Athy's May Day Festival

This is the first May Day festival in living memory in the welcoming
and historic town of Athy, Co. Kildare. It is taking place at a time
of great uncertainty within our country and where a biased media whips
up anti-trade union sentiment almost on a daily basis.
Our inaugural May Day festival in Athy is a celebration of labour. It
links the origins of Irish Trade unionism to its historic forerunners
of land based agitators such as the ‘Ribbon Men’ and the ‘Knights of
the Plough’. The festival is a multi-cultural event and will feature a
colourful display of Trade Union Banners and Posters over the last
century. There will be a series of papers presented tracing the
development of agrarian labour organisations and discussions on two
major rural labour disputes in south Kildare in 1922/23 and 1947.
The day will culminate in a music and multi-media performance by Will
Kaufman, the famous Woody Guthrie biographer.

The event is being sponsored by the Athy and Kildare/Leixlip Branches
of SIPTU. All events during the day are free; there is a small fee for
the evening performance by Will Kaufman. Tickets are available from
SIPTU for €5. Contact No. 045 432318 (office Hours Monday to Friday)
or Adrian Kane on 0876784736.

Saturday MAY DAY 2010.

Display of Trade Union Banners Posters from…..11am-6pm
Papers and Discussion….. 2.00pm-5.30pm
The Woody Guthrie Story, Tales and Ballads from the Dustbowl….8.30pm

2.00- 2.10pm….Opening of Festivities by the Mayor of Athy.
2.10-2.20pm…. An Introduction to May Day by SIPTU’s Kildare
Organiser Adrian Kane.

2.20-3.00pm….. ‘The Whitefeet’, a story of a radical movement of
miners and farm labourers in the 1820s and 1830s in the midlands by
Terry Dunne a graduate of NUI Galway and native of Athy.
3.00-3.40pm….. The ‘Knights of the Plough’, early farm labourers’
organisations in South Kildare by local historian Frank Taaffe.
3.40-4.00pm …… Tea/Coffee Break

4.00-4.40pm ….. ‘Not Organisable; The Autonomous Worker and The Farm
Labourers’ Strike of 1922/23’ by Doctor Noel Kavanagh, Philosophy
Lecturer Carlow.
4.40-5.10pm …..The Kilkea lock out of 1947, the struggle for the
shorter working week by John McKenna, local novelist and playwright.

8.30pm…. Will Kaufman, The Woody Guthrie Story, ‘Tales and Ballads
from the Dust Bowl’, an evening of song and celebration of Woody
Guthrie’s life.

Please note that all events will take place in Athy Community Arts Centre-- the Methodist Hall,
Woodstock Street, Athy Co. Kildare on Saturday the 1st of May 2010.

Tickets available from SIPTU contact 045 432318 office hours Monday to
Friday or Adrian Kane 0876784736.

Going for a song

Athy musical and Dramatic Society are proud to present a musical evening called 'Going for a Song' in the Carlton Abbey Hotel on the 29th of April. Featuring the Athy Musical and Dramatic Society Members, it is being directed by former member and musician Shane Sullivan.

'Going for a Song' will focus on acoustic music with a six-piece band and will contain songs from 'The seegar sessions' and 'Oh brother where art thou' (such as 'Fly away' and 'You are my Sunshine') as well as choral favourites 'Lean on Me', 'Hallelujah' and 'Will the circle be Unbroken'; traditional Irish music and American favourites.

There is a chorus of 30 people who will perform as a group and also as soloists and in duets. Tickets are €10 for Adults and €8 for students and O.A.P's. Tickets are available in The Gem and Winkles and all funds raised will go toward our future musical production which will be staged in the coming months..

Your support is always greatly appreciated and we hope to see you on the night

K Leisure Receives Quality Disability Access Award

Good news was delivered to the staff and management of K Leisure Naas & Athy this week when they were informed that both of their sites have been awarded the Excellence Ireland Quality Association (EIQA) ABLE Business Excellence Award.

K Leisure received the award for two areas of excellence, The ABLE Customer – The ABLE Customer allows a company to demonstrate that their organisation provides a quality customer experience, which builds and develops ongoing relationships with customers. Incorporating an inclusive communications approach shows all of the K Leisure customers that the company is developing a long-term accessible service.

The ABLE Environment – The Built Environment allows a company to demonstrate that they have made provision for universal access and circulation throughout their premises so that all users, both customer and staff, may move around in safety and with ease.

The ABLE Business Excellence Award is acknowledged as being the Q Mark for accessibility. The award is nationally recognised and exceeds the standard required of current legislation for accessibility.

The ABLE Award distinguishes the facilities at K Leisure Naas & Athy from all other leisure facilities, demonstrating that the company supports the highest standards available.

Having the ABLE award visible on the K Leisure premises tells the customer that we are ABLE to facilitate them with greater support than ever before, thus broadening the customer base.

The ABLE Award has been jointly created by Ireland’s leading experts in the areas of quality and disability; EIQA and Rehab.

Receiving the ABLE Business Excellence Award is an acknowledgement of the commitment to providing services to the customers of K Leisure who has a disability or difficulty accessing leisure facilities.

Both sites in Naas and Athy underwent a rigorous application and audit process which assessed all areas of the built environment and the services provided for customers with disabilities. Each of the audits involved personnel from the EIQA. The facilities at Naas and Athy are built to the highest possible standards for all users of leisure facilities with particular attention being paid to users with special needs. Both facilities have been open for just over a year and continue to attract a wide variety of user, from the serious gym person to a family coming for a swim.

K Leisure in Naas and Athy currently attracts in excess of 1,500 users per day to the facilities with a wide range of programmes available for all age groups and needs – both sites have state of the art gyms which can be accessed by all users as the gym equipment is specially designed to cater for persons with disabilities, to the ordinary user the gym equipment is looks and feels fantastic but can be adapted at the touch of switch to allow access to someone in a wheelchair. In addition all the changing facilities are full inclusive and permit access to toilet, shower and changing facilities that cater for all needs. The 25 metre swimming pool permits access to all with a pool hoist available during all opening hours which assists persons with access issues. The facilities have over 50 classes per week on the fitness class timetable. All of the staff have been specially trained to facilitate the needs of all the population and have undergone specific disability access training. Information is available in a variety of formats, braille and large print for visually impaired.

Both facilities are available on a pay as you go option or full membership option. The staff and management of the facilities are proud to accept the awards in the knowledge that the facilities are fully accessible for all users.

If your Car Test is due

NCT National Car Test - New Test Items

Following public consultation in 2009 the Road Safety Authority proposed a number of new test items be added to the National Car Test in early 2010. The new test items will improve the safety of vehicles on our roads, both for the vehicle owners and for other road users. The new items will be part of the NCT tests from 1st April 2010.

for your information i am listing the newly adopted additions to the

NCT:

1. Clarity of windscreen and front side windows Excessively tinted windscreens or front side windows present a significant safety hazard for drivers and their occupants. The glass in the windscreen and front side windows will be required to have a light transmission level of not less than 65% in order to pass the test.

2. Rear fog lamp

Rear fog lamps enhance the visibility of a car in foggy conditions by indicating the vehicles position and direction of travel to other road users. The rear fog lamp, where fitted, will be checked to ensure that when in use it provides a red light which is clearly visible.

3. Reverse lamp

The reverse lamp of a vehicle provides illumination to the rear when backing up, and warns nearby drivers and pedestrians of a vehicles backward motion. The reverse lamp, where fitted, will be checked to ensure that when in use it provides a white light which is clearly visible.

4. Tyres

Car Tyres are the only point of contact between a vehicle and the road.

The standards to which Tyres are designed and built, is critical to ensuring adequate grip is maintained with the road surface. An "E" or

*e* mark indicates that the tyre is certified to comply with international regulations. A vehicle will fail if an *E* or *e* mark is not visible.

5. Indicator warning of faulty systems for Airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems and Electronic Braking Systems (EBS) / Anti-Lock Brake system (ABS).

Today*s cars are fitted with a number of warning lamps on a dashboard that let the driver know if certain critical safety, performance and environmental features are not working properly. They are important safety features and it is in the interest of the driver and road safety that all safety systems in the vehicle are in full working order.

Vehicles will be checked to ensure that, where fitted, the malfunction indicators for Airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems and Electronic Braking Systems (EBS) / Anti-Lock Brake system (ABS) are in correct working order. The vehicle will fail if a malfunction indicator is not working or indicates a defect in the system.

6. Rear registration plate lamp

Rear registration plate lamps provide essential illumination to the registration plate of a vehicle once parking lights are activated. If it is not in proper working order a *Fail Advisory* will result i.e.

it is strongly recommended that the fault be repaired but a failed test will not result because of this fault alone;

7. Vehicle exhaust noise

The nuisance caused by excessive noise from vehicle exhausts is regularly the subject of comments and complaints. Examination of a cars exhaust silencer, and its effectiveness at reducing noise is part of the current NCT. It is proposed to implement a noise check of vehicles that the vehicle inspector deems to be excessively noisy. The vehicle will be required to have a level of noise no greater than 99db in order to pass the test.

Parlez Vous?

We are looking for an Athy student over 21 having good french language basis who could train french students (around 15) during 1 week in June (flight,accomodation paid) + 1 week wages.

Can u help?

athylive@gmail.com