Recently, a record was broken in the UEFA Champions League by a young girl from Ireland. Former Glebe North Player Hannah Healy played for Shelbourne Football Club in their Champions League game in Lithuania vs Glasgow City. At the age 15 and 262 days, Hannah Healy is the youngest ever player at the UEFA Champions League, women and men. Hannah played for Glebe North Football Club for nearly 7 years. After some time in the academy, at age 8 she joined the Under 10 Girls teams to compete in the MGL and start an unbelievable winning streak with the Under 11 Premier League & cup, Under 12 League and Cup, the under 13 League, and trophies from various tournament, regional and national level. The Pandemic stopped a potential U14 League & Cup winning with only a couple of games remaining while leading the table and a Cup final never played…Hannah joined Shelbourne after a season with Bohemians, reaching different achievements and awards, national and international recognitions. We at Glebe North FC are all so proud of Hannah’s achievement more than ever before! Well done Hannah.

Congratulations to Balbriggan Cricket Club’s victorious 2nd Team after their recent win which sealed the League Title. It was a team effort on the day, Shak Ir was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 15 off his 4 overs, Skipper Samad took 3 and there was 1 each for Syed Haris and the evergreen Duane Harper to bowl out Phoenix for 84. With the bat, after a little early wobble, Cian Rooney and Bilal Iqbal batted superbly to bring us within a few runs of the target, Cian with an excellent 43 and 32 for Bilal. Fittingly it was the skipper who hit the winning boundary to settle the contest. Skipper Samad’s side have been unbeaten in the league all summer and sealed the title recently at home in The Jack Harper MCG. It’s 2 promotions in 2 years for this team and they are now up to the 2nd XI Premier League, the highest league a 2nd team can compete at in Leinster. Congratula-tions again to all the players and mentors.

Cllr Brendan Ryan, Labour Party, is calling for Fingal County Council to reopen its council offices in the Town Hall, Balbriggan. Cllr Ryan said; “the closing of Fingal County Council offices in Town Hall, Balbriggan, has had a devastating impact on the people of the town with no direct local access to council services, particularly housing services, which are located in Blanchardstown.” Ryan continued;” Given there is no direct public transport route to Blanchardstown for the people of Balbriggan it is a challenging commute to access these services. I submitted the following question to a recent council meeting on this issue: “To ask the Chief Executive if consideration can be given to reviewing any formal decision made in the past to close the Council Offices at Balbriggan Town Hall, depriving the people of Balbriggan of local access to Council services, particularly housing services which are located at Blanchardstown, as this is a challenging commute by public transport?”

This is the Council’s reply: “The Customer Care Unit is the subject of on-going review and evaluation in relation to improving and enhancing performance and customer satisfaction. A more in-depth review is currently being considered regarding the services being provided in our buildings. Members will be kept informed regarding the outcome of this review in due course.” Ryan concluded; “I am pleased that Fingal County Council are considering an in-depth review of services provided and believe this review should be carried out without delay. Re-opening the Balbriggan offices has got to be included in the review and I can only conclude from the reply that it will be. Given the population increase in Balbriggan I believe it is imperative that the council reopen its offices in Balbriggan, and I will continue to pursue this much needed service for the people of Balbriggan vigorously. “

Balbriggan Men’s team won the Beachy Cup making it three in a row in the North East Blitz Competition, on Sunday. Balbriggan beat Navan, Ashbourne, lost to Ratoath and drew with Boyne. Ciaran Hannigan, a former youth player with the club, made his senior debut along with our new overseas player Jamie Kinninmont. Well done to them both.

The Seniors went to Spain in recent weeks on tour where they played Gernika Rugby Club. Meanwhile please remember -Training continues every Tuesday and Thursday at 7.30pm.

Congratulations and best of luck to one of our local firefighters Aidan Smith who has recently retired from the service after 29 years of dedication to the community.

Thank you, Aidan, for your service and we hope you get to enjoy your retirement and spend many happy and healthy years with your family. You are indeed a true professional who is always on hand to help people and no doubt your colleagues will miss you. The turnout was well deserved and it was great to see so many appreciative people there wishing you well in your retirement.

All at Ardgillan College were thrilled for the Class of 2023 on their exceptional exami-nation results recently. A remarkably large number of students achieved in excess of 500 and indeed 600 points. The talent and commitment of this group of students was rightly rewarded. Principal Nuala Ní Mhúrchú was delighted to welcome students and their parents into the College to celebrate together and was excited to hear about the many college courses on the horizon. She wished to extend her sincere congratula-tions to the entire class of 2023 and a heartfelt thank you to the parents for all of their support over the years. All at the College wish them a lifetime of success and happi-ness and hope that they enjoyed celebrating this very momentous achievement with their families. Also, Ardgillan College’s Open Evening took place on Thursday the 7th of September and it was a fantastic event. Thank you to all of the families who visited to learn more about our school. Thank you to all of the wonderful students who helped out on the night.

Remember Us is an integrated social youth group for young people/adults with special needs and caters for members aged 4 and upwards. We cater for members From the North Fingal and surrounding areas. The club is mainly based in Balbriggan - for in house activities see our website at www.rememberus.ie Volunteers are required to assist and supervise young people/adults with special needs in a group setting at their various activities/outings. The following are the days and times we require help: Monday 10 – 1pm Adult group - Wednesday 4pm to 6pm 4 – 12 year olds - Thursday 10 – 1pm Adult group - Saturday 2 to 4 if in house - All Ages Volunteers play a vital role in Irish society. Across Ireland, volunteers are engaged in delivering services and programmes that improve and enhance the life of our communities. Volunteers are people just like you. If you have an hour or two to spare and would be interested in volunteering please contact Nora/Hayley on 0860457003 or e mail hello@rememberus.ie for more information.

A Date for your Diaries! Balbriggan Meals on Wheels is holding its ever popular Christmas Fair on Saturday 25th November from 12.30pm to 2.30pm. This will be a great opportunity to get your Christmas shopping started whilst supporting a good cause! In advance of the Christmas Fair, Balbriggan Meals on Wheels will be accepting donations of new, unused items that we can sell. So now might be the time to go through your cupboards and clear out any unwanted gifts that you might have. Donations can be left to 14 Hampton Street, Monday to Saturday between 9am and 1.00pm. All proceeds raised go towards the work of Balbriggan Meals on Wheels.

For many years the people of Balbriggan and its surrounds have been travelling to Skerries and other locations to support Pieta House in their fundraiser “Darkness into Light” and it would have been nice to see the event in Balbriggan. So many people in our community have been affected by Suicide and Mental Health and over the years I have contacted Pieta House with a view to having the event in Balbriggan. Unfortunately, as there was already one close by it made no sense to have two in such close proximity. However last year after again many telephone calls and discussion, it was agreed that Balbriggan would host its very first “Darkness into Light” and would I be able to get a committee together. I jumped at the chance and knew exactly the people that I could call on to get involved.

From the very first announcement that it was happening in Balbriggan, the whole community got behind us, everyone from local shops, coffee shops, pubs, schools and Nursing homes. With support from Fingal County Council, we were able to run the event without any cost to Pieta House so that all the money raised would go directly to the services, which was very important to us. After many weeks of planning the morning of 6th May was upon us and a wonderful bunch of volunteers including the scouts from 89th Bremore and 34th /161th meet to help the committee with the support of our local Garda and Order of Malta. To say we were overwhelmed with the amount of people who showed up was an understatement…..it was just amazing. The crowds of thousands all came together to walk and talk along a loop of Balbriggan and ending up to a wonderful sunrise on our lovely beach whilst listening to the sounds of the “Balbriggan Gospel Choir. It was very emotional to see so many out to support this worthwhile cause and the atmosphere was very special. We waited with bathed breath for the total amount raised and was blown away when we were advised that we raised 41,491.69 and which will go a long way to support those that need it most. Also, this year it was announced that Pieta was setting up a local service in Balbriggan for 12–25-year-olds who may be struggling with suicidal feelings, self-harm or who have lost a loved one to suicide and can be contacted on 0818 111 126. Editors Note: Congratulations to Cllr Maguire, the hardworking Committee and all who took part.

August has been another busy month for the Balbriggan/North County Dublin branch of Guide Dogs. Tom O’Neill Guide Dog Owner and his family and friends in Farrell’s Bar in Ballinalee Co. Longford which is owned and ran by Breeges sister Mary and husband Martin held a Trad Session on Sunday 20th August where Mick Flavin Country and Western star plus, champion flute player Noel Sweeney and many others played to honour Breege O’Neill’s (nee Reilly) wonderful legacy. Farrell’s Bar said the following on their Facebook page, “While Breege was training with her last guide dog, Qeb, with The Irish Guide Dogs for The Blind in Cork, she noticed how the bus which was used to transport students was not in great shape. On that trip Breege decided she was going to fundraise to buy a new student’s bus for the centre and set about doing so when she got home from Cork in November 2019. In true O’Neill fashion, Breeges wish was carried out after she passed away in June 2021 to get a new eight-seater minibus to be donated to Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind in Breege’s memory. Tom O’Neill gave a fantastic speech as he launched Breege’s bus and of course Qeb had to make himself known and was in fine voice on the video emphasising everything Tom said in all the appropriate places. Qeb added to Tom’s fine speech and a wonderful evening. If you would like to listen to Tom’s speech in full, you can visit our Facebook at Balbriggan Branch of Guide Dogs or our Instagram page @balbrigganbranchguide. A big well done and thank you to all involved. It was a beautiful tribute to a wonderful woman, and we have no doubt Breege would be so proud. The bus was officially handed over to Guide Dogs Cork on Saturday 26th August at the National open day for volunteers at the centre. If you are interested in volunteering with our Balbriggan branch of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, please feel free to contact us by call or text: 085 7663107, or of course you can always email GuideDogsBalbriggan@gmail.com.