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.

Asian Financial Services, as part of Symmetry Financial Management group, has been announced as the winner of the Mortgage Broker Expert Award at the Broker Ireland Expert Broker Awards 2023 which took place in The Round Room at the Mansion and were hosted by RTÉ’s Jacqui Hurley. Asian Financial Services is headed by Balbriggan -based broker Kanwar Singh who is originally from India and who provides specialist financial advice to Ireland’s Asian community. The Broker Ireland Expert Broker Awards shine a light on excellence by recognising Insurance, Financial, and Mortgage Brokers who offer the highest level of professionalism, innovation, performance, and service to their clients.

Accepting the Mortgage Broker Expert Award, Kanwar Singh, Head of Asian Financial Services said, “I am delighted that Asian Financial Services, as part of Symmetry Financial Management group, has been recognised through this prestigious award. It is my honour to serve the Asian community in Ireland and to provide dedicated financial advice tailored to the needs of individuals and families. Many of my clients are highly skilled employees in the health and IT sectors with visa stamps that require specialist consideration when purchasing a property. I am delighted that, through Asian Financial, we can provide that service.”

Over the last months, Balbriggan Rugby Club adult players have been volunteering with our youth and mini teams. Our aims are to foster relationships across the teams within the club, to grow our internal support structures, and to highlight the pathway for within the club for our young players.

Join us for a Christmas Bingo night at The Milestone, 27 Drogheda St, Balbriggan K32 RD98 on Wednesday 6th Dm 8pm to 10 pm hosted by Balbriggan LGBT+ Peer Support Group and proudly sponsored by Outcomers LGBT Support Service. Embrace the festive cheer as we gather together the vibrant LGBT+ community of Balbriggan and its neighbouring areas. Newcomers, outcomers, and their allies are warmly invited to join us for an enjoyable evening of gay bingo and delicious finger food. Admission is free! Participate in 3 games of bingo for just €5. Let’s make it merrier by dressing in our most festive Christmassy clothes! Come along and celebrate with us in a welcoming and joyful atmosphere …see you there! Also do not forget….the Balbriggan group meets twice per month in the Flemington Centre. For any queries please contact Annie Blake, Regional LGBT Community Outreach Worker, Outcomers Office 042 932 9816.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) provides grant support to Sustainable Energy Communities (SECs) to improve local energy efficiency and help with the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. We are working on a voluntary basis with ORS energy consultants on an Energy Master Plan for Balbriggan, which consists of an online Home Energy Survey, community building and business energy audits, a baseline energy use assessment and energy action plan. We are the link between the community and ORS and our main role is to encourage participation in the Energy Master Plan process. In the future, we hope to pursue further energy related projects in Balbriggan. Thanks to everyone who has completed the Home Energy Survey so far. We’ve had 70 responses but we would like to get to a 100 so please fill out the 5-minute survey and help inform the assessment of energy needs in the community. You can contact us on balbrigganclimateclub@gmail.com if you need help with it or would like further information. Five homes representative of different house types will be energy audited by ORS, along with three community buildings. ORS are also supporting a number of local businesses to apply for Support Scheme for Energy Audits (SSEA) vouchers worth €2,000. Please do visit us at this website for any and all further look up balbrigganclimateclub.wordpress.com. Balbriggan Climate Club is a sub-committee of Balbriggan Tidy Towns and a few members set up the Balbriggan SEC to avail of the grant to develop the Balbriggan Energy Master Plan. We wish everyone a lovely break. The Energy Master Plan should be finished in spring 2024, when we will have a public launch so keep an eye out for further updates in the New Year!

I am delighted that Fingal Co Council have confirmed in reply to my formal question that consultants will be procured for a site specific feasibility study at Castlelands Balbriggan with a view “to guide the Council’s next steps in terms of timelines and route through the planning process.” for a Balbriggan Public Swimming Pool and that €75,000 Hs been set aside in the Fingal Capital Plan for that purpose. “The previous swimming pool projects In Skerries and Balbriggan were complicated public private partnerships and failed for that reason. This public swimming pool will be built on council land by Fingal Co Council. The council must build and fund a Public Swimming Pool in Balbriggan for Balbriggan residents and the North Fingal catchment area including nearby Skerries. “ said Cllr Tom O’Leary. There are various Funding sources possible, Fingal Co Council, Government National Funding, and levies from new homes to be built in Balbriggan. The ongoing review of the options to deliver Swimming Pools in Ireland may present some new interest value for money models already in use in England and energy efficient models that make running costs of a public swimming pool more sustainable and affordable said Balbriggan Ward. Councillor Tom O’Leary said, “I look forward to more progress on this project, engaging with the consultants on the proposal for a public swimming pool in Balbriggan and also engaging with the North Fingal Swimming Pool group.” The Housing and Community Dept will be commencing the procurement process to engage a consultant for this study with an appointment likely in Q1 2024. “ said Fingal Co Council on 13th November 2023.