Cllr. Adrian Henchy said recently, “The recent surge in both Water and Electrical outages across Donabate and Portrane is totally unacceptable. I have called upon both representatives from the ESB and Irish Water to attend the next Area Committee meeting in County Hall, Swords in order to give elected representatives from across all parties and none the opportunity to hold them fully accountable for these far too frequent outages and what actions are being put in place to address them. One issue I have been campaigning on now for many years has been the all too frequent water pipe bursts and outages affecting Portrane but especially residents of the Burrow, Portrane and also residents living along Turvey Avenue, Donabate which has in recent months seen a spate of water outages.I am pleased to confirm Irish Water have committed to the upgrade of the water infrastructure network at the Burrow, Portrane and I will continue to campaign strongly on behalf of my local community for the replacement of old pipes and upgrade of water infrastructure serving Turvey Donabate.” Henchy said, “I have been in regular communication with Irish Water on these matters and my thanks also to the Burrow Residents Association who brought this issue to my attention and have been campaigning for the water infrastructure to be replaced and upgraded given the all too frequent outages. At a recent area committee meeting, I requested an update from the Chief Executive in consultation with Irish Water on any plans to upgrade the Water Infrastructure serving The Burrow area in Portrane. Irish Water have informed me today, that the Asset Management Department of Irish Water have approved the replacement of approximately 1.1km of poorly performing 4” asbestos cement water mains on the Burrow Road. This work will take place in 2023.” Henchy added, “My thanks to both Irish Water and Fingal County Council for their commitment to these much needed infrastructural improvement works and be assured I have also requested that a sense of urgency be applied for the replacement and upgrade of the major water mains network serving Turvey Avenue Donabate. I look out for updates on this in the coming weeks also.”

It has been a sad time for the members of Active Age and all who knew Philippa Coady, our
former Chairperson, who died suddenly before Christmas after a short illness. She will be missed as she was a dynamic person with great energy and ideas. May she rest in peace! In memory of Philippa we presented a cheque for €1,400,00 to St Francis Hospice Raheny, which we raised at our Carol Concert before Christmas. We are grateful to all who contributed. Our new term started on the 23rd of January with many classes full. It is not too late though, we still have places in some of our classes. Art, Singing & Music, Tai Chi, Chair Yoga. Yoga. If you want information about any of our classes or activities or about Active Age please contact activeageforall@gmail.com or TEXT only 0868806808 or see our website activeageforall.com.

Lambay Cinema Club has an exciting Spring Season ahead for peninsula movie enthusiasts with a real pick ’n mix of international films scheduled for the months ahead. We kicked off 2023 with our first screening last month with Nebraska (2013) an American comedy-drama. The story follows an elderly Montana resident and his son as they try to claim a million-dollar sweepstakes prize on a long trip to Nebraska. The film was well received by the audience.This month we will show an emotive French film, ‘Everything Went Fine’ (2021,12A) on Feb 16th. Eighty-five year old, Andréis a wealthy and successful art-collector, used to doing everything on his own terms. So, when he suffers a stroke, which leaves him unable to continue life as before, he asks his two daughters for help with his assisted suicide. The burden of dealing with this fall to his eldest daughter Emmanuèle, who must navigate the challenging consequences and practicalities of André’s decision. Remember, you do not need to be a member to attend any of our monthly screenings. We advertise on our social media platforms as well as locally and tickets are available on Eventbrite a week prior to the screening, with limited on the door availability. Our screenings take place in the beautiful setting of St Patrick’s Church of Ireland, The Square, Donabate.We are also looking for volunteers to join our backroom team, if you have a particular interest in film or have marketing experience or just like to help out, please feel free to contact us by email at lambaycinemaclub@gmail.com. Many thanks to those that have attended and supported this entirely voluntary community initiative. Without this support (as like all community groups) it would not be possible to continue. Dates for the diary. - (1). 16th February – the film - ‘Everything Went Fine’ (2). 5th March - the film -‘Wadjda 2012’ - (3) 20/04/23 –the film is yet to be decided – (4) 18th May - the film ‘Gravediggers Wife’ and (5) 10th June – the film ‘Compartment No 6.’

On Saturday and Sunday the 5th and; 6th of November2022 ‘Through the Lens’, the Donabate and
Portrane Photographic Group held their second Photo Exhibition in the Parish Hall in Donabate. With over 40 framed prints of photos taken by members both locally and in far flung places there was plenty to look at.The annual Through the Lens calendar was also displayed and on sale; the calendar, as always, contains only photos taken on the peninsula with the aim of providing seasonal views of our area. This year we are proud to support the Donabate & Portrane Tidy Towns who work so hard enhance our locality. We were delighted with the success of the calendar sales and as a result we have been able to donate €600 to the Tidy Towns Groups to aid them in their endeavours. Many thanks to our loyal customers and to our kind sponsors.In December members of both Through The Lens and the Active Age for All camera clubs joined forces to combine a photo-shoot of the Swords Christmas lights with a seasonal get-together in the Carnegie Court Hotel. A very enjoyable evening was spent reviewing the photographic events of the previous year and planning bigger and better for the next one. For anyone who may be interested in joining, or finding out about, either club look up Through the Lens on throughthelens.ie or for Active Age for All activeageforall.ie. Or you could call Carolyn 0879284307 Our sincere thanks to the Parish Hall committee for the use of the Hall, in particular Bernie in the office and Martin who looked after the door.

Our Spring term of traditional Irish music classes commenced on the 23rd January in Donabate Portrane Educate Together National School. Leithinis CCÉ provides weekly lessons in Tin Whistle, Fiddle, Flute, Bodhán, Accordion, Banjo, Mandolin and Concertina. We would like to welcome our new students and we were delighted to see some of them participate at the fortnightly Friday NIght Music Gathering which takes place in Donabate Parish Hall. The monthly Traditional Music Session took place on the 17th January in The Brooke Pub, Portrane which was led by Denis. The Session is going from strength to strength with increasing numbers of experienced musicians participating and for the rest of the year, takes place on the first Tuesday of every month. All are welcome to come along and listen.

Corina Johnston, Local Labour Area Representative is calling on Fingal County Council to initiate an Active Travel Plan for the Donabate and Portrane peninsula. Johnston said; “As an avid walker and cyclist I very much support the concept of the Fingal Coastal Way linking our towns and coastlines. However I am totally opposed to the proposed emerging route in Donabate from Newbridge Park via Turvey Green, Turvey Drive, Beverton and Ballisk for the following reasons: (1)This proposal is at variance with one of the main objectives of the scheme that is to encourage and enhance the Local Tourism Economy. (2) The route diverts the public especially walkers and tourists through housing estates and away from the Village Centre and the Commercial and Historic areas of the village. (3)The residents along the route are totally opposed to the proposed route as it will open up the Turvey estate, which has been a cul de sac since the estate was built over 30 years ago. At the time a proposal to provide an access into Beverton estate via Turvey Drive was successfully resisted by the residents.(4) The opening up of the estate would have major safety and security implications for all properties and especially for young children playing on the public open space and the elderly. I believe the most suitable route is the alternative route from Newbridge park via the Hearse Road/ the new cycle/pedestrian bridge over the Dublin Belfast line and via Smyth’s Pub which is an objective in the Donabate Local Area Plan. Johnston concluded; “I urge Fingal County Council to support my proposals for the alternative route in Donabate and to initiate an Active Travel Plan for the Donabate and Portrane peninsula to be initiated as a matter of urgency to integrate the Fingal Coastal Way, Coastal Walk and all the schemes and to ensure community engagement.

The St Pats oldest Academy group - the 2016 boys and girls - are really enjoying their #BallWall sessions. Once a month, they’re doing a session at the Ball Wall and in the Gym working on Functional Movement skills. So many people assume that the gym is only for our Adult members but it’s utilised by all our teams with their Mentors, S&C coaches and FM guides. If you’d like your 2016 child to join the fun, just PM the St Pats facebook page. Same goes for any aged juvenile from 2018 to 2005, PM the St Pats facebook page and we’ll put you in touch with the squad mentor.

2022 was a great year for LSA. We had our first inaugural road race last May. It was very successful and thanks to all the Donabate and Portrane Community for supporting us. We’ve had medals in Dublin Championships, Leinsters and Nationals across the club. 40 athletes took part in the 2022 Dublin City Marathon with huge support from our club members on the day. We had goals set, records broken and athletes who started running for the first time in April and completed a half marathon in November. We’re looking forward to another “Runderful” year in 2023 and if you would like to join us, contact our registrar on lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com.

Donabate Tidy Towns would like to thank Helen and Gerry Lynders from Lynders Mobile Home Park for their very generous donation of €250. The donation will be put to great use around the village for buying new plants for flower beds located around the village and new equipment for our volunteers when planting or carrying out a clean-up of their local area or taking part in the monthly clean-up of the village. Keep an eye on out Facebook page for details of our monthly clean-up or you can contact us through Facebook or send us an email at tidytownsdonabate@gmail.com. The U10s boys from St. Pat’s GAA helped John Lovatt from Donabate Tidy Towns with a clean-up of the beach down at the Burrow in Portrane. It was such a pleasure for John to work with the army of St. Pat’s U10s and bring an awareness of the environmental issues and pollution affecting our coastline. John explained that litter can be washed up onto the beach as well as being dropped there. The challenge was to bring the bags of collected litter back more than a kilometre to The Green in Portrane. This proved no problem to the boys who solved the problem with ingenuity, great teamwork and real determination. Comhghairdeagas and GRMA mór to the boys and their coaches, parents, siblings and John Lovatt who assisted in the task. If you would like to volunteer with your local Tidy Towns you can do so by contacting us via email or Facebook as given above. You could, for example, volunteer to look after and maintain your local area or estate as many of our volunteers do, please contact us and we will provide all of the required equipment. Alternatively, you could join us for our monthly clean-up or some of the projects we are currently working on in areas such as increasing biodiversity in the locality.

In 2022 despite the difficulties experienced with Covid early in the year the Parish Hall was busier than ever once restrictions were lifted in late Spring. The wide variety of daily activities took off, including Senior Citizens, Youth Club, Irish Dance, Pilates, Bridge & Cards. A number of new activities also started e.g. Egg Heads & Youth Drama Classes. The Cultural & Creative slots when the hall suspended daily activities enabled for e.g. the Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society to put on two excellent productions in April & November. There were also a number of exhibitions held over a few days in Photography by the Through the Lens group. This arrangement also facilitates children camps to take place. Some one day cultural, creative & craft events also took place in the Parish Hall. These included the launch of Lambay Cinema Club, The Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival Art Exhibition and FCC Inclusion Day when the Parish Hall Committee & Leithinis CCÉ jointly hosted members of the Ukrainian community in a cultural event. One of the highlights of the year was the Christmas Craft Fair run by The Christmas Festival Group. Next year we hope to continue to serve all the growing & diverse needs of our community as best as we possibly can. Again we wish the entire community a very Happy & Healthy New Year. If you have any queries re the use of the Parish Hall, contact Bernie in the Parish Office on 8434574.