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Hi everyone and welcome to your new-lookInTallaght!

There have been many changes at GenesisMedia over the past few weeks and you mayhave noticed that your March issue did notmaterialise - well just to let you know it wasn’tthat we were not working on it - we were in factin overdrive making exciting plans to changethings up a little and in turn offer you, our readers,more regular reading material and our advertisersmore for their money.

As part of these plans I am delighted to tell youthat InTallaght will be published in news print fromnow on and it will be hitting the shelves every twoweeks instead of once a month! We have alsoresized slightly in order to fit more easily into yourhandbags and pockets!

Additionally we will be launching a brand newglossy and very exciting read, called DublinMagazine, this June. Dublin Magazine, will be

sold nationwide and will bring you interviews withcelebrities, musicians, comedians, writers andsports personalities as well as offer a heavy focuson fashion, cinema, motoring and much muchmore. Priced €2.95 for 120 pages of quality readyou won’t want to miss your monthly copy!

We are adding to our portfolio all of the time andwith our latest magazine, Dance Starz, almostselling out within a four week period we areconfident that you will love what is about to comeyour way.

In the meantime, your free InTallaght will continueto bring you all your local news with fresh andexciting interviews every two weeks. Still availablefrom all the usual outlets - don’t miss it!

Also don’t forget to drop me an email on editor@genesismedia.ie if there’s anything youwould like to see in future editions.

Talk to you in two weeks time!

---------------------------------------------------Emer Mulvaney - Editor

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Curtains Up For IMC

There will be huge excitement in Tallaght today (Wednesday) afterthe long-awaited re-opening of the cinema takes place in theSquare – bringing with it 85 jobs.

IMC, the proprietor of six other cinemas nationwide, with reveal six of the13-screens in the complex which will have a 2,200 capacity.

IMC Operations Manager Erin Mone told InTallaght: “We are delighted tofinally be opening in The Square and we have been getting a fantasticreaction to the news.

“IMC will be bringing in the region of 85 jobs through the new cinemabetween operations staff, management and cleaners. We had a hugeresponse to the posts with over 1,000 applicants for the general positionsand 100 for the management so we are delighted.

The UCI cinema closed in Tallaght in March 2010 with the loss of over 50jobs and since then IMC have been confirmed and the opening has beenmet with great anticipation.

Erin said: “It’s very exciting. The feedback that we are getting is that thecinema here has been sorely missed and we are confident that when thepatrons see it they will be impressed.

“It’s bigger and better and will offer plenty of options for people who will nolonger have to travel to Liffey Valley and Dundrum for films – it will be muchbetter value to come to us in Tallaght. The whole experience will be a newone too with VIP options offering a private bar and luxury seating area.”

Of the 13 screens five will be 3D while Screen One will house the VIP areain which customers can chill out before the film, have a drink and purchasetheir confectionary before it starts.

A further bonus will see three hours free car parking allocated to cinemagoers in the Square.

Occupy Game

FOLLOWING the closure of the Game store in The Square last weekex-workers have been occupying the empty shop in a dispute overredundancy entitlements.

The nine staff members were made redundant last Monday (March 26th)when administrators took the decision to close all 13 stores in Ireland, leadingto 121 people losing their jobs nationwide.

Price Waterhouse Coopers then notified them that they would not bereceiving any redundancy, and they would have to apply to the state for theirentitlements.

Store Manager of Game in The Square, Damian Costigan told InTallaght: ““We just got a call on the Monday to say that we had to shut the shop in thenext five minutes. I am here 13 years, the deputy manager [is here] eightand some of the other staff are here five and six years so to just get a calllike that after working here that long is ridiculous.

“We’re upset at the way we’ve been treated. Nobody wants to be in thisposition but they have forced our hand by not offering us our redundancies,entitlements or our notice period. We’re not being unreasonable, they won’tmeet us halfway or even compromise with us.”

Eight of the nine staff are from Tallaght and Damian said the support fromthe local community has been excellent. “Everybody is giving us brilliantsupport. Members of the public, other retailers in the Square, online, we’reeven getting messages from Spain!” he said.

Cork based James Daly, national spokesman for the workers said, "We wereput in an impossible position - all we want is guarantees about wages owingand our redundancy entitlements.

"We don't believe we should be a burden on the State - why should theState have to pay our redundancy instead of the firm? We will stay here aslong as it takes. All the stock has been moved to the stockroom and is notgoing anywhere. We are here for the long hall,” he added.

Price Waterhouse Coopers did not put forward a comment at the tijme ofgoing to press.

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Ciaran Duffy, 8, from Saggart, began playing witha ball before he could even walk according to hisdad, and such has been his dedication to practicethat his abilities have attracted the attentions ofthe national press, local football clubs and evenfootball giants Barcelona FC.

Just last year however, after reading an article inInTallaght magazine, the generous 2nd classstudent decided to use his talents to help othersand his first stop was a little girl waiting on alife-saving Cerebral Palsy operation.

Dad Michael told InTallaght: “It all started whenwe read a story in an issue of InTallaght a fewmonths ago. There was a piece in there about alittle girl, Caoimhe, who’s family were fundraisingto send her to America to get an operation to fixher legs. Ciaran said he would like to dosomething to help her and her family so wecontacted her Dad who thanked us very muchbut told us that luckily they had raised enoughmoney to send her to the US.

“He then told us about another five-year-old girl,Niamh, who’s family were trying to raise moneyfor the same thing and we called her Dad theninstead.”

A kind-hearted young footballer, who has his sights set on becoming the next Messi, hasbeen putting his freestyling footwork to good use and raising money for some great causes.

At Christmas time Ciaran got involved in afundraising day with Niamh’s family where heshowed off his freestyling skills for sponsorshipand several hundred euro was raised toward thecause – Niamh is now set to get her operation.

Since then Ciaran has been approached tobecome a type of ambassador for the Laura LynnSunshine Home in Leopardstown.

Michael said: “A guy there heard about him andsaid that they were thinking of doing somethingsoccer-wise to raise money and that they’d lovehim to be involved as he would be a greatrepresentative for the kids. Ciaran said he wouldlove to and we are just waiting now on word aboutwhat to do next.”

In the meantime Ciaran will be involved in anevent called Footie Focus which could lead himon the career path he dreams of. The FootiefocusRoadshow 2012 started recently travellingaround Ireland assessing Ireland’s soccer talent– and is a showcase which gives participants achance to win a week’s training at Liverpool F.CAcademy.

Michael said: “It would be a great opportunity forCiaran. We have Barcelona FC looking at histapes too so the future looks bright. We are veryproud of him, he’s great and he’s doing so well– we are delighted that he is using his talent forgood too.”

Ciaran added: “I like helping people. I’m good atfootball and I have loads of hat-trick certificates.It’s a lot of hard work but I like doing it.”

Ciaran and his parents have written to a host ofhospitals offering his help with any fundraisingevents they think he may be suited to and theyare open to other suggestions for fundraisers.

Ciaran will also be getting involved in thewww.live4soccer.ie street stadia this Summer –an organisation which has been a steadysupporter of what he does. He is also availablefor sponsorship and is so popular that he has20,000 hits on youtube.

For more information contact Michael onmickkduffy@yahoo.ie.

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Tiglin Teen Challenge Centre has been inoperation for almost four years and in that timehas watched every graduate leave its programmeand stay clean.

The Christian-run operation, which costs 1,200per day to keep open, has 25 male residents whohave committed to a 16 month programme ofrecovery.

From registration to graduation each man willsubmit to detox, give up all substances includingsmoking and enter into a programme of health,training and routine.

Phil told InTallaght: “About 10 years ago I owneda clothes shop and I was happy there but I began,I suppose, to have an awakening to society andin particular homelessness. I had no experienceof it particularly but I am a Christian and I becamefrustrated about our beliefs and the fact that I feltnone of these people were experiencing that.About three years later I got the opportunity tovolunteer on a Sunday night and myself andAubery McCarty, my business partner, wentalong.

“A couple of months later we closed the shop andin my mind I was going to go back and studyfashion buying or something at college but I gotan offer of paid relief work at the shelter and amonth later I got a full time job there. I thought itwas unusual that these things suddenly croppedup but they were obviously meant to be.”

For the next six years Phil worked at the shelterin which time he witnessed a vicious cycle ofaddicts attempting to get themselves clean butconstantly falling back into drugs. One person,however, changed that when he came to Phillooking for help linking in with a programme ofrecovery which he had heard was running inScotland. This addict left for that programme andcame back for a visit six months later a differentperson.

Phil said: “After six months he was allowed aweekend out and he came to stay with me. Icouldn’t believe the difference. There wasobviously something in the programme that wasworking. At one point half the addicts in it wereIrish and I began to think that, that was exactlywhat we needed here in Ireland so that’s whatwe set about doing.”

After that Phil got in touch with a few friends whocampaigned to try and get the centre set up. Theyfound the building in Ashford, got enoughtogether for the deposit and got approved for amortgage. They then approached Teen Challenge,a programme for recovering women addicts whohad a programme structure and curriculum, andthey agreed to join forces. The women’sprogramme has just recently relocated to theAshford site from Newbridge too although themale and female campuses are kept separate.

Phil said: “It was great to have an establishedformat behind us and we set to work renovatingthe building. We started off with one addict backthen. His sister had done the programme inScotland and she brought him in - today we have25 and a long waiting list but we also have thebest record of recovery in the country and if wedo not have room for someone we offer adviceon alternatives as well as a place on the waitinglist.”

Tiglin takes referrals from several places includingfamily members, prison and the probationservice.Once an addict is referred and willing totake part they do an interview, they are thenintroduced around and the schedule and rulesare explained.

If they then decide they want to come on boardthey are accepted and the 16-month programmebegins.

Phil said: “We treat addiction as one unit so thoseinvolved in the programme have to give up

The most successful haven for recovering drug addicts inIreland is nestled away in the Wicklow mountains and run by

Ballyfermot man, Phil Thompson.

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everything including smoking. This cansometimes turn people off but it is something thatworks very well. There has actually been a studycarried out in the UK that proved that people whowere able to give up cigarettes had a higherchance of giving up other substances.”

The schedule at Tiglin is 7am to get up at whichtime housemates clean their rooms and shaveetc. After that they have 15 minutes of quiet timeto get their heads together or for those whochoose to, pray or read. Then it’s downstairs forbreakfast.

Housemates have a rotating schedule which willsee some work in the kitchen for a period of timeafter which others will take over for a few days.After breakfast the house is cleaned thenbetween 9 and 10am they go to what’s knownas the ‘upper room’ for Christian music and toshare experiences and talk.

After that some will study subjects like anger andpersonal rights and there is also a lifeskillsprogramme to avail of in an effort to equip themfor life back at home.

Lunch is at 12.30pm after which it’s free time toplay pool and table tennis or read (onlypublications vetted by the organization). 2pm isback to work duties where the garden is tendedto, the building is maintained and the chickensare fed and their living quarters are cleaned out.

The first month of the programme is inductionand unless a housemate has children they arenot allowed any phonecalls. In the two-monthphase they are allowed one visit per month. Afterthree months they are allowed a day out permonth and in phase three they are allowed aweekend out per month.

Phase 3+ is when a day out every week isallowed and one weekend a month. Then thework placements kick in.

Phase 4 is the re-entry phase where housematesmove to the Tiglin base in Greystones and liveindependently. They come back two days a weekto Tiglin from 9am-5pm to check in.

Phil said: “It’s a proven programme and we arevery proud of it. It is Christian-run but we do not

force anything on anybody. They are free tobelieve in whoever they like and live how theychoose.

“All we want to do is provide them with a placethey feel safe and supported and get themthrough the addiction which is tearing themapart.”

There are two graduations at Tiglin every year anddespite some people dropping out of theprogramme of all those who have graduated eachand every one remains clean today.

The programme gets some government fundingbut has huge expenses per year and is constantlyholding fundraisers.

At the moment the organization is encouragingpeople to partake in either the 100 or 500 clubs.The 100 club will see corporate entities,businesses or groups pledge 100 euro per monthto Tiglin or the 500 club sees individuals pledge500 euro for the year which works out at roughly10 euro per week.

Phil added: “There have been times when wewere literally about to close the doors but wemanage to pull through thankfully. The truth is adonation can be a lifesaver – literally.”

If you’d like to contact Head Office:

Contact Name: Aubrey McCarthyAddress: Teen Challenge Ireland Limited, 42A Pearse St, Dublin 2Email: chairman@teenchallenge.ie

Men’s CentreContact Name: Phil ThompsonAddress: Tiglin, Ashford, Co. WicklowEmail: phil@teenchallenge.ie

Women’s CentreContact Name: Una ScullyEmail: una@teenchallenge.ieSee www.tiglin.ie for more details.

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who was just out of prison but who was in a lotof trouble and my home was always gettingraided then after it was petrol-bombed we wereleft on the streets.

“I started drinking as well as doing MethadoneHeroin, Cocaine and Craic. The problem was thatthe guy I was with didn’t want me to get help andI ended up getting sclerosis of the liver.”

Brenda’s life took a turn for the better one dayhowever, when a man she once knew followedher to the Methadone clinic.

She said: “He kept saying God had told him tofollow me but I said ‘get lost – where’s God everbeen for me?’ but a week later we got talkingagain and I ended up agreeing to go over to acouple in Sligo to dry out. It was there that I heardof Teen Challenge.

“I came back to Dublin, got involved and I haveto say the 16 months were intense but I havenever looked back. At my lowest I was told I hadonly six months to live, since I got clean on theprogramme I have been sent to London for testsand been told that I no longer need a livertransplant.

“I’ve always heard that the ones [programmes]run by churches are the best and I firmly believethat now because without this one I would bedead.”

Brenda Lawlor is from the Liberties andspent 20 years as a drug addict on thestreets of Dublin.

She has four children, all of whom were taken offher at some point but one of whom is now livingwith her again – as she is four years drug free.

Brenda’s addiction started when she was about12 and escalated so badly that she was soon aheroin addict living with a dangerous criminal.

She told InTallaght: “I had a good childhood,normal and happy. We went on holidays and wegot along, it was nothing about that, that got mestarted. I suppose it was more about a sense ofbelonging and being accepted. I started takingdrugs and it wasn’t long before I went fromCannabis to Heroin. Then I got into some badrelationships with men where abuse was involvedand I went from bad to worse.

“In all the madness I had a child with one manbut I wasn’t with the father, then I had anotherchild from another relationship and both of uswere addicted to coke and Heroin. By the thirdrelationship I had, had another girl and two daysafter I had given birth to my next, a boy, they wereboth taken off me.

“After that I felt I had no purpose. My mother wasrearing two of my children and the other two werein care. I got into another relationship with a guy

Glenn Cronin from Tallaght rememberstaking his first drug, Valium, just beforehis 13th birthday.

Now 37, he is a father with a criminal past thatled to a life of alienation and homelessness.

“I was always living on the ‘at leasts’,” he toldInTallaght. “At least when I was on Cannibas Iwasn’t on E, then I started on E but at least Iwasn’t on coke, then coke got me but at leastI wasn’t on Heroin. Soon I was taking Heroinand working full time and it lasted for a longwhile but then that fell apart too when my bossfound a box full of dirty syringes in my van. Ihad been thinking ‘well even though I’m onheroin at least I still have a job’, then it wasgone but at least I wasn’t homeless….andthen I was.”

Glenn says that just like Brenda he too got intodrugs because he wanted to fit in.

He said: “I always felt awkward and from anearly age I felt a strong need to fit in but whenI didn’t I moved on and I was always lookingfor new friends. Then I found them and theywere into all sorts. I started taking Valium, thenmagic mushrooms. I started secondary schooland again there was a whole new mix ofpeople, good and bad, and I wanted to be likethem.

“By the time I was about 14 I took my first Eand life completely changed. I found a wholeother gang to identify with and then there wasthe rave scene. I was skipping out at nightwhen my parent’s thought I was in bed and Iwas doing all sorts but all the while I maintainedthat I wouldn’t touch Cocaine nevermindHeroin. I thought Heroin was for scumbags anda couple of years later, when I was on coke, Iremember seeing people at a party smokingHeroin and thinking I never would but likeeverything else I eventually did and all of asudden I felt ‘Ah I’ve landed - I was home.”

By the time Glenn was 20 he was a Heroinaddict who was always in employment. At 22he had a child and was working full time going

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to work without Heroin but desperately needingit before bed. He thought no one around himknew but everyone did and despite having a childwith him at 22 his girlfriend could not handle itand left him. Eventually he was using at work.

He said: “She was a good girl and she gave mea chance but I blew it. I was working in people’shomes fitting boliers etc and I’d go out to the vanto get a tool and shoot up in the front seat beforegoing back in, I thought I had it sorted.”

By 28 Glenn’s bosses discovered 300 dirtysyringes in his van and fired him. With no job heturned to crime for money. At this stage, as hesays, he was ‘injecting anything.’

“I had no veins left to shoot up into so I startedinjecting into my arse,” he said. “I had welts andsores all over and I had a huge gaping hole in mywrist that had gone septic. I was a mess and Iwas on the run from people in Tallaght so I wentinto the city centre to try and hide. I stayed in ahostel for a couple of days but I became soparanoid that I left. I was finally on the streets.There were no more ‘at leasts’ I was rockbottom.”

After that Glenn started begging when, bychance, he was sitting on Baggot Street one daywith a cup and someone threw a fiver into it.

“I wasn’t begging that day,” he said. “I had a drinkin it and I was just sitting down. I rememberthinking this is it – I’m sorted! There was a rugbymatch on and when they came out they werethrowing money at me. I was delighted. After thatI went off to get some new needles from theneedle exchange and get some drugs.

“At this point [in his life] I had no veins left, mylung had collapsed, my liver was ruined, I had HIVand I had abscesses all over my body. I wasdestroyed but some time later the strangest thinghappened. I came across some Christians outsideDublin castle. They were preaching and theystopped me and told me about God but I justlaughed.

“They asked me did I want to be healed and Inoticed two women with handbags beside themso I said yes because I was trying to hatch a planto get my hands on their wallets. They were

Shortly after though Teen Challenge was to comeinto Glenn’s life once more, and this time he waswilling to listen.

He said: “I was up on a drug charge and Iremembered the place that lad in the suit spokeabout – I chose to go there to get off the chargeand because I was so skinny they took me instraight away. I haven’t looked back since. If you’dasked me two years ago about God I’d havelaughed but I now believe 100 per cent that hehas healed me. I am recovering, I have noHepatitis, no ailments, my veins are all back tonormal and I am healthier than I have ever been.

“I have been through the prorgramme fully butstill work as a maintenance man at Tiglin. I’m livngindependently and in the past five months I’velived more of my life than I ever have. Life is nolonger endured, it’s enjoyed, and I have Tiglin andGod to thank for that.”

American and I just thought they were nuts. I hadno faith in God and all I wanted was money fordrugs but they asked what I needed healing fromso I started to list off all my ailments to buy timeand when I finished they said ‘Jesus can heal youof that,’ and I laughed again but this man closedhis eyes and put his hand on my shoulder and Iwas about to go for the bags when somethinghappened. Something washed over me and Iburst out crying. I didn’t know what it was but Ijumped up and ran off.

“That day stayed with me though and I couldn’tshake the feeling that something had happened.I was living in a squat that made ‘Trainspotting’look like a Disney film and a week later I was stilltelling the others but they said it was all in myhead.

“Then another sign came. We were shooting upin the squat soon after when this other addictcame in, in a bright cream suit telling us aboutthis recovery place – Teen Challenge.

We considered robbing him but decided to leavehim be and he left. The next day he was slumpedon the side of the street, back on drugs and hissuit ruined.”

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With a cast which has changed several timesthroughout the years the movement simplyensured that the best of the best performs onstage every time according to promoter TommyEgan.

Every year the lads perform charitable events aswell as appearing up and down the country atvarious functions. With six members from Irish toInternational guys, new choreographer Des Alanis putting the shapes on the cast and their act isgoing down a storm.

Tommy told InTallaght: “Des has turned the showaround. It’s one, now, that is ready for a hugestage and we are very excited about where it’sgoing to go.

“There has been 20,000 euro invested incustom-made outfits so the look as well as theact is better than ever.”

It’s been 21 years since the Chain Gang first set pulses racing and over two decades later there’s no sign of them slowing down.

The Chain Gang started many years ago afterTommy first came up with the idea to startIreland’s first strip group but the original one wasa flop.

“It was terrible,” he said “It was the best comedygroup in Ireland and I lost everything on it but thenone day I went to see The Chippendales and I sawwhere I was going wrong. I wasn’t going to giveup so I got the money to back me and I broughtin the best choreographers and the Chain Gangwas born.”

This year, Tommy says, will be the best one yetfor the group who were sought after for animpossible 24 gigs on Mother’s day and thereason for that success, he says, is thepersonalities of the guys which he thinks will seethem through for another 20 years.

He said: “Women love the men themselves. They

are always very polite and friendly and they wouldnever leave a show until everyone has gotautographs and gone home. That makes a hugedifference.”

This year the aim is to get the coveted slot on theLate Late Show which has alluded them for yearsas well as more fundraising. In the end The ChainGang played the Red Cow on Mother’s Day in ashow that was a roaring success.

Tommy added: It’s a great venue and they are justmore popular than ever. After all these years theyare going from strength to strength and so longas the people want them, they’ll be around to per-form.”

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14

He’s the pride of Tallaght after singing his way to the final 16 onRTE’s The Voice of Ireland and Kevin Keeley has high hopes oftaking the top spot under the mentorship of the beautiful SharonCorr.

After wowing the panel in the live auditions with his version of‘Travellin’ Soldier’ he then went into battle with ‘Need you Now’now and since, it seems, the whole country needs him.

The 19-year-old who is a Presentation and Performance student atBallyfermot College took a few minutes out of his busy scheduleto chat to InTallaght about his passions, what he thinks of thejudges and what it’s like to see his face everywhere…

So Kevin you’re in the final 16 how are you feeling about it all?I’m delighted that it’s going so well. We’re just campaigning at the momentand asking people to vote!

Did you ever think that you would get this far?No I’d already done the XFactor thing and didn’t get that far so I didn’t expectto ever get to this stage.

What was the audition process like?Well there wasn’t a lot of hype around it in my house because I didn’t tellanyone I was doing it. I just know what it’s like from doing similar thingsbefore and it’s great when it’s going good but when you get rejected thelows are very low so I wanted to see how I got on first before letting anyoneknow what I was doing. I didn’t even expect to get called first, then I did andI performed for the producers and after that I was called for the live auditions.I was shocked to get called back once but since then it has been goinggreat.

How is Sharon as a mentor?She’s brilliant. At this stage we get along like friends. She is just really niceto us, always giving great advice and keeping our spirits up.

So before you got her would you have been hoping for her or oneof the lads?Well I’ve always been a big fan of Westlife so I probably would have beendelighted with Kian but then again I am a big fan of Garth Brooks and MaryBlack so it doesn’t necessarily mean that one person is better for you. I amjust really happy now that I have Sharon as she has been great to me.

Who chooses your songs for performance?We choose them together. It has to be different and myself and Sharonchoose which songs to sing each time.

Is there method behind the choice? Is it about showing range /proving you can be versatile?Oh yes that’s what it’s all about. Showing that we can slot into differentgenres.

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Kian has had plenty to say about your performances – have yousomething up your sleeve for him?[Laughs] Definitely. He’s all about owning the stage and putting on a show.I’m ready to pull out all the stops on that one!

What has been your best performance yet do you think?My blind audition got a great response but I think my last one was the best.I proved something to myself.

What do you think of the judges comments about you in generalso far?I was labeled as a country singer from the start because I said I like GarthBrooks but I don’t think I’m that. People still seem to think that I have acountry style going on though and I’m not going to complain about thatbecause if that’s the direction I am best going in I’ll soon find out. I do like awide range of music though.

How did you get into music?My whole family is into music, my Grandad is a great inspiration and I gigwith my brother. Music has always been there with us.

What sort of musician do you think you will be?I’m not sure but this show is a great opportunity to try things and guagepeople’s reaction to you.

What would winning this mean to you? Will you give up college?It would be amazing. This is everything I have ever wanted and if I won Iwould put everything into it, it would definitely be my main priority but I wouldput college on hold not give up on it because you just never know.

Who is your biggest rival on the show?At the moment your rivals are the people in your group which is tough but

we are all friends and don’t let it get to us. If I had to pick I’d have to sayVanessa competition-wise. She just, obviously, has an amazing voice.

So what’s it like backstage?It’s great! There have been a lot of different comments about what it’s likeand what people think of each judge but genuinely we really do all get on.We have the craic but we know at the end of the day it’s a competition sowhen we need to get in the zone we go off to our own quiet space for a fewminutes and get ready to perform.

There have been some big stars performing on the show like PixieLott and Rizzle Kicks – did you get to meet them? Did they give youany advice or even an autograph?!No we didn’t get to hang around with them at all. They had their own jobsto do and be interviewed afterwards so unfortunately we didn’t get any timewith them.

What has the support been like for you from Tallaght?The support has been amazing. There are posters all over the place I haveto stop looking at them there are so many! They are on every street. Rovershave posters up everywhere too - everyone has just been great. The Squareeven dedicated one of the shops to fill with posters. The whole communityis rallying around – it just goes to show you that you can always rely onwhere you come from.

Any message for the people of Tallaght ahead of your nextperformance?Just that I’d really appreciate if everyone could vote and hopefully I can takeit all the way for them.

Kevin will perform next on The Voice of Ireland on Easter Sunday,make sure you pick up the phone and vote.

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FOOTBALL fanatics from across the area are being sought to takepart in a five-a-side tournament to raise funds for sufferers of apainful, incurable and life-threatening disease.

James Lumumba, from Jobstown, has organised a 12-hour long FootballMarathon Challenge that will take place on Saturday, June 2, in Tallaght’sPostal Sports & Social Club, for Debra Ireland – and he needs participants.

The charity offers support and advice to those who suffer from EpidermolysisBullosa (EB), a genetic condition that causes the skin layers and internalbody linings to separate and blister at the slightest touch. It affects aboutone in every 18,000 children.

James, who has numerous successful charity events under his belt, likeclimbing Kilimanjaro two years ago and running the Chicago Marathon inOctober 2009, decided to stage the fundraising event after he carried outsome research into Debra Ireland as part of a business management coursehe studied last year.

He told InTallaght: “After doing that research I felt sympathetic to the charityand felt I would like to do something for them. Most of their funding is raisedthrough events done by individual people and they don’t get a lot of fundsfrom the Government.”

The Football Marathon Challenge is a five-a-side fun physical challenge inwhich participating teams will be competing over 12 hours.

James said: “The event will run from 9am to 9pm and all teams enteringthe challenge will be given a fundraising target to meet. Each team willconsist of seven members with only five on the pitch at any one time. I’mhoping to get up to 20 teams involved in the event and each player has beengiven a target of raising €250.”

While participants will be playing over 20 games of football in a single daythere will be a DJ and other entertainment to keep spirits up, with a leagueand a knockout cup to keep things interesting. James is also encouragingwomen to take part in the mini-marathon on behalf of Debra Ireland andorganising a charity sky diving event, planned for Co Offaly in this month.

DEBRA Ireland’s mission is to fund the development of treatments and curesfor all forms of Epidermolsis Bullosa, and meanwhile to do all in its power toalleviate the suffering caused by EB.

Susan Woodcock, Fundraising Manager at Debra Ireland said they aredelighted to have been chosen: “As a charity with no guaranteed fundingwe depend on the generosity of our supporters to continue to supportfamilies around Ireland who live with EB on a daily basis,” she said.

The closing date to register for the Football Marathon Challenge is May 1st. To take part in any of the other events contact James Lumumba by emailing:james.lumumba@aviva.ie or by phone on 087-4135537. Alternatively logonto www.mycharity.ie/event/footballmarathon to donate.

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IRISH sports legend Jim Stynes has been fondly remembered atthe local club where it all began for him following his recent deathin Australia.

The man who went on to become one of the greatest players in the historyof Australian Rules Football began his sporting life with Ballyboden St Endaswhere members say his passing has brought ‘enormous sadness.’

It had been known for some time that Jim had a life-threatening illness butthat didn’t diminish the shock at the club when the news came through thathe had lost his brave battle with cancer at just 45 years old.

The general manager of the club, Noel Sheridan, told InTallaght: ''The clubis upset for his family and for Jim himself. We were obviously hoping for amiracle, that something would happen, but it became clear from the storieswe were hearing that there was nothing that could stop these tumors.

''The only miracle that took place was that he did give such encouragementto people while he was suffering from it. I think he inspired a lot of people,''Mr Sheridan said.

While he became hugely famous as an Aussie Rules star, he never lost touchwith his roots and was a regular visitor home, usually around Christmas,when he always ensured he made a trip up to the club.

Club PRO Gerry O’ Sullivan said “Jim grew up with the club and his familyare very active members. As well as Jim and his father Brian his brothersBrian and David are also members.

"There's enormous sadness [here]. The challenge he faced with cancer waswell-known by Irish people and the enormous bravery he showed touchedpeople."

Jim Stynes joined Ballyboden St Endas at the tender age of 9. His parentsBrian and Tess are huge supporters of gaelic games so it was no surprisewhen he ended up at the club, where his father coached. The first team heplayed for was the Under 11s and despite being a couple of years underagethe fact that he was so tall meant that he was well able to compete with theolder players. Former club teammates remember him as a realsuperhero-type player from whom it was impossible to take possession ofthe ball.

Sean Flynn, who was Chairman of the underage section of the club whenJim joined, remembers how the tall, stubborn lad in midfield, who was sixfoot by the time he was 11, was unstoppable.

“Other teams would put two or three players on him but he would still snatchthe ball and burst forward with it,” he said. ''He was just as exciting at thatearly level - 11, 12, 13 - as he was as an adult. The opposition couldn't dealwith him at all.''

By Padraig Conlon

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While Ballyboden St Endas is today a hugely successful club back in the1980s this wasn’t the case. A major breakthrough was made, however, in1981 when the club won the Under 16 football championship with JimStynes as a key player and the club was put on the map. It was the firstjuvenile championship achievement for Ballyboden and the photograph ofthis team hangs proudly in the clubouse. His outstanding performances forthe club led to Jim being called up to the Dublin Minors in 1984 where hecreated a formidable midfield partnership with Paul Clarke as they swept toAll-Ireland honours, beating Tipperary in the final.

Jim Stynes’ first contact with Australian rules football also came in 1984when, with no prior knowledge of the game, he answered an ad in a localpaper from the Melbourne Demons Football Club seeking talented Gaelicfootballers as possible recruits in what was later described as “The Irishexperiment”. Melbourne officials were impressed and he was brought toVictoria in November that year.

The career of a senior AFL player today averages just 3.5 years but from1987 until 1998 Jim Stynes played 264 times for Melbourne and laterbecame Chairman of the club, only retiring from this role in February 2012because of his health problems.

From a zero level of experience or knowledge he rose to the very top andbecame the first, and still only, non-native Aussie to win the Brownlow Medal(Player Of The Year) in 1991 – their highest individual player award. He wasalso voted Victorian of the Year in 2001, 2003 and 2011 and Melburnian ofthe Year in 2010.

Additionally he had the distinction of playing for Ireland and Australia in theInternational Rules series and in more recent times he was a key part of theAustralian management set-up. One of his last public engagements was tothrow in the ball in Melbourne at last year’s Ireland v Australia test. Duringone of Australia’s visits to Ireland, Jim presented a signed football to the cluband it remains a treasured memento.

Alongside his wonderful football career Jim co-founded The ReachFoundation, a charity dedicated to promoting positive mental health amongyoung Australians.

Jim was laid to rest during a state funeral in Melbourne on Tuesday, March27th. He was also honoured in Ireland on the previous Monday when hisformer club mates were among the hundreds of people who attenedBallyroan Church in his former home parish of Knocklyon for a special tributemass.

Club Chair Terry O’Neill in a tribute said: “To most people Jim is known asone of Ireland’s best known international superstars but at moments likethis our thoughts must be of - Jim the husband, father, son, brother andfriend. Their loss is immeasurable and being connected to someone who isso well-known in both Australia and Ireland must have added an additionalburden but there must also be consolation to see someone touch the livesof so many and to leave so many happy memories behind.”

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LOCAL MEN who want their Hair to lookgreat without paying a fortune shouldcheck out the newly opened Killian’s MopChop Barbers in Marlfield Mall, Kiltipper.

Killian’s Mop Chop Barbers is a modern conceptBarber Shop and provides a full range of servicesfor men which includes Cutting, Styling, SignatureCuts and Hot Towel Shaves. They also stock avariety of Male Grooming products, as the modernday man is looking for a lot more than just ahaircut!

The two highly trained staff members, who haveover 20 years experience between them, are ableto serve all Hair and Styling needs. Both are veryfriendly and very skilled, so as well as making youlook good they’ll put you in a better mood too!How many Barber Shops in Dublin can claim tohave a former stylist from the Polish X Factorworking for them? Or a teacher of Barbering andProfessional Signature Design for that mattereither?? They also have Sky Sports on the TV foryou to watch while you wait.

Shop owners Dave and Mag’s are delighted withthe business since they opened on March 2nd.“Yes business has been good since opening,everything is going well and we’re delighted sofar” they said. “We’re open 7 days a week,something very few other shops in the area do.“On a Sunday we offer a Hot Towel Shave andHaircut for just 22. So, if you want to ‘FreshenUp’ after a hectic weekend or even just preparefor the oncoming week then come on in to us andwe’ll look after you.”

Following the fast success of their Shop inKiltipper, Dave and Mag’s are now making plansto open their second Barber Shop inFortunestown (next to GALA stores) They hopeto have it up and running by Mid April.

In these tough times it’s great to see newbusinesses opening in the community. With theirexperience and expertise, the staff at Killian’shave got what it takes to build on their great startand grow their business in both their Kiltipper andFortunestown Shops.

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Ever wondered what it’s like behind the scenes of Ireland’s funniestand best-loved daytime radio show? Yes me too that’s why I set offrecently to sit in studio while TodayFM’s Ray Foley show was airingand let me tell you – it’s exactly how you would imagine…but withmore swearing!

It’s the middle of the day and while most of us are slaving away at our desks,serving people behind counters or making sales Ann, JP and Ray are havingthe craic – both on and off the air. When the mics are on they are banteringaway, having ‘just a bit of fun for everyone’s lunchtime’ but when they areoff air that banter doesn’t stop.

JP and Ray, friends for 14 years – six of which were their degree days –chat and laugh like the old friends they are, slagging each other off anddeciding where they might go with the show next while Ann takes a ratherfrustrating call from a listener who entered a competition but is unwilling tocome on air – he loses out on the prize because of it but as the song playingnears an end and airtime approaches rapidly they find another winner willingto go on air in the nick of time.

“Welcome to the most boring studio in the world,” Ray laughs as he pointsat the newly-installed web cams. “We’re being watched and I don’t knowwhat people are expecting us to be doing but relaxing back in our chairswith our feet on the desk isn’t it. We need to buck up and get moreinteresting!”

So maybe watching them on camera isn’t the most rivetting but as radiopresenters that’s not what they signed up for so as long as they are funnyon air who cares?

Looking around it’s pretty surreal to see JP frantically typing ‘what we didn’tget to do today’ while Ann lines up clips for the impending podcast. Ray, inthe big chair is looking pretty busy and important and as the jingles we allknow and love are faded in and out I watch the Mayo man, with his air ofarrogance – the self professed king of the n-ayfternoons,’ – and wonderwhether his radio persona is true to life.

So after the show we sit down for a chat and I discover that with just theright amount of confidence and genuine personality Ray Foley is indeed thefunny radio jock we all know and love but there’s more to him than that.

With his first child due imminent we speak babies, romance, ambition andjust who is the eejit on the show…..

So what does a typical day involve?Half the show is planned the day before . Unfortunately with the timing ofour show Ian and Ray [Darcy] have already been through the papers sopretty much everything has been done to that extent. We have a meetingevery morning. The lads [Adelle, Ann and JP] come in at 9am and I come in

By Emer Mulvaney, Editor

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at 10am. We have the meeting at 10.30am for about 40 minutes and weblast through everything. The first item is always what we’ve been up to, theTV we watched, the things we saw on the bus – sometimes there’s nothing!But we hammer through the papers and see if there’s something that wecan make our own. We have movies on a Wednesday and Fridays too.

Is it really all about the fun?We come up with a shortlist at the meeting and we bash through differentangles – we try to be light-hearted but with the recession we have beenthinking more and more about the way we go about things. We have dabbledin the more serious but the reaction we get is that people like what we doand want that escapism. We are very aware that we can be annoying shitssometimes though and that can’t be easy but for the most part we think ourlisteners are in it for the craic so that’s what we try to bring.

Who comes up with the ideas?Well since the recession we don’t do an awful lot of big ideas. We did thefun bus and the live lunches but the ideas for general shows are come upwith mostly over pints! We socialise together and TodayFM are pretty goodabout letting us do pretty much what we want. That’s mostly down to theRay Darcy show who, over the years, have managed to get to the point wherethey get what they want in a lot of circumstances and we’re benefitting fromthat.

How do you guage if they are good?You can’t guage really- our guage is ourselves. We don’t need to be on theroad all the time or doing huge things, we are what we are. 2fm are on theroad all the time and they never sound good. My feeling is that we might dothings that have been done before but we do them better.

Do listeners give ideas for games and comps?No, it’s not really one of those shows. I think people just want to listen to theradio. I have a theory that if I am being paid to make it [radio] I’ll do it andyou’ll listen to it for free. Getting other people to come up with stuff it is acop out.

What shows do you most look forward to? Do you get nervous?None of them! Ah no seriously I enjoy the show everyday – I’d have to! Idon’t really get nervous any more to be honest – unless we have someonein and it’s out of my confort zone.

Like a sports person or something?Yes exactly that might make me a little nervous but otherwise I’m fine.

How do you stay in good humour on air?Someone actually text us today and asked that. I don’t know – it’s our jobto be upbeat and have a laugh. The bitch of it is that you have to be upbeatand have a laugh – you have no choice. If we worked in a bank maybe orsomething we wouldn’t always have to be that way but then again we would-n’t change this for the world – it’s hardly a chore to be happy!

Are you ever not talking or fighting with each other and then haveto go on air and have the banter?[Laughs]. Ah once or twice. JP and I have known each other for 14 years

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but we’ve only ever not spoken maybe twice. One time I remember weweren’t speaking and it went on for a couple of days. I actually had no ideawhy we weren’t talking and our friends asked me one day and I had to admitI didn’t know and to be fair I missed him so I just forgave him and got onwith it.

Who was your best/worst interviewee? Any huge disasters youremember?We are not very interview-based – not like the Darcy show – they geteveryone. When we do interview people though we manipulate it and wetry and get people that we really want to meet. A couple of years ago wehad Justin Lee Collins and he ended up staying for an hour on the showbecause he said he was having such a good time. We told him he couldhead off whenever he liked and he said no, he wanted to stay. We went fora pint after and we were like ‘shit this is great’. That’s when I get nervouswhen I meet someone I really rate – I just want them to like the show. If itwas someone we don’t really like then we don’t really care if they don’t likeit!

Are you as cocky as you make out?I’m not as cocky/arrogant as I let on to be at all! I know that we are the bestat this type of thing. We’ve won awards (both pushed and legitimate!) andpart of getting there is being confident. Well I am a bit cocky but I do believein the show.

Are you romantic?My wife is lovely and I try to be thoughtful. I think it means more the rest ofthe year so yes, I try to be romantic. I buy her flowers probably about 10/15times a year and I surprise her with dinner here and there.

What’s your worst habit?Well as far as my wife is concerned I don’t switch off and I am quite negativeand critical or myself….that’s not a habit though is it? Let me see…myworst habit [thinking hard]….Drinking…picking my nose, belching, notmaking the bed, leaving the dishes in the dishwasher..not much....

Are you nervous about being a dad?I’m looking forward to it. I would rather it was over now to be honest, there’sno more getting around the elephant in the room ie; my wife! Ah seriouslythough she is in great form, she was born to be a mum. She is very loveable,kind and caring and she will be great. I have been very open about it myself,I was never in a huge hurry to be a dad and I am not the most eager soon-to-be father. It wasn’t a surprise though, it was planned because it was timebut I am looking forward to getting my teeth into it now.

Is JP taking over when the baby arrives? How do you rate him asa replacement? Yeah well the way I look at it is there is noone better to do it when I am nothere than them, the team that are with me all the time.

Do you ever listen in when you’re off and think ‘God they shouldn’t/ should have done that?’I listen in but I never judge because the way I look at it is they did/didn’t doit because I wasn’t there and that’s fair enough.

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So tell me about Take Me Out how did that come about?It was a total fluke. We had done a tour around Ireland for the show anduploaded to youtube. They seen it and put me on a shortlist in TV3. The listwent up on a white board and staff had to put a tick beside whoever theywould prefer to see presenting it – I got the most ticks and they rang me!

Did you really suffer from panic attacks you were so nervous?No I didn’t say panic attacks – that was said for me! I was very very nervousadmittedly. I got offered the job in the June and we didn’t start filimg untilSeptember so I would be going about my daily life and then all of a suddenget this bolt of nervousness when I remembered. The first show was theworst though – I was told all the country’s entertainment press would bethere and I was really really nervous. I went into autopilot out of pure fear…I just said I’d go for it and I’m the first to say it wasn’t the best but it definitelywasn’t the worst.

Well you got asked back for a second series so that says a lot.Yeah it was great to be asked back and I love the show. It’s different to theEnglish one because unlike that, in my opinion, there are no fixed answersand it’s a tough place to be at times. Lads getting rejected by girls who wantto be on TV and stay there for a while. I was actually getting quite defensivefor the fellas for a while – they were getting booted off and I was like – whatwas wrong with him? I had to start taking a step back though and realiseit’s just a job!

Would you like to do more TV work?It was nice to do and if I was offered it I would take their arm off definitelybut this [TodayFM] is my job. I will never give this up because this is me –this where I’m supposed to be. I suppose I should be more ambitious but Ilove it.

So when you were at college did you see yourself doing this?No, I did a journalism degree that took me six years to pass! I moved toDublin to get into journalism. Like most journalists I read the Irish Times andthought at stages that hard news reporting was what I wanted but it wasn’tlong before I realised it wasn’t. I came from Ballina which had very fewradio options at the time and when I got here I realised that there were somany more opportunities in radio. Chris Evans was on Virgin radio at thetime and I wanted what he had. It became all I wanted and my interest incollege wained, hence failing two years but I got there. JP took six years todo it too!

And now you’re exactly where you wanted to be –having the craic all day every day - so what do you want to be whenyou grow up?![Laughs] To be honest I would like the show to grow up naturally. I know theDarcy show has changed as the people involved got more sensible andstraight and I honestly hope that doesn’t happen to us. I want to keep ityoung and fun and I honestly believe that over the next nine years while Iam under 40 that there is a great chance we can do that but still be reflectiveof family life and how things are changing for us. We will never be too fussyand always be fun!

At the time of going to press, Ray Foley and his wife Kate had a babyboy....congratulations!!

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The boss: Adelle

The Dogsbody: Ann

The funniest: JP

The un-funniest: Ray

The laziest: Ray

The hardest working: JP

The meanest: Ray

The kindest: Ann

The tightest: JP

The most generous: Adelle

The cruellest: Ray

The best natured: Ann

The smelliest ‘good’: Ray

The smelliest ‘bad’: Ann

The strongest: Ray

The weakest: Adelle

The cry baby: Ann

The hard ass: Adelle

The fastest: JP

The slowest: Ann

The gym bunny: JP

The slob: Ann

The sporty: JP

The non-sporty: Ray

The gambler: JP

The safe player: Ray

The charmer: JP

The charmless: Ray

The drunk: Ray

The sensible drinker: Adelle

The hottest: Ray

The ugliest: JP

The happy head: Ann

The moaner: Ray

The hairiest: JP

The clean shaven: Adelle

The idealist: Ann

The realist: Ray

The ambitious: Ray

The carefree: Ann

The fashionable: JP

The unfashionable: Ray

The reliable: Adelle

The unreliable: Ray

The fibber: No-one

The truth teller: Even all

The rudest: Ann

The politest: Adelle

The romantic: Ray

The mature: Adelle

The immature: Three way tie

The laid back: JP

The highly strung: Ray

The eegit: Ann

The legend: JP

We asked Ray to ‘out’ the drinkers, the charmers, the eegits and

the tight arses from the team......

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enjoyable to listen to and even though Lana’sdeep folksy voice contrasts with the Hollywoodromance-style orchestral arrangement on thealbum, somehow it works.

The lyrics differ from talking about love and lossto money, looks and social status. We live in anage of decadence and Kardashians and thesinger embraces that.

On the whole its an interesting offering and DelRey doesn’t sound like any singer out right now.She is definitely one to watch.

Will her career blossom further away from theinternet? I think it’s definitely worth a bet.

Born To Die is Out Now

It seems that everyone has already hadtheir say about Lana Del Rey.

The 25-year-old New Yorker, formerly known asElizabeth Grant, has been surrounded by hypeover the past year and as such she has been themost talked about artist on the internet.

Ms Del Rey originally recorded the single “VideoGames” and put it on youtube garnering over 30million views and an army of fans. Now her muchanticipated debut album “Born to Die” has toppedthe charts with record breaking sales.

Amid all the hype the songstress has producedan album of melodic pop songs executedbeautifully with her soulful voice. The album maynot be inspiring or amazing but it is definitely

Best songs: Born To Die, National Anthem,Video Games

Reviewed by: Catherine Coleman

For the two former Republic of Loose members,Orla and Bres, it was always going to be the lit-mus test for their future success – like any debutalbum - but following the release of their first sin-gle off it last October the positivity surroundingthat may have eased their minds a little. Thisalbum should further compound that.

With a short intro track which you may not get togrips with initially my advice to you is to go backand hear it again after about five songs. It makessense. The second track ‘These Girls’ leads younicely into what is essentially a very positive andupbeat album. There’s something about it thatmakes you want to move, click your fingers, singalong – be happy! Future ex-wife, my favouritetrack on the album is a cheeky number with lyrics

like “Hope that I don’t make a serious mistake butI’m getting older and can’t wait,” which gives agiggle and an insight into the personalities of thebrother and sister duo.

There are some very clear vocals and a couple ofsongs [Street Song and Cars Love Girls] that areslightly reminiscent of the ROL days but the sim-ilarities are vague and this album is very much anew and fresh sound – their very own thing.

Buy it out of curiosity, buy it out of whatever youlike, but rest assured that album number two youwill be buying out of necessity.

Reviewed by: Emer Mulvaney, EditorSkip School is out now

Skip School by Cars Love Girls is a funkyalbum with fresh vibes and a disco-esquesound.

Far from things heading that way howeverthe band took on a new bass playing lastAugust and rebranded in an effort to liventhings up.

Now fresh from gigging in the UK the outfit,which is made up of two Tallaght lads, aWexford man and a Cork-onian, is full ofenergy, enthusiasm and ambition. GuitaristConor Walsh spoke to Editor, EmerMulvaney, about the band’s future plans.

So Conor where did it all begin?We got together in the summer of 2007 as aband called Downhill. Then in August this year wegot a new bass player and we decided that it wastime for a new start to go with it so we changedour name to Search The Skyline. Then we wentstraight into the studio and started recording ournew single, Clouds.

You changed your name – why?It just felt like the right time to do it. We wanted afresh start and that’s what we got.

So what’s the line-up in the band now?Myself on guitar, Christian McGrath on vocals andguitar, Daniel Duggan on Drums and JamesMcKnight on bass.

Search The Skyline has been around since 2007. Most people won’t know this however because they were playing under a different name – Downhill.

What sort of music do you play and whowould you count as your influences?We’re a pop/rock group and our influences wouldbe the likes of Blink 182, Paramore and Fall Out Boy.

Who writes your music?We all do it together. Well Christian would write alot of the lyrics but what we do is, if someone hasa new riff or vocal we all sit around at rehearsal,show it to the others and add to it. The drums areusually the last thing to be added.

So what would be your inspiration whenwriting music – is it everyday life, loveetc….?We can be inspired to write by anything at all.General stuff that happens but love would havea big part to play in it, yeah. Christian wrote oursingle Clouds about his girlfriend who he hasbeen with for a long time. It’s good when it’s real.

So you had your first gig in the Academyplaying support to The Maine, how did thatgo? It was great. A really good kick off for the bandand the band we supported gave us a really goodshout out on stage. The crowd were great andwe are looking forward to many more gigs like it.

You just came back from the UK, how wasthat?Ah brilliant. It’s so good to get opportunities likethat. We were supporting a band called Room 94.Gigs we had set up from the days of Downhill andof course we honoured them. It’s great to just getout there, no matter where you are and hopefullypeople are liking what we’re doing.

Who would you most like to support?Blink 182 are playing the O2 in June. We arehuge fans and it would just be incredible to get agig supporting them but that’s just dreaming!

So what are the big plans for 2012?The immediate plans are to get back into thestudio do an EP and do everything we can To getour name out there.

Where can people catch you then?Our single can be downloaded for free onmusicglue.com/searchtheskyline

For future gigs and what’s going on with the band in general log ontofacebook.com/SearchTheSkyline or ontwitter (@tweettheskyline).

It can be difficult, when working with such a well-known story, to bring originality to an adaptation of a classic but director Andrea Arnold succeeds with her version.

Based on the classic novel by Emily Bronte,Wuthering Heights is already well embedded inpop culture. It is set on the isolated moors ofYorkshire, where Bronte herself lived. Arrestinglyshot in natural light, with no soundtrack, themoors have never seemed more alien or bleak.

The basic plot will be familiar to many, either fromthe various screen adaptations or the originalnovel. Mr Earshaw, a hill famer from Yorkshirevisits Liverpool and finds a homeless orphan onthe streets. He returns to the family farmhouse,where young Heathcliff is taken in by his family.

The farmer’s son Hindley is cruel to Heathcliff(played at first by Solomon Glave) but he finds anally in his foster sister Catherine (initially playedby Shannon Beer).

She warms to him and the two develop anintensely intimate and reckless bond that spansmany years and their changing fortunes.

Due to Bronte's description of Heathcliff as"dark-skinned gypsy in aspect" and "a littleLascar”, Arnold chose to cast the first blackHeathcliff in a screen version of WutheringHeights.

Later on in the film Cathy is played by KayaScodelario, better known for her portrayal of EffyStonem in the controversial E4 Drama, Skins. Theolder Heathcliff is played by James Howson, anacting newcomer.

This film deserves a lot of credit for approachingsacred source material in such a radical form.

Release Date: April 11, 2012 Director: Andrea ArnoldStarring: Kaya Scodelario

James HowsonOliver MilburnNichola Burley

Genre: Romance/Drama

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The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists isSony Pictures Animations’ first stop-motion clayanimated feature film from Aardman Animations,the creators of Wallace & Gromit.

The film is based on the first two books fromGideon Defoe’s The Pirates! series, The Pirates!in an Adventure with Scientists and The Pirates!in an Adventure with Whaling.

On their quest they battle Queen Victoria (ImeldaStaunton) and join forces with a young CharlesDarwin. The quest takes Captain and his crewfrom the shores of Blood Island to the foggystreets of Victorian London.

Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as theluxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain - a boundlesslyenthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful,

terror of the High Seas. With a rag-tag crew athis side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson,Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seeminglyblind to the impossible odds stacked against him,the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivalsBlack Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz(Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of TheYear Award.

On their quest they battle Queen Victoria and joinforces with a young Charles Darwin. The questtakes Captain and his crew from the shores ofBlood Island to the foggy streets of VictorianLondon but they never lose sight of what a pirateloves best – adventure.

Peter Lord commented, "With Pirates!, I must saythat the new technology has made Pirates! reallyliberating and easy to make because the fact that

you can shoot a lot of green screen stuff, the factthat you can easily extend the sets with CG, thefact that you can put the sea in there and abeautiful wooden boat that, frankly, would neversail in a million years, you can take that and putit into a beautiful CG scene and believe it."

Release Date: March 28,2012

Director: Peter LordStarring: Hugh Grant

Salma HayekJeremy PivenImelda Staunton

Genre: Animation, Kids & Family

YAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists

When getting married you will always find that one thing which is on tap isadvice from people!

This is a wonderful thing and can be very helpful to any prospective bride or groom but unless you area bride/groom-zilla you may not carry a notebook around in your back pocket to write down everylittle thing everyone says to you.

This month, therefore, we have compiled a list of the top five pieces of advice in preparationfor your wedding day…some things you simply may not have thought about.

Buy a new perfume/aftershave:Most of us would assume that we will wear our favourite perfume on the

day of our wedding – the smell we know and love but buying a new scenthas one major benefit – every time you smell it in the future you will bereminded of that wonderful day.

Take Five Minutes:Don’t forget, for five minutes on your day look around the roomtogether and just take it all in. Look at all the people who are therebecause of you and appreciate the time and effort they put in tocelebrating your day with you.

Don’t feel forced to speak:There’s nothing worse that adding to the nerves of the day by planninga speech that will leave you suffering through sleepless nights for theweek, especially if you are the bride.

Look after yourself - especially during those last sevendays: Don’t do anything crazy like going for a run in the rain, you’llcatch a cold. Go to bed early where possible and take plenty of vitamin

C. The last thing you want on the day is black bags under your eyesand a runny nose!

Write a list of photos you don’t want to miss: One thingyou don’t want is to be looking forward to looking back on thesnaps of the big day and realizing you don’t have one on your

own with your Gran or there’s none of you and your best friends.The easiest way to remedy this is to make a list and give it to your

Photographer/Best Man/Chief Bridesmaid and they will make sureyou get all of those important pictures from the day.

National Basketball

Arena

The Arena is teaming up with top coaches to bring Easter basket-ball camps back to the premier basketball venue in the country. This camp will cater for boys and girls of all ability levels from beginners to junior internationals. Players will be divided into groups based on age and ability and will be provided with expert coaching aimed at teaching the FUNdamentals of the game. The facilities boast height adjustable baskets, indoor & outdoor courts and a shop.

EASTER BASKETBALL CAMPS

Featuring:

• Coaching from Top Irish

& International Coaches

• Skill sessions • Fun games

• Shooting Competitions

• League play • Prizes

Dates: Tues 10th – Fri 13th April 2012

Times: 10:00am – 3:30pm each day

Ages: 7 to 17

Cost: €60 per person

Discount: Family - €10 off any additional

family members

Contact Katherine at:

Tel: 01 4590211 / Email: katherine@arena.ie

The Arena Wedding Fair

14th & 15th July 2012Exhibitors are now invited to apply by contacting Arena Marketing Manager

Katherine Reade on (086) 8388972 or by email katherine@arena.ie

Competitive prices available with stands limited to four per sector.

End of the world titles seem to be flooding the market today and that makes it harder to find a good game that comes out amid the rest.

The Last of Us is that good game.Developed by Naughty Dog, exclusivelyfor Playstation 3, The Last of Us followstwo unlikely companions throughwasteland America.

The Story takes place 20 years after an outbreakof a virus that turns people into mutants. Thegovernment has fallen apart and the militaryhastaken over and created quarantine zones buteven these zones are starting to fail to hold outthe mutants, people are losing their minds andsupplies are running low. Martial Law is in effectand even the most minor offence meansimmediate execution.

At the start of the game the player is introducedto Joel, a man in his 40's who works as a

smuggler for the black market. He wouldremember what the world was like before it fellto the mutants. Over time he's become less moraland doing what needs to be done to survive. He'sgiven a job to smuggle a young girl out of thequarantine zone.

The girl is Ellie a 14-year-old who grew up in thequarantine zone in a military-run orphanage. Wedon't initially know why Joel is smuggling Ellie outof the city but we do know that it goes wrong fast.

Joel can't return to the city either because themilitary is looking for him and, if caught, theconsequence would be death.

This is the start of trying to survive in the infectedzones overrun with mutants and bandits. The

story we initially know is that Joel is trying tounload Ellie so he can move on alone but withthis being a Naughty Dog game, we know thatthe game will be heavily character and plot driven.

There is no official release date as of yet butNaughty Dog and Sony has given a late 2012early 2013 release.

Be sure to keep an eye out for this game becauseit's shaping up to be a big one.

Release Date: TBCPublisher: Naughty DogGenre: ActionAvailable On: PS3www.lastofus.com for more information

By Keith Cashin

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Everything is easier with the Panda: getting about,parking, finding the right space everywhere yougo and having a good time with friends. That isbecause it is the end result of smart solutions andinnovative ideas thought up and developed forthose looking for an agile, maneuverable andreally big city car.

In terms of looks, the Panda has been elegantlyrestyled on the outside with soft, rounded lines ona regular, very effective volume for exploitingspace. The "squircle" is the new identifyingsymbol of the Panda. This geometric figureevokes the union between the square(synonymous with efficiency and sturdiness) andthe circle (representing pleasantness andflexibility).

ExteriorsIts front has a strong personality, featuring theslightly convex bonnet that joins perfectly with theelegant horizontal grille and the new frontheadlamps with a rounded shape, underlined bya separate supplementary element with DaytimeRunning Lights function.

Several distinguishing features of the secondgeneration of the Panda have been redesigned,such as the vertical rear light clusters and thirdwindow, now with softened angles that create theeffect of an uninterrupted glazed surface. Smooth,rounded shapes are also found in the stripsapplied to the bumpers and side panels, whichaccentuate the all-terrain look of the model.

Finally, the lower section of the tailgate protrudeswith respect to the rear window. Combined withthe side line, this gives the distinct impression ofa roof panel resting on the bodywork.

InteriorsThe roomy and comfortable passengercompartment of the Panda provides ultimatefreedom of use, where flexibility and versatilitybecome the city car's real strong points.

The dashboard - enveloped in a colourful frame- has been designed as a practical multipurposeshell containing a large and roomy storage"pocket" for stowing everything you want in totalfreedom. Added to that is the more classic glovebox enclosed in the bottom of the dashboard.

The raised gear lever in the centre of thedashboard, up close to the steering wheel,guarantees comfortable driving. Another stylisticand functional feature is the distinctive shape ofthe parking brake whose smaller size allows thespace to be used more efficiently.

Then the Panda has slim front seats to makedriving easier and to better accommodatepassengers as they provide more room for thelegs of rear passengers, greater flexibility (the seattravel is 21cm and the vertical adjustment is 6cm)and enhanced seating comfort thanks to theirroomier and encircling shape.

Sophisticated and unique, the new Fiat Panda is finally here. With its compact curves,eco-friendly engines, spacious interior and high-tech extras, the Panda makes city driving

a cinch. Like all great Italian design it has an unmissable style, with every element designed to give you the best.

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The tone of the book alternates between amusedand self-depracating to touchingly honest. I willadmit that I shed a tear when I read about thedeath of his father when he was just 17 but hissense of humour shines through even in thedarkest moments.

Life and Laiughing deals with Michael’s parents’divorce and his father’s showbiz career. He isremarkably open about his feelings and howcertain events affected him and you get a real feelfor the kind of person he is. He seems just aslovely a person as he comes across in hisstage-show.

The two main threads running through the bookare his rise to fame as one of Britain’s mostsucessful comedians and how he convinced hiswife, (who is portrayed as being far out of hisleague from the off) that he was the man sheshould really be with.

I am not in the habit of reading autobiographies.I usually only ever read novels, but I’m so glad Imade an exception in this case. If you’re a fan ofMichael McIntyre’s stand up, I think you’ll love thisbook as much as I did.

About The AuthorMichael McIntyre is an English stand-upcomedian. As well as his stand-up, he has starredin Live at the Apollo and has his own programme,Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow.

For more information go to his website:www.michaelmcintyre.co.uk

I should start this review with a disclaimer: I loveMichael McIntyre. His brand of gentle, friendlyhumour is just up my street. When a friend toldme he’d written an autobiography and that she’dlend it to me the next day, I could barely wait. Iwas primed to love this book and I was notdisappointed.

"A midwife asked my mother if my father wasChinese or Japanese. My grandparents thoughtmy parents took home the wrong baby. Questionswere asked about my mother’s fidelity. My fatherbeat up our local dry cleaner, Mr Wu.”

While these funny little tidbits are what you wouldexpect from a comedian’s autobiography, they inno way detract from the telling of his life story sofar.

McIntyre brings the same charm and wit to hiswriting as to his day job as a stand up comedian.Given that he talks about his life a lot in hismaterial on stage, it would be too easy to jump toconclusions about what kind of a book this wasgoing to be. While he does intersperse anecdotesand stories that fans may already be familiar with,he tells the story of his life so far, warts and all,and not all of it is a laugh a minute.

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Food & Shelter for Wildlife There are some good small trees with flowers andberries which include Rowan, Crab Apple andHawthorn that are great for wildlife. Ivy canprovide shelter for nesting birds, plus autumnflowers for nectar, and winter berries for birds.Put out birdfeeders and fresh water. Encouragingbirds into the garden will help reduce the numberof insects and slugs. Buy or make nesting boxesto attract birds to your garden. Make sure to hangthem on a wall rather than from a tree if you havecats coming into your garden.

HouseplantsThis is a good time to re-pot house plants. Use apot one size up and leave the top inch free ofcompost to allow for watering. Turn yourhouseplants a quarter turn each week to makesure all sides of the plant receive sufficient light,and to keep the shape of the plant balanced. Mistor spray your houseplants with room temperaturewater. It is best to spray them in the morning, toclean away the winter’s dust, prevent spider mitesand add a little humidity. Remain vigilant inwatching for insects and pests. If you are awareof the infestation in its early stages it will be easyto keep insects at bay.

PondsFill a Hessian sack or an old pair of tights withchopped up barley straw and place in the pondwith a weight to make it sink. It will help controlalgae and green water. If you have a pond or poolyou should set aquatic plants any time after themiddle of the month, when all frost danger haspassed, you can move your stored Fuchsias andGeraniums outdoors. Trim them back, feed andre-pot if necessary. Water them well. Mixwashing soda crystals in hot water and brushover paths and patios to help remove greenalgae. It is cheaper than chemicals from thegarden centre.

BulbsFertilize tulips as foliage appears and again afterflowering. Fertilize all other spring-flowering bulbsafter flowering. Apply about half kg of 5-10-10or 6-12-12 per 10 square metres. Daffodils andTulips can be fertilized again in early August. Youshould deadhead your spring flowering bulbswhen they have finished blooming. Do not cut offthe green foliage yet! These green leaves willcontinue to grow for a few weeks yet, and providethe bulb with food for flowering next year.

PlantingYou can plant evergreen, deciduous andcontainer-grown plants now. Roses and shrubscan also be planted this month. Roses plantednow will flower by the summer. Summerflowering bulbs and tubers can be planted now.The seeds of annuals and perennials can besown in the ground now but please be aware oflate frosts and try to keep your plants and newshoots protected at night if frost is forecast. Donot put out tender bedding until the start of Mayand even then be prepared to cover it ifnecessary.

SlugsAs the weather warms up, perennials will startgrowing again. To help control slugs, use beertraps, crushed shells or grit, but be careful - slugpellets are effective on slugs, but they may alsopoison birds that eat the pellets or the slugs.

One of the best ways to help control pests in yourgarden is to plant resistant varieties such as GarlicandPepper sprays, garden fabric (also known asrow cover or floating row cover) and wood ashesare other effective natural methods for guardingyour garden against unwanted pests.

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If you’re interested in seeing your work published in InTallaght simplysubmit your poem or story (no longer than 300 words), to editor@genesismedia.ie and we will be in touch if we intend onpublishing it.

Susan is 44 and lives in Balrothery, Tallaght. She only startedwriting last year and says it’s her new love.

Little BoyI saw this angelic little boy

eyes so blue, big head of blond curls, which he'll probably bemoan in years to come.

Gorgeous smileI realise he's on his own.Can't be more than three,

I get down on my hunkers and spread my arms,he doesn't hesitate not even for a second.

Oh, the innocence of him as he jumps into my armsand clasps me in a wondrous hug.

I try to get him to talk but he just keeps squeezing my noseand breaking into fits of laughter –

he's adorable.

I place him down, and take his hand.I noticed things I hadn't seen his little hands grubby

his skin peeling and sorehis beautiful curls all knotted

and, bless him, not a nice smell.

I decide to walk him around,see I can find who he belongs to.

Then this woman comes running, screamingshe grabs him, and slaps him.

I'm stunned, he doesn't even cry.He turns and gives me a resigned shrug,

what I thought was innocence was pure joy in someone willing to give a bit of attention.

This was a little boy who didn't cry,he'd mature beyond his years.

He's long since learnt no point in tears,as the woman screams

"Have ya no children of your own? Leave mine alone."

She looks high, I wish I could take this little mitebut what gives me the right?

He says "Sorry, Mommy," takes her hand and leads her home.

I just might take that little boy next time he decides to roam.

Susan Burns

DESTRUCTION

SELFISHNESS IN MY HEARTWAS THE BULLET THAT TORE APART

TWO LIVES WELDED INTO ONEAND IF WISDOM WAS FOR SALETRUE LOVE WOULD NEVER FAILNOR BULLETS LEAVE THAT GUN.

LEAVE THEY DIDBLOOD WAS SHED

TWO HEARTS CRIED BITTER TEARSGONE FOREVER

LIKE MELTED SNOWLOVE'S DREAMS

DOWN THE YEARS.

John J May

John J May is from Old Bawn and previously had his poemsread out on the Gerry Ryan Show. He says this poem registers the horror of a marriage breakdown.

Are you an aspiring Author or Poet?

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Ingredients� Seafood Mix

(salmon, smoked cod, fresh cod, prawns)� 1 Leek� 1 Onion� 1 Carrot� White Wine� Fish Stock� 2oz Butter� 2oz Flour� Breadcrumbs� Parmesan Cheese� Fresh Herbs� Cream

1. Sauce - Put butter in pot, fry onion and carrotuntil lightly browned. Add flour, white wine,fish stock and cream.

2. Prep The Pie - Place diced fish in a bowl, mix with finely diced leeks and seasoning.Mix the sauce with fish until it is lightlycoated. Place fish in baking tray.

3. Mix breadcrumbs, fresh herbs and parmesancheese. Crumble on top of pie. Bake in ovenfor 25 mins. Serve with either a selection ofvegetables or Caesar Salad.

Fish Bake

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Hi everyone!! As you can imagine it’s been ahectic few months since the launch of Tallaforniamy schedule has been getting busier week byweek and I’m delighted you all seem to love it!

So what have I been doing since my lastcolumn….Well there was the darts event inLondon. I spent three weeks in the run up toChristmas working with Sky Sports which was ahuge job for me and I garnered a large fan basethrough what I was doing out there which wasnice.

I was thrilled then that through the success of thatevent I was asked to do the same thing at thedarts event in the O2 on March 22nd. It was

fantastic – 6,000 people came and watched theirfavourite players and had a great night out at thesame time.

Since the release of the show I’ve been up to myeyes doing photoshoots, TV and radio interviews,charity work and loads of personal appearances– it’s all very exciting. The entire cast of Tallaforniadid a tour around Ireland, meeting fans andpartying in style – just like you’re used to seeingus on screen!

I have to say I’m absolutely loving being on theshow. It’s a whole new world for me and I’d reallylike to think that there’s a future on the smallscreen for me - a second series has been

commisioned which is brilliant and means we mustbe doing something right!

The viewership figures were brilliant for the showwith the maximum at 450,000 and an average of250,000 per episode so I am thrilled and I hopethat this fantastic response will lead to many moreseries. The show has everyone talking and we aregetting some great feedback so thank you all foryour kind words and support!

Catch up with me right here is two weeks time –or if you’d like to chat to me in the meantime catchme on twitter #kellydonegan3 or follow me onfacebook. See you soon!

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The best cardio exercise, put simply, is the oneyou will do day in and day out consistently.Choose something which you enjoy doing anddon't be afraid to mix the exercises up.

Interval cardio work consists of moving from oneexercise to another in set time intervals. For example, you could do the elliptical trainer for 15minutes, then switch to the stationary bike for an-other 15 minutes and finish off on the treadmillfor the last 15 minutes. Interval training is a greatway to keep everything fresh!

There are two schools of thought when it comesto cardio training. The "slow & steady" group andthe "high intensity" group. These two groupsbreakdown like this:

Slow & Steady CardioLong duration (45min - 1 hour)Low intensityBurn fat and not carbsPreserve joints

High Intensity CardioShort duration (20min - 30min)

High intensity (interval training)Burn tons of calories & rev up your metabolismthroughout the day.Treat cardio like weights - explosive movements.

My advice is to try both for at least 6 weeks andmake sure to monitor your progress with a diaryand take weekly photos of yourself to see if you’retruly losing body fat.

Ever wondered which Cardio Exercise Burns theMost Calories? Below are a few which burn themost calories in 30 minutes.

Step Aerobics - one of the cardio exercisesmost favoured by women. Step Aerobics mainlytarget your legs, hips and glutes, and can burnapproximately 400 calories in 30 minutes.

Cycling - stationary or outdoors, it is a great car-dio exercise and, depending on resistance andspeed, can burn between 250 and 500 caloriesin 30 minutes.

Swimming - like cross-country skiing is anexcellent cardio exercise and is a full body

exercise. Swimming is great cross-training forother cardio activities too. Doing the breast strokecan burn approximately 400 calories in 30minutes.

Running - Running is an excellent cardioexercise because all you need is a pair of qualityrunning shoes. Running burns serious calories. A145LB person can easily burn 300 calories in 30minutes.

Elliptical Trainer - is a great way to build en-durance. A 145LB person can burn about 300calories in 30 minutes.

Rowing - is a cardio exercise which will give yourarms an incredible workout. A 145LB person canburn about 300 calories in 30 minutes.

Walking - Brisk walking is a less strenuous formof cardio exercise. Walking can burn up to 180calories in 30 minutes. Sprinting, adding hills oran incline can increase the amount of caloriesburned.

So what are you waiting for?!

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Founded by Noel Burke, Syd Dyke and the lateJohn Riordan it was originally known asSt. Dominic’s boxing club and after years ofmoving from home to home it finally found apermanent base and changed its name.

Secretary of the club, Mel Leonard, toldInTallaght: “For years the club moved around acouple of schools and community centres until,through the tireless efforts of those involved, wegot our own place and today we are based besidethe health centre in St Dominic’s.”

Over the years and to its credit the club haspassed many champions through its doors. Thelatest one of these is Michael McDonagh whorecently won the National Senior title in whichfighters up to the age of 34 fight – Michael,however, is just 17.

Mel said: “It’s unbelieveable really and we are veryproud of Michael. He is currently in the highperformance team down in the national stadium

alongside George Bates, 18, who recentlycollected his 8th successive Irish Title in theNational Boxing Stadium. Both George andMichael Mc Donagh are knocking on the door forthe Olympic qualifiers this month.”

Other up and coming boxers at the club includeMichael Mc Donagh’s younger brother Josephwho is hot on his heels with four nationalschoolboy titles won consecutively from the ageof 11. Josie “The Special One” is also a part ofthe high performance schoolboy team whichtrains in the National Stadium every weekend andaccording to Mel is ‘definitely one to watch forOlympic medals in years to come.’

He said: “Bernie Mc Donagh, Adam Courtney,Dale Lawlor, Patrick Stewart, Ryan Tate andbrothers Ben and Sam Leonard are also amongthe next crop of boxers who will hopefully bringmore titles to our club while Jennie Burke, theladies’ coach, boasts some great female boxersin her care including Aoife and Emma Burke and

Caoimhe Moloney - all of whom were agonisinglybeaten in this year’s National Championships aseach received silver medals.”

To add to its long list of credits St Mary’s is alsothe only Dublin Boxing Club with National Seniorand National Intermediate titles in Dublin for2011.

Mel added: “We are very happy with the progressof the club. There are 55 members ranging in agefrom 11 to 23 and we are building on that all ofthe time.

“We welcome new members and the only criteriafor joining the club is discipline and a willingnessto learn.”

St Mary’s Boxing Club is open Monday, Tuesdayand Wednesdays from 6.30pm until 9pm. Thejuniors train from 6.30 -7.30pm while the seniorstrain from 7.30pm until 9pm.

St Mary’s Boxing Club was formed in 1997 and was originally out the back of the Dragon Pub on the Main Street in Tallaght.

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In addition to the great League results, Rovershave progressed in the two cup competitions theyhave played in to date. However, they have hadto rely on penalty shoot-outs in both the LeinsterSenior Cup and the Setanta Sports Cup.

Rovers have had their issues with penalties inrecent years with a plethora of missed penaltiesin Tallaght Stadium in addition to the four spotkick misses when losing out in the 2010 Ford FAICup final. Rovers have only managed to score14 penalties out of 25 given in Tallaght (excludingshootouts).

Things now though look to have turned aroundfor Rovers from twelve yards. Maybe this turn offortune was prompted back in February when theTallaght Stadium hosted a charity penalty shootout competition in aid of the National Children’sHospital Tallaght and Sport against Racism. 743penalties were scored that day!

In the Leinster Senior Cup against Bohemians,the game finished 1-1 after extra time but Rovers

progressed 5-4 on penalties with StephenO’Donnell, Aaron Green, Graham Gartland, DeanEbbe and Jack Memory all scoring for the Hoopswith only Sean Gannon missing in the shootout.

Goalkeeper Oscar Jansson in the Rovers goalsaved two in that shout out.

Jansson would also save another two in theSetanta Sports Cup quarterfinal shootout inSolitude against Cliftonville.

Rovers lost the second leg in Belfast 2-0 forcingthe game into extra time and eventually penalties.Thanks to Jansson’s saves, Rovers only neededto take three penalties in that shootout with BillyDennehy, Chris Turner and Graham Gartland allscoring.

This has set up a semi final against another Ulsterteam, Derry City, with the first leg due to takeplace in Tallaght Stadium on Monday 16th March.Derry are also due to come to Tallaght in theLeague at the end of April.

Shamrock Rovers have continued the 2012 league campaignwhere they left off last year. Rovers, under new managerStephen Kenny, have made an excellent start to the AirtricityLeague as the club aims for a three-in-a-row of league titles.

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Killian Brennan made the cross-Liffey switch this season fromBohemians to ShamrockRovers. Brennan had a very successfulfive year period with Bohs wining two league titles and each ofthe cup competitions (FAI Cup, Setanta Sports Cup and EASports Cup).

The 28-year-old scored in the first home game of the season in TallaghtStadium with a superb goal in Rovers’ 3-1 win over Monaghan United.Running away from the goal, he met Billy Dennehy’s corner with a flickedbackheel volley to score the games crucial second goal.

Brennan is enjoying his football here in Tallaght. “It is something I love doing,”said Brennan. “I put my jersey on every Friday night, go out and give it mybest. Everyone enjoys something that they are good at and I enjoy playingfootball.”

It was a slightly unorthodox position, Brennan played in at Tallaght Stadiumon the night President Michael D Higgins came to see the League of Irelandchampions. In the 4-0 win over Shelbourne, Brennan played at left back asRovers were missing defenders due to both injury and suspension. Brennanhelped Rovers get their first clean sheet of the league season that night.

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IT Tallaght

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