As part of Fingal Inclusion week 2022, members of Leithinis CCE were delighted to be joined by some of our local Ukrainian community for an evening of music and dance. Members of the local Ukrainian community participating in the Donabate (DPCLC) Fáilte Isteach programme attended the Parish Hall on Friday evening to share some of their wonderful culture, song and dance. Thanks to all the many members from both communities who participated, it was a fantastic showcase of both Irish and Ukrainian culture. Traditional tunes were supplied by the Leithinis musicians led by Bean an Tí Erin McGahan and Fear an Tí Willie Cahill. In addition to the many great performers from our local Ukrainian Community, brilliant interpreters and local leaders Gallia & Serhiy joined in the craic with a song or two. Special thanks to everyone who helped make this such a special evening; the parish hall committee for their support in sponsoring the event, Sandra Mathews & Linda Sutton from DPCLC for their support, Jacinta Lowndes who attended on behalf of Fingal County Council (FCC), Helen Flaherty, Cathy O ‘Rourke, Breda Dockrell, Evaleen McGahan and Jim O’Donohoe for organizing and setting up the event and our local representatives.

After a Covid-19 absence of two years, the Donabate Christmas Lights Festival is back!!! The festival makes a welcome return on Saturday, December 3rd at 4.30pm, in the car-park of St. Patrick’s Church in the village. 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 is shaping up to be no different, with festive entertainment and refreshments for kids of all ages! And we have 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, is coming 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 will look 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 makes a welcome return. From 12-6pm, local crafters and artisans will showcase their arts and crafts. Drop in and browse the market and maybe even pick up a quirky Christmas gift or two! And boys and girls, unlike recent years when Santa visited Donabate via Zoom, Santa himself will be in the Parish Hall, in person, from 2.30-5pm to meet you all. A visit with Santa is free of charge and no appointment is necessary. 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 happen without them. Thank you. Later on in the evening, the businesses in the village will showcase their goodies and offers with a Christmas Market in the Town Centre. So, come along to the village on Saturday December 3rd and join in the festive atmosphere. Let’s kick-start the festive season in Donabate in style!!

At Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed, we continue to expand the range of our activities. In addition to our usual weekly exercise classes on Mondays, croquet on Tuesdays and tea and chat on Thursdays, we recently had a pitch and putt outing to the scenic course in Deerpark, Howth. Although no one expects a call-up to the Ryder Cup team, we had a great morning, enjoying the company and the spectacular scenery. Also recently, we enjoyed our first annual Christmas dinner since 2019 in Keeling’s, again great company and wonderful tunes and songs. What a talented bunch! Based on the standard of performances, we hope to start a weekly jam session for members with an interest in music. We wish our members and the wider community, who has supported us over the years, a very happy Christmas and hope to see more members joining us in the New Year. If you’re interested, please call Jim on 086-3694316.

Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival 2022 ~ 2023 So, another hugely successful Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival has come to a close. After a Covid-induced absence of two years, the festival made a welcome return to the peninsula in September. The festival boasted 11 days of fun-filled cultural activities for all ages and all cultural tastes. From Art & Craft Workshops to Gala Concerts, Céili Dancing to Guided Tours, and Short Films to a Casino night, the timetable included something for everyone. All events in the Bleeding Pig Festival were free of charge. We are very grateful to all generous festival sponsors, without whose assistance the festival could not happen. Our sponsors include Fingal County Council, Tesco Ireland, SuperValu, DoughBox Pizza, Roughan & O’Donovan Engineers, Donough Higgins and D&S Construction Limited, Screenlink Printers, Cates Café, Forget-Me-Not Flowers, Life Pharmacy, Progressive Credit Union, Keelco Limited, John B. Dockrell Limited, Film Equipment Hire and Wiley Design. The organiser are also very grateful to all the premises on the peninsula who offered their locations as venues for festival events, including Donabate/Portrane Community Centre, Donabate Library, Pea & Pod Café, the Brook Pub, Keelings Pub, St. Patrick’s RC Church, St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland, and the Parish Hall. The committee worked hard to put the festival together and make it such success. If you would like to be part of the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival and are interested in joining the committee, contact Eilish McDermott on 0877911833, or any committee member. The committee met last weekend for a workshop and cabinet re-shuffle and the new committee was voted in as: Festival Director Eilish McDermott Chairperson Anne Hand Vice-Chairperson Peig McManus Treasurer Larry Carolan Secretary Eilish McDermott PR & Advertising Sharon Scally, Áine Duffy, Emer Weston A huge debt of gratitude is due to Breda Dockrell for her tireless contribution to the festival since its’ inauguration in 2013. Breda is retiring from the committee and taking a well-earned break. We wish her all the best for the future. The next item on the Bleeding Pig calendar is the Winter Miscellany on Sunday December 18th at 6.30 in St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland. This festive favourite features stories written by members of the Chinkwell Writers, together with musical interludes from the Blanchardstown Brass Band, the Bevertones, Willie Cahill, Kate Smartt, Louise Flood School of Irish Daning, and the Yukeleles. 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival and the celebrations will be worthy of a decade of successful, fun, entertaining cultural events! Keep an eye on FaceBook and the Bleeding Pig website for details of events to come.

Corina Johnston, Labour Party Area Representative is calling on Fingal County Council to carry out emergency works to save the Beach Lane access Road to 12 homes and public right of way. Johnston said; “Duncan Smith TD and I have been calling for the Seabees to be extended from the corner of the Beach Lane access Road to past the public right of way, which is accessed by fishermen and bird watchers, for a number of years. The situation has become critical in recent days with coastal erosion taking metres from the dunes along this stretch of beach and washing away the dunes at one point undermining the access road and making it virtually impassible. “Johnston added;” I visited the area in recent days and met with residents who are fearful they will no longer be able to access their homes before too long especially with the high tides and winter season upon us with no coastal protection measures in place. The public right of way to the beach has also been undermined with a huge drop now from the right of way to the beach which is unsafe and unstable. It is evident that if nothing is done now to safeguard the access road it will become impassible within days and the public right of way will be diminished further and will disappear into the sea.” Johnston added;”Duncan and I have been in contact with the CEO and senior officials of Fingal County Council over the last few weeks insisting that the Seabees be extended immediately from their current location from the corner of the access road to past the public right of way in order for the road and right of way to be saved.” Johnston continued; “ A number of months ago our motion calling on the council to compulsory purchase order the access road was passed at a council meeting and while discussions had been ongoing with a land owner to provide an alternative access to the lane these discussions have ended without an agreement. The council need to immediately commence the CPO process to ensure the future viability of the entire access road. “ Johnston concluded; “Duncan and I have highlighted the seriousness of the situation with the CEO of Fingal County Council and Minister Darragh O’Brien and requested that this matter be given urgent priority and an assessment be carried out at this location with the Seabees extended to ensure the future viability of the road and the public right of way. “

Donabate Parish Hall Committee recently sponsored the refreshments for an FCC Inclusion Event held in the Parish Hall in November. Leithinis CCÉ hosted the Event for the Ukrainian Community - who are doing the Fáilte Isteach English language course in Donabate Portrane Community & Leisure Centre. It was a fantastic Session of Music, Song & Dance celebrating both Cultures, Irish & Ukrainian. The night was all about participation & integration and was enjoyed by all. Donabate Parish Committee wishes the Community a Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing all who use the Parish Hall back again in the New Year. We welcome new users and will try to accommodate them in our diverse and growing community. There will be daily activities & cultural slots in the New Year. So, if you are interested, please contact Bernie in the Parish Office as soon as possible with any requests! Tel: 01-8434574 or Email:stpatricksrcdonabate@irishmediagroup.ie

On the 30th of October 2022 Project Fashion Academy hosted their annual ‘Young Designer of the Year Awards’ in the City North Hotel and Conference Centre, Gormanston, Co. Meath. The event this year was in support of a very worthy charity, Make a Wish Ireland who rely entirely on the generosity and support of individuals and events run by businesses like Project Fashion. Make-A-Wish Ireland has one simple aim – to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions, to bring hope, strength, and happiness and this year they are celebrating 30 years of granting wishes. Paul and Paula Keeley, Founders of Project Fashion, Swords, Co. Dublin, came up with an idea in 2019 to create a platform to inspire their many students and raise money for charity. The awards this year were again a phenomenal success raising over eleven thousand euro for Make a Wish Ireland. The fantastic partners of this year’s show were The City North Hotel and Conference Centre, Flynn Park Outdoor Adventures in Balbriggan and WOW Balloons who’s support ensured fundraising success! The show itself was hosted by the fabulous Glenda Gilson who was joined by four inspirational celebrity judges, Orla-Morris Toolen (this year’s RTE Junk Kouture Presenter), Helen Steele (Fashion Designer extraordinaire with current collections in Dunnes Stores), Emer O’Neill (RTE’s Homework Hub Presenter, Activist and Children’s Author) and Katie O’Connor (This years Miss Dublin and an All-Ireland Champion Dancer). This year’s show was even bigger and better than the last and according to event director Sabrina Morris, “There were even more sponsors this year who Project Fashion said were at the core of making the event the great success it was, and they included Videographer Majestic 360, KB Designs, Hickey’s, Heaven Ashbourne, Dessert Diamonds, PEELO, Bly Amour, Helen Steele Fashion, Andrew Collins Photography, Film Equipment Hire, Eurospar Kinsealy, The Flower Yard, Pigsback.ie, One4all, The Bridal Outlet, and Designworks Photography. If any fashion creatives, individuals, or businesses would like to get involved with next years Project Fashion’s ‘Young Designer of the Year Awards 2023’ please get in touch by emailing pfashionmarketing@gmail.com.

A major, new national campaign has been launched to get as many people exercising and participating in physical activity as possible in our biggest urban cities. The new Sport Ireland Active Cities’ project calls on everyone across Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Waterford to come together to create more opportunities for participation in sport and physical activity through collaboration, partnership, and planning. Sport Ireland officially unveils Active Cities, a project based on the World Health Organisation’s Global Action Plan on Physical Activity (GAPPA) Framework, which focuses on increasing physical activity amongst those who are least active in society. Active Cities prioritises physical activity and sport for all and is underpinned by four key pillars - Active Systems, Active Environments, Active Societies, and Active People. To date €3.4m has been invested to engage with communities across the five cities, creating change for those who are economically, socially or educationally disadvantaged or those who have a disability. When it comes to being physically active, only 42% of adults and only 13% of children met the recommended national guidelines as per the 2021 Irish Sports Monitor. With over 33% of the population living across the 5 cities, physical inactivity is negatively impacting the health, economy, environment, and community of our cities. Active Cities is about creating opportunities so that all citizens can lead healthier lifestyles in the context of sport and physical activity. The vision of Active Cities is to engage, increase and maintain the number of citizens regardless of age or ability participating in sport and physical activity in their city. Collaborative and partnership-based by nature, Active Cities is being led locally by the eight (8) LSPs across Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. Highlighting the importance of raising awareness Sport Ireland CEO, Dr Una May added: “Sport Ireland are proud to support a wonderful initiative such as Active Cities. Communication and promotion will be central to the success and impact of Active Cities. Research has highlighted the importance of identifying and connecting with trusted local community leaders, willing to promote opportunities within their locality. This initiative will provide a fantastic opportunity for Active Cities to generate a sense of community and togetherness, while bringing sport and physical activity to people’s lives”.

TIER Mobility, has announced that 120 new e-bikes will be deployed by the end of November across its Fingal shared e-bike scheme. TIER has also completed the expansion of its business area to cover the whole of Fingal, letting users pick up an e-bike from Balbriggan to Howth. TIER Mobility is the world’s leading shared micro-mobility provider, with a mission to Change Mobility for Good. By providing people with a range of shared, light electric vehicles, from e-scooters to e-bikes and e-mopeds, powered by a proprietary Energy Network, TIER helps cities reduce their dependence on cars. Founded in 2018 by Lawrence Leuschner, Matthias Laug and Julian Blessin, TIER is headquartered in Berlin and currently operates in 250+ cities across 22 countries in Europe and the Middle East. With a focus on providing the safest, most equitable and most sustainable mobility solution, TIER has been climate neutral since 2020. Since the scheme was launched in June of this year, Fingal residents have cycled over 2,500 hours on TIER e-bikes, and the average trip distance is over 4.5km, a much further distance than the majority of towns and cities that TIER operates in.Peadar Golden, Ireland Country Manager, TIER commented: “The response we have received since launching our shared e-bike service in Fingal has been phenomenal. The journey times and distances we see are both beyond what we expected, and with more bikes in more areas Fingal residents will be able to leave the car at home more often” David Storey, Director of Environment, Climate Action and Active Travel for Fingal County Council welcomed the expansion. “We’re very pleased to be expanding the TIER offering across Fingal to over 300 eBikes. We are also pleased to see that the TIER bikes are working in addition to existing push bike fleets, effectively doubling the number of options available in the county. Fingal residents and visitors have been enjoying this low carbon, convenient and affordable Active Travel option since it arrived earlier this year and we expect to see lots more people give TIER eBikes a try in the coming weeks as their numbers increase.”

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and our local branch will be at Bremore Castle Food and Craft Village on Sunday 4th December and Sunday 11th December. We will have a selection of merchandise, such as Christmas Cards and 2023 Calendars and €5 car raffle tickets for a chance to win a Citroen C4. The draw will take place on 27th January 2023 and some lucky person will start the new year with a brand new car! Look out for Santa’s Grotto in Millfield Shopping Centre, Balbriggan, sponsored by Specsavers, which starts on the 17th November.We are pleased to welcome some new arrivals to the Balbriggan Branch just in time for Christmas. On 7th November volunteer Anne Mulligan welcomed a new puppy in training, Cosmo, a red Labrador, aged 3 months who will live with Anne for the next 12/14 months.Local volunteer, Jade McCormack has been matched with her new Guide Dog, Winter. We wish Anne and Cosmo and Jade and Winter the very best of luck and we look forward to sharing their progress. Finally, we want to thank everyone for their continued support every day and throughout the year. We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy 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.