7th September, 2000
Notice
Board
THE AMAZING JOE DOLAN
The air of
anticipation in the Estuary Room at the Rochestown Park Hotel was
electric. The buzz of excitement was everywhere. As Ray Dolan
finished his very entertaining warm up act only a few seemed to
notice. Then the band evolved on stage, one didn't see them walk
on, they just arrived, a few minor adjustments and they were
ready. Above the sea of chatter, the sound of moving bodies and
the occasional clink of a glass no one heard the count in. Then
it exploded with the intro to "Good Lookin' Woman", and
amidst a crescendo of sound and light in an angelic white suite
Joe Dolan bounced on stage, "Oh me Oh my, you make me sigh
you're such a Good Looking' Woman ", the audience went wild,
hundreds of voices joined in the chorus, hands waving all over
the place, bodies moving in all directions, this was Joe Dolan at
his magical best and the crowd were loving it and Joe was smiling
from ear to ear, radiating a 'feel good' feeling to every person
in the room. Joe was beaming, I watched fascinated by the
reaction. It suddenly struck me, this was more than just an act,
Joe Dolan was loving it too, the man was glowing from the inside.
I'd bet any money that at that precise moment there was nowhere
in the Universe that Joe would rather be other than exactly where
he was. He loves his audience and they make him the happiest man
on earth.
Twenty minutes previously, on my way to talk to Joe Dolan I was
going up the stairs to the Estuary Room they were two excited
women in front of me " I'm going to throw my knickers on the
stage " said one to the other. The other laughed and they
both glanced up to see Bishop Buckley smiling down at them.
Admittedly one doesn't expect to see His Grace at a Joe Dolan
show but I can think of no reason why he shouldn't be there.
Joe's road manager Dennis met me at the top of the stairs and as
we walked down the corridor towards Joe's room I couldn't help
but thinking, "What was I doing here?" Why did Michael
pick this week to take off and leave me to do the interview? I've
never interviewed anybody in my life. I had no idea where to
start and now I was going to meet the top entertainer in the
country, maybe I should just turnaround and run. We got to the
door and Dennis asked me to wait while he checked with Joe.
Dennis emerged and said Joe would be with me in a minute then he
disappeared. I stood there a nervous wreck.
The door opened and Joe Dolan stuck his head out and said "Hiya,
come on in ". He must have been able to read my feelings
because he started talking straight away. "We love being in
Cork" he said "The people in Cork are great, we always
get a kick out of being here". I noticed he said "We"
and not "I", there are no airs and graces about this
man, and if you met him in a pub for a drink you'd probably
describe him as "one of our own". Responding to Joe's
opening I said " Sure you're like a God around Cork, even
the Bishop is here". He laughed, "Nice man… I'll
tell you a great story but don't print it, (I promised Joe I
wouldn't print it, how could I, I'm not a printer), it happened
here one night with the Bishop. Dennis the lad that brought you
up was at the door when the Bishop arrived, and Dennis didn't
know anything about the Bishop arriving, and the Bishop stood
there talking to Dennis. The Bishop had all the Bishop's gear on
him and Dennis assumed he was some sort of a drag act. So when
the Bishop said to Dennis "What will I do here?" Dennis
replied "Just go away and do your own thing".
Dennis was totally mortified when he found out the truth, but he
has never been able to live it down".
I showed Joe the 'The Douglas Weekly', "This is a cool
Magazine" he said, " Bye the way how is Sean Lucey (Dixies)?"
I told him "Sean is fine, but he has to be careful, he had a
bypass you know". "Had he now ?" said Joe, "We
have one of those in Mullingar as well" he quipped. He went
on " Do you remember the ECO Warriors up in Wicklow, one of
them died in Mountjoy not so long ago, he was three years waiting
for a bypass”
It had never dawned on me, until this moment that Joe Dolan has
the wit and the ability to be a comedian and a good one at that.
Joe went back to talking about Cork. " The Jack Lynch Tunnel
" he was saying " Is an extraordinary piece of
architecture or should I say engineering, it's absolutely
fabulous. It really is and must be an absolute boom to Cork,
alleviating the traffic and all that sort of stuff. They should
have done that id Dublin, they're cat-farting about with trams
and things and this that and the other, and building subways
which they're not doing. I thought at one point if they built a
tunnel from the Southside right under Dublin Bay and across to
the Northern Road, every truck such as those going to Cork would
be taken out of the traffic, if only they had a tunnel like that.
I think the Jack Lynch Tunnel is fantastic idea, it was built
long, long after it's time, but the thing is it's there and that's
the main thing. I like it because it's convenient for me, if I'm
coming from Dublin or Waterford it saves a lot of time, as I don't
have to go through the Cork City. As long as they don't put
TollBooths on it. They're at it in Dublin. Places like the East
Link. They claim they are charging for a bridge that was built
over the Liffey. They tried to charge at the other end as well
but they were stopped pretty quickly. I don't mind them charging
for bridges like on the N50, because they did have to build a
bridge, but they made it too narrow. Two Lanes, four lanes of
traffic on to a two lane bridge. Now they have to build a second
bridge because the first one isn't wide enough. The trouble is
most of these highways are built with EU money so I don't see how
they can put a charge on them. In England there are hardly any
Tool Booths. The is one in Carlisle and one at the Severn Bridge
and as far as I know that's all, and their roads are like carpets.
We're at least ten years behind.”
Joe Dolan certainly has an opinion about Irish Roads and no
wonder. He has spent his entire life driving on them. Perhaps the
powers that be should have a little chat with Joe about building
roads he could undoubtedly offer them some good advice.
We got to talking about computers and Joe said he doesn't even
know how to switch one on. He often thought about getting one but
his brother has said "It'll be another thing in the house
just thrown in a corner after a week. You'd be as well off to get
a Jumbo Jet and put it in the back garden, you'd get as much use
out of that as you would out of a computer". So much for
brotherly love. Computer talk led to computer games and computer
games led to computer golf and that brought us to the real thing.
"I play golf extensively," said Joe. I asked him if he
would like to do a golf classic in Cork after explaining to him
about Joe Mac doing one in New York for St. Raphael's Centre in
Youghal. Joe said he would love to but he is already over
committed. Next Monday he is doing one in Dublin for St Luke's
Hospital. This is the second year for St. Luke's. Before that it
was for the Mater Hospital when they needed some equipment in a
hurry. Last year Peter Mendelson came to collect a cheque for £50,000,
which Joe had raised through his golf for 'co-operation Ireland'.
Now there's a side to Joe Dolan we hear nothing about. Somehow I
didn't know what to say. I was amazed.
A knock at the door " You're on Joe" and that was it.
Jer. O'Regan was there to escort Joe to the stage. "Goodbye
Joe and thank you", I muttered. "It was nice talking to
you", said Joe. Then he was gone. The audience was waiting
and I was going in to enjoy the show. And believe me there's no
show like a Joe Show.
GRANGE / FRANKFIELD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting's recommence on Thursday 14th September at the
Crying Room in Frankfield Church. All those interested are
invited to attend.
CONGRATULATIONS CHIMEA'RA
On Friday 1st September, Chimea'ra Gymnastics
celebrated the first anniversary of it's permanent training
centre in Ballycurreen, Frankfield. The full-time gymnastics
centre, which opened it's doors for the first time one year ago
has gone from strength to strength in that short space of time,
with over 250 members already and many more signing up for the
new term starting Monday 4th Sept.
Chimea'ra Gymnastics is run by co-directors, Mary Coakley, Amy
Coakley-Hanan and Sonya Coakley-Hanan, a mother and two daughter
team! Amy and Sonya have had successful International competitive
careers in both gymnastics and trampolining, with Sonya just back
from a competition in Switzerland and training hard for the
European Championships in October. Along with Mary, the girls are
now passing on their collective knowledge and experience to the
budding talent at the club, of which they have an abundant amount.
"Last year was spent getting the place up and running, we
did little in the way of competition because we felt that the
gymnasts should be settled in their various groups and that they
should work on their basics first," said Mary."We have
many very talented trampolinists as was proved by our results at
National Championships (4 gold's, 2 silver and 1 bronze.) this
year it's time for our gymnasts to show what they can do too. The
kids have achieved so much in the last year I can't wait to see
what the next one will bring."
The club has taken part in, organised and run an incredible
amount of events in the twelve months including, their grand
opening by Olympic superstar Olga Korbut, a weeks training in
London, Patrick's Day parade, a fantastic display at Gymfest 2000
Dublin, A sponsored tumble which raised over £2000 for new
equipment, various TV appearances and a week long summer camp as
well as various competitions, parties and discos!!!
Next years calendar looks even more exciting. Trampolining wise
we have Sonya competing at Europeans, and various internationals,
hopefully culminating in a place on the Irish team for the World
Age Group Championships next summer, other club members will
compete as part of the Southern Region team at the Red Kites Inv.
In Wales in mid September, as well as grades, Regional and
National Championships. Artistic gymnasts will take part in the
Regional Basic 3 competition as well as various inter-club
friendlies that the Chimea'ra are organising and our Rhythmic
girls will compete at Irelands first ever grades competition as
well as friendly inter-clubs and possibly travelling to N.
Ireland and England. All this plus various guest coaches from
abroad, courses, camps, displays and fun, fun, FUN! It's a wonder
they ever have time to train!
Sonya, Amy and Mary would like to thank everyone who has been
behind them over the last year and has helped to make their
dreams a reality, here's to making next year even better, Chimea'ra
Gymnastics is on the up...WATCH THIS SPACE!!!
For more information on classes, hall rental or birthday parties
at Chimea'ra gymnastics, please ring; 0214 963129.
LORD MAYOR TO GIVE THE FIRST PUSH
The Lord Mayor, Mr. P. J. Hourican, will officially launch a 'Pram
Push' organised by Life Pregnancy Care Service on Saturday 16th
September at 11.00a.m.
The volunteers from Life Pregnancy Care Service will push a pram
from their Caring Centre at 123 Patrick Street Cork in a circuit
of 150 miles through 9 provincial towns and ending up nine days
later at their Centre in Patrick Street.
This idea has been the brainchild of the fund-raising team of
Life Pregnancy Care Service. However the purpose of the 'Pram
Push' is not simply to raise funds. The voluntary counsellors at
Life Pregnancy Care Service have been concerned at the number of
dead new-born babies that have been found abandoned in the Cork
and Kerry regions over the past few years. Their concern is that
these young mothers went through the trauma of a crisis pregnancy
alone and delivered their babies alone and without help. No woman
should have to endure a trauma like this on her own.
Life Pregnancy Care Service would like to highlight the fact that
they offer a Free Confidential Service to women in a crisis
pregnancy at their centre in 123 Patrick Street, Cork. This
Centre is open from 10.00a.m. to 5.00p.m. Monday to Friday and on
Saturday Lunchtime from 1.00-3.00p.m. They also operate a
National Helpline on 1850 281 281 every day from 9a.m. to 9p.m.
For the price of a local call, from anywhere in Ireland a
sympathetic counsellor can be contacted.
Life Pregnancy Care Service offers Free Pregnancy Tests (with
immediate results), Free Confidential Counselling, Legal and
Social Welfare Advice, Help in accessing accommodation and Post
Abortion Counselling.
A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
An exciting show charting the history of music in the movies, from Shirley Temple to Sister Act, Grease to Beauty and the Beast. All your favourite tunes operformed by some of Cork's best singers and actors. This is a very exciting show for all age groups in the family. You can see A Night At The Movies at the Cork Arts Theatre(CAT CLUB) this Thurs and Friday . Production is by 3D Entertainments in association with Total Eclipse . It's not to be missed 021 4508398.
MOBILE CALL CHARGES
Last week we looked at the non-contract options (mobile call
cards) this week we take a look at one alternative.
CONTRACT options
Contracts are usually for 12 months. The monthly charge includes
rental and some call credit. You must pay the fixed amount every
month, regardless of your call spend. Read contract documents
carefully, especially the small print, before signing. There are
penalties for ending contracts early.
EIRCELL
Eirtime Options have fixed rental amount each month, with some
inclusive minutes for calls. If you exceed these minutes, charges
depend on which Option you choose. Connection to Eircell's
network costs £42.35; however, Eirell says that 99% of cases
first-time connection is free.
Inclusive minutes are for peak and off-peak calls. Minutes that
you have left over at the end of the month are carried forward to
the
next month. The maximum you can carry forward is the same as the
inclusive minutes in your Eirtime Option (for example, you can
carry forward 50 minutes per month with Eirtime 50, hut you still
have to pay the monthly charge of £24.20).
You must give 28 days notice, in writing, to end a 12-month
contract early. Eircell then automatically switches you to
Eirtime Option 10, so you pay the lowest termination fee: the
monthly charge (£12) multiplied by the number of months the
Contract has left. Inclusive Eirtime minutes cannot be used for
calls to: 11844, 11850 and 11860 calls, CallSave (1850), diverted
calls, international calls, loCall (1890), premium rate numbers,
text messages (12.1p to send).
Charges for calls while abroad vary depending on the country and
foreign network. Receiving calls while abroad is around 54p per
minute in Britain and £1.40 per minute in the USA.
Further reductions
With Eircell's Call a friend for free discount you can register
one Eircell mobile number for free calls to it at weekend and off-peak
times. The number of free minutes is equal to the inclusive
minutes in your Eircom Option (for example, 10 free minutes with
Eirtime 10).
Some Eirtime prices are reduced if you pay in one instalment.
With Up Front, Eirtime 10 costs £99 per year and Eirtime 50
costs £199. This gives a large saving compared with paying
monthly, £45 a year for Eirtime 10 and £91.40 for Eirtime 50.
Next week Digifone and Imag!ne.
CONVERSATION
The art of conversation, is a gift,
That does not seem to come from anywhere,
And no one knows the way that it might drift,
It wanders on and suddenly it's there.
The death of conversation is someone,
Who always finds they have something to say,
And argues lest their ego 'comes undone
And arguments can never win a day
The flow of conversation must be free
And not be bogged by dictionaries or text,
If there's an error, let that error be,
And having passed the point, move to the next.
The best at conversation always loose,
In spite of all the things that they might know,
For when their moment comes they always choose,
To hold their tongue and let that moment go.
Ronnie McGinn
(From an article in a German Magazine)
WORKING FOR RABBIT OWNERS
Our local Vet. John O'Mahony tells us there has been a myxomatosis outbreak in the Douglas area over the last few weeks. Fleas and midges transmit this fatal virus infection. A number of cases have been reported in the area. It causes swelling of the eyes and nose and ears and eventually leads to pneumonia. It does not respond to treatment but a vaccine is available which can protect your rabbit against the disease. If you own a rabbit or know somebody who does, ask them to contact their Vet. for more details.
CITIZEN INFORMATION CENTRE
Know Your Rights
Question: My wife and I are pensioners aged 73
and 75 but we do not have a social welfare pension. We applied
last year for the Free Electricity Allowance and TV licence but
we were told that our income was above the limit to qualify. I
heard that in the last Budget the Free Schemes have been extended
to all people over 75. Would we quality now?
Answer: From next October all people over the age of 75 who are
permanently resident in the State will qualify far the Free
Electricity or Gas Allowance, the Free TV licence arid the Free
Telephone Rental regardless of their circumstances. This means
that for people over 75 there is no income limit in order to
qualify for these Free Schemes. This also applies to couples
where only of them is over the age of 75.
To apply for these you fill in the form which is available from
your Social Welfare Local Office arid send it to Pension Services
Office. College Road, Sligo.
Further information is available from Cobb Citizens Information
Centre, which provides a free and confidential service. Phone
4814422. Email cobh.cic@comhairle.ie or visit the Parish Centre.
Roches Row.
Reduced times due to holidays. for the week beginning Monday II
September: Monday & Tuesday 8.00 9.30pm, Wednesday, Thursday
& Friday I0.30-12.00.
MOUNT BRANDON
A few weeks ago we printed a number of
articles "World War Two Air Accidents in Cork and Kerry"
by Ger. O'Regan. We received such a very positive response from
some of our many readers that we are now delighted to publish
some more of Ger's material. No doubt our readers will join with
us in commending Ger on his diligent devotion to the subject and
for the enormous amount of research he has done.
It is beautiful to walk amongst the heather and streams in the
lowlands of our mountains but certainly not a place to be after
an air crash.
July 27th 1943 and a 'British Overseas Airways Corporation' (BOAC)
Sunderland flying boat with twenty-two passengers and crew, took
off from Lisbon at 9.15 PM on a civilian flight to Poole in
Dorset via Foynes in Co. Limerick. It may have been termed a
civilian flight, but most of the passengers were military
personnel, including Diarmuid Hartigan from Bruff, Co. Limerick.
Sgt. Hartigan flew with the RAF and had survived when his
Spitfire crashed near Dakar. He was going home to recover from
his injuries.
The Flying Boat with its call sign "G-Gages" had a tail
wind throughout its flight and arrived over north Kerry and North
Limerick at 4,30am on July 28th 1943. Because of low cloud cover
and strong southwest Winds, Air Traffic Control at Rineanna (now
Shannon Airport) advised "G-Gages" to "Orbit"
Loop Head in South West County Clare. During the final
preparation for landing, unknown to pilot, Capt. Tom Allit from
Liverpool, the wind changed direction to north-west and as Capt.
Allit began his finals, in low cloud he assumed he was going up
the Shannon Estuary but instead, Gages was actually entering
Tralee bay. Visibility was down to 60ft. All Capt. Allit would
have seen before impact was the sight of moorland rushes coming
to meet him before his plane impacted in the Inner Brandon Valley.
Ten passengers and crew died instantly, including Sgt. Diarmuid
Hartigan and only 80 miles from his home in Bruff.
The cargo included mail from the Japanese prisoner of war camps
and these letters were scattered all over the mountain.
The 15th Infantry BTN. At Ballymullen Barracks, Tralee together
with LDF, Garda Siochana, Red Cross and civilian personnel
assisted in the recovery of the victims and survivors.
Today, in this wild and beautiful place amidst the gorse and
heather, lie the remains of G-Gages, a poignant memorial to those
who died on July 28th 1943.
500 MINUTES OF FREE PHONE CALLS
New Phone Company offers 500 minutes - Free. Euphony
Communications Limited officially launched on 2 May 1998 in UK.
And 24th August this year in Cork. Their goal is to duplicate the
phenomenal success of Excel Communications Limited who in America
became a Billion Dollar Company three times faster than Microsoft
and in doing so created 5,000 millionaires. In the short time
that Euphony have been operating, they have experienced massive
growth, with a number of people already earning in excess of £10,000
per month, with hundreds more earning a substantial secondary
income. They offer their customers 500 minutes of off-peak local
calls per month-first 3 mins of each call - free. The same
applies to national calls. Their international rates are even
better e.g. to call the U.S. day, evening or weekend is only 11P.
The system works on the Net-Work Marketing system. Those
interested in finding out more should contact Gerard Fahy at 021
365088
MY BEST FRIENDS MOTHER
Introducing a play by Corks newest and most innovative theatre
company, "Be Your Own Banana". Formed in January this
year by playwrights Brian Desmond and Marcus Bale. 'My Best
Friend's Mother' charts the adventures of an accidental hero's
odyssey throughout Europe. Exiled from his homeland for a
farcical affair with his best friend's mother, our character's
sexual journey through France, Italy, Spain and Germany only to
return home a broken man. "Instinctively I was drawn towards
her as she gracefully swept the floor of that German disco I knew
I was cursed... to always be falling for women twice my age..."
Granary Theatre, 7th 8th & 9th Sept
BUDDY HOLLY
Was the stage name of Charles Hardin Holley Born on this day
September 7th 1936. US rock-and-roll singer, guitarist, and
songwriter. He had a distinctive, hiccuping vocal style and was
an early experimenter with recording techniques. Many of his hits
with his band, the Crickets, such as That'll Be the Day 1957,
Peggy Sue 1957, and Maybe Baby 1958, have become classics. He
died in a plane crash. 1959.
ENDOMETRIOSIS
The Endometriosis Support Group ( ESG Cork) are currently meeting
at 8pm in the Bon Secours Hospital, College Road on Wednesday 13th
September. Don't suffer in silence. All are welcome. Any
enquiries contact Kimberly Clifford at 021 4874584 (Eve. 7.30 - 9.30)
INFORMATION FOR SCHOOL LEAVERS
Question. When I start work will I have to pay "emergency
tax"?
Answer. You will, unless you quickly get a Certificate of Tax
Free Allowance (TFA) or Tax Exemption from the tax office. You
can get this from your employers Inspector of Taxes. When you
start work, or even before, find out from your employer how much
you will be paid weekly and the employer's tax number and tax
unit. Contact that tax office and explain that you are starting
work. You should also have your own RSI number. You will be asked
to complete a form 12A.
Supplied by the Citizen's Information Call Centre,
Penrose Wharf Call Centre, Penrose Quay, Cork
Free and Confidential Service: 1890 777 121
COPING WITH ANXIETY
By Declan Cronin(Apex Clinic)
I've been suffering from anxiety attacks for as long as I can
remember. I'm forty-six years of age now and I can still remember
the shaking and actually getting physically sick at the thought
of going to school when I was a young child. These symptoms have
stayed with me up to the present day. Even when I started work at
the age of seventeen I would be consumed with fear every morning
on my way to work. What I couldn't understand was that I got on
well with the people I worked with and there didn't seem to be
any reason why I should feel this way. I think that lots of
people don't know or understand how anxiety attacks can effect
your life and no one could understand why I eventually gave up
work about fifteen years ago, and why I haven't worked since.
Most of my friends and relatives haven't the faintest idea what
it's like to suffer from anxiety attacks and even though I have
described my symptoms I feel that they think that there is
nothing really the matter with me. From reading your articles I
believe that a more people have come to an understanding of what
it's like to suffer from anxiety attacks. Keep up the good work,
Abbie.
Comment: You write that you feel, that lots of people don't
understand what it is like to suffer from anxiety attacks as I
stated before, seventy per cent of the population will suffer
from anxiety attacks at some stage in their lives. Some people
might find it difficult to understand why anyone would give up
their employment because of anxiety and so I would suggest that
you surround yourself with people who are able to validate you.
If you feel that you are not getting the support you need from
your family than look outside it maybe to your friends or perhaps
a self help group. Self-help groups can be a great form of
support. If you decide to go for therapy then you should go to a
therapist who has been recommended by someone you trust and know,
and who has reputation for successfully treating similar problems.
More next week.
