Recently we witnessed a truly wonderful thing. In October our community came together to fight for what was right for Lusk. Lusk Action Group (LAG) is extremely grateful to everyone who got behind our campaign to fight against re-zoning motions being lobbied for by councillors from outside of Lusk. Our community has shown just how powerful it can be when we all work together to achieve a common goal. When we act together as one, we can’t be ignored. Many of the councillors who spoke in support of Lusk at the recent Development Plan meeting commended the people of Lusk for their efforts and reiterated their support for the Lusk Vision 2030 report. We can now return our focus to the implementation of the Lusk Vision 2030 goals which is a big priority for the town. LAG has taken responsibility for the delivery of the Multi Use Games Area which was one of the recommendations of the report. We look forward to working on the delivery of this project with Fingal County Council (FCC) as part of the implementation committee. The Christmas lights will go up on Saturday 26th November. This is our third year of having the lights and they have gotten bigger and better each year. Anyone who would like to help with the lighting up please get in touch with us.Following on from the great success of our inaugural Summer Festival earlier this year we are delighted to announce that our second Summer Festival will take place on Saturday 24th June 2023.LAG has recently completed a submission on road safety and maintenance in Lusk and has sent it to FCC. It is hoped that this document will serve as a valuable reference tool for FCC and that our roads and paths can be made safer for us all. As always, we are on the lookout for new members of Lusk Action Group. If you have drive, enthusiasm, care about the future of our town and have some time to spare, please consider joining us. You can email us on luskactiongroup@gmail.com.

Over 100 years old, Portrane Hockey Club has been at the heart of many generations in the village. With over 350 adult and junior members, the club has joined together the community, encouraging new members to try a new sport in a fun, relaxed environment. The club now has 7 senior teams, 3 men’s and 4 ladies with a range of junior Leinster league teams from age 5 through to U16’s. Portrane HC caters for all hockey levels from the serious player to the social player. With the club on the Donabate pitch six days a week, there is something for everyone! Last season was a very successful season for the senior teams with league wins for many and cup finals being won after a hard-fought season. Both the men’s and ladies first teams play at division one and Challenge A respectively. This success transferred into our junior teams with many boys and girls walking away with well-earned Leinster titles at the end of the season. Portrane Hockey Club is a club for all with competitive teams and a great social atmosphere both on and off the pitch. The supporters come together in their purple colours for home matches at the Donabate pitch with great camaraderie from push back to final whistle. The club wouldn’t be where it is today without it’s hard-working committee and coaching staff. Last season saw the new additions of coaches Ross Hetem and Anthony Glutz, both from South Africa. They can also be seen playing for the men’s first team each week in their bid to win division one. If you would like to give hockey a go and join Portrane Hockey Club, please contact Anita Patterson secretaryportranehc@gmail.com or message Portrane Hockey Club on Facebook or Instagram

Marathon fever was in the air in LSA in October as the mileage and training intensified. The theme of the 2022 Dublin City marathon was the Power of Support and this was well and truly evident amongst members of LSA. Over thirty of our adult members ran the Dublin City Marathon last month, supported in their journey to that point by many more. See our Social Media pages for the latest information.Our club provided a supported pathway to the marathon: training sessions, company and hydration for long runs, and Zoom talks with advice on everything needed to get from the start line through the 26 miles.The Dublin race series builds up to the Marathon. Back in August, the Frank Duffy 10 mile race was also the Dublin Athletics 10 mile Championships. Huge congratulations to our coaches Eimear Caulfield and Shane O’Farrell who placed 2nd and Steven Rice who placed 3rd in their age categories in the Dublin Championships.Then in September the Dublin City Half Marathon took place in the Phoenix Park. The notoriously tough and hilly course tested our group. Huge congratulations to Willie Cahill who had a fantastic run and placed second in his age category. As Marathon Day approached LSA was well represented in Lusk at the East of Ireland and Longwood 3/4 Marathons. Meanwhile, we are excited to see our Little Athletics and Juvenile section growing and some of our younger members have had their first taste of competition in Cross Country. Congratulations to Mark Kelly on a Dublin Medal with an excellent 4th place finish in the recent Dublin Championships. Well done all, and thank you to our volunteer coaches for their support. For memberships queries or to get involved please contact lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com - Keep up to date on all the events by following LSA via our social media pages! Facebook facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy or indeed
instagram.com/lsadonabateportrane twitter.com/LSARunning For additional information on the above please visit our website lambaysportsathletics.ie/

One Friday In October a group of people from UkuleleUnited came together in the Parish Hall to have a music session and try out the new acoustic panels, they were very impressed with the quality of the sound since their installation. It is a really great location now for a music event and all involved had an enjoyable few hours of playing!

On Saturday 15th October a group of 16 from the Peninsula Pacers did a walk from Portmarnock to Malahide, this was a coastal walk of 10km, which started from the train station at Portmarnock leading to the Royal Dublin Golf Course end of the Portmarnock beach, where one walks the beach towards Malahide as far as the Martello Tower. We then took the coastal path beside the road for the last few kms into Malahide Village, finally a delicious lunch was had at Duffy’s. and tired but happy after a good walk in good weather bar the last ten minutes of rain people took the train home to Donabate. Further information please contact Carolyn Smith 087 9284307 or Des Carthy 087 7846813

After an absence of two years due to Covid-19, we are delighted to announce that the Donabate Christmas Lights 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 not-for-profit, free 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 refreshments for kids of all ages! We have a surprise in store to provide the seasonal entertainment, more details to follow closer to the time. We will take up a charity collection at the event. In recent years we have collected almost €1000 for worthy causes. The organisers would like to thank Fingal County Council for sponsoring the event. Every year FCC source and install the Christmas tree and it has always been a beautiful tree. We look forward to enjoying another lovely tree this year. Many thanks also to CP Electrical who install the festive lights around the village.We are very grateful to local businesses, Tesco and SuperValu for their generous sponsorship of the event. SuperValu have always given us 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 the event. Just across the road from the church, in St. Patrick’s Parish Hall, the festive 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 online via Zoom, Santa himself will be in the Parish Hall from 2-5pm to meet you all. No appointment necessary for this.This event could not happen without the team of volunteer Elves. Many thanks to the team who give up their Saturday to help make the event such a success.So, come along to the village on Saturday 3rd December and join in the festivities. Let’s kick-start the Donabate festive season in style!

Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed’s plots at Turvey Allotment have been prepared for the winter. The beds were cleared, a layer of manure was spread and the beds were covered to stop all growth. So, except apart from garlic and spring onions in the greenhouses and an experiment with growing peppers, things will be relatively quiet there until February when we start getting ready for next season. But far from being inactive of the winter months, the Men’s Shed is planning on expanding our activities. Our regular Monday morning exercise classes resumed last month and our Tuesday morning croquet sessions at Newbridge House have on taken on extra edge, as the lads are determined to avenge their recent defeat by a ladies’ team from Active Age for All. We also meet at the Scouts’ Den on Thursday mornings for coffee and a chat, with the possibility of a table tennis or darts match if anyone is interested. In addition to these regular weekly activities, we had a pitch-and-putt outing last month and are planning a visit later this month to the Natural History Museum, better known to Dubs as the “Dead Zoo”. So, if you are interested in joining us, there’s always a welcome for a new face at our Thursday morning get-togethers in the Donabate Scouts’ Den on Portrane Road or you can call Jim on 086-3694316. We are always open for new members and new ideas about how we can expand our activities.

Donabate Parish Hall was the venue for Lambay Cinema Club’s launch on Friday, September 9th, with its very first movie screening. The real deal popcorn whet the appetite of movie goers with the tastefully named film “Licorice Pizza” well received by all. The teenage love story transported the audience to 1970’s Los Angeles with a wonderful soundtrack and period detail as the two main characters Alana & Gary, meandered first love. The club’s organisers Breda Maguire & Larry Carolan would like to thank The Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival for supporting the project and the Parish Hall for giving the use of the newly refurbished facility. Breda (MC for the night) stressed that the success of this newly formed community initiative depends solely on the support of local residents. “Lambay Cinema Club hopes to bring world cinema of various genres to local audiences on a monthly basis.” As part of Fingal Inclusion Week (14th -20th November 2022), Lambay Cinema Club will host a special screening of ”Limbo”. Inclusion Week, seeks to raise awareness of the barriers experienced by citizens of Fingal that lead to social exclusion and promote an understanding of inclusion in Fingal. Limbo is a wry and poignant observation of the refugee experience, set on a fictional remote Scottish island where a group of new arrivals await the results of their asylum claims. It centers on Omar, a young Syrian musician who is burdened by his grandfather’s oud, the king of Arabic music instruments, which he has carried all the way from his homeland. The Guardian described Limbo as “ a gorgeous tragicomic take on the refugee experience” The screening will take place Thursday, November 17th in The Church of Ireland, The Square, Donabate at 8pm.Tickets are available from November 7th via the Box Office @bleedingpig.ie/cinema-club or Eventbrite.eventbrite.ie/e/film-screening-fingal-inclusion-week-2022-tickets-429628459287 All proceeds of ticket sales will be donated to the Irish Refugee Council. Thank you to The Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival for their sponsorship of this event.

Leithinis classes are back up and running. We wish to extend a warm welcome to our new students. We now have classes in Tin whistle, Bodhran, Fiddle, Button Accordion, Concertina, Mandolin, Flute and Guitar. Our teachers are very experienced traditional Irish musicians and our lessons are taught in a relaxed and friendly environment.We had our Annual General Meeting in the Educate Together National School on Monday 17th September.. We would like to welcome our new Committee members on board and thank the members who have stepped down this year. A lot of work goes on in the background to keep the branch running and without these members volunteering their time the branch would not exist. If you have any free time and can help with the running of the branch please contact us at eithinis@comhaltas.net. We would be delighted to hear rom you. In addition to classes we have Grupai Cheoil sessions run by Erin, twice a month ( Fridays) in the Parish Hall. This is open to all members and there is a €5 fee per family to cover costs. The session caters for all levels of musical ability. We strongly encourage our students to join in these sessions. It is a great opportunity to practice and play the tunes learned in the classes with other students.There is a session for experienced musicians led by Denis in Keelings at 7.30pm on the first Tuesday of every month. If you want to listen to some traditional Irish music being played by local talented musicians this is the place to be.We held our Annual Fundraising Raffle in Donabate Town Centre in September. It was a great success. A very big thank you to McNeela Music Instruments for donating the prizes and to everyone who bought tickets.For latest news and updates about our branch please see our Facebook page or visit our website at leithinis.com.

Cllr Adran Henchy has said, “Just to provide an update on what was a very positive briefing from both the Economic Enterprise and the Architects Department of Fingal County Council who informed us that they are in the preliminary stages of confirming the former home of Donabate Credit Union will be regenerated and modernised to become the new home of Donabate Library. Both my Councillor colleague on the peninsula Cllr Paul Mulville and I have pushed hard initially to convince Fingal County Council to purchase this landmark iconic building at the heart of our local community from Provident Credit Union and also to ensure whatever future the building has is only reserved for community usage. This of course also allows for the significant space currently occupied at Donabate Portrane Community Centre for the Library to also return back into community usage. A potential win win for our growing local community. The initial capital cost put aside for this transfer to take place is €0.5 million with overall funding of €2 million allocated to this project.,This matter is a headed item at the next meeting of the full Council and this will give Councillors the opportunity to question the Executive further on this proposal on behalf of our local community.