24th January, 2002
Notice
Board
BATT O'KEEFFE, TD, WRITES ...
I am pleased that
the Government has responded to the traffic situation in the
Clarkes Hill area by ensuring that a major road infrastructure
from Clarkes Hill to Maryborough a distance of 3 kilometres at a
cost of € 3m will transform the regulation of traffic in the
area..
Planning for the project is underway and it will involve a series
of compulsory purchase Orders to ensure an upgraded urban road
which will have footpaths on both sides of the road. I have been
assured that public lighting will form part of the overall scheme.
The road will be signalised at various junctions including
Clarkes Hill. It will be welcomed by members of the public but of
course, the compulsory Orders will impinge on the property of
private individuals.
At a recent Council meeting, I insisted that traffic lights would
be put in place at Cooney's Lane and1 in order to ensure the
safety of school children that a pedestrian crossing would be
made available at Parkgate / Bellevue.
Residents in Pinecroft, Hollyville and Newton Court will welcome
this decision as it will alleviate difficulties being
experiencing in alighting onto the Grange Road, particularly at
peak traffic times. The advent of the pedestrian lights will also
facilitate schoolchildren as parents were particularly worried
for their safety crossing the road.
NOTICE BOARD
Story-time in Douglas Library
American storyteller, Amy Kerwin, will tell stories suitable for
children age 5 and upwards, in the Library on Saturday Jan. 26th
at 11.30 am. Admission is free and everyone is welcome.
Leabharlann na Dúglaise /
Douglas Library
An Ciorcal Comhrá
Informal conversation in Irish
Ná bac leis an euro!
Tar le chéile do chomhluadar is comhrá saor in aisce!
January meeting -- No need for euros –
Just get together for casual conversation.
25ú d’Eanáir / 25th January
Celebrate Spring in Carrigaline Library
To mark the extensive folklore attached to the coming of Spring
and Saint Brighid’s Day ,the Library in Carrigaline will
hold a crafts/folklore session on the eve of Saint Brighid’s
Day. At 4.00 p.m.on Thursday January 31. Margaret Walsh will
demonstrate how to make the different types of crosses associated
with Saint Brighid and will outline the different customs and
folklore that was common in rural Ireland in the not too distant
past.
Demonstration crosses will be raffled off and handouts of the
various customs will be available.
Please phone : 4371888 for further details .
The History of Douglas by Con Foley
Part 73 - VERNON MOUNT AND AN ABDUCTION
Vernon Mount demesne lies only a short distance from the village
of Douglas West. At the end of the eighteenth century, it was the
seat of one of Cork's aristocratic landlords, Sir Henry Brown
Hayes, dandy Regency Buck and extravagant liver. As Captain of
the South Cork Militia, it was his custom on local manoeuvres to
sleep under a silken tent. He is described as a man of middle
stature, haughty, wearing a cocked hat with a rosette on either
side, living in a fine suburban mansion with a retinue of
servants.
But Sir Henry's claim to memory rests not on his military career
but rather on his attempt to abduct a Cork heiress and to force
her to marry him, an attempt that ended in complete disaster for
the gallant suitor. At the time, 1797, Sir Henry was nearly
forty, widowed, and the father of several children, past the age
of a gay Lothario, one would imagine. In the circumstances one
could be forgiven for assuming that Sir Henry's interest was
financial rather than romantic.
Miss Mary Pike, Quaker, heiress of Samuel Pike, banker of
Bessboro, Blackrock was staying with her relatives, the Penroses
at a small demesne near Glanmire. One day during her vacation,
Miss Pike received a note purporting to be from the family doctor
- Dr. Gibbings - that her mother was seriously ill and that she
should come immediately. Accompanied by her friend Miss Penrose,
she at once set out for home. On the way, her carriage was held
up by Sir Henry and his retainers. The heiress was abducted and
put in another carriage with an elderly lady who earnestly
pleaded her brother's suit. On arrival at Vernon Mount, Sir Henry
himself asked for her hand in marriage but the lady spiritedly
refused. She was locked in a room until next morning when she was
forced into a mock marriage by a sham clergyman, but undaunted as
ever, she tore the ring from her finger and flung it on the floor.
This final action convinced Sir Henry that marriage was not to be
and so, the lady was released….
Continued next week
DUNLEA MAKES IT TO NATIONAL SQUAD
Back at the start of the month Damien Dunlea from
Douglas received a letter from the Irish Athletics squad to the
effect that he had been selected for the Irish team in an up
coming International race in Dublin on January 26th against the
best in Great Britain. This call up is the highlight of Damien's
career to date and is the only runner selected from Cork.
Damien is also making waves in boxing circles and also during
last month represented Cork in a tournament against Galway. His
opponent in the bout was a tough fighter and former Irish
Champion, Martin Forde from Monivea. This call up was at short
notice meaning extra training sessions and 5 mile runs over the
christmas for the Douglas man. Sparring sessions with dad, David
also helped sharpen up his skills. The fight itself went to the
Galway man on a split decision much to the disappointment of
Damien who said “I think it's a little harsh but that's
boxing”. Damien would like to thank all of his supporters
from Douglas for their loyal and emotional support.
DEIRDRE CLUNE, TD, writes ....
Traffic in the Grange area is a major headache
for those living there, particularly in the morning time when we
see queues from the housing estates onto the main road and then
either the Kinsale Roundabout or through Douglas village. One
measure, which should alleviate some of the headache, will be the
provision of a flyover at the Kinsale Road Roundabout. This
measure should have been included in the original design but was
not. However, a recent report presented to Cork Corporation
indicated that work is expected to start in the middle of this
year.
The widening of the existing carriageway to three lanes is
underway at the eastern approach road to the proposed flyover.
This work is necessary to accommodate construction of the
proposed overpass bridge without interfering with traffic, (i.e.
two lanes of traffic each way will be maintained during
construction)
60% of the traffic through the roundabout is travelling East -~
West and this 60% will in future use the flyover thereby
providing relief for those queuing from the Grange and Airport
direction.
VOLUNTEERS WANTED ...
ISPCC actively seeking volunteers for all of its services in Cork—Childline,
STEPSCRIB. ISPCC has a strong commitment to volunteerism and
gratefully acknowledges the contribution made by Cork and local
Douglas people to volunteering at ISPCC. ISPCC services provide a
valuable community resource (Childline is a 24-hour free phone
active listening service for children. While the service is now
24 hours, ISPCC is aware of the fact that children still have
trouble getting through to Childline. We are seeking to resolve
this by increasing shifts and the number of volunteers. In order
to do this we need more volunteers to man the lines at Childline,
and to increase access to the Childline, service. ISPCC also runs
a face-to-face version of Childline with its STEPS service based
at 12 Mary Street Cork. The service is open Thursdays 4-5.30 p.m.
and Saturdays 11-12.30. We are eager to increase these hours with
the help of new volunteers. Cork STEPS provides children and
teenagers with a place to go where they can take part in fun
confidence building activities or simply talk to a trained
volunteer. STEPS provides children with a structured, child-centred
environment where they can have positive experiences that will
improve their peer relations, self-esteem and communication
skills. The other service provided by ISPCC is the Children's
Rights Information Bureau (C.R.l.B.). This service provides
courses organised in schools and libraries to teach children on
their rights.
If you feel you can be of help Please phone 021 4962949
THE MAN BEHIND THE BAR ...
One cannot pass through Parnell place without
noticing the painting of Elvis Presley at the entrance to O’Flaherty’s
Bar. It shows ‘The King’ in all his glory, when he
presented his ‘Boy next Door’ image to the world. Elvis
loved his Mamma, served his country, believed in God, supported
democracy and abided by the rules of society. To some the
painting is just a mural on a wall, but to many it is a statement.
Inside, O’Flaherty’s is a modern pub in an Old World
setting. It’s seven TV screen and quadraphonic sound system
make it a must for sports fans add this to a variety of music and
entertainment seven nights a week, a strict security code and one
has a thriving business with a friendly in-house atmosphere. O’Flaherty’s
caters for all age groups and consequently is a popular party
venue. Donnybrook man, Bernard McCarthy the owner of O’Flaherty’s
recently spoke to the Douglas Weekly about the trials and
tribulations of running a modern city centre pub.
“Although coming from a normal family background, my
brothers and I have always been involved in all aspects of the
entertainment business and on both sides of the counter, security
and promotion. I always wanted to have my own place and as I had
been many years working in the ESB, when the opportunity arose I
took redundancy and bought into O’Riada’s in Macroom. O’Riada’s
was a Bar come Nite-Club, which I ran successfully for two and a
half years. Then came an offer that was hard to refuse and at the
same time O’Flaherty’s in Parnell Place was on the
market. So I moved into the City Centre, at last I’d got to
where I always wanted to be.
It is not easy in the City, we have our regular customers but the
majority of our business comes from the people who are
fluctuating about in public.
Now we have a problem with ‘Equal Rights’. It is a
difficult time for all publicans. In the sense that we are almost
expected to act as a Priest, Doctor, Solicitor and a Garda all in
one and at the same time keep ourselves out of trouble.
We have no problem serving members of the Travelling Community
provided they behave in a civilised manner, but unfortunately
there is an element of them that misbehave. The law says that I
must serve these people but I am responsible for what happens
within my pub. If we serve these people our regular customer feel
uncomfortable and start to leave because they feel discriminated
against. So we try to balance it the best way we can, obey the
law and at the same time keep our customers happy.
We know most troublemakers, potential or otherwise, regardless of
social status, so we refuse them at the door. We consider each
person separately because every individual is different. Our aim
is to protect our clientele and our property. If someone gets in
and becomes aggressive towards a customer I am held responsible
and could wind up in court, on the other hand by refusing to
admit the same person without proper cause I could also wind up
in court. The whole thing is a minefield.
We pay good money for our pubs and we are held responsible for
them and a publican should be allowed to manage his/her own pub.
For example, in the event of “Druggies” coming in to my
pub the Gardai would be very quick to remind me not to allow that
element on the premises and to get rid of them.
Now a law that has been ruled against us; children should be
served, even if they are accompanied by a know trouble-maker,
regardless of whether they have dirty nappies, or have not been
fed or whatever. As a publican and a parent I think this law is
wrong and should be changed.
In our society we have lobbies for helping people in trouble. The
powers that be want us to allow babies into pubs and let them
stay till closing time. Where are these lobbyists now? As a
parent and a publican if I find somebody with children on my
premises after six o’clock I’m going to ask them to
leave, irrespective of the law, because I feel I am protecting
the child.
It is hard to enjoy running a pub because the law is tying my
hands behind my back. Long ago a publicans concern was the ‘Pint’
and was the pint to the customer’s satisfaction. Today it is
different, the publican worries about his clientele and who’s
going to walk through the door. Does he serve them? How much
trouble will he get into if he doesn’t serve them? How much
trouble will they cause if he does serve them? It’s not
about pulling pints anymore”
Bernard had a lot more to say about his views on the pub
business, which we hope to refer to at a later date. In the
meantime perhaps some of our readers might like to write to us
and let us have their views on the subjects mentioned.
DOUGLAS ISSUES - Cllr. Deirdre Forde
There was quite a long agenda at our recent Area
Road Meeting held on Monday and some of the issues concerned the
wider Douglas Area and I will synoposise them as follows as I
know they may be of interest to you readers
1st Phase implimentation of Douglas Traffic Study:
Church Street & East Douglas Street
Improve parking enforecemtn and provide on street pay and display
with resident parking discs.
Provide bollards and guard rail on footways to discourage illegal
parking Cost 25,000 IR
West Douglas Street
Provide traffic signals at Church Road Junction(Dailies)particular
care to ensure right turn into Inchvale Rd and School Cost 55.000
West Douglas Street
Parovide on street parking bays and ban parking near to N25 on-slip
junction Cost 12,000
Donnybrook Hill/Grange Road
Improve Junction layout (extra lane facilitated by taking some
verge at corner). Cost 45,000
Frankfield Road/Kinsale Road Junction
Amend road markings to provide two lane junction approach Cost 6,000
Rochestown Road
Introduce traffic calming, including central island at Dunnes
Stores access and provide pedestrian crossing
facilities here. Also Signalling junction at Perrier Drive /Wainsfort
Cost120,000
Maryborough Hill;Carrigaline Road;Carrs Hill; Donnybrook Hill;
Scairt Hill; Grange Road and Coach Hill
Introduce speed reduction measures Cost 70,000
Church Road
Implement traffic calming outside St. Luke's School with safe
pedestrain crossing points Cost 30,000
I expect Council to begin implementation as soon as possible and
these measure will go some way to addressing the concerns of many
residents in the area. Obviously, some measures will need to be
discussed further and if any resident wants to clarify any matter
with me they can phone me at 4363318.
Clarkes Hill /Moneygourney Road Widening
Part 10 for widening this section of road will be published the
next week or so. This procedure involves publicly advertising the
proposal and making available for public inspection the
preliminary plans of the project. Cork County Council must
consider any submissions which it receives from the public or any
other statutory bodies. It will then prepare a report for
consideration of the members. In 2002 - 2004 the works will
consist of Detailed Design and Land Acquisition (including
Compulsory Land Purchase if necessary) preparation of Contract
and Tender Documents Tendering procedures and finally
Construction .
Among Councils proposals would be traffic lights at Rochestown
Road /Clarkes Hill junction; also lights at main entrance two the
O'Flynn Development and or lights at T junction near Garryduff..Improvements
here to facilitate buses up to Mount Oval.The proposed widening
will be on left hand side as far as O'Flynn Dev. Footpaths
Widening between Landsborought and Foxwood; realignment of road
by High Acre; a small roundabout at Garryduff Maryborough Hill
junction; Footpaths to be installed as far as slip road on
Maryborough Hill on oposite side and also section to facilitate
Bus Shelter on this side. The approximate length of the new road
will be 3km. The new road will generally be constructed with a 7metre
wide carriageway and two 2m wide footpaths. The cost will be
approximately 1m per kilometer including lighting costs. The
approved grant from the Dept of the Environment was 2.655 millon
and Cork County Council will fund the project to the amount of
approx 0.885 million from its own resources. The project will be
carried out over a four year period. When this project has been
completed it will have significant benefits for pedestrian and
motorists alike. If any readers has any queries in relation to
this matter I should be glad to be of help.
I am very pleased that over the coming months these measures
together with further improvements coming on stream under the Non-National
Roads Restoration Programme that this will mean significant
financial investment in improvements for the Douglas Area. After
all don't you all deserve it!!!
Traffic Calming/Ramps
The issue of Traffic Calming and or ramps is potentially
contentious. Some residents in varous estates are in favour and
some are not. Council have a set of Guidelines which they use i.e.
is roadway sufficent in length and relatively straight,. Is it on
a bus route; if there is a history of accidents and are Gardai in
favour. Quite often residents themselves contribute to speeding
problems. In new Estates Council's planning conditions can ensure
provision of traffic calming measures but in mature estate (and
there are many) the increase in vehicular traffic and speed of
same is the cause of huge concern. Council propose to draw up a
list of Estates requiring Ramps and Traffic Calming and each will
be considered on its merits including consultation between Local
Authority and Residents. I have raised the matter with Engineers
recently in relation to petition I received from residents in
Shamrock Road and the Engineer is to examine this section and
report back. I also brought to the attention of the Engineers
that is was over twelve months ago that traffic calming on
Inchvale Road was requested by some residents and in fact the
Gardai also examined this section and reported back. The delay in
finalising the matter one way or another is not acceptable. Also
specific financial provision will have to be made to tackle this
wide ranging matter.
POPSTARS - Pure Hype or Pure Talent?
By Aoife Barry
By now absolutely everybody has seen, or at least heard of, the
new RTE show, 'Popstars'. Following the 'groundbreaking' British
series of the same name, which was filmed last year, it promises,
like its predecessor, to show us the entire manufacturing of a
pop band from beginning to end. Now that we have reached an era
when fake is as good as the real thing, the music business has
reached an all-time low with these so-called 'reality TV'
programmes, which aim to do nothing more than brainwash us into
accepting mind-numbing and mediocre music.
While the show did provide us with a few light moments - notably
the cringe-worthy auditions where talentless morons attempted to
convince music mogul Louis Walsh that they were the next Britney
Spears, only to end up doing a realistic impression of a cat with
its tail stuck in an electric fence - it was by and large boring.
I found myself nodding off like a narcoleptic numerous times
during the show, especially when Linda Martin's pained face came
into view and she started one of her 'I love you all.you're all
so talented.' speeches. Yawn. Samantha Mumba and Westlife were
drafted in at the Dublin auditions (proving once and for all that
only real popstars come from Dublin, you know.) to make sure the
participants were under no illusions that talent might actually
be a stipulation for winning, which must have been a relief for
all involved. While I for one both relished and abhorred in equal
measure Simon Powell's treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen approach
shown on Pop Idol, I found the Irish judges too saintly by far.
I mean, Louis, come on boy, as we say in Cork - don't tell
someone she looks like Christina Aguilera when all you really
want to say is that she wears too much make-up and skimpy clothes
- be honest. And as for crying when you are telling the 'un'lucky
ones that they must go home after having their fifteen minutes of
fame - Linda, get over it. They soon will, when they realise what
they have escaped from!
And what about the music? Well, it is almost always the case that
the songs these bands produce are well below par, and that they
usually follow the same format - first a mid-tempo song, then a
fast song, then a ballad and hey presto, the album which sky-rockets
to number one faster than you can say 'suckers!' We have learnt
not to expect much from these bands, to nod meekly as we make our
way up to counter, CD in hand, safe in the knowledge that we have
bought another pair of Gucci trousers for the band and a one-way
ticket to millionaire-dom for their wily manager. We listen to
their bland singles, watch their monotonous videos and never once
do we stop and question why it is that we are doing so. In short,
we are those cute, fluffy, but ultimately dumb animals, sheep.
So what is the solution to this ridiculous, but irritating,
problem? The answer is simple: watch the show; laugh at the
contestants; but realize that you are, at the end of the day,
merely a pawn in a clever man's (woman's?) game. And when you
make your move - aim for checkmate. Don't buy the single, don't
buy the album, and watch these 'reality' shows disappear as fast
as Hearsay. Result!
