Lucan

Lucan good: Shane joins in the fun as he ‘patrols’ around town“SERGEANT” Shane Wynne was an arresting sight as he joined in the fun at the annual Lucan Festival in the village centre last weekend. The local lad didn’t cop out of playing his part to add to the great atmosphere on the

day, as his “beat” took him on patrol through the village, where lots of fun activities had been laid on for everyone to enjoy, seeing Lucan Festival 2012 was hailed as a great success by all.

Full Story on Pages 2-3

Fourth village Festival hailed as a hit � HIROMI MOONEY

LUCAN was shining in the spotlight last weekend when the fourth annual Lucan Festival brought out the best in the village, and was hailed as “a tribute to the spirit and community of Lucan”.

Large crowds gathered for the main day of the festival last Sunday. Festival chair-man Joe Byrne said: “It was a good success this year, and everyone seemed to be enjoy-

ing themselves.”Local Fine Gael TD, and

Minister for Children Franc-es Fitzgerald who helped to launch the festival, was equal-ly effusive in her praise of the event and its organisers.

She said: “The festival has always provided a real show-case for local talent, entrepre-neurship and the fostering of community spirit, and Sun-day’s celebrations, in particular, added a huge focus to this.”

Full Story on Pages 2-3

Soccer: Peamount win twice against ShelbournePage 30

Football: St Pat’s produce huge shock win over Mary’sPage 31

LOCAL HEROES: Esker Celtic praised for its Football For All initiative Page 4

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� HIROMI MOONEY

SOUTH Dublin County Council has published a planning application for a walking and cycling route between the Moy Glas and Castle Riada estates, from Griffeen Road to the Ballyowen Road.

The application pro-poses a new shared walk-ing and cycling route along the line of the Esker, linking Griffeen Road and Ballyowen Road, which will include access for the less mobile.

According to local Fine Gael councillor William Lavelle under the plan-ning laws, council man-

agement have the sole power to initiate a plan-ning proposal.

However, the council-lors have the final say to adopt and/or amend the proposals.

Cllr Lavelle said: “I will only cast my vote in line with residents’ wishes, and I am urging Castle Riada and Moy Glas res-idents to make submis-sions on the proposal.”

Plans and particulars of the proposed scheme are available for inspec-tion until Thursday, October 18 in the South Dublin County Coun-cil Offices in Tallaght, in Lucan Library and in Clondalkin Civic Centre.

COUNCIL: WALKING AND CYCLING PATH PLANNED

Have your say on route

COMMUNITY Villagers, businesses, gardai,

Justin Byrne, Sheila Prior and Patrick Kavanagh, of the Liffey Valley Park Alliance, were happy to give information on the River Liffey

and its rich cultural, sporting and ecological diversity in west Dublin to Mick, Jack, Carmel and Amy Griffin. Pictures: Ian Fleming

Gas craic for Sam O’Donnell and Garda Brian O Faolain

Denis McCarthy, of Animal Magic, and a feathered

friend, enjoyed meeting local bird loversAn arresting sight ... Jack Barry and Jake Clarke with Garda Steve Moloney

NOW established as a firm favourite on Lucan’s social calendar, the 2012 Lucan Festival passed off won-derfully last week, with locals enjoying a wide range

of events held across the village throughout the festival, which celebrated businesses, local schools and events and, of course, the dynamic and multicultural people of Lucan village and area.

The Gazette called to see many people enjoying the open day at Lucan Garda Station, with local gardai delighted to meet citizens, give a glimpse of day-to-day life at the station and have some fun, too. The gardai certainly didn’t cop out of the chance to engage with the community, as they joined locals, traders, politicians and the people of Lucan to celebrate all that is great about life in the lovely, historic village.See more pictures Next Week

A multicultural celebration of life in the village

20 September 2012 LUCAN GAZETTE 3

fire brigade and schools come out to party – again

Fourth Lucan bash garners great praise� HIROMI MOONEY

THE Lucan Festival returned for its fourth year last weekend, and the many supporters wit-nessed a celebration of everything that is special and unique about the vil-lage.

Still brimming with the success of the event when he spoke to The Gazette, festival chairman Joe Byrne said that the event drew a lot more people this year.

He said: “I thought it was quite a good success this year. We had good attendance at the various talks that we did and, on Sunday, we had quite a crowd there.

“Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves with all the various attrac-tions we brought in.”

The festivities on Sun-day included a display by the Dublin Fire Brigade Services, stalls which showcased local organi-sations, and a stage to showcase some local tal-ent and entertainment.

SuccessfulDeputy Derek Keating

(FG) said that this year’s festival went very well, and was very successful.

“It was a great oppor-tunity for the people of Lucan to come down to the village, take time out, take part and enjoy them-selves,” he said.

Party colleague and local minister Frances Fitzgerald, who launched the festival, congratu-lated the Lucan Festival Committee, South Dub-lin County Council and the Gardai on their huge efforts in the lead up to, and during, this year’s hugely successful Lucan Festival.

She said: “The suc-cess of the annual Lucan Festival is a tribute to the spirit of the community of Lucan.

“The festival has always provided a real showcase for local talent, entrepre-neurship and the foster-ing of community spirit, and Sunday’s celebra-tions, in particular, added

One of the highlights of Lucan Garda Station’s Open Day and, indeed, Lucan

Festival 2012 was a performance by the Garda Band, with conductor, Inspector

Pat Kenny, expertly leading the band through some great songs

a huge focus to this. “Festivals such as this

are a great way of boost-ing community spirit and creating a sense of cohesion in towns and villages.”

Lucan Garda Station held an open day in con-junction with the festival. Sergeant Morgan O’Neill

said that, overall, both the festival and the station’s open day went very well.

“It went very well. This was our sixth year to run [an open day in the sta-tion] – we were the first in the country to have one.

“The primary purpose [of the day] is for people to come into the station

and to be able to have a look around and see what’s behind closed doors, and for kids to have a look at the cells, and the Garda cars, and see the different serv-ices we have available – to give an overview of the different avenues of Garda work.”

Signage to thwart speeding� HIROMI MOONEY

NEW signage is set to be installed at Griffeen Ave-nue after it became clear that motorists are con-tinuing to ignore the new zebra-crossing there.

The new crossing was recently installed follow-ing a campaign by Fine Gael councillor William Lavelle, local residents and school parents in Oldbridge and Rossbery estates.

Cllr Lavelle said that many locals are outraged at motorists who con-tinue to travel at speed and ignore the zebra-crossing.

He said: “I have vis-ited the crossing and witnessed the situation at first-hand.

“Council engineers have now agreed with my request to immediately install new signage, and to review the need for additional safety meas-ures,” said Cllr Lavelle.

CROSSING


dinator of Football For All, Oisin Jordan, was at the launch of Esker Celt-ic’s programme, where he praised the club’s efforts.

He said: “Football For All is the most important programme that I run at the moment. Getting local community clubs involved in the pro-gramme, and allowing children with disabilities to actually access foot-ball in their community, may not have been the case before.

“It’s absolutely impor-tant that every child should have the right to play football, and this programme gives the children who might not have the ability yet to get involved.

“It will allow them to develop as players in a safe environment. So, what Esker are doing goes beyond the service of the community – it’s changing lives, to be honest.”

Local Fine Gael TD Derek Keating was also at the launch. He has worked with disability groups and their repre-sentatives, and is also a board member of the Lucan Disability Action Group.

Deputy Keating said: “One of the things I find

Get ready for the big change ...THE National Digital Switchover Week is taking place this week, and local people are being called upon to help their friends and neighbours ensure they do not miss out on the switch.

Local Fine Gael TD Derek Keating said: “I am calling on grandchildren, neighbours and com-munity professionals to advise, and assist, those who do not understand the fact that television screens which depend on aerials will go blank at 10am on October 24.

“If you rely on an aerial for your TV, you will need to buy a set top box for between €60 and €100,” he said.

This week, 26 local Dig-ital Outreach Champions across the country are organising events in their communities to encour-age people to switch from analogue to digital TV, and avoid a last-minute rush ahead of the October 24 deadline.

DIGITAL TV SPORT Club has 12 accredited FAI disability coaches

Members of Esker Celtic Football Club’s Football For All programme

Esker Celtic ‘changes lives’ with Football for All initiative� HIROMI MOONEY

LOCAL soccer team, Esker Celtic Football Club, were praised for “going beyond the service of the community” after they recently launched their Football For All pro-gramme for children with a disability.

Football For All is an FAI initiative to give such children the opportunity to get regu-lar football training and competition through a local community club in their area, where they will be trained by profes-sional and qualified FAI coaches.

Esker Celtic launched the programme last Sat-urday, September 8, with seven children present.

Their programme membership has now grown to 16, which is

the maximum number they can accommodate at present. The club has 12 trained and fully accredited FAI disability coaches.

Local Football for All co-ordinator Colm Young discussed the principle behind the pro-gramme.

“The ethos behind it is for children who can’t get involved in main-stream football [to do so, here].

Mainstream“That’s not to say that,

in years to come, that they might not be able to play in mainstream football, but this whole programme is to get them out there, get them kicking a football and, most importantly, hav-ing fun.”

FAI’s national coor-

in the community is that sports organisations are looking for every way of including everybody, to be more inclusive. Esker Celtic Football Club is one of those clubs that has worked to include everybody in sport.

“I was not surprised, therefore, when Esker Celtic sought to intro-duce the Football For All programme, which is now becoming more and more established.

“It really gives equal opportunity for every-body to participate in sport,” said Deputy Keat-ing.

The National Foot-

ball For All Festival and Family Fun Day will take place in Tallaght Sta-dium this Sunday, Sep-tember 23, from 12pm to 4.30pm.

The free event will see all Football For All Clubs from across the country gather to showcase their club and play tourna-ments against each other. Esker Celtic Football Club’s Football For All team will be present.

For further informa-tion about Esker Celtic’s Football For All pro-gramme, contact Colm Young at 087 250 3456, or see the website at www.eskerceltic.ie.

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Shared ownership payments outlined� HIROMI MOONEY

SOUTH Dublin County Council (SDCC) has out-lined a number of options available to tenants in the shared-ownership scheme who are having difficulties with keeping up their pay-ments.

The options were out-lined following local Fine Gael councillor William Lavelle’s question to the county manager at the September county coun-cil meeting last week.

The council replied that they have a “policy of early intervention for shared

ownership borrowers who fall into arrears”.

The council response continued: “Our staff can discuss the customer’s cir-cumstances with a view to making an arrangement to pay that is both suitable to both the customer and the council.

“It is in the best interest of the borrower to work closely with the council on the matter as, where customers continually do not make payments on their account, or do not co-operate with the coun-cil, then legal proceedings will have to commence.”

Thanks to the hard work of local residents, businesses, and members of Lucan

Tidy Towns Committee, Lucan greatly impressed the judges in this year’s contest

Glory for Lucan as it takes Tidy Towns title� HIROMI MOONEY

LUCAN has been named the tidiest town in South Dublin in the SuperValu National Tidy Towns Awards for 2012.

Lucan achieved 283 out of 400 points in the adjudication, while Clondalkin achieved a total of 202 out of 400 points.

“We’re delighted with this achievement,” said Mairead McGowan, member of the Lucan Tidy Towns committee.

“Around three or four new areas have entered [the competition] this year and they’ve done quite well. It’s obviously going to put pressure on us [in future], but it’s good.”

Both Lucan and Clondalkin have been congratulated for their

achievements by local representatives.

Fine Gael TD Derek Keating congratulated the Lucan Tidy Town committee members for their hard work, and on being successful for another year.

He said: “It is always a pleasure, as a resident, a local TD, and a former member of Lucan Tidy Towns, to walk around my village and enjoy the wonderful environs as a result of my friends in our Tidy Towns Commit-tee.

“I see the Lucan Tidy Towns Committee as modern-day community heroes.”

Praising the efforts of the Clondalkin commit-tee, Councillor Trevor Gilligan (FF) said: “A lot of time and energy has gone in over the past few

COMMUNITY ‘Heroes’ praised for their commitment

weeks into Clondalkin Tidy Towns.

“I would like to thank volunteers, the com-mittee, business owners and everyone who got involved.

“I believe that this is only the start for Clondalkin Tidy Towns and the only way we can go is up.

“We have the results and responses from the Tidy Towns, so we know what to do for next year. Clondalkin is the best place to live. The com-petition for next year has started,” he said.

Local Labour Party TD Robert Dowds also congratulated the towns for their performance in the competition.

In a statement, he said: “It really is heart-warming to see so many people getting involved in improving their own communities through

hard work.“On behalf of the

community, I want to thank everyone who has been involved in the Tidy Towns effort this year, and wish everyone the best of luck in next year’s competition.”

Lucan Tidy Towns meet every Saturday morning at 10am in the layby below St Mary’s Church on the Lucan Road.

Clondalkin Tidy Towns meet every Tuesday evening at 6.30pm and every Saturday morning at 10am in the Tuthills car park in the village.

Both tidy towns com-mittees welcome new members at any time.

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SCHOOLS Examining Junior Cert results at St Kevin’s CS

Ready for the next challengeS

TUDENTS were delighted with their Junior Cert results at St Kevin’s Community Col-

lege, Clondalkin when the brown envelopes finally arrived at the school recently.

Principal Pat Lowry was joined

by several staff members to congratulate students and discuss their results, as the boys and girls from Lucan, Clondalkin, Palmers-town and further afield examined the results of their first major tests in the second-level system.

The results added up to a great tally for local lads Paul McMahon, William Carpenter and Stephen Kavanagh,

pictured with maths teacher Fintan Sheridan. Pictures: Ian Fleming Chantelle Ward, Luke Melaugh and Charlene Craig

Patrick Moran and Annmarie Ward, Irish teacher

Daniel Kearney, Peadar Cassidy, Dylan Sullivan and

Suzanne Graham

Ashling Caffrey, religion

teacherPrincipal Pat Lowry



He’s Rudd-y to serve delicious new pizzasG

UESTS from across the city tucked into a delicious night out in the city centre recently,

as chef Adam Rudd’s new studio in Drury Street hosted a Domino’s Pizza launch.

With Adam overseeing the flavour-ful fun, a range of pizzas, sides and

desserts were enjoyed by all, with wine from Wine Friendly proving a perfect complement to the fare.

Television personality Leanne Moore joined “Gossip Girl” Siob-han O’Connor to have a go at pizza making, but their game attempts were surpassed by the new Domino’s range.

The new gourmet range has been designed to provide a “lighter” pizza with distinctive flavour, with tempt-ing ingredients in the range including roast chicken breast, baby spinach, Greek feta cheese, Peruvian roquito peppers and more, providing some-thing for everyone to tuck into.

Siobhan O’Connor and Leanne

Moore Chef Andrew Rudd gets some help from the Wine Friendly crew at the evening’s launch

Sinead O’Connor and Rebecca O’Neill

LAUNCH Domino’s roll out a new range of gourmet food

Lynsey Murtagh and Gill Verrecchia

Allanna Hennessy Jennifer Maguire

R1

THEATRE Ballymun stages festival for eighth year

The world premieres of four Samuel Beckett plays which have been translated

into Irish will take place in the Axis Theatre in Ballymun this October

Axis premieres Beckett in Irish� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

[email protected]

THE world premieres of four Samuel Beckett plays which have been translated into Irish by Gabriel Rosenstock will take place in the Axis Theatre in Ballymun this October.

As part of the Borradh Buan Irish Language Festival, which runs from October 15 to 27, the Mouth on Fire Thea-tre Company will stage Blogh, which is the Irish translation of Beckett’s Rough for Theatre 1 and Rocabai, the Irish ver-sion of Rokaby.

The newly translated works will be performed by an ensemble under the title Ag Taibhreamh ar … nGra (Dreaming of … Love). There will

also be a performance of a selection of Beckett’s poems which have been translated.

Mother, father and son acting team Geral-dine Plunkett, Peadar Lamb and Marcus Lamb will share the stage with actors Melissa Nolan and Jennifer Laverty. The Beckett poems will be read by Gabriel Rosen-stock and Nick Devlin.

Festival

These productions, which have received backing from Dublin City Council and Foras na Gaeilge, are part of Borradh Buan 2012, which is Ireland’s only festival of its kind and is in its eighth year.

Announcing details of the production, Cathal Quinn, artistic director

of Mouth on Fire, said the theatre company was extremely honoured to be staging new interpre-tations of Beckett’s work and has even received touring requests from Britain, Japan and Can-ada.

“The Beckett estate is known for the scrupulous care it takes to safeguard the integrity of Beckett’s writing – and rightly so,” said Quinn. “So we were thrilled to be granted the rights to translate some of his short plays into Irish, and to stage these in Irish for the very first time.”

The world premiere of Blogh and Rocabai are on Friday, October 26, in the Axis in Ballymun, tickets cost from €8 to €12, and are available by calling 01 883 2100.

BRIDE&GROOMPAGES 19-27

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Westlife singer Nicky Byrne with fifth class students from St Peter and Paul’s National Boys’ School, Baldoyle, to launch the 2012 Cheerios

Childline Breakfast Together Week3

Byrne helps to raise funds for Childline

WESTLIFE singer Nicky Byrne dropped in to see the fifth class students from St Peter and Paul’s National Boys’ School, Baldoyle, to launch the 2012 Cheerios Child-line Breakfast Together Week.

Byrne, a former pupil of the school, was there in his capacity as an ambassador for the ISPCC.

The children’s charity are asking as many peo-ple as possible – schools, creches, companies,

coffee shops, friends and families – to come together, hold a break-fast event and raise much-needed funds for Childline.

Childline is entirely funded by the Irish pub-lic, so their support is vital.

Funds raised will help Childline volunteers to answer more calls from vulnerable children and

young people in Ireland who have nowhere else to turn.

The Cheerios Child-line Breakfast Together Week will take place from October 8 to 14. To register, log on to www.childlinebreakfast.ie, or call 1850 50 40 50.

Meeting Packie BonnerSTAFF from the Beacon

DIARY

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Hospital in Sandyford, and former Irish goal-keeping legend Packie Bonner are heading to the National Ploughing Championships on Sep-tember 26 to play an out-door exhibition match in the Health and Wellness section of the trade show, from 12 noon to 2pm.

People who come to visit the UPMC Beacon stand will get the chance to meet the sporting hero afterwards.

Chartered physiothera-pists will be on hand at the stand over the three days of the ploughing championships, advising on injury prevention and management.

Free analysis

They will also offer simple fitness tests for the more than 189,000 expected visitors to the three-day exhibition, and will offer free gait analysis for visitors.

A hotel stay worth €500 will also be won by one lucky visitor to the Bea-con stand.

The Ploughing Cham-pionships will take place between Tuesday and Thursday, September 25 to 27 in New Ross, Co Wexford.


Road dogs: A charity cruise across the USARADIO PRESENTER Baz Ashwamy, actor George McMa-hon, former boxing champion Bernard Dunne, singer Ryan Sheridan, will hit the open road on Harley Dav-idson motorcycles as part of the Delta Horizon Tour across the US in aid of Irish Dogs for the Disabled in September/October 2013.

Irish Dogs for the Disabled train assistance dogs to assist physically disabled children and adults. These dogs carry out a range of practical tasks in order to allow disabled people greater independence.

Every dog is trained to help with simple everyday tasks such as opening and closing doors, picking up dropped items, emptying the washing machine, send-ing for help or even helping a child with severe walk-

ing difficulties to walk with greater ease and balance.Each dog is trained to cater for the needs of the

specific client to enable them to live life with greater independence. This all costs money, of course, and in order to raise funds for this very worthy charity, the charity is undertaking the motorcyle trip of a lifetime from Chicago to New Orleans next year.

Irish Guide Dogs for the Disabled is now offering volunteers the chance to literally sample history on a two week, 3,000km guided motorcycle tour that will go from Chicago, Illinois, to the magical streets of New Orleans.

For further info check out www.deltahorizontour.com

Jobs Expo returns to Croke Park

EVENT: CHANCE TO MEET POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS

� HIROMI MOONEY

JOBS Expo 2012 will return to Croke Park next Friday and Saturday, Sep-tember 28 and 29, follow-ing its successful event held earlier this year.

The employment and recruitment fair promises to offer plenty of infor-mation and opportuni-ties both at home and abroad.

The free event will offer advice and career opportunities from vari-ous companies. One such company is the Brit-ish Columbia Construc-tion Association, whose members are looking to fill positions in the Canadian province for carpenters, welders, iron workers, plumbers, pipe layers, mechanics, crane operators and sheet metal workers.

The Jobs Expo event coordinator, Vicky Kelly, said that following the success of the last expo event, which had around 9,000 attendees, they are expecting to exceed that figure this time.

“I think it’s very impor-tant [to host an expo like this] because it’s an ideal opportunity for employ-

ers to showcase the posi-tions that they have, and also for the public so that they feel more involved in the recruitment process as well.

“They can actually come along and present themselves in person rather than being a piece of paper with a CV being emailed in to an organisa-tion,” she said.

“It’s a great chance to actually come and speak to employers directly and to apply face-to-face for a role that you may be suit-able for.”

The exhibition will be divided into five different areas, which are Irish Job Opportunities, Working Abroad, Education Vil-lage, Career Clinic and Starting Your Own Busi-ness.

The event is run by Learning Ireland, the publisher of leading web-sites Nightcourses.com, Gotocollege.ie, Postgrad.ie, Corporatetraining.ie and Learning.ie.

The expo will take place from 11am to 5pm both days in The Hogan Suite in Croke Park.

For more information, visit http://www.jobsex-po.ie/.

THE Waltons Music for Schools Competi-tion is looking for the country’s most musical school.

The competition will award a total of €10,000 worth of vouchers for

musical instruments, accessor ies , books , music technology or PA equipment from Wal-tons Music.

Awards will be divided among six winning pri-mary and post-primary

schools, including two first prizes of €3,000 vouchers, and music groups from 12 finalist schools will have the fantastic opportunity to perform in the National Concert Hall.

Entry forms are avail-able to download from www.waltons.ie, www.newschool.ie, www.rte.ie/lyricfm and www.nch.ie, and you can email your entry form, along with all addi-

tional information and materials, to [email protected]

Entries must arrive by 5 pm on Friday, Febru-ary 1, 2013. Late entries will not be accepted.

Search for the country’s most musical schoolCOMPETITION €10,000 worth of vouchers to be won


‘Be subversive, be posh – ditch beige’� LAURA WEBB

FORGET about living in a beige box – instead, be playful with colours and designs throughout the house.

That’s just a little of the advice that inte-rior designer, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, best-known for his appear-ances on TV’s Changing Rooms, brought to town on a recent visit to launch his exclusive collection for online department store, Littlewoods Ireland.

The Gazette caught up with the designer at a hotel suite that had been transformed into a shrine to his new collection.

Sitting on a couch he had designed himself, Laurence looked ever the suave gentleman, and was only too delighted to talk about his new collection.

“It’s the first time ever, that I feel I have created an entire, almost couture attitude collection – some-thing that encompasses furniture as well as bed linen, soft furniture, bed-ding, lighting and things – it has been tremendously liberating,” he said.

“I have been design-ing for years and years. I launched wallpaper 14 years ago – a really long time – but when you design an element like a roll of wallpaper or china or table-linen, or what-ever, you have got to use that one small thing to tell a big story.

“But, when you are cre-ating an entire collection, you can be so much more emphatic, so much more punky and subversive – you don’t need to be so bloody tasteful!

“The look I wanted to

sell, because it is my look, is all about indulgence, voluptuousness and eve-ry-day luxury and theatri-cality, opera – but it also has to be funny.

“There has to be some-thing about it that is witty and grown-up, and so much interior design isn’t. So much is so appallingly straight, and unbelievably serious! Sod that – we are fabulously diverse.

“I want to make peo-ple’s lives sexier, more playful, more indulgent – to me, those are the things that make you feel as if you are worth it,” said Laurence.

Asked about the use of colour on walls, Laurence believes the bolder, the better.

“If we all woke up in a beige box, we would all be very dull people! We want to make these

places, places that we can escape to.

“It is all about being able to be ourselves and not conform to this rigid, pre-prescribed sense of what is ‘good taste’ and what is ‘bad taste’.”

According to Laurence, his collection offers luxu-ry furnishings at afford-able prices.

“People look at it and say, ‘That’s posh’. But ‘posh’ doesn’t mean any-thing, posh doesn’t mean class, it doesn’t mean money, it doesn’t mean status – it is just posh – and that is what I want it to be.

“Posh for as little money is absolutely per-fect, because it is totally subversive,” he said.

The Laurence Llewe-lyn-Bowen collection is available now on www.littlewoodsireland.ie.

STYLE Advice from Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

Interior design guru, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, pictured in Dublin launching his exclusive online collection of

furniture and furnishings for Littlewoods Ireland

EPA’s initiative tohelp firms go greenTHE Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a one-stop shop for businesses in Dublin to help them save money while preventing waste, con-serving water and reducing their energy costs.

The EPA developed the resources for businesses facing increasing energy costs and waste and water charges which are looking to reduce their overheads by adopting greener ways of doing business. BeGreen provides access to a range of business programmes including Green-

Business and GreenHospitality. GreenBusiness is a free business advi-

sory service that represents an innova-tive approach to waste prevention and resource efficiency in Ireland. BeGreen’s expert environmental advisors will visit organisations and generate a tailored environmental efficiency action plan free of charge.

GreenHospitality has been a hugely successful BeGreen programme for the hospitality industry. For more informa-tion, visit BeGreen www.begreen.ie

BUSINESS: CUTTING COSTS


Start-up business will win €25,000THE Learning and Inno-vation Centre (LINC) last week launched its annual entrepreneurial competition, which offers the winner an impressive prize worth €25,000 for a start-up business.

This is the third year of the LINC’s Jump-Start competition at the Insti-tute of Technology Blan-chardstown (ITB)

The competition is open to entrepreneurs who would like to base their business in an inno-vative and supportive environment.

The value of the award is €25,000, and includes €5,000 in cash for the winning company, plus the cost of the incubation space for 12 months, with varied mentoring support available to the company from industry experts, and a range of useful busi-ness start-up packages, including design, media,

technology equipment, print, call-answering and much more.

Last week saw the offi-cial launch of the compe-tition, which took place at the Dylan Hotel.

One of Ireland’s best-known entrepreneurs, and Dragon’s Den star, Bobby Kerr, was on hand to officially launch the competition.

DelightedHe said: “I am delight-

ed to be involved with the Jump-Start competition again.

“I see the competition as a great way for entre-preneurs to present to their peers and have the opportunity of winning an amazing prize that any start-up would love to receive, especially in the current climate.”

Shortlisted entrants will get a unique oppor-tunity to present their

ideas to a very experi-enced panel, including Kerr; Judith Troy, AIB regional manager; Oisin Geoghegan, chief execu-tive of Fingal County Enterprise Board, and George Kiely, regional director of Enterprise Ireland.

The judging panel will be chaired by Assumpta Harvey, manager of the LINC at ITB.

Application forms can be downloaded from www.thelinc.ie/jump-start, with the closing date for applications set for 4pm on Friday, Octo-ber 19, with the short-list to be announced on November 2.

All applicants must submit a fully completed application form.

The winner of the award will be announced on the evening of the final judging, on Novem-ber 15.

ENTERPRISE: CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR ANNUAL ENTREPRENEURIAL CONTEST Camera

club set to exhibit� NATALIE BURKE

BALDOYLE Library will play host to the “Expres-sive Black and White” exhibition later this month – a photography event featuring the best work of Sutton Camera Club.

The photography exhi-bition will be held from Monday, September 24 until Friday, Septem-ber 28, with the official launch taking place on Tuesday, September 25 at 6.30pm.

With members of the photography club hailing from Baldoyle, Swords, Howth, Clongriff in, Portmarnock and Don-aghmede, the free exhibi-tion features work from a number of different com-munities.

Sutton Camera Club currently meet every sec-ond Tuesday night in the Baldoyle Forum Centre. For further information, see www.suttoncamera-club.com.

LIBRARY

Gimme Moore: Street’s traders help to celebrate orchestra’s concertsSWAPPING her fruit and veg for cymbals, Moore Street trader Marie Cullen showed Sinead Farrell what a dab hand she is when it comes to making music. The pair were having some fun on the famous street, as mem-

bers from the RTE National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) were visiting the street to help publicise the upcoming NSO 2012-2013 season, which is now under way at the National Concert Hall.


GazetteENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

� SHANE DILLON

IT’S been a while since I was last at the cinema, so I don’t have any particu-lar expectations of what most films for kids should be like, today.

I mean – and this is probably showing my age here – the last time I went to see a kid’s film, I think a young Jodie Foster was running around in it, looking for some place called Witch Mountain

(circa 1873)?There was definitely

an intermission in the middle of the film when the red curtains closed, I remember that much. 3D? It was all barely 2D, back then, mate!

All of this makes me sound less like a grown-up, and more like a dino-saur. Could an old fogey like me truly get to grips with something that’s, y’know, for kids?

Well, ParaNorman

(deservedly a Cert PG; 92 mins; starring, oh, John Goodman is just about the biggest name there) is a stop-motion animated film about Norman; an average kid in his sleepy home town.

Average, that is, except for the fact that he sees dead people everywhere, and wearily blathers away with amiable ghosts that only he can see, includ-ing Uncle Prenderghast (Goodman).

Personally, I’d be using my invisible buddies to ace every test in school, but, alas, Norman’s a nicer kid than me – err, so to speak – as he doesn’t treat his deadly pals with any disrespect.

Norman’s pretty nor-mal, otherwise, given his slightly annoying family; the fact that he’s getting bullied a bit at school, and the fact that his town keeps celebrating a witch that it, um, dealt with, 300 years earlier.

Now, you don’t sup-pose that a 300-year-dead witch and a boy who chats away to spirits from

Spot the odd one out ... Yes, that’s right – it’s Norman, who alone can see dead people

everywhere. A handy gift, it turns out, given a town curse that’s about to unfold ...

Boys and ghouls may like this film

the afterlife could possi-bly cross paths, thus ful-filling an ancient curse set upon the town, do you? (Or, in my best ghost-ese: dooooo youuuuu?)

It’s not long before dead ol’ witchipoo is back – back, and deader than ever – ready to make up for 300 years of other people partying and cel-ebrating her unfortunate

end, with a load of creepy minions and zombies.

(From this point onwards, the film ramps up its intensity a bit, as it gallops headlessly over heels towards that PG rating, making it worth pointing out that you bet-ter be sure your little boys and ghouls can handle the film’s grave humour.)

It’s down to Norman, his misfit friends, some clueless grown-ups and, of course, his spectral sidekicks – some of whom are dead willing to help – to save the day.

Not that it’s going to be that easy, of course ...

Actually, the film was fairly entertaining enough, with nothing too awful, so long as you’re clear that your little dar-

lings are going to see a PG film with ghosts, zom-bies and stuff.

(I had to grow up with endless cartoons starring sickly goodie-goodie, Casper The Friendly Ghost, so today’s kids have better luck than me with their entertainment choices.)

While stop-motion is something of a dying art, it’s beautifully done, here, crafting a lovely film to look at that, sure, is very much like a Tim Burton story in some parts, yet also has some heart and brains (or, in my zombie-ese, braiiiinnnnnssss).

So, for something a lit-tle spooky, and ahead of Halloween’s overkill, I’d say it’s worth an “okay” three stars out of five ...


GazetteTTRAVELRAVEL Edited by

Natalie Burke

A delightful tribute to Beckett in Enniskillen� BAIRBRE NI BHRAONAIN

TRAVELLING to Fer-managh, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the very first Happy Days International Beckett Fes-tival, celebrating the work and legacy of Irish writer and playwright, Samuel Beckett, but I was excited at the prospect of seeing some of my favourite old Beckett plays performed in stimulating new ways – and I was certainly not disappointed.

Enniskillen was the location of the inaugural festival. Upon arriving at the gorgeous Manor House Hotel in Killadeas, I was struck by the period residence’s faultless resto-ration to its original glory on grounds overlooking Lough Erne, dating back to the 17th century.

Dinner was delicious, and the portions gener-ous, with wild salmon and fresh pasta served by a staff of very attentive wait-ers. During dinner, our party were introduced to the Happy Days festival, where its founder, Sean Doran, told us how it all began.

The seed for the idea was planted in his head to hold the festival in Enni-skillen before he was even aware of the connection between the influential writer and the town.

He said: “I didn’t know he went to Portora [Royal School] here, but I want-ed the festival to be here. When I found out, it was happy days!”

Unlike other purely literary festivals, Sean wanted Happy Days to be more eclectic, and full of the spirit of Beckett’s influence, rather than just a few days of seeing his plays performed.

With that in mind, he decided to mix in ele-ments which resonated with Beckett’s legacy.

Sean introduced sport-ing events, music and comedy into the pro-gramme; debates and talks by contemporary Irish and international writers, as well as Beckett pieces performed by small theatre companies and renowned actors.

HomageThe great melting pot of

acts and performers at the five-day festival was a col-lective homage to Beck-ett’s work and influence in all artistic forms.

The whole town of Enniskillen got into the spirit of the festival, with barber shops offering Beckett haircuts and deli-catessens selling ham and clove sandwiches.

However, the undisput-ed highlight of the whole festival was Robert Wil-son’s premiere of, Krapp’s Last Tape.

On entering the lovely Ardhowen Theatre, I knew I was in for some-thing mighty, judging by the calibre of punter around me.

From the moment the curtain came up, Ameri-can avant-garde theatre-maker Robert Wilson,

white-faced and utterly unique, mesmerised the audience.

His portrayal intro-duced effective and sym-bolic elements, bringing the play to life with a strange bolt of electricity.

The first thing Wil-son did was to sit, as the sound effect of teeming rain flooded the theatre. He sat for so long, he pushed the boundaries of audience expectation to the outer limits.

Then, he ate two bananas in a very stylised and ritualistic way, whilst looking at the audience with a world of conflicting

emotions on his face.The whole perform-

ance was a joy to witness, and I felt blessed to have been there.

Everything Wilson does is his own, and heavy with meaning and symbolism; he is a born artist of the highest rate, and I know I’ll never see anything like him again.

Not only was he a consummate performer on stage, but he used his primitive nature to great effect too.

Now and then, as he lis-tened to the tapes, a great primal noise would ema-nate from his distended

clown-like mouth as he reacted in horror.

Yet, the sound echoed that of the stop button on the tape recorder. This marriage of the sublime and the ridiculous was astonishingly original.

People left the show wearing blank, dazed expressions, and it was patently clear that Wilson had done the real job of a theatre maker – he had put us all through some-thing amazing.

For further informa-tion on the Manor House Hotel, Killadeas, Enni-skillen, see www.manor-housecountryhotel.com.

Celebrating 20 years

of Disneyland ParisTHIS year, for its 20th anniversary, there is more magic in the air than ever at Disneyland Paris, which has been transformed through an amazing explosion of lights and colours.

Abbey Travel is offering family stopover pack-ages for two adults and two children, starting from €479 per family, based on selected dates from November to March.

The package includes accommodation and breakfast in a Disney Hotel, tickets for both Dis-ney Parks for each day, free Fastpass to reduce queuing times at the most popular attractions, and extra Magic Hours – access to Disneyland Park up to two hours before its regular opening time.

For full details of the offer, and related terms and conditions, or to make a booking, tele-phone Abbey Travel at 01 804 7160, or see www.abbeytravel.ie.

TravelBriefs

The parties will be even bigger than usual this

year at the world-famous resort

Part of the striking front of the truly beautiful Manor House Hotel in Killadeas

Enniskillen gets into the spirit of the

festival, with many home-made signs

Writer Samuel Beckett would have approved of the

Muckball Cup, commissioned in his honour

Irish poet Paul Muldoon, heavily

influenced by Beckett, also appeared at

the festival

GazetteBUSINESSBUSINESS

ROBERT Prestage has more than 25 years’ experience in the plumbing and construc-tion industry, running his own company in South Africa’s Cape Town before moving to Dublin 12 years ago.

Initially coming for a holiday, professional curiosity got the bet-ter of him and, before the holiday was finished, he found himself working for a couple in Shankill, Co Dublin and, through referrals, he has never looked back.

Establishing Prestage Plumb-ers and Renovators soon after-wards, the business has gone from strength to strength; culmi-nating in his latest business ven-ture, the Bathroom Boutique.

The showroom, based in Churchtown, specialises in retail and offers full installation service and maintenance service by its sister company, Prestage Plumb-ers and Renovators.

The showroom is influenced by styles and concepts from Europe’s leading brands, offering a wide range of products from contemporary to traditional and everything in between.

Customers can find a wide range of baths, wet-room show-ers, shower enclosures, washba-sins, toilets, furniture and a large selection of tiles.

Robert says that Bathroom Boutique’s ethos is based on

Interview: Robert Prestage, owner, the Bathroom Boutique, Churchtown

Q&A

Bathroom designs to make a splash

Robert Prestage, owner, Bathroom Boutique, Churchtown, with some of the outlet’s wares

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

Q: What was your first job?A: Worked in a hardware store

in Cape Town

Q: And your first pay cheque?A: 250 rands per month –

about €25

Q: Have you ever done a job you loathed?A: Yes – a part-time mechanic

Q: When did you start your present job?A: 1981; I’ve been a plumber

ever since

Q: What is the best thing about your job?A: Customer satisfaction

Q: Have you ever achieved any-

thing that you once thought you could not pull off?A: No

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

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

Q: What sport do you follow?A: Rugby and horseracing

Q: What sport can you play?A: Golf and archery

Q: What habits would you like to lose?A: Smoking

Q: At the moment, what are you looking forward to?A: moving house

Q: What is your guilty music/

TV or movie pleasure?A: Farming and fishing pro-

grammes

Q: Who best represents modern Ireland – Michael D or Jedward?A: Jedward

Q: What music/pictures/movies do you have on your iPod/iPad?A: Netflix app

Q: Who do you follow on Twit-ter/Facebook?A: Family

Q: Describe your dream meal?A: Steak, chips and mushroom

sauce, and apple pie

Q: Who would you rather have dinner with – Enda Kenny or Dame Edna?A: Neither

Q: Where do you enjoy spend-ing money frivolously?A: Donedeal.ie

Q: How many pairs of shoes do you own?A: Four

Q: What was your worst holi-day experience?A: Barbados

Q: Describe your dream holiday?A: It would have to be sitting

in the sun in a quiet place

drinking a glass of rose

Q: What would be your dream job?A: A farmer

Q: What do you plan to do when you retire?A: Maybe I will become a

farmer then

Supported by AIB

MY FINANCEE’S DEBTS ...

Q – MY FIANCEE and I are getting married in six months, but she is paying credit card debt and bank loans through MABS [the Money Advice and Budgeting Service].

So, when we get married, can they take my wages into account, and make me liable for her debts, too? Gerry – Clondalkin

A - SHE must be a wonderful girl to marry her with

all this debt. I suppose the phrase: “For richer, or

poorer” comes to mind!

By going to MABS, it means that perhaps some of

her debts require professional management and

strategy.

This time of your life is certainly a time when all

the cards should very definitely be on the table – no

secrets, especially financial ones.

You would want to ensure there are no other

skeletons in her cupboard.

The first thing I would do is for both of you to set

out a monthly income and expenditure budget – you

HAVE to know how much is coming in and, impor-

tantly, how much is going out.

You will also need to tell each other EXACTLY what

liabilities and assets you have.

You may decide to escalate the debt repayment

prior to marriage, so it doesn’t act like a millstone

around your necks.

As regards your liability for her debts after

marriage, the answer is no – her debts remain her

debts, even if she cannot afford to repay them.

However, if her credit history is affected (judg-

ments stay on your credit history for life), then that

will affect your application for joint loans, such as a

mortgage.

Even if she has a sound job with a healthy income,

she will be precluded from being approved because

of her past record.

Guard your good name, but talk openly NOW

about it.

Anti-money laundering rules stipulate: “Know

your customer”, but in your case, it is more like:

“Know your wife”!

But may I wish you many happy years together.

All the best.

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


delivering superior quality and outstanding service, and prod-ucts are sourced through Irish companies – mindful of his belief in keeping business local.

He adds that Tony and Tracey, the showroom staff, have more

than 30 years’ experience between them in the bathroom retail industry, with experience working with all the world’s lead-ing brands and designer ranges.

They look forward to meeting and advising customers through

the various stages of designing, choosing and installation of their dream bathroom.

For testimonials of finished projects, see www.thebathroom-boutique.ie, and www.prestagep-lumbers.ie.

WE HAVE 135,000*

READERS EACH WEEK

ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESSYOUR BUSINESS

TO OUR READERS

CALL 60 10 240

*based on standard industry measurements


TOP WEDDING TIPS P24TOP WEDDING TIPS P24ROYAL TREATMENT P21ROYAL TREATMENT P21 HONEYMOONS P26HONEYMOONS P26

D u b l i n ’ s c o m p l e t e g u i d e t o yo u r w e d d i n g

WELCOME to the Gazette’s Bride and Groom supplement, your complete guide to creating the perfect wedding day.

Inside this month’s fantastic supplement, we focus on one of the most important factors in your big day — venue, venue, venue!

With a focus on elegance and quality, we feature some of the best wedding venues in the province and beyond, while we also take the time with the help of a wedding planner to go through a checklist of all the vital things to think about when making the all-important decision about where your wedding will happen.

We also highlight another crucial venue — where you are going to have your honeymoon, and look at what is on offer in Malta at the fabu-lous Fortina resort.

As well as all of these great features, we are giving readers the chance to pick up a pair of tickets for the upcoming Wedding Journal Show which takes place on September 29 and 30 at the Citywest Complex. So make sure and enter, and if you don’t win, head along regardless — there’s a fabulous €25,000 wedding to be won at the event for everyone who attends.

So read on for some fantastic advice and tips on how to throw the ultimate wedding bash.

SEPTEMBER 2012&Bride Bride groom


l B E AUT Y I N BA L LSBR IDGE l

THE bride-to-be isn’t the only one to change their name when it comes to wedding days.

The Clyde Court Hotel in Ballsbridge, one of the most popular and romantic weddings venues in Dublin – and which features several elegant suites to choose from, with a selection of bespoke menus – recently changed its name from the Berkeley Court Hotel.

Its unique marriage of luxury and leg-end lends itself to big days.

The Grosvenor Suite is a regal ball-room with high ceilings, ornate mirrors, chandeliers and its own private bar, and is the perfect choice for larger wed-dings.

For more intimate celebrations, the Herbert Suite, or Clyde Room, both offer stylish surroundings and bespoke pack-ages to suit every taste and budget.

Clyde Court Hotel’s wedding pack-ages start at just €55 per person, and they host civil ceremonies and wedding

Elegant charm at the Clyde Court

&BRIDE GROOMD u b l i n ’ s c o m p l e t e g u i d e t o y o u r w e d d i n g

Sister hotels with first-class choice: Navan’s

Newgrange and Ardboyne excel with weddingsSISTER properties in Navan, the Newgrange and Ardboyne Hotels are offering prospec-tive brides and grooms a very different but equally royal wedding experience in the heart of Meath.

Both hotels have equally high standards and reputation, with the lively Newgrange Hotel inspired by the rich, ancient history of the area, while the Ardboyne Hotel providing a relaxed and luxurious setting for weddings.

Both hotels’ long years of experience in

organising and staging weddings of all sizes means they have the ability to assist every happy couple interested in holding their spe-cial day at the venues, and using their array of suites to provide an appropriate and tailor-able experience for all budgets and sizes.

For further information, contact the Newgrange Hotel at 046 907 4100 or see its website at www. newgrangehotel.ie; contact the Ardboyne Hotel at 046 902 3119, or see its website at www.ardboynehotel.com.

blessings, too.For further information, contact

personal wedding coordinator Leanne Regan at 01 238 2700, email [email protected], or find them online at www.clydecourthotel.com.

The beautiful Grovesnor Suite ballroom


l H I STOR I C S I GHTS FROM A CONTEMPOR ARY S ET T I NG l

EVERY woman dreams of a fairytale wedding day, in a luxurious and stylish venue.

There is an element of magic to all weddings, but having an historic castle on your doorstep is a great addition to the wonder of the day.

Trim Castle Hotel, which recently won the 2012 Best Wedding Venue in Leinster Wed-dings Online award, are set to open the doors to couples from around the province and beyond at their Wedding Fair, which will take place on Sunday, October 7.

The fair will showcase the hotel as a wedding venue and all it has to offer to prospective brides and grooms.

The hotel offers sea-sonal and mid-week

wedding packages, which include complimentary consultancy and plan-ning with their wedding coordinators, a red carpet and champagne recep-tion for the bridal party on arrival, and a compli-mentary stay for the bride and groom in one of their deluxe rooms, among other offerings.

Trim Castle Hotel is offering an all-inclusive wedding guest package on dates in 2013 and 2014 for only €55 per person.

The hotel itself over-looks Trim Castle and the adjoining rolling lawns of St Patrick’s Church, and also boasts a rooftop ter-race from which guests can admire the impres-sive castle.

At Trim Castle Hotel, the team aspire to make your wedding day the

Get royal treatment at Trim Castle Hotel

Trim Castle Hotel’s rooftop terrace affords beautiful views of Trim Castle and lawns

most memorable and enjoyable day of your life. To achieve this, their wedding team assures personal and professional attention in the planning and preparation of each couple’s special celebra-tion.

A spokesperson for the hotel said: “Modern

couples simply do not go for just any venue. Trim Castle Hotel is the perfect choice for their reception, as it possesses the old-world charisma of the historical Anglo- Norman castle, and the contemporary standards of magnificent food and stunning decor.

“Looking onto the cas-tle, lit in romantic colour against the evening sky, is a breathtaking scene. This place has it all, and, if you host your wedding there, know that your guests will be talking about it for a long time to come,” said the spokesperson.

For further informa-

tion, you are very wel-come to attend the Wed-ding Fair on October 7.

Alternatively, contact the hotel’s wedding co-

ordinators at 046 948 3000, email [email protected], or see www.trimcastlehotel.com.

Wedding parties are assured of comfort and attention

to detail at wonderfully-presented receptions


l YOUR CHANCE FOR FRE E ENTRY TO AN UNM ISSABL E C I T Y WEST E V ENT l

DUBLIN Gazette Bride and Groom is delighted to offer our readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to the 2012 Wedding Journal Show, which takes place next week-end, September 29 and 30 at the Citywest Complex.

The Wedding Journal Show 2012 will feature more than 350 exhibitors and provide brides and grooms alike with a one-stop-wedding shop, together with all the inspira-

tion they need to plan their big day.

From venues and flowers to dresses and cars, the show has it all, and all under one roof.

Dream gownCelebrating all that’s Irish,

there will be an Irish Bridal Designers Area to help you find that dream gown, as well as Wedding Journal’s inter-national catwalk show, with

fully choreographed dance routines, which takes place three times daily.

The exclusive event pro-vides a rare opportunity to see a selection of designer wedding gowns, and many superb styles for bridesmaids, mothers of the bride, and groomswear, some of which have never been seen in Ire-land before.

Another huge attraction will be the opportunity for all

attendees to be entered into a prize draw to win a fabu-lous wedding package, worth €25,000.

The package will include a wedding reception at the Bal-lymagarvey Village; a dream honeymoon to St Nicolas Bay, Crete (a member of the Great Hotels of the World group); a wedding dress from Patrick Casey; room dress-ing from Frog Prince; wed-ding photographs by Laura

Faherty Photography; and wedding rings from McDow-ell’s Jewellers.

Competition questionTo win a pair of tickets,

answer this simple question:Which Ireland AM star will

be the host of the 98FM Style Stage at The Wedding Journal Show?

Send your answers (includ-ing your full name, address, and a contact number) by

email, with the subject line: Bride & Groom, to [email protected] by Tuesday, September 27.

The Wedding Journal Show 2012 will run from 12 noon to 6pm on both days, with the international catwalk show times at 1pm, 3pm and 5pm.

Tickets at the door cost €13, or are priced €10 when pre-booked online, with VIP tickets available for €20 from ww.ticketmaster.ie.

Win tickets to 2012 Wedding Journal Show


LOCALMATTERS

S U P P O R T L O C A L B U S I N E S S

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60 10 240


l LOTS TO CONS ID ER FOR YOUR A L L- IMPORTANT PART Y l

FIRSTLY, you have to consider the date. Before you make any selection on venue, it is very important to know the time of year that you want to get married.

The time of year can dictate cost, so do not restrict yourself to one date, but have a few in mind.

You also have to con-sider the actual venue, as these come in all shapes and sizes. There are castles, contemporary hotels, rural wedding

venues, marquee venues – the list goes on ...

I look after a contem-porary, elegant wedding venue that is adaptable for every season.

Topics to considerWhen it comes to ven-

ues, you always have to ask about topics such as what are the minimum numbers, maximum and minimum capac-ity, accessibility, does it have civil ceremony or blessing facilities, guest accommodation, late bar,

bridal suite, car parking, where can you get pho-tographs taken (if not at the venue, where is close by?)

Next, the type of venue that you pick will more than likely dictate the decor.

If you want to add special touches, or if the motto “less is more” is for you, your best bet is to go with a venue with neu-tral decor – the Baskin Suite uses ivory and gold tones.

This allows you to

match your colour theme or keep as is. Fairy light backdrops are also very popular.

For costing, meet with the wedding coordinator, get the full cost, and see if there is room to nego-tiate.

PackageThe Baskin Suite has

recently launched an all-inclusive package that includes everything that you will need on your day – flowers, car, enter-tainment, cake and all

Great advice to



Top tips from CAROLINE MILLER, wedding coordinator at the Baskin Suite in Bewley’s Hotel, Dublin Airport


help pick the perfect venueother venue items.

The great thing about the all-inclusive package is that it saves on time and cost.

Also ask if there are any hidden costs!

Your wedding coordi-nator is very important, as he or she plays a huge role in your wedding experience, as the more experienced, profession-al and approachable the wedding coordinator is, the better you will feel throughout the whole experience.

When it comes to food, make sure to select something that appeals to the majority of your guests.

Also check that the venue can cater for veg-etarians, children and all dietary requirements.

Don’t forget that, for beverages, if you decide to have wine during your meal – try and taste it, first!

Have a think about your choice of toast drink; you can let each guest choose their own

drink, or do a set drink, such as champagne or sparkling wine.

For entertainment, when you are selecting a band or DJ, I always recommend going and viewing them.

Make contact with them, and get a list of their upcoming gigs, before the big day.

Don’t forget to check for restrictions at the venue, such as: Is there a late bar? Are children allowed.

Lastly, consider your deposit and contract, noting that most depos-its are non-refundable. For anything that you have agreed – get it in writing!

Other than that, enjoy every minute of your wedding planning! Caroline Miller: “When it comes to deposits and contracts, for anything that you have agreed – get it in writing!”

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

‘The Baskin Suite has recently launched an all-inclusive package that includes everything that you will need on your day’- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


l WHY NOT MARRY I N A J EWEL O F THE MED I T ERR ANE AN? l

EVERY wedding day should be glorious but, sadly, the Irish weather isn’t always what you’d hope it will be. Long-haul destinations usually offer guaranteed sunshine, but you have to factor in the jet lag and expense.

However, with Malta just a three-hour flight away from Dublin, you can find a sun-soaked spot rich in history, beauty and culture, that is often called “an open-air museum”.

The breadth of choice is astonishing, but what may intrigue you more is the exceptional value for money that getting mar-ried in Malta can offer.

The island is generally far more reasonable than many other Mediterra-nean islands.

The combination of Malta’s climate, and its

selection of inspiring wedding venues, could offer the idyllic location for the best day of your life.

One such venue is the Fortina Spa Resort, located in the heart of Sliema on the north-east coast of Malta.

The resort overlooks Valletta, the island’s capi-tal, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

LuxuryWhether you want to

relax in the spa facilities at the hotel for a few days before the event, or have the ceremony first and holiday later, the Fortina provides the ideal base for a luxurious wedding and honeymoon.

Imagine exchanging vows on a gloriously sunny day, cooled by the scented breeze drift-

ing off the Mediterra-nean, then whisking your guests off in a yacht to enjoy a reception in the grounds of a castle, fol-lowed by dancing under the stars ...

Alternatively, why not think about getting mar-ried in a country chapel, art gallery or on the beach?

To make sure every-thing goes like clock-work, it helps to have local experts to organise and advise you on your wedding.

The staff at the Fortina Spa Resort are experi-enced wedding organ-isers, and can source photographers, make-up artists, hairdressers, flo-rists and even send your invitations for you – in short, everything you need to ensure the day goes smoothly.

They can also accom-modate you for a beau-tiful ceremony, to your exact specifications, in the grounds of the resort.

The resort is also acclaimed for its interna-tionally-inspired cuisine, so, if you’re tying the knot on the pool deck against breathtaking views of Valletta harbour, you can take advantage of an extensive repertoire that includes French, Thai, Indian or Italian fare, or local flavours.

You can also take the expertise of the For-tina’s award-winning chefs with you, should you decide to hold your reception elsewhere on the island.

For further informa-tion, call 0800 917 3001, or email [email protected].

Marvellous Malta will make your day


With a wealth of options to consider, Malta has a great range of venues and locations to add a dash of classic

style and beauty to your big day. The Fortina Spa Resort, located in the heart of Sliema on the island’s north-

east coast, is perfectly located to help make the most of your venue.

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THE Bridge House Hotel in Tullamore is getting ready to host its Wed-ding Expo on Sunday, September 30, which will see the four-star venue showing all that it can offer in creating a truly special day for its customers, and welcome brides- and grooms-to-be.

On the day, the hotel will be set up to dem-onstrate all the Bridge House can do for wed-ding parties.

There will be the opportunity to meet the hotel’s wedding team, and a host of wedding suppliers, including vid-eographers, stationery suppliers, bakers, pho-

A wedding expo for the big day of your dreams

Head to the Headfort Arms: You won’t want to miss its special fair

tographers, bands and musicians, florists, hair-dressers, specialist jew-ellers, expert health and lifestyle consultants and, of course, bridal wear and menswear – all on hand to give all the wedding tips you could need.

The Wedding Expo at the Bridge House Hotel

will also include a bridal gown display, auction and a range of incentives for anyone who books their wedding on the day.

Now, the hotel’s dedi-cated wedding website – http://tullamore-wed-dings.bridgehouse.com – lets potential brides and

A lovely feature at The Bridge House Hotel is its “secret

garden” – an oasis of peace for the happy couple

grooms preview exactly what the Bridge House Hotel has to offer, as well as view special offers and learn more about the hotel’s wedding team.

Located less than 90 minutes from Dublin, Galway and Limerick, the Bridge House Hotel has more than 40 years of experience and a longstanding reputation as one of the Midland’s most popular hotels for wedding receptions and civil ceremonies.

For further informa-tion, contact the Bridge House Hotel at 057 932 5600; or see the hotel’s website, www.bridge-house.com, or its dedi-cated wedding website.

THE Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells is rolling out the red carpet to couples in October when they host their Autumn Wedding Show on Sunday, October 7.

Hotel owners, the Duff family, are celebrating 40 years in busi-ness this year, and have looked after generations of weddings with a personal family touch.

Every need in organising your

nuptials will be covered on the day, with suppliers from every domain available to discuss pro-spective clients’ every require-ment for their perfect wedding, from entertainers to hat design-ers, jewellers to honeymoon experts.

For further information, call 046 924 0063, or see www.head-fortarms.ie online.

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GazetteSportSport

Dragon boat regatta:

St Joseph’s students

complete Canal raceTRANSITIONS year students from St Joseph’s, Lucan took part in the Dublin dragon boat regatta that took place in Grand Canal Dock last Sunday.The annual event was organised by the

Plurabelle Paddlers and, with funding from the HSE and support from the Irish Dragon Boat Federation, ran a four-week schools project with 10 schools in the Dublin/Wicklow area with their entry into this race as the culmination of the stu-dents efforts.

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TWO Peamount sides were victorious over Shelbourne last week when they met the famous Dublin club in DDSL clashes.

The U-15s Major side have found their feet in the league after two dis-appointing results from their opening encoun-ters, they saw off Verona last Wednesday in a convincing 5-3 victory that gave them some momentum going into the weekend tie with high flying Shelbourne, who were unbeaten going into the clash.

The Peas set about frustrating Shels from the off, and they found their rhythm early on at the sun-drenched AUL pitch. However, it was the Greenogue club’s opposition that went in at the break with the 1-0 lead.

Manny Lawal capi-talised on some poor defending to put the sides level, but Shel-bourne took the lead again when they rifled home a beautiful dead ball effort.

United never gave up though, and Sean Carr re-established parity before Lawal popped up

with the winner. It was a big ask for

the reshuff led U-16 Peamount side when they met Shelbourne last Wednesday.

They had seven new players to blend in to the squad and the Shels opposition were an intimidating force hav-ing won the 2011 All-Ireland title.

The new faces seemed eager to stake a place in the starting 11, as they came out with the bit between their teeth, putting Shelbourne on the back foot.

Four chances came in the first 15 minutes

before they established a lead, with Ethan O’Donoghue getting on the end of a Conor Murphy cross to make it 1-0.

Taking their lead into the second half, Peamount defended well as Shelbourne started the second half the stronger of the two sides, putting plenty of pressure on their back lines, with Andy Doo-lan and Scott Osbourne putting in some excel-lently timed challenges.

However, the equal-iser eventually came in 55th minute, but United showed the spirit that

they are well known for and responded immedi-ately.

Conor Owens came close first, just putting the ball wide before O’Donoghue looked a dead cert to put his side ahead before he narrow-ly missed the target.

Shelbourne couldn’t live with the pace of Peamount while they moved back ahead when Stefan Lawlor got on the end of a Jason McClelland free-kick.

McClelland added a third in the 75th minute to round off a classy per-formance with an excel-lent dead-ball effort.

Peas shell out two winsThe Peamount U-16 side that claimed a strong 3-1 win over Shelbourne last week as they begin their DDSL season in top form

SOCCER: DOUBLE DDSL DELIGHT FOR GREENOGUE CLUB FastSport

O’Driscoll continues to

grow cult followingBLAINE O’Driscoll, pictured centre, show-cased his relentless style once again on his way to victory at Battlezone six last week at the Regency Hotel, coming forward from the bell and despite getting in some trouble, the Lucan MMA man claimed a first round sub-mission victory.

Now with a record of 4-2, last year’s Cage Contender semi-pro fighter of the year didn’t waste anytime in his bout last weekend, pouncing on his opponent from the first bell and gaining the full mount.

Gavin Kelly, his opponent, did well to recover from the position and managed to sweep the young Lucan man ending up in top position, in O’Driscoll’s full guard.

Kelly’s attempts to pass the guard of the Tony Carrick product were shut down before O’Driscoll was lifted and slammed to the ground in an effort of Kelly’s to transition.

Perhaps wasting too much energy, O’Driscoll caught Kelly in an armbar – a bridge too far for Kelly who tapped out, thus signalling the end of the fight.

The victory last weekend was O’Driscoll’s second under the Battlezone banner and the Lucan MMA man probably extended his cult following.

In victory, he has won the respect of many because of his aggressive style and his abil-ity to fight wherever his opponent brings the contest.

The bantamweight has won himself a number of honours in his short career, including becoming the inaugural Clan Wars 135lb champion earlier this year in April.

Only training in mixed martial arts for two years now, O’Driscoll is one of the many young talents that are part of the Lucan MMA team.

With head coach Anthony Carrick’s back-ground in traditional jiu jitsu and striking along with Jorge Santos’s cultured Brazilian jiu jitsu techniques, the relatively new club have come along way in a short time and will look for further victories throughout the year.

FastSport


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FOOTBALL: GLENAULIN CLUB BREAK NEW GROUND

St Pat’s, Palmerstown got to the fourth round of the SFC for the first time despite Liam Rushe, below, being injured

Pat’s stun Mary’s in senior footballSFC THIRD ROUNDSt Pat’s, Palmerstown 0-13

Tipperary 0-10

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SAINT Pat’s, Palmers-town pulled off one of the upsets of the county championship last Sat-urday when they over-came St Mary’s, Saggart by three points, upsetting the league pecking order in some style.

M a n a g e r P a u l Faughnan spoke of the major task that went into the win, claiming that a few league games may have been sacrificed to put his side amongst the last 16 of the competi-tion.

“We sat down a couple of weeks ago and decided that we definitely wanted to put a big effort into the St Mary’s game.

“I sent people out to watch them and identify their strengths and weak-nesses and, from there, I went about putting our strong men against their stand-out players and

looked to capitalise on a few weaknesses that we found.

“The lads all wanted to get into the last 16 of the tournament; they’ve never been there before, and we may have sacrificed a few league games in order to keep ourselves focused on the championship.

“Our game plan was focused around Liam Rushe; we stuck him up at full-forward and we were going to try and hit him throughout the game so he could keep tagging over points,” said Faughnan.

However, Pat’s got a sinking feeling in the first five minutes when the senior county hurler was forced to leave the pitch due to injury, with Mary’s already having opened up the scoring.

The Palmerstown outfit didn’t let their heads drop, and they kicked three points of their own, with Aidan Glennon prov-ing to be clinical from the frees with two early

efforts and Colm Driver, who replaced Rushe, get-ting the other from play.

Blaine Kelly missed two frees for Mary’s which seemed to rally the Pat’s spirit, with Glen-non taking another three points, two from play and one free, to keep his side ahead, 0-6 to 0-2 going into the second half.

Knowing they had to start strong in the second half, Pat’s reacted well to Mary’s tasking the first score, coming back with five of their own to take an eight point lead via two points from Jim Kelly, another two from Robert Carson and a sixth for

Glennon. Eoin Murray then put

three frees over for Mary’s, taking over the duty from Kelly, before full-back Barry O’Hanlon marked a fantastic performance with a point of his own to get the lead back to six.

David O’Hanlon fin-ished up Pat’s scoring with eight minutes to go and despite a late surge from Mary’s, they fell out of the championship, 0-13 to 0-10 losers.

Elsewhere, Lucan Sars-fields bowed out of the championship, 0-10 to 0-13, against St Jude’s two days earlier on the same field in Newcastle.

CLUB NOTICEBOARD

THANK you to everyone who helped

make our fun day such a huge suc-

cess last Saturday.

Special thanks to the Dublin hurl-

ers for playing against our U-8s

and to Paul Casey for presenting

the medals for our schools football

blitz.

Our senior hurlers play a cham-

pionship quarter-final against

O’Tooles next Saturday at 4.15pm in

O’Toole Park. Thanks to the Moriarty

Group which are now sponsoring our

senior hurlers as well as our juvenile

camogie section.

Our nurseries now take place

every Saturday on our all-weather

pitch at our clubhouse grounds at

the 12th Lock.

Football and hurling for boys born

in 2006, 2007 and 2008 is from 1.30pm

to 3pm.

Fo o t b a l l f o r g i r l s b o r n i n

2005,2006,2007 and 2008 runs from

1.30pm to 2.30pm and camogie

for girls aged six and over is from

2.30pm to 3.30pm. No need to pre-

register.

Al l our juveni le teams have

resumed training after the summer

break. For information on any team

contact lucansarsfieldspro@gmail.

com.

The list for the hurling final replay

will be up until Thursday, September

27. Our ticket allocation is 20 for the

game.

Tickets will be allocated individu-

ally by way of a draw on Thursday,

September 27 at approximately

10.30pm. Winners present on the

night get first choice of tickets so

it’s important to attend. As always

membership will be verified.

As the allocation of children’s tick-

ets to Dublin was so small the county

board has decided not to allocate

any to the clubs but instead offer

them to the county minor hurling

team.

We are inviting local businesses

and traders to get involved in spon-

soring the lotto, as a very good way

to promote their business while also

supporting the club.

Rates range from €60 for one week

up to €200 for six weeks.

The sponsor’s name is highlighted

on the lotto tickets as well as the

weekly result sheets, the weekly club

notes in the Lucan Newsletter, the

Lucan Gazette, the Liffey Champion,

the Lucan Echo, Tuesday’s Evening

Herald Club Notes, Liffey Sound FM

and the club’s own website and email

circulations to members. Contact

Paul Stapleton if interested.

We have a new Twitter account and

you can follow us at twitter.com/

GAALucan.

This week’s lotto numbers are

available on our website. Gerry

McAndrew’s team will be in charge

next Sunday night when our sponsor

will be John Ryan Accountant.

A full list of this week’s fixtures are

on our website www.lucansarsfields.

ie.

LUCAN SARSFIELDS

ST PAT’S PALMERSTOWNAN outstanding display by the sen-

ior footballers beating St Mary’s on

Saturday places them in the last 16

of the senior championship. A noble

performance by the junior football-

ers saw them taking on top of the

table St John’s who played 15 men

against our juniors who could only

field 14.

Congratulations to senior hurler

Ciaran O’Toole who tied the knot on

Friday.

The club sends its condolences

to the family of Sammy Smyth who

has recently passed away. Repos-

ing at the Brian McElroy Funeral

Home, Monastery Road, Clondalkin

Village.

Applications are now being invited

for inclusion in a draw to purchase

tickets for the All-Ireland hurling

final replays on Sunday, Septem-

ber 30 with the minors throwing in

at 1.15pm and the senior throwing in

at 3.30pm. Strictly one single ticket

application per fully paid member.

Applications accepted only via

text to our ticket hotl ine 086

7255586. To avoid confusion, please

provide the name of member in the

text.

Closing date for application is 12

noon on Monday, September 24.

The draw will be made on Wednes-

day, September 26 and successful

applicants will be notified by text.

Tickets must be paid for on collec-

tion. Prices have been reduced; €50

stand and €25 hill.

Lotto number and results: first

draw winning numbers – 1, 7, 10

and 15; there was no winner; sec-

ond draw winning numbers – 7, 12,

15 and 23; there was no winner. Any

three numbers: Donal O’Dempsey,

Sean Carter and Graham Kelly.

EASY PEASY: Greenogue club claims back-

to-back DDSL wins over Shelbourne P30

ALL OF YOUR LUCAN SPORTS COVERAGE FROM PAGE 30-31 SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

GazetteSPORTGazetteSPORT

� PETER CARROLL

[email protected]

DAMIEN Fox believes that his Lucan senior hurlers have been given a “big boost” ahead of their quarter final clash with O’Toole’s this Saturday, when two sides will meet in O’Toole Park.

Dublin senior stars Johnny McCaffrey and Peter Kelly will be back along with Emmet O’Conghaile who suf-fered an injury after play-ing with Dublin minors last year.

“Of course, they are a big boost, absolutely huge,” said Fox. “Johnny is one of the best mid-

fielders in the country, he’s proved that over the years he has spent in the Dublin squad. He makes a huge difference.

“Peter Kelly was a rev-elation this year for Dub-lin, he’s a quality hurler. And then there’s Emmet who will be a big addition coming back from injury.

“The last manager, Sean McCaffrey, had a very hard time with the lads being out with inju-ry. Fortunately for me, the majority of them are back now, we’re just miss-ing Seanie[McClelland] who’s been away with the minors and Peter Cal-laghan who’s had a bad time with a knee injury.”

Fox admits he has not spent much time researching the play of O’Toole’s, He would rath-er focus on his own team and how they set about playing. However, he does believe that Coolock men have an advantage due to their presence among the elite teams of Dublin’s top league division, AHL1.

“To be honest I know very little about them. I haven’t had anyone sent out to watch them or assess them or anything like that. I know they’ve got a very good player in Peadar Carton.

“I know that they’ve come through a very tough group on their way

to the quarter finals and they did very well last year in getting to the final where they lost to Bally-boden St Enda’s.

“They play in the top league over here so you’ve got to assume that’s an edge coming into the final. I think the best way to prepare for the championship is playing against the best teams in the league and those sides are definitely in the first division.

“We are certainly not intimidated by the fact that they are playing AHL1, but you would think it would make a dif-ference playing at such a high level,” said Fox.

The return of Johnny McCaffrey to the Lucan Sarsfields

panel is a huge boost for their SHC quarter-final

Lucan pair the pride of Dublin

GAA MATTERS:All the best local Gaelic Games coverage P31

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