16th March, 2000
Notice Board


Ciorcal Comhrá

The next meeting of the Ciorcal Comhrá is on Friday March 24th at 11am in the Douglas Library. If you would like to practice speaking Irish, to read newspapers and books "as gaeilage", listen to somebody speak in Irish, you are very welcome to come along. Admission is free.


DOUGLAS SCOUTING NOTES

6th/47TH CORK DOUGLAS SCOUT UNIT C.S.l.
SCOUTING NOTES for week ending Sat. March I8th~ 2000.

There are four active sections in Douglas Scout Unit at the moment. The Beavers, 6th Cork Macaoimh, 47th Cork Macaoimh and the 6th Cork Scouts. We hope 10 start a Venture Group within the next couple of Months.
The Beavers recently went to the pantomime "Aladdin" in Cork Opera House. This year's pantomime was a fabulous production, as those of you who saw it will agree. It was a great day out and the lads thoroughly enjoyed. the performance. The Beavers have also just completed a huge collage of view of the sea. They did this over the course of two weeks' meetings and it will be on display in the Scout Hall within the next few weeks. Our Scout Hall has also just been wonderfully renovated and it is now proudly ready to serve the Scouting fraternity in Douglas better than before. The two Macaoimh sections have also been very active in the recent past. A table quiz was held in Ballinlough in which the 6th Cork Macaoimh came ninth and the 47th Cork Macaoimh came third. Both troops took part in a chess and draughts competition that was held in our own Scout Hall here in Douglas. This was a great success also. Last Sunday. March 12 saw a Regional Orienteering Day take place for the Macaoimh in Currabinny Woods. It began at l0.30am and finished at I .00p.m. The lads got a great kick out of the freedom afforded to them over the course of the morning. It was a marvellous learning experience for those who had never tried orienteering before and the beautiful weather helped things progress without a hitch. The Scouts too are not without great activity. They recently went on a hike to Oldcourt in Garyduff. There were various bases provided for the Scouts over the course of the day from II o'clock to 4 o'clock once they got Set up in Oldcourt. Backwoods, pioneering and first aid were the bases covered on the day. Backwoods is basically surviving without the mod cons we take for granted today, such as housing, cooking tools etc. The Scouts have to 'survive' with their own intuition and imagination providing the spur for this. Pioneering is what a lot of people would traditionally associate with Scouting - the construction of various gadgets (such as tables and chair, dressers and uniform and shoe racks) out of sturdy wood. The first-aid base is self-explanatory and does provide the Scouts with more than a basic grounding in this most useful of skills.
Our Unit will be attending 10 o'clock mass in St. Columba's Church on St. Patrick's Day. We will be wearing full uniform. This is an annual tradition for us and it will, no doubt, add a bit of colour to the morning!
We always welcome new members into our unit. If you would like more information, please contact the Scout Hall (next to St. Columba's Church) on Wednesdays between 6.00pm and 9.30pm or on Fridays between 6.OOpm and 9.OOpm and we will be glad to help.
Finally, our 47th Cork Macaoimh Leader. Conor Crowley. has recently begun his first term as Assistant Regional Commissioner (A.R. C.) for Macaoimh. We wish him well in his task.


ON THE ROUNDABOUT

Councillor Peter Kelly tells us that the No.6 bus route will be extended to the new traffic lights at Curragh Woods in the near future and the No. 7 service is to be extended to Scart Cross....A discussion on 'Challenges to the Irish Church' takes place in the Legion of Mary Hall, East Douglas on tonight Thurs 16th, all welcome.....Southern Health Board is recruiting 5 Smoking Resource Officers to support the boards' interventions on smoking....."Government must speed up childcare proposals to combat severe shortages of places," says Dail Deputy Deirdre Clune.....Following the Department of Health's publication of "Plan for Women's Health" Simon Coveney T.D. wants the Southern Health Board to undertake a study on issues affecting men's health...Progressive Democrat's National Chairman, Councillor John Minihan has called on the Cork local authorities to introduce a disability access charter.... Local Councillor Deirdre Forde advises us that the road and footpaths of James Connolly Place, Donnybrook are to be repaved during the present year...Larry Tomkins has performed the official launch of The People in Need Telethon 2000 for Cork...... Students of the MA in Drama & Theatre Studies at UCC are presenting "Water Voices" at the Granary Theatre from March 15th - 18th....Cork Community Games Indoor Soccer U13 Boys and Girls takes place on Sat 18th March at Neptune Stadium... the Southern Branch International Lace Convention takes place in Dungarvan on the 5th, 6th and 7th May.....In the 1659 Census of Ireland the population of Grange was 19.... Pentland Press in the US spending a lot of money promoting "Magazine" a new book by Irish/American author Jim Mallon...Mna Feasa Women's Domestic Violence Project Helpline and Support Group, held a one day conference at Shandon Court Hotel on Fri last March 11th.....The Bible Come to Life Millennium Exhibition opens at the Ardfallen Centre, Douglas on Sat 25th March and closes on Wed 29th... Cork Alzheimer Foundation are holding a fundraising dance at Redmonds H&F Club on Friday March 24th.....A new Wheelie Bin Cleaning Service is now operating in Douglas....A Third World fundraiser takes place at the Ardfallen Centre on Fri.31st March, music is by Donal Ring.


THE MAN FROM SKIBBEREEN

(With the hike in petrol prices set to continue,
here is a tale from the 1973 crisis)

Now Murphy was a motorist, who lived in Skibbereen,
A sort of "man about the town", if you know what I mean,
One of those great failures who watched the world go bye,
It wasn't that he'd tried and failed, he'd simply failed to try.
A man so very much removed from all the cares that are,
And the only thing in live he loved was a battered motor car.

Then came the Mid-East crisis and the juice was getting scarce,
And garages were running out, and men were loosing face,
And miles and miles of motor cars were queuing in a line
To get an extra drop or two, while there still was time.
And hooters blared and tempers flared, as all the tanks ran dry,
But Murphy in his motor car just grinned and passed them by.

Now Dinny Sul' of Regan's bar was perched upon a stool,
He gulped a pint and wiped his mouth and says, "The Murph's no fool,
There's something up his I'd say, and only God knows what,
And it isn't what you think it is and it isn't what it's not,
'Tis something queer and awful strange in his contriving mind,
That keeps his old jalopy goin', while we're all left behind".

"So lads lets form a committee, and we'll investigate,
And out of curiosity we'll set the matter straight.
I'd say we'll all be hero's if we solve this mystery,
Perhaps the man is using gas, or electricity,
No matter what his secret is, or what it's all about,
And even if he tries to hide, by God; we will find out".

So that night while Murphy slept in the town of Skibbereen,
The hardy men came creeping out, quite cautious and unseen,
They stripped his old jalopy down, and then ran away because;
So very much to their surprise they learned his secret was,
Enough to make them kick themselves, and turn their faces green,
For in the tank of Murphy's car - was a gallon of poteen.

Ronnie McGinn


WATCH THIS SPACE

Stars are huge balls of hot, luminous gases, but they are so far away that they appear as mere points of light. A star's characteristics, such as colour, temperature, size and luminosity are all determined by it's mass (the amount of material it contains). In the middle of each star there is a nuclear ball of gas, which produces the energy that makes the star shine. They shine for millions or billions of years and then they die. Each star has a life cycle of several stages during which its size and temperature change dramatically. The more massive the star the quicker it burns up it's gases in nuclear reactions and the sooner it dies. The most massive stars last for a few million years. Those with less mass can shine for tens of billions of years.

Star Birth.
Stars are born together inside huge clouds of gas and dust. The process begins when the region of a cloud increases its density. This change could be triggered by the passage through the cloud of a supernova shock wave, for example. Under gravity, the dense region contracts and becomes hotter and denser, eventually forming one or more stars undergoing nuclear reactions. Death comes in 2 ways average sized stars such as the Sun simply swell and go out in a puff of smoke leaving a small, fading core. Massive stars end in a supernova.


DOUGLAS COMMUNITY SCHOOL ATHLETICS

On Wed. March 1st the Irish Schools' Mountain Running Championships were held in the Wicklow Mountains. DCS had a very strong and fit senior team in action, consisting of Brian Lynch, Donal Browne, Stephen Macklin, Owen Dwyer, Eamon Joyce and Niall Duncan. A superb performance by the team, who made light work of the rough terrain and fast pace secured the gold for Douglas.
In the individual race a brilliant performance by Niall Duncan saw him take 1st place convincingly, an achievement which qualifies him to represent Ireland in upcoming European events. The future is indeed bright for these young athletes.


FRANKFIELD FLOWER AND GARDEN CLUB

The above club hold their monthly meetings on the fourth Wednesday of the month, in the Grange /Frankfield Community centre @ 8pm. Annual Subscription £15. Visitors welcome. This year as always the schedule includes demos of floral arranging and gardening talks. On March 22nd the club hosts the very popular Charlie Wilkens to give his usual impressive lecture on gardening. A large crowd is expected so please come early. Refreshments, raffle and club comps included during the evening. Information on the April meeting to follow in Douglas Weekly.


MOZAMBIQUE NEEDS YOU

Mozambique is suffering from the biggest floods in its history
Volunteers are needed more than ever!
Join in HUMANA People to people's work in Mozambique
(including 6 months training in Denmark)
Contact now! Tel: 0045 97 49 20 24
0r E-mail: tvindrh@inet.uni2.dk


CARRIAGLINE NOTES

The ICA in Carrigaline will be holding an Easter Flower demonstration on Thurs. April 6th in aid of the Irish Kidney Association. It is open to everyone and will cost £2. Inclusive.
The ICA millennium super-dance was held in the Fernhill, and it was a great success with members, former members and friends. We would like to thank all the business people in the village who gave us spot prizes. It all made for a very enjoyable night. We look forward to our 40th birthday celebrations in the year 2001.

The Athletics Club will re-start for he summer season on Wednesday afternoons at 3pm in the Carrigaline Community Complex. Children from 7 - 17 are welcome. The Community games Athletics will be held in Riverstick in June and all our athletes will need to be practising now.

A number of our Athletes took part in the Munster Schools Indoor Athletics. The Carrigaline Senior Relay team came 3rd. They were David Murphy, David O'Brien, Barry Healy, and Steve Allen. Well done to all. The rest of the Community School Team did well also; Geoff Maher won Gold and a Bronze medal for the 600m and the 1200m respectively.


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