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The Dingle News archive: June - 2011

30 June 2011

West Kerry's online news channel Scrogall TV broadcast second programme

June's edition of Scrogall TV - West Kerry's online news channel

Dingle Ice Plant receives last minute reprieve with two-month extension of contracts confirmed

Dingle's Ice Plant has received a last minute reprieve as it has just been announced that the current contracts at the facility are to be extended for a further two months. This has been just confirmed by local Councillor Seamus Cosai Fitzgerald who has stated that the contracts at the ice plant will be extended with a solution being sought in the intervening time. Word has also come through from Kerry South TD Brendan Griffin stating that official confirmation from the Department of Agriculture, that the contracts are to be extended for two months to facilitate a smooth transition of the operation of the plant, has been received. Therefore, the plant will remain open and ice will be available to the local fishing industry for the immediate future. It is hoped that the extra time allocated will now allow for a permanent arrangement to be put in place. The temporary employment contracts of the two workers operating Dingle Ice Plant will be extended to ensure that the facility will remain open to the local fishing industry. Talks have been ongoing for many months to ensure the supply of ice to the fishing industry in Dingle after the June 30th deadline, when the current contracts of the two BIM employees at the ice plant were due to expire. Earlier today it was confirmed by Deputy Griffin and Cllr. Fitzgerald that talks to secure an extension of the contracts were at an advanced stage between the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Food and the Department of Public Expenditure and that a two month extension of the contracts would be the likely outcome. Recently, Deputy Griffin met with the CEO and Deputy CEO of BIM to discuss the matter and has subsequently been in contact with Minister Coveney to prevent a disruption to the supply of ice, while a long-term solution is being worked out regarding who will operate the ice plant in the future. Also, if BIM is to transfer responsibility for the plant to another body, it will need to receive a lease document from the Chief State Solicitors Office. Deputy Griffin and Cllr. Fitzgerald state that it is their priority is to ensure a long-term, secure and affordable supply of ice to the marine sector in Dingle. This confirmation that the ice-plant contracts will be extended for a further two months is good news for the area as many feared the plant's future was in grave jeoporady after the June 30th deadline. Pictured: Cllr. Seamus Cosai Fitzgerald at Dingle's Ice Plant.

Pioneering Barn Owl nest-box scheme undertaken in West Kerry

by Jill Crosher
"Birds of prey fascinate people. Seeing a Barn Owl is a thrilling experience but, like the Barn Owl, a rare one. Barn Owls are a red list species having lost hunting habitat, nest sites and being the victims of rat poison and road kill. The West Kerry Branch of BWI is pioneering a successful Barn Owl nest box scheme in Kerry. By supporting the Barn Owl population in Kerry we may provide the seed corn for the rest of Ireland. Over the last four years Michael O’Clery has been assessing the suitability of Barn Owl breeding sites across Kerry. He has been placing individually adapted boxes where barn owls already held territory but needed additional roost and nest site options. The original nest and roost sites were being compromised. They might be being knocked down, renovated or simply collapsing. In the next month we will know how well that is going but already the signs are good.
For the first time ever we have birds breeding in what we call “a cold box”. Just putting a box up for Barn Owl anywhere does not work. Barn Owls are quite choosy and have very specific needs. But Michael now knows exactly what makes a successful site. As an experiment he tried this box in a site where there were no known Barn Owls to date but the landowner is keen and habitat and land usage patterns are suitable. Barn Owls hopped straight in and are breeding. This is quite a breakthrough as it shows that shortage of suitable nest sites is a factor in Barn owl success and that with the right site we can extend the range of Barn Owl in Kerry.
Another first for our conservation project is that there are Kestrel breeding in a Kestrel box on the Dingle Peninsula. There are five fat chicks. It is the only occupied Kestrel box in Ireland according to John Lusby, Raptor Conservation Officer at BWI. This box was built and put in place by our volunteers in February 2011 . The original kestrel nest site was collapsing and the eggs or chicks would have fallen out. In the same place in 2008 we had put in a Barn Owl box when chicks fell to the ground as their nest site deteriorated. To our delight there are Barn Owls with chicks in this Barn Owl box this month. It is the only place in Ireland where both Barn Owl and Kestrel are breeding in boxes in one site.
This just shows how a carefully executed and monitored nest box scheme can significantly enhance the survival chances of red list and other declining raptor species. Quite a few people have put time into this. Well done." Pictured: Barn Owl Chick.

Summer Solstice night deemed an outstanding success

The Summer Solstice Bonfire Night and BBQ fundraiser in aid of West Kerry Mental Health and other charities was an outstanding success according to the Dingle Rotary Club who helped organise the event. The BBQ was held in Tig Áine, An Ghráig, Baile an Fhirtéaraigh on Tuesday 21st June. The guests were greeted by Bean an Tí Áine. Traditional Irish music performed by Brid and Cillian Ó Broin and local children which created a wonderful atmosphere. There was a raffle followed by an auction for a Dorothy Murway painting . Then the moment everyone was waiting for - a short walk to light the bonfire. The Blazing bonfire against the evening light created a spectacular backdrop. Great company, great food, great music, great craic; Irish Tradition at its best. It certainly was a night to remember and the Dingle Rotary Club hope to make this an annual event so mark your calendar for next year.

Win against Tralee Eagles sees Dingle Dingos top Kerry Twenty-20 Cricket League

by Ben Farr
The Dingle Dingos returned to the top of the Kerry Twenty-20 Cricket League this week by beating the Tralee Eagles in emphatic fashion.
Both teams found it difficult to get numbers and each only managed to field eight players. Eagles' captain Sean Rutland won the toss and smartly elected to bat to try and make the most of the gaps that would be presented in the field. The Eagles were the form team, winning both of their opening matches and bolstered by opening batsman Alam Morshed who scored 107 off 49 balls against Middleton at the weekend.
Morshed started well, picking his shots excellently. However the Dingos' fielding and bowling was superb as every player worked doubly hard in the field to steady the run rate. Although Morshed did eventually reach the retirement score of 30* - despite being dropped by Chris Smailes off Mark Munday - he was not supported by his team mates who fell at regular intervals.
Smailes made up his dropped catch with a some excellent bowling, taking two wickets for 15 in his two overs. But it was Munday who was the pick of the bowlers. His slow leg-spin had the batsmen in knots and he ended up with four wickets for 16 runs including two stumpings round the batsman's legs taken superbly by keeper Kalim Stanney. Munday's spell included a hat-trick of sorts as after a stumping and a catch Dave Ramsey was runout on the next ball to end the innings with the Eagles on a demoralising 70 runs.
The Dingos made short work of the run chase. Mark Munday took his excellent form with the ball and continued it with the bat. He reached 30 not out, playing some smart cricket on the way and was ably assisted by Glenn Hodge (16) as the Dingos knocked the total off in only eight overs with the loss of three wickets.
The Dingos are now tied on four points at the top of the Kerry League with The Eagles, but have a game in hand. Their next league match is against North Kerry on the 30th of June.

The Minutes' Marcata; 'soul refreshing, non-stop rock & roll'

by Jon Wright
Jon Wright is a singer-songwriter and journalist based in Lispole on the Dingle Peninsula. A former music engineer at Ocean Recording Studios Dingle, he has worked with such acts as Nick Cave and Lloyd Cole. This week he reviews The Minutes latest offering 'Marcata', who recently performed a gig at local venue MacCarthy's, as part of a special series of music reviews for DingleNews.com
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It’s all very well enjoying decent, harmonious music to chill out too. But you know every now and then one needs to really let their hair down and enjoy some real rock. I mean hands up who likes rock and roll?
Usually I get my fix by listening to old Lizzy albums, as the Irish music markets don’t really cater for my needs, until now that is! Because here’s something for everybody in the audience. And by rock and roll I mean proper rock n roll, brought into life in the 50’s,dragged kicking and screaming through the late 20th century, a ragged flag passed from generation to generation under the stewardship of true believers (Chuck Berry, John Lennon, Phil Lynott, Keith Richards and Springsteen to name a few). And I have to say this isn’t any carefully manufactured rock this is visceral, bloody and urgent. Music imbued with a defiant rambunctious energy, which can never die. Once called the devil's music, well welcome the three horsemen of the apocalypse! The Dublin trio’s debut album is faithfully 12 tracks of soul refreshing non-stop rock n roll.
They truly have found their sound on their first opus, endeavouring to incorporate their contemporary guitar sound with classic rock n’ roll. My favourite tracks have to be chorusing catchy ‘Fleetwood’ and ‘Secret History’.
The former being full of the passion and energy that any classic rock song should have and even has a harmonica solo thrown in for good measure! Memories of that great Irish band “Mama’s Boys” come roaring to mind.
The album is an enlightening joy because it throws the listener all over the place, from darkness to blinding bright to synthetic to organic to fast and slow and then back again. Lead singer Mark Austin’s vocals sit comfortably on the roaring guitars of each track without getting lost in the mix as can so often happen. ‘Heartbreaker’, though with quite a strong stain of Oasis/Beady Eye on it still makes for a good song. The free spirit and wildness of rock n’ roll music possess the album and that’s a great thing. On ‘Believer’ their own signature sound really does shine with a concoction of blues and garage rock with nearly shouting vocals trying to be heard over the thumping drums and fuzzy sound.
Overall it’s a very good debut, the only gripes I can make, and they are small is maybe a little bit more variation with the sound next time and also maybe a bit more innovative on the song titles as one could see tracks as ‘Believer’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ being misplaced amongst famous equivalents.
Flashes of brilliance do show throughout so their next album should hopefully be a blinder and set them on the international stage. From listening you can tell they have the gift, not something that can be bought or acquired at college or through a so-called mentor but from playing what they truly believe in (ie Rock and Roll)!

50th lecture sees Dingle Historical Society make some history of their own

Dingle Historical Society will make some history of their own this Thursday as they host their 50th lecture at the Dingle Library on Green Street.
Archaeology of Loch a'Dúin (The Lake of the Fort), a lecture by Michéal Ó Coileáin, M.A. Archaeologist, will commence at 7.30pm and all are welcome to attend.
Dingle Historical Society put a lot of effort into bringing a number of subjects to the fore of local, national and even international interest. Recent lectures have discussed topics such as tsunami and the Elizabethan Conquest of Ireland. Their expert speakers range from those in residence locally to world authorities on a variety of subjects (in evidence recently as they welcome a Professor from Yale as one of their guest speakers).
Dingle Historical Society do not have a formal annual lecture list per say, but rather host lectures throughout the year
when speakers are available. Details are advertised locally and in the press, radio and online and visitors to the area are always welcome to attend.
The lectures cover a wide range of subjects varying from historical to general interest.
In addition, the society's main ongoing project is to erect historical plaques in Dingle town. The Dingle Train, Maritime Pilgrimage to Compostella, Treaty of Dingle, Dingle and Marie Antoinnette, Workhouse/Hospital (completed by Kerry County Council) are five plaques which Dingle Historical Society erected in the town.
Their purpose, to inform the many visitors (and indeed local residents) to Dingle of the rich and varied history which surrounds them.
The train plaque is located on the Mail Road, at junction of Cooleen, where a council plot is maintained by Tidy Towns committee. The Maritime Pilgrimage to Compostella plaque is located at Pier adjacent to the Armada plaque - this was jointly funded by Camino Chorca Dhuibhne and D.H.S. The Treaty of Dingle plaque is located on the facade of Temperance Hall and the Marie Antoinette plaque is located on Rice House, Upper Main Street. The Workhouse/Hospital plaque is located near old hospital. Further plaques are planned and they have also recently located the Bridewell stone and Dingle National School stone (1834).
The society's 50th lecture will outline the findings of archaeological and archaeo-botanical research in the Loch a'Duin Valley in the 1990's. 89 stone structures and 12km of pre-bog stone wall have been identified on the valley floor providing extensive evidence of Bronze Age farming on the Dingle Peninsula. Guest lecturer Michéal O Coileáin completed an MA on The Archaeology of the Loch a'Dúin Valley in 2003 for National University of Ireland, Galway. All are welcome to attend this free lecture which begins at the Dingle Library at 7.30pm this Thursday (June 23rd). Pictured: Bernard Goggin and Dr. Conor Brosnan of Dingle Historical Society at the unveiling of the 'Treaty of Dingle' plaque at the Temperance Hall in 2009.

The Best Spud in the West? An Spud Off Mór Grand Final set for this Sunday in TPs

This Sunday (June 26th) will see the grand final of the An Spud-Off Mór take place in TP’s Pub, Ballydavid, which aims to find Iarthar Dhuibhneach's best potato.
The hugely successful competitions which took place in seven parishes west of Dingle over the past two weeks saw over 70 local spud growers taking part. Large crowds gathered to support each of the parish events. While most winners were an individual grower, a very popular winner in Paróiste Dhún Chaoin, was Leanaí Scoil Dhún Chaoin.
The winners from each of the seven parishes will now go forward to the grand final. Each parish will have a representative on the judging panel who will select the Best Spud grown in Iarthar Dhuibhne in 2011, with the grower being crowned ‘Laoch an Phrata 2011’, An Spud-Off Mór Champion 2011.
Each parish community is invited to come out on the day to support the local winner and to enjoy the festive occasion. The judging will get under way at 6pm, in TP’s Pub Ballydavid, followed by music and entertainment and of course a chance to taste the winning spud! There will also be a voluntary collection for Kerry Hospice. Attached below are details of the finalists, click on the 'Download' button to view the file.
Pictured, from left, Paróiste na Cille-Farraige Winner Tom B. MacEóin, being presented with his certificate by Aengus Murphy, at An Spud-Off Mór in TP’s Ballydavid, judge Michael Brosnan with Micheál Ó’Sé (top right) and Paróiste Mórdach Winner Padraig Ó’Sé being presented with his certificate by Pádraig Ó hUallacháin, watched by chairman of the judges Pat Casey (bottom left).

Craft in Kerry launch their first 'Handmade Sessions' in Dingle

Local initative Craft in Kerry launched their first Handmade Sessions in Dingle today. The venture, located at their new work-space on John Street (opposite Galvin's Travel Agency) will see the hosting of a variety of half-day workshops which all are invited to participate in. At their new work-space, Craft in Kerry will be hosting workshops in knitting, weaving, wood carving, crochet, felting, dyeing, creative embroidery, clothing (design etc). According to Sharon Crandel of Craft in Kerry, the workshops are designed for visitors and locals alike. For more information contact Sharon on 087-9111793 or visit their Facebook page.

Dingle Dingos to participate in Valentia Island's first ever Cricket Blitz

Dingle's cricketers will travel to South Kerry this weekend to take part in the first Cricket Blitz ever to be held on Valentia Island. The Dingle Dingos will be competing against cricket teams from other parts of Kerry during the blitz which will be hosted on Saturday June 25th and Sunday June 26th. On the Saturday the newly formed Valentia Island Mighty Oaks will take on a select XI of players from Killorglin. Then on the Sunday, the three-times county champions, the Dingle Dingos, will square off against The Mighty Oaks. This will be the Dingo's first ever 40-over match and the first to be played on a proper grass wicket. “We invite anyone in the area to come down to watch the game in what will be a great family day out - weather permitting of course” said Ben Farr of the Dingle Dingos. The first ball is due to be bowled at 12pm on the Sunday.