County Kildare News

North Kildare Chamber  has today welcomed the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation’s announcement that the Micro Finance Scheme, which promises to benefit 7,700 businesses and create 5,500 jobs over ten years, is to commence on Monday 1st October 2012.
 
Speaking this afternoon (27/09/2012), Eilis Quinlan North Kildare President said, “The Chamber welcomes this new initiative. It will help a great number of businesses to access funding that might not otherwise come their way given the nature of their business models. The Micro Finance Scheme should support a range of micro businesses with positive important secondary benefits arising from protecting existing jobs and creating new employment opportunities.”
 
“However, this is only one of two such initiatives promised by the Government as part of the Action Plan for Jobs. We look forward to the delivery of the Partial Loan Guarantee Scheme, first announced in late 2011, as soon as possible. North Kildare Chamber will continue to work with our members in Kildare to ensure that they are informed of and benefit from these initiatives.”
 
Funding is hugely needed and the banks reneged on their commitment necessitating this further government intervention. We now hope that this scheme will initially assist in retaining and ultimately increase employment in the ‘seed-bed’ of the economy”.
 
“The question now is when will the much announced Credit Guarantee Scheme for SMEs be launched, as that sector is also in dire need of credit. While the scheme will not be the ‘silver bullet’, it will certainly help some vulnerable but viable SMEs and allow them to survive, consolidate and in time, expand, with the positive result of increased employment.”
 
“The bailed-out banks must also ‘step up to the mark’ in the slowness of their refusal letters to businesses, as delays will hold up the processing of this Microfinance loan scheme for serving micro businesses”, Eilis Quinlan concluded

Monday Night Bridge Club has reopened for the season at Care of the Aged Centre, Newbridge Road, Naas.

Time 7.30pm.

New members will be welcome.

Contact No. 086 1659003.

Come on! Give it a Go!

What’s the catch? There isn’t one.

The Kildare Outdoor Tourism Project is offering free places on a variety of outdoor activities.

The project aims to encourage and inspire the local community to take part in outdoor activities and enjoy themselves at the activity of their choice.

Whether you simply want to try out a new activity, or are looking at a long term career prospect, the opportunity is there for the taking, as we develop the Outdoor Tourism Sector in County Kildare.

So sign up today and give it a go. It is free to try the taster sessions and the development programme.

Download the brochure for more details.

Try to set yourself a target of learning a new sport or activity this Autumn and look at becoming more active and raising your fitness levels this coming Winter.

Do I Qualify?

If you are living in County Kildare and not a participant of any other European Funded Programme you can apply for the activity programme subject to availability of space on the activity.

THE Curragh stages it’s penultimate fixture of the 2012 season this Sunday  when the Group Two Juddmonte Beresford Stakes is the highlight on an exciting 8 race programme which gets under way at 2.10pm.

Andy Oliver is having a fabulous season and the Co Tyrone-based trainer will be represented by the fast improving First Cornerstone at the weekend. The son of Hurricane Run showed a tremendous attitude when landing the Group Two Galileo EBF Futurity Stakes at this venue in August and Oliver reports his colt to be in fine form.

“We will wait until later in the week before making a decision about Sunday’s race but First Cornerstone could not be in better form and has thrived since his last race,” commented Oliver. “While he has never won on extremes of ground, we would not be concerned about testing ground for him because we know from the last day that he handles it well.”

Champion trainer Aidan O’Brien has a fabulous record in the feature event and will be attempting to win it for the twelfth time since Johan Cruyff gave him his first success in 1996. O’Brien has left eight horses – Afonso De Sousa, Battle Of Marengo, Eye Of The Storm, Kingston Jamaica, Lines Of Battle, Nevis, Sir Walter Scott and The Ferryman – in Sunday’s contest and plans will firmed up later in the week according to a stable spokesperson.

In total there are 16 horses remaining in the one mile juvenile contest. There are 24 horses remaining in the Group Three C.L. Weld Park Stakes, which includes three overseas challengers in Savanna La Mar, Sorella Bella and Waterway Run. The home challenge is headed by Awakened Spirit, Big Break, Salhooda and recent course winner Spinacre.

Awakened Spirit has also been left in the Listed Anglesey Lodge Equine Blenheim Stakes for which 19 horses have stood their ground.

A packed program of entertainment during the afternoon will provide the Irish Pony Club with the opportunity to highlight their various activities with presentations by TRI Equestrian to their 2012 winning teams and individuals.  There will be a variety of free entertainment for all children with a horse racing theme which will take place in the main enclosure.

Admission €15,Under 16s and Irish Pony Club Members FREE 

If you have been thinking about Starting or Growing your own business, you are invited to this free enterprise event called:

Ready Steady Go Enterprise Exhibition

on the 3rd October at the Keadeen Hotel, Newbridge.

This free Enterprise Expo is designed for entrepreneurs, innovators and business people.

There are 5 activities to inspire you and make the process of starting and growing your own business a lot easier:

• Enterprise Exhibition
• Seminars
• One-to-One Mentoring
• Enterprise Competition
• Networking through B2B

For more information on the Ready Steady Go Enterprise Expo visit www.readysteadygo.ie or call 045 438296 or 087 0509486

Castledermot Local History group along with the Heritage Council and Kildare County Council have commissioned Howley Hayes Architects to prepare a conservation, management and interpretation plan for the town walls of Castledermot.

The walls of Castledermot can be dated to a murage grant which was bestowed on the town in 1295 to build the walls to provide defences for the town. The wall was likely to have been completed by 1302 and has given Castledermot it’s distinctive lozenge shape. Access to the town was via three gates; the Dublin gate to the north, the Carlow gate to the west and the Tullow gate to the south. Today, however, little of the Town Wall remains.

The purpose of the plan is to establish the location, quantify the length and nature of any remaining sections of the walls. The plan will provide advice on how to best interpret, conserve and maintain the walls and how to promote the heritage of the Castledermot and in particular the walls.

The consultants preparing the plan shall be conducting a survey of the potential location of the walls and their condition in the coming weeks.

For more information on the project please contact Bridget Loughlin, Heritage Officer with Kildare County Council at heritageofficer@kildarecoco.ie

Raising awareness about peatland conservation in Ireland is the theme of an Irish cycling challenge to get underway on Thursday 20th September 2012.

Annie Capell from San Francisco in California  is to spend a month pedalling her way around the bogs of Ireland in a bid to raise awareness about peatland conservation and to raise funds for the IPCC's Save the Bogs Campaign.

"Ive worked for Patagonia since 2007 and am now the Enviro/Event Coordinator for their SF store. This role has inspired the environmental side of me and brought out the desire to put back into this world all the wonderful things I have taken out of it. Patagonia offers internships to employees who want to go out into the world and make a difference. Our job is to find a charity that works on something close to our hearts and make a proposal. Being of Irish descent, an environmentalist, and a lover of biking, I wanted to find a way to travel the country of Ireland while raising awareness for land conservation, which led me straight to the IPCC", says Annie.

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council is the charity that aims to conserve a representative sample of Irish peatlands for future generations to enjoy.  "Just the type of group to inspire me! And the icing on the cake - they use bikes to take their volunteers to different bogs across the country. This is just what I was looking for; a way to travel with purpose, follow my heart, and help protect some beautiful land" she added.

Annie's goal is to travel Ireland by bike  for 4 weeks, visiting as many of the bogs as her legs can pedal to, raising awareness for the IPCC and peat bog conservation. She is buying a bike from a local bike shop in Dublin and then donating the bike and any funds donated by the public to the project towards the save the bogs campaign. Part of her way to raise awareness is to keep a blog of all that she sees, explores, and comes in contact with (see Pedal for Peat's Sake). The blog also includes a donation facility for the public who are inspired by her challenge.

Pedal for Peat's Sake begins at the Patagonia Store in Exchequer Street, Dublin and Annie's first bog visit will take place in the Bog of Allen, the home of the Irish Peatland Conservation Council on the 19th September.

Some of the other bogs to be visited on the tour are: Clara Bog, Offaly; Fenor Bog, Waterford; Roundstone Bog, Galway; Girley Bog, Meath; Boghill Centre, Clare; Kerry Bog Village; Ballycroy National Park, Mayo and Lough Allen Bog, Roscommon.

                  
Venue: Punchestown AMI School 

Wednesday 19th September

11 am-12.15pm

No Charge for this workshop but pre-booking is necessary.
  
Contact Gaye Mullen  Tel:   045-874175

Positive Parenting Ireland

Naas Credit Union has announced that it has made a bursary available to benefit local community groups and initiatives.   The Cecil Doyle, Naas Credit Union Bursary is a grant scheme funded by Naas Credit Union Ltd and is available for community organisations or groups that operate on a not for profit basis, with the primary aim of community development.  The bursary totals €30,000 with a maximum of €10,000 being awarded to any one group.

 
Cecil Doyle, (86) President and founding member of Naas Credit Union gave over 42 years of service to the organisation and firmly believes in helping and supporting the local community. “I have been involved in community development all my life and I know only too well how difficult it is for organisations to operate on little or no money.  There are wonderful people and groups doing terrific work in our community with the sole aim of helping others. These are people who run sports and drama clubs, after school homework clubs, help the elderly or run initiatives which enrich our community and ask nothing in return. These are the real heroes and legends in our community, the people whose civic spirit and tireless work enriches our society.  It is my hope that this bursary will go some way to support them in their great work.”

 
Grant applications are invited from community groups in the parishes of Naas, Kill, Caragh, Two Mile House, Sallins and Ballymore Eustace.  Applications forms are available from Naas Credit Union and applicants are invited to apply now.

 
Sean Murray General Manager of Naas Credit Union said, “We are really excited about this initiative and are very much looking forward to receiving applications from all kinds of community groups”.

 
The closing date for receipt of applications to Naas Credit Union is 12.00 noon on the 12th of October after which the Board of the Credit Union will make their decision on the successful applicants.  An awards night will be held on the 18th of October at which all of the successful applicants will be awarded their funds.  Application forms for the Cecil Doyle Bursary are now available from Naas Credit Union and all community groups and organisations within the specified catchment areas are invited to apply.

 
For more details on the Cecil Doyle Bursary or to download an application form log on to www.naascreditunion.com or call (045) 879622.

If anyone was ever in any doubt as to the quality of competition on offer at Adelaide Masters Series Motorcycle racing events, a quick look down the results sheets from the recent Donington Park British Superbike Support races should convince them.

The Adelaide Masters series is designed to be a stepping stone for up and coming Irish riders, where they can hone their skills before competing abroad, in addition to being a place for established teams to give their future stars some competitive mileage. At the recent Donington Park BSB event, performances by riders who are currently racing or have previously raced in the Adelaide Masters were among the most impressive.

Just one week after they battled around the Mondello Park national track in the penultimate event of the 2012 Adelaide Masters season, Tyco Suzuki's PJ Jacobsen and Millsport Ducati's Lee Johnstone were at it again in Donington. The two Irish based teams fought it out for supremacy in a race long battle that resulted in Jacobsen winning by the smallest margin possible, 0.001 of a second. Despite trying to get past for the entire race, the only time the American was ahead of his Northern Irish rival was in the last few millimetres of the race. The top two were the class of the field leaving all of the British championship regulars struggling in their wake.

Amongst the other notable performers with a Masters pedigree were Superstock championship leader Keith Farmer, who is the reigning Adelaide Masters Supersport champion. Another to lead his division is Farmer's predecessor, Glen Irwin, who heads the BSB Supersport Cup following two more victories. Most impressive of all however is Dubliner Jack Kennedy who has not raced this season at the Masters but has been one of the stars of the event in previous seasons. Kennedy leads the British Supersport series riding for another Irish outfit, Mar-Train racing, and could soon be the first Republic of Ireland rider to win a major British title.

Battling hard on a privateer machine in Superstock at the weekend was Marshal Neill, one of the star performers of the 2011 Adelaide Masters Series. Still recovering his old form following a back breaking accident at Brands Hatch last year, the veteran Ulsterman was running in sixth place until a mechanical failure intervened. Neill was also joined on the Superstock grid by Cody Nally and Gerard Kinghan both of who have made sporadic Masters appearances.

Despite its short history the Adelaide Masters Series is already proving its value and justifying the investment in the sport made by Mondello Park and its headline sponsor Adelaide Insurance Services. The final event of the season on October 6th and 7th will give Irish race fans one last 2012 opportunity, to see riders of British Championship race winning quality, as well as the next generation of local stars, race on home soil.

For further information on the Adelaide Masters Series see the Mondello Park web site www.mondellopark.ie/adelaidemasters

Mondello Park's final Irish championship car race event of the season takes place this weekend with a number of 2012 titles up for decision. The annual Leinster Trophy races will run over two days on the Mondello Park international Circuit, with the highlight being Sunday's Leinster Trophy race, which this year will be contested by Formula Sheane for the first time.

The Formula Sheane championship is Ireland's premier single seater racing series and is contested by identical Wicklow built 'Sheane' cars. Like many Irish racing series the championship had been suffering from reducing numbers over the last few years, but this season a remarkable turnaround has produced growing grids and increased competition at the head of the field. In recognition of this, the Leinster Motor Club have decided to award the class the most prestigious trophy in Irish Motor Sport, giving Sheane competitors the chance to add their names to a roll of honour which includes Mike Hawthorn, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen, among many others. A championship race will now be run for the class on Saturday before drivers switch their attention to Sunday's Leinster Trophy race.

While Formula Sheane will be the biggest single seater racing series on show, the biggest grid of the weekend is expected in the highly popular Irish Touring Car Championship. Two drivers remain in contention for the overall ITCC title with Philip Brennan starting as favourite due to his seventeen point advantage over Gareth Hayden.

Sunday's Leinster Trophy race will be the centre piece of two days of track action made up of eighteen races. Alongside the Formula Sheane and ITCC events a number of other classes will decide their 2012 champions this weekend. Formula Vee, Stryker Sports Cars, Ginetta Juniors, Fiats, Formula Libre and Global Lights will all have their final championship races of the season, while Historic's and GT's will also take to the track over the two days.

Admission to Saturday and Sunday is €10.00 per day for adults with under sixteen’s admitted free of charge. All admission includes free grandstand seating and a complimentary event programme.

Aidan O’Brien will dash back from Doncaster by helicopter to the Curragh to saddle Fame and Glory in the Gain Horse Feeds Irish St Leger on Saturday.    Should Camelot land the Triple Crown at Doncaster a few hours earlier, team Ballydoyle can be assured of a rousing reception at the home of the Irish Classics.

Fame and Glory is one of nine runners declared this morning for the final Group 1 Classic race of the Irish flat racing season.   A strong British trained challenge includes this year’s Grand Prix de Chantilly winner Aiken trained by John Gosden and Brown Panther, runner up in the English St Leger last year and owned in partnership by soccer star Michael Owen.

Other notable Irish contenders are the John Oxx trained Hartani who will be ridden by Christophe Lemaire, the Willie Mullins trained Simenon and Massiyn trained by Michael Halford, while Johnny Murtagh, who will partner Usra Major in the English St Leger, will also dash back to the Curragh to ride Royal Diamond in the Irish equivalent.

Dawn Approach is one of the eight runners declared for the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien Stakes and Ireland’s top race for 2 year olds will also include the Aidan O’Brien trained trio of Cristoforo Colombo, Flying The Flag and Nevis, while the Mick Channon trained Ayaar is the sole British trained challenger and this son of Rock of Gibraltar has won his last three races.

1st of 8 races is 3pm. 

Admission €20 Under 16s Free.

Free car parking. Trains to Kildare Town with free shuttle bus to races. Dublin Coach provide service from Dublin picked up in Naas and Newbridge (see www.dublincoach.ie )