THE PUGIN TRAIL

11/05/2015 by borderroamer

Saint Martin of Tours Church in Culmullen, Co Meath, designed by William Hague Photo: Patrick Comerford website

The latest episode on the Pugin trail by the Reverend Patrick Comerford focuses on Culmullen chapel near Dunshaughlin in County Meath and takes in the architect William Hague’s work, including a mention of the Westenra Arms Hotel in Monaghan.

Back on the Pugin trail at a wedding in a Gothic Revival church in Co. Meath

Patrick Comerford

The church in Culmullen Co. Meath is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours and was renovated in 1989, but dates back to last quarter of the 19th century. This is a single-cell Gothic Revival church designed in 1876 by the architect William Hague (1840–1899), a protégé of AWN Pugin.

Hague was active as a church architect in Ireland throughout the mid and late 19th century, working mainly from his offices at 50 Dawson Street, Dublin. He was born in Co Cavan, the son of William Hague, a builder from Butlersbirdge who moved town Cavan town in 1838. William Hague jr designed several churches in Ireland, many in the French Gothic style. He was a pupil of Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860), the English architect who designed the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.

Hague spent four years in Barry’s office, and after practising briefly as an architect in Cavan he opened an office at 175 Great Brunswick Street, Dublin, in 1861. Later he was invited to supervise the completion of the unfinished church of Saint Augustine and Saint John in Thomas Street (John’s Lane), Dublin, begun by Pugin’s son, Edward Pugin, and George Coppinger Ashlin in 1862.

In the year Saint Martin’s Church was built in Culmullen, Hague married Anne Frances Daly, the daughter of a Dublin solicitor, Vesey Daly of Eccles Street. They were married in Saint Michan’s Church, Dublin, on 26 April 1876, and they had two sons, William Vesey Hague, the writer and philosopher, and Joseph Patrick Clifford Hague, and two daughters.

Hague had a flourishing practice, particularly as a prolific designer of Roman Catholic churches, designing or altering 40 to 50 throughout Ireland. He was the architect to Saint Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Armagh, in the 1880s and 1890s. When he went to Rome to select marbles for the cathedral, he had a private meeting with Pope Leo XIII, who “imposed upon him an injunction to make such choice as would be worthy of the Cathedral of Saint Patrick’s See.”

Saint Martin’s Church in Culmullen, which was dedicated on 1 September 1878, was built by Hall and Son. The church is a good example of Gothic Revival church architecture. It is worth looking out for is the use of structural polychromy throughout the exterior which adds textural contrast with the rock-faced limestone. The conical bell tower and stained glass give artistic effect.

The church is built of rock-faced limestone with polychrome brick detailing and string courses. It has a pitched two-tone natural slate roof, with decorative terracotta ridge tiles and cast-iron rainwater goods. There is a five-bay nave with pointed-arched stained glass windows, some in pairs, and stone sills. The windows are by Early and Powell, who worked in many of the Pugin and Gothic Revival churches in Ireland.

The gable-fronted west porch has a pointed-arch door opening with brick surrounds and a pair of timber doors. The bell tower is designed on a rectangular plan with conical slate spire, and is topped with a cast-iron weather vane, attached to the west at the junction of the nave and the chancel. There is a single-bay chancel to the north with a gable-fronted sacristy attached to the west. Three lancet windows illustrating the life story of Saint Martin of Tours light the chancel and the nave is lit by three lancet windows above five smaller lights, all with brick surrounds.

Both the nave and chancel gables are surmounted with carved stone crosses. The marble altar was designed by Neill and Co, and the octagonal font is said to be late mediaeval. The roof is supported on king post trusses with diagonal struts. The site of the church is enhanced by the cast-iron gates and railings and the graveyard to the rear. There are limestone gate piers with cast-iron gates and cast-iron railings on the limestone boundary wall, and a graveyard to the east.

St Macartan's Cathedral Monaghan Photo: www.patrickcomerford.com

St Macartan’s Cathedral Monaghan Photo: http://www.patrickcomerford.com

Hague designed churches, convents, colleges, schools and town halls throughout Ireland. He completed Saint Macartan’s Cathedral, Monaghan, after the death of JJ McCarthy, often known as the “Irish Pugin,” and was responsible for the spire, the tower and the interior of McCarthy’s chapel at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, which were completed after his death in 1905. He completed the interior of the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Monasterevin, Co Kildare, in 1880, when Bishop Michael Comerford was the parish priest. He also designed many of the buildings at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and Saint Eunan’s Cathedral, Letterkenny, Co Donegal.

Hague’s acceptance of commissions was ecumenical in scope. His many other works include the Archbishop’s Palace, Drumcondra, Dublin; Belturbet Presbyterian Church, Co Cavan; Cavan Methodist Church; the Protestant Hall, Cavan; Saint Aidan’s Church, Butlersbridge, Co Cavan; Saint Bridget’s Church, Killeshandra, Co Cavan; Saint John’s Church (Church of Ireland), Cloverhill, Butlersbirdge, Co Cavan; Saint Patrick’s Church, Ballybay, Co Monaghan; Saint Patrick’s Church, Trim, Co Meath; Saint Patrick’s College, Cavan; the Town Halls in Carlow and Sligo; Waterside Presbyterian Church, Derry; and the Westenra Arms Hotel, Monaghan.

Hague had become a Justice of the Peace (JP) for Co Cavan by 1885. He died of pneumonia at his house at 21 Upper Mount Street, Dublin, on 22 March 1899 and was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery three days later. He worked from: 175 Great Brunswick Street, Dublin, and Cavan (1861-1872); 44 Westland Row and Cavan (1872-1877); 44 Westland Row (1879); 40 Dawson Street, Dublin (1879-1881); 62 Dawson Street (1881-1887); and 50 Dawson Street (1888-1899). He lived at 21 Upper Mount Street, and Kilnacrott House, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan.

After his death, his former student and managing assistant, Thomas Francis McNamara (1867-1947), took over most of his work under the business name of Hague & McNamara.

FINBAR FUREY IN BELFAST

10/05/2015 by borderroamer

Finbar Furey playing tin whistle www.finbarfurey.com

Finbar Furey playing tin whistle http://www.finbarfurey.com

A great concert tonight by Finbar Furey at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. But as he told Patrick Freyne of The Irish Times in January, he’s on his last big tour and is “winding down the clock” at the age of 68. The outstanding song was probably his rendition of Willie McBride, in which the packed audience joined. He started off with The Lonesome Boatman, playing the large tin whistle. At other stages in the show he played banjo, guitar and the uilleann pipes. He was accompanied by on double bass.

Finbar Furey at the Lyric Theatre Belfast Photo: © Michael Fisher

**********

“Finbar Furey loves the idea of his music bringing people together. This happened at theWorld Cup in 1994, he says, when Holland were playing Ireland. “At half time, the Dutch fans started singing ‘Het Kleine Café’,” he says. “And the Irish fans were all saying, ‘Hang on a minute that’s [Fureys’ song] The Red Rose Café, so they started singing it. And Paddy says, ‘Aren’t them Hollish people brilliant, singing one of our songs for us. Fair play.’ They didn’t know it was a Dutch song. And the Dutch are saying, ‘Ah, the Irish have learned one of our songs.’ It was the only time two sets of football fans were seen kissing and cuddling each other.”

He laughs. The 68-year-old is sitting forward in his chair in a Dublin hotel. He’s wearing a white fedora hat and a leather jacket and he’s looking sprightly and tanned. “It’s a bottle tan,” he says. Actually, he’s recently come back from Spain. He’s also just had “a big feed of bacon and eggs”, which may explain the sprightliness. “I’m not supposed to. Not after the bang: the heart attack I had two years ago. I haven’t had a fry-up for 2½ years.”

He’s doing publicity for a spate of gigs across Germany, Ireland and South Africa. He also just completed an album of uilleann pipe music, which he promises will be “an eye-opener”, and he’s hoping to begin another record in South Africa with local musicians. It’s probably his last big tour. “I’m winding down the clock,” he says.

He has been playing music for a long time. “[My father] would take me to different parts of Ireland with him. We’d go into a pub and start a session in the pub, [then] he’d move on to another pub someplace else. He would have taken music from county to county long before there was radio or telephones. Can you imagine two Irishmen sitting down at a crossroads in 1932 writing out sheet music to each other, swapping pieces of music? That’s an amazing scene when you think of it: a fiddler and a piper just swapping tunes.”

Finbar Furey at the Lyric Theatre Belfast Photo: © Michael Fisher

Musical family

His whole family was musical. “My mother played the five-string banjo, a thing called ‘breakdown’, which is done with two fingers.” He mimes the picking and sings softly: “I come fromAlabama with a banjo on my knee, and I’m going to Louisiana, oh my true love for to see.”

As we talk he frequently sings a few lines of music for illustrative purposes. He says that singing a song should be like “when an actor goes on stage in theatre. You’re living the character. You can’t just look around and think, that’s a nice wave I got there from Seamus. You have to live the part until you finish the song.”

He and his brothers and parents would play in O’Donoghue’s pub in Dublin alongside the likes of Ronnie Drew. He and his brother Eddie began playing as a duo in the UK and they were asked to join the Clancy Brothers when Tommy Makem left the band. “It was fantastic,” he says. “The first gig we did with them was in 1968 in Carnegie Hall.”

Touring with the Clancys, he met famous people such as Liza Minnelli and Edward Kennedy, and he appeared on Johnny Carson’s show.

He and Eddie partied, but not too hard. “What saved our lives was that we never went near the top shelf. We never touched spirits. We’d have a couple of beers . . . We were kids. We enjoyed Coca-Cola and pizzas and things kids love.”

But ultimately, playing with the Clancys left him unfulfilled. “There’s only so many times I wanted to sing I’ll Tell Me Ma When I Get Home,” he says. And he missed playing the pipes. “After the concerts would finish, I’d run off to a club somewhere in Chicago and find somebody who was playing a bit of Irish music and start a few tunes.”

Intermission in Edinburgh

After leaving the band he went to Edinburgh where his wife, Sheila (“The most perfect woman I’ve ever met”), was about to have a baby. They rented a railway cottage. “I didn’t do anything for a year,” he says. “I tarred a roof in Scotland. Walked seven miles to work every morning and back.”

He and Eddie were friends with folkies such as Eric Bogle and the Incredible String Band. And they were particularly close to Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty, then a duo. Rafferty gave them his song, Her Father Didn’t Like Me Anyway. Their version became John Peel’s song of the year and their careers took off. “We were very experienced with an audience and we knew exactly what we wanted to play. We’d already been to the top and back.”

His brothers George and Paul were following in their footsteps with their friend Davey Arthur in a band called The Buskers. Finbar decided they should all join together – partly, he says, so he could “keep an eye on them”.

They never chased success, he says, but the Furey Brothers and Davey Arthur were nonetheless hugely successful. They appeared on Top of the Pops playing The Green Fields of France, on the bill with Kool and the Gang. They thought it was all hilarious. They had to re-record the backing track because of some obscure union rules.

“We had to join the British Musicians’ Union and then we had to get an orchestra and re-record the song. But I switched the tape and they played the Irish one anyway. They didn’t know. I threw the English one in the Thames.”

He loved working with his brothers. “There was no bosses in the band. We all had a say and we always made room . . . My brother Paul was asked one time what he liked about being an entertainer or musician on the road. He said ‘room service’.”

But he felt the band were repeating themselves, that they weren’t going anywhere. For the second time in his career he got itchy feet and walked away from a successful band. “The boys were happy but I had other things I wanted to do. I had all these songs and ideas of music I wanted to play. I just knew there was something different out there I wanted to play.”

Leaving broke his heart, he says. He couldn’t let go. “I’d watch them from a distance and make sure they were all right.” He would ring venues to make sure they were doing okay. It got worse, he says, after his brother Paul died of cancer in 2002. “I kept blaming myself, thinking that if I’d been there he mightn’t have died. But I know now I couldn’t have helped him anyway.”

The grief coincided with an injury to his shoulder that looked like it might end his career playing the pipes. “I went through a bad time,” he says. “I knew I’d never be able to play the pipes as well again, I’d always be struggling with them. I can only play them for about 20 minutes and then my shoulder starts really aching me again.”

He was also creatively blocked. “My brain was in a knot. Just the guilt of leaving the band and all sorts of things and not spending enough time with Paul before he died. And everybody was disappearing: all our uncles and aunts and people we used to look up to.”

In 2008 he had an operation on his shoulder. Then in 2009 he went on a holiday before going on a short tour in America. “And I went apeshit playing great music again,” he says. “I went around places I’d wandered years ago with the Clancy Brothers. When I came home I decided to get busy and I started writing. I started to think about the future instead of thinking about the past.”

Finbar Furey playing banjo www.finbarfurey.com

Finbar Furey playing banjo http://www.finbarfurey.com

Back in action

The creativity is back, he says, a serious heart attack notwithstanding. He is writing, recording and touring. He and Sheila live in a house that is littered with banjos and guitars and that he makes sound like a drop-in centre for his musically gifted children and their friends (his son Martin is a member of The High Kings). In 2013 he appeared in the TV show The Hit, for which he recorded an actual hit, a number one, with Gerry Fleming’s song The Last Great Love Song. Aren’t reality television talent shows very different from the musical tradition he comes from?

“How would I describe it?” he says. “Take all the great musicians like Joe Heaney andJohnny Doran and the Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers. Now imagine there’s a well and all the heritage goes into the well and every day this well gets bigger and bigger and bigger and all you have to do is take a cup and dip in anywhere you like. The Hit is no different. It’s part of that Irish heritage now and it was a wonderful song.”

After years when the music wasn’t coming, he’s on a roll. “I never want to get into a rut again,” he says. “I have to write about what’s happening now, tomorrow. I have a young man’s life. I never ever stop searching. If I had no hands and still had a brain and I could talk I would still speak about music or hum into a microphone.”

Then it’s time to go and he shakes my hand firmly and warmly. “There’s too much doom and gloom,” he says. “We need more singing.”

Finbar Furey CD cover www.finbarfurey.com

Finbar Furey CD cover http://www.finbarfurey.com

Finbar Furey tours Ireland in February and plays Dublin’s Vicar Street on June 12th. Details here.”

Irish Times January 19th 2015.

CHRISTINA MCMAHON HOMECOMING

09/05/2015 by borderroamer

Big Crowd in Carrickmacross welcomes home Christina McMahon Photo: © Michael Fisher

GREAT WELCOME IN CARRICKMACROSS FOR CHRISTINA MCMAHON

Northern Standard p.1 and p.2

Michael Fisher

Carrick: this one’s for you! Boxer Christina McMahon proudly displayed her WBC title belt to the crowd of several hundred who welcomed her home to the Main Street in Carrickmacross on Tuesday evening. It might be only the interim female world bantamweight title, but to everyone in Monaghan, she is the county’s new international boxing champion, rivalling the achievements of the Clones Cyclone. The full title remains one fight away, but that could be some time down the road. “I have to be world champion before I turn fifty”, Christina joked as she was interviewed live on stage by Sean McCaffrey of Northern Sound. She hopes her success against Catherine Phiri in faraway Zambia on Saturday night will help to inspire other women to achieve their goals. Young or old, go out and do what you can, was her message. “I’m just a boxer, but I want to inspire people never to give up. I didn’t, and I want to thank the Phoenix Centre (in Carrickmacross, where she used to be manager) for living the story with me”.

Christina told the gathering she had moved on from the Phoenix Centre to set up her own sports venture with her husband Frick because she wanted to work for herself. Now with the two centres in operation, there was every opportunity there for others to make it to the top.

The lack of interest from the national media including RTE in covering her return to Dublin airport on Monday did not worry her. “One of the most important things is the friends I have. All my friends including some from national school days were there (in the arrivals area), along with members of Carrickmacross Boxing Club, so I didn’t need any television cameras to be there”, she said. In a comment that shows her personality, Christina told the interviewer on stage: “No-one likes a cockish champion”.

The civic reception was organised by Carrickmacross-Castleblayney Municipal District Council and the Carrickmacross Festival Committee. Christina was joined on stage by her husband and coach, Frick (Martin), and later on, by her parents, a brother and sister.

Her win over ten rounds at the International Conference Centre in Lusaka took the home crowd by surprise. Christina is 40 and her opponent 22. Christina told Michael O’Neill of WBAN: ” I am delighted with the win. It was a very tough fight which we all thought she (Phiri) was ahead (in) going into the last two rounds. In fact it was only after the bout that we discovered that she was one round down with two judges and two rounds down with the third. I had to dig deep, very deep, in the 9th and 10th to secure the victory. The referee had stopped the fight to adjust Catherine’s glove tape which gave her a chance to recover. Having gone through weeks and weeks of tough training at home and in Zambia, I was determined not to let the people down. I felt I had done more than enough to win but you can never be sure until your hand is raised”.

A delighted Frick paid special tribute to his team both at home and in Lusaka especially Sean & Paul McCullagh and another former Irish boxer, Anthony Doran whose knowledge of official procedures and his extensive contacts in Zambia opened many doors that might otherwise have taken much longer to open. Irish Ambassador Fintan O’Brien was another person whose help was invaluable.

Frick told the crowd in Carrickmacross he was confident about Christina before the fight. But when the bout was away from home, then you were going in four rounds down from the start, he reckoned. It was a while before they were able to establish from the scorers how Christina was doing. It was still very close after the 8th round. Then before the 9th, Frick said he put his hand in his pocket to get some Vaseline to attend to Christina’s face. He reached in and found a memorial card for his wife’s grandfather, Patrick Cunningham, who had been a big boxing fan. He showed it to his wife, telling her that “Packie is here as well” and that had given her a boost as she won the 9th round well. In the end, a majority decision by the judges gave victory to Christina, but Frick said it did not matter what way they had achieved that outcome.

The home crowd thought it was going to be easy for their own ‘Katie Taylor’, but we knew differently, he said.

Although the fight was not shown live in Ireland, some 10 million viewers watched it in Zambia and around 30 million in the whole of Africa. He hoped they had done a great job in winning the hearts of the people of Zambia both before and after the fight.

Asked about the next challenge, Frick said Christina would keep training but reminded people that she had waited some thirteen or fourteen months before this contest happened.

A series of presentations took place, the first on behalf of Monaghan County Council. Cathaoirleach Padraig McNally gave Christina a gift of an Irish Crystal bowl. He said he had known her since she was a baby. He praised her enthusiasm for sport and her fierceness in achieving what she wanted to. It was a great day for her family, for Carrickmacross and for the whole of Ireland, he said. Cllr McNally said he had spent Saturday night with Christina’s father, Jim Marks, who had been very nervous and very anxious as he was unable to watch the very tough fight live. He noticed that Christina’s title belt was green in colour, so the outcome must have been written in the stars! She was definitely determined and he hoped this was the start of even greater things for her. He passed on apologies from his colleague Cllr PJ O’Hanlon for being unable to attend the homecoming.

The other four members of the Municipal District Council were present, including the Cathaoirleach, Cllr Jackie Crowe. He gave Christina a gift of Carrickmacross lace.

Her success, he said, was absolutely unbelievable and it was a privilege to welcome her home. It was not that often they got world champions in the area. He quoted from the late Muhammad Ali: “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” Well done Christina!

Carrickmacross Festival Committee presented the boxer with a clock to mark the occasion.

After the speeches and presentations, Christina’s parents Jim and Madge Marks were introduced to the crowd along with her brother Gerard and sister Caroline. Jim Marks explained how Christina had taken up kick-boxing when she was only eight years old. She went on to become world champion in 2007, before becoming a professional boxer three years later.

Madge said she had kept herself busy on Saturday by visiting her own mother. Gerard said his sister’s success had come as no surprise. He was very proud of her. Caroline Marks said she knew the dedication that had gone into Christina’s training and she was also immensely proud. It was later revealed that Christina would be a guest this weekend on the RTE1 television programme, The Saturday Night Show, presented by Brendan O’Connor.

*******

Tonight (Saturday) Christina appeared on the Saturday Night Show. “You’re absolutely inspirational”, Brendan O’Connor told her, after chatting to her for about five minutes about the fight and her career as a professional boxer.

PRE-ELECTION GUIDE

09/05/2015 by borderroamer

Tom Elliott (UUP)

A GUIDE TO THE ELECTION IN THE NORTH Northern Standard Thursday 7th May
Sinn Féin and UUP in close contest in Fermanagh/South Tyrone
Michael Fisher

Voters go to the polls (Thursday) for the Westminster general election in eighteen constituencies in Northern Ireland and throughout Britain. Many are predicting a hung Parliament, with David Cameron or Ed Miliband almost certain to need the support of other parties to form the next government. So the outcome in the North, as well as in Scotland, will be particularly important. Sinn Féin says it will continue its abstentionist policy, so if a unionist gained a seat currently held by a republican, that one MP could provide a vital vote for any new government.

One place that scenario is possible is Fermanagh/South Tyrone, where Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew took the seat in 2010 by just four votes over her main rival, making it the most marginal seat in the House of Commons. This time around the incumbent will be facing a single unionist opponent, former Ulster Unionist leader and ex-UDR member Tom Elliott, as a result of a pact between the UUP and DUP.

Michelle Gildernew (SF)

Driving through the constituency last week from Teemore to Aughnacloy, it seemed the campaign team for Michelle Gildernew was well organised, with her posters strategically placed along main roads. Carrickmacross-based MEP Matt Carthy of Sinn Féin was among the Monaghan representatives who spent a while canvassing for his party colleague.

Tom Elliott has received the support of the Orange Order, of which he is a prominent member, and (despite previous differences of opinion) the DUP, including some of its Councillors. He remains hopeful of winning, but the bookies indicate otherwise.

CONSTITUENCY HISTORY

Since 1950, Fermanagh/ South Tyrone has seen a precarious balance between unionists and nationalists, and has repeatedly had the highest turn-out of any constituency in the North. It was initially won in 1950 and 1951 by the Nationalist Party. Although a Sinn Féin candidate was successful in 1955, he was unseated on petition, on the basis that a criminal conviction for IRA activity made him ineligible. The seat was awarded to the unionist candidate.

At the start of the troubles and the campaign for civil rights, Frank McManus, standing on a (nationalist) Unity ticket, won in 1970. The arrival of the SDLP in February 1974 divided the nationalist vote and saw the UUP’s Harry West returned to Westminster, with the support of other unionists.

In October 1974 a nationalist pact saw Lisnaskea publican Frank Maguire returned as an Independent. He retained the seat five years later. When he died in early 1981, it was the time of the H-Block hunger strike. In the by-election, IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands stood as an anti-H-Block candidate and was elected. His death in prison followed 26 days later. In the second by-election his agent Owen Carron stood as a “proxy political prisoner” and was elected in his place. Republicans suffered a reversal in the 1983 general election, when the SDLP contested the seat. Former UDR officer Ken Maginnis won and held the seat for the UUP for the next eighteen years until he retired.

The 2001 general election saw Michelle Gildernew become MP for the first time, with a narrow win over the UUP’s James Cooper, in a situation where the unionist vote was split. The Brantry native and former Stormont Minister for Agriculture went on to hold the seat in two more Westminster contests.

Fermanagh/South Tyrone General Election Results since 1950
Election Member    Party
1950 Cahir Healy Nationalist
1951    Cahir Healy Nationalist
1955 Philip Clarke    Sinn Féin
1955    Lord Robert Grosvenor UUP
1959    Lord Robert Grosvenor UUP
1964    Marquess of Hamilton UUP
1966    Marquess of Hamilton UUP
1970    Frank McManus Unity
1974 (February)    Harry West UUP
1974 (October) Frank Maguire    Independent Republican
1979    Frank Maguire Independent Republican
1981 (April)    Bobby Sands Anti H-Block
1981 (August) Owen Carron Anti H-Block
1983    Ken Maginnis    UUP
1986    Ken Maginnis    UUP
1987    Ken Maginnis    UUP
1992    Ken Maginnis    UUP
1997    Ken Maginnis    UUP
2001    Michelle Gildernew Sinn Féin
2005    Michelle Gildernew Sinn Féin
2010    Michelle Gildernew Sinn Féin
(the two elections in 1981 and one in 1986 were by-elections)

LUCIDTALK OPINION POLL PREDICTION

So what about the other seventeen constituencies in the North? According to an opinion panel poll last month by the LucidTalk market research company, (Managing Director: Bill White), it is extremely unlikely there will be any change in ten of them. These are:
North Antrim (DUP), East Antrim (DUP), East Derry (DUP), Lagan Valley (DUP), Strangford (DUP), Newry and Armagh (SF), West Belfast (SF), Mid Ulster (SF), West Tyrone (SF), and North Down (Independent). Of the other seven, predictions are that two of the three seats already held by the SDLP, in Foyle (where Mark Durkan succeeded John Hume) and South Down (Margaret Ritchie), will be retained.

The poll also indicates a win in North Belfast for the incumbent, Nigel Dodds of the DUP, the second of four constituencies where a unionist pact was agreed. Gerry Kelly of Sinn Féin was criticised for his leaflets showing a sectarian headcount of the electorate. He has also used social media such as youtube to spread his message, acting out a bizarre sequence featuring a Star Wars character.

No such strange visions in South Antrim, which has apparently seen the level of DUP support drifting downwards for the past couple of months whilst increasing for Danny Kinahan of the Ulster Unionists. But the LucidTalk poll shows the DUP’s William McCrea is still at a favourite level of 75% to hold his seat. That leaves three areas where attention will be most focused later tonight (Thursday) as the ballot boxes are opened.
East Belfast
For some time now the DUP has been campaigning to take back East Belfast from Naomi Long of the Alliance Party, their first ever Westminster seat when she upset the odds in 2010 and defeated the DUP leader Peter Robinson. Now it’s another Robinson, Gavin (no relation), who has been given a clear run by unionists as the UUP has agreed not to stand. This will be a fascinating contest, as will the one in neighbouring South Belfast.
South Belfast
This area shows a major change in the LucidTalk April poll, with the SDLP jumping from a 65% score to 75% (i.e. a good favourite, but still not a certainty). The constituency ranges from the wealthy and now increasingly Catholic Malone Road to the loyalist Village area and Sandy Row. Boundary changes mean it includes parts of Castlereagh and Carryduff on the outskirts of the city. The Sinn Féin candidate, businessman and former Belfast Lord Mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, is mounting a strong challenge for the nationalist vote. But South Belfast is one of the last seats where the SDLP is still ahead of Sinn Féin and this should favour the incumbent. It’s possible that Dr McDonnell would retain the seat with one of the lowest percentages of the vote in the whole of the UK, under 30%. Interestingly the LucidTalk poll shows UKIP (represented by another former Lord Mayor, ex-Ulster Unionist Bob Stoker) scoring well in this constituency, particularly in middle class areas and with the over 65′s in the panel.
Upper Bann
Finally, watch out for Upper Bann (taking in Lurgan, Portadown and Craigavon). In the opinion poll, it has dropped from an 80% score for the DUP to 65%. This seems mostly to be owing to the strong challenge that the UUP’s Joanne Dobson has mounted against the sitting MP, David Simpson of the DUP. However, what should worry the unionists is that the pollster’s models now show there is not just one alternative to the DUP, but two i.e. Sinn Féin and the UUP. It’s speculated that the Sinn Féin’s Catherine Seeley could come through the middle, if the DUP and UUP split the unionist vote evenly. The UUP say David Simpson’s line that the DUP are the only party that can stop Sinn Féin is scaremongering. At the last Westminster (2010) and Assembly (2011) elections the total unionist vote came in at around 55-60%, with the nationalist/republican vote on approximately 40%, and Alliance added to others on 5%. The DUP scored 34% in 2010, with the UUP (called UNCNF then) on 26%. So if say the DUP drop only 4 % points, and the UUP gain 4 % points, and Sinn Féin get about 3/4 of the possible nationalist/republican vote (which is 30% i.e. 3/4 of 40%) then Sinn Féin could narrowly snatch this seat from the Unionists in a very tight finish between the three parties.

Remember that a British general election is not counted through proportional representation, but is a first-past-the-post contest, and gaining one more vote than your opponents is enough to see a candidate through.
OPINION POLL:
The LucidTalk (NI) Opinion Panel has 440 participants and is carefully constructed to provide an accurate representation of Northern Ireland opinion – via gender, area of residence, age-group, community background, socio-economic group, and employment group. The opinion panel has a pool of approximately 1,200 members who regularly take part in poll projects, and for this project a representative sample of 440 opinions was collated.
Opinion Panel members were asked:
(a) Likelihood of voting in May 2015, and
(b) What party they currently plan to vote for, and
(c) Their current opinion regarding who would win in each of the ‘non-100%’ certainty seats (see results table).
Results are presented as a % likelihood of the named political parties winning in each of the 18 Westminster Parliamentary seats. Our forecasts do not predict vote share, size of vote, and/or size of majority etc., as to do this would require a much higher sample and more comprehensive poll. In this context, it should be noted that if the % scores go up or down for the main prediction, then it’s the alternative party or parties (right-hand column in the table) that is retreating or advancing by that same score. The full results are detailed in the attached table along with any changes from the March Opinion Panel poll, which enables us to see the trends, and any changes in opinion.

NORTHERN IRELAND: WESTMINSTER ELECTION
LUCIDTALK APRIL OPINION PANEL FORECAST – 1st May 2015
Opinion Panel Poll Period: 21st April – 30th April 2015.

NORTHERN IRELAND CONSTITUENCY		2010 Result – Party	2015 Forecast- Party	Probability % of correct Forecast (e.g. 100% = certain)			Change since last Forecast (March Opinion Panel)	Alternative – if main forecast doesn’t win
North Antrim		DUP	DUP	100%			No Change	–
South Antrim		DUP	DUP	75%			-5%	UUP
East Antrim		DUP	DUP	100%			No Change	–
Belfast North		DUP	DUP	95%			No Change	Sinn Fein
Belfast South		SDLP	SDLP	75%			+10%	DUP
Belfast East		Alliance	DUP	75%			No Change	Alliance
Belfast West		Sinn Fein	Sinn Fein	100%			No Change	–
North Down		Independent	Independent	100%			No Change	–
Mid-Ulster		Sinn Fein	Sinn Fein	100%			No Change	–
West Tyrone		Sinn Fein	Sinn Fein	100%			No Change	–
Fermanagh and South Tyrone		Sinn Fein	Sinn Fein	80%			+5%	UUP
Foyle		SDLP	SDLP	90%			No Change	Sinn Fein
East Londonderry		DUP	DUP	100%			No Change	–
Lagan Valley		DUP	DUP	100%			No Change	–
Upper Bann		DUP	DUP	65%			-15%	UUP or Sinn Fein
Strangford		DUP	DUP	100%			No Change	–
South Down		SDLP	SDLP	95%			No Change	Sinn Fein
Newry and Armagh		Sinn Fein	Sinn Fein	100%			No Change	SDLP

UK GENERAL ELECTION 2015 – NORTHERN IRELAND: LUCIDTALK FORECAST – as at 1st May 2015
POLITICAL PARTY	DUP		SINN FEIN		SDLP	INDEPENDENT			OTHER
2015 SEAT FORECAST – TOTALS	9		5		3	1			0

As an approximate guide the % predictions can be interpreted as follows: +55% = too close to call, +60% = borderline, +65% = slight favourite, +70%-75% = moderate favourite/favourite, +80%-85% = favourite/strong favourite, +90%-95% = strong favourite/near certain, 100% = full certain.
Copyright LucidTalk © 2015 and reproduced by permission

PRIESTS CELEBRATE 55TH ANNIVERSARY

08/05/2015 by borderroamer

Canon Brian McCluskey after Sunday Mass with Fr Eddie O’Donnell PP, St Brigid’s Belfast Photo: © Michael Fisher

Canon Brian McCluskey is a retired priest of the diocese of Clogher, now living in Belfast and assisting at St Brigid’s Parish. He is pictured with the Parish Priest of St Brigid’s, Fr Eddie O’Donnell, after Mass on Sunday and prior to his departure for Rome. This morning (Friday) Pope Francis concelebrated a private Mass at the Vatican with Canon McCluskey and five of his former student colleagues from the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, all of whom are celebrating the 55th anniversary of their ordinations. Canon McCluskey was joined by Fr Kevin McMullan (Belfast); Monsignor Ambrose Macaulay from Cushendall; Monsignor Jim Kelly (Adare and Brooklyn); Fr Phil Doyle (Tarbert) and Fr Brian Twomey SPS (Ashford and Stirling).

GENERAL ELECTION 2015

07/05/2015 by borderroamer

Fifteen minutes after the polls close in the Westminster general election the first ballot boxes from the Lagan Valley constituency are opened at the Lisburn Leisureplex count centre. Declaration expected by 1:30am. The seat was held last time round by Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP with a majority of 10,486.

A confident Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP in Lisburn count centre checks the Lagan Valley tally figures.

Jeffrey Donaldson (DUP) at the Lisburn count centre Photo: © Michael Fisher

Jeffrey Donaldson DUP tops poll Lagan Valley #GE2015 increased vote: 19055 votes.

Jefrrey Donaldson prepares to gon on BBC TV after winning the Lagan Valley seat Photo: © Michael Fisher

Lagan Valley: Catney (SDLP) 2500; Donaldson (DUP) 19055; Love (UKIP) 2200 Lunn (ALL) 5544; McGeough (SF) 1144 Morrison (TUV) 1887; Orr (IND) 756; Osborne (CON) 654; Redpath (UUP) 6055; Total Poll: 39986; Invalid: 191; TVP: 39795; Turnout: 56.19% #GE2015.

Jefrrey Donaldson prepares to go on RTE Radio after winning the Lagan Valley seat Photo: © Michael Fisher

First result in Northern Ireland was Jeffrey Donaldson (DUP) win in Lagan Valley. Speaking about his own success and some of the other results that were coming in at the time, Mr Donaldson said in this election the DUP had had many things said about it, but in Lagan Valley the party increased its vote and its majority and now had a resounding mandate from the people of the constituency.

Mr Donaldson added that with the Scottish National Party sweeping up seats previously held by Labour in Scotland, it was important for all pro-unionist parties to work together. “This is an important election, not just for Lagan Valley and Northern Ireland, but it is an important election for the UK. I believe the DUP and our unionist allies will be in a very important position at the end of this election”, he said.

Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP after his election in Lagan Valley Photo: © Michael Fisher

“But at the same time in the United Kingdom we face a challenge from the increase in support for nationalism, not least in Scotland,” Mr Donaldson said. “I want to make the plea to all unionists of a like mind that we work to the cause of the Union, because the cause of the Union is greater than any single political party. What we want to ensure is the United kingdom is strong and united, and that is what my party and the other unionist parties are committed to achieving.”

Counting begins for South Down at the Lisburn Leisureplex centre Photo: © Michael Fisher

Tweets from @fishbelfast: Quick turnaround in Lisburn Leisureplex as count starts in South Down constituency.

Margaret Ritchie (SDLP) in confident mood at Lisburn count for South Down #GE2015.

Turnout South Down is 57.16% result by 4:30am with Margaret Ritchie likely to retain seat. Total poll 43,000.

In South Down Margaret Ritchie of the SDLP held her seat with a reduced majority of around 5800.

Margaret Ritchie awaits the result at Lisburn Photo: © Michael Fisher

Margaret Ritchie (SDLP) holds South Down seat 18,077 1st preference votes: majority down from 8400 to around 6000.

South Down result #GE2015 at Lisburn count: Buchan (CON) 318; Hazzard (SF) 12186; McKee (UUP) 3964; Reilly (UKIP) 3044; Ritchie (SDLP) 18077; Todd (ALL) 1622; Jim Wells (DUP) 3486; Majority: 5891; Total Poll: 43000 Invalid votes: 303 TVP: 42697; Turnout: 57.16%.

Margaret Ritchie waits to be interviewed by the BBC at Lisburn count centre Photo: © Michael Fisher

Speaking after the result was declared, Margaret Ritchie said she was delighted to be able to represent the people of South Down once again, particularly against a Tory majority government. She went on: “I want to thank the people of South Down for once again placing their trust in me and in the SDLP to represent their interests at Westminster. I also want to thank the hundreds of activists who knocked doors, delivered leaflets and contributed to our campaign here. This result is a testament to their enduring effort”.

Celebrations for the re-elected MP from South Down, Margaret Ritchie Photo: © Michael Fisher

“There’s no time to rest though. We know now that the next government will be a Tory one, and with that comes a referendum on the EU and billions of pounds of cuts to public spending. The SDLP team at Westminster will work together to do everything we can to mitigate against their savage cuts. The election may be over but the work is just beginning”, she told her supporters.

The celebration cake for Margaret Ritchie Photo: © Michael Fisher

HOT PRESS AWARD FOR ALICIA

06/05/2015 by borderroamer

Alicia Ehrecke of Inver College, Carrickmacross, receives a ‘Very Highly Commended’ Hot Press award for her short story from the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Christy Burke Photo: Hot Press

Northern Standard: Thursday 7th May Carrickmacross News

Alicia Ehrecke from Inver College in Carrickmacross, whose short story was published in The Northern Standard last week, has received one of the top awards in the prestigious Write Here, Write Now competition, run by Hot Press magazine. Her entry ‘All the Same’ was Very Highly Commended in the Second-Level students’ category.

The day after receiving the award, 17 year-old Alicia returned to her home at Cottbus (near Berlin) in Germany. She had been studying at Inver College since last September as an exchange student.

The Principal Roddy Minogue said everyone at the College was delighted with her success, and he felt it would provide an inspiration to other students. He said Alicia had deserved recognition for her work as she had been a very good student who participated well in all classes and her attendance record during the eight months she spent there was excellent.

At the Mansion House in Dublin, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Christy Burke presented awards to Alicia and to the other winners. On the final day of the One City One Book festival, which this year celebrated one of the great modern Irish sagas – The Barrytown Trilogy by Roddy Doyle – Hot Press, in association with Dublin City Libraries’ One City, One Book Festival, revealed Alicia as among the very best new, student writing talents in the country.

Alicia Ehrecke, Inver College, Carrickmacross Photo: HotPress

Forty-four young student writers were invited to ‘Build Your Own Barrytown’. Before the awards ceremony, the shortlisted students were treated to a brilliantly insightful interview, as Roisin Dwyer of Hote Press quizzed Man Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle on the craft of writing. The Barrytown Trilogy author was a member of the judging panel, which also comprised IMPAC Award winner Kevin Barry, Rooney Prize winner Claire Kilroy, Hot Press editor Niall Stokes and composer Julie Feeney, who was also at The Mansion House to meet those shortlisted. The public had their say too, adding their voices to the mix, with Waterford’s Rose Keating receiving the special Readers’ Award.

The Write Here, Write Now student writing competition saw an instant and enormous reaction from young talent across the country. Thousands of entries were whittled down to a shortlist of 44, across the four categories of the competition. While the number of entries was huge, even more importantly – in both the Second and Third Level categories – the judges were enormously impressed by the superb quality of the submissions.

“Concerns have been expressed that young people are less interested now in the power of the written word. On the contrary, on this evidence, there is a new breed coming through with the ability to write in a way that is genuinely original, smart, powerfully contemporary and emotionally engaging,” said Hot Press editor Niall Stokes. “Hot Press has always been about supporting emerging Irish creativity – which is why a competition like Write Here, Write Now is so important to us. However, it is more important than ever for us to ensure that this latent talent is channelled effectively, so hopefully today’s event will provide the encouragement to Alicia and other remarkable young Monaghan writers to press on, work hard and develop their potential over the coming years.”

Roddy Doyle himself also gave his verdict, saying that some of the submissions as “frighteningly good – surprising, sharp, sometimes chilling, confident.”

“It is enormously reassuring to see the depth of young writing talent, which is reflected in the Write Here Write Now competition,” said Dublin City Librarian, Margaret Hayes. “Literature is so important to the life of a nation and indeed, as Roddy Doyle has illustrated so well with The Barrytown Trilogy, to the life of a city. Dublin City Libraries are at the heart of the drive to ensure that we never forget the value of reading. Not only that: one of our core objectives, through the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature Office, is to encourage writers – which is why we are so proud to have been involved in the success of the Write Here, Write Now competition.”

The competition was supported by Dublin City Libraries, Dublin City Council, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Eason and Microsoft Office 365. The overall winners’ prizes included an internship during 2015 with Hot Press, the country’s leading music and lifestyle magazine, as well as a €250 cash prize, a Toshiba Click Mini and a Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Mouse. They also received an e-Reader, courtesy of Eason and will have their winning entry published in a special issue of Hot Press, potentially kick-starting their career in the best possible fashion. In addition, 22 students received a one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365, an invaluable tool for students and creative types!

All the winning entries including Alicia’s can now be read at http://www.hotpress.com/writeherewritenow.

WELCOME HOME CHRISTINA!

05/05/2015 by borderroamer

A large crowd of several hundreds turned up to welcome home to Carrickmacross the WBC interim bantamweight title holder Christina McMahon, who defeated Catherine Phiri in Zambia on Saturday night. It was her seventh undefeated fight in a row since she turned professional five years ago at the age of 35. Full story in Thursday’s Northern Standard.

Christina McMahon with her title belt Photo: © Michael Fisher

COUNCILLORS SAY BRUTON ‘SNUBBED’ THEM

04/05/2015 by borderroamer

CATHAOIRLEACH SAYS COUNCILLORS WERE SNUBBED OVER JOBS FORUM IN CARRICKMACROSS

Michael Fisher Northern Standard Thursday 30th April p.1

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton T.D. with Martin O’Briend CEO Cavan Monaghan ETB in one of the workshops at the Carrickmacross jobs forum Photo: © Michael Fisher

Monaghan Councillors especially Carrickmacross-Castleblayney Municipal District members have been snubbed by the Department of Jobs, according to the County Council Cathaoirleach, Councillor Padraig McNally (Fianna Fáil). He was addressing the April meeting of the District Council in Carrickmacross on Monday.

Three government Ministers, Richard Bruton and Ged Nash (Labour), with Heather Humphreys T.D. (centre), and two other Fine Gael Cavan/Monaghan TDs including Joe O’Reilly T.D. (right) attended the regional Action Plan for Jobs in Carrickmacross Photo: © Michael Fisher

He expressed his disappointment and frustration that he had not been invited to a regional jobs forum held at the Nuremore Hotel and attended by three government Ministers, including the Jobs Minister Richard Bruton T.D. and Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and local T.D., Heather Humphreys.

Minister Heather Humphreys T.D. and Minister Ged Nash T.D. at the Carrickmacross jobs forum Photo: © Michael Fisher

Councillor McNally told the meeting that if there had been a Fine Gael Cathaoirleach of the County Council then that person would have been there, but on this occasion, local representatives had been snubbed. We like to be contacted about such events, he said, and it was very easy to forget that hey were there.

Cathaoirleach of Monaghan County Council, Councillor Padraig McNally Photo: © Michael Fisher

He proposed that the Municipal District wrote to the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton T.D. saying that in future they should invite elected representatives from Carrickmacross. He said there was not one person present at the jobs forum who could report back directly to the workforce at the Bose factory. It is due to close at the end of next month, with the loss of 140 jobs.

Cathaoirleach of Carrickmacross Castleblayney Municipal District, Councillor Jackie Crowe Photo: © Michael Fisher

The Cathaoirleach of the Municipal District, Councillor Jackie Crowe (Sinn Féin) agreed that the elected local representatives had been snubbed. He seconded the motion. He said they had had no notification whatsoever about the meeting. It showed that the organisers had no time for them. He was disappointed that even the County Council Cathaoirleach had not been invited. It was not the first time that they had been snubbed and they should express their anger as a Municipal District. It was agreed by the six Councillors present “That this Council writes to Minister Richard Bruton T.D. expressing our disappointment that neither the Muncipal District chairman or the county chairman were invited to the jobs meeting held in the Nuremore Hotel recently”.

Monaghan Councillor Colm Carthy from Carrickmacross Photo: © Michael Fisher

Councillor Colm Carthy (Sinn Féin) said that last month the District had agreed to write to Minister Bruton to request an update on the Bose facility and asking him if he would confirm where he was on organising a replacement for the jobs and employment in the Carrickmacross plant. The Council received a standard letter in reply from a Private Secretary, stating that the correspondence would be brought to the Minister’s attention “at the earliest opportunity”. Councillor Carthy, a former Bose employee, said he was concerned that no elected members had been invited to the jobs meeting held locally. It was a matter of grave concern, as the facility would be closing shortly. He said it had come as a surprise to him that Minister Bruton had visited the area.

CONGRATULATIONS CHRISTINA!

03/05/2015 by borderroamer

Christina McMahon in training at the Declan Brennan Centre of Excellence Photo: © Michael Fisher

Monaghan’s latest sporting success, boxer Christina McMahon, will return to her hometown of Carrickmacross on Tuesday evening after her win in Lusaka on Saturday night. There will be a special reception in the Main Street to welcome her home around 7pm. Barry Jay Hughes will entertain the crowd.

Christina McMahon in action v Catherine Phiri of Zambia Photo: Lusaka Voice

Congratulations Christina, the interim WBC world female bantamweight title holder. She outpointed her opponent, the Zambian Catherine Phiri, over ten rounds to extend her unbeaten record to seven fights.

Michael Fisher's News

Monthly Archives: May 2015

THE PUGIN TRAIL

Back on the Pugin trail at a wedding in a Gothic Revival church in Co. Meath