We are delighted to announce Ian Murphy as Men’s team Captain for the new season.

Ian takes over from Conor Caldwell, who was at the helm for an incredible five seasons! This was Conor’s second stint as Captain, having previously captained the team in season 2009-2010. We want to thank Conor for his outstanding service to Balbriggan RFC. Conor isn’t going too far and will still be involved with the team as a player. Ian has an impressive record as a player. He has played with Balbriggan RFC since he was a youth. Ian has been ever-present on the men’s team and has more than 100 Caps playing senior rugby for Balbriggan RFC. Ian mainly plays at out-half and centre, but has also played in other positions including wing, full-back and wing-forward. We wish Ian well as he leads the team into the new season.

Our Women’s Team had a brilliant win last night , there was a little bit of history as Skipper Lara Maritz became the first Balbriggan Women’s player to score a century with a spectacular 108 Not Out , Lara was backed up ably by her sister Tess who was 23 not out at the end , it was an excellent team performance with our young bowlers getting valuable experience and everyone backing each other in the field. The team spirit in coach Chuka Uba’s squad is fantastic and evident in the team pics.

Did you know that all services from Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind are free of charge. However, it costs €5m a year to run the charity and €53,000 to breed, train and care for one Guide Dog during its working lifetime.85% of the funding comes from fundraising, corporate partners and gifts in Wills.It takes 2 years to train a dog and a working dog will generally retire around the age of 10. Currently there are, 184 working Guide Dog Partnerships, 213 working Assistance Dog Partnerships.We are happy to provide some puppy in training updates. Voldee has been in Stamullen with Adele Halpin for two months and is settling well. Adele says Voldee attended his first dance show recently and the music and dancers didn’t faze him. He’s showing great signs of confidence. Adel, who is in Cork, is progressing very well in her training as an Assistance Dog and will hopefully be graduating at the end of August of early September.Andy Green of our Balbriggan/North County Dublin branch’s Guide Dog Ollie recently graduated and Andy said that, “He is a joy to have and as Guide Dogs go he is a pleasure to work and has like my previous dogs enhanced my life in the best possible way. It’s great to be out and about with a working dog again and to feel confident in getting around the place again. So if you see us be sure to stop and say hello to the chaos that is Ollie and I.”

Our Balbriggan/North County Dublin Branch will be in Bremore Castle Food and Craft Village on Sunday the 4 th September from 10am – 4pm. Make sure to pop over and say hello. We currently have a large collection dog in storage that is looking for a new home with plenty of footfall to get it filled up. Please contact our Balbriggan/North County Dublin branch if you have any ideas. If you would like to volunteer, you can also contact us on Facebook, by email at GuideDogsBalbriggan@gmail.com or by mobile on 085 766 3107.

The Write Time Festival is taking place this September in Balbriggan Library. Would you like to know more about writing short stories? If so we have a 4 week online course called Crafting Short Stories starting on Tuesday the 6th of September.

Please book on Eventbrite: Crafting Short Stories with Fiona O’Rourke

Online 4-week Course, 12 participants

Booking via Eventbrite:www.eventbrite.ie/e/391076017897

Week 1: Tuesday 6th September, 7 - 8.30 pm (Online via zoom)

Week 2: Tuesday 13th September, 7 - 8.30 pm (Online via zoom)

Week 3: Tuesday 20th September, 7 - 8.30 pm (Online via zoom)

Week 4: Tuesday 27th September, 7 - 8.30 pm (Online via zoom)

Want to explore the short story form? Get reading, get talking, get writing! This practical 4-week course explores one published short story per session. The story will be circulated beforehand for in-class discussion on elements of the craft. Each session will include guided writing exercises inspired by the featured story to help writers generate new prose in the short form.

Please note that participants must be able to attend all 4 sessions.Also, by signing up, participants agree to their email address being shared with the course facilitator, Fiona O’Rourke, as she will circulate the reading material in advance.

Fiona O’Rourke, M.Phil. Creative Writing (Trinity College Dublin) Fiona is an author and facilitator whose short stories have been broadcast for radio and published and translated in journals and anthologies. She was a winner in the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair and runs a writing collective, eXpress Writing Community. She facilitates writing courses and mentorships with the Irish Writers Centre, libraries, and festivals.

Join Balbriggan and District Historical Society on September 28th in the Bracken Court Hotel at 8pm for a talk by Jim Herlihy on the Irish police force An Garda Siochána who are celebrating 100 years this year.We were delighted to return to in person talks this year and meet up again with old friends of the Society. The Balbriggan & District Historical Society Committee are pictured at our March talk Irish National Foresters - St Molaga Branch, No.315 (Balbriggan) 1897-1942 “ by Jim Walsh We enjoyed an excellent presentation in April from Declan Brady on Frank Lawless, 1870-1922: Fingal’s Revolutionary Politician Our May talk was on the Building of Balbriggan Harbour by Rory McKenna and Rory shared his knowledge again along with Jim Walsh Brian Howley and Bernie Kelly at our Historical Walk as part of the Balbriggan Summerfest and again during Heritage Week as part of the Balbriggan Beach Activity Festival. Our August talk was on Genealogy and tracing your family history with Colm Timmons. Find out more about our Society at balbrigganhistory.com

Another great week of fun in our summer camps. It was great to see such hurling and camogie skills on display. Thanks to all our coaches, helpers and Naoise & Donagh for organising. Don’t forget kids and adults of all ages are always very welcome to join our club and play a part in our exciting future.

Congratulations to Chloe Duggan who won Student of the Month for June. She was presented with the Student of the Month Trophy by her instructor Dermot O Keeffe Sensei, 6th Dan JKS recently. Chloe attends classes regularly and puts huge effort into her training in kihon, kata and kumite. Well done, Chloe! JKS Swords recently hosted the JKS Ireland Inter-club competition in Applewood Community Centre. Clubs from all over Ireland attended and it was a great day for everyone. JKS Swords had a squad of 18 members who competed, and they rose to the challenge on the day as the host club and topped the medal table taking home 7 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze medals. Congratulations to all the competitors. The next JKS Inter-club takes place in October and will be hosted by JKS Tallaght.42 members of the club presented for grading examination recently. After training for an hour, the members had to perform a selection of kihon, kata and kumite requirements to attain their next coloured belt. All the students were understandably nervous but didn’t let this stop them from completing what was required to progress in their grades.Training continues over the sumcer in Applewood Community Centre as the club prepares for the next karate season which comcences in September. Classes are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. We take new members (Children, Young People & Adults) all through the year. Contact Dermot on 087-98073885 for details on how to join. Contact us on Facebook: JKS Swords Karate Club or on Instagram: @jks_swords_karate_club

Festival in a Van came to Fingal on Wednesday July 20th for two special performances to welcome our new Ukrainian friends to the county. . This was certainly the case in Fingal when Irish and Ukrainian musicians performed together to provide wonderful entertainment to an enthusiastic audience which included Mayor of Fingal Cllr Howard Mahony and over 100 Ukrainian residents.The day began in the morning at the Emmaus Retreat centre in Swords which included a stunning performance from Ukrainian pianist Oleh Udod, as well as Yeva Halstian and ballad group Across the Keys, with Joe Brennan, John Brennan, Colum King and Jim Aughney. Oleh and Yeva are Ukrainian guests at the Emmaus Retreat Centre at Balheary and have performed previously at Emmaus and at the Flavours of Fingal event two weeks ago, accompanied by other residents.The afternoon performance at Deerpark Hotel in Howth saw the audience getting involved with some impromptu dancing and had the opportunity to sample Ukrainian food. Speaking at the event, Mayor of Fingal Cllr Howard Mahony welcomed the Ukrainian guests to Fingal saying “I am delighted to attend today’s special event both in Swords and Howth and I thoroughly enjoyed the music from both the Ukrainian and Irish musicians. I would like to take this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to you all and to let you know that Fingal is here to support you during your stay in Ireland.” For more information on Festival in a van go to festivalinavan.com

The months of June and July was a very busy period for the Swords Tidy Towns volunteers. The judging for the National Tidy Towns competition took place during this time, and as we are not informed when the judging team arrive in Swords it was all hand on deck. Teams went out every day to make sure that the Main St and surrounds were always looking their best. This involved litter picking, graffiti removal, replacing damaged and stolen plants, weeding and much needed watering during the hot periods without rain. Our team of volunteers deserve a big round of applause and a well earned holiday for their trojan efforts, well done one and all. The Swords Tidy Towns Best Presented Business Frontage/Window Display Competition Awards also took place.The following businesses achieved awards for their creativity to create fantastic window displays in relation to the competition.Gold Merit Cert and Overall Award of the STT Perpetual Cup to the Arch Bar (on behalf of the Lawlor family) Proprietor Des Lawlor with the STT Perpetual cup for overall award. Silver Merit Cert awarded to St Vincent’s and presented to Hong Maguire Manager and Rebecca…..Bronze Merit Cert awarded to The Card and Party Store Tom Hanley Proprietor and Manager Tracey. Many congratulations to all the winners and to all the businesses concerned for taking part in the competition. All the certificates will be issued shortly when they are printed, courtesy of the Fingal Horticultural Society.

Congratulations go to the Senior Men Football squad as they are presented with the AFL2 league cup tonight at Broomfield. A last few words from Mens Senior Football captain Paidi White with special thanks to the ‘3 gents’ Dan St Ledger Derek Roche & Mick Byrne who have guided them to this year’s league win & back to the AFL1 within 6 months in the job! Also to all the families and support who have been there for the lads all season. On to the Champo lads!