Grasshoppers Early Years Arts Festival was set up in 2019 as a partnership between Acting Up! founder Cliodhna Noonan and Our Balbriggan - Get Involved. We opened with a wonderful Buggy Parade to the Square where we had an outdoor Capoeira performance for families followed by tea and cakes at Aster Family Centre. The 2019 workshop weekend for families with children aged 0-6 was a sellout success! We were determined to do more in 2020. Unfortunately, Covid had other plans. However, we were back in force with a fully digital festival in February 2021 and what a week it was!!! We presented zoom workshop performances from Croatia, Lithuania, Greece and Romania commissioned specially for our audiences. The programme was sold out within days of being released! We would like to thank everyone who participated especially our Balbriggan audiences!!! As schools reopened a week after the workshops, we invited them to participate further in Grasshoppers 2021 and to create an exhibition of artwork based on the theme of the local Lighthouse. We would like to thank Millfield Shopping Centre for the great exhibition space they offered us for the youngest artists in Balbriggan! You may have seen the magnificent display of colour and positivity just outside Tescos over the Easter break! We are moving into our final event for children and families aged 0-6. Watch it Grow 2021! in collaboration with Tidy Towns Balbriggan, and Balbriggan Libraries, offers school and preschools a chance to grow seeds, water them, watch them and investigate what insects might visit them over the next four weeks. Schools are invited to plant in a public space near them, on their school grounds or even on the windowsills of their classrooms! We will be visiting all schools in the area in the coming two weeks to drop off our packs! Happy Growing! If you have an idea for early years participation in the community or you would like to be involved in the team, drop us an email on grasshoppersfestival@gmail.com. Grasshoppers 2021 is supported by Our Balbriggan - Get Involved, Fingal Arts Office and The Arts Council of Ireland.

In Foróige we know that for many young people in Ireland, being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex means for them that they are living with daily discrimination or with constant fear of being themselves. This has long lasting effects from the treatment in the education system such as name-calling and bullying or even being denied equal opportunities as their peers because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.In Foróige, we always want to make sure that all of our young people feel welcomed, accepted but most importantly safe! We offer dedicated places where our young people who are part of the LGBTI+ community can feel comfortable and protected to explore their journeys and the challenges the community often face. Our LGBTI+ Groups will return from the 26th of April for face to face group work OUTDOORS! In this space young people decide what actions and activities they’d like to do, whether it’s exploring terminology, having a casual chat or planning for pride, we listen to our young people. Our Senior LGBTI+ Group is open for young people aged 15-18. Because of the success with this group we are very happy to announce our Junior LGBTI+ Group for young people aged 12-14. We understand how important it is for young people to feel heard and seen and the importance of creating a space where they can share ideas and be creative whilst being themselves. For information about any of our Foróige Clubs or Groups call Áine on 086-7710790 or email aine.mcguinness@foroige.ie

Balbriggan Roadrunners will be hosting their annual Summerfest 5k from the 28th of May to the 4th of June, in a virtual fromat this year. This has always been a great fun event to look forward to.The Balbriggan Roadrunners Summerfest 5km fun run will be going virtual this year taking place between 28th May and 4th June 2021. Registration costs €10 and can be done online.

This will also be part of some great North Dublin virtual events that have been taking place since early Jan this year, when Raheny Shamrock AC kicked off their virtual 5 mile. Balbriggan Roadrunners will be helping North Dublin and the rest of the country to keep smiling and enjoying our running.The club is very mcuh about participation and including all runners, walkers and joggers to the enjoy their events. We hope you can be part of this great event and share your experience on the Balbriggan Roadrunners Balbriggan social media pages and the My Run Community page. There is also the option to purchase the event merchandise including T-shirt. Snood and medal.

Fingal County Council is delighted to announce the commencement of the formal planning process for the proposed Bremore Regional Park Development Project. The proposed park development project is an important step in delivering the long-term vision for the park. The project led by the council’s Parks and Green Infrastructure Division covers the key infrastructure required to upgrade Bremore to regional park status and to best serve the needs of the local community. The park proposals have been designed to achieve the best fit between the provision of active and passive recreation and improved linkages to surrounding urban areas and taking a sensitive approach to the visual, historic and ecological attributes of the site.The focus of this Planning Application is on the lands within the park to the west of the rail-line as well and the section of the park to the south-east (designated as a new Coastal Park) encompassing a project area of over 15 hectares within the park. The park development project is organised under three distinct zones:The Balbriggan Sports & Recreational HubThis multifunctional campus will provide for a range of sporting activities as a shared public facility; these include athletics, all-weather football pitches with flood lighting; full size GAA pitch, soccer pitches, basketball courts, tennis courts, car park access and changing facilities. Central Zone Open Spaces - The central zone of Bremore Park has been designed to improve access, circulation and permeability between adjacent residential areas, the park and the sea while enhancing the physical and natural amenity of the space. The Coastal Park -The proposal for the Coastal Park aims to create a family orientated space which facilitates play, active recreation and social interaction. The existing playground and bandstand are supplemented with a skate bowl, grassed play-mounds and half-court basketball court which further animate this space. Soft landscaping of ornamental planting and trees will feature within a high-quality public realm with public lighting, street-furniture and bicycle parking. Seating areas will afford opportunities to sit, look and experience the sea.Building on the successful community consultations held to date, the council actively encourages feedback and comment on the proposed Bremore Regional Park Development during the submission period of 16th March to 30th April as detailed in the attached part 8 planning application available through the Council’s website.

It is 40 years since Balbriggan & District Historical Society was founded and here is a snap-shot from our archives 2016 Commemoration.The Society’s flagship event for 2016 was “Éirí Amach Na Cásca – Is Cuimhin Linn” our full day History Seminar in May. The seminar was opened by Mayor of Fingal Cllr David O’Connor and concluded with readings of Proclama-tion by local Secondary School students. The seminar featured 5 talks: Bairbre Curtis “Fingal in 1916”, Liz Darcy “Conserving an original 1916 Proclamation”, Jimmy Wren “The 1916 GPO Garrison and the connection with the OTooles G.A.A. Club”, Sean Collins “Observing from afar The Easter Rising Louth and Meath” and Micheál MacMathúna “Sinéad Ni Fhlannagáin (Bean De Valera) Daughter of Balbriggan and 1916” The last talk was timely providing context for Commemorative Plaque honouring Sinéad Ní Fhlannagáin De Valera which was about to be unveiled in the town. The enthusiastic audience enjoyed the excellent talks on both the local and national experience in 1916, and left with lots of new information and an appetite to learn more about this facinating period in our history.

The Society was also centrally involved in the Balbriggan 1916 Commemorative Committee which organised, among other activities, the erection of a Commemorative Plaque honouring Sinéad Ní Fhlannagáin De Valera. This Plaque was unveiled as part of a Commemorative day which included a Mass and Parade featuring the Fingal Old IRA, locals scouts and guides and the local community. May McKeon performed the duty of MC on the day, Gráinne Maguire read the Proclamation, and speakers included Mayor of Fingal Cllr David O’Connor, Mícheál MacMahúna, and Éamon Ó Cuív TD, grandson of Sinéad and the Plaque was un-veiled by Nora Ní Chuív her granddaughter. It was a memorable and important day for Bal-briggan and it was great to see so many of the DeValera and Flanagan family members there who were delighted to share with us their personal memories of Balbriggan. The event was attended by a large enthusiastic crowd and the Plaque will be a lasting physical reminder of the occasion.

The Safe Balbriggan Pillar Group, which was ratified recently by the Balbriggan Leadership Group, held its first meeting and agreed a high-level work programme with three primary elements.These are: - Engaging & supporting our young people, - Fostering community integration and Creating safer public spaces. Representatives from the Department of Justice, An Garda Síochána, Foróige and Fingal County Council took part in the inaugural meeting which had a workshop format. They discussed the issues underpinning each of the three work themes and explored the challenges facing Balbriggan as the youngest and most diverse town in Ireland. These challenges include universal access to services, resourcing, and physical improvements to public spaces to improve community safety.The Pillar Group also examined opportunities to address these issues, selected areas for collaboration to deliver on objectives, and identified other key stakeholders, in the town and beyond, to be consulted as their work progresses. The range of existing and planned activities in Balbriggan by various agencies, such as An Garda Siochána, Foróige and Fingal County Council, was also discussed.The chairman of the Safe Balbriggan Pillar, Michael O’Sullivan, said: “It was a very productive meeting with a wide range of views and thoughts expressed during it. The importance of inclusivity and representation was very evident, as was the need for actions aimed at building trust, strengthening integration and improving community relations. We discussed the three High Level Objectives in detail and determined what needs to happen for each of these objectives to be achieved. We have identified the various agencies who will be responsible for the delivery of the actions that underpin the High Level Objectives and will now start working with those agencies to develop an Action Plan and agree the timescales required to deliver them.”

Fingal County Council has welcomed a recent announcement by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, that €25.4m has been awarded under the Urban Regeneration Development Fund (URDF) for projects associated with the rejuvenation of Balbriggan. The funding will help realise eight projects under the Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation Plan by 2027. The overall cost of the projects is anticipated to be €33.9m with Fingal County Council providing €8.5m to complete the planned public realm improvements.The eight projects are: Quay Street,Harbour, 2/4 Dublin Street,Bridge Street Railway Street,Millpond Park,Promenade & Coastal Improvements,Castle to Castle Cycleway.Professor Brian MacCraith, Chair of the Balbriggan Leadership Group, said: “On behalf of the Balbriggan Leadership Group, I welcome this announcement wholeheartedly. ” With funding now secured, Fingal County Council plans to deliver the eight projects in phases. The first phase, which is scheduled for completion by 2023, will involve the reimaging of the public realm at Quay Street, the upgrading of the Harbour area and the development of Artists’ Studios and a Digital Innovation/Maker Space at 2/4 Dublin Street. The development of Bremore Regional Park, the Fingal Coastal Way and Bridge Street is expected to be finished by 2026. These projects will involve improvements to the promenade and coastal areas as well as a cycleway between Bremore Castle and Ardgillan Castle which will form part of the Fingal Coastal Way. It also includes the redevelopment of buildings on Bridge Street which have recently been acquired by the Council.The final phase will be completed by 2027 and will see the rejuvenation of Railway Street and Millpond Park. This will be a key part of the rejuvenation plan focusing on the town’s urban core and opening up its green corridor, the River Bracken, through Millpond Park.Fingal County Council is now progressing to the procurement of design teams for the public realm improvement projects. They will prepare plans for the redevelopment of the buildings and public realm areas for public consultation before construction commences.

The youth service is now running an employability Programme every Wednesday and Thursday for young people who are not in education, training or employment.

The aim of the programme is to increase young people’s employability, enhance their acquisition of employability skills and aid their preparedness and progression to employment, education or training through engagement with youth work programmes delivered by the voluntary youth work sector.The programme give young people the opportunity to explore different careers, develop their own personal goals, develop a plan for finding suitable education training or employment. Young people will develop their CV and interview skills, prepare for their driver theory test while also gaining an understanding of road safety through the RSA Wrecked programme. Young people will also develop skills to assist them in the workforce such as improved communication and leadership skills, problem solving, team work. Young people will also learn about entrepreneurship and how to develop their own business. For more information or to express your interest in the programme please call Aine on 086-7710790 or email aine.mcguinness@foroige.ie