On the Boules Court recently installed by FCC Parks Department nearly thirty people turned up for the Boules Coaching Course organised with Tom Donnellan (Bayside Boules) in early February for people to learn the basic rules and techniques of the game.

They came from various organisations Active Age for All, Men’s Shed etc and as individuals, to learn how to play, so we would all be on the same page! FCC have been active in building courts in various parks in Fingal recently and when this is well underway, we hope they will consider a second court for Newbridge Park. This would complete a recreational hub with the Croquet area which already allows for two games to take place at the same time. It was a great success - Tom a true professional and in the past a PE Teacher, along with his good wife Eileen - delivered a great course - easy to understand with everyone getting a go, it was also great fun! Can we especially thank Lourda Darcy from FCC - for pulling out all the stops to get not just one but two seats in place in the perfect location, sitting at right angles to the court promoting good socialising! Also, the Boules Rules signage board is excellent.Congrats again to all at FCC for the Court and to all the people who turned up to learn & play! Breda Dockrell 086 8693243

On Monday 24th January The Tower Singing Circle celebrated the songs, poetry and music of Scotland’s poet Robert Burns.The Donabate/ Portrane peninsula has quite a few residents who are from Scotland and we welcomed them to join us in our celebration.Local piper Mick McNamara started off the celebrations with a rousing “Scotland the Brave” and this was followed by the traditional “Address to the Haggis”. Janey Wylie wielded her knife with great gusto as she said“An’ cut ye up wi’ ready slight,Trenching your gushing entrails bright,” to loud applause.Anne Condon read “The Selkirk Grace” and “To the Immortal Memory” was given by Hugh Carroll who read “The Birl for Burns” by Seamus Heaney. Former Portrane resident but now living in Calgary, Canada, Sean Buckley, gave a very complimentary “Toast to the Lassies” and Eilish McDermott gave a less than complimentary “Reply to the Toast to the Lassies” We were joined by our guests for the evening - Angela and Jack Plunkett. Originally from Glasgow, Angela and Jack have a huge repertoire of songs.We were delighted to welcome Emily Peart full time Highland Dance Tutor from the Sollus School of Highland Dance based in the Sollus Centre in the village of Bready just 7 miles from Derry. Emily performed the Highland Fling.Margaret Godwin introduced members of The Tower Singing Singers and visitors who sang a variety of Burns and Scottish songs.

Recently Donabate Parish Hall as part of their Cultural Programme had or will have: The Through the Lens Photography Group put on an exhibition on the last weekend in February.-The Bleeding Pig Cultural Group are putting on a film early March to celebrate International Women’s Day -The Donabate Dramatic Society will have a production at the end of April. During the time slots for these events to take place the daily activities are suspended. This programming approach allows for blocked events and daily activities to co-exist to provide for the whole communities needs. The plan at present is to close the parish hall to weekly activities for a period of 3 weeks in October 2022 and a staggered closure during the period of February/March 2023 to allow cultural events to be held. There may be some other periods for Cultural Camps during the holiday periods.We hope and trust that you will support activities and events in your newly relaunched Parish Hall. On Friday 25th March all groups and individuals currently using and connected to the Parish Hall will be invited to the Parish Hall on that evening for a relaunch of all the activities & events with the Lord Mayor of Fingal County Council present, Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh and other Councillors in the area and Officials.The photographs are of the set up of the screens grant aided by FCC being set up and the painting of the railings at St Patricks Parish Church grant aided under the Village Renewal Scheme. We are proud and delighted so far with the work done on the Parish Hall and cannot thank Fingal County Council enough for the support in the form of grant aid towards these works. Your community Parish Hall at over 200 years old Is the oldest operating facility in the Dublin Diocese, isn’t that something to celebrate!

Lambay Sports & Athletics) is Donabate & Portrane’s busy vibrant athletic club, just emerging out of lockdown and ready to embrace an exciting future ahead! LSA is as rapidly growing local athletic club, established in 2011. We promote health, well-being, and physical fitness with a lot of fun for all ages and all abilities throughout the community. The club is growing from strength to strength with over 300 members. Our busy little club has competed in some recent events where our adult and juvenile members have excelled in their personal goals. Creating new records at our local parkrun to winning medals at the National Indoor Masters Championships 2022 in Athlone. Our adults also take part in events organized by other Athletics Ireland clubs such as the Raheny 5 Mile earlier this year, the Lusk 4 mile in March and the Dublin City Marathon in October. We cater for all abilities with groups starting from complete beginners with our walking and Couch to 5k group to intermediate and advanced intervals. Our juveniles age groups have recently competed in the Dublin Indoor Championships 2022 in Abbotstown. For many it was their first experience of the National Indoor Arena and they loved it and were wonderful ambassadors for the club. There were smiles and fun all around and new PB’s created. SAVE THE DATE - We are excited to announce that we are currently in the process of organizing our own race to take place on the peninsula on 22nd May 2022. Keep an eye on our social media pages for more details. We are looking forward to working with the local community and inviting our friends from other clubs from across the country to compete. Keep up to date on all the events by following LSA on facebook, instagram and twitter. Facebook : facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy, Instagram contact details are Instagram.com/lsadonabateportrane/ and Twitter at Twitter.com/LSARunning For additional information on the above please visit our website lambaysportsathletics.ie /Registration for 2022 NEW Membership is now open and our new ‘Couch to 5k’ is starting at the beginning of March.

Cllr Adrian Henchy has said he is “ absolutely delighted to confirm the Capital Sports Grants announced for 2022 have been a very successful outcome for a number of Sporting clubs and organisations across the Donabate-Portrane peninsula. My sincere thanks to my colleagues Minister Darragh O Brien and Minister Jack Chambers who gave me the time on many occasions to strongly support my local clubs in their endeavours to improve on and off the playing facilities. I am especially grateful to Minister Chambers who met with me in recent weeks giving me the opportunity to strongly put forward my case on the merits of the clubs across Donabate Portrane. Sincere thanks and recognition to all of these individuals, you know who you are, your clubs know who you are and we as a wider local community are lucky to have you driving these enormous improvements in our sporting facilities across Donabate Portrane..With overall funding of well over €550,000 awarded across Donabate Portrane, congratulations to the following clubs:Donabate Portrane Community Centre Gym Adaptation Multi-sport, Balcarrick Golf Club- Balcarrick women into golf development.Donabate Golf Club - Equipment and Drainage, The St Ita’s AFC Multi-Sports Areas Soccer, St Patricks GAA Club, Donabate - Installation of fully drained sand based pitch for Gaelic Games, Portrane Hockey Club - Equipment project for Hockey.The overall record funding allocation both nationally and for Donabate Portrane was secured following negotiations between Minister with responsibility for Sport Jack Chambers and Michael McGrath, Public Expenditure Minister.These allocations are the country’s largest ever Sports Capital & Equipment Programme distribution.The assessment process for grant provision was adjusted for this year’s programme with greater marks awarded to projects which would increase female participation, as well as increasing participation for people with disabilities.Under the Sports Capital Programme over 13,000 projects have now benefited from sports capital funding since 1998, bringing the total allocations in that time to over €1billion.Finally once again on behalf of everyone in our local community a massive thanks and recognition to all our local clubs for the incredible work you do and congratulations to all the successful clubs in been rewarded Capital Sports funding, an immensely proud time for the Club Executives, teams and club members.

Corina Johnston, Labour Party area representative has welcomed the resurfacing of the Ballymastone sports ground car park which was carried out recently. This follows on from an on-site meeting on 8th February arranged by Duncan Smith TD and attended by Duncan, Corina Johnston and senior officials from Fingal County Council. Johnston said; “At the meeting I raised my serious concerns regarding the condition and safety of the car park for children and adults using the sports facilities in Ballymastone. I also raised the need for public lighting especially in the winter when so many children/youths are entering and exiting the clubs grounds for training into a dark car park and the need for bicycle racks to facilitate those cycling to the sports grounds. “ Johnston continued; “ The officials stated they could not provide a hard surface given the huge cost involved, however the alternative temporary surface will be repaired whenever required. We also received a commitment that bicycle racks will be installed shortly.” Corina added; “Last year I made a submission to Fingal County Council as part of the Ballymastone Recreational Hub plan public consultation process that the existing car park and it’s upgrade be included in the project. Regrettably my submission and many others from concerned parents were rejected by Fingal County Council. A major error in my opinion. I firmly believe that the existing car park which is located adjacent to the existing grass and all weather facilities will continue to be required and upgraded. This can best be achieved by its inclusion in the Ballymastone recreational hub project. “ Johnston concluded; “ We will continue to campaign for this objective and to this end we have submitted a motion for the council meeting on 17th February next. The motion recommends that the existing plans for the hub be revised to include the existing car park and it’s upgrading. We will keep you informed of developments.”

Local history, exhibitions, community gardens and street art are just some of the projects which will benefit from Fingal County Council’s announcement of successful grants, showcasing the town’s creativity and helping to develop a sense of identity and social inclusion in Balbriggan.Over €42,000 has been awarded to 16 projects through the Our Balbriggan Placemaking Fund, which aims to inspire people to reimagine and reinvent public spaces in the charming seaside town in North Fingal. Amongst the successful applicants is the Balbriggan Drama Society who were allocated €3,000 to host a photo and memorabilia exhibition celebrating the organisation’s 75th anniversary. Running from March to December 2022, it will be on display in the La La Café at the Irish Institute of Music and Song complex.Celebrating Balbriggan’s maritime heritage and coastal environment, the Balbriggan Playground Group were awarded €4,500 to create visually stunning and effective stone sculpture work created by local artist Darren Rodgers.The good work of Balbriggan Tidy Towns was also recognised with a grant of €1,250 for the ‘Balbriggan is Buzzing’ project, which aims to create natural play areas for children and, encourages them to connect with nature, while also learning about biodiversity.The ‘Community Canvass Project’ under the stewardship of Alison O’Grady was awarded €3,000 and involves an Illustration drawn on sixty canvasses, to combine into one large image. Residents are invited to pick a time and paint one of the canvasses, to form one large image which will be digitised and reproduced for an installation. Projects successful under the latest Placemaking Fund were: Balbriggan Podcast who received €1,667, Castleland Community Centre who received €2,200, Balbriggan Drama Society who received €3,000, Balbriggan Playground Group who received €4,500, Dear Balbriggan Magazine who received €3,500, Grasshoppers Early Years Festival who received €2,800, Newhaven Residence Association who received €2,000, Reach Group who received €2,350, Bremore Educate Together who received €5,000, Balbriggan Tidy Towns who received €1,250, Chapel Gate/Pineridge Residents Association who received €2,000, Foroige who received €2,000, Alison O’Grady who received €3,000, Balbriggan Pumpkin Patch who received €1,260, Taylor Hill Residents Association who received €1,100, and the Irish Institute of Music & Song who received €4,500.

Peninsula Pacers have planned a few walks for the Springtime so hope the weather will be kind to us all! So get out your walking shoes & let’s get going!

Skerries: On Thurs 17th Feb we hope to go on a medium walk in Skerries. We can go on the train, walk down to the town via the mill if open, go on a beach walk around by Red Island and coffee! Returning by train to Donabate. All weather permitting.

Boyne: On Thurs 10th March we hope to do some of the Boyne Rampart Canal Walk. It is a flat walk with some lovely attractions on the way and a view of the Boyne for the entire length. They will require cars but we can hopefully pool by then! All weather permitting.The April walk to be decided but will probably be before the Easter Holidays and maybe the Bray to Greystones Coastal Walk - if it is reopened. If you are interested in joining please contact us we would be delighted to hear from you. Further information & queries to Carolyn Smith 087 9284307 and also on email: carolyns@live.ie

In the 2021 Town and Village Streetscape Enhancement scheme, an initiative funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD) & administered by FCC Development Section, the Parish Hall Committee were part funded for outdoor works at the Parish Hall & Church. The tree lined boundary facing the graveyard and backing on to the railway has been pruned back, the trees trimmed and the undergrowth cleared out. New pots and miniature trees have been put in front of the hall. In the Springtime the railings, gates and doors of the church will be restored and painted as part of this programme. Some works have already started by clearing at the railings in preparation for painting as the weather improves. As regards what is happening inside the Parish Hall - there has been some curtailment of daily activities and classes and very few events taking place, but hopefully with covid restrictions easing there will be more activities and events taking off. It is not still clear whether it will be possible to run the Cultural 3 Week Activity Block for in Spring during February/ March and it may have to be moved to a later time in the summer; all will depend on public health restrictions. It is envisaged that the situation will improve as regards public health and as there are only certain times still available to rent in the Parish Hall and a rapidly expanding population it might be a good idea to contact Bernie at stpatricksrcdonabate@gmail.com or any queries to 01 8434574 to see if there is availability to suit your needs. We wish you all a good Spring and welcome back all our regular users and new user to the Parish Hall.

Online registration for new members opened on the 17th January and places are filling up fast. Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCE offers lessons in Banjo, Bodhran, Button Accordion, Concertina, Fiddle, Guitar, Mandolin and Tin Whistle for beginners and advanced students. Annual family membership €20 and 12 lessons €110. Lessons are held on Monday evenings. If you are interested in learning a traditional Irish instrument with highly experienced teachers please email us at leithinis@comhaltas.net. further information regarding our classes, teachers and activities can be found on our website at www.leithinis.com