Issue 832 – 25/11/08 – Dorsey Dinner Dance

Issue 832 – 25/11/08 – Dromintee Dinner Dance

Issue 832 – 25/11/08 – Killeavy Dinner Dance

Issue 831 – 18/11/08 – Silverbridge Senior Citizens Halloween Party

South Armagh has ‘De X Factor!’

Forget tuning into UTV on Saturday evening, the real X Factor talent will be found in Newry’s Canal Court Hotel this Thursday 20th November, when the grand final of ‘De X Factor’ will take place between representatives from various GAA clubs in south Armagh and south Down.

The performers who emerged as winners from their respective clubs will square up against each other in the final of the competition in a bid to be crowned ‘Overall winner of De X Factor 2008′ and be £2,500 richer into the bargain.

The show has proved to be a hit with all the Shayne Ward and Leona Lewis wannabes in the area and throughout the heats, competition between participants has been fierce, often bordering on slanderous.  

South Armagh will be ably represented in the final by three clubs – Silverbridge, Killeavy and Clady –   all witnessing unparalled support for their respective competitors with talk of posters, banners and printed T-shirts the norm.

Killeavy

The winner of De X Factor in Killeavy was Miceal Connolly.  Affectionately known as “the Red Fella”, Miceal eased his way through the heats of the competition but faced stiff opposition in the final stages.  On the final night he wowed the judges and audience alike with his own version of the Academy Award winning song ‘Falling Slowly’, made famous by The Frames.

Drawing comments such as “a winning performance” and “excellent”, Miceal took the overall audience and judges’ votes to be crowned winner of the Killeavy X Factor.  A dedicated supporter of his club, Miceal lines out in both Senior and B teams.  He is currently based in Wales, where he lives with his partner Fiona and young son Luke, and from where an extensive X Factor fan club will join his clubmates in Killeavy to get behind him in the grand final.

Silverbridge

Another Miceal – Moley this time – took the title in Silverbridge where the judges unanimously awarded him the top spot.   Miceal’s performance of the Dean Martin vocal jazz classic, ‘Ain’t that a Kick in the Head’ captivated the audience, while one of the judges said it was as good as any rendition that could be found in London’s West End.

To huge cheers from his supporters in the audience, Miceal was delighted with the judges’ comments of “fantastic performance” and “very well delivered”.  A committed Crossmaglen Rangers man, Miceal is, nevertheless, more than happy to represent his neighbouring club at the grand final, where he will undoubtedly draw a huge support following from both clubs.   

Miceal pointed out that his mother, Rose, won a singing competition in Silverbridge many years ago and he hopes to emulate her success at Thursday night’s event and “take the title to south Armagh”.  

Married to Sinead and with four children, Dáire, Seanan, Fionnán and Eabha, Miceal is looking forward to the final.  “It’s a great buzz to perform on stage in front of an audience and it’s all part of the entertainment value,” he said.

Clady

Cullyhanna man Felie Toner swept the boards in De X Factor final in Clady GFC with his rendition of the timeless classic ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, made famous by Queen.  Having missed the initial Clady heats owing to previously arranged commitments, Felie was elected on a ‘wild card’ to participate in the final, where he stole the show, receiving a standing ovation from the audience.  

The judges’ comments on his performance included “great interaction with your audience” and “fantastic performance” and after being announced as the overall winner, he described the feeling as “like winning the Lotto!”   

Felie has enjoyed a life-long love of music and spent more than 15 years playing with the Cullyhanna Youth Band.   Not one to shy at opportunities for public performances, his talent is likely to captivate the audience at De X Factor grand final, where he will unquestionably enjoy the best of Cullyhanna and Clady support behind him.

“The gloves are off”

Organiser-in-chief of De X Factor, Pat Loye from Warrenpoint, paid tribute to all the participants in the show, from the initial heats right through to this week’s final. 

“Anyone who can get on the stage and put themselves through this ordeal, is already a winner,” he said.  Pat explained that the ultimate winner will depend on their respective voting strategy and that “the gloves are off’ in relation to acquiring those all-important votes – by fair means or foul!  

“A great camaraderie has developed between the south Down and south Armagh performers, creating a bit of sport and rivalry for everybody involved and that’s really what it’s all about” he said.  Specifically directed at the south Armagh voters, Pat rather ominously added that they should “pay particular attention to their second preference votes” and should use them “very, very wisely” – so take note!

Pat acknowledged one participant in particular – Ms Sinead Reel from Killeavy – describing her as “a major driving force behind the whole event.”  

“Her enthusiasm is unmatched,” he said, and he thanked her for all the hard work and effort she has put in to make the event such a success.

Without a doubt, this show will tick all the boxes in top class entertainment so make sure to get your hands on a ticket and make your way to the Canal Court this Thursday and support your local club.

Anyone still seeking tickets for De X Factor Grand Final should contact the clubs/performers involved.

Cross manager brews up second half storm

● AIB ULSTER CLUB SEMI FINAL

Crossmaglen Rangers 0-11 St Eunan’s, Letterkenny 0-8

It may not have been the case that the “Dalin Men from Crossmaglen (in this case Crossmaglen Rangers) got whiskey in their Tae” at half –time but whatever brew was served by manager Donal Murtagh certainly paid dividends as his team were totally transformed in the second half.

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NORTHERN IRELAND OPEN DARTS

Bellini’s hailed as top venue

Although hosting the event for the very first time, Bellini’s in Newry has won the acclaim as the best ever venue to host the Northern Ireland Open Darts competition. The event organisers, the 425 men, 91 women and 32 youths from all over Europe who took part in the event were wholesome in their praise for the Monaghan Street venue in all aspects of their hosting of the event. The dart throws, hospitality, food, service and warm welcome left nothing to be desired.

The atmosphere only enhanced the high standard of darts that was on offer over the three days as the mixed, individual and pairs competitions were played out in front of record attendances.

 With main sponsor of the event Michael McLoughlin, of Bellini’s, promising an even bigger all in one improved setting, it is no wonder that most of the overseas throwers have already confirmed their bookings for next year’s tournament. The Northern Ireland Open has been a huge boost to the local economy with all Hotel, Guest House and B&B bed space in the immediate vicinity booked out for the week-end.

Michael and his team of workers along with the Northern Ireland Darts Organisation, under the chairmanship of Trevor Ditty and Secretary Tom Forsythe are all to be highly commended for the manner in which they ran the event.

Stephen ‘The Bullit’ Bunting is the Open Champion

Stephen “the bullit” Bunting was crowned the Northern Ireland Open Mens champion after defeating Darryl Fitton in a thrilling final on Saturday night. The 23 year old Liverpudlian, walked alone as he inflicted a third successive Northern Ireland Open defeat on Fitton by 2 frames to nil.

Fitton lost the inaugural final in 2003 to Gary Anderson and was also the bridesmaid in 2006 to Mark Webster, 2007 again to Anderson and now heartache once again in 2008.

 The quality of the Northern Ireland Open cannot be underestimated given that the second one in 2004 was won by Raymond Barnevald. The 2005 title went to Michael Van Gerwen with Mark Webster winning in 2006.

There was a measure of compensation for Darryl Fitton as he teamed up with his buddy (whom he beat in the singles semi-final) Tony O’Shea to win the open pairs event.     

Ladies title goes Dutch

She may have been 2-0 down but Francis Hoenselaar showed real Dutch courage as she rattled off 5 legs in a row to defeat Trina Gulliver in the Ladies Singles final. In front of a large Dutch contingent Francis hit 4x 180’s as she ran out a comfortable winner in the end over Gulliver who was losing in the final for the second successive year. Francis was gaining a measure of revenge after losing the 2005 title to Trina.

Francis made it “Double Dutch” when she teamed up with Anglea De Ward to capture the ladies pair’s title.

  Mark McCurdy was the winner of the youths title.

Issue 831 – 18/11/08 – Shane O’Neill GFC Presentation Evening

Issue 831 – 18/11/08 – Scor na nOg

Massive shopping influx to Newry as Euro gets closer to Pound

Queues of traffic into Newry were stretched back almost to the border on Saturday morning last as the value of the Euro climbed closer to parity and Southern shoppers arrived in unprecedented numbers.

With the Pound dropping to a record low of 0.8662 against the Euro, the normally very good influx of shoppers from the South became a torrent over the weekend and will, doubtless, continue as such through the entire pre-Christmas period.

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