Fingal County Council is delighted to announce the completion of a new public artwork for Balbriggan. The work titled “The Banks” is by Fingal artist Sean Molloy and is located at this prominent coastal site of the same name in the town. The work has been made possible through collaboration with Iarnród Éireann, Balbriggan and the Our Balbriggan team. The project is part of the many initiatives currently underway that demonstrate how art and artists can enliven and celebrate our public spaces.Mayor of Fingal Councillor Seána Ó Rodaigh welcoming the artwork said “I wish to express my praise to great partnerships and opportunities that allow for local artists to be showcased prominently in our villages and towns and it perfectly describes how we in Fingal value the arts and we would like to extend our sincere thanks to Iarnród Éireann Building Surveyor Joy Murray and her Maintenance Team for all their care and attention applied to realise the install of this work at this unique location. Ms Murray commented: “Iarnród Éireann were delighted to support this Artwork project in conjunction with Fingal County Council which improves the Station Embankment wall presentation for the whole Community”. Sean Molloy’s work is inspired by the genre of 17th and 19th century Dutch and English paintings. Of the process Sean explains:“The original painting measures 5 x 8 ft. and took about 18 months to complete. I referenced the marine paintings of the 17th Dutch masters and also later work by19th century artists. He also cites his very own personal connection to the place: “The history of Balbriggan is an impressive one and while working on location I took the chance to study further the town’s key features. For further research I found the publication ‘Balbriggan, A History of the Millennium’ published by Balbriggan and District Historical Society 1999 a very useful source of information. The Banks is currently on view at the Banks from this month and work continues on another work for the area with another local artist and painter Dave West. Keep up to date with all activities on fingalarts.ie

Balbriggan Community Council are working together to make a difference to our Town and recently welcomed the opening of two new playgrounds by co-ordinating with different groups within our community and beyond. A special mention and a huge thank you to the playground committee for all their hard work into making this happen for the families and children of Balbriggan! The two beautiful new playgrounds were opened recently (one at Bandstand and one at Quay Street)

There are many interesting roles a Volunteer can enjoy when joining a branch of Irish Guide Dogs. In the Balbriggan/North County Dublin branch we have a Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and other volunteers. One is our Roster Co-Ordinator who tells how she organises a roster for an event. “I have two lists of volunteers, one for Balbriggan and another for Skerries. Local volunteers increase the likelihood the fundraising team will be known and successful.For an annual event the first volunteers contacted are those who participated previously.Volunteers often attend the same event annually. New volunteers are paired with an experienced volunteer. Two key slots are, setting up and closing. A driver is rostered when merchandise needs transporting to/from an event. The stock is in a secure lockup controlled by two volunteers. A list is given to the stock controllers who gather everything together and leave it ready for collection. The driver and an authorised person collect everything the morning of the event. Where possible, a guide, assistance, ambassador, retired guide dog or puppy in training attends with their owner. A dog or puppy can contribute to the success of the event. A gazebo is used for outdoor events. It is booked in advance to be delivered 30 minutes before the start time. I phone each volunteer a couple of weeks before an event to agree a two-hour slot time. Closer to the date I text confirming everyone’s time and availability. If someone cannot attend, I slot myself in or look for someone else. The roster with the volunteers’ names, time slots and my mobile number is given to the lead volunteer in case someone does not turn up or any other issue occurs. Advice due to Covid is given to the volunteers regarding public health, wearing of masks, social distancing, and sanitation. Creating a roster is enjoyable. I get to talk to and know a lot of volunteers I wouldn’t necessarily know, and I look forward to more events in 2022”. To volunteer, please phone/text 085 766 3107 or email GuideDogsBalbriggan@gmail.com On Facebook at facebook.com/Balbriggan.Branch.of.Guide.Dogs”

Many thanks to Balbriggan Historical Society for their generous donation to Balbriggan Tidy Towns recently. The Historical Society’s Brian Howley (Chair) presented the Tidy Towns with a cheque and a copy of their fascinating book on the history of Balbriggan. This was to acknowledge the work the Tidy Towns volunteers do for the town but particularly maintaining the plaque to Balbriggan-born, Sinead Flanagan, author, and wife of Eamonn DeValera. A spokesperson for the Tidy Towns said, “Thank you to all in the Historical society; we look forward to planting many more flowers there. If you would like to join Tidy Towns meet us on the beach any Saturday @11.”

Well done to our U9 Boys who played in their first ever 7v7 blitz recently. They reached the Final of The Shield narrowly loosing out to Beechwood FC after some extremely competitive games against Belvedere, Templeouge Utd, St. Kevin’s Boys and Leicester Celtic. Huge thanks to Crumlin Utd for hosting a fantastic event.

St Colmcilles is your local GAA Club, offering Gaelic Football to the community of Swords. We have fully trained coaches, who are all garda vetted and ready and waiting for the coming season.Based just on Glen Ellan Rd, close to Applewood Village, Millers Glen and Glen Ellan area, we are close by for everyone.We offer Gaelic Football to children aged 4 years +. Also junior football for men and Gaelic for Mothers and Others. Our Club Lotto Jackpot resumed online (clubforce.com) Monday, January 17th. 2022. If you or any member of your family are interested in joining the club then call Marian 0876819540. We also want to notify you that Training recommenced for the juvenile players over 6 yrs on Saturday 22nd January at 10.30am and continues each and every Saturday. Follow us on Facebook for further updates “Naomh Colmcille CLG”

As we enter 2022 the hard working team of Swords Tidy Towns will carry on doing what they do best, keeping our town looking the best it can, and that is no easy task mind you. Unfortunately, there are individuals who continue on a daily basis to litter and deface our beautiful town with a total disregard for others. These are the mask discarders who litter the length and breadth of Swords, the litterers who daily throw their rubbish onto our streets, there is no excuse for this, bin it, or take it home. Irresponsible dog owners, who don’t clean up after their pets with total disregard for people’s health and safety. Then there are those dog owners who bag their pet’s poo and throw it into the nearest bush or worse hang it on whatever is nearest to them. What is the point in you doing this guys it is a disgusting and unsightly habit. If there is no bin nearby, again please take your dog poo to the nearest bin or take it home with you, your dog’s poo is your responsibility nobody else’s. When pet owners take responsibility as do the vast majority of them, it benefits the whole community and makes our work that much easier.We would ask local Residents Associations to consider adopting a patch in their area and plant it up with species that are wild life friendly. We would be happy to advise any Residents Association wishing to do so, just email us at swordstidytowns@gmail.com.Swords Tidy Towns has been successful in the last four National Tidy Towns competitions winning a silver medal on each occasion, we are in the large urban area category. This is testament to all the hard work and dedication that has been put in over many years by the group. This success didn’t happen overnight, it has been a long slog since being designated a litter black spot in 2004, coming in bottom of the table in that years IBAL report.If you see our members when you are out and about say hello, they enjoy a chat, it’s nice to know that people notice and appreciate their hard work.We have many outstanding projects in the pipeline for completion this year, hopefully we will get them finished. We are always looking for new volunteers to help in our efforts, hopefully one day we will win that elusive gold medal, we think Swords deserves one don’t you.

Operation Transformation Leader and Swords resident Katie Jones along with the Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh, joined enthusiastic walkers on Saturday January 16th in Holywell Park to complete a 3k walk organised by Fingal County Council Sport Office in conjunction with Operation Transformation. The annual walk is supported by Sport Ireland in association with the RTE TV show and provides an opportunity for people to get more physically active. Mayor of Fingal Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh said: “This was a perfect opportunity for people to kick start their ‘get fit’ New Year resolutions with a short fun walk and to hopefully use it to start exercising on a regular basis. It was fantastic to have Katie here today to show her our support as she embarks on her journey on Operation Transformation” Holywell park has seen a number of upgrades in the last few years, including the addition of fitness equipment and provides an ideal location to get those steps in around the 800m path. If you want to continue walking or running in 2022 many GAA clubs are taking part in the ‘Ireland Lights Up’ initiative by turning on their floodlights and opening their walking tracks to the community for exercise. Fingal’s many parks and 88km of coastline provide great locations to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle and there are also 6 adult parkrun events (5km) and 5 junior parkrun events (2km) in Fingal offering free weekly timed runs, for information see parkrun.ie. For more information on getting physically active check Fingal County Council Sports Office on social media or learning.fingal.ie

Courtesy of Malahide Historical Society

The Grand Hotel has been at the heart of Malahide for well over a century and a half and we wish the Ryan family and staff well during these difficult times for hospitality. But here is one occasion when the Grand Hotel appears to have been relieved to see a booking cancelled.101 years ago on 4 January 1921 someone booked a subscription ball in the Grand Hotel on behalf of a company of the RIC Auxiliaries but, on security grounds and on push-back from the manager of the hotel, it was decided to change it at the last minute to St. Patrick’s Hall, Dublin Castle. In his book “The Last Days of Dublin Castle” senior civil servant at the Castle Mark Sturgis gave an account of this strange event in these diary entries:””I got hold of Darling who discreetly discovered that these gentlemen intended to trail their coats and themselves from Dublin to Malahide, armed to the teeth, in Government cars. Jonathan wished the whole circumstances put – unofficially as far as the Under Secretary was concerned – before (General Sir Henry) Tudor who expressed disapproval and the ball was off”.”Spooner interrogated is slightly comforting as to safety as he says it is arranged for Auxiliaries to be on guard at the Gate to scrutinise their own guests – but the cheek of the whole thing is incredible”.”Officials who work, and many of whom have lived in the Castle for months, must now have passes with photographs to get into the place at all, yet these beauties can almost without by your leave or with your leave import a pack of women of whom nobody, with the possible exception of themselves, knows anything at all. Interesting to see when I get back tomorrow whether the Shinns have got in disguised as buxom wenches or whether, failing this, the whole place has been fired up by the festive ex-officers themselves”.The Irish Times of Jan 5th 1921 reported that there were 400 people at the ball and that an excellent buffet supper was served during the musical intervals by the DMP band. The dancing continued until 5am on January 5th.

Darragh O’Brien Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has thanked Malahide Rugby for supplying the venue for a Vaccination Centre and Dr Stan for running it. Minister O’Brien said, “ I want to say thanks to Dr Stan and the entire team at Salus Medical Clinic in Swords for mobilising so quickly and opening a vaccination centre in Malahide Rugby Club again.” He said it has proved crucial to the booster campaign in North County Dublin. He added, “ A massive thank you also to Malahide Rugby Club for once again offering the facility. A huge amount of work goes into getting a facility like this ready for vaccinations and it’s great to see the sense of community with Salus Medical teaming up with Malahide Rugby Club to ensure the optimum rollout of booster vaccines.”