Local autism advocates were delighted when Lusk was chosen for the AsIAm Autism Friendly Town’s project 2022! Over the next few years Lusk will be supported by AsIAm to introduce autism-friendly measures into community organisations, healthcare services, businesses etc that will improve participation in community life for autistic people in Lusk.
Following their first meeting with AsIAm in May, the committee set about collaborating with Lusk Action Group to organise a Sensory Friendly Area at the inaugural Lusk Summer Festival. Thanks to the many volunteers and businesses who kindly donated their time and equipment, autistic children and their families could attend the festival reassured there was somewhere quiet to go if they needed a break. There was a great turn-out in October for the talks held at Lusk Community Hall. Guest speakers included Adam Harris of AsIAm, Elaine McGoldrick autistic advocate and member of Clonakilty AFT committee, Steven Peet from Clonakilty GAA – an autism-friendly club, Lusk parent and advocate Justin Dawson, Rush and Lusk Educate Together – participant in the AsIAm Autism Schools Project, and Loraine Power and Sophie Brown of Power Drama School. All spoke very passionately about what it means to be inclusive, how this is achieved and the positive impact that autism-friendly practices have not just on autistic people but on the whole community. November saw the launch of Lusk AFT website, a great resource for anybody wishing to find out more about what is available in the community and beyond (www.inclusionlusk.ie) . Congratulations to Lusk Junior Park Run which recently became the first club to sign up with Lusk AFT to become ‘Autism Champions’. A Social Story containing pictures and words to describe the weekly run and warm-up exercises was created to help children who benefit from being able to predict what is going to happen at an event. Creating a Social Story is one of the criteria for becoming an Autism Champion. If your organisation would like to become an Autism Champion or you would like to get involved with Lusk AFT, please contact inclusionlusk@gmail.com. Thank You for your support in 2022. - Happy New Year!
The Lusk Men’s walk and talk group meet at the Hub car park at 7:00pm every Monday for their weekly walk. This is open to all men and it’s an opportunity just get out of the house, have a nice walk, clear the head and have a chat if you wish. You can do it as a once off or every week, no joining necessary, just turn up. This group is organised by Ciaran Russell, so if you want to introduce yourself to him and before long you will find you have made new friends. So why not let any friends or neighbours know about it as new members are always welcome.
2022 has been a busy year on the Lusk front with a lot of frenetic developments taking place. The second round of the Fingal Development Plan had Lusk heavily targeted by outside interests for mass rezonings which were only fought off by a robust response from local residents and groups. Cllr O’Donoghue stated, ‘I would like to thank all of the community groups, clubs and local residents that took the time last Autumn to make their voices heard loud and clear to the elected representatives in Fingal. By working together we were able to ensure that not a blade of grass was rezoned in the town and there is now breathing room for the town to develop sustainably over the course of the new Development Plan and work toward having facilities develop for the residents of Lusk similar to other self-sustaining towns in the North County. I could not be prouder of how the town reacted.’ On developments for 2023, O’Donoghue continued, ‘we have a number of schemes coming forward for Lusk in the next year, that I will be fighting to ensure are delivered for the benefit of the town. These include but are not limited to, cycle linkage from Lusk to the station and Rogerstown Park proposals for which should come forward shortly as well as the full opening of Rogerstown Park. The safe implementation of the cycle track on the R132 and down Kilhedge Lane. Redevelopment of the waste ground adjacent to the green space on Chapel Farm Drive. The implementation of the Lusk 2030 Vision. Delivery of the green space adjacent to the Forge estate for use by the community and clubs, delivery of the park at the Hub and continued engagement with FCC to develop facilities at the Lusk Sports Hub. 2023 is looking to be a busy year and I look forward working with all community groups and residents to ensure the town goes from strength to strength and I would like to wish everyone a happy New Year.’
The St Pats oldest Academy group - the 2016 boys and girls - are really enjoying their #BallWall sessions. Once a month, they’re doing a session at the Ball Wall and in the Gym working on Functional Movement skills. So many people assume that the gym is only for our Adult members but it’s utilised by all our teams with their Mentors, S&C coaches and FM guides. If you’d like your 2016 child to join the fun, just PM the St Pats facebook page. Same goes for any aged juvenile from 2018 to 2005, PM the St Pats facebook page and we’ll put you in touch with the squad mentor.
2022 was a great year for LSA. We had our first inaugural road race last May. It was very successful and thanks to all the Donabate and Portrane Community for supporting us. We’ve had medals in Dublin Championships, Leinsters and Nationals across the club. 40 athletes took part in the 2022 Dublin City Marathon with huge support from our club members on the day. We had goals set, records broken and athletes who started running for the first time in April and completed a half marathon in November. We’re looking forward to another “Runderful” year in 2023 and if you would like to join us, contact our registrar on lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com.
Donabate Tidy Towns would like to thank Helen and Gerry Lynders from Lynders Mobile Home Park for their very generous donation of €250. The donation will be put to great use around the village for buying new plants for flower beds located around the village and new equipment for our volunteers when planting or carrying out a clean-up of their local area or taking part in the monthly clean-up of the village. Keep an eye on out Facebook page for details of our monthly clean-up or you can contact us through Facebook or send us an email at tidytownsdonabate@gmail.com. The U10s boys from St. Pat’s GAA helped John Lovatt from Donabate Tidy Towns with a clean-up of the beach down at the Burrow in Portrane. It was such a pleasure for John to work with the army of St. Pat’s U10s and bring an awareness of the environmental issues and pollution affecting our coastline. John explained that litter can be washed up onto the beach as well as being dropped there. The challenge was to bring the bags of collected litter back more than a kilometre to The Green in Portrane. This proved no problem to the boys who solved the problem with ingenuity, great teamwork and real determination. Comhghairdeagas and GRMA mór to the boys and their coaches, parents, siblings and John Lovatt who assisted in the task. If you would like to volunteer with your local Tidy Towns you can do so by contacting us via email or Facebook as given above. You could, for example, volunteer to look after and maintain your local area or estate as many of our volunteers do, please contact us and we will provide all of the required equipment. Alternatively, you could join us for our monthly clean-up or some of the projects we are currently working on in areas such as increasing biodiversity in the locality.
In 2022 despite the difficulties experienced with Covid early in the year the Parish Hall was busier than ever once restrictions were lifted in late Spring. The wide variety of daily activities took off, including Senior Citizens, Youth Club, Irish Dance, Pilates, Bridge & Cards. A number of new activities also started e.g. Egg Heads & Youth Drama Classes. The Cultural & Creative slots when the hall suspended daily activities enabled for e.g. the Donabate Portrane Dramatic Society to put on two excellent productions in April & November. There were also a number of exhibitions held over a few days in Photography by the Through the Lens group. This arrangement also facilitates children camps to take place. Some one day cultural, creative & craft events also took place in the Parish Hall. These included the launch of Lambay Cinema Club, The Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival Art Exhibition and FCC Inclusion Day when the Parish Hall Committee & Leithinis CCÉ jointly hosted members of the Ukrainian community in a cultural event. One of the highlights of the year was the Christmas Craft Fair run by The Christmas Festival Group. Next year we hope to continue to serve all the growing & diverse needs of our community as best as we possibly can. Again we wish the entire community a very Happy & Healthy New Year. If you have any queries re the use of the Parish Hall, contact Bernie in the Parish Office on 8434574.
2022 was a very successful year for Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCÉ. The number of music students attending Monday evening classes in Donabate Portrane Educate Together continued to grow. Our expanded offering now includes Flute, Tin Whistle, Button Accordion, Concertina, Bodhrán, Banjo and Fiddle at beginner and improver level, for adults and children. Registrations for our Spring term are now open and places are still available. Our Friday Evening Slow Sessions hosted by Erin McGahan in Donabate Parish Hall grew in popularity throughout 2022 and offer our students the opportunity to play tunes together and build on what they have learned at class. Our students played at various events in the Parish Hall throughout the year including Fingal Inclusion Week in November and the relaunch of the Donabate Parish Hall in August attended by local community groups and representatives. Our Annual Fundraising Raffle in September, held in Donabate Town Centre, was a great success, raising funds and awareness of Leithinis CCÉ activities. The funds were used to purchase instruments which are then rented to students taking lessons at the Beginner level. The regular Traditional Music Open Sessions for experienced musicians resumed in 2022 and attracted a growing number of participants from all over the North County. These Trad Sessions are hosted by Denis Stack and take place at 7:30pm on the first Tuesday of every month and details are available on our Facebook page. We hope you enjoy these photos of our Christmas Slow Session at the Donabate Parish Hall on the 2nd December.
After a Covid-19 absence of two years, the Donabate Christmas
Lights Festival is back and what a success it was at the car-park of St. Patrick’s Church in the village on Saturday, December 3rd at 4.30pm. For the past 10 years or more, this much-loved local tradition has attracted huge crowds to the village to enjoy some seasonal festive refreshments and entertainment. This year was no different, with festive entertainment and refreshments for kids of all ages! And we had a real surprise in store to provide some seasonal entertainment. The organisers would like to thank Fingal County Council for sponsoring the event and for the beautiful Christmas tree and lights. Local electrician, Karl Harte, came back from retirement to oversee the installation of the festive lights around the village. Karl and his team have installed the festive lights around the village for more than 30 years, and we owe huge thanks to Karl for ensuring that the village looked festive and bright! We are very grateful to Tesco and SuperValu for their generous sponsorship of the event. SuperValu donate the delicious warm Mince Pies, washed down by Mulled Wine courtesy of Tesco. We are also grateful to Fr. Pat Reilly and all at St. Patrick’s Church for accommodating this event. Just across the road from the church, in St. Patrick’s Parish Hall, the festive. Donabate Christmas Craft Fair also made a welcome return. from 12-6pm, local crafters and artisans showcased their arts and crafts. Santa himself was in the Parish Hall, in person, from 2.30-5pm. The organisers would like to thank the team of Elves who give up their Saturday to make the day such a success. The day wouldn’t have happened without them. Later on in the evening, the businesses in the village showcased their goodies and offers with a Christmas Market in the Town Centre. All in all a wonderful day was had by all!!!
The Peninsula Pacers had a very good year in terms of walks after covid restrictions were lifted.They did some dedicated short walks mainly led by Carolyn e.g. The Royal Canal, Ardgillan Castle and around our own Cliff Walk. These walks are at a slow pace, approx 5/6kms, require reasonable fitness level, have some stops and can have some history/heritage. The longer walks are at a faster pace, approx 10/12kms, require fairly high fitness levels, have a short stop and focus is on walking although we do include some history/heritage when we can. We aim to go by public transport mainly train most of the time & walks are once a month usually the 2/3 Saturday of the month.Last year we went to eg: The entire Donabate Portrane Peninsula, Rush to Loughshinny, Rogerstown to Rush, Balbriggan to Laytown. This year we intend to do a few new walks eg part of the Boyne Valley Camino & Howth Tram Trail and repeat some old walks. In November 2022 - no prizes for guessing we did the Poolbeg Lighthouse from Sandymount! If you are interested in further information please contact Carolyn Smith 087 9284307 or Des Carthy 087 7846813
