The Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival launched on Thursday September 7th in the Brook Pub in Portrane, starring Uilleann Piper Eamonn Galldubh agus a chairde, with members of Comhaltas Leithinis. A large crowd enjoyed some ceol agus craic! On Friday September 8th we hosted Craft Workshops for Adults. “From Mud to Art” saw participants turn clay into ornamental hanging wall-art. Over the weekend, the peninsula was a hive of cultural activity, with Craft Workshops for Children, tours of the Martello Tower, Lego© Workshop, Sing-a-Longs, Yoga sessions, and a festival favourite, PizzaTrad. A huge crowd joined the Tara Céilí Band for some set dancing in the sun! Complimentary pizza was courtesy of DoughBox. The Short Film Festival ran from Monday 11th to Wednesday 13th, with large crowds attending to enjoy some short films and Q&A sessions. The Open Mic returned this year. Participants stood up to the Mic to entertain with music, comedy and more. The lovely Gala Concert in St. Patrick’s Church featured the Young Dublin Symphonia, and talented students of Kim Fallen-Bailey. The second weekend of the festival was busy: Music Workshops for younger children; Mol an Óige, a showcase of some fun-sized talent; Guided tour of Newbridge House; Casino Night with gambling fun and Rat-Pack entertainment; Take a Walk on the Wild Side! with Hans Visser, Bio Diversity Officer of FCC; Short plays from Donabate/Portrane Dramatic Society; September Miscellany featuring the Chinkwell Writers with musical interludes; Art, Photography and Quilting Exhibition; Singalong in the Brook Pub on Sunday afternoon to close the festival. Overall, a very successful and enjoyable 10 days of culture, with something of interest to all cultural tastes and all ages. The organisers are grateful to Fingal County Council for their support, and all the many festival sponsors. Without their generosity, this festival could not happen.

Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society is delighted with the success of its latest productions as part of The Bleeding Pig Festival in September. Every year The Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival provides the dramatic society with a welcoming platform to showcase talent and passion for the performing arts. On Sunday the 16 th September DPDS presented the murder mystery “Books, Crooks and Murder” by Rosemary Whittaker in the Gin Bar, Keeling’s of Donabate. While a notorious reclusive author was presenting her newest book after years of public exile, a murder was committed. The detective who was on the scene needed the help of the audience that played a big role to crack the case! This was an entertaining event that kept the audience guessing until the end. The Brook Pub in Portrane hosted “Little Miss Fresno” by Ara Watson and Mary Gallagher on Sunday 17th September. This short hilarious play saw two anxious mothers in competition while rooting for their precious daughters at a local beauty contest, leaving the audience in stitches of laughter. DPDS is immensely grateful to The Bleeding Pig Cultural festival committee and thankful to the dedicated audience who attended these productions. DPDS is now already working on the upcoming autumn project that will take place in Donabate Parish Hall from the 23rd to the 26th of November 2023. This autumn DPDS will bring on stage two short Irish plays “Bedtime Story!” by Sean O’Casey and “A Galway Girl” by Geraldine Aron. The comedy “Bedtime story” will be directed by the talented and experienced Lisa Buckley, while “A Galway Girl” will see Aengus Gordon and Áine Dillen, taking on the directing role for the very first time with the society. “I first saw ‘A Galway Girl’ ten years ago in the Bewley’s Café Theatre, where I fell in love with this sweet poignant one act Play, by Geraldine Aran. I always wanted Donabate Drama to perform it. I’m delighted for the opportunity to direct and bring it to our audience; I know you will enjoy it as much as I have when I first saw it”, said Aengus. “I’m excited to be embarking on my first directing role with the society. ‘A Galway Girl’ is an honest account of a marriage in the 1950’s from both sides, it tackles the arguments, the struggles and the tenderness”, said Áine. The autumn production will offer a blend of comedy and heartfelt moments and promises to be a captivating and memorable experience for theatre lovers. If you want to become a member or a patron of DPDS do not hesitate to contact any member or us here at donabateportrane.drama@gmail.com. And don’t forget to follow Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society on Facebook and Instagram!

The first week in September saw queues for registration and booking of classes that are run by the Active Age for All group. This growing group now has over 230 paid up members for 2023 and it was great to see so many booking for classes. Some classes were filled within a couple of hours and all the free classes are now full. There are some spaces still available in a few classes. If you are interested in joining them, contact us on activeageforall@gmail.com or by text on 086 8806808. Rates will be pro rata as the 12-week term goes on. So, when and where is there availability? Monday: Dance for Fitness– integration of Dance/Pilates. Spanish. Tuesday: French. Yoga. Singing & Music – really good for breathing and lifting the sprits. Wednesday: Art. Tai-Chi. Chair Yoga – really good if getting up and down off the floor is a bit too much and you still want to keep the body subtle. Thursday: Pilates 3. Friday: Yoga. You can register on-line at activeageforall.com. Also, Positive Ageing Week takes place this year from the 1st - 7th October. As our contribution to Positive Ageing Week, AAfA are offering a free Singing/ Choir Class on Tuesday 3rd of October at 11.00 a.m. Everyone welcome. Donabate Sings for All! At this class our regular tutor Muireann will teach several songs which will then be performed at a lunch time session. We will be joined by Peig McManus who will read from her Memoir I’ll Be Good, The Donabate/Portrane Ukulele Group and the Donabate / Portrane Men’s Shed Plonkers - musicians, will entertain us with their music. From this Singing Class - Donabate Sings for All - we hope to offer a free 6-week relaxed fun singing course starting the 18th of October from 6 - 8 p.m. sponsored by Fingal CC Community Dept. and DPCC. All will be welcome - all ages and nationalities. From this class we would hope to start a Community Choir! If you need any information about the 3rd October, please do contact us at activeageforall@gmail.com or just turn up at 11.00 on the 3rd of October.

Peninsula Art would like to say a big Thank you for the support and positive feedback received for our exhibition at the Hand on 26th & 27th August. It was most encouraging and heartening to see so many people viewing and enjoying our Art, and an even bigger thank you to those who purchased! We would also like to thank those in Fingal County Council who looked after us up to and over the two days - Rafe Cossigan, Senior Community Officer for Fingal County Council, Dean Mulligan, Fingal Councillor,, Corina Johnston, Local Labour Representative, and Duncan Smith, Labour TD, and last but not least Ùisce Eireann for use of their railings.

Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCE lessons resumed on the 2nd of October. We would like to welcome back our existing members and extend a warm welcome to our new students. We had a busy summer with some of our members playing at The Bleeding Pig Festival, the St. Pats GAA Mini All Ireland Prize giving. We welcomed Craobh Cluain Tarbh’s Junior Members to Donabate Parish Hall to join our Junior members for a very successful slow session led by Erin. Leithinis Junior members have performed as part of this year’s Mol an Oige concert on Saturday 16th September at Donabate Portrane Community Centre led by Erin. Well done to all our Junior members. A big Go raibh maith aghaibh to Erin and to the parents of our Junior Members for their support to their branch. In addition to our lessons, we run slow sessions in the Parish Hall on every 2nd Friday of the month for our members. This is a great way for our students to practice their tunes with their fellow students. Some of our members play with an experienced group of local musicians in the Brook Pub on the 1st Tuesday of every month at 7.30pm. This session has become very popular across the North County and everyone is welcome to come along and listen.We still have a number of places available in Tin Whistle, Bodhran, Fiddle, Concertina, Accordion, Flute, Guitar and Banjo so if you are interested in joining Leithinis to learn a traditional Irish instrument email us on leithinis@comhaltas.net and we will get back to you.

Area Rep Corina Johnston said recently; “The population of the Donabate Peninsula is projected to grow to approximately 20,000 over the next ten years. The residential zoned land in the Donabate Local Area Plan provides for approximately 4,000 residential units. Last week phase 1 of the Glenveagh Development consisting of 1200 housing units in Ballymastone commenced. This week a revised planning application for 1020 residential units in Corballis was advertised. A previous application for 1365 units on this site was granted permission by FCC and ABP. While the outcome of these applications will see the provision of a Nature Park in Corballis and a Sports Hub at Ballymastone there are no indoor community facilities provided to cater for an additional 3000 residential units.“

Johnston added; “The need for this facility is even more critical today as according to the census (2022) 41% of the population of the peninsula (11783) are under 30 while 31% are under 19 years of age. The Local Area Plan includes the following objectives for such a facility: -Objective 6.3 To support the provision of a community facility on lands at Ballymastone -Objective 6.12 Support 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 by any one group.
The Civic Centre should include: • a performing theatre with a fully equipped stage, seating for 100 people, Workshop/studio space Meeting/education rooms, Café ,Youth Centre, Sensory Room, a dedicated area with historical facts about the area on permanent display and an Outdoor Children’s play area amongst other facilities. Johnston added;”The FCC Tilberry site located off the Corballis Road would seem to be an ideal location among other sites to meet this criteria. Johnston concluded; “In assessing the merit of this multi-purpose Civic Centre let us envisage what Donabate would be like in 10 years’ time with 3000 additional houses with little additional indoor community facilities for the growing population with all suitable strategic land built upon. This would be a disaster. Surely we must learn from the mistakes of the past. Duncan and I intend to campaign vigorously for such an important facility.”

Corina Johnston, Area Representative is calling for the Garda Commissioner and Minister for Justice to sanction the provision of a Garda Station in Donabate.She said; “We have been campaigning for the such a provision for a number of years. In 2021 we proposed that the state acquire the Credit Union Building which would and still is an ideal location for a station. Duncan Smith TD and I also raised such a need at a meeting in 2021 with the Assistant Garda Commissioner and Senior Gardai. In their response the Gardai said that while they have no objection in principle to a Garda Station on the peninsula, this however would be a political decision. “ Johnston added; “Duncan has since raised this at National level with the Ministers for Justice, Public Expenditure and OPW. He was informed that the current Garda Building and Refurbishment Programme does not include the development of a new Garda station in Donabate, Co. Dublin. The 2006 Local Area Plan included as an objective a Garda station. I am still astounded that such an important objective was removed from the current Area Plan. Given the projected increase in the population of the area and the increase in anti social behaviour it is imperative that such a facility is planned for now.” A determined Corina Johnston concluded;”Duncan Smith TD and I met with the Garda Superintendent in recent weeks and highlighted this issue once again and also the need for the provision of addition Garda resources for our expanding area. We intend to pursue these important issues at National and Local level and will keep you updated. “

LSA was very proud to see a 13th place finish for our wonderful record breaking Discus thrower, Anna Gavigan representing Ireland at the 2023 European U20 Athletics Championships! It was a far cry from the wind and rain of Donabate for Anna, when she competed in the searing heat of Jerusalem in early August. LSA is an adult and juvenile athletics club with over 400 members, based in Donabate. We were established in 2011, and Anna joined us as a 10 year old in 2014. She helps coach our Juvenile athletes and also coached at our recent very annual summer camp. The format for the European U20 Championships in Jerusalem involved two qualifying groups with each competitor getting just three throws, with the top 12 to go through to the final. It was an intense competition ‘shootout’ and Anna, with a best of 46.09m secured an excellent 5th place in her group finishing 13th place overall, agonisingly just outside a top 12 spot for the final. 13th in Jerusalem was an excellent round off to a great season in which Anna retained her All Ireland Senior Schools Title, Leinster U20 Title, won Silver in the National Senior Championships, retained her National U20 Title setting a new outright National U20 record in the process. None of this would be possible without the commitment and expertise of Anna’s coach, Donabate man, Gerry Ronan who dedicates so much time and effort to his athletic training group. Well done Anna and Gerry. For memberships queries or to get involved in any way please feel free to contact us at lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com Keep up to date on all the events by following LSA via our social media pages! Instagram instagram.com/lsadonabateportrane/ Facebook facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy Twitter twitter.com/LSARunning Also visit our website lambaysportsathletics.ie/

The Bleeding Pig Film Festival returns to Donabate for its sixth year with an eclectic and inspiring selection of films to be screened over three evenings within the beautiful confines of St Patrick’s Church of Ireland in Donabate. From 11th - 13th September 2022, the film festival presents two nights of dazzling short films from both established and up and coming film-makers, culminating in a final night feature film screening to be announced soon. Included in the line up this year is the Oscar winning Irish short film An Irish Goodbye by Ross White and Tom Berkeley. The festival’s popular Q&A’s with filmmakers will be hosted by Sinéad Brassil presenter at LMFM and Luke Dunne, film writer and founder of Film in Dublin The Bleeding Pig is presented is association with the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival and supported by Fingal Co Co, Wiley Design, Film Equipment Hire Ireland and Supervalu Donabate. Remember - Venue - St Patrick’s Church of Ireland, The Square, Donabate, Co. Dublin K36 Y521. More information and to book your FREE ticket check out bleedingpigfilmfest.com

The Peninsula Pacers are doing their Annual Walk on Saturday 9th September from Donabate Parish Hall at 11 30am to the Burrow. This walk passes by Wayne’s Coffee Stand at The Tower and ends at The Brook Pub & Pizza Place! where the Bleeding Pig have a Traditional Irish Ceile in the afternoon which is always a great event the very best of craic. (After the walk one can take the public Bus back to Donabate!) A healthy day & an environmentally friendly day! In the October edition we hope to outline our walks for the year. In the autumn we hope to car pool and do some walks in Clogherhead & Carlingford to suit different abilities. We will have maybe some walks for the serious walkers also! We will be using the All Trails App where there are a number of walks we can do within our radius by train or car. A few years ago some people came together with FCC to look at Sli na Slainte (Healthy Walking Ways) routes on the Peninsula with some of them in & connecting into Newbridge Park - it is wonderful to see that Tracks and Trails are now developed, open and colour coded so you can easily follow a great way marked walk around the Park. It is a not expensive and is an easy exercise to take! so get going or stay going all year! You just need walking shoes/boots, a waterproof rain jacket and a small rucksack! Contact Carolyn Smith 087 9284307 or Des Carthy 087 7846813 for any further information.