Cllr Adrian Henchy has said he is very pleased to see activity finally get underway on the repair and restoration of the historical and strategically important Newbridge House and Farm perimeter wall in Donabate. The Cllr said, “I Have been campaigning and calling for at every opportunity I have got within Fingal County Council on this important issue for the repair and restoration of the surround wall since I was first elected to Fingal County Council in 2014. I received confirmation this week from the Architects department of the Council that monies have now been committed to the repair & restoration and the contractor is presently setting up site to commence works. These works will comprise a number of phases and phase 1 will see the repair and restoration of the wall from the current main entrance in the direction of Cobbes lane and Turvey Avenue. These works will also comprise of restoring and installing the original main gates which have been in storage along with the pillars into Newbridge House & Park.” He said, “ The first phase traffic management wise should provide for minimal disruption to traffic given most of this section is off the main road but lessons will be learned from this phase regards the more challenging parts of the wall restoration into the future. My thanks to both the Architects & Operations department, FCC especially senior architect Fionnuala May on all her work in advancing these works and also the board of Malahide Castle & Newbridge House limited for supporting this major piece of infrastructural repair & improvement.”.

Recent confirmation on the IAAF website that the Olympic Qualifying table has been finalised, showing unbelievably, that Andrew Coscoran from Balbriggan has finished in 41st place of the 45 qualifiers for the 1500m in Tokyo! It’s been an emotional few weeks following Andrew’s touch and go performances on his quest to qualify for Tokyo for us here in Balbriggan and his club Star of the Sea. How stressful it must have been for Andrew himself, but he’s proved he’s a champion and can rightfully take his place among the World’s elite athletes! Some names that flash through my mind are that of Joe Roy (Backbone of Juvenile Athletics in Balbriggan for years), Siobhan White (Balbriggan Community games), Alison Browne (Balbriggan Community games), Brendan Meade (Star of the Sea coach supremo who has inspired many a champion over the years) and Feidhlim Kelly (coach and creator of the Dublin track club) who have helped get Andrew to where he is today. Volunteers like these are priceless in finding and encouraging young future Andrew Coscorans. We involved in athletics are all delighted and thrilled in Balbriggan Roadrunners/ Balbriggan & District AC to have helped Andrew in some small way!

Balbriggan Basketball are delighted to announce we will return to training in August.

Great news, we are so excited to partner with Bremore Educate Together Secondary School (bremoreetss.ie) as our new home base. Our training schedule will be listed on our Facebook page (9) Balbriggan Basketball -Irish Vikings Club | Facebook. A big thank you and welcome to Rafael, Ken, Chris some of our coaches for the upcoming season and if you have free time and would like to volunteer and/or coach, get in touch with us on 0866004340.Balbriggan Basketball is an all inclusive club.Balbriggan Basketball Club founded in 2009 is a non profit club promoting inclusion through sport in the Balbriggan Community for all age groups. Our club’s accomplishments include:
Team of the Year Award 2018 and also Person of the Year 2019.We look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Mary Ellen (Molly) Adrien was born on 25 September 1873. She is remembered as one of Fingal’s ‘Revolutionary women’. Molly joined Cumann na mBan after its establishment in April 1914 and is said to have been instrumental in forming the Lusk branch. On Easter Sunday 1916, Cumman na mBan were ordered to assemble at Black Church Phisboro, an order countermanded and were sent away to await recall. However Molly remained in the city and was chosen to bring the order to rise from Pearse to the leader of Irish Volunteers Joseph Lawless and then to Thomas Ashe Commandant of the North County Brigade. The ‘redoubtable Miss Adrien’ cycled in and out of the city during the week of the Rising having been sent by Ashe into the city to report his situation to Pearse. After the battle of Ashbourne the wounded were taken to Dr Richard Hayes (medical officer of Balrothery Union), who was assisted by two nurses one of them Molly Adrien. The link with Balrothery Union and Miss Adrien was well-established as she was the first female to serve on its Board. When she entered the boardroom for the first time she was roundly cheered. Chairman TL Smyth said it was an honour for him to preside over the introduction of the Board’s first lady guardian and he had long thought the board suffered from a lack of female participation (reported Drogheda Independent 11 July 1914). Molly remained staunchly republican and an active member of the IRA through the War of Independence and into the Civil war. In 1920 in response to a request from local government Board for access to the Balrothery Union books, she explained that they had sworn allegiance to Dail Eireann and was not about to kow-tow to any other authority. Her obituary described her as ‘one of the most outstanding women of Fingal’.

Projected changes to the Irish climate will have implications for archaeology and built heritage. Rising sea levels, flooding and coastal erosion along with wetter winters and drier summers can be expected to give rise to structural damage to monuments and historic properties. This will mean the loss of ground adjacent to structures, exposure and erosion of archaeological sites, and collapse of unstable masonry elements. Other slow-onset risks identified include the loss of historic landscape features and decay of building fabric.The aim of this project was to apply the assessment model developed by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to the Irish context, using Fingal as the pilot study area. This is the first assessment of its kind in Ireland.This GIS based project was led by a multidisciplinary steering group which provided input from the Geological Survey of Ireland, CHERISH, Dublin Metropolitan Climate Action Regional Office, Climate Ireland along with Fingal’s Heritage, Conservation and IT officers. Landuse Consultants were commissioned to assess the risk to Fingal’s cultural heritage based by analysing the likelihood and severity of risk from six categories of natural hazards: fluvial flooding, pluvial flooding, groundwater flooding, coastal flooding, coastal erosion and land instability on Fingal’s heritage assets.Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Seána O’Rodaigh said: ‘Climate Change poses risk to all sectors of society and Local Authorities can be at the front line of responding to these impacts. This report is an important first step in protecting heritage and archaeology for existing and future generations’.While all heritage assets are subject to some level of risk, the study has shown that over 280 sites in Fingal are at risk from multiple hazards’ said Fingal Heritage Officer Christine Baker ‘These assets include towers, bridges, houses, field systems, wells and geological sites and this project provides a baseline for us to monitor the effects of climate on our archaeological and built heritage sites’.Our pictures feature the Mayor of Fingal Cllr. Seána Ó Rodaigh, Christine Baker Fingal Heritage Officer and David Dodd Coordinator of the Dublin Metropolitan Climate Action Regional Office (CARO). Our Images were taken at the Martello Tower Balbriggan and also an image of coastal erosion at Balbriggan Beach.

Fingal County Council is delighted to welcome €115k funding under the #OurRuralFuture Connected Hubs Scheme which will help to facilitate remote working. Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, announced over €8.8 million in funding under the Connected Hubs Scheme – a key deliverable of Our Rural Future. The funding will enable existing hubs and broadband connection points to enhance and add capacity to remote working infrastructure in every region across Ireland. Grants will also fund measures to assist hubs to deal with COVID related challenges.The funding will enable existing hubs and broadband connection points to enhance and add capacity to remote working infrastructure in every region across Ireland. Grants will also fund measures to assist hubs to deal with COVID related challenges. Fingal’s remote working hubs look forward to participating in the new national connectedhubs.ie platform, where remote workers can book space and services in remote working hubs across the country. The grant of €75,000 secured by Base Enterprise Centre will compliment investment already being made in the centre to upgrade its facilities and make the space within the centre more accessible and suitable to remote workers, start-up businesses and established business in the Fingal area.The funding provided will enhance remote working infrastructure at the existing Broadband Connection Points in the Liam Rogers, Applewood, Tyrellstown and Luttrelstown Fingal Community Centres. These centres will provide a space for local businessmen and women, students and entrepreneurs to work remotely within their locality in a safe friendly welcoming environment. The funding will allow for the installation of workstations, screens and technology upgrades to enhance these facilities.

Fingal County Council received more than 1,000 submissions and surveys from members of the public in relation to the proposed route for the Royal Canal Urban Greenway. The most recent six week-long phase of consultation ended on Wednesday, July 7.This non-statutory consultation invited the public to share their views on the proposed route. Submissions were accepted through Fingal County Council’s Consultation Portal website, via survey or written submission, and written submissions were also accepted by post.The Royal Canal Urban Greenway is a proposed pedestrian and cycle route along the Royal Canal tow path. Throughout the course of the consultation Fingal County Council provided the public with access to user friendly images and videos of the proposed Greenway as well as a large number of technical drawings and reports relating to the project. These items remain online, along with recordings of two public information webinars delivered during the consultation period.The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh, said: “It is important that citizens engage in the public consultation process and let their views be known. The response to the Royal Canal Urban Greenway consultation shows the level of interest in the project and it is great that so many took the opportunity to participate.”Fingal County Council is now engaged in reviewing, moderating and publishing all submissions on their consultation portal. Moderation involves the redaction of a submitter’s personal details prior to publication. Due to the high level of public engagement this process is expected to take a number of weeks. Fingal County Council staff have already begun this work with 375 submissions now live on the consultation portal.The design team will consider all submissions received and assess how to best address the various issues raised. This process will include discussions with other stakeholders, which may include local residents, landowners, the National Transport Authority, Waterways Ireland and Irish Rail.

Fingal County Council has launched the public consultation stage of the proposed policy on play provision for the young people of Fingal. Titled, “Space for Play – A Play Policy for Fingal”, the policy developed by the Council’s Parks & Green Infrastructure Division aims to provide a framework for the provision of safe, accessible, inclusive, natural and engaging play spaces for all children & adolescents up to the age of 17. The purpose of the consultation process is to provide an opportunity, to all interested parties, to examine the proposed guiding principles of play provision, how play sits within the planning framework and the objectives of the policy and to make comments or suggest changes as appropriate. Providing excellent play facilities for all the children of Fingal and visitors to the County, is a priority for the Council. Fingal County Council currently manages a network of play spaces on Council managed land ranging from playgrounds of various scales in local and regional parks, to Multi Use Games Areas and skate parks. The Play Policy will provide the basis on which the current and future play provision throughout the County will be developed to the highest quality in line with international best practice.The draft Play Policy document has been prepared in the context of the Council’s Open Space Strategy, “Keeping it Green”; the Fingal Development Plan, 2017-2023; the UN Convention on Human Rights; the National Play Policy – Ready Steady Play and the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion, 2007-2016. The council values submissions and feedback on the proposed Policy to ensure the document best reflects the needs of the community it is intended to serve. The draft Policy is available to view and make submissions on through the Council’s Online Consultation Portal from 15th July until the 6th August 2021.

A Fingal Skills Strategy Implementation Group has been set-up to deliver the objectives of the Fingal Skills Strategy, which was published in 2019.The Group is chaired by Siobhan Kinsella, former President of both Chambers Ireland and Fingal Chamber and a director at the Noel Recruitment Group. Ms Kinsella was also Chairperson of the Fingal Skills Strategy Advisory Group which originally produced the Fingal Skills Strategy, the first of its kind in Ireland.The Implementation Group brings together representatives from education and training providers, employers and industry, government agencies and Fingal County Council to ensure that Fingal has the right skills for the future.The Implementation Group is starting to implement the recommendations of the Fingal Skills Strategy, taking a fresh approach in light of the post-Covid-19 environment, and will support and actively promote on-going engagement between enterprise and industry and education and training providers, as well as Fingal County Council.The Group will seek to ensure education and training provision aligns with industry needs and that there is a pathway to skills acquisition so that skills are offered in a complementary manner with minimal duplication. Its mandate includes regularly reviewing emerging and future skills needs within the county.The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh, said: “As we start to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to be aware of the skills needed within our Labour force has never been greater and it’s great to see the Implementation Group up and running and actively looking at aligning the provision of courses by educational institutions with the demands of industry.” The Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, said: “As the local authority with the youngest population in Ireland, Fingal is looking to embed our Skills Strategy amongst industry and academia because the report showed a skills gap across all sectors which we need to close to ensure Fingal remains a primary location to invest, or grow a business, in.” The group is meeting quarterly and at its second meeting, which was held recently, there were presentations from Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Educational Training Board, Fingal Chamber Skillnet and LinkedIn on the services they offer.