Plans for new student accommodation, nursing home and R&D facility at Dundalk IT

Existing student accommodation at Dundalk IT

Plans have been drawn up for new student accommodation, a nursing home and a research and development facility at Dundalk IT.

Fallstar Construction Ltd have applied to Louth County Council for planning permission for a development of four blocks of student housing, three storeys in height, at Greenpark on the Inner Relief Road.

This is beside existing student accommodation to the rear of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Each block would contain 21 units each, with each containing nine rooms. This would lead to 189 rooms in total being built should the go ahead be given.

Mullingar-based Fallstar have also applied to build a 127 room nursing home at the same location. This would be two storeys in height and would include ancillary facilities.

They have also proposed a research development and training centre five storeys in height, which would have a gross floor area of 12,286sqm, all with associated parking and a roof-top plant including optional solar/photovoltaic panels and all associated site development works.

Louth County Council are due to decide on the matter by July 7^th.

Dundalk IT sign Memorandum of Understanding with Monaghan Institute

A Memorandum of Understanding between Monaghan Institute and Dundalk Institute of Technology was officially signed this morning.

The memorandum means the Bachelor of Business, Level 8 Honours degree will be delivered in Monaghan Institute for the first two years, with the third year in Dundalk.

The three year programme will promote academic, intellectual and personal development and enable graduates to work as business professionals.

Dundalk IT given the go ahead to convert JJB into sports education centre

What the new Dundalk IT Sports Arena will look like when fully operational

Dundalk IT have been granted conditional planning permission by Louth County Council to convert the former JJB complex at Bothar na Feirme into a sports and education centre.

The college plan to change the retail area at the first floor level into an area equipped for sports educational and training purposes. They also hope to use it as an exam hall when they see fit.

Meanwhile, the existing playing pitch area and associated changing area at the ground floor level will also be used for sports education and training uses, as well as as an exam hall.

The proposed development will also consist of a new pedestrian access point of Bothar na Feirme, the removal of an existing vehicular access along the western boundary, the reduction of 79 car parking spaces and the reconfiguration of the existing car park layout. There would also be a repositioning of the existing bus lay-by to provide for a dedicated cycle parking area, as well as elevational changes to include the erection of four new fascia signs.

It is also hoped to construct a new boundary wall to the north and west, in addition to landscaping and all site development works.

DkIT Sport, as the building will now be known, has been used by students since the turn of the year and was officially opened last Friday, with FAI President John Delaney attending.

It will open to the public in June and will be managed by the Holohan Leisure Group.

Its facilities will include a 20m swimming pool, changing rooms, steam room, jacuzzi, gym area, aerobic studio, indoor cycling studio, 10 indoor sports pitches and a dedicated high performance strength and conditioning training zone when fully operational.

The strength and conditioning training zone is the first of its kind in the county while the gym will include brand new, gold standard, Precor gym equipment.

The aim is to make DkIT sport “the best kitted out gym in Ireland.”

The indoor sports pitches will be available to local sports teams, clubs and the public for recreational use, as well as catering for children’s birthday parties.

A full timetable of group exercise classes will also be available.

The leisure centre will open on Monday June 29 and club membership options will be available to members of the general public.

A pre-opening membership sale is expected in early to mid June and will include use of the gym, studios, swimming pool, steam room and jacuzzi.

Dundalk IT received almost €20m in funding last year

Dundalk IT received almost €20 million in funding for the Higher Education Authority last year.

The figure was revealed following a parliamentary question from Deputy John Halligan TD to the Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan.

She revealed that €19,981,757 in funding went to Dundalk IT last year. UCD received the most at €113.8m, followed by Trinity College, which received €89.5m.

Dublin IT received the most for an IT at €84.4m, with Cork IT, Waterford IT, Sligo IT, Limerick IT and Galway-Mayo IT amongst the ITs to receive more than Dundalk.

Online registration for Dundalk 10k closes tonight

Online registration for this Wednesday’s Dundalk 10k closes at midnight and event organisers are encouraging anyone who intends to avail of the online discount to visit www.Dundalk10k.com as soon as possible.

The 2015 route will take participants from the DkIT Campus, through the picturesque village of Blackrock and along the rustic beauty of Dundalk Bay before returning back to the finish line where runners can enjoy complimentary refreshments.

Runners who participated in the trial run last Wednesday were extremely pleased with the new route especially, as local man Sean McKenna described it, “the pleasant sea breeze from Dundalk Bay which helps to cool you down on the home stretch.”

The event is open to participants of all fitness levels and is sponsored by Servisource Recruitment and Fyffes. The Dundalk 10k race begins on Wednesday at 7pm and runners are invited to a pre-race warm up routine which will be hosted at the start line from 6.30pm.

Pre-race online registration costs just €20, as online entrants receive a €5 discount, while race day registration costs €25. This includes chipping, a race number and a free Dundalk 10k t-shirt for the first 800 entrants.

DkIT is hosting a registration day on Tuesday from 4pm-8pm, where participants can pick up race numbers and t-shirts, while race day registration takes place from 2pm-6pm.

Dundalk IT to host industry open day

Dundalk IT will host an on-campus Industry Open Day on Wednesday April 15^th from 12 noon to 5.30pm.

On the day local industries and businesses can find out how to work more closely with the institute as well as meet students and graduates to explore employment and placement opportunities.

The event will showcase student projects, placements, applied research projects, graduate placement and training provision with industry.

For further information or to register for the event click here.

Rainbow flag given permanent status on Dundalk IT campus

Dundalk IT Students’ Union raise the flag at the campus yesterday

Yesterday was a highly significant day in Dundalk IT as students raised a rainbow flag at the front of the campus.

The flag not only serves to show their support for a ‘Yes’ vote in the upcoming Marriage Equality Referendum on May 22nd but also reminds all students that the campus is a safe place that celebrates the uniqueness of every student.

Before raising the flag, the DkIT Students’ Union set a target of 1,000 signatures to highlight the support throughout the campus for the initiative. This target was surpassed with ease with almost 2,000 signatures secured in just one day.

Speaking at the unveiling of the flag, DkIT Student Union president Brian Fitzpatrick was keen to stress the importance of the gesture. He said: “Equality plays a central part in how we operate in DkIT. I feel that this flag has two importances. Firstly, we hope it will serve as a reminder to staff, students and the local people of Dundalk to get out on May 22nd and vote ‘Yes’ for Marriage Equality. Secondly, it sends out a strong message to all current and prospective students that DkIT is a safe place to be different and to celebrate your uniqueness and be proud of who you are.

“Although the flag has been raised in the run up to the referendum, it will remain in place long afterwards to remind all students, current and prospective, that DkIT is a welcoming campus for all,” said Brian.

Also present at the raising of the flag was John Ruddy from Dundalk Outcomers who spoke of his delight at the new addition to the Dundalk campus.

“We are immensely proud of the DkIT students,” he said.

“This makes a strong statement for the inclusion of all students and support for the more vulnerable ones. We’re delighted with this great show of support for the upcoming referendum. We hope all students across the region will follow the lead of DkIT and use their vote on May 22nd.”

Pupils prepared for Féile Dhún Dealgan on Monday

Pupils and teachers throughout County Louth are eagerly preparing for Féile Dhún Dealgan, the annual Irish language Scoildrámaíocht festival.

Twelve plays will be performed at this year’s festival on Monday March 9th, with local schools at both primary and secondary level taking part. The festival gives students the opportunity to act, gain confidence and have fun all as Gaeilge.

Schools partaking in this year’s festival include Kilsaran National School, St Joseph’s Muirvenamor, St Patrick’s Kilcurry, Bellurgan National School, Gaelscoil Dhún Dealgan, St Oliver’s Drogheda, Scoil Aonghusa Drogheda, St Mary’s College Dundalk, St Vincent’s Dundalk, Coláiste Rís and Coláiste Lú. Winners at the competition will go on to represent the region in Féile Laighean / the Leinster Provincial Festival.

An Cumann Scoildrámaíochta was first established in 1934 and is now over 80 years old with thousands of students from throughout the country taking part each year. The Dundalk festival was reformed last year after a gap of a number of years and its popularity has grown rapidly with great interest shown from local schools.

This year’s event will be held in DkIT’s Mac Anna Theatre from 9am to 5pm as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge in the town. The Mac Anna theatre is a fitting venue as the original founder and chief organiser of Féile Dhún Dealgan for many years was Mai Nic Anna, a sister of the famous director and playwright Tomás Mac Anna, after whom the theatre is named.

Entrance is open to the public throughout the day and will be €1 for pupils or €4 for adults in what is sure to be a fulfilling and exciting day for all those involved. As the Irish proverb says, “Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí!”

For further details check out the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FeileDhunDealgan

Adaptation of Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake debuts in Dundalk IT today

‘Mouths Making Water’, an adaptation of Finnegan’s Wake, will launch today in Dundalk IT and run until Friday.

Adapted and directed by Marc-Ivan O’Gorman, an award-winning filmmaker, theatre director and composer, from James Joyce’s challenging ‘Finnegan’s Wake’, the play will be performed by final year students on the BA in Performing Arts tonight, Thursday and Friday in the MacAnna Theatre on the DKIT campus at 8pm.

As many who have attempted to read Ulysess will already know, James Joyce is considered one of the most difficult writers in the English language and his final novel, one he spent the bulk of the last two decades of his life writing, Finnegan’s Wake, is by far his most challenging work.

And so, it is a testament to the ambition and bravery of the Creative Media department and the actors in the final year of the BA in Performing Arts to take on the challenge of transposing the immense rhythmic beauty of this text from the page to the stage.

The resulting production entitled Mouths Making Water consists of compelling scenes and dreamlike images from the book, that in Joyce’s own words, attempts to “reconstruct the nocturnal life” and to “experiment in interpreting ‘the dark night of the soul’.”

All are invited to attend and spend a short time exploring a story that one of Ireland’s greatest writers spent half a life time creating… and to remember that “every telling has a taling and that’s the he and the she of it”

Marc-Ivan O’Gorman is an award-winning filmmaker, theatre director and composer who has recently returned from teaching at the New York Film Academy in LA.

He is also the founder and director of The Irish Film Festival of India, Taylorfest & Cleverality Productions. He works as a consultant and freelance producer for various broadcasters around the world including RTE and TV3 in Ireland and Aaj Tak and Headlines Today in India. He has worked in a range capacities on several popular TV series including, The Apprentice, Access Hollywood and You’re A Star. He works regularly as a Promo Producer for RTE TV and has produced and directed various TV commercials in Ireland and India.

The Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts in DKIT is a three-year full-time professional actor training programme which encourages students to become ‘intelligent actors’, who are versatile and adaptable and equipped with a variety of performance and transferable work skills.

This is the latest public performance from this exciting and talented group of award-year students who have come through this professional actor training programme. This week’s show follows their very successful performance of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ last November. See www.dkit.ie/performingarts for more details.

Tickets are €8 (€4 concession) and bookings can be made by phoning 042 9370200 (extn. 2907) or emailing joske.slabbers@dkit.ie

Dundalk St Patrick’s Day parade is launched

Dundalk FC players John Mountney, Chris Shields and Daryl Horgan with manager Stephen Kenny and local kids at the launch of the St Patrick’s Day parade. Kenny will be this year’s Grand Marshal

There was a very successful and enjoyable launch of this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade on Thursday evening at An Táin Arts Centre.

The organising committee were delighted to have Dundalk FC manager, Stephen Kenny in attendance following his appointment as this year’s parade Grand Marshall. Stephen was a well-deserved choice having guided Dundalk FC to their 10^th league title in 2014 after a 19-year wait.

“I am overwhelmed by the community spirit in Dundalk,” declared Stephen, who added he was extremely humbled by being asked to be Grand Marshall for this year’s parade.

The committee said they were grateful to Kieran Herr of Horseware Products Ltd and Paul Rogan of Moffett Engineering Ltd, two of the main sponsors, for attending on the night. Among those who attended the launch were Paddy Matthews President Dundalk Chamber of Commerce and Brian O’Neill, Chairman of Dundalk BIDS and many local councillors.

The entertainment provided by Dance Kids, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann Dún Dealgan and DKIT’s Circus Arts Society was spectacular and everyone in the area can look forward to seeing them participate in the parade.

Members of the Dance Kids performing at the launch of the St Patrick’s Day parade

The judges selected this year are Independent Councillor Maeve Yore, Sinéad Roche Dundalk Tourist Officer, Sarah McCann Head of Creative Media DKIT, Sinéad McNally local singer/song writer and Alan Doherty, Dundalk Musical Society. They will be guided by Paul Hayes, An Táin Arts Centre’s Artistic Director who is looking for more innovation and creativity from the participants this year and he believes that they will have ample opportunity with the broad theme of ‘Myths, Magical and Miracles’. For those who wish to get some artistic direction, they can contact Paul via the antain.ie website.

Media coverage on the night was provided by Pat O Shaughnessy of LMFM, Marissa Luchessi of Dundalk FM and St Patrick’s Day committee PRO Helena Mullins with Border Region TV.

Anyone wishing to take part in this year’s parade, please email certs@dundalk.ie or phone 042 9336343 where you can get the necessary information from Kerry Ann or Kim. Food vendors who wish to set up camp at the Market Square area please contact Mandy Fee of Pelican Promotions on 087 2222100.

With an estimated 20,000 spectators attending last year’s Dundalk St Patrick’s Day parade, it is expected that this year’s parade will be a bigger and better event with wonderful entertainment for all the family. Keep an eye on the Facebook page – St Patrick’s Day Dundalk – for further updates on the parade and surrounding events.