Motormouth’s Mutterings. Paddy Hopkirk & Alec Poole are in Dalkey on Monday- and I’m interviewing them!

Wondering what to do this bank holiday Monday? Wonder no more. If you are into cars, (and you must be if you are reading this!) then get yourself to the church in the beautiful village of Dalkey from 12 midday on Monday for the Dalkey Vintage Festival. Not only will Paddy Hopkirk’s famous Monte Carlo Rally winning Mini be there, but the man himself is making an appearance too! I am delighted to say that I have been tasked with interviewing Paddy. I have chatted with him before, most recently at the RIAC Classic Car show in the RDS, and he is always entertaining.

As if it were not worth the trip just for that, Alec Poole will also be there and I hope to have a chat with him too. “The Pooler” as he is affectionately known, was the British Touring Car Champion back in 1969 in a Cooper S and also lists amongst his achievements a third place finish in the Daytona 24 Hour Race!

Other attractions include a second works Mini, ORX777F, Damian Duff’s 1962 Mercedes SE220 and the beautiful AXA Insurance owned VW Bus which is currently starring in RTE’s Wild Atlantic Way TV programme with John Creedon. For Ferrari fans, there will be an ex-Michael Schumacher Ferrari 456GT! This is the first car that the Scuderia gave him when he joined the team in 1996. There will also be many other classic cars and for a small donation to The Down Syndrome Centre, you can enjoy a passenger spin around Dalkey in one of them, including Schu’s Ferrari!

For further information on the Festival, contact Camillo Borza – 086 8052226 camilloborza@gmail.com

 

The Down Syndrome Centre was established in October 2014 and founded by Peter and Mary Gaw, parents of four children, two of whom have Down Syndrome.

Why is it needed? “Children with Down Syndrome require early access to therapies in order to help them reach their full potential as adults. Unfortunately there is a huge lack of support and services currently available to them. The Down Syndrome Centre aims to bridge that gap and ensure that each child gets all the support that they require to reach their potential in life. While we were born out of frustrations we now operate under a strict code of positivity and ability! Instead of focussing on the negative side of the syndrome we look at the positive attributes our children bring to society.

We provide essential services like Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, an early intervention group therapy called SKIP, Baby Massage and a Parent and Toddler group. The centre is designed to be a home from home, we want our families to feel welcome and enjoy comfortable surroundings while their child attends their therapy. We believe that every child has the right to be included in society and accepted by their peers.

We believe that, with the right support and services, a child is Able2 reach his/her full potential in life. This is why ‘I’m able2’ is a tagline we utilise across a variety of campaigns we run each year depicting images of our children promoting positive attitudes towards Dow syndrome.

Unfortunately we do not receive any Government funding and rely solely on the generosity of the public to continue our essential work. The work we do is essential in building a bright future for children with Down Syndrome and we are truly grateful for your support.”