Skerries RNLI would like to say a huge thank you to all the staff and customers in Tesco Balbriggan They recently presented the life boat station with a cheque for €825 raised through the blue tokens. The local branches of Tesco and their distribution centre in Donabate have been incredible supporters through the years, always helping the volunteers to save lives at sea.

The demesne consists of the ancient townlands of Kilmainham, Ardgillan and Baltray. The district was originally controlled by the Gaelic O’Casey family and later the Earl of Tyrconnell. However, the period 1600 – 1700 saw great changes in the pattern of land ownership in Ireland due to the confiscation and redistribution of land after the Cromwellian and Williamite wars (1640s and 1680s respectively). In 1658, the “Down Survey” records that Ardgillan was owned by a wine merchant, Robert Usher of Tallaght, Dublin and by 1737, the property had been acquired by the Reverend Robert Taylor, one of the Headfort Taylor’s, whose grandfather had collaborated with Sir William Petty on the mid 17th century “Down Survey of Ireland”.Ardgillan remained the family home of the Taylors (later changed to Taylour) for more than two hundred years up until 1962 when the estate was sold to Heinrich Potts of Westphalia, Germany. In 1982, Dublin County Council purchased Ardgillan Demesne and it is now managed by Ardgillan Castle Ltd., under the auspices of Fingal County Council. Ardgillan park is unique among Dublin’s regional parks for the magnificent views it enjoys of the coastline. A panorama, taking in Rockabill Lighthouse, Colt Church, Shenick and Lambay Islands may be seen, including Sliabh Foy, the highest of the Cooley Mountains, and of course the Mourne Mountains can be seen sweeping down to the sea. The park area is the property of Fingal County Council and was opened to the public as a regional park in June 1985. Preliminary works were carried out prior to the opening in order to transform what had been an arable farm, into a public park. Five miles of footpaths were provided throughout the demesne, some by opening old avenues, while others were newly constructed. They now provide a system of varied and interesting woodland, walks and vantage points from which to enjoy breath-taking views of the sea, the coastline and surrounding countryside. A signposted cycle route through the park since June 2009 means that cyclists can share the miles of walking paths with pedestrians.

In a major boost for plans to ensure Balbriggan becomes one of Ireland’s leading arts destinations, the town has been officially designated a ‘Creative Place.’It has received Arts Council funding of €330,000 over three years, under the Creative Places programme, to provide local people access to the arts in their own community. The funding has been secured by the Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation programme, led by Fingal County Council’s Economic, Enterprise, Cultural and Tourism Department. The Creative Places funding allows towns build local arts programmes for the benefit of all, building on existing cultural strengths and enabling local artists to lead a programme rooted in socially engaged practice and community development.

The award of Creative Places funding means sustained and vibrant cultural activity can continue to grow in Balbriggan. It will enable Balbriggan - based artists to work with local businesses, and community groups and individuals. According to the Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Adrian Henchy, the funding will form a plinth of the plan to make Balbriggan a national destination for the arts. “It will provide key funding for a strategy which will ensure the town develops a very strong artistic identity,” he said.Eamonn Donlyn, a key partner in the application and co-founder of the local Scéal Arts Collective, said the award would boost the creative arts in a place already teeming with talent.“Balbriggan has a huge number of creative people. The funding is a wonderful opportunity to bring them together and make the town a destination for the arts.” Balbriggan is recognised as Ireland’s youngest town, as well as being one of the most culturally diverse. And the opening of a 400-seater sate of the art concert venue in the town is set to transform the local economy, as well as further boosting its artistic credentials. The Irish Institute of Music and Song’s (IIMS) Lark Concert Hall, is part of a €12m investment by the Dawson family, in the IIMS campus which will create 150 jobs and attract 250,000 visitors annually.

Shopfronts around Balbriggan are looking great as is the boat flower bed on the Naul road thanks to the efforts of some people who have given their time and energy to improve them. During the month of June this year, Our Balbriggan and Fingal County Council opened up the Shopfront Improvement Scheme. 23 applications were accepted and each applicant received up to €1500 in support of repainting, repairing or replacing signage to their shop front. The purpose of the scheme was to improve the Main Street of Balbriggan by giving back to local businesses and supporting them. We think they all look great! As does the boat flower bed on the Naul road which has been refurbished and replanted by Balbriggan Tidy Towns leaving it a most welcome sight on the approach to the town. Thank you to all involved.

Over 300 kids attended the ground recently for a school blitz as kids from St Theresa’s NS and Balbriggan Educate Together NS who have had weekly sessions in their school enjoyed the experience of playing at a cricket ground. We hope to see many of them down to our rapidly growing Blasters on Friday evenings at 6pm Massive well done to Lara Maritz for organising it along with our huge team of club coaches.

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!