Welcome from Chairperson Hello again everyone, It feels like only yesterday we were reliving the amazing accomplishments of 2011 in our first edition of the new year. But here we are, in spring, in what has already been a jam packed 2012 for TEO. It is my firm belief that all you valued members hold the spirit of Gaisce close to you. With that in mind, it is our continued mission to provide an outlet for your varied interests, keeping the pillars of the award in mind. So far, 2012 has seen us take to the slopes of the Wicklow mountains, provide some well needed help at the animal shelter and learn some tools to help save lives. We hope our next few months of activity will be just as interesting. Sincerely, Christine Carty Chairperson

Spring Edition: March 2012 VOL. ONE ISSUE THREE

Tar Éis Óir The President’s Award Holders Association of Ireland

A new baby in the family! Congratulations to our former Chairperson Cian Timmons and his wife; Melanie who, on Saturday 3rd March had a healthy baby girl. We wish them all the best for the future!

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Another day, another hike. And a bright and early start from Cavan

to meet my walking buddies in Marlay Park. At least the weather was

promising more on this fine morning then it was on our previous hike

(read all about it in the winter edition of the newsletter). Anyway up to

Marlay Park to see what was in store for the day and what sights.

Beautiful views and that was just the rest of the group. We started off

on our way through wonderful parkland nestled under the Dublin

Mountains. Our Hike had begun!

Out of the park and up the road and up and up and up. And not just in

height for it seemed the more we climbed the meters the more we rose

in society! Past the odd private college were the curtsy was not en-

couraged to the electric gates of the upper classes. High society in-

deed!! From there it was still further up dodging golf balls and onto a

forest trail. Where all of a sudden we realised why we put ourselves

through this..em pain. Dublin Bay in

all its sunny glory opened up below us.

And although we had still a good bit to

go yet we were confident that things

could only get better.

On we marched buoyed on by this new

excitement. Leaving our trusty forest

track we stepped onto the Wicklow

way and after a while stopped to take

on liquids and a light snack overlooking the smoky remains of the Hell

Fire Club, the history of which was retold by our supreme leader

Christine. Suitably revived and with the sound of cloven feet behind

us we went on our merry ‘Wicklow’ way.

On we went until we came to the turn for our first summit. The Wick-

low Way from here went on her winding path calling us to Glen-

dalough and beyond. But her virtues were not for us to sample this day

as we slipped away with the fairies up to their Fairy Castle. A toast to

the lords of mischief to allow safe passage through their realm, a few

photos and the now obligatory Facebook check-in and we were back

on the trail.

Down we headed with the masts of RTE as our guide and companions.

Down with the view of Dublin spread out below us drawing our gaze

from every treacherous step. Over to Seefin and its easy to see how it

got its name (you can nearly see Finland). Here a moment of madness.

We decided to form a band. Alas you will not be hearing The ‘Three

Rocks’ topping the charts any time soon as we only got as far as the

band photo. But the dream was good while it lasted.

Time is forever a cruel mistress, and she was calling time on us. We

turned for our descent among the decent people of Dublin, the stroller,

the hiker the mountain biker we headed for home. Down once again to

our forest track and past our old friends in High Society we arrived

back in Marlay Park to stroll across green playing fields and listening

to children playing (and throwing the odd tantrum) all unaware of the

fantastic games to be had just up the road from them. All was left to

do now was to replace the calories burned, so off for a feed and to

reflect on what was a wonderful days stroll. Good weather, better

company and grub to match. Now that’s high living

So until next time, Dear Reader. Hopefully you can come away with

the fairies with us.

Among the high life and the wild life A walk around the Dublin Wicklow Mountains on January 25th 2012

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As part of our wish to showcase volunteering ideas for our participants, TEO members came to-gether on a cold February morning to provide some much-needed help at the DSPCA shelter in Dublin. Shelter staff welcomed us with open arms (and paws), so we could provide sup-port wherever it was needed most on the day. I must say, the regular shel-ter volunteers and DSPCA staff are some of the most inspiring people we’ve ever met. Not only is their pas-sion for animal welfare fan-tastic, so is their belief in the shelters good work. We all enjoyed ourselves so much, it was hard for us to leave. A special shout out must go to committee member Deirdre, who’s slight aversion to dogs did-n’t hold her back from

helping out on the day. She found her calling in-stead, in the cattery... and possibly wanted to bring all of the lovely cats home with her. Special mention should also go to Gold par-ticipant Robyn, who has since planned another day of volunteering. After all our hard work, we needed some well-earned R&R, so headed out to the Porterhouse Central on Nassau Street for a pint or two. As part of this TEO social night, members who could not make it to the shelter in the morning to volunteer, came to hang out and dance the night away. A special thanks to every-

one who helped make the

day so successful and to all

the lovely cats, dogs, pigs,

donkeys and other animals

DSPCA Volunteering Day 2012

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The Great Ireland Run on Sunday 15th April On Sunday 15th April Tar Éis Óir will be taking part in The Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park. This is a ten kilometre run which we will be doing in aid of Irish Autism Action. April is Au-tism awareness month. The IAA is an umbrella organisation with over 40 member groups which ranges from the 13 Special Schools for Children with Autism to local support groups and are lo-cated in practically every county in Ireland. They have set up Ireland’s first National Diagnostic and Assessment Centre known as Solas which is based in Dublin and run the National Autism Helpline.

If you are interested in taking part with TÉÓ please let us know and sign up on their website w h i c h i s a v a i l a b l e h e r e : h t t p : / /www. g r e a t i r e l a nd ru n . o r g / E v e nt s/2 01 2 /Default.aspx.

St. Patrick’s 5km Festival Road Race Tar Éis Óir is taking part in the St. Patrick’s 5km Festival road race. The race will take place in Dublin on Sunday, 18th March, beginning at 12.00 noon from the Mansion House on Dawson Street, where runners will follow a route through Georgian Dublin before returning again to the finish line at the Man-sion House.

Part of the proceeds raised will go to Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin with the balance going to fund facilities being provided for young athletes by the organising club Metropolitan Harriers & St. Brigid’s Athletic Club.

Tar Éis Óir is pleased to announce that we are in a position to run a Silver Expedition in 2012. This ex-pedition will take the form of a Cycle and this event will incorporate the ring of Kerry and will meet re-quirements for the Silver Expedition component of Gaisce the Presidents Award. Numbers: This expedition will be designed 8-10 Per-sons taking part with two leaders to provide support and guidance Who : This event is open to all participants of the silver award who are above the age of 18 TEO mem-bers, Associate members or friends of participants may also take part, however priority will be given to silver participants. Participants will be required to have a reasonable level of fitness and an ability to cy-cle. The ability to participate will be decided by the expedition leader whos decision shall be final. Partici-pants will be responsible for ensuring that they have appropriate insurance for the event and should expect to carry out planning and preparation work for the expedition in advance of the event. What : The silver cycle will incorporate approximately 219 km of travel across Co.Kerry. Accommodation will be in hostels, however participants will need to carry all necessary equipment with them. When: The expedition will take place between 02-05 August 2012, however participants will need to com-mit to training and planning meetings that will run from 08MAY12 onwards through to the expedition date.Training will take place in a location as decided by the expedition coordinator. Where: The expedition will begin and end in Killar-ney Co.Kerry. Participants are responsible for their transfer to and from this location at the start and fin-ish of the trip. Route : The route will incorporate the Ring of Kerry, a well known Kerry touring cycle.

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Tar Éis Óir Silver Cycle Expedition: Ring of Kerry 02 Aug - 05 Aug 2012

This route includes stops in locations includ-ing : (i) Killarney, (ii) Kenmare, (iii) Caher Daniel, (iv) Valencia Island, (v) Caherciveen.

Cost : Projected Costs will vary depending on the number of participants and whether or not you have your own suitable bicycle that you can transport to and from the event. We anticipate costs not to exceed €170, inclusive of food, accommodation and cycle hire inclu-sive of all spares and safety equipment if nec-essary.

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On Saturday 25th February we organized a CPR

course in Ratra house for Tar Éis Óir members at

10am.

Despite a shaky start (locking ourselves out of the

house!) we had a very successful morning. Partici-

pants practiced essential life saving skills including

mouth to mouth, chest compressions, the use of an

automated external defibrillator and how to re-

spond to a person choking..

Thank You so much for everyone who attended and

to Stephen Peers for saving us and Barney O’Cal-

laghan for his tremendous hospitality in facilitating

us in the house!

H E A RT SAV E R A E D / C P R C O U R S E

A two day course is being run on the 21st and 22nd

of April by Tar Éis Óir to equip people with the nec-

essary safety skills needed for the organisation of a

range of outdoor activities. It will take place in

Gaisce Head Office, Ratra House, North Road,

Phoenix Park.

The OSSM course is administered by the Royal Geo-

graphical Society in London and has been running

in the United Kingdom for a number of years. It is

the second time the course has been run in Ireland.

This course aims to allow delegates to safely plan,

execute and review trips away from their usual envi-

ronment at every level - from school trips to full

scale expeditions. Thus it would be useful for many

people in a range of different areas from teachers,

Presidential Award Leaders, to those involved in the

organising of leisure activities.

The course will cost participants 25 euro each. The

standard price for the course is 250 pounds ster-

ling. Places will be limited so if you are interested

please email us on tareisoir@gmail.com.

Off Site Safety Management Course 21st & 22nd April 2012

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P R E S I D E N T I A L AWA R D L E A D E R S S O U G H T Tar Éis Óir is always looking for new and eager

Presidential Award Leaders. We are currently com-

piling a national database of P.A.Ls.

A PAL can be a teacher, Youth leader or any adult

(other than a family member) who is interested in

supporting the award.

The PAL is responsible for explaining the award to

potential participants, agreeing an appropriate

challenge with interested young people and moni-

toring and motivating the participants. They sign off

when participants complete the award.

If this sounds like something you would be inter-

ested in doing please contact the Gaisce office di-

rectly and they will let you know the next steps in-

volved. It is a truly rewarding experience and allows

you to share your love of the Award and its signifi-

cance to others within your community.

Call the Gaisce office on (01) 6171999 for further

details and to book a training day or email us to

include yourself in our national database of Presi-

dential Award Leaders.

P R E S I D E N T I A L AWA R D L E A D E R S S O U G H T Due to an increased interest, Gaisce is organising a

second Presidential Award Leader Training Day on

Saturday 31st March. If you are interested you will

need to fill out a form and send it to Gaisce before

attending the session. You can contact us or Gaisce

directly for this form and further information. The

course will begin at 9.30am and will be over at

2.30pm approximately. There is no cost to attending

this course and it will run in Gaisce Head Office in

Ratra House, Phoenix Park, Dublin.

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"The cooperation between the Gold Award

Association and our international award office in

Slovenia is very important. I can say that there is a

large involvement from the youth in Slovenia, even if

the Award is young and we are working as an

International Award. We all want to make a difference

on many different aspects. And because of that we

devided our small group of Gold Award Holders in

good will that on that way we can achieve even more.

Since last IGE (September 2011) we have worked on

extending the Award into different organisations that

work with or for the young people in Slovenia. So our

GAHA team started delivering interactive informative

Award workshops (among schools) and in the second

part of this year we will try to focus on the colleges

and youth centers as well. Our IO Award office is also

trying to establish the Award program in Serbia, so

that is why our group also helped with the

international project of Award leaders course by

taking several tasks such as leaders of workshops,

promo team ect..

Currently we are working on another issue of our

Award magazine and trying to establish our new

Award page. We are willing to do our best to help

extend our Award family by becoming NAA. We also

had a first official meeting for the gold expedition that

will be held in Nepal, this October, and already

contacted schools who run the Award there. Our

GAHA group is also helping our IO office with co-

organization of local and gold award ceremonies.

A message from the Slovenian Gold Award Holders Association

Interactive informative Award workshops.

On the way to new opportunities./ Best way for

getting new ideas

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Our main project this year will be Award summer

camp for 30 children from youth centers in

Ljubljana. The staff is based on GAHA group and

we will also include 2 award holders who will use

this project for their Residential Project. We are

trying to present the Award to youngsters through

interactive workshops and camping outdoors. We

have finally succeed to conclude a collaboration

agreement between the Ministry of Defence and our

Award IO office, but we still have to declare the

tender for this project, because we want for our

participants to be able to attend our camp for free.

Meanwhile we are all eager to gain new knowledge,

so we are participating in different educational

trainings, also in the Award leaders course. Some

members of the team are already mentors and

instructors in different schools. After the

presentation (for Award members) of Guardians of

the Earth, we are thinking to support them in a way

that one part of volunteering service could be

focused on their work. I think this could be

interesting for whole EMAS region or Award itself.

I agree that youth engagement is a basic element to

the success of the Award programme and its future

sustainability. Together as a team, we can move

mountains and we see some

opportunities for changes and

that makes us even more

willing to make a difference."

Irena Dokl

National Chairperson of the Slovenian

Gold Award Holder's Association.

One part of Slovenian GAHA team meet-ing British ambassador at his place

One part of Slovenian GAHA team with the President of Slovenia

Email: Tareisoir@gmail.com

Facebook: Type in ‘Tareisoir’

in the search engine to find

us.

And finally…..

Thank You so much to everyone who took part in our

activities over winter. We hope you enjoyed them as

much as we did! So many members new and not so

new took part in our activities and it was a delight to

see them there. Please keep involved and stay in touch!

This newsletter had the support of a few wonderful in-

dividuals who have helped create the TÉÓ we know of

today. In particular I would like to thank the following

for their contributions to this newsletter; Christine

Carty, Benny King and Neil Ledwith. It was really help-

ful to have your input, ideas and contributions.

Until next time,

Karen Doyle

Editor

T A R É I S Ó I R

TÉÓ Committee 2011—2012.

Want to get involved too?

Let us know!