County Kildare News

Kildare is to benefit from an investment of over €46 million under the Social Housing Investment Programme for 2009 according to local Fianna Fail TD, Seán Ó Feargháil.

“My colleague, the Minister for Housing and Local Services has informed me that over €46 million will be allocated for social and other housing in Kildare. The funds will be given to Kildare County Council, Athy Town Council and Naas Town Council.”

“Kildare County Council will receive €25 million, Athy Town Council will get €2 million and Naas Town Council will receive €7 million under the Social Housing Investment Programme. Under the Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme the three Councils will receive a total of €8.45 million; €1.35 million under the Capital Assistance Scheme; €500,000 for Traveller Accommodation and €1.945 million for Rental Accommodation Scheme.”

“Under the Improvement Works Allocations for improvements to social homes €2.15 million has been allocated to Kildare County Council for Central Heating. A total of €285,000 will be divided between the three Kildare Councils for retrofitting and energy measures with Kildare County Council receiving €225,000, Athy Town Council getting €40,000 and Naas Town Council receiving €20,000. Athy Town Council will also receive €1.2 million for remedial works.”

“I am pleased that even in these difficult economic times that the Government is prioritising those who need the most help. It is vital that we continue to invest in social housing in a bid to meet the increasing need and that those homes that are owned by the Councils are well maintained. I am delighted to see that funding has been given for retrofitting and energy measures that are not only important for the environment but will also help those on low incomes with their heating and energy bills,” concluded Deputy Ó Feargháil.

Following the success of last year’s event, HSE Health Promotion Service Kildare/West Wicklow in partnership with Kildare County Council Arts Service will again host 'Creative Connections' a celebration of artistic work by older people from Kildare and West Wicklow on Thursday 7 May 2009 in Kerdiffstown House, Naas.

Creative Connections will be launched by the Mayor of County Kildare, Councillor Senan Griffin and will showcase and celebrate the creativity of older people attending groups and day care centres and residing in long stay facilities. This event is being held to mark Bealtaine, the national month-long festival celebrating creativity in older age. It takes place each may and involves thousands of participants in every art form. Bealtaine is coordinated by Age & Opportunity – the national organisation working to promote greater participation by older people in society. 

For further information about Creative Connections contact:

Caroline Peppard
Senior Health Promotion Officer Older People/Physical Activity
HSE Health Promotion Service Dublin Mid-Leinster
Tel: 01 4632800 or email: caroline.peppard@hse.ie   

A programme of three seminars to help assess your current situation, Identify opportunities and draw your roadmap to better times ahead.  The seminars will be presented by professionals in their relevant fields, but the most important participant is you!

First Seminar  - Monday 27th April
Assessing your Current Situation

• Your New Situation
  Eithne Byrne – South Kildare Citizens Information Service
• Managing your Money
  Paddy Lavery – Money Advice and Budgeting Service
• Protecting your Assets
  Grainne White – Coghlan White O’Toole Solicitors

Second Seminar – Tuesday 5th May
Exploring Opportunities

• Start your own business
  Donal Dalton – County Enterprise Board
• Back To work/Training
  Joan Pigott – DSFA
• Making your Business Work
  Orla O’Carroll – O’Carroll & associates

Third Seminar – Monday 11th May
 Your Business Options

– Details to Follow

Provisional Venue:  Kildare Volunteer Centre
Corner Edward Street/ Cutlery Road
Time: 7.30 p.m.

Contact details: 086 0310341

Mondello Park would like to offer all of its Motorcycle Track Day customers a rare opportunity to take part in a Sunday Track Day. A new date has been added to the calendar, Sunday May 3rd, which will be open to all bikes.

For this un-scheduled event, prices will be reduced to:- Half Day Morning €80, Half Day Afternoon €95 and Full Day €150. Normal track day rules will apply along with the usual group sizes.

Bookings are now being taken, contact Jenny on +353-45-860200 or email jfarrell@mondellopark.ie.

Blood Donor Clinics available on the 6th and 7th May at the Glenroyal Hotel in Maynooth.

The 7th May clinic will also be accepting recruits for the Bone Marrow registry.

Donor Infoline: 1850 731 137

A warm, engaging, fun & professional 8 week class for women only! Teaching:

• Full Body Shape Analysis, fully personalised for you!
• Discover your ‘WOW’ Colours including personalised 42 piece colour wallet
• Professional Bra Fitting & magic underwear!
• Learn how get a Salon Blow Dry at Home & style your hair!
• Practical Make-up Application
•  Learn how to put your clothes together/ Lots of Ideas/ Trends & Accessorizing
• Discover your ‘Style Personality’
• Declutter your wardrobe & make much of the clothes you have
• Develop your Self-Confidence, Image & Style!

Walk away with your own personalised ‘Style Fish Fashion Rules’ folder & Style Fish ‘Membership Card’ which entitles each Stylish Fish to offers/ Discounts & extras for one whole year!

Course takes place at the Osprey Hotel, Naas, from Tues May 5th to Tues June 30th - 7.30 - 9.30pm.

Contact Julie Cobbe: 087 4130336 or julie@stylefish.ie

www.stylefish.ie

Kildare volunteers make a real difference in An Taisce’s National Spring Clean Campaign

Friday April 17th 2009: The National Spring Clean campaign is now in its third week and the people of Kildare have been out in force organising a variety of fantastic clean up events in the county. There are another two weeks left of the campaign however and it’s not too late for you to get involved! To register for your free clean up kit contact An Taisce on 01-4002220 or www.nationalspringclean.org.

The following events are planned for Kildare in the next week:

21-23.04.09- The Ardclough "big Clean up" will take place Monday 27th together with St Anne's School Ardclough as part on An Taisce’s National Spring Clean campaign. In order that the big clean up may be as efficient as possible The Community Council will have some preparatory work evenings on Tuesday 21st, Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd of April. Any adult with an hour to give is invited to come along, to the TRIANGLE outside the church at 7.00pm on any of those 3 evenings. Wear suitable clothing, gloves and foot ware. Bring some work appliance, e.g. shears, secateurs, strimmer, hedge clippers, rake or yard brush. All support will be greatly appreciated to clean up and get the place looking good again after the winter

25.04.09-Joan Nolan, Secretary of the Riverside Park Residents Association, Newbridge, along with 20 other members will be taking part in this year’s National Spring Clean campaign, with the tidy up of their area organized for the 25th of April. They will be carrying out an estate clean up, weeding, road sweeping, and river bank litter collection by volunteer resident

25.04.09- In conjunction with National Spring Clean, Liffey Hall, Newbridge, holds an annual Spring Clean up day in late April to pick up all litter around the estate, remove weeds and sweep kerbs and generally tidy the communal living areas. This year’s event will take place on the 25th of April.

29.04.09- St. Conleth's Infant School (junior infants - first class), Newbridge, are planning to participate in the National Spring Clean on Wednesday the 29th of April at 1pm. They will be working together with St. Conleth and Mary’s (senior school 2nd - 6th class). They will be cleaning up their schools and the local areas surrounding.

The National Spring Clean campaign is organised by An Taisce and funded by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and local government. The initiative is sponsored by Coca-Cola Bottlers Ireland and the Wrigley Company. It is also supported by Repak who supply colour coded refuse sacks for recycling the materials collected and Killeen who sponsor the general waste sacks.  The campaign is backed by all Local Authorities who co-ordinate activity in their communities.

All those registering for the National Spring Clean campaign are issued with a FREE clean up kit which contains information, posters, colour coded refuse sacks for segregation of waste materials, protective gloves and tabards to keep participants clean.  An Taisce will also liaise with local authorities to ensure that all materials collected will be picked up without charge. 

To register for National Spring Clean call 01 400 2220 or log on to the website at www.nationalspringclean.org.

Castlefarm organic farmers Jenny and Peter Young are holding a one-day
course on setting up allotments. The course will equip private landowners and
community groups with all the information and tools to enable them to set up their own
allotments.

On Saturday 9th of May from 11am-2pm the couple will guide people through
the process of setting up allotments. This will include information about what
prospective allotment holders want, the costs involved in setting up allotment sites,
the legalities of land ownership and a tour of the Castlefarm allotments.

Since they launched the first organic allotments in the country Jenny and Peter have
spent a lot of time researching this topic. The cost per person will be 80 eur  per person and numbers will be limited. Places must be booked in advance.

Enquiries are welcome on 087-6785269 or jenny@castlefarmshop.ie. Castlefarm
organic farm is located in Narraghmore, near Athy in Co Kildare.

Chairperson of Athy RAPID, Cllr Richard Daly described “as a major step forward in local health care for the region” the launch of the Athy Primary Health Care Team in Athy this week.

“The new strategy does not rely on any extra resources but uses the existing resources in a more efficient and localised way. It combines the expertise of the local GPs, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists working in partnership to provide a high standard of excellence to the Athy hinterland

Athy is lucky to be one of the first areas to have this service rolled and as a RAPID town I am delighted that we have been selected and I congratulate all the health professionals who have cooperated together to better meet the needs of the local population.

Developing Primary Care means that some of the pressure can be taken away from our acute hospitals with patients accessing the services of Physiotherapists and Occupational therapists in their local communities.

In many areas of service good communication and cooperation can provide a better service to the end user without developing a new layer of administration. Perhaps this strategy used in the health service could be mirrored in some of our other services.”

“This is a good day for Athy” concluded Cllr Daly

The 110th anniversary of Kildare County Council will be marked on Wednesday, 22 April at 8pm in the council's award-winning new headquarters at Aras Cill Dara, Naas with a public talk on the first meeting of the council in 1899.

The talk by local historian, Liam Kenny, will take place 110 years to the day since the inaugural council took office following the local elections of April 1899. The event will reflect on the excitement -- and the controversies -- generated by the first election in which the people of county Kildare were given a say in the choice of their elected representatives.

For generations before, participation in county administration had been confined to the landed elite; the 1899 elections were the first to bring a level of democracy to the county. The timing of the commemoration is particularly apt given that campaigning is in full swing for the 2009 local elections with twenty-five seats to be filled on the council from electoral areas throughout the county.

We hope to have members of the Fulham family in attendance on the night with some of the original equipment used by the Co. Surveyor on the roads of Kildare.

Come to ARAS CHILL DARA for a talk by local historian Liam Kenny on the 110th anniversary of Kildare County Council,Wed. 22 April 2009 at 8 p.m.

All Welcome.

Donadea Running Club was set up 18 months ago and has 48 members, age range from 22 to 52 and a split of men and women of all different abilities. 

Price to join is €80 for the year and lots of fun events, interesting routes and training plans avalible also social events to enjoy.

More information at www.donadearunningclub.com

I am also working on the 1st Official Half Marathon & Relay Fun Run Event coming to Kildare in May 2010.  The race will start from the Curragh racecourse and details will soon be available at www.runkildare.com

Friday April 3rd 2009: The National Spring Clean campaign is now underway and hundreds of clean-up events due to take place in Kildare throughout April. Everyone is encouraged to take part to help tidy up their local area and make it a better, cleaner place to live.

The following events are taking place in Kildare in the next two weeks. The clean ups will benefit not only the volunteers who are taking part in the tidy up but every member of the community so if you have time to support them please do!

10.04.09-Castlesize Park, Sallins annual clean up day is Friday 10/04/09 from 1pm onwards. ALL WELCOME! They encourage that even if you can't get out on the day please tidy around the area of your home  picking up litter etc. and make Castlesize a place to be proud to live in and call home.

11.04.09- Leixlip Residential Group are having a big clean up of their town on Saturday the 11th of April, they will continue this clean up every week to help keep their town a clean and tidy place to live. For more information please contact Mary Haughney on 01 6242515.

11.04.09- Milltown Community group are taking part in this years National Spring Clean, with their big clean up day set for Saturday, the 11th of April, They already have 12 volunteers taking part in the event but encourage all members of the local community to help with the tidy up!

15.04.09- Allenwood Community Group, Naas have a National Spring Clean event planned for the 15th of April. They expect all residents of the association to take part in the event as well as plenty of volunteers from the local community.

15.04.09- Springfield Residents Association in Celbridge are set to clean up on Saturday the 11th of April. They have 10 volunteers but hope to have more on the day.

16.04.09/17.04.09- Ballysax National School, The Curragh have over 200 hundred students participating in this years national Spring Clean. Their clean up day is on the 16th of April and will be spread out over two days. These kids aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty in order to get their school looking clean and tidy. For more information please contact Michael Kellegher on 045-441829.

18.04.09- Moorefield Park Residents' Association, Newbridge have set the date of the clean up for the 18th of April. They have over 35 volunteers taking place, but hope other members of the community will support them.

20.04.09- St Conleth's and Marys National School, Newbridge have 60 memebers of their Green Schools committee taking part in a big clean up of their school and school grounds on the 20th of April. 

An Taisce would like to encourage others to follow their lead and organise a clean-up in your area as it is not too late to register. Free Clean up kits are available from www.nationalspringclean.org. 

The National Spring Clean campaign is organised by An Taisce and funded by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and local government. The initiative is sponsored by Coca-Cola Bottlers Ireland and the Wrigley Company. It is also supported by Repak who supply colour coded refuse sacks for recycling the materials collected and Killeen who sponsor the general waste sacks.  The campaign is backed by all Local Authorities who co-ordinate activity in their communities.

All those registering for the National Spring Clean campaign are issued with a FREE clean up kit which contains information, posters, colour coded refuse sacks for segregation of waste materials, protective gloves and tabards to keep participants clean.  An Taisce will also liaise with local authorities to ensure that all materials collected will be picked up without charge. 

To register for National Spring Clean call 01 400 2220 or log on to the website at www.nationalspringclean.org.

A night of fun and glamour, in aid of REHAB. A fashion show will be held in Toughers, Naason Friday 17th April. Tickest are 20 euro and are on sale now. Contact Matt Browne for further details on 087 2654582.

The highlight of the Punchestown  racing calendar is the 5 day Irish National Hunt Festival which takes place this year from Tuesday 28th April – Saturday 2nd May. In 2008, a record breaking 106,000 racegoers attended over 5 days.

The Daily Summary for the festival is as follows;

Day 1 Tuesday 28th April  - Kerrygold Day
The opening day of the Punchestown Festival features the Grade One Kerrygold Champion Chase. This day also includes a further two Grade One races – the Champion Novice Hurdle and the Ellier Developments Chase.

Day 2 Wednesday 29th April - Guinness Day
The biggest betting race of the week is likely to be the Grade One Paddy Power Irish National Hunt flat race.

Day 3 Thursday 30th April   - Ladbrokes Day
Star hurdles take centre stage on Festival Thursday with the feature race of the day being the Ladbrokes World Series Hurdle. The day also celebrates the great tradition of Cross Country racing at Punchestown with the historic Avon Ri La Touche Chase .

Day 4 Friday 1st May  - Rabobank Day
Ladies Day - The enclosures are awash with fashion and style, all of which are taking part in the Newbridge Silverware Best Dressed Ladies Finale. The feature race on this day is the Rabobank Champion Hurdle won last year by “Punjabi”.

Day 5 Saturday 2nd May  - Ballymore Family Day
The 2008 Festival saw the introduction of the fifth day which added both colour and atmosphere to the overall festival. The feature race on this day is Ireland’s richest handicap hurdle valued at €220,000 and kindly sponsored by Ballymore Properties.

Ryanair, has confirmed that it has reached an agreement with Punchestown Racecourse under which Ryanair has purchased 5,000 general admission tickets for the five day Punchestown Festival. The tickets will be distributed entirely free of charge to the first 5,000 Ryanair passengers travelling on any Ryanair flight from the UK to Dublin on any of the five days of the 2009 Irish National Hunt Festival at Punchestown.

Ryanair’s free race ticket offer allows British visitors the ideal chance to fly to Dublin, spend a day at Punchestown.

Ryanair is offering flights from 18 English and Scottish airports to Dublin on each of the five days of the Punchestown Festival. The free entrance will be allocated on a first come, first served basis to only those passengers who have purchased a Ryanair flight from the UK to Dublin on any of the 5 days of the Punchestown Jump Racing Festival.

Punchestown racecourse announced that the start times for the opening races for the first four days at the Irish National Hunt Festival have been moved an hour later to 3.45pm.

The move will see the seven race programmes run from 3.45pm through to 7.15pm on Tuesday 28th, Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th April and 3.45pm to 7.45pm on Friday 1st May while the start time will remain at 2.45pm for Saturday 2nd May.

This decision continues Punchestown’s policy of adapting to the current economic challenges and making racing more accessible to the general public. After extensive consultation with all stakeholders it is felt that this adjustment will accommodate those racegoers who wish to carry out at least a half day of work prior to racing in a time when employment priorities are forefront in people’s minds.

The change means that the major races of the Punchestown Festival are now to be shown live on RTE during primetime which significantly increases the potential viewership. Having consulted major sponsors including Kerrygold, Guinness, Rabobank, Ladbrokes and Ballymore, Punchestown can reveal that all are in favour of the alteration as it will increase brand exposure and facilitate the needs of their corporate guests and clients. Racing industry bodies such as Horse Racing Ireland, the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association and members of the racing press are all in support of the initiative based on the positive effects it will contribute to the industry.

Dick O’Sullivan, General Manager Punchestown, stated “The business world has changed more in the last eight months than it has in the last ten years so it was a case of adapting to the new circumstances. One of the most significant advancements we have made in recent times was to win back the support of the local community and we feel that by facilitating the hard working public we are making it easier to justify an afternoon at Punchestown with a decent days work under their belt “

“There are so many parties involved in the Punchestown Festival and having thought long and hard about this, we feel that it will benefit and add to the event. The success of the festival benefits the local towns and villages from hotels and pubs to shops and boutiques so to optimise the success of the festival will optimise the trade locally”.

“Decisions in recent years, including the addition of the very successful concluding fifth day, have been good for racing and the race going public so we are confident about this latest initiative”.

The Punchestown Irish National Hunt Festival takes place from Tuesday 28th April to Saturday 2nd May 2009. General Admission is €30 with Students and OAP’s paying €15. The Party @ Punchestown Pack offers excellent value to group bookings at just €29pp.

For further information on the Punchestown Irish National Hunt Festival please visit www.punchestown.com

Bridget Keane has joined the staff at the Irish Peatland Conservation Council in the role of Development Officer. Her job will be to manage the office and shop at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre and to come up with new and interesting ways of raising funds for the Save the Bogs Campaign. Bridget hopes to recruit more supporters for the IPCC by running  special events at the Nature Centre. “Our supporters are in fact a community of peole with common interests and beliefs, I would like to run workshops and events for supporters at out Nature Centre so more people can can join our community and enjoy a shared love for our bogs” she says.

Coming from Mayo Bridget has always loved bogs and spent much of her childhood playing in them and she is delighted to be playing a part in their protection and preservation. After spending some time working in a laboratory Bridget jumped at the chance to do some boggy work.

“Having worked in the Environmental Sector for the last couple of years I am really excited to be working for an organisation that is making a viable difference to such a threatened habitat” she says.

Bridget Keane received a degree in Zoology at University College Dublin then went on to complete a Masters in Zoology at National University Ireland, Galway where she specialised in Freshwater Ecology.

Jumbajukiba to attempt back to back victories in Bruce Betting sponsored Gladness Stakes

Bruce Betting make their sponsorship debut at the Curragh this Sunday 5th April when they put  their name to the  Gladness Stakes,  and the Group 3 contest has attracted a very competitive field which includes last year’s winner Jumbajukiba. In total there are 15 entries for the 7 furlong event, including three British trained challengers in Atlantic Sport, Express Wish and Lovelace.

Mad About You, third behind Oh Goodness Me in the Park Express Stakes two weeks ago, is also among the entries and her trainer Dermot Weld could also be represented by Le Cadre Noir and Tian Shan. Duff, Kargali and Alhabeeb all add spice to what promises to be a race to savour. 

Famous Name is an interesting contender for the BAM Contractors Alleged Stakes. The Dermot Weld trained four- year- old is one of 15 entries for the 10 furlong Listed contest which has also attracted the Mark Johnson trained pair of Boscage and Drill Sergeant. Pollen and Estrela Braga, first and second respectively in the Irish Lincolnshire at the Curragh two weeks ago, are set to renew rivalry, while Poet and Celtic Dane are others of note in a competitive event. 

There are also 15 entries for Newbridge Credit Union Loughbrown Stakes, including three from the powerful Aidan O’Brien stable in Chief Lone Eagle, Gluteus Maximus and the highly consistent Westphalia. Chorus of Angels, gutsy winner of the recent Madrid Handicap over this course and distance two weeks ago, will bid to follow up that success, while Mark Johnson can select between Cry of Freedom and Crackdown.  Jim Bolger has made an impressive start to the new flat season and he will be represented by Vocalised. 

National Hunt fans are well catered with the likes of Ebadiyan, Nicanor, Beau Michael and Timari, all set to clash in the Newbridge Parishes Charity Day Race. 

The first of eight races commences at 2.15pm and this popular family day will include a variety of free entertainment for children. The ground at the Curragh is currently Good to Yielding.