February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Patrick Markey
Frank McCourt is not the only famous name recently linked to Limerick. Sabrina McCarthy has also found herself in the county’s headlines.
She may not be a Pulitzer prize-winning author, but the 21-year-old Limerick lass is a first in another field. She’s the county’s only female firefighter.
The Limerick Leader reports that McCarthy joined the Foynes unit where she found herself in familiar company — her father, Tossy, is station officer and her uncle Patrick Fitzgerald is also a member of the firefighting team.
But to qualify for her place on the team, Sabrina had to rely on her own strength. And the testing procedure for aspiring firefighters makes no distinction between men and women.
Despite her familial connections, McCarthy said she had prepared hard for the test, doing lots of physical exercise. On the day itself, she had to climb a 45-foot ladder, carry a 12-stone dummy for 100 meters, do various dexterity tests and wear breathing apparatus.
Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter
"She passed with flying colors," said Assistant Chief Fire Officer Frank Dennison. "It is a first for the county and we are delighted to have her on board."
Firefighting was something she always wanted to do, Sabrina explained. "I grew up with it and I always liked it," she said.
Shocking fall
Mark Carey is a lucky little lad.
The Limerick Post reports that the 7-year-old was playing with his friends on a recent Friday evening in the public playground in Clonlara village when he fell out of a tree onto electrical cables carrying 10,000 volts.
He had climbed up a favorite tree, but somehow lost his balance and fell onto the powerful electrical cables below. The shock threw him back into the tree, where he lay dazed. Luckily, Mark escaped with little more than badly burned fingers.
Mark has only a hazy memory of how he got down from the tree and to his home, 400 yards away. But his mother has a clearer recollection of her youngest child bursting into the kitchen screaming that he was "all burned."
"His hands and his shirt and jumper were burned and when I pulled off the jumper I could see that the burns were all the way up as far as his elbow on one arm," she said.
"A friend of mine was there and she started shouting for me to call an ambulance. I wanted to drive him straight to the hospital myself, but she said that he could go into shock. Thank God he’s all right. He’s our baby, if anything ever happened to him . . . "
Voguing in Belfast
Belfast, once blighted by almost daily sectarian violence, has entered into the ranks of the Europe’s trendy cities, at least according to an international fashion magazine.
The Belfast Telegraph newspaper reports that fashion bible Vogue has just published its new Address Book, which highlights the best shops, restaurants, hotels and pubs across the UK and Ireland.
The 40-page guide lists some of the choicest spots to shop, stay and eat in Belfast. City center designer stores Carter and The Glasshouse — boasting labels such as Amanda Wakeley, Ralph Lauren, Ted Baker and Plein Sud — are mentioned.
Smyth and Gibson, famous for its hand-produced shirts, and funky clothes shop Apache are also included.
Under "Where to Eat," Deane’s, Roscoff and Nick’s Warehouse are singled out as worthy contenders. And the recently opened Crescent Townhouse and Madison’s Hotel — both situated on Botanic Avenue — are listed as the in places to stay.
Jaz Mooney of Botanic Inns said Belfast was currently an exciting place to be.
"Belfast has two great universities and so many young people looking for new ways to spend their hard-earned cash," he said.
"This is absolute proof that Belfast has developed a style of its own to rival any UK city," another proprietor said.