South Dublin Comhairle na nÓg in partnership with South Dublin County Development Board have organised a Think Local Poster Design Competition.  

Think Local is an initiative to encourage people of all ages to Think Local when shopping, going out to the Cinema or Bowling, Swimming Pools etc., encouraging people to use facilities in their communities.

By Thinking Local you will support local business and in turn support local employment.

Poster Competition Age Categories: 8 to 12 years, 13 to 15 years, 16 to 18 years

The Overall Prize is an IPAD but there will be prizes in each category. The winning entrees will receive their prizes in a ceremony in South Dublin County Council Chamber and the Overall Design on view which will be used to advertise the Think Local Campaign. Closing date for applications is not until April 4th 2011.

Application Forms can be downloaded at www.thinklocal.ie or http://comhairle.wordpress.com,

Please forward on to anyone you think may be interested in entering.

Niamh Carton,

Community Worker / Comhairle na nÓg,

Community Services Department,

South Dublin County Council,

Tallaght,

Dublin 24  Ph:4149000 /3379                                                                                                                                  

Mobile: 086 6063682www.sdcc.ie

www.comhairlesouthdublin.ie

Mick Green,Richie Kiely,Rebecca Dillon,Martin Kenny

Well the Black panthers had another good performance taking four All Ireland national AKAI full contact titles The all Ireland championships were held over two days Saturday 5^th and Sunday 6^th of February

With contestants from all over Ireland converging on the Dublin venue Crumlin boxing club this was the 3^rdtime to be held their. This was the first time for the new computers scoring system to be used in full contact kickboxing in Ireland To great satisfaction to the to the audience and fighters which will take kickboxing closer to getting into the Olympics. We had four kick boxers one junior age 15 Michael Green in -91kg who had a walk over to take the title for the first time and who was champion previous at the age of 11 when he took a title in Galway. The first of Blackpanthers up was the highly rated Rebecca Dillon in the -52kg weight division final against Jolene Reilly from Thurles kickboxing Rebecca was up for this and went out with a clear intent to take the title home to our club but Jolene made a good counter with a roundhouse kick and seemed to be well prepared for the contest. Rebecca stepped it up a gear and caught her with a powerful right hand left hook to give her a standing eight count then the bell went to end round one. In the second round Jolene came and rushed Rebecca but this did not faze her as she issued another powerful front kick and the referee step in to count Jolene out for a clear stoppage and win to Rebecca this the third time for her to retain an AKAI all Ireland title and will get to keep the belt.

Next we had Martin Kenny who has been out of competition for 9 months and his first contest against Michael Whelan of Sligo Mugendo kickboxing in the 57kg division Final this fighter was a head in the first round but martin came out a different fighter in the second round and kept his distance which worked better for him with martin coming to the end of the second round with two 2 judges to 1 giving martin a clear points lead. With everything left to the third round this was one of the best fights of the competition martin experience showed through and  was a clear winner with a 3:0 win his first time to win a AKAI Iris title. Next we had Richard kiely out in the -86kg division in his first fight of the day he was up against Pairic O Connor  of Galway kickboxing which was a real test of the champion he came to fight and try to win but kiely had his mind set to retain his title for the third time and he won on a clear points win to bring him to the final were he met for the third time Alan Coffey on the previous championships last year coffey caught kiey with a punch to give him a standing count but for kielys training he pull through to win. This year Coffey was out to reapply the same intent but Kielys timing and experience from winning a bronze medal in November at the WAKO euro championships in Greece brought him a clear win and he retained his title for third time to the the delight of the black panther team. This means that the club will have four champions representing their country Ireland in the first WAKO world Championships to be held in Ireland in November in the City west Hotel which is a great achievement for the club.

 Karl Mahon picture to the right with his dad Alan also a full contact kickboxing champion not to long ago came a impressive 1st place in light contact,Edward Reilly picture to the left was narrowly beaten by two points to take 2nd place in light contact.His brother Micheal Reilly took 3rd place in semi contact all had a great day and a big thank you to Mick Finnegan children’s coach and thanks to organisers Tallaght Martial Arts.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!Philip Kavanagh competed and completed in the Galeforce West event today Saturday,21st August. The Galeforce West lays claim to being the largest one-day adventure race of its kind in the world. It is staged over a course that stretches 65 kilometres from picturesque Glassilaun beach,south-west of Killary Harbour in the heart of Connemara, to Westport in Co Mayo.

Philip completed the 65km event in 4 hours 36 minutes and 42 seconds. In a text he sent me today he modestly told me that out of 3,000 competitor’s that he thinks that he came in 65th but won’t officially know  until tomorrow Sunday 22nd of August. Philip competed in this competition on behalf of the BlackPanthter Kickboxing club and raised an amazing amount of money for the club. We are very proud of him and we at the BlackPanthers think that he should also be very proud of himself as well.

Philip works at the West Park Fitness Centre in Tallaght, and trains at the Black Panther Kickboxing Club. The position of 65th says it all about his fitness and dedication,this achievement was no mean feat, Philip had to complete 6 grueling stages. A 12km run over beach,trail and road,kayaking across Killary Harbour for 1.6km another road run over3.5km than a grueling cycle over 32.5km if that wasn’t hard enough then he had to do a 4.5km run/hike and ten another cycle this time over 1.5km of Connemara to Westport in Co Mayo. Most appreciated by all at the Black Panthers and what a home coming it will be, cause we plan on having a great night out to celebrate his amazing achievement.Well done Philip from all !!!!!! More to follow

Westpark Fitness Instructor and Black Panther member Philip Kavanagh tackles the gruelling endurance race Gaelforce  on Saturday the 21st of August.  Gaelforce is infamous as the largest one day adventure race of its kind at 65km long and astonishingly there is talk that this may be increased in length !  Currently the course runs from the picturesque Glassilaun beach in heart of Connemara to Westport in Co Mayo. This is an amazing test of physical stamina and mental strength but Philip has been undergoing a rigorous training regime in preparation for this super endurance race.

The race commences over 6 stages with stage one being a 12km run over beach, road and mountainous terrain, stage two involves kayaking an energy sapping 1.6km across Killary Harbour, stage 3 involves another  trail and road run over 3.5km, stage four is a cycle over 32.5km, stage five is a run/hike over mountainous terrain and after all that stage six involves another cycle over 12.5km from Connemara to Westport, Co Mayo.

Now thats a punishing and daunting task by anyone’s standards but Philip is excited at tackling this amazing challenge – and all on the behalf of Black Panther Kickboxing Club.  He is very kindly donating all proceeds form sponsorship to the club and we are all very grateful for this gesture. If you wish to sponsor Philip please contact either Rebecca Dillon  or Denis Mahon on 086-7837991 who are collecting sponsorship on Philips behalf.

Apart from his gruelling training regime for this super iron man race, Philip has been training hard as usual with the Black Panther’s and is focusing on going through his grades. Always one to challenge himself Philip has also ventured into the ring for some light sparring….. Nothing can hold this man back

Once again if you would like to sponsor Philip please contact Rebecca or Denis on the number above. Thanks a million Philip. We’re all cheering you on!!!!