St. Mary’s Baton Twirlers who train weekly and have athletes from Balbriggan, Skerries, Bellewstown and Drogheda and they recently took to the competition floor after an absence of 28 months. Indoor sports suffered greatly due to not being able to train during the pandemic, but the club are working on rebuilding the squad. It was a young squad who entered the ABTI Championships in Crumlin at the end of June 2022 and they took home many of the top awards. Baton twirling is often seen as a sport for girls but across Europe, USA and Japan its equally popular with boys and girls, and for the first time in over 35 years, we had boys from St. Mary’s Baton Twirlers perform. Luke McKnight and Zach Bergin won the under 10 pairs competition. It would be great to see as many boys as girls at the club in the future. Plans for 2023 are in the final stages which will include ABTI National Championships and travelling to International Championships.For more information about St. Mary’s Baton Twirlers contact them on : 086 3270636, or DM them at: @stmarys.batontwirlers

Fingal County Council has recently launched a public consultation on plans to transform the centre of Balbriggan as part of a €10 million redevelopment which will deliver a unique sustainable public open space in the heart of Ireland’s youngest town. Subject to planning permission, the redevelopment of the 19,300 square metres site is expected to commence in late 2023, with works being completed in five phases between early 2024 and Q1 2025. Under the plans, the existing playground, green spaces and planting zones will nearly double in size, with play equipment for all ages integrated into the flowing design of the public space. Enhancing the appeal of the location, a new commercial building and two new kiosks will be built on the site of a former nightclub in the harbour area in order to accommodate visitor and leisure activities. To help with the transformation of the area into a people-oriented public space, the plans outline the removal of 175 car parking spaces.. Extensive surveying of the town’s car parking spaces has been carried out which has indicated that there is more than sufficient car parking capacity at all times around the town to facilitate the removal of these car parking spaces in this area.The Council is keen to gain further views on the proposals which have been developed thanks to the ongoing input from the community at various information meetings held over the last 12 months. This feedback and local insight have been key to helping progress the ongoing work in Balbriggan and is reflected in the current proposal. The public consultation process will commenced on Thursday, July 7 with plans on public display at Balbriggan Library and County Hall, Swords until August 5. They will also be available online at consult.fingal.ie/en/browse. Scheduled open days, advertised in advance, will take place in August at the Our Balbriggan Hub in George’s Square where people can discuss the plans with relevant Council officials for more information.Submissions about the redevelopment plans will be accepted until 5pm on August 19.

Are you looking for ways to support our Balbriggan/North County Dublin branch but have missed some of our recent merchandise stands? Well, we are happy to announce that a new type of counter box has been placed in Oakes Pharmacy in Skerries, which allows for a donation of €2 minimum by a tap of a phone, this then prompts you to open an app and you can select an amount to donate through this. Another way you can support us is by donating any used postage stamps or old coins no longer in circulation to our Balbriggan Branch. You can contact us on 085 766 3107 to arrange to hand them over and we can then turn them into Euros and lodge them to the Guide Dogs account. We are happy to provide an update on puppy in training, Adel. Adel is doing well in her training as an Assistance Dog and has moved from the highly skilled, wonderful Assistance Dog training Centre to a temporary home for the duration of her training. Each morning she is brought to the Centre for training and then returns home in the evening.We’ll continue to share updates as we get them on Adel but we are delighted to hear she is doing so well. At the end of June last, Tom O’Neill of our Balbriggan/North County Dublin branch joined the Phoenix Branch who hold a monthly walk in Phoenix Park on the last Sunday of every month. The group meet at the Hole in the Wall Pub at 11am and loop back, where the Hole in the Wall are kind enough to provide free teas and coffees for everyone. It is a lovely walk, with very happy Guidedogs and it is a great chance to catch up and meet new people. If you are interested, please contact John Mitchell of the Phoenix Branch for more information Johnamitchell.home@gmail.comWould you like to Volunteer for your local branch for the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind? You can contact our Balbriggan/North County Dublin branch on Facebook, by email at GuideDogsBalbriggan@gmail.com or by mobile on 085 766 3107.

Junsa has been busy training and educating our students it the art of our great martial art and sport. We recently had a number of our older students take part in a corner judges and referees course and then they had the opportunity to test there new skills at an upcoming tournament. The opportunities in Taekwondo are endless, if our students want to further their Taekwondo career they are not limited to just sparring, they can take part in poomsae tournaments, or international refereeing to name just a few.Below is a few photos of what our junior students have doing this month. We are also looking forward to taking part the first Lusk festival. Junsa Taekwondo now has two training venues: 5-7 year olds Lusk scout Den - 8-12s Curduff national school - 12s and above Curduff national school. Please contact master Stuart Russell for more information on 087 7775202 or follow us on Facebook @ Junsa Taekwondo

It has been a remarkably busy and successful time for Lusk Athletic Club over the past month with athletes of all ages competing in the Dublin Juvenile Championships at the Morton stadium in Santry and Junior, Senior and master’s athletes competing in the Leinster championships at the magnificent IT Carlow stadium. Lusk AC members also took part in a wide range of road races, parkruns and a trail run in Ardgillan demesne. We had 54 athletes from the club take part in our neighbour’s race, the LSA 4 mile. Well done to all our athletes who ran, threw, jumped, those who won medals, Many thanks to our fantastic coaches, officials, parents and volunteers.

While many activities take a break over the summer months, the following will be available in the following centres: (1) Cottage Community Centre :Kumon, the learning and development pro-gramme will continue over the summer except July 18th - August 2nd.Lusk Senior Citizens wee kly get together is on Friday mornings. - Yoganamara both Chair and Pregnancy Yoga takes place on Tuesdays. - Prosper Fingal classes are on Tuesday mornings except from June 24th - July 11th (2) Saint Macullins Centre (SMC): Foróige Coastal North Dublin have youth get togethers. - RCCG Assembly of Praise Sunday services. - Yoganamara with Saturday morning Yoga to start the weekend. - In addition to weekly activities the following Summer Camps will be happening. - Bricks4Kidz (SMC) July 4th - July 8th. Daily from 10am - 1pm and 2.30pm – 5.30pm - August 2nd - 5th. Daily from 10am – 1pm Bricks4Kidz (Cottage) - August 15th - 18th Daily from 10am – 1pm - Tina Mation: (SMC) July 11th - 15th. Daily from 10am – 1pm - Aug 15th - 19th. Daily from 10am – 1pm. Contact the Cottage Community Centre for further information Tel. 01 8954180 or email cottagecommunitycentre@yahoo.com

The Lusk Mens 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 alaways welcome

The public consultation for the new development plan closed last month with 1,946 individual submissions made my stakeholders and members of the public to Fingal County Council. Speaking on the matter Cllr Rob O’Donoghue welcomed the large number of submissions from the member of the public from the Rush-Lusk electoral area however, there were a number of issues of concerns he had regarding the large number of submissions relating to land rezoning in the area. He stated ‘that it is my belief that Lusk as a town, needs to consolidate and settle for the duration of the new Development Plan, between the census in 2002 and 2016 the town has grown in population by 217%, by far the largest growth of all the sustainable growth towns in the North County. We have legacy issues with the provision of the social dividend in relation to taking in-charge Lusk Village and the green space associated with The Forge estate which have dragged on for years and need to be prioritised for the provision of amenities for the towns residents and clubs.’ “He continued, to date, in the previous stage of the Development Plan I have fought off attempts from Councillors outside of the electoral area to rezone land in the Rush-Lusk area particularly between the towns of Lusk and Rush. It is with disappointment that I read submissions made seeking large land rezonings in the towns hinterland which would radically alter the character of the town. I can assure the people of Lusk that I will oppose any such proposals that are brought forward at the final phase of the Development Plan later in the year.”

This week’s instalment comes from the Irish Daily Independent dated 20th July 1894. Fins travelled to Rush to play local team Emerald Isles.At this time a goal was equivalent to 5 points hence the line “…winners by 2 goals and 10 points (equal to 4 goals)…” It is interesting how the rules evolve through time. At this time Gaelic football was played 17-a-side and the goals were similar to soccer goals. There were also two outer posts. A point was awarded if the ball went over the goal or within the external posts. Similar to Australian Football today.

Congratulations to Mark Girvin who was presented with his Nidan Diploma 2nd Dan Black Belt recently. Mark is a founding member of Swords Karate Club and has trained regularly since he joined back in 2001. For his Nidan examination Mark had to demonstrate a range of Kumite techniques as well as performing several Kata. He had several Kumite fights against opponents where he put his nidan techniques to good use. He was presented with his Diploma by Dermot O Keeffe Sensei 6th Dan JKS, Chief Instructor of JKS Karate in Ireland. We surprised Sensei Ali at the Spring Seminar with a birthday cake and a rendition of Happy Birthday to celebrate her 21st Birthday which was on the same day. She was shocked but delighted at the surprise and promised not to eat all her cake herself! Sensei Ali teaches our Tigers classes. We welcomed Makita Sensei 6th Dan JKS from Japan for day 1 of our Spring Seminar. Over 70 people from all over Ireland took part as Makita Sensei led the students through several rounds of Japanese style training. He demonstrated dynamic contraction and expansion in techniques followed by teaching of Kashu Kata. The seminar was held in Applewood Community Centre. We hosted Jesper Sensei, 7th Dan JKS on day 2 of our Spring Seminar. He spent his time teaching the intricacies of Kaishu Ippon Kumite with a partner and all the students enjoyed his teaching immensely. Class reports: Tigers and Juniors are preparing for the upcoming JKS Inter-Club Competition as well as for grading examinations. The Competition is being hosted by JKS Swords and gives students an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned in class in a supportive competition environment. Seniors continue to work on developing real world skills from karate techniques. 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