< Previous© November 2019 The Meath Coaster 40 Reált Na Mara BNS Donacarney Boys Victory in Navan F utsal is a team ball sport, very simi- lar to soccer. And Donacarney Boys school have a futsal team which is literally second to none. With stamina, grit and skill they took on their opposing teams and ended up facing Whitecross Primary School in the final. They put up a spirited performance but, coming to the end of the match, Whitecross seemed to be likely winners. However, a goal levelled up the teams and, in the clos- ing minutes, a fine goal delivered the kill- er blow to the Julianstown team and the Donacarney lads were declared winners! Well done lads! Well done to your parents and to your coaches Mr Ryan and Mr Ar- thur too! Athletics Congrats to our boys who ran in St Joseph`s annual athletic event last week. Cheered on by Ms Brennan and Mrs Quinn, they romped home with to gain a silver for their team event. And also caught up with past pupil and fellow ath- Donacarney Boys` Victorious Futsal Team at the MDL Navan Keep on running, boys!© November 2019 The Meath Coaster 41 lete, Jack, on the day. Tuning In Tin whistle lessons have begun in Donacarney Boys school thanks to Mrs Maura Quinn. She will take Mr Lynch’s class for the first term and Mr Ryan’s class next term. It’s a great opportunity to learn a musical instrument and maybe even get Fleadh ready for Mullingar next summer!© November 2019 The Meath Coaster 42 The Garda Band playing in Donacarney Meanwhile ukulele practice has begun in fifth class and, as you can see, the boys are taking their music practice very seriously with some of them tuning in together in the school yard. Ms McWeeney and Ms Milne are teaching both Fifth Classes this lovely instrument this year. Donacarney Boys School Welcomes the Garda Band With all the developments in their music department, a live music session was just what the boys in Donacarney school need- ed to encourage their musical ambition.. One of our parents in the school, Helen Doyle, is a member of the Garda Band so it was extra special to have her entertain- ing the delighted audience, alongside her colleagues. A rousing and entertaining programme on the day, included such favourites as Sponge Bob Square Pants, Ghostbusters, The Pink Panther and-a chance for the saxophone to shine-the Theme Tune from The Simpsons. The whole school delighted in the mu- sic. And are looking forward to taking to the stage themselves when our Christmas Concerts are staged in December. §© November 2019 The Meath Coaster 43 Sonairte is open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from 10:00am until 5:00pm. Who are we? F or anyone new to the area and won- dering what is “Sonairte”? We are a visitor experience which pro- motes a love of the outdoors, organic produce, eco-awareness and sustainable livening. It is open to individuals and families. We are also taking bookings for organised groups. Our walled garden is producing tasty, organic produce. It is a place like no other and has something for everyone. Stroll the walled organic gar- den, explore the nature trail, have a picnic and visit our Shop & Cafe. meals, all straight from the garden, Friday, Saturday and Sundays, 10-5. Fresh Sonairte Produce We’re now selling our fruit and veg at lo- cal markets. We’ll be at the Cottage Mar- ket monthly and various others, so please keep an eye on our Facebook for updates. Reuse Reduce Recycle Shop “If 1 Million women bought their next item of clothing secondhand instead of new, we would save 6 Million kg of Car- bon Pollution from entering the atmos- phere” Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All donations welcome. Sonairte Eco-shop In today’s world we are all trying to find more ways to be kind to the planet. In Sonairte we have an Eco-Refill Station, you can now refill your Lilly’s and Ecover cleaning products, and Faith in Nature body wash etc. into any container without having to buy the packaging. We have a large range of Eco-Friendly products in store, so please drop in Fri- day-Sunday 10am-5pm. Volunteer Thank you to all our new Volunteers who have been a great help here at Sonairte, if you’ve handed in a form and not heard anything back, please email eventssonairte@gmail.com As always we need volunteers to keep de- veloping the Centre, mainly to help main- tain the garden, if you have a few hours to spare and would like to help us please email hello@sonairte.ie or contact us on Facebook and we will be in touch with you. Sonairte Café New Opening Hours Due to the amazing feedback, Our Sonairte Café is now open Fridays also. So come and try our fabulous vegan and vegetarian Sonairte© November 2019 The Meath Coaster 44 Drogheda Grammar School Junior Cycle Results Day O ur TY students received their much anticipated Junior Cycle results on Friday 4 th October. One could not help but be moved by the mixture of relief and ela- tion on show as those fateful envelopes were opened. We are very proud of our students and delighted to see their hard work pay off. RTÉ Youth Assembly on Climate Well done to TY student Clodagh Don- nelly who has been selected to be a del- egate at the first ever RTÉ Youth Assem- bly on Climate in Dáil Éireann. In the context of the centenary of the first Dáil, 157 young people have been selected to take part in this one-day Youth Assembly to establish the next urgent steps for Ire- land in terms of climate. A unique chance for young people to discuss what Ireland needs to do to tackle climate issues. The final session, in the historic Dáil Chamber, will be broadcast on RTÉ News Now and Oireachtas TV. Well done to Clodagh for being selected! Drogheda Grammar School - Looking to the Future Drogheda Grammar School wishes to thank Philip Le Goy (Senior Consultant Engineering, ESB) and Engineers Ireland for the generous donation of a ‘car ma- chine’ which can be used to teach students about renewable energy technology. The machine (pictured) runs on solar power and uses hydrogen to fuel the car through a power cell. No stranger to Drogheda Grammar School, Philip has worked with the Career Guidance Department and gen- erously given of his time to deliver pres- entations on the Science and Engineering world to our students. We are grateful to him for his time and interest. His donation will inspire the academic and vocational lives of DGS students for years to come. English Trip On Tuesday 1 st October, our 6 th year stu- dents attended a production of J.M Synge’s play “The Playboy of the Western World” in the Gaiety Theatre, as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival. Now well into their revi- sion of this play for their Leaving Certifi- cate course, the students really enjoyed this modern adaption of the classic play. Finally, well done to PE teacher Ms Jen- kinson who is currently representing our school and country with distinction at the Netball Nations Cup in Singapore. Truly a role model for our students! © November 2019 The Meath Coaster 45 Photo of recent 3 rd year Geography trip to Italy. Not long now! Past Pupils Reunion on Saturday 2 nd No- vember. Tickets are on sale directly from The Westcourt Hotel, Drogheda ( 041 9830965). More details can also be found on Maths week comes to a close Maths Week Ireland is an all-Ireland cel- ebration of Mathematics and promotes awareness, appreciation and understand- ing of maths through a huge variety of events and activities. ‘Being numerate’ is a cornerstone of Drogheda Grammar School and so we relished the opportunity to celebrate all things mathematic. In the front hall, there was a display stand with maths problems, conundrums and infor- mation about careers and maths. There was an eagerly contested ‘How many sweets in the Jar’ completion run by three enterprising TY students all week, with money raised going to charity. All 2 nd year students took part in a Maths quiz in the Dining Hall run by the TYs. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable week for all the students. Our thanks to all of the Maths department who took the time to organise these events for the students. Anti-Bullying Week Anti-Bullying week began on Monday 21 st with the theme of “Change Starts with Us”. TY students will be selling wrist- bands to raise money for the very worthy ‘Barnardos’ and ‘Children in Need’ chari- ties. A novel highlight of the week’s activ- ities will certainly be the ‘Odd Socks Day’ on Tuesday 22 nd . Finally, anti bullying plays will be performed for junior cycle © November 2019 The Meath Coaster 46 and senior cycle students on Wednesday of the same week. Pictured are second- year students beside the ‘Unity Tree’ - a fitting centrepiece for a successful week. Sport Updates Our girls soccer team travelled to the Ire- land vs Ukraine women’s soccer match Tallaght Stadium. It was a great night to see Ireland win with a record-breaking crowd in attendance. Well done to our first-years boys hockey team who recorded an impressive 2-0 win against Kings’ Hospital. Our second-year team were unlucky to concede a late goal against the same opposition and suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat. Some fantastic play on show from both sides. Unfortunately, both of our boys teams were unlucky against two strong Sandford teams on the 23 rd Oc- tober. Another step forward for these new players. Finally, well done to PE teacher Ms Jen- kinson who is currently representing our school and country with distinction at the Netball Nations Cup in Singapore. Truly a role model for our students!© November 2019 The Meath Coaster 47 A number of TY students who participated in a Hell and Back challenge in October. Our students wasted no time in getting in- volved! §© November 2019 The Meath Coaster 48 Budget 2020 Small increase in self-employed and home carer tax credits T he Earned Income tax credit provided to the self-employed and proprietary directors who cannot qualify for the PAYE tax credit, will be increased by €150 in 2020 to €1,500. This will mean a minor income tax saving of €150 p.a. for most self-employed and proprietary directors. The home carer tax credit will be in- creased in 2020 to €1,600. This credit can be claimed by a married couple who are jointly assessed for income tax where one spouse works in the home caring for a de- pendent person, e.g. a child. Increase in the child CAT Threshold The CAT Threshold which applies to gifts and inheritances taken by children from their parent has been increased by €15,000 to €335,000 with effect from 9 th Octo- ber 2019. There is no change in the other Thresholds or in the CAT rate of 33%. The maximum Inheritance Tax saving from the increase is €4,950. No increase in State Pension However, the Living Alone allowance will be increased by €5 pw from €9pw to €14 pw from March 2020. In June 2018 the Revenue confirmed that the State Pension Christmas Bonus could, once received, be counted as income for the purposes of the €12,700 specified income test to avoid having to invest €63,500 of retirement funds in an AMRF or annuity or to unlock an AMRF already held. Increase in Social Welfare rates for children Social Welfare benefit rates are increased to €36 per week for under 12 and €40 per week for 12 and over. Life Assurance Pensions Income Protection Investments Financial Planning Drumgoole Financial Services is regulated by The Central Bank of Ireland Oran Drumgoole QFA Phone 087 668 6624 Office 041 981 2080 oran@drumgoolebrokerage.ie www.drumgoolebrokerage.ie Increase in employer’s PRSI rates Because of a 0.1% increase in the Nation- al Training Fund Levy (which is collected with PRSI) the employer’s PRSI Class A rate will increase from its current 10.95% to 11.05% in 2020, for employees earn- ing more than €386 pw. For lower earn- ers, the employer’s PRSI Class A rate will increase from 8.7% to 8.8% in 2020. Help to Buy scheme extended for an- other two years The Help to Buy scheme gives a rebate of income tax paid over the previous 4 years to first time buyers of 5% of the purchase price/value of their new home up to €500,000, subject to a maximum re- bate of €20,000 per property. The scheme only applies where the mortgage is at least 70% of the home value. Increase in Stamp Duty for commercial property The Stamp Duty rate payable on the pur- chase of non-residential property will be increased from its current 6% rate to 7.5% with effect from 9 th October 2019. This will impact on pension investors invest- ing in non-residential Irish property after 9 th October 2019. Have a question? 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