Phantom of the Opera comes to Bandon

Venue: St Peters Church of Ireland, Bandon, Friday, 25th September, 2009 at 9pm.  Tickets euro 10.

As part of the Engage Bandon Arts Festival, The Film Society in Bandon is presenting  Phantom of the Opera (1925) silent film, PG, Black and White to live organ accompaniment by Dr Eric Sweeney.  Eric is Head of Music at Waterford School of Technology and is the organist and choirmaster of Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford.  He has given recitals throughout Ireland as well as in England, Sweden, Italy, France and American.  He is also well known as a composter and is a member of Aosdana.  Eric gave an identical performance in Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford at the end of July and both nights were booked out.

Book now to save disappointment by calling 086 368 9939

It’s amazing to compare our social welfare payments with the UK.  Our unemployment benefit alone has gone from 66pct higher than the UK in 2003 to 200% higher in 2009.

Weekly Unemployment benefit comparisons for 2009

Ireland  euro 204.30       UK  euro 69.58

Weekly Old age Pension comparison.

Ireland  euro 230.30     UK  euro 109.54

Irish hotels have benefitted from a myriad of tax incentive schemes which are now seriously affecting the tourism industry as a whole.  The tax breaks were exploited to such an extent that not only were too many rooms added creating massive over-capacity but many hotels were built in ridiculous locations.  Tax break hotels were often built by developers rather than hoteliers and all they cared about was a 7 year tax freebie.  They couldn’t have given a jot about the guest.

The sting in the tail of the tax break is that if a hotel that has benefitted from these tax breaks does not stay open for seven years after the development, the investor will have to repay the tax breaks against their personal tax bills.  What we have now is a situation where unprofitable hotels remain open, reducing rates to ridiculous levels thus seriously damaging those operations that are viable.  The Irish Hotels Federation has calculated that there are 21,000 hotel rooms that fall short of the 7 year requirement (out of a total number of about 60,000 hotel beds in the country).  Another scary figure is that the average occupancy rate over all hotels in Ireland is just 53pct and overseas visitors to Ireland this year have declined by nearly 19pct.

An interesting article about examinership fees appeared in the Irish Times, Monday, 3rd August, by John McManus entitled ‘Examinership fees need to be examined very closely’.  Lawyers and accountants seem to be still living in Celtic Tiger bubble land where charges of euro 250 per hour for photocopying are in order.  Given the number of examinerships being applied for, unless these fees are reined in, these two professions will continue to roll in the money whilst many many people elsewhere in the country will be seriously licking their wounds.

This is a mechanism for ailing but potentially viable companies to be rescued and returned to profitability.  It was introduced by the Companies Act of 1990 and 1999 and is somewhat similar to chapter 11 in the US and administration in the UK though the latter gives more support to the creditor than the debtor.  The period given for examinership is up to 100 days.

Examinership allows a company a period of protection from creditors in order to work out a plan for fresh investment and most likely the writing off of claims from creditors.  The court appoints an examiner who tries to come to an arrangement for the company that is acceptable to the creditors.  The court has to be satisfied that the creditors wouldn’t be worse off than they would if the company was liquidated.

The directors continue to manage the company whilst in examinership (unlike administration in the UK where the administrators take over).

An unsuccesful examinership ends in liquidation.

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

Another garden gem, Sissinghurst Castle Gardens were created in the 1930s by the poet and novelist Vita Sackville West and her husband Harold Nicolson.  The National Trust now owns the estate.  This is a very popular destination and it was extremely busy during my visit last week.

There are ten separate gardens which are all very different.  If you climb up into the tower you get a superb view of the layout.  Enjoy some of the photos which I took during my visit.

An Herbaceous Border at Sissinghurst

Clematis at Sissinghurst

Sissinghurst - The Moat

Sissinghurst - A view from the tower

Another view from the tower at Sissinghurst

Hever Castle

Hever Castle near Edenbridge in Kent is fascinating both because of its connection to Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII and also because of the amazing gardens that were created by William Waldorf Astor. The oldest part of the castle dates from 1270.  The Bullen family bought the castle in the early 1500s and it became the childhood home of Anne Boleyn.  Afterwards it passed to Anne of Cleves who was Henry VIII’s fourth wife.  It wasn’t until the early 1900s when the Astors who bought the house that the major restoration work commenced.  The Astors dealt in fur, pianos and property when they went to America and gradually became one of the wealthiest families in the country. William Waldorf who inherited his father’s wealth was responsible for creating the gardens and lake at Hever.

There is a rose garden, an Italian Garden, a lake, a yew maze and a water maze.  Amongst the exhibits in the castle is an hour book signed by Anne Boleyn and costumed figures of Henry VIII and his six wives.

Hever Castle Garden

Hever Castle Lake in the distance

Hever Castle Chess Board

Hever Castle Herbacious Border

Lywood House, Ardingly, Sussex

Lywood House in Ardingly, Sussex is the home of Max and Cleone Pengelley who take  Wolsey Lodge guests.  I had the good fortune to stay with them during my recent visit to Sussex.  This was a wonderfully ‘English’ experience.  Just picture a 14^th century listed timber framed house with a view of a perennial border packed with vibrant colours, sweeping lawns and paddocks with one horse wrapped up in blankets as a fly deterrent.  Outside the front door was the horse box.

It was a sweltering hot day so Max was quick to produce elderflower cordial and lime squash on my arrival.  Cleone cooked a delicious dinner for myself and two other guests – a green salad with egg and thinly sliced prosciutto, fish with broad beans and spinach from the garden and a delicious mousse-like dessert with a strawberry compote – Yummy.   The other guests mentioned that normally they would go abroad but this year they had decided to explore the South East of England.  They gave me some great tips of places to visit including Hever Castle which I thank them for as it was a treat!

Had I remembered my swim gear, I would have been able to take a dip in the pool.  I highly recommend this accommodation.  Thank you to Max and Cleone for a very enjoyable stay!!  I also compliment Cleone on producing an excellent dinner.  We gave up offering dinners a few years ago as it was such hard work.

Wakehurst Place

Wakehurst Place is another gem of a garden located in Ardingly near Haywards Heath It is often referred to as ‘Kew in the country’.  It was created by Gerald Loder who purchased the estate in 1903 and spent 33 years developing the gardens. The estate now belongs to the National Trust and is managed by Kew.  The Millenium Seed Bank project was opened at Wakehurst in 2000 and its aim is to assemble a collection of seeds from more than 10pct of the world’s flora.  You can actually see the scientists at work when you visit the building.  You could easily spend a few hours here roaming through the natural woodlands, down through valleys and past lakes, streams and rivers.  You will find a large number of water and bog plants.  When I visited in early July the irises were in full bloom and quite a sight to behold.

The Loder Valley nature reserve is well worth walking through.  In some parts it felt a bit like being in a tropical jungle particularly as it was extremely hot on the day of my visit.  Wander back through the Himalayan glade and enjoy the superb views from the top of the glade.  By all accounts Loder was fascinated with Rhododendrons and these must be an amazing sight in the spring.

Take a look inside the mansion as several of the rooms are open.

A view of the Garden at Wakehurst

Himalayan Glade at Wakehurst

A lake at Wakehurst

The New Glass House at Wisley

I had the good fortune to visit Wisley on 1st July.  Sprawling over 240 acres, it is just 30 minutes drive from Heathrow and an absolute ‘must go and see’ for garden lovers.  It surpassed all my expectations in what it had to offer.  Just make sure that you allot several hours for your visit.

The gardens encompasses everything from trials fields, a vegetable garden, fruit field, model gardens, wild gardens, walled gardens, lily ponds and arboretum and a recently opened glass house.  There are a number of excellent cafes and restaurants as well as a plant centre.

I was particularly interested in the perennial planting outside the new glass house.  The plants are cleverly grouped together and striking colours such as various types of hemerocallis, blue salvias, campanulas, heleniums, verbascums, geraniums, scabies and euphoria are all used in abundance.  I had no idea there were so many varieties of some of these plants.

Take a look at some of my photos to whet your appetite!

Wisley Annual Display

The Lilly Pond at Wisley

The Trial Garden at Wisley