Dundrum

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

MOTORS ........................18

BUSINESS .................... 21

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

ENTERTAINMENT ........ 24

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

Rugby: Old Wesley claim the Leinster Senior League titlePage 32

RECYCLE THIS COPY. KEEP DUBLIN TIDY.

INSIDE: Looking back at imperalism in the Ardilaun Lecture P2

HERE WE GO-HO-HO: Santa and the Gazette team look back at 2011 Page 3

Holy Trinity NS set to get new buildingsMinister Ruairi Quinn announces works due in 2012

LAURA WEBB

A LENGTHY campaign by teachers and parents to con-struct a permanent building for Holy Trinity National School in Leopardstown came to an end this week, fol-lowing the announcement by the Minister for Education,

Ruairi Quinn, that work on a new school building will get under way, next year.

Welcoming the announce-ment, Fine Gael TD for Dub-lin South, Peter Mathews, said: “Holy Trinity is in dire need of a permanent school building. At present, 161 pupils are crammed into nine

pre-fabricated buildings.“I welcome the announce-

ment by Minister Quinn, as I was very surprised that the Holy Trinity National School in Leopardstown was not included in the Minister’s list of school buildings last June,” he said.

Full Story on Page 4

Their crowning glory: Fun with dramatic partsSTRIKING a suitably dramatic pose, these young actors put on a highly-entertaining show for The Gazette when we called to see their final dress rehearsal for their Christmas pantomime, Nursery Crimes. These, and the other young stars of Drama Fanatics, were busy rehearsing at Loreto Community Centre, Churchtown, where they sang, dance – and struck dramatic poses, of course – for their show.

Picture: Geraldine Woods

Full Gallery on Page 8

FREE GAZETTEDundrum

A FESTIVE DOUBLE EDITION • DECEMBER 22 & 29, 2011

Sports Awards: December’s nominees are announcedPage 29

2 DUNDRUM GAZETTE 22 & 29 December 2011

EDUCATION Alexandra College’s annual Ardilaun Lecture

Molly O’Leary, Rachel Healy, Ali Donnellan, Lucy Watters, Chloe Laird and Aoife O’Hagan. Pictures: Geraldine Woods

British Imperialism revisited ...L

EAVING Cert students at Alexandra College, Mill-town, gave a warm welcome to Dr Christopher Prior when he visited the school recently to deliver the

2011 Ardilaun History Lecture.Dr Prior, a lecturer in UCD’s School of History and

Archives, whose specialist knowledge and expertise is based on the British Empire, delivered a fascinat-ing lecture on British imperialism: Crisis, conflict and

development, 1945 – 1960. He discussed how, following World War 2, the British empire faced rapid changes and challenges in the post-war global setting.

This year’s Ardilaun History lecture was presented to the students as part of their history studies for the Leav-ing Certificate, with the students asking Dr Prior some insightful questions, continuing the legacy of the Ardi-laun Lecture, which dates from 1922.

EAST AFRICA: LOCAL WOMAN WITNESSES EFFECTS OF FOOD CRISIS

Geraldine’s ‘inspiring’ visit to Ethiopia

STAFF REPORTER

A TERENURE local who visited Ethiopia recently with the international children’s charity Plan Ireland to witness first-hand the effects of the East Africa food crisis, has described her time spent in the country as “truly inspiring and eye opening”.

A director of the busi-ness consultancy firm, rXi Ventures, Geraldine Kelly is also a board member of Plan Ireland 2008 and said she had been keen to visit the stricken country for herself.

Throughout her visit Geraldine witnessed first-hand the impact the emergency relief provid-ed by the organisation is having on those affected by the current food cri-sis.

Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region in gen-eral, came into focus ear-lier this year when there was widespread media coverage of the urgent food crisis and drought which took hold of the region. Plan Ireland is an international children’s charity with a substantial long-term presence in Ethiopia.

“Plan has been work-ing on the ground in Ethiopia since 1974 so we are firmly established there and our support of women and children in the country has remained steadfast. My visit to Ethi-opia with Plan was truly inspiring and eye open-ing. It was so heartening to see the work and dedi-cation of the medical staff in the therapeutic feeding centre in Taza, who look after severely malnour-ished children on a daily basis,” Kelly told the Gazette this week.

“In addition to this, we were able to visit a number of long-term

projects that Plan is running in the area to improve the health and wellbeing of children and their families in the community, including creating access to clean water and improving cooking facilities with smart sustainable energy projects.”

Plan Ireland’s East Africa Crisis Appeal is supporting emergency feeding centres where women and children receive essential food rations. The organisation will support the running of the therapeutic feed-ing centre for the next six months and continue to provide food rations to the poorest families in the area.

David Dalton, CEO of Plan Ireland, this week appealed to members of the public “not to forget Ethiopia”.

“The reality of the current situation is that many people are still short of food and depend on essential food rations. There are still starving children lying in thera-peutic feeding centres,” he said.

“As well as this immedi-ate assistance, we are also planning to provide long-er terms support, includ-ing irrigation to negate the effects or drought and erratic rains and helping farmers with their future livelihoods, such as pro-viding livestock to impov-erished families.

“Thanks to donations from the Irish public, we are making a very real and substantial differ-ence to the lives of many Ethiopian families.”

To find out more, and to donate to Plan Ireland’s East Africa Crisis Appeal today, visit www.plan.ie or contact Plan Ireland, 126 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2 or call freephone 1800 829 829.

Dr Christopher Prior

Sarah Looby, Nanci O’Reilly and Ali DonnellanClodagh Farrelly and Katie Duggan

Molly O’Leary and Anna Rose CharletonChloe Laird

Aoife O’Hagan

22 & 29 December 2011 DUNDRUM GAZETTE 3

GREETINGS A look back at 2011, and looking forward to 2012

The Gazette team wish all our readers a very merry Christmas Picture: Anita Ward

A very merry Christmas from all at the Gazette

CORMAC CURTIS

THE team at the Gazette were busy this week putting together the very best in local news, fea-tures, sports and picture coverage, to give our readers the best possible insight into what is hap-pening in your local com-munity over the Christ-mas season.

At the same time, our commercial team were bringing the best value in local advertising to the businesses of Dublin – the kind of businesses that know our industry-leading readership and circulation figures have been approved by the Audit Bureau of Circula-tion.

CoverageAs regular readers will

know, the primary focus of the Gazette is local coverage. We started this year by bringing further news of the “big freeze”, and how it was affecting life in our local commu-nities.

As the capital’s resi-dents did their best to cope with the extended extreme weather condi-tions, the Gazette report-ed on how local councils, transport services and emergency services, as well as volunteer groups, all coped with the added pressures of frozen roads, interrupted services, and shortages of salt and grit.

As the freeze gave way to thaw, and 2011 unfold-

ed, it became clear that our political landscape was changing dramati-cally.

The prospect of fur-ther austerity and lack of growth meant Fianna Fail faced an impossible battle, as the electorate prepared to send a clear message to a Govern-ment that had left the people feeling betrayed, let down and completely abandoned by its public representatives.

As a result, the Gen-eral Election brought with it the end of an era for Fianna Fail, as well as the complete decimation of the Green Party.

Hand-in-hand with these changes came the rise of the Left, as many Left-leaning councillors took seats in a number of Dublin constituencies.

Moving in to spring-time, Dublin entered a period of near jubilation, with the historic visits of Queen Elizabeth II and

US President, Barack Obama.

After a scorching April, our summer weather let us down. Dublin expe-rienced more extreme weather in autumn, as record rainfall figures brought the capital to a flooded standstill.

What is encouraging is that, despite a mixed bag of news in a year that saw little or no improvement to the country’s eco-nomic standing, our local communities remain as vibrant and exciting as ever.

Local community groups, schools, sports clubs and societies have not lost their appetite for activity, and we at the Gazette thrive on their enthusiasm.

The Gazette is an open resource for the commu-nity, and we would like to thank all of those who involve us, interact with us, and those who go as far as to write stories, take pictures and take the time to contribute material to these pages.

If it weren’t for the efforts of these people, it would make it impossible to produce the kind of material that highlights what is bright, beautiful and unique about our area.

So, from the whole team at the Gazette, let me extend our very best wishes to you and your families this Christmas season and wish you a happy and healthy 2012.

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‘Moving into springtime, Dublin entered a period of near jubilation, with the historic visits of Queen Elizabeth II and US President, Barack Obama’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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SCHOOLS Minister approves works to commence in 2012

Holy Trinity NS set to get new building

LAURA WEBB

[email protected]

A LENGTHY campaign by teachers and parents to construct a permanent building for Holy Trinity National School in Leop-ardstown came to an end this week, following the announcement by the Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn that work on a new school building will get under way next year.

Following the Min-ister’s announcement, approximately €430 mil-lion is to be spent on an education infrastructure plan for 2012.

We l c o m i n g t h e announcement, Fine Gael TD for Dublin South, Peter Mathews said: “Holy Trinity is in dire need of a perma-

nent school building. At present, 161 pupils are crammed into nine pre-fabricated buildings.

“Not only are the pre-fabs unsuitable for edu-cating children, there is not enough space to accommodate the increased population in the area, following the construction of 2,500 homes built in the area over the past 20 years.

“We are only now playing catch-up with the facilities that the local community needs to prosper,” he said.

“ I we l c o m e t h e announcement by Min-ister Quinn, as I was very surprised that the Holy Trinity National School in Leopardstown was not included in the Min-ister’s list of school build-ings last June.

“I spoke to the Min-ister about the obvious need for a permanent school building, and I am delighted that this project has been given the green light,” said Deputy Math-ews.

Meanwhile, his party colleague and fellow

Dublin South TD, Olivia Mitchell, also welcomed the announcement, say-ing: “Holy Trinity NS has run a long campaign, right through the various stages of the planning process, and I’m glad that the project will expe-rience no further delays.

“While moving to a new permanent build-ing is great news for the pupils and staff, the move away from prefabs will also save the State thou-sands of euro in the long run.

“Once the need for a school was estab-lished, the concern was to secure a permanent building,” she said.

“This has taken many years to achieve, but it is great to see the project finally coming to frui-tion.

Deputy Peter Mathews, Fine Gael, welcomed the new school building’s approval

“All credit to the prin-cipal, staff and com-munity, who never gave up hope, even when the recession hit, and who continued to lobby tire-lessly for the school,” said Deputy Mitchell.

Following the Min-ister’s announcement, extension/refurbish-ment works will also take place at Senior College Dun Laoghaire, Eblana

Avenue.Making the fund-

ing announcement this week, Minister Quinn said: “We are prioritis-ing investment in school buildings, in line with the Government’s Capital Investment Programme.

“Total enrolment in both primary and post-primary schools is expected to grow by around 70,000 between

now and 2018 – by more than 45,000 pupils at primary level and 25,000 students at post-primary.

“Enrolment will con-tinue to rise at the post-primary level to the year 2024 at least.

“We have to ensure that every child grow-ing up in Ireland will have access to a physical school place,” said Min-ister Quinn.

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‘I spoke to Minister Quinn about the need for a permanent school building, and I am delighted that it has been given the green light’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Dep Peter Mathews, FG- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


CHILDREN Minister’s funding for special bus

€40,000 boost for LauraLynn hospice

DAWN LOVE

[email protected]

THE LauraLynn Sun-shine Home got an early Christmas present this week following the announcement that it is to receive a funding boost of €40,000.

The National Lottery grant from the Depart-ment of Health will go towards the cost of a specially-adapted bus for transporting sick children at the hospice, which is situated on the Leopard-stown Road.

We l c o m i n g t h e announcement, Dublin South TD Peter Mathews (FG) said the hospice was one of the most deserv-ing facilities he had the pleasure of visiting.

“With its hallmark of excellence, and its won-derful atmosphere for the children that it looks

after, it couldn’t be a more deserving cause.

“Having personally visited this hospice, I was completely bowled over by what a wonderful facility it offers to chil-dren and their families during such a tragic time in their lives.

“I spoke directly with the Minister for Health, James Reilly, to bring this to his attention.

“Despite all the finan-cial challenges that the Minister has, his heart and his mind are in the right place for such a deserving cause,” said Deputy Mathews.

In Ireland there are over 1,400 children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, such as cerebral palsy, profound brain damage, meningitis, HIV and can-

cer.More than 350 chil-

dren die every year in Ireland.

LauraLynn House pro-vides respite for the fam-ily as a whole. Its ethos is about putting “life into a child’s day, not days into a child’s life”.

For parents, it gives them a much-needed break, often as simple as a decent night’s sleep. It also supports healthy siblings, who may be very much left out when a sick child needs 24-hour care.

It also gives families a choice when the end comes, providing contin-ued support for the fam-ily when their child has passed on.

Home care is also a major part of the service, as is linking with other organisations working in similar areas.

In addition to funds needed for the hospice’s running,

funds are also needed for its vital services


OPINION Leas Cathaoirleach of DLR talks

Call our NEWS TEAM on 60 10 240 or

email [email protected]

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‘May I encourage more women to seek nomination to contest seat’

W H E N , i n June, 1974, I was elected to

represent Booterstown, Blackrock and Monks-town to Dun Laoghaire

Borough Council, I had no idea it would be the commencement of a deep and passionate commitment to the civic life of the place I lived and loved.

Entering an oak-lined council chamber with 15 other people, I was the first woman to be elected, and, a year later, 1975, the European Year of the Woman, I was the very first woman to be chosen by my colleagues as An Cathaoirleach.

We represented 56,000 people. It all seems a long time ago, and it is.

Now, we are a coun-ty council, with 28 members representing 192,000 people.

We meet about six times a month for two or three hours, and longer when the week requires it. We argue, debate, submit ideas, and vote to approve or reject.

The work is endlessly stimulating; often too, too slow and, indeed, frustrating.

Our work is limited by a bill of legislation – we are not free to go outside that area.

We do have power;

not often enough, in comparison to other European countries.

This Republic seri-ously needs to have a local government re-organisation and, in the field of education, offer a course in civics to help our young people under-stand how we operate.

I find great satisfac-tion in much of the work I do. I enjoy it, though it is often a considerable challenge, but I enjoy researching and prepar-ing the presentation to the county council.

I may have to argue with offices of the coun-cil, as well as the politi-cians from Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Socialist Workers, to gain accept-ance of my idea.

The county manager also has his piece of leg-islation, directing him to act in a certain area and matters, and mat-ters exclusively. I might argue with him, also.

Then, finance has to be found to activate the project. While a member of the Arts Council in the Nineties, I secured €1 million to help build our local theatre, The

Pavilion.I ran a sculpture sym-

posium, which resulted in 12 works of public art in our open spaces and parks.

In the very early days, I worked to ensure the upgrading and refur-bishing of all the council houses built in 1908-1912 by the British.

They are all centrally heated, double-glazed and have proper bath-rooms/toilets and kitch-ens.

The post of councillor can result in the gen-eral public phoning you all times of the day and night, such as about the recent flooding of more than 100 homes in our council area – not an easy problem to solve.

To ensure the proper balance to my life, I swim in the sea (Sandy-cove, generally) each day of the year.

My sheepdog and myself (I cycle) enjoy the outdoors for that hour or two every day; we view the wildlife seals, bats, birds and sea birds along the coast, and sometimes see the odd fox.

We know the tide

LAST week, Ireland celebrated the 100th anni-

versary of the introduction of legislation that

allowed women to participate in county and

borough councils for the first time.

The centenary of the Enactment of the Local

Authorities (Ireland), Qualification of Women

Act 1911, coincided with the publication of a new

Government Bill designed to introduce positive

discrimination in favour of gender quotas.

This week, Leas Cathaoirleach of Dun

Laoghaire-Rathdown, and Labour councillor,

Jane Dillon Byrne, who was first elected to

represent Booterstown, Blackrock and Monk-

stown in 1974, writes about her role as a county

councillor, and calls for more women to get

involved in political life.

times, the direction of the wind, and the qual-ity of the sea weed on a stormy day. There’s not a moment’s boredom.

I can’t imagine my life without being a coun-cillor. I am constantly grateful to those who support me. I am lucky to be in such a beautiful place as Dun Laoghaire.

As leas-Cathaoirleach, this year I will meet more people in a formal set-ting than I have for a while now, and so my activities change all the time, and lend enormous satisfaction to my life.

May I encourage more women to seek nomina-tion to contest for a seat on their local council. We are poorly repre-sented, and almost all of us enjoy it when we win a seat.

Leas Cathaoirleach of Dun

Laoghaire-Rathdown,

and Labour councillor,

Jane Dillon Byrne

TELL US YOUR NEWS

YOUR LOCAL PAPER, YOUR LOCAL NEWS!Call our NEWS TEAM on 60 10 240 or email [email protected]


to The Gazette about her busy role ENVIRONMENT: EPA’S TIPS FOR WAYS TO REDUCE, RECYCLE AND REUSE

Great advice for a greener ChristmasWITH more waste set to be generated over the Christmas period than any other time of the year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is urging residents in the Dun Laoghaire-Rath-down region to reduce, recycle and reuse, this festive season.

Speaking to The Gazette, Jonathan Der-ham, from the EPA, said: “We’d like to remind peo-ple that, by keeping use-ful waste prevention ideas in mind, we can all make cost savings and give to each other, without giving to landfills this season.

“By following these tips from the EPA over the Christmas period, and by making these habits part of our New Year’s resolu-tions, we can all contrib-ute to a greener future,” said Derham.

“This is not just about recycling – it is about

preventing waste across a range of activities.

“In the run-up to Christmas, remember to defrost your freezer. It will work more efficiently, and create more space to store leftover food.

“For leftovers, Stop Food Waste and Wick-low County Council have developed a wonderful recipe guide for the 12 days of Christmas on their website, at www.stopfoodwaste.ie.

“Many people will r e ce i ve Chr i s tmas presents of new electri-cal and electronic equip-ment. Their older model will then have to be dis-posed of, so remember to recycle waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

“Lots of these goods conta in hazardous materials that can cause serious environmental damage. Retailers are

required by law to take back WEEE from house-holders on a one-for-one basis, and this service is free of charge.

“Alternatively, old mobile phones can be donated to The Jack & Jill Foundation at www.jack-andjill.ie,” he said.

“Finally, it’s great to have a warm, cosy house at Christmas, so keep curtains closed and doors shut. This keeps heat in, and saves energy and money.

“With lots of people in the house over the sea-son, turn down the ther-mostat by 1C. This saves money and reduces the Christmas carbon foot-print, while providing a great excuse to get every-one wearing a Christmas jumper,” said Derham.

See www.repak.ie/recycling_facilities.php for a list of bring banks and recycling centres.


Great characters, great rehearsal ...T

HE Gazette was treated to a great per-formance when it called to Loreto Com-munity Centre, Churchtown, recently,

where Drama Fanatics’ young stars were going through a dress rehearsal of their annual pan-tomime, Nursery Crimes.

Indeed, the stars were criminally good, as they went through their song and dance rou-tines, all under the watchful eye and encour-

agement of Drama Fanatics’ director, Aoife Reilly.

Their home-made costumes helped inspire the young drama students to embrace their roles, with their lively performances enhanced by creative make-up. Building upon the skills already established in the three-year-old drama school, the students certainly gave The Gazette a terrific show to remember.

CHILDREN The Gazette enjoys a pantomime dress rehearsal

Aoife Reilly (back, lower-left) provided expert direction for the imaginative students

Beth McCudden, Samantha Eves, Katie-Jade Healy, Megan-Ann O’Rourke, Christina-Mary Megane, Jocelyn

Laffid, Alanah Carey, Jessica Kelly, James Curry, Juliet Mullarney, David McDermott, Jordan Hickey, Catherine

McCready, Amy McDermott, Jodie Core and Josh Healy. Pictures: Geraldine Woods



IT’S YOUR SHOT Christmas lights help support cancer group

Heavy support for a light fundraiser ...L

OCAL man Martin Daly threw some heavy support behind a light idea, helping to cre-ate some real Christmas cheer and support

a charity at the same time.With the help of an awful lot of Christmas

lights and decorations, Martin turned the front of his Stillorgan house into an imaginative Christmas wonderland, with his extravagant

display not just there to delight neighbours and passers-by, but also to help fundraise for the Marie Keating Foundation.

A donation box at the front of the house invites anyone and everyone to show some charitable spirit this Christmas, and donate to help the Foundation continue its vital cancer support services across the city and beyond.

Joining Martin Daly to admire his light work were Kacie Warner and Brandon Austin

Annemarie and lana Austin

Children loved the lights

Brandon, Martin and

Kacie

Kay Goggins and Martin Daly

The display was a big hit with everyone that saw them

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22 & 29 December 2011 GAZETTE 11

12 GAZETTE 22 & 29 December 2011


GazetteBEAUTYBEAUTYBrides can win big, it’s wedding time!

GAZETTE Group Newspapers has teamed up with T he Wedd ing

Journal Show to offer lucky readers a chance to win a pair of VIP tick-ets, and 10 pairs of run-ners-up tickets , to the Wedding Journal Show, Citywest Complex, Dub-lin from January 13 until January 15, 2012.

The Wedding Journal Show 2012, in associa-tion with Ireland AM, will feature over 450 exhibitors and provide brides and grooms alike with a one-stop-wedding shop, together with all the inspiration they need to plan their big day. From venues and flowers to dresses and cars, the

Wedding Journal Show has it all – and all under one roof!

As always, the Wed-ding Journal Show is pulling out all the stops for their 2012 exhibition. Celebrating all that’s Irish, there will be an Irish Bridal Designers Area to help you find that dream gown, as well as Wedding Jour-nal’s unrivalled inter-national catwalk show, which takes place three times daily. This exclu-sive event provides a rare opportunity to see a selection of designer wedding gowns, brides-maids, mothers of the bride and groomswear, some of which have never been seen in Ire-

land before!Whether you are look-

ing for the perfect dress, suit hire, an exclusive venue, flowers, station-ery, entertainment, cars, photographer or a deli-cious cake, every aspect of your wedding plan-ning experience will be covered.

What’s more – every-one who buys a ticket to the show – either online or on the door – will be entered into a prize draw to win a wedding work €25,000!

For more information, or to book your discount-ed tickets, visit www.wed-dingjournalonline.com

See below for full details on this incredible competition.

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Brides can bag a bargain at the Wedding Journal Show in Citywest next month. See our incredible competition

below for your chance to win VIP passes for the inspirational event


LEILA JOHARI

THE holiday season has arrived, party time is upon us. We want to look good in that little black dress but all that fun and feasting can take its toll on our bod-ies.

Between late nights, eating and drinking, it is no wonder our bod-ies find it hard to keep functioning effectively.

Research has shown that the average person consumes up to 7,000 calories on Christmas day, and don’t forget about the festive good-ies we feast on the weeks before.

Christmas is a special time of year we want to enjoy so here are some tips to keep healthy and keep our spirits up!

Don’t go to a party hungry

Eat a wholesome breakfast and lunch on the day so that you are not starving when you arrive at the party. Por-ridge in the morning is ideal followed by a lunch of lentil soup and

whole-grain bread.

Portion ControlAllow yourself to try

the festive goodies you don’t have during the year but opt for small portions, this way you can try a bit of every-thing.

Make food swaps and limit high-fat foods

• Choose open-topped mince pies to reduce the amount of pastry

• Serve whole-grain bread sticks with salsa instead of potato crisps and sour cream dip

• Swap ice cream for fresh fruit sorbet

• Swap salted nuts and chocolates for unsalted nuts and dried fruit dipped in dark chocolate

• Serve marinaded chicken, beef and fish instead of breaded ver-sions

• Avoid the egg nog as this is made with sugar and cream!

Choose your drink carefully

Instead of beer, cider

and Bailey’s try dry wine, Bloody Marys or spirits with diet mixer, which has fewer calo-ries.

C h o o s e o r g a n i c drinks where possible, as they have less addi-tives, sweeteners and chemicals.

Don’t forget that peo-ple who are overweight gain weight more eas-ily when they consume alcohol.

Drink plenty of water to rehydrate your body and avoid a hangover.

Don’t let others refill your glass and only top up when your glass is empty.

Holiday HangoverThe main symptoms

of a hangover are a banging headache and extreme fatigue.

Alcohol robs your brain of water resulting in your brain shrinking from the inside of your skull, giving you that throbbing pain.

This is best avoided but, if the glare of the sunlight and the crash-ing sound of cutlery in the kitchen the next

morning is unbearable, there are some cures that may help.

Fried Breakfast: Yep, believe it or not this is the one time a fried breakfast should be on the menu.

Fried foods such as eggs, bacon, mushrooms

and toast contain lots of salt and amino acids.

Your body needs salt after weeing and sweat-ing so much as a result of alcohol, which is a diuretic.

The amino acids help to get the liver back on track after it has worked hard to expel the alco-hol.

A big breakfast will boost your glucose, helping you shake off

that tiredness.

Fresh Fruit Smooth-ie: This will provide Vitamin C which helps the liver to process the last of the alcohol and the liquid content helps you rehydrate.

A glass of warm water with freshly squeezed

lemon juice and grated root ginger flushes out the digestive system and a bowl of pure porridge with mixed berries and cinnamon will stimulate digestion.

Finally, get out, get moving and get some fresh air.

Take the dog for a walk to look at the Christ-mas lights and soak up some more of that festive atmosphere.

GazetteNUTRITIONNUTRITION

Surviving the holiday season

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‘Research has shown that the average person consumes up to 7,000 calories on Christmas day, and don’t forget about the festive goodies we feast on the weeks before’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Party time is upon us so, to make sure you keep healthy over the festive period, check out our guide

Call our NEWS TEAM on 60 10 240 or

email [email protected]

GOT A STORY?

GazetteMUSICMUSIC

MRU ready to listen to the new breed?

Dave Duggan, David Spain (WDAR), Keith McLoughlin supporting Music Review Unsigned

IF YOU turn on nation-al radio at any time of the day, you will likely hear Rhianna, Coldplay or whatever it was that won The X Factor, all of which have the finan-cial backing of major record labels.

But what becomes of our Irish home-grown talent? R ight now, according to ukairplay-chart.com, the Irish Radio Airplay Chart consists of a top 10 list of artists who all are international.

According to the web-site, the top 10 list was compiled over 99.7% of the general audience in Ireland.

If 99.7% of the gen-eral public are currently listening to internation-al artists in Ireland, it means an industry rich with talented musicians don’t have an opportu-nity to create a platform for themselves and get to the level they truly deserve.

However, local artists have now a voice in the media. Music Review Unsigned (MRU) was set up in 2006 by Bal-lyfermot man, Trevor Halpin.

The website reviews unsigned musicians from all over the world, and has set up a social side to their site, attract-ing many unsigned art-ists to set up profiles for free and share their music and get reviews from MRU users.

T h e w e b s i t e i s involved with local radio stat ion, West Dublin Access Radio (WDAR) 96FM, which runs a weekly chart show every Thursday at 4pm.

They also play all the latest unsigned music on the show. One of the ideas behind putting on such a show was to give more airtime to local talent.

Keith McLoughlin, a local radio present-er with West Dublin Access Radio 96fm and Dublin South FM, is on the front line in the bat-tle to create this plat-form for many artists.

“I have been going to gigs and watch-ing unsigned acts for

NEW ARTIST FORUM: HELPFUL WEBSITE FOR EMERGING ACTS

many years, and I go home feeling buzzed by watching new talent,” said Keith.

“But when I turn on the radio, all I can think is why are these artists not getting the recogni-tion they deserve?”

For almost six years, Music Review Unsigned has quietly built a strong following in Ireland and now around the world.

With over 1.5 million views per month on their website, together with an online maga-zine that is published every month, the com-pany has now become a staple in the Irish music industry, and has given many artists another platform to showcase their music.

D a v i d D u g g a n , online design editor for musicreviewunsigned said: “We could blame it on the government not putting proper leg-islation in place to force commercial stations to play unsigned music, but if we have a strong s t r uc ture to make musicians and bands aware of the financial and bureaucratic sys-tem that exists in the Irish music industry, we could see a 50/50 share of listenership in Ireland for existing and unsigned acts.”

Trevor Halpin, the editor of MRU, is equal-ly enthusiastic about the site’s potential.

“It could be many years before such art-

ists as The Barley Mob, Autonomous I, The Slick Hippy’s and many more local acts reach the ears of the general public on prime-time radio.

“We should be try-ing to put the proper infrastructure into the Irish music scene where our artists could work alongside promoters, venues and industry insiders to build the knowledge that would help new acts to suc-ceed.

“If we were honest, money can buy you suc-cess, and a number one single or album, but we know the real listeners would prefer to hear real Irish home-grown talent on their radios.”


X FACTOR, Glee, Justin Bieber...somewhere there’s a production line spitting out shiny, sing-ing puppets to destroy the brains and ears of young people.

Why not give the gift of real music this Christ-mas? Some of this year’s best albums make great stocking fillers.

The Foo Fighters generated earth tremors at a gig in New Zealand recently; see if you can do the same with their great album, Wasting Light, from earlier this year — your neighbours would love you for it!

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ I’m With You will get you in the mood for next year’s gig, as will Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, with Noel announced as support for RHCP.

Or, and here’s a few words I never thought would be in the same sentence, Pearl Jam leader Eddie Vedder’s subtle and lilting Ukelele Songs.

The Chinese said 2011 was the year of the rabbit. 2012 should definitely be the year of the gig. Huge acts are gracing our shores next year, including The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, who will bring his E Street Band back to the RDS, albeit without the master of sax, the late Clarence Clemons, who died earlier this year.

Croker will be the setting for the Red Hot Chili Peppers with support from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, while Van Morrison and Tom Petty both have gigs lined up at The O2. Rock n’ Roll on the New Year!

Billy Joel may be off Bono’s Christmas card list. He told music fans in Massachusetts last week that when he was at a U2 concert in New York, he found another band under the stage adding to their live sound. I think he may have found what U2 were looking for...

Listen to Dee Woods from Radio Nova every weeknight from 7pm to 12am on 100.3FM

FastTunes with Radio Nova’s Dee Woods

ChristmasWe’re always look-

ing for foster families to socialise our cats and kit-tens throughout the year. Why not become a “feline friend” this Christmas and give a cat a home over fes-tive season.

New Year/New YouThrow a New Year’s

Eve party at your house and ask guests to make a resolution to become more animal friendly in 2012.

Adopt the Perfect Partner

Visit us and adopt your forever friend. We have lots of wonderful animals, all deserving good homes, just waiting for their new families to love and cher-ish them.

Our adoption consult-ants are all expert at plac-ing the right animal with the right family using their unique, “meet your match” programme.

Go Online: www.dspca.ie

The Dublin SPCA’s gift shop has lots of gifts for this holiday season, from Christmas cards to wrap-ping paper, from 2012 calendars to cute, cuddly teddies, complete with full veterinary scrubs, from stationary to novelty mugs and aprons, etc.,

You could even Spon-sor a Pet by going online at www.dspca.ie and sponsoring one of our much-deserving shelter animals as a goodwill gift for a friend or family member.

A Symbolic GiftGesture:

Why not support us

GazettePETSPETSBrought to you by Miriam Kerins of

the DSPCA

THE FACTS: LAST YEAR, THE DSPCA HELPED OVER 4,400 ANIMALS, AND THEY NEED YOUR HELP

Support the DSPCA this ChristmasT

HIS Christmas it’s business as usual for the good folk at Ire-

land’s oldest and largest animal welfare charity, the Dublin SPCA and our wonderful staff and volun-teers are all bracing them-selves, not just for the cold snap, because, let’s face it, the conditions are practi-cally arctic up here in the Dublin mountains, but for the surge in the many rescue requests we’ll no doubt receive.

Last year, the Dublin SPCA helped in excess of 4,400 animals, an amaz-ing feat when you realise it costs us €2m to run the shelter and we do all of this without Government funding; depending heav-ily upon donations from kind members of the pub-lic.

So, while most of you will be opening your presents and tucking into the turkey and ham, our frontline staff will be on full alert, helping animals in need.

And, even though we all adore Christmas at the shelter, animal welfare, just as it is every other day of the year, remains our top priority.

However, the great part is we arrive at work to cheerful barks, luscious licks and energetic tail wags and every animal gets their visit from Santa, who puts lots of animal-friendly treats and toys into their stockings… now, how many of you reading this gets to experi-ence that type of yuletide pleasure? How lucky are we?

So, in order to help res-cued animals and support the country’s favourite charity this holiday sea-son, take a quick look at my hints below.

A few coppersThis yuletide, designate

a day where co-workers, family members, school-mates, etc., donate their small change to the Dub-lin SPCA.

Make it a Puurrrfect

Animal welfare remains the DSPCA’s top priority even

on Christmas Day


by becoming a monthly member?

By donating a small amount each month, you could provide our charity with a sustainable income that will help us give sick, Injured, cruelly treated, abandoned and forgot-ten animals a happy end-ing. For example: If you donate €5 per month you will enable us to buy vaccines for 30 dogs and cats. If you donate €9 per month you will help us provide special milk to bottle feed 40 orphaned kittens.

If you donate €21 per month, or more, this will qualify for tax relief,

which means your annual gift will be increased from 20-42% (depending on your tax bracket) at no additional cost to you.

If you donate €32 per month you will save a life. Let me explain. The average cost of a rescue, veterinary treatment and boarding of each animal we take care of is €475. When we re-home an ani-mal, having rescued, treat-ed, rehabilitated, spayed/neutered, micro-chipped, vaccinated, de-flead and de-wormed him, and after adoption fees are paid, there is still a deficit of €379 on each animal, or €32 per month.

Too Much StuffTake a look at our wish

list on www.dspca.ie and see if you have anything in your home you no longer want that you can donate to us.

Lobby forLegislation

Contact your local TD and lobby him/her to get legislation passed at local and national level and join us in the fight to save animals’ lives.

For more information, log onto www.dspca.ie or email [email protected]

GazetteMOTORSMOTORS

LAST WEEK, the eco creden-tials and mind-blowing econo-my of the Skoda Fabia Green-line were at the centre of the Gazette motoring pages.

This week, without wanting to be too repetitive, we’re going to take a look at another Fabia, but this time, it’s something that brings a lot more fun to the table.

Enter the Fabia Monte Carlo 1.2TSI.

It’s an interesting experience when you get two different ver-sions of the same car to drive back-to-back, and that is what happened to me with the Fabia Greenline and Monte Carlo last month.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Skoda are hitting all the right notes in the looks department these days.

From the time I picked it up, this car made me smile.

I find the overall look of Skoda cars very easy on the eye, and the designers kept it simple when they were styling the Monte Carlo.

Sporting a bold red body, “sunset” tinted windows, and enhanced by a black roof, black boot spoiler and black painted body parts, the car stands out with the addition of a set of 17” black alloy wheels.

Eye-catching interior details include stainless steel pedals

and “Monte Carlo” inscribed sill strips.

The red and black uphol-stery lent an exciting feel to the cabin, even if the dash is a little less imaginative.

So far, so Skoda – ticking all the right aesthetic boxes.

But does it have enough of the fun-factor to back up its impressive looks?

The short answer is yes – within reason.

The car I drove was the 1.2TSI version, working off 105 bhp.

Let’s just say it never ceases to surprise me just how much poke car manufacturers can get out of such modest engines.

This is a driving car, and its turbocharged petrol engine, with direct petrol injection and just delivers a wonderful level of performance to a car that isn’t weighed down by anything as superfluous as air conditioning.

But, being honest, I would

have liked a few buttons on the steering wheel to avoid being distracted by music that didn’t fit the driving experience.

The week I spent with this car saw me travel to and from Dundalk on a number of occasions, detouring through Drogheda twice.

The mix of off-peak motor-way driving and some fun sec-ondary roads really let me have some fun with this car, and it didn’t disappoint - and, as far as I am aware, my driving licence is still clean.

It’s also worth noting that Skoda are currently offering zero per cent credit terms on the Fabia range.

Back in black, but she’s laden in red


HONDA TOP OF THE CLASS IN RELIABILITY: THE latest Car Reli-ability from Which? Car said: “Not only did Honda owners respond in the largest numbers to the 2011 Which? Car Survey, they also reported that Honda was the most reliable of all 34 brands we covered.

“That’s no mean feat, and it makes Honda one name that’s worth remem-bering when it’s time to replace your car.” That is praise indeed from the biggest sur-vey of car reliability and owner satisfac-tion in the UK.

The Which? Car Reliability survey,

that asks car owners to rate their own cars, is calculated from the number of break-down, faults and niggles suffered by all models in the last 12 months. The score for each of these are then combined to provide an overall reliability score for each manufacturer. As breakdowns are more serious than faults or niggles, they are given a heavier weighting than the other two areas.

Frank Kennedy, of Universal Honda, was delighted with the result: “The Which? Car Survey is very comprehensive in that car owners who live with their cars are the people who rate the cars. This means that potential buyers will be able to make an informed decision as how good it is to own a Honda which has been rated so highly.”

Honda is up one place from last year when it came second.

RoadRoadSignsSigns

Pretty as a picture, but it’s not a case of style over substance with Skoda’s Fabia Monte Carlo – there is some real fun to be had here too, says Cormac Curtis

Back in black, but she’s laden in red

Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo 1.2TSI

0-100 km/h: 11.7 sec

Max speed: 177 km/h

CO2: 121 g/km

Price: €16,775

SPECS


RoadRoadSignsSignsRenault create 47 jobs in six monthsMOTOR company, Renault, generated 47 jobs in Ireland over the last six months. The jobs were as a result of the launch of Renault Finance, the introduction of ZE ambassadors and the opening of two new dealerships.

In August, Renault Finance saw 15 new jobs created in their operations, finance and marketing roles.

In September, Renault announced eight new recruits. These ambassadors are dedicated to the Renault range of electric vehicles and will help to build awareness and assist customers in making informed choices.

November saw the opening of two brand new premises; Tullamore Motors in Offaly and Dennehy Motors in Limerick. The two new premises will see 24 new jobs created over the next 12 months, which is great news for both counties.

The Clondalkin-based AD Dublin have opened in the former Capital Brake & Clutch building

New premises a fresh start for AD DublinTHIS month sees AD Dublin motor factors move into a new location in the former Capital Brake & Clutch building in Clondalkin.

AD Dublin is a branch of AD Ireland, that has a network of 19 branches countrywide.

From this strategic location, the firm plans to further develop and expand their quality parts delivery service to their existing, as well as their new, customer base.

In addition to the Clondalkin branch, AD Dublin also have a branch in Stadium Busi-ness Park in Ballycoolin, which services their cus-

tomers on the northside of the city.

Traditionally, AD Dub-lin was a car and light-vehicle parts business, but this move sees the company becoming the first one-stop-shop for car, van, comercial vehi-cle and body repair parts in the Dublin area.

They have a fully equipped diesel fuel-injection workshop on site, with full capability to diagnose and repair any diesel pump and injector problems.

AD Dublin’s new loca-tion supports 30 jobs in the locality, and they hope to grow this as the business expands.

The company boasts a wealth of experience to help customers with all of their requirements.

They carry a full range of car, van and commer-cial vehicle parts, as well as a full range of auto body repair shop require-ments.

Diagnostic equipment is becoming more preva-lent in the auto repair business.

AD Dublin are the

distributors for Delphi, Denso, Bosch And Texa diagnostic equipment, to which they have dedi-cated staff to answer any questions or queries their customers may in rela-tion to auto diagnostics.

For the company’s full range of products and services, visit their website at www.adire-land.ie

The AD Dublin team can be contacted at 01-4613400 and are located at Unit 15/3 and 15/4 Crag Terrace, Clondalkin, D22.

They can be emailed at [email protected], and their Ballycoolin number is 01 8975210.

GazetteMOTORSMOTORS

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‘The company boasts a wealth of experience to help customers’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


GazetteBUSINESSBUSINESS Supported by AIB

WITH Christmas around the corner, many business owners and professionals are considering their next move, keen to upgrade their phones for the New Year to help maximise their working day in the current, challenging eco-nomic climate.

Step forward Micro-soft, in partnership with HTC, with their work-ing relationship proving a natural fit in making a mobile office a practical reality on a mid-range smartphone.

In addition to a wide range of the “usual” social and casual programs found on smartphones these days, and sport-ing Microsoft’s colourful Windows 7.5 (or Mango) OS, the HTC Radar fea-tures a fully integrated office hub, presenting a full suite of office applica-tions.

This free software – Excel, Word and Power-Point – puts mobile work-ing on the go in the palm of the hand, cleverly using the SkyDrive system to make cloud computing a

mobile reality.With this ability to eas-

ily edit and synchronise data when out and about via what Microsoft have cleverly dubbed “a Cloud in your pocket”, it’s hard not to be impressed by the flexibilty of seeing “mobile computing” now expand-ed to being truly “mobile working”, as well.

When coupled with particularly well-adapted calendar integration, which, again, can synch data with ease, and it’s clear that Microsoft has faced the challenge of cre-ating a mobile offce – and succeeded, with ease.

With such useful office heavyweight programs sitting under the bonnet, the HTC Radar, running Microsoft’s Mango, lays down a serious challenge for rivals to match, with the phone potentially proving a must-have for business people and pro-fessionals – and even stu-dents – in 2012.

The HTC Radar, run-ning Microsoft’s Mango OS, is available now at a range of outlets.


The HTC Radar, running Windows’ Mango OS, is

available from a number of outlets

WITH Emirates’ inaugural flight from Dublin to Dubai just around the corner, senior execu-tives from the award-winning airline arrived in Dublin recent-ly to meet the media and host a gala dinner at the Convention Centre.

Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ executive vice-president, pas-senger sales worldwide, said that Emirates had made a con-siderable investment in the Irish market, and was confident of the success of the new route, follow-ing unprecedented bookings for the first weeks of service.

“We can see unusually high demand for the first two weeks after launch,” Mr Antinori said.

“This is an excellent response from the Irish market, and we have not witnessed this level of bookings, nor such strong inter-est in a new route, for many years. This gives us huge confidence in Ireland and the figures support the commercial research that precedes any decision we take to launch a new service.”

From January 9, daily flights will connect Dublin to Dubai, the airline’s intercontinental

hub. The new route will be served by an Airbus A330-200 with a combination of Irish and multinational cabin crew.

By January, passengers will be able to conveniently connect from Dubai to more than 100 onward destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia. Emirates has 70 flights per week to the key Ire-land market of Australia, includ-ing an A380 service to Sydney. The airline is also the largest A380 operator in the world with 19 double-deckers in the fleet and 71 on order.

“We are in the process of establishing our new office in Dublin, employing 25 staff on the ground in Ireland in the areas of management, sales, cargo and airport services,” Mr Antinori said.

“Emirates has demonstrated just how committed it is to the new Dublin–Dubai service, sup-ported by a high-profile national marketing and advertising cam-paign, which extends around our route network,” Mr Antinori added.

In the four years to 2010, Irish

nationals made almost 170,000 visits to Dubai hotels, according to Dubai’s Department of Tour-ism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). Amongst that figure will be those who travelled via the UK to join the Emirates’ net-work.

“Dublin has always been on our radar, and there are already strong levels of trade and tour-ism activity between Ireland and the UAE, not to mention the important equine affiliations,” said Mr Antinori.

“Equally, Emiratis like to trav-el to Europe, particularly during the hot UAE summer and, with its rich cultural heritage and rep-utation for hospitality, we think that Emirates will have a role to play in encouraging inward tourism to Ireland,” added Mr Antinori.

The direct daily service will open new business opportuni-ties for trade and commercial relations between the two coun-tries and Ireland’s direct export capacity will be expanded with 15 tonnes of bellyhold space on each Emirates’ passenger flight, leaving the capital city. Emirates

SkyCargo, the air freight division of Emirates, is already active in Ireland and will have a dedicat-ed team in Dublin supporting the new route.

Exports trade is expected to flourish as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the fastest-growing markets for Irish companies in the Gulf region, with sales by indigenous Irish companies growing by 23% in 2010 to €58.5m, according to Enterprise Ireland. An estimat-ed 5,000 Irish nationals live in the UAE.

More than 250 Irish staff are employed across the Emirates Group in areas such as cabin crew, flight deck crew, sales and cargo. Recently, nearly 500 can-didates showed up across four separate cabin crew recruitment days held in Dublin, Limerick, Galway and Cork. Success-ful cabin crew applicants will be brought to Dubai for seven weeks of training.

The new Emirates’ team for Ireland will be headed up by country manager, Margaret Shannon. For further informa-tion, see www.emirates.com

AVIATION NEWS: Airline’s f irst f lights to Dubai depart Dublin in January

Emirates gear up for a new takeoff

Emirates cabin crew Zana Greer, from Australia; Kristina von Heideman, from Sweden; Emma Allen, from Cork, and, inset, Thierry Antinori Microsoft put a ‘cloud’ in pockets

Why not join the Scots or Danes on New Year’s Eve ...FOR those looking to cel-ebrate New Year’s Eve in memorable style, a trip to nearby neighbours, Scot-land or Denmark, could be just the ticket.

Ring in 2012 with one of the world’s best New Year celebrations – Hog-manay

A key event in the Scot-tish calendar, Hogmanay celebrations on Decem-ber 31 will be taking place across Scotland.

Events included in this year’s line-up are sure to surprise visitors, as Scotland will play host to incredible bands and entertainment from every corner of the globe.

You could join some 80,000 party goers at the Edinburgh’s world-famous Hogmanay festi-val.

Set beneath the stun-ning backdrop of Edin-burgh Castle, Mark Ron-

son, electro-pop band Friendly Fires, Primal Scream and Bombay Bicycle Club will be one of many bands to ensure that Edinburgh hosts a night to remember.

Alternatively, one of the most surprising sites to see in the New Year is the “The Fireballs” – known as Stonehaven’s

most unique festival, and which attracts thousands of spectators each year.

Swinging fireballs around their heads in a spectacular style, partici-pants parade 175 yards up and down the High Street in the Old Town, illumi-nating the dark skies as they walk.

The event is finished off by throwing each fireball into the sea at the harbour as the New Year sets in.

Meanwhile, over in Stirling, and adding to the appeal of one of the brightest and best Hog-manay parties, and set against the stunning backdrop of Stirling Cas-tle, Scots singer and song-writer, Eddi Reader, and the emphatic rock ‘n’ roll bagpipers – the Red Hot Chilli Pipers – are sure to bring 2012 in with style.

The combination of fantastic live music, a

amid giant sand dunes, or a sky-high designer dining experience above one of the world’s liveliest cities?

Denmark, the country that lays claim to having the happiest inhabitants in the world, has it all for your New Year’s Eve experience.

Check out the follow-ing fantastic events taking place this New Year’s Eve around Denmark.

Join thousands of peo-ple on the lawn of Ame-

The delightful sights of the

Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Black and White style at the BurlingtonRING in 2012 in style this December 31 at the Bur-lington Hotel’s New Year’s Eve Black and White Gala Ball, where New Year dreams and wishes can be made for the year ahead.

Taking place in the hotel’s stunning ballroom, which will be decorated in accordance with the Black and White theme, the Ball is sure to draw Ire-land’s finest to say goodbye to 2011 and welcome in 2012.

The party starts at 7.30pm with a prosecco recep-tion, followed by a mouth-watering four-course dinner, expertly prepared by executive chef, Tony O’Donnell, and his experienced team.

Revellers can enjoy a delicious organic cured-salmon starter, followed by curried parsnip soup, a choice between sirloin of Irish beef, grilled sea bass or spinach and asparagus tartlet for the main course, followed by a wintery wild berry tart, and tea or coffee.

Live music The celebrations will continue into the night with

a late bar extension, as well as music performed by The Camembert Quartet and a DJ until 2am.

When the clock finally strikes midnight, attend-ees and their table will enjoy a complimentary bot-tle of prosecco to toast the New Year.

Tickets for the Burlington Hotel’s New Year’s Eve Black and White Gala Ball are available for €75 per person.

Take the stress out of travelling home once the party is over – overnight accommodation with breakfast the following morning, and a ticket to the Gala Ball, costs €149, or, for two people sharing, including a pair of tickets to the Ball, prices are from €229.

Alternatively, a package, including overnight accommodation for three people sharing, with full Irish breakfast the following morning and a ticket each to the Ball, is available from €299.

For further information, contact The Burlington Hotel on 01 618 5600, email [email protected], or see www.burlingtonhotel.ie.

FastTravel

GazetteTTRAVELRAVEL22 GAZETTE 22 & 29 December 2011

friendly atmosphere and a great firework finale is set to make Stirling the place to be as the bells peal.

As another destination to delight, and widely rec-ognised as a fantastic des-tination for bagpipers and lovers of the bagpipes, but also for its diverse and busy music scene, Inver-ness will have you jiving this New Year’s Eve.

Stir l ing’s musical extravaganza takes place from 8pm, right through to the wee hours of the morning.

Scottish bands, Sker-ryvore, Hoodja, Bags of Rock and Wolfstone, and renowned Scottish comedian, Craig Hill, will be in attendance on the night to ensure that visi-tors are entertained, right through to 2012’s arrival and beyond.

To help visitors plan a New Year break in Scot-land, VisitScotland has put together more than 300 offers on places to stay, and things to see and do.

For further information on Scotland’s many New Year celebrations and destinations, see www.visitscotland.com/sur-prise.

Meanwhile, if you still haven’t decided how to ring in the New Year, or feel like taking to a fur-ther afield destination, then why not consider a romantic, seaside gour-met getaway, nestled

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‘Whether interested to head to sublime Scotland, or delightful Denmark, there’s lots of choice for holidaying on New Year’s Eve’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Historic Hollyrood House Palace is just one of the many stunning sights to take in

on a Scottish visit, whether for New Year’s Eve or at any time of the year

LOCALMATTERS

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rising ranks of Edinburgh’s historic streets and buildings, rising to the imposing silhouette of the castle

So much to help celebrate New Year’s around Northern IrelandNORTHERN Ireland has a host of activities for the New Year period that are not all that far from Dublin.

Belfast’s wackiest winter event – Penguin Curl-ing – returns to W5, and all the family can have a go from Tuesday, December 27 to Tuesday, Janu-ary 3.

The aim of the game is to freeze out your oppo-nent by knocking their penguin away, and get the points to snatch the match.

For a different start to the year, why not make a trip to the New Year’s Day Dip in Antrim?

CLIC Sargent, the leading children’s and young people’s cancer charity, is calling for people to brave the elements and sign up for a sponsored dip in Portrush East Strand Beach to help raise money.

Meanwhile, Christmas on Ice at Lisburn Lei-sure Park is guaranteed fun for everyone.

Not only is the 2,500 sq ft fully-enclosed syn-thetic ice rink in place until Sunday, January 8, but a brand-new activity is also available – Water Ball.

Here, you can get in a watertight Zorb-like ball and walk, roll or run on water.

Alternatively, board a steam train at the Down-patrick and County Down Railway on New Year’s Day for the popular Mince Pie Special.

The same steam train used by Santa will coast through the County Down countryside while all guests enjoy free mince or apple pies, and some festive mulled wine or winter punch.

Why not walk the woods with an experienced guide? Take part in the New Year’s Day Walk at Mount Stewart. Dogs are also welcome, so no member of the family has to stay at home.

People planning a festive visit to Northern Ire-land can take advantage of the exclusive accom-modation offers available from the Tourist Infor-mation Centre, which include a two-night break with breakfast and one evening meal from £64.50 pps at the Ramada Encore, Belfast; £99 pps at the Ramada Portrush; £89 pps at the Armagh City Hotel; £79 pps at the Tower Hotel, Derry; £85 pps in the Clandeboye Lodge Hotel, Bangor; £89 pps at the Killyhevlin Hotel in Fermanagh, and £89 pps at the Silverbirch Hotel in Omagh.

For further information on these and many other events and offers, contact the Northern Ireland Tourist Board on Callsave 1850 230 230; visit the Tourist Information Centre, Suffolk Street, Dublin 2 to avail of its free advice and booking service, or see www.discovernorthernireland.com.

TravelBriefs

Edited by

Mimi Murray


A steam train ride with mince pies is just one

imaginative New Year’s event in Northern Ireland

lienborg, the winter resi-dence of the monarch of Denmark.

The Danish equivalent of Times Square in New York will ring in the New Year with a boisterous crowd and fireworks, after Queen Margrethe II gives her New Year speech.

Fireworks in Tivoli Gar-dens is an exciting way of celebrating New Year’s Eve in Denmark. In fact, they offer a full five-day festival of fireworks right after Christmas, and all

the way through to New Year’s Eve.

The fireworks are also accompanied by music, which makes the event even sweeter.

If your idea of a New Year’s celebration is being at one with nature, then Denmark’s north-ernmost town, Skagnen, may be the perfect loca-tion for you.

Book into a historic hotel and sample their gourmet offerings as you enjoy the surrounding

sand dunes, wide open beaches and the roaring sea.

Alternatively, you could celebrate the arrival of 2012 at one of Copen-hagen’s designer sky res-taurants, and watch the fireworks light up the night sky.

Take in the city views from Hotel Bella Sky Comwell – Scandina-via’s largest design hotel – or Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, the world’s first design hotel.

Of course, Copenhagen isn’t just a city of design, it’s also a city of music.

Start your New Year’s Eve celebration with a classic music extravagan-za at the city’s heritage Royal Danish Theatre.

Clubbers and night-owls will enjoy the New Year’s Eve party in one of Copenhagen’s top night-clubs, Culture Box.

This event started in 2005, and has grown since then. This year promises to be the best

yet, with a massive DJ line-up, featuring the likes of Tom Collins and DJ Bjarke.

Don’t miss out on any of the action – SAS fly direct from Dublin to Copenhagen, twice daily, from as little as €69 one way, including all taxes and charges.

So, whether you head to sublime Scotland, or delightful Denmark, there’s lots of choice for holidaying New Year’s Eve revellers.


Xmas crackers ...?Some films for your consideration this Christmas season ... Puss in Boots, Arthur Christmas, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn and New Year’s

Eve – all competing for your attention, adding to the diverse range of films out this festive season

GoingOUT

GazetteENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

Some may be duds, while others will entertain, in Kate’s seasonal roundup of some films on release this season

KATE CROWLEY

’TIS the season to be jolly – jolly glad that the only turkey I’ll be going near for the next cou-ple of weeks will be the one located close to the Crowley household’s Aga, rather than the type of turkey I see all year round on a big screen in the city centre, quietly driving me gaga.

Turkeys – of the cin-ematic variety, at least – well, those turkeys can live on to fight (for the remaining Recessionist buttons and fluff clatter-ing around in my Hermes purse) another day.

However, as much as I love cinema – despite being nicknamed Two-Stars back at Gazette Towers, on account of my harsh-but-fair ratings – I imagine that most readers will be celebrating the joys of Christmas by concen-trating on the small screen at home, rather than the big screen, over the next

couple of weeks.Still, should the delights

of turkey-surprise for approximately 18 days, or the comforting glow of an Eastenders Christmas Special somehow fail to keep you at home, let me point you at a few Christ-mas crackers to catch, if you haven’t already.

(Note that I use the term “crackers” with more dryness than the Crowley turkey if Mr Crowley is allowed near the Aga, but let’s proceed.)

For families, there’s a bunch of child-friendly films to take in, such as Puss in Boots (G, 90min,

), which sees Anto-nio Banderas return to voice the popular Shrek character, who gets his own adventure.

If you ever wanted to learn more about the talking cat adventurer, and how he came to be so well-known, this is the one for you.

Meanwhile, Arthur Christmas (G, 97mins,

) sees Wallace and Gromit makers, Aard-man, present the defini-tive version of how Santa Claus’ annual Christmas operation really works, courtesy of his blabber-mouth son, Arthur.

I can’t say I knew very much about one Arthur Christmas beforehand, but this cheerfully daft film takes an interesting approach to the iconic fig-ure, making it okay family fare, and at least there are no vampires around.

I spoke too soon. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (12A, 117min, ) continues the love affair between bland Bella and drippy Edward.

Personally, I think the Twilight saga would be somewhat livened up if only someone would call for Buffy, the girl with an oft-remarked-upon dis-like for vampires. Alas, but no.

Still, as relentlessly awful as all of the Twilight films have been, I’d stake my Christmas dinner on this being a massive hit, even though I still insist – fangs, but no fangs.

Sticking with the 12A slot – and comparable levels of quality – New Year’s Eve (117min, )

is another one of those American rom-coms that appear a couple of times of year, typically when one’s resistance is lowered by seasonal celebrations.

You all know the drill by now – a big cast, com-prising stock characters (The Beautiful But Sad One, The One With Ishh-oos, The Bad One With A Heart Of Gold, etc), with disparate paths and life journeys and lessons to be learned, all colliding on – well, as I love saying – the clue’s in the title, folks!

Seeing as it’s Christmas, the kindest thing I can say is that it’s not totally awful. (New Year’s Eve, you owe me...)

And that’s yer lot, as I doubt many are so inter-ested in cinema for the next week or two. That said, ol’ Two-Stars here would like to wish all my readers (yes, both of you) the very best this Christ-mas, and a Happy New Year, both at home and at the cinema. Humbug!

FILM OF THE WEEK:

Various (G to 12A)

OUR VERDICT:ALTHOUGH not a collection of true Christmas crackers, a selection of some of the (previously unreviewed) films on current release features some interesting choices for cinema fans, this Christmas. Children and families are well-served with these, and other choices, while, although new blockbusters are as thin as snow on the ground, there’s still an interesting choice of films on release for all audiences.

Directors: VariousStarring: An adventurer cat, Santa’s son, angsty vampires and Stock Characters – though not, sadly, all in the same fi lm

PAVILION 01 231 292947 Roses

DESPITE Christmas being upon us, The Pavilion is showing no sign in slowing down its line of great shows for arts and theatre fans, with a number of terrific acts heading to The Pavilion right after Christmas. For example, in mid-January, 47 Roses will bring the sights and sounds of 1960s’ Dublin to life, in a coming-of-age tale that recreates the bygone era. This tale of the past is definitely one to look out for – in the very near future! For more, see www.paviliontheatre.ie.

MILL THEATRE 01 296 9340 Rainbow’s End

WHAT a colourful way to prepare for the end of the year! In Rainbow’s End, The Mill presents a delightful family show, as the tale of a lost Crown Prince and missing rainbows is sure to delight audiences of all ages. Can Wendy, a student witch, get the rainbows back and save the day? And did anybody say they heard pirates? All will be revealed with Wendy to the rescue ... Catch Rainbow’s End on Wednesday, December 28 at 2.30pm. For full ticketing and performance details, see www.milltheatre.ie.

DRAIOCHT 01 885 2622Caroline Donohue

A LONG-term exhibition, Caroline Donohue’s body of work has been fascinating visitors to the first-floor gallery since its installation in November. Her selected works, to date, examine the point where Man and the natural world co-exist, or in some cases, collide. By examining these spaces, and their occasional paradoxes, Caroline provides glimpses of places to think, and dream, as internal and external worlds collide. You can see Caroline’s thoughtful body of work at Draiocht until her exhibition closes on Saturday, February 25.


SHANE DILLON

IT’S been another great year for games, with some superb titles appearing on all formats, and giving lots of choice for great Christmas presents.

Regardless of gam-ers’ platform of choice, and whether or not titles were platform-exclusive or multi-platform, some vintage titles came out in 2011.

Starting off, Microsoft had plenty of terrific titles, with some enormously popular franchises seeing very strong additions.

Although “hardcore” gamers were busy tack-ling the Locust menace in Gears of War 3 and the like, it was interesting to see how Microsoft’s Kinect began to make inroads into mainstream gaming.

While I expect there’ll be lots of people having fun with Kinect Dance Central 2 this Christ-mas, and a number of other cool Kinect-ena-bled titles, it was seeing

Kinect enabled in racing title, Forza 4, that was a bit of an eye opener for the XBox 360.

Meanwhile, while Microsoft had some out-standing titles, Sony were hardly a slouch in the games department either, with recently-released Uncharted 3 proving a particularly strong con-tender for Game of the Year.

The PlayStation 3 was also well served by a number of exclusive titles, with Killzone 3 proving another big winner.

In fact, virtually any-thing with a “3” in the title served both the 360 and the PS3 well, as did

other sequels and itera-tions.

Unfortunately, “3” wasn’t quite as lucky for Nintendo, as its 3DS underperformed for a variety of reasons - and, to be fair, 3D hasn’t quite caught on with people as had been expected.

With the 3DS some-what floundering, Nin-tendo seemed somewhat adrift this year, leaving the bigger games’ battles to be slugged out – as usual – by the two biggest contenders.

Still, a late return for Link, in the latest, high-ly-imaginative Zelda adventure, and notable other titles, showed that Nintendo still has plenty of life, whether on the Wii or the DS.

However, the biggest gaming story of the year was also one that was somewhat under-report-ed – the rise and rise of Apple as a major gam-ing force to be reckoned with.

Main street retailers, and international com-

panies, continued to report on declining sales, and issue profit warnings, as the industry seemed to contract more than ever before, with key titles propping up otherwise slack returns, and with several games companies going under this year.

Lots of theories were bandied about, from dig-ital distribution channels siphoning away custom-ers to consumers having less money.

Few paid much heed to the idea that lots of casual gamers – the kind who’d never think of spending €40 on a game, but eas-ily snapped up iPhone games from €0.79 a pop – were suddenly focusing on Apple products, and eating into mainstream gaming markets in this way.

Meanwhile, PC titles continued to flail around this year, with few titles of note, and with nowhere near the same level of public interest as on the more “mainstream” plat-forms.

Even the mighty World of Warcraft lost some lustre, with its inter-mittent official magazine folding – pun intended – after just five issues.

And so, despite some superb titles, but con-sidering the volatility of the gaming sector, it’ll be interesting to see how the markets develop in 2012, and to see what these platforms have lined up.

Still, looking ahead, gamers have lots to look out for in the near future. Gotham City Impost-ers, Final Fantasy 13-2, Metal Gear Solid HD collection, Binary Domain, Max Payne 3, Silent Hill: Downpour, The Secret World, Diablo 3 and many more titles are on the way, help-ing to show that, no mat-ter what’s going on in the rest of the increasingly poor world, at least gam-ers’ worlds will be as rich, imaginative and varied as ever.

Here’s to a happy new year of great games, on great consoles ...

GazetteGAMINGGAMINGTrigger memories of great 2011 games

A modern-day cross between Lara Croft and Indiana

Jones, Nelson Drake’s continuing adventures proved

a 2011 gaming highlight in Uncharted 3, on the PS3

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

‘Regardless of gamers’ platform of choice, some vintage titles came out in 2011’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Crazy Dave’s Xmas

bid to help ConcernIT’S not often that zombies can be counted on for help, but this year, they’re doing their bit to help fundraise for Concern.

Or, rather, Crazy Dave – the oddball shopkeeper with a saucepan on his head from the hit comical strategy game, Plants vs Zombies – has tem-porarily taken a break from selling garden rakes, bacon strips and compost to make a fundraising Christmas single.

Ignoring the peril of nearby garden-invading zombies, Crazy Dave – or “Cray-Z”, as he’s renamed himself – has released Wabby Wabbo,

with games developers, PopCap donating all PopCap proceeds earned from the single’s sale, before December 22, to Concern Worldwide.

With more than 465,000 views of his single on YouTube, and with almost 5.5 million followers of Plants vs Zombies’ Facebook page, Cray-Z is looking for lots of his fans to purchase the track, and help to support Concern.

Wabby Wabbo is available on iTunes, priced €0.99.

Winners picked for

Kinect competitionTHE Gazette had a great response from readers for our

Kinect prize giveaway com-petition for the XBox 360.

With the chance to win a copy of the games, Kinect Sports 1 and Kinect Sports 2, lots of readers emailed in the correct answer to the following question:

Which of the following sports can you play on Kinect Sports 2?

A. DartsB. RugbyC. Water Polo

The correct answer was Darts. Under the strictest of conditions (involving a hat), all correct answers (with one per entrant) were put into the hat, with five winners then

Five readers have won a copy of

Kinect Sports 2, for the XBox 360

Bytesandpieces

Fi e eaders ha e o a co of

selected at random.The five winners are: Patrick

Kavanagh; Rita McTague, Blan-chardstown; Michael Wisely, Navan Road; Mary Doyle, Windy Arbour and Ann Crow-ley, Glenageary.

Prizes will be posted out at the start of the New Year. Congratu-lations to all the winners!

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PLUMBING

DUN LAOGHAIRE/RATHDOWN

COUNTY COUNCIL

Permission is sought for demolition of existing house and the construction of part single storey, part two storey dwelling, gar-den shed to rear and asso-ciated siteworks including alterations to entrance from public road and works to boundary walls at 106 Lower Churchtown Road, Churchtown, Dub-lin 14, by David & Deidre Kelly. The planning per-mission may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy at the offices of the Planning Authority, County Hall, Dun Laoghaire during its public opening hours. A submission/observation may be made on payment of €20 within a period of 5 weeks from the date the application is received by the planning authority.

PLANNING NOTICE

14429

DUN LAOGHAIRE/RATHDOWN

COUNTY COUNCIL

I Derek McGuckin intend to apply for full planning permission for conversion of attic to useable storage space , insertion of, 2 new velux windows in roof to front, 1 new window in gable wall to side and 1 new large flat roof dormer window in roof to rear at 2 kingston Drive, Ballin-teer, Dublin 16. The plan-ning application may be inspected or purchased at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of mak-ing a copy at the offices of the Planning author-ity , County Hall , Dun Laoghaire , during its public opening hours. A Submission / observation may be made on payment of €20 within a period of 5 weeks from the date the application is received by the planning authority.

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COOLMINE cyclist Phil Lavery has made the switch from the Irish-owned An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly professional team to race instead for the new Node4 Giordana squad in 2012.

Speaking this week about the move, Lav-ery said the new team is likely to provide him with a better fit. “I felt

that An Post was not the right team for me. The kind of race programme like the [An Post] Ras, Tour of Britain, Tour of Norway and stage races in France, Spain and Portugal suits me more than a lot of the Belgian races.

“There are also the Premier Calendar events and I will be released to ride the midweek Nation’s Cup Under-23 races for Ireland. At the start I plan to remain in

Dublin but will move across during the sea-son.”

Lavery is one of seven new riders, with James Moss, Kieran Frend, Matt Higgins, Dave Clarke, Matt Cronshaw and Rico Rogers to join the new team.

Rogers won a stage on the Tour of China – where Nicolas Roche picked up his maiden win – and will be the team’s main sprint option.

CYCLING: COOLMINE MAN BELIEVES LATEST TRANSFER WILL SUIT HIS RIDING STYLE

Phil Lavery, in international action, has switched from Sean Kelly’s team to a new British pro outfit

Lavery switches to new British Giordana outfit

The Blanch man could make his debut in the Australian Cri-terium championships early in the New Year, a competition in which he finished fourth last time around.

It has not yet been announced when Lav-ery will begin his sea-son. He finished second in the Under-23 classifi-cation at the Irish road race championships last year and rode solidly in

Europe. He adds that this new

team can provide the springboard to pushing on in the professional world.

“I still have plenty of international ambitions

and would like to get on a ProTour team in the next couple of years. I know I have the abil-ity, it is a question of showing the confidence and getting the right results.”

GazetteSPORT22 & 29 December 2011 DUNDRUM GAZETTE 27

SPORT STARS: SPORT STARS: December’s December’s nominees arenominees arerevealed: revealed: Page 29Page 29

GazetteSportSport


Cracking Cuman

Gaels salute 2011 success with SantaS

OME of the best young, local talent made their mark at the Cuman na mBunscol finals in Croke Park last

week with schools from around the Dun-drum area taking home numerous pieces of silverware. Loreto, Rathfarnham’s girls took home the Corn Comhar Linn following a local derby in the final against Marlay Grange; with skipper Grainne Battelle mobbed by her team mates at the presentation. Conor Cinsealach lifted the Corn an Cheid after the Gaelscoil Thaobh na Coille got the better of Lucan’s Colaiste Padraig. There were also celebrations for Gaels-coil Chnoc Liamhna, Ballinteer’s Scoil Naithi and the boys of Scoil Colmcille in the annual celebration of primary schools football at GAA headquarters.

Scoil Naithi celebrate their Corn Na Laoch success

Gaelscoil Chnoc Liamhna players with the Corn Irish Rubies,

Scoil Cholmcille captain James Madden is lifted shoulder high

Loreto, Rathfarnham, players celebrate with the Corn Comhar Linn

Conor Cinsealach, Gaelscoil Thaobh na Coille, raises Corn An Chéid

A Marley Grange supporter shows her colours

Loreto, Rathfarnham’s Grainne Battelle is mobbed by her team

in association with


FastSport

PLAYERS from Railway Union Rugby Football Club got Heineken Cup match-goers into the festive spirit last weekend when they serenaded Leinster and Bath fans on their way to the Aviva stadium.

The Sandymount club were raising funds for much-needed floodlights for their Park Avenue pitch, and impressed the fans with their carol-ling.

With many sports clubs struggling in recent times to secure funding for necessary facility additions and repairs, several have turned to innovative ways of raising the funds. Railway Union RFC decided to flex their vocal chords and the players were put through their paces in the changing rooms every night after training.

Leinster fans were treated to the dulcet sounds of the Railway Union choir at two locations in the hours leading up to the important Cup showdown.

Railway Union join voices

to salute Leinster effort

WELCOME to the 2011 Dublin Sports Awards, as we mark our local sportsmen and women’s December sport-ing achievements across the capital and, indeed, across the nation.

We’re delighted to once again be able to celebrate the finest achievements in Dub-

lin sport, with some huge efforts at local levels coming to our attention in a variety of well-known, and some, less prominent, sports.

Every form of sporting achievement, at any level and in any sport, is valuable and gives an indication of the diversity of sporting commit-

ment there is around our fair city at all times of the year.

Let us know!Let us know about your

achievements in sport, so that the Gazette can tell the rest of Dublin — and give you, or your team, a chance of being one of our monthly stars.

Contact us on 01 601 0240 or [email protected] to tell us all about your suc-cesses, and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/gazettesport.

You can also check out the latest stories from Gazette-Sport at our new website, www.gazettegroup.com

STARof the

MONTHBARRY MURPHY

THE Swords swimmer

claimed eight national

titles in one weekend

and broke two national

records in the 100m

butterfly and the 50m

butterfly at the Irish

national short course

championships at Lisburn

this month.

ANNALISE MURPHY

THE National Yacht Club

member was in rare form

in Perth, Australia, this

month, qualifying for

the 2012 London Olympic

Games with impressive

performances in the Laser

Radial class that saw her

challenge for a medal.

JOE SWEENEY

THE Dublin South Dublin

athletic star showed his

growing maturity on the

international stage with

a fifth-place placing in

Slovenia at the European

Cross-Country champion-

ships this month against

top class opposition.

TEAMof the

MONTH

2011 DUBLIN SPORTS AWARDS - DECEMBER NOMINEES

ST BRIGID’S

THE Russell Park side

exceeded expectations

and came within seconds

of a heroic comeback in

the Leinster final against

Garrycastle, but were

denied a deserved win

by a free late on in the

match.

OLD WESLEY

DONNYBROOK’S finest

were crowned Leinster

Senior League Shield win-

ners at home this month,

winning their first

Leinster senior title since

1985 when they defeated

Greystones in the final in

a thrilling match.

LUCAN UNITED

UNITED reached the

fourth round of the FAI

intermediate cup in spite

of being in a league four

divisions below the teams

that they faced in the

competition, impressing

with their determination

and fearlessness.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Brennan race

set for Phoenix

Park launch LIFFEY Valley’s Athletic Club annual Tom Brennan Trophy 5k Race will launch the Office of Public Works’

celebration of the 350th anniversary of the establishment of the Phoenix Park on New Year’s Day.

The Minister of State at The Department of Finance, Brian Hayes will formally launch the year of celebrations by starting the race at 12 noon.

The Phoenix Park was established in 1662 by one

of Ireland’s most illustrious viceroys, James Butler Duke of Ormond, on behalf of King Charles 11.

The race will start at 12 noon on the Furze Road and will consist of two laps of the Ordnance Survey Road and Chesterfield Avenue lap. A relatively flat course which will enable runners to get their New Year off to a good start with a new personal best for 5k provided, of course, they have not been celebrating too much on New Years Eve.

European Cross Country Champion Fionnuala Britton set a new women’s course record last year of 16.39.


GazetteSportSport

[email protected]

THREE Rock Rovers’ National Indoor Hock-ey Trophy defence got off to a solid start when they nabbed a pair of victories in Loughlin-stown last weekend to remain the only side with a perfect record in their six-team group.

They began with a comfortable 6-0 win over newcomers, Wes-ton, building a 4-0 lead at half-time before, with goal difference possibly vital, going all out to grab more goals in the closing stages by swap-ping out goalkeeper Stephen West in favour

of an extra out-field player.

Garry Ringwood’s hat-trick, along with a brace from Peter Blak-eney, notched an even-tual 6-0 success and they added a big 2-1 vic-tory on Sunday against 2010 champions, Pem-broke, in what looked to be one of the group’s key games.

Pembroke shaded the play in a scoreless first half of play but Rovers stepped up in the sec-ond half, with Blakeney netting from play before Garry Ringwood scored a penalty stroke award-ed after Nick Burns deliberately kicked the

ball off the line. Wesley college student, Kirk Shimmins, got one back with four minutes to go but an equaliser was not forthcoming.

Earlier in the com-petition, Irish outdoor captain Ronan Gormley was among Pembroke’s “guest” players along with UCD man, Nick Burns, as a very young selection had too much in the tank for Fingal as they won both halves 5-2 for a total 10-4 win. Mick O’Connor grabbed the first hat-trick of the day.

Cor in th ian came from 4-1 down to tie as a three-goal blitz at the

start of the second half had Glenanne in the box seat but Glen Hol-mes, Andrew Sutton and Dan Treacy responded, the latter pair both scor-ing in the 31st minute, to earn a point.

Both would later pick up wins to head up the group overnight with the reds disposing of Wes-ton, courtesy of Glen Holmes’ four goals and a Neil Young hat-trick, transforming a tight 4-3 into a more comfortable 8-3 by the final hooter.

Glenanne did for Fin-gal in the final game of day one, Shane O’Donoghue’s hat-trick of first half corners help-

ing them to a 5-1 win.And the Tallaght side

ended day two top of the pile with a second victory, getting the bet-ter of Weston 7-1. Pem-broke’s 6-1 dismissal of Corinthian means it looks a three-horse race for the play-off places with one point separat-ing the Glens, Pembroke and Rovers.

T he compe t i t i on continues on January 7 and 8 in the New Year with Three Rock facing crucial games against Glenanne but will fancy getting wins against Fin-gal and Corinthian to assure their passage into the national finals.

Rock solid in Loughlinstown

HOCKEY: LOCAL SIDE BEGIN TROPHY DEFENCE WITH VICTORIES

Three Rock Rovers got off to a sterling start in defence of their National Indoor Hockey League title

[email protected]

FOLLOWING Old Wesley’s successful Reasons to be Cheerful Trivia Quiz last Janu-ary, the club is running anoth-er Trivia Quiz Night to be held on Friday, January 20, 2012 at 8pm.

The event will take place in the Members’ Lounge at the club’s home in Donnybrook . All proceeds raised will again be donated to Professor John Crown’s Cancer Clinical Research Trust, based at St Vincent’s Hospital.

Frank Whelan, formerly of RTE Sport, will be the MC and quiz-master, ensuring a fun night.

A table of four will cost €50, including finger food. The venue has capacity for 20 tables, so early booking is advisable.

SponsorshipYou can also take part by

sponsoring one of the ten rounds with the name of the business, products or services displayed on the screen and acknowledged in the pro-

gramme. It costs €20 to spon-sor a ‘Round’.

Also, donations of prizes for a raffle are sought.

Ireland’s World Cup crick-et hero, Kevin O’Brien, has donated a signed shirt and the club hopes to have many other interesting prizes on the night.

It also coincides with the final Heineken Cup pool stag-es weekend. To confirm your participation, contact David Carroll on 086- 852 0582 or e-mail : [email protected].

Wesley’s good Reasons for charity quizFastSport

THERE was a big boost this week as Dundrum football club and Knocklyon United were among the clubs who received early Christmas presents as part of the Three Affinity fund.

Knocklyon received €2,735 from the fund while Firhouse Carmel FC received over €2,025 and Dundrum were given €1,320 as part of a total of €53,500 paid out in December to grass roots clubs

Three, primary sponsors of the Irish National football team, announced the pay-outs as part of a special fund to aid the grassroots develop-ment of Irish football.

The programme offers FAI affiliated clubs the chance of earning cash when their members switch to Three, the more people that switch, the more money the club earns

To date over 120 clubs have switched at least one member to Three with Dundrum, Knock-lyon United and Firhouse in the top ten clubs.

Speaking at the announcement, Elaine Carey, sales and marketing director, commented: “When we came on board as official sponsors of the FAI back in August 2010, we promised to match our ambitions with real action to help the grassroots of Irish football. We are delighted that the team has progressed to the EURO finals next summer and we are also fully committed to everyone involved in football at all levels of the game.”

Drums get Christmas

bonus from Three deal

Deegan up for

Leinster gongDLSP’s Damian Deegan was last week nominated for the Leinster Branch Volunteer of the month for November in recognition of his multiple roles around the club.

Deegan has been involved with the club for over 20 years, as an active player, a coach, water boy, referee and, most importantly, a

friend to many who have worn the Salmo jersey with or under him in these various roles.

His contribution in welcoming new play-ers and beginners to the club over the last five seasons has seen their junior playing numbers mushroom-ing to record numbers and in their inaugural year at J5 level (last season) his team reached the cup final and finished fourth in the league,.


in association with

a CLUB NOTICEBOARD

WANDERERS

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’SCONGRATULATIONS to Stephen

Nolan who was named Dublin Bus

Hurler of the Year for 2011.

Christmas Boden News will be

avai lable in the clubhouse on

Thursday night. Please collect your

copy.

Condolences to Gerry Mahon and

David Coffey and families on the

death of their mother-in-law.

Congratulations to St Colm-

cille’s NS; St Mary’s NS and Gaels-

coil Chnoc Liamhna on Cumann na

mBunscol successes.

A date for your diary. The annual

Marrieds v Singles match will take

place St Stephen’s morning at

11.30am, venue TBC.

Get into training now. Look out

for the guest stars on the day and

the craic will be good afterwards.

The Marrieds will be mentored by

Brendan Young while the Singles

are actively canvassing around

Firhouse.

Bingo starts on January 9.

Lotto: Numbers drawn were 9, 19,

13 and 26.

The jackpot of €9,000 was not won.

Next week’s jackpot will be €9,500.

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

THE Adult mens’ junior As and Bs

should contact their managers

regarding training plans for next

season.

Christmas raffle tickets on sale

now at €2 each from all commit-

tee members and players. Great

prizes, including hampers from 1st

to 10th prize.

Please support this important

fund raiser for the club. All mem-

bers and players are asked to sell

as many as possible.

The book, A Rare Auld Season,

charting Dublin’s route to All-Ireland

glory in 2011 is available from pro@

wanderersgaa.ie now for just €18,

with €5 going directly to the club.

Under-15 boys’ training is on Tues-

day nights at 7.30pm and Under-15

girls’ training on Wednesdays at

6.30pm at Frank Kelly Park.

All new players welcome. For more

information contact Niall on 086 885

7303.

Ladies’ training is on Mondays

and Wednesdays at 7.30pm. Con-

tact Darren on 087 664 7205.

There was no winner of this

week’s Lotto jackpot. Numbers

drawn were 5, 11 and 22; €25 goes

to Damien, Stapo and Aiden, Gareth

Campbell, Maya Mallett, David Mol-

loy. The next lotto jackpot will be

€1,200, and the next draw is on Jan-

uary 8. Thanks for all your support

throughout the year.

Wanderers’ club car stickers

available to purchase this week,

contact any committee member

for details, €3 each.

The new club website is now live at

www.wanderersgaa.ie.

All content, feedback or sugges-

tions should be emailed to pro@

wanderersgaa.ie.

If you would like a notice men-

tioned in the club notes, please

contact Stephen on 0879789843

or [email protected] no later

than 10am Monday morning each

week.

The club would like to wish all its

members, players, supporters and

friends a very Merry Christmas, and

a peaceful and healthy 2012.

BALLINTEER ST JOHN’STHERE was no winner of last week’s

Lotto draw. Numbers drawn were 5,

9, 10 and 17. Next week’s draw will be

for €5,000, with a guaranteed €1,000

give-away.

Tickets are available online at

www.ballinteerstjohns.com or from

the usual outlets.

Wednesday nights are a great

night of traditional music, no cover

charge. Why not come up and join in

or enjoy a night of music and craic.

Spread the word to your friends,

family and neighbours.

Congratulations to Marley after

their success in the Parish Cup. A

great day enjoyed by all, with Marley

overcoming Broadford in the final.

Sympathies to the Carpenter fam-

ily on the death of Jo’s sister, Mau-

reen.

For more information on the club

and events, log on to www.balint-

eerstjohns.com

[email protected]

BA L LY B ODE N S t E n d a ’ s h a l f - b a c k Stephen Nolan scooped the top prize at last Fri-day’s annual Dublin Bus Dubs’ Stars awards held at the Westin Hotel when he was named Hurler of the Year.

The Wexford man was among seven Boden players from the five- in-a-row winners to be named in the team of the Dublin senior hurl-ing championship.

But the centre-back took the top honour with a series of tow-er ing pe formances alongside regular talis-man Malachy Travers, as Liam Hogan’s men continued their hold over the county title for a famous fifth year.

It means he is now in position to lead out the Dubs’ Stars selection on January 1 in Kiltipper Road when they take on the best of Anthony Daly’s Dublin team in

the annual kick-start to the year’s hurling action.

Boden provide almost half the side, with scor-ing machine Paul Ryan taking his place in the full-forward line while there were also calls for Gary Maguire, Darragh Spain, Travers, Shane Durkin and Conor McCormack. In addi-tion, Dean Curran was named on the bench.

Ballinteer St John’s can also be proud of their return in their first year of Senior A cham-pionship hurling as two of their rising stars – James Gilligan and Joe Maher – were named in the list of substitutes for the game.

Following their dou-ble exploits in 2010, it was an impressive start to life in the top tier for Ballinteer.

T h e w i d e s p r e a d number of hurlers is in direct contrast to the number of local foot-ballers in the line-up

for their version of the event with none making the cut.

After a couple of sea-sons of victories from Kilmacud Crokes and Boden in the senior footbal l champion-ship, both bowed out earlier than usual this term with a reduction in players in the Stars’ line-up as a result.

The football side is dominated by players from the Navan Road with seven of the start-ing line-up coming from St Brigid’s including Player of the Year Barry Cahill.

Beaten finalists St

O l i ve r P lunke t t ’ s /Eoghan Ruadh have four more in the selec-tion and the two clubs contribute a further quartet to the subs’ bench.

Both sides take on Dublin on New Year’s Day at Thomas Davis grounds in what will be, for the footballers, a first appearance on a play-ing field for Pat Gilroy’s Dubs since winning the All-Ireland in Septem-ber, adding to the sense of anticipation.

The hurlers throw-in at 1.30pm on the day while the footballers follow-up at 3.15pm.

HURLING: SEVEN NODS FOR ST ENDA’S IN STARS

Ballyboden St Enda’s were once again in celebratory mood following seven Dubs Stars

Boden’s Nolan takes top hurling honours

Ga

zetteSPORT

Wes’ cast Stones to Wes’ cast Stones to sea to claim Shieldsea to claim Shield Ballinteer old boys run in trio of impressive ties to take first Leinster senior league success since 1985

Old Wesley celebrate their Leinster senior league shield on home turf last Saturday with a lively victory over Greystones

[email protected]

OLD Wesley tasted Leinster Senior success for the first time since 1985 when they led from pil-lar to post in a free-flowing, entertaining pre-Christmas date at Donnybrook, ousting Grey-stones, 25-16.

It was in marked contrast to their last success, a tight match in the competition’s cup equiva-lent in which an injury-time try proved the dif-ference, but this Shield final was a much more open affair.

Last Saturday, despite the frosty conditions, the finalists served up five tries to put the crowd in the Aviva in good voice for Leinster’s com-prehensive victory over Bath a couple of hours later.

The Ballinteer old boys got off to the perfect start with a try after just three minutes. Matt Crockett was credited with the grounding after

the pack brought play up to the Greystones’ line. It was 50-50 for the next ten minutes until the Wicklow side found a hole in the Wesley back line to cross for a try and even the scores.

Shortly after, Greystones took the lead with a penalty from under the posts. Wesley responded with some good inroads, and on the 25-minute mark, Richie Jermyn did very well to ride a tackle and scramble over to restore the lead.

Barry McLaughlin converted to bring the score to 12-8. Both sides exchangedf penalties until shortly before half time when Greystones looked almost certain to score with a two man overlap.

Ross Johnson, however, saved the day with a try-saving tackle just short of the line. Indeed, it was Old Wesley that finished the half the better when McLaughlin converted a long range pen-alty, making the half time score 18-11.

And the hosting club dominated the third

quarter of the match with a powerful forward display, particularly in the ruck and maul where Greystones were regularly on the back foot.

Despite this, they could not convert their dom-inance into points. Furthermore, McLaughlin uncharacteristically missed two kicks that would normally be within his range.

Then, against the run of play and on their first visit to Wesley’s 22 in the second half, it was Greystones that struck with an unconverted try, bringing the gap to just two points. Moments later, a touch of opportunism saw Ian Cassidy intercept a Greystones back-line move to sprint in and score under the posts. McLaughlin con-verted to restore a comfortable two-score lead.

And they closed out the tie in control for the final 12 minutes, with both John Carroll and McLaughlin coming very close to extending the lead only to be denied tries by desperate tackling by the opposition.

ALL OF YOUR DUNDRUM SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 27-31 DECEMBER 22 & 29, 2011

DECEMBER’S STARSAll the nominees for the fi nal month of 2011 P29

ROCKING ON: Three Rock begin national

indoor defence with pair of victories P30

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