Maynooth Town , County kildare , Ireland

IRISH designers will celebrate St Patrick’s Day by having Crafternoon Tea at the Carton House Hotel.

The designers will bring their crafts to the Maynooth hotel to allow guests to make and experience designer pottery, bags, knitwear and jewellery.

Anna Vahey, a bag designer from Sligo, will be showcasing her range of exclusive Ana Faye handmade leather bags, while jewellery designer Maureen Lynch, award-winning knitwear designer Liadain De Buitlear and potter Thomas Diem will also be showcasing their work.

Anna told the Herald: "It’s a new idea, having an exclusive house open up to crafts. It’s quite unique. I’ll be bringing down some of my patterns and some leather, and showing how they’re made. I’ll probably bring my machine as well, so people can see how it works.

"People can come in and ask questions and get sneak previews of the workshops and studios of craftspeople — most people don’t get to see that," she added.

Carton House is bucking trends and refusing to fall victim to the recession by working new ideas into the business.

General manager David Webster said: "Rather than do the straightforward afternoon tea, we decided to mix it up with cultural and traditional Irish activity then modernise it by bringing in designers."

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/cartons–party-for-craft-fans-2045759.html

A US conference this week highlighted how a framework programme developed by NUI Maynooth and Intel Ireland was doing its bit to reduce the number of IT projects that end in disaster and cost millions.

The IT Capability Maturity Framework (IT-CMF) came out of the Innovation Value Institute, the research body set up by the two parties, and encourages organisations to assess their IT maturity to help make better decisions about their ability to undertake complex IT projects.

Although there are about 30 IT frameworks in existence, IT-CMF has been adopted by 250 chief information officers and IT executives from more than 20 countries since it was set up three years ago.

The Boston Consulting Group was also involved and is part of a learning consortium for IT-CMF that now includes Microsoft, Axa, Chevron and BP. At the conference, BT explained how it used the framework to achieve £50 million in savings with a successful virtualisation project.

Martin Curley, a professor at Maynooth and global director of IT innovation at Intel, said the IT- CMF was different from other frameworks because of its broad business focus.

http://www.irishtimes.ie

President Obama will welcome Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Brian Cowen of Ireland to the White House on Wednesday, March 17.  The United States and Ireland share strong bilateral relations, deep cultural ties, and a commitment to positive change in the world.  The President appreciates the personal contributions and steadfast support of the Taoiseach and U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown in support of the historic agreement achieved by Northern Ireland leaders today, which is an important step on the pathway to greater peace and prosperity for all communities on the island.  The President looks forward to commemorating his second St. Patrick’s Day in the White House with the Taoiseach, a celebration which serves as a reminder of the shared history and close kinship between our two countries.

The President will also greet First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Northern Ireland at the White House on March 17 and discuss their progress toward meeting their shared commitments.

The Jondol Junior Rallycross Championship for 14 -17 year olds, once again provided some of the most hotly contested races at the latest round of the Irish Rallycross Championship at Mondello Park on Sunday (Feb 7th). With a bigger, more evenly matched field than ever before, the heats and finals were filled with incidents and accidents, but once again it was Kildare driver Simon Quinn with his Mini who emerged from the battles to take the win.

Due to the increasing numbers in the Junior class the drivers had to be split into three heats per timed run with the draw keeping the championship top three, Simon Quinn from Naas, Niall Murray from Dublin and Maynooth’s Paul Barrett apart. By the end of the first run of heats Murray and Quinn were right in the thick of things with Murray’s Starlet fastest following a five second heat one win over Newry’s Mark Francis with his Nissan Micra. Mini pilot Quinn won heat three to go second fastest by just 0.6 of a second but in heat two Barrett's mini failed to make sufficient progress from his back row starting position and he could manage only seventh fastest overall.

The second run saw Murray again win his heat by five seconds, this time over the Micra of Wicklow’s Sean Doyle, to once more top the time sheets. In heat two Barret was back on form beating Newry's Andrew Patterson to the win and taking second best time. The third heat was the most exciting of all with Quinn producing the drive of the day to win, despite being spun back to last place on lap one. A brilliant recovery drive saw him retake the lead on the final lap but his spin meant that the time was only good enough for ninth place, which would leave him needing a very strong third run to get onto the front row of the ‘A’ Final grid.

The third heats produced the first win of the day for Mark Francis as he fended off the previously dominant Murray in the first heat. Their battle however slowed both drivers and Francis’s time was only good enough for third place with Murray down in fifth. Heat two was once again a Barrett v’s Patterson affair as the Maynooth driver led from pole while the Ulsterman had to battle through to second. Their times were quick, but not quite quick enough to eclipse the effort of Quinn who in winning heat three took the fastest time of the day to top the run three times.

Just six cars made it to the ‘B’ Final grid to do battle for the final place in the ‘A’ race. Naas resident Sam Kinirons led this race from start to finish but did not have it entirely his own way. Paul McArdle moved his Micra quickly up to second from the outside of the front row and the Dundalk driver looked likely to push Kinirons Mini all the way, until he came under attack from the Starlet of Dubliner James Fleming. Fleming closed on McArdle and as the Micra defended its position Kinirons was able build up a comfortable looking gap by the finish.

Murray’s two fastest times, compared to one for Quinn, was enough to give him pole position for the ‘A’ Final with Quinn and Barrett completing the front row. Patterson lined up fourth from Mark Francis with Aaron Clarke, Michael Cahill and Kinirons completing the qualifiers. Quinn made one of his trademark lightning starts to lead into the first turn and was glad to have escaped the pack as Barrett, Patterson and the slow starting Murray got embroiled in some door bashing. The contact continued through the first and second turns as the competitive nature of Junior Rallycross became very apparent and the result was a spin for Murray on the exit of turn two.

The battling down the order allowed Quinn to make a break and also spread out the remainder of the top four as the field crossed the line at the end of lap one in the order, Quinn, Barrett, Patterson and Francis. Murray had been pushed back to last but was soon on the move overtaking Kinirons, Cahill and Clarke in successive laps to move back to fifth, setting fastest race lap on the way. At the front Quinn reeled off a succession of faultless laps to win by two seconds from Barrett, Patterson and Francis who closed up as the race progressed to the point where they were covered by only half a second at the flag.

The Junior Rallycross championship is really hotting up now with just two rounds left to run. Quinn looks to be favourite for the title with the chasing pack all losing ground following his third win of the season. The battle behind Quinn is now led by Barrett following his second place finish but he is only two points clear of Murray with Francis and Paterson also still in contention for the runner-up spot. All three will be hoping for a slip up from Quinn in two weeks time when the championship returns to Mondello for its penultimate round, as a similarly strong performance from the championship leader could see him secure the title with a round to spare.

A couple of short films made by Cultivate Ireland will be shown in Maynooth this week. The films look at the power of local community to create effective initiatives to tackle the environmental issues of climate change and the shortage of energy resources (such as peak oil). The intention of the gathering is to create awareness and to then look at establishing Maynooth as a Transition Town that encourages these community initiatives.
We hope to make this a fun while fufilling and effective organistation so if this sounds interesting to you (or if you know someone who might be interested) come along. The two films will be shown on Wed. 10 Feb. at 7.30pm in Room 2, Rowan House of the North Campus, Maynooth College (It is a new building next to Education House) and all are welcome.

Further information about Transition Towns:
http://transitiontowns.org/
http://www.cultivate.ie/
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/rob_hopkins_transition_to_a_world_without_oil.html
http://transitiontownkinsale.org/

 Maynooth GAA club is sad to hear of the death of Harry Oliver Senior this week. His removal takes place at 7pm on Friday evening (5 February) from his residence in Cluain Aoibhin to Maynooth church. Funeral mass is at 10am on Saturday morning with burial afterwards.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam.

It’s all about the Oscars in County Kildare this month. Not only did Naas woman, Jean Herlihy and her colleagues at Brown Bag films receive a nomination for the wonderful short film Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty, but the makers of Oscar nominated film The Secret of Kells are set to share their award winning talents with young people of Kildare at Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge this month.
 
Fresh from the celebrations of their Oscar nomination, the multi-award winning Cartoon Saloon, producers of The Secret of Kells, will visit Riverbank Arts Centre on Saturday 20th February to host a very special illustration and design workshop.

Twenty lucky participants will be given an introduction to designing characters as well as a brief introduction to storyboards, composition and animation techniques. They will have the opportunity to learn all about animation from those at the top of their field.
 
While the workshop is completely sold out, fans will have the opportunity to see the The Secret of Kells on the big screen. At 2pm on Saturday 20th February, Riverbank Arts Centre will host a special screening of The Secret of Kells in the centre’s high quality cinema. Based on the origins of Ireland’s most famous illustrated manuscript, The Book of Kells, the film centres on the adventures, actions and dangers that await 12-year-old Brendan who must fight Vikings and a serpent god to find a crystal and complete the legendary Book of Kells.
 
As well as its Oscar nomination for best animated film, the wonderful movie created by Cartoon Saloon has won acclaim across the world including the 2009 Audience Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the first animated film ever to do so, and the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland, Directors Series Award 2008 in association with the Directors Guild of America.

Tickets to see The Secret of Kells at Riverbank Arts Centre are only €3. To book your seat for this Oscar nominated film call Riverbank Box Office on 045 448327 or see www.riverbank.ie.
 

Áine  Brady,  T.D.,  Minister  for Older People and Health Promotion, today
(Thursday,  4th  February 2010) announced that applications for the Nursing
Homes Support Scheme, A Fair Deal, have exceeded 7,000.
“I am delighted that so many people have applied for the scheme. However, I
am  aware  that there are many other people who could benefit from applying
for the scheme and I would encourage them to do so as soon as possible.
The  cost of nursing home care has been a financial burden for older people
and  their families for too long. The Fair Deal ensures that this burden is
alleviated  and that the cost of nursing home care is no longer a source of
anxiety”.
Under  the  scheme,  individuals  make  a contribution to the cost of their
nursing  home  care based on their means. The HSE meets the full balance of
cost  over  and  above  the individual’s contribution in public, private or
voluntary nursing homes approved for the purpose of the scheme.
An important feature of the scheme is that applicants who were in long-term
nursing  home  care  on  the  date the scheme commenced (27th October 2009)
shall  have  their State support backdated to that date. New entrants after
the  27th  October  will  have  their  State  support paid from the date of
application  or  the  date  of  entry to the nursing home, whichever is the
later.
While  the  scheme  is  resource  capped, the Minister pointed out that the
Government  has  made  a  sum  of  €97m available in 2010 for the Fair Deal
scheme. This is in addition to the €55m made available in 2009.
The  Minister  said,  “The overall budget for long-term residential care in
Ireland for 2010 is now just over €1bn. This reflects a substantial ongoing
commitment  by  this Government to this service, and to support some of the
most vulnerable people in our society today”.

Minor practise is this Saturday, Feb. 6th from 11-12.30 in the Orchard in the old College. It's important to get a big turn out with the league starting the following week-end. Fixtures will be posted as soon asap.

The Maynooth GAA Yearbook will soon be sent to print and hopefully it will be available at the end of the month. To have your piece of fame, why not complete our profile questionaire and get your name and profile into the yearbook. Click here to enter your profile. Keep an eye on the website for more yearbook updates in the coming weeks.

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The John Paul II Theological Society presents David Quinn (Journalist & Founding Director of the Iona Institute) speaking on the topic ‘The Dictatorship of Relativism’. Wednesday 17th February 2010 at 8pm in Renehan Hall, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth
(Renehan Hall is located in the building joined to College Chapel, at the rear of the college.) All are very welcome, admittance is free. Refreshments to follow.

    DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION FORM TODAY.

Confirmation, Traffic Safety and Press Clippings

The school closure due to bad weather in January meant there was no PTA meeting until this month. The good news is that despite that setback and the consequential late request for helpers the PTA was still able to provide refreshments for the 6th Class Confirmation last week. Thanks to all those that helped, especially those of you that did so because you returned a “Donate an Hour” form. We’d still love to hear from anyone else that can “Donate an Hour” to help with upcoming PTA activities, the form is in the last PTA Newsletter.

As a reminder for those that may have forgotten over the holiday period the Gardai issued a Traffic Safety Letter in December notifying parents of the traffic and parking regulations that must be observed in the vicinity of the school. Please be sure to keep the area around the school safe for your children and other road users.

Maynooth BNS has been in the local press again these last few weeks. If you missed the articles you can view the clippings below.

• Liffey Champion, January 2010: Maynooth Boys’ School teacher Retires after 42 years
• Maynooth Newsletter, February 2010: Maynooth Boys’ National School News

Congratulations to the Post Primary 1st/2nd year Camogie team and managers Ms Murphy and Mr Leamy who won the inaugural Kildare Minor Schools Cup on Monday 1st February in convincing style against Scoil Lorcain of Castledermot. Meabh Walsh of Maynooth captained the team and Maynooth club players were the majority of the team which also included some superb players from Rathcoffey.They proved to be quite a formidable outfit having won all their matches.Congratulations girls.