15th March, 2001
Notice Board

THE VIBES OF SPRING

Oh! have you felt the sunny thrills
That help the spring explode,
Or seen the golden daffodils
Along the South-Link Road ?

And have you heard the birdies sing
Their song of joy that fills,
The heart of every living thing,
Around the Douglas Hills?

And have you seen a naked tree
Grow on a summer dress,
Or wonder at the mystery
That nature's way's possess?

Of all the virtues that we do,
How great it is to give,
And God has given beauty to
The world on which we live.

Ah! thank You for the season's Lord
The buzz, the vibes, the ways,
And thank You for the reason's Lord
By which we spend our days.

Ronnie McGinn

ST. PATRICK

Our Patron saint was born around the year 389 A.D. in Britain, probably in S. Wales , he was carried off by pirates to six years' slavery in Antrim, Ireland, before escaping either to Britain or Gaul - his poor Latin suggests the former - to train as a missionary. He is variously said to have landed again in Ireland 432 or 456, and his work was a vital factor in the spread of Christian influence there. His symbols are snakes and shamrocks; feast day 17 March.
Patrick is credited with founding the diocese of Armagh, of which he was bishop, though this was probably the work of a `lost apostle' (Palladius or Secundinus). He died in 461. Of his writings only his Confessio and an Epistola survive.

JERRY LEWIS

Born on the 15th March 1926 Jerry Lewis is stage name of Joseph Levitch, US comic actor and director. He worked in partnership with Dean Martin 1946-56; their film debut was in My Friend Irma 1949. He was revered as a solo performer by French critics (`Le Roi du Crazy'), but films that he directed such as The Nutty Professor 1963 were less well received in the USA. He appeared in a straight role opposite Robert De Niro in The King of Comedy 1982.

CHANGES IN THE TAX YEAR ARE CAUSING CONCERN FOR MANY PAYE WORKERS

“We are receiving up to 40 calls a day from people living throughout Cork City and County who have received notification of their tax relief for the 2001 tax year” said Judy Bamford of the Citizens Information Call Centre. “Many of these callers are alarmed because it appears that the level of their tax relief has been reduced compared to last year and they are worried that they will therefore be paying more income tax this year.” For most people this is not the case. The confusion has come about because the income tax year, which for centuries has run from April 5 to April 6, is now being aligned with the calendar year, in other words, from January 2002 the new tax year will start on January 1 and end on December 31.
As a consequence this tax year will be a once off nine month tax period. The figure that people will see on their tax notification is the relief which they are given to cover just nine months earnings instead of the usual twelve months.
In addition to this, just to make it even more puzzling for us all, the new tax credit system has been introduced, which does away with the old tax free allowance and tax table s system. This is really only a change in the way the PATE is administered and as such is more of a concern to employers. But it certainly seems to be doing nothing to help the rest of us figure out just how much tax we will have to pay this year!
If you would like any help in working out your tax liability, or information on any of your rights and entitlements contact the Citizens Information Call Centre on lo-call 1890777121 9:30am to 6:30pm Monday to Friday. The service is free and confidential

ARISTOTLE SOCRATES ONASSIS

The famous Greek shipowner and business executive, became one of the world's wealthiest individuals. In 1968, he married Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
Onassis was born in 1906 in Smyrna (now Izmir), Turkey, the son of a well-to-do tobacco importer. He immigrated to Argentina in 1923 after his father lost his fortune. In Buenos Aires, he became a telephone switchboard operator and later a tobacco importer. He entered the shipping business during the 1930's. Ships acquired by Onassis included freighters and giant oil tankers. Onassis also owned Olympic Airways, the only Greek airline, from the mid-1950's until the government took it over in the mid-1970's. He died on 15th March 1975.

WHAT IS THE ESSENCE OF GOOD YOGA?

(This article appeared last week, but because of a typographical era we are reprinting it)

A good teacher is someone who has the ability to take a difficult concept or theory and present it in a way that is simple to grasp and apply in practice. Similarly this is so with yoga. Everyone does yoga, every moment of every day but for the most part with a lack of consciousness. With what consciousness I apply to any activity is what makes it yoga or not.
Through one can begin to discover an internal dimension that is one's life. Yoga is about contacting and awakening inside each one of us. In this way our self- healing capacity is stimulated and the positive effects of yoga arrive (relaxation, reduced stress, greater energy, etc). When we create positive experiences in a conscious way the feeling is etched in the memory of our cells. It is in this simple way the joy of one's life grows.
Yoga in essence is an internal study in the direction towards wholeness. This is achieved in feeling more deeply our internal part, which we contact through awareness of our breath. It is the breath that connects our two realities, the external and the internal. Our breathing, when it is long and deep gives us a feeling peace and harmony. On the other hand when our breath is short and shallow, the muscles become tight, hence the feeling of stress. Becoming conscious of breathing and how it is influenced by situations is a first step in changing internally.
A yoga class therefore is simply a moment to feel more deeply this contact with one's internal part and how movement influences breath. Slowly awareness grows and how one can influence breathing in daily life, in order to keep it long and deep, as it is this type of breathing that stimulates healthiness.
Eugene O'Riordan is responsible for the study and practice of Okido Yoga in Cork. He offers classes in his centre at 39 Princess St. and beginning on Thursday March 22, @ 10.30 /12.00 is offering a 6-week course on yoga and health. For information contact him at 4646205.

THE HISTORY OF DOUGLAS

by Con Foley

Part 33 - ST. LUKE'S, DOUGLAS Continued from last week)
The Rev. Horace Townsend, who died on December 19,1837, at the early age of thirty four, was evidently held in such high regard by his parishioners, as to be remembered on stone and in verse. They erected a monument over his grave in Douglas churchyard and erected a beautiful pulpit of Caen stone in St. Luke's Church to his memory. Here is the last verse of a poem written in his honour.

"While talent tempted his own fame to sound,
He chose his Saviour's praise as far more sweet,
Tho' genius' wreath was for his temples bound,
He laid that crown at his Redeemer's feet."

Buried in Douglas also was Dr. Richard Caulfield, well-known scholar, historian and librarian of Queen's College, now University College, Cork. Smith, in his History of Cork and County relates: "Before Dr. Caulfield's death, he expressed a wish to be buried at Douglas, near his friend Rev. Canon Hayman, who died in the winter of 188~7, and it devolved on me to see that wish carried out and to secure the only vacant spot where two paths meet, between the graves of Hayman and Milliken, and here he was laid on Monday morning, the 7th of February,1887."
Besides being a wealthy man, Canon Hayman was also very charitable.
At Christmas and Easter with his gardener, Mr. Callinan, he distributed coal to every house in the parish regardless of creed. Large families got four bags, smaller families two.

Next Week St Patrick's Woollen Mills

ON THE ROUNDABOUT

"The Minister for Health must give urgent attention to the gap in services for infertility treatment in the Cork region" said Fine Gael frontbencher Deirdre Clune T.D, she also said that the Minister's response to the blood bank dispute is totally inadaquate and misses the point ……….Progressive Democrats national chairman Councillor John Minihan has called on the GAA, IRFU,and the FAI to postpone all fixtures involving teams from border counties….. he also calls on the Government to include the Carers Association in the next Social Partnership talks….10 more dead on Irish roads at weekend Government inaction is a disgrace. says Simon Coveney TD……Four students from UCC Dramat recently won all three prizes at the Acthéa Festival of European Student Drama in Albi, France. The four students, Tom Creed (director), Hannah McCarthy (actor), Paul Mulcahy (actor) and Lynda Radley (producer) won the prizes for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Production after performing A Play on Two Chairs to an enraptured audience. They beat off strong competition from student groups from Poland, Belgium, France, Spain and Egypt….. Councillor John Minihan has called for the appointment of a senior government minister of food…….UCC Dramat present The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde at the Granary Theatre from Tues. 20th to Sat. 24th March……Carrigaline I.C.A. are having an Art Day with Ann Carlton on 12th April….Progressive Democrats Senator Máirin Quill says RTE should be restructured before any licence increase is considered.

REMEMBER THE HOME OF THE BIRDMAN

That famous federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. The name Alcatraz comes from a Spanish word meaning pelican. The island stands on 12 acres (5 hectares) of solid rock, and Alcatraz was often called The Rock. More than 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) of water separates it from the mainland.
Alcatraz Island became the site of the first permanent military fort on the West Coast in 1854. A military prison was added in 1861. In 1909, the wooden prison was replaced by a more modern concrete cellblock. Alcatraz became a federal prison in 1934, built to confine some of the most dangerous criminals in the United States. In 1963, the federal government decided Alcatraz was too expensive to maintain and supply, and closed it. In 1972, Alcatraz became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Today it is a tourist attraction and visitors may tour the prison and see it for themselves.

BEWARE OF THE IDES OF MARCH

For those of us unfamiliar with Shakespeare Julius Caesar (100-44BC) we'll take a short look at this Roman statesman and general.
A patrician, Julius Gaius Caesar allied himself with the popular party, and when elected to the office of Aedile 65 BC, nearly ruined himself with lavish amusements for the Roman populace. Although a free thinker, he was elected chief pontiff 63 BC and appointed governor of Spain in 61BC. Returning to Rome 60 BC, it was then he formed with Pompeii and Crassus the First Triumvirate. As governor of Gaul, he was engaged in its subjugation 58-50 BC, defeating the Germans under Ariovistus and selling thousands of the Belgic tribes into slavery. In 55 BC he crossed into Britain, returning for a further campaigning visit 54. A revolt by the Gauls under Vercingetorix 52 was crushed 51. His governorship of Gaul ended 49, and after the death of Crassus, Pompeii became his rival. Declaring `the die is cast', Caesar crossed the Rubicon (the small river separating Gaul from Italy) to meet the army raised against him by Pompeii. In the ensuing civil war, he followed Pompeii to Greece 48, defeated him at Pharsalus, and followed him to Egypt, where Pompeii was murdered. Caesar stayed some months in Egypt, where Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, gave birth to his son, Caesarion. Caesar executed a lightning campaign 47 against King Pharnaces II (ruled 63-47 BC) in Asia Minor, which he summarised: "Veni vidi vici " - 'I came, I saw, I conquered'. He was awarded a ten-year dictatorship 46 BC, and with his final victory over the sons of Pompeii at Munda in Spain 45, he was awarded the dictatorship for life 44. On the 15th (The Ides) of March 44 BC, he was stabbed to death by conspirators (led by Brutus and Cassius) at the foot of Pompeii's statue in the Senate house. His commentaries on the campaigns and the civil war survive.

MOTORING MOMENTS

Fangio - " At the Italian Grand Prix in 1953 my Maserati had a terrible vibration although practice and it could not be cured. In every team I drove for, I always made sure to have the mechanics on my side. Very important. Whenever I win I tell them - 'You get 10%'. The night before the race I again complained of the vibration - and on Sunday it was miraculously cured. I pretend not to know how they did it but I know that Felicia Benettes' teeth fell out during the race while I won".
Dan Dempsey's 24 hour Rescue & Recovery, Kinsale. 086-8217777

BRENDAN BEHAN

It is a good time to remember this flamboyant Irish author, especially now that the film Borstal Boy is about to do the rounds. By the 1950's, Brendan had established himself both as an author and as a well-known Dublin character. His colourful personality as well as his deep commitment to the ideals of a free Ireland helped make him one of the best-known Irish writers to emerge after the end of World War II in 1945.
Behan was born in Dublin in 1923. Like his father, he was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA); an organisation dedicated to expelling the British government from Northern Ireland. British authorities arrested Behan several times for his IRA activities. From the age of 16 to 22, he spent all but six months in prison. In his autobiography, Borstal Boy (1958), Behan described his experiences in an English prison for boys.
Behan is best known for two plays. The Quare Fellow (1954) concerns the feelings of the inmates and staff of a prison just before an execution. The Hostage (1958) tells about young English soldier held prisoner by the IRA. Both plays reveal Behan's profound humanitarian feelings. Brendan Behan was also an accomplished songwriter; he died on 20th March in 1964.

State-of-the-art
Créche for Coláiste
Stiofáin Naofa

A new College Créche at Coláiste Stiofain Naofa, College of Further Education, was officially opened on Monday, 12th March by Minister for Health and Children, Micheal Martin. This purpose-built facility will provide a much needed free service for children of the 750 students attending the college.
The Créche is part of an overall building programme within the college involving extensive refurbishment and addition of new buildings and resources to meet the needs of Further Education. This modern building provides for a new baby room, sleep room, toddler room, pre-school room, social area, kitchen, dining area, kiddies toilets, changing room, staff room, office and reception.
While a créche has been operating in the college since 1996, the opening of this modern fully-equipped premises extends on to a specially designed outdoor play area where children can play safely and enjoy the slides, rope-walks and toys. According to Créche Supervisor, Valerie O'Callaghan, the service, catering for up to 30 children, aims to provide a suitable, safe and caring environment where children can be encouraged to grow and develop with an emphasis on fun and learning through play. Activities include Arts & Crafts, Music & Movement, Dress up / Role-Play, Organised Physical Activities, Intermittent Free Play, Story Time and Table-Top Activities.
Training Créche
As well as providing a service with fully qualified childcare staff, this is also a training créche operated in conjunction with FÁS by means of a Community Employment Scheme. Trainees will divide their week between working in the Créche and attending class to achieve a National Vocational Certificate in Childcare, Level 2. The college is a training centre for Community Employment trainees from childcare centres in Togher family Centre Ltd. Ballyphehane/Togher CDP, St. Anne's Day Nursery and the College of Commerce. An average of twenty trainees per year have availed of this scheme over the past four years. According to Tim Kelleher, Principal of the College, '"We are committed to developing a quality service for students and maintaining high standards of excellence in training for future créche employees"

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