RINSGSEND SUMMER PROJECT
By Brendan Wickes

This year’s summer project in Ringsend was as successful as ever. 105 children took part.
The trips organised included the Aqua park, quaser and bowling, sports day and the Zoo as well as many activities taking place in the Centre: magic shows, children’s entertainers, arts and crafts and of course the last day activities which included the Fort Lucan trip, fancy dress, Bar-b-cue, disco and the medal presentations.

The Summer Project would not have taken place without the help and support of: John Devoy, Antoinette Jenkins, Avril Henderson, Lisa Rooney, Lisa Gaskins, Vicki Glynn, Alice Foley, Rose Murphy, Catherine Robinson, Nell McLoughlin, Carmel Weafer, Paul Byrne, Tracey and Marie Stone, Audrey Murphy, Jennifer Doolin, Aisling Waters, Elaine Cummins, The Board of the Ringsend Community Centre, Peter Tobin, Ronan O’Donnell, Pat Kane of Clanna Gael, Laura Murphy, Louise Kirwan and Pauline Byrne.

Apologies if anyone has been left out of this list. The efforts of everyone who gave their time to help make the Summer Project so successful are very much appreciated.

SPOT THE PLAYER - AND WIN 50 EURO

Can you identify this British and Irish Lion whose portrait hangs in a rugby museum in New Zealand? Entries must give the name and write a minimum of 30 words about him. Michael McAuliffe has kindly donated a prize of €50 for this competition. Don’t forget to put your name, address and telephone number with your entry. Entries should be sent to ‘NewsFour’, 15 Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4, marked ‘Competition’ by 20 November 2005.

A TOUCH OF TROPICS AT THE MERRION GATES
By James Keaveney

After the completion of the promenade along Strand Road in 1975 much restoration work, including the realignment of the underground services at Merrion Gates, was carried out. A vast array of services converged here leaving a small open space with little room for tree planting.

However, local residents requested that a cluster of evergreen oaks should be planted. Even if a space could be secured between the services to accommodate an oak, there was little chance of any dicotyledons surviving here.

It was decided therefore to plant a cluster of monocotyledons instead, namely Cordyline Australias, the roots of which do not spread to interfere with the underground services.

Twenty-five years on, the Cordylines have grown as expected and offer a touch of the Mediterranean to visitors and residents alike.

REMEMBERING THE GALWAY HOOKERS

Joe Murphy (on the right of picture), formerly of Murphy’s Boatyard, Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, and of Dublin Port and Docks Board, presenting full-size drawings of a 40-foot Galway Hooker– taken from the Morning Star– to Professor Patricia Lysaght of the Department of Irish Folklore, UCD on 31 May this year, with (left) Jim Cooke, formerly of Ringsend Technical Institute, who wrote a book on Joe’s life.

The drawings have been used worldwide, most recently by Aras Chron·in, the Irish Language and Culture Centre in Clondalkin, Co. Dublin.

LONGS FOR THE DODDER CUP

The Dodder Cup is a golf competition between Kielys, the Vintage and Longs. Longs have won the cup for the last three years. Pictured are the three Captains: Terry Finnie, the Vintage; John Long, Kielys and Donal Hutchinson, Longs.

CRILLY'S 'CANNON FODDER' SHORTLISTED

Congratulations to local filmmaker Stephen Crilly who was featured in the August edition of ‘Newsfour’. Selected by a panel of BBC drama executives and producers, his film ‘Cannon Fodder’, a short thriller about a case of mistaken identity which plunges a young couple into a frantic race against time to survive, has just been short-listed for the New Film Makers Award competition.

It was one of nine selected from nearly five hundred entries. There’s a first prize of £5,000, and £2,500 for two runners-up. Winning entries will be screened on BBC Three and at the Brief Encounters Film Festival in Bristol.

Stephen along with the other eight filmmakers will also get the opportunity to pitch for a three minute short to be made in the spring of 2006. Clearly Stephen’s determination has been rewarded and ‘NewsFour’ wishes this ambitious young man every success in the future.

MESSIAH BY CANDLELIGHT

The Culwick Choral Society will present a candlelit performance of Handel’s Messiah at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin 8 on Wednesday 30th November and Thursday 1st December 2005 at 8.00 pm (Tickets: €25.00).

The 140-strong Culwick Choral Society will be joined by top soloists Kim Sheehan (soprano), Deirdre Cooling Nolan (contralto), Eugene O’Hagan (tenor) and Conor Biggs (bass). The Conductor is Colin Block, with Orchestra (Leader: Alan Smale).

Each year the Culwick Choral Society performs the Messiah, with all profits going to charity. This year all proceeds from these performances will be donated to Enable Ireland.

For tickets and credit card bookings: Enable Ireland, Sandymount Avenue, Dublin 4. Telephone: 1850 204 304/01 261 5917/01 261 5921 Email: eastfr@enableireland.ie

Also Tickemaster– Telephone: 1890 925 100 (subject to booking fee) and St. Patrick’s Cathedral Shop.

RANG GAEILGE

Conversation classes in the Irish Language.
Thursday 2.15 pm to 4.15 pm
At the Community Centre, East Wall, Dublin 3
All are welcome.

BAD IDEA NO.3: EXTRA TELEVISION CHANNELS
By Brian Kelly

Let me say first, the remote control is one of mankind’s great inventions. Who could forget having to get up from the couch umpteen times a night to press one of those inch-long buttons in front of the old TV sets? Now, one thumb does the work of two legs and we have instant access to more television stations than dishes in a Chinese Takeaway.

More channels means more choice, right? More entertainment, more education and more of the things we love, like soaps, sport and good movies.

That’s the notion to which many of us now subscribe. Long nights in, reclining in front of our new plasma screens, remote control in one hand, glass of wine or beer in the other, TV guide on the coffee table and the room gently warmed by the silent heat of our energy efficient centrally heated radiators. Aaah bliss!

The trouble with this picture of paradise is we are spoilt for choice. The more channels we have, the less attention we seem to pay them. We’re flicking around the television like hyperactive kids with Attention Deficit Disorder, looking for instant gratification with the flick of a button and the blink of an eye.

Before cable and digital arrived into our homes, we’d tend to turn off the box if there was nothing on. Now, with up to 100 channels on our screens, we always think ‘There must be something good on somewhere’– which is why we keep flicking and keep watching.

I recently subscribed to NTL’s Digital Select Service, which gives me 50 extra channels for just €5 extra per month. Good value, you might say and you’re not wrong, but apart from BBC3 and 4 plus a couple of music channels, I could happily dump the other 46 stations into a digital dustbin. Nobody needs all that visual clutter and information overload.

Time to switch off the goggle box, hide the remote and lose yourself in a good book instead.

REVISED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DUBLIN

Since first publication of Douglas Bennett’s Encyclopaedia of Dublin twelve years ago the city’s revitalisation both on a cultural, social and economic level has contributed to establishing it as a city which is comparable to any other European capital.

The new edition of the encyclopaedia reflects the enormous transformation, with articles on the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, The Port Tunnel, The Ringsend Sewage Treatment and The Spire. Included in the introduction is the history of Dublin from the coming of the Vikings in the ninth century to the present day.

Every street and square, lane and alleyway was walked and noted with compass and rule before being included in this work. The history behind streets, bridges, buildings and societies comprise an opportunity to study the background to Dublin as a whole and the people who have shaped this city into what it is to-day. From body snatching to the workhouse, the Sick and Indigent Roomkeepers Society (which still operates to-day) this book is a tapestry of historical detail.

The Encyclopedia of Dublin Revised and Expanded is published by Gill & Macmillan and is available in hardback at all good book shops for the RRP of €29.99.

CRAFT FAIR IN AID OF ENABLE IRELAND

Crafts people are coming together in Enable Ireland, Sandymount Avenue, on Wednesday 16th November from 10am till 12.30pm. Stalls will include: Pottery, Knitwear, Christmas Cards, Scarves, Paper Gifts, Bags, Kitchen Woodwear, Jewellery, Candles, Flower Decorations, etc.

Admission €10, includes Coffee, Tea and Biscuits. For more information please contact Fundraising Office on 01-2615917 or email: eastfr@enableireland.ie

TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF GREAT SOUTH WALL

The Great South Wall at Pidgeon House Road will be closed to the public from Monday, 17 October 2005. This closure, which is to facilitate essential maintenance and site investigation works, will continue in operation for approximately 12 weeks to December 2005.

POOLBEG YACHT CLUB AND MARINA

Pidgeon House Road, Ringsend, Dublin 4. Tel: 6689983
Poker Classic 21st October 9 pm
Halloween Party 30th October 9 pm
Live Music

THE COMMUNITY AFTER SCHOOLS PROJECT

The Community After Schools Project (CASPr) launched their Evaluation Report. CASPr began in 1995, since then it has two after-schools projects, a créche and a training programme for local adults.

Pictured, left to right: Sean Lambe with Rose Mullen and Louise Whelan with their FETAC Records of Achievement and Mary O’Brien.

GEORGIAN SQUARES OF DUBLIN

The Irish Georgian Society in association with Dublin City Library and Archive will be holding lectures every Tuesday evening during November at 6.30pm in the conference room of the Library in Pearse Street.

The lectures are concerned with the Georgian squares of Dublin and cover the design, construction, architectural history and conservation.

The programme features Parnell Square (1st), Merrion Square (8th), Fitzwilliam Square (15th), Mountpleasant Square (22nd) and Mountjoy Square (29th).

Advance payment to the Irish Georgian Society is essential. The fee is €10 per lecture or €45 for all five lectures. If you are interested in attending, telephone the Society’s office at 6767053 or call in to 74 Merrion Square where their office is open from 9.30am to 5pm.

All proceeds will be donated to conservation works at 54 Mountjoy Square.

‘FIDDLER ON THE ROOF’ COMES TO MARIAN COLLEGE

Marian College Musical Society celebrates its 30th anniversary this season with the ever popular ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. The production runs from Wednesday 30th November to Saturday 3rd December in the Marian College Hall at 8 pm each evening.

After 30 years in the orchestra pit, musical director Ray Ryan (pictured) steps on to the stage this year to play the role of Tevye, the milkman, while his wife, Golde, is played by teacher Grainne McCarthy. All the other roles are play by students, including Chris Guilfoyle as Perchik, Stephen Clarke as Motel, Daniel O’Neill as the Constable, Sean Creagh as Lazar Wolf, Grainne Pollak as Chava, Lucy Slack as Tzeitel and Ellen Fitzgerald as Hodel.

Bernard Lynch directs, Marie Barber is the choreographer while Peter O’Donoghue and Kevin Kelly look after the stage design and management.

For bookings telephone 6684036 during school hours or you can buy tickets at the door.

Unlike the happy children from Lakelands School pictured below, one suspects the life of the kids above was hard and sometimes depressingly brief. Not quite the Good Old Days.

WINFIELD MOTORS SPONSORS YOUNG HURLERS

Left to right: Martin Mannion, Manager of Winfield Motors; Jessica Dent, Prize Winner; Sean Fitzpatrick, Player of the Week and Eamon Clancy.

HALLOWEEN TREATS

PUMPKIN & BLUE CHEESE SOUP
900g (2 lb) pumpkin flesh, peeled, seeded and chopped 55g (2oz) butter
2 onions sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 oz smoked bacon
2 teaspoons marjoram or thyme or oregano, chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
11/2 teaspoons sugar
600ml (1 pint) milk
55g (2 oz) blue cheese such as Roquefort or Stilton, grated
300 ml (1/2 pint ) chicken stock
Garnish:
4 tablespoons whipped cream
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Cut up the pumpkin, remove seeds and fibrous matter then cut off the skin and cut flesh into cubes.

Next melt the butter in a saucepan, add bacon, garlic and onions and cook until soft. Add chopped pumpkin, coat in the butter, then the herbs, sugar, milk, salt and pepper, bring to the boil then simmer until pumpkin is cooked. Add grated cheese.

Using a food processor or liquidiser process the soup until smooth, if it is too thick add some boiling chicken stock. Serve in bowls. Add the cream and sprinkle some finely chopped parsley on top. Serve at once with fresh crunchy rolls for a festive feast.

ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS
Pumpkin seeds
Sea Salt
Preheat the oven to 110c/ 225F/gas mark 4.

Rinse the pumpkin seeds under cold water. Dry on kitchen paper. Put a single layer on a baking tray and sprinkle generously with sea salt. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until seeds are crisp and crunchy. Store in an airtight jar.