Online registration for new members opened on the 17th January and places are filling up fast. Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCE offers lessons in Banjo, Bodhran, Button Accordion, Concertina, Fiddle, Guitar, Mandolin and Tin Whistle for beginners and advanced students. Annual family membership €20 and 12 lessons €110. Lessons are held on Monday evenings. If you are interested in learning a traditional Irish instrument with highly experienced teachers please email us at leithinis@comhaltas.net. further information regarding our classes, teachers and activities can be found on our website at www.leithinis.com

Although we’ve had to curtail our activities due to public health restrictions, Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed has not been hibernating over the winter. Our plots at Turvey Allotments have been made ready for the coming growing season. Raised beds have been installed in our greenhouse with new imported topsoil; paving slabs have been laid and a water storage tank installed. All of this was made possible with a grant under the Community Enhancement Programme 2021, a scheme funded by the Department of Rural & Community Development and administered by Fingal County Council’s Local Community Development Committee. We have also installed a storage shed beside our portacabin at the Donabate Sea Scout’s den. The self-assembly kit and other required materials were purchased with a grant under the COVID-19 Emergency Funding (Round 2) operated by Fingal County Council’s Local Community Development Committee. We hope that, with easing Covid-19 restriction we will soon be able to resume all of our activities. If you are interested in joining us, please contact our PRO, Jim, on 086-3694316.

One of the exciting things about becoming an established club is seeing our traditions take shape, and some of these are based around Christmas.This year was our second time to take part in the “Polar Plunge” challenge for Special Olympics Ireland; we receive fantastic support from our National body and we welcomed the opportunity to get “Freezin’ for a Reason” and raise some funds. Our volunteers, families and the local swimming community came together on Ladies Beach on a bitterly cold December morning with buckets of good humour and enthusiasm (not to mention flasks of hot chocolate and hot water bottles for after)!! Thank you to everyone who helped support – the event was such a success we were asked to do it all again for Ireland AM with Deric Hartigan.You may have seen us! Meanwhile one of our newest volunteers, LSA member and local fitness instructor Suzanne Dunne, took on the phenomonal challenge of running a marathon a month for 5 months; November to March. Suzanne selected our club to benefit from this amazing achievement. Suzanne has already completed her marathons for November and December. We are all incredibly awed and grateful; it is one thing to take part in an “official” marathon with huge support on the route, and quite another to take on 5 marathons in the local area with just a handful of supporters. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for news of Suzanne’s next marathon and if you see her out and about give her a beep or a wave!

History was made on 9th January, when three of LSA Masters athletes took part in our first ever Masters Cross Country in St Anne’s Park, Raheny. The atmosphere was electric with all the local Dublin Clubs being represented. We are very proud of our LSA athletes Patrick Phillips, Steven Rice, Damien Hand, and Donal Iremonger for flying the LSA flag at this event. Pat Hooper would be delighted that we had a team out for a Masters XC race. He was a great supporter and friend to our club and it’s fitting that it’s the introduction of the Pat Hooper Perpetual trophy at this event. Congratulations to Raheny Shamrocks on winning the inaugural Pat Hooper Cup and to the for hosting such a well-run event. For more information visit our website lambaysportsathletics.ie and for membership enquires please contact our Registrar on lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com.Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook- Search LSA

Corina Johnston Labour Party Local Area representative has welcomed the decision by Fingal County Council to provide inclusive playground equipment in the playground at Newbridge Demesne, Donabate. Corina said, “ As part of my submission I proposed that the provision of ability equipment for children with additional needs should be considered within playgrounds to include wheelchair swings and wheelchair roundabouts. Playground equipment should be designed to allow easy access for wheelchair users, incorporating large ramps, sensory play panels, double width slides etc.” Johnston said; “I am very pleased to have received a very positive response from Fingal County Council to a question submitted by my colleague Cllr Robert O’Donoghue on my behalf to the council meeting on 13th January last. Rob asked the Question:“To ask the Chief Executive to consider in this year’s Programme of Works the provision of inclusive equipment in the playground in Newbridge Demesne for children and adults with additional needs so that children of all ages and abilities can play, be challenged and have fun together? ” The Council replied, - “There are several new play items planned for Newbridge Demesne this coming spring including a wheelchair carousel roundabout and additional play panels to be located throughout the playground. This playground also has a mirage swing and a basket swing. The playground manufacturers are constantly in touch as new pieces of equipment are available on the market and it is always our intention to install as many all-inclusive play pieces as possible.” Corina Johnston concluded; “I wish to compliment Fingal County Council for their total commitment to making Fingal fully accessible for everyone. We look forward to the day when all our public parks and playgrounds will have inclusive playground equipment installed and thus enable children of all ages and abilities to play and have fun together.“

Just before Christmas a New Boules Court was put in at Newbridge House by FCC with the idea that a number of groups could get good use out of it; as it is such a fun & accessible activity for all. A Boules Coaching Course has been organised with Tom Donlon (Bayside Boules) on Tuesday 8th February at 2 00pm for people to learn the basic rules & techniques of the game. It is hoped that various organisations will come to learn how to play so we are all on the same page! eg Active Age for All, Senior Citizens, Men’s Shed, LSA, and groups with mobility & accessibility issues as boules is a perfect activity. If you would like any more information please contact Breda ( Dockrell) on 086 8693243 or email:breda.dockrell@gmail.com

The AAfA AGM was held on the 27th January by Zoom and we are delighted to say that we have our new Committee in place for the next year. In the Chairperson’s welcome it was clear that the past 2 years have been very challenging due to ‘you know what’! The Committee showed great resilience and patience and keep up their spirits even when we reached the 3rd round of the ‘you know what’. Thankfully things began to look up at the end of last summer and, because of the incredibly high vaccination rate in our age profile, we did manage to run our classes from September until Christmas and that was wonderful for everyone concerned. We have not heard of a single outbreak that was linked to classes. Thank you everyone for playing your part.

With Omicron’s arrival, and due to the predicted peak for during January, we have delayed our start until early this month. If you have missed our registration days for classes, don’t panic – you can just text us on 086 8806808 with your name and we can arrange to get all set up for you. Equally, you can email us on activeageforall@gmail.com and we will get back to you to make your arrangements. Look out for notices in DPCC for additional registration days that will be added (if necessary).

The Through the Lens Photographic Club are pleased to report a very successful 2022 calendar sale last December. As we had done the previous year we sponsored the local St Vincent de Paul committee again this year and are delighted to have been able to contribute €1000 to this very worthy cause. The theme for the calendar has always been on local scenes and events, and as the years go by this could provide some historical reference in our rapidly expanding community. We know that a lot of these calendars are sent away to family and friends abroad, so it’s nice to think that pictures of our peninsula are gracing walls around the globe!

Donabate Portrane Community & Leisure Centre are in the process of conducting a study to assess the feasibility of extending our facilities. As part of the process we would like to gauge Local Residents and those who use the centres views. We would be grateful if you could take approximately 10 minutes of your time to complete the survey. Your views will help shape future enhancements to the centre. To take this survey please scan the QR code below with the camera on your phone or check it out on our facebook page.

It is never too late and you’re never too old ! Our picture shows our member Wendy Geary (99) enjoying a horse ride on Calvin, a perfect horse gentleman, on a lovely sunny morning in Corballis in January. All thanks to Henry Smith and Lisa Dandy of Corballis Farm Trekking for organising this for Wendy, she was absolutely thrilled to be on horseback again after so many years and thoroughly enjoyed herself. In fact she’s now in training for an outing on her 100th birthday in April !