The Swords Cultural Quarter has taken a major step forward with the appointment of the integrated design team which will be led by award-winning architects O’Donnell and Tuomey.The announcement was made recently at a meeting of Fingal County Council by County Architect Fionnuala May when she gave councillors an update on the project.With the design team now in place, the project, which was launched in 2016, will now proceed at pace with the Council intending to initiate a Part 8 planning public consultation process in May 2022. The project is expected to go to tender in April 2023 with construction works scheduled to commence in Quarter 3 of 2023. The Civic and Cultural Centre will be the first part of the project to be constructed and is expected to take 24 months to complete.The Swords Cultural Quarter will be located in the civic heart of Fingal’s County Town and will be a major new public and civic space with the new Civic and Cultural Centre and a Hub Building sitting alongside the existing Fingal County Council Offices and historic Swords Castle at the junction of North Street and Seatown Road.The Civic and Cultural Centre will be at the core of the Swords Cultural Quarter and will include a library space, performance venue and arts venue with a number of support facilities that can be utilised for artistic, cultural and community needs.The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh, said: “This is great news for Swords and Fingal as this is a flagship project for the county. The objective of the Swords Cultural Quarter project is to energise this area of Swords in order to make a balanced town that provides places, buildings and spaces for both cultural and economic activity for all its citizens and to create a new sense of place.” Established in 1988, O’Donnell and Tuomey is an award-winning architectural practice led by Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey, with studios based in Dublin, Cork and London. They have received over 120 national and international awards for their completed buildings.
Malahide Cricket Club is a historic club situated in the seaside town of Malahide, right on the idyllic grounds of Malahide Castle. Formed in 1861, the club now boasts 2 playing pitches, one of which serves as the International ground for our national team Cricket Ireland, a comfortable and cosy clubhouse and bar open 7 days a week which is available for event hire.This family and friendly oriented club has teams suitable for all ages, with 5 men’s teams playing in Division 2 through to Division 13, 2 women’s teams who play in Division 1 and 2, 8 boy’s teams from Under 11 to Under 17, 4 girls teams from Under 11 to Under 17 and a Taverners/ Social team. We also run an Easter Camp and two Summer Camps for girls and boys aged between 6 – 13 years of age. Details for these can be found on our website.The ground hosts club games, inter-provincial games and various international fixtures drawing large crowds and social activities, the largest being in 2013 when approximately 10,000 people were in attendance for the Ireland vs England one day international.Malahide Cricket Club is a welcoming environment open to new memberships all year round (including family and overseas memberships). We are easy to find, just a stone’s throw away from Malahide Train Station and Village, easily accessible by Dublin Bus, and only 10 minutes away from Dublin Airport. You can contact us by phone on 087-4190148 or email us at shaker676@gmail.com
Bravo Zulu to Néala Troop Ventures Kate, Niamh and Laura for being the very first crew to complete our Lighthouse Challenge! Clocking nearly 100 nautical miles the girls charted and sailed to each of our local lighthouses (Rockabill, Lambay, Howth, Bailey, Poolbeg, Kish) working together as a team, planning their expedition, managing their boat and navigating our coastal waters to complete a safe and successful passage. A fantastic display of teamwork and seamanship under various conditions. Well done girls.
By John Moore, Deputy Principal
Our Sixth Years had been great during the Covid lock downs in both 5th Year and 6th Year
To mark how well they did, we did a special Yearbook for them which we distributed only last week. We produced it late so that we could include their very special End of Year Graduation Ceremony. With the help of the Senior Prefects and a collosal amount of work, we managed to produce a top class year yearbook which of course, they thoroughly deserved. Attached is the actual yearbook, back page with all their names which as lists form some shapes – not all can see and the cover includes Vodafone -We are absolutely delighted to be Vodafone’s WiFi Centre of Excellence Pilot School for the rollout of their smart connect programme for the coming years.
While some of the covid restrictions are still in place , at Junsa we are still training outdoors while we have this fantastic weather. Our more experienced players are in preparation for international competition in August, if our travel restrictions allow it. At Junsa Taekwondo we always try to develop our students to their fullest potential, weather it’s Kyrougi ( fighting competition) Poomsae competition ( sets of Taekwondo moves which are judged in tournaments) or develop them into referees , coaches or train just for fun. There is something for everyone in Junsa Taekwondo.Junsa is always taking on new members young and old or past students are always welcome. Don’t hesitate to contact Master Stuart Russell on 087 7775202 or follow us on Facebook @ JunsaTaekwondo.
It was brilliant to see many of our athletes in competition action as the events came thick and fast across July. Between Dublin Graded meetings, Dublin Juvenile Championships and Leinster Athletics Track & Field Championships there was an opportunity for everyone to take part in their chosen events. There was a large medal haul for our athletes and it was clear to see the long lay off from competition has been put to good use. Thanks to our coaches and volunteers for there fantastic work and well done to all athletes who took part. The club also held a competition for U8 to U11 members on a very wet but fun night at the Hub
At Lusk United our players are central to all we do, so we thought we would let them have their say. We sent our trusty reporter off to a training session to ask some hard hitting questions. Meet our fantastic Under 10 boys.
Why do you like playing for Lusk United? The range of answers we got all centred around one key point… fun. This delighted us as our club ethos is work hard & have fun. Describe your team in one word. Interestingly we didn’t have a word repeated! Good, fantastic, great, class, amazing, best, professional, loud, brilliant and happiness all featured. Positive and reaffirming words. What makes a coach a good coach? A great question as what adults feel is a good coach perhaps doesn’t equate with what children feel. Our U10 boys felt a good coach makes football fun, explains well and is supportive. A coach who listens and helps with good training sessions. One who will tell you the truth, listen to the players and help out. A good coach is someone who tells you and teaches you what you need to improve. Each players’ response focused on having fun, identifying areas for improvement and learning how to improve, proving just how focused and tuned in these boys are. Now that we have peaked your interest, why not tune into our Facebook page to see more from our U 10 boys… Hear about the hardest game they ever played, their favourite footballer and their best memory at Lusk United so far. Meanwhile they will continue to try perfect the Rainbow flick, around the world, shooting on target and defending. Well done Under 10’s we loved hearing from you.
In other news we are delighted to see the completed remedial works to our ball stop nets at Rathmore Road. These works were partially funded by the Fingal County Council Sustainability Competition 2020 and the 2020 Community Enhancement Programme from the Depart of Rural and Community Development, Fingal County Council and the Local Community Development Committee The Executive Committee of Lusk United A.F.C. wish to thank those involved for making this happen.
The ongoing Lusk Community Cultural Centre is a major community re-development project for the town and it is the first step in creating new community facilities in the heart of medieval Lusk for the benefit of residents and visitors alike.
Following years of work on planning this project, May 2021 saw the beginning of the construction works and by June 2021 the foundations were being laid. Ongoing updates on the project can be found on Facebook, search “Lusk Community Cultural Centre”.
This unique project will become a new centre for Arts, Culture and Heritage and will be a springboard for marketing and promoting our town within the tourism sector and beyond.
Lusk Community Council is asking businesses, families and individuals to become a “Founding Friend” for the Cultural Centre and have your brand or name displayed in the building on the Founding Friend Sponsorship wall.By becoming a “Founding Friend” of the Cultural Centre, you can assist with making thisproject a reality for our town. All funds raised by the “Founding Friend” sponsorship will gotowards the community contribution required to fund the overall project. While the project is scheduled to be completed by May 2022, the “Founding Friend Sponsorship” will be open from 1st August to 30th September 2021. Full details are available on the Lusk Community Cultural Centre Facebook page or by emailing luskcommunity@yahoo.ie.
The other Community Council strategic project for the town is Lusk Vision 2030. The Lusk Vision 2030 report is currently being finalised by the independent consultants and it is planned that the report will be launched during the last week in August. Details of the launch will be available by mid-August and the September Lusk Local will include a full report.
“Lusk Tidy Town Committee have been busy planting up flower tubs, watering and generally keeping Lusk Tidy despite all the building development. Thank you for your support. “Keep Lusk Tidy. It’s that time of the year again when the National Tidy Town Judges will be out inspecting Lusk. We at Lusk Tidy Towns rely on the community to do their bit by keeping Lusk Tidy and Litter Free and to do all those little jobs that need doing that show a “Pride of Place” Pat Kelly
Cllr. Brian Dennehy has welcomed the progress of the installation of measures that will provide new Health and Safety protection items alongside the Bride stream on the Lusk Ring Road. Cllr Dennehy pursued the issue at the BALBRIGGAN/RUSH-LUSK/SWORDS Area meeting after raising it initially several months earlier and a number of times since at both meetings and with FCC officials individually and was very happy to see the protection measures he requested advance from the contract awarded stage to installation.
“The issue was first brought to my attention when several residents raised concerns initially about potential incidents due to the close proximity of the new playground to an unprotected stream and later separately an incident of a child falling into the stream was reported to me”. After initially requesting Fingal County Council carry out a safety assessment on the area the following works were announced at the monthly meeting. A contract had been awarded for installation of a 1.2m solid round bar metal fence along the stream parallel with the adjacent path. In addition to the new fence new pedestrian access gates also be to be included. Installation dates were to be agreed when COVID-19 works restrictions were lifted, and contractors will be free to schedule work which was a frustration that delayed the delivery of the project. Cllr Dennehy stated “ the new works will go a long way to help enhance the facilities installed by Fingal County Council on the Ring Road, Lusk and allow parents and grandparents alike to relax and enjoy the facilities safe in the full knowledge that the safety of their children is being attended to as a priority.” Thanks are due to Fingal County Council Operations Department and in particular Mr Paul Smyth Senior Executive Officer on his advice and time given to this to very important safety issue for the residents of Lusk and his overall help in getting the issue sorted out.