Cllr Cathal Boland said recently, “The confirmation by Minister Simon Harris TD that Swords will be the location for the new €50m Fingal College of Further Education is to be welcomed. This College is long overdue for the North County. It will fill the 3rd level gap and give opportunity to all in the area. A skilled workforce will assist greatly in attracting high level employment to our area. It will cater for 1,000 full time students and 5,000 more through part-time, online and blended learning. Now we need the commitment to deliver on the announcement and ensure it does not stall like Metro.”

“Failte Isteach Christmas Party was a great success. Thank you to all volunteers, students and staff at Holywell Community Centre, Swords, after 14 weeks of teaching conversational English, to people from all over the world. The group enjoyed Christmas cake, mince pies and refreshments to celebrate. Class resumes January 9th 2023. All are welcome”

By Ken Duffy

2022 has been a very busy and successful year for Swords Tidy Towns. We completed our butterfly Mural on the hoarding at Swords Garda Station and have started another one due for completion early in 2023 (details to follow). We also distributed a multitude of Leaf Cages in strategic areas around Swords which we will benefit from in 2023. We had a successful Halloween Bucket Collection at Swords Castle, a big thank you to everyone who contributed for their generosity on the night. Further new planters were put in place at the Garda Station at a blind spot to prevent possible accidents occurring. Digging, planting and mulching works were completed outside Colaiste Choilm school, (worth taking the time to have a look).

Swords Tidy Towns took part in a protest outside FCC offices with other concerned groups to prevent the rezoning of lands. Motion 535 wasn’t passed, the protest succeeded in saving the Rivervalley, Ridgewood and Knocksedan greenbelts from being rezoned. We once again in 2022 linked up with the TY students of St Finnian’s and Fingal Community Colleges to help them achieve their Irish Presidents Awards. STT received a Certificate of Appreciation at this years 2022 Mayors Awards and shared the Fingal Horticultural Society’s overall winners Trophy with FCC which showed the high regard that is held for our group. We achieved yet another Green Flag for our Rock Garden Park on the Rathbeale Road, this is a great place to sit and unwind to watch the world go by. We retained our Silver Medal status in the 2022 National Tidy Towns Competition, making it five in a row for our hard working volunteers. The landscaping works at our Welcome To Swords sign entering Swords from Ashbourne was completed, a great job was done by our partners FCC, a special thank you to Aileen O’Connor. We linked up with MSD Biotech in Swords on three projects, many thanks to them for reaching out and connecting with us. If you wish to keep up to date on what Swords Tidy Towns volunteers are doing, please go to our Facebook page and give us a like. If you wish to volunteer or make a donation we can be contacted at swordstidytowns@gmail.com

It’s been a very busy time in St. Mary’s Secondary School, Baldoyle. Here are some of the highlights. Junior Cycle results: After over a two month wait, the Junior Cycle results arrived in St. Mary’s in late November. Transition Year students gathered in the Canteen awaiting for the Principal, Dr. Edel Greene, to arrive at 10 am. Despite the wait, there was still a strong feeling of anticipation and excitement as students were called up individually to collect the envelope with their results enclosed. Cries of joy were common as students opened their envelopes. The results were exceptional and we are absolutely delighted with everyone. All the students were then photographed and students then visited classes to tell teachers about the results they had achieved. We are very proud of them all.

Irish Badminton Open: Our Transition Years took part in the prestigious Irish Badminton Open where they were line judges. The event was held in Sport Ireland’s National Sports Centre in Abbotstown. The girls had been preparing to be line judges for five to six weeks and were ready to make all those important calls when required. It’s a tournament that carries Olympic and world ranking points so the pressure was on. Everything went well and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves as regardless of helping out, it’s a great event to attend. The girls were also delighted to meet the Taoiseach, Micheal Martin TD who dropped in to see the event. The Mayor of Fingal, Howard Mahony and the Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, Ann Marie Farrelly also dropped in. It was also great to see John Treacy, Ireland’s Olympic silver medallist and two time World Cross Country Champion. Some of the teachers were more than delighted to have a photo taken with him. A Happy New Year to all our students, their families and you all!

The Casino Model Railway Museum won Best Leisure/Tourism Service in the Customer Experience Section at the Fingal Business Awards recently, as voted by an independent panel of judges for the Cyril Fry Corner at the museum. These awards celebrate the best of Fingal business across all business sectors so the museum are beyond thrilled! A visit to the award winning Cyril Fry Corner is a must for anyone who is interested in trains, engineering or modelling. It’s a corner at the Model Railway Museum that pays homage to the intricacies of Cyril’s hand-made models. They have recreated a work space that demonstrates the scale and complexity of how Cyril worked. A loving insight into his skillset, as if he just stepped into the space. Cyril Fry’s hand-made models are possibly one of the most important private collections of miniature railway engines, wagons and carriages ever created. Marvel at his creations at the Casino Model Railway Museum and be transported to his workbench. The building alone is a draw enough! And…less than 5 mins walk from Malahide Dart station. Come visit it soon!

Malahide President Declan Berkeley and Ladies Lunch Committee presenting Linda Keating with a cheque from our recent Ladies Lunch in association with Marie Keating Foundation. Thanks to everyone who attended and made the day possible.

Also Malahide RFC would like to welcome Reconair. Reconair has taken out a new pitch side advertisement board, and we are also delighted to see them sponsor the U15 jerseys. Website: www.reconair.ie If you wish to take an advertising board out on the main pitch, please don’t hesitate to get in touch for more details.

In proper maritime tradition, we sat down for an evening of sharing and celebration looking back at another fantastic year on the water at our annual Laying Up Supper recently.2022 was a brilliant year afloat with over 3,100 bums on the water! Each week, our scouts could be found sailing, paddling, rowing having a great time learning new skills and creating adventures on the water. Collectively with over 16,074 nautical miles logged at sea! While we definitely saw the quantity, it was certainly matched with the quality as we saw x2 new Master Mariners, x12 new qualified instructors and an extensive haul of medals and trophies won by the scouts throughout the competition season. We are very proud of everyone for working very hard and supporting each other on the water to create another safe and successful year afloat.Over 100 members from the x4 Troops dined on the Maindeck to recognise and remark on the great year alongside presenting some outstanding awards and certificates of achievement. Thanks to the Ventures for hosting a great evening with lots of presentations and very tasty food!

2022 at Junsa Taekwondo was a time for change and rebuilding. During the year we had to change our training times and our venue for some of our students had to change too, but we continued on and rebuilt the club to what it is today, (all with the support of our members and the local community ) a great place to learn our noble art and sport. Please have look at our year of 2022 in pictures . Junsa wishes a Happy New Year to all the parents, guardians, schools, members and to everyone who supports the club. Thank you

Lusk Athletic Club would like to wish all our members and their families a very Happy New Year and we hope that 2023 will be a great year for you in life as well as in athletics. The biggest wish for Lusk AC is that 2023 brings us closer to achieving our main goal i.e., having a home of our own with a track for all club members to train on. Committee members are in constant contact with Fingal County Council on this issue. In the last few weeks of 2022 Lusk AC members competed in the Clontarf Half Marathon and 5-mile race, The Jingle Bells 5k in the Phoenix Park, The GOAL mile and in the local Parkruns and the year ended with our own Holly Berry 10k and Turkey Trot 5k on the 28th of December. As we look forward to 2023 the Leinster Intermediate, Masters and Juvenile Cross Country Championships will take place in Raheny on Sunday the 15th of January. This is followed two weeks later by the first big road race of the year the Raheny 5 Mile on Sunday 29th of January where Lusk Athletic Club will be well represented by upwards of 50 runners. Our Track and Field athletes have the immensely popular NIA Track and Field indoor meetings to look forward to. The Lusk 4 Mile race is on Sunday the 5th of March and we are working hard to make 2023 the biggest and best race yet. Registration is open on eventmaster.ie, The OTC is available to all club members who want to improve their conditioning over the winter months. A strength and conditioning class takes place every Friday 8pm.

2022 saw Lusk finished in fourth place in their category at the Tidy Town awards just missing out on a third place bronze medal. The town increased it’s points total from the previous year to 334 from a maximum of 500 in Caregory E to take a very impressive fourth place finishing ahead of the likes of Blackrock, Howth, Portmarnock, Castleknock and Dun Laoghaire. The adjudicators concluded by saying “Congratulations to the committee and volunteers in Lusk for a great performance in this years tidy towns competition. Keep up the good work and we look forward to seeing your lovely town again in 2023.” The Lusk Tidy Towns had their annual Christmas Card and Calendar Launch hosted by the wonderful Murray’s Pub (see pics). This is the main fund raiser for the Tidy Towns committee each year and everybody’s support would be grateful so please buy your calendar asap. Congratulations to The Lusk Tidy Towns committee for your continued hard work and to all the volunteers on the Lusk Community Clean Up Group who do so much to keep the town looking well. Here is hoping for even greater success for you in 2023.