Northern Standard Thursday 21st May p.24
Michael Fisher
My coverage including pictures of the Balmoral Show 2015 at the Maze.
Category Archives: MONAGHAN
TIME OF OUR LIVES
Colm Arbuckle Photo: BBC Radio Ulster
A new programme on BBC Radio Ulster at 2pm ‘Time of our Lives’ is presented by Colm Arbuckle and produced by Owen McFadden. Tune in to hear the over 60s reclaim the airwaves! My contribution can be heard halfway in, around 30:30 on playback. If you think my voice sounds strange, it seems to have been slowed down to suit the potential mature audience! I think when they were doing a digital cut, the speed was altered and not restored to ‘normal’ setting! I hope they will invite me back so you can hear what my voice really sounds like! Apologies if you thought something strange had happened in the years since I left RTÉ News…
WPFG Volunteer Michael Fisher with Kim Harper, Las Vegas Guns & Hoses at the Odyssey Arena July 2013 Picture: © Kelvin Boyes, Press Eye
IN RETIREMENT
Well, how are you? What’s the weather going to be like today? It’s a question I continue to get asked, nearly five years after my retirement. Or, more correctly, since I gave up a staff job as a television news reporter and took a voluntary retirement package.
So where, you might ask, does the weather come in? My job was always about news. Since 1984 here in Northern Ireland, that inevitably meant covering sometimes daily killings, and several major incidents. Before that two of my biggest stories were in County Kildare: a train crash and also the disappearance of the racehorse Shergar.
It’s true that my first story on my first day as an RTE News reporter in January 1979 was weather-related, when the temperature dropped to a record low of -18C. The story concerned the transport disruption caused by the snow and ice.
Back then it took me a while to work out why people from the farming community I was introduced to by my then fiancée would usually start a conversation by asking me about the weather. 35 years on and now in semi-retirement, that same question was posed to me as I looked out over the stony grey soil of Monaghan.
NOW I realise that the sunshine or rain enquiry was not because my interlocutor had heard or seen my reports on radio or on the box; it was because he or she thought the famous BBC weatherman Michael Fish had landed in their midst! So if that is my solitary claim to fame when I finally retire, I will be happy in the knowledge that I did have some impact as a television celebrity!
What also pleases me at this stage of my life is to know that manners and respect for older generations can still be found amongst 21st Century youth. When you reach your sixties, and become eligible for the brown travel card, you are glad of the courtesy shown when someone stands up on a bus or train to give you a seat. Or when a stranger unexpectedly offers to carry something for you. I’m already looking forward to the next stage: the blue pass, which entitles the holder to cross-border free travel, as well as within Northern Ireland.
Retirement has given me more opportunity to travel. Two years ago I persuaded my other half to go on a cruise departing conveniently from Belfast to Norway. We already knew a few of those on the trip. By the end of it we had made a number of new friends. Many couples on board were retired. Some, like us, were taking their first cruise. But the vast majority who came from different parts of Ireland had experienced cruises before and were enjoying a new stage of their lives.
If my plans work out, I will do some travelling while my health is reasonable. I do not need to look far for inspiration. My neighbour, who turned 70 recently, loves climbing mountains. He was in Australia before Christmas and travelled to Thailand in February. In October he will be heading to central Nepal and is currently raising funds for the area affected by the earthquake.
I have found that fundraising for charity has been a very productive way of spending some of my retirement. Today I will be helping out at a 10k run that will raise funds for the Special Olympics Ireland team. Previous volunteering shifts included the World Police and Fire Games, which led in turn to the Giro d’Italia cycle race.
All this unpaid voluntary work is my way of putting something back into the community and enjoying a role as an ambassador for Belfast and Northern Ireland. Next week you might come across me in Newcastle, helping to look after the many visitors to the Irish Open Golf. But if they ask me about the weather, I reckon I will just have to check my mobile phone.
BALMORAL SHOW 2015
Lely robotic milking machine at Balmoral Show Photo: © Michael Fisher
The robotic milking parlour by Lely was a big draw for the crowds this week at the Balmoral Show.
Judging in the cattle ring at Balmoral Show Photo: © Michael Fisher
Plenty of interest too in the judging of various categories including dairy cattle.
Judging in the cattle ring at Balmoral Show Photo: © Michael Fisher
Traffic problems did not seem to be as bad as two years ago but it still took half an hour to get out of the main car park yesterday afternoon (Friday).
Judging in the cattle ring at Balmoral Show Photo: © Michael Fisher
Judging in the cattle ring at Balmoral Show Photo: © Michael Fisher
PLASTICS DESIGN SUCCESS FOR RÓISíN
Róisín Keyes from Carrickmacross, a student at DIT
FORMER ST LOUIS PUPIL ACHIEVES NATIONAL SUCCESS
Michael Fisher Northern Standard Carrickmacross News Thursday 15th May
Róisín Keyes from Lisanisk in Carrickmacross is one of seven finalists from Ireland and Britain to reach the finals of a major competition to promote new inventions made with plastic and to find bright young designers of the future. Students were asked to identify a traditional metal product and replace it with the next generation of product using polymers. Róisín impressed the judges with her plastic extension keys for musical wind instruments, such as saxophones or concert flutes.
The competition is an annual award sponsored by multinational polymer company, Bayer MaterialScience, which has an office in Dublin. It aims to find the university student with the most creative new invention made with plastics. It is contested by students from universities throughout Ireland and Britain. Róisin was the only Irish student to get to the final out of 118 entrants.
She is a former pupil of St Louis Secondary School, Carrickmacross and is currently in the third year of a four-year B.Sc. course in Products Design at the Dublin Institute of Technology. The finalists go forward to judging by a panel of industry experts on Friday week, May 22nd at the British Plastics Federation in London. The winner will be announced on July 3rd, and will earn a placement with Bayer MaterialScience, in Leverkusen, Germany, one of the world’s largest producers of polymers and high-performance plastics.
In addition to a cash prize of £1,000 the winner will also have a work placement at PriestmanGoode, the leading global design and brand experience agency specialising in aviation, transport and product design.
All three top winners and four highly commended will receive cash prizes and either training courses or placements with other award sponsors: Innovate Product Design, a leading UK invention development company; PDD, London, worldwide provider of integrated design and innovation skills; G&A Moulding Technology, an independent company offering the injection moulding industry support, training and advisory services; Brightworks, an award-winning product design and development consultancy, and HellermannTyton,a global manufacturer and innovator of products for electrical and communication networks.
In addition, all finalists will be offered mentoring support with the goal of helping them take their design ideas closer to commercial realisation, and a year’s free membership of IOM3.
The prestigious Design Innovation in Plastics competition was established in 1985, during which it has provided opportunities for design students to make a name for themselves with products which have genuine use and potential commercial value. It promotes innovative design, raises awareness of high-tech plastics and enables universities to raise their profiles as institutes of excellence in this field. Róisín will have an anxious few weeks to wait to find out how she does in her presentation on May 22nd. We wish her every success.
CHRISTINA RELAXES AT HOME
Michael Fisher interviewing Christina McMahon at her home in Carrickmacross Photo: Pat Byrne
CHAMPION CHRISTINA RELAXES AT HOME
Michael Fisher Northern Standard Thursday 14th May: with photos by Pat Byrne
“You are absolutely inspirational”, the Saturday Night Show host Brendan O’Connor told Christina McMahon from Carrickmacross as she finished her live interview on RTE1 in front of a studio audience at Donnybrook that included her coach and husband Frick and her parents. Christina is now resting after her tough ten rounds fight in Zambia to win the interim WBC bantamweight world title. The belt, the only one of its kind in Ireland at the moment, was with her as she explained to her interviewer how she had taken up boxing on a professional basis when she turned 35, having won a world title for kick-boxing. Now aged 40, she had been up against a much younger opponent in Lusaka, 22 year-old Catherine Phiri, who was strongly fancied to win by the home crowd.
Even before the fight, however, Christina and had come successfully through the psychological battle that saw the promoter favour Phiri and try to make things awkward for the Irish boxer. Christina spent an hour being interviewed on local radio and by the time she had finished, she had won the hearts and minds of many of the locals. It was yet another sign of her great determination. “I never gave up on my dream”, she told Brendan O’Connor and now, after a good rest, she will be prepared to go after the full title. The current WBC bantamweight title holder is Yazmin Rivas from Mexico, who won it last June.
Taking part in the RTE Saturday Night Show made her feel like a celebrity, she said. She had to get her hair done and also required special attention from make-up to ensure that the black eye she received in the fight did not show.
Now relaxing at home in Magheross, Christina says she does not need a national media focus after being under the radar for so long. She was delighted to receive a civic reception on her return to Carrickmacross last week. It was a lovely surprise, she told me. She also thanked the organisers, the Carrickmacross Festival Committee, for ensuring it went so smoothly. She expressed her thanks for the three gifts that were presented to her on the night.
Monaghan County Council. Cathaoirleach Padraig McNally gave Christina a gift of an Irish Crystal bowl. The Cathaoirleach of Carrickmacross-Castlebleyney Municipal District Cllr Jackie Crowe presented her with a framed gift of Carrickmacross lace. The Festival Committee presented the boxer with a clock to mark the occasion.
Christina is a former pupil at St Louis Secondary School, where a welcome home banner had been displayed. She studied sport and leisure management at Inchicore College of Further Education in Dublin. She told me she was delighted that after her victory, some of her former college friends were able to renew contact with her. She also received a message from a family for whom she used to babysit.
On Sunday evening a crowd gathered at the Shirley Arms Hotel to watch a replay of the fight and to celebrate with Christina and her husband. Hopefully there will be one more big celebration still to come in the next twelve months or so.
THE PUGIN TRAIL
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: 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.
CHRISTINA MCMAHON HOMECOMING
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.
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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.
PRIESTS CELEBRATE 55TH ANNIVERSARY
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).
HOT PRESS AWARD FOR ALICIA
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!
Big Crowd in Carrickmacross welcomes home Christina McMahon Photo: © Michael Fisher
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
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