Local company uses Town Hall for training

Tony Gahan, left, with SCB Services operatives and water-jetting trainer Gerald McDonald.

A safety course held this week in Kilcullen Town Hall has shown another line of potential for the facility, writes Brian Byrne.

Organised by Tony Gahan for employees of his Structural Concrete Bonding Services, the two-day course was geared to teaching how to safely operate hydrodemolition water-jetting equipment which uses high-pressure water to break and cut concrete.

The course was given by Yorkshire-based Gerald McDonald of Hydroblast, whose company is a registered training provider of the Water Jetting Association and accredited by City & Guilds to train operatives to the latest water jetting industry standards.

SCB Services was founded in 1980 and specialises in concrete and masonry repairs, structural waterproofing and leak sealing, sprayed concrete, brick refurbishment and pressure pointing. Its client base includes local government and State bodies, contractors, consulting engineers and clients throughout the industrial sector.

"Traditional methods of breaking up concrete involve using Kango hammers and brute force, with a lot of noise and dust," Tony Gahan says. "Using water-jetting is much more efficient, and doesn't damage other structures."

Hydroblast is based in Northallerton in North Yorkshire.

Tony Gahan says the Town Hall/Heritage Centre has all the necessary facilities for such courses, and there could well be similar business available.


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'Untouchable' in Kilcullen tonight is 'unmissable'

A film showing in Kilcullen Town Hall tonight chronicles the friendship that develops between a wealthy quadriplegic, Philippe, and his carer, Driss, an ex-convict.

'Untouchable' is a comedy, based on a true story. The friendship between the two men develops after the millionaire's paragliding accident. The Senegal-born ex-convict becomes his carer despite stealing a Fabergé egg during his job interview.

It stars François Cluzet and Omar Sy. Nine weeks after its release in France on 2 November 2011, it became the second biggest box office hit in that country. In France, the film won the César Award for Best Actor for Omar Sy, and garnered seven further nominations for the César Awards, including the César Award for Best Film.

Drinks reception 7.30pm, movie at 8pm, admission €10.

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SEAI Show, save energy, save money

Businesses of any size who want to reduce their energy costs or use more sustainable forms of energy should put the date of the SEAI Energy Show in their work calendars, writes Brian Byrne.

The show will be held on Wednesday, 27 March and Thursday, 28 March 2019. it features 150 exhibitors of energy saving and renewable energy technologies and services. There are also over 20 expert seminars and workshops.

Last year, almost 4,500 people attended the SEAI Energy Show and, according to exhibitors, over €90m worth of business was won at the show.

Case studies provided will include a small manufacturer with savings of €2,300 a month due to lighting improvements.

Details of how a manufacturer with 50 employees saved €30,000 per year following energy efficiency upgrades will also be discussed, as will a service provider to the Heating, Ventilation & Air conditioning, and Electrical and Controls industry is saving 75pc in their annual energy use.

Tools available to businesses include an Energy Bill Analysis – a quick way to save money, as well as informal networking opportunities.

More information on the SEAI website.


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Final night for GAA OT walk

The final night of Kilcullen GAA's Operation Transformation walk takes place tonight, writes Liam Cronin.

The floodlights at Kilcullen GAA Training Pitch — across from Kilcullen Astro Pitch — will be lit up from 7pm–8.30pm. Registration at 7pm, No 1 Fitness Club will do the warm-up from 7.15pm onwards.

Drinks and refreshments will be served after the walk at 8.30pm and during the walk where needed. Make sure to have your walking gear with bright hi-viz vest/clothing at all times when walking. If you don’t have hi-viz Kilcullen GAA will provide. Please note NO dogs allowed on the walk for health and safety reasons.

Thanks to Nick Egan who supplied the Ballygowan water over the six weeks, Beata from No 1 Fitness for the warmup exercises and everyone who took part in the walk over the time.

We will be back again in January 2020 with a new programme of walks, but in the meantime keep up the walking!

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Free wellbeing workshops

A series of Wellbeing Workshops are being held in Camphill Grangebeg over coming weeks, writes Brian Byrne.

The events are free and are being facilitated by Elaine Sammon MIACP. They are for over-18s only and booking can be made at 087 7723811. All sessions begin at 7.30pm.

The first one is 26 February, on the theme of The Building Blocks of Mental and Emotional Wellbeing.

On 5 March it will be on Stress, Anxiety, Anger and Sadness.

The 12 March session will look at Negative Thinking and How to Deal with It, and on 26 March there will be a talk from John Faddin of GROW.

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Woodbine a finalist in Indie Bookshop of the Year 2019

Woodbine Books has been selected as a Regional Finalist in the Independent Bookshop of the Year competition in the British Book Awards 2019, writes Brian Byrne.

The Kilcullen bookshop is in the Irish Region and up against Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, The Blessington Bookstore, and The Maynooth Bookshop. The regional winners will be announced on 22 March 2019.

Woodbine was the Irish Region winner in 2018. A Customer Testimonial Form is open now for customers to say to the judges why Woodbine should win.

Across the other regions of the competition there are another 44 bookshops in contention with the Irish ones for the overall award, which will be announced on 13 May in London.

Woodbine Books was established in September 2016 by Dawn Behan and Aidan Cunnane. In addition to the normal business of selling books, the operation has shown the importance of the independent bookshop sector, which can provide a more interesting stock than the chains that are often obsessed with the best-seller end of the market.

Dawn and her team also organise regular events to promote books and reading, such as the recent Harry Potter night and the Johnny Magory afternoon last weekend (pictured above).

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Community Games swim gala on Friday

Kilcullen area Community Games swim gala will be held this Friday, 22 February, in the Defence Forces pool at the Curragh Camp, writes Papillon Rabbitte. Registration is at 7.30pm and the competition starts at 8pm sharp.

Competitors must be able to swim one length of the pool unaided.
There is a €3 charge per child(€5 per family).

Age Categories:
Boys & Girls U/8 Over 6 1 length 25m Freestyle
Boys & Girls U/10 Over 8 1 length 25m Freestyle
Boys & Girls U/10 Over 8 1 length 25m Backstroke
Boys & Girls U/12 Over 10 2 lengths 50m Freestyle
Boys & Girls U/12 Over 10 2 lengths 50m Breaststroke
Boys & Girls U/12 Over 10 2 lengths 50m Backstroke
Boys & Girls U/14 Over 12 2 lengths 50m Freestyle
Boys & Girls U/14 Over 12 2 lengths 50m Backstroke
Boys & Girls U/14 Over 12 2 lengths 50m Breaststroke
Boys & Girls U/14 Over 12 2 lengths 50m Butterfly
Boys & Girls U/16 Over 14 2 lengths 50m Freestyle
Boys & Girls U/16 Over 14 2 lengths 50m Backstroke
Boys & Girls U/16 Over 14 2 lengths 50m Butterfly

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Community Games update

The 2019 community games season kicked off on Friday 1st February with the Art and Handwriting competition, writes Papillon Rabbitte. This competition, which was held in Scoil Bhríde, has grown in popularity over the years with close to 100 children from the ages of six to 15 participating on the night.

We are very lucky in Kilcullen to have so many talented young artists and hand writers. There was a wonderful air of excitement and anticipation in the school as the youngsters spent the evening creating some truly fabulous pieces. We hope all those who took part enjoyed themselves and we hope to see you all again next year!

Our judges, Noel Scullion (Art) and Siobhán Murphy (Handwriting) were tasked with the extremely difficult job of choosing the winners and after much deliberation the medal winners are as follows:

Art Winners
Girls U8: (1st) Ella-Louise Donnelly (2nd) Casey O’Gorman (3rd) Emily Monks
Boys U8: (1st) James Keogh (2nd) Ben Kavanagh (3rd) Ripley Evans
Girls U10: (1st) Karly Stone (2nd) Abbie Murphy (3rd) Sarah Cole
Boys U10: (1st) Elliot Corrigan (2nd) Hugh Byrne (3rd) Aidan Ryan
Girls U12: (1st) Mae Cowper Gray (2nd) Leah Keogh (3rd) Grace Crowley
Boys U12: (1st) Jack Douglas (2nd) Jamie Griffin (3rd) Jack Courtney
Girls U14: (1st) Della Cowper Gray (2nd) Evey Brand (3rd Joint) Ella Cole & Erinn Conroy
Boys U14: (1st) Tom Aspell

Congratulations to Della Cowper Gray (U14 gold) who was this year’s recipient of the Brenda Scullion Memorial Trophy. The trophy was presented to Della by Noel Scullion.

Handwriting Winners
Girls U10 & U12s: (1st) Tuilelaith Mills (2nd) Aoife Griffith (3rd) Jessica Sandall, (1st) Lily Byrne (2nd) Katie O’Donnell (3rd) Katie Barrett

Boys U10 & U12s: (1st) Shantayan Banerjee (2nd) Conor Curry (3rd) Noah Mahon (1st) Liam Keogh (2nd) Jamie Griffin (3rd) Gavin McCormack

Please note that the county Handwriting competition will be held in Scoil Bhride, Athgarvan on Friday 5th April at 6pm, (please keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates).

County Kildare Art Competition
The county Art competition was held on Sunday, 17th February in the Patrician Boys Primary School in Newbridge. Kilcullen was represented in most age categories and took home a total of seven county medals. Well done to all who participated in the county competition and best of luck to Mae (U12 gold) who goes forward to represent Kildare at the National Finals in Limerick.

County Winners
U8 Girls - 4th Ella-Louise Donnelly
U10 Boys - 2nd Elliot Corrigan, 3rd Hugh Byrne
U12 Girls - 1st Mae Cowper Gray, 2nd Leah Keogh
U14 Girls - 2nd Della Cowper Gray
U14 Boys - 2nd Tom Aspell

Many thanks to Noel and Siobhán for judging the competitions, to Anne Flanagan for the use of Scoil Bhríde, but most of all, a huge thank you to all the participants, who, along with their parents/guardians made this a very successful night.

At the events we collect a cover charge of €3 (€5 max per family) this is a contribution to much needed funds which helps us finance the associated running costs of the various competitions throughout the year. These expenses include our annual affiliation fee of €200 to Kildare CG, medals, referee fees, competitor entry fees to the county competitions, paper and printing.

The Community Games caters for both boys and girls aged 6 to 16 years, giving them an opportunity to take part in a wide range of sporting and cultural activities with a strong emphasis placed on fun, participation and developing active healthy lives.

In 2018, Kilcullen were well represented at County, Provincial and National level, participating in Athletics, Art, Swimming, Gaelic Football, Mini Rugby, Soccer, Table Quiz, Handwriting and Cycling…picking up some well-deserved medals and trophies along the way.

In 2019, Kilcullen area community games (Kilcullen, Brannockstown, Calverstown, Ballyshannon & Halverstown) hope to participate in the following: Art, Handwriting, Chess, Swimming, Gymnastics, Athletics, Mini Rugby, Gaelic Football and Table Quiz.

We are always looking for volunteers to help out at events, if this is something you would like to do, please get in touch with us through Facebook or through any of the committee members (listed below). Suggestions are welcome too, if there is an event which interests you and is not included on the Kilcullen plan for 2019, please let us know, it could be an option for 2020!

Contacts for Kilcullen community games are as follows: Donna Hoey (Chairperson), Papillon Rabbitte (Treasurer), Yvonne Carey Tyrrell (Secretary), Geraldine Breen, Jean Mahon, Alma Donnelly, Neil Taylor.

Upcoming Events: Mini Rugby, Table Quiz, Chess, Swimming, Gymnastics, Cross County and Relay. If you are interested in taking part in any of these events please contact one of the committee members. Remember to keep an eye on our Facebook page for the dates and venues of these events.


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Another crash at Thompson's Cross, 'second in fortnight'

A serious crash at Thompson's Cross last night is the second at the location in two weeks, writes Brian Byrne, and local people are expressing their frustration at what they see as inadequate safety changes to the original design.

The Diary understands that the matter will be raised at a meeting of the Old Kilcullen Community Association later this week.

There have been safety issues at the cross ever since the junction was realigned for the completion of the M9 motorway, and a large number of crashes there prompted local protest and forced Kildare County Council to make a series of 'improvements'.

The last of these, in 2016, included a controversial removal of a run-off lane on the turn towards Kilgowan.

In October 2017, Council engineers told councillors that issues raised at works in 2016 had 'been resolved'. These works had been carried out under the Low Cost Safety Improvement Scheme, in 2016.

Last night's crash happened around 9pm, and according to passers-by several emergency services units attended.

*Previous stories related to the junction can be read here. 

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Parish Lotto Draw results

The numbers drawn in the Kilcullen and Gormanstown Parish Lotto Draw held on Tuesday 19th February 2019 were 13, 23, 26 and 28. There was no Jackpot winner and next week's main prize will again be €18,000.

The winners of the €50 Open Draws were Staff of Curragh Lawns Nursing Home (Promoter Miriam McDonnell), Billy Keane (Billy Keane) and Dave Bernard (PJ Lydon).

The winners of the Promoters Draw were Berney’s Chemist and Mag O’Connell and the winner of the Draw for those in the Parish Centre on the night was Sheila Peacocke.

The Parish thanks everybody who supports the Lotto.

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