A message from the mayor of Celbridge

CELBRIDGE, 17 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. Allow me bring you up to date on forthcoming events in Celbridge/Straffen for Christmas 2000. The highlight of our year once again is the Annual Black & White Ball. This takes place on November 24th at Setanta House Hotel This function is run annually for Care for Aged of our Parish and I can assure you, the proceeds will be put to good cause.

The Senior Citizens Christmas Party takes place on December 17th again at Setanta House Hotel. Around 500 people are expected to enjoy a traditional Christmas Dinner.The evening will begin at 6pm and guests will dance away the night till midnight, to the music of some members of the old "Gallowglass Band".

We will also be having a children's party in Celbridge to coincide with the official turning of our Christmas light's. This event begins at 2.30pm followed by the turning on of the light's at "Dusk". The guests of honour once again will be The Band of An Garda Siochana and of course "Santa"will be there for all the little ones in our Community. All this takes place on December 8th.

"It is through our to-getherness that we uphold the fabric of Community life". Thank you.

Kate P Walsh, Mayor of Celbridge.

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Graduation ceremony for Kildare's women entrepreneurs

NAAS, 17 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. 15 Kildare women entrepreneurs graduated from the National College of Ireland this morning at the college graduation ceremony in the RDS in Dublin. The conferral by the President of the College, Professor Joyce O’Connor, saw each graduate conferred with a certificate in small business management.

This certificate course was supported and funded by Kildare County Enterprise Board as part of the Women in Business Initiative which is a dedicated programe aimed at encouraging an enterprise culture, providing education on business matters and skills and enabling more women to participate in micro-business in Kildare. This is the second group of graduates of this programme. Currently some 23 new participants are engaged on the course and will graduate next November.

The certificate in Small Business Management presented to each successful candidate carries access credits towards a degree course.

The Kildare County Enterprise Board has congratulated the successful women. They were Brenda Brady of Kill; Jackie Hobbs, Maynooth; Margaret McDonnell, Curragh Farm Fresh, Ballysax; Oonagh Parent, Seabury Handcrafted Furniture, Maudlins Industrial Estate, Naas; Helen Coe of Helen Coe Healthcare, Naas; Avril Walsh, Halverstown, Caragh; Eileen McMahon, Maynooth; Nina Patterson, Artworks Studio, Celbridge; Julie Bambrick, Ballyadams; Elsie Nolan, Castledermot; Mary Ahern, Kildare town; Nora Duggan, Nora D Stained Glass, Allenwood Enterprise Park; Catherine Lynch, Pic Kwiks, Maynooth; Brid Keegan, Clane; Deirdre Donohue, Clane.

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WWI memorial plaque replaced on Scout Den

NAAS, 17 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. A plaque commemorating two Kildare men who died in the First World War was replaced in its original location in the refurbished Naas Scout Den on the 82nd anniversary of Armistice Day, Saturday, 11November, at 11.11am.

The hall was built by the British Legion in 1926 and a plaque was erected to the memory of Major AS Weldon from Kilmaroncy House near Athy. He joined the North Staffordshire Regiment and was killed on 25 March 1917. Lieutenant OM Crowshaw was born in Hill House on the Tipper Road in Naas, just a few hundred yards from the present hall. He was a member of the 19th Hussar Regiment and was killed in action on 17 September 1917.

The hall, which has just been extended and completely refurbished, will be officially re-opened in the near future. At the unveiling ceremony a group representing the 4th Kildare Scouts and members of the Naas Local History Group heard the roll call of the 92 men from Naas who died in the Great War and to whom the ceremony was dedicated.

Pictured above are some of the team of scout leaders, involved in a clean up of the Workhouse Cemetery.

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Funding provided for 140 more social houses

KILDARE GENERAL, 16 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. Government funding has been provided for 140 additional social housing units for the Kildare area for the period 2001-2003. The houses would be split between Kildare County Council (110 units), Athy UDC (10), Naas UDC (20).

The announcement has today been welcomed by Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy TD (left) who said, given the very severe shortage of affordable housing for families who are living on modest to average earnings, the importance of social housing cannot be overestimated.

He said ‘as one of the fastest growing populations in the country, Kildare needs to get its fair share of the supply of houses. Equally it is important that we provide this type of housing as soon as possible.’

He added that in a very competitive market it is essential that contractors and builders are willing to work on projects such as these. The Minister urged all parties involved to move as swiftly as possible to ensure that Kildare’s local authority housing schemes are built and allocated as soon as possible.

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Plans to recycle business waste in Naas

NAAS, 16 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. A recycling company, RecycleNet, is working with Naas Chamber of commerce and Industry to assess the potential for the recovery and recycling of materials from the waste generated at trade premises in the town.

This will be done by means of a survey seeking the level of support from businesses for the whole concept of recycling their waste materials.

Mary Bhogal, President of Naas Chamber of Commerce (pictured left) says the Chamber has been conscious of the amount of refuse left out on the street footpaths overnight which could possibly pose a danger to the public or be set alight by vandals. Hence the necessity for an evening collection, if this is possible.

“It will be necessary to evaluate just how many businesses are interested in recycling, bearing in mind there will be a service cost involved,” she told KNN. She says an audit of waste output from potential participants in the scheme will also be required. Businesses are being asked the method of waste disposal they use in their business; how it is stored for collection; collection times; if they consider recycling and if so, if they would be prepared to segregate items and hold them separately for collection.

The waste will vary between dry material (cardboard and plastic) and wet or organic waste (food industry and florists). According to Mary Bhogal, this could be composted and while there is no central composting facility available in Naas, the idea could be explored further.

The Naas Chamber says the establishment of a central composting facility for the organic fraction of trade waste would require the imput of Naas UDC but would prove a useful part of a pilot scheme and make the scheme more comprehensive, particularly where food waste and floristry waste are concerned.

RecycleNet, in conjunction with Naas Chamber of Commerce, will be carrying out this survey in the coming weeks.

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Leixlip's war dead remembered

LEIXLIP, 14 November 2000: by Brian Byrne. Leixlip Town Commission held a special Millennium event for Remembrance Sunday. Commission chairperson Cllr Catherine Murphy (right) unveiled a plaque with the names of local people who died in the two World Wars and with the name of a member of the Defence Forces who died in the Belgian Congo in 1960.

A prayer service was held in the Church of Ireland (St Mary's) by Rev James Scott Peoples, Fr Des O’Sullivan, and Fr Philip Corcoran. This was followed by a contribution from Cllr Murphy and from former Town Commissioner Jim Bardon, who is active in the area of peace and reconciliation.

A salute was then given by members of the ONE. Representatives were present from all three branches of the Defence Forces, as was one of the survivors of the attack in the Congo in which Sergeant Gaynor was killed.

“Turning the page on the history that will be written about this new Millennium and indeed this new 21st Century, we can only hope that the lessons of history and particularly that of both World Wars will be sufficient to remind of the futility of war,” Cllr Murphy said.

The plaque lists the names, where in Leixlip they are from, the regiment they were attached to the date they died. The youngest was 19 and the oldest 39. Under the title Silent Witnesses to the Desolation of War are named N McD,Teacher; Frederick Wookey, Thomas Dempsey, George Ronaldson, Matthew Sherry, Owen McAuley Michael Brady, Christopher Hynes, John Ford, Michael Gaynor, Thomas Kelly, William Kelly, Thomas Martin, D McFarlane.

“We know little about most of the men who enlisted, who fought and died in the ranks of the British Army and whom we remember today,” Cllr Murphy said. “It is part of our history that historically we have been silent on. Our event today demonstrates our desire to say we think that history should be acknowledged and told.”

About 206,000 Irishmen enlisted without being conscripted to the British Army in the first World War and over 40,000 of them lost their lives. In the Second World War a further 80,000 from Southern Ireland enlisted and 10,000 of those were killed in action.

“Most Irish counties don’t have a population of 80,000 in the present day, and the sheer magnitude of this must question why so little is known of this part of our history. I hope today’s event will prompt a greater knowledge and understanding and will contribute in some way towards healing that part of our History at least locally.”

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Tuckmill annual exhibition brings large crowd

NAAS, 14 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. Art lovers packed the exhibition room in Lawlor’s Hotel on Friday night for the official opening of Tuckmill Gallery’s annual exhibition of fine art in Naas.

The event, organised by Martina Phipps, was officially opened by Mary Bhogal (right), president of Naas Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She extended a very special thanks to Martina for bringing everyone together again for another enjoyable event.

She told how some 19 years ago, Martina had had the foresight and good fortune to realise the need for such an art exhibition in Naas and has since given groups of artists an even more wonderful chance to show their pieces of work both at her exhibitions and in her Gallery.

She said it is not easy to produce work to such an excellent standard as the pictures on show. “Martina has developed her exhibition into something quite unique, making a special effort to promote all her well-established artists,” she noted. “But she is also passionate about giving newer, up and coming artists a chance.”

Among the County Kildare artists exhibiting were June Brilly (Prosperous), Philippa Bayliss (Ardclough), Elizabeth Cope (Ballitore), Rose Doherty (Naas), Wendy Walsh and Lesley Fennell (mother and daughter from Athy), Trevor Geoghegan (Blessington), Jennifer Fitzsimons Kingston (Naas), Nina Patterson (Celbridge), Tom Spelman (Robertstown), Des Snee (formerly Prosperous), Des Tallon (Clane), Catherine McCormack (Castledermot), Fidelma Massey (Ballymore Eustace) and Derek A Fitzsimons (sculptor) from Newbridge.

Paintings of Naas shopfronts by Sean Curran proved extremely popular. These included Fletchers, Lawlor’s and Gogarty’s.

Left - Sculptor Derek A Fitzsimons from Newbridge with his exhibit ‘Hide and Seek’, a model for a bronze piece and valued at £3,300.

Below left - Renowned artist June Brilly (Prosperous) with her painting entitled ‘Coloured Horses’.

Below - Local businessman Hugh Magee from Blessington, with his wife Helen.

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KCC told by councillors: 'hands off Devoy'

NAAS, 13 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. A number of Naas UDC councillors are adamant that Kildare County Council ‘will not get away with’ plans to go halves with the UDC on the £7m cost of buying Devoy Barracks which would allow them to claim 50% of the houses for people from outside the town.

This would mean that only 100 families on the Naas UDC list of 370-plus applicant families will have a chance for a home of their own in Devoy Barracks. The councillors were shocked to hear of the 50:50 split from town manager Tommy Skehan at a recent ‘in committee’ meeting.

The town manager - who is also assistant county manager - had been directed by UDC councillors to buy the property for its own social and affordable housing needs.

Councillors Timmy Conway and Evelyn Bracken say they are ‘appalled’ by the take over. Timmy Conway called it ‘outrageous’ and said: “We’re not going to accept it. Devoy was bought for the people of Naas.”

Eibhlin Bracken said councillors were told at the beginning that Naas UDC had bought it for £7m. “Who gave the town manager the right to do this?” She said it was presented as a fait accomplit and councillors were given no choice.

Cllr Charlie Byrne said by taking over half the cost price, Kildare County Council has shown a financial weakness on the urban council to be able to take on the property. “Are we going to depend on KCC to make decisions for us? What right have officials had to make such a decision without first having discussed it with us? This is the second time this has happened and it’s not good enough,” he said.

But council chairman Pat O’Reilly says he believes councillors will come round ‘on reflection’ to see that the split is the best way forward.

“The UDC couldn’t have afforded the full £7 million purchase price,” he said, agreeing with the suggestion that they were ‘laying off’ half of the financial ‘gamble’ by splitting the cost.

Cllr O’Reilly says that ‘no negotiations’ have been entered into with Kildare County Council on what it will get in return for carrying half the financial load on the purchase. Nor, he claims, has any deal been implied in the partnership effort. But he does admit that the county authority will ‘have an input’ into decisions on who gets the houses in Devoy.

Cllr O’Reilly is adamant that the UDC couldn’t take on the Devoy purchase without risk of getting into serious financial trouble.

ED: For background on this, see KNN's story last week revealing the implications of the 'deal'.

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Devoy: why split the cost and lose houses?

NAAS, 13 November, 2000: OPINION by John Kavanagh. I have a difficulty in understanding why Naas UDC seems to say that it has to split the Devoy Barracks development and give half of it over to
Kildare CC.

If I do the maths, 200 houses get a grant of maximum £35,000 each house for land acquisition from the Department of the Environment. That gives a total of £7 million. That is to say, the purchase price. This would seem to say there is no need to dip into the funds. (Of course, they wouldn't have needed to use all of this if the minister for defence wasn't such a grasper.) This is paid over when the houses are built; hopefully this will be in less than 3 years’ time. (Architects design, 3 months; planning, 3 months; tender, 1 month; building 12 months ... that’s the speed other builders seem to act at, could the same apply here?)

Building cost comes from a separate fund.

The current housing list is over 350, or so I am told. Naas people put a lot of effort into this proposal for the benefit of those on this list. Naas politicians and individuals took the scorn of others on the chin and pushed this issue, locally and nationally. Now KCC comes in and gets the benefit of this, leaving some 250 families still on the housing list.

KCC of course has a housing list, but why do two incomplete partial solutions? Something seems to be wrong somewhere, especially as I still see two people at least sleeping rough on the streets of Naas, something I didn't see growing up in Naas when the economic climate was a lot worse. Is this Celtic Tiger all it is cracked out to be? Am I missing something here?

The only risk I can see is that the minister sits on the application for funding for two or more years. I wonder is this the risk that the UDC needs to take account of? Is the combined lobbying of the KCC and UDC political wills enough to get him to sign the necessary documents?

ED: Please note that views expressed under 'OPINION' on KNN are those of the writer concerned, and do not necessarily reflect the views of KNN or its proprietors. This facility is provided in the interests of free speech and public information and may be availed of either to make a point or respond to one.

Wants 'fair deal' for former workers

KILCOCK, 13 November 2000: by Brian Byrne. A call for fair treatment of former Kavanagh’s Mill workers by creditors of the company has been made by Deputy Emmet Stagg. Around 40 workers still in employment when the provisional liquidator was appointed are only entitled to receive statutory redundancy as things stand at the moment.

These workers are legally preferred creditors of the company, along with banks and other major creditors, but their redundancy package can be excluded by other creditors from any share-out of the proceeds of the sale of assets from the mill.

Deputy Stagg says the banking sector, owed around £18m by the mill, most of which is unsecured, will have a major say in how any remaining funds will be distributed. “Given that the sector makes profits of £3 billion a year, and that banks colluded in the DIRT controversy, it would be immoral to exclude the workers from the payout,” he said. “Many of the workers gave the best part of their lifetimes to Kavanaghs. If they are not treated fairly now, the public in Maynooth and North Kildare will treat the banking sector with a further jaundiced eye.”

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Fundraiser for Caragh Road club

NAAS, 13 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. Some 270 people attended a fundraising dinner in the marquee at Millennium Park on Friday night in aid of the Caragh Road Sports Centre. The huge marquee was earlier used for the official launch of Phase One of the Millennium Park business campus.

Michael Mullally (left), manager of Millennium Park said they had decided to retain the huge 500-seater marque for another day for a function to help make up for the damage caused by the travellers.

The Caragh Road Sports ground was left in an appalling state following a recent incursion by merchant travellers and setting it right will run to thousands of pounds. “We made the facility available to help the sports clubs affected and a lot of the consultants and contractors involved in Millennium Park took a table for ten at £1,000, to help towards the club’s renovation costs,” Mr Mullally told KNN.

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Millennium Park launched by minister

NAAS, 10 November 2000: by Trish Whelan. More than 300 people attended the official launch of Phase One of the Millennium Park business campus at Osberstown, Naas, yesterday. When completed, the 200-acre business park will comprise more than 2.5m square feet of third-generation office accommodation with a capital value of IR£350m, offering thousands of jobs to the local community.

The park is situated beside the M7 motorway and will have its own interchange onto this route in the next two years. It is also situated close to Sallins railway station.

The venture was officially launched by minister for finance Charlie McCreevy TD who said ‘it is developments such as this that are contributing to the very strong economic growth rate being seen in Ireland’. He said the park ‘is an example of how public and private partnerships can cooperate to deliver significant advantages to an entire region.’ This, and similar developments, he added, are making Kildare a premier business location and the population of the surrounding area should provide the park with a sustainable base for its staffing needs within easy commuting distance. He commended ‘the enormous courage and guts’ of Jerry Conlan to undertake such a huge project. “He believes in doing everything to the highest standards and the vision he had for Millennium Park is world class,” he said.

The minister added that Bandenberry Ltd, the company developing the Park under Mr Conlan’s chairmanship, ‘are also developing the adjoining lands to include high quality residential communities, social and leisure facilities, a hotel and conference centre. These new features, combined with the existing and well established amenities of Naas and Newbridge, will ensure that the Park will not only be a most pleasant place to work in, but a desirable environment for the enjoyment of the local community'.

Millennium Park is the brainchild of Kildare man Jerry Conlan and the project has the financial backing of blue chip financial institutions. It has received considerable interest to date from a significant number of global, multinational investors.

Mr Conlan said the Park offers ‘an unparalleled chance for companies and their workforces to enjoy a truly unique business location and the development will bring huge opportunities to the catchment area’. It will also provide a huge rates base for Naas Urban District Council. Mr Conlan added that management is ‘proud to have played a part in establishing a site for two new schools’.

“In today’s most competitive workplace, the biggest challenge for the thousands of Celtic Tiger cubs is the actual demands placed upon them in getting to their place of work. Millennium Park is simply about bringing the jobs to the people,” said Michael Mullally, CEO of Millennium Park. He added that the biggest partnership will most likely be between ‘ourselves and the local community’. “Partnership is what today is all about,” he added.

Naas UDC cathaoirleach Cllr Pat O’Reilly (left) said Millennium Park is a ‘world class project’ and Naas UDC was pleased to have the site within its boundary. He noted it will also provide the first leg of an outer relief road for Naas as part of the development which, when completed, will relieve the congestion of traffic in the town. He said the Park will provide high quality IT jobs, making it possible for people to work locally and not to have to undertake 'the daily drudge to Dublin'. He understood that management will liaise with all second level schools in Naas and its environs to advise students and teachers as to the type of jobs coming on stream.

The campus will have a telecommunications infrastructure which will ‘be the envy of any in the world’ and ‘unmatched by anywhere’ which will also benefit the local community. The Park will also feature a state-of-the-art training and educational institute.

Mr McCreevy also launched Millennium Park’s official web site www.millenniumpark.ie, which will reflect the progress and development of the park.

Above: an architect's model of the completed park.

Above: members of the Conway family, Christy, Josephine and Timmy, enjoying the hospitality.
Property Director of Millennium Park Dermot O'Rourke, with solicitor Pat Reidy.
Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick, with Willie Carroll of Kildare County Council and Senator Sean O Fearghaill.
Mary Bhogal, President of Naas Chamber of Commerce, looking at the Millennium Park website.
Eddie Morrissey of AIB Naas, with John Hayden, Castlemartin, Kilcullen.
Michael Culliton and his son-in-law Tony McAllister.
Cllr Seamie Moore and Mrs Pearl O'Rourke.
Above - minister for finance Charlie McCreevy was presented with a specially-commissioned painting of his home area of Millicent, by Gerry Conlan.

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