Most organisations shy away from grant applications as they can be very time consuming. With a few simple steps, they can be made easier. Set up a sub-committee dedicated to grant applications, made up of two to work together and the treasurer to provide all the necessary financial information. The full committee should set out plans, that include both capital and revenue expenditure. Capital expenditure is money spent on acquiring or maintaining fixed assets, such as buildings, fixtures, fittings, machinery or office equipment. Revenue expenditure is money spent on expenses, usually within one year, such as electricity, insurance, small repairs, etc. Capital expenditure will, in almost all cases, involve getting quotations from different firms, with a minimum of two quotations required for each item of expenditure. If different specifications have a bearing on the cost, get two quotations for the top specification and two for the lower specification. Store all quotes received and copies of previous years’ expenses in pdf format, using Dropbox or similar, which is accessible by the sub-committee members. Have a bank of pre-prepared information saved, such as a paragraph which gives details of when your organisation was formed, the purpose of the organisation and committee members as to their work experience and their volunteering history.

Only proceed to applying if all of the conditions of the terms of the grant can be met. Most applications are now completed online. Agree a log-in user name and password between the sub-committee members. Take a note of the closing date for receipt of applications and set your closing date to 2 days prior to that date. Read all the questions and complete as many questions that you can as you read. Some questions may need the input from both committee members. If the form says that there is a maximum word count, make sure your paragraph is below that word count. If you think two questions have the same answer, re-read both questions as it is unlikely that the reader wants to read the same information twice. Double check that you have uploaded all requested documents and answered every question before submitting. Print a copy of your application, in most cases this is only available after you have submitted it. Don’t take it personally if you are not successful. Dust yourself off and apply for the next one.

Cllr Rob O’Donoghue has welcomed the appointment of the consultants who will carry out the research to feed into the Lusk Town Centre First Plan. The consultants were appointed in mid-August to carry out further research on the needs for drawing together the disparate parts of Lusk into a vibrant social, cultural and recreational core for the local community. The research will build on the bedrock Lusk for Life document, produced by the Community Council to form a Town Plan for Lusk. Following on from the first meetings of the Community Pillar and the Business Pillar at the end of July, the researchers will liaise the Pillar Groups to look at the communities needs, and seek to aid in the development of Lusk in the coming years. Commenting on the appointment of the consultancy team, Cllr O’Donoghue stated, “this is an important step in the progressing of the town centre first scheme for Lusk. Lusk is the only town in Fingal that was selected for the Town Centre First scheme in no small part due to work carried out with the Lusk for Life document.

The Town Plan will give us a roadmap that will allow the town to apply for funding to carry out projects which will be guided by the Pillar Groups. My hope, is that it will draw the town centre together and augment the new commercial units that have opened up in the past month on Ashe Street in the Station Road Development.”

Corina Johnston, Area Representative is calling for the Garda Commissioner and Minister for Justice to sanction the provision of a Garda Station in Donabate.She said; “We have been campaigning for the such a provision for a number of years. In 2021 we proposed that the state acquire the Credit Union Building which would and still is an ideal location for a station. Duncan Smith TD and I also raised such a need at a meeting in 2021 with the Assistant Garda Commissioner and Senior Gardai. In their response the Gardai said that while they have no objection in principle to a Garda Station on the peninsula, this however would be a political decision. “ Johnston added; “Duncan has since raised this at National level with the Ministers for Justice, Public Expenditure and OPW. He was informed that the current Garda Building and Refurbishment Programme does not include the development of a new Garda station in Donabate, Co. Dublin. The 2006 Local Area Plan included as an objective a Garda station. I am still astounded that such an important objective was removed from the current Area Plan. Given the projected increase in the population of the area and the increase in anti social behaviour it is imperative that such a facility is planned for now.” A determined Corina Johnston concluded;”Duncan Smith TD and I met with the Garda Superintendent in recent weeks and highlighted this issue once again and also the need for the provision of addition Garda resources for our expanding area. We intend to pursue these important issues at National and Local level and will keep you updated. “

LSA was very proud to see a 13th place finish for our wonderful record breaking Discus thrower, Anna Gavigan representing Ireland at the 2023 European U20 Athletics Championships! It was a far cry from the wind and rain of Donabate for Anna, when she competed in the searing heat of Jerusalem in early August. LSA is an adult and juvenile athletics club with over 400 members, based in Donabate. We were established in 2011, and Anna joined us as a 10 year old in 2014. She helps coach our Juvenile athletes and also coached at our recent very annual summer camp. The format for the European U20 Championships in Jerusalem involved two qualifying groups with each competitor getting just three throws, with the top 12 to go through to the final. It was an intense competition ‘shootout’ and Anna, with a best of 46.09m secured an excellent 5th place in her group finishing 13th place overall, agonisingly just outside a top 12 spot for the final. 13th in Jerusalem was an excellent round off to a great season in which Anna retained her All Ireland Senior Schools Title, Leinster U20 Title, won Silver in the National Senior Championships, retained her National U20 Title setting a new outright National U20 record in the process. None of this would be possible without the commitment and expertise of Anna’s coach, Donabate man, Gerry Ronan who dedicates so much time and effort to his athletic training group. Well done Anna and Gerry. For memberships queries or to get involved in any way please feel free to contact us at lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com Keep up to date on all the events by following LSA via our social media pages! Instagram instagram.com/lsadonabateportrane/ Facebook facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy Twitter twitter.com/LSARunning Also visit our website lambaysportsathletics.ie/

The Bleeding Pig Film Festival returns to Donabate for its sixth year with an eclectic and inspiring selection of films to be screened over three evenings within the beautiful confines of St Patrick’s Church of Ireland in Donabate. From 11th - 13th September 2022, the film festival presents two nights of dazzling short films from both established and up and coming film-makers, culminating in a final night feature film screening to be announced soon. Included in the line up this year is the Oscar winning Irish short film An Irish Goodbye by Ross White and Tom Berkeley. The festival’s popular Q&A’s with filmmakers will be hosted by Sinéad Brassil presenter at LMFM and Luke Dunne, film writer and founder of Film in Dublin The Bleeding Pig is presented is association with the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival and supported by Fingal Co Co, Wiley Design, Film Equipment Hire Ireland and Supervalu Donabate. Remember - Venue - St Patrick’s Church of Ireland, The Square, Donabate, Co. Dublin K36 Y521. More information and to book your FREE ticket check out bleedingpigfilmfest.com

The Peninsula Pacers are doing their Annual Walk on Saturday 9th September from Donabate Parish Hall at 11 30am to the Burrow. This walk passes by Wayne’s Coffee Stand at The Tower and ends at The Brook Pub & Pizza Place! where the Bleeding Pig have a Traditional Irish Ceile in the afternoon which is always a great event the very best of craic. (After the walk one can take the public Bus back to Donabate!) A healthy day & an environmentally friendly day! In the October edition we hope to outline our walks for the year. In the autumn we hope to car pool and do some walks in Clogherhead & Carlingford to suit different abilities. We will have maybe some walks for the serious walkers also! We will be using the All Trails App where there are a number of walks we can do within our radius by train or car. A few years ago some people came together with FCC to look at Sli na Slainte (Healthy Walking Ways) routes on the Peninsula with some of them in & connecting into Newbridge Park - it is wonderful to see that Tracks and Trails are now developed, open and colour coded so you can easily follow a great way marked walk around the Park. It is a not expensive and is an easy exercise to take! so get going or stay going all year! You just need walking shoes/boots, a waterproof rain jacket and a small rucksack! Contact Carolyn Smith 087 9284307 or Des Carthy 087 7846813 for any further information.

The Excitement is building in Donabate and Portrane in anticipation of the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival 2023, coming soon to a venue near you! People often ask where did the festival get it’s unusual name. The Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival takes it’s name from a rock formation deep inside a cave on the cliff walk between Donabate and Portrane. An arrangement of the erosion in the rock looks like the shape of a pig, and in certain tidal conditions, when the light is just right, the rock formation drips with iron-laden, red-coloured water, looking like the pig is actually bleeding! In 2013 when a name was being sought for the festival, this name was chosen because the feature is on the walk linking Donabate to Portane. The festival kicks off this year on Thursday September 7th with a Trad session in the Brook Pub in Portrane, starring renowned Uileann Piper Eamonn Galldubh agus a chairde, and featuring members of Comhaltas Leithinis. Everybody welcome for some craic agus ceol!

Over the following 10 days until Sunday September 17th there is a full timetable of events with
something of interest to all cultural tastes and audiences of all ages. Some highlights of the festival include:Craft Workshops for children and adults; Gala Concert in St. Patrick’s RC Church featuring the Young Dublin Symphonia and more; Mol an Óige, a showcase of some of the fun-sized talent on the peninsula! A festival favourite;Pizza Trad, or Céilí dancing and complimentary Pizza in the sun! Short Film Festival in St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland over 3 nights; Open Mic for Comedy, Music, the Spoken Word and more;Guided Tours of St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland, Martello Tower and Newbridge House; Art and Photography exhibition; September Miscellany featuring the Chinkwell Writers with musical interludes; Historic walk and talk in Portrane; Casino Night for some gambling fun and Rat-Pack entertainment; Wellness sessions in The Community Well; Sing-a-long sessions; Short plays from the Donabate/Portrane Dramatic Society; BioDiversity walk and talk at Turvey Island Hide; and lots more! Check out the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival brochure, website, Facebook and Instagram for full details of all the events. There will be a raffle running throughout the festival with some lovely prizes including artworks from some of our local artists, and lots more. Tickets will be on sale at all festival events. Some events require advance booking to secure a place. See the website for information about these. Most events in the 10-day festival are free of charge. However, a small cover charge will apply to a certain limited number events, to guarantee attendance. If you would like to get involved with the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival please contact Eilish McDermott on 0877911833, or any committee member. Come along to any of the the festival events from the 7th to 17th September across the peninsula and let’s embrace our local culture!

Becca Nolan has been a member of Donabate Portrane Special Olympics Club since it started in November 2018. She volunteers at four different sessions every week and the athletes love her. Becca has also competed for the club as an athlete in athletics and brought home gold and silver medals. Over the past year, Becca has been successful, and we as a club are immensely proud of her. As a club, we want to announce and celebrate each of her achievements.The first award that Becca won was in October 2022 when she was awarded Special Olympics Ireland’s Young Volunteer of the Year. More recently, in May 2023, Becca was presented with her Bronze Athlete Leadership Award by Special Olympics Eastern Region. To qualify for this award the athlete must complete various tasks and activities. They must volunteer on a committee, volunteer in their community, take up a new hobby, and give a speech in public or present to a group (something that Becca is fantastic at doing).

In June Becca was nominated and awarded a Fingal Community Champion Award by the Mayor of Fingal for all her time volunteering and coaching in Donabate Portrane Special Olympics Club. Her latest achievement was being selected as an International Basketball official for the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2023 in Berlin. Becca was an excellent official and was a wonderful representative for our club, her basketball club (Swords Special Olympics basketball club) and Special Olympics Ireland. Donabate Portrane Special Olympics Club is enormously proud of Becca, and we look forward to seeing what is to come for this amazing woman.

Donabate Parish Hall welcomes back all its users - the various groups that do weekly activities Cards, Irish Dance, Senior Citizens to name just a few! and those that do block events like the Dramatic Society Production & the Photography Exhibition by Through the Lens to also just mention a few! It is hoped to run a few children’s camps again during the year starting with one at the October mid term break of a Cultural & Creative nature.There is limited availability now in the Parish Hall for booking activities & events but if you have a request we will do our very best to facilitate you or your group.Please contact the Parish Office on 01 8434574

The Leithinis CCÉ Autumn term of traditional Irish music classes begins in mid-September in Donabate Portrane Educate Together National School. Please check the leithinis Facebook page and website (leithinis.com/) for registration details. Leithinis CCÉ provides weekly lessons in Tin Whistle, Fiddle, Flute, Bodhán, Accordion, Banjo, Mandolin and Concertina.Leithinis were delighted to receive a Community Development grant. We would like to thank the Department of Rural and Community Development, Fingal County Council and the Local Community Development Committee. The monthly Traditional Music Session led by Denis, takes place in The Brooke Pub, Portrane at 7:30pm on the first Tuesday of every month with experienced musicians arriving from all over the North County to participate. All are welcome to come along and listen.