Well done to Balbriggan men’s youth players Conor O’Grady, Max Downey and Seamus Whelan who represented Leinster North East in the Shane Horgan Cup against Leinster South East at Energia Park recently. It was a cracking match which saw both sides level, 22 v 22 with just minutes to go. A penalty kick saw the North East take the lead 25 v 22. And with seconds on the clock, the North East went over for their final try of the day, which, with the conversion added, brought the full-time score to 32 v 22 for the North East. Well done to the North East Squad and their coaches and the Balbriggan players on a great performance. Not to be outdone the U18AB girls played their first match of the 23/24 league recently with a win on the road against a strong Barnhall side. A very competitive game with strong carries, defensive lines and great communication. The girls kept their heads, worked very hard for each other and secured the well-deserved win. Special mention to Fiona Odige who went off injured in the last 10 minutes after a stand-out performance and we wish her a speedy recovery. Congratulations girls and keep up the good work. Last but definitely never least, congratulations to The Stingers Tag Team who lined out at half time at the Aviva Stadium recently. Many of the Stingers team also are members of Remember Us Balbriggan and are very special players within the club.

Councillor Brendan Ryan (Labour) has been highlighting the additional problems facing housing applicants with larger families in the Balbriggan area over the last number of months. “It is bad enough having to wait up to ten or twelve years on a waiting list to get to an offer zone before being told that you have to wait several years longer because there are no four bedroom units available” he said. “This is the reality for many housing applicants in Balbriggan today” he added. Cllr Ryan added, “I am pushing for more four bedroom units to be provided in every housing development that is planned for Balbriggan in the near future to ensure that applicants with larger families are not disadvantaged. I have also made the case that three bedroom houses could be offered, at least on a temporary basis, until the bigger houses come on stream.”

Balbriggan Feis syllabus and Bracken Court Hotel accommodation offer is now available (please see our attached photo) The Timetable of events will be confirmed on FB when WeFeis entries close on February 2nd 2024. The Organisers have also asked if all perpetual prize winners can please arrange to return their prizes to Damien & Ann before the Feis please? They have also asked that teachers are reminded to pre-enter figure teams.

Balbriggan Meals on Wheels were thrilled to be awarded 2023 Community Heroes of the Year at Balbriggan Town Awards at the end of the year. We would like to extend a huge gratitude to everyone involved in the Town Awards for this recognition. It is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work of our wonderful team of Volunteers who work tirelessly to help us out at all levels within our organisation. Our volunteer directors, drivers, kitchen assistants and our fundraising committee all donate their very valuable time to contribute to the smooth running of Balbriggan Meals on Wheels.We also would like to extend an enormous thank you to all those who, throughout the year, fundraised for us, gave us monetary donations, attended our fundraising events and contributed to our food appeals. To all those local businesses, organisations and individuals who helped us in any way, we are extremely grateful. Without your help we could not keep the service going. We look forward to serving the community of Balbriggan throughout 2024.

Another step forward in the delivery of projects under the €50m Our Balbriggan Regeneration project was marked recently with the opening of a temporary Pocket Park at 14 Bridge Street. The Pocket Park is part of the mixed-used development planned for the area which will create a vibrant, family friendly location in the heart of the town. With the demolition of 14 Bridge Street now complete, annexes and outbuildings to the rear of 6a-12 Bridge Street (De Bruns) are now also being demolished. The appointment of an Integrated Design Team by Fingal County Council to consider the next stages of development at this location will happen shortly. The plan is to link Millpond Park to a new park entrance at 14 Bridge Street which will facilitate a pedestrian and cycling route down to the transformed Quay Street and Harbour area. The opening of the Pocket Park coincided with Santa’s arrival in the town. Festivities will begin with the lighting of a Christmas tree at St George’s Square at 6.00pm.Deputy Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Grainne Maguire,invited those gathered to walk the short distance to the Pocket Park to meet Santa.Members of the cast of North County Dublin’s latest pantomime ‘Beauty and the Beast’ which tool place at The Lark, Balbriggan’s new concert hall, will joined the Deputy Mayor and Santa for the special festive occasion. According to the Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Adrian Henchy, the opening of the Pocket Park is another milestone in the Our Balbriggan Regeneration project. “The Pocket Park forms part of the redevelopment of the DeBruns site, which will transform the area,” he said.The Our Balbriggan leadership group, formed at the outset of the regeneration programme, and chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith, plays a key role in helping guide the town’s rejuvenation programme. “It is wonderful see the opening of the Pocket Park in time for the festive season and I encourage locals and visitors to visit the park and enjoy it,” said Professor MacCraith. “These works will form part of the transformation of the town through the Our Balbriggan rejuvenation programme.” Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, said the opening of the Pocket Park stage is another key development in the delivery of the Our Balbriggan rejuvenation programme.“Fingal County Council is strongly committed to delivering the Our Balbriggan rejuvenation programme, with the aim of ensuring a great place to live, work and do business,” she said.

EggHeadz CLG is delivering programmes and support services across Fingal and Dublin. Here is some of what we’re doing…

School Engagement: -Secondary School: Our ‘Shape Your Life Through Sport’ programme continues across Fingal and Dublin. Pictured recently at Donabate Portrane Community College as part of Mental Health Month and at St. Finian’s Community College Swords as part of Careers Week.

In-school Primary: programmes have continued to grow and now includes Dublin South Central as well as Fingal and Dublin City. Pictured are children learning basic Physical Literacy skills. After-school Primary: Yoga & Art programmes are enjoyed by primary school children 5-7 and 9-12yrs. Pictured are children learning Strength, Agility, Relaxation and Winter Crafts at Donabate Portrane Educate Together. EggHeadz drop-in evening and weekend classes take place in Donabate Parish Hall and Donabate Portrane Community Centre. See eggheadz.ie for timetable and join us!

Community Engagement: EggHeadz and Cycle Against Suicide took part and supported an evening of live music in St. Patrick’s Church, Donabate in November. The night was in memory of Conor Culleton, the theme of the music focused on mental health and was performed by the extremely talented Sean Collins, with local special guests Andrew O’Sullivan and Eve Doorley. EggHeadz volunteers have completed the Peer Buddy training programme with Cycle Against Suicide.

EggHeadz Inclusion Programmes: EggHeadz support services take place in five different centres for Direct Provision in the Fingal area. Our engagement with the migrant community has been vital for integration and inclusion of young people in local sports clubs. For a second year running we collected and delivered Christmas presents to children and families living in Direct Provision. Thank you to everyone who donated.

EggHeadz Youth Counselling Service - A FREE of charge and confidential service for young people (aged 12-25) by appointment. It takes place on Mondays in Donabate Portrane Community Centre by appointment between 9.30am and 3.30pm. Contact Mairead on 086-329 6812 or by email eggheadzcounselling@gmail.com to book an appointment. For more follow us on social media or visit our website.

Minister of State with responsibility for Community Development and Charities, Joe O’Brien TD, recently announced €6 million in capital funding under the “Department of Rural and Community Development Local Enhancement Programme 2024”. The Minister said there will be €220,842.98 of this funding allocated to provide capital supports essential for the many small community groups and organisations across Fingal. There will be a particular focus on small capital works/improvements, and the purchase of equipment for community use. The funding may be used, but is not limited to; improved access for persons with a disability; enhancing community participation for disadvantaged and marginalised groups, and improving energy efficiency of community facilities to reduce ongoing costs. The scheme is designed to ensure local priorities are identified and met, so as to improve and enhance community facilities for all. Announcing the funding today, Minister O’Brien said: “The funding will provide really practical support to smaller community groups in Fingal that are active at a grassroots level to help them to ensure they have the facilities and equipment they need to support their communities”. “These grants will help thousands of community organisations, clubs, men’s and women’s sheds, youth centres and parish halls, to improve their facilities and continue to facilitate the provision of their valuable services to the people in their areas. I am particularly happy to have reserved funding for Women’s Sheds, groups and networks. Many of these groups are providing essential services on a day-to-day basis to those most in need. I hope this funding will help to support the provision of safe warm spaces for those groups to continue to meet and support their communities in both rural and urban areas right across the country”.

Ardgillan College has been very busy in 2023 and it was thoroughly enjoyable. We were thrilled for the class of 2023 on their fantastic Leaving Cert. Results and wish them well in their future endeavours. Conor Murphy was bestowed with the JP McManus Award from The University of Limerick for excelling in his LC having achieved 625 points. Our first years enjoyed a team bonding day in Ardgillan castle. Our lunch time clubs got underway including the brand-new Dungeons and Dragons club. Our sports teams have been busy playing matches in soccer, Gaelic, Hurling, Basketball, Golf, Hockey and Rugby. Our athletes took part in the Cross County Championships. Our Senior French students had a fabulous trip to Paris and took in all the major sights including The Mona Lisa, The Eifel Tower and Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. Senior students enjoyed Flynn Park in Courtlough, the Ploughing Championships and saw Hamlet performed on stage in Dundrum. Our TY’s had fun on trips to Jumpzone, the Ty Expo, the Casino at Marino, the Fingal Xplore Skills Expo and learnt how to drive in Finglas. Our Green Schools Group carried out a litter pick on Balbriggan beach, the Hamilton Road and Curran Park areas. Our 3rd years enjoyed a well-being retreat and our 5th years went on a historical walking tour of Dublin. 6th years frequented the Higher Options Conference and Worldskills event. Our Active Flag group organised a table tennis takeover and we also celebrated MFL week and Coding week. A group of students cheered on the boys in Green against Greece in the Aviva. We also celebrated the opening of our new school library. It was fantastic to welcome our founding Principal Mr. O’Leary back to open the beautiful facility named after him. We are looking forward to the future of inspiring a love of reading amongst students. We wish a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to all our students, parents, teachers and friends in 2024.

Representatives from eight cities across the EU visited Balbriggan this week for the first transnational meeting of the URBACT EcoCore project.

EcoCore is one of 30 approved networks under the URBACT IV programme which is co-funded by the European Union. URBACT’s mission is to enable cities to work together and develop integrated solutions to common urban challenges by networking, learning from each other’s experiences and identifying good practices. Fingal County Council is proud to be the first local authority in Ireland to lead an URBACT network which includes partners from Dubrovnik (Croatia), Ormož (Slovenia), Alba Iulia (Romania), Ķekava (Latvia), Santo Tirso (Portugal), Pärnu (Estonia), Villena (Spain) and Tuusula (Finland).

The EcoCore Project is focusing on accelerating the green transition in the partner cities which are all located along strategic transport corridors, as Balbriggan is located on the road from Dublin to Belfast. It aims to build the capacity of small cities in addressing climate change by promoting sustainable economic development, the green transition and helping local stakeholders, particularly businesses, in transitioning to low-carbon energy sources and promoting sustainable mobility options. Network activities will create significant momentum for a green energy transition in each of the partner cities with a special focus on the industrial areas of the cities.

Welcoming delegates to Balbriggan, Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Adrian Henchy, noted: “There is a lot we can learn from collaborating with the cities and towns represented here today and it provides a great opportunity for Balbriggan and all involved. Balbriggan is a town that we are immensely proud of and we’re significantly investing in it, the EcoCore project is part of that journey.” Delegates participated in workshops on the digital innovation hosted by Smart Balbriggan with a demonstration from Manna Drones, a panel on women entrepreneurs with Fingal LEO, active travel projects in Fingal and sustainable mobility options with the Council’s Active Travel Section, how the Council is collaborating with partners through the Fingal Skills Strategy to develop the future talent pipeline and a seminar on regional collaboration with Amanda Smyth from the Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor Partnership (DBEC).

As we start another year with Balbriggan & District Historical Society, we look back at our autumn talks in 2023. In October we concentrated on World War I with professional short talks from Loreto Secondary School students focusing on individual stories of young men who served in the war. The Loreto SS Local History Students were the well deserving winners of the Western Front Association Malcolm Doolin Award for their World War 1 Projects and on November 11 they had the huge honour of laying a wreath at the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph Whitehall. London. Eithne MacDermott gave a really informative and thought-provoking talk on the political and social context of the War in Ireland and Europe. She spoke of the Home Rule campaign and Women’s and Labour movement leading up to the war and young men who joined a war they thought would be over in months. Instead, WW1 lasted years with millions of casualties and had a profound effect for generations to follow.

In September Cora Mc Donagh spoke on ‘Balbriggan Stockings, Old Masters and the Bells of Howth: North County Dublin contributions to the nineteenth century Art & Industry Exhibitions.’ Cora explored Balbriggan’s involvement with the exhibitions that took place in the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century and the contributions from the stocking manufacturers especially those at the 1853 Great Industrial Exhibition held in Dublin where Smyth & Co, Glennys, Appleyard and others had stands and over one million people visited this exhibition. Later exhibitions saw other industries at the exhibitions including The Balbriggan Salt Works Co. and the Drogheda Linen Company, Balbriggan.

Cora explained how these loans were of benefit to the artists, the artisans and others during the nineteenth century. In August Frank Whearity presented The Rise and Fall of John Spicer’s model bakery & shop Balbriggan (1904-1999): Frank told us about the bakery branch opened by John Spicer (a Navan based miller and baker, b.1853-d.1922) in April, 1904, at Drogheda Street Balbriggan. In August for Heritage Week we also led an historical walk as part of the Beach Festival and we joined the Fingal Heritage Network for their Heritage Night when Bernie Kelly spoke about Sinéad De Valera.