Minister gets a taste of Kilcullen

Kilcullen's food interests were well served this evening when the Minister for Children & Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD, was presented with a hamper of foods produced in the town, writes Brian Byrne.

The presentation took place at the end of the Minister's visit to Naomh Bhride Kilcullen Community Playgroup to inspect the site and plans for the Kilcullen Child Care & Family Resource Centre.

Complimenting the project promoters, the Minister said she was now well 'in tune' with the plans. She also quipped that the presentation 'would feed her whole department'.

The Minister is pictured above receiving the presentation from Eilis Keogh of Naomh Bhride Playgroup, with Cllr Ivan Keatley and Martin Heydon TD.

We'll give a full report tomorrow.

Plenty to go to

Lots to do in and around Kilcullen today, writes Brian Byrne.

At 4pm, the Minister for Children & Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald, will be visiting the Naomh Bhride Kilcullen Community Playgroup to look at the site and plans for the new Community Playgroup and Family Resource Centre facility. Everybody with small children is invited along to show her just how important this is to Kilcullen.

At 7.30pm Kilcullen Tidy Towns is continuing with the cleanup and painting of premises beside Berneys Saddlery. All volunteers are welcome to lend a hand.

The monthly meeting of Kilcullen 2017 takes place in the Credit Union building at 8pm. Everybody with an interest in helping progress the KCA-commissioned Development Plan for the community is welcome to come along and get involved.

For those whose bag is music, Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart are the acoustic focus at the Ballymore Acoustic Gigs event organised by our own Roy Thompson. From 9pm.

Something for everyone in the audience, you might say …

Bouncing off my forehead

Two priests have played significant roles in where I am today, writes Brian Byrne. And coincidentally, I heard both of them on the airways over the last couple of weeks.

Neither influenced me in a religious sense. What they did was respectively offer me a belief in myself, and a space from which to do something with that belief.

In the late 1970s Fr Brian D'Arcy was teaching the journalism module of a Broadcasting course I was attending at the then Catholic Communications Centre in Booterstown, Dublin. Fr Colm Kilcoyne was the Director of the Centre. More>>

Kilcullen 2017 meeting tomorrow

Kilcullen 2017 is holding a meeting at 8pm tomorrow night (Mon 30 April) in the Credit Union, writes Orla O'Neill. All are welcome.

Kilcullen 2017 is the name of the group of people who have volunteered to implement the recommendations in the recently published report, Kilcullen 2017: A Community Plan for Development.

The group will focus on several different areas simultaneously, including tourism, culture, enterprise & employment, health & social services, and networking and supports for community groups and clubs.

Each subsector is in the process of developing a list of priorities on which it will concentrate in the next year. It is hoped to bring in new services to the town, particularly for older people and help ensure currently-provided services are delivered effectively. It is also planned to exploit as many opportunities as possible to enhance the lives of people who live and work in Kilcullen. An example is a Kildare Fáilte initiative to maximise the potential of the Gordon Bennett Route which passes through Kilcullen. A K2017 member will attend a planning meeting to ensure Kilcullen is represented.

The group would welcome the input of new members—and anyone with an interest in a particular area can join one of the subgroups.

More information from kilcullen2017@gmail.com.

Dancing date next Friday

The Strictly Come Dancing series has attracted large TV audiences in these islands, reflecting—or maybe causing—a resurgence of interest in what used to be called ballroom dancing.

And the interest gave two Kilcullen organisations an idea to raise funds for themselves, which will be culminating in a serious dance-off on Friday next, 4 May, in Toughers at Newhall.

Twelve local pairs will be competing on behalf of Kilcullen GAA and Kilcullen Lions. Apart from their prowess as judged on the night, each team is also busily collecting sponsorship, and will gain extra marks for the amount they raise. In addition, there's an admission charge for the final.

Tickets at €10 are available from The Good Food Gallery and Bernard Berney's Chemist, or give a ring to Jim 086 0692544, Jacinta 087 6689028 or Frances 087 9746000.

Spring cleaning at sculpture

Great work was done this morning at the Dun Ailinne Interpretive Park, clearing, weeding and planting. Well done to all concerned.

Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart in the BAG

Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart roll into town on Monday night for the first of only two dates on the Irish leg of their European tour, writes Roy Thompson.

Both are former members of the legendary 'Steve Earle and The Dukes'. They put aside their pursuit of major label backing back in 1998, preferring instead to pare it back and focus on listening rooms and small intimate venues.

Well, happy days for BAG—because we're both in one!

Playing over 170 shows a year, they have toured every inch of their native US as well as repeated tours of the UK and Europe. This is their first visit to Ballymore. Ddon't miss it, it will be a great show to remember.

Doors 8:15pm. Gig 9pm sharp. Admission €12 on the door—come early.

Alzheimer fundraiser morning

A tea and coffee morning will be held in the Parish Centre on Tuesday morning next, 1 May, in aid of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland.

The time is 10am-12 noon, and everybody is welcome.

It's a really worthy cause. Do come.

Charity race postponed

The Diageo Punchestown Charity Race inaugurated in aid of kidney research by local businessman James Nolan is one of the casualties of this week’s bad weather.

Announcing with deep regret that the race has to be postponed for safety reasons, James said he hopes it will be rescheduled shortly to another date.

The race has raised some €1.2m over the years, and is always oversubrscribed by amateur riders wishing to take part.

Date set for next River Festival

The date has been set for the third Kilcullen River Festival, to take place on Sunday 26 August.

The Festival was started by a group of Kilcullen businesspeople, and has proved to be a seriously strong event, attracting many thousands of people for the afternoon from many parts of the mid-Kildare area.

We'll give further details of events and participants as they come available.

Students, teachers, escape in crash

A group of Transition Year students and their teachers had a narrow escape yesterday when the bus in which they were travelling was in collision with a car on the slip road which leads on to the M9 at Ray O'Brien's garage.  

The students were on their way from an All Ireland poetry competition which took place in Galway earlier in the day. 

One of the transition year students, John Behan, had qualified for the poetry final following a competition earlier in the year in the school.

A big thank you from Paul

The Table Quiz on Monday night in Bardons for Paul Byrne's summer volunteer programme in Calcutta was a great success, writes Brian Byrne.

More than €700 was raised through the generosity of those who took part, and others who couldn't make it but sent donations. To all of those, Paul says a sincere thank you.

He'd also like to thank Eddie Cross for the use of the venue and his help and support in the event, and Vivian Clarke whose expertise in running Table Quizzes was invaluable in keeping the scoring on track. And Linda, who kept the participants adequately fuelled during their efforts to answer his questions.

In addition, he expresses his appreciation to those who sponsored prizes for the Quiz and the Raffle. These include Bardons Pub, Fallons Restaurant, The Good Food Gallery, Nolans Butchers, the Abbey Theatre, The Dresser Store, and the Irish Film Centre.

Paul leaves for Calcutta in six weeks' time, and will spend three months working as a teaching assistant with disadvantaged children.

The programme is organised by Suas, an Irish NGO that provides these services to local organisations in India and Kenya.

Minister coming to Playgroup next week

Kilcullen Community Playgroup is hosting a very special visitor next Monday, April 30, in the person of the minister for children and youth affairs, Frances Fitzgerald.

The minister will visit the existing prefab building being used by the Playgroup, from 4pm, and will see the plans for and be shown around the site of the proposed new Childcare & Family Resource Centre.

Minister Fitzgerald will also meet with parents and children from past and present years of the Playgroup, and members of the community in Kilcullen who have been supportive of the project.

"It's a very important event for the community of Kilcullen," says spokesperson for the project Iseult O'Donoghue, adding that the visit is a clear indication of support for the project by the minister.

Last call for Golf Classic

There are a few places left for the Cross and Passion College Golf Classic, which takes place in Palmerstown Golf Club on Friday May 11 at 2pm (Shotgun start).

A team of four costs €200 (including light refreshments). Palmerstown is one of the top golf clubs in the country.

Anyone interested in playing should contact the school as soon as possible—by email at or by phone 045-481524.

All-weather pitch damaged by car

Gardai are following a definite line of inquiry after an incident last night in which the fence of the all-weather pitch at the Community Centre was damaged by a car, which ended up on the pitch, writes Brian Byrne.

The incident was described as 'drink-fuelled' by a user of the Centre, which is the location for a number of local sports and community facilities.

It seems from the physical evidence this morning that the driver of the blue Volkswagen car was speeding around the car park beside the pitch, lost control and went through the metal fence. On an earlier circuit the driver had scraped by a lamp standard, leaving paint on the metal.

One of the box-steel uprights of the fence was completely wrecked, indicating an impact with the structure of the car. Happily, nobody was injured.

Inspecting the pitch this afternoon, Centre manager P J Lydon said it was fortunate that the pitch itself escaped serious damage, though there is some oil and light tyre marking.

The car was driven away after the crash, but examination of the CCTV recordings were expected to provide both a time for the incident, and identification of the vehicle. The cameras were installed last month.

Pat Coldrick in the BAG

You may have heard this amazing Irish guitarist on Pat Kenny's Radio 1 show recently, writes Roy Thompson of the Ballymore Acoustic Gigs. Well now you can hear him up close and personal as he pays his first visit to Ballymore.

In conversation with Pat he stressed that this is not a classical guitar recital; his live performance is highly interactive, and his rapport with his audience is warm, friendly and informal.

Born in Navan and now living in Howth, Pat Coldrick has been playing and studying classical guitar since he was 12 years old. Initially self taught, Pat went onto study music at the College of Music in Dublin and also had the opportunity to study under world renowned guitarists David Russell and Gabriel Esterellas.

Through his session and classical work, he has achieved some of the highest honours in Feis Ceoil Awards and has made a number of appearances on national TV shows on RTE and TV3 and guested on a number of radio interviews and live performances on RTE Radio 1 and Lyric FM. He has also been invited to perform at festivals in the United States and Austria.

Experiencing Pat Coldrick live offers a unique opportunity to enjoy his varied repertoire and own material, in an informal relaxed atmosphere.




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Progress of Lower Main Street improvements

Members of Kilcullen Community Action did a walkabout of Lower Main Street on Saturday with local architect Laura Bowen, to see what might be done to visually improve the area, writes Brian Byrne.

This followed a discussion during which a number of issues were highlighted, including the possibility of developing a colour scheme for properties which need to be repainted.

Proposals to redevelop the market square to make it more pedestrian friendly without unduly compromising parking will also be developed. This follows the repair to the railing in the square by Kildare County Council in conjunction with local input.

During the walkabout, suggestions as to the best type of paints to be used were outlined, focussing on mineral based products where possible. Although more expensive than standard paint, the experience in other countries is that they don't need repainting for a significantly longer time.


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Youth Week events

Kilcullen's Youth Club KiYC has a number of events running through Youth Week, 21-29 April, writes Olivia Byrne.

They include an Art Competition for 12-18 year-olds, which will be held in the Credit Union under the theme of 'Inspiration'. All artwork for the contest should be left in to the Credit Union, with name and contact details, before 27 April. All works will be exhibited and judged on Friday 27 April.

There is also a Photography Competition for the same age group with a theme 'My Happy Place'. Entries are to be left in Kilcullen Library from 21-26 April with name address and contact number on the back of the picture.  You can enter as many times as you like, the winners will be announced on 27 April.

Frill Boutique are offering 10 percent off for Youth Week and the Hair Emporium have agreed the following for all 12-18 year-olds: 30 percent off colour cut and blowdry, 20 percent off cut and blowdry.

If any students would like to model for the trainee stylists working on blopdrys and upstyles please call the salon on 045 484687. Models have their hair done absaloutely free!

Eilish Hair have offered students 20 percent off all treatments including blowdrys.

On Thursday 26 April there will be a 'Drop In Centre' in the Community Centre, for ages 13+. It will open subsequently every Thursday from 7-9.30pm. There's also a competition to name the Drop In, with all entries to be submitted to the Community Centre by 26 April between 7-9pm.

KiYC are looking for Junior (14-17) and Senior (18+) leaders for the youth club. If you are interested please call 089 4484114.



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Brannoxtown NS is looking for votes

Brannoxtown NS is urging local people to get voting for them as they aim to become ‘Lidl Fit Factor Champions’ and win the overall prize of €5,000 of sports equipment vouchers, writes Deirdre Collins.

The school's Third and Fourth class with teacher Ms Celia O'Riordan and parent Lorna Brophy took part in the Lidl Fit Factor competition in assocation with the Irish Heart Foundation and were regional winners!

Over 20,000 3rd and 4th class pupils throughout Ireland took part in the competetion, which was designed to help teach aspects of the SPHE curriculum in a fun and enjoyable manner.

The school is now going head to head with four other schools across Ireland for the top prize. As well as the overall prize of €5,000 worth of sports equipment vouchers, runners up prizes are also at stake with 2nd place receiving €3,000 and 3rd place €2,000 in vouchers also.

All you have to do to help Brannoxtown NS in their quest is to log onto www.fitfactor.ie and follow the link to register your vote. Voting is open from April 23rd to May 18th.


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Ramps request turned down

A request to put traffic ramps on the distributor Road in Moanbane Park has been turned down.

The matter was before Kildare County Council earlier this week, but the Council officials said there are no funds to do the work.


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'Out of the Frying Pan' sizzles

Look, it’s getting really difficult to keep up with all that’s happening in Kilcullen, writes Brian Byrne. Especially in drama terms.

Apart from the resumption of the almost-sold-out run of Les Miserables, last night also saw the opening of the Drama Dynamics Teen Theatre’s production of Out of the Frying Pan, which plays in the CPC Hall again tonight (Wednesday) and on Friday night.

There’s only one way to put it. The Teens are absolutely brilliant. For logistical reasons as well as the fact that your editor was quite knackered after an overnight working trip to parts foreign and warm, I could only stay for a short part of last night’s performance. I wished I could have remained for the whole play.

But even in the short experience of what was going down, I was tremendously entertained by the acting, the timing, and the sheer brio which was an essential underpinning to the whole gig.

So here’s the advice. If you have already seen Les Miserables and want to have a look at what the next generation of young Kilcullen actors are doing, pick up a ticket for one of these two remaining performances.

It’s a treat. And treats don’t hang around. Go.

(And well done, Evelyn O’Sullivan and all the cast. It’s no more than I expected. And I expected great.)


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Fallons win Gastro Pub award

Fallons has won the Kildare Best Gastro Pub category in the Santa Rita/Irish Independent RAI Oscars awards, and is now competing in the national leg of the competition.

Nominations for the awards were made by readers of the Sunday Independent Life Magazine and members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland. All nominees were assessed by Regional Judging panels, made up of Industry experts across the region. Votes from the Consumer, Members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland and the Regional Judges were independently assessed by KPMG who announced county winners in each category.

All County winners will now compete for the Regional and All Ireland Title which will be announced at the Irish Restaurant Awards in the Burlington Hotel Dublin on Wednesday 14th May 2012. 

This next phase of the competition will involve a Mystery Guest coming to sample the wares of the contending businesses. There will also be judging by a panel of the judges who took part in the regional adjudications. And the final judging element will be assessment of the menus of the competitors.

Mary O’Neill and Mary Walker are pictured above with the county citation.



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Help our Paul to help in Calcutta

Our youngest son Paul is just finishing his degree course in UCD and plans to eventually work in the overseas aid and development field, writes Brian Byrne, editor of the Kilcullen Diary.

With this in mind, he's heading off to Calcutta for the summer as a volunteer teaching assistant with a local non-governmental organisation.

His three-month stint is under the auspices of Irish-based NGO Suas, which provides this kind of assistance to projects in India and Kenya. It won't be a holiday—temperatures in Calcutta in the summer are a stifling 40degC-plus most of the time and conditions are generally tough. They don't call it the Black Hole for nothing.

The group he will work with in Calcutta is Sabu Sangha, which has been promoting health, education, and women's rights and empowerment, for 50 years.

Paul worked for a number of years in insurance before going back to College, and he has also travelled extensively in India, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam as well as closer to home in Egypt, Palestine and Israel. He has a big interest in development matters, and has sought this Suas placement to help him understand the role he could take after completion of his studies, and suss out the positive things he could do.

Paul has to fund his placement to the tune of around €3,000. He has organised a number of functions in UCD and outside to raise money, and we're looking to get him some help from his home town.

If you want to contribute something directly, however small, you can do so on his mycharity.ie page. We're also organising a Table Quiz in Bardons for Monday 23 April, under the usual Bardons T&Cs (€40 a table of four, good craic and company from 8.30pm).

Book your team table by emailing the Diary, or phoning me at 086 8267104. If you want to know more about it all, Paul has written a page in the current Bridge.


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Les Miserables: powerful execution of a grand ambition

Just having more than 30 people on stage in the Town Hall Theatre is a big enough challenge in itself, writes Brian Byrne. But then having to carry the massive Victor Hugo story set in pre-revolutionary France in just two hours? A crazy endeavour for an amateur group, but a gamble which had the potential to achieve grand ambition and great execution.



Kilcullen Drama Group's spring play presentation of 'Les Miserables' is a big juggle of characters, storylines, mood and time. It requires a level of dexterity in direction arguably higher than has ever before been attempted by the group. A dexterity which a big man has displayed in truly magnificent measure. Mischa Fekete has managed to draw together from his disparate cast and Hugo's melee of characters a production which will take a proud place in the annals of a drama group which has been around since the 1930s.



And it is a wonderful thing to see so many generations of Kilcullen Drama Group all in one production, from the stalwarts of Dick Dunphy, Bernard Berney and Nessa Dunlea to the promising newcomers of Jack Scullion and Mary Kiely. It seems only a few years ago that there was real concern about the eldering profile of the group, but now its membership encompasses all ages and interests and a future for amateur drama here seems assured.

I have no intention of critiquing individual actors or retelling the story of this play. Suffice to say there is drama, pathos, despair, hope, humour and passion, all performed to very high standard. There's also a great lesson in how to use a relatively small theatre space to its absolute maximum. There are performances left to see this week, and I urge anybody with an interest in good stories well told on stage to go along and see for themselves. I guarantee you will come away not just satisfied, but uplifted.



And if Victor Hugo himself could come back to see it, he'd be the one leading the standing ovation for Kilcullen Drama Group's telling of his grand story.



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Artist who dreams of a cherrypicker

"It was a case of trying to hold the umbrella, the easel and paint ... I needed a third hand."

When local artist Michael Rowley went out on the Curragh to do the first painting for his new exhibition in the Good Food Gallery in Kilcullen, 'From the Curragh to the Burren', it was a too-typical Irish mid-summer day, writes Brian Byrne.

"It was overcast, windy and wet, and I eventually decided not to put the piece in the show because the results were too miserable. I titled it 'Typical Irish Summer', which made some sort of sarcastic sense."

Michael, from Brownstown, has been a part-time professional artist since he graduated from art college in 1995. Like many of his kind, he has to teach to supplement his earnings from his art. "I have a young family, have to make a living and pay the bills. And it is much tougher for an artist now than it was before the recession. But I just get on with it and hope that someday my star will shine and I'll be able to work fulltime as an artist."

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Improvements praised

The remedial work carried out by several owners of property on Lower Main Street was praised at the latest meeting of Kilcullen Community Action, writes Brian Byrne.

It follows a recent discussion amongst business and private interests from the area, under the auspices of KCA, which brainstormed on how some sections could be visually improved.

Since then there has been clearing, planting and painting on the property owned by Sir Anthony O’Reilly, while a number of business facades have been repainted. Notable amongst the latter are Brennans Hardware, and Firestop Enterprises.

Meanwhile, KCA members are planning voluntary cleanup work on some derelict property on the street. The meeting discussed how best to contact the relevant owners to see what could be done about painting and repairing.


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Opening night of Les Miserables

Some scenes from the opening night performance of Les Miserables by Kilcullen Drama Group.


Pictures from the Friday night Gala Reception and preparation for Kilcullen Drama Group's presentation of 'Les Miserables'.


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'Out of the Frying Pan'

Members of the cast of the Drama Dynamics production of 'Out of the Frying Pan', which runs in the CPC Hall Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of next week. Tickets available from 087 6441504.


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The passing of Sean Byrne

The Diary has learned of the death of Seán ’Dan’ Byrne, of Conroy Park.

Sean is reposing at his residence until removal tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 10.30, arriving at the Church of the Sacred Heart and St Brigid, Kilcullen, for Requiem Mass at 11.

His funeral will take place immediately afterwards to St Brigid's Cemetery.

We extend our sympathy to his family and friends. May he rest in peace.

Planned Eirgrid line will come to Kilcullen

A study to find the best route for a major new electricity link has particular ramifications for the Kilcullen area, writes Brian Byrne.

The Eirgrid project is about bringing a new 400kV power line from Cork to Kildare via Wexford. It will terminate at Dunstown, near Carnalway, which means it will have to cross lands in the region of the town.

The €500m project has begun a public consultation stage in the overall study area, to establish what 'constraint' features or designations, such as protected areas, are in the landscape that might make an area unsuitable for the project.

This consultation will run for an eight-week period to Friday, 8th of June 2012. Eirgrid says it provides all interested stakeholders an opportunity to feed into the early development of the project. Everyone is welcome to give their views.

Further information is available at Eirgrid's website.

Similar projects have caused local controversy in the past, notably the the case of a Co Offaly woman jailed last September for refusing to allow the ESB and Eirgrid onto her lands to complete construction of a power line.


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Best Parish Feis ever

More than €5,200 was raised for parish funds by the recent Parish Feis held in the Community Centre.

It was the most successful Parish Feis to date with over 400 dancers taking part. Participants came from all over Ireland.

The four-and-a-half decades old event is run by the Landers School of Dancing. It started out as one of the events held in the marquee during Kilcullen's annual Carnival, later moved to the JFK Hall, and is now an annual event in the Community Centre.


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