The inaugural Rush Festival of Writing was a huge success with the event selling out within weeks of being announced. Some of the one-day festival’s highlights included John Banville, who will be appearing in conversation with Kevin Curran (author of YOUTH, Beatsploitation) at the Millbank Theatre. With his 2006 novel Christine Falls chosen for this year’s One Dublin One Book initiative, the Irish literary icon discussed both that book and his extensive career.

Mr. Banville said in a recent Irish Independent interview to promote Rush Festival of Writing: “I love small festivals. Wonderful thing about those festivals; local people come. It’s not just people swanning around in Panama hats and flowered frocks and drinking champagne, it’s local people who come in because they’re interested.”

The response to the Plot Twists panel with Catherine Ryan Howard and Andrea Mara at the Millbank Theatre was equally enthusiastic, as crime fiction continues to prove immensely popular with audiences.
Other events included Sinéad Gleeson (Constellations, Hagstone) sharing a panel with author Anna Carey (Our Song, Love Scene) in Pen to Paper: A Conversation on Writing. Sinéad is an internationally celebrated essayist and novelist, while Anna has written for both children and adults. The esteemed Belinda McKeon (Tender, Solace) also hosted a Creative Writing workshop at Rush Library for adults, that focused on the basis of storytelling for fiction writers, as well as how to create vivid characters.

Festival co-founders Lauren Murphy and Sean Smith said: “It’s been so gratifying to see how enthusiastically people have responded to the first Rush Festival of Writing. We always thought that there was an appetite for a literary festival in Rush, and the speed at which tickets were sold or booked out - within a month of being announced - proves that our hunch was correct!

After a successful pilot season last year Fingal County Council have announced the return of the popular Fingal food markets. Branded Explore Fingal Markets, they take place in three venues over the summer: Swords Castle, the Casino Model Railway Museum in Malahide and new for 2026, two dates at Millennium Park, Blanchardstown.

Explore Fingal Markets begin in May and continue throughout the summer with free entry to all markets. All take place on Saturdays, and the wide range of stallholders has a focus on local produce with strong representation from both Fingal Food Circle and Fingal Farmers. Stallholders interested in trading at any of the markets are invited to email foodmarkets@explorefingal.ie.

More details will be available on the Explore Fingal website and socials.

Fingal County Council is also supporting independent markets around Fingal. Developing food markets is part of implementing the Food and Drink Policy and Tourism Strategy.

Explore Fingal Market Dates – Summer 2026
Malahide: Casino Model Railway Museum
Every Saturday from 2nd May to 29th August (10am-4pm)
Swords: Swords Castle
May-September, third Saturday of the month (10am-3pm)
16th May, 20th June, 18th July, 15th August, 19th September
Blanchardstown: Millennium Park
Saturday 13th June, Saturday 4th July (12noon-6pm)
PLUS a market at Blanch Fest - Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd August)

Malahide Lions Club were delighted to present a cheque for €1500 to Skerries Youth Support Services (SYSS). The project was set up 10 years ago in response to a tragic suicide in the area. SYSS provide free counselling to young people between the ages of 12 to 25 as part of an early intervention initiative to young people who may be experiencing challenges to their positive mental health. Although the group is based in Skerries their services are open to all at-risk young people in the general Fingal area including Malahide.

SYSS provide 1-6 free counselling sessions to at-risk young people and will refer them to other services if the counselling offered has not sufficiently addressed their issues. About 185-190 young people are helped every year. Currently there is a waiting period of approximately 7 weeks to access counselling so the demand for the service is huge.

The group also produce a booklet called Myself, My Life which includes information about mental health and issues such as bullying, gambling and drugs and alcohol abuse. The booklet includes useful advice and useful contact information, and it is also distributed to local schools.

SYSS is run by volunteers and does not receive any state funding; it raises the funds it needs for its service and booklet publication. Malahide Lions Club were very happy to be able to provide funding to assist in paying for counselling hours.

Dancers from all over Dublin helped launched The Golden Dance Awards Ireland at The Grand Hotel, Malahide, spotlighting the next generation of Ireland’s most talented dancers. The launch featured 20 exceptional performers, selected from hundreds of entries, representing a wide range of schools and dance styles, celebrating not just excellence, but dedication, commitment, and the artistry that drives the dance community.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Brian Kennedy attended the press launch and shared his excitement at being part of the Awards, praising the platform for recognising the hard work and talent of dancers across Ireland and the UK.

The main awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, September 5th, 2026, at The Grand Hotel, Malahide, hosted by Ireland’s dynamic media personality James Patrice. The judging panel will include Dancing with the Stars judge and radio presenter Brian Redmond, professional dancer from Dancing with the Stars Kylee Vincent, acclaimed Irish choreographer Sean Taaffe of Taaffe Training, and Inna Mazurenko of Team Ireland Dance World Cup. They will evaluate entries in June and crown winners across a range of categories, including Dancer of the Year, Dance Teacher, Choreographer, and Dance School of the Year.
Founded by co-founders Catherine and Danielle, the Awards are dedicated to uplifting the dance community, offering scholarships, bespoke trophies, and prizes, while celebrating all dance styles. Headline sponsors include Dance World as official retail partner and Class for Kids.

Entries for 2026 open Friday, April 3rd, giving dancers, teachers, choreographers, and dance schools and businesses nationwide the chance to be recognised at this prestigious event.
For more information and to enter, visit www.goldendanceawards.ie.

It was another action-packed month for the club with plenty of events for our members to take part in. Congratulations to Conor McGrath and Colm Ó Donnchadha who represented Ireland at the European masters indoors championships in Torun, Poland. The Marathon season is in full swing with Lusk colours on show at Boston, London and Connemara. Thanks to McCabe’s Pharmacy and Athletics Ireland for bringing their Fit4Life roadshow to Lusk. Well done to Colm, Conor and Nessa on their National medals and on the subject of medals, the club picked up a nice haul at the Windmill 10k when a 40 strong contingent descended on Garristown for the Dublin 10k Championships.

The Top Shop Golf Society had its first outing of 2026 in Corballis on Saturday.
Overall winner: Dermot (33pts) Cat. 1 - JP Hogan Cat. 2 - Robbie H.
Front 9 - Podge
Back 9 - Robbie Moore
Ray & Podge shared the Birdy pot
New member Dave Castles had a Hole in 1 on his first time out (on the 13th)
Kindly Sponsored by: Devine Motors (offers free pick up & drop off of your car, free wash & hoover with every service Sean on 085 1776987 ) & also Conrad Murray
New members welcome with plenty more great days out in 2026
Call Martin on 087-192 3059 if you’d like to join!.
Next up, Ballymascanlon.

Active Age for All are very pleased to have been given the chance to collaborate with a class of transition year students from the community college on a 4 week project of intergenerational activities proposed by one of their teachers.

The first week was an hour of meet and greet, getting to know one and other, with the 3 elders outlining their life experiences and the students then telling us of their aims and ambitions. Then a bit of team work with a music quiz, quiz master Gemma was kind enough to put in some antique stuff for the ancients !

Also we were able to discuss with the students about what they would be interested in doing as part of the project; not really a surprise but sporting activities came out very strongly. The plan that evolved was the sports of pickleball, bowls and table tennis with a balance of jewellery making and photography.
On our second day there was a choice of pickleball or jewellery making with the majority opting for the jewellery making, our tutor Helen had her hands full with 17 girls and boys all eager to be creative.

Meanwhile Active Age members Joe and Noel were running the rest around the courts at pickleball.

The next session was on photography with members of the AAfA camera club giving a talk and practical session on the basics, with an emphasis on getting the best out of the mobile phone camera. We then gave them a variety of objects eg: shells, pottery figures, fabric and asked them to use different lights and angles to create pleasing photographs. The Bleeding Pig Festival have invited the students to put on an exhibition of their photos as part of the festival in May and I really hope that they do as a lot of talent emerged in this session.

The last session of carpet bowls and table tennis in the Sports Hall was good fun; the table tennis was very energetic but the carpet bowls, I think, was the biggest surprise for the students. Initially they viewed this as too easy, too quiet and gentle but they quickly discovered that it wasn’t as easy as it looked and presents quite a challenge, and some skill, to get that bowl going where you want it to !

These four weeks have been an absolute pleasure for the three of us and the willing helpers brought it for specific activities, we were all very impressed with the students, a lovely bunch. Many thanks to the teachers from the Community College and the Active Age members who took part, we do hope that this could become an annual (or bi-annual) event, there is a lot more scope there.

Table quiz fundraiser in aid of 16 local Special Olympic athletes who will represent our community at the Special Olympics Ireland Games in June!

16 athletes and 6 volunteer coach chaperones from Donabate Portrane Special Olympics Club will proudly represent communities across Fingal at the Special Olympics Ireland Games, taking place in sports venues around Dublin from 18th–21st June. This is a fantastic achievement for the Special Olympics club and one they are incredibly proud of.

The youngest athlete selected, Simon Smyth (aged 12), is very excited to represent his club and community. His mother Rebecca said ‘Donabate Portrane Special Olympics Club has been a lifeline to Simon. It has brought an immeasurable amount of fun, joy sport and friendships to his life!’.

Club coach Deborah McArdle said ‘Sending athletes and chaperones to the Ireland Games will cost our club over €10,000, so we are fundraising to ensure that all our selected athletes get to take advantage of this amazing opportunity. As part of these efforts, we are hosting a table quiz in Donabate Golf Club on Wednesday the 29th of April at 8pm and would love the support of as many people as possible by booking a team’.

The cost of entering a team of 4 is €50, and 100% of proceeds will benefit the club. There will also be a prize for the winning team, spot prizes and a fantastic raffle on the night. Why not support this fantastic local cause and secure your team today, by texting Louise on 087 7180324.

Special Olympics Ireland, provides year-round sports training, athletic competition, and developmental programmes for almost 7000 athletes annually. Giving our athletes continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

From 18th-21st June 2026, over 1,200 athletes and thousands of volunteers and supporters will come together for the Special Olympics Ireland Summer Games - a thrilling competition and a celebration of the skill, determination, and abilities of athletes. See Ireland Summer Games 2026 | The Special Olympics for more information.

The Men’s Shed movement is based on the moto: “Men talk shoulder to shoulder”. This describes our core ethos, that men build social connections and improve well-being by working together on practical projects rather than through direct face-to-face conversation.

Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed meets on Thursday mornings from 11am to noon in the Scouts’ Den on Portrane Road for a cuppa and a chat and to organise our many other activities. There is an exercise class before that at 10am, which many members attend.

So, any man who is free at that time would be more than welcome to join us and learn more about our many other activities and events (e.g. exercise classes, croquet in Newbridge Park, music sessions, outings to places of interest). Or you could contact our PRO, Jim, on 086-3694316. Please pass on this information to a friend, neighbour or loved one who might like to join us. We are always open for new members.