The Sky and the Ground
GLENMORE’S MIA GRIFFIN ATTRIBUTES HER CAMOGIE BACKGROUND TO HER EXPLOSIVITY ON THE BIKE
IN 1989 I was sent to England with my New York Band to do a support tour for my album ‘ The Sky and the Ground’. My London-based record company was planning to make an all-out effort to make this – my second album – stick, and we were off to a positive start with very strong reviews.
At the time I was on a nowheat diet, which caused me to get a very painful ear infection. Naturally, not being able to hear in one ear, caused a lot issues with the sound, but I had to keep going, it costs a lot of money to bring a five-piece band to England from the States.
The shows would have operated at a loss, in England, it’s even common to pay to tour with bands like The Stranglers, as we did.
When checking out London, we happened past the Tower Records shop in Piccadilly Circus. There for the first time I saw a serious window display for my music.
The massive window was taken up with life-size posters of me in bovver boots and tight black jeans, throwing a punch towards the camera, it was from the cover of ‘ The Sky and The Ground’.
Standing there with a band of young New Yorkers, I was confronted with the results of years of hard work, and it was oddly unsettling. Maybe it was partly because of the weakness caused by my ear pain, but for whatever reason I found it unnerving to look at myself, looking out at me, in Piccadilly Circus.
That summer my stable mate Suzanne Vega was headlining at Glastonbury and I was on the 12 noon slot. The police arrived at 11am and advised Suzanne to cancel, someone had threatened to shoot her on stage! (turns out it was the bass player’s jilted girlfriend) because the caller knew every detail, the police felt it was their duty to sternly suggest a cancellation, or at least to play a shorter set.
Standing there in the trailer dressing room, we all scratched our heads. Then Suzanne suggested that I go on before her, after which she would do a shorter set, we shared the same manager, and Suzanne loved ‘ The Sky and the Ground’. Suzanne came out to introduce us to the 60,000 people at 7pm, the minute I walked on stage a voice came from the thousands of faces shouting ‘Wan de Pierce’. Wexicans are everywhere.
It backfired with the English pop press though, they claimed that we made the whole thing up. The combination of their guttural tone, my painful ear, a band that was too young, and touring tirelessly, was so negative, I just wanted to go back to New York and regroup, my skin is not that thick. The album ran out of steam, and we began another. But to this day, 12 albums later, it is still one of my favourites.
My niece Jennifer and her husband Diran, called me from London to say that they were opening a bar in Wexford with her auntie Nuala and her husband Johnny Barron.
Johnny had been trying to come up with a name for the bar, and while rifling through his vinyl, he picked out ‘ The Sky and the Ground’ – would I be ok with that as a name for the bar? And would I play on the opening night? Yes, and yes, said I.
The last live gig I played was at the ‘Sky’ last December, with an audience of 15, I am so glad the ‘Sky’ survived that fire. I’m proud that it’s named after my song.
‘ Suzanne came out to introduce us to the 60,000 people at 7pm, the minute I walked on stage a voice came from the thousands of faces shouting ‘Wan de Pierce’. Wexicans are everywhere
A NEW ROSS man who campaigned to get explorer Tom Crean’s name immortalised in a research vessel is celebrating after the government’s new 52.8 meter Marine Institute Research vessel is to be named RV Tom Crean.
John Dimond said he was thrilled to hear that the Kerry man’s name is associated with the Norwegian designed vessel. The RV Tom Crean will be built in Spain and completed by the end of 2022. It will be based in Galway and is able to operate in rough sea conditions and explore the deep water around the coast.
The €25m vessel has been commissioned by the Marine Institute and will replace the current research vessel, the Celtic Voyager.
John Dimond played a key role in a petition to get a new state-of-the art research vessel is to be named after his hero, Irish polar explorer Tom Crean.
John is known for his work at New Ross Boat Club. He said: ‘I have a deep interest in the Antarctic. I got Michael Smith’s book Unsung Heroes and when Tim Foley, who is from a neighbouring parish of Annascaul, started an honour Tom Crean campaign and published a book. When Tom was launching his book in 2018 I went down to the South Pole Inn and met him and got a copy of it and when the petition was handed into Paul Kehoe, because he was a local TD I had a few words with him and met him. He was Minister for defence and marine at the time. The petition was handed in with over 10,000 signatures.
The online petition is still going with over 16,000 signatures on it.’
John got a mention in our sister paper The Kerryman last week and is excited to one day see the vessel first hand.
‘ Tom Crean was a fantastic man, like many people who served in the British Army and Navy, when they came home they never mentioned anything about their ordeal because of the troubles of the time and a lot of their stories went unnoticed. It’s very exciting to be part of this story. He was only an ordinary seaman unlike Scott and Shakleton, they kept their diaries and logs but Tom Crean’s actions show up in their records.’
Both John and his friend Seamus Kiely are members of the New Ross Historical Society and Seamus also holds a great interest in the polar Antarctica exploration of Robert Falcon Scott on board Discovery 1901-1904 Terra Nova 1910-1913 and Ernest Shackleton on the Endurance 1914-1916.
‘ The link between the two exporters and the three trips is the outstanding strength and bravery of one man, Tom Crean from Annascaul from just outside Dingle,’ Seamus and John said.
THE home fires and central heating systems are well and truly burning as the coldest months of the Irish winter find us locked down in our houses for longer periods and feeling the need for home comfort more than we ever have before.
Many people make the mistake of thinking the worst of the winter is over once January is out and the evenings start to get incrementally longer but that is not the case and this time of year can deliver some icy surprises as evidenced by the Beast from the East in 2017.
Every year, an estimated 20% of home oil customers and 35% of commercial customers run out of oil. An empty tank is a nightmare, especially when temperatures are arctic - an unheated house can become a freezing icebox in mid-winter and an air lock in the pipes is an added problem.
Don’t play Russian Roulette with the central heating button, crossing your fingers and hoping the oil won’t have run out just yet. It’s a long time since that oil fill delivery last year. It’s time to check the oil level and ensure you have enough to get you through the last few months of cold weather.
Let’s face it, in Ireland, we need to keep the home fires burning well into Spring - the Government’s fuel allowance for people on long-term social welfare assistance, is paid from October to April, in recognition of the country’s six-month winter.
Thankfully, County Wexford households and businesses are well-served by experienced and reliable fuel suppliers who are always ready to oblige customers with a last-minute home delivery of oil , gas, coal or timber in small or large quantities, for the tank, fire or stove.
There are numerous companies that offer competitive prices and a prompt and professional service that you can depend on.
Our fuel consumption has been significantly higher this year due to the Covid-19 lockdowns which have seen families working and learning from home, requiring heating systems to be left on for longer periods. People who are working from home should remember that they are entitled to claim tax relief from Revenue on a percentage of their heating bills to help offset the increased costs associated with remote working.
With many other simple enjoyments withdrawn from us during the pandemic, there is one pleasure we can enjoy - the reassuring cosiness of a warm comfortable house on chilly mornings and frosty nights.
This is an added reason to make sure that you do not run out of supplies and if you stock up now, you will have reserves for next autumn, and potentially avoid price increases.
Turbo charged and ready for whatever the 2021 cycling season brings, Mia Griffin is preparing for two of the biggest races of her life as she aims for a breakthrough year.
Mia (22) from Glenmore came third in the European Championships in October, rounding off an impressive year.
The former St Mary’s student has been out as an elite athlete doing four hour cycles over recent weeks, and turbo training at home when the weather has been bad.
She is racing in Belgium on February 27 and in March also.
‘2020 was a difficult year. Obviously we wouldn’t have been able to compete in as many races as we planned. A lot of it was lockdown so I trained a lot in Switzerland during spring with my boyfriend. It was three or four months of hard training so we did a lot of racing on track.’
Mia met her boyfriend, who is competing for a place on the Swiss cycling team for the next Olympics, at the European Games in Minsk in 2019.
Placing seventh in a race in which Mia competed against 120 women gave her encouragement ahead of a major pro race called Les Samyn in Belgium. ‘That was my first really big pro race. It’s a 1.2, one step down from the biggest races that the best cyclists in the world compete in. I was happy to finish that race. Out of 170 starters around 100 finished. I came in the sixties.’
Completing the 97km race travelling at an average speed of 38km/h was another boost for Mia.
She has been home in Ireland on and off since last summer.
‘I raced in some mens races and time trials and won a time trial in Wicklow over ten miles.’
The U23 Euros in October saw Mia come up against some of the world’s top competitors in the 1.2 division. ‘I was fourth in the road race and in the time trials in the nationals, unfortunately, leading up to the Euros. I came fourth in the Individual Pursuit race in the Euros which allowed me a second ride. I came up against a previous junior world champion and rode four seconds faster than my initial ride in that 3km event and ended up with a bronze medal which was awesome.’
Having been confident the distance suited her, Mia attributes her success in shorter races to the explosivity she brings to the pedal from her camogie days. ‘Coming from a camogie background I was quite powerful over a three, four minute effort. The short, sharp burst of explosivity helps. I was so happy when it felt like all the effort clicked in that day and all the work the coaches brought to my camogie and cycling game – all came to fruition.’
It took Mia almost four years to find her cycling legs once she decided to step back from playing inter county camogie with Kilkenny and with her beloved Glenmore GAA Club. ‘I played with Glenmore since I was tiny. We won county finals with the minor and intermediate team. I played with the county team since I was at U14 level and we won an All Ireland minor title. I left camogie for cycling when I was captain of the intermediate Kilkenny squad. It was a difficult decision for me to make to leave my club as they were so good to me down through the years. It was really important to me to see players like Bridget Mulally who was a huge inspiration and one of the best camogie players to ever play the game.’
The daughter of PJ and Maria said she has always gotten great support from her family.
After the Euros she had a fortnight’s break. ‘That was the only substantial break I took during the year other than two or three days here and there.’
Doing on average 19 hours a week training, Mia said she is feeling great heading into racing season.
‘Usually I start the week with a recovery day. On Tuesday I do two hours gym work with some efforts (going up and down hills) for eight minutes at a time. On Wednesday I do a long cycle of three to four hours. Thursday is gym and sprint efforts. On Friday I do 90 minutes heavy training and on Saturday I do three hours of efforts, followed by a four hour ride on Sundays.’
Mia has been joined by her father, a Comeragh cycling club member, for some spins in her locality, and is enjoying family time these days.
As an Irish cycling team elite athlete funded by Sport Ireland she has an exemption to train outside of her 5km limit.
‘I’m lucky in that regard. I vary my cycle routes a lot because going on the same roads would be very monotonous. I go out into the wind and come back with a head wind.’
She says diet plays an important part in her training, but she is still allowed to indulge her love of chocolate. ‘It depends on the amount of training I am doing. In some periods I can get away with eating a lot. If I am on a recovery period or a de-load particularly I have to watch what I am eating. I’m a sucker for a bit of chocolate. I still have it because I think life would be too sad without it. My diet can be really flexible and it’s important not to deprive yourself on the bike. I eat 60mgs of carbs on the bike and eat banana break, Nature Valley bars and rice cakes while cycling, but if I’m racing I’ll be hopping off the Jelly Babies and gels.’
Mia aims to improve her road racing game this year and to continue to get podium places in track racing. ‘I think I have a lot to learn with road racing. This will be my first proper season and I hope to make improvements.’
With worlds and European championships coming up, she will also be competing in Wevelegem later this year, and hopes races don’t get cancelled. Financing her career has proven difficult. ‘My funding is only €12,000 so it doesn’t go really far when you are travelling around and keeping bikes. My road team provide all of the bikes and I’ve no rent when I’m in Mallorca because Cycling Ireland have facilities there and we have a team house in Belgium but it is a struggle on the financial side. I think ever bit of financial support is needed.’
She said the sport had a bad name due to doping scandals, but it has cleaned up lately. ‘I think women’s cycling especially is on the up. Maybe not mens. Women’s cross country is definitely gaining traction and the worlds had more views than the mens. Cycling has really cleaned up as a sport regarding doping. In Ireland we are rigorously tested and there are good rule around that.’
As if she wasn’t busy enough, Mia is also doing a
I LEFT CAMOGIE FOR CYCLING WHEN IWAS CAPTAIN OF THE INTERMEDIATE KILKENNY SQUAD. ITWAS A DIFFICULT DECISION FOR ME