In case you think that the selection of wild birds on the Donabate Portrane peninsula is limited to robins, starlings, crows and seagulls,have a look at this selection of photographs taken in Portrane by Swords man James (Chick) McNally. A much wider selection of photographs can be seen on The Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival’s facebook page bleedingpig.ie James (Chick) McNally has spent many wonderful hours capturing these images for us. He has a lifelong passionate interest in nature and conservation.Chick is a member of Bird Watch Ireland and is currently involved with the little tern project which is being conducted on Portrane Beach for the past twenty five years.This involves a team of volunteers who erect a fence and patrol the beach to protect the little ternsThe little terns lay their eggs in the sand and are vulnerable to predators – both animal and human – while they are sitting on their eggs waiting for them to hatch.There is great rejoicing when the babies are ready to fly back to Africa.
With the ongoing restrictions LSA members are unable to meet for training. Whilst some of our older training groups continued to follow their training plans on their own, we wanted to do something to unite all our juvenile athletes and coaches. The virtual challenge format provided by Athletics Ireland, with our own Olympic 2021 spin, gave us the ideal platform to do this with our “Three Week Olympic Challenge”. LSA was honoured that the CEO of Sport Ireland, sporting legend John Treacy, Silver medallist in the 1984 Olympic Marathon, took the time to introduce the challenge to our juvenile athletes.The challenge involved our 64 Juvenile members, ranging in age from 7 to 17. The idea was to form eight teams of eight and to mix athletes from different age groups and abilities. A coach and a team “country” was assigned to each team. Over three weeks we assigned three “events” for athletes to do in their own time, and asked parents to send the results to their team coach: Speed Bounce, 60m sprint and 300m time trial.We were very fortunate to be able to set up a temporary “race track” in the local area where athletes could run in their own time and record their results.Team coaches encouraged their eight athletes with advice and tips throughout the three weeks. The challenge was less about the competition and more about getting to know each other across the juvenile section: athletes, coaches and parents. It really delivered on that front and was a very rewarding experience. The many photos and videos we have from the three weeks are testament to that. Thanks to all the team coaches who were fantastic throughout and to the athletes who really embraced the whole spirit.“The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.” Olympic Creed. For more information on any of our programmes, or If you have any questions, please email lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook - Search “LSA”.
At the beginning of April, Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed was delighted to receive word that Fingal County Council had granted us a second plot at Turvey Allotments. Our first allotment has been the mainstay of our activities over the past year, when other pursuits have been curtailed. We are very grateful to the Council for giving us the opportunity to expand our work at the allotments. The past month has been remarkably busy. We cleared the plot of brambles, weeds and debris; we dug over and rotovated the entire plot, spread manure and erected fencing around the plot. A generous grant from Fingal Camber Community Fund was used to install a greenhouse, which we are using to propagate for planting outside. Anyone interested in joining, please contact Jim on 086-3694316.
By Breda Dockrell and Carolyn Smith
Fingal County Council is currently conducting a public consultation process to select a route for the Fingal Coastal Way; this will close on Thursday 27th May (2021). This is your opportunity to have your say; so don’t miss out. See the details at the end of this article for making a submission. The Fingal Coastal Way is a proposed coastal greenway extending along the northern Fingal coast from Newbridge House to the Meath Border (see Figure 1). It will link with the proposed Broadmeadow Way greenway from Malahide Castle to Newbridge House (which is being undertaken as a separate project) and the Sutton to Malahide Greenway, part of which is already constructed. In principle, this is a very welcome initiative by FCC. Unfortunately, none of the five possible routes identified by the consultants for the Donabate Portrane section of this Fingal “Coastal” Way (see Figure 2) capitalises on the full potential, in terms of recreation, tourism and heritage and business opportunities, of our beautiful peninsula.
Leithinis CCE Donabate Portrane held their Easter Slow Session of Traditional Irish Music and Song and it was a great success. A huge thanks to Erin McGahan and Fintan O’Reilly our Gaeilge and Youth officers who hosted the event. Along with leading the tunes they ran a quiz for the juniors which was a huge hit. Easter eggs were then delivered to all juniors who partook.We would like to thank Fingal County Council for the substantial grant under the Covid Round 2 fund for our 2nd gazebo. While it may be difficult to meet indoors, we hope that in the near future to meet outdoors for a pop up session in the gazebos as soon as restrictions lift. A special thanks to Rafe Costigan our FCC Community Officer for all the assistance he offers. We are continuing to hold classes over zoom which are going very well. In September we hope to add the concertina to our list of instruments offered. Our next slow session for members is on Friday the 7th May.Check out our Facebook page Comhaltas Leithinis Donabate Portrane for updates and information.
We love celebrations and treats in DPSO Club. Under “normal” circumstances we would have hosted a Christmas party for our athletes Santa was so disappointed at not being able to visit this year that he made contact with us and drafted our volunteers to help in delivering (in a socially distanced way of course) a small gift and treat to every athlete. It was great to see the joy on the faces of the athletes and a real boost for our volunteers.Valentines Day gave us another opportunity to send some love to our athletes; and we even got help from An Garda Siochána in delivering our treats. We even made it into the news! Our latest deliveries were on behalf of the Easter Bunny with every athlete receiving a gift and Easter Egg. We are so grateful to the generous donations from our supporters which make all this possible.Our #saturdaysmiles zoom sessions are still going strong, and the success has come to the attention of Special Olympics nationally and worldwide. We recently welcomed Mary Davis, the CEO of Special Olympics International to one of our sessions.On top of all this, twelve of our amazing athletes took part in Special Olympics Ireland virtual challenges. This Dynamic Dozen represented our club in three of the competitions offered; Athletics, Football and Motor Activities.Our athletes are delighted with their medals. Robbie Keane and Jacqui Hurley spoke at the virtual Award ceremony about how wonderful all of the participating athletes are; of course we already know that!
Corina Johnston, Labour Party local area representative is deeply concerned at the implications of the recent decision of the Progessive Credit Union to close their office in Donabate and is calling for a continued Credit Union presence on the peninsula.Johnston said: “The announcement that the Donabate office of the Progressive Credit Union is to close on 1st July 2021 has come as a major shock to its members and the wider community, especially as it seems that they were unaware that such an option was under consideration. This decision will have a serious impact especially on senior members who do not transact their business online and will now have to travel to their nearest office in Rivervalley, Swords, which has no direct bus service from the peninsula.” Johnston continued: “Donabate Credit Union was founded in 1968 and operated from various offices until their iconic Ballisk House was built and officially opened by President Mary Robinson in January 1996. The Credit Union has played an important role in the lives of its members and their families over the years.As a result of this decision, there will be no Credit Union presence in Donabate for the first time in 53 years. This is surprising given that Fingal County Council has designated Donabate as a growth area, with its population due to increase to over 20,000 over the next 10 years. Apart from the Post Office, the Credit Union remains the only financial institution within the parish.” Johnston concluded: “ While it seems from the replies received by Duncan Smith TD and I that the board intend to implement their decision, which will result in the closure of the office and the sale of Ballisk House, which was built as a result of the loans and shares of the members of the Donabate Credit Union over the years, I believe that it is in the interest of the members and the future growth of the Credit Union movement that a physical presence be maintained in Donabate especially with so many families moving into the area who would normally avail of the services of the Credit Union. In our correspondence with the Board of Directors we have urged them to take on board the views of the members and wider community by maintaining a physical presence on the peninsula”
On Wednesday 14th April many AAfA members were greatly worried to hear of the possibility of the spacing between 1st and 2nd vaccinations being changed. Many members who were over 70 had not received their first vaccination and were concerned that we would have a situation where we had over 70s who were ‘the vaccinated’ and those who would be ‘still waiting’. We contacted all members who were on email and explained the situation and suggested the value of a speedy ‘campaign’ to our TDs. It was with great relief that we received a response on 16th from the HSE that stated ‘It is anticipated that all over 70s first dose will be substantially complete by the end of April and that all of this age cohort will have been vaccinated (both doses) by the end of May in line with vaccine supply.’ Thanks to all who supported this call to action – the impact will be really important to us all to enable us to meet again physically. We hope that by the time you are reading this that you will be well on the way to having your 2 doses. So let’s stay active in making representations – The Fingal Development Plan – It is time to make your individual submissions now. AAfA is delighted with the opening of the toilets on the peninsula. We urge FCC to have them available permanently. We also welcome the increase in benches in the area for sitting and socialising and seek more benches located in desirable places.Paths for walking and cycling - we request that they be segregated rather than shared for safety reasons - like the proposed new pathway from the Shoreline to the Tower. Newbridge Park is beautiful and well maintained, but with regard to pathways, there is an urgent need to put additional measures in place; to protect all users but particularly older and vulnerable people. If bikes used Bell or Yell, it would also make it safer for all users.Housing options – we each could write about this regarding good long-term planning for this community… please make your ideas known submit them. See the photograph for How to Make your Submission and start exercising your fingers ASAP. We can each make a difference.
Fingal County Council Sports Office will be adding to the Fingal HomeFit live series by facilitating a free yoga programme. Erica from Yoga Sanctuary will be teaching a 4-week online yoga course aimed at beginners, but all are welcome. She will guide you through a 1-hour class each week aimed at introducing you to the benefits of yoga through breathwork, yoga postures and relaxation. If you are interested in starting something new for yourself or would like to join in to stretch out and feel good in your body, then join Erica from Wednesday, March 3rd at 6 pm.The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr David Healy said: “Another excellent online programme from Fingal County Council Sports Office. The Fingal HomeFit programme has been an important exercise option for many people during the current government restrictions. The inclusion of a 4-week Yoga programme is fantastic news and will give people an extra activity to participate in the evenings.” Margaret Geraghty, Director of Housing and Community Development for Fingal County Council said: “The Fingal Sports Office HomeFit live sessions have been a great success. Adding a new class to the already popular programme will give participants the chance to try a new physical activity from the comfort of their home.” For more information contact Noel McManus, Fingal County Council Community Sports Development Officer