By Julian Nolan

Anne Nolan, one of the famed Nolan Sisters, recently spent a weekend at the Shoreline Hotel in Donabate, Ireland, working on a secret project. The Nolans are an Irish institution who have been entertaining audiences for decades with their lively music and upbeat performances. Anne’s visit to Donabate gave her the opportunity to take in the stunning scenery and experience the local culture. Anne, who currently resides in Blackpool, England, made the journey to Donabate in April to work on her new project. Although the details of her project have yet to be revealed, it’s clear that Anne is as busy as ever and still passionate about her music career. During her stay at the Shoreline Hotel, Anne was able to enjoy the beautiful Donabate beach, which is one of the most picturesque spots in Ireland. The beach is known for its breathtaking views and serene atmosphere, making it the perfect place for Anne to relax and unwind after a long day of work. Aside from enjoying the beach, Anne also took the opportunity to explore Donabate and experience the local culture. The town of Donabate is a small but vibrant community with a rich history and a lively arts scene. Anne was able to meet some of the locals and get a taste of the town’s unique character. The Nolan Sisters, which include Anne and her siblings Bernie, Linda, Maureen, and Coleen, first rose to fame in the 1970s with their catchy pop hits and infectious dance routines. Their music has since become synonymous with a particular era in Irish pop culture and continues to be enjoyed by fans of all ages.Despite the many challenges the music industry has faced over the years, the Nolan Sisters have remained a beloved and iconic group in Irish music history. Their ability to connect with audiences through their music and performances has earned them a special place in the hearts of fans around the world. Anne’s visit to Donabate is just the latest example of her commitment to her music career and her love of exploring new places and experiences. Her weekend at the Shoreline Hotel allowed her to work on her secret project while also taking in the beauty and charm of this unique Irish town. As for the rest of us, we can only wait with excitement to see what Anne has in store for her fans with her upcoming project. Whatever it may be, we can be sure that it will be infused with the same energy, passion, and joy that has made the Nolan Sisters an Irish institution for generations.

At 12 noon on Saturday, 6th May 2023, the Leinster Pipe Band Championships will commence in the grounds of Newbridge House and Farm, Donabate, Co. Dublin. This competition is the first competition of the season and was previously held in Swords Castle, in 2018 and 2019. As we all know, the pandemic stopped everything for a few years and so this year is a special year for us, as it is the first Leinster Championships since 2019. Due to ongoing works at the Castle, it has been relocated to Newbridge House for this year. This competition attracts bands from the entire island of Ireland. Previous entrants were from Killeshan, Newcastle West, Carlow, New Ross, Youghal, Arklow, Cullen, Waterford, Lusk and Clondalkin from Dublin, Newry, County Down and also from Loughgall, in County Armagh. Bands are graded by the National Executive Committee of the Irish Pipe Band Association, with 6 grades in total - 5 or 4B, 4A, 3B, 3A, 2 and 1 - grade 1 being the highest grade. The winner is announced based on the band having the lowest overall score from all the adjudicators. When all the bands have competed, they parade into the arena and assemble as a massed band. As each band enters, they may play a tune of their own choice. When assembled, all pipers play an agreed tune. The bands will salute the Chieftain of the day, Cllr Howard Mahony, Mayor of Fingal. The event is concluded with a prize giving ceremony, followed by the playing of the National Anthem. This event would not have been possible without the great support of Fingal County Council, to whom we are incredibly grateful for the allocation of the area in the grounds and the staff of Newbridge House and Farm for their help. We are looking forward to this competition and hope to see old friends, band members with their supporters and members of the public, who may be interested in learning either piping or drumming as a result. Mark the date – Saturday 6th May 2023 at Newbridge House and fingers crossed for a nice dry day!

Corina Johnston Local Labour Party Area Representative is calling for the homes under severe threat from Coastal erosion at Beach Lane, Portrane to be protected. Johnston said;”Over the last few years Duncan Smith TD and I have been persistent in pursuing the need for the Beach Lane access road fronting 12 homes to be protected from Coastal Erosion. Johnston continued; “Since before Christmas the rate of the impact of Coastal erosion has accelerated with the road impassable in recent days.” Johnston added; “We were extremely disappointed to receive the following response at a recent council meeting to our requests for help on behalf of residents which was raised by Councillor Rob O’Donoghue who asked the Chief Executive to extend the Seabees on the northern end of the Brook beach, Portrane fronting Beach Lane and the public right of way as a matter of urgency given the very serious impact of coastal erosion on twelve residential properties at this location and to provide details of the consultant engineers report on this section of the beach?” The Council replied, “ Following an extensive analysis of the issues by the Council in consultation with the Fingal Coastal Liaison Group it has been determined that the extension of the SeaBees array as requested is not the optimum way of addressing these issues and that an alternative access to the properties is a more appropriate approach. Discussions are ongoing with local landowners with a view to providing the access required.” Johnston said; “It is unacceptable that such a critical decision was taken by the Fingal’s Coastal Liaison group without a meeting or consultation with the residents beforehand. It has always been our position that the existing Seabees along the beach needed to be extended fronting the houses. As the situation is critical and access to the properties under threat we have submitted the following motion to the next council meeting: “That this committee recommends to the CEO that Sea Bees be acquired and installed fronting the properties at Beach Lane the Burrow Portrane as a matter of urgency.” Johnston concluded” Given the seriousness of the situation we are calling on all public representatives to support this motion in an effort to save this road access and ultimately the 12 homes.”

Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society will bring Neil Simon’s play ‘Last of the Red Hot Lovers’ to Donabate Parish Hall, from Thursday 4th to Saturday 6th May at 8pm, and on Sunday 7th May at 3pm. ‘Last of the Red Hot Lovers’, originally set in Manhattan in the late 60s, tells the story of Barney Cashman, a middle aged, married and successful business man in the throes of a mid-life crisis. Barney, who is a creature of habit, has come to the realization that he has a ‘nice’ life, but he is tired of this ‘nice’ and needs more thrill. He wants to bring an end to his decades of monogamy and experience his secret fantasies and dreams at least once in his life. He arranges three encounters with three very different women in his mother’s studio apartment. The seductress Elaine Navazio, his first attempted mistress, is a married woman who enjoys cigarettes, whiskey and, most of all, other women’s husbands. The second one, is a completely different type: Bobbi Michele, a pretty 20-ish aspiring actress and singer, part of the “new generation”; and finally, Jeanette Fisher, a gloomy, depressed housewife married to Barney’s best friend. “Barney runs the Queen of the Sea restaurant in New York but after years of working with the fruit of the sea he gets tempted by the fruit of another and wants his slice of the “action” he’s been missing out on. So, he embarks on a series of assignations in a small Manhattan apartment that go … well you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men! This play gives us loads of laughs and quite a lot of emotion while asking what we want from our love affairs and what really makes us happy. We’ve got another great formula this time out, you’ll love it!” – said Paul, veteran member of the Society and Director of this new production. Tickets will be available at the door but can also be purchased in advance on Eventbrite.ie or over the phone by calling 086 0712530.

St. Ita’s AFC soccer club are delighted to announce that Progressive Credit Union will again sponsor the club, and be the official Welfare Sponsor for 2023. The sponsorship will allow the club to invest in a range of equipment and training to ensure that the standard of welfare of all our members is exceptional. According to St. Ita’s AFC Chairman Conor Tonra, the support of PCU as the Welfare Sponsor has proved critical for the club: “The support of PCU in 2022 allowed for an upgrading of key safety equipment such as First Aid kits and an upgrade in AED equipment, and for us to roll out a programme of health and safety training including AED training for coaches. This new commitment by PCU for 2023 will allow us to build on these strong foundations.” Progressive Credit Union were the club’s inaugural Welfare Sponsor in 2022, and this extends the sponsorship for the new season. The investment will benefit all of the club’s youth and senior 700 players and coaches. Donabate and Portrane is an important part of the common bond of the Progressive Credit Union, which was formed in 2013 and has grown strongly since. According to Sean Staunton, CEO of Progressive Credit Union: “Progressive Credit Union are delighted to once again support St. Itas AFC, and continue our long-term commitment to Donabate and Portrane. We have a large membership based in Donabate and Portrane, including among members of St. Itas, and we are very proud to support a club which has played such a central role in the community of the peninsula for almost 100 years. The club is based in Donabate-Portrane, fielding teams of male and female members, from age 4 upwards. St Ita’s AFC has approximately 700 registered playing members, including nearly 90 coaches, and are fielding 37 teams in league football, and have recently expanded the senior section to include a senior women’s team and an over 35’s men’s team. St Ita’s also works closely with other organisations in the local community, and has license agreements with two local schools (DPETNS and Donabate Community College), as well as the Donabate Special Olympics Club to use the club’s facilities.

Under the umbrella of the Parish Hall Committee, a very special event was held in Donabate Parish Hall in late February 2023. The Parish Hall became an old style Picture House for the screening of Angel (1982) featuring Stephen Rea in his very first film and starring in the lead acting role. Part of it was shot in The Burrow on the Portrane Beach, which made the occasion extra special and nostalgic for all present. Stephen, as our special guest, came on the night to watch the film and did a very enlightening and entertaining Q&A session afterwards with the well versed and prepared Leticia Agudo, who is film director herself and also tutors on the Film & Production Degree Course in Coláiste Dhúlaigh College of Further Education. It was a community event, all the main Cultural and Creative groups were invited first; then some tickets were extended to other Community groups - people who do or have enriched our Parish. On the night, a huge thanks was extended to FCC for their part in refurbishing our Parish Hall, especially the acoustic panels which make it an ideal venue for cultural and creative activities eg Drama, Film, Music, Dance, Craft. There was no Eventbrite, no Facebook, no Instagram, no Posters, no Advertising and we still were sold out of tickets for the night and there was a full house. On the night, we went down Memory Lane for a few minutes about places that use to show films in the parish. Do you remember John’s Club (now gone) or Dockery’s (upstairs in what’s now Grogan’s Shop) in The Burrow? Both places showed films once a week or month in the 1950’s and 1960, fond memories for many people present.

Now we have a great new film club in the Parish. Recently, Larry Carolan and Breda Maguire set up The Lambay Cinema Club and they and their team show a great selection of films once a month on a Thursday in the Church of Ireland at The Square, Donabate. Without Larry’s enthusiasm, expertise and experience in the screening of Angel (1982) in the Parish Hall, nothing could have taken place on the night; the film and the equipment were borrowed from the Bleeding Pig and Larry did the set up and showing. A huge thanks also to Country Crest Farm Shop who sponsored some of the refreshments for all of the people on the night. Also, a big thanks to Stephen from Keelings Pub who sponsored delicious sandwiches for all the volunteers who were working hard on the night and well before the night The Parish Hall Programme tries to co-ordinate and cater for, in a workable way, as many needs as possible, daily/weekly eg Senior Citizens, Cards, Irish Dance, Youth Wellbeing etc and blocks of cultural and creative activities eg Drama, Camps, Exhibitions etc.To that end the Dramatic Society are back again with one of their twice yearly fantastic productions at the end of April, beginning of May. Also coming up is an inclusion of some camps to cater for the children of the Parish. Lastly, a special thanks to the Parish Hall Committee and a massive thanks to all of the volunteers who helped to make it such a memorable evening, caretakers, cleaners, film showers, ticket takers, ushers, reception team, parking attendants, gift maker, photographers, video maker, setter uppers & washer uppers! for, without them all, it would not have happened. A very very special thanks to Stephen Rea; we are sincerely honoured that not alone did you come to our community event as our special guest but took such a big part in it. We hope it can be repeated again in the future!

The old Howth Tramline was our walk in February, led by Audrey Sherlock one of our leaders. It has great variety weaving up the hill from the Train Station on the Tramline one arrives to The Summit, where you can then take part of the Cliff Walk to descend back down to the village of Howth. The day ended with a lovely meal in the Abbey Tavern. We try as much as possible to use public transport. With good timing one can go from Donabate to Howth by train in less than an hour ! Our walk in March was planned for Rush to Loughshinny (and return) by beach and cliff. It has fantastic views in/out but is dependent on the tides so one must take care. Our April walk on Saturday 22nd is by train Southside and then walk to the Pidgeon House & Lighthouse and return for food to Sandymount Village.These long walks 10/12km approx can vary in difficulty and require good health and a fairly good fitness level. Also, one must be attired properly with walking shoes with vibram soles (not runners) and layered up for all weathers with rain coat and rucksack a must! Please contact Carolyn Smith on 087 9284307 or Des Carthy on 087 7846813

Active Age for All will take a two week break from classes over Easter,starting the 3rd of April.
We hope that the weather will be fine and we can have an opportunity for some gardening and some nice long walks with the walking group.We will be hosting an event on the 5th of April at 10.30 a.m. in Donabate Portrane Community Centre with Danielle Monahan from Fingal Age Friendly Healthy Homes. She will give a more in depth presentation, as to what grants and help is available to make your home more age friendly and healthy. All with the idea of keeping people in their own homes for as long as possible. Danielle will be available to answer individual queries privately after the presentation. If you want to book a slot Text only 086 880 6808.We are excited to be involved in planning an event on the 9th of May for the Bealtaine Festival to celebrate creativity in the older person. We are hoping to involve our singing group Caintóirí, the writing group and some of our Ukulele players, so it should be a very enjoyable morning. so please ‘watch this space!’

To finish I would just like to wish our members A very Happy Easter! If you need information about our classes or our organisation please go to our website www.activeageforall.com. or why not email activeageforall@gmail.com. Or TEXT only 086 880 6808

The death has occurred recently of the former Mayor of Fingal, Gerry McGuire. He served as Mayor of Fingal in 2011-12. He was co-opted onto Fingal County Council in July 2003 to replace long-serving Labour Party Councillor and TD Seán Ryan, who was obliged to stand down following the abolition of the dual mandate which allowed members of the Oireachtas to also serve as councillors. Mr McGuire was subsequently elected to the Council in 2004 as a councillor for the Swords Local Electoral Area which, at that time, included his Donabate base. He served as the Chairperson of the Housing Strategic Policy Committee from 2004 to 2009. He was re-elected as a Councillor in 2009 but lost his seat in the 2014 local elections. He served on the Eastern Regional Authority and the Northern Area Health Board and was also a member of the Donabate and District Sports Association and the Donabate Housing Co-Operative. Originally from Tullamore, Co Offaly, where his father also served as a Labour Party Councillor, he moved to Donabate in the 1960s and worked in St Ita’s Hospital where he was a founder member of the Psychiatric Nurses Association. The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Howard Mahony, said: “It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of former Mayor, Gerry McGuire, who served as a Councillor on Fingal County Council for 11 years and was a dedicated representative for the people of Donabate. On behalf of all my fellow councillors, past and present, I would like to extend our sympathies to wife Mary, sons Brendan and Alan, and daughters Ciara and Darina.” The Chief Executive of Fingal County Council. AnnMarie Farrelly, said: “Gerry McGuire was a dedicated community activist who worked very hard over the years for the people of Donabate, and also represented the people of Fingal for one year when he was elected as Mayor. I would like to extend the sympathies of everybody at Fingal County Council to his family and friends.” His funeral mass took place on Wednesday 15th March at 11am in St Patrick’s Church, Donabate. A minute’s silence, in memory of the former Mayor, was held at the March monthly meeting of Fingal County Council.

Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed continues to expand its range of activities. Over the past two months, a group of members partook in a HSE-sponsored Heathy Eating programme, an enjoyable and information hands-on cooking course focusing on producing nutritious meals. We also started a weekly music jam session. All of this is in addition to our regular tea-and-chat get-togethers, our croquet and boules sessions at Newbridge House, our exercise classes and our occasional outings to places of interest.So, if you are interested in joining us for any or all of these activities, feel free to call or text our PRO, Jim, on 086-3694316 or just turn up to our weekly Thursday morning get-togethers in Donabate Sea Scouts’ den on the Portrane Road. Either way, you’ll be warmly welcomed.