16th August, 2001
Notice
Board
DOUGLAS
TIDY TOWNS
Dear Michael.
I am delighted that everyone was happy on how Douglas looked on
RTE on Wednesday last. This has been made possible through the
hard work of many people, firstly those who turn up for the
Street Sweep on Wednesday and Saturday and also members of the
committee .I would like to say a special thanks to those who have
from the start promoted Douglas Tidy Towns and encouraged people
to do their part in keeping Douglas clean and tidy. Also to
Douglas Weekly and Fr Christy in keeping people informed of our
activities.
I wish to remind your readers that the best shop front shop for
August will be their selection, which must be sent to the
Secretary Douglas Tidy Towns Committee, C/o Douglas Community
Association Church Road Douglas, Cork,
I would like to ask people to support our Flag Day on Tuesday
next (21st August).
Is mise le meas
Sean O'Riordan, Chairman,
Douglas Tidy Towns Committee
CREASELESS
Is a relatively new 'Ironing and Dry Cleaning ' business run by
Ann and Gerry Marron concentrating mainly on the Douglas,
Ballinlough and Blackrock area.
They do a free door to door collection and delivery service.
Collecting in the evening after tea (to suit working couples) and
delivering the well ironed garments back to your own front door
the next evening around the same time.
The Marrons pride themselves in the quality of the work they do.
Gerry served his time in the dry cleaning trade and Ann knows how
important it is to have strict quality control. They both know
that the finished products have to reach their customer's door to
the highest of standards. Therefore with their qualified staff
and their top of the range equipment they run a friendly and
efficient business.
Ann will take your calls and Jerry will collect promptly at your
request.
They also do the Wilton, Bishopstown, Model Farm Road area on a
Monday and will consider any requests for a collection in your
area.
For more information and friendly service Phone Jerry or Anne on
086 8719546 / 087 9714459 and they will be happy to take your
call.
Nora
Herlihy - Patron Saint of the Credit Union?
Part 1 by George Thompson
When we look at the effect of the ‘Celtic Tiger’, it is
the national economy in general and the advantages we see. But,
when it comes to localised, community and personal prosperity it
is the Credit Union which the majority of us need to be thankful
to.
New cars, holidays, house improvements, education, without the
Credit Union most of us couldn’t indulge or afford them.
Today the Credit Union Movement prospers in 86 countries all over
the world, over 39,000 Credit Unions with combined savings of $300
billion.
While poverty is still rife in this country, the Credit Union
Movement, its philosophies and services have done more to rid
society of mainstream poverty over the last 40 years than any
other institution in the land and it all started with the
foresight of one Nora Herlihy, a Cork woman and Dublin based
teacher who pioneered the Irish Credit Union Movement.
Credit Unions were introduced in Ireland in 1958 after an
economic depression in the early part of that decade caused high
unemployment and emigration. This together with exorbitant hire-purchase
charges, the growth of illegal money lenders with extremely high
rates of interest, made life unbearable for a great number of
people in Ireland. Then the pawnbrokers became another last
resort for the hard strapped nation.
Cork’s first Credit Union was Ballyphehane which, opened in
the basement of the Parish Church on July 1st 1960 and had thirty
eight members. The Ballyphehane group went on set up study groups
during 1961 and 1962 in Farranree, Dunlaoi, Blackpool, St.
Michaels, Gurranabraher and Coras Iompar Eireann, while
officially opening their own offices in Ballyphehane on the 4th
of July 1966.
Over the next couple of weeks we will be bringing you more on how
the Credit Union Movement began in Ireland right up to todays
modern institution.
Digsy’s
Fabulacious, Fantastical,
Phantasmagorical Premiership Preview!!
He’s back! He’s angry! He still hates Man United and
bleeds Liverpool, so don’t expect any pretence at fairness
or impartiality! He’s the all-round expert all the other
experts call The King! Here is your host…Digsy!!!
I wanted to start this Premiership preview on a high note, folks.
I wanted to be able to stand up here on this page, wherever it is
(it’s the front page, right, Michael? You promised), and
declare: “The Evil Empire shall reign no more! The glorious
Age of the Scousers is upon us! All kneel in worship as Liverpool
reclaim the league title and Man United finish a miserable
seventh or eighth”.
I wanted to say this but couldn’t, and here’s why: Up
until the middle of July, next season’s Premiership was
still some sort of a fair competition. You Know Who were still
everyone’s favourites to win a record fourth consecutive
championship, but Liverpool, Arsenal, Leeds and maybe one or two
others harboured faint hopes of stealing the title. Around the
middle of July, though, Alex Ferguson went out and spent almost
£50 million on three players who’ve almost certainly
guaranteed yet another league title will be winging its way
towards Gold Trafford.
Hell, thy name is Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Juan Sebastian Veron and
Roy Carroll.
Oh, sorry - that should read, “Hell, thy three names are…”
and repeat step one. The aforementioned gruesome threesome
delivered a swift blow to the tender regions of anyone foolish,
obstinate or insane enough to still believe anything other than a
Man U triumph is possible this season. And why is this, apart
from Fergie’s 50 squillion insurance policy in his last
season? Simple - it’s coz “Sir” Alex sold his soul
to Satan in 1989. As exhaustively researched by yours truly and a
small cabal of dedicated, albeit slightly disturbed, freedom-fighters,
Ferguson couldn’t win a game of poker against a blind baboon
with no hands - who had been bribed to lose by the Chicago mob -
up until the end of the eighties. His expensively-assembled
collection of misfits, miscreants and mistakes even flirted with
relegation a few times.
Since 1990, though, the dude can’t put a Nike-tracksuited
foot wrong. Every purchase has been a roaring success (with Jordi
Cruyff and Massimo Taibi the exceptions that prove the rule),
practically every trophy has been relentlessly annexed, every
refereeing decision and jammy break of the ball has gone their
way, and every ABU has been driven into a state of near apoplexy.
And you’re telling me that the Horned One isn’t
involved here somewhere?
So it’s obvious that some sort of bizarre, terrifying pact
was struck some time around the end of 1989, possibly involving
chicken blood, the golden tresses of a young virgin and demonic
incantations being spoken backwards. Hey, sounds like my regular
Saturday night hoe-down to be honest, but the point is that, with
Old Nick in their corner, the Red Menace are unbeatable,
unbackable and un-freakin’-believable.
Which leaves us with the other sorry patsies scrapping around for
a few tiny morsels, like one of the Cups or maybe qualification
for Europe. Liverpool amazed everyone - their own fans in
particular - with last season’s treble-tastic cup runs, and
while it was a blast at the time - the FA Cup final kicked ass -
we shouldn’t get too carried away here. United still had the
league wrapped up and put away for storage by about the second
week in January, and that competition is the true test of a team.
Houllier has assembled a reasonably strong squad, but you have to
wonder about his, and the club’s, ambition when their sole
summer manoeuvre is to buy yet another Scandinavian at the same
time as United are handing over the GDP of Nigeria for two of the
world’s top stars.
Though having said that, Arsenal spent summat like 30 million
squids on new players over the closed season, and I have to say I’m
unconvinced by any of them. A former Everton player? A former
Rangers player? An unknown Japanese midfielder? Not exactly gonna
have Dark Lord Ferguson quaking in his boots (no doubt crafted
from the skin of human sacrifices).
As for Chelsea and Leeds and them, I’ll limit myself to
pointing out that Chelsea have done exactly the same as they do
every year - spend vast amounts of cash on temperamental
foreigners who aren’t good enough to play for an Italian
club - which will have the exact same result as it does every
year - a few shock wins in Europe, a mediocre fifth place finish
and no silverware. And as for Leeds: if David O’Leary can
get through an entire season without using the phrases “My
babies”, “As I say”, “We’re a young side”
and “People wrote us off but we showed them today”,
then I’ll personally consider it to have been a successful
one. He mightn’t, though.
As for the wrong end of the table, I don’t know and don’t
care who’s in line for the chop, so long as Middlesborough -
who have been hanging around annoying everyone for far too long -
finally suffer the relegation they so richly deserve.
So there you have it, my faithful children: Digsy has spoken and
it wast exceedingly good. Now go forth and spread the good word,
and all you ABUs remember: your team may not win anything, but at
least your soul will go to heaven when you die.
Amen, brothers and sisters. Amen.
MOTORING MOMENTS
Tazio Nuvolari was said to have an inborn
addiction to speed and carelessness of consequences. Five years
after his birth in Casteldario, Moultoa in 1892. Tazio used to
sneak into the pasture grab a horses tail and goad it into
running around the field while he bounced along behind hitting
the ground every ten feet or so. He picked up his first bone
fracture on record in this way, when a horse kicked him in the
shin.
Dan Dempsey's 24 hour rescue & Recovery, Kinsale 086-8217777
THE HISTORY OF DOUGLAS by Con Foley
Part 52 - "Head or Harp" (Lionel
Fleming 1965)
"Tramore, the old house of the Reeveses is easily reached by
the bus which goes down from Cork towards the suburb of Douglas,
and it is also easily identifiable. First, because it is
surrounded by a crowd of little villas in the side road labelled
'Tramore Park' & in the second place because the house itself
is now decorated by a large statue of the Sacred Heart or
something, put up over the front door when it was turned into a
girls' school. But there are no peacocks now on what remains of
the lawn, nor the supposedly tame cockatoo which bit my mother's
finger to the bone when she was a little girl.
"Granny Reeves of Heathfield (outside Youghal) had not
inherited Tramore. It had gone to Cousin Tom, together with the
most of the Reeves property, and Cousin Tom had disposed of it in
somewhat peculiar circumstances. He was now living down by the
quays in the centre of the city, in a street famous even in Cork
for the number of its public houses.
This gentleman with his long red beard and nervous manner was as
mad as a coot. He had decorated the bare walls of the house with
letters a foot high with texts reading, 'Holiness unto the Lord'
and 'In the midst of Life we are in Death.' Once, my brother
Neville calling on him on his way back from boarding school, had
walked straight in after receiving no answer from the front-door
bell. He thought the house was empty until Cousin Tom rising from
his flat-out position on the sitting-room floor, dusted the knees
of his trousers and explained that he had been in a trance.
'The Reeves, my mother's family, had been more vigorous and
enterprising than the Flemings; also, I think, rather more
cracked. They had definitely begun as adventurers and they had
intended to continue so. The first known representatives had come
over with Sir Walter Raleigh and had secured a good slice of land
in East Cork as a result. A successor had been a member of the
Royalist garrison in Cork when Cromwell sacked Drogheda; quickly
sensing a change in the wind he had changed his allegiance and
had helped in a revolt which secured the city for the Protector.
Thereafter their fortunes varied, but always tended slightly to
rise. Concentrating on business (which must have slightly
endangered his social position in those days), one of them set up
money to start a brewery, but sold out after he had lost £11,000
on it - a pity he could not have held out a little longer, for in
the hands of Messrs. Beamish and Crawford, it became the second
largest brewery in lreland. But then, the loss was made up by
successful adventures in the wine trade, or in the astute
purchase of waste land around Cork, which was afterwards to be
covered by shops or suburbs.
More next week
MOTORING by George Thompson
MIGHTY MAZDA
This weeks showpiece comes from the showrooms of
Tuners Cross Motor’s Mazda Centre in the shape of the Mazda
323F.
A long time ago way back when, I once owned a Mazda 323 and while
it didn’t epitomise luxury it was none the less one of the
most reliable cars I have owned. As the old cliché goes, “they
don’t make ‘em like they used to”, but thankfully
in the car game this is not the case.....and so Mazda and their
reliable reputation have gone from strength to strength.
The 2001 Mazda 323F is a case in point and a car that is equally
at home in either the family, company or sports car class as I
found out when I took the 1.6 Sport version for a test. This car
oozes appeal with its exterior good looks camouflaging the colour
coded side protector mouldings. The interior of the 323F is most
impressive with dark upholstery and dash complimented by some
silver panelling on the centre panel and console while the
leather trimmed steering wheel and gear knob add a touch of
exclusivity. This car was designed with space in mind with plenty
of room for five people and when not full to capacity the
interior can be utilised by folding the seats providing lots of
carriage space. All round good visibility in the cabin impressed
me as did the gauges and digital information readouts.
Performance wise the 323 is very, very responsive to the pedal
even while coasting in 4th gear, will pick up again amazingly
quick without having to drop a gear. Suspension is well balanced
and whether on a dual carriageway or bumpy road the ride is
smooth and stable. Cornering is superb and confident as the Mazda
drives and steers like its on tracks helped the superb ABS system.
The Mazda 323 comes in three versions, ‘Comfort’,
‘Exclusive’ and ‘Sport’ with prices ranging
from £14,105 to £18,315. Engine sizes vary from 1.3 litre, 1.6
litre and 2.0 litre plus a 2.0 litre Direct Injection Turbo
Diesel.
Features vary from model to model and include Air Conditioning,
Navigation System, Traction Control, ABS, Dual & Side Air
bags.
Overall I found the Mazda 323F to be a very practical, a sports
hatch / estate car with plenty of horses offering a lot of
economy.
Ratings.........Based on the 1.6i Model
Styling ****
Performance ****
Ride & Handling ****
Accommodation ****
Costs ****
Verdict ****
Standard features include......
Central Locking
Twin Air Bags
Elec. Windows
Radio / CD
ABS
While fuel prices were meant to drop over the Bank Holiday weekend I was shocked to see the difference in prices at various outlets around the county. I saw diesel at 51.9p a litre in a Station in Youghal while it was 63.9p in a Station in Bandon. This works out at roughly a difference of 60 pence per gallon or roughly £3.60 for every £20 worth of fuel. I think its about time the government stepped in to regulate fuel prices and stop the already ripped off motorist from being ripped off even further.
Music
Review by Aoife Barry
The Optimist LP' - Turin Brakes
Aaaaaaahhh Turin Brakes Weird name, very good
album indeed! OIly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, best buds and
musical duo extraordinaire, have created an absolute gem of an
album with their debut' The Optimist LY. They help us to
transcend all space and time and transport us to a world of
gently strumming guitars where everything's just a little bit
quieter than usual and where you know that in the end,
everything's going to turn out all right. The opening track,
'Feeling Oblivion' is, in a word, beautiful, with Olly's rather
unusual vocal style and soft lyrics arresting the listener and
evoking comparisons with our own Paddy Casey (see Casey's 'Sweet
Suburban Sky'). We are then propelled headlong into the drumbeat
of 'Underdog (save me)', sucked into a world of sybourgs and WD40,
promising to fall for the underdog and being awakened just in
time to be lulled into a dream-like state again during the
accusingly beautiful 'Emergency 72'.
Turin Brakes draw the inevitable comparisons with ubermensch and
much-revered Jeff Buckley and also with the similarly ill-fated
Nick Drake. While these are favourable (who can deny the musical
prowess shown in Buckley's 'Grace', or Drake's 'Pink Moon'?) they
only skim the surface of an act which inhabits it's very own
space and which is not pretending to be anything it's not. While
some bends, such as Skindive, use soaring violins, swooping
melodies and ear-splitting riffs to prove their point, Olly and
Gale have decided that the simple approach is best. 'Mind Over
Money', the current single, is a sure contender for best song on
the album, building up into a swirling, multi-layered tour de
force, but still staying safely within the 'acoustic rock' limits.
But just because Mammy and Daddy Knights never had to shout at
Olly to 'turn that electric guitar down', it doesn't mean that
'The Optimist LP' never packs a punch, because, quite simply, it
packs an uberpunch. It touches you with it's honest lyrics
'Whatever I did, yeah, I didn't mean it, I was only joking' (although
admittedly at times also quite confusing), soft vocals and
complete lack of pretentiousness. Cliche'd perhaps, but true.
An interesting aspect to Turin Brakes is the lack of instruments
used; most songs are guitar-based melodies, with the inclusion of
drums and bass on some of the songs adding a fuller, more built-up
sound. But this scarcity of instruments merely attests to the
fact that Turin Brakes do not need accompaniment to 'prove' the
depth of their songs - they can do it acoustic style and still
sound as great as any other band But, when it comes down to it,
do you really want them to be just like "any other band'?
What makes Turin Brakes so great is that they are unlike anyone
else - when OIly and Gale get together they don't just make music
- they make magic.
8/10 BUY IT!!
