Blasters Cricket for the youngsters has started recently and all are welcome to join in.
Boys and Girls aged 4-10 are welcome to come down and get plenty of fun , Fresh air, Friendship and a little bit of Cricket. A new child’s first week is free !!!! The Cost is €5 per week or €7 for 2 siblings. Special offer of €60 for the whole summer or €90 for 2 Siblings - Book online at balbriggancricketclub.com/pro…/summer-training/..All coaches are qualified and vetted and all equipment is provided.For more details Text 0872507736 or you can Email us at Balbriggancricketclub@gmail.com.

The end of season awards night for our senior teams took place at the club last night. Well done to all players involved in both the men’s and women’s teams on a good season. And congratulations to all award winners.

Women’s Awards:
Player Of The Year
Lorna McKenna
Players Player Of The Year
Laura Brown
Most Improved Player
Caoimhe Colman
Young Player Of The Year Clíodhna Ni Chonchobhair

Men’s Awards ;
Player Of The Year
Fiachra Tuckey
Players Player Of The Year
Cal O’Connor
2nd XV Player Of The Year
Floyd Runsewe
Young Player Of The Year
Conor Colman

By the end of the season 12 youth players had made their debut playing senior men’s rugby. They are - Floyd Runsewe, Conor Colman, Ciaran Rutherford, Eoin Hannigan, Jimmy McFadden, Oisin McNamara, Jack Mongey, Josh Buraimoh, Reuben Rabiu, Peter Jennings, Damien Whelan and Cillian Reynolds. Well done to them on their senior debut this season.

Hard to believe it is June almost halfway through the year and we have some exciting events taking place this month. We are delighted to announce the return of the Society Day Trip after a three year absence due to Covid. This will take place on Saturday June 17th. We are just confirming the last details but it is proposed to visit Dublin City and the Tenement museum and EPIC and we will round off the day with a relaxing meal. This is always a great day out so save the date in your diary and check out Social media and website for updates. We will also be leading our usual Historical Walk as part of Summerfest on Saturday June 3rd. On June 24th at 2pm we have an interesting talk by Jonathan Beaumont titled ‘The Dublin to Drogheda Railway’.in an exciting new venue for us, the beautiful setting of Ardgillan Castle. You could combine the talk with a visit to the superb gardens of Ardgillan Demesne or a stroll in the grounds. We have had a great start to 2023 with our March talk featuring the Story of Cricket in Fingal by James Bennett. Jim’s talk was highly entertaining with an emphasis on Balbriggan and many past and present Cricket players and their families were in attendance. He brought to life not just the games themselves but the rivalries and the entertainment and food and drink after the games, which were almost more important! For April we were delighted to welcome Rory Golden, Diver, Speaker, Explorer with a talk titled ‘TITANIC - Search, Discovery and Diving to the world’s most famous shipwreck.’ Rory spoke first of the story of the building of the Titanic and its ill fated maiden voyage and the story of some of the many who lost their lives on it. He then introduced us to fantastic images of his dives to the wreck. For our May talk we returned to a local topic as we welcomed our own Jim Walsh for a very interesting talk titled ‘Balscadden Past and Present’ As always for information on our society email balbrigganhistsoc@gmail.com or see balbrigganhistory.com or follow us on Social Media.

It has been a very busy term in the college with our wonderful students making us very proud of their achievements: Our U19 Girls GAA team won the North Dublin Gaelic Blitz in a tense final against Loreto College. Our Junior and Senior hurlers won their respective Dublin finals. Our Junior GAA boys reached the Dublin final. Our 1st Year boys’ soccer won the Division 1 NE Final. Our Rugby 7s girls’ team won the All Ireland 7’s Championship. Our debaters took runner up spots in the EU50 and DDLETB debate competitions. Sami Khan won the Chemistry Award at Scifest in DKIT.

Our school participated in the first Balbriggan Darkness in to Light to raise funds for Pieta. Our Parents Council held a very successful Quiz night in the school which raised funds for our Suaimhneas Department. Our students held an Intercultural Day in the school and put on a spectacular fashion show to display traditional outfits from various cultures. Finally, we were one of three post primary schools in the country to be awarded with the Active School Flag. The initiative, founded by the University of Limerick strives to promote movement and learning through movement in schools. A huge thank you to everyone who worked hard over the past four years to achieve this honour, especially Ms.Nealon and Ms. Murray. We are looking forward to the end of the year celebrations and wish our Leaving Certificate Class of 2023 the very best of luck in their exams and future endeavours.

On Sunday 11th June Balbriggan locals, Paddy O’Callaghan and his daughter Niamh Kelivanova will be doing a Sponsored Parachute Jump in aid of Balbriggan Meals on Wheels at The Irish Parachute Club in Clonbullogue, Co Offaly. All money raised will go directly to Balbriggan Meals on Wheels for their ongoing work in providing meals in the local area. Please show your support for Paddy and Niamh by sponsoring them via the Balbriggan Meals on Wheels Facebook Page or by dropping your sponsorship in to Balbriggan Meals on Wheels at 14 Hampton Street. Balbriggan Meals on Wheels would like to thank Paddy and Niamh for bravely doing this fundraiser for them.

Balbriggan Secondary School students and teachers were given an opportunity to input into the Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation Project at the Bracken Court Hotel during the local Loves Learning Festival recently. The Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation programme is led by Fingal County Council’s Economic, Enterprise, Cultural and Tourism Department and maps a vision for the town, shaped by its people. The Loves Learning Festival provided an opportunity for a range of groups and services to platform learning opportunities available to people in Balbriggan and surrounding areas. The update with fifth and transition year students and teachers sought the further involvement of young people in the project, and celebrated Balbriggan’s role as the town with the biggest youth population in the country. The event also provided an opportunity to recognise and promote lifelong learning and showcased Balbriggan’s tremendous young talent and youth diversity.

Among the schools from which students and staff attended were Ardgillan College, Bremore Educate Together, Ghlor Na Mara, Balbriggan Community College and Loreto Secondary School. Our picture includes the following: (l-r) Sgt Darren Farrelly, Balbriggan Community Policing Unit; Fiona Kavanagh, Chair of Our Balbriggan Education Skills and Training Pillar; Eamonn Donlyn, Smart Balbriggan Co-ordinator; Katherine Kearns, TY Co-ordinator Loreto Secondary School; Emma Grufferty, is the Principal, Bremore Educate Together National Schools; Geraldine Barnett, Deputy Principal Loreto Secondary School; Ciara Menton, Ardgillan Community College; Kathy Jones, Principal, Bremore Educate Together; Jennifer Walsh, Bremore Educate Together; Breffni O’Rourke, Programme Manager, Our Balbriggan. Also in attendance but absent from the photograph was Supt Paul Franey, Balbriggan Gardai/Chair of Safe Balbriggan Pillar.

Fine Gael Councillor Tom O’Leary said recently, “Extra measures agreed by Cabinet recently under the Housing for All plan will speed up home building and drive down building costs in Fingal, and these additional provisions are good news for home buyers, renters and builders.” He said, “There are three strands to these new measures, which is designed to and will make home ownership more affordable for many people again. The measures comprise of: 1. Reducing the cost of construction: by scrapping the development levies required to connect new homes with roads, water and other services, and subsidising development levies, saving up to the value of €12,650 per home on average. This will cut the cost of building a home and apply for a limited time only to act as an incentive. 2. Increasing the pace at which vacant and derelict properties are renovated for new housing by increasing grants to cut the cost of restoring empty homes and making it easier to apply. The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant will be increased from €30,000 to €50,000 for vacant properties and from €50,000 to €70,000 for derelict properties, extended to cover houses built up to 2007, and will be available for properties intended for rental as well as owner-occupied. 3. Is the Government financing of the construction of affordable apartments under Cost Rental: The current Government has agreed to commit up to €750 million via the Land Development Agency and other providers as part of this initiative to complete 4,000 to 6,000 additional affordable apartments under the Cost Rental system.

On Tuesday the 25th April the Balbriggan/North County Dublin Branch of Guide Dogs were presented with a cheque for €681 from the Tesco Community Initiative fund and a lovely presentation took place outside Tesco in Millfield Shopping Centre, Balbriggan at which a total of 7 dogs attended; 2 guide dogs Qeb with Tom and Winter with Jade, 3 Assistance Dogs; Kirby with Sarah, Quentin with Mark, Marco with Gemma and two puppies in training; Gina with Pat and Cosmo with Therese. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Lisa McEvoy, Community Champion and Tesco for their continued support.
We are happy to announce that the Tap to Donate machines continue to do well. From January to March 2023 a fantastic total of €654 was raised from the 6 machines assigned to the branch. In Ashbourne we have two locations; Chez Emily Boutique which raised €144 and Specsavers which raised €105. In Swords we have 1 location; Petstop Airside which raised €45. In Balbriggan we have 1 location; Specsavers in Millfield Shopping Centre which raised €111. In Dublin City Centre we have 2 machines in Specsavers GPO Arcade which raised €249.We are delighted with this and appreciate all your support. We also want to say a big thank you to everyone who supported us in May in the lead up to Guide Dog Day 2023 and to all those that came along and celebrated with us and donated to us on the 26th May in Tesco Millfield Shopping Centre, Balbriggan and SuperValu, Balbriggan on the 27th May.

If you are looking for ways to support us, we will be attending Balbriggan Summerfest this coming June between the 28th May – 4th June. Keep an eye on our social media accounts for a confirmed date and you can come meet our wonderful Guide Dogs and volunteers! If you are interested in volunteering with us, please feel free to contact us: Balbriggan/North County Dublin branch of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, you can phone or text us on 085 7663107, email us at GuideDogsBalbriggan@gmail.com or find us on Facebook at Balbriggan Branch of Guide Dogs.

Aer Lingus Bowling club is a well established lawn bowls club. We are located in the ALSAA sports complex on the Airport road. In March we enjoyed a wonderful day to celebrate “International Women’s Day”. We had an enjoyable day where women from the local surrounding area attended our trial sessions. We had a group from Swords Women’s shed, as well as a local active age group and members of the Alsaa badminton and tennis club join us. We were also joined by Caitriona Geraghty Fingal Sports Development Officer who was supportive and encouraging of our efforts.

On May 6th and 7th we held our Open Day. This was an initiative from the Development office of Irish Lawn Bowls. The day saw clubs across the country have people try the wonderful game of lawn bowls. A cohort across a wide variety attended on the day. We were encouraged to see children attend also. We had a very successful and enjoyable weekend. We are encouraged to see some new members join us. We will welcome a group with additional needs join us in using our facility going forward. We are a vibrant club with dedicated members. A strong emphasis is placed on social bowling. We also participate in league matches during the summer and winter leagues. In March 2023 the women’s and men’s sections merged. It is now know as The Irish Lawn Bowls Association (ILBA). Our club welcomes this forward thinking initiative. In recognition of this merger and to embrace the exciting initiative our club has recently acquired new club shirts. Previously the men and women had different shirts. We are extremely grateful to Challenge Insurance for their kind sponsorship of our new club shirts. What better way to move forward in this new era for lawn bowls in Ireland. We are always looking for new members to join is. Our “Introduction to Bowls” sessions will continue to run every Wednesday and Sunday from 11am – 1pm. Come along and try this wonderful sport. All equipment is supplied, just wear flat soled shoes on the day. We are happy to take any enquiries on the numbers listed. See our Facebook page Aer Lingus Bowling Club. Sandra 0863114540 or Des 0870678903

We were privileged to host the head of JKS Worldwide, Kagawa Shihan 9 th Dan JKS,recently for a training seminar. Over 10 hours, Kagawa Shihan gave masterful karate instruction in kihon, kata and kumite. Over 100 JKS members from across Ireland attended Applewood Community Centre to take part. The attendees ranged in age from 6 to over 60 years and Kagawa Shihan was mindful to cater to everyone who was training. We hope to have him visit next year again. It is great to offer our students the opportunity to train which such a high calibre karateka. Congratulations are in order for all the JKS Ireland students who completed their belt grading examination at the National Grading including those who took the Black Belt Dan grade under the watchful eye of Kagawa Shihan. All of these karateka were dedicated in their training to achieve their new grades through tough examinations. Regular training continues weekly in Applewood Community Centre. All classes are enjoying being back to a regular schedule after the long Easter break in April. The next event for members is the 3 rd JKS Inter Club Competition which will be held in Tyrrelstown in June. We hope to have some medal winners on the day. We take new members (Children, Young People & Adults) all through the year. Contact Dermot on 087-8073885 for details on how to join. Contact us on Facebook: JKS Swords Karate Club or on Instagram: @jks_swords_karate_club