vwww.gohop.ie.

Thomas Cook invites you to stay at an award-winning three-star hotel in sun-kissed LanzarotePUERTO del Carmen has long been a hot spot for sun-seekers venturing from Ireland to Lan-zarote, with the Montana Club a mainstay for visitors returning to the sun-kissed island.

With the three-star hotel recently picking up a prestigious award from TripAdvisor, based on a host of positive feedback from guests, Thomas Cook Ireland is celebrating by offering some special summer packages departing from both Dublin and Shannon.

Situated in well-kept grounds in a quiet street away from, but within easy reach of, the hustle and bustle of the resort town centre, the Mon-tana Club was awarded the TripAdvisor Certifi-cate of Excellence for 2012.

Thomas Cook Ireland is offering seven nights’ self-catering from €505 per person based on two adults sharing, with flights from Dublin or Shan-non departing on Saturday, August 25.

For further information, call the Thomas Cook Ireland team at 01 514 0328, visit your local travel agent, or see www.thomascook.ie.

FastTravel

GazetteTTRAVELRAVEL22 GAZETTE 19 July 2012

gardens stayed so full of families, even as midnight approached.

Our relaxed mood lin-gered… a feeling which lasted all the way back to the hotel, where stars twinkled down at one tired but happy tourist at the end of his day’s busy kayaking, dining, sight-seeing, shopping and singing adventures ...

Next morning, we assembled for a bike tour (www.copenhagentours.dk) and, despite it being my first time on a bike in almost 20 years, it proved as easy as, well, riding a bike!

So it was that, after fly-ing in, sailing along, walk-ing around and splashing by, my party and I were completing our explora-tion of Copenhagen on two wheels, past impres-sive castles and court-yards, through sleepy laneways and across bustling bridges, through

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

‘The world-famous Tivoli Gardens awaited, with its mix of restaurants, bars, theatres, fairground rides and so much more – no wonder thousands filled its welcoming grounds’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

GoHop.ie has some terrific summer deals, with

Malta proving popular for a great getaway

from The Round Tower, taking in some of the centre’s key spires and turrets, in a

yet also has exemplary contemporary architecture and design throughout

Concorde Travel Lisbon invites you to step over to Lisbon’s soft beaches and relaxing resortsWHETHER it is pure leisure, business, golf, sun, sea or water sports that you’re seeking this sum-mer, the sandy beaches and trendy resorts of the lovely Lisbon coast have it all.

Just a step away from the beautiful cosmopoli-tan city of Lisbon, the popular resorts of Estoril and Cascais enjoy the generous privileges of both the sun-kissed Riviera and the nearby white, soft, sandy beaches.

Estoril’s history features World War II memo-ries of international spies, royal exiles and celeb-rities of all kinds, while Cascais, the trendier of the two resorts, boasts an active cultural scene.

To help get you there this summer, Concorde Travel are offering some great deals on holidays to Lisbon, starting at €549 per person (PP).

Departing on July 26, spend seven nights on a B&B basis at the three-star SANA Estoril for €599 PP; the four-star Vila Gale, in Estoril, for €599PP; the four-star Vila Gale, in Cascais, for €649PP; the four-star Pestana, in Cascais, for €699PP; the five-star Quinta Da Marinha Hotel, in Cascais, for €799PP or the five-star Palacio, in Estoril, for €899PP.

Departing on August 14, spend seven nights on a B&B basis at the three-star SANA Estoril for €549 PP; the four-star Vila Gale, in Estoril, for €649PP; the four-star Vila Gale, in Cascais, for €699PP; the five-star Quinta Da Marinha Hotel, in Cascais, for €749PP, or the five-star Palacio, in Estoril, for €899 PP.

Prices include direct flights from Dublin to Lisbon, return airport transfers, luggage allow-ance, the assistance of a local representative, seven nights’ accommodation at your chosen hotel on a B&B basis, and all taxes and charges.

To book your holiday at Lisbon’s coast, or for further information, see www.concordetravel.ie; email [email protected], or telephone 01 775 9300 to speak with one of Concorde Travel’s representatives.

TravelBriefs

Edited by

Natalie Burke


a mud-splattered hippy kingdom – don’t ask – and on to the smart, upmarket Torvehallerne Food Market (www.tor-vehallernekbh.dk), pro-viding the highest quality fare from a wide range of produce providers.

With that, we set off, back to the busy airport, back to another very welcome respite in the comfortable SAS lounge, and another wonderfully smooth, relaxing flight back to Dublin with SAS.

Ultimately, how can I sum up Copenhagen? I’d heard of great Danes before – yet how inad-equate that term is, when I think of that marvellous city and her wonderful people.

Now that I know first-

hand how truly charming Copenhagen is, how gen-uinely friendly and warm her people are, and how easily accessible Copen-hagen is with SAS (not to mention affordable, with all-in SAS economy return flights from Dublin

being surprisingly cheap), I will definitely return to that elegant, welcoming city – and soon, I hope.

For further information on Copenhagen’s many attractions, as well as on Denmark, see www.visit-denmark.com.

Experienced and novice kayakers alike can enjoy an

easygoing waterline view of Copenhagen

Cocktails at Ruby are a great way to round off a day,

in a city full of welcoming bars with terrific service

With waterways greatly defining Copenhagen’s

character and layout, a canal cruise is a perfect way

to take in the wonderful city. Pictures: Shane Dillon

Part of the lovely waterside view from the

perfectly-located Admiral Hotel

A delicious Danish dessert, courtesy of

NIMB Terasse – one of a number of exquisite

Copenhagen restaurants

Already spectacular by day, the historic

Tivoli Gardens transform at night into a

luxurious wonderland for all ages to enjoy

Lisbon’s beaches are just a step away from the

city, and offer both beautiful sands and luxurious

hotels, such as the five-star Palacio, in Estoril


How to make friendsWhile Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt) glide through parenthood, Leslie (Maya Rudolph) and Alex (Chris O’Dowd) struggle.

GoingOUT

GazetteENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

Good looking, rich people have problems too, you know. They’re just a little different from yours or mine...

�

� PAUL HOSFORD

PARENTHOOD is a tricky subject to broach in film these days.

W h a t w i t h t h e experts, the breastfeed-ing debates and the dif-ficulty pitching a film about kids to people with kids, it can be a minefield.

Think back over the last decade and the standout movie in the genre is Knocked Up, which focused more on the journey to having a kid than the effects of the birth.

Step forward Friends With Kids, the new movie from Jennifer Westfeldt.

Unless you particu-larly remember 2001’s Kissing Jessica Stein, Westfeldt is recognisa-ble only from a number of stints on TV shows such as 24 and Grey’s Anatomy.

Oh, she also happens to be the long-term girl-

friend of Jon Hamm.So, if Don Draper is

your type, she is the lady standing between you and a life of happiness with the most chauvin-ist man on Madison Avenue.

Hamm is cast in this look at three couples and brings with him three of his Bridesmaids co-stars; Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Roscommon’s favourite son, Chris O’Dowd.

In the midst of their thirties, and with time ticking, best friends Julie (Westfeldt) and Jason (Adam Scott) decide to have a child

together. The premise being

that having kids has sucked the romance and happiness from their closest friends’ relationships (Wiig and Hamm, Rudolph and O’Dowd).

To get the kid, they agree to sleep together and raise the child with split custody, leaving them free to pursue “The One” without any stress.

Of course, this is where the complica-tions begin.

While the pair take to their odd arrangement swimmingly, much to

the chagrin of their friends, (particularly Hamm, doing a fine line in world weary married man) the quest to find love is filled with more challenges than chang-ing dirty nappies.

When Jason meets the prototype babe in Megan Fox, his life appears to be taking an upward trajectory with-out Julie, who discovers long-held feelings for her best friend.

Of course , when Jason doesn’t feel the same, she stumbles into the arms of the utterly, implausibly perfect Ed Burns.

From there, the two have to navigate their feelings for each other as well as their new beaus.

The f i lm se t t l e s , around halfway in, into just being another straight rom-com about upper West-side New Yorkers, who have a fairly specific set of

problems. School in Manhattan

is expensive, Brooklyn is difficult to get to, Megan Fox and Ed Burns aren’t up to my standards and so on.

It is essentially, the whitest movie ever made and the emotional prob-lems just aren’t complex enough to stop the lead characters coming off as horribly smug, such as slipping in pontifica-tions on religion when it hasn’t been mentioned anywhere previously.

The fi lm sparkles under the group dynam-ic, however, with a set of six or eight talented actors and a sharp script allowing them room to shine.

Unfortunately, the Bridesmaids carriovers are left idle for too long, with even the charac-ters remarking that they haven’t been seen in a long time.

When even the script notices, that’s a problem.

FILM OF THE WEEK: Friends with Kids�� (15) 107 mins

OUR VERDICT:A decent look at what parenthood can do to a relationship, but it can border on smug as the know-it-all lead characters settle into their routine. Soon, however, we see that they are as clueless as the rest of us. For everything it does well, though, it squanders a great cast, leaving Wiig, Hamm, O’Dowd and Rudolph too little to do.

Director: Jennifer Westfeldt Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Maya Rudolph, Ed Burns, Kristen Wiig, Megan Fox, Chris O’Dowd, Jon Hamm

THE PAVILION THEATRE 01 231 2929Altan

“...SIMPLY the most captivating, resonant and beautiful music...” says Mojo magazine. The Boston Globe has described them as “The hottest group in the Celtic realm!” With that kind of buzz, it is no wonder that Altan have toured all over the USA and Europe. No Irish traditional band in the last dozen years has had a wider impact on audiences and music lovers throughout the world than Altan. For one very special show only on July 17 at 8.30pm, Altan will play Dun Laoghaire. Tickets are priced at €22/20.

MILL THEATRE 01 296 9340 Auditions, Zoe’s Auditions

AN HILARIOUSLY touching tale of lovable Zoe, an aspiring actress who dreams of landing an acting job. Her over-the-hill agent sends her on an assortment of auditions ranging from Hamlet to being shot out of a cannon for a touring circus. Wildly enthusiastic and eager to please, Zoe is prone to a series of mishaps and misadventures that lead casting directors to shout “NEXT!!” Just as she is ready to give up, Zoe falls asleep at her job working backstage on a production of “A Christmas Carol”. She is visited by three audacious ghosts with startling wisdom for her. July 26-28 at 8pm. Admission: €18/15.

CIVIC THEATRE 01 462 7477Much Ado About Nothing

AFTER the success of last year’s production of Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, AC Productions return with another one of Shakespeare’s classic comedies, transposed to 1960’s Italy where wit is as sharp as the fashion. Cupid has his work cut out for him as reluctant lovers, Beatrice and Benedict, exchange words. In the Bard’s tale of barbed words and sparkling wit, the path of true love certainly doesn’t run smoothly. The show runs for two nights, on August 10 and 11 at 8.15pm. Admission €10.

DRAIOCHT 01 885 2622The Connect Club 2012

THIS July, Draíocht is delighted to be back working with the Daughters of Charity’s Summer Camp, The Connect Club in Laurel Lodge. The summer camp is filled with social and recreational activities catering for young people with varying degrees of intellectual disability, with the aim of providing an outlet that is fun and focused on the individual’s likes and interests. For more, see www.draiocht.ie

experts, the breing debates andficulty pitchingabout kids to with kids, it caminefield.

Think back olast decade astandout moviegenre is Knock

gazette group

ww

w.

.com

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

GazetteGAMINGGAMINGBytesandpieces

AS A random aside, I’d like to point people towards the Skyrim soundtrack, which is available to buy from a variety of online sources (and which can be heard on YouTube playlists).

I could fill half The Gazette with compu-ter game soundtrack reviews and features, as I’ve been following this type of music for almost 20 years, much

of which can be superb (and much, dross, in common with TV and cinema scores).

There are lots of extremely skilled com-posers, orchestras and musicans working away in this genre, which regularly attracts all manner of Oscar- and Grammy-winning com-posers and artists, yet which few music-lovers, or reviewers, have any

great interest in,Skyrim sees the player

wandering a vast pseudo-medieval land, not unlike the Lord of the Rings set-ting, but with a stronger Nordic influence, while a dramatic storyline plays out.

As such, the sound-track encompasses many themes, with the subtle use choirs adding to a richly orchestral, sweeping score.

So, for those looking to explore some of gaming’s ancillary offshoots, why not take a look at – or, rather, lis-ten to – Jeremy Soule’s excellent soundtrack?

The Skyrim’s the limit for great computer game music


Check your delivery into a motelTHIS service has dropped into my inbox with per-fect timing, as I’ve just moved into a subdivided house that’s not very parcel-delivery-friendly or secure – so, this sounds like a great idea!

This will feel like an instantly familiar scenario for many – you’ve just bought something online, but aren’t sure where to have your parcel sent for delivery, as it may not be convenient for you to collect at work or at home (while for some, like me, living in a subdivided house may make postal security a worry).

The Parcel Motel could be a perfect solution to this problem. By setting up an account with www.parcelmotel.com (and, yes, there’s a cost for the service) users , shoppers – can then direct their parcel’s delivery to their own nearby Parcel Motel unit for collection. A text message contain-ing a unique code is then sent to the user, who then simply heads to their chosen unit, enters their code, and retrieves their parcel.

Run by Nightline, which has 20 year’s experi-ence in parcel delivery, another neat aspect is that online purchases from Britain – which are nor-mally free, there, but incur delivery charges, here – can be sent to Nightline’s Belfast address, and then redirected on to units, here.

This sounds like one motel that many readers could want to check into ...

So, for those

sic

� SHANE DILLON

REMEMBER the film of Super Mario Brothers, starring Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper? What about Street Fighter, starring Jean Claude Van Damme? Tomb Raider? And, of course, the ongo-ing Resident Evil films?

I could continue down a long list of such titles but the point is, almost without exception, when Hollywood tries to make a film based on a popu-lar computer game, or franchise, the results are

almost always ... well, dreadful.

Perhaps the main problem is that the source material is gener-ally poor, as active player interaction with a game is an entirely different experience to the passive viewer observation of a film.

In short, if there isn’t an interesting story, there won’t be a good film.

This leads to the latest Hollywood deal that’s been struck over a game – in this case, Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

CBS Films has struck a deal to adapt the 2011 title, working closely with its developer, Eidos Mon-treal, to develop it, says Variety.

This could turn out to be a great success – or something that wouldn’t even work on the small screen.

Human Revolution is set in the near future, with major cybernetic augmentation splitting dividing societies around the world.

After all, in a world where people can get

cybernetic limbs to be faster, stronger, “better”, it doesn’t take long for such augmented people, and society, to fall into standard rich versus poor camps.

Those that manufac-ture such augments, such as Sarif Technologies, see their power as bio-technology firms making them stronger than gov-ernments.

In this brave new world of humanity fracturing into “augmented” and “natural” humans, lines of battle are being drawn

In a near-future world where the lines between commerce, governance and policing are being shattered, who will Hollywood pick to play

the complex, cybernetically-enhanced antihero of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, now that a movie adaptation is on the way?

A potential revolutionup, with governments, corporations and terror-ists all blurring the lines of power, and between what’s right and wrong.

And it’s this noir-ish, cyberpunk world that the player, as Adam Jensen, is plunged into, following conspiracies within con-spiracies, trying to uncov-er truths that may not be for humanity’s best …

Clive Owen? Mark Wahlberg? Hell, Eddie Murphy? Who do you think will eventually turn out as the best (or cho-sen) actor to encapsulate this game’s complex anti-hero, not to mention the world of cyberterrorism, corrupted ethics, globali-sation and absolute cor-ruption?

Well, if the filmmakers can successfully pull it off – and, don’t forget, such futuristic high-tech films never go out of vogue, as the imminent Total Recall remake shows – it could be great.

A truly great film, based on a computer game? Now that would be a rev-olution ...

?

MALAHIDEclassifiedsGAZE

TTE

GAZE

TTE

Email us at [email protected]

To advertise, call us now on 01 60 10 240


WANT TO TALK

TO YOUR LOCAL

MARKET?

TALK TO US

FIRST!

Call your local sales person,

Patrice Sheridan now on

01 6516214 [email protected]

BUILDINGBATHROOMS

DVD SERVICES

...€300* FOR 12 WEEKS!

YOUR LOCAL GAZETTE FOR THE

BEST LOW COST ADVERTISING

CALL US NOW ON 01 60 10 240

*Excluding VAT. Subject to pre-payment

YOU CAN HAVE THIS ADFOR AS LITTLE AS... !

WE HAVE

135,000*

READERS

EACH

WEEK

ADVERTISE

YOUR YOUR

BUSINESSBUSINESS

TO OUR

READERS

CALL

60 10 240

*based on standard industry

measurements

ELECTRICAL

DENTAL

� [email protected]

DUBLIN Ladies Gaelic Football Association are offering a unique new form of summer camp as they are set to host two weeks of girls’ only camps.

Coaching will be carried out by, among others, All-Ireland winners Colleen Barrett, Lyndsay Peat, Sinead Goldrick, Sinead Deegan and Cliodhna O’Connor while there will also be a number of coaches from the Dublin

B side which recently won the Aisling McGing Cup.

The camps will run for two weeks (Monday to Friday 10am-2pm) and take place in Clannna Gael GAA Club in Ring-send. The first gets under-way on July 30 while week two starts on August 20. For eight to 12-year-olds, the price is €60 while for 13 to 16-year-olds, it is €70.

A n d C l i o d h n a O’Connor, urban pro-gramme officer for ladies’ football, says it offers

something new for girls.“The idea is that some

girls prefer to play in this kind of environment. The 13 to 16-year-old age group is especially a key group as it is when girls tend not to play with boys. They can fall out of sport and there are not a lot of camps available to them.”

The camps are available to all age groups and will provide specific skills for ladies gaelic football. They will also offer education on lifestyle to encourage players to have the con-

COMPETITION: WIN A PLACE AT THE DUBLIN LADIES GAELIC ‘GIRLS ONLY’ SUMMER CAMP

The latest ladies football initiative offers girls from across the city a new summer camp option Picture: GAApics.com

Ladies Gaelic set up unique new summer camps

fidence to get out and try playing all types of sport.

All 20 camp coaches were together in Clann na Gael Club only last week to prepare for the two weeks in August. Their priority is to provide qual-

ity football coaching and education about how to live a healthier life style all when letting the young ladies footballers of Dub-lin have a bit of fun.

And the DLGFA, in association with Gazette-

Sport, is offering you the chance to win two plac-es at the camp of your choice. Answer this sim-ple question:

In what year did the Dublin ladies most

recently win the All-Ireland senior football championship?

Email your answer and contact details to [email protected].

GazetteSPORTTREBLE OLYMPIAN:TREBLE OLYMPIAN:Eoin Rheinisch talks Eoin Rheinisch talks about his battle to about his battle to qualify for London qualify for London Page 29Page 29



GazetteSportSport

� STEPHEN FINDLATER

[email protected]

JOHN Cooney is lining up “a big year” in blue this season as Leinster start their initial prepa-rations for the 2012/13 season, with a memora-ble close to the last sea-son fresh in the mind.

He was the unlikely recipient of a Heineken Cup medal a couple of months ago in Twick-enham, coming into the match day squad just an hour before the final got under way and making his debut with six min-utes left on the clock.

During that time, the 22-year-old scrum-half had enough time to play his part in Heineke van der Merwe’s try and offer a glimpse of what he can offer next term.

His entry to the game was a surprise to many,

not just to his friends but to the player him-self.

“A few of my mates were at the game and they saw me warm-up and were wondering ‘what’s going on there?’ It was pretty special,” he told GazetteSport at Coolmine RFC where he was meeting some of the stars of the future at a Leinster Rugby sum-mer camp.

Despite waiting on tenterhooks for much of the week, Cooney said he was confident he could do a job if called upon.

“It was a mad week in general. I started run-ning on the wing with the second team on the Monday.

“Both scrum halves got niggles so I had to do all the first team trainings for the week.

Isaac Boss said he felt alright on the Satur-day but I was told if he couldn’t kick properly, I’d be in [for the final].

“It was only five min-utes before the proper warm-up, I was told I was in. That was about an hour or 50 minutes before the game. I had been prepared anyway. I was lucky that I’d prepared the moves so I felt quite confident. I was told to be ready.

Nerves“I was more nervous

before the game but, when I came on, we were 20 points up. I was happy to be involved in making a try. I got a few nice touches and was nearly in another time but [Gordon] D’Arcy dropped the ball but that happens.”

Despi te repor ted

interest from Scotland, the former De La Salle Palmerston youth play-er and Irish U-20s regu-lar agreed an extension to his contract in early May, prior to the final, with the province.

Those suggestions came as a result of his father’s heritage as a Blantyre man but he says Leinster and Ire-land will always come first.

“I can play for Scot-land if I wanted to but I want to see how things go here first. It’s always a good fall-back option but definitely not at the moment.

“This will hopefully be a big year [with Leinster] . With the experience of Isaac Boss and Eoin Red-dan, you always pick up a good few pointers off them. They’re real-

ly approachable and always helpful.”

His emotional ties also stay close to his heart, currently with Lansdowne, but also with DLSP.

“I started there at U-16s in fourth year because I wasn’t play-ing senior cup so I’d go down on Saturdays and Sundays. We did pretty well; I think we finished second in our league and I enjoyed it.

“My brother Francis played up there. He’s finished up now but he plays the odd time at J1 and says he runs the show. With him, I put one of my U-20 jerseys up there recently.

“It’s nice to still have that connection. It’s a good club and a lot of young Gonzaga [his alma mater] guys going up there now.”

Cooney eyes ‘big year’

RUGBY: YOUNG GUN HUNGRY AFTER HEINEKEN CUP FINAL CAMEO

Former De La Salle Palmerston player John Cooney signs autographs at Coolmine RFC this week Picture: Ian Fleming

FastSport

Olympian Jennings launches local 5kTHIS year’s Rathfarnham 5k Run in aid of St Luke’s Hospital, Rathgar was launched recently in Bushy Park by Olympic-bound Caitriona Jen-nings and the Rathfarnham Ladies team.

Club member Jennings, pictured, has been selected for the marathon at the London Games on August 5 and has been a regular entrant in the race in the past.

Entries are now open at www.athleticsrath-farnham.ie. The race is on Sunday, September 23 around the streets of Rathfarnham and Ter-enure and is being sponsored by Energie Fitness Gym in Rathfarnham.

More than 1,000 people are expected for this run and fun runners and walkers are welcome.

The first 800 finishers will receive a high qual-ity technical training top and there will be a goody bag for all.

All this for just €20, so enter today and set your 5k personal best time at Rathfarnham.

The club’s coaching manager Adam Jones has devised an 11-week training programme for this year’s run.

Following the programme will ensure partici-pants get the most out of the experience and are in the best possible shape at the start line.

The schedules are divided into three phases of training: conditioning/preparation, consolida-tion and tapering/finishing.

The first four-week phase, focusing on prepa-ration and conditioning, is now available in the Rathfarnham AC website.

Meanwhile, the club produced a number of good results at the recent Woodies national senior track and field championships, Paul Stephenson ran 33.09 to come 12th in the 10,000m final, while Johnathan Hughes ran 35.29. Louis McCarthy and Paul Fleming ran in the second heat of the 1,500m. On day two, Kevin Donagher ran 16.38 in the 5,000m.


RELIEF was the over-riding emotion. For Eoin Rheinisch, three and a half years worth of sac-rifice, riddled by injury and illness, was all rid-ing on the final Olympic qualifier in Augsburg, Germany in May.

Only two tickets to London remained with over 30 competitors in the mix for the K1 canoe slalom, an event which the Salmon Leap man had agonisingly fin-ished fourth in Beijing in 2008.

It meant an immense pressure was on, as he explained to Gazette-Sport this week in his home club.

“The thought of not qualifying… there was

almost more pressure on the qualifier than there will be at the Olympics in a way because the thought of not qualifying after three-and-a-half years of work would be

like falling off the edge of a cliff for me.

“In 2010 and 2011, with illness and injury, surgeries and things like that; it was dark times for me.

“You start to wonder, did I make the right

decision after Beijing? To qualify in May, there were only two spots left so it was an incredible relief.”

The upshot of his suc-cess in May means he

goes to London as the highest finisher to qualify directly of the contend-ers from Beijing.

Therein shows the measure of challenge ahead of Rheinisch to compete. Over the past three years, he has been forced to spend well over 200 days abroad to pur-sue his dream. Ireland is the only country in Europe without an arti-ficial white-water slalom course.

Contrast with France where there are 66 courses, it shows the miraculous nature of what the Leixlip man has produced.

“France and Germany are like machines with a conveyor-belt of tal-ent - similar to what we have here with boxing. They just produce class act after class act, always with someone who is a medal prospect.

“[Ireland not having a course] really is a shame. Before me, we had Ian Wiley finish fifth in Atlanta and a European

champion. To not have had a course built means we don’t have access like the French.

“Every club there doesn’t have to move away from home and that’s why I have to be on the road over 200 days a year.”

In qualifying, he con-tinues Salmon Leap’s incredible record of 40 continuous years of Olympic qualifiers, dat-ing back to 1972 – an event which coinciden-tally also took place in Augsburg – when Howard Watkins and Gerry Collins were among the first team.

The likes of Ian Prin-gle, Alan Carey, Peter Connors, Gary Mawer, Conor Maloney and Andrew Boland took up the baton before Rhei-nisch qualified for his first Games in 2004 in Athens.

In 2008, a medal came tantalisingly close. Lying tenth after the semi-final, his second run on the Shunyi course catapult-ed him up the rankings as his rivals, one by one, failed to match his dual time.

It left him still in a pro-visional gold medal posi-tion with four entrants still to go.

While that dream was beaten by Germany’s Alexander Grimm, a medal was still in the offing until the very last paddler crossed the line, Togo’s Benjamin Bouke-pti edging Rheinisch out

Rheinisch battleswhite water ride Salmon Leap paddler Eoin Rheinisch fought back from three shoulder surgeries to make it to the Olympics, writes STEPHEN FINDLATER

Eoin Rheinisch produced a stunning comeback from

injury and illness to take one of the last two Olympic

places on offer to London

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

‘The thought of not qualifying after three-and-a-half years’ work would be like falling off a cliff for me’-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FastSport

CHAMPION jockey Nina Carberry swapped horsepower for pedal power to join the Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the launch of the new Paddy Power Race to the Races 200km cycle challenge in aid of the Irish Heart Foundation starting on July 29.

A keen cyclist, An Taoiseach was on hand to encourage participants to join the Dublin to Galway Races event for a one-day or two-day cycle by signing up to www.irishheart.ie/race-2theraces .

Also joining him was bookmaker Paddy Power and activity events co-ordinator with the Irish Heart Foundation Grainne Kennedy.

Brand new on the Irish Heart Foundation cal-endar, the unique 200km cycle challenge takes place next week with the option of a one-day cycle on July 30 or two-day cycle starting on July 29 with an overnight stay in Athlone.

Both options include a fully supported cycle organised by 2Wheels, baggage and bike trans-fers, massage on arrival and race ticket entry to the Galway Races.

Fundraising targets start from €290 and money raised goes to provide vital patient information and support to thousands of heart and stroke patients nationwide. Sign up now on www.irishheart.ie/race2theraces or call Grainne on 01-6685001.

Carberry swaps horse for Galway pedal powerby three seconds.

The roller-coaster of emotion, becoming Ire-land’s best ever finisher in canoe sports but missing out on the medal, left him unsure how to proceed.

“After Beijing, I didn’t know if I was going to continue or not and see if I wanted to put all my efforts in. It is quite a large part of your life so it took until that Christ-mas to go again. I had my doubts in 2010 and 2011 but I’m glad I did it.”

Those doubts centred on three shoulder surger-ies which left him shy of fitness and made it nigh on impossible to qualify from last September’s world championships.

“I just didn’t have it in me physically having missed six months from the surgery. That was a big blow because I knew it was going to come down to the wire. There were 31 people going for two spots [in Augsburg in the qualifiers].

“With the help of the Institute of Sport and the Irish Sports Council, they put a really good team around me – phys-ios, strength and condi-tioning, doctors – who all talked together and it made such a difference. No injuries or illness to keep me on track.

“To have a full year without any interruption allowed me to have con-sistent blocks of training and has made the differ-ence to getting me back to full fitness.”

Golf course

for visually

impairedFINGAL County Council’s sports unit will provide a limited number of places for visually impaired per-sons on an eight-week course of golf lessons.

Limited to six places offered on a first-come, first-served basis, the lessons are free and will take place at Dry-

nam Park Golf Range, Feltrim Road, Swords from Wednesday, August 22 between 8-9pm.

Barry Power, resi-dent golf professional at Drynam Park Golf Range will tutor, and the lessons are open for all levels. Clubs will be available at the driving range, and the course includes hiring 100 balls per night. Contact Stephen McGinn on 087 986 4611 for more info.


Malahide end 17-year wait for Whelan CupDESPITE losing twice to Leinster in the league, Malahide IV bounced back to claim the Whelan Cup with a spectacular seven wicket win in Park Avenue last Sunday.

The customary new ball pair of Howard Askew and Conor Gibbons got them off to a solid start with a couple of early wickets but Keyzer Khan was unleashing havoc, firing a series of sixes toward the bowling green.

Gibbons impressive spell of 1-24 and Askew’s 1-40 from four overs each preluded a short rain break before Mark Duffy picked off another wicket, stumped by Alan Quinn – the wicketkeeper ended up with four victims.

Wickets kept falling with the Duffy-Quinn axis accounting for Rob Kenealy with anoth-er stumping, but it was Keyzer who was the key man.

Duffy picked up a third wicket (finishing with 3-21) and then, in the last over, Inderjit Singh denied Keyzer what would have been a deserved century when he snicked behind to give Quinn a fourth victim. Still, his 90 out of a final total of 154 for 7 looked like being the key contribution of the final.

The first ball of the Malahide reply did not increase confidence when Desmond Horst-mann mistimed a drive to be caught at point.

Needing to score at ten an over, Inderjit and Herbert scored briskly, putting on 46 in four eight-ball overs.

When Herbert (23) skied one into the cov-ers to give Chaudhary his first wicket, Mala-hide had forged a foothold in the game.

John Brogan took up where Herbert left off. With the score at 67, Inderjit holed out for 27, which brought Oisin Taylor to the crease.

He helped dramatically increase the run race with Brogan, treating the Malahide fans to an exhibition of clean hitting, mostly down the ground.

The Leinster attack could not stop the Malahide juggernaut and it only remained for a few scampered ones and twos and a boundary through the legside to bring up Brogan’s half century off the last ball of the 13th over.

It ended the 17-year wait for another Whe-lan Cup glory in some style.

Taylor (48 not out) took the man of the match award just ahead of Brogan who ended on 50 not out, chasing down the target with seven wickets and two overs to spare.

GazetteSportSportFastSport

Double triumph: Morrow adds Euro win to Irish titlePORTMARNOCK man Adrian Morrow shows off the pair of trophies he won in the past month as he added the European Seniors Individual Championship to the Irish Open amateur title.He was the only Irish entrant competing at

Achensee Golf Club, Austria but he claimed the win with a stunning closing round of two-under-par 69, the lowest score. Morrow was one stroke behind going into the final round but overhauled his rival to eventually triumph by one shot, with an aggregate of 212.

� PETER CARROLL

[email protected]

ZACHARY Elbouzedi of Malahide United Ath-letic Football Club has been selected to repre-sent the FAI Emerging Talent Squad, for a week-end tournament that will take place in Pearse Park from Friday, August 17 to Sunday, August 19

To add to this, the Malahide side have also been represented by Andrew Browne who was the captain of the U-16 FAI Emerging Talent Squad who took third at the Coca-Cola Irish Cup when they saw off Dutch affiliate, Ajax Hellias, 3-0

at the AUL Complex last Sunday.

Colin Deasy and Rob-ert Duggan have also represented Malahide for different U-16 Emerging Talent side, with Deasy as captain, which could lead to a few call ups for Unit-ed ahead of John Mor-ley’s Republic of Ireland U-16 clash with Estonia that is set for autumn.

Elbouzedi has shown a great aptitude for the game. He can either play on the right or left wing but has found a home in Brian Kenny’s NDSL Premier side in the mid-dle of the park.

Despite playing for an age group higher than

he needs to, the promis-ing midfielder has caught the attention of Middles-brough, who are keen to bring the Malahide dynamo to the Riverside on trial.

Such attention has not surprised U-15 manager Kenny: “The club are thrilled with Zach’s call up to the Hibernia Cup squad. He’s an outstand-ing talent, he has great feet, fantastic distribu-tion and the ability to beat anybody who marks him.

“We have had six play-ers with representative call-ups recently and it really shows how Mala-hide have come on as

a club over the last few years.

“For years we have seen our best talent leaving for bigger clubs, but now we have really stabilised our-selves and we are as big as any club in the Dublin area, with a lot of our age groups holding two pre-mier sides between the DDSL and the NDSL.

“At Malahide, we’re all about seeing the kids improve and if Middles-brough can offer Zach something, I’d be very pleased to see him head-ing off to play for such a prestigious club.

“Between mysel f , Kevin Craven and Mitch Whitty, we’ve put a lot

of work in with this age group and seeing clubs from England expressing interest in lads that we’ve worked closely with is really rewarding.

“Zach is one of many players at the club who could go on to great things in football, but it really has a lot to do with luck as well as talent in these situations,” said Kenny.

Zachary Elbouzedi will be relishing the thought of playing against power-houses such as Glasgow Celtic, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Linfield Football Club in the group stages of the tour-nament.

Elbouzedi answers Irish callMalahide United’s U-15 NDSL players Brian Gillan, Zach Elbouzedi, Barry Lougheed, Jay Jay Fitzpatrick, Brian Foley and Reagan Sekendi

FOOTBALL: MALAHIDE’S ELBOUZEDI CALLED INTO IRISH U-14 SIDE


CLUB NOTICEBOARD

THE senior football team notched up

a very impressive 3-17 in their vic-

tory over St Mary’s and go back to

the top of the table.

The intermediate football team

beat Ballyboden by two points in a

low scoring but very entertaining

game and they also had a very good

away win over Lucan Sarsfields and

are second in the league.

The junior A team defeated Bank

of Ireland and they also sit proudly

at the top of their league with full

points from eight matches. The jun-

ior B team defeated Beann Eadair

and are two points behind the league

leaders.

Sinead Aherne scored 1-3 and

Niamh McEvoy scored a point for the

Dublin ladies in their Leinster final

victory over Meath. Sinead Treacy

also played and Nicole Owens was

part of the panel.

Our own ladies team play Kilmacud

Crokes in the championship semi final

in Broomfield on Wednesday, July

25. The ladies’ section has received

the Tesco club of the month award

as recognition for the great strides

they have made at both juvenile and

senior level. Brian Sullivan and his

team deserve great credit for this

achievement.

All the information on this week’s

fixtures is available on www.stsyl-

vesters.ie.

The lotto jackpot this week is €2,700.

Play and win online.

ST FINIAN’S

ANOTHER great week for our Inter-

mediate footballers who consolidated

their position on top of division three

with two wins.

On Wednesday, they went up against

the current second placed team Clon-

tarf and, despite being down at half-

time, a solid second half saw them

come away with a three-point win.

This was followed up with a win

against Lucan Sarfields on Saturday

evening. The lads have now played eight

league games and have won seven and

drawn one. Keep it going lads.

Fiona Walshe asks for club member’s

support for a table quiz in Peacock’s

on Thursday, July 19 at 7.30pm. Liam

Curran is the quiz master and all pro-

ceeds go to the Children’s Hospital,

Crumlin.

Well done to the Dublin senior ladies

who won the Leinster championship

on Sunday by beating Meath.

Let’s hope the minor and senior men

can repeat the result next Sunday. If

you have ordered tickets for next Sun-

day they can be picked up on Thursday

evening.

ST SYLVESTER’S

FINGALLIANSTHE hurling summer camp will take

place on July 16-20. Late applicants

are most welcome each morning.

The summer hurling festival will con-

tinue again this Wednesday in Balheary

for U-8, U-9 and U-10s at 6.30pm-8pm.

New members are most welcome.

The club will be hosting an U-10 foot-

ball festival on August 11. Further

details will follow but, at present, if

you are available to help, please con-

tact [email protected]

Next Sunday, for those not attending

Croke Park, both the Dublin minor and

senior games will be shown in the club.

Kids are most welcome and asked to

dress in blue.

Square One Productions are cur-

rently working on an Irish language

documentary about Hill 16. The pro-

ducers of the documentary are look-

ing to paint a picture of the Hill from

the 1970s onwards through fans pho-

tographs from through the years.

They are looking for the humour,

the craic, the colour, the atmosphere

and the experiences through pic-

tures. In particular, they are looking

for pictures on the Hill from the 1970s

onwards from the generation of Hef-

fo’s Army right up to the present day.

Please contact [email protected] ,

or (01) 602 0668 for further info.

The Etihad Skyline Croke Park opened

its doors to the public on June 1 and is

the first tour of its kind in Ireland.

Visitors can enjoy panoramic views

of Dublin from five separate viewing

platforms along the specially designed

Etihad Skyline walkway. For more

information, visit http://www.skyli-

necrokepark.ie/tour

Fingallians will be part of the stew-

arding team for the Fingal 10k race in

Swords next Sunday,. Contact Declan

Brady on [email protected].

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

FOOTBALL: SYL’S SEMI-FINAL DATE ON HORIZON

St Sylvester’s ladies intermediate footballers have pushed on since last year’s junior win Pic: GAApics.com

Sullivan’s Syl’s line up Kilmacud date � PETER CARROLL

[email protected]

HAVING qual i f ied from a tough group in the Tesco intermediate championship, Brian Sullivan’s Syl’s ladies are looking forward to their semi-final tie with Kilma-cud Crokes, which takes place on Wednesday July 25 at Broomfield.

They are seeking to continue their rapid rise since ending the amal-gamation with Naomh Mearnog.

In the past three years, they made it out of the junior championship in style, winning the Lein-ster title.

This year, the squad has proved to be a fantastic mix of youth and experi-ence with the talented youngsters making names for themselves along side that of full forward leg-end, Sinead Aherne.

In the group stages, Kilmacud lost out to Par-nell’s but that was the only black mark to their name,

but Sullivan believes the Crokes ladies will be a difficult, but manageable task for his ladies come Wednesday.

“I’ve seen Kilmacud play once this year and they are a very impres-sive unit – a mature, adult team – and they’ve seen their fair share of finals and semi finals over the last few years.

“They’ve got a great juvenile team that have made their way through to the intermediate ranks and have a manager that knows the game very well.

“We have to be on top of our game on Wednes-day, we have a lot of qual-ity at the back, in the mid-field and our forward line has been scoring well.

“If we keep it simple, eliminate our errors and take our points when they come, I think we have every chance of going through,” said Sullivan.

Sullivan has noticed how the younger girls, who have advanced

through the different levels with the Malahide club, have become more confident every year, and this is not only down to more match play, but also because the more experi-enced girls have helped them in the graduation process.

“Each year we see more and more girls come of age and play with increased confidence on the pitch, it’s no longer just about the two or three Dublin players we have on the panel – you can really see the depth in the team.

“We have five girls playing in the Dublin

senior set-up, two on the team that won the Aisling McGing title, one on the minors and one on the U-16s.”

Among those Dublin representatives, Aherne kicked 1-3, including the finishing touch to a bril-liant team goal, in their Leinster SFC final win over Meath last Sunday.

Niamh McEvoy added a point while Sinead Trea-cy and Nicole Owens, following their excellent form for the Dublin B side, were called into the senior panel for the final which was won 1-14 to 2-4 in Dr Cullen Park, Carlow.

WHELAN WINNERS: Malahide win

back cup after 17-year wait P30 Ga

zetteSPORT

� [email protected]

ST SYLVESTER’S Sinead Aherne again starred with a 1-3 burst while club mate Niamh McEvoy proved a lively foil for Dublin’s ladies football-ers as they claimed their fourth Leinster sen-ior title in five years last Sunday, overcoming Meath at Dr Cullen Park.

With Naomh Mearnog’s Cliodhna O’Connor in goal and Syl’s Nicole Owens and Sinead Treacy stepping up from the All-Ireland win-ning Dublin B panel, it made for a massive local involvement.

They did it in impressive fashion after Meath had drawn first blood when Mary Sheridan found Jenny Rispin in space before she tucked the ball away.

Dublin didn’t let the Royal’s early surge get to them however, and within a minute they were back on terms when Sinead Goldrick sent a long rangy pass up the field to Sinead Aherne who collected it and beat her marker before she tucked it away from close range.

Meath, with a player sin-binned, did well to

keep the Dublin forwards at bay during the first half but in the dying embers of the first instal-ment, a harmless looking free dropped short of the post.

But it found its way to Amy Ring, who made no mistake about bagging a second for the Jack-ies.

This gave the Dub’s the lead heading into the break, 2-3 to 1-4, and they could have been up by more had they capitalised on the space left to them by the absent sin-binned player for their Leinster rivals.

The Jackies looked solid at the back through-out the second half, and they tagged on scores adding to the gulf between the two sides, show-ing real dominance in the second period.

The nail in the coffin came when Sinead Aherne found substitute Natalya Hyland, who insured captain Gemma Fay would be lifting the championship with a well taken goal.

Gemma Fay, who had suffered a loss in last year’s final, spoke of her delight and how the ladies will look to grow from the performance when they go on to face All Ireland opposi-

tion. “We could’ve done more in the first half, they

had a player sin-binned and we could’ve pushed on and added more scores to the board before the second period.

“We’ll move on from the performance, we probably should’ve taken a bigger advantage of the extra player, but we’ll watch the video and learn from our mistakes.

“It’s brilliant to be Leinster champions again; it was two years of hard work that led up to this victory, but we showed great character to win the game and we’ll look to push on in the championship after this,” said Fay.

Fay also complimented the younger girls who played at the half time break.

“It’s great for the girls to come out and play on such a big day for the ladies. They’re doing great things in Dublin as far as the underage game is concerned.”

“They look up to us in the senior set-up so it was nice to able to celebrate with them, it’s great to see such passion in the underage game,” said Fay.

Sylvester’s women Sylvester’s women power Leinster winpower Leinster winFour St Sylvester’s players, along with Naomh Mearnog’s

Cliodhna O’Connor, help regaining provincial title for Dublin

Gemma Fay, with the trophy, leading the celebrations as Dublin claimed the Leinster ladies football SFC. Picture: GAApics.com

PADDLING FREE:Rheinisch back for third Olympics P29

ALL OF YOUR MALAHIDE SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 27-31 JULY 19, 2012

Documents

Malahide