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Local auctioneer John Dowling, a keen mountaineer and hill walker, has had a long association with the Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team (DWMRT) and shares his tips for some post Christmas exercise.

Now that Christmas is finally here, the season of over indulging and excess, what better way than to shake of the cobwebs than with nice walk in the Wicklow hills. As we all know Kilcullen has so much going for it, but for me the location is hard to beat. We are so lucky that in just a comfortable 25-minute drive away, we can find ourselves at the foothill of the Wicklow mountains, which is just an outdoor paradise. I have spent many, many years walking in Wicklow and I still haven't explored it all yet. It's vast, it's beautiful and most importantly, it's free and on your doorstep.

Hill walking in Ireland has grown tremendously in popularity over the past few years as the Irish have become more health conscious and are generally more engaged in outdoor pursuits. The most important factor about hill walking is that it has something to offer all, both young and old, from beginners to advanced. What�s more, the cost is relatively cheap, once you have a good pair of waterproof boots, waterproof clothing and a backpack. Over the years, my association with the rescue team has hopefully positioned me to share some little tips that might be helpful to get you started.

Hill walking can obviously be done alone but it is also a very social sport and can be a great place to meet like minded people. One of the best pieces of advice is to join a local walking club which will offer you an organised group walk which will give you confidence if you are new to the hills and also a great place to share information on equipment. Some clubs will arrange map-and-compass reading classes which are an integral part of hill walking, but this is the advantage of joining a club as if maps and compasses are not your strong point you can be guaranteed that your group leader will be. There are a few local clubs and you can check out the link www.mountaineering.ie which will show you some local clubs and no doubt a Facebook search will find even more.

From working with the rescue team in the past, I can safely say that what keeps the team busiest, is people underestimating the terrain and weather. As I said, Wicklow can be beautiful one minute, until the weather arrives in and then presents a different dilemma. Make sure you always tell someone the location you are going walking in and a rough time of when you will be back. Although the mountain area is not known for the best mobile phone signal, always make sure you have your mobile powered up as it will no doubt come in handy if something goes wrong. Always check the weather forecast before you leave the house. In this day and age we are blessed with a large amount of up-to-date and accurate weather forecasting to which we all have access. Two good accurate sites are accuweather.com and met.ie

Overall hill walking is a relatively cheap sport to get involved in but I do recommend that when you are buying equipment, that you buy the best that you can afford. Believe me when I say there are some serious differences in waterproof clothing and boots and this can mean the difference in you enjoying or not enjoying your days of hill walking. Try to get Gore-Tex boots and waterproofs as the brand has been the tried and tested market leader for many years now. Not cheap, but when you look after your equipment you should get many happy years wear from them. A good comfortable backpack is also important and make sure you take your time trying these on as it will be sitting on your back for a good few hours, weighed down with gear, so the cheaper option will not be your friend here. Once you catch the hill walking bug, Christmas will become a very pleasant time of year for loved ones that may normally struggle thinking of a present to buy you, but this will change for them as there is always something new to purchase, including torches, gloves, flasks, walking sticks and hand-held GPS systems. The list is endless.

My Christmas recommendation to all, is a trip to Glendalough where you�ll find a wonderful selection of safe and fully marked walks which caters to all walking levels from beginners to advance. Even the drive there from Kilcullen over the Wicklow Gap from Hollywood is very special and is worth the trip alone. You can check out www.glendalough.ie before you go where you can print off maps and walking guides.

I hope to see some local faces over the Christmas on the hills and I can guarantee you that this time of year is without doubt the nicest time to be up there. Enjoy your walking and be safe and if you do get into trouble, remember to call mountain rescue on 112 or 999 and they will be happy to assist. DWMRT.ie is a voluntary service and you can check out www.dwmrt.ie for more information on the team.

Local councillor Ivan Keatley is on the hunt for a way to provide more public toilet facilities in Kildare, writes Brian Byrne. But without the Council having to build and maintain them.

His model is one that works in Germany and does so very well. It's called the Nette Toilette (Nice Toilet) scheme, and involves the local authorities paying businesses like hotels and pubs a fee to allow their facilities be used by the general public, not just their customers.

The scheme was launched in 2000 and now more than 200 cities in Germany and Switzerland are using the scheme.

The fee involved there ranges from �30-�100 a month to the businesses, depending on size. In return, they display a provided sign on the outside of their premises which indicates to people that they have facilities available.

The scheme means people caught short don't have to suffer the embarrassment of pretending to be a customer, or don't have to buy anything, to be able to use the toilets.

The idea makes a lot of sense for local authorities, as they don't have to invest big capital in building facilities that then need a lot of maintenance.

As an example, the city of Bremen estimates that a network which would have cost it �1.1m to provide is available for the fees totalling �150,000 a year.

Cllr Keatley recently raised the matter by way of motion to the Council, seeking a scheme similar to the 'shop front renovation scheme' to fund the idea. The officials raised concerns of how it might be policed, and generally were cool to the idea.

But Cllr Keatley says he will push the matter on, and plans to specifically use the Nette Toilette scheme as a proposed model.

The proposed expansion of activities at the Kilsaran operation at Silliott Hill is being examined by Kilcullen Community Action with a view to making a submission, writes Brian Byrne.

The matter was discussed at the most recent meeting of KCA, where it was noted that the documents lodged with the planning application are extensive and will take time to go through.

The application is one of two currently in train by the company, the other relating to its site at Ballysaxhills.

Residents of Kilcullen are urging neighbours to lodge objections to a proposed tile manufacturing plant at Kilsaran's Brownstown Quarry site, writes Brian Byrne.

The company has lodged a planning application for developments at their property in the adjacent townlands of Brownstown, Corbally and Silliott Hill.

In addition to seeking a continuance of their existing sand and gravel extraction and processing work at the site for a further 20 years, the application requests permission for the provision of new works including an office building and two proprietary sewage effluent treatment systems, dry batch mortar plant extension including plant and machinery, and a 'tile manufacturing plant'. All these along with associated switch-house, car parking, provision of two weighbridges, covered storage sheds, rerouting of internal access road to plant site, and the demolition of a storage shed and weighbridge.

Kilsaran also wants to extract sand and gravel to the south-west of previously permitted extraction area and an extension to the existing overburden storage mound, and the provision of landscaped screening berms and overburden storage mounds along perimeter of the site.

Residents of Lui na Greine, Moanbane, and Kilcullen generally have activated a campaign of objection to the application, on the basis that the site is not zoned for industry, the planned factory would run for 20 hours a day, that there would be increased noise, dust and traffic.

In addition, the requested extension and new facility would increase HGV traffic, and the residents are also concerned about the increased possibility of contamination of the water table, and increased air pollution from the tile factory.

Objections must be made by 6 December to the application, which has the file number 171224.

Applications from local community and voluntary groups are now open for grants from the 'Get Ireland Growing' initiative which has a �75,000 fund available, writes Brian Byrne.

In partnership with the Grow it Yourself (GIY) movement, the Energia Get Ireland Growing Fund will be split across three categories �Sow', �Grow' and �Harvest' with awards ranging from �500 to �2,000. One very special group will receive a �5,000 grant for their project.

Together GIY and Energia will support at least 85 community food growing groups in 2018.

Applications must be in by 19 January 2018, and will be considered from any community group, school, NGO or Not for Profit, community garden or allotment group, GIY group, hospital, cr�che, direct provision centre, men's shed or similar.

In the last five years, the initiative has provided �340,000 to groups all across the country.

Pictured is Karen O�Donohoe, GIY Community Manager; Amy O�Shaughnessy, Energia Sponsorship Manager; with Saoirse Harvey (4) and Nathan Cullen-Delsol (3) at the launch of the initiative.

Kilcullen Tidy Towns is set to benefit to the tune of �2,000 in a 60th anniversary of the Tidy Towns competition grant scheme, writes Brian Byrne.

That's the amount allocated to Kilcullen in a total of �76,000 which can be applied for by 42 towns and villages in County Kildare.

All communities which have applied to enter the competition in the last three years are eligible for funding from the once-off investment by the Department of Rural and Community Development.

The scheme has been welcomed by Deputy Martin Heydon, who says it acknowledges the 'amazing work' carried out by Tidy Towns committees and their volunteers.

The Deputy is pictured (right) with Ray Kelly of Kilcullen Tidy Towns and Des O'Brien of Kilcullen GAA at the recent Tidy Towns and Community Awards night.