2nd March, 2000
Well folks what a weekend it was, Home Design
2000 came to Douglas like a hurricane, thousands of people from
all over the country visited the biggest home design exhibition
ever. As most of you know we had a stand at the show and I would
like to thank the many people who called to our stand to tell us
how much they enjoyed the Douglas Weekly. The organiser of the
show is Peter Crowley who I can only describe as a human dynamo,
a man who with his crew made sure everything went to perfection.
I saw many of the same exhibitors who were there last year return
again this year, which is testimony to Peter's professionalism.
Finally, what more can I say about the efficiency of all the
staff at the Rochestown Park Hotel, except ladies and gentleman,
boys and girls of the R.P.H. take a bow.
Speaking of the Rochestown Park Hotel. The Douglas Weekly will be
sponsoring the Douglas Rose Selection again this year. It takes
place on the 5th May (Friday Night) which is also the night of
the annual "People In Need" charity night (see page
10).
We hope to have the application forms ready in the near future so
keep reading the Weekly for further details.
This week and for the following two weeks we will be publishing
details of the integrated road traffic plan for Douglas. This
week we publish the recommendations for Douglas village, east and
west. In a few weeks time the County Council will have
information caravans at the two shopping centres, and should you
have any queries there will be experts there to let you know in
detail exactly what the traffic proposals are. Again we'll let
you know the details as the information days approach. As I
mentioned last week these traffic plans are only recommendations
and will have to be examined and discussed by everybody concerned
about the future infrastructure of Douglas.
This Sunday there's an antique fair at Carrigaline Court hotel.
Some of the top antique dealers in the country will be there. And
what better way to spend a Sunday than going back in time,
courtesy of the Carrigaline Antiques Fair. Hope to see you there.
Well this week is our second birthday, and the beginning of our
third. The first copy of the Douglas Weekly hit the streets on
Feb 25th 1988. It was only eight pages in content. Now it has
doubled and sometimes exceeds that. A lot has happened since that
first Thursday in Feb 1988.
I know we have avid readers of the Weekly in Douglas,
Ballinlough, Blackrock, Passage West, Monkstown, Turners Cross,
Ballyphehane, Carrigaline, Crosshaven, our exiles and friends all
over the world have access to the Weekly thanks to the Internet,
and having the Douglas Weekly on our own website. I never
listened to the market experts who told me to concentrate on the
18 to 30 age group. I wanted to publish a weekly that the whole
family would read. Now when I walk or drive through the village
and see youngsters reading about their feats on the sports field
of Douglas, the teenagers spotting their friends in photos at a
21st birthday party, mothers and fathers seeing their children's
articles and photos in the Weekly, and the older people who love
the old photos of the way things were, and their classmates and
friends of long ago in the Weekly.
I wish to pay tribute and thanks to Kieran Healy, Bernard Parkes,
George Delea and all the lads who do such a good job maintaining
the Douglas area. Anytime a reader or resident has contacted us
about a problem in their area, one telephone call to the Council
office was usually enough to activate a response. The beautiful
Christmas tree was proof of that. The Douglas Gardai are the best
that we could hope for, and are always helpful in a true
community sense.
To the people who send us in the sports results every week, a big
thank you. Every week win, lose or draw they E-Mail, fax or hand
in the results and fixtures for the coming week. Keep up the good
work. To the people who supply me with photographs, especially
old ones of Douglas and it's people of long ago a special thanks
to them. See you in April Frank for the big night.
And finally the biggest thanks to our advertisers without whom
there would not be a Douglas Weekly. You have been consistent in
your support and now after two years the advertising agencies are
recognising the fact that Douglas Weekly is here to stay, and is
going from strength to strength. Thanks to our thousands of
readers at the end of the day its also thanks to you the readers,
who continue to tell us that your week is not complete without
your copy of the Douglas Weekly (And Beyond)
I'll drink a pint to all of you on Friday night. God Bless you
all. See You Soon.
Bye for now,
Michael O'Hanlon.
