Music and song were in the air on Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th November at The Lark, in Balbriggan, as many local school choirs performed in the Fingal Festival of Schools’ Voices. Schools from Lusk, Rush, Loughshinny and Balbriggan were joined by the The Lark’s own resident school The Irish Institute of Music & Song who played traditional Irish music on the harp.

The festival has its originated in 2017 as St. Catherine’s Choral Festival in Rush, so it was fitting that on Tuesday 5th November both the St Catherine’s School Choir and the Ukulele Orchestra performed several songs at the venue. During the evening the audience heard renditions of many popular songs by acts as The Rolling Stones, Coldplay and the Pixies. Additionally, two schools performed songs by Oasis – no doubt reflecting the recent revival in interest since the announcement of their reunion tour. The good news was that two different songs were chosen, Live Forever and Wonderwall!

Rush Musical Society Concert at St Catherine’s National School

Later the same week, with barely time to rest their voices, the St Catherine’s School Choir and Ukulele Orchestra performed again on Friday 8th November in the St Catherine’s School Hall with The Rush Musical Society. The audience were delighted with performances by all three groups, including songs from the 1970s, 80s and 90s performed by the Rush Musical Society.

The highlight of the evening was the collaborative performance when the adults’ and children’s voices joined forces to perform Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Vaults of Heaven.

Let’s Play Halloween

Despite the weather, we had a large turnout at our Let’s Play Rush Spooktacular event today in Kenure Park. Thank you to all the performers and volunteers who made a huge effort to make the event a success. Thank you to Fingal County Council and Creative Ireland for the funding and thank you to the Mayor of Fingal Brian McDonagh for paying us a visit. Special thanks to the 38th Rush Scout Group who allowed us use all of the facilities in the scout den for the day.

Rush Tidy Town Calendar 2025

Our Rush Tidy Towns 2025 Calendar has gone to print. Congratulations and thank you to all the photographers whose photos will feature on one of the 12 months. We will be announcing a launch day very soon, from which time the calendars should be on sale in several shops around the town. The price stays at €10 and it makes a great Christmas present. Please remember this is an important annual fundraiser for Rush Tidy Towns. We would also like to sincerely thank four local sponsors for contributing to the printing costs, they are Bird of Paradise, P&N Butterly, Kilbush Nurseries & WBD Farm Machinery.

Volunteer Work

Some of the jobs done around the town recently by volunteers and resident groups. Sheena painted the fence at the Old Mill opposite Spout Road and Paul led a team in Golden Ridge and did a great job edging. Well done all

Work on the 6km off-road walking and cycling greenway route at the Broadmeadow Estuary will be built jointly by Fingal County Council and the National Transport Authority (NTA) and facilitated by Irish Rail. A spectacular 280 metres long bridge crossing the Broadmeadow Estuary on the Malahide Railway Viaduct is set to become an iconic feature along the Fingal coastline.

The Greenway will travel from Malahide Castle to Newbridge House through varied and scenic landscapes including demesne and parklands, estuarine landscapes, rural farmlands and village environments with the coastline a constant companion on the journey. It will become a destination greenway for local residents, tourists and day trippers while also playing a role in the developing network of sustainable transport routes in Fingal.

With the Baldoyle to Portmarnock Greenway complete, the Broadmeadow Greenway along with the proposed Fingal Coastal Way and Sutton to Malahide Pedestrian and Cycle Scheme, a high quality, safe cycling route along Fingal’s coastline will be provided from Sutton to Balbriggan.

The construction of the Broadmeadow Way Greenway, adjacent to a live railway and within an estuary that is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) presents a unique set of technical and environmental challenges which must be managed carefully. Due to environmental sensitivity, works in the estuary can only take place from May to September each year.
Enabling works will begin shortly to accommodate the construction of the bridge across the weir. The contract for the construction of this bridge has been awarded to Jons Civil Engineering and work is due to begin in May.

Malahide has taken another top award at the annual Super Valu Tidy Towns awards and when they visited, the judges were heavily impressed with the overall presentation of the village and the local Tidy Towns committee’s vision for the village in years to come.

Speaking about the village in their report, the judges commented: “Malahide has long been a lovely place to live and to visit with a handsome stretch of coastline and the wonderful Malahide Castle at its doorstep. The village centre is packed with an eclectic selection of independent boutiques, coffee houses and restaurants. Like most other villages and towns in Ireland, the suburbs are expanding with the construction of housing developments and this provides not only opportunities but challenges in terms of ensuring the village retains its heritage, it’s green spaces and it’s unique character.”

The judging panel was also very complimentary of the Malahide Tidy Towns committee adding, “You have a great committee and support of many volunteers in the community including newly arrived residents and visitors to our shores. This is an excellent sign of inclusivity and a whole village working together.

Your support from local businesses and agencies is excellent. The forming of sub-committees to carry our specific tasks is a good and efficient way of delegating projects and this is clearly working as evidenced by the excellent results seen on adjudication day.”

153rd Lusk Scout Group with the help of funding from Fingal County Council Activities Fund, recently installed a brand new public access AED at their Scout Den on Chapel Road in Lusk. This new AED has been registered with the National Ambulance Service. It is accessible 24/7 in a heated cabinet. You can access this AED by giving the location of the AED by calling 999/112 and giving the Eircode (noted on the cabinet) and you will be given the PIN code. Lusk Community First Responders are delighted to have supported 153rd Lusk Scout Den with this project. This now brings the total number of Public Access AEDs in Lusk to 5. Centra Lusk, Dun Emer Avenue (K45 XC65); Lusk United Soccer Club, Rathmore Road (K45 RC80); Cottage Community Centre, Church Road (K45 VE83); Round Towers GAA Club, Hands Lane (K45 PY79); 153rd Lusk Scout Den, Chapel Road (K45 PX99).

On Sunday 8th December, the Round Towers GAA Ladies team will host a bake sale with all proceeds going to Lusk Community First Responders. A member of their team Meghan Kiely, who recently suffered from a blood clot leading to a heart attack, is organising this event to raise awareness of heart health and to ensure that people know the signs and symptoms to look out for. Lusk Community First Responders will be joining Meghan and her team on the day and will be giving demos on CPR and recognition of symptoms. Free Blood Pressure and pulse checks will also be available on the day. See you there from 11am.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Lusk Community First Responders this year. Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and New Year.

If you would like to learn more about Lusk CFR, please check out our website www.LuskCFR.ie or find us on Facebook and Instagram. We look forward to welcoming new volunteers.

Fantastic news on winning the Pride of Place award, great job from all in Lusk and all the hard work of our President Rose Anna Darby and her team representing ICA. An invitation was sent to all community groups to celebrate our win for a reception in the sports hall in the national School.

Lusk ICA we’re delighted to host a very enjoyable Ramblers Night, an event of singing and story telling organized by Anne Smithers and sponsored by #FingalInclusionWeek in Murray’s of Lusk. The Guest speakers were as follows:-

Pat McGeeney -winner of Bard of Armagh. Jim Monks local story Teller was Mary Bermingham local story teller Jim Finnegan local story teller Paul Redmond singer song writer

Our Guild held a remembrance Mass celebrated by father Kevin Moore, for the deceased Members in the Scouts Den on the 14th November. All the past members were read out by Margaret Finnegan in the presence of their family members.

The Lusk Choir sang and were accompanied by their young organist Johan Joby who also plays for the children’s choir.

The ladies continue to enjoy their weekly Aqua Aerobics classes in ALSAA on Thursday mornings supported by Fingal Co Co Age and Opportunity.

We are very busy now preparing for our annual Christmas Market for the community which will be held on SUNDAY 1st DECEMBER in the Scouts Den and we look forward to another successful day.

Thanks to Tesco Rush, we have secured a Tesco Community Funding using the Blue Tokens, It will start on Thursday 28th November lasting for 12 weeks. It was great to apply for this funding for Lusk ICA and we would much appreciate your support.

The Lusk ICA Guild meet on the First Thursday every month in the Scouts Den (after beavers)at 8:15 PM and we would be delighted for a new members to come along.

It was with huge pride, privilege and pleasure that we accepted the 1st place Pride of Place award in the population over 5000 category on the 2nd of November in Monaghan. This was received by Brian Arnold of Lusk Community Council, Lynne Barker of Lusk Action Group and Mark Boland of Lusk Tidy Towns. This was the culmination of many months of preparation for judging day in September, and the collaboration of many community groups.

These annual All-Ireland community awards are about the best of community, how we come together to shape and change our community and strive to improve the quality of life of our community. Lusk has this in spades. The work that has been done for many years by well established groups, coupled with the extraordinary work that has been done in more recent years, makes us shine as a community. The award that we received was for every club and group, for every volunteer who gives so generously of their time and energy week after week, year after year. None of what we achieve is possible without volunteerism. Strong communities are rooted in volunteerism.

We have had enormous challenges in recent years due to the rapid growth of our population, and we are very proud of how our community has pulled together to meet these demands. It is sometimes overwhelming, but the commitment of our volunteers to bring their visions to fruition and to enhance the quality of life for our community, drives us forward in respect and cooperation, and we very much look forward to witnessing the positive changes that are coming to our town.

We would like to once again congratulate the Black Raven Pipe Band for their great success, winning the world championship title. For a “little” town, it has been a hugely successful year!

Finally, we hope that you enjoy the Christmas lights, erected by Lusk Action Group, and we wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas.

You can get in touch with Lusk Action Group at luskactiongroup@gmail.com

We would like to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all in Lusk AC.
2025 registration is now open though the membership link on our website and we are delighted for new members to join us. The 2025 Lusk 4-mile date is set for 2nd March so why not sign up now.

The Christmas tree is up and the countdown is on to the most exciting day of the year in Donabate! The Donabate Christmas Lights Festival is on Saturday December 7th.

Many thanks to Fingal County Council for installing the beautiful tree and lights.

All day on Saturday 7th, Karl Harte and his team from CP Electrical will be busy installing all the other festive lights around the village. We are hugely indebted to Karl who has been voluntarily doing this job for 30 years or more now. Huge thanks to Karl’s team who will give up their day on Saturday to help make the village look sparkly and festive.

The Christmas Craft Fair will be on in the Parish Hall, from 12-6pm, with lots of artisans showcasing their crafts. Drop in and browse and maybe pick up a gift or two!

Santa Claus will arrive in the Parish Hall at 11am and will be there all day in his grotto visiting with the good boys and girls.

Free hot drinks will be on offer outside the Parish Hall from Shirley Higgins and her coffee van, courtesy of Progressive Credit Union.

At 4.30pm the switching-on event will start at the tree in the carpark of St. Patrick’s RC Church. There will be festive entertainment from the Peninsula Voices, under the baton of Áine Daly.

There will be seasonal refreshments, with Mulled Wine and Mince Pies for the adults and juices and treats for the kids.

We are very grateful to Tesco, SuperValu and the Progressive Credit Union for their ongoing support for this event. Without their generosity, the event would not happen.

Four children have been chosen, one from each of the Primary schools on the peninsula, to lead the countdown and flick the switch to turn on the lights.

After the lights are on, there will be a Christmas Market in the Town Mall, with local businesses showcasing their goods.

So, put on your Santa hat, join us for some of the festivities and help kick-start the Donabate festive season in style!

Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed was involved in two events on the same day as part of Fingal Inclusion Week.

The first was a gathering in Donabate Portrane Community Centre of members of the Fingal Men’s Sheds, organised by the Irish Men’s Sheds Association and sponsored by Fingal County Council. Entertainment by provided by Gerry and the Plonkers, Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed music group, and a group of musicians from Swords Men’s Shed. There was also a light exercise session led by our own Fintan Delaney and a light-hearted, but insightful, talk by writer and story-teller Michael Harding.

The second event was one of Gerry and the Plonkers’ series of free monthly concerts in Donabate Parish Hall, sponsored by the Parish Hall Committee, where they were joined by local musician, Edel Dempsey, on whistles and flute. Their next free concert will be on Wednesday 4th December from 12 noon to 2pm. All adults are welcome, and light refreshments will be provided.

Gerry and the Plonkers also played at the recent Memory Café in Donabate Portrane Community Centre and will lead the singsong at our Christmas party in Keeling’s on Friday 6th December.

But Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed has more to offer than music. In addition to our music sessions, every week we have an exercise class, croquet at Newbridge House and a gathering for tea and chat. From time to time, we also have outings to places of interest. Our most recent was an interesting visit to the museum at Mountjoy Jail; more about that next month. We also have two plots at Turvey Allotments, which even at this time of year need attention.

So, if you or someone you know would like to join us, please contact our PRO, Jim, on 086-3694316.