The Irish Times – Saturday, April 23, 2011
CARL O’BRIEN

YOUGHAL HAS moved a step closer to obtaining a long-awaited marina following Cork County Council’s decision to invite tenders to develop a hotel and berthing area for boats in the town.

The local authority is investigating the possibility of either selling or leasing publicly owned land a short distance from the town centre to facilitate a new development.

A marina has long been regarded as a key development in breathing new life into the town and helping to fulfil its tourism potential. However, there has been little progress on the issue over the past two decades or more.

Informed sources say that at least two developers have already expressed interest in developing a hotel and conference centre, along with a marina, at the site.

The town’s development plan aims for a 150- to 200-bed hotel in the area, along with a conference centre and leisure resort. The development should also include a marina in the area west of the sea wall known as the “slob bank”.

The council says tenders to develop the site should comply with this development plan and contain details of developers’ financial status and ability to deliver the proposed project.

Local Fine Gael councillor Barbara Murray yesterday said the move was a very positive development for the town.

Info: Carl O’Brien/The Irish Times – Saturday, April 23, 2011

 

Maps Info: http://www.plm.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=40:plm-projects&id=78:youghal-marina&Itemid=85

Hunt for $1 trillion worth of Irish oil to begin

By Dan Buckley

Saturday, April 23, 2011

THE largest concerted oil and gas drilling campaign ever carried out off the coast of Ireland will begin this summer in search of reserves which a government study has suggested could be worth as much as $1 trillion at current prices.

A combination of higher oil and gas prices, hugely improved survey and drilling techniques and the introduction in Britain of a North Sea oil tax has renewed interest in Ireland as an exploration site for domestic and foreign investors.

The prospect of commercial finds have been described by industry watchers as the brightest for decades.

Irish company Providence Resources is one of several Irish companies who are leading the exploration.

It has just secured a rig for its well programme in the Celtic Sea off the south coast, while Lansdowne Oil and Gas have begun to use sophisticated 3D survey equipment to pinpoint potential commercial fields.

Providence will shortly begin its drilling in the Celtic Sea’s Barryroe field which forms part of an ambitious $500 million project that will see it sink 10 wells in two years.

Lansdowne Oil and Gas, one of Providence’s partners in Barryroe, is also targeting fields in the Celtic Sea, hoping to extract 118 million barrels of oil or gas from the Amergin, Rosscarbery and Middleton licence areas.

The primary objective of Providence’s 2011 drilling programme is to further study the Barryroe field, which is believed to hold at least 60 million barrels of oil. Barryroe lies directly below the Seven Heads gas field and has been successfully tested at flow rates of between 1,300 and 1,600 barrels of oil per day from three appraisal wells.

Improved extraction procedures are expected to push that to 1,800 barrels a day, making it a commercially viable enterprise.

Providence operates Barryroe in partnership with San Leon Energy and Lansdowne and has hired the semi-submersible rig, the GSF Arctic III, for a minimum 54-day period with options to extend.

According to Davy Stockbrokers, the acquisition of the rig is significant.

“This announcement is hugely important for the group,” said a Davy spokesperson.

“The acquisition of a rig, and the certainty of a drilling programme in 2011, is an important part of the new strategy being pursued.

“In our opinion, the change in Providence’s strategy to become a multi-well explorer is a very positive development.”

While improving technology is making a huge difference, the tax introduced in Britain is prompting exploration companies to reconsider Ireland where taxes on oil and gas are lower.

Aimed at profiteering major oil companies, the tax has been hitting the small and mid-size explorers. Some of the larger operators are also rethinking their capital expenditure plans, among them Statoil, which has put its British North Sea investment on hold.

Exploration

* The Irish offshore is largely under-explored, with 3% of the area under licence.

* Only 125 exploration wells have been drilled, against 1,000 exploration wells in the Norwegian sector and 2,000 in British offshore.

* The Irish offshore fiscal terms were reviewed by Indecon in a report to former minister Eamon Ryan three years ago. Indecon said the tax level of 25% was broadly appropriate to the level of risk in offshore Ireland, but recommended 35% in the event of very profitable fields. The minister raised this to 40%.

* Major discoveries in offshore Ireland would have an effect on the markets’ view of Ireland’s economic prospects, lowering the cost of borrowing and easing immediate financial pressures.

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, April 23, 2011

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/hunt-for-1-trillion-worth-of-irish-oil-to-begin-152395.html#ixzz1KRW7QZj0

 

Sinn Féin Easter Rising Commemoration March 2011

Assembly outside the Devonshire Arms Hotel, Youghal at 10.45, Sunday 24th April 2011, and march through the town behind the Fife and Drum band to the republican plot at North Abbey cemetery. Guest speaker at this year’s commemoration is the newly elected Sinn Féin TD for East Cork Sandra McLellan.

Enjoying The Craic In Cork

by Nigel Thompson, Daily Mirror 16/04/2011

STANDING in the garden of his seaside home in Ireland, Sir Walter Raleigh lit up his pipe and took a deep drag… only to be hit full in the face by a bucketful of water.
No, it wasn’t an early anti-smoking lobby trying to nip a nasty habit in the bud, but Sir Walter’s servant, who had never seen tobacco before and thought his master was on fire!
The Elizabethan explorer also brought the first potatoes to Ireland, which probably made him more popular there than later occupants of Myrtle Grove, in the historic town of Youghal, east Cork.
Oliver Cromwell took the house as his winter quarters while he tried to quell the rebellious locals and infamously hung captured rebels from Trinity Gate, now the town’s landmark clock tower.

 

History is soaked into the fabric of this ancient town, from the Bronze Age settlers, the Danes and Celtic nobility, to its role as a major port and rebirth as a tourist resort.
Climb up the long flights of steps by the side of the clock tower and you will reach the old town walls, still pretty much intact, which once kept out invaders. The town has retained its charm to such an extent that it was used as a location in director John Huston’s 1956 movie Moby Dick, to represent 19th Century US fishing port Nantucket.
High up on the hill overlooking the town, the view is breathtaking. On one side, the mouth of the beautiful River Blackwater, on the other the wide sweep of Youghal Bay, with a seemingly endless expanse of beach which stretches almost to within touching distance of Capel Island on the western tip.

 

Of course, this is the Irish Riviera, not the Cote d’Azur, and that sparkling sea is not exactly Mediterranean temperature. But the palm trees which thrive in gardens all over town are a hint that this part of the south coast has a special dispensation where the weather is concerned.
There are locals here looking young on the strength of a daily dip.
Despite the presence of a Baywatch-style lifeguard, the culture is still more Dangerous Book for Boys than nanny state!
When it’s rough, the kids are out on bodyboards, playing chicken with the rocks. When the tide’s in and the waves are crashing over the sea wall, they are running about trying (not very hard) to dodge a soaking from the spray. When the mackerel are in, they are on the quayside with their fishing rods.

 

Last summer, we went for three weeks without a drop of rain and it was almost a disappointment. Normally, the arrival of the Irish “mist” is a wonderful excuse to stay in bed until the pubs open for a comforting glass of the black stuff – that’s Murphy’s round here, brewed down the road in Cork, with the chance of a mystifying but exciting game of hurling or Gaelic football on the bar telly.
When the sun reappears, there are plenty of other attractions nearby to explore. Heading east out of town, just across the border in County Waterford, is the picturesque village of Ardmore, easily located by its tall and ancient round tower.
A religious hermit called St Declan settled here in the 5th or 6th Century – some say even before St Patrick – and the remains of his church still occupy a prime location overlooking the bay. Take a walk along the cliffs before returning to the elegantly rebuilt Cliff Hotel for a delicious lunch.

Strike out west from Youghal towards Cork, turn left at the village of Castlemartyr and you come to Ballycotton, another impossibly picturesque bay.
Afternoon tea on the sun-drenched terrace of the Bayview Hotel gives you a stunning view of the fishing boats moored in the harbour and the lighthouse on Ballycotton island.
A little way down the road in Shanagarry is the famous Ballymaloe House hotel and cookery school, where the Allen family has established an international reputation for fine cuisine using local produce. Book well in advance for the Friday-night buffet, with a daunting array of seafood ranging from salmon to sea urchins.
Elegant rooms are hung with original modern art and friendly staff tempt you with second helpings and tasters of the dishes you didn’t choose.
But you don’t have to leave Youghal to enjoy the highest standard of cuisine. Aherne’s, on the main street, is a traditional pub which has expanded into a town house hotel and restaurant. The Fitzgibbon brothers, John and head chef David, have created a great ­seafood-rich menu in the restaurant, with equally high quality bar meals available in the pub section.

Across the road, you’ll find The Nook pub, where three times a week local musicians serve up traditional music from singalong ­­­­foot tappers to haunting ballads.
If you need to work off the calories there are some excellent golf courses within easy reach – Youghal’s own is high up on a hill overlooking the bay.
For shopping, head into Cork where the recent City of Culture modernisation programme hasn’t quite obliterated the city’s ramshackle charm.
If the Irish mist does set in, there’s no better place to escape than the Jameson’s whiskey distillery in Midleton, a cathedral town on the road to Cork. This is the home of the famous Irish tipple and the tour of the old distillery buildings, now superseded by a modern production plant, is fascinating.
At the end of the tour be sure to volunteer for the tasting test, where you try to distinguish glasses of Jameson’s, Scotch whisky and American bourbon.
For a special treat, buy yourself a bottle of Midleton Very Rare, a blend of whiskeys of differing ages selected by master distiller Barry Crockett, who signs each bottle sold in its beautiful wooden box. It’s upward of £100 a bottle, but tastes like ambrosia – the perfect way to remember a visit to God’s own country.

 

 

EILEEN & WILL MCGOLDRICK are currently holding a photographic exhibition at their gallery on North Main St. Youghal. The exhibition is entitled ‘Celebrating Youghal’ with images of the town and the surrounding area taken by photographer Will McGoldrick. The photographs are complimented by beautiful paintings of Youghal scenes done in different media by Eileen McGoldrick. Will and Eileen’s family traveled specially from Oxford, England, to be at the opening night which was attended by many friends and admirers of their work.

If you haven’t yet visited the gallery, please come along and see the wonderful images and paintings. Maybe you need a portrait, or a piece of Fine Art, or a simple, but quality image of Youghal.
McGoldrick Art & Photography will also host art lessons weekly, on Mondays. Two sessions, managed by Eileen, will cater separately for children and adults. Classes are open to all levels from total novices to budding Van Gogh’s! “It will be tailored totally towards the nurturing and developing the abilities of each individual,” says Eileen.

Details:  (024) 90494; 087-22865921; 087-4116483. Web: www.mcgoldrickart.com;  email: mcgoldrickart@gmail.com

Click on image below to enlarge – Pics: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com | Email: news@youghalonline.com

Youghal Coastguard training with the Irish Coast Guard helicopter

A training excerise involving Youghal Coastguard, volunteers from the nearby coastguard stations and the Irish Coast Guard Search & Rescue helicopter from Waterford took place at Pilmore on Saturday 16th April 2011.

The volunteers first prepared the landing site and after the helicopter shutdown were given a ground briefing by the crew.

Conditions on scene were excellent for the exercise and a small crowd of public gathered in the area to observe. The coastguard teams were shown demonstrations on how to approach the helicopter and how to winch a casualty to safety in different weather conditions. A joint debrief was held and the exercise was found to have been a great success, with both sides gaining a greater appreciation of each other’s capabilities.

The local Youghal Coastguard Unit would like to thank St. Ita’s GAA Club for the use of their grounds in Pilmore which facilitated the landing of the Search & Rescue helicopter.

Click on the image below to enlarge and see Youghal Coastguard training with the Irish Coast Guard helicopter.

A new sluice gate has been installed adjacent to the old sluice at Ballyvergan bog, Youghal. The sluice plays an integral part of the water flow system at the bog. It has a gate hinged at the top. When pressure is from one side, the gate is kept closed, a pressure from the other side opens the sluice when a threshold pressure is surpassed.
Click on the video below to see the new sluice in operation:

Last Tuesday ( April 19th 2011) the sluice gate was opened to release excess rainwater into the sea.  The rainfall from the nearby hills of East Cork flows into the bog which leads to flooding.  The sluice gates are used to environmentally control water levels and flow rates in Ballyvergan bog and the surrounding areas. They are interconnected with the water channels that crisscross the privately owned lands above and below the railway track.

The Youghal to Cork railway line cuts right through the Ballyvergan and Summerfield bogland. The culverts underneath the railway track channel the excess water above the railway line to flow naturally downstream to the sluice gates and out into the open sea. The old sluice collapsed in a storm and has not functioned properly for a number of years.

 

YOUGHAL LABOUR TOWN COUNCILLOR TOMMY O’CONNELL wants to explore the possibility of drift net fishing for salmon being restored on the Blackwater. The veteran politician has asked his party’s Junior Minister for Technology and Innovation, Sean Sherlock to seek a feasibility study into salmon numbers. He says Deputy Sherlock has agreed to discuss the matter with the councillor and local fishermen during a planned visit to the town in the near future.

Following a gradual phasing out process by governments over several years, the FF/PD coalition finally banned drift net salmon fishing on the estuary in 2006. The ruling body decreed that declining salmon stocks necessitated the move, although it was and remains pertinent to query as to whether large, international-registered fishing vessels operating beyond the mouth of the harbour were the root cause of the situation.

In any case, a traditional pursuit that had once enjoyed a six monthly season disappeared, while the tourism-packaged industry of salmon angling along the river has thrived.

Now, Cllr O’Connell says he is “reliably informed” that salmon stocks are revitalised. “But I’m not taking hearsay as verbatim,” he explains, “and that is why I would like to see a feasibility study undertaken to assess the situation.”

 

BACK TO THE FUTURE

In looking to the future, the councillor has fond regard for the past. “Through most out the 20th century, drift net fishing provided huge employment in Youghal and would have reared hundreds of families,” he reflects. “It was self-sustaining and didn’t need any much investment, let alone government funding. It also gave impetus to supportive industries such as wood merchants, boat builders, drapery shops and of course fish sellers and restaurants.”

As Youghal struggles under the weight of factory closures and the general recession, Cllr O’Connell feels the time has never been more appropriate to bring the past into the future. “It’s said now that Youghal’s future is tourism,” he proposes. “I can tell you there is nothing more pleasing to the eye of a visitor than to see small salmon boats bobbing on a river on a summer’s day, or fishermen mending their nets on a calm quayside with the river and the distant hills in the background.”

Amidst the initiative however, Deputy Sherlock failed to respond to inquiries as to whether he would be seeking a feasibility study, last week.

 

 

“An Evening of Fashion, Style & Entertainment” was held in the KGK Hall in Knockanore on Friday ( April 8th 2011) to a capacity audience. This night was organised and hosted by Colour, Style & Image Coach – Paula Goulding. Paula from Riverdance fame, RTE’s Celebrity Jigs n’ Reels, Dancing thru the Ages and most recently RTE’s Four Live. Over the past couple of weeks this fast became the hot ticket in town and not surprisingly with the elite line-up.

The evening commenced with a powerful ‘Aida’ number, ‘My Strongest Suit’ sung with the verve and range that this song calls for by Caroline Fraher.

The host, Paula recovering from a broken bone in her foot made her way to the stage to address the audience and introduce Pascal Scott (the familiar face of Sgt Dick O’ Toole from Killnaskully) as the patron for Leukaemia, Friends-of-Leukaemia-Patients-Cork to say a few words.

It went from one familiar face to another with her next introduction to the compére chair of Gerard Byrne (aka Malachy from ‘Fair City’). Gerard seemed to have the audience as much at ease as if they were in their own living rooms!

If style was what you were looking for then it was in abundance in the KGK Hall.. All of the outfits were specifically chosen for each model to suit their colours and their shape.  This wasn’t any regular fashion show.  The models, all colour and style clients of Paula’s gave their time and as Paula said “gave up their confidentiality agreement’ for the night! All hands were on deck to help raise money for the KGK and Leukaemia.

Boutiques showcasing on the night were; Touch of Class – Youghal, Signet – Dungarvan, Sheenas – Dungarvan, Chez de Paor – Lismore and Bijou Bridal – Tramore. There was the added help of haidresser, Cathy O’ Neill on the night who transformed the girls’ hair for the 2nd act.

There were demonstrations and tips from Paula herself who even got the crowd involved to check their ‘bone scale’ to help them depict what size accessories and patterns to wear.

The rhythm of this night didn’t dip once with performances from The On Your Toes Dance Academy, Clonmel, Caroline Fraher as vocalist for the evening and what a finale from Dancing Thru The Ages. Their ‘Smooth Criminal’ number, innovative yet innately Irish in style ended the night on a high note.

 

The stops really were pulled out for this fundraising night.  Top class entertainment and in a top class facility in the KGK Hall in Knockanore. “I may just sleep for a week after this” Paula joked but this was a night well worth the preparation that went into it.

Paula would like to thank all involved in the night and especially the KGK committee for all of their help. “Also thank you to the beautiful models, the stage manager for the night, Mark fitzgerald. Mark O’Brien, Gerard Byrne, all of the performers, Mum(Jennifer) and to everybody who came out and supported”.

 

 

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Cork’s roller derby league hosts Easter fun day

CORK’S only roller derby league will hold a family fun day at TouchWood SkatePark on Patrick’s Quay on Thursday, 21 April to raise funds for Cork’s only all-female roller derby club.

Families with tiny tots and teens are invited to join Rebel County Rollers for the Easter Egg Roll from 1pm for music, food, prizes, oodles of family fun and of course, skating.

There will be plenty of clowning around too with the Rebel County Rollers skate-clowns and circus acts.

Activities will include an egg hunt and skating games, with each participating child winning lots of chocolate. A DJ will play throughout the event and Cork indie band, KVX, will kick off after the games at 6.30pm.

This is just one of the many fundraising events held by the Rebel County Rollers, which is run on an entirely voluntary basis by women in Cork. Rebel County Rollers (RCR) is a not-for-profit, skater-owned, skater-operated roller derby league and the only structured league in southern Ireland today.

Skating fun begins to roll at 1pm, with events continuing until 8pm. Entry prices vary according to the ages, with admission at just €2 for children under five and €8 for under 18s. Admission for adults is just €4 and an all day family pass is just €20 for one adult and three children.

For more information, check out Rebel County Rollers or TouchWood Skatepark on Facebook.

Further press queries to:

Christine Allen – Rebel County Rollers – email pr@rebelcountyrollers.org.

Who are Rebel County Rollers

Rebel County Rollers (RCR) followed Dublin and Belfast and laced up skates in Cork in July 2010. They remain Cork’s only league with around 40 members so far and are part of the global fellowship of powerhouse female derby skaters.

Roller Derby is an all-female, full-contact sport played on quad roller skates. The skaters run the league on a voluntary basis.

So, what is roller derby? Points are scored as jammers (1 sprinting skater from each team) lap the pack (4 blockers from each team), in an anti-clockwise direction on an oval track scoring points as they successfully pass opposing blockers. It’s an exhilarating game to watch as jammers and blockers are hit with shoulders and hips and knocked out of bounds.

It’s high speed, addictive for skaters and a thrilling experience for spectators and while there is no doubt that this is an athletic sport, most of the girls will tell you that they never competed in team sports before!

The league will take part in the Team Ireland try-outs in Dublin on the June bank holiday weekend, in the hope of having Cork members carry the tri-colour at the first ever Roller Derby World Cup, which will be hosted by Toronto Roller Derby in December 2011.

Rebel County Rollers train three times a week, at Blackrock Hurling Club and Mayfield Sports Complex and are planning to host their first bout in Cork in summer 2011.

Our RCR members include members in their late teens to those over thirty, as well as coaches and refs, some of which are male.

The Cork league is flat track (as opposed to a banked track). We are local mothers, nurses, students, teachers, graphic designers, artists, dressmakers, journalists and shop assistants.

RCR is structured so that every member has the chance to be involved in the organisation, both on and off the track. We welcome women of all shapes, sizes, ages, abilities, backgrounds, professions and skill levels.

The governing body of our sport is the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and by adhering to their rules, RCR is positioned for international inter-league competition. Roller derby is a full contact sport, and the RCR requires our players to train and practice several times a week.

For more information, email rebelcountyrollers@gmail.com.

The short history of roller derby

In early 1935, during the Great Depression, a man called Leo Seltzer read an article in magazine that said ninety-three percent of Americans roller-skated at one time or another during Literary Digest their lives.

He invented Roller Derby, which was originally a long distance track race. Seltzer soon realised that the most exciting moments of the game occurred when skaters collided on the track. The earlier versions of roller derby involved elbowing, body checks and fights.

The sport peaked in the late forties and fifties, drawing as many as 30 to 40 thousand fans per bout and the hysteria continued through the sixties and seventies until the expense of travel and competition from other entertainment forms killed off the larger leagues in the late 1970s.

Since then, Roller Derby has remained dormant – until 2001.

Roller derby revival

The all-female derby revival began in 2001 in Austin, Texas and has been gathering speed ever since. A new generation of derby skaters still pays homage to the theatrical tradition of the past but skaters play by real rules with real penalties and real referees. There is nothing staged about modern roller derby.

Modern day roller derby is a fast paced, hard-hitting, explosive sport that combines the spirit of Seltzer’s vision with genuine athleticism.

What are bouts?

A bout is a one-hour game between two teams. There could be one or more bouts at a bout, with bout commentary and half-time entertainment provided.

Derby in Cork will soon witness bouts between national leagues such as Dublin and Galway, as well as Belfast, European leagues and leagues from the home of the derby revival, the USA.

We have already had visiting skaters from Dublin, England and the US and many excited responses to invitations to visit from leagues throughout the globe.

The league is entirely voluntary and skaters pay all costs of training.

The rules according to the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), the international governing body of women’s flat track roller derby. (We are in the process of applying for our minimum skills test for membership).

http://wftda.com/faq

And finally, this little clip explains the game well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdErcLIxGWc