Fingal County Council is delighted to announce the launch of Cycling Without Age Fingal, which officially began with a celebratory cycle at St. Catherine’s Park, Lucan on Wednesday, 18 May. Cycling Without Age is a movement that started in Denmark in 2012, led by social entrepreneur Ole Kassow. Ole wanted to help older people get back on their bicycles, but needed a solution to their limited mobility.The answer was a trishaw and he started offering free bike rides to the local nursing home residents.Trishaw bikes offer a very comfortable cycling experience for passengers and cyclists with deep, secure seats designed for maximum safety and electric power assistance helping the cyclist to efficiently manage the load as they move. The Cycling Without Age initiative isn’t just about cycling, it is about meeting the social needs of older people by providing social connection and inclusion.There are 4 locations for Cycling Without Age Trishaws in Fingal. Located at St. Catherine’s Park, the Baldoyle Portmarnock Greenway, South Strand Skerries and in Northwood Demesne where Fingal County Council have partnered with Dublin City University. These 4 local schemes provide an array of opportunities for nursing homes, older persons’ organisations and individuals who want to feel the wind in their hair on a refreshing open-air cycle.Since 2021 Fingal County Council has been recruiting and training volunteers, also known as trishaw pilots, for this exciting scheme. Our older people have often grown up with cycling a major feature of their youth and it’s great to be giving those same people a chance to return to that feeling again. Cycling is a healthy social outlet for people of any age and can be an ideal tool to manage stress and combat isolation. We’re really looking forward to seeing the trishaws in use across Fingal.’At present trishaw cycle slots are bookable online via the Fingal County Council website and interested people are encouraged to contact active.travel@fingal.ie for more information.

Fingal County Council and the Football Association of Ireland have recently celebrated the graduation of the class of ’22 on the Football and Fitness TY Course, a joint collaboration based at the Corduff Sports Centre. The only course of its kind in Ireland, Football and Fitness has welcomed the latest graduation of its TY students, providing them with the opportunity to meet their educational requirements whilst also developing a whole range of football, fitness and life skills.The 25 TY students from across Fingal received their certificates in front of an audience that included senior members of the FAI, Fingal County Council officials and those involved in the day-to-day running of the programme. Also on hand to congratulate the latest cohort was Republic of Ireland assistant manager Keith Andrews. He was there alongside Ireland Under-21 and Motherwell star Ross Tierney, who graduated from the TY course in 2017 whilst also playing for Bohemians.While football remains a central focus of the joint Fingal County Council and FAI initiative, students participating in the course also benefit from gaining a highly sought after full Fitness Instructor’s qualification from Litton Lane Training. They also undertake the FAI’s Coach Education pathway that gives them PDP1 and PDP2 qualifications, as well as a gym instructor qualification.Deputy Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Daniel Whooley praised the commitment of the new TY graduates and that of the coaching staff: FAI Course coordinator Denis Hyland stated: “This is the sixth year of the course and it has gone from strength to strength. This year they also had an opportunity to gain insights from current Ireland and Everton captain Séamus Coleman, who took the time to share his knowledge and experience as a professional player.Since launching in 2016, the TY course has been run in the Dublin 15 area of Fingal, with Corduff Sports Centre providing a base for the various aspects the course involves. Another important element of the course sees the students giving back some of their new founds skills by conducting lessons at schools and with community groups across Fingal.

Congratulations are in order for Swords local Szymon Kupiec on the award of his JKS Shodan Diploma recently. He was presented with his Diploma by the head of JKS Ireland Dermot O Keeffe Sensei 6th Dan in front of JKS Ireland Brown & Black Belts at this month’s National training session. Szymon took his Black Belt examination in December 2021 after 10 years of training. He had to complete a series of Kihon (Basics), followed by several Kumite (Fighting) matches with other examinees. He finished the examination by performing his Katas (Forms) Bassai Dai, Junro Nidan and Heian Godan. Szymon is continuing his training and working towards his 2nd Dan Black Belt.

We hosted JKS Ireland National Brown & Black Belt training this month. We covered our grading syllabi for 1st and 2nd Dan Black Belt and then studied the Kata Unsu. This is an ancient kata with a lot of complex and demanding moves. The name Unsu translates from Japanese to English as Cloud Hands and explains some of the stranger hand movements of this Kata.We welcomed Makita Sensei 6th Dan JKS Honbu Dojo Instructor from Japan and Jesper Marksvarden Sensei 7th Dan JKS from Denmark for our Spring/Summer Seminar in mid-May. This is the first time since the pandemic began that we have had visiting Instructors and it promises to be a very exciting Seminar over two days. Full report in the next Club News. Class reports: Tigers and Juniors are on course for the summer grading examinations. Everyone is working hard learning their Kata and practicing their Kihon. Seniors continue to work on the technical aspects of Karate with a focus on exploring how it translates into real world self-defence.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

Fingal County Council has concluded public consultation on proposed protected cycle lane upgrades for St Cronan’s Avenue and Brackenstown Road in Swords. Interested individuals and businesses in the area were invited to respond to plans for cycle lane upgrades, through an online portal or by post, from 25 March to 29 April. The consultation was promoted to those living in the locality through a leaflet drop, letters to local businesses, social media posts and an online information session which took place on 12 April. Fingal County Council also met with key stakeholders including Brackenstown Parish, Dublin Bus, Swords Express, St Cronan’s Junior and Senior National Schools, ESB Networks and local business owners before and during the public consultation period. 31 submissions were received in the course of the 5-week consultation period. All submissions received by Fingal County Council are being read and considered by the Department of Environment, Climate Action and Active Travel and by their design consultants prior to commencement of work on site. The Project Team, in Fingal County Council, are pleased with the local engagement for the plans in the area. We have received a good deal of interest in the plans for St Cronan’s Avenue and Brackenstown Road and the submissions received have helped us best understand the needs of the community. All submissions have been made public and can be read at consult.fingal.ie/en/node/24833/submissions

Swords Tidy Towns has been very busy readying our town for the visit of the judges for this years National Tidy Towns Competition. Judging is done between June and July and hundreds of other Tidy Towns groups across the country will also be doing the same.There is only so much our hard-working volunteers can do to impress the judges, there is also an onus on Swords residents to play their part by supporting us. You can this by always binning your litter, disposing responsibly of your dog poo, encouraging and complimenting young kids when they follow your example. When you see our volunteers out and about honk your horn if driving or express a few kind words if passing. The hard work of our Tidy Towners has been justly rewarded by winning a National Silver Medal four times in a row. With your help we hope to make that five this year, who knows, maybe we could even win the Gold Medal, we can but dream

The Senior Infants of St Colmcille’s Girls’ National School Swords beat off stiff competition to win Woodie’s Budding Gardener prize of a bespoke gardening workshop with judge Brian Burke Woodie’s DIY, Home and Garden launched their Budding Gardeners competition in January to encourage children and families to celebrate the joy of gardening, cultivating a hobby that will stay with them for life. Woodie’s asked children to flex their green fingers and get planting by working on a garden patch at school or at home for their chance to win some fantastic prizes.Hundreds of children got involved and spent time in their gardens working on the three tasks designed by Judge Brian over three months. The Senior Infants of St Colmcille’s Girls’ National School have been announced as winners of the Snack Box Challenge. The task involved sowing lettuce seeds in planting boxes, nurturing and caring for them until grew into salad leaves, something simple for the children to grow themselves and eat for their lunch. The project integrated both science and SPHE with the class discussing healthy eating whilst enjoying their new hobby. The class have won a gardening workshop with Woodie’s Budding Gardeners Judge Brian Burke, who will be visiting the class in June. Pictured: St. Colmcille’s Girls’ National Catholic School Senior Infants, Swords celebrating their win.

The St Sylvester’s U15 boys have achieved a first in the Club’s living memory by winning both Football and hurling Féile competitions they competed in this year. In Division 2 football, the team coasted through their games meeting Clontarf (Round 1), OPER (Rd 2), St Vincents (Round 3) before a strong challenge of Templeogue away in the semis to qualify for the final v Castleknock at O’Toole Park.The boys showed the benefit of the hard work throughout the season with an impressive display & winning 4-9 to 1-5. It was a well-deserved Championship win for a talented team that has fight to full strength following a huge number of injuries last year that ruled them out of the top division. No doubt that they’ll be back with a vengeance in the Division 1 league!

In Division 3 hurling, the team welcomed a new coaching team of three from the Syls senior team, Daniel Murphy, Conor Hoyne & Sean Murphy who have worked well with the lads to develop their team dynamic. The boys won all 3 rounds versus Kevins (R1) Whitehall (R2), Skerries Harps (Rd 3) to meet Erins Isle in the semifinals and win 4-14 to 1-6. The final, held at Broomfield was a close game until halftime with a draw 0-6 to 1-3 but the Syls boys rallied and triumphed with the final score 2-12 to 2-4. As is tradition, both teams paraded the winning cups over the bridge from Bridgefield and to the Clubhouse after each win to a delighted membership waiting to congratulate them

Recently Junsa Taekwondo took part in a development tournament in Baldoyle organised by our national governing body , Taekwondo Ireland and hosted by Baldoyle Taekwondo. The tournament was an excellent opportunity for all our students to gain experience and was open to all age groups from 5 year old to seniors. It’s was a great tournament where Junsa had numerous wins and great performance’s but most of all a fun afternoon. Junsa Taekwondo trains in Lusk scout den. For more information on class times contact Master Stuart Russell on 087 7775202 or follow us on Facebook @ Junsa Taekwondo.

We were delighted to finally be able to host the Lusk AC 2021 awards and party night on Friday 6th May at the Shoreline Hotel. Thanks to everyone who attended, to the party organisers, to the Shoreline hotel for looking after us and helping to make it a night to remember.

Congratulations to our 2021 Award winners: Fit4Life Award - Paul Kelly - Top Juvenile Female Field Athlete - Ellen Gahan - Top Female Field Athlete - Sarah Derham - Top Juvenile Male Field Athlete - Pádraig Ryan - Top Male Field Athlete - Stephen Fee - Top Juvenile Male Track Athlete - Finn Corcoran - Top Juvenile Female Track Athlete - Kristy Seaton - Most Improved Female Athlete - Una Gaines - Most Improved Male Athlete - Keith Greene - Top Female Road Athlete - Alex Bell - Top Male Road Athlete - Mark Dunne - Juvenile Coach of the Year Female - Orla Smith - Juvenile Coach of the Year Male - Mark Geraghty - Coach of the Year Female – Sheila Bourke - Coach of the Year Male - Dwain Moore - Group of the Year - Post Fit4Life Group - Outstanding Achievement Award - Stephen Brennan - Athlete of the Year - Cara McNally - Club Person of the Year - Aidan McKenna - Club Appreciation Award – Nicole Hodson. During the past month Lusk AC members have taken part in many road races, the Belfast, Boston, Connemara and Limerick marathons, Track and Field events at Santry and Tallaght stadiums, The Templemore AC Throws Festival and Parkrun 5Ks with remarkable success.

We’re delighted to inform you that Lusk United have surpassed the incredible milestone of reaching 1,000 members.At a closer glance the club now consists of the following membership details:

Total members – 1,022 - Juvenile members – 732 - (Female / Male breakdown – 263 (36%): 469 (64%) - Adult active-playing members - 150

Founded in 1969, Lusk United AFC provides an opportunity for the community of Lusk to participate in soccer with well in excess of forty teams now participating in football and associated activities. Outside their core activities, the club has been instrumental in being involved in additional community events in recent years, such as the 24hour football fundraising-match in aid of Pieta House and the continued hosting of the East of Ireland Marathon series.In recent years the clubs growth in girl’s football has been phenomenal, which has been highlighted further with the likes of the club’s partnership with the FAI in delivering a girls only football programme for transition year students from local secondary schools whereby thirteen girls completed the FAI Safeguarding Workshop and the FAI PDP 1 coaching course. They also received some first aid training with St. Johns Ambulance and had a workshop with Jigsaw North Fingal on mental health. Another example of the growth of female participation within the club is as one of the founding members of the ‘Ladies KickFit’ programme – an exemplar of female participation in sports via a FAI & Fingal County Council (Sports Office) partnership.
Congratulations to all involved, a marvellous achievement!