Fingal County Council is going out to public consultation next month on its plans for the Swords Cultural Centre which will be a key component of the Swords Cultural Quarter.Councillors were informed recently that a Part 8 planning process will commence on Thursday, July 7 for the new Centre which will be located at the junction of North Street and Seatown Road, beside Swords Castle and County Hall, in the centre of Swords.The new Centre, will be a four-story building covering 5,700 square metres and featuring a new County Library, a tourist office, a gallery and a 165 seat multi-functional theatre.The plans also include a new design of the public realm around Swords Castle and County Hall.The public consultation process will commence on Thursday, July 7 with the plans for the Swords Cultural Centre on public display at County Hall, Swords, and Civic Offices, Blanchardstown, until August 5. They will also be available online at fingal.ie and consult.fingal.ie. Submissions about the proposal will be accepted until August 15 at consult.fingal.ie.The Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, said: “ We now have a schedule in place which, if all goes well, will see construction commence in the second half of 2023. This project is connected to the Sustainable Swords Strategy and, between them, they will transform the area along Main Street and improve connectivity between the centre and the rest of the town.”The Sustainable Swords Strategy is a key part of Fingal County Council’s plan to ensure that, as Swords continues to expand, the town grows sustainably and develops into well-designed county capital. It will focus on reversing the historic shift away from Main Street, which commenced in the early 2000s, in order to facilitate better placemaking and create a more resilient town centre.Fingal County Council has already completed a Health Check of the works programme, a Public Realm Strategy, a Transport Strategy and a Business Case Evaluation of key transformative projects and will unveil its Sustainable Swords Strategy in September when it is presented for public consultation.
Fingal Horticultural Society (Swords) are delighted to announce that their 2022 show will once again be open to the public following two years of restricted access due to Covid-19. The Annual Horticultural show takes place on Bank Holiday Monday 1st August in St. Colmcille’s GFC, Glen Ellen Road and will be open for viewing from 2-5pm.There will be Competition Classes in Flowers; Pot Plants; Vegetables & Fruit; Baking; Handcrafts; Flower Arranging; Children under 9 years, under 12 years & under 16 years. So, if you have Super Sweet Pea, Romantic Roses, Classic Cabbage or Prolific Pot Plants why not bring them along to St. Colmcille’s on Sunday afternoon 31st July from 2-8pm or on Monday morning 1st August from 8-11am…entry is open to everyone, and we will have members on hand to help first time exhibitors. Are you an avid Baker or enthusiastic Flower Arranger or are Handcrafts your guilty pleasure, we would love to have your entries and it is really great fun. Children are also encouraged with classes for Miniature Gardens, Models made from Fruit & Veg, Painting and much more. So, come along and support our Annual Show which is now in its 80th year either as an exhibitor or visitor to see a great display of locally grown Flowers & Vegetables and an outstanding display of locally produced Baking & Handcrafts. And don’t forget to visit the Gardening & Horticultural Show at the Flavours of Fingal Event which will be held this weekend 2nd&3rd July in Newbridge House, Donabate with free transport links from Swords…you will find us in the Farmers Field. Competition Schedules for both Shows are available by contacting info@fingalhorticulturalsociety.com or phone the Show Secretary 086 3343680.
By Ken Duffy
From June 11th until August 5th the judges from the National Tidy Towns Competition will be travelling the length and breathe of Ireland visiting each village, town and city to award the points they believe each entrant merits. Swords Tidy Towns would ask residents and visitors to bare this fact in mind and be extra vigilant with regard to disposing of litter. Our hard-working volunteers have been putting in the hours these past few months in preparation for the judges visit. We never know when the judges will arrive in our town so it’s all hands-on deck for the next month. All the hard work put in by our crew over the year is done because of their love of the town of Swords and also for the visual benefit of its wonderful friendly residents. Swords Tidy Towns have won numerous awards and plaudits over the past number of years for their efforts both locally and nationally and is a reflection on all the great work our team puts in. If you would like to contribute either by joining the Swords Tidy Towns team or by making a contribution, you can contact us by email at swordstidytowns@irishmediagroup
Fingal County Council brought together Councillors, contractors and staff for an onsite briefing in Swords at St. Cronan’s Road and Brackenstown Avenue as work got underway recently on upgraded, protected cycle lanes.These works include upgrading of the existing walking and cycling infrastructure in the area to improve safety, reduce traffic speed and create better connections to local schools and to Swords Manor Football Club, public transport and local amenities in the area. The works also include realignment and upgrading of junctions, road surface improvements, traffic calming, improvement of crossing points, segregation of cycle lanes using bollards and providing safer routes to school for St. Cronan’s National School. Fingal’s Director of Environment, Climate Action and Active Travel, David Storey, says works like these are key to improving road safety and mobility. ‘Swords is a great example of a town that due to the growth of its population needs traffic calming and Active Travel infrastructure to support people who want to walk and cycle to school or work safely. These upgraded, protected cycle lanes offer protection for both the cyclist and the driver and this is particularly important around St. Cronan’s National School.’ Fingal County Council concluded a 5-week public consultation on these protected cycle lane upgrades for St Cronan’s Avenue and Brackenstown Road in late April. A report on submissions received from the public was published in May. The consultation report is available to the public to view online at fingal.ie/activetravel/stcronansavenue. Works began on Monday, 23 May as GMC Utilities Group, installed a site works compound at Ardcian Park and works are due to be completed in Quarter 4 of 2022. Works will be completed on a phased basis to minimise disruption to the local area and those travelling in the area should keep an eye on Fingal County Council’s Facebook and Twitter for updates relating to traffic calming measures as they occur.If you would like to learn more about the details of these works please visit: fingal.ie/activetravel/stcronansavenue
Hard luck to our U16A team who lost to Drogheda in the league play off. A cruel way to decide the league to be honest after the girls topped the table with a 20 plus goal difference but rules are rules. The girls will be back for the new season to give there all again. Also congratulations to the Malahide Utd Under 14 boys tea who won the O’Neill Cup recently. Malahide Utd..2 v Mount Merrion..0 - Goals from Jack O’Keeffe and Finn Byrne secured Malahide United the Under 14 O’Neills Cup over a gallant Mount Merrion. In a close contest goals from Jack O’Keeffe and Finn Byrne secured Malahide United the Under 14 O’Neills Cup over a gallant Mount Merrion. This was a tight contest despite the scoreline and Malahide were worthy winners against a very strong opponent with Cian O’Connor accepting the trophy on behalf of the north coast club.
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has announced that matches of the 17th Women’s Softball World Cup will be held in Ireland in July 2023, with Fingal set to co-host the prestigious event with locations in Italy and Spain. The competition, which will have 16 teams from around the world participating, will attract elite players competing for the trophy. This is only the second time the World Cup has been held in Europe, with the final to be played Italy. The event was first held in 1965 and has included world champions from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the USA. The current reigning team is the USA, who have won the title a staggering 11 times. Welcoming the announcement, Mayor of Fingal Seána Ó’ Rodaigh said: “This is a fantastic win for Ireland and is especially good news for the community in Dublin 15 who will be able to see the world’s best softballers competing right on their doorstep. St Catherine’s Park will be a superb venue for what is the premier tournament for women’s softball and help put Fingal in the spotlight as games are broadcast internationally.” AnnMarie Farrelly, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, said: “Being selected to host a global spectacle like the Women’s Softball World Cup is a wonderful achievement. This is a massively popular sport that encourages participation across all age groups, cultures and communities, and I hope our hosting will help inspire the next generation of female athletes from across the county. We have been working closely with Fastpitch Ireland to show the WBSC that Fingal was the best location in Ireland to accommodate elite athletes with the right facilities to make the tournament a success, so this is a welcome outcome for that joint effort.”Melanie Cunningham, Director of Fastpitch Ireland said: “The awarding of the World Cup to Ireland is a testament to the standing of Team Ireland and the Irish Federation in the WBSC. A lot of hard work has been put into developing the bid with Fingal and we are very grateful for their support and vision to join us in the bid.”
Our recent Transition Year Graduation and an absolutely brilliant musical performance was a great way to end a fantastic year for the Transition Years at St Mary’s Secondary School, Baldoyle. Well done to the Transition Years on an amazing performance and which, under the guidance of Amy White Lambe, took less than 5 days to produce– just brilliant.There is also a newsletter produced for our Transition Year Graduation. Many thanks to Annie Jakob, our SNA, for a tremendous amount of work producing the newsletter. The last photo is from the Musical Performance – a journey down memory lane of the various musicals performed in St. Mary’s. A group of students find a box of old programmes which leads to discussion and a scene from the musical appears. Taking only 5 days to prepare, the Transition Years, with the help of Amy White Lambe, put on an absolutely brilliant performance.Congratulations to all the T Y students who made this such a special event. Many thanks are due to both Mr. Ryan and Ms Convey for all their work throughout this year. A lot of work went into organising the hoodies for everyone. Every week had something on from a trip to an activity to a presentation. They also had a fantastic trip to Achill and finished off the year with an orienteering session in Malahide Castle which was organised by Mr. Nash. Its back to full study in September with everyone ready to hit the ground running. Enjoy your summer!
by Malahide Historical Society
Up until the 1930s only a narrow track ran between Seabank and the Velvet Strand at Portmarnock. The dangerous nature of the road is illustrated by this 1904 newspaper report:
“A Kilkenny tourist was cycling back from the Irish Automobile Club races on Portmarnock Strand and within fifty yards of the Martello Tower (later known as Hick’s Tower) he lost control of his machine, and was thrown over the cliff, a distance of twenty foot, sustaining a broken arm and serious internal injuries. At the place where the accident occurred the cliff has been shored up by a concrete wall, the top of which is level with, and practically a part of, the roadway, so that anyone unacquainted with the locality would run serious risk”.In another later and more tragic incident a postman, John Hatch, died when early one foggy morning due to poor visibility his bike went over the edge. The track was of such concern to the local authority that it sought permission to close part of the road owing to its dangerous nature running alongside the sea cliffs. Permission was granted and the required prohibition sign was erected at both ends of the closed section. At that time it was unique in being the only public road in Ireland to be officially closed to motor traffic. In 1914 a Swords man was fined 5 shillings with 10 shillings costs for riding his motor-cycle along the prohibited road. When the sea wall at Robbs Walls suffered ‘sudden damage’ in November 1928, presumably storm damage, the Council agreed to spend £150 on a retaining wall, the contractor being Messrs. Bissett. The following year the Council accepted the tender of Patrick Bissett for the construction of a sea wall at Robbs Walls in Portland cement at a cost of £1-11-6 per cubic yard or £4-6-3 per lineal yard. Motor traffic was restricted to residents along the way and to emergency services including the clergy and local doctors. Dublin County Council agreed, in 1931, to spend £200 and employ fifteen men and four horses to widen the part of the road running from the baths behind the Grand Hotel to Muldowney. Some more widening was done the following year but the Council received a deputation on behalf of a number of carters using horse-drawn vehicles who had been dismissed from carting stones from Feltrim Quarry and had been substituted by motor haulage. In 1933, approval was received for the expenditure of £5,600 on the continuation of widening, new road construction, etc. on the Portmarnock-Malahide road, which became the road as we know it today.
Malahide Lions Club has started this project where old broken sewing machines will be refurbished and sent to East Africa where recipients can start a small business, do repairs and earn a living.There are hundreds of these old machines just lying around in local homes. So please donate the and give East Africans a chance for a new life!
The Mini All Ireland Football tournament is a regular annual feature on the schedule of events at St Donabate. In June 2019 a hurling version of the tournament was introduced. Covid restrictions meant that the inaugural tournament was unable to run in the years after its first launch. Three years since the first event, and with massive development of hurling in the club including a developing camogie section, meant the revival of the Mini All Ireland Hurling and Camogie tournament for 2022 was sure to be a success. Almost 300 kids from Academy age group all the way up to Senior age (U14/U13) entered to compete for the coveted Cup winner’s trophy. With the football tournament launching separate boys and girls sections, the hurling event sought to do the same. With camogie in its infancy in the club, the U11 girls its inaugural team, it is a testament to the rapid development of the sport that well over 100 girls applied to compete in the camogie section across a number of age groups. Despite changeable weather conditions during the week of the tournament, which was held leading up to the June bank holiday weekend, the best of the weather held out to allow all the games to proceed with great support on the side lines as parents and supporters cheered on their temporary county allegiances. The quality of the games meant there were some really exciting group stage games and penalty shoot outs were required in many sections to determine placings for finals day. The sun shone bright on Friday’s finals evening as the competition came to a close. There was a great atmosphere around the grounds as both the cup and shield finals took place after which winners were crowned and goodie bags devoured by all.
