Fingal County Council has welcomed the news that all eight applications from Fingal to the Community Monuments Fund have been successful with a total of €270,000 awarded including Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD, has announced the approval of 139 project grants across all 31 Local Authorities for a wide range of archaeological heritage projects under the Department’s Community Monuments Fund. First established in 2020, the fund was increased from just over €1 million last year to €4.2 million in 2021. The full list of projects awarded in Fingal is: Castleknock Castle works - €70,000.00 - Kilsallaghan Graveyard works €36,189.00 - Burial site, Windmill Lands, Swords works - €33,948.00 - St Columbas Towers, Swords survey - €26,610.00 - Malahide Abbey survey €24,600.00 - Rush Tower House survey €24,600.00 - Lanistown Castle, Donabate and St Marnock’s Church Portmarnock -€24,600.00 - Portrane-Donabate Peninsula Heritage Audit & Interpretation Plan - €29,520.00. ‘I am absolutely delighted that all eight applications from Fingal to the Community Monuments Fund have been successful, securing just over €270,000 in funding for the preservation of our important archaeological sites’ said Fingal Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly

Fingal County Council has urged local residents and stakeholders to get involved in the Sustainable Swords placemaking project which is focused on the regeneration and compact, sustainable development of the town.The ambition of Sustainable Swords is to provide a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of new development and spaces, as well as the protection and enhancement of existing assets in order to achieve better quality places as the physical setting for life in Swords.Two surveys have now opened as part of the consultation process and local residents, businesses and interested stakeholders are urged to get involved.More details on the project and the surveys can be found at www.fingal.ie/sustainableswords or alternatively on consult.fingal.ie/en/surveys.(nb: not accessible through this medium). The aim of Sustainable Swords is to identify a co-ordinated range of ‘pipeline’ projects for which future funding can be sought.Key objectives are to:Enhance the identity of the town centre through the: development of Swords Civic Centre and Cultural Centre; the on-going implementation of the conservation plan for Swords Castle; and the delivery of an enhanced accessible child-friendly public realm including new public nodes in Swords Town Centre.Facilitate the creation of a new street /pedestrian walkway fronting the river walk to the west of Main Street opening up these ‘backlands’ and support co-ordinated infill development on key strategic sites along Main Street and North Street.Promote core recreational and amenity spaces, utilising in particular Ward River Valley Park, Swords Cultural Quarter including Town Park, Ward River Walk west of Main Street area.Explore the potential of establishing a Swords Business Improvement District (BID).Expand upon the recommendations in the Swords section of the South Fingal Transport Study and develop a multi-modal transport strategy for Swords.Measures to enable regeneration of lands within the study area to ensure rejuvenation of the town centre and to enable activation of land for compact development.Establish a prioritised, programmed and impactful package of measures and projects.The Sustainable Swords strategy, which will include detail on a range of transformational projects, will be published in early 2022 so take part in the surveys now!

St. Vincent de Paul are an approved housing body. St Benedicts Conference is a group of SVP volunteers responsible for St Benedicts Housing Scheme in Malahide. We currently have 45 social housing units purpose built for older people located on Estuary Road, Malahide. We also have a community centre that is normally used to host events and activities for our tenants.These activities have obviously been postponed due to the ongoing covid-19 situation.Thankfully recently , we were finally able to safely host an outdoor coffee morning.We used this opportunity to catch up and inform our tenants of a new gardening initiative.In Feb 2021, we applied to Fingal Chamber for funding for our ‘Promoting Mental Wellbeing through Gardening’ Project.The idea for this project stemmed from the ongoing covid19 restrictions. We were concerned that our tenants were becoming increasingly isolated. So the aim of this project is to encourage our tenants to get outside and engage in some gardening. Gardening resources can be expensive, especially for those in our tenant group so our project would develop a communal group of gardening tools/equipment for all to use. We were successful with our application and Fingal Chamber awarded us a sum of money to purchase this equipment. We have purchased a small number of items so far which has been included in the attached photos. We also have an annual gardening competition, not everyone takes part as they do not have the resources so we would encourage more involvement.Winners of the competition win a gardening voucher and a small trophy.

What is it? - The Message in a Bottle (MIAB) project is brought to you by your local Lions Club. It is a simple idea designed to encourage you to keep medical information and contact details in a small distinctive bottle in a common location – the fridge. This free bottle contains a printed form and three labels. The form is completed and put in the bottle. The bottle is then placed in the fridge and one of the adhesive labels is placed on the outside of the fridge door, another inside front entrance and/or back door.So, What does it do? The MIAB initiative is supported by the emergency services. If a person is taken ill while alone in the house and is unable to communicate, the first responders, on seeing the labels, are alerted to go straight to the fridge, saving valuable minutes assessing the patient’s details. This time can be critical and lifesaving.Who will benefit from Message in a Bottle? Vulnerable people not in good health, people living alone, those who have life threatening conditions/allergies, people with disabilities. It can also give peace of mind to families. Where can I pick up this free bottle? McCabes Pharmacy in Malahide Shopping Centre. This potentially lifesaving initiative is funded by your Lions Club with the support of local donations. For more information contact Damian Carberry, MIAB Officer, email: miabd133@gmail.com

While we are really enjoying getting back to training we are very excited about resuming our indoor training sometime very soon. In the meantime we will keep our training going in the Round Towers GAA Astro pitch. Over the last few weeks we have had great support from all our members new and old. We have also had a number of past students returning for a bit of training and pad kicking.

The inaugural Lusk AC ‘Naked Challenge’ took place on Sunday 13th June. Participants had to predict their finish time over a 5k or 10k route from the Sports Hub and then run without the aid of a watch. Hence they may have felt ‘Naked’ without the aid of their watches to keep an eye on their times. The challenge being to get as close to your predicted time based on your own internal pace clock rather than technology. It was a fun event for all and nice to take part in an actual event without the pressure of running flat out. Winners (closest to their estimated times) were Greg Robins and Alex Bell for the 10k, Conor Doyle and Orla Brennan for the 5k.

We are back! Finally we are back. Pitches which were silent and empty are now full of cheers and activity. It has been so long we truly wondered would we ever get back to normal…but we have… and it feels great. So many teams full to capacity and operating waiting lists to join is a testament to the central role Lusk United has in the community. Children as young as 4 join us on a Friday evening and Saturday morning for our ever growing academies…this enthusiasm continues all the way to our senior teams. This past few months we have rolled out our Clubzap app, which allows our managers and coaches to communicate directly with teams as well as make covid procedures manageable. It is only now, when we have been away from matches and training for so long and now are back, we appreciate just how much time and effort our volunteers put in. To all our managers, coaches and parents who help out we say a huge thank you! We look forward to continue in the coming days to put to practise our club ethos #workhard #havefun.

The Lusk Vision 2030 project will deliver its final report in July or August and we will see what recommendations the consultants will present to make the town a better place over the next decade. It has already delivered an important submission for the Fingal County Development Plan 2023-2029 and we hope that Fingal County Council will take on board the many issues raised. However Lusk Community Council has already brought the Lusk Community Cultural Centre project to construction phase and huge progress has been made during May and June.This project is important for a number of reasons. It is redeveloping what was a derelict site on Church Road. In doing so, the Community Council is conserving the façade and gable walls of an important vernacular cottage in the heart of medieval Lusk. It is creating a new cultural centre for the town and this project will significantly add to the ranking of Lusk in the “Tidy Towns Awards”. The Cultural Centre will in turn become a springboard for new ideas and engagements for the community of Lusk as well as for visitors to our town. When Fingal County Council redevelops the adjoining property as five residential units for independent living by 2022, Church Road will have two exceptional improvement projects in the heart of medieval Lusk. Pride in our town is very important for everyone. Willie McGee, a director of Lusk Community Council, has been working tirelessly to clean up the town with your help. He has organised a number of “spring clean” days with great community engagement. This is a simple idea, everyone can play their part, it just involves giving your time to help out. Willie (Tel. 087 6379199) and Fingal County Council (www.fingal.ie) are now promoting the “Adopt A Patch” idea. If everyone plays a small part, then the sum of the parts becomes a game-changer. You too can help build a better Lusk.

The latest milestone in the development of Rathmore Park as a major Active Recreational Hub for Lusk was recently reached with the official opening of the Play Trail.The Rathmore Park Play Trail is a new type of “Play Along The Way” facility which encourages children to move around the half-kilometre trail and visit a range of play equipment that offer a wide variety of challenges and play experiences. Adults accompanying children also benefit from the fully accessible looped walk linking the play facilities around the perimeter of the park.The play equipment provided along the Rathmore Play Trail features a high proportion of “natural“ materials such as wood and stone which are visually sympathetic to the setting of play facilities.About half of the land required for the development of Rathmore Park and the associated recreational hub has now been taken in charge by the Council and a sports pitch, floodlit jogging track and sprint track have been developed in response to the high demand for evening athletics training.Kevin Halpenny, Senior Parks Superintendent with Fingal County Council, said: “The Play Trail has been designed in line with the principles of Fingal’s new “Space for Play” play policy which will be the subject of a public consultation process later this year. It is another important addition to Rathmore Park and we have plans in place for the further development of the Park as soon as the rest of the land is available.” The official opening as depicted in our picture was performed by the outgoing Deputy Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Robert O’Donoghue and was attended by Cllr Cathal Boland, Cllr Brian Dennehy and the Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, as well as Senior Parks Superintendent, Kevin Halpenny and members of the project team..“The Rathmore Play Trail is a great addition to Rathmore Park which is well used by the local community and will provide many hours of enjoyment for children and their parents,” said Cllr O’Donoghue.