Celine Byrne to star for KARE in June

A Summer Gala Concert featuring Celine Byrne will take place in Naas in aid of KARE, writes Brian Byrne.

The event, on Friday June 20, should have much attraction for Kilcullen people, as there have been strong links with KARE since it was founded in the late 1960s. The concert will include the Army No 1 Band.

The venue is very atmospheric, in the Church of Our Lady & St David, Naas. There's an 8pm start and tickets cost €20.

Bookings can be made at the Moat Theatre, phone 045 883030, online at moattheatre.com, of from Mary Shortt on 086 8234856 or Breda Bell on 087 6726471.

Unsold tickets will be available at the door on the night, but waiting for those might well be taking a chance on disappointment.

Anti-pylon group collecting signatures

Niall Moore and Margaret Moore of the anti-pylon GridLink Action Group are collecting signatures on a petition in the Fraser Filling Station today, related to the review of the County Development Plan by county councillors.

They have around 1,000 signatures so far, and have a target of 5,000 before the end of next week.

JuneFest under way in Newbridge

For those wondering what they might do locally over the Bank Holiday Weekend, there's a lot of great family and fun stuff going on in the Newbridge JuneFest.

Watch out, roads workmen about

Thanks to this picture posted by Ray Kelly at 7am, it looks like we may be getting our Main Street resurfaced today.

If so, that's a week ahead of the last promised date. And way beyond when it should have been, but listen, we don't look gift horses etc ...

Kieran's artwork showing on the wild side

At most art exhibition openings, you get to sit comfortably in a gallery or equivalent somewhere, writes Brian Byrne. For Kieran Behan's 'Texting at the old Arch Bar' which launched last evening, it was a stand-on-the-footpath affair in Newbridge.

And none the less interesting or enjoyable for that. In fact, there was a pleasant collegiality amongst the friends, art lovers and curious passers-by who mixed outside the old Higgins family pub which is now closed and for sale.

The Higgins family were immediately helpful when Kieran called them with the idea of using the unique curved glass windows of the Arch Bar to display what is a year's work from the Kilcullen-resident artist. Work that digitally takes the artist's imagination directly beyond even the Twilight Zone.

That TV series — of which this writer remembers the originals — used the technique of going beyond imagination to reflect common aspects of our daily lives brought to extremes, or 'bent' to an unexpected outcome.

Kieran Behan does a little more, both mixing and bending his own photographs and other images into presentations which, depending on your point of view, could be the stuff of nightmare or substance-enhanced reality shift. Or it's simply working to manipulate our thinking with his manipulation of perception.

I'm not going to show the images, or explain them, they all have captions whether you go to the Arch Bar and text your impressions from there, or simply do the virtual visit via the Facebook page 'Texting at the old Arch Bar'.

The images in the pub's windows aren't large, but they have individually impact way beyond their size, and in large format they would make enormous artistic and imaginative impression. Digital copies are available from the artist at low cost for personal use, but anyone wanting to use one for commercial use needs to negotiate.

Kieran told the Diary that it's a digital move forward from the kind of sculpture work he used to do using mainly scrap metal, producing artifacts from bits of machinery and other items which provided their own artistic message while the components were still recognisable for what they had originally been.

"I didn't know how to do this digitally until a friend at work showed me how to use Photoshop," he says. "But when I got to learn that, it opened up all this. There are themes of cats and birds, and many of the captions relate to Irish music song titles."

This writer remembers well the Captain America murals in the burger restaurant of the same name in Dublin's Grafton Street which became iconic after being painted by Jim Fitzpatrick in 1982. If some restaurant picked up Kieran's work today for its decor, it could well be a business still around and iconic in four decades' time.

If you're in Newbridge over the weekend for the JuneFest festival, take a walk on the wild side and have a look.

Active School Week at St Joseph's

Pupils from St Joseph's National School enjoyed a variety of outdoor activities as part of Active School Week, writes Marion Sherlock.

Senior pupils went canoeing on the Liffey at Kilcullen Canoe Club and all pupils enjoyed an afternoon of activities on the Curragh on Tuesday. This ended with a picnic and a go on the tyre swings.

The parachute was in action with pupils trying out an assortment of games. Let's hope the fine weather lasts.

Information on Kilcullen and the Great War

In this year of marking the centenary of the start of WW1, it might be interesting for Kilcullen people to look back at the involvement of men from this town in that conflict, writes Brian Byrne.

That's one reason why a Great War Commemorative Group has been formed and is very active at the moment, with new stories and memorabilia coming to light all the time.

It just might be useful to have a direct link to articles written on the Diary over the last nine years pertaining to Kilcullen and WW1, so the link is here. There are some 20 pieces with a connection, so far.

There's also a new Facebook page set up by the Group, here.

Parish Lotto Draw

The numbers drawn in the Kilcullen & Gormanstown Parish Lotto Draw held on Tuesday 27th May 2014 were 5, 11, 26 and 31. There was no Jackpot winner and next week's main prize will be €8,800

The winners of the €50 Open Draws were Woody (Promoter Miriam McDonnell) Joe Murphy (Ethna Dempsey), Miriam McDonnell (Miriam McDonnell).

The winners of the Promoters Draw were Vivienne Clifford and Nancy Fitzpatrick and the winner of the Draw for those present on the night was Nora Hogan.

AFC AGM tomorrow night

The Kilcullen AFC Club AGM takes place tomorrow, Thursday 29 May at 8.15 in clubhouse.

This is an important meeting as decisions will be made that will effect the future of the club.

All members are urged to attend.

Great War commemoration progresses

A simple cardboard box brought to last night's meeting of the Kilcullen Great War Commemoration Group proved to be a veritable treasure trove of memories and memorabilia from the turn of the 19th-20th century and later, writes Brian Byrne.

The box was brought to the group by Liam Walker, whose maternal grandfather Michael O'Connor served as a British soldier in the early 1900s, and the material included his army paybook, pictures, his promotion certificate to corporal, war medals, and a magnificent collection of contemporary postcards. Michael O'Connor served with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, which had their depot at Naas.

Meanwhile the meeting heard that the number of men from the Kilcullen area who died in WW1 is growing and is now up to 34, following investigations of memorial scrolls in local churches.

A provisional date of August 23, the Saturday evening before the 2014 Kilcullen River Festival, was set for the official Commemoration Concert and Exhibition to be held in the Town Hall. The event will include music and songs from the WW1 period, a rehearsal reading of John Martin's one-act play about the War, and contributions from individuals and the Kilcullen Writing Group. It is hoped that memorabilia from the period, including material owned by local families, will be on display for the occasion.

Julie O'Donoghue said that will be the first day of National Heritage Week, and the Group has been awarded a Heritage Grant of €800 towards the costs. In the matter of a memorial to those local men who died, she said it wouldn't be possible to have one done by August, and suggested that a temporary printed Roll of Honour be prepared for the Commemoration event.

A public subscription could be opened to fund a permanent memorial to be put in place next year, she said. Also, the events of this year might well bring forward more names, which would allow the memorial to be more accurate.

A Facebook page, the Kilcullen Great War Commemoration, has been established. And a 'Memories Evening' is being planned for a date in July where local people can come and talk about their family involvement in the War. The recent 'Life in the Trenches' presentation and field trip by Col Des Travers was a tremendous success, and brought the Kilcullen activities to the attention of an audience from much further than the local area.

Last night's meeting also recalled a number of Kilcullen men who came back from the conflict with varying degrees of psychological damage, generally labelled as 'shell shock'.

Kieran Behan's innovative exhibition

The curved windows of the old Arch Bar in Newbridge are unique in the town's streetscape, and Kilcullen resident artist and photographer Kieran Behan has found a new use for them, writes Brian Byrne.

He's using the windows of the currently-closed premises as a showcase for a series of digital images he has made over the last while, in an innovative take on the concept of street art.

The pieces are devised in many cases by mixing and manipulating external images with his own photographs, offering a new dimension through which to view the world around us and in imagination.

On Thursday evening next the collection will be launched at a gathering outside the Arch Bar at 6pm. For those who can't make it to Newbridge, the entire collection of images can be viewed on the Facebook page titled 'Texting at the old Arch Bar'.

Mid-Summer Garden Party

A nice close-to-local event in June could well be worth putting in your diary to celebrate mid-summer, writes Brian Byrne.

It's a Mid-Summer Garden Party in the grounds of Martinstown House on The Curragh, in aid of St Paul's Garrison Church on The Curragh Camp, with 60s music by the 59ers.

The date is Sunday 22 June, the time 2.30pm, and tickets at €20 include steak, salads, dessert and a glass of wine. Booking from Maggy McElroy 087 6597187 or Sinead O'Connor 087 9083810.

Rain didn't stop strokeplay

The Kildare County Board Strokeplay Championships took place on Sunday the 25th May at the St Bridget's club in Kilcullen, writes Darren Keogh, PRO of the Kildare Pitch & Putt County Board. First out (in a horrible misty rain) were the Gents and Ladies Seniors.

After 18 holes, Willie Fitzgerald of Ryston had the clubhouse lead on 9 under, Sean Harkins was lying second on 8, with Ian Dillon and Frank Ryan on 7 under. Willie didn't stop there and recorded a superb second round of 42 under to lead on 21 under — leaving everyone else playing for second!

The top eight gents were to qualify for a final 18 holes at 5 o clock. Qualifiers were as follows W. Fitzgerald 87, I Dillon 94, Sean Harkins 94, D. Keogh 95, F Ryan 98, C Dunne 99, J Ronan 100 & J Cullen 100.

In the Ladies section it was really a case of who would come out on top between Chrissie and Marian Byrne? Marian led by 2 after a first round 49. Chrissie however, came back with a second round 48 to clinch the title by 3 shots as Marian could only return a second 18 of 53.

The Gents Inter section provided another very high standard of play. Owen Farrell of St Bridget's had an opening 48 to lead the way by 1 from Christy Hannon. Owen followed up with a 49 to claim a 4 shot victory from John Redmond of Athgarvan who (on a score of 101) beat Christy Hannon on the back 18 for second.

The Ladies Inter section went to 3 hole playoff after Martina Loakman (St Bridget's) and Catherine Smith of Ryston had returned identical scores for their first 2 rounds. Martina prevailed in the playoff to claim the title. The ladies junior title was won by Teresa O'Keffee of Ryston.

There was a great entry in the Gents Junior section and it really was wide open after the first round. However, an incredible second round of 45 (9 under — including ten 2s and a 4) from Mickey Norton of Ryston secured the title with a score of 99. Mickey's victory was all the more remarkable as he had begun the day with a triple bogey 6 on the first, Declan Mulpeter of Ryston finished second, with Eddie Lacey of McDonagh in third.

The Gents Senior playoff commenced at 5 o clock in an absolute downpour — which never relented! Willie Fitzgerald was never really threatened and produced another great round of 47 to claim the title on a remarkable score of 134 (28 under). Well done to Willie on a truly outstanding display of pitch and putt!! Sean Harkins finished second on 19 under, with Darren Keogh 17, Ian Dillon 16, Frank Ryan 15, Joe Ronan 13, Cathal Dunne 12 and Johnny Cullen 9.

Considering how wet all concerned were, a very good crowd turned up in Bardons Pub, Kilcullen for the presentation of prizes. The County Board thanked all concerned, especially the St Bridgets club, whose course was in magnificent order and withstood the conditions extremely well. In particular, the County Board sincerely thanked Bardons Pub for their very generous sponsorship and encouraged all to avail of their facilities.

We look forward to seeing you all at our Matchplay Championships in a few weeks time.

Viewpoint: We have councillors, now it's up to us

So, with the dust settled on the elections at least locally to Kilcullen, what was it all about and what will be? writes Brian Byrne.

Well, in the Naas area through which we will be represented in the next five years, we now have a mixture of stalwarts and new people in the Council chamber. But all of them in a totally new environment. That has ramifications which weren't necessarily part of the electoral to and fro on the canvass grounds in advance of last Friday's poll.

For a start, instead of a Council of 25 members, the new one will have 40. Quite apart from the fact that this is going to mean a major rejig of seating in the Council chamber at Arus Cill Dara to an 'inner' and 'outer' arrangement (and a whole new meaning to the term 'backbenchers'), discussions on business will become more complex, and will take longer. Whoever has the mayoral chair will need singular skills to keep things on track. And whoever schedules the agenda will also have to be aware of new limitations on what is possible to deal with in a meeting.

'Our' councillors of the Naas Municipal District — the term replaces 'local electoral area' once the new Council is established — will be fighting to make their voices heard from a larger, and louder, chorus. They will also be trying to optimise our District's share of resources, both services and financial, in a new era where the Council is going to have to make much more difficult decisions on its funding above and beyond the share of local property tax which will be the baseline financial underpinning of its activities. Competing claims from Kildare-Newbridge, Maynooth, Leixlip-Celbridge, and Athy will likely be much more compelling than was the case before. And into that bubbling cauldron, there's the seasoning of a political landscape which has changed, not as drastically as this weekend's headlines might suggest, but a fair bit.

Before the election we in Kilcullen and the Naas LEA were given the opportunity to sift through the political and personal attributes of some 16 candidates seeking to have them represent us. We now have the chosen nine by those four in ten of us in Kilcullen who elected to make a decision last Friday.

Whether we like it or not, we in Kilcullen now need to consider our village grown bigger as an extension of Naas. The county town no longer has a separate Town Council, formerly UDC, which insulated itself somewhat from Kildare County Council, and which kept us fairly significantly distanced from that town's needs and decisions. We can no longer expect that buffer, especially now that we are electorally and politically part and parcel of the new Naas Municipal District. And, really, back to where we belong in practical area terms.

When, under the auspices of KCA, we organised the innovative Town Meeting for candidates in advance of the election, most of those who have now been elected turned up. Others sent apologies for acceptable reasons. A handful of the many hundreds of Kilcullen households sent representatives to take part.

I spent most of the past day and a half at the Punchestown Count Centre, covering the proceedings of the Naas LEA for Kilcullen of a democratic electoral process which I believe, whatever its flaws, works as amongst the best of its kind in the world. I met and talked with both elected and unsuccessful candidates, and all of them were positive about our Town Meeting initiative. Some are already on their own record as being ready to do it on a regular basis. Certainly, we have commitments that they will turn up to another one in advance of voting on the Draft Kilcullen Local Area Plan, a meeting which KCA has already decided to arrange.

Because as a community we are now in a much more competitive situation for those services and financial supports which may become available from Kildare County Council, it is in Kilcullen's best interests that we engage with and support all of the new councillors who will be representing us. It is all the more reason why we need to meet with them all regularly on our turf, which is their Kilcullen turf no matter where they reside in the NMD. If we have issues, they need to know that we all believe in letting our representatives know about them.

Bottom line, now we're all in this together. When we organise meetings with those who are looking after our local affairs over the next five years, we need to show that we care about what they do. By turning up when they come to hear us.

The election is over. Now comes the hard part. To make it all work. For us, as part of Naas, in support of Naas, and for Kilcullen. Do make the effort when asked.

Breen, Hillis and Brett elected

Anne Breen of Labour was elected on Count Twelve of the Naas LEA at noon, writes Brian Byrne.

Following her election, Billy Hillis and Fintan Brett of FG were deemed to be elected without reaching the quota.



The count in the area is now completed pro tem. A completion count will be carried out later to distribute Anne Breen's surplus of 218 and Independent Paddy Horan's 807 votes for record purposes.

Shape of Naas LEA now clear

Following the election of Callaghan and Power, the focus is now on the last three seats, writes Brian Byrne.

It's now looking very clear that Anne Breen (centre above) will be next elected for Labour, and the last two seats will be taken by Billy Hillis (left) and Fintan Brett of FG, both currently on 1,047 and 1,027 votes respectively.

That will make the shape of the Naas LEA at three FF, three FG, one Labour, one Independent, and one Sinn Fein.

The votes of Labour's Fergus Carpenter, 759, are now being distributed.

Callaghan, Power, elected

Willie Callaghan and Rob Power have been elected to the Naas LEA of Kildare County Council on the ninth count, writes Brian Byrne.



Their election came on the distribution of FG's Jacinta Scully votes, the main ones of which were divided between Anne Breen of Labour, and Fintan Brett and Billy Hillis of FG.

O'Sullivan eliminated on Count Eight

At the end of Count Eight, Jacinta O'Sullivan of Fine Gael has been excluded and her 694 votes are now being distributed amongst the remaining candidates, writes Brian Byrne.

In the count, Ger Dunne's 575 votes being distributed didn't result in any election. Fellow Labour candidate Anne Breen received 168 of them, and Willie Callaghan of Fianna Fail got 107, and Labour's Fergus Carpenter got 56. Non-transferable votes numbered 101.

It's expected that Billy Hillis of FG should get around half of Jacinta O'Sullivan's distribution. The state of play now is Anne Breen 1,074, Fintan Brett 885, Willie Callaghan 1,304, Fergus Carpenter 721, Billy Hillis 893, Paddy Horan 739, and Rob Power 1,283.

The election homily

In the meantime, as it's a Sunday, I pass on to you this morning a story from Charlie Talbot here at the Punchestown Count Centre, writes Brian Byrne. He said he heard it at Mass during election time, in a homily.

It seems that a local man went for election as an Independent for the first time out, and at the end of a very busy four-week campaign he netted just 17 votes.

A friend asked him had he learned anything from his foray into politics? "I did," he said. "I learned that there are more than 2,000 liars in the town."

Amen.

No election on Count Seven

At the end of Count Seven in the Naas LEA early this morning, there was no further election on the distribution of DDI candidate Martin Byrne's 348 votes, writes Brian Byrne. Independent Paddy Horan received the bulk of Martin Byrne's votes, 164, with 96 of the DDI candidate's votes being non-transferable.

With five seats still to be filled to the 1,315 quota area, the state of play is Labour's Anne Breen on 906 votes, FG's Fintan Brett on 871, FF's Willie Callaghan (1,197), Labour's Fergus Carpenter (665), Labour's Ger Dunne (575), FG's Billy Hillis (872), Indpendent Paddy Horan (706), FG's Jacinta O'Sullivan (661), and Robert Power (1,241).

Those excluded so far are Francis O'Rourke, Cathal Spelman and Martin Byrne. Elected are James Lawless (FF), Sorcha O'Neill (SF), Seamie Moore (Ind) and Darren Scully (FG).

The count has just resumed.

The long wait to Council 2014

At the end of Count Six, with Francis O'Rourke's votes distributed, there was no further candidate elected, writes Brian Byrne. The next lowest candidate's votes — Martin Byrne of DDI — are now being distributed and the proceedings will close until 9.30 tomorrow morning to resume with Count Seven.

It's a waiting game for five more candidates, who include seasoned veterans Billy Hillis (FG) and Willie Callaghan (FF), pictured above with their families.

It's a long haul yet.

Scully elected to fourth seat in Naas LEA

Fine Gael councillor Darren Scully was re-elected to the Naas LEA in Count Five late this evening, writes Brian Byrne.

He gained 13 votes to bring him to 1,321, clearing the 1,315 quota. Just four of the nine councillors to the Naas LEA have now been elected, and Count Six is in progress.

Fourth Count yields no result

The distribution of Seamie Moore's 46 votes (Count Four) resulted in no new election in the Naas LEA poll, writes Brian Byrne.

Almost half of them (22) went to the two Fianna Fail candidates Robert Power and Willie Callaghan, the balance scattered across the card.

Count Five is now in operation.

No election on Naas Third Count

No candidate was elected following the distribution of Sorcha O'Neill's surplus of 307 votes, writes Brian Byrne.

The biggest recipients of her surplus were Martin Byrne of DDI (59), Independent Paddy Horan (47), Francis O'Rourke (37) and Robert Power (24).

Seamie Moore's 46 votes surplus is now being allocated.

Athy LEA count tomorrow

The Athy LEA count will begin at 9.30am tomorrow, following the very late start to all counts today, writes Brian Byrne.

Ivan Keatley is the Kilcullen interest, as he formerly represented the town when it was in the Athy area. He's pictured with his predecessor and now Kildare South TD Martin Heydon, checking out the national position.