LOCAL NEWS
PAGE LAST UPDATED 02/07/09 19:41
Copyright 2007 Great Island Community News ©

ALL AT SEA AND LOVING EVERY MINUTE!
The sounds of fun and enjoyment can be heard on Saturday mornings at Whitepoint when the
junior members of Cove Sailing Club take to the water.
Thanks to a partnership between Cove Sailing Club, Cobh Town Council and Cork County
V.E.C., a Dinghy Park has been established at Whitepoint and ten new boats have been
purchased as well as a crash boat.
The youngsters have a wonderful time learning to sail with the support of the members of
Cove Sailing Club who are on hand to put them through their paces.
When Cove Sailing Club was looking for a base, former Councillor, Noirin Doyle actively
pursued the acquisition of space at the Five Foot Way car park and as a member of the Cork
County V.E.C. was responsible for putting forward the idea of sailing lessons for the
students of Cobh Community College and succeeded in obtaining funding for the project.
During the school year the students had the opportunity to take to the water and learn how
to sail.The total expenditure for this project is in excess of 60,000 and the Club
has purchased boats,wetsuits, buoyancy aids and provided changing rooms.The aim of the
club is to make sailing accessible to all.
Junior Sailing Summer Camps are taking place at Whitepoint under the watchful eye of
Junior Sailing Officer, John Stoat.
A wide range of courses are available from beginners to advanced for 10 to 17 year olds.
Junior membership is 50, this does not include course fees.
This is a great opportunity to get on the water and try sailing, courses will run all
summer, but places are limited, so book early.
Why not call down on Saturday morning to Whitepoint at 10am and see what sailing is
available, or contact Jude at 086 2380565 or check out the Clubs website at www.covesailingclub.ie
Mary OConnor

Pat Falvey, famous adventurer visits St. Mary's
On June 11th children at St. Mary's were enthralled by the visit of the famous adventurer
Pat Falvey. Prior to his visit, the children prepared by revising polar exploration,
tribes of the world and the highest peaks in the seven continents.
Pat and his team have a mascot, Freddy T. Bear. His presentation, explaining about
climbing and his various expeditions, used Freddy T. Bear to entertain and educate the
children. In preparation for his visit John Carey, who has a daughter Rachel in sixth
class, so generously came to St. Mary's at eight o'clock to set up base camp in our halla
which had all the climbing equipment on display.
At the end of Pat Falvey's presentation the children tasted and enjoyed the food that John
Carey had prepared, it was the food that mountain climbers eat while on an expedition.
There was porridge, spaghetti bolognaise and apple and custard!
Pat Falvey told the children about his next expedition to the North Pole to investigate
the effects of global warming. Finally Rachel Carey and her brother Patrick presented a
gift as a token of the school's appreciation to Pat.

Scoil Iósaef Naofa An Aimsir Bealtaine 2009
Alex Furmedge recorded the rainfall for May and he found that 76mm
(3.3inches) fell altogether during the month. We had 17 wet days in total.
The temperature was recorded by Ryan Dillane & Cathal OSé and they found that
it ranged from a low of 6 degrees which we had on the night of the 3rd to a high of 23
degrees centigrade which we had on the last two days of the month!
The wind was recorded by Davin Whelan & Barry Chandler and they found that the most
common wind was from the South/West (15 days) with West (7 days) in second place. The
strongest wind was a Force 7 on the Beaufort Scale which we had on four days during the
month.
We will be back next month with our end of the school year weather report. Slán go fóil.

GOSSIP SPICE, WHOS UP TO WHAT ON GREAT ISLAND
# Congrats to Mairead Geary on her recent art exhibition at the
Crawford College of Art. Not only did she have a total sell-out but she also won three
major individual awards for her work and achieved an excellent result in her Honours
Degree. From Nana, Bash, Sibh, Aine, Paud, nieces and nephews and all her fans in Cobh we
are so proud of you.
# Birthday wishes for our mother and grandmother, Mrs Mary Flanagan, who celebrated her
90th anniversary on the 22 of July. Lot of love from Belgium, Celia & Cindy.

Grand High Nelly Charity Rally
on Sat, July 18th from Cobh to Barry's Castle - where there will be a
medieval banquet and fair. High nelly bicycles and olde-time-attire clothing. Some
bicycles are available. Also volunteers needed on the day to help raise funds for the
'poor unfortunate street children of Asia, alone & miserable'. Please call Jim at 087
7938098, John at 086 4090303, sponsor cards available. God Bless ye all.

THANK YOU
John & Alice Minihane, on behalf of Marymount Hospice, would
like to thank everyone who gave so generously to our Sunflower Day collection in Cobh. A
big thank you to all who gave their time to collect, too many to mention. The total sum
raised was a big 3,679.42. Also thank you to all the shops who allowed us collect
outside.

THE FUREYS ENTERTAIN AT COBH GAA
The Fureys and Davy Arthur were in concert recently at Cobh GAA
Pavilion and gave their audience a night to remember.
The band, who are 31 years on the road, were excellent, playing all the old favourites and
had the crowd singing, clapping and tapping their feet to the familiar melodies. Niall
Kilcullen gave an amazing impromptu dancing display and impressed the group with his
skill.
Barry Hastings was also there with family and friends as he spent the night relaxing
before his wedding to Avril OBrien the following day.Nan Toher and Joan Forrest had
a wonderful time, both ladies are so glamourous and full of life, they are an inspiration
to us all.
Joan was celebrating her 84th birthday and Nan, who was about to have eye surgery, was
enjoying every minute of the concert.
Next up will be The Wolfe Tones on August 15, tickets are now on sale.

COBH GARDA DISTRICT SOCCER BLITZ
After missing out on last year due to the weather, it is nice to
announce that the blitz is back again. This year it is planned to split the age groups on
two different dates in the summer.
The plan is to run the under 8s, 10s and 12s on Thursday 2nd July and
the under 14s and 16s at a later date in the summer (date to follow).For the
under 8s, 10s and 12s, there will be no application forms, registration
of individuals or teams at 1pm at Community College Field.
Competitions to start at 2pm and run to conclusion. Age qualifications according to age
you have played in this current season.
In the hope of this weather continuing, parents please ensure your children are well
protected and have plenty of refreshments with them. Everybody welcome. The competition is
fun and it is geared for all, both players and non-players. Garda Michael Dillane

DOUG QUALIFIES AS A PARAMEDIC
Congratulations to Doug Kavanagh, 10 Victoria Estate, who recently
qualified as a Paramedic with the HSE.
Doug has put tremendous time, effort and energy into his studies and it certainly has paid
off.Although Doug came over the bridge from Dublin, he is certainly considered
one of Cobhs finest citizens.
He served in the Navy for almost 25 years, married a local girl, Marie, and has two
fabulous children, who are all very proud of his achievements. Doug is also a Great Island
First Responder and a member of Cobh Red Cross. We wish him well in his new career.

COBH TOWN COUNCIL COMMUNITY AWARDS
Colm OSullivan
In the past 12 months this golfer finished in the top 5 of all four U/15
provincial competitions winning the Connaught and Munster titles, finishing 2nd in Ulster
and 4th in Leinster. This achievement has secured his place as one of, if not the best,
golfer at his age group in the country. He also finished 2nd in the Faldo Series
competition in Ballyliffen in 2008. The pinnacle of this young players golfing career to
date was being selected to represent Ireland at under 16 level in Italy last summer. Colm
was recently invited to the Champions Weekend at the Darren Clarke Foundation.
In his acceptance speech Colm thanked Cobh Golf Club, Fota Island Golf Club and his family
for all their support and encouragement.

Princess Day
At Cobh Community Hall on Sun. July 5th from 2.30pm to 5pmClaire Cullinane, Illusive, will
sell off some beautiful girls clothing, suitable for toddlers to teens at very reasonable
prices.
Calling all princesses from toddlers to teens to participate in the Princess Parade. Come
dressed as a princess if you want to enter.
(Proceeds towards St. Marys roofing project.)

COBH BRIDGE CLUB SUPPORTS LOCAL CHARITY
Cobh Bridge Club would like to thank all those who sponsored and
contributed to their recent charity bridge night.The club, which will celebrate 70 years
of bridge next year, hold their event every year for a local charity. This year the Cobh
Branch of St. Vincent de Paul was the major recipient of the proceeds, the amount raised
was 1,300.
The cheque was handed over by President Mrs. Lana Murphy to Mrs. Christine Hegarty on
behalf of St. Vincent de Paul, also in attendance were Mr. Robert Kennedy, Hon. Treasurer
and Angela Heffron Hon. Secretary.

THANK YOU FROM CLAIR & JOSLYN
The Clair Butler Fighting Blindness fundraising committee would like
to thank all who contributed to and supported the Ballymores Got Talent
concert held in the High Chapperal on Saturday 13 June last.
This money was raised to support Clair and Joslyns 700km cycling challenge taking
place in Australia next October. The amount raised on the night was an amazing
895.We would like to thank especially the organiser Mary Halligan and all the
children who took part.
We would also like to thank Seán Kennedy for the stage and John OHanlon from
Phoenix Sound for their important role on the night. We would like to thank Rita Devlin
for hosting the night, Kate Damery for the printing of the posters and James Cahill for
providing the venue.
A special thanks also to all who contributed spot prizes for the draw, with special thanks
to Sheila White who provided a beautiful painting to be auctioned on the night. A great
job done by all!

SUMMER SWING SIZZLE!
The Summer Swing series of free concerts & entertainment
continued last Sunday with the arrival of the Crown Princess.
This magnificent liner cruised into the port at 8am carrying over 4,500 passengers and
crew - this was the maiden voyage of the Crown Princess to Cobh and was a sight not to be
missed.
As part of the days festivities local group Suede Halo kicked off the
afternoons music entertainment at 1pm and were followed by the ever popular Roaring
40s. The very talented Welsh Tenor, Ryan Morgan, completed the music entertainment,
and if this was not enough there was also something for the children including a bouncy
castle, face painter, balloon clown, while the local Farmers Market and arts and crafts
stalls were open throughout the day.
To date the Cobh & Harbour Chamber has spent 3,000 on the entertainment, signage
and advertising since 24th May which leaves very little in the kitty for the remaining
summer months. A number of fundraising events including grocery packing, bucket collecting
and selling tickets for a special prize draw have all been taking place in addition to
asking for contributions from the business community.
However to continue to host the free concerts and entertainment it is vital that support
is given to the fundraising efforts of the organising group. We would like to thank the
businesses who have donated and we would ask you in turn to support these businesses with
your custom.
Each company who contributes receives a "Thank you for your support" flyer, so
bear this in mind when you are buying in the town.
Up coming entertainment: Sunday 5th July at 2.30pm Driftwood will rock the
Prom.
For a full list please remember to check the Chamber website www.cobhharbourchamber.ie
