If there's ice in November to bear a duck
There'll be nothing after but sludge and muck

The October Monthly Meeting of DCC took place on Monday 4th at 8pm in OLH. The Chairperson opened the meeting and welcomed Therese Campbell as the new representative for the Business Association.

Matters Arising:

The Chairperson and the Secretary had a scheduled meeting on 9th September with the Environment Section when several environmental issues were discussed including our request to remove the bottle banks from the Vico Road. The County Council have to have a quota of banks in the area and they are experiencing great difficulty in finding sufficient suitable sites. DLRCC have received numerous complaints about the closure of George's Place recycling centre and a proposal to replace it with the site at Eden Park is being considered. It would be a secure recycling site for papers, plastics and glass with an attendant on duty. The rollout for the remaining green and wheelie bins will take place before the end of the year. The problem of disposing garden refuse remains a problem for Dalkey residents, as Ballyogan is the nearest facility dealing with this type of waste.

Functions:

The Art Exhibition is our next event and it will be held over the weekend of 19th -21st November. The exhibits will be received into the hall on Friday at 12 pm.

Tidy Towns:

Dalkey improved its score in the TT competition by two points. A thirteen-point letter was sent in'to DLRCC for their five-year litter plan. This year there was more public awareness of TT, but we have to have an even greater community effort next year if we are to improve our score. Dalkey did very well in the DLRCC Tidy District's Competition, Dalkey was awarded overall first place and won best presented town/village award, Guinea Pig best frontage, Jasper Scargill (Gosworth Park) and June Barnett won environmentalist awards. Finnegan's won the best shop front in the Dublin area in the national Tidy Towns competition.

AOB:

The Chairperson informed the meeting that the Traffic Warden is taking up duty around the town and for the next ten days he will be putting warning tickets on the cars that have no valid tickets on them. There are parking spaces belonging to Eurospar at the rear of the supermarket and these are for shoppers only. The rate for the County Council spaces is €1 per hour. The rate for the rest of the town is €1.50 per hour.

Heritage:

Dominic Dowling reported that the "Dalkey Remembered" evening was well attended and the next one will feature the "old shops" that were in the town. There will be more details later.
Local Councillor, John Bailey and his daughter Maria will be joining the board. Patsy Fagan has retired today as caretaker. He has the gratitude of everyone in the Heritage Centre. The Chairperson asked Dominic to pass on the Community Council's good wishes to Patsy and to compliment him on his dedication and vigilance in maintaining the Heritage Centre. Mary Rigney on behalf of the Dalkey Players also extended their appreciation and good wishes to Patsy

As there was no further business the meeting ended

The dumping at the rear of Eurospar is a continuing problem and if anyone sees an offender dumping the best route of action is get some form of id and ring the
FREE PHONE LITTER WARDEN 1800 403 503

The Annual Art Exhibition will take place in Our Lady's Hall, Castle Street, Dalkey on Saturday and Sunday, 2Oth and 21st November 2004. Artists from the area are invited to submit paintings for this popular event. Entries should be framed, clearly labelled and ready for hanging. Exhibits should be brought to Our Lady's Hall on FRIDAY, 19th November at 12noon sharp (no postal entries) -number of paintings limited to two per artist. Entries will be taken on a first come, first served, basis, limited to the first one hundred and ten paintings. There will be a charge of €3.50 per picture exhibited. In order to facilitate the efficient acceptance of the art works please have the exact amount ready on arrival. As insurance cover ends at 6pm on Sunday, 21st November, entrants must arrange for collection between 5pm and 6pm on that date. All exhibitors are invited to the official opening of the exhibition on Friday, 19th November at 8pm

• Remove dead and non-productive vegetable crops.
• Fertilise vegetable garden.
• Put winter crops in the ground: onions, beets, cabbage
• Place cold sensitive potted plants in protected areas or indoors
• Plant bulbs
• Prune and mulch dormant perennials
• Store and repair tools
• Prune vines
• Rake leaves and add to compost piles and mulch layers
• Aerate and fertilise the soil
• When chrysanthemums have stopped blooming, cut stem back close
• Clean up rosebeds. Diseased leaves should be raked and disposed
• African violets do well when in small pots. Rule of thumb is to use a pot one third the diameter of the plant. Encourage blooming by giving them plenty of Light e.g. a south facing window during dark winter months. African violets do well under fluorecent lights.
• Put out bird feeders and stock with seed. Remember to provide fresh water too

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
This letter is written on behalf of the pupils, teachers and parents of St. Patrick's National School on Harbour Road in Dalkey.
It seems incredible that despite numerous campaigns, extensive signage and also supposed public awareness of the health risks posed by contact with canine faeces that I should have to write this letter
However, the situation regarding the fouling by dogs of our school playground has reached crisis point.
The teachers in the school are obliged to clean up the mess in the yard on a daily basis. This is a revolting task, which does not fall under their job description but is carried out by them out of concern for our children's health.
I would like to draw the attention of those people who use the right-of-way through our school playground to the signs in place, which clearly state that dogs are not allowed in the ,schoolyard.
Those who choose to ignore these signs and continue with their thoughtless behaviour should be aware that the D.L.R.C.C. Litter Warden has been notified by the school of this disgusting practice and has undertaken to patrol on a regular basis. He will not hesitate to impose an on the spot fine.
I appeal to those residents of Dalkey responsible for this situation to respect our children's right to play in a clean and safe environment. Yours sincerely,
Roisin Mockler- Chairperson P.T:A. St. Patrick's National School, Dalkey

The Caretaker of the Town Hall, Mr Patsy Fagan retired from his post on October 4th. Goodwill messages have been arriving at The Heritage Centre in recognition of Patsy's great service to the users of the Town Hall over the years. Patsy's support for the Heritage Centre was marked with a lunch and special presentation. Both Drama Groups St Patrick's and Dalkey Players organised special farewell parties in his honour. We all wish Patsy and his wife Pat the very best.
Art Exhibitions: It's the busy season for Art Exhibitions, with the Christmas market in mind. Nov 3rd -7th will see the inaugural exhibition of artist Tom Morgan's work in the Gold Thread series, Joy and Sorrow. Tom Morgan was called to the Bar in 1973 and practiced as a Barrister for nearly 30 years, snatching time from a busy legal practice to work in stone and ceramics and to paint largely traditional landscape and figurative work.
In 2002 he left the Bar to paint full time. Entirely self taught as a painter, he has now abandoned the traditional presentations to work the paint with knife and six inch nail in an exploration of the spiritual, emotional and political dimensions of his life experience. There are twenty spectacular oil paintings in the Exhibition.
On Nov l0th -14th the work of the three Irish artists who worked in Anglesey over the past 6 months goes on sale. The exhibition entitled Deilginis Ynys Mon draws its inspiration from the natural and ancient environment of Anglesey in Wales. The artists Aidan Gaffney, Jo Callanan and Veronica Heywood have a prolific collection of oils and watercolours that are captivating in their scope of landscape, sea and ancient sites.
The Embroidery Artists Association of Ireland will again have their AIl-Ireland Exhibition Entice open to the public form the l8th -21st November. This group exhibits a wide interpretation of stitched textiles in the contemporary arts arena. Admission to all exhibitions is free.
The large highly successful Historical Tours to Anglesey. These ended for 2004 on a high note at the end of September. There are bookings already for next year's tours. There are plans to run some weekend trips next season. Due to popular demand a Historic Gardens Trip will be included in the itinerary. Contact 235 1325 for more details.
Christmas Craft Fair from the artisans of Carmona Services will take place on the first week of December from 2nd -5th Please come along and support local industry and acquire some beautiful Christmas gifts.

The Heritage Centre Craft Shop has Heritage Maps of Dalkey, Butler's Chocolates a stock of Collector's items in the form of the Number 8 Bus, for those looking for stocking fillers! Craft Shop open daily 9.30 -5.00pm

The Fresh Food Markets continue to gain popularity on Friday mornings in the Town , Hall. The markets stock the best of Irish produce. Among them, you can expect to find the Dominican Convent from Co. Wicklow, selling their freshly picked vegetables from their organic farm; Paddy Jack, an organic cheese producer, selling a mouth-watering selection of hard and soft cheese.

Yoga Pilates continues on Mondays at 7.30pm Contact Cathy Soraghan 0868758744
For more details on any of the above contact
The Heritage Centre at 285 8366

THANKS,-- The coffee morning held on the 9th October in Our Lady's Hall by the Killiney/Dalkey Friends of St. Luke's Hospital, Rathgar realised the sum of, €1,750.00 which Joan O'Regan has passed on to Mr. Eoin Doherty, Chairperson of the Friends of St. Luke's Hospital. Sincere thanks to all who made the coffee morning a great success. -

Dalkey Library Book Club -join our book club now!
The book to read for the meeting on Saturday 6th November @ 10.30am is: "The Sea The Sea" by Iris Murdoch. ,

We supply the coffee -you do the talking!

The book for next month's meeting on Saturday 4th December is: "The Accidental Tourist" by Ann Tyler
Storytelling every Thursday from 3.30pm-4.0Opm in Dalkey Library for children aged 3-6. Any parents who would like to volunteer in the regular story time sessions please contact the library. Dalkey Writers meet every second Thursday in Dalkey Library from 6pm -7.45pm. Poetry, Plays, Novels, Memoirs are presented and discussed at meetings. The writers offer one another friendly helpful advice about construction, rhythm, rhyme, vocabulary, characterisation, plot, etc. We also do various literary exercises to stimulate the creative energies at the beginning of each meeting. All writers or would-be writers are welcome to attend.
Web Wise: Free Internet training will be available in Dalkey Library every Friday from llam -1 pm from 8th October to l0th December 2004.
Phone Dalkey Library for further information 2855277

I bought a camera when I was in France recently. When I got back to Ireland I discovered it was faulty. I have written to the shop where I purchased it and received a reply denying any liability. Is there anything else I can do besides taking legal action?

Yes there is. You should contact the European Consumer Centre Dublin (ECC). The ECC will tell you what you are entitled to and it will try to resolve your complaint through direct contact with the shop.
If your complaint is still unresolved the ECC can refer your complaint to the European Extra-judicial Network (EEj-Net) which facilitates the solution of cross-border consumer disputes and co-ordinates out-of-court settlement procedures for consumers. The network consists of a contact point or "Clearing House" throughout the EEA (EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). The Clearing House can forward consumers unresolved cross- border disputes to an approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) body in another member state.
The network deals with any dispute between a consumer and a business over goods and services, such as problems over deliveries, defective products, or products or services that do not fit their description. The Clearing House will let you know if there is an ADR body in the other country to deal with your complaint, and provide you with other information, such as the cost of the procedure (if any), and whether the decision of the ADR body is binding or not. If you decide to proceed with your complaint they will keep you informed of how your case is progressing.
The Clearing House for Ireland is part of the, European Consumer Centre, 13a Upper O'Connell Street, Dublin 1, Tel: (01) 8090600, Website: www.eccdublin.ie
Information on this and other complaint and appeal mechanisms available to consumers, clients of professional people and other members of the general public are available in the latest edition of Comhairle's publication "Where to Complain" which is available along with other information from the

Citizens Information Centre,
85-86 Patrick Street,
Dun Laoghaire.
Telephone 284 4544.

As part of the Abbey One Hundred celebrations, the Abbey Theatre is repeating the historic occasion of 100 years ago when four amateur groups were invited to perform new one act plays at the old theatre on the same day in 1904.
St. Patrick's Dramatic Society, Dalkey is one of just four groups chosen from more than 40 groups nationwide to perform the same four plays in the Abbey Theatre on the afternoon of December 27th 2004. Congratulations to Nadia Quick who made the presentation on behalf of the group. She will direct "Spreading the News" by Lady Gregory.
The Abbey has asked that each play will have several public performances prior to being staged in the national theatre. As a result, St. Patrick's Dramatic Society will stage an evening of two one-act comedies in Dalkey Town Hall nightly at 8 p.m. from Wednesday, November 24th to Saturday, November 27th inclusive.
These will be "Pastiche", a farce by Nick Hall, directed by Judith Elmes and "Spreading the News" by Lady Gregory, directed by Nadia Quick.
Tickets will be available from Gemma's Newsagents, Dalkey, and the Dalkey Heritage Centre, at the door or telephone 01- 4807185.

Parking Areas: The town centre of Dalkey is defined for the purposes of the Parking Control Byelaws 2004 as: from Hyde Road to the junction of Ardeevin/Grosyenor Terrace inclusive and from the junction of Knocknacree Park/Cunningham Road to the junction of Church Road/Barnacoille Park inclusive.
Pay and Display
The following guidelines will help you to use the system correctly.

• There are spaces belonging to DLRCC in the car park behind Eurospar. There are eleven spaces belonging to the supermarket and these are for Eurospar shoppers only. The remaining spaces in the centre and around the perimeter are .'pay and display" spaces and parking tickets must be displayed between 08:00hrs to 19.00hrs. The rate here is €1.00 per hour with a maximum stay of 3 hours. The same rate applies to the car park in front of the DART station entrance-
• DART car parking is permitted on Ardeevin Road and Cunningham Road at a daily charge of €10.00 per day.
• The following should be noted:
  'If you have parked for the maximum time allowed on this street the vehicle MUST be removed and not parked on the same street for at least 1 Hour".

The Traffic Warden has taken up duty and fines will be imposed for those not adhering the parking rules.