From time to time, Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed organises special events or outings to places of interest to its members. Last month was a particularly busy month for such outings.

In early September, members participated in the Boules Coaching course at Newbridge House, jointly arranged by Active Age for All and the Men’s Shed and ably delivered by Tom and Eileen Donnellan from Bayside Boules.

In mid-September, a group spent an interesting day at the National Ploughing Championships near Stradbally, Co. Laois. and in the month, a guided tour of Croke Park was arranged, which included the Skyline Tour, a thrilling rooftop walkway. It’s hoped to have photos of these outings for next month’s article.

Gerry & the Plonkers, the Men’s Shed music group, had a quiet September, but gigs in Donabate Parish Hall are lined up for the next three months, on 16th October ,13th November and 4th December, all on Wednesdays from 12 noon to 2pm. Light refreshments will be provided and all adults in the community are welcome.

Of course, the Men’s Shed weekly activities of exercise classes, croquet at Newbridge, work on our plots at Turvey Allotments and our Thursday morning get-togethers at the Scouts’ Den on Portrane Road, all continue as usual. So if you, or someone you know, would like to join us, just call our PRO, Jim, on 086-3694316.

Homes located at Brook Beach and Healy’s Lane in Portrane are in danger of being completely lost unless emergency coastal protection measures are not put in place as a matter of urgency according to local Cllr Corina Johnston.

“The residents of The Burrow, Portrane are deeply frustrated, angry and worried at the extent and magnitude of the coastal erosion over the years. The residents are fearful the impact the upcoming high tides, which are due to hit the coastline in the coming weeks, will have on their homes. The Beach Lane access road to 10 homes and properties was severely undermined in recent months and the upcoming high tides will make access inaccessible unless an alternative access is found.”

Duncan Smith TD has raised the need for emergency protection measures with the Tanaiste in Dáil Éireann and the OPW in further response confirmed it is open to Final County Council to seek additional funding for emergency works through The Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme.
“We have reached crisis point in Portrane. Unless emergency coastal protection measures are carried out along the beach and an alternative access route is found for the homes fronting Beach Lane it is inevitable that a number of homes will have to be evacuated. On behalf of the concerned residents, I am calling on FCC to seek the necessary funding,” Cllr Johnston added.

In early September in the Recreation Hub at Newbridge for mainly older people, there was a Launch & Coaching of Boules as we now have 2 courts. Tom & Eileen Donnellan experienced players, who have been to the fore in the progress and development of Boules across Fingal, delivered the coaching skills, basic rules and safety aspects on the day. They are great people who volunteer to coach best practice and get other groups of future Boules players up & running.

The launch was attended by some of our councillors with apologies from others. Unfortunately, Shane Sutton from FCC who organised a great job in providing the Boules was unable to attend as he had a number of other engagements.

Carolyn Smith of AAfA Gerry Kiernan & Jim O’Donohoe from Men’s Shed and Breda Dockrell from Donabate Portrane Liaison Group all who were very involved in seeking the Boules and seeing the project through were there to help run the event.

A very special thanks to all the people who turned up on the day to learn how play or learn how to play better!

The ‘Recreation Hub’ is now complete with the 2 Croquet Lawns and 2 Boules Courts - for use mainly by older folk! It is a great addition to activities in the area; thank you to FCC.

At present AAfA & Men’s Shed play on certain days & times. If you are interested in joining either organisation it is €10 for Active Age for All & €20 for Men’s Shed.

A big thank you to the park staff who keep the Recreation Hub in such good condition!

Active Age for All Donabate/Portrane committee members manned an information table in Donabate Mall on Friday 30th August to remind present members about registration the following week and to inform others who may not know of us of the activities that we offer in our programme. As always it was great to catch up with people after the summer break and the interest shown by possible new members was very encouraging.

Online registration for members was on 2nd & 3rd September and walk-in 4th & 5th in the Community Centre. This was the first time where online and walk-in was working together since our website was launched. Unfortunately, the internet in the centre decided not to play ball which slowed things down quite a bit, especially on Wednesday, but we got there in the end and would like to thank everybody for their patience and forebearance. There are still a few issues to be resolved with the website, as usual in these cases it’s a matter of learn as you go. We are very pleased that our membership has shown a net growth this term and we now have 266 members.

We will always be looking for any need to expand our programme and would be happy to consider suggestions from people for courses they would be interested in. We take an active part in the Memory Cafe (last Wednesday of the month from 11am to 1pm) and are involved with the Positive Ageing week September 30th to October 6th this year.

Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCE’s new term of lessons in Fiddle, Tin Whistle, Concertina, Bodhran, Banjo and Flute resumed in September. We wish to extend a warm welcome to all our new students. In addition to our lessons we have slow sessions twice a month so our students can practice the tunes they have learned in class with fellow members. We also meet with other Comhaltas branches to play a few tunes a few times a year. We still have a few places left in some classes so if you are interested in learning a traditional Irish Music in a relaxed environment email us at leithinis@comhaltas.net and we will get back to you. We cater for adults and children at both beginner and intermediate levels. Lessons are €115 for 12 lessons and annual family Comhaltas membership is €20

We were delighted to be asked to play a few tunes at the launch of the Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival in the Brook Pub. As usual it was a great evening. Thanks to The Bleeding Pig Committee for giving us the opportunity to play. It was a great way for us to highlight our branch.

Further information about our branch can be found on our webpage www.leithinis.com and on our Facebook page.

Balbriggan & District Historical Society are delighted that our Pop-Up Museum will return on October 12th and 13th as part of the Fingal Festival of History. Thanks to everyone who called in to visit and discussed the exhibits, shared your stories, and those who donated artefacts for the display over the two weekends earlier this summer. We look forward to again displaying a small sample of the significant number of our historical Artefacts and photographs and videos which are of huge local and national interest. The exhibition will feature The People and Places of Balbriggan and topics featured will include the Linen & textile industry including Smyco, Harry Reynolds, Tommy Caffrey, Sinéad DeValera, Bremore Castle, and some of our extensive 1893 local Balbriggan photo collection.

The exhibition will take place in the Pop Up Museum space on the corner of Clonard St and Bridge St, beside Central Pub from 12 to 5pm each day. All are welcome and admission is free.

For information on the Fingal Festival of History see https://www.fingal.ie/news/launch-fingal-festival-history-2024-and-publication-fingal-studies-5

Hope to see you at the pop up museum, for further information see www.balbrigganhistory.com or email balbrigganhistsoc@gmail.com

Balbriggan Locals will be delighted to hear that the newly planned creative hub took a significant step closer to reality with plans ready to go to tender.

The team behind #OurBalbriggan announced the news on the eve of this year’s Culture Night stating, “Here in #OurBalbriggan we celebrate another key milestone in the ‘Our Balbriggan’ rejuvenation programme, when planning permission was granted in October 2023 for a creative hub. We expect to go to tender shortly on the approved plans for works at 2-4 Dublin Street, and to commence work in 2025.
“The further development of Balbriggan as a nationally renowned destination for arts and culture is a key part of the Our Balbriggan rejuvenation programme, and the creative hub will be central to this,” the team added.

Don’t worry there were no judges and hand-cuffs, just a lovely group of people, who were present at The History of Balbriggan Courthouse talk delivered by Dr David Sorensen in the recently refurbished Courthouse in Balbriggan! The talk was also repeated for the public in Balbriggan Library on Culture Night, Friday 20th September.

Congratulations to Balbriggan Tidy Towns who were awarded three times at this year’s National Tidy Town awards that were recently held in Abbeyleix, Co Laois.

“Thrilled to receive our 3 awards, won at Tidy Towns 2023, from Minister Sean Fleming at a wonderful event in Abbeyleix tonight. This is lovely recognition of the great work our volunteers do particularly with our young people in Youthreach Balbriggan, Loreto Balbriggan and Gaisce - The President’s Award participants. Our Balbriggan - Get Involved,” reads a statement from the group.

Balbriggan Meals on Wheels is holding it’s ever popular Christmas Fair on Saturday 30th November. This will be a great opportunity to get your Christmas shopping started whilst supporting a good cause!
In advance of the Christmas Fair, Balbriggan Meals on Wheels will be accepting donations of new, unused items that we can sell. So now might be the time to go through your cupboards and clear out any new unwanted gifts that you might have. Donations can be left to 14 Hampton Street, Monday to Saturday between 9am and 1pm.

All proceeds raised go towards the work of Balbriggan Meals on Wheels in our local community.