Fowler’s No. 12, named Ireland’s Best Pub!

5 Jul

Fowler’s No. 12, Malahide, was named Ireland’s Best Pub at the gala Bar of the Year Awards in Dublin. A family-run pub, Fowler’s No. 12, owned by Derek Fowler and his wife Connie, was named ‘Licensing World Bar of the Year 2012’ after also claiming the ‘Bavaria Style Bar Award’ at the Licensing World Bar of the Year Awards in Dublin.

The landmark Co. Dublin premises was chosen from hundreds of pubs that entered the national awards competition which seeks out the country’s top licensed operators each year. The award was presented in the Clyde Court Hotel, formerly Berkeley Court Hotel, at a gala dinner ceremony attended by over 300 members of Irish pub trade.

Publican Derek Fowler – who is a former chairman of the Dublin vintners – accepted the Bar of the Year Award from Nigel Tynan, Editor of Licensing World magazine, and chairman of the Bar of the Year Awards.

A family-run premises, Fowler’s No. 12 is a highly popular Malahide local pub. Formerly known as Smyth’s, the bar was purchased by the Fowler family in 2009. Since then the Fowler family has completely renovated the premises transforming it into an elegant state-of-the-art bar, complete with smoking terrace and including many stylish features, such as a stunning silver scaled ceiling that represents the local fishing industry and a unique integrated coldroom that is a stand out feature in the pub’s design.

The Fowler family also own Fowler’s of Grange Cross in Ballyfermot. When presenting the Bar of the Year Award, Nigel Tynan, pointed out, ‘Fowler’s No. 12 is an exceptional bar, Derek and his family have transformed what was a tired pub into a vibrant modern bar that perfectly represents the future of the licensed trade in Ireland. It’s great to see strong family-run pubs alive and prospering despite the many challenges the bar trade faces in Ireland today.’

Source: http://bachelor.ie/entertainment/fowlers-of-malahide-wins-irelands-best-pub/

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KCC Choral Union to travel for Concert Tour of Ireland July 4-10

5 Jul

BATTLE CREEK, June 18, 2012 – Kellogg Community College is marking the 55th anniversary of the college’s choral area with the Choral Union’s first international concert tour to Ireland July 4 through 10.

Gerald Blanchard, professor of vocal music at KCC, said choir members – 21 of whom will travel to Ireland as part of a group of 31 – have raised more than $29,000 to fund the trip through free-will offerings held during their annual concerts and other community performances. He said touring helps students expand their understanding of their studies.

“We’re singing this music that was created in these other places around the world but yet we’ve never seen any of those places,” Blanchard said. “We can’t really relate to what the composers were thinking or seeing when they were writing these beautiful melodies.”

The Concert Tour of Ireland will be the Choral Union’s fourth major tour in the past eight years. Prior tours have included performances in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

The Ireland tour will include an evening performance in Cork at the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit; participation as a choir in a morning worship service in Dublin at the historic St. Ann’s Church; and an evening concert at the Presbyterian Church of Malahide (the first Presbyterian church to be built in the Republic of Ireland). The final concert will be sponsored by the Enchiriadis Treis Choir of Malahide.

Blanchard said he is looking forward to the entire tour, but is especially excited about the performances in Dublin and Malahide.

For more information about vocal/choral events including Kellogg Community College singers, visit www.kellogg.edu/performart/vocal/events.html.

About the KCC Vocal Arts Area

The Kellogg Community College vocal arts area has four choral opportunities including the Kellogg Singers, the Branch County Community Chorus, Concentus Vocal Ensemble, and the Choral Union Touring Choir. The area also offers a yearly opera workshop, individualized voice lessons, master classes and student recitals. For more information, please visit http://www.kellogg.edu/performart or call 269-965-3931 ext. 2566.

About Kellogg Community College

Kellogg Community College was founded in 1956 by the Battle Creek Board of Education. It serves approximately 15,000 students yearly. The college, situated on sites in Battle Creek, Albion (Eastern Academic Center), Coldwater (Grahl Center), Hastings (Fehsenfeld Center) and Fort Custer Industrial Park (Regional Manufacturing Technology Center), offers nearly 100 pre-professional college/university transfer curricula, approximately 40 occupational associate degree programs aimed toward job preparation, and related training for apprenticeships.

The college is fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (www.ncahlc.org, 312-263-0456).

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PRESS RELEASE: Malahide Castle & Gardens sign historic agreement with Shannon Heritage

3 Jul

“20 further jobs to be created, bringing total jobs at the site to 200″

Up to 20 new jobs are to be created as a result of an historic agreement just signed between Malahide Castle & Gardens Ltd and Shannon Heritage in relation to the operation of Malahide Castle and Gardens visitor attraction, which are currently undergoing a €10.5m redevelopment. The agreement will see Shannon Heritage, Ireland’s largest operator of tourist attractions, expand its operations out of its traditional home in the Shannon Region for the first time ever.

Malahide Castle & Gardens Ltd is the company formed by Fingal County Council and charged by the Council to oversee the investment which is being made in the Demesne. The new agreement sees Shannon Heritage appointed as the operator of Malahide Castle and Gardens. They will have responsibility for the day to day running of the redeveloped castle including the new museum and interpretation area on the ground floor. The Company will also operate the new visitor centre in the old castle courtyard and the walled botanic gardens, which will open to the public for the first time this September along with the refurbished castle and the West Lawn area. The remainder of Malahide Demesne, including the parkland and public recreational facilities, will remain under the control of Fingal County Council.

In 2013 Shannon Heritage will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first medieval banquet held at Bunratty Castle, Co. Clare, its first visitor attraction. Since then the Company has expanded its portfolio and now operates seven day visitor sites and four evening entertainments in the Shannon Region, ranging from Celtic and Medieval eras to the 19th Century. Over the years the Company has become a market leader in the development and operation of heritage attractions.

During the peak season Shannon Heritage employ 280 at their current attractions. This figure is set to rise once the new Malahide staff are recruited.
Making the announcement PJ Howell, Chairperson of Malahide Castle and Gardens Limited said: “The €10.5 million redevelopment of Malahide Castle and Gardens will establish it as one of the major visitor attractions in the Country. In addition to the iconic castle and Talbot Botanical Gardens, we are adding a new restaurant and retail outlet which will be operated by AVOCA. We are delighted to be working with Shannon Heritage as operators of the visitor facility with their renowned marketing and management expertise.”

“Malahide Demesne has always offered a unique cultural experience and a natural tourist amenity for locals and visitors, and the redeveloped and expanded offering opening soon will make this somewhat undiscovered treasure a truly international visitor attraction,” Mr. Howell added.

Commenting on the announcement John Ruddle, Chief Executive, Shannon Heritage said: “We are delighted to be taking on the operation of Malahide Castle and Gardens which we see as a natural fit with our existing portfolio of day visitor attractions and evening entertainment venues around the Shannon Region. Fingal County Council is doing a superb job in the redevelopment of the castle and we look forward to building on this work to grow visitor numbers, not only to Malahide but to our entire portfolio. This will be achieved by cross marketing initiatives to increase visitors to all our attractions. We are currently recruiting staff for Malahide Castle and we would hope to recruit up to 20 staff on the operations side and in sales and marketing. Recruitment is already underway for certain positions and advertisements for further positions will appear shortly.”

The Malahide Castle and Gardens re-development is jointly funded by Fingal County Council and Fáilte Ireland, who have provided €6.75m and €3.75m respectively. In addition to the 20 jobs announced today, the project is supporting another 100 jobs in the construction phase, with an additional 80 jobs to be created by AVOCA when the scheme is completed.

Photo Caption
Ms. Mary Heffernan, Mr. Matt Mc Nulty, Mr. John Ruddle, Mr. Al Ryan, Mr. George Curran, Ms. Fionnuala May, Mr. PJ Howell, Mr. Kevin Halpenny, Ms. Noeleen Mc Hugh, Cllr. Peter Coyle, Ms. Marie Slattery and Mr. Sean Sloyan are pictured at Malahide Castle and Gardens during the announcement of the appointment of Shannon Heritage to manage the newly redeveloped tourism facilities at Malahide Demesne for Fingal County Council.

For further information please contact:

Florence White, Fingal County Council – 087 4141580/ 01 8905998
Nandi O’Sullivan, Shannon Development – 086 2371510/061 710259

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JCI Fingal Event: June 12th 2012

6 Jun

“How Generation C will be the most successful generation in Irish history” by Professor Damien McLoughlin

Professor Damien P. McLoughlin is Anthony C. Cunningham Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, Ireland. He has served on the faculty of the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, the Indian School of Business and in the executive education division at Harvard Business School. He has published over seventy papers on strategic marketing and his work is highly regarded and has been recognised with a number of domestic and international awards and distinctions. A regular media commentator.

In this TRAINING you will learn the inside track on how the GENERATION C phenomenon captures an avalanche of consumer generated ‘content’ that is building on the Web. People like you and me are now adding terabytes of new text, images, audio and video on an ongoing basis. You will learn how this generation will be the most SUCCESSFUL ever. You should attend this UNIQUE event to prepare a SUCCESSFUL future.

This event will also be an opportunity to hear more about great upcoming JCI community and business networking events happening in the Malahide area. We will also be discussing our college engagement plan Operation Grow 2012, which helped students get professional experience.

WHEN
Tuesday 12th June at 8pm

WHERE
Grand Hotel Malahide

WHY
Because you want to promote yourself and or your business You want to learn to network better and spend time doing something worthwhile for your life and the lives of those around you.

You want to be part of a Worldwide Federation of Young Leaders and Entrepreneurs. Because it’s FREE and it’s an opportunity not to be missed!!

SIGN ME UP!
It’s free to attend but please book in advance here

AND FINALLY
Connect with us on Facebook! We are eager to meet you.

What is JCI all about?

Junior Chamber International is a worldwide nonprofit organisation which contributes to the advancement of the global community. JCI provides young people in their 20s and 30s the opportunity to develop the leadership skills, social responsibility, entrepreneurship and fellowship necessary to create positive change. More than 200,000 members globally gain personally and professionally through training and self development programmes. This can be achieved through leading teams, organising events, increasing skills and networking. JCI Ialso provides opportunities to travel and meet fellow members from all parts of the globe. In 2011, members will attend events in Spain, France, and Belgium among others. All members are welcome to attend these conferences and training events. Bill Clinton, Kofi Anan, Al Gore and Bill Gates are all JCI Alumni. JCI Fingal have been active in north Dublin for the past 37 years. Visit http://www.jcifingal.com

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Art Classes with Richard Hearns; Starting Wednesday May 23rd

14 May

composition in purple and lemon by Richard HearnsArtist Richard Hearns is beginning a set of Painting Classes in Malahide. These classes will begin at St. Andrews Parish Centre, at the back of St. Andrews School on Church Road.

To start off he will offer weekly painting classes beginning with ‘Still Life’ this month on Wednesday 23rd of May and Friday 25th. These classes will continue each week on Wednesday and Friday evenings through to August 3rd from 7.30 to 9.30pm.

Cost are as Follows:

  • €50 for 2 lessons, 2hr each lesson,
  • or €500 for 22 Lessons taking you up to August 3rd. (Fresh Tea and Coffee will be provided free of charge.)

Then he plans to offer a Landscape Master Class or Intense Week long Workshop beginning on Monday August 20th. This week long intensive workshop on Landscape painting will be at a cost of €350 happening both in Studio & Outdoor (light lunch included on this workshop).

Richard’s Classes will cover the following themes:

  • Still Life (Classical and Contemporary)
  • Landscape (Outdoors and Studio based) as well as Portrait Painting
  • lessons on working from Photography.

Richard’s Teaching Methods will be based on the current Atelier system under which he studied in New York City with two renowned Master Painters, and will be based on his ’4 Step Developed Approach to Picture Making ‘- Placement, Background, Shadow, Light.

To Book a place on his art classes and workshops please email info@richardhearns.com or call 086 216 1135. Payment can be made by Cheque, Cash or Bank transfer.

If you would kindly pass along and share this information to any friends or colleagues you think would be interested in learning about creating great paintings with Richard Hearns it would be most appreciated.

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Ronan Goti – New Exhibition – ‘The Balance’

13 May

Dates: Saturday May 19th – Friday June 1st

Artist: Ronan Goti

Exhibition: ‘The Balance’

Ronan Goti’s ‘Seasons’ exhibition last year was a ‘showcase’ of what he can do as an artist with a mind to setting up new commissions with people. The show was a Huge success (almost thirty commissions were arranged). This years new show ‘The Balance’, is made up from these commissions, taken on loan from the owners with the intention of meeting people and talking through ideas for new paintings.

The exhibition opens in Malahide library on Saturday 19th May from 2pm to 5pm. The library closes on Sundays and the show runs until Friday 1st June. Ronan will be present for most of the time and will be painting while there.

Artist statement ; “My paintings attempt to show humanity in harmony with nature and also try to capture a balance that exists when the natural world is left to itself. My work reflects my views about how I would like the world to be. I observe the beauty around me and try to capture that in my paintings, so that others may experience what I see and feel”.

For all information about Ronan Goti’s art or to join his Newsletter see www.ronangoti.com.

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Open letters: New Malahide Garda Station Opening Hours

4 May

The following are two open letters, one by Sergeant Austin Cox and one by Senator Darragh O’Brien, on the situation with the new opening hours at Malahide Garda Station in effect since April 30th 2012.

Letter #1; by Austin Cox Sergeant in Charge

Following a recent Government decision concerning the closure of certain Garda Stations across the country I would like to dispel a number of concerns regarding the Garda Service at Malahide.

Significantly Malahide Garda Station has not been nominated for closure. However the Public Office at Malahide Garda Station will close to the Public between the hours of 9pm and 6am.

Effectively this will only mean that the Public will not be able to get forms stamped or make reports in person at Malahide Garda Station between 10pm and 6am. In addition the non-emergency phone lines at Malahide wil be diverted to Coolock Garda Station who will dispatch Malahide Garda Units to non-emergency calls. Emergency 999 calls will continue to be directed through the Garda Command & Control System to local patrols who will continue to police Malahide, Portmarnock, Seabury, Kinseally and Drynam areas as before.

The manpower allocation of Gardai at Malahide will not be affected and the Garda service will remain exactly the same. Gardai will continue to use Malahide Garda Station on a 24 hour basis and will continue to parade for duty and operate from there. In essence the only difference will be that the Garda deployed on desk duties from 10pm to 6am will be redeployed on active patrolling to augment the current policing of the Malahide Sub-District.

I trust this clarifies the situation.

Sergeant Austin Cox

Letter #2; by Senator Darragh O’Brien

A Chara,

I am writing to update you on the downgrading of Malahide Garda Station, further than what had previously been announced.

As of 9pm on April 30th the garda station in Malahide ceased to operate on a full-time basis. Over the past number of months I, along with my colleague Councillor Eoghan O’Brien, have been working hard to get the government to reverse this absurd decision. Hundreds of people have been involved in a community effort to get the government to see sense.

We were given assurances by local government TDs and Justice Minister Alan Shatter that cutting the opening hours of the station enhance the garda presence on the ground and that the only affect would be is that the garda station would not be open to the public after 10pm at night. I have now found out that the station is actually closing an hour earlier at 9pm and that all phone calls will be diverted to Coolock, seven miles away.

What is more shocking is that anyone detained by Malahide gardai after 9pm will now have to be transferred to Coolock garda station. This will involve the patrol car and three gardai accompanying the prisoner to Coolock. This flies in the face of the assurances given by government. I was assured that holding cells at Malahide Garda Station would still operate and prisoners would be detained there and not transported to Coolock or other stations.

When the decision to downgrade Malahide garda station was taken it was made clear that resources would not be diverted from the community, in fact we were told that there would an enhanced service. The safety of people Malahide, Portmarnock and Kinsealy is clearly not a priority for this government.

It is also worth remembering that Minister Shatter confirmed to me that there would be no financial benefit to this downgrade. It’s time the Government saw sense, realised its mistake and reverse the downgrade of Malahide Garda Station. I am encouraging everyone in the community to contact their local government TDs and make it clear that this is totally unacceptable.

Be assured that I will continue to monitor this situation. In the meantime if I can be of assistance on any matter please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards,

Darragh

Senator Darragh O’Brien

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