The Green News
Read the latest issue of Abu Dhabi Irish Society's newsletter. You can also download current and previous newsletters in the News Archive on the left.
In addition to Irish Society news, we are happy to include breaking news from our new sister website, Abu Dhabi Na Fianna (www.abudhabinafianna.com) while it is getting up and running. Click here.
Hello and Welcome
Joe Somers, President, Abu Dhabi Irish Society, Nov 2005
Hello and welcome to the first edition of "Green News". The
newsletter for the Abu Dhabi Irish Society. Bi-monthly I will be letting you
know what events are happening in the United Arab Emirates, which might be of
interest to the Irish community in Abu Dhabi. So far this year we kicked off
with the AGM in September and this was closely followed by the Irish Society’s
Children’s Halloween Party (see report below). We have quite a line up of events
planned for the year so make sure you are on the mailing list so you don’t miss
out. With this being my first year as President of the Irish Society I look
forward to an exciting year with my goal being to welcome all the Irish in Abu
Dhabi in to the Irish Society. As the saying goes, "together we can make a
difference." Joe Somers, President Irish Society.
Children’s Halloween Party
The Crowne Plaza rooftop poolside experienced an influx of ghouls, vampires
and other scary beings on the evening of the 31st October as 45 Irish Society
children, all in costume, celebrated Halloween by dancing, eating and playing
games. The evening started with some very spirited musical chairs foll
owed by
pin the tail on the camel and musical statues. The food provided included bloody
finger sandwiches, stuffed dinosaur eggs and snake bits to name but a few.
Everyone agreed that the food was of very high quality with a choice of over 15
dishes. There were prizes presented for the best costumes, which left the judges
with quite a task due to the caliber of the contestants. The night was finished
off with Kevin Garvey telling a story with a very scary ending. A great night
was had by all and hopefully there were not too many sleepless nights after the
festivities.
Irish Society’s Upcoming Events
Round the House. The first Round the House is planned for Wednesday, November 16th and will be held in the "living room" in P.J.’s bar at the Royal Meridien. If you can sing a song, bang a drum or just want to listen to good Irish music then this is the place to be, 8 till late and craic agus ceol guaranteed.
Read on, or visit the Calendar for more events
Children’s Christmas Party.
Tuesday, December 13th is the date for the Irish Society children’s party which will be held in the Majilis room in the Crowne Plaza. There will be games and a bouncy castle, followed by a feast of Christmas treats (and a few treats for the parents). Then there will be a visit from ‘the big man’ himself, Santa Claus, who will have a gift for all the (good) children.
Irish Society / GAA Christmas Dinner
The Irish Society in association with the GAA, An Fianna, is hosting a Christmas dinner at the Crowne Plaza on Sunday, December 25th for all those who don’t fancy doing the cooking (or washing up) themselves.
Tickets for this event will be available by the first week in December. Price will include welcome drinks, one bottle of house beverage per person, and a menu, which includes every Christmas delicacy, you could imagine. Times will be 1600 till late and a full pay bar will be available.
Kid’s GAA Training
Don't forget: kid’s GAA and Hurling training every Friday at 3.30 at the football ground behind Musalla Eid, Open Prayer Yard just of airport road at 13th street. All ages catered for. Contact Johnny Rea on mobile 5969601 for further details.
New Website
This week I got my first glimpse the website of the Irish Society Abu Dhabi and it is impressive to say the least. Soon you will be able to check the events and goings on of the Irish Society with just one click. Enda Tuomey has done sterling work by setting it up in a very short space of time and I imagine by the quality of the work that there were some very late nights involved. We should be going live with this in the coming weeks and I will inform all when it happens. Again, well done Enda.
Irish Dancing
I am pleased to say that due to an overwhelming demand the Irish Society is running Irish dancing classes for ages 5 to 16. Claire Anthony will be teaching the classes and with over 13 years experience I would say the students are in very good hands.
Siobhan Farrell will be the administrator for the classes and following last Saturday’s registrations, the classes are filling up quite quickly. As spaces are limited I would urge you, if interested to contact Siobhan as soon as possible on Abu Dhabi-6325626. Timings for the class are Saturdays from 4-30 to 6.
Irish Teacher Wanted
We are looking for an Irish Teacher to teach adults and children the basics of “Gailge”. If you can spare 1 hour per week then please contact Sean Farrell on Abu Dhabi-6325626.
GAA News
Our friends, An Fianna, are hosting a Golf Tournament on Thursday, November 10th at the Al Ghazal Golf Club. Tee off time will be approx. 1300. For further information contact Declan Brady at dbrady@hct.ac.ae
Thursday, Nov 17th and Thursday, 24th will see two events but which event on which date has still to be decided. There will be a game against Dubai played in Abu Dhabi and the second event will be a desert safari. I will confirm when the dates are decided.
Wednesday, Nov 30th is the date to get the wigs out of the closet and head down to Heroes for the ABBA Night. So if you think there is a bit of Benny, Bjorn, Frieda or Agnita in you then now is the time to let it out. If the last GAA “Grease” night is anything to go by, this should be a great night.
Friends Of Galle
We are all very aware of the good work that the Friends of Galle are doing to help the child victims of the Asian Tsunami, which occurred last December. They are having a Musical Dinner Evening on Wednesday 23rd November at the Crowne Plaza to raise much-needed funds for their cause. Tickets are going fast and can be purchased from Lisa who can be contacted on mobile-4438467.
Membership
They say that a society is only as successful as the members, well I say it anyway, and we need more. So whether you are only new in Abu Dhabi or a long time resident I urge you to join. Do you know someone who has just arrived and would like to get on the social scene or perhaps someone who has been here for years and might not be aware that we exist? Even persons with no ties to Ireland but have expressed an interest in all things Irish can join as an associate member. .
I have membership forms, which I can send by e-mail to any interested party. Just drop me a line to irishsocietyabudhabi@yahoo.com and I will forward the forms on.