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P a g e | 1
Welcome to the WestOffalyNewsletter. This is an Enterprise project
undertaken by the Transition Year students of Gallen CS. They have
designed, compiled and will continue to update and improve theNewsletter throughout the school year. We came up with the idea
because we believed that there was no other accessible forum serving
the catchment area of our school. Even though our school is situated
in Ferbane , we want our newsletter to encompass all of the West
Offaly area as that is where our students are from.
We want our newsletter to serve our school community but also the
wider community. We would ask people to contribute to our website
by sending us in any local events they want to publicise; sporting or
otherwise. We would love to hear from all of the local clubs; whateverthe code, and we would be delighted to put the information on our
site. If you have a story to tell, be you young or old, send it in and we
will do the rest.
The business community can benefit from our website. We are local
and people would much prefer to travel shorter distances to get a
bargain or avail of a good service.
If you want to sell something from around the house or on a bigger
scale, then why not contact us as we have a Buy & Sell section also.Ads are free in our first issue but hereafter will cost €10 per month for
Business ads and €5 per month for Buy & Sell Ads.
We also have a section entitled Offaly Rovers where we would invite
those from our communities who have gone abroad, for whatever
reason, to send us on their stories, advice, pictures etc.
We look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your support.
Tom Dunican {Transition Year Co-Ordinator}
Local News
Community
Notices
Sports
Business
Directory
Advertising
Buy& Sell
Picture
Gallery
Gallen CS
Features
Issue 1 December 2011
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P a g e | 2LOCAL NEWS
Garda Stations
CONCERNS over proposed closures of rural garda
stations were voiced by Offaly County Councillors
with clarification to be sought from the Minister for
Justice and Equality.
Fianna Fail Councillor Sinead Moylan Ryan raised the
issue at the November meeting of Offaly County
Council this week. The County Councillor outlined her
concerns, saying it would be ‘detrimental’ if smaller
rural stations particularly in the south and west of the
county were targeted as part of any closure plans by
the Minister for Justice.
Moylan Ryan requested the Council write to the
Justice on the matter. Fine Gael Councillor, Connie
Hanniffy supported her motion. However, she urged
caution in the wording of the letter.
“We should write to the Minister seeking direction on
the matter regarding rural stations, what the policy is
and which would be closed,” she remarked, noting
that it would be important as well for the PolicingCommittee to know where the boundaries of where
each station covered and requested the provision of
this information in preparation for any closures.
Independent Councillor John Foley agreed with the
sentiments of the previous speakers. “We are being
left behind. Everything seems to be closing down. We
wouldn’t be told.”
The County Councillors agreed to write to the JusticeMinister seeking further information on this issue.
Lumcloon Energy
Lumcloon Energy had initially been granted planning
permission for a 100MW licence, but sought to increase this
to 350MW and the CER granted the increased licence in
February.
John Gallagher, the Spokesman for Lumcloon Energy,
confirmed this week that the CER had granted the increased
licence, which he said was a major step forward for the
company.
"The plan is still very much on course," he said. "That the
increased licence was one of the big issues to be resolved.
That was a major hurdle to get over."
Mr Gallagher added that the company had done some
initial clearing works at the site and hoped to be able to
make an announcement regarding the progress of the
project before the end of the year.
Once the construction phase begins it is expected to take
two years to complete the power station.
The company has previously said that the power station will
create up to 500 jobs during its two year construction phase
and 50 permanent positions thereafter.
The area of the site where the station will be built is 4.6
hectares. The plant will operate on natural gas with
distillate oil as a standby fuel, in the event of an
interruption to the gas supply. Gas will be supplied to the
facility from the gas network, operated by Gaslink, and
electricity will be exported to the National Grid via the
existing transmission lines located at the site.
In open cycle operation, the station will be capable of producing up to 188MW of electricity. The power
generation units include four gas turbines, four heat
recovery steam generators (HRSGs) and two steam turbine
generators, which will be contained within one building
constructed with varying roof heights determined by the
components within.
Each HRSG will also be fitted with supplementary gas
burners. Two air cooled condenser (ACC) units will be
externally located adjacent to the power generationbuilding. Four diverter stacks (38 metres in height) will be
provided for use in open cycle operation and four HRSG
stacks (49 metres in height) will be installed for use in
combined cycle operation.
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P a g e | 3
USEFUL NUMERS:
Doctors
USEFUL NUMBERS
Gardai
Ferbane
(090)6454302
Birr District HQ Birr
(057)9169710
Cloghan
(090)6457102
Banagher
(057)9151310
Shannonbridge
(090)9674122
Eddenderry
(046)9731290
Rhode
(046)9737002
Kilcormac
(057)9135002
Clara
(057)9331100
Daingean
(057)9353042
Doctors
Banagher
Dr Harkings
(057)9151247
Kilcormac
Dr Mary and James Lee
(057)9135031
Hospitals
MIDOC GP Out of hours
(1850)302702
Midland Regional
Hospital Tullamore
(057)9321501
Portiuncula HospitalBallinasloe
(090)9648200
Dentists
Ferbane
Localdentist.ie
(090)6453864
Dental Services
Ferbane
Ferbane Co. Offaly
(090)6454915
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P a g e | 4LOCAL NEWS
Heritage Centre Concert
On Sunday the 4th
of December
a musical event with a
difference took place in the
Heritage Centre, Ferbane.
Donnchadh Gerrity held his
nearly bi-yearly musical get
together. There was an open
mic and we had everything from
10yrs olds to 30+ and more.
There was a great buzz in the air
as one after another they all got
up and wowed everyone. There
is a podcast of the event
available HERE so go on and
have a listen. And make sure to
keep an eye out for the next
one!
Diarmuid Connon
Christmas Lights
Christmas lights everywhere are been
unboxed so the people of Ferbane and
other areas have started to put them up
to liven up their towns
In Ferbane on Sunday the 27th
of
November the town’s Christmas lights
were switched on in main street 5p.m.
The entire town gathered together for
this special occasion and everyoneenjoyed themselves.
Sale Of Work
The sale of work this year was a resounding success this year with
hundreds of people going up and buying up all the items on sale fromsecond hand books and dvd’s, children’s toys, cups, clothes, rosary beads
to cooking utensils showing their support for a very good cause. There
was also a spin the wheel raffle going on the night with great prizes for
everyone from selection bottles to wine and this seemed to be the main
attraction on the night.
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P a g e | 5COMMUNITY NOTICES
Tuesday’s 29th Nov, 6th, 13th, 20th
Dec.
LECTIO DIVINA -
Prayerful reading of the SundayScriptures
after 10am Mass in Ferbane Church
Monday 19th December
Reconciliation Service
10am Ferbane
(Incorporated into Mass)
Sunday 15th January
Belmont Senior
Citizens
High Street Hall
Tuesday 20th December
Parish Carol Service
Ferbane Church, 8pm
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P a g e | 6
BMW Spares & Services
24 HR RECOVERY SERVICE
Killanagoony,
Ballinahowen,
Athlone,
Co. Offaly
Contact Paul Pigott
Mobile; 087 7801433
Email; [email protected]
ADVERTISING
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P a g e | 7SPORTS
Date Local Time Stg Home Score Away Venue TV/Att
/12/2011 19:30 P4 Ulster Rugby v Aironi Rugby Ravenhill
/12/2011 20:00 P2 Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh Rugby Cardiff City Stadium S4C
/12/2011 20:00 P6 Harlequins v Toulouse The Twickenham Stoop Sky Sports
/12/2011 13:30 P6 Connacht Rugby v Gloucester Rugby The Sports Ground Sky Sports
/12/2011 14:30 P5 Benetton Treviso v Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque Stadio Comunale diMonigo
Sky Italia
/12/2011 14:30 P1 Castres Olympique v Northampton Saints Stade Pierre Antoine Canal +
/12/2011 15:40 P1 Scarlets v Munster Rugby Parc y Scarlets Sky Sports
/12/2011 16:40 P2 Racing Métro 92 v London IrishStade Yves du Manoir,
Paris
France
Televisions
/12/2011 18:00 P5 Saracens v Ospreys Wembley Stadium Sky Sports
/12/2011 12:45 P3 Bath Rugby v Leinster Rugby The Rec Sky Sports
/12/2011 12:45 P3 Glasgow Warriors v Montpellier Firhill Arena Sky Sports
/12/2011 16:00 P4 ASM Clermont Auvergne v Leicester Tigers
Euro 2012 Draw
“There’s no denying it has been a
tough draw,” he said, but added it
would be fantastic to face Spain,
describing the reigning world and
European champions as “one of the best teams of the last 30 years”.
Ireland have faced both Croatia
and Italy in friendlies over the last
12 months - drawing 0-0 withCroatia at the Aviva Stadium in
August and beating Italy 2-0 in
Liege in June.
During the World Cup 2010qualifying campaign, Ireland drew
2-2 with Italy in Croke Park and 1-
1 in Bari.
Ireland's last competitive meeting
with Spain, also the country's last
fixture at a major championships,
was in the second round of the
2002 World Cup in Suwon, Korea.
The sides drew 1-1 before Spain
progressed 3-2 on penalties.
Euro 2012 gets underway in
Warsaw on Friday June 8th, 188
days from now, with co-hostsPoland facing Greece.
Group A: Poland, Greece, Russia,
Czech Republic.
Group B: Netherlands, Denmark,
Germany, Portugal
Group C: Spain, Italy, Ireland,
Croatia
Group D: Ukraine, Sweden,
England, France.
Oulart lose out for 2nd year as Coolderry’s accuracy proves key
oolderry's Cathal Parlon and Keith Rossiter of Oulart-the-Ballagh reach for the sliotar during the
einster club final.
FFALY’S Coolderry proved yet again that nothing can be taken for granted in sport when they upset
ulart-The-Ballagh from Wexford to claim the Leinster Club Senior Hurling Championship title.
omplete outsiders prior to the start of the competition, Coolderry were deserved 1-15 to 1-11 winners
Sunday’s final at Nowlan Park. Not many had seen it coming, least of all perhaps Oulart-The-Ballagh.
hile the victory is a marvelous win for a club like Coolderry and in general for Offaly hurling, it is yet
other massive disappointment for the Wexford champions. Oulart have now lost two Leinster deciders
a row, both coming within the current calendar year.
hey were also, it has to be admitted, too good for Oulart-The-Ballagh. Sadly, for the Wexford outfit
ey simply weren’t accurate enough, hitting 14 wides compared to just five for their opponents.
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P a g e | 8
We’re on our way to Euro
2012. Olé, Olé, Olé
SPORT
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P a g e | 9
Stalemate in the Premiership as Manchester Citymaintains their unbeaten run. Already it looks like
everybody else is playing for second place but who
knows. We will just have to wait and see. For the
neutral fan though it makes for more interesting
viewing as we wonder what Manchester Utd and the
rest of the chasing pack will do.
1 Manchester City 14 7 0 0 24 4 5 2 0 24 9 35 38
2 Manchester United 14 5 1 1 19 10 5 2 0 12 3 18 33
3 Tottenham Hotspur 13 5 0 1 15 7 5 1 1 14 9 13 31
4 Chelsea 14 5 0 2 19 11 4 1 2 12 6 14 28
5 Arsenal 14 5 1 1 13 5 3 1 3 17 18 7 26
6 Newcastle United 14 4 2 1 10 8 3 3 1 9 7 4 26
7
Liverpool 14 2 5 0 9 6 4 0 3 8 7 4 23
8 Stoke City 14 3 2 2 10 8 2 1 4 4 15 -9 18
9 Aston Villa 14 3 2 2 10 7 0 5 2 6 11 -2 16
10 Everton 13 2 1 4 7 9 3 0 3 8 8 -2 16
11 Norwich City 14 3 2 2 12 10 1 2 4 8 16 -6 16
12 Queens Park Rangers 14 1 4 2 6 10 3 0 4 9 15 -10 16
13 Fulham 14 2 3 2 12 9 1 3 3 4 7 0 15
14 West Bromwich Albion 14 2 1 4 6 9 2 2 3 7 12 -8 15
15 Swansea City 14 3 3 1 8 2 0 2 5 6 18 -6 14
16 Wolverhampton Wanderers 14 3 1 3 10 11 1 1 5 5 13 -9 14
17 Sunderland 14 1 3 3 10 9 1 2 4 6 8 -1 11
18 Blackburn Rovers 14 2 0 5 10 15 0 4 3 11 17 -11 10
19 Bolton Wanderers 14 1 0 6 9 19 2 0 5 10 15 -15 9
20 Wigan Athletic 14 1 2 4 8 15 1 1 5 4 13 -16 9
SPORT
The Premiership
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P a g e | 10
Karate Lessons
The Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu Ireland Karate-do
Association is a group of dojo and students that
have chosen to follow the teaching of
Beaumont Sensei. Techniques are performed in
a manner that results in the greatest speed and
power possible without causing injury or harm
to the person performing them.
The studio is currently located in Athlone but
lessons will soon be taking place in Gallen
Community School Ferbane.
For more information contact Sinead ; (087)
2249490 or (087) 9447449
Or e-mail [email protected]
www.matsubayashi-ireland.com
Facebook; Matsubayashi shorinryu
international
We are fully insured have all our coaching certs
and are garda vetted
Ferbane and district
Credit union Limited are
Holding our AGM on
Wednesday 14th December 2011
At 8 pm
In the Heritage Centre Ferbane
Everybody welcome
Our Car draw takes place on the night
As well as our Members draw.
All those in attendance at the AGM will
be entered into a free draw.
We are delighted to announce that this
year we will be paying a dividend of 2%
and a rebate of 10% on all regular rate of
loan interest paid during the year.
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P a g e | 11BUY & SELL
All in perfect condition
€90
Contact Shane 0857659403
2006 Yamaha yz 85 for sale,
big wheel version, one off custom
made aluminium tank, tallon hubs,
wavy discs front and rear, new brake
pads, full racing exhaust, pioneer
sticker kit, all original plastics /
sprockets & exhaust come with bike,
make ideal Christmas present €1299
ono. Contact 0876157818
PsP and many games
Gamecube and game.
Contact for more
information-
0868818145
Chimney Clean Service
Contact Robert Cornally 087-2879006
Available to clean Chimney’s
Windows and gutters
Special Rate Available For All 3 Together.
Darcy Domestic & Industrial
Maintenance
Clonmacnois, County Offaly
Phone Padraig on (087)
2370502
Boiler servicing and
efficiency testing
Also tiling, Laying of timber
floors, Plumbing, Painting
and all general DIY work
Firewood For sale
10ft x 5ft 6 Trailer
€150 free delivery to Ferbane
area
Call Dylan on (087)9869865
Ford fiesta carparts for sale
I have
a green back bumper in perfect Condition and a front grill. I also
have tail lights and mirrors all off a
2000 ford fiesta
Call or text for details:
086 3147446
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P a g e | 12OFFALY ROVERS
Any people from the West Offaly
area that are abroad for whatever
reason, we would really love to hear
from you.
Send us your pictures, stories, advice
or let us know how you’re getting on. Again our e-mail is:
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P a g e | 14GALLENCS
On the 15th
of September 2011 all of us TYs went on a pilgrimage to Croagh
Patrick with Ms. Breen, Ms. Reynolds and Mr. Irwin. We all arrived at the
school at 08.00 and left on a bus at 08.15, arriving at Croagh Patrick at 11.30,
where we got ready for the climb. We all separated into three groups, the
good, the very good and the excellent. The good group went first and then the
very good went twenty minutes after, followed by the excellent group after
another twenty minutes. The idea was that we would all reach the summit
together.
The first bit of the walk was very tough and tested our endurance. We had
good weather, so it wasn’t that slippery but that didn’t mean people didn’t slip
or fall because many did on the way up. On the ascent, we had picturesque
views of Clew Bay and also the surrounding mountains. Half way up, we all
came together at a level part of the mountain and had a bit to eat. It was
extremely windy at this point. Some of the lads left the initials of the school
down the mountain beside a tarn. After a bit to eat we all left in our individual
groups for the second half of the gruelling challenge. The very end of the hike
was very steep and there were loose rocks under our feet, which is a dangerous
surface. This section seemed to go on forever but when we saw the summit we
were relieved and overwhelmed.
At the top we met up and waited for everyone. We had lunch and took a few
photos. At the top it was very clear and we could see for miles. There were
mountain sheep at the top and they got some of our lunches. We saw the
church at the summit and also St. Patrick’s Bed.
Before the descent, we said a prayer and off we went. It was exceptionally
dangerous on the way down and it wasn’t long before we had our first casualty.
One of the girls fell down about fifteen metres until she finally came under
control. She scraped down her arms and hit her head and ribs. She got a bad
fright but she was ok.
We all got down safe and sound at around 5pm and we said another prayer at
the foot of the mountain before we set off for home. We stopped off in
Roscommon Supermacs for dinner and we arrived back in Ferbane about 9pm
after a magnificent day out. – Stephen Mannion.
PloughingOn the 20
thof September the TYs went to the Ploughing Championships in Athy, Co.
Kildare as part of our Ag. Science class. We left the school at 9.30am and the traffic
got heavier the closer we got to the event. Everyone was so excited but also tired as
it took two hours to get to Athy.
When we got there, we were at the largest open air agricultural arena in Europe,
covering 700 acres. We found it hard to get around the whole thing in one day.
There were lots of food markets, electronics, cars and clothes. It was a time
consuming kind of a day because we wanted to see as much as possible in the few
hours we had.
There were lots of different breeds of cattle, sheep, horses, goats, pigs, dogs, poultry
and birds. There were competitions for the animals with rosettes or products from
the sponsors as prizes. It was a great day all in all and it certainly proved that you
didn’t have to be a farmer to enjoy it. – Rachel Digan
Scratch
Scratch was launched in Gallen Cs on Wednesday 21st September by sports journalist Eamon Horan and representitives from Atlantic corridor AIT and
Ericssions there aswell. Scratch is one of the simpliest programing languages
out there. You can take control of “Sprites” and get them to move talk or
play guitar using “scripts” these are the code the program uses to give the
sprite its instructions. As I said the is the simpliest way to program and
withing 5 minutes you can do on scratch what normally takes a week to code
in real life. To date we have made bands, games (Zombies, Tetris, Mario) and
other funny and wierd creations with the help of Barry from AIT.So far we
have completed 4 weeks of a ten week course and by the end of this course
the aim is to enter our project into the nationa competition. There will also
hopefully be a prize for the best project out of our c lass.
Diarmuid Connon
Articles Courtesy of
TY ScéalGCS students with their Christmas
shoeboxes
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P a g e | 15GALLEN CS
Canadian
Ambassador’s Visit
Written by Matthew Murphy
On the 6th
of October, the
Canadian Ambassador, Mr.
Loyola Hearn, visited our
school. He came to visit
because he curious to see
the new school and he wasonce a teacher himself.
When he first arrived, he
came to the TYs we gave a
presentation. We welcomed
him to the school and we
told him about all the
activities we had done andall the awards our school had
won. He got a tour of the
school and he also visited
the Cluny Suite. As he was
leaving, he commented that
“This school and its students
are excellent”, so all Gallenstudents should be proud of
that.
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P a g e | 17FEATURES
Coole Castle
Coole Castle was built by Sir John
MacCoghlan on the banks of the
Brosna in 1575.
It was the last of the MacCoghlan
castles to be built. He erected it as a
present to his second wife Sabina
O'Dallachain. Formerly there was a
mural slab in the castle with a Latin
inscription translated in English as
"“This tower was built by the energy
of Sir John MacCoghlan, K.T. chief of
this Sept at the proper cost of Sabina
O'Dallachain on the condition that
she should have it for her lifetime and
afterwards each of her sons
according to their seniority" .
It is unknown where this mural is at
present. In his will in 1590 Sir John
left Coole Castle to his widow. Over
the fireplace, in its original location,
in the topmost room of the castle is a
plaque written in Middle Irish which
reads: SEAGHA MAC OCHL DO
TINDSCAIN O SEO SUAS 1575” (SeanMacCoghlan began this building from
this date 1575)
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P a g e | 18FUN PAGES
An old wives’ tale says
that bread baked on
Christmas Eve will never
go mouldy
The 25th
December was not
celebrated as the birthdayof Jesus Christ until AD440
Germany made the first
artificial Christmas trees.
They were made of goose
feathers and dyed green.During the
Christmas/Hanukkah season,
more than 1.76 billion candy
canes will be made.
It’s considered bad luck to
take down holiday
decorations before "Little
Christmas" on January 6th.
Leftovers can sometimes be
your enemy. Spoilt leftovers
are responsible for 400,000
cases of post Christmas
associated illnesses.
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P a g e | 19CONTACT US
If you have any news stories, interesting
tales, photograph’s or want to wish
someone well please drop us an e-mail [email protected]
Or just drop your ad/story etc. into the
school.
And we will do our best to publish it in
the next issue.
Editor-in-Chief
Tom Dunican
Editor
Diarmuid Connon
Writers
Aisling O’Shea
Matthew Murphy
Niamh Kenny
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