Congratulations to former Glebe Player Hannah Healy, awarded tonight as WNL U17 player of the year. Hannah was also named U15 FAI International player of the year just two days ago.
Well done young lady, what an incredible achievement, very well deserved.

A very special Christmas Exhibition & Gift Fair event was held in Ardgillan Castle at the beginning of December. Our pictures courtesy of the wonderful Balbriggan based photographer Thaina Whelan depict the ladies in black of the marvellous Balbriggan Gospel Choir and the superb handiwork of the craftswoman and gift stall owner Anne Howard. Thank you very much Thaina and to view more of her photographs go to her website photosbythaina.com.

A fascinating community art project which beautifully captures Balbriggan through the eyes of its people was launched in the town on December 16.Visual artist and art educator Alison O’Grady collected memories and stories from people connected to Balbriggan and created one large illustration across 60 canvases which locals could then paint. “My concept was to collect memories and stories from people connected to Balbriggan and create one large illustration across 60 canvases called Ár mBaile, which locals could then paint,” said Alison. The result is a stunning labour of love through which locals reflect their pride of place. It is set to further boost Balbriggan’s growing reputation as a centre for the arts. The project has been funded by Fingal County Council’s Our Balbriggan Placemaking Fund, established to make the town an even better place to live, work, visit and do business. Alison, who created a mural in the town in 2021, set out to create a visual art form which captured the spirit of the north Dublin seaside town. She said, “ The final illustration is a montage of places and landmarks in Balbriggan, some buildings and structures are long since gone. Our Balbriggan (the town’s rejuvenation programme led by Fingal County Council) provided me with a vacant space at 2-4 Dublin Street in the town. I created a pop-up art studio and utilised the space to sketch out the composition and set to work on drawing the illustration across 60 canvases. Then I opened the space to the public last summer so they could come along, choose a canvas, and paint it in their own personal way. Each day, people turned up to paint. It was wonderful; grandparents, parents, children, families and their friends dropped by the studio to check out the project and participate. The stories and memories kept flowing throughout the two weeks the pop-up art studio was open. It was fantastic to see so many people across the generations involved in creating an artistic representation of their town.” Alison was previously commissioned to create an illustration to accompany the words of local Olympic athlete Andrew Coscoran that “Balbriggan is class” which were painted on the Our Balbriggan Hub at Georges Square.

Happy New Year from everyone at Balbriggan Meals on Wheels. Towards the end of 2022 we held a number of events and would like to thank everyone who helped out. We held a very successful Open Evening as part of Fingal Inclusion Week in late November. A very enjoyable evening was had by all. We held a very successful Fundraising Raffle and thank you to our prize sponsors, volunteer ticket sellers and those who bought the tickets .Our Christmas Fair was back up and running as normal and was a great day. Thank you to all who supported our Food Drive in Tesco allowing us to prepare hampers for distribution to our clients. Balbriggan Meals on Wheels is looking forward to continuing to provide meals for those in need in our community throughout 2023. To contact us please do so at Balbriggan Meals on Wheels, 14 Hampton Street, Balbriggan. Or alternatively contact us by phone at Tel : 01 8416743. or Email: mealsonwheelsbalbriggan@gmail.com.

2022 was a great year where we finally got back to normality, which also meant fundraising with the general public. It was great to meet people, hear their stories and all the ways the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind changes lives. We had multiple events throughout the year and we want to thank everyone who supported our Balbriggan/North County Dublin Branch of Guide dogs and all the volunteers who helped out, thanks to them our branch managed to raise a fantastic €32,453.32 as of the middle of November 2022! At our weekend of fundraising in Millfield Shopping Centre, Balbriggan on the 11th and 12th November, we managed to raise €1,556.74! We also had a very busy and successful few weeks of fundraising in the lead up to Christmas and we are so grateful to everyone who donated and helped out. We are excited for all the events coming up this year! In 2022 we said goodbye to some and welcomed others. Puppy in training Adel went off to Cork and is now an assistance dog and getting on fantastically with her family in County Kildare. Volunteer Adele Halpin welcomed puppy in training Voldee who is showing great signs of confidence and volunteer Anne Mulligan welcomed lovely Cosmo, a puppy in training, just before Christmas and we look forward to sharing more updates on her as the year progresses, along with volunteer Jade McCormack who was matched with Guide Dog, Winter and Andy Green of our Balbriggan/North County Dublin branch who was matched with his Guide Dog, Ollie. Finally, we just want to say thank you again for the continued support from you all and we hope you had a lovely Christmas and wish you a wonderful New Year!

If you would like to volunteer for our Balbriggan\North County Dublin Branch of Guide Dogs, you can contact us via phone: 085 7663107, email: GuideDogsBalbriggan@gmail.com or on Facebook: Balbriggan Branch of Guide Dogs.

Fingal County Council’s Sports Office were delighted to hold the Exercise: Energise “Come and Try” Multi-Sports Day recently for the first time since 2019. Deputy Mayor of Fingal Councillor Cathal Boland and Director of Housing and Community Robert Burns were in attendance at the National Indoor Athletics Arena in Abbottstown to see over 300 teenage girls from eight secondary schools from across Fingal take part in the day. The participants got to try out twelve different fun sports activities ranging from Frisbee Golf, Olympic Handball, Basketball, Uni-hoc, High and Long Jump and Tug O War. The girls are all participants in this school year’s Sports office’s Exercise: Energise Programme which had a record thirteen Fingal Secondary Schools taking part in the initiative this year. The Programme is aimed at girls aged 12-15 years who are not involved in sport or physical activity and has been running for over ten years with financial support from Sports Ireland’s Women in Sport funding stream and from the Fingal Sports Office.

It is estimated that about 1.9 billion drinks bottles and cans are consumed each year in Ireland, in-house and ‘on the go’. The Deposit Return Scheme aims to boost the recycling rate for these drinks containers by charging a small, refundable deposit for each plastic bottle or can. The Scheme will include PET plastic bottles and aluminium and steel cans between 150ml and 3 litres. A deposit of 15c will apply to containers 500mls or less and a deposit of 25c for each container above 500ml.

The Scheme will be operated by Deposit Return Scheme Ireland CLG, trading as Re-turn, who were appointed in May 2022. All producers and retailers are legally obliged to register with Re-turn. Registration is open at re-turn.ie. The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) encourages people to recycle drink containers. It works by charging anyone who buys a drink a small deposit for the plastic bottle or can that it comes in. Customers get this money back when they return the container to a retailer or other collection point to be recycled. The Deposit Return Scheme is a major project involving the development of complex IT, infrastructure and communication systems, which will be delivered by Re-turn over the course of 2023. The Department of Environment, Climate, and Communications will work closely with Re-turn on the implementation of the Scheme, which will start immediately with the registration of producers and retailers. The planned ‘go-live’ date for consumers is February 2024.

Fingal TD and Minister Joe O’Brien said recently, “I am Delighted with the announcement of over €33 Million from my Department to Upgrade Community Centres, including Skerries Community Association - SCA and Portmarnock Sports and Leisure Club. It is the Largest ever capital investment in Community Centres and will allow them to avail of extensions to existing centres, energy efficiency upgrades and improved access for people with disabilities amongst other works supported. This announcement will help community centres around the country and particularly those in Fingal that were awarded funding. Both Skerries Community Association and Portmarnock Sports & Leisure Club and others have done great work within their communities and this funding will help them continue to do so. Cllr Karen Power - Balbriggan, Balrothery, Loughshinny and Skerries said: “The funding for Skerries Community Centre announced by Joe today is very welcome. The Centre is the beating heart of our community here in Skerries providing a home for many sports and social clubs as well as educational facilities and it is great to see it supported in this way.”

YMCA Dublin was delighted to welcome Carlos Sanvee, World General Secretary of YMCA International, to its offices on Aungier Street this week.Earlier this year, the World YMCA Secretary General announced the Vision 2030 movement, which commits to igniting change, while daily activities through YMCA services continue to transform young people and communities. The visit to Dublin is one of many that the World General Secretary is making in Ireland, to launch the vision for the future. YMCA’s vision is a world where young people, their families and communities flourish in body, mind and spirit. Kathryn O’Mahony, CEO of YMCA Dublin said: “I am delighted to welcome World General Secretary of YMCA International Carlos Sanvee to YMCA Dublin. During Carlos’ time in Ireland he will launch YMCA Ireland’s new strategy for connecting with young people across Ireland. YMCA Dublin’s strategy was launched a few years back and we are excited to be part of a global vision to support our young people and families.” YMCA Dublin has an extensive history of working with young people, adults and their families in communities in need of support. Training and development opportunities have been facilitated for young people through their youth work department, Community Employment Scheme (CE scheme), and its Réidh programme. YMCA Dublin is a community-based charity operating as a social enterprise, providing services for children, young people and families. It is the second oldest YMCA in the world. Built on a social enterprise model, all income YMCA Dublin generates goes directly back into funding local community projects and initiatives, youth work, youth cafe, plus one mentoring, community work, community childcare and community employment. YMCA Dublin works with communities to support individuals, children and young people to develop the skills, experiences, relationships and behaviours for healthy, confident and successful futures. For more information on the work of YMCA Dublin and it’s programmes, please visit YMCA.ie

Congratulations to the Squad of 17 JKS Swords members who took part in the JKS Autumn Interclub Competition in Tallaght recently. They had a very successful outing bagging 7 Gold, 9 Silver and 14 Bronze medals overall. JKS Swords hosted the JKS Ireland Open Squad and Brown & Black Belt training session recently. Members of JKS Ireland from all over the country spent 2 hours training in Applewood Community Centre, going through ring craft for competition and also syllabus work for grading’s.Members of JKS Swords joined other JKS Ireland members on a competition squad and attended the Kanazawa Cup 2022 in Tallaght. The Squad had a very successful day with lots of medals won. Congratulations to everyone who took part. A big Well Done to Tadhg Comiskey and Harrison Beaumont on being selected as Students of the Month for November. Both boys train very hard and on a regular basic to develop their karate. Regular training continues weekly as we prepare for the Winter Grading. Students are putting the final touches to their kihon, kata and kumite in preparation for the Grading exam on 17th December 2022. If successful in their grading, the students will earn a new coloured belt and progress to the next level of their karate training.
We would like to wish all our members, Parents and Guardians and all our Supporters a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We take new members (Children, Young People & Adults) throughout the year. Contact Dermot on 087-8073885 for details on how to join. Contact us on Facebook: JKS Swords Karate Club or alternatively contact us on Instagram: @jks_swords_karate_club.