malahide

Michael meets an Irish hero: Trip of a lifetime giveawayIRISH football legend, Paul McGrath meets 10-year-old, Michael Stokes, at the Clarehall Shopping Centre Shoot and Score Competition which gave away the trip of a lifetime to the Euro 2012 finals in Poland to the winner of the penalty shoot. The competition

prize includes return flights for two departing from Dublin on June 12 to Gdansk, Poland, and returning on June 16, four nights twin room accommodation at the Novotel Centrum Gdansk and two tickets to the Ireland V Spain match on June 14.

No clear plan for medical facility, says TD� NATALIE BURKE

UNCONFIRMED reports that a massive €1.2bn medi-cal hub may be on the cards for a green-field site near Dublin Airport, are “pure speculation” according to local Fine Gael TD, Alan Farrell.

The recent reports claimed that the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly, is currently considering a proposal to

relocate the Beaumont Hos-pital to a site off the M50, which could also accom-modate the much-needed National Children’s Hospi-tal as well as pharmaceuti-cal and IT companies and an education campus.

Deputy Farrell believes Belcamp would be a reason-able site but says it wouldn’t be the best choice.

Full Story on Page 2

ALSOINSIDE: GALLERIES ..................... 2

BUSINESS .................... 19

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

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

ENTERTAINMENT ........ 24

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

Football: St Sylvester’s youth show cup credentialsPage 31

Sailing: Olympic dream achieved for FlaniganPage 32

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

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INSIDE: A sweet launch for school friends’

brand new company P2

TREATY: Peter Matthews (FG) on voting Yes for a fiscal ‘safety net’ P6

MAY 17, 2012 Find us on

Exploring the famous gardens of Normandy

SEE TRAVEL: P22-23

2 MALAHIDE GAZETTE 17 May 2012

SUGAR RUSH A taste of heaven at Be Sweet Occasions

Sarah Murray, Eddie Jordan and Bernice Moran pictured at the launch of Be Sweet Occasions. Pictures: Anthony Woods

An occasion to be sweetE

NTREPRENEURS, Bernice Moran, from Mala-hide, and Sarah Murray, from Killiney, are bring-ing a taste of heaven to some plain food events

with their company - Be Sweet Occasions, which celebrated its launch in SamSara recently.

The company is sweetening up weddings, parties and corporate events with their trendy candy buffet

that is bringing out the best in the Irish sweet tooth.The school friends say their candy buffet is not just

putting a few sweets into a jar, it’s about choosing what is right for the individual and sourcing the best ones.`

For further information, log onto www.besweet occasions.com

� NATALIE BURKE

[email protected]

FOLLOWING uncon-firmed media reports that claim a massive €1.2bn medical hub may be on the cards for a green-field site near Dublin Airport, Fine Gael TD Terence Flana-gan has welcomed the potential plans saying it would be “great news” for local constituen-cies.

ReportsThe recent reports

claimed that the Minis-ter for Health, Dr James Reilly TD, is currently considering a proposal to relocate the Beau-mont Hospital to a site off the M50, near Belcamp, which could also accommodate the much-needed National Children’s Hospital.

“This site would be ideal for the relocation of Beaumont Hospital and possibly the long-awaited National Chil-dren’s Hospital.

“A hospital at this location would be eas-i ly accessible, with good transport links to the M50 and proximity to Dublin Airport,” he said.

The 400-acre site under consideration is currently under the ownership of the IDA, NAMA and private interests and, accord-ing to the deputy, the site would not only be home to Beaumont and

the children’s hospital, but could include an education campus, and pharmaceutical and IT companies creating a medical hub.

According to local Fine Gael TD, Alan Farrell, however, the rumoured medical hub is “pure speculation”.

“As far as I know, no final decision has been made because no report has been presented to the minister and any-thing in between is real-ly speculation.

“There’s a lot of speculative interest involved in this proc-ess in my opinion and I think what we need to concentrate on is the delivery of the hospital. Whatever that decision is I will row in behind,” he said.

D e p u t y F a r r e l l believes Belcamp would be a reasonable site but says it wouldn’t be the best choice.

“I think its proxim-ity to the Malahide road is not positive, it’s negative, and I think it would be a transport disaster for the north side to put a national infrastructure such as the National Children’s Hospital off the Mala-hide Road.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said it was the Minister’s intention to await com-pletion of a purposely established Review Group before making any further comments on the matter.

HOSPITAL: BELCAMP SITE IS CONSIDERED

Possible plan for €1.2bn medical hub ‘great news’

Lisa Cusack

Gloria Dooley and Anthony Slevin Suzie Koumarianos

Angie DromgooleMel and Darren Wright

17 May 2012 MALAHIDE GAZETTE 3

Repairs to play facilityA NUMBER of repair works are set to be car-ried out on the play-ground at Portmarnock Sports and Leisure Cen-tre this summer.

It was confirmed by Fingal County Council at a recent Area Com-mittee Meeting that a number of necessary works have been identi-fied to be carried out in the playground in the near future and these include repair works to the play equipment and gates, the repainting of certain wooden orna-mental items and the replenishing of the wood chipping safety surface.

Quotations for these works are currently being sought by the council as well as similar items for nine other playgrounds in the Malahide/Howth area.

Once the quotations have been received, the works will be carried out on a priority basis.

COUNCILLAUNCH New book pays tribute to achievements

Great sport celebrating Fingal heroes� NATALIE BURKE

THE F inga l Loca l Studies and Archives Department launched a brand new book last week, which features a selection of some of Fingal’s most celebrated sporting heroes.

F i n g a l S p o r t i n g Heroes, is a tribute to the great achievements of spor ts men and women from the area, both past and present, whose dedication, abil-ity and talent inspired generations of people both locally and nation-wide.

Following on from the success of the pop-ular series of Fingal

Sporting Heroes talks, which were held during Heritage Week 2010, the Fingal department asked former county librarian, Paul Harris, to produce a book of the same title.

“I was asked to give a talk on the many sport-ing heroes of Fingal dur-ing Heritage Week in 2010 as it coincided with Dublin being chosen as the European Capital of Sports,” said Paul.

“I had a great inter-est in sport and the talks were really well received so from that, I was asked if I would consider writing a book on the same theme.

“I chose just a selec-

tion of sporting heroes because there are so many of them; it wasn’t possible to do a com-plete comprehensive list. I went out and talked to the heroes that were still alive and researched those who have passed away since.

“I think the sporting heritage of a county is really important and doesn’t get recognised as much. So the book is really to remember and celebrate the achieve-ments and the sporting heroes of Fingallians.”

The book includes a wide selection of inspi-rational sportspeople including golfers Joe

Ollie Campbell, 1982 Triple Crown Winner, Malahide Rugby; Mayor Gerry McGuire

(Lab) and the book’s author, Paul Harris

Carr, Mary McKenna and Jimmy Kinsella, GA A stars Seamus McGuiness and Bobby Beggs, cricketer Eoin Morgan, rugby legend Olly Campbell and soc-cer player, Con Martin, to name just a few.

F i n g a l S p o r t i n g Heroes was officially launched by Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Gerry McGuire (Lab) , on

Thursday night , a t a special event held at Clonmel House, Swords, where some of the book’s own heroes were in attendance.

Fingal Local Studies and Archives Depart-ment houses an impres-sive collection of materi-als relating to the overall history and heritage of the county including: books, maps, newspapers,

directories, estate papers, photographs and parish registers.

Investment in the serv-ice is ongoing and the continued expansion of the collection is a central priority, which according to the Fingal Department, includes investing in local history publications, such as Fingal Sporting Heroes. Full Gallery on Pages 8-9

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Malahide artist to exhibit at the RHA� NATALIE BURKE

LOCAL Malahide artist, Richard Hearns, will be featuring his most recent work at Ireland’s fore-most premier exhibition this summer and is set to share his knowledge in a series of classes being held in Malahide later this month.

Following a very suc-cessful second solo-show in New York City and a three-month painting apprenticeship under two well-known American master paint-ers, the renowned local artist recently returned to Malahide and is set to showcase his work at the Royal Hibernian Acad-emy Annual Exhibition.

The academy’s annual show is considered Ire-

land’s foremost premier exhibition and members of the public will be able to view Richard’s work at the RHA galleries, Ely Place, from May 29 until August 18.

“My time spent in New York City was exciting and hugely developmen-tal and I’m delighted that my work will be featured at the Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhi-bition, it’s serious recog-nition of my work by a leading Irish Academy,” said Richard, who added that he was really look-ing forward to starting a painting school in Mala-hide in just a few weeks’ time.

“I feel that after all the guidance I received in New York, I want to share my knowledge

with interested people and encourage others by beginning a School of Painting in Malahide, the town I grew up in, starting with a series of classes and workshops,” he said.

The classes will be based on still life and landscape painting and are set to commence on Wednesday, May 23, at St Andrew’s Parish Centre, Church Road, Malahide.

According to Richard, his teaching methods will be fashioned on the Atelier system under which he studied in New York, as well as being based on his Four Step Developed Approach to Picture Making.

“Placement, back-ground, shadow and light are the four steps I will

be helping people with in order to develop their painting and they are the raw steps that it takes to make a successful piece.

“My classes will be open to anyone interested in painting, from teenag-ers to older painters.

“I want a wide dynamic of painters in my class and students don’t have to be experienced, they can be painting for years or sim-ply beginners,” he said.

Richard currently holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Higher Diploma in Art Education from the National College of Art and Design.

For more information or to sign up for Rich-ard’s painting classes and workshops please email [email protected].

CLASSES: RICHARD READY TO PASS ON SKILLS

A TEAM of three students from Malahide Commu-nity School have won a Glamour Award at the recent ERP Junk Kouture Grand Final.

Fashionable Waste was the theme for the final, which was held in City West recently and saw secondary school stu-

dents from all over Ireland competing for the grand prizes. Following weeks of regional finals, 80 shortlisted finalists took to the stage to showcase their designs, made from everyday waste materi-als from orange peels and feathers to computer cabling and batteries.

One of two awards was given to “Paperpil-lion”, the design created at Malahide Community School, and its team, stu-dents Tanyanat Tipprasert, Sinead O’Rourke and Joy Butdeekham. Tanyanat, who modelled on the night, will now attend the Royal Film Premiere

in London later this year and will walk the red car-pet in the creation made from magazine pages and chicken wire.

The judging panel for the final had a difficult job selecting the worthy win-ners for each award and included international designer, Peter O’Brien,

stylist and fashion jour-nalist, Angela Scanlon, London-based designer Zoe Boomer and Head of Corporate Communi-cations at ERP Ireland, Yvonne Holmes

According to Yvonne, the event showcased the very best in young Irish design and the judges

were highly impressed by the standard of entry to the competition, finding it difficult to select a lim-ited number of winners from the talented bunch of young eco-designers.

“Sustainability is at the core of ERP’s busi-ness and we are delighted that this message has

been communicated in such a creative and aes-thetic manner. We would like to congratulate all entrants to the finals. We have been overwhelmed by their enthusiasm and extraordinary creativity and wish them the very best of luck in the future,” she said.

Students’ flair for waste scoops award at final

Local Malahide artist, Richard Hearns. Inset: The Golden Oil Bottle and In The Master’s Studio

JUNK COUTURE Chicken wire and newsprint creation destined for London catwalk

Haughey mansion on sale for €7.5mSIX years after the former Taoiseach’s death, Charlie Haughey’s Kinsealy home is on sale for a massive €7.5 mil-lion, putting a piece of local history on the market.

With 14 bedrooms and six reception rooms across 14,600 square foot and four floors, the Abbeville Mansion is set on 247 acres of park and woodland and has been put on the market for only a fifth of what the residence was worth in 2003.

The property, offered for sale by global real estate company, Savills, is described as a “magnificent Gandon designed mansion on 247 acres”.

Despite being unable to disclose how

much interest has already been shown in the property, a spokesperson for Savills Real estate said: “It is a private treaty sale so there won’t be any open viewings. We’re at the beginning of the process now so we don’t yet know what interest will come of it.”

The former Taoiseach’s residence dates from 1770 and was originally designed by James Gandon, the archi-tect of the Custom House and the Four Courts and during the time Charlie Haughey took residence, it was the chosen venue for many of the Taoi-seach’s meetings and events and once played host to Italian Operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

R1


Forcing EU countries to adhere to the rules

TREATY A Yes to the Stability Treaty provides safety net

Fine Gael TD , Peter Matthews

EUROPE i s attempting to learn from its

economic mistakes. It was unwise of

Greece and Italy to main-tain huge national debts since the introduction of the euro. It was wrong of France and Germany to flout the rules and spend far more money than they were raising in taxation.

The Stability Treaty addresses these mistakes. If this Treaty had been in place when the euro was launched, Greece and Italy would have been

forced to reduce their national debts during the calmer times of the past decade. This might have enabled them to weather the storm when the financial crisis spread to Europe.

Germany and France would not have been able to abuse their position as large countries and ignore the rules because this Stability Treaty strengthens the rules.

It contains two basic rules about how coun-tries must manage their finances. National debts

must be kept low and a strict limit is placed on the amount of money that countries can bor-row. These rules force Eurozone countries to adhere to sensible house-keeping rules.

It ensures that, over time, less taxpayers’ money will go towards paying interest on debt and more will be availa-ble for schools and hospi-tals. It compels countries like Greece and Italy to reduce their national debts so that their public finances cannot affect the

stability of our currency. Most importantly, vot-

ing Yes to the Stability Treaty provides Ireland with a safety net as we face into an uncertain future. Voting Yes guaran-tees Irish access to a new European bailout fund should it be needed in the future. Access to this fund is our insurance policy as we work our way out of the current crisis.

If we don’t vote in favour of the treaty, we have no guaranteed funding for a future bail-out should it be needed. We have already bor-rowed more than we are entitled to from the IMF. If the IMF agreed to pro-vide us with further fund-ing, the rate of interest on IMF loans would be higher than the interest rate on funds from the new European bailout fund.

Furthermore, it is likely that we would only receive IMF funding for a brief period of time. This means that the budget would have to be bal-anced in a crash-course short period. The level of cuts and tax hikes that would be necessary would almost certainly be on a scale incompa-rable with anything we have experienced before. The economic hard-ship entailed would be extremely sudden and severe.

It is important that foreign multinationals do not fear such an eco-nomic crisis in Ireland. Twitter, Intel, IBM, Coco-Cola, Apple, Pfizer, MSD, PayPal and Fidelity are among the global giants that have invested in Ire-land since the general election. Voting Yes eases any fears these compa-nies would otherwise have and will encourage

PETER MATTHEWS (FG) on how this treaty is pre-approval for another bailout if we need one and how it addresses the EU’s economic mistakes

further investment in Ire-land.

The referendum shines a spotlight on Ireland over the next few weeks until May 31. In this con-text, I commend Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan’s recent com-ments that national governments shouldn’t be forced to pick up the bill for bailing out bank bondholders.

This bill should be shared by our European partners. The Stability Treaty is a first step in addressing the enormous problems in the Euro-zone. At the same time, all the leaders of Europe need reminding that the over-arching, imperative priority is resolving the European banking and

financial crisis. For Ireland, the refer-

endum provides us with a timely opportunity to demonstrate that the ECB’s insistence that Irish citizens pay and suf-fer for the foolish invest-ments of European banks was wrong and should be reversed. This is an opportunity we must not miss. We should use it in every possible way, by meetings and corre-spondence with the ECB and EU institutions, in public forums, in panel discussions, in the news-papers and on television and radio to drive this point home.

The choice facing us in this referendum can be put quite simply. Imagine a personal situation and

the possibility that you may need a loan at some stage in the future.

Voting Yes will ensure that you are pre-ap-proved for a loan with a low interest rate that can be repaid over a reason-able time period.

Voting No means that if you need a loan in the future, you would be forced to search for a lender, apply for a loan with a higher rate of inter-est that must be repaid within a much shorter period with no guarantee that the loan application will be accepted. This is the choice we face on May 31.

Peter MatthewsFine Gael TD,

Dublin South

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Council rejects requestFINGAL County Council has rejected the request by Fine Gael Cllr Antho-ny Lavin, to cut the grass at the side of Malahide Beach opposite Seabank.

According to the coun-cil, there are currently no plans in place to remove the wildflower meadow currently in the area, since a native species of the plant has re-established itself in the area.

“A number of locals have asked me about get-ting the grass cut as they would like to go there with their kids but they can’t as the grass is too heavy. In fairness to the council, they do mow a portion further down from the meadow but it’s perceived by locals to be a bit far down. It does bring a lot of colour to the meadow but like everything, you have to find balance so we’re not asking to mow the whole thing but maybe a small portion of it,” said Cllr Lavin.

GRASS

Site shortlist for wastewater plant� NATALIE BURKE

TWO sites near Lusk and one site near Dublin Air-port have been shortlist-ed as the preferred sites for the proposed regional wastewater plant, which would have the capac-ity to treat the waste of 350,000 people when the plant opens in 2020, as part of the Greater Dub-lin Drainage project.

Fingal County Coun-cil named the three pos-sible sites at a council meeting held earlier this week, which included Newtowncorduff, 10km north of Dublin Airport and 1km west of Lusk; Annsbrook, 10km north of Dublin Airport and 2.7km west of Lusk; and Clonshaugh, 2.2km east of Dublin Airport. The three site options will now be assessed in detail before one emerging pre-ferred location is chosen and a planning applica-

tion is made to An Bord Pleanala.

Fingal County Coun-cil, which is leading the project on behalf of the four Dublin local authori-ties, will now begin a pub-lic consultation phase and has published a report on the sites, which can be downloaded free of charge from the www.greaterdublindrainage.ie. Printed copies will be available to view at Fingal County Council headquarters and at local libraries.

According to Peter O’Reilly, project engi-neer, the winning site “needs to be a combi-nation of the best loca-tion for the wastewater treatment plant, the new sewer and the marine outfall”.

“We want to hear what people think should be considered as part of the selection for the final preferred site route

and marine outfall and to hear any information relevant to the develop-ment of this much-need-ed project. The technical team has been working closely with a team of 13 environment protection specialists and the three emerging preferred sites balance all their views. Now we want to hear the views of the public.”

The project team will be available to discuss the report, answer ques-tions and listen to views at a series of upcoming open days which will be held at Fingal County Council headquarters in Swords.

The open days will be held on Wednesday, May 30 from 2pm – 8pm, Sat-urday, June 2, from 11am – 4pm, Thursday, June 14, from 2pm – 8pm and Saturday, June 16, from 11am – 4pm. Information is also available by phone on 1890 445567.

Budding entrepreneurs: Top tips for getting your business startedSIXTY-FIVE budding entrepreneurs over the age of 50, from all over the country, including Fingal, were in Portlaoise recently for the Senior Entrepreneurs Start Your Own Business Programme, organ-ised by the County and City Enterprise Boards and Senior Enter-prise. Last year in Ireland, 14% of all early stage entrepreneurs were people aged between 50 and 64. During the two-day programme in Portlaoise, the budding Senior Entrepreneurs learned how to assess the feasibility of their business idea, how to develop practical skills for achieving business goals and they also got to grips with social media and online marketing. Expressions of interest for the next Senior Entrepreneurs Start Your Own Business programme can be emailed to [email protected] or by contacting the local County or City Enterprise Board through www.enterpriseboards.ie.

Pictured at the event were John Byrne, project director, Senior Enterprise; Joan Broderick and Mena Byrne.

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R1


Music, song and danceT

HE Grand Hotel Malahide played host to a fantastic musical event recently when Dublin Fleadh came to Malahide.

Ciorras were headlining the event and were joined on-stage by special guest Donal Lunny. Building on the success of last year’s Fleadh Atha Cliath, Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Atha Cliath with the support of Malahide Chamber of Commerce organ-ised the programme of traditional music, song and dance in Malahide village.

The event attracted a large cohort of musicians and members of the public who partook in the fes-tivities through out the week.

Thelma Monaghan and Celine Power. Pictures: Fergus McNally

Eunan and Anne Gaffney

Donal Lunny (centre) performs at the event

sdsd

Maeve Buckley

Blana O’Grady and Bernie Murray

Young musicians Sorcha Ni Dhuibhinn and Aoife Nic Dhomhnaill

Jim Glynn and Sigrid Glynn

EVENT This year’s Fleadh Atha Cliath attracts a large


Damian and Aoife Reilly

Eilis and Lughaidh Fisher

Oliver Sheedy and Tadhg O

Meachair

Rita Mahon and Jimmy Mahon

Martin and Mary Kevlin

Ruairi O’Broin welcomes the audience and introduces the Malahide/Kinsealy Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann

group

Des Lawlor and Tom Taylor Kitty Quinn and Jo Morris

cohort of musicians and members of the public


EVENT Guests enjoy a charity lunch at Brasserie 15

Pat voices supportB

RASSERIE 15 in Castleknock, welcomed The Voice of Ireland winner, Pat Byrne, who took

time out of his busy schedule to sup-port his mentor and new best friend Bressie during a charity lunch held

in Castleknock. Pat played to a packed-out house

at the event in aid of LARCC (Lake-lands Area Retreat and Cancer Centre) hosted by the Voice judge Bressie.

Sophie Browne, Ann Marie Fay and Penny Warnock.

Pictures: Ania Sherlock

Denise Warren, Suzy Warren and Oonagh Foran

Winner of The Voice of Ireland, Pat

Byrne, John Quinn and Conor Quinn

Brian Kennedy and Bressie

Teresa Rocca, Celine Brady, Rosemary Duffy, Monica

McGinn and Sharon Mohan

Gill Pilkington and Louise

Jackie Curly, Susan Lawlor, Alan Breslin, Louise

Hughes, Brigit Hughes and Steve Hughes

Mairead O’Keefe and

Mary Browne

Una Waters and Carmel

Muller

AWARDS Entries sought for contest

Growing enthusiasm for allotments rewardedT H E R D S h a s announced the launch of the 2012 RDS Allot-ment Awards.

Now in its third year, the awards have a total prize fund of €3,000, and strengthen the soci-ety’s commitment to promoting bio-diversity in Ireland.

Demand for allot-ments has never been higher, and the desire to grow fresh food at an affordable price is now stronger than ever.

The RDS Allotment Awards aim to recog-nise the hard work, ded-ication and attention to detail being undertaken by those involved in allotment gardening, and also to promote an area that encourages people to become more aware of rural issues.

The first award rec-ognises the individual allotment gardener, and is divided into two cate-gories: Experienced, and Novice Gardener.

With the aim of pro-moting excellence in allotment gardening, the winner in each category will receive €500, and an RDS silver medal.

The runner-up will be awarded €300, and

Last year’s RDS Allotment Award winners, Jim Spain and Sean de Barra, of Rathbeggan, Co Meath

third place, €200, with each receiving an RDS certificate of merit.

The second award rec-ognises the work of allot-ment providers, and is open to local authorities, allotment societies, com-munity gardening groups and individuals who are providing allotments.

The winner of this award will receive a cheque for €1,000 and an RDS silver medal.

This award seeks to recognise the work that has been carried out on the overall allotment

site, as well as the sup-ports that are provided to the individual grow-ers.

David Wiggins, chair-man, RDS Committee of Agriculture, said he is looking forward to meet-ing this year’s entrants.

He said: “Whether it’s for reasons of health or self-sufficiency, allot-ment gardening has never been more popu-lar in Ireland. Allot-ments provide fresh and healthy food, as well as many other benefits to those involved, such as

relaxation, enjoyment and recreation.

“Last year, the stand-ard of entr ies was extremely high, and we are anticipating that it will be just as good, this year,” he said.

Founded in 1731, the RDS continues to ful-fil its commitment to furthering the broad economic and cultural development of Ireland.

The RDS Allotment Awards are part of the RDS Foundation’s pro-gramme, which aims to promote excellence in

Irish agriculture through its diverse range of activ-ities and awards.

Application forms are available on the RDS website at www.rds.ie/agriculture, by emailing [email protected], or by calling the RDS Agricul-ture Foundation on 01 240 7215.

The closing date for entries is Friday, June 8.

Judging of the allot-ments will take place over the summer, with an award ceremony tak-ing place in the RDS in autumn.

17 May 2012 GAZETTE 11

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DESPITE being so preva-lent in our lives and com-munities, there is still a lingering reluctance to talk about depression and its effects.

Approximately 400,000 people suffer from depres-sion in Ireland and, between 2004 and 2008, 527 people died by suicide in Co Dublin alone.

Dr Harry Barry, a GP and board member of Aware, the support group for those affected by depression, is determined to break the silence with his latest book, which offers practical advice to those suffering from depression as well as their families and friends.

Flagging Depression: A Practical Guide, is the fourth instalment in Dr Barry’s bestselling Flag-ging series and, with a foreword by Paul Kelly, of Console, the national organisation supporting people in suicidal crisis and those bereaved by suicide, Flagging Depres-sion lays out a practical four-step approach based on Dr Barry’s mantra, “feel better, get better, stay well”.

The newest book not only reaches out to those dealing with depression but also offers vital assist-ance to those close to them.

Dr Barry told The Gazette: “I look after a lot of people with depres-

sion, and quite a number of them and their families asked me to create some kind of simple, practical guide.

“ W h e n y o u ’ r e depressed, your whole energy and concentration is down, and you’re strug-gling to focus.

“It’s a bit like you’re stuck in quicksand – you keep trying to move, but keep sinking, so you need something very hands-on that you can go to, imme-diately.”

With Flagging Depres-sion being a guide pri-marily aimed at sufferers themselves, it shows an insight into the disease

for both the person with depression as well as those around them.

“The person living with someone with depression doesn’t really understand it completely, and the book goes into the mind of a person suffering, and all the negative thoughts that can roll around their mind.

“Normally, a person could have a bad day, but their logical brain would switch back on and come up with a way of dealing with it,” he said.

“For a person with depression, however,

it’s not ‘just a bad day’ – they’re living in this terri-ble situation. Their mood is so down that they’re stuck at the bottom of a well, and they don’t know how to get out.

“There’s a difference between being stressed, or depressed ‘with a little d’ – which we all get – and actually suffering with depression.

“Lots of people mis-understand these condi-tions, so it’s important the symptoms are well laid out and easy to see,” said Dr Barry.

A medical doctor, Dr Barry has extensive expe-rience in the practice of

dealing with issues such as depression, addiction and anxiety and, as a board member of Aware, he is also a regular contributor to the national media on the area of mental health.

He said: “I was always very interested in the whole area of mental health and I suppose it was triggered by a very tragic suicide that took place in Drogheda, and I decided to write my first book to try and highlight depression.

“It started from there, and I was asked to join Aware shortly after-

wards.“This book itself is dedi-

cated to two lovely young guys who I knew, who both took their lives very tragically, and their fami-lies,” he said.

The practical, four-step approach outlined in the book by Dr Barry looks at ways of changing a person’s lifestyle so they start to feel better; taking exercise, nutrition and avoiding alcohol, into account.

It also looks at drug therapy for those unable to function with practical methods, and talk therapy to discover the issues that may have contributed to the person reaching such a low point.

“What people don’t realise is that it is a really treatable condition. Peo-ple often think that if they’re depressed, that it’s for life and there’s nothing they can do about it.

“[But] for people who treat it properly, most people can be back feeling better within two months, and can be completely better and off all forms of treatment by nine months, so it’s a real message of hope,” said Dr Barry.

With such a high rate of the population suffer-ing from depression at any one time in Ireland, Dr Barry admits the poor economic climate has played a role in the increasing figures.

“We’re beginning to see a lot of older people – men, for example – who

Depression is treatable, stresses GP in new book

MENTAL HEALTH Breaking silence

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‘There’s a difference between depressed “with a little d” and actually suffering with depression’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Dr Harry Barry, author- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

12 GAZETTE 17 May 2012


Flagging Depression author, Dr Harry Barry, with Paul Kelly, Console

on illness that affects 400,000 people

have had major issues of unemployment, have lost their jobs and are in financial difficulty, and are starting to get very down.

“Maybe they would have been more resilient before, and less likely to get into difficulties, but we

are definitely seeing peo-ple who might not have appeared with depression up to this point, so there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s coming more and more to the fore,” said Dr Barry.

Flagging Depression raises awareness of the

issue that has taken such a strong hold of our society, for both the suf-ferer and their families, and Dr Barry said it was important to watch for warning signs when it comes to those suffering silently.

“The key things to

watch out for would be if someone was retreat-ing back into themselves and becoming quieter, maybe withdrawing a bit and spending more time in their room or on the computer, being tired all the time or not sleeping.

“If there’s anybody who

makes throw-out com-ments about the world being a better place with-out them, always zone in on them. Watch out for those warning signs.”

Flagging Depression: A Practical Guide is avail-able now from Liberties Press, priced €13.99.

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Wedding fair at Red Cow

COUPLES: €10,000 PRIZE ON OFFER FOR THE BIG DAY

� SUZANNE BYRNE

PLANNING on walking down the aisle sometime soon, but worried you won’t be able to afford the kind of special day you always dreamed of?

Well, the Red Cow Moran Hotel has good news for you.

As part of its upcoming wedding fair jamboree, it has organised an online competition – at www.redcowmoranhote l .com – to win a free wed-ding gown from bridal designers, House of Tamem Michael; a hon-eymoon of your choice with Thomas Cook, and a reception at the Red Cow Hotel, for up to 100 people, in a prize valued at up to €10,000.

The winners will be announced at the fair.

Goods and services on display will include florists and invitation

companies, while car and limo firms will be there to offer transport that will not only get the bride and groom to the church on time, but also in style.

And, of course, the icing on the cake for any wedding is the cake – bakers with years of experience in designing cakes, from the modest and traditional to the outrageous, will be there to discuss what you want for your big day.

Also at the fair, visitors can enjoy front row seats at the Tamem Michael 2013 bridal collection.

To top it all, any wed-ding that is booked at the Red Cow Moran Hotel showcase will get a €1,000 discount.

The Red Cow Moran Hotel Wedding Fair 2012 takes place on Sunday, May 20, between 2pm and 5pm.

President Michael D Higgins will launch the BioBlitz at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre on May 18

Things to get a bit wild at Aras an Uachtarain� LAURA WEBB

[email protected]

WILDLIFE living in the grounds of Aras an Uachtarain will be sur-veyed for the first time as part of Ireland’s BioBlitz 2012.

President Michael D Higgins will launch the BioBlitz at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre this Friday, May 18.

Throughout a 24 hour period, from May 18 until May 19, over 200 scientists and wildlife surveyors will gather at four locations nation-wide to participate in Ireland’s BioBlitz 2012, to see which group can record the most species of wildlife.

This is the third year of the event which is organised by the National Biodiversity Data Centre. Last year a record 1,088 species were recorded in Killarney National Park over 24 hours in 2011.

Parks involved in this year’s blitz include Glen-garriff Nature Reserve, Co Cork; Lough Boora, Co Offaly; Phoenix Park, Dublin 8 and, for the first time, surveyors will gain access to the grounds of Aras an Uachtarain to record its biodiversity.

Director of the Nation-al Biodiversity Data Centre and organiser of the event, Dr Liam Lysaght said: “One of the objectives for host-ing the event is to open

up the wonderful world of wildlife to people, and to demonstrate that there is an amazing richness of diversity all around us.

“If we were to dimin-ish this diversity in our surroundings, we would greatly diminish our qual-ity of life also,” he added.

Dr Mary Kelly-Quinn, Chair of the National Biodiversity Data Centre added: “This is a mas-sive effort on the part of experts who are all par-ticipating in the event in a voluntary capac-ity to raise awareness of Ireland’s rich biologi-cal diversity resource, a resource that is estimated to contribute €2.6 billion each year to the Irish economy. Vital sectors

such as agriculture would be seriously impacted should this biodiversity be lost.”

Residents are being encouraged to take part in the recording effort by coming along on Fri-day 18 to one of the four sites.

The amount of spe-cies recorded within the day will be announced at 11am, 1pm, 3pm and all recording will cease at 5pm after which the winning team will be announced.

A programme of events at each site to introduce people to aspects of Ire-land’s biological diversity, such as bat walks, dawn chorus, pond dipping, bee and butterfly walks,

botanical walks, moth trapping and small mam-mal trapping.

Further details and live streaming during the event can be accessed on a special BioBlitz Web-sites http://bioblitz.bio-diversityireland.ie/ set up for the event.

The National Biodiver-sity Data Centre www.biodiversityireland.ie is the national centre dedi-cated to the collation, management, analysis and dissemination of data and information on Ireland’s biological diver-sity. It serves as a hub for the exchange of data between governmental organisations, NGOs, research institutions and volunteer recorders.

EVENT A BioBlitz challenge to find the most species

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GazettePETSPETSBrought to you by Miriam Kerins of

the DSPCA

THE FACTS: AN ANIMAL-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT CAN BRING MANY BENEFITS

Man’s best friend making a difference in the officeA

CCORDING to an article in this week’s Sunday T imes , l ucky

staff at Google’s Euro-pean HQ in Dublin are allowed to bring their dogs to work.

Apparently this policy is already in operation at other Google offices around the world.

What a brilliant idea and well done Google for being so animal-friendly because, instead of saying goodbye to sad doggies in the morning, owners can bring their precious pooches into the office with them.

I know from personal experience working in an animal-friendly envi-ronment the happiness, positivity and joy that will shine from those offices; not to mention what a privilege it will be for staff.

So, with that happy sentiment in mind, if any dog lovers out there are lucky enough to be able to take their best friend to work with them or who may be trying to convince their bosses to follow Google’s exam-ple; here are a few of my Pet-iquette, (sorry,

couldn’t resist) guide-lines for you to follow; just to make sure the experience is a positive one for you, your dog and your colleagues.

Before you set out Make sure your dog

travels safely in the car with a secure doggy seat-belt or in an appropriate pet carrier.

Dog proof your work area

Before you br ing your dog into the office tape up loose electrical wires, put markers, tipp-ex, glue, plants and any other tempting items out of Fido’s reach.

Once you’re happy, take another quick look around then lie down on the floor to get your dog’s eye view.

What hazards have you missed?

Supplies Bring along sufficient

food, water, feeding bowls, paper towels and so on.

Vaccinations Make sure your pet’s

vaccinations are up to date and have your vet

give him a clean bill of health.

If you think he’s having an ‘off day,’ call the vet and allow Fido to stay at home and take a sickie.

Do your researchChat with colleagues

and make sure nobody suffers from dog aller-gies, dog phobias, or just doesn’t like dogs. And yes, I know it’s hard to believe but sadly, dogs are not everyone’s cup of tea.

Behaviour Your dog should be

socialised and happy to get on with other canines as well as humans.

If he’s a tad, er, over active, then why not take him for a long walk before you head into the office to let him use up some of that excess energy.

Make it familiar If your dog has a

favourite toy, blanket and bed, take it into the office with you to keep things familiar for him.

Also, make sure to cre-ate a safe haven for him so that he can retreat from noise, other dogs and the hustle and bustle of a busy office.

Monitor Carefully monitor what

your dog eats during the day and make sure co-workers understand not to feed him a variety of treats that may make him ill, may cause him to over eat or may give him an allergic reaction.

I personally do not allow anyone else feed my dogs and have trained them not to take food from strangers.

Proper ID Make sure your dog

is microchipped, wears an identity collar and tag, is fully vaccinated and is given a clean bill of health from your vet before taking him into the office.

Regular walks Take your dog outside

for regular pee and poo breaks and make sure to bring along a pooper scooper to pick up and dispose of any mess in a responsible manner.

Rubbish Dogs can’t resist the

delicious smell of an office bin so make sure you dis-card all unwanted and uneaten food outside and

Lucky staff at Google’s European HQ in Dublin may bring their dogs to work

in an enclosed bin where your pet can’t get at it.

InspirationYour dog-less col-

leagues may be inspired

to head for their nearest animal welfare shelter and adopt a dog thanks to seeing what lovable and good natured com-panion pets they make.

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



GazetteBEAUTYBEAUTY Edited by

Laura Webb

Top tips for radiant skin with a lasting faux-glowR

ADIATE th i s summer with help from Lancome make-up artist,

Shehla Shaikh.This week, she shares

her secrets to perfecting the faux-glow radiance in a few simple steps.

• Apply La Base Pro all over the face; the silky-smooth texture of this primer will ensure that make-up lasts all day.

• Using a foundation brush, apply Lancôme TeinteIdole Ultra 24hr foundation. Start on the cheeks and apply in a buffing motion, bringing the remaining product into the T-zone. Ensure to blend into the neck for a flawless finish.

• Brighten and correct

under the eyes by apply-ing Lancome Teint Mira-cle concealer, which has an illuminating finish.

Apply this in an upside-down triangle under the eyes, and using one shade lighter than your founda-tion.

Brush some product across the eyelids and set with a little translucent powder, which helps to balance and brighten the eyes as well as creating a base for eyeshadow.

• Apply Lancome’s Star Bronzer to the face where the natural light falls, across the temples, cheeks and under the jaw line.

Start with a little and build it up, blending and buffing in a circular

motion to mimic a sun-kissed look.

This is a great way to add glow and contour to the face, making the cheekbones pop.

• For a radiant, smoky look, smudge Lancome Kohl pencil in bronze into the lash line. Lan-come Kojl pencil in aqua is perfect against hazel eyes. Ensure you smudge softly into the lash line.

• Illuminate around the eye area using Lan-come’s OmbreAbsolue Moonlight, blending lightly under the eye-brows, along the lower eyelid and into the inner corner of the eyes for an instant lift.

Press a little of the eyeshadow on the water-

line, which will reduce any redness, making the eyes appear fresher and brighter.

• For long, luscious lashes and a wide-eyed look, start using Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes mas-cara on the outer corner of the lashes, and work the brush from the roots to the tip.

• Finish with a gor-geous coral lip for the summer. Rouge In Love 322M, a soft coral, is per-fect to add colour to the face.

Apply with your fingers to give a natural finish, or straight from the bul-let for a real injection of colour.

• To achieve a soft, can-dle-lit glow on the face,

Lancome make-up artist, Shehla Shaikh

highlight using Lancome Eclat Miracle.

Work a little into the bronzing brush and dab

where the light hits the face, top of the cheek-bones, bridge of the nose, forehead and chin.

Meet Shehla Shaikh at the Lancome Counter, Brown Thomas, May 17 to May 19.

� GERHARD HEYL

THE process of under-taking any building project in your home is a mix of mental adjust-ment, planning and hard labour.

If you’ve grown tired of limbo dancing around the gap between the din-ing table and the sofa and the kids’ toys are steadily invading the adult living space, then you have probably made the decision to seri-ously investigate how to go about building some extra living space.

First things first, in order to enlarge your home you will need to ensure you have suffi-cient space to extend the property.

Perhaps you can go up

into the attic? Or maybe you have a good size gar-den that will take a rear or a side extension.

Next, you need to get a plan drawn up. It’s a good idea to try and match the new build to the lifestyle of the occupants of the home, to ensure a good fit of space, to use.

There is no point in building a new games room if it can’t accom-modate that new snook-er table you have your eye on. Your architect and builder can advise on the best set of plans for your home.

You will need to ensure any works carried out on your home comply to planning permission guidelines. These are considered on an indi-

vidual basis and the size of the extension and the size of your garden/loca-tion of boundary walls will all have an impact.

Your engineer, archi-tect or builder will advise

you on this matter. With clever planning,

it is possible to generate excellent changes to your internal living accommo-dation in a cost effective manner. Once the plans

and budgets are agreed and in place, it’s time for the hard graft to begin.

You need to approach the period of the build in as calm a way as possible while visualising the end

goal of improved living space.

Your home will be a building site for the next while and it’ll be dirty and messy. Take into consideration that

you may have to pack up possessions or even move out for the dura-tion of the build.

In future articles, we will discuss steps to avoid common pitfalls in the planning, tender-ing and costing stages of a building project

When work moves from outside to inside, the place will begin to look a bit more like a home then a building site and you can begin to imagine living in your new space.

Once kitchens and bathrooms are installed and your new down lighters in the sitting room are in place, you are nearly there. All that’s to be done now is to decide what colours to put on the walls.


GazettePROPERTYPROPERTY

Extending the scope at home

Expanding your living space at home can make a huge difference to your quality of life

RENOVATION: GETTING READY FOR AN EXTENSION NEEDS PLANNING AND PREPARATION

Y O U R G U I D E T O E V E R Y T H I N G F O R Y O U R B A B Y BabyBABY

The Saturdays’ star, Una Healy, shines as a new mother� NATALIE BURKE

[email protected]

JUST hours before the Gazette’s interview with the beautiful and talented Una Healy, one-fifth of girl band sensation The Saturdays, instructions arrive from her manage-ment that requests we refrain from asking cer-tain questions.

Such a request is just one reminder of how far the 30-year-old singer/songwriter from the town of Thurles, Tipperary, has come. But after chatting to Una about her most recent role as a new mum, how she and her rugby star fiance, Ben Foden, have adapted to parent-hood and the inspiration behind the name of their new baby girl, Aoife Belle, it’s clear that this particu-lar celebrity mum hasn’t forgotten her roots and has her feet set firmly on

the ground. Having just given

birth to her and Ben’s first child eight weeks ago, Una is already back at work, launching the band’s brand new single, which was released last week.

“It’s only really the last week or two that I’ve really been back work-ing, I was just spending all my time with the baby before that,” Una told the Gazette.

“Going back to work isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do and I’m really, really tired. But

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

‘My father suggested Aoife, as I was struggling for a name

and I really liked it but I wanted something to go with it. As my

mother’s maiden name is Bell, I decided that would be a great

name. It’s nice for her to have an Irish name because she’ll

always have her Irish identity there’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


that’s the nature of the business, its like anyone who is self-employed – it’s not something you can take a lot of time off from; its not as easy as that, but I’m coping well.”

Una was reunited with her band-mates Frankie Sandford, Rochelle Wise-man, Vanessa White and Mollie King last week, when they started pro-moting their latest single, 30 Days.

“It’s a really fun pop song and it’s uplifting. The sentiment is actually quite sad, as the song is

counting down the days until you see the person that you love but when it comes to the tune, it’s definitely one that would get you up on the dance-floor,” said Una.

“We’ve been really busy doing radio interviews, photo shoots and other things to promote the new single, so between that and spending time with the baby, it’s been really busy.”

Health scare

Following Aoife’s birth on March 13, Una and her fiance have adapted well to their new roles as parents, despite their baby suffering a health scare just hours after being born.

“There was some fluid on her lungs when she was born which is actu-ally quite common but, at the time, she was making little grunting noises and then suddenly started choking so we were really concerned. She spent 24 hours in the neo natal unit but she was looked after so well by everyone and she’s perfect and healthy now!”

The new parents were spotted out for the first time last week, when they attended the Rugby For Heroes charity event held in the UK.

“Our whole life has changed since we had the

baby. It used to be Una and Ben and now sud-denly there are three of us, there’s Una, Ben and Aoife so it’s a bit crazy. It was great to spend some time together at the event as it was our first night out together since having the baby but we were excited to get home to her. It was nice to have some romantic time together, you need to be able to do that.”

Following an early music career playing gui-tar and singing in venues across Ireland, Una joined the band in 2008 and has always taken fame, and the pressures associated with it, in her stride, so it comes as no surprise that when it comes to losing baby weight, the singer hasn’t succumbed to the celebrity obsession.

“I didn’t really feel a lot of pressure to lose baby weight but I was quite fit and healthy when I was pregnant so I didn’t really gain a lot,” she said.

“Aoife was 7 pounds 13 ounces when she was born so she wasn’t a big baby, but as soon as I came home from the hos-pital I lost one of the two stone I gained during the pregnancy. I’ve also been really active and busy looking after the baby over the last few weeks and have been eating healthy and doing a lot of walking.”

Heritage

With many celebrity mums fighting to top the unusual baby name chart, Una admits she wanted to make sure her daughter held on to her Irish heritage.

KidStuffUdderly Gorgeous Maternity

range from CowshedWE all know our babies are the most innocent, beautiful and flawless creatures on the planet – but we also know they have a tendency to make their mothers look slightly less so.

Which is why bath and home care specialists, Cowshed, decided to develop the Udderly Gor-geous Maternity range and Baby Cow Organics.

The 100% natural range is designed not only to help protect babies’ delicate skin, but also to help mums keep their skin as soft and smooth as their babies. And they’re now available in Ireland.

Since its launch in 1998, Cowshed’s philosophy has been to create a complete range of honest, natural and therapeutic products, using the best organic and wild-crafted plants.

The Udderly Gorgeous range is totally natural and made from wild-crafted sea buckthorn oil. It’s also rich in vitamins, carotenes, minerals and fatty acids, which provide your skin with all the nourishment it needs. The Baby Cow Organics range is made from meadowfoam oil and is spe-cially formulated to pamper, protect and soothe your baby’s delicate skin.

For mums, check out the Udderly Gorgeous stretch mark oil at €19.95, or the Udderly Gorgeous Cooling Leg and Foot Treatment for €17.95. But at the end of a hard day, it has to be the Udderly Gorgeous Bath Salts at €23.95.

Cowshed products can be found at retailers nationwide.For full list of their products and prices call Naturelle De La Riche 01-8903070.


New mum Una Healy, one-fifth of girl band sensation The Saturdays, and her little one, Aoife Belle (inset)

KidStuffAll About Baby Fair to feature

leading products and servicesTHE All About Baby Fair 2012 is set to take place this July, when new parents and mums-to-be will have the chance to buy, try and test all the products and services they need for their new baby.

The fair will take place on Sunday, July 29 at the Plaza Hotel, Tallaght and will offer expert advice, professional services, shopping, enter-tainment and a guaranteed fun-filled day out for all the family.

Leading professionals in the industry will be available on the day to offer expert advice and information with a demonstration from Baby Wearing Ireland on all things sling and baby car-rier related, breastfeeding information from Certi-fied Lactation Consultants, Claire Bulfin and Nicola O’Byrne, nutrition information for during and after pregnancy by Gaye Godkin, infant first aid with Theresa Dwan and a demonstration of baby sign language by Miriam Devitt.

Many stalls will feature products and services unavailable on the highstreet with great dis-count offers, while Gymboree Music and Play will also be on hand with a dedicated Kid Zone to keep the youngsters entertained.

The event will be held from 10am to 4pm and admission is €5 for adults, while children under 16 are free. For more information, see www.allaboutbabyfair.wordpress.com.

“My father suggested Aoife as I was struggling for a name and I really liked it but I wanted something to go with it. As my mother’s maiden name is Bell, I decided that would be a great name. It’s nice for her to have an Irish name because she’ll always have her Irish identity there.”

After just two months of maternity leave, Una says The Saturdays already have a hectic schedule for the summer ahead. The band are set to return to Una’s hometown of Thurles for the first time next month, when they will take to the stage at Thurles Greyhound Sta-

dium on Friday, June 3, in what will be Una’s first performance since hav-ing her baby.

Excited

“I’m so excited about it. It’s the first time I’ve performed with the girls since we did the tour back in December so it’s the first post-baby gig. The girls have never seen where I grew up so it’s nice for them to see the sights of Thurles and where I’m from. It’s also nice to be able to perform in front of my home town and to bring the music back there.”

“We’re also planning on going to LA this sum-mer to film a pilot for a

reality show so that trip will be really good. The Wanted and One Direc-ton are over there and are doing really well so we’re hoping a girl band could do well over there too. It’s the next step for us.”

Broody

And what about baby Aoife Belle? “Of course she will be coming with us!” insisted the new mum. “The other girls love her and are so good to her. They’re always buying gifts for her and I’ve made them all really broody!”

30 Days is out now and is available from iTunes and all good music stores.

nset)


GazetteBUSINESSBUSINESS Supported by AIB

COPING WITH DEBTS

Q – Having taken my child out of a fee paying school, pared back on all costs til I can pare no more, the debts including our home loan (in negative equity and in arrears) seem to be mounting and never ending. We are at our wits’ end juggling the finances but seem to be getting nowhere. Have you any advice ? David – Dun Laoghaire

A - I really empathise with you and know that you are not alone. There are thousands and thousands in the same boat. Essentially, it is all about budget-ing, planning, prioritising and implementing. We have a three-step process for those wishing to address their financial issues called EAR – Evaluation, Action and Representation.

The first step, Evaluation : On agreement of this process, a Fact Find ( ALL financial advisers MUST comply legally with this Central Bank of Ireland directive every time they meet clients so that appropriate and personalised recommendations, strategies, solutions and action plans can be given.) is sent to the borrower. On completion and return of same by the client, a meeting is then arranged and all aspects of the issues discussed and evaluated. An email outlining the discussion outlining the strate-gies and recommendations is then sent to the client after this c. one hour meeting.

The second step, Action: This covers the comple-tion of the Standard Financial Statement – a must-do if negotiating with a mortgagee in particular. This is a comprehensive generic document that must be completed and also requires a list of attachments to corroborate those details. This generic form can be used for all creditors. An itemised schedule of those additional requirements for the mortgagee is also included. This process will take at least 45 minutes.

The third step, Representation: On your behalf or with you to the mortgagee if necessary- some clients want professional support when meeting mortgagees or creditors.

We all need support and no matter how bleak your situation may seem, not only is there a solution, but there is a manageable solution. Please email me for details.

� Contact John with your money questions at

[email protected] or visit his website at

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

Institute of Bankers, is founder and managing

director of Money Doctor

HARRIS Heating was established in Dublin in 1979. Now 33 years in business, it has served over 40,000 commercial and domestic custom-ers.

“There is still a great family feel to the busi-ness, we are a local Dublin company serving our community,” says Tom Egan who has been the commercial and domestic development manager for Harris Heating for the last 10 years.

“It is challenging at present but we have adapted to suit the market and are getting a fantastic response to our current, We Love Boilers, campaigns as well as our Gloworm Gas Boiler and Firebird Oil Boiler campaigns. We are also about to launch our, Oh Solar Eco, campaign which will be a Firebird Solar pack-age for the summer.

“The majority of our service engineers and plumbers are more than 10 years with the com-pany.

“We have experienced professional staff, repeat business and competitive prices. To sum it up in one sentence? It would be trying to keep it simple.”

Interview: Tom Egan, Harris Heating

Q&A

Tom’s turning up the heat

Tom Egan, commercial and domestic development manager

When you were a kid, what did

you want to be?

I am 51 and still don’t know what I

want to be.

What was your first job?

Picking spuds in Rush.

And your first pay check?

£11.

When did you start your

present job?

10 years ago.

What is the best thing about

your job?

Definitely the people and the broad

spectrum of challenges.

What part of your working

day do you “delegate”?

I like a win/win situation and will

delegate and love to see initiative by

all stakeholders…

What sport do you follow?

All, but Bohs and the Dubs are extra

special.

What sport can you play?

Just walk these days, I need to shift

a few stone!

What is your guilty music, TV

or movie pleasure?

Action movie every time.

What music/pictures/movies

do you have on your iPod/

iPad?

All of our six (adult) children and

two grandchildren.

Who do you follow on Twitter/

Facebook?

Again it’s all family and friends.

Describe your dream meal?

Los Abrigos in Tenerife. Scappetas

Italian mushrooms in coconut

vegetarian rissota, cheese cake and

Italian sparkling water.

Where do you enjoy spending

money frivolously?

On our grandchildren. Our

granddaughter only has to say how

special the my little pony magazine

is and I buy it.

How many pairs of shoes do

you own?

Two pair of black shoes and one pair

of runners and one pair of crocs

(the kids hate them)

What was your worst holiday

experience?

A holiday is as good as my head is.

In Ireland, Carraroe, Co Galway and

abroad, Medano, Tenerife.

Describe your dream holiday?

Where ever I can get peace of mind.

In Ireland, Carraroe, Co Galway,

abroad, Medano, Tenerife.

What would be your dream

job?

I never chose a career. In 1978 you

took what you could get.

So where I am is where I’m meant

to be.

What do you plan to do when

you retire?

Prefer to use the phrase “change

direction”, continue enjoying life.

www.gazette group.comwww.gazette group.com

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

GazetteMOTORSMOTORS

TOP MARKS FOR OPEL: IN the recently published ADAC (German Automobile Club) breakdown statis-tics for 2011, all five Opel models listed achieved above-aver-age results, with the Opel Meriva leading the way. The Opel Corsa also achieved a top result: receiving the best ADAC rating in the registration years 2007 to 2009 and 2011 (2006 and 2010: second best grade). The best evaluation grade in the ADAC break-down statistics was also achieved by the Opel Astra, which also scored best in the individual ranking as the vehicle with the fewest faults accord-ing to the results of the “DEKRA Used Car Report 2012”. The compact van, Opel Zafira and Opel Insignia for registra-tion also received top scores.

RoadRoadSignsSigns

The Renault Kangoo Maxi Crew Van ZE has an ex-VAT price of €18,200

Kangoo goes electric� CORMAC CURTIS

THE recent surge in fuel prices is showing no signs of abating, and, as a result, a dramatic shift is taking place in the buying trends of motorists.

Any car dealer will tell you that people are opt-ing for the most economi-cal engines possible, both in new and used cars.

Car manufacturers have been quick to react to this shift in the mar-ket - scarcely a week goes by without new, more efficient and economi-cal technologies being introduced to make every drop of fuel go that little bit further.

In parallel to develop-ments of the traditional combustion engine, elec-tric vehicles are becoming a very realistic alternative for many drivers.

Personally, I support any initiative that allows people to avoid paying hundreds of euro per month in fuel bills sim-ply to drive to and from

work. And let’s not forget that half of those euros go to the Government, thank you very much!

So, what electric cars are available that will work in the real world?

My first experience of an EV (electric vehicle) was a wonderful week with the Renault Kangoo Maxi Crew Van ZE.

The Kangoo is aimed squarely at the business sector, with tradesmen a particular focus, but it slotted into my family’s lifestyle perfectly.

I’ll admit from the outset that I do love driv-

ing vans, so I am a little biased. But, the fact is that you can accommodate a family and an enormous amount of stuff into this Kangoo.

If you simply consider what you need in a car, as opposed to what you think you want, the Kan-goo ticks just about every box.

This car is easy to drive, with acres of windscreen and mirrors giving an almost panoramic view of the road.

It won’t break any records in the accelera-tion department, but it easily moves, even full of family members in the back and gear in the boot.

The interior isn’t luxu-rious, but it is both mod-ern and attractive in its simplicity, and very, very comfortable.

Side access to the rear seats is via sliding doors which makes getting the kids in and out a joy.

The enormous boot has a split, two-door access,

the downside of which is the slightly impaired view in the rear-view mir-ror as a result of the door frames. But, it’s a small price to pay for such a useful payload - this thing can carry as many bikes, scooters and ‘Flikers’ as you can throw at it.

Obviously, one of the real attractions here is the savings you can make on fuel.

Once you have a charge point at your house, you can “fill up” this car for between €2 and €3. A full charge will translate into a range of about 170km.

If you plan on taking the Kangoo on holidays, you would certainly need to plan your route very carefully.

Not all electric vehicles can take a fast charge (a quick, 25-minute boost at certain charge points) and unfortunately the Kangoo falls into this category.

For any kind of dis-tance, it is important to plan a stop of a few hours at a charge point along

the way.As it happens, the

charge point at my home was not working properly the week I had the car, and I was left with only 25km of range left in the “tank”.

I was really stuck, as the depot where the car need-ed to go back to is on the other side of Dublin.

There are charge points around the city, but I couldn’t find my swipe card to use them, and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving Renault’s shiny new Kangoo at a public charge point unattended.

Enter Airside Renault in Swords. They are a few miles up the road from me, and when I called ahead, my new BFF, Paula, very kindly arranged for me to leave the Kangoo safely charging at one of their charge points.

I have to send a big thank-you to the team at Airside for their help on this one – they really did dig me out of a hole there!

So, the Kangoo van can carry loads of people and stuff in comfort, and it has no problem get-ting around – what’s the catch?

Even though the actual fuel cost is quite low, cur-rently electric vehicle owners need to pay about €75 (ex VAT) per month to lease their car battery.

Considering most people pay at least this much for a single tank of petrol at the moment, this is not an awful lot of money, but it does feel like a kind of stealth tax to keep the sticker price low.

Speaking of sticker prices, the ex-VAT price of the car is a very affordable €18,200.

No doubt these vehicles will be the van of choice for surfers, campers, and all sorts of festival-goers in the future.

But, for now, it would be very encouraging to see people embrace electric vehicles and to see more of them on the road.


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

‘Once you get used to the silent running of the electric engine, it’s as straightforward as a golf buggy to operate’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Exploring the famous gardens of Normandy� DAVID PHILLIPS

BEYOND the D-Day beaches and within easy reach of a rental car, Nor-mandy offers a unique side of France, with its medley of hidden gardens and chateaux steeped in colour and history.

Claude Monet’s house and garden, where he based himself for over 40 years, is a must see. Located 80km outside of Paris, the tiny village of Giverny can be visited on a day trip from Paris. A stunning array of tulips, gladioli, and irises colour the garden in front of the house.

“This is an ongoing project,” explains head gardener, James Priest. “Since 1976, we have been restoring the gar-

dens based on Monet’s designs and from the memories of people who had visited. It is a con-stant process of interpre-tation and reinterpreta-tion.”

A second adjoining garden boasts the pond and bridge made famous through Monet’s Water Lilies paintings. The house, with its bright pas-tel interiors, is also open to the public, and as well as commanding views of

the gardens, offers a rare insight into the family life of one of the fathers of French Impressionism.

A half-hour drive from Giverny, with the aid of a GPS or a good map, you’ll find the 18th-century Château de Miserey.

On the 20 acres that surround the house, a garden has been culti-vated that represents a journey through hell, pur-gatory, and heaven – with all manner of spiked and poisonous plants giving way to an impressive alley of roses and apple trees.

This is a much wilder space than the care-fully preened gardens of Giverny, and Mme De Romilly, the current owner, is an excellent host and a mine of infor-mation on the plants

and symbolism found throughout the property.

Another must visit is Château du Champ de Bataille, which has to be seen to be believed. The owner, interior designer James Garcia, has worked for 20 years to restore this 17th-century castle, and the result is an interior and exterior that offer a glimpse of the splen-dour of pre-Revolution France.

While privately occu-pied, the house and gar-dens are open to the public at weekends and through-out the summer, and pro-vide a rare opportunity to access an unparalleled collection of antiques and art, where every inch is filled with history.

For more contemporary art, the Jardins de Bois-Guilbert and Château de Vascoeuil both act as open air sculpture galleries set in stunning locations. The former hosts a collection by Jean-Marc de Pas, and presents an amazing bal-ance between art and nature, with the art pieces elegantly accentuating the wooded landscape.

There are many ongo-ing projects at work here: statues slowly being coated with moss will take decades to develop and age; while a ring of Giant Redwood, the pur-pose of which is to give a telescope effect into the night sky, will come to full effect around a cen-

Claude Monet’s Gardens,

Get your shimmying shoes on

for Shakefest in Tullamore FORGET Electric Picnic. The place to be for dance nuts and culture fiends this year is Char-leville Castle, Tullamore, Co Offaly, where one of the most intriguing festivals on the community calendar – the Shakefest – kicks off on Saturday May 26.

A celebration of multicultural dance stylings - in particular those from the Middle East and the Ori-ent -- the day-long event will also include a series of cultural and artistic workshops and perform-ances.

This year, the special guest instructor will be acclaimed Egyptian Oriental dancer Joana Saahi-rah, who’ll be giving a workshop on Egyptian his-tory and folklore, together with performances of some dazzling and interpretive Oriental dances.

Having delighted audiences with her shows in Cairo and around the world, this is one to watch for serious dance fans.

While catering to visitors of all ages, Shakefest has also cast its eye over the younger dance enthu-siasts, who can look forward to a special work-shop ‘Dance like Michael Jackson’ hosted by Jacko tribute act Declan Kiely.

Kids can also look forward to a bouncy castle, juggling and stiltwalking show by Stagecraft Ire-land, and a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

For the more adventurous dance fans, there’ll also be demonstration of Poi (involving swinging tethered weights through a variety of rhythmi-cal and geometric patterns) and Ribbon dancing (similar to rhythmic gymnastics, where the dancer twirls ribbons), Bachata (a hip-based three-step that originated in the Dominican Republic) and Argentinian Tango.

New to Shakefest this year is a live history sec-tion – where medieval re-enactors will be treating audiences to combat simulations of the Crusaders Knight’s Templar.

As the day draws to a close, visitors can enjoy the annual multicultural Hafla, followed by a spectacular fire show from The Red Embers and some 40s swing from The Bugle Babes.

Playing the day out the day will be the North Strand Kontra Band, with a mix of original and traditional material, influenced by the music of Romania and Bulgaria.

Tickets for Shakefest can be purchased on www.shakefest.net or www.brownpapertickets.com and range from €10 general admission, €10 camping, €20 family day pass or only €15 for evening entertainment. Gates open at 12pm. All proceeds will be going towards Charleville Castle Restoration Fund.

FastTravel

GazetteTTRAVELRAVEL22 GAZETTE 17 May 2012

tury from now.The Château de Vas-

coeuil boasts outdoor works by Vasarely, Coc-teau, and Dali against the backdrop of a 15th-cen-tury manor. The pieces here are modern, col-ourful, and bold and the interior also serves as an indoor exhibit space and museum.

There are dozens more parks, houses, and gardens to visit in close proximity, which will offer something to cater for all interests.

The Parc du Bois des Moutiers is an impecca-bly preserved house rich in esoteric symbolism and history, the Sham-rock Garden has the world’s largest collection of hydrangea, and Les Jardins Suspendus in Le Havre is a multi-million euro horticultural rede-velopment of a First World War fort.

Dotted through Nor-Château du Champ de Bataille offers a glimpse of the splendour of pre-Revolution

France

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

‘Dotted through Normandy there are plenty of hamlets and villages to stay’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

near the village of Giverny, were made famous by the artist’s Water Lilies paintings

AFTER years in the culinary dol-drums, Denmark has finally taken its rightful place alongside the world’s most mouth-watering desti-nations for foodies.

Boasting 13 Michelin-starred eateries and the capital Copen-hagen’s famous Noma restaurant (voted San Pellegrino’s World’s Best for the past three years), it’s now the place to be for people who are seri-ous about their food.

And this summer, the famous New Nordic Cuisine will take centre stage with exciting culinary festivals cropping up countrywide.

Whether island hopping in the archipelago or staying at a classic seaside hotel you’ll find new and inspiring palate pleasers - from Scandinavian island cuisine to local artisanal cheeses and homemade Danish cherry pie.

First up on the itinerary is Copen-hagen’s gastronomical quarter.

Once the capital’s meat packing district, it is now home to a trendy culinary scene where unconven-tional bars and hygge (the Danish term for cosy) restaurants are front and centre

If only the best will do, Noma in the capital (Strandgade 93 1401. Ph: 0045 32 96 32 97) is a must see — but book in advance to avoid disappointment.

Failing that, check out the dynamic Geranium restaurant (Per Henrik Lings Alle 4, 8, Copenhagen, Denmark. 0045 69 96 00 20) which also features on the list of San Pel-legrino’s world’s best – and the gas-tronomic Relae (Jaagersborgaade ( 44 2200 Koenhawn N Ph 0045 369 66609), voted Copenhagen’s best new restaurant in 2011.

SAS fly twice daily from Dublin to Copenhagen from €75 one way, including taxes and charges. To book, log on to flysas.ie.

TravelBriefs

Edited by

Mimi Murray


mandy there are plenty of hamlets and villages to stay, which function as great bases for explora-tion, and offer excellent cuisine.

The expansive green countryside gives per-fect soil and weather for apples, so you’ll find the tipple is cider rather than wine. Cheeses are a regional speciality and as you’re never far from the coast, fans of seafood will be in their element.

Aer Lingus operate daily flights from Dub-lin to Paris Charles de Gaulle. One-way fares start from €39.99. For more information, visit www.aerlingus.com

Particularly recom-mended is Hôtel Le Grand Cerf in Lyons-la-Foret, a sleepy pictur-esque village where you’ll feel completely removed from the hustle and bustle of the port towns http://www.grandcerf.fr/

The Château de Vascoeuil boasts outdoor works by Vasarely, Cocteau, and Dali

against the backdrop of a 15th Century manor

Denmark the destination for epicures


Home sweet homeJeff gets out of the house, trying to prove his brother’s wife (Judy Greer) is playing away from home

GoingOUT

GazetteENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

Jason Segel is the man of the moment, but is this offbeat indie flick able to match Kermit and company?

�THE PAVILION THEATRE 01 231 2929Hairy Maclary and Friends

OUT of the gate and off for a walk, went Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy. Anyone with young children will recognise these immortal words instantly as the opening lines of the book Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd. With music, singing and several of your favourite Hairy Maclary stories, this show is a must-see for the whole family. Running for two shows on Saturday May 19 at 1.30pm and 3.30pm, tickets are priced at €10 and €8.

MILL THEATRE 01 296 9340 The Importance of Being Earnest

IN its 21st Anniversary year, Rathfarnham Theatre Group is delighted to stage this timeless and much loved classic in its most lavish production to date. Wilde, at his sharpest, weaves a tale of deceit regarding the courtship between two young men about town and two beautiful strong minded young ladies, which is laced with wit, elegance and paradox. The show takes place at 8pm from Tuesday May, 22 to Saturday, May 26. Tickets are priced at €15/12 For full list of dates for the great shows, see www.milltheatre.ie.

CIVIC THEATRE 01 462 7477Just a Song At Twilight

COME and have a good sing along to the Irish songs of a gentler era when Fil Campbell plays at the Civic. Fil presents an affectionate tribute to the Irish folk songs that generations of Irish grew up with – songs that were recorded by women like Delia Murphy, Bridie Gallagher whose lives Fil documented in her RTE documentary series Songbirds. The show runs on Tuesday, May 22 for just two shows, with a special Bealtaine performance at 3pm and a show at 8pm with admission €16/€12 conc.

DRAIOCHT 01 885 2622Chalk & Cheese

ERIC Lalor and Gearoid Farrelly are two of Ireland’s most in-demand comedians. While they’re both funny chaps, they couldn’t be more different. On this tour they will fight over the music in the dressing room, slag each others driving and say “you’re not wearing that on stage are you?” a lot. The only thing they agree on is that the audience will have a great night of comedy - two headliners for the price of one. Catch this show at 8.15pm on Thursday, May 24, with tickets costing €12.

� PAUL HOSFORD

HAVING stuck close to the biggest film of the week for the last fort-night, I felt it was time to stretch my indie legs a little this week.

That means that while Tim Burton and Jonny Depp rule all in Dark Shadows, my watch-ing has consisted of a Zac Efron movie (the almost-average The Lucky One) and a sweet little indie movie, Jeff Who Lives At Home.

Coming from the Duplass brothers, Jay and Mark, this rather odd drama comedy fol-lows the style and pace of their 2010 effort, Cyrus.

In that film a mem-ber of the Judd Apatow travelling comedy show played a socially awk-ward, bordeline narcis-sist who really should have left home by now.

In Jeff... a member of the Judd Apatow travel-

ling comedy show plays a socially awkward, bordeline narcissist who really should have left home by now.

Ok, so the boys stay with what they know.

This time around, however, it is Jason Segel taking the lead from Cyrus’ Jonah Hill.

In Cyrus, Hill was the obstacle to mother Marisa Tomei’s relation-ship with John C Reilly.

In Jeff... Segel is the obstacle to basically every relationship there is.

A n u n e m p l o y e d man-child who lives in

his mother’s basement philosophising on life, the universe and eve-rything in it, up to and including the prospect that maybe there are no wrong numbers.

Jeff is unhappy that he has not found his purpose in life and is desperate to attain his destiny.

A chance, or maybe not, meeting with his brother gives him a an opportunity to maybe, just maybe, do some-thing big for the first time in his life.

But, just what that is remains elusive for both

Jeff and the audience.Though it looks good

and contains some funny moments, the story itself never really settles into a rhythm.

Indeed, that is to sug-gest there is a story beyond the basic premise that Jeff lives with his mother and has not yet found his destiny.

From the moment Helms arrives on screen, however, a lot of that can be forgotten, such is the warmth and depth of his relationship with Segel.

Helms has begun to carve himself a decent career as Hollywood’s go-to prissy but ultimately lovable square and here it is no exception.

While Jeff has yet to leave the familial home, Helms Pat isn’t exactly faring much better.

He is, according to Jeff, “just drifting through this life”, being suckered into buying a Porsche while his wife (Greer) may or may not be having an

affair.The brothers’ attempts

to expose the infidelity bring some of the film’s highlights as their farcical efforts at ensnarement become more and more desperate.

Susan Sarandon, play-ing a supporting role as the (man)boys’ mother is outstanding.

She gives the film the emotional anchor that allows Segel and Helms the latitude to indulge their comedic sensibili-ties.

There is a sub-plot involving a secret admir-er for Sarandon that feels shoehorned in purely to fill out the meagre run-ning time, but any excuse to keep these character’s on screen is welcome.

Segel is fast-establish-ing himself as comedic giant, with The Muppets establishing him on the A-List and this film will do nothing to harm that as the big lovable lug works his charm again.

FILM OF THE WEEK: Jeff Who Lives At Home�� (15A) 82 mins

OUR VERDICT:IT CAN get cumbersome at times and the pace can sag a little, but sticking with it is a reward in itself. Underneath the slackers pace is a heart of gold as Helms and Segel have a real chemistry, displaying a tenderness towards each other that reveals the true nature of brotherhood. Watch also for a star turn from Susan Sarandon as their mother.

Director: Jay Duplass, Mark DuplassStarring: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer, Susan Sarandon, Rae Dawn Chong, Evan Ross


GazetteGAMINGGAMING

� SHANE DILLON

SEEING as my other pieces here this week have been connected to buildings and landscapes (with Angry Birds, below, about shattering them, and Minecraft, right, about exploring and con-structing), I thought I’d pick out a fairly recent PC title that’s also well worth exploring.

There’s a long-running debate that games can’t be regarded as “Art”, although, in recent years, several key titles have greatly strengthened the case that they can, and are, with one such critically-acclaimed title, Dear Esther , both opening eyes and raising

eyebrows, for some, at its engaging, atmospheric presentation.

For those with a pow-erful PC rig – and, make no mistake, Dear Esther makes some serious demands for enough graphic and processing power to reveal her mys-teries – the title creates a bizarre yet beautiful trip around a remote Hebri-dean island.

Remote, deserted and abandoned ... yet not quite an empty island, as the player/protaganist discovers on his travels, with minor events having perplexing weight, adding to his confusion about why he is there – and who’s Esther, anyway?

Whether wandering

past ruined boats on wind-blasted beaches, picking a path along narrow cliffside paths, watching the cold waters of the North Atlantic lap under a pale moon, exploring crumbling cottages by torchlight or stumbling through eerie caves, Dear Esther cre-ates a sense of physical, relatable space that few titles can match, with the barren landscape around the small island feeling tangibly real.

However, what makes the title so memorable are the triggered scraps of story and character mon-ologues that one hears at certain points around the island; an overall story that’s randomly revealed

in scraps and whispers.In the end, the player

– if “player” and “play” are the right words for the actions of exploring an open world with no objectives, no conflict, nothing more to do than to explore, to see and to learn – undertakes a jour-ney with more thought, and lasting effect, than a dozen loud shooters.

It has been this aspect that struck a chord with many critics, as well as with a range of non-gaming media who also picked up on Dear Esther’s charms, ranging from leading psychol-ogy magazines to some heavyweight business press; all fascinated by “an experience”, rather

than by “a game”.That’s an impressive

amount of respect for a title which originally started out as an explo-ration of what a stand-ard first-person game engine could achieve, or if it could be pushed to create another type of player-engagement.

In creating a modern ghost story, of sorts, for a character who may be as haunted as the ethereal, cold, solitary landscape around him, Dear Esther has crafted an experience that somehow transcends the medium, and makes a solid case for the Games As Art debate.

Dear Esther is available via Steam digital down-load.

Hebridean islands are not an obvious choice for a videogame setting, yet the

multi award-winning PC title, Dear Esther, sets out not just to redefine what a

‘game’ can be, but also to create a new type of player-engagement

Something to really get stuck intoREADERS may feel like kicking me into a deep, deep cave for mentioning this title yet again, but Minecraft has just been released on the XBox 360, priced 1600 Microsoft Points, marking a strong highlight of the 360’s notable LIVE Arcade series

As this is probably about the 2,714th time I’ve mentioned Minecraft here, I’m sure many readers already know that it’s probably the greatest “sandbox” game ever, with gamers left to make up their own gameplay on randomly-generated worlds full of cube-shaped materials, as they chop down trees, explore cav-erns, mine metals and craft all kinds of tools and items to make their world ever more impressive or do whatever they want to do – so, I need hardly repeat such noteworthy points again, here.

Not quite as expansive or as open as its PC big brother, the XBox 360 is, however, a much more accessible beast, with simplistic yet distinctive graphics, freeform gameplay that the gamer cre-ates, and, best of all, multiplayer fun, all of which makes it a title well worth digging into ...

Bytesandpieces

Exploring a concept

Something Angry that will make some people happy

Anotherweebyte...

AS THE public face (for many) of casual gaming, and as a love-it-or-hate-it brand that practically every-

body’s grandmother has played at this stage, Angry Birds has flapped onto this page

with regular updates.Now, in not-entirely-surprising

news, its developer, Roxio, has something to really squawk about – the overall franchise has been downloaded one billion times, thanks to appearing on (approximately) 2,347

platforms in lots of itera-tions. Angry news to make

some people happy, indeed.

Zynga’s move to draw some extra

value from sponsorship dealANOTHER app that generated lots of interest recently, Draw Some-thing has kept millions busy since being bought by Zynga for an esti-mated $210 million.

Perhaps in a reaction to the sharp drop in

users following the purchase

(with daily active users

dropping from 14.3 million to

10.4 million), as well as being an interesting marketing move, Zynga is working on sponsored challenges, with players being asked to draw well-known brands, and their imagery, ranging from KFC to Nike.

It could be a great way to reinvigorate the user base, as well as being a useful way to generate revenues, if Zynga can draw more companies into the project.


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THE prize of a lifetime is on offer at this week-end’s Tom Byrne Memo-rial race, which is taking place at 11am on May 20 in Lucan.

One lucky entrant will recieve, in his or her goody bag after the race, a pair of Olympic track and field tickets for London 2012. This special prize comes courtesy of Cad-bury, an Olympic Games sponsor.

With race entry limited to just 400 athletes, early entry is strongly advised, especially with such a unique prize up for grabs.

The 5km race route takes in 3km of Griffeen Park in Lucan, and it fin-ishes on the Lucan Har-riers track on Newcastle Road.

Senator Eamonn Cogh-lan and local TD Derek Keating will be starting the 2012 race, which is held in honour of one of the founding members

of Lucan Harriers, Tom Byrne.

The race starts and finishes on Esker track in Lucan and is one of the few, if not the only, road races in the country which finishes on a track. This really adds to the atmosphere at the finish, since the race is often still undecided as the leaders come onto the track for the final sprint in front of a big crowd.

This 5k is an event for anyone, from fun runners

ATHLETICS: ANNUAL MEMORIAL RACE SET TO SEE 400 RUNNERS TAKE TO THE ROADS

The Tom Byrne Memorial road race takes place from 11am this Sunday (May 20)

Olympic tickets on offer at the Tom Byrne race

to elite athletes to keep fit enthusiasts to walkers, footballers, joggers, and everyone in between.

Amongst previous men’s winners have been Olympians Gerry Healy and Cormac Finnerty,

and Peter Matthews of DSD who has repre-sented Ireland on many occasions at World and European Cross Country Championships.

Women’s champions have included Lucan Har-

riers’ own Niamh Beirne (multiple international for Ireland track and cross country), Emer Martin of Sportsworld and Irish cross country interna-tional, Orla O’Mahony of Raheny Shamrocks.

The online entry at www.runireland.ie is only €12 or €15 on race day.

Visit www.tombyrne memorialrace.com or call Derry McVeigh at 086 8322214 for more infor-mation.

GazetteSPORTJACKMAN BEGINS: JACKMAN BEGINS: Leinster legend on Leinster legend on his life in Dublin’s his life in Dublin’s rugby scene: rugby scene: Page 29Page 29


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O L L I E C a m p b e l l believes Leinster are pushing the boundaries of what can be done in European club rugby as they go in search of a third Heineken Cup title in four years this weekend, facing Ulster in Twickenham on Sat-urday.

The Malahide native was speaking at the

launch of Fingal Sport-ing Heroes, a new book in which the former Irish out-half is one of the marquee names.

He describes his home village as “a playground”, one which was a mecca for helping him and his friends develop their passion for sports.

It led to an incredible career for Ollie, lining out 22 times for Ireland while also taking in a number of Lions tours, but he is delighted to be included in a celebration of not just the recently famous, but the history of sport in the locality.

“They say you learn something every day. I like to think I am a bit of a student of the game, but I had never heard of George Thomas Ham-let.

“I won 22 caps for

Ireland which is a mod-est total by the time I was playing, but Ham-let from Balbriggan, in the early 1900s, won 30 caps and is the most capped Fingallian who, I’m ashamed to day, I’d never heard of.

“It is an absolute hon-our to be included in this Fingal Sporting Heroes.

“Some of the names in this book are names that I know very well.

“You see Joe Carr in the book – the legend of Irish golf – Harry Brad-shaw, Mary McKenna, Roddy Carr – I’ve liter-ally met all of them at some stage in my life.

“Barney Rock, Ciaran Duff, Sinead Aherne — only from up the road — from the GAA. Joe Caprani, Mr Cricket.

“All the names in this book are names I grew up with.”

He is now hoping to see more heroes in the making as Leinster travel to London as they con-tinue to set new stand-ards.

“I would never have thought in my wildest dreams that Irish rugby would have the profile it has, never mind the suc-cess. How far Leinster have come in six years … Six years ago, Michael Cheika arrived, Lein-ster were togging out in Old Belvedere in three portacabins. Six years later, they are on the verge of winning a third Heineken Cup and mov-ing into a state of the art, probably the best rugby facility in Europe.

“I was in Edinburgh the first time they won the Heineken Cup final.

“Joe Schmidt and the Leinster team have reju-venated the possibilities of rugby. They are show-ing how rugby can be played so that is why I hope they can become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Leicester.”

While he says the landscape has changed for the blues, he says the disparaging talk of the old interpro series is slightly exaggerated these days.

“People always talk about the old interpros about a man and a dog at the matches. That isn’t actually the case. We’d play in Lansdowne road and there could be

3,000 people there and it seemed empty.

“With my hand on my heart, I can safely say some of my fondest memories of my whole rugby career were with Leinster. With the U-19s, playing some of the best rugby that I was ever involved with; playing with the Leinster senior team, we won five inter-pro championships in a row, unbeaten in that time.

“It encouraged Ron-nie Dawson – captain of the Lions in 1959, was on the IRB and so on – to write to Mick Doyle, our Leinster coach at the time, after we beat Ulster by 30 points, to tell him it was some of the best rugby he had ever seen in his life.”

Ollie, Ollie, Ollie! Oi! Oi! Oi!

RUGBY: IRELAND AND LI0NS LEGEND AT FINGAL SPORTING HISTORY LAUNCH

Ollie Campbell is enthusiastic about Leinster’s chances as he talks to Stephen Findlater of GazetteSport

FastSport

Capital of European rugby ’13DUBLIN is set to become the capital of European club rugby next year after it was announced that the city will host both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup finals in May 2013.

Tournament organisers, ERC, announced that the RDS will be the venue for the Amlin Challenge Cup final on Friday, 17 May, 2013, with the Heineken Cup going ahead the next day at the Aviva Stadium.

With both 2013 finals being played in close proximity, up to 70,000 supporters will have the oppor-tunity to visit the city on an unmissable weekend of Euro-pean club rugby.


LEAVING home is not likely to leave Bernard Jackman with too many headaches over his now divided rugby loyalties.

The former Coolmine head coach will once again leave his home province next year in pur-suit of a new rugby chal-lenge, this time taking on the top job at Grenoble.

The 2009 Heineken Cup winner will step up to the head coaches’ posi-tion, having worked this season as defensive coach on a consultancy basis for the French side.

Working with the club for eight days each month paid dividends for Gre-noble – they went from conceding 30 tries a year to letting just 13 slip this term – and now Jackman

is getting ready to face what will be the biggest test of his career.

But he remains an ardent Leinster fan, mak-ing the last few weeks exceptionally busy, divid-ing his time between set-ting up home in Eastern

France and getting set for May 19’s Heineken Cup final.

He travels to Twicken-ham as a fan, but there was a dilemma he ini-tially struggled with when he stepped back from

playing.“Human nature is you

want to be playing. But last year’s semi-final got me back as a fan again,” he told GazetteSport at the Heineken Star Satur-day media day.

“Now I’m coaching

professionally, I have to have my coaching head on with Grenoble and, with my heart, Leinster are my team and I hope they win it again.”

Getting the Grenoble gig is part of Jackman’s coaching progression, one that he has been meticu-lously building.

His CV includes two big years at Ashbrook with Coolmine between 2007 and 2009, helping the club’s progression to Leinster League Division One and within touching distance of senior rugby.

Along with spells with Newbridge and Tullow, it is a time of which he speaks with fondness, all three clubs winning pro-motion during his tenure.

“I like coaching junior rugby. It’s very honest and uncomplicated. You give the guys a plan and a goal and you work towards it.

“Big steps, small steps, it depends on the players you have. Coolmine had very good skill levels, so it

was basically giving them a collective hardness.

“Once they got that, they could beat anyone. I really enjoyed it, a really young club with no poli-tics.”

He adds that he feels, with Donal Crotty taking the coaching reins, the Dublin 15 club have what it takes not just to get into the Ulster Bank league, but also to move up to Division 2A.

Since his Ashbrook time, he has stepped up incrementally, taking on the top job at Clontarf before linking up with Grenoble.

They will play next sea-son in France’s top 14, offering a superb top-lev-el opportunity, especially with big posts limited in Ireland due to the provin-cial system.

“Getting that oppor-tunity in Ireland is hard because there’s only four teams and all are on an upward curve. They don’t want to take a risk on a guy who is just starting off.

“I’ve always been willing to travel or drop down a level to learn. I went to Connacht twice to improve. I went to Sale to improve. I coached Coolmine, Newbridge, Tullow because I wanted to develop.

“To get a chance to go to France at that level is huge. To coach in a for-eign language will be a challenge, but the lack of French will hopefully make me a better commu-

Dark blue knight on club crusadeHis heart remains with Leinster, but Bernard Jackman is set to face the biggest test of his career with Grenoble, writes STEPHEN FINDLATER

Former Heineken Cup winner Bernard Jackman was

in Dublin to officially launch Heineken Star Saturday

which takes place this weekend, on May 19

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

‘You have to break out and compete on an international stage and be the best. That’s the challenge’-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FastSport

FORMER Olympic champion, Kip Keino will fire the starting gun for what will be an exciting and unique athletics meet at Morton Stadium next weekend, which forms part of Africa Week 2012.

SARI are partnering with the Dublin Mul-ticultural Resource Centre, Cradle, Integrated Academy for Athletics Performance and the Integration Centre for the One Race Human Race Africa Week athletics event.

The aim of the event is to introduce the sport of athletics to the community through this inter-cultural family event.

Africa Week 2012, which will run from May 21 to 27, will provide a high-profile platform for the unique athletics meet on the penultimate day, May 26, from 9am to 6pm.

Over 500 people are expected to gather at Morton Stadium to hear the gun start a full day of track and field events.

Most of the athletes will be drawn from the African diaspora, but in true intercultural style, the line-ups will be inclusively global and local.

The organisers, that include a host of sports and community NGOs, hope to raise awareness among the public of the benefits of joining their local athletics clubs.

It is no coincidence that two of the invited guests of honour hail from the Horn of Africa. Former Olympic champion, Kipchoge Keino (www.kipkeinofoundation.co.ke ), will fire the first starting gun, while current World champion, Mo Farah (www.mofarahfoundation.co.uk) is on Olympic duty, but said: “As a sportsman, I can think of no better way to celebrate Africa Week.”

As part of the fundraising intiative for the One Race Human Race event, SARI are holding a prize draw with the very special prize of round-trip flights for two to the African island of Zanzi-bar, with seven nights at the Kichanga Lodge, a beautiful hotel on the east coast.

Tickets are €20 each, and the winning ticket will be drawn on May 26 by guest of honour, Kip Keino. For more information, see www.sari.ie.

Legend Keino to open Africa Week athletics

nicator long-term. I want to use France to develop myself and come back to Ireland as a good coach.”

While many lament another Irish coach leav-ing these shores in order to get a high-grade posting while outsiders fill the top provincial jobs, Jackman is not overly perturbed.

“The reason they are going for these guys is because they have the top grade experience. The Irish provinces are under so much pressure to deliver results that they won’t take a chance.

“But if I have the expe-rience from France or England, I’d expect a fair crack at it but I’d only want to get a job if I’m the best candidate, not because I’m Irish.

“You’ve got to be pre-pared to move to build an international profile. There’s no reason we can’t go over to New Zealand or Australia, as long as you bring some skills and are good enough.

“You have to break out of the Leinster bubble and compete on an inter-national stage and be the best of those. That’s the challenge.”

Heineken invites rugby and soccer fans to enjoy the UEFA Champions League final and the Heineken Cup finals in the pub - the best sta-dium on earth. For par-ticipating Heineken Star Saturday venues across Ireland check out: www.heineken.ie/starsaturday

GazetteSportSport


FastSport


KCMG’s Gary Thomp-son will resume his Jap-anese Formula Three campaign at the 2.983 mile, Motegi circuit this weekend, as he aims to replicate his debut win

in the championship from 2011.

The Aviation Dis-play and Cebu Pacific Air backed Dubliner, established himself as a key front-runner in the opening rounds last time out at Suzuka, qualifying on the sec-ond row of the grid for both races, in fourth and third respectively.

Despite his grid posi-tioning for rounds one and two of the series, Thompson would only manage to complete round two in fourth position, after a col-lision with Katsuta, ended his hopes of a podium finish.

Ahead of Motegi this weekend, Thompson remains confident of a strong showing, on a circuit that holds some brilliant memories for him from 2011.

“I’m really looking forward to returning to Motegi this weekend because it is where I got my first victory in Japa-nese Formula Three,” explained Thompson.

“I think that we have the potential to be very quick there this week-end as we have changed to the F307 chassis, which I was very quick in around here last year.

“The circuit has a

very nice flow to it, pro-viding everything that you would want from a circuit.

“I just hope that I can make myself some more good memories and exit the weekend with two wins to bolster my posi-tion in the champion-ship.”

Thompson got his Japanese Formula Three campaign off to a mixed star t in the season opener at the Suzuka International Circuit, the title challenger leav-ing the weekend with a DNF and fourth posi-tion, in rounds one and two respectively, at the Japanese circuit.

Thompson had a challenging qualifying session, using the car for the first time in wet conditions, but thanks to the tremendous hard work from the SGC by KCMG team, managed to qualify fourth and third for rounds one and two.

For more updates on Gary’s progress throughout the season, keep an eye on KCMG’s Facebook page or fol-low @KCmotorgroup on Twitter.

You can also follow Gary Thompson on www.garythompson-racing.com for all the latest news.

Thompson aiming for F3 win

MOTOR RACING: LOCAL DRIVER HOPES TO BOUNCE BACK

Gary Thompson got off to a disappointing opening to the season at Suzuka but aims for better things at Motegi this weekend

Magic Moynihan: Malahide CS star takes Open titleGAVIN Moynihan from The Island Golf Club was the winner of the 2012 Irish Amateur Open Championship at Royal Dublin Golf Club last week.

The fifth year student from Malahide Com-munity School played well in 45kph gusts at the Dollymount links to win by one from Robin Kind and, in doing so, became the youngest ever Irishman to win the title.

Last month, he won the coveted Peter McEvoy Trophy at Copt Heath near Birming-ham, a title that Lee Westwood and Justin Rose have both won.

Golden weekend for Malahide basketballMALAHIDE recorded a clean sweep in the Dub-lin Community Games basketball finals last week when their Mixed Under-11, Girls’ Under-13, Boys’ Under-13 and Girls’ Under-16 teams all claimed the gold medal.

The most exciting game of the day had to be the Girls’ Under-13 final between Malahide and Clondalkin. Both teams matched each other point for point, and with just 27 seconds left, it was 21-21 as both teams shot furiously at the basket.

Five minutes of extra time was required but nei-ther team found the basket during normal play. It was Malahide that emerged with nerves of steel, scoring one single point in the last second of extra time, bringing the score to 22-21.


CLUB NOTICEBOARD

U-12 DIVISION 1St Sylvester’s 3-6

St Vincent’s 3-9


ST SYLVESTER’S U-12 footballers were out in force again this week with a series of games in which they showed their promise for the years to come.

The A side played out a keenly-contested game against St Vincent’s with both sides giving 100 percent. Despite missing a number of players, the team that was picked did the club proud.

There were some hard but fair challenges from both sides, with fine field-ing on display by Alan Byrne, Josh Reinhardt and Harry Barnes for the home side.

Cathal Rainey was solid between the posts and was unfortunate to concede one goal in par-ticular.

Peter Murphy did a great marking job on St Vincent’s most danger-

ous forward, and some surging runs out of defence from John Glee-son relieved the pressure on the Sylvester’s back line on a number of occa-sions.

David McCormack worked hard in midfield, Luke Peyton and Liam Shalloe won some good ball up front, and there were some great scores from Gavin Hydes (1-2), Liam Foley (2-1) and Anthony Cox (0-3).

Sean Murphy, Aaron Walsh and Sean Loner-gan acquitted themselves well when they joined the action.

L i am Fo ley was involved in a goal-mouth incident early in the game which resulted in some fine bandage work from Ger Lonergan, allow-ing Foley to retun to the action and score two val-uable goals that almost tore a hole in the back of the Vincent’s net.

The side also played against a very determined St Oliver Plunkett’s team

in Broomfield last week. It was a closely-

fought match all the way through, and Syl’s nar-rowed the lead to a sin-gle point with only two minutes remaining after Liam Shalloe found the net.

Plunkett’s, however, got a late point and scored a goal in the last minute against the run of play - St Sylvester’s had camped in their oppo-nents’ half for the final 15 minutes.

The tie ended 1-7 to 3-6 in the Ashtown club’s favour.

At Bridgefield, the Malahide club’s second and third teams were up against Na Fianna 3 and

St Peregrine’s 2 team respectively.

The Bs were in fine form and notched up a magnificent score of 4-19, Na Fianna ending with 1-3.

However, the game of the day was the C match against St Peregrine’s.

It was nail-biting stuff that went right down to the wire.

Great performances all over the pitch from the likes of Adam Reilly, Sean O’Donnell, Paul Finn and Andrew Des-mond, to name but a few, contributed to St Sylvest-er’s success.

Despite a late Per-egrine’s goal, Syl’s held on to win by a point.

FOOTBALL: U-12S IN MULTIPLE MATCH ACTION

St Oliver Plunkett’s NS won the Cumann na mBunscoil Senior Hurling Shield final at Croke Park when they

defeated Scoil Mobhi of Glasnevin 2-8 to 1-5

Syl’s youths show their potential

LADIES’ intermediate footbal l

championship: St Sylvester’s 4-13,

Raheny 1-8. The ladies team had a

very good championship victory

over their perennial rivals, Raheny,

in Broomfield last Wednesday. They

play Garda this week for a place in

the semi-final.

IHC: St Sylvester’s 3-10, St Vin-

cent’s 0-10. The intermediate hurl-

ers maintained their 100 percent

record with a very strong showing

against Vincent’s in this champion-

ship clash.

Congratulations to St Ol iver

Plunkett’s School on winning the

Cumann na mBunscoil senior hurl-

ing shield final at Croke Park last

week.

They defeated Scoil Mobhi of Glas-

nevin 2-8 to 1-5. Well done everyone

concerned.

This week’s fixtures include, in the

Minor Hurling League, St Sylvester’s

V Ballinteer St John’s in Broomfield

on Sunday, May 20 at 11am.

The Lotto jackpot this week is

€2,200. Play and win on www.stsyl-

vesters.ie

We are sad to report the pass-

ing of Anne Reilly, wife of our past

chairman, Brendan, and a great

supporter of St Sylvester’s. May

she rest in peace.

ST SYLVESTER’S

WE ARE hosting a senior champion-

ship game in Rolestown on Friday,

May 18, Skerries vs St Anne’s.

Anyone that can help out, please

let Declan know on 086 267 3630.

We are running our predictions

for the Provincial Championships

again.

Entry costs only €5, and forms

are available from your mentor

or committee member or can be

downloaded from www.f ingal-

ravens.com.

C o m p l e t e d f o r m s m u s t b e

returned to a committee member

by May 19.

Club membership for 2012 is now

overdue. Non-paid up members

(adult and juvenile) will not be per-

mitted to play until five days after

their membership is paid.

We are holding our golf classic in

Swords Open on Saturday, June 2.

To book your tee-times, please con-

tact Pat Kinsella on 087 931 3045.

Anyone who would like to sponsor

a tee-box or a prize, please contact

Maura Norton on 087 993 6458.

We play Ballyboughal in the jun-

ior D championship next Sunday at

3pm in Rolestown.

Huge thanks to all the parents

who helped make the U-14 Feile such

a great day.

Well done to the four lads who have

been call back for trials with the

Dublin U-13 development squad.

Thanks to Mark Farrell for all the

work he has done up at our club

grounds.

Lotto: Numbers drawn were 10, 11,

13 and 36. There was no winner.

€20 to Mary Connelly, Elaine Casey

and Pat McDonagh.

FINGALLIANSTHE club will host a hurling festival

this week in Balheary. U7 and U8s

will play from 6 to 7pm, U-9 and

U-10s from 7 to 8pm, and U-11, U-12

and U-13s from 8 to 9pm. Further

information from simon.lambert.

[email protected]

A big thank-you to the Dublin sen-

ior hurlers and footballers who

took part in a open training ses-

sion in Lawless Park last Friday

evening.

The club and all Dublin supporters

would like to thank both panels for

the time.

Hurling Feile: Fingallians’ U-14s

play in group B of the Div 1 Dublin

hurling feile next Saturday.

As hosts, we welcome Ballyboden

St Enda’s, Na Fianna and St Brigid’s

to Balheary.

The three group games start at

10.30am. This is the first time the

club have played in the Hurling

Feile, Div 1.

Congratulations to Labhaoise

Brady and Laura Dempsey who

have been called into the U-12 Dub-

lin development squad after some

impressive league performances.

Our Irish conversation group

meets each Wednesday at 9pm

in the clubhouse. All levels, from

beginners upward, are welcome.

This is a great, free service pro-

vided by the club and is open to

everyone.

Fingallians Golf Society’s next

outing is on Friday, May 25 in Sker-

ries Golf Club.

The tee is booked from 2.15 to

3.30pm and is limited to 30 places.

The timesheet is now available in

the club.

The bloodbank will visit the club

on June 6 and 7 from 5 to 8.30pm.

FINGAL RAVENS

Liam Foley battled back from injury for Sylvester’s

ALL OF YOUR MALAHIDE SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 27-31 MAY 17, 2012

YOUNG GUNS: St Sylvester’s rising stars

enjoy busy weekends of GAA action P31 Ga

zetteSPORT


MALAHIDE sailors picked off two huge results as Scott Flanigan, working with Ger Owens, secured a berth at the London Olympics in the 470 class on Tuesday afternoon as they got into the gold fleet at the world championships in Bar-celona.

They began on Sunday with a fifth place fin-ish after a long delay to get afloat with no sta-ble breeze available and they continued with an eleventh, ninth and tenth place finish in a tricky 16-knot wind with some big swell and chop.

A tenth and 13th place finish on Tuesday after-noon meant they consolidated their place in the gold fleet which meant they were in amongst the top nations and above the cut-off for the Olympic places.

An additional seven nation places are up for grabs in addition to the 20 that were allocated in 2011. They lay 24th overall after day three when the 95 boats were now split into gold, silver and bronze fleets. Owens and Flanigan are in the

gold fleet and with the guarantee that they can-not fall lower than the seventh required nation thus securing their place in the Games.

James O’Callaghan, ISA Performance Director remarked: “Ger and Scott fully deserve this. They sailed a great qualifying series to secure qualifica-tion early. It means we now have a five-boat Irish team going to London which is a great achieve-ment.”

In doing so, they became the fifth Irish boat to qualify for the Olympic Games this year which get under way in late July.

It followed up Flanigan’s already qualified near neighbour David Burrows, in partnership with Peter O’Leary just missed out on a medal last week in Hyeres, France as they finished fourth overall at the Star World Championships, remaining right in contention until the last.

While they ultimately just missed out on a medal, the showing bodes well for next August when they travel to the Olympic Games.

Commenting on the Star performance, ISA performance director James O’Callaghan stated:

‘When this event is reviewed it will be regarded as excellent preparations for the Olympics in a year when this is the only event that matters.

“Yet again Team O’Leary Burrows have prov-en that they are contenders. This event was not theirs, a situation they will want to rectify in August.”

They finished 14th out of a fleet of 72 in the final race which saw upheavals for all the main players. Great Britain’s Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, who were the regatta leaders for most of the week, finished in second place after scor-ing 38th in today’s race, one place ahead of Bra-zil’s Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada, who won the championship.

Denmark’s Michael Hestbaek and Claus Olsen jumped from fifth position in the regatta to win bronze after a third place finish today.

The Irish pair were third going into the day of racing as they finished 18th in the fifth race of the Star World Championships in Hyeres, France just one place behind event leaders Percy and Simpson.

Flanigan nails Flanigan nails Olympic berthOlympic berthMalahide youngster and Ger Owens get into world championship gold fleet to secure London ticket

Ger Owens (left) and local sailor Scott Flanigan are going to the London Olympics in the 470 class

DARK BLUE KNIGHT:Leinster hero bound for Grenoble stint P29

malahide

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