CLOSE DRUGS CLINIC NOW

The drug abusers clinic in Patrick Street Dun Laoghaire is currently dealing with twice the amount of drug addicts that was originally deemed acceptable when the clinic was first opened. Demands for the closure of the clinic have come from the Dun Laoghaire Business Association who along with officials of the Eastern Health Board, local residents, members of the Garda Siochana and local County Councillor Betty Coffey attended a meeting in Dun Laoghaire to discuss the worsening condition of the Patrick Street Drug Abusers Clinic.

General Secretary of the Dun Laoghaire Business Association Mr Breasal O'Caollai said " it is clear from this meeting that 100% of the business people of Dun Laoghaire town and harbour and virtually every resident in the area now wish to see the immediate closure of the drugs clinic. As explained at the meeting by both business and resident representatives, we have no difficulty with drug abusers from our own parish (and people working in the town) receiving treatment in our town and indeed we strongly favour such treatment. However this must be confined to the 20 or so registered for our immediate area."

Councillor Betty Coffey echoed the sentiments expressed stating that the current situation is totally unacceptable. All the promises made by the EHB have been but empty promises and the current total of around 100 drug abusers using the clinic is far in excess of what is a tolerable level for the clinic to cope with. Councillor Coffey went on to say that original estimates were for a maximum of 50 people receiving treatment and there now exists a situation where there is a total lack of trust in the EHB following their past history of reneging on promises made. "The time has come for the reconstitution of a monitoring committee, a committee which would have people such as Mr O'Caollai and Mr Pat Walsh on it. We are putting massive investment into upgrading Dun Laoghaire, including the town centre, and this problem along with the growing problem of cider drinkers on our streets has got to be tackled" said Councillor Coffey.

In a letter to the EHB Mr O'Caollai said " When the clinic was originally opened we received guarantees from your officials that if the clinic did not 'work out ' and 'acceptable to the local people ' It would close. It was explained at that time that your staff would not work in a hostile environment. With the well documented incidents which have plagued our town since the clinic opened - the very existence of the regional clinic attracts the most undesirable people to our town and we accept they often have no connection with your service- it is now time to plan the closure of the clinic as we know it"

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CBC BOYS HOLD EXHIBITION

Thirty sixth class boys in CBC Junior School Monkstown, held a business exhibition on Tuesday 25th May which was attended by Tom Kitt Minister for Labour Trade & Consumer Affairs. This is the fourth year of the exhibition and follows very successful ventures in previous years, attended by Proinsias de Rossa TD Minister for Social Welfare, Niamh Bhreathanach TD Minister for Education and Sean Barrett TD Minister for Defence and the Marine.

The exhibition marked the end of a three month project, which was launched in February by Ali Hewson, and included twenty one 'companies' set up by the children. Each company had to prepare a marketing plan which in itself is excellent training for the children. The companies on the day sold their services or products and all the proceeds are being donated to the Children of Chernobyl Fund. The fund to date has raised a staggering £8,000.

This money will pay for the transport of Chernobyl children to Ireland for a one month holiday in July. While in Dublin these children will take part in a summer camp in the junior school where they will have the opportunity to meet many of the boys who raised money for their trip. In fact, this year for the first time, Chernobyl children will actually stay with some of the Monkstown boys. The children and their class teacher Ken King deserve immense praise for their initiative and hard work.

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EOIN COSTELLO PARACHUTE JUMP FOR BAC

Local Fine Gael candidate in the up-coming elections, Eoin Costello was so disappointed in the facilities available to Ballybrack Athletic Club on his recent visit there that he took to the skies in a sponsored helicopter jump to raise funds for the club. "I went up to visit the club recently to see the facilities that the council have made available to the club. I was very disappointed. During this election campaign the most common comment I have heard from people is that there is nothing for teenagers to do locally. Here is an excellent facility on the doorstep of the council and they are doing little or nothing to develop it . The track that the club use in Kilbogget Park needs urgent work done to it. At the moment it is the only such track on the southside of Dublin (apart from UCD) Formerly the club members were allowed to train on UCD's top class track, however UCD have now decided to prevent other clubs from using these facilities".

The club currently has 50 members and it caters for all the athletic disciplines (spring, middle distance, shot put, long jump etc.) There is a lot of young talent in the club, Patrick Shannon is the national triple jump indoor and outdoor champion but he cannot train properly at the Ballybrack facilities. Other members of the club have represented Ireland successfully numerous times.

According to Peter Kelly (the acting chair) "Local dentist Maurice Byrne was the driving force behind the club and his recent sad death was a shock to everyone in the club. In memory of Mr Byrne it is imperative that everything is done to get proper facilities for the club so it can continue its high standard of sporting excellence".

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DOUBLE WIN FOR BALLY-BRACK BOXING CLUB

Ballybrack Boxing Club have every reason to be proud with their double win in the National Junior Boxing Championships in the National Stadium re-cently. JP Kinsella almost annihilat-ing his opponent, Derry's Tommy Long with 21-4 win and Paul O'Rourke had no difficulty in vanquishing his opponent Philip Mc Keever of the Keady club in Armagh.

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TRINITY ANNOUNCES NEW FELLOWS AND SCHOLARS

The announcement of 50 new Scholars, nine new Fellows and fourn new Honorary Fellows of Trin-ity College was made re-cently at a special cere-mony in the col-lege.

Among the Honorary Fellows was Dr Francis O'Reilly, former Pro Chan-cellor and Chancellor of the University of Dublin. The announcement was made by the Provost, Dr Thomas Mitchell sur-rounded by the Board of he College in full academic gowns and hoods on the steps of the Exam Hall, Front Square.

The ceremony-one of the oldest and most colourful in Trinity College- is part of the annual Trinity Week, the keynote event of which is the interna-tional aca-demic symposium, }Research in the Next Century: New Directions?' which took place on Wednesday May 19th. It included a presentation from well known media personality and Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, neuroscien-tist Susan Greenfield, who spoke about the chal-lenges facing the controversial area of biomedical re-search . Professor Anthony Clare chaired the Open Fo-rum and the entire event was open to the public.

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COLAISTE IOSAGAIN IN BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

One of the year's most competitive and hard fought schools basketball tournaments was fought on May 8th when Colaiste Iosagain met Presentation Thurles in the Big Al's 3v3 U-19 final, the title finally going to Presentation Thurles. Colaiste Iosagain girls Niamh Ni Fhoirreadh, Natalie Britton, Louise Ni Ghrainne and Catriona Nic Gorain put up a valiant fight but were outmatched by the Tipperary team. "The level of skill and commitment shown by our schools players throughout the tournament has been phenomenal , with many of the participants going on to compete at international level having honed their skills in tournaments like the 3v3 Championship" said Simon Walker marketing manager, Big Al's MicroWavers. Commenting on the broad nationwide spread of schools who made it through to the National Finals, Simon continued "traditionally basketball has been strongest in urban areas, but the level of participation and success experienced by rural schools in the Big Al's MicroWavers 3v3, demonstrates that this is changing".

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BRAY WANDERERS FINALLY CLINCH IT!

On Thursday 20th May Bray Wanderers finally took the FAI Harp Lager Cup title in a 2-1 win over Finn Harps in Tolka Park.

Star of the night was un-doubtedly Jason Byrne who with a double score, one in the 37th minute and an-other in the 72nd minute of the game ensured his team's victory. Harps were in fine form early on, Paddy Mc Granaghan striking the lead goal with a clean crisp left foot 20 yard strike following his spectacular run on the left flank in the 11th minute of this great game.

For a while it looked like the game would undoubt-edly go to Harps but persis-tence won the day and with players such as Ciaran 'Tarzan' O'Toole playing in top form it was soon ob-vious the boys from the seaside were not prepared to take a back seat. The glory of Bray has got to be attributed primarily to Pat Devlin, team manager firstly for his unshakeable belief that his team would emerge the victors but also for his intuitive manage-ment tactics on the night. His decision to move key players Byrne, Fox and Keogh resulted in the equaliser in the 37th minute of this fast and furious game. The equaliser gal-vanised Bray Wanderers who from that moment on took control of the play leaving Finn Harps in the dust and when in the final 18minutes of the game Byrne scored again Wan-derers were unstoppable. Final Score was Bray Wanderers 2 Finn Harps 1.

Pat Devlin and his team had spent the week previ-ous to the big match under the patronage of Fotz-patrick's Castle Hotel Killiney availing of the ex-pertise and facilites avail-abel at their excellent gym so it was natural that on winning the FAI final the team went back there with their cup to celebrate in style. After this well...the world is their oyster

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FAMILY FUN DAY AT LEOPARDSTOWN

The massive developments at Leopardstown Racecourse recently have seen a huge increase in numbers attending this premium south Dubllin development, where in addition to great racing, there is also a host of food and drink options with further additions planned. The racecourse is holding a family open day on the Bank Holiday on June 7th. In addition to having a flutter on the horses, the amenities guarantee fun for all the family with picnics, barbecues and free parking to guarantee a stress filled day out. For younger visitors, there will be scramble slides, bouncing castles, ball pond, bungee run and roller challenges. Comic relief will be on hand courtesy of 'Trickey Trickster' with puppets and magic shows, face make-up artists, balloon modelling, fire juggling and all the fun of the fair. Peace of mind is also guaranteed with a supervised crèche. This all-in fun day out will only set back a family of two adults and any number of supervised children just £12.

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WORLD CUP '99 !

Mount Merrion Youth F.C. are holding their annual Soccer Mini World Cup on Saturday May 29th and Sunday May 30th in Oatlands College Mount Merrion. This mini-league soccer tournament is an annual event open to boys and girls born in 1991 or 1992 only. Children must be available on both days from 10am to 4pm. All boys and girls taking part are guaranteed lots of matches in a friendly atmosphere. Don't miss it -this is an opportunity to enjoy organised soccer and to 'try-out' for next season's under-8 league teams. Mount Merrion Youths FC fielded five teams at under 8 level in the Dublin leagues this season.

Registration (£2) fee is on Thursday 27th May 1999 at 7pm at the dressing rooms in the Deerpark, Mount Merrion.