Thanks to sponsorship received from Progressive Credit Union, Balbriggan and the H.S.E., along with money raised through a Monster Raffle and other fundraising ventures in 2019, we are thrilled to have been able to purchase our new vehicle. Whilst the project was delayed considerably due to the constraints of Covid-19 over the past year, we are finally on the road. We would like to express our thanks to Progressive Credit Union in particular Brian Howard, the H.S.E. and all those who contributed in any way to raising funds for our minibus.

Balbriggan Meals on Wheels currently provides more than 80 meals per day, with meals delivered to the most vulnerable people in our community. We look forward to using our new bus to deliver meals to our clients as well as transporting our clients to and from our Dinner Club as soon as it is safe for us to resume this service. We are also announcing that our fundraising appeal has been launched. As everyone is aware, the present circumstances this year have once again meant that we have been unable to host any fundraising events. We are, therefore, at this time launching a fundraising appeal to assist us in continuing our work, cooking and delivering meals in the wider Balbriggan area. Donations may be made directly to our base in Hampton Street or through the donate button on our Facebook page. Any assistance from individuals or local organisations would be most gratefully accepted at this time. Contact us at Balbriggan Meals on Wheels, 14 Hampton Street, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.Tel: 01 8416743 or Email:mealsonwheelsbalbriggan@gmail.com

The Balbriggan 3D Model is a visual tool which will help citizens visualise the planned transformations of the town outlined in the Our Balbriggan 2019 – 2025 Town Rejuvenation plan, and can now be viewed on the County Council’s website. The Balbriggan 3D Model is a visual tool which will help citizens visualise the planned transformations of the town outlined in the Our Balbriggan 2019 – 2025 Town Rejuvenation plan. The model can be described as a ‘3D Map’ or ‘Digital Twin’ of Balbriggan as it was created using aerial survey photography and ground level photo surveys. It provides easy access to a visual representation of the reimagined Harbour and Quay Street area. A desktop version of the model might be best described as a future digital twin of Balbriggan. It is a data-rich virtual representation of Balbriggan offering stakeholders a platform to make data-driven decisions in a low-risk environment before deploying them in the real world.The model is also Virtual Reality (VR) ready, meaning that it can be viewed using a VR headset, offering a more immersive visual experience.The multiple user engagement options (movie, web, desktop and VR) is facilitated by the underlying game engine technology used by RealSim, Unity3D, the most popular game engine in the world. Fingal County Council are by extension harnessing the ease of use and multi-platform strengths of this technology to bring planning and community consultation into a new era of ‘Future Visioning’ and how we collectively shape the world we want to live in.“The Our Balbriggan Hub situated in Georges Square, in the centre of the town is the engine room for the Our Balbriggan 2019 – 2025 Town Rejuvenation Plan and the base for the Our Balbriggan team. This VR technology will enable the team to engage further with the people of Balbriggan and help them to visualize how their town will be developed. Post Covid, VR headsets will be available at the Hub to residents and businesses to explore the 3D model and will also be used at events and in schools to showcase the Our Balbriggan public realm improvement plans in a fun and meaningful way,” said Aoife Sheridan, Senior Executive Officer, Fingal County Council

Grasshoppers Early Years Arts Festival was set up in 2019 as a partnership between Acting Up! founder Cliodhna Noonan and Our Balbriggan - Get Involved. We opened with a wonderful Buggy Parade to the Square where we had an outdoor Capoeira performance for families followed by tea and cakes at Aster Family Centre. The 2019 workshop weekend for families with children aged 0-6 was a sellout success! We were determined to do more in 2020. Unfortunately, Covid had other plans. However, we were back in force with a fully digital festival in February 2021 and what a week it was!!! We presented zoom workshop performances from Croatia, Lithuania, Greece and Romania commissioned specially for our audiences. The programme was sold out within days of being released! We would like to thank everyone who participated especially our Balbriggan audiences!!! As schools reopened a week after the workshops, we invited them to participate further in Grasshoppers 2021 and to create an exhibition of artwork based on the theme of the local Lighthouse. We would like to thank Millfield Shopping Centre for the great exhibition space they offered us for the youngest artists in Balbriggan! You may have seen the magnificent display of colour and positivity just outside Tescos over the Easter break! We are moving into our final event for children and families aged 0-6. Watch it Grow 2021! in collaboration with Tidy Towns Balbriggan, and Balbriggan Libraries, offers school and preschools a chance to grow seeds, water them, watch them and investigate what insects might visit them over the next four weeks. Schools are invited to plant in a public space near them, on their school grounds or even on the windowsills of their classrooms! We will be visiting all schools in the area in the coming two weeks to drop off our packs! Happy Growing! If you have an idea for early years participation in the community or you would like to be involved in the team, drop us an email on grasshoppersfestival@gmail.com. Grasshoppers 2021 is supported by Our Balbriggan - Get Involved, Fingal Arts Office and The Arts Council of Ireland.

In Foróige we know that for many young people in Ireland, being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex means for them that they are living with daily discrimination or with constant fear of being themselves. This has long lasting effects from the treatment in the education system such as name-calling and bullying or even being denied equal opportunities as their peers because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.In Foróige, we always want to make sure that all of our young people feel welcomed, accepted but most importantly safe! We offer dedicated places where our young people who are part of the LGBTI+ community can feel comfortable and protected to explore their journeys and the challenges the community often face. Our LGBTI+ Groups will return from the 26th of April for face to face group work OUTDOORS! In this space young people decide what actions and activities they’d like to do, whether it’s exploring terminology, having a casual chat or planning for pride, we listen to our young people. Our Senior LGBTI+ Group is open for young people aged 15-18. Because of the success with this group we are very happy to announce our Junior LGBTI+ Group for young people aged 12-14. We understand how important it is for young people to feel heard and seen and the importance of creating a space where they can share ideas and be creative whilst being themselves. For information about any of our Foróige Clubs or Groups call Áine on 086-7710790 or email aine.mcguinness@foroige.ie

Fingal County Council is encouraging local hospitality and tourism providers to apply for grant funding under Fáilte Ireland’s new Outdoor Dining Enhancement Investment Scheme aimed at assisting the sector increase their outdoor dining capacity.Grants of up to €4,000 are available under the Outdoor Dining Enhancement & Accessories for Tourism & Hospitality Business strand of the Scheme to facilitate greater capacity in outdoor dining by supporting hospitality businesses with upgrading and enhancing venues and public spaces and implementing weather-proofing solutions to facilitate year-round outdoor dining. Individual tourism and hospitality businesses where food is sold for consumption on the premises including hotels, attractions, cafes, restaurants and pubs are invited to apply for funding.Its aim is to expand on the work carried out by local authorities last year in supporting businesses and will support individual independent hospitality and tourism businesses towards the cost of equipment to provide additional outdoor enhancement and facilitate these businesses to increase their outdoor dining capacity for the summer of 2021.Costs for outdoor tables, chairs,umbrellas, electric heaters, screens, wind breaks, plant stands and wooden platforms will be covered under the Scheme. Expenditure must be incurred between April 1 2020 and September 30 2021.Applications can now be made via www.fingal.ie/outdoordining. (nb: not available through this media) contact the County Council.This investment scheme is being delivered under the Fáilte Ireland ‘Opening the Outdoors’ strategic pillar which aims to capitalise our outdoor assets and re-imagine our urban spaces.Mayor of Fingal Cllr David Healy said: “This is a very welcome initiative to support the local tourism and hospitality sector which has been so badly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic. Upgrading and improving spaces to provide for outdoor dining will play a significant part in allowing businesses to provide the necessary facilities to reopen in compliance with public health guidelines. Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly said: “Fingal County Council is delighted to be working with Fáilte Ireland on this scheme which will support the hospitality and tourism sectors as they begin to re-open following the most recent period of closure. I am very conscious of the difficulties businesses across the county have faced and this scheme, which will enable the sector increase their dining and seating capacity, is another important initiative in allowing them to reopen in a safe manner.”

Balbriggan Roadrunners will be hosting their annual Summerfest 5k from the 28th of May to the 4th of June, in a virtual fromat this year. This has always been a great fun event to look forward to.The Balbriggan Roadrunners Summerfest 5km fun run will be going virtual this year taking place between 28th May and 4th June 2021. Registration costs €10 and can be done online.

This will also be part of some great North Dublin virtual events that have been taking place since early Jan this year, when Raheny Shamrock AC kicked off their virtual 5 mile. Balbriggan Roadrunners will be helping North Dublin and the rest of the country to keep smiling and enjoying our running.The club is very mcuh about participation and including all runners, walkers and joggers to the enjoy their events. We hope you can be part of this great event and share your experience on the Balbriggan Roadrunners Balbriggan social media pages and the My Run Community page. There is also the option to purchase the event merchandise including T-shirt. Snood and medal.

St Colmcilles GFC is based near the village of Applewood in Balheary, Swords, we host a number of teams of various ages.We hope to be back on the pitch training as soon as restrictions allow.We have taken every measure to ensure that all our coaches and mentors have all updated coaching courses along with being Garda vetted and First Aid training. We aim to be compliant in all aspects related to Covid -19.Training for our under 8’s and 9’s is every Saturday at 11am and Wednesday at 7pm and for the CUBS (under 6’s) Saturday at10am. All of our training is outdoors.The Men’s Junior team train each Tuesday and Thursday at 7.15, contact Mick (0861067145) if you are looking to get involved.Gaelic for Mother’s and Others - open to all women aged over 25, even if you’ve never played, this is a great opportunity to get to know ladies from the area and have a bit of fun along the way. Our Super Club Lotto, the club lotto has started back in the past couple of weeks and is a great success. We can only offer this online at the moment, and you can play through the Clubforce App. Once restrictions are lifted we hope to be resuming the weekly club lottery through envelope entry. Also club membership is available through the App.We hope to see you all very soon when the Club house is fully opened and restrictions allow!

Swords Tidy Towns volunteers care for the town of Swords. They generate enthusiasm and co-operation in order to enhance the natural and built environment. We plan to use the clear targets set by the Tidy Towns competition to give strong focus on these tasks we undertake on your behalf.Community: build strong communication with businesses, residents association, local council and schools to promote our work and to seek their help for the benefit of the community as a whole Diversity: actively seek new volunteers across a broad section of the community, and promote Swords as a town of diversity and inclusiveness .Environmental: be a champion of biodiversity and environmental issues

In an increasingly complex world, Lions provides one of the most basic human needs, the need for friendship. And the opportunity to make a difference. As an individual you can have limited impact but as part of a group you can achieve so much more. Lions Club membership brings more awareness of community and the average Lions Club has, at its heart, the intention to make the community it serves a better place to live. Wherever there is a need, you will find Lions there, actively involved in getting the job done and making things happen. No skills required to roll up the sleeves and find a solution. No job is too big or too small. Lions above all are nice people, who genuinely want to give of their time and means to assist others and have a lot of fun doing it. The Club projects are fun. Social activities are fun. And the Service is fun.One of the best reasons for becoming a Lion is the chance to do, as a group, what we cannot hope to achieve on our own, to serve our fellow man.Our motto says it all “We Serve” To show you some of tthe work we have done and continue to do in Malahide we have put together these pictures and we hope they will interest you enough to make you want to get involved. These are just some of the things we have been involved in and maybe you can suggest other things for us to help the community in the future..Check us out for fun, laughter and community service at Malahide Lions Facebook Page. More information about projects and activities at our Malahide Lions Club website and use our contact form to apply. An easy watt for you to contact us is at malahidelionsclub@gmail.com or contact any member you know. We urgently need your help and we look forward to hearing from you.

Former players from Malahide United are making their mark both here and in England showing how the great coaching at the club has been a huge success. The club truly is the home of Football in North County Dublin with 1,200 footballers playing on 55 teams and in two academies. Based in Gannon Park, one of the finest facilities in Ireland. This month we feature some former players who are really heading for the top in their respective leagues both in this country and in the English Leagues.

Firstly we say congratulations to Conor Grant who made his first league start for Rochdale AFC in their League 1 game against Northampton Town on February 23 last. Conor made the switch from Sheffield Wednesday on deadline day this year. The game ended in a nil all draw with Conor contributing greatly to his teams performance which should ensure lots more starts for him soon with his new club.

Next Everyone at Malahide United would like to wish Darren Craven the very best of luck as he embarks on League of Ireland life with Bray Wanderers. Darren has been with the club from Nippers right the way through to Seniors and was captain as we won the Leinster Senior League for a historic first time. Darren has also been capped at Junior level for FA Ireland over the last few seasons. Bray are getting one hell of a player and an even better man. All the best Skip.