7,000 cyclists expected to participate in 700 mile 14-day bike ride

First Minister Arlene Foster has backed an epic round-Ireland challenge aimed at breaking the cycle of suicide on the island of Ireland.

The fourth annual Cycle Against Suicide will cover fifteen counties and almost 700 miles over two weeks from Sunday 24^th April 2016 with over 7,000 cyclists expected to participate in the gruelling charity ride.

Cycle Against Suicide, founded by Irish entrepreneur Jim Breen, brings together cyclists of all abilities united in their desire to demonstrate that, shoulder to shoulder, they can break the cycle of suicide.

Over 800 people die by suicide in Ireland each year, with over 300 in Northern Ireland alone.

First Minister Arlene Foster said: “I am delighted to support Cycle Against Suicide with its fourth annual bike ride. The charity has been doing tremendous work to break down the barriers associated with mental health and suicide by spreading the message that ‘It’s OK not to feel OK; and it’s absolutely OK to ask for help’. I commend the organisers who volunteer their energies and the participants well in the challenge and I trust it will be an incredibly successful event.”

Beginning in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Cycle Against Suicide will take in southern and border counties of Northern Ireland, hopping in from Monaghan, with stops in Portadown, Cookstown, Omagh, Stranorlar, Glenties and Donegal Town.

The cyclists will then head down through Sligo, through the middle of Ireland and rounding off at Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford, before finishing up in Dublin, at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham on Saturday 7^th May.

Informative events will be hosted each day in schools and other locations along the route, with speakers ranging from celebrities to mental health professionals. There will also be an exhibition of local services at each venue, signposting people to where that critical help is available, if needed.

Jim Breen, Cycle Against Suicide founder said: “This is the fourth year of Cycle Against Suicide and we’re blown away with the phenomenal response from the communities involved in the Cycle. These communities are critical to helping us spread the message that “It’s OK not to feel OK; and it’s absolutely OK to ask for help”.

“Each year over the two weeks of our annual Main Cycle, we give presentations in schools, businesses and other locations all around the island of Ireland, and we witness how hugely responsive people are to that message.  We also see the value placed by individuals on their own mental wellbeing, and that of their friends and families.”

There are many ways to become involved in breaking the cycle of suicide on the island of Ireland. Cycle for a leg, a day, a weekend or maybe even the entire 14 days; offer your support as a volunteer; register as a Homestay Provider and host a cyclist as they pass through your community. Please e-mail volunteer@cycleagainstsuicide.com or homestays@cycleagainstsucide.com for more information.

Augmented Reality, or AR, is the amazing new technology that superimposes computer-generated images onto our view of the real world.

And this summer W5’s brand new AR exhibit is going bring dinosaurs roaring back into your world!

Prepare yourself for an encounter with some of the most realistic 3D animated dinosaurs you can get outside of a movie theatre. Watch yourself on the big screen as you get up close and personal with a T-Rex, get approached by a pack of curious raptors or try not to get trampled by a passing Diplodocus!

State of the art technology and prehistoric creatures combine to create a dynamic new experience. An experience that puts you right at the centre of the big screen action!

This brand new permanent exhibit goes live on Saturday 30 April and is FREE with admission to W5. For full information visit www.w5online.co.uk.

Ards and North Down Borough Council is delighted to announce that the award-winning Demon Barbers will return for one show only to perform at the Merry May Day celebrations in Holywood on Monday, 2 May.

Previous winners of Best Live Act at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, they are renowned for their no-holds-barred approach to their live shows and will bring to the stage a modern twist to their multi-award winning Roadshow. The Demon Barber’s live shows are one of the most imaginative and inspirational dance shows this decade, bringing some of the UK’s most exciting young Folk, Hip Hop & Break dancers together to create this live folk music spectacular! The show kicks off at 2pm.

As well as live music, there’ll be an array of colourful street theatre performing around the town centre on the day. Look out for “Amy Amelia,” the magical roving butterfly and a pair of giant squirrels called “The Nutkins” who will entertain the crowds with their walkabout acts. In front of the stage, there’ll be performances from The Sid Bowfin Show, a wonderful combination of classical music and comedy who’s sure to have everyone dancing in the street and The Two Man Band will take popular songs and rearrange them with tricks and stunts to wow the audience. Outside Holywood Library, a traditional Punch and Judy show will take place throughout the day. Take a trip down memory lane with this nostalgic show, a hit with young and old alike!

All the usual favourites have been organised by Holywood & District Community Council; Bonnie Baby Competition (10.30 am, Queen’s Leisure Complex) and Fancy Dress Competition (12.15pm – the themes this year are Princesses, Disney Characters, My Favourite Character from a Book). The May Queen will be crowned at 10.45am at The Maypole.

Over 60 stalls represented by local charities and traders will be in place throughout High Street and Church Road. Please note that Holywood Town Centre will be closed for most of the day.

The ever-popular Maypole Dancing will take place at 11am and 1pm. Young children can get their chance to dance around their own Maypole with Jump, Jiggle and Jive from 12 noon – 4pm.

And don’t forget if you fancy some shopping or a bite of lunch, most of Holywood’s shops and eateries will be open throughout the day.

So come on down to Holywood on Monday, 2 May from 10am – 4pm for a fun-filled day at this FREE EVENT!

For further information check out: www.visitardsandnorthdown.com

HASTINGS Hotels will make sure you’re full of the joys of spring with two fantastic offers.

The Europa Hotel, Belfast is offering an overnight stay with breakfast from only £95 per room. This offer includes a welcome cocktail upon arrival and is valid throughout May so book quickly to take advantage of this welcoming deal!

For more information call 028 9027 1066.

Culloden Estate and Spa invites you to take advantage of its 5-star Bubbles offer, which includes an overnight stay with a bottle of Prosecco waiting in your Executive room with breakfast, all for £90pps.

For more information call 028 9042 1066.

To find out more about Hastings Hotels go to www.hastingshotels.com.

*Terms and conditions apply. Subject to availability. 

Beannchor – Ireland’s largest hospitality group and owners of Belfast’s award-winning Merchant Hotel – has announced plans for expansion of its restaurant and hotel portfolio.

New sites are currently being explored for the Group’s Little Wing Pizzeria chain, which currently includes six restaurants across Northern Ireland.

Commenting on the news, Little Wing Managing Director, Luke Wolsey said: “The Little Wing brand has gone from strength to strength in recent years. Its success has proven that this is a good business model and we have ambitious plans for growth in the coming years.

“We are reviewing options for further expansion of Little Wing, with a number of sites being investigated across Northern Ireland. Looking to the future, we see the time arising whereby we will have reached a level of critical mass in Northern Ireland and will need to consider options in other markets for further growth. We are already tentatively looking at site locations in both the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.”

In addition, Beannchor has announced exciting plans for phase two of its new Bullitt hotel concept. The Group has acquired Annsgate House on Ann Street; the property adjoins Lagan House, which is currently being redeveloped to create the hotel.

Drawing on nearly 40 years of expertise in the industry to create a new and vibrant hospitality concept for the city, Bullitt – named after the Steve McQueen movie of the same name – will be an exciting new addition to the city’s social scene when Phase One opens later this year.

Bullitt will epitomise urban chic with stylish, contemporary surroundings, alongside affordable room rates. Located in a prime city centre location, wrapping Victoria Street, Ann Street and Church Lane, the hotel is a stone’s throw from Belfast’s shopping mecca, Victoria Square and the lively Cathedral Quarter. The hotel will be a social hub for city workers, locals and tourists alike, bringing a fresh approach to work, rest and play.

Phase one will feature 44 stylish mod-con clad bedrooms and a lively ground floor café, bar and restaurant will open later this year. Phase two, which is expected to open in 2017 (subject to planning), will add in excess of 30 rooms to the exciting new development.

Commenting on the announcement, James Sinton, Finance Director, Beannchor said: “Recent acquisitions have emanated from our trading confidence in the local market and our ability to create an exceptional new hotel concept for Belfast.

“Subject to planning, the addition of Annsgate House to our Bullitt hotel development will complement the existing footprint of Lagan House to deliver an 80 bed hotel in the heart of the City centre.”

The Beannchor Group owns pubs and hotels across Northern Ireland including The Merchant Hotel, The National Grande Café/sixty6, The Dirty Onion, Cuckoo and The Hillside, as well as six Little Wing Pizzerias, employing over 650 people.

In April 2016, The Merchant Hotel celebrates a ‘Decade of Decadence’ with a suite of luxurious offers to mark its 10^th anniversary. For further information, visit www.themerchanthotel.com

Budding artists of all ages can get their creative juices flowing this month at free art events at Project 24, Bangor organised by Ards and North Down Borough Council.

Amateur artists are invited to come along to Project 24 on Sunday 24 April 2016 between 12 noon and 4pm to enjoy a relaxed day of drawing and painting.  Bring your own art materials, sketch pads, sketch books and easels or just paint or sketch on your lap.  Why not bring a rug and a picnic and make a day of it!

Local artists Lee Boyd and Duncan Irvine will be on hand to guide you through some drawing and painting techniques, both offering lots of helpful hints and tips.  Choose a landscape, seascape or bring a favourite picture to paint from.  This event is suitable for adults only.

On Saturday 30 April 2016 between 12noon and 4pm the whole family can come along and enjoy an Open Day at Project 24, meeting the artists and makers at their art pods. Make a ceramic bird, try decoupage, have your portrait painted in 20 minutes or just enjoy some painting demonstrations and Artist talks.  There’s lots going on and it promises to be a creative afternoon for all.

Heather Parker, Craft Development Manager with Ards and North Down Borough Council said,

“We are delighted to have some very exciting creative events taking place at Project 24 right through to December this year, starting off with Sketch on a Sunday this Sunday and Open Art the following Saturday.  These events are a great opportunity for everyone to try something creative.  So, come along to Project 24, meet the Artists from the Art Pods, explore your imagination and show your creative flair!”

The free events will take place at Project 24, Queen’s Parade, Bangor on Sunday 24 April and Saturday 30 April.  Booking is not required; events will run from 12noon – 4pm.

For more information on events at Project 24, visit www.project24ni.com.

Antrim will host this year’s Annual Armed Forces Day celebrations in Northern Ireland on Saturday 18 June.

Do you have experience in; Parade Marshalling, Event Stewarding, Car Park Supervision, Crowd Management . . . that could help us deliver a brilliant Armed Forces Day event in Antrim Castle Gardens and Stadium?

If so . . . WE NEED YOU!

Volunteers will carry out a range of roles including Marshalling, Meet and Greet, and Stewarding of the parade. You will have access behind the scenes, get closer to the action and play a role in making this Northern Ireland regional event a huge success.

Volunteers are required from 9am -6pm on Saturday 18 June and must be age 18 years and over.  Free Parking, breaks and food vouchers will be provided.

A one hour training session will be provided in advance of the event.

Join our team and take part in this Northern Ireland Regional event. Armed Forces Day offers volunteers invaluable knowledge of delivering a safe, fun, family experience!

Volunteers must register by Friday 13 May.

To register your interest please contact: Vanessa Postle on 028 9034 0196 or email

vanessa.postle@antrimandnewtownabbey.gov.uk before Friday 13 May

www.volunteernow.co.uk

The SSE Arena, Belfast: Friday 28 October 2016
The 3Arena, Dublin: Saturday 29 October 2016

This year sees the band preparing to undertake their last ever Electric tour dates in the UK and Ireland.

Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Andrew Bown, John ‘Rhino’ Edwards and Leon Cave will plug back in and bring their thunderous electric live show back to Belfast and Dublin for the last time.

Packed with hits, both new and old, taken from that unbelievable back catalogue.  If you love Status Quo, you need to be there; if you’ve never before seen this truly legendary act play a full full-throttle no-nonsense electric set, you need to be there!

www.statusquo.co.uk

www.MCD.ie

Tickets on-sale FRIDAY 22 APRIL from 9am:

Ticketmaster

In person: From 100 Ticketmaster Outlets Nationwide

By Telephone (24 Hour): ROI – 0818 719 300, Northern Ireland – 0844 277 44 55

Buy Online: www.ticketmaster.ie

The SSE Arena Box Office

Tel: 028 9073 9074

Buy Online: www.ssearenabelfast.com

The fabulous work of Spike Milligan and Robin Glendinning will be staged at The Market Place Theatre in Armagh over the coming weeks, in a delectable treat for drama audiences.

Holywood Players, one of Northern Ireland’s leading amateur theatre companies, return to The Market Place with Robin Glendinning’s ‘The Week Before’. This is the story of the crazy week that precipitated the Easter Rising of 1916 which changed history. Pearse and MacDonagh were poets and romantic idealists who secretly organised the armed insurrection. Fitzgerald and MacNeill, the president of the Volunteers, were strongly opposed to a rising on practical and moral grounds and were ignorant of the advanced plans of the others. Birell, a brilliant civil servant who did much good in Ireland and his subordinate Nathan, were the English government aka ‘The Castle’.

The play covers the debates and moral dilemmas which filled ‘The Week Before’. As a link to the audience, the Cynic stalks the many vivid characters and whirling events but he too is on a journey and at the end he is not quite sure what it all means. ‘The Week Before’ will be staged on Friday 22 April at 8pm. Tickets are priced £11 and £9 (concession).

Then it’s the return of Big Telly Theatre Company and their massively popular production of Spike Milligan’s ‘Puckoon’, which has had audiences all across Ireland screaming with laughter at its Goonish blend of theatrical anarchy, musical wit, and impossible plot.

Ireland 1922, and the Ulster Boundary Commission has drawn the new border straight through the small town of Puckoon. With the church separated from its own graveyard and drink now thirty percent cheaper in one corner of the pub, life in the newly divided village will never be the same again. Based on the book by Spike Milligan, this comic masterpiece is an irreverent and hilarious story which takes the mick, celebrates the absurd, and paints a picture of a simple life that borders on the ridiculous. ‘Puckoon’ will be staged on Thursday 5 May at 8pm. Tickets are priced £13 and £11 (concession).

Tickets for all performances can be booked through the Box Office on [028] 3752 1821, or online at www.marketplacearmagh.com

And to keep up-to-date with the latest news at the Market Place Theatre, you can follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/marketplacearmagh) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/mptarmagh) where you will find all the latest information, special offers and video previews.

SPRING may have just arrived but bookings are already well under way for Christmas party nights, dinners and festive accommodation packages at the three Hastings Hotels in Belfast.

Their Europa, Stormont and Culloden Estate and Spa’s 2016 Christmas brochure is bursting with seasonal festivities including exciting party nights and unmissable shows that are the perfect night out for groups of friends, family and work colleagues.

Showcasing some delicious Christmas dinners are Executive Head Chefs, Paul McKnight from the Culloden, Adrian McDaid from the Europa and Jay Eisenstadt from the Stormont.   Christmas may seem like a long way away but places are filling up fast so get your skates on and get booking now! For more information go to www.hastingshotels.com