A lack of facilities is a significant concern for residents in Donabate and Portrane. The Donabate Local Area Plan allows for 4,000 additional residential units to be built in the coming years. While increased housing supply is very welcome, we should equally be pushing for better facilities. Our local authority should approve planning applications by developers on the condition that adequate sporting and social infrastructure are part of their application. Fingal currently has no public swimming pool. There has been an ongoing campaign to have a public swimming pool built in Fingal for many years. With the population of Fingal now at over 170,000, this is not an unreasonable or overly ambitious proposal. And given that a significant number of houses that are being built in north county Dublin are planned for Donabate, we have as good a claim as any other area for a pool to be located on the peninsula. By comparison, Leitrim has a population of 35,000 and has two public swimming pools. A pool in Donabate could cater for residents here and nearby towns. While the pop-up pool that was in the car park of the community centre in Donabate was a great temporary addition, we should be advocating for a permanent facility. The pop-up pool demonstrated that there is huge interest in swimming on the peninsula. I have written to the Minister for Sport making enquiries regarding the Large-Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) and how communities can best access funds under this scheme. A public pool is a proposal I will continue to advocate for at local and national level. If you want me to keep you updated on this campaign or if you would like me to share with your correspondence or responses I receive from State Agencies, please email me: eoghandockrellfg@gmail.com.

Corina Johnston, the Labour Party Local Area Representative for Donabate and Portrane said recently, “I am pleased that a Motion submitted on my behalf by my colleague Cllr O’Donoghue and co-signed by Cllrs. Mulville and Henchy was unanimously passed at a recent Council meeting. The motion recommended that a site within the Ballymastone/Corballis area of Donabate and in the ownership of the Council, be identified and designated as the site Cultural/Arts/Youth/Multifunctional Community facility meeting. I am however disappointed with the Council’s response and while acknowledging the council’s commitment to relocate the library from the Community Centre to the recently acquired Credit Union site to free up additional community space this will not meet needs of the current and future residents of our peninsula. Duncan Smith TD and I held a public meeting in October 2023 to outline our ongoing campaign for the provision of such a facility within the Ballymastone/ Corballis lands. The well attended meeting endorsed our objective and a committee (DP Crossroads) has since been formed. At the meeting we outlined that the Donabate LAP facilitates the growth of the population of the peninsula to 20,000 with 3000 housing units in Ballymastone and Corballis within the next decade. The LAP supports the provision of a Community/ Cultural/ Exhibition and Performing Arts Centre for Donabate/Portrane and encourage the development of multi - functional community buildings which are not used exclusively designed for any one group. According to Census 2022 41% of the population of the peninsula are under 30 years of age. There are over 30 active Arts, Cultural and Youth groups on the peninsula who have no permanent home. It is apparent from the response that FCC are not in favour of providing a site for the Centre. It seems that it is acceptable to FCC that Donabate can grow to a population of 20,000 people but not provide the necessary infrastructure to support the needs of the current and future population. This is totally unacceptable to me and contrary to the LAP. It is imperative that a site for this much needed community infrastructure be ringfenced as a matter of urgency before there’s not a suitable blade of grass not built upon. FCC undertook to meet the Crossroads group on this matter in the near future.”

2023 was another successful year for LSA. We are an Athletics club based on the Donabate/Portrane peninsula, founded in 2011. We now have almost 460 members, over half of those are children and teenagers. Last year our athletes competed in Dublin, Leinster, Schools and National Championships; European U20 Championships; World and European Masters Championships; numerous road races, mountain races, and marathons at home and across the world. We also have a National Record Holder Under 20. Other notable events were a successful road race in May, a Summer Camp in July, and the first sod turned on our future home in August. We are a friendly growing club, run by volunteers. Our members log thousands of kilometres across the peninsula and beyond, at a wide range of paces and there is a big welcome for everyone who likes to keep active. We always welcome new members and volunteers. If you would like to get involved please contact us - details below: For any Adult memberships queries please contact us lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com Little Athletics and Juvenile athletes (from age 7-18) please contact lsajuvenilereg@gmail.com Keep up to date on all the events by following LSA on our social media pages! On Facebook please contact us on .facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy or contact us on Instagram at our Instagram site on instagram.com/lsadonabateportrane/ Twitter twitter.com/LSARunning Please also visit our website lambaysportsathletics.ie/

Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCE held their Annual General Meeting on November 20th. We would like to thank the members who attended and who also volunteered to join the Committee. We are a small branch and are delighted with the extra help. The meeting was also attended by Mary Whelan, outgoing Cathaoirleach of Dublin County Board CCE. Mary was presented with a bouquet of flowers as a thank you for all the guidance and advice she gave us since our very first meeting and over the past few years. We wish Mary the very best of luck. Some of our Junior and Adult Members played at the Annual Christmas Fete in the Educate Together National School on the 26th of November. It was a great opportunity for us to showcase our branch and for our members to play some tunes together. We also played a few tunes at the turning on of the Christmas Tree Lights on Portrane Green. Well Done to all the volunteers involved, the tree looked fantastic. The Dublin ‘Tradfest’ will be held on the 24th to the 28th of January. Some of Ireland’s best traditional musicians will be playing in venues across Dublin including our Parish Hall on the 28th when our very own Donabate Portrane local Gerry O’Connor, Banjo player with the Dublin Legends will be playing in the Parish Hall on the 28th. Our classes are back up and running in January. If you are interested in learning to play a traditional Irish instrument such as the Fiddle, the Tin Whistle .and the Bodhran, Banjo, Flute, Concertina, and Accordion. You can please contact us on line at leithinis@comhaltas.net and we will get back to you.

At the end of November, Gerry and the Plonkers (the Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed music group) played a free lunch-time concert in Donabate Parish Hall. All who attended enjoyed the music, the sambos and the tea. Many thanks to the Parish Hall Committee for sponsoring the wonderful sandwiches from Cate’s Café and to Evaleen, Tatiana, Breda, Kay and Martina, who made and served the tea and coffee. Although between 30 and 40 people attended, we trust these lunch-concerts will become regular events and for bigger audiences next time. Great oaks from little acorns grow. Last month, the Men’s Shed had their once yearly Christmas Dinner in Keeling’s pub. A great night was had by all, a hearty meal followed by a fabulous after-dinner sing-song of all our old favourites, ably led by Peter Cooney, Tony McArdle and Willie Cahill. Although things are relatively quiet at our allotments, our usual weekly activities continue - our exercise classes, croquet, musical jam sessions and our regular Thursday morning get-togethers in Donabate Scouts’ Den. Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed wishes our community and all who have supported us over the past year, a peaceful and healthy New Year. If you’d like to join us, please call our PRO, Jim, on 086-3694316. New members are always welcome.

What a busy year this has been. A full year without Covid or Lock downs. We started the year on a sad note with the death of our Chairperson Philippa Coady RIP. Her wisdom and kindness were sorely missed. A new Committee was elected and we Registered members for classes. What a response, we had queues out the door, everyone anxious to get back to normal. Here are some of the highlights of the year: the first would be our Bealtaine Celebration – The Bealtaine Miscellany - our choir the Caintóirí gave a short concert with the Rosemount Singers from Julianstown followed by readings from the Chinkwell writing group and Peig McManus who read from her brilliant memoir I Will Be Good. It was a most enjoyable celebration. We had a wonderful Fun Croquet Day with The Men’s Shed in the summer, refreshments were served and a rematch has been promised. Then in October we had Positive Aging Day where we invited people to come and sing with the Caintóirí and we were joined by Gerry & the Men’s Shed Plonkers and writers from Chinkwell & Peig McManus. The Ukulele group also played. Inclusion Day in November was a great success. A Dementia Friendly Coffee Morning. It was organised with DPCC with presentations from The Alzheimer Society who gave a most informative talk. Followed by music from The Cáintoiri and the Plonkers and refreshments were served. Our Carol Concert as usual was a welcome start to the Christmas Celebrations with a Raffle in aid of St Francis Hospice. It was standing room only! The non-alcoholic Mulled Wine and Mince Pies were much appreciated. So Happy 2024, and we have some dates for your diary: ONLINE REGISTRATION for current members will open from the 5th to the 8th of January for those who wish to register early. REGISTRATION for everyone will be DPCC on the 10th & 11th of January from 11.00 to 14.00 AGM is on the 19th of January at 11.00 a.m. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and we look forward to 2024. For any information about Active Age email activeageforall@gmail.com.

Happy New Year to all our walkers! Most of our walks are between 8-12km and mainly on the flat. We do once a month walks for about 8 months of the year, we try hard to use public transport mainly trains but sometimes we must use cars. We repeat walks as it is as much about - fitness & fun as the route taken! We have been to e.g. Poolbeg, Bull Island, Howth, Virginia, Boyne Board Walk, Rush Beach, Donabate Portrane Peninsula & the recent walk below in Clogherhead. Our next walk is Carlingford on Sat 6th Jan 2024!

I am Eoghan Dockrell, a first-time local election candidate and I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and set out my priorities. I grew up on the Portrane - Donabate peninsula and have recently moved back to Donabate. I count myself very fortunate to have grown up here; however, many of the problems we now face should have been foreseen by those planning the development of our community. Fingal County Council has a central role to play in how our peninsula is developed. I believe too much emphasis has been put on the development of large-scale housing estates, yet we still don’t have adequate social and cultural infrastructure. For a population our size, we should have better, more reliable transportation links. We should have better childcare facilities and not have young families traveling long journeys to drop off their children. We should have a dedicated cultural centre and performance space for local groups to use (musicians, artists, our drama society). We should have more Community Gardaí given how rapidly our area is growing. These are the issues that I’m prioritising. Our elected councillors are responsible for holding the executive of our local authority to account and this includes pushing for developing our community in a balanced and sustainable way. In my view, that hasn’t happened; In other areas of Fingal, outside of Portrane and Donabate, you see towns with similar populations that have more social and cultural infrastructure. If elected, I promise to bring new energy to the Council. I’ve already started working on the issues I’ve mentioned by making representations to the Council on behalf of residents of Donabate and Portrane. I have also been in contact with An Garda Síochána to discuss policing matters on the peninsula and how we can have more community Gardaí assigned to our area. In the coming months I will continue to meet as many people on the peninsula as possible in the hope of earning your support. Please contact me at: eoghandockrellfg@gmail.com if you have any issues, you need help with.

The newly formed Community Singing Group rocked around Donabate Villages Christmas Tree in early December, as Mayor of Fingal, Cllr. Adrian Henchy turned on the Christmas lights. The group only began singing together in October and entertained everyone with a medley of Christmas Favourites, under the musical direction of Aine Daly. Meeting every Wednesday evening in Donabate Community Centre, the group welcomes everyone who enjoys a sing song, no auditions or talent required just a willingness to have fun and meet new friends The group also helped to raise funds for the Simon community by singing in Powerscourt Townhouse and St, Stephens Green Shopping Centre later in December.

The Parish Hall programme provides for a variety of activities and events to satisfy as many needs as possible. During the normal week e.g.: Seniors meet twice - on a Wednesday and Friday mornings and enjoy bingo and other activities and a cup of tea and chat. There are also in the Parish Hall, Cards, Bridge, Pilates, Irish Dancing, Drama Classes and Leithinis Trad Music on different days. The special events range from Photo Exhibitions, to Drama Productions, to various Camps, to Music Makers and Craft Fairs! At present the Parish Office is confirming all activities and events from January to July. In 1923 the hall was described as cold and cheerless. Locals organised a football tournament, Cinderella dances and gift sales resulting in a new floor and new piano. The hall became so busy that bookings were hard to get. In 2023 the Parish Hall after refurbishment and a makeover, courtesy of FCC and the Parish Committee is now busy again and bookings are hard to get! We still have no piano but plenty of music is taking place anyway with Leithinis & the Music Makers Men’s Shed! If you wish to book a time and space for weekly or special events including camps, please contact the Parish Office on 01 8434574 immediately to check if there is still any availability. The Parish Hall Committee wishes all their users and the entire community a very happy and peaceful New Year.