Glebe North U13’s took part in an end of season tournament in Kinsealy recently coming away as plate winners on the day. Well done to all the team who only conceded 2 goals across the four games with some brilliant performances put in in the sweltering heat. Thanks to Kinsealy for organising and all the other teams that took part as the games were played in a great spirit.

It was a stunning night recently for Irish 1500m running at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze Meet in Nice, with both Balbriggan’s Andrew Coscoran and Tyrone native Nick Griggs breaking the Irish Senior and U20 national records respectively. Coscoran crossed in 3:32.68NR to take yet another win on the Continental Tour, breaking his won 33.33. 49 record from indoors in Birmingham earlier this year. The time betters Ray Flynn’s long standing outdoor time of 3.33.5 set in Oslo back in 1982. The Irish 1500m record holder raced superbly against stiff competition to take the win, settling in behind New Zealand’s Samuel Tanner from the bell, before unleashing a race-winning-kick down the home straight which would see him battle bravely to hold off the fast-finishing Niels Laros of the Netherlands who clocked 3:32.89NR. Nick Griggs finished in 9th place on his way obliterating the Irish U20 outdoor record held by Cian McPhillips with 3:36.09PB to move to 13th on the Irish all-time list. Surely bigger and better things are to come from both athletes in the future

Balbriggan Tidy Towns have recently added another two new planters for the area. Thank you to our garden team who bought and planted these up. We think they add a nice splash of colour to the streetscape and support our pollinators. (We were able to fill the planters with compost made by ourselves and leaf mould collected in 2021 - sustainable gardening).Thanks too for funding from Department of Rural and Community Development and Pobal. Here you will also see some images from our Litter Awareness event recently at Balbriggan Beach. Thanks to everyone who came along to discuss how we can all work together to keep Balbriggan Beach clean and safe for all. As summer approaches, we want all beachgoers to act responsibly by not leaving litter scattered around for someone else to clean up. We’d also like to remind dog owners to ensure they only leave paw prints in the sand & to pick up after their pets. That’s particularly good advice, as a single dog poo can contaminate a body of water the size of a tennis court. Also we remind you that everyone should be sun smart this summer. Thanks to the National Cancer Control Programme our Saturday Clean Team were supplied with Factor 50 and our own sun screen dispenser to protect us while out painting and litter picking today. Currently the UV index can be high so be careful.

On Sunday 30th July Balbriggan locals, Paddy O’Callaghan and his daughter Niamh Kelivanova, will be doing a Sponsored Parachute Jump in aid of Balbriggan Meals on Wheels at The Irish Parachute Club in Clonbullogue, Co Offaly. All money raised will go directly to Balbriggan Meals on Wheels for their ongoing work in providing meals in the local area. This jump had been originally scheduled to take place on 11th June but unfortunately, Niamh suffered an injury and as a result the date of the jump was changed. You can show your support for Paddy and Niamh by sponsoring them via the Balbriggan Meals on Wheels Facebook Page or by dropping your sponsorship in to Balbriggan Meals on Wheels at 14 Hampton Street, Balbriggan Meals on Wheels would like to thank Paddy and Niamh for doing this fundraiser and thank you also to all who have sponsored them.

On the 20th of May we ran an event Busking for Balbriggan, with eight local bands over four venues. It was a fantastic day and the feedback was really positive.Even a group of French tourists were regaled and had a great dance in Supervalu! We will be running another event in July and are looking forward to it! The bands that played are: Acoustic Misfits, Alan Moriarty and Friends, Black Captains, Damo and Big John, Rush to Judgement, Ships Wheel, Skerries Ukulele Strummers and The Beatles. The Venues were: Millfield SC - Molly’s Coffee Shop - The Square Café - & SuperValu and we are most grateful to all musicians and venue owners. Thank you all so much to our wonderful residents and the public for making Busking for Balbriggan a great day! Whether it was by volunteering, playing music,singing, or by hosting the event, or by donating your hard earned money, we are incredibly grateful! Over €1600 was raised which is phenomenal! Roll on July for another great day of music filling the streets of Balbriggan.
Áine O’Beirne, Secretary, Balbriggan Community Council - Working Together for a Better Balbriggan for All!

Cllr Grainne Maguire (Ind, Balbriggan) will serve as Deputy Mayor of Fingal for the second time following her election recently . She was nominated by Cllr Tony Murphy (Independent) and seconded by Cllr Karen Power (Green Party Comhaontas Glas). Joining as a Balbriggan Councillor in 2013, Cllr Maguire had previously served on Balbriggan Town Council from 2009. She has extensive experience in local government and is a well-known figure in Ireland’s youngest town for the work she does across many different groups and for her passion around local issues.

Fingal also has a new leader after Cllr Adrian Henchy (Fianna Fáil) was elected by his fellow Councillors recently to become the region’s 18th Mayor. Originally from Portrane, and representing the Rush-Lusk electoral area, he joined Fingal as a Councillor in 2014.From his role as a Councillor to his involvement in numerous local initiatives, Mayor Henchy’s focus has always been on making a positive difference in the lives of the people he serves. A dedicated health professional with a passion for public service, he said he is ready to usher in a new era of progress, collaboration, and innovative leadership for the County. Henchy succeeds Cllr Howard Mahony, who handed over the chains of office at the AGM.

In securing the role as Mayor, Cllr Henchy was nominated by Cllr Eoghan O’Brien (FF) who said it was a privilege and an honour to nominate him for the position. The nomination was seconded by Cllr Brian Dennehy (FF). “I am humbled to have been elected to serve in this prestigious post,” said Mayor Adrian Henchy. “I am committed to working tirelessly to build a stronger, more inclusive, and vibrant Fingal. Together, with the support of our community, we can achieve great things and help build a Fingal that thrives economically, socially, and environmentally. I would particularly like to focus on delivering more houses, not just the bricks and mortar of the homes themselves but also ensuring we are building sustainable communities around them.”

At the AGM, praise was given to the outgoing Mayor and also to Deputy Mayor, Cllr Cathal Boland, for their unwavering service to the people of Fingal across the last year.A strong advocate of Dublin 15, former Mayor, Cllr Howard Mahony, has undertaken a large number of activities during his term, attending 365 community and Council related events across the year.

Blasters Cricket for the youngsters has started recently and all are welcome to join in.
Boys and Girls aged 4-10 are welcome to come down and get plenty of fun , Fresh air, Friendship and a little bit of Cricket. A new child’s first week is free !!!! The Cost is €5 per week or €7 for 2 siblings. Special offer of €60 for the whole summer or €90 for 2 Siblings - Book online at balbriggancricketclub.com/pro…/summer-training/..All coaches are qualified and vetted and all equipment is provided.For more details Text 0872507736 or you can Email us at Balbriggancricketclub@gmail.com.

The end of season awards night for our senior teams took place at the club last night. Well done to all players involved in both the men’s and women’s teams on a good season. And congratulations to all award winners.

Women’s Awards:
Player Of The Year
Lorna McKenna
Players Player Of The Year
Laura Brown
Most Improved Player
Caoimhe Colman
Young Player Of The Year Clíodhna Ni Chonchobhair

Men’s Awards ;
Player Of The Year
Fiachra Tuckey
Players Player Of The Year
Cal O’Connor
2nd XV Player Of The Year
Floyd Runsewe
Young Player Of The Year
Conor Colman

By the end of the season 12 youth players had made their debut playing senior men’s rugby. They are - Floyd Runsewe, Conor Colman, Ciaran Rutherford, Eoin Hannigan, Jimmy McFadden, Oisin McNamara, Jack Mongey, Josh Buraimoh, Reuben Rabiu, Peter Jennings, Damien Whelan and Cillian Reynolds. Well done to them on their senior debut this season.

Hard to believe it is June almost halfway through the year and we have some exciting events taking place this month. We are delighted to announce the return of the Society Day Trip after a three year absence due to Covid. This will take place on Saturday June 17th. We are just confirming the last details but it is proposed to visit Dublin City and the Tenement museum and EPIC and we will round off the day with a relaxing meal. This is always a great day out so save the date in your diary and check out Social media and website for updates. We will also be leading our usual Historical Walk as part of Summerfest on Saturday June 3rd. On June 24th at 2pm we have an interesting talk by Jonathan Beaumont titled ‘The Dublin to Drogheda Railway’.in an exciting new venue for us, the beautiful setting of Ardgillan Castle. You could combine the talk with a visit to the superb gardens of Ardgillan Demesne or a stroll in the grounds. We have had a great start to 2023 with our March talk featuring the Story of Cricket in Fingal by James Bennett. Jim’s talk was highly entertaining with an emphasis on Balbriggan and many past and present Cricket players and their families were in attendance. He brought to life not just the games themselves but the rivalries and the entertainment and food and drink after the games, which were almost more important! For April we were delighted to welcome Rory Golden, Diver, Speaker, Explorer with a talk titled ‘TITANIC - Search, Discovery and Diving to the world’s most famous shipwreck.’ Rory spoke first of the story of the building of the Titanic and its ill fated maiden voyage and the story of some of the many who lost their lives on it. He then introduced us to fantastic images of his dives to the wreck. For our May talk we returned to a local topic as we welcomed our own Jim Walsh for a very interesting talk titled ‘Balscadden Past and Present’ As always for information on our society email balbrigganhistsoc@gmail.com or see balbrigganhistory.com or follow us on Social Media.

It has been a very busy term in the college with our wonderful students making us very proud of their achievements: Our U19 Girls GAA team won the North Dublin Gaelic Blitz in a tense final against Loreto College. Our Junior and Senior hurlers won their respective Dublin finals. Our Junior GAA boys reached the Dublin final. Our 1st Year boys’ soccer won the Division 1 NE Final. Our Rugby 7s girls’ team won the All Ireland 7’s Championship. Our debaters took runner up spots in the EU50 and DDLETB debate competitions. Sami Khan won the Chemistry Award at Scifest in DKIT.

Our school participated in the first Balbriggan Darkness in to Light to raise funds for Pieta. Our Parents Council held a very successful Quiz night in the school which raised funds for our Suaimhneas Department. Our students held an Intercultural Day in the school and put on a spectacular fashion show to display traditional outfits from various cultures. Finally, we were one of three post primary schools in the country to be awarded with the Active School Flag. The initiative, founded by the University of Limerick strives to promote movement and learning through movement in schools. A huge thank you to everyone who worked hard over the past four years to achieve this honour, especially Ms.Nealon and Ms. Murray. We are looking forward to the end of the year celebrations and wish our Leaving Certificate Class of 2023 the very best of luck in their exams and future endeavours.