“The Legend of Luke Kelly” will run for one night only at An Táin Arts Centre next week.
The show, seeing the superb Chris Kavanagh take on many of late The Dubliners’ stars biggest hits, will take place on Thursday April 30th.
This is the first time this show has taken to the main stage and promises to be an evocative and enjoyable experience.
Tickets are available from the An Táin Box Office on 042 9332332 or at www.antain.ie. Tickets are: €20/ €18 (concessions).
Local residents have lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala against Louth County Council’s decision to grant conditional planning permission for five new houses to be built on Mill Street in Dundalk.
Thomas Agnew was given the go ahead for the quintet of 1.5 storey townhouses on land adjacent to The Garden House last November.
He also got permission for the renovation of an existing dwelling including the replacement of the existing Perspex roofed porch with a new porch with slate roof.
However, 11 objections have been made to An Bord Pleanala, with residents claiming the five new homes would result in “overdevelopment of the site”.
They say they would be “visually obtrusive” and point out there is an “inadequate provision of parking facilities” for such a development.
Dundalk IT’s Section of Music will host a contemporary showcase on Tuesday in The Spirit Store at 8pm.
Students shall perform an interesting and varied programme of pieces selected from popular music and jazz repertoire. Following on from the fabulous success of previous contemporary showcases staged in The Spirit Store last year, this event will also feature the first public performance by the newly formed DkIT Jazz Ensemble.
The music students at DkIT are taking this opportunity to take their work into the public domain at a local level. On the night, the music shall take the audience on a musical journey that begins with jazz standards selected from the American Songbook through to movie themes and the energetic material by rock artists such as Queen. This promises to be a music night not to be missed and entry is free.
Bellurgan Utd have been given the go ahead to carry out a series of upgrades to their pitch at Tom Flynn Park.
The club have secured conditional planning permission from Louth County Council to install floodlighting on the main pitch. This would involve the installation of eight 18m high steel columns with five lights on each.
They also hope to install a new ball stop behind pitches two and three. This would be 6m high and 18m wide and be located along the eastern boundary of the site.
Ceol Oirghialla will present a Choral Meditation in St Nicholas’ Church in Church Street next Thursday at 7pm.
The free event will see a short concert of reflective choral music being performed by the DkIT Chamber Choir, directed by Aisling Kenny.
All are welcome to attend.
Richie Towell celebrates his strike against Cork City last night
Dundalk moved five points clear at the top of the Premier Division table last night after coming from behind to beat Cork City 2-1 at Turner’s Cross.
Richie Towell was once again the star man for Stephen Kenny’s side as he scored either side of half-time to secure a huge win for the visitors.
Cork had gone in front through a deflected Billy Dennehy strike just after the half hour mark but Towell equalised in first-half stoppage time with a volley high to the roof of the net after the home side failed to deal with a corner kick.
He then secured the win three minutes into the second half by slotting home a penalty after David McMillan had been upended in the area.
Dundalk are next in action on Bank Holiday Monday May 4th when they host Bray Wanderers at Oriel Park.
Cross Cause founder Conor Hughes is seeking two drivers to take a truck going to orphanages in eastern Europe from Kent in England to Moldova.
The Blackrock man has made an appeal via The Anton Savage Show on Today FM.
Conor has a 40ft articulated truck in Kent full of humanitarian aid – food, medical supplies, building supplies, all of which have been donated by local businesses and people in the Dundalk area.
He had two volunteer drivers to take the truck to Moldova but because the truck arrived in Kent too late, the drivers have missed their window for time off.
So Conor now needs two drivers to take the truck to Moldova!
What you need to know:
If you’d like to help out contact Conor via the Beat It music shop in Blackrock by calling 042 9321700 or emailing beatitmusicblackrock@gmail.com
What the new trampoline park could look like if given the go ahead
A new trampoline park could be on the way to Dundalk.
Donal and Jacqueline Rankin have applied to Louth County Council for planning permission to convert part of the ground floor (935sqm) of Unit 19 at the North Link Retail Park to a trampoline park.
As part of their application they also hope to install associated signage and carry out minor internal alterations to the unit, which is currently part-occupied by AV Direct.
If given the go ahead, the trampoline park would likely resemble the Jumpzone facilities which operate in Sandyford and Santry in Dublin.
Dundalk RFC will be playing senior rugby for the first time in their history next season following a 22-10 victory over De La Salle Palmerston in Dublin today.
Johnny Williams was the hero for the Mill Road men on the day with a hat-trick of wins in what was arguably the side’s most famous ever result.
The visitors got off to a dream start when Williams got in for his first try in the 12th minute after a good break through a ruck by player/coach Ene Fa’atau.
Ultan Murphy missed the resultant conversion but with De La Salle missing penalties either side of that score, Dundalk would have been happy with their early 5-0 lead.
Williams then added a second try in the 27th minute, running in from the scrum after the Mill Road men had initially been held up over the De La Salle line. Murphy did manage to convert on this occasion, giving his well-supported side a 12-0 advantage.
The home side did respond with a penalty before the break to cut the gap by to nine points but a further miss on the restart meant they failed to build any real momentum.
Their cause then went from bad to worse when they had a player yellow carded, with Murphy converting the penalty to leave it 15-3.
Williams then completed his hat-trick minutes later, with Murphy converting to leave it 22-3.
The dream day took a slight sour turn for Williams when he as yellow carded in the 57th minute, with Fa’atau joining him in the sin bin two minutes later.
That allowed De La Salle cut the deficit courtesy of a penalty try with 18 minutes to go, with their fly half converting to leave it 22-10.
Despite Murphy missing a penalty with 13 men on the field for the visitors, Dundalk held out well in the closing stages to earn an historic promotion and cap a dream year for the club, who also won the Leinster League, All-Ireland Junior Cup and McGowan Cup this season.
The biggest prize of all though is a place in the All-Ireland League.
This year’s Louth Rose of Tralee selection night takes place in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dundalk on Sunday at 8pm.
We’ve put together a list of all the ladies involved and their sponsors below.
The ladies were at Dundalk Stadium last night with one of them hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner, Ciara Soraghan, in becoming the new Louth Rose.
Admission on the night is €20 or €5 for under 12s.
Shannon Fahey / St John of God’s Drumcar
Sarah McCarville / Victory’s Centra Dunleer
Helena Ní Mhaoiláin / Glen Gat House Dundalk
Paula McCreery / Lanney’s Supervalu Ardee
Niamh Tumilty / Truform Laser Dies
Sorayah McGeough / Caranmore Exports
Sharon Cummins / Aura Leisure Centre
Kim Murray / Energy Centre Drogheda
Sammy Myles / Homecare Ardee
Denisa Macari / Macari’s Pizzeria Drogheda
Aisling Nally / Scotch Hall Shopping Centre
Jenny Hanlon / Maria Goretti Foundation
Andrea Muckian / AIB Drogheda
Maeve Kavanagh / Euro Antiques
Miss Louth 2014 Fionnuala Short
Miss Louth 2014 Fionnuala Short’s modeling career has taken another step forward after she signed up with London-based BMA Models.
The Hackballscross women has been making a real name for herself in the last 12 months having also been signed to Assets Model Agency in Dublin and CMPR in Belfast.
Expect to see even more of Fionnuala in the weeks and months ahead.
Jenny Hanlon after being named the new Louth Rose last night
Carlingford woman Jenny Hanlon was named the new Louth Rose at a selection night in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dundalk last night.
The 19-year-old was the last of 14 contestants to take the stage but proved the most popular in succeeding last year’s winner, Ciara Soraghan.
Jenny was representing the Maria Goretti Foundation in Lordship and will now go through to the regional finals in Portlaoise, hoping to earn a place at the Rose of Tralee International Festival weekend at the end of summer.
Local singer/songwriter Sinead McNally has penned a new song for local bus company Matthews Coach Hire.
The Knockbridge woman has revealed she has spent much of the last year working with the team at Matthews’ Coaches to come up with the track ‘Matthews Take You There’.
The song will be launched at a special event celebrating Matthews’ 20th anniversary in business in the Crowne Plaza Hotel on May 7th between 5.30pm and 7.30pm and will be used as part of the company’s marketing campaign after that.
At the event there will be music, refreshments, celebrations, surprises and a chance to win a holiday from the Matthews.ie brochure.
It will be opened by Minister Ged Nash and will feature of the launch of the Matthews.ie Arts Showcase initiative, which Sinead’s song is a part of. This will be aimed at local artists in the Louth, Monaghan and East Meath areas.
Thomas Mulligan
Thomas Mulligan clinched the 2015 Dundalk Senior Scratch Cup, sponsored by Jeffers Sportsturf, at the weekend.
The Co Louth Golf Club member hit a six under par score of 137 in the 36-hole tournament, with his first round score of a seven under par 65 laying the foundations for the win as it left him five shots clear going into yesterday’s second round.
The 16-year-old came into the tournament as one of the favourites and it didn’t take him long to show why as he chipped in at the par four first for a birdie three. Further birdies at the par-five seventh and par three ninth saw him turn in 33.
He moved quickly to seven under courtesy of eagle threes at 10 and 12 and although he dropped his only shot of the round at the 15th he got it back on the 18th when, after a drive in excess of 300 yards, he left his chip stone dead for a tap-in birdie.
His 65 left him five shots clear of Athlone’s Thomas O’Connor and Dundalk’s Caolan Rafferty, who both shot two-under par 70s.
It proved to be a big enough cushion for the Bettystown man, who shot a one-over par 73 in his second round to finish on six-under.
He bogeyed the fourth and fifth on the front nine during his second round but birdies at three, six and nine moved him to eight-under for the tournament at the turn. However, bogeys at 10 and 11 brought him back to six under and finished on that number after a birdie at 12 was cancelled by a bogey on 16.
It gave the chasing field a glimmer of hope but O’Connor shot a three-over 75 in his second round while Rafferty couldn’t find the birdies he needed to close the gap and eventually carded a 71 for a two round total of 141, three under par, and three shots adrift of Mulligan.
Rafferty was actually pipped for second place by Mulligan’s clubmate Gerard Dunne who followed a disappointing 74 with a super bogey-free second round of 67 that featured birdies on three, six, seven, 12 and 15.
Cellulac will be based at the former Harp Lager brewery, now the Great Northern Distillery
Irish biotechnology firm Cellulac is to invest €27m into redeveloping its plant in Dundalk over the course of the next three years.
The company is leasing a 6.8-acre site from John Teeling’s Irish Whiskey Company at what is now the Great Northern Distillery. Cellulac is to retrofit the facility for the production of barrel plastics.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Cellulac chief executive Gerry Brandon said that the company was set to begin phase one of the revamp in the first quarter of 2016, which he estimates will cost roughly €2m.
The second phase, set to commence in 2017, is estimated to cost €25m.
Mr Brandon said that the first phase will allow the firm to ramp up production at the facility initially to 20,000 tonnes a year of an acid used to produce biodegradable plastics for export.
He said that construction of the second phase was set to begin at the end of 2017 and run into 2018, and said that by the time it was completed the plant will be producing approximately 100,000 tonnes a year.
He added that the retrofit would add about 30 jobs to the firm, which employs 19 people.
He said: “Most jobs will be created in phase one, where there will be about 36 new jobs. During phase two there will probably be work for another 50 people in construction and then production in the plant will become automated, we will have just under 50 people working full-time.”
He said that in total in equity and grants the firm has received roughly €16m so far.
He added that the company would look at its funding options within the next 12 months.
Cellulac recently signed a signed a five-year partnership deal with Dutch waste manager Pharmafilter worth €35m.
Source: Irish Independent
Aaron Trainer with his second place trophy from the Under 12s event in Bohermeen on Sunday
While the changeable weather may not suggest that summer has arrived, Thursday last saw the start of The Bike Station Summer Cycling League.
The event commenced under glorious sunshine and saw the race head out to Dunleer and back, a relatively short starter. As per the new format introduced in 2014 there were two separate events and in the first race it came down to the wire with the final group only being caught with 1km to go.
Cuchulainn’s Val Gargan produced an impressive kick to take the win from the large group. Close behing Val in the fast sprint was Eve McCrystal, showing all the men a clean pair of heels to take the runner up spot, with Ray O’Shuaghnessey in 3rd.
In the second race again the three groups came together to contest the sprint and it was Benny Smith of Killeavy Cycling Club who took the win ahead of Ardee’s Alex McDonnell, with another Killeavy man Damien Philips in third. This week the league continues on the Carlingford Road, for the deceptively difficult Greenore and back route.
The mountain bike league moved into the second round with the first open mountain event, which saw a record entry of 42 riders. The riders tackled a 6.5km lap and after lap one Ray O`Shaughnessey led from last week’s victor Aiden McDonald and Brendan Callaghan in third. These positions remained until the finish with Ray taking the win. Round three sees the league return to Bellurgan Park.
An open race was held in the County Meath village of Bohermeen on Sunday. The main event was an 80 mile affair with Dundalk’s Bryan McCrystal in third position and Cuchulainn’s Liam Dolan also in the winning break coming home in 7th. In the support race Alan Bingham was fourth.
Eve McCrystal continued her great run of form by taking her second win in as many weeks in the women’s race. In the under 12s event Cuchulainn’s Aaron Trainer was an impressive second place, having come agonisingly close to his first win.
The IVCA racing season also got underway in Newbridge, Co Kildare and Cuchulainn as always had a large contingent taking part. Best placed was Enda McKeown who took third place in race two, with team mate Aidan Delaney right behind in the main bunch.
Dundalk singer/songwriter David Keenan has released a new single called ‘The Bike Sheds’
David, who earned global recognition earlier this year for his performance of El Paso in the local Maxi Taxi, performed the track for Apple Tree TV.
Check it out above.
Thousands have died and homes destroyed following Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal
A Dundalk man is amongst eight Irish people missing in Nepal following the powerful earthquake that devastated the country on Saturday, leaving thousands dead.
Ciaran Sands, a 55-year-old who now resides in Dublin, is amongst those unaccounted for following the 7.9 magnitude earthquake.
The Sands family confirmed today that he was missing and no contact had been heard from him.
A statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs said: “Following Saturday’s earthquake in Nepal, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is now aware of some 100 Irish citizens in the affected region. Contact has been established with many of these citizens. Communications lines have been affected so the process of contacting citizens is ongoing and will take some time.”
Maria Doyle with her victorious class
There were celebrations in the CBS Primary School in Chapel Street last Friday after Maria Doyle’s third class were notified that they had come first in an All-Ireland history competition.
The local school came out victorious in the ‘A Decade of Centenaries” category in the competition run by the Department of Education and Skills.
The project was entitled “The First World War – A Local History” and the project included several stories from individual children’s ancestors and their roles in the war, as well as research the pupils carried out on other local aspects including the sinking of the S.S. Dundalk on 14th October 1918.
Commenting on the win, the class teacher Ms Doyle said: “The pupils were thrilled when the news came through and as their teacher, I’mm delighted that their interest and work has been acknowledged.
They will receive their prize from the Minister for Education and Skills at an award ceremony in UCC on 14th May,” she said.
Martin Naughton
Martin Naughton, the Dundalk-born president of Glen Dimplex, is likely to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of England as a reward for his philantrophy, entrepreneurship and work to help bring peace to the North.
That’s according to a report in yesterday’s Sunday Business Post which speculates that the former De La Salle student could join a small group of Irish businessmen, including Michael Smurfit and Tony O’Reilly, to receive a knighthood.
Naughton built up Glen Dimplex from employing ten people in 1973 to one of the world’s major manufacturers of domestic appliances, with operations in Dunleer and Newry.
It is Ireland’s largest privately-owned manufacturing business, employing 10,000 people worldwide in 22 manufacturing facilities, with a turnover in excess of €1.5 billion.
Its brands include Morphy Richards, Dimplex Stoves and Belling.
Naughton now lives in Stackallen, Co Meath and has an estimated fortune of more than €2 billion.
