In late March the Parish Hall had an event to launch the newly refurbished Parish Hall. Due to covid concerns numbers were limited.Our Mayor of Fingal Seána Ó Rodaigh who arrived by train an active traveller! was the guest speaker. Fr Pat Reilly PP spoke on behalf of the Parish Hall Committee and the community. Both of them focused on the importance of community and places that cater for the depth & breadth of activities that take place in our area. The Parish Hall mainly caters for Cultural Activities, Recreational, Meetings & events.The Programme now runs with daily activities eg Senior Citizens, Flower Friends, Montessori, Bridge Club, Eggheadz Youth Yoga & Well-being, Leithinis Traditional Music, Irish Dancing, UkuleleUnited etc. Then on a few occasions during the year the daily activities are suspended for about three weeks to facilitate Drama, Exhibitions and special events to take place. eg Through the Lens Photography Exhibition, The Film Club marked International Women’s Day for the Bleeding Pig and the Dramatic Society production in late April.Fr Pat thanked all that had a part to play in the refurbishment particularly FCC who grant aided the works and our councillors who supported these grants being allocated in the chamber.The grants came from The Community Enhancement Scheme, The Community Facilities & Remedial Works Scheme, Covid 19 Emergency Funding, Community Activities Funding Scheme and the Village Renewal Scheme.A number of public representatives came on the night and a big thanks is extended to them Duncan Smith TD ( who uses the hall) Cllr Adrian Henchy, Cllr Paul Mulville, Cllr Rob O Donoghue, Cllr Joe OBrien & Corina Johnston. He particularly thanked the Parish Hall Committee, Bernie Guillespie from the Parish Office, Breda Dockrell & Jim O Donohoe for their efforts in bringing this project to fruition. He outlined all the people who keep the place going on a day to day basis with such incredible voluntary work. He spoke of all the tradesmen & suppliers who had gone beyond the call of duty in work done on the Parish Hall.On the night some Leithinis CCÉ played a few tunes & UkuleleUnited played and sang a few songs - all which was very much enjoyed! Contact Bernie in the Parish Office anytime with re activities & bookings.

Special Olympics is an all-Ireland sports organisation for people with an intellectual disability. Donabate Portrane Special Olympics Club (DPSOC) is one of 293 Special Olympics clubs across Ireland. The club has over 80 athletes and is run by over 40 volunteers, who give of their time freely to support the athletes and help them develop their sporting skills. If you would like to volunteer your time on a weekly basis, the club is always on the lookout for new volunteers. The club is specifically for younger athletes, aged 4 – 12. Training sessions take place every Saturday at 11:30, 12:30 and 13:30 in the Donabate Portrane Educate Together National School. Sessions are volunteer led and no previous sport or coaching experience is necessary. All you need is a willingness to get involved and have fun. New members are always welcome. For further information please email dpsoclub@gmail.com If you have a child who would like to become an athlete in the club we have a waiting list for new members. Email us to get your child added to the list. Lastly we would like to congratulate Special Olympics volunteer Suzanne Dunne who completed her 5th marathon on Saturday the 19th of March in aid of the club. Suzanne raised €1,900 for DPSOC by completing 5 marathons over a 5 month period!

Donabate Portrane shedders are a busy lot. There’s not much spare time, with exercise classes at the Scouts’ Den on Mondays, croquet and boules at Newbridge House on Tuesdays, coffee and chat at the Scouts’ Den on Thursdays, tending the plots at Turvey Allotments on other days and occasional outings to place of interest. A vine in our greenhouse, which was thought to have died, is now thriving and has been nicknamed Lazarus. Who knows, next autumn, along with the usual spuds and onions, we may be harvesting and pressing our own grapes. Watch out for the latest offering from the Men’s Shed - Châteauneuf-du-Turvey! Now that we’ve had our first proper AGM in nearly three years, we’re open for new members and to suggestions for other activities. So if you’d like to join us, just contact our PRO, Jim, on 086-3694316.

The Peninsula Pacers went on a great 12km 3hr walk on a Saturday in mid April. The route was really interesting & the weather was only glorious. We parked at the Millbank Theatre / Rush Library and headed down the Sandy Lane to the South Shore beach where the beautiful vista of Lambay Island and The Burrow & Portrane awaited us! Turning right we headed to Rogerstown Harbour and on to the NEW Rogerstown Park passing along by fields of tulips then along a thin rough road which hugged the inner estuary. This walk is only possible at low tide! We returned to the Harbour and headed up the Chanel Rd back to our cars. Finally we went for a delicious lunch/dinner at The Man of War Pub - an original of the species! Good food and full of character now under new management. It was a lovely day and really enjoyed by all. Next walk will hopefully be in May. We try to cater for different interests & abilities so ring Carolyn on 087 9284307

Some people from BUGS based in Blanchardstown; whom many of us play with on a Wednesday night led by Tania Cahill & some Donabate folk led by Phil O Brien had a little session at the re launch in the Parish Hall. It was great fun and enjoyed by all. The group aim to play about one a month and the next session is Friday 20th May. If you play a bit already and are interested drop in at 7 30pm.

Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCE were delighted to be invited to play some tunes at the relaunch of the Parish Hall. Other acts included Ukele United and Donabate Dramatic Society. The Hall is looking fantastic and is a great community facility that is used by many local groups. A great evening was had by all.Our lessons resumed on Monday 25th April following the Easter Break.Our recent slow sessions led by Erin have been very successful in allowing members to participate in playing tunes in a friendly and fun environment , however we are always improving and to cater for the varying abilities we have refined the times of these sessions: 7.45pm to 8.30pm Junior Members - 8.30pm to 9.15pm slow tempo to suit all adult members - 9.15pm to 9.45pm faster tempo to suit adult members.The next 3 sessions will be held in the Parish Hall on : Friday 13th May and Friday 27th May. There will be a €5 cost per family to cover costs. We hope to see many of our members at these musical sessions.

There has been a card playing group in Donabate for as long as anyone can remember, for at least the last forty years. Every Monday night the group gather at 7.30 pm in the parish hall to play whist. Every player pays €7, and the amount collected is paid out in winnings after hall rental expenses are deducted. We did have eighteen months down time during the pandemic lockdown, but we are delighted to be back again and fully operational. We are of course always looking for new members, and you can be sure of a warm welcome to our group. If you play cards at all you will quickly get the hang of Whist as whist is the cornerstone of so many card games.

Corina Johnston, Labour Party Local Representative has welcomed the recent announcement of funding by the National Transport Authority which will facilitate an extension of the existing cycle path on the Donabate Distributor Road to Portrane. She said; “I am very pleased to have been informed that €1,225,000 has recently been allocated to Fingal County Council by the National Transport Authority(NTA) as part of its Active Travel Investment Grants 2022.” Corina continued; “ In response to representations from Duncan Smith TD and I the NTA confirmed that this project includes the development and implementation of cycle protection measures at various locations along the relevant stretch of road. These measures will include the installation of uncontrolled crossing points, junction build outs and the construction of kerb protected cycle lanes.”Johnston added;” Fingal County Council in response to a question submitted to a recent council meeting on my behalf by my colleague Cllr Robert O’Donoghue confirmed that this project proposes to link the existing cycle path from the West along the newly constructed Distributor Road to the junction of Portrane Avenue in Portrane. The funding allocated for this scheme is for the development of design options, preliminary & detailed design and implementation of protected cycling infrastructure on the ground. The Council’s Active Travel Unit is currently procuring a consultant to work on this among other projects in the programme of works for 2022. Once the options report is available, this will progress to detailed design and implementation by year end.“ Johnston concluded;”I am very pleased that this project has been prioritised and funding awarded by the NTA and look forward to its implementation. When completed this will enhance cycle links between Donabate and Portrane and ultimately provide a direct cycle link to Malahide and Newbridge Demesne via the Broadmeadow Way Greenway which is projected to be delivered in 2025. “

It was with great sadness that we at Balbriggan RFC have learned of the passing of our former member and Trustee, Gerald Gallen. Gerald had a life long love for rugby from his playing days at school in Belvedere College to his many years involvement in Delvin RFC where he was the Club International Ticket Secretary. Gerald was a regular at Old Belvedere AIL matches and for many years at Balbriggan games too. Gerald will be very sadly missed by his many friends in our wide rugby family. Our condolences to his wife Ann, son Gerald, daughters Ruth and Rachel, daughter-in-law Carol, grandchildren and many friends.

Balbriggan is a Senior Cricket club located in Balbriggan Town Park , Balbriggan. New playing members of all ages and abilities and pavilion members are always welcome.

Balbriggan Cricket Club is based in the heart of Balbriggan and has 5 Senior Men’s teams , 2 Senior Women’s Teams , 2 Social cricket teams and a big underage section of boys and girls teams for all ages. The Men’s and Women’s Adult Senior teams range from Premier league level down to the lowest league so if you are interested in joining you can be sure we will have a team that suits your playing level. We have excellent facilities with top class wickets and nets and you will find people practising most days of the week. The underage set up in Balbriggan is thriving , our ground and nets is a hive of activity every day from April to Sept in Balbriggan Town Park when underage coaching and Practice takes place. Kids from 5 years up can come along and experience cricket and will learn how to play the gace with our experienced coaches. Regarding our recent Easter Camp the rain was against us but that didn’t stop the Easter camp going ahead. The kids had great fun indoors as you can see from these photos. We also went to the local schools to teach kids the basics of the game during Jan, Feb and March. To enquire about membership or training call or text 0860644238 or via balbriggancricketclub.com/contact.