Putting her divorced mother mobile number in the public domain is also bizarre… Wonder did she text Turenne back yet?
Pól Ó Conghaile goes off the beaten track in search of Cork and Kerry’s hidden treasures.
The bucket and spade beach
Ballybunion oozes a kind of time-warp tourism, an age before package holidays when two weeks at the seaside was the highlight of an Irish family summer.
Its sandy strand breaks either side of a promontory castle, traditionally separating the old men’s and ladies’ beaches.
A bucket and spade or body-board is all you need to get the best out of Ballybunion in the sun, but there’s plenty of coastal quirkiness up in the town too – from seaweed baths to the sculpture of Bill Clinton outside the Garda Station and the ‘Ballybunion Blast’, a devilish mix of McCarthy’s ice cream, strawberries, meringues and marshmallows at Sundaes ice cream parlour.
Don’t miss the coastal walk connecting with Nun’s Beach further along the coast.
It’s a perfect horseshoe carved into the cliffs, sprinkled with seabirds and inaccessible by land, though I’m told the nuns from the convent used to access it by shimmying down a rope!
Details: discoverireland.ie/ ballybunion.
The ocean experience
Flicking through my five-year-old’s copy of ‘National Geo Kids’ magazine, I’m amazed to see Dingle first on a list of amazing sea life. Fungi isn’t its only aquatic attraction, it seems.
“I dive all over,” says Eric Sas of Dingle Marina Dive Centre, whom I meet in Jack Benny’s pub. “I head for warmer water throughout the winter – the Red Sea, southern France, places like that. But every time I come back to Dingle, I think, this is my thing.”
You don’t have to be Jacques Cousteau to join him, either. Every morning, Eric places a sign on the marina. It reads: ‘Dive Today, No Experience Required.’
The try-dives take beginners to a sheltered spot in the harbour, where soft coral, sea anemones and sponges are a virtual kindergarten for fish.
The water is hovering around 14°C at the moment, thornback rays are jetting about, and Fungi regularly sticks his nose in.
Bad weather scuppers my dive, but the Centre also does PADI courses, and experienced divers can nab the National Geo moments at several sites around the Blasket Islands.
Seals, dolphin and conger eel are common sights, and Eric has even snorkelled with minke whale.
Details: €99 for a try-dive. Tel: 087 413 1231; divingdingle.ie.
The seaside town with a sizzle
Kinsale is as much a place, they say, as a state of mind. When I meet tour guide Dermot Ryan, I see what they mean. The town centre is built on reclaimed land, he tells me, with sea water still flowing in under it at high tide. “So you’re walking on water when you visit Kinsale.”
Ryan is as much a fixture of this flowery seaside town as its window boxes, Victorian and Georgian houses and yacht-spotted harbour. He has a rolodex of quirky facts at his fingertips, too.
Did you know Alexander Selkirk left Kinsale in 1703, before being marooned on a Pacific Island and inspiring the novel ‘Robinson Crusoe’?
Did you know there is a wine museum in its 16th-century castle or that the McCarthy brothers, their big ears immortalised in two bronze busts, travelled with Shackleton and Scott to the Antarctic?
Then there’s the food. Kinsale provides the best fish ‘n’ chips of my summer so far – with a tempura batter so light it could have been made with sparkling water, and a scoop of tartar sauce in an oyster shell. Costing €9.95 at the Fishy Fishy chipper, it’s as much a plaice as a state of mind.
Details: Tel: 086 826 7656; kinsaleheritage.com.
The beach with a bite
The South Pole Inn is a blast of the Antarctic in Annascaul. It was here that wayfaring Kerryman Tom Crean retired after his adventures with Scott and Shackleton, and though no Crean family member is involved with the pub today, it continues to trade on his legend.
I sit beneath wooden beams, surrounded by images of the Endurance, browsing a menu featuring Crean with his pipe and woolly hat. An Emperor penguin looks down from the gable end. All make an irresistible contrast with the cosy pub chit-chat.
My fish ‘n’ chips arrive, chosen from a menu with a touch of the theme park about it (dishes include an Endurance Burger and Tom’s T-bone steak). A crisp, herby batter crinkles around a big, juicy lump of cod, though the chips taste like standard fare.
Annascaul is a stone’s throw from Inch beach, but you’ll find a much quieter cove a couple of miles down a nearby bohareen at Minard. Here, a storm beach cuts into the cliffs under the eye of the ruined Minard castle, its sands cluttered with boulders.
Details: Tel: 066 915 7388; facebook.com/southpoleinn.
The coastal trail
You can walk, cycle or drive around the Sheep’s Head, though I’d definitely recommend feet over wheels.
Nothing beats stretching the legs on the sandstone ridge, passing the gables of deserted villages or spotting whales from this network of old mass and fishermen’s trails.
The full Sheep’s Head Way measures 88km, but you can dip in and out of it as you please. Highlights range from the goat’s path (“because it’s only good for goats, I suppose”, I’m told) to the Atlantic lighthouse and the snaking end of Dunmanus Bay, its tide pulled back like a bedspread.
Along the route, you’ll pass Bantry House, old milk-churn collection points, swimming spots such as O’Donovan’s Cove, a plaque marking the drowning of Booker Prize-winning author JG Farrell in 1979, and perhaps even a road-bowling event. It’s a wonderful corner of west Cork.
Details: thesheepshead.com.
The seaside shop
The bay approach to Courtmacsherry is so enchanting, I’m tempted to park my car in Timoleague and walk the final stretch along the waterside path.
The tide is out, a slippery layer of weed is as green as a field, and the Seven Heads peninsula is blushing with fuchsia.
As it happens, I park outside the Golden Pheasant crafts shop and cafe on Hamilton Row. It’s just as intriguing.
On the ground floor of a converted stable is a shop full of Carraig Donn knitwear, Abbey Crafts figurines, Avoca scarves and Jerpoint glass. Upstairs, a café sells Mauds ice cream and hunks of apple tart and lemon meringue pie baked by the owner, Carmel Kiely.
The big surprise is in the garden where, under the shade of apple and eucalyptus trees, an aviary houses a long-eared American owl and dozens of pheasants. I amble in and find myself sharing the steps with a seed-pecking, electric red and blue Lady Amherst’s pheasant.
“We thought that if people were looking for crafts they would like a coffee,” Carmel says of the family-run operation. “It went from there.” Dunworly is the pick of the local coves.
Details: Tel: 087 212 3612; seven headspeninsula.ie.
The summer boat trip
As the red and white Sherkin Island ferry pulls out of Baltimore Harbour, a seal pokes his head up into the wash. We pass the snow-white beacon marking the bay entrance, and within 10 minutes are mooring at the pier on Sherkin.
It’s as short and sweet as a ferry crossing gets.
Sherkin is one of dozens of islands spotted about the wonderfully named Roaringwater Bay, and is home to 100 or so souls year-round.
A mile or so down a fuchsia-strewn bohareen lie the twinkling waters of Silver Strand.
The wow moments come thick and fast – the ruins of a Franciscan friary by the pier, views of Cape Clear and Mizen Head, a solitary yacht in Horseshoe Bay. On the last Sunday in August, Sherkin sparks into life during its boating regatta.
Today, it feels as if I have the island to myself.
Details: €10/€4 return. Tel: 087 244 7828; sherkinferry.com; baltimore.ie
The overnight suggestion
Lissyclearig Cottage looks as if it’s been part of the Kenmare landscape for generations. Meeting Carmel and Davey Breen amidst the undulating thatch, bright geraniums and white stone walls of their home, however, I’m astonished to learn that it is only nine years old.
“There was no point putting a modern bungalow here,” Carmel explains. “Nobody would come and see us.” So Davey got to work. He built a fireplace from local limestone, used the slates from his mother’s house for the dining room floor, carved tables from spalted beech and made the bedside lamp stands from bog dale. He even reclaimed the prow of an old currach as a hall table.
Whether you find the results tantalising or twee is, of course, a matter of taste, but Lissyclearig is some testament to one couple’s hard work and creativity. Davey is a champion angler too, as the trophies on the mantelpiece attest, so have a word with him if you plan on going fishing.
Details: B&B from €32pp. Tel: 064 664 2562; lissyclearig thatchedcottage.com.
So “hidden treasures” include:
Ballybunion. One of the biggest tourist attractions in North Kerry, with fat American Golfers and slot machines.
Dingle. World famous.
Annascaul. Where theres a pub painted green with Leprauchauns on the side of it, and at least three tour buses at all times. That South Pole in is the biggest tourist trap going.
Kenmare. Again wedged with tourists. Its on the ring of Kerry ffs.
Not sure about the Cork places but Kinsale is hardly a secret and Sherkin would have a fair few visitors aswell.
Lazy cunt.
He should have gone to Wexford.
If he wanted to spend his time with a load of Dubs he could’ve stayed where he was.
it’s as much a plaice as a state of mind.
he should be shot for that pun alone.
Meanwhile, less than one in five people said this weekend that David Norris should promise he would not have a partner in the Aras if he became president, according to the latest Sunday Independent/Quantum Research nationwide poll.
This question provoked a strong reaction from respondents, with many objecting to it being asked at all. Eighty-two per cent of people thought that David Norris should not be asked to promise he would not have a partner in the Aras.
But many of those in the minority were quite forthright in their opinions.
“I really don’t think [color="#306294"]Ireland should have a gay president. They have different values that are not in line with the good of the country,” one male respondent said.
- DANIEL McCONNELL
Quote only the minority view right-wing dickhead. Nice.
It’s a very strangely written paragraph and strange the fella he quoted but the Sunday Indo wouldn’t really be anti-gay right wing like the Daily Mail or that would they? Never really noticed anything like that out of them before
[size=5]Norris flees Ireland for Cyprus holiday home after bid quit[/size]
Could the fuckers not just be honest and call it advertising? Thelikes of this chap would happily contaminate the Shannon forever to make a quick buck. I can’t help but notice his surname.
http://www.independent.ie/business/greens-have-got-it-wrong-fracking-rocks-2847874.html
Sunday August 14 2011
DID you hear about the man who struck gold in his back garden then said “Not In My Back Yard” when trucks came to take it away? How about the quiet country people who couldn’t afford to put petrol in the [color=#009900 !important]car, but refused an oil well in their backyard? Of [color=#009900 !important]course not.
But this is happening in Europe, with the commodity being just as valuable natural gas. Natural gas is used to generate 54 per cent of [color="#306294"]Ireland’s electricity, but 27 per cent of our power is still generated using coal. Natural gas is a fossil fuel, but far less polluting. If we used natural gas instead of coal for generation, it would save at least 50 per cent less CO2. The reason we still burn coal is that it has been considered cheaper, more secure and easy to store. But changes in natural gas extraction technology this century have completely changed the energy game.
Shale gas is gas stored in shale rock about 3km below ground, and until this century was inaccessible using traditional gas techniques. The first breakthrough was to use horizontal drilling, where the drill goes sideways for several miles, enabling gas to be drained from a far greater area than before. The higher production cancels the extra cost. The other breakthrough was to combine horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Fracking pushes a mixture of water, sand and a few chemicals into the rock at high pressure. Some see this as a violent invasion of the earth, but the reality is that the fractures are 2mm or less. Propping open the fractures allows gas to do what comes naturally and rise to the surface.
Shale gas is produced in massive quantities moving from two per cent to 14 per cent of US gas production in less than 10 years and forecast to be 45 per cent by 2035. The big change is also a big problem: natural gas is far more prevalent than previously thought and as production moves into areas unfamiliar with oil or gas production, people have legitimate questions sometimes confused with inaccurate and alarmist narratives.
San Leon Energy is active in shale gas in Poland and public acceptance of the reality of development has been a key issue from us from day one. We are lucky in that the government and people of Poland are welcoming, but elsewhere in Europe that has not always been the case. Gas drilling is a slow process that needs years of planning, but various stages of operations are under way in every country in Europe, including the Lough Allen area of Ireland.
It is now obvious that hundreds of years of gas are available almost everywhere. Shale gas has been discovered in massive quantities in [color="#306294"]Australia[/url] and Argentina; while [url=“http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/China”][color="#306294"]China[/url] is thought to have far more gas than [url=“http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/Saudi_Arabia”][color="#306294"]Saudi Arabia has oil.
Why should anyone object to the promise of energy independence and the benefits it could bring in jobs, taxes and economic growth? When shale was first developed, many green groups in the US were enthusiastic supporters, as they saw the promise of replacing dirty coal with imperfect, but far cleaner natural gas. What happened?
The answer is [color="#306294"]Gasland. The film was nominated, but did not win, in the 2010 Best Oscar Documentary category. Released near the time of the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010, the press made the erroneous connection between onshore and offshore gas production.
The one image of Gasland that spread throughout the world is of someone lighting their tap water on fire. It’s certainly different, but impossible to occur in Europe where water comes from mains supplies and contamination is impossible.
Another unrealistic fear of communities is of a sea of derricks spoiling the landscape. Modern technology means one well pad serving an area of five square miles or more. The construction is admittedly hectic for a few months, but once it is finished, it can be barely noticed.
It is worth noting that the largest onshore oil field in [color="#306294"]Western Europe is in the Sandbanks area of Poole, Dorset, which has the highest property values outside of London.
Opponents also highlight the five million gallons of water used per well, but that is a literal drop in the ocean. It is the volume used to irrigate a three-hectare cornfield in one season, or an 18-hole golf course in one month. [color="#306294"]New York State recently published a study clearing objections to fracking and noted a full-scale drilling programme would mean extra water use of one-quarter of one per cent. Shale gas is not the choice between water and energy that some say.
Another concern is over the make-up of chemicals in fracking fluid. Water and sand make up over 99.85 per cent of the fluid on average. Any chemicals used in Europe will be publicly revealed, and technology is developing that they will only be food grade E number chemicals. Fracking fluids cannot flow up 3,000 metres from where gas is extracted anymore than water can flow uphill. The US Ground Water Protection Council, a group of public water regulators in various US states, has said that it has not seen a single instance of contamination of water by fracking fluid. People often don’t understand energy, chemicals or water and it is unfortunate that scare stories about the impact of shale-gas drilling bear no relation to future reality.
The reality of a cheap, low carbon energy source literally under our feet providing jobs, taxes and royalties as well as billions of euro removed from the balance of payments has to be balanced against short-term disruption that can be increasingly minimised. Gas is available, low carbon and cheap. Why does it have so many opponents? Put simply, it disrupts the narrative of insecure, high priced oil-linked gas that makes fuels as varied as nuclear, coal carbon capture, Russian gas or renewables competitive. The WWF, for example, says that a full-scale renewable-only fuel structure can give 90 per cent carbon reduction by 2050 for €1 trillion. Every cent of that comes directly from taxpayers or indirectly from gas and electric bills. Natural gas can only provide a drop of about 50 per cent by 2030, but it can do so for a net gain of several billion euro.
This is the reality that Europe must concentrate on.
Shale gas can be one of the few bright spots in Europe’s future. Let’s stop looking this gift horse in the mouth.
Oisin Fanning is chairman of San Leon Energy
All too typical of the Sindo that one. He’s not just an advocate of a position, he’s a guy who has a wealth invested in it. Completely imbalanced article obviously.
Is Bertie’s old squeeze still writing for the Sindo?
Is Oisin related to Aengus?
Yes, they’re married, despite their different values that are not in line with the good of the country.
The scumbags tried a hatchet job on Morgan Kelly yesterday too I see?
They did, a bit feeble really
Ah that’s hilarious. Fucking dicks.
Brilliant, exposes Hook for the complete and utter spoofer that he is.
May as well stick up Sadlier’s effort from today.
[indent=1]We’re all familiar with the phrase by now. To ‘have a Macedonia’ refers to a game of football in which you drop points to vastly inferior opponents in a very embarrassing manner. You may still dominate the game, but the three points remain beyond reach.[/indent] [indent=1]Russia now know how this feels.[/indent] [indent=1]Ireland never looked like scoring in Moscow (one shot on target), had no impact in midfield, couldn’t keep the ball and were ripped apart with ease in defence. It was even worse than the performance in the Aviva Stadium against Russia, so let’s not be hoodwinked by the result. Shay Given and Richard Dunne were excellent, but the clean sheet owed much more to the woeful finishing of the Russians in front of goal. In all, they had 26 attempts.[/indent] [indent=1]Following that 3-2 defeat to Russia in Dublin, Giovanni Trapattoni said he knew beforehand that his approach would not succeed. He didn’t do anything about it though. You would assume after that experience he knew a change would be required if Ireland were to affect the game in any way in Moscow. Again, no change was made.[/indent] [indent=1]And as he watched on from the sidelines on Tuesday – and let’s not forget last Friday either – not once did he tweak the system that was failing the players so badly.[/indent] [indent=1]Rarely has such a one-sided game finished in a draw. Ireland were completely and utterly outclassed.[/indent] [indent=1]Ignoring recent performances and results, Trapattoni has already achieved what he was brought in to do. Following the debacle of the Steve Staunton era he has transformed the squad into one that rarely loses games and concedes very few goals.[/indent] [indent=1]The players are approaching the final two games with qualification into the play-offs in their own hands, and could yet face a final-day fixture against Armenia knowing victory would win the group outright. After a week which saw the worst away performance in years follow one of the most disappointing home displays in a long time, it is very hard to understand how this has all come about.[/indent] [indent=1]The counter-argument to all of this is to suggest we are all a little deluded to expect more from this group of players. I mean, Ireland qualify so rarely for tournaments it seems a bit rich to start questioning the methods of one who has brought us so close. But Trapattoni has shown every card in his hand. He believes this squad to be capable of only one approach – and a very basic one at that – and refuses to contemplate alternatives even when the team is getting completely mauled as they were in Moscow or when they struggled so badly at home to Slovakia. For one hailed so often as a master tactician, he has concealed it very well since his appointment.[/indent] [indent=1]Despite their obvious individual talents, Ireland’s attacking players just don’t look like scoring, and the formation exposes the central midfield pairing every time. The ease with which Ireland were outplayed in both games last week was concerning, but the failure of the manager to either spot this or act on it was even worse.[/indent] [indent=1]He has had several rows with a number of players, many of which have been unnecessarily played out in public. He is far too open with the media on issues which should remain in the dressing room, and there are several players angered by much of what he has said and done since his appointment. And I’m not only talking about Stephen Ireland or Andy Reid.[/indent] [indent=1]The debate as to whether he should have his contract extended should not be reduced to a simple case of qualification or not. As we all saw so clearly on Tuesday, results tell only part of the story in football. He has been in the job now for 38 games over 43 months. A very thorough appraisal of his job performance to date would suggest he does not have what it takes to take this group of players forward to the next stage of their development.[/indent] [indent=1]The foundations are in place though: the players are disciplined, organised in defence and hard to beat. But to progress further in any way, we need a man in charge capable of at least exploring the notion of a plan B. The future could indeed be bright for this Irish squad.[/indent] [indent=1]After this campaign is over, it would be a great deal brighter with someone else in charge.[/indent][indent=1]
I love articles like that where people pretend to consider the contrary article but actually just ignore it.
I think my favourite phrase from the whole thing is “Ignoring recent performances and results…” which is just a great way to make any assessment of a soccer team. If we ignore both performances and results what are we left with exactly?
“Despite their obvious individual talents, Ireland’s attacking players just don’t look like scoring” is another cracker. Ignores the fact we’ve outscored Slovakia and Russia and have the leading goalscorer in the group. But obviously that’s not relevant in an article that “ignores recent performances and results.”
Throws in the great red herrings that are Stephen Ireland and Andy Reid for good measure. The Stephen Ireland one is a particularly amusing reference, is there anyone else in the country who actually thinks Trapattoni should have treated Stephen Ireland with more deference?
And then the brilliant conclusion - “A very thorough appraisal of his job performance to date would suggest he does not have what it takes to take this group of players forward to the next stage of their development.” We didn’t get any sort of thorough appraisal. We got a typical article that made no reference to alternatives, didn’t discuss tactics at all, didn’t say what we should or could have done differently. Just said we needed to be better and we need to ignore results and performances and not persist with Trapattoni. What a bitter man.[/indent]