The Leinster Champioships took place last weekend at Scarr, Co. Wicklow on a glorious sunny day. It was originally due to be held on a new sand dune map in Co Wexford, but because Pat Healy is posted to the Lebanon it was changed to the venue of the 2002 Irish Championships. In fact the courses did not take in Scarr Mountain itself but stayed on Kanturk Mountain and the forest and open areas north of it. Most courses started in the open flat boggy area just off the Military Road, then climbed up Kanturk to the complex contour area around the summit. They then descended through a semi open forest section with lots of boulders and crags, and rough underfoot conditions, before finishing in the forest. Winners for Fingal were Clare Hopkins, W12, Jean O'Neill, W60, and Eddie Hogan, W70. Other places were Ciana Jones, 2nd W12, Erika Jones, 2nd W18, Sarah Ní Ruairc, 3rd W21S, Deridre O'Neill, 3rd W35, Mark Hoare 3rd M10, Shane Hoare 2nd M12, We must also commend our rising star, Fiach O'Rourke, who came 4th on M21L and he's still only 18!

<- Kathryn Walley finishing at the Leinster Champs.

We had a great day for our Spring cup league event at Carnawaddy, with bright sunshine and a light breeze, perfect for orienteering. The attendance was somewhat disappointing, with some people attending a rival army reserve event, some traveling to the Spring Cup in Denmark, the annual student champs on in Belfast, some forgetting about the hour change, and perhaps some not willing to travel to Co. Louth even though the new motorway would take them most of the way. Everyone who came enjoyed the event and there were many compliments on Ciaran's courses, and on the quality of the area. This time everyone saw what it was really like. Times were also quite fast indicating that the area is quite runnable compared to some other open mountain areas. Thanks to Ciaran Young for planning the event, Mick Mangan of Setanta for controlling, Tommy Burke for organizing, Val Jones for operating the SportIdent, and other helpers, Bernie Sharkey, Ian Murphy, Jim Hoare, Erika, Clara and Ciana Jones, and Lisa Kirwan.

Results

Splits

Our next event is our Spring Cup League event at Carnawaddy, near Dundalk, Co. Louth. Ciaran Young is planning the event, with Mick Mangan of Setanta as Controller. Tommy is the organizer while Val Jones will operate SportIdent. Hopefully the weather will be better this time than the Leinster Championship two years ago so you can enjoy the spectacular views. The registration and start this time will be on the east side of the mountain just north of the Windy Gap on the road overlooking Omeath, Carlingford Lough, and Warrenpoint. The usual 6 league courses will be available ranging from 1.3K to 8K.

Grid Reference of Registration: J 126 144

Course details are as follows:

Course	Length Km	Climb M	Controls	Control Descriptions
Brown	8.0	360 M	15	Click to view
Blue	6.3	240 M	16	Click to view
Green	4.1	220 M	10	Click to view
Light Green	3.6	165 M	13	Click to view
Orange	2.1	95 M	12	Click to view
Yellow	1.3	30 M	8	Click to view

Directions
From Dublin take the M1 north past Dundalk. At the end of the M1 follow the signposts for Carlingford back to the Ballymascanlon roundabout, then take the road to Carlingford from there. About 1 mile down that road take a right turn after a school signposted for Omeath. Immediately after the turn keep right at a Y junction, then at the next junction turn right then immediately left up the hill past Rockmarshal. Continue on to the Windy Gap (The gap between Carlingford Mountain and Carnawaddy), about 3 miles. Keep left at both junctions, then the assembly area is at a layby about 1 kilometre further on.
From Newry take the road to Omeath. In Omeath take a right turn at the cross roads and continue up to the Windy Gap. Take a sharp right when you get to the Windy Gap.

Fiach's Junior fundraiser event in Santry, the first event in Santry, went off well and everyone enjoyed the bright sunny morning.

<- Sheamus O'Boyle at Santry

At the recent club meeting we decided to run our Scatter league event again next September. This time the 4 events will all be on Sundays. The events are provisionally scheduled os follows -
Sept 2nd - Ward River Valley, Swords
Sept 9th - Santry Woods Demesne
Sept 16th - St. Anne's Park, Raheny
Sept 23rd - Newbridge House, Donabate

The next event, not strictly a Fingal event, is a Junior Fundraiser Sprint event on our new map of Santry Woods, the park behind Santry Stadium. It is on Saturday, March 3rd, starting at 11.00 AM. The event is being planned by Fiach O'Rourke. If you are free on the day please come along to support the Juniors and give Fiach a hand if you can.

After that we will be holding a League event on Carnawaddy, near Dundalk, on Sunday, March 25th. Ciaran Young is planning it, and Mick Mangan of Setanta is controller. Tommy Burke is the organizer and Val Jones will be operating the Sportident.

Our next mapping project is Castletown House, in Celbridge. The base map is ready and surveying will start when the weather improves and the days get longer. Tommy Burke, Val Jones, and Fiach O'Rourke will be doing the survey. If you want to get involved this is a relatively easy project to start on so please contact Val Jones.

Kathryn Walley, Sarah Ní Ruairc, and Erika Jones attended the recent first aid course held specifically with Orienteering in mind, in Roundwood. The course was very good, given by Pat Reid of the Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue.

Kathryn, Sarah, and Erika now join John Rowe, Tommy, and Joe O'Heafa as certified first aiders.

The Night-O event in St. Anne's Park, went off well. It was a mild clear night with almost a full moon. We had a good turnout, although not quite as many as last year. Much to our disappointment the Dollymount House is gone, so we adjourned to the Beachcomber in Killester for a small prizegiving afterwards. There were prizes for first male and female on each course. If you didn't get a prize check with a member of your club who was there. Click here for Results

There will be a junior squad fundraising event on our new map of Santry Woods on Saturday, March 3rd. Our star junior, Fiach O'Rourke, is planning the event, a Sprint-O event. Details will appear later, but if any club members can give Fiach a hand on the day please let him know.

Our recent event at Ardgillan Park was a reasonable success, given that many people, including some club members, were taking part in the port tunnel run, and the weather forecast for the day was pretty dreadful. Thankfully the rain held off for most of the day. The top runners availed of the option to do 2 courses and a rivalry built up between Andrew Johnstone and Christian Foley Fisher. Andrew won the A course, but Christian overturned that to win the B course. Thanks to all who helped out, Tommy Burke, Ray Linn, Ciaran Young, and Erika Jones.

Click here for Results

The Connaught Championships were held at Finner sand dunes in Donegal, near Ballyshannon. This area hadn't been used for a long time, and the map was updated for the event by Padraig Higgins. The sanddunes were quite intricate, with some very big dunes, and provided challenging and tough courses. The Eastern end of the map was more like the curragh with rifle ranges and gorse bushes. From Fingal Rachel Barrett won the W12 course and Jean O'Neill won W60. Other placings were Ciana Jones, 2nd W10, Clare Hopkins, 2nd W12, Erika Jones, 2nd W16, Fiach O'Rourke 2nd M18. Also there were Donal Kearns, Kathryn Walley, Val Jones, Clara Jones, Sean Flynn, and Sarah Ní Ruairc.

At our recent club meeting the main subject for discussion was the Scatter League, and what we should do next year. The general consensus was that we should hold the league on 4 consecutive Sundays in September. The venues will be decided later, but will be 4 out of Malahide Castle, Newbridge House, Ward River Valley, Ardgillen, St. Anne's Park, or Santry Woods. Ian Murphy also volunteered to map Tolka Valley in Blanchardstown.

The Northern Ireland Championships were held at Lough Navar, Co. Fermanagh, on October 7th. The area was a small wooded hillside overlooking Lough Erne. Parts were very steep with some intricate contour detail, and mixed deciduous and coniferous sections. There was only one road through the wood and the courses were planned to keep us off it for the most part. Next year's Irish Championships will be held near this area so this gave us a foretaste of what to expect.

Fingal Prizewinners were Donal Kearns, 1st M10, Fiach O'Rourke, 1st M18, Deirdre O'Neill, 1st W35, Jean O'Neill 1st W60, Ciana Jones 2nd W10, and Erika Jones 2nd W16.