With only weeks to go until polling day, I want to take this opportunity to set out the areas I will focus on if fortunate enough to represent Lusk on Fingal County Council. I would be very grateful for your support on June 7th. If elected, I would work full time for the people of Lusk and always be responsive should you need assistance with any matter. In summary, I want: Better Local Amenities - One of my core ambitions is to have better dining facilities in Lusk and more inclusive indoor community spaces that cater for people of all ages (including youth clubs and our own Men’s Shed and ICA group). Better local amenities would benefit all residents of Lusk and would only involve a relatively modest capital investment from our well-resourced local authority. Better Development - Lusk needs more balanced development, and if elected I will fight hard as a councillor for better ways to build our community. This will include ensuring that planning applications for housing developments should only be approved when there is adequate community infrastructure included (and this community infrastructure should be built in tandem with houses, not after houses are built). Large scale housing developments must include childcare, retail and dining facilities. Better Connectivity - My priority is to do more to improve our roads, footpaths, and green spaces to ensure they are protected and maintained to a highest standard. The capability within Fingal County Council is there and I will push hard to put in place an ambitious programme of work to upgrade some of our roads and footpaths. For example, a footpath on Minister’s Road linking Dun Emer (and Lusk village) to the R132 is badly needed. Similarly, the Blake’s Cross junction must be upgraded now that the Council has committed to doing so. If I have your support, I will work hard for you and bring new energy to Fingal County Council.

Last month, Fingal County Council announced the long-awaited plans for the sports and recreational hub. This comes after more than ten years of work and commitment by the Lusk Sports Group (previously known as Lusk Sports 2020) We would like to thank them for their patience, hard work and dedication over this time. A meeting was held to discuss final concerns with FCC, and planning permission was lodged by FCC to An Bord Pleanála for the all-weather soccer pitch and four lane running track. Members of the public will be able to submit observations at a cost of €200. Works are hoped to commence on the project next year. In April, a meeting was held between key community groups and developers McGarrell Reilly. The agenda covered the progress and plans for completing the Lusk Village Quarter, a vital component of our community’s growth and enhancement. Key aspects such as establishing a creche, pub/restaurant, public square, and additional retail spaces were addressed. These amenities are essential for our growing population. McGarrell Reilly wished to highlight their own contributions, including the Soccer Clubhouse and playing Facilities, Rathmore Park (the hub), Ring Road development and the Design and Connection of an improved Lusk Sewage System. Additionally, they highlighted efforts to source school sites, establish playgrounds, and progress on the Village Quarter, all integral to enhancing the quality of life in Lusk. Lusk Action Group highlighted their many concerns regarding the delays in the delivery of amenities in Lusk Village Quarter. For further information on this, please see our Facebook page. Plans are well underway for Lusk Summer Festival which will take place on Saturday 22 nd June in Orlynn Park Green. We are looking for new members for our organising committee. Get in touch with us at hello@lusksummerfestival.ie We will be meeting with Go Ahead this month. Please contact us with any issues you have with the 33A service, including as much detail and information as you can about the issue. luskactiongroup@gmail.com Lusk Action Group are looking for new members. Get in touch with us at the above email address.

“Lusk Twinning Association are delighted to celebrate their 30th anniversary marking when Lusk as a village was twinned with the town of Thorigne-Fouillard in Britanny. After some preliminary research and groundwork that started in 1991 the Twinning process was made official on 2nd May,1993 with the first visit of our Breton friends coming to Lusk. We take turns visiting each other on alternate years. When we visit we stay with a host family and experience their culture, this is reciprocated when they come to us. We are always accompanied by our own musicians who travel along with Irish dancers. By unique coincidence the town of Thorigne-Fouillard has a traditional music group called the Luskies and a choir called Eire D’large. We have had many wonderful evenings enjoying musical exchanges and performing together. We look forward to the arrival of our friends and continuing our friendship for many more years.”

Cllr Rob O’Donoghue enthusiastically greeted the briefing in the March Area Committee of the planning permission and timeline for provision of sporting facilities at the Lusk Sports Hub in Rathmore Park. Facilities proposed in the planning application for the hub include a new all-weather floodlit training area measuring 74m x 28m (suitable for GAA Go Games Activity) including ball wall (20m x 5m), all-weather floodlit soccer sized pitch measuring 100m x 64m, all weather floodlit 8 lane running track, additional bicycle & car parking spaces (30no. each), a Teen Space, pollinator friendly species & trees and other works including fencing incl. ball stop, storage/changing facilities, drinking water fountain and park furniture. The timeline for the provision of these sporting facilities will be then finalisation of reports, drawings and documents in March and to lodge the planning application with An Bord Pleanala in April of 2024. Should planning be granted procurement of works will being post the decision from An Bord Pleanala. Speaking at the Committee, Cllr O’Donoghue thanked the Lusk Sports Group for their work over the past decade to get the project ready for planning application. He stated ‘an immense amount of work has gone into getting the hub ready by the Clubs and Community Organisations over the last ten years, countless volunteer hours have already been given by all stakeholder groups on the Lusk Sports Groups and they should be really proud of sticking the course to date as the proposed facilities at the Lusk Hub will be second to none. This is a great news story for Lusk, the facilities are critically needed and this will be a flagship project for both Lusk and Fingal that I hope to champion over the coming years.”

In Lusk, a group of dedicated volunteers known as Lusk Community First Responders (Lusk CFR), is working to make a life-changing impact on their community. Trained to respond swiftly to specific emergency calls, their mission is clear: to reach potential life-threatening situations in the crucial minutes before the ambulance crew arrives. Connected to the National Ambulance Service Emergency Operations Centre, Lusk CFR can provide medical assistance within minutes of a 999 call, offering a lifeline to those in distress. In Ireland, 5,000 people are lost to cardiac arrest each year, 13 lives lost every day. These incidents strike without warning, affecting people in the midst of their daily routines, from homes to workplaces, shopping centres, and sports events. 70% to 80% of these cardiac arrests occur in the presence of family or friends. For every passing minute, the chances of recovery decrease by 7% to 10%. Currently, the Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest survival rate in Ireland is 5.2%. However, Lusk CFR aims to change this by emphasising the critical importance of swift response. Effective CPR and the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) within the first 3-5 minutes can significantly boost survival rates to 49% to 75%. While this initiative is new to Lusk, CFR schemes across Ireland, registered with the National Ambulance Service, have already proven their impact. Lusk currently has 3 public access AEDs, available 24/7 365 days a year. At the Cottage Community Centre, Lusk Soccer Club and Centra in Dun Emer. Lusk CFR will continue to work with the community to increase the number of public access AEDs in the community. Lusk CFR is actively seeking volunteers, and no prior medical experience or training is necessary, as continuous training will be offered to all recruits. Additionally, Lusk CFR is reaching out for financial assistance to procure life-saving equipment and to sponsor the placement of public access Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) within our community. Your support can make a significant impact in ensuring the safety and well-being of our community.

Lambay Sports and Athletics is an Athletics club for all the Community, taking our name from the wonderful views of Lambay Island. On 26th May we will host the third edition of our 4 Mile Road race. LSA members volunteer with race organisation and we hope to welcome participants from all over Dublin and beyond to the roads of our beautiful environment. In the last month LSA members have been participating in events around the country and internationally. The LSA Community showed the power of support in an epic ultra marathon fundraiser in Newbridge Park. Our ever-popular club member Paudie Byrne ran 65km by completing 22 laps of Newbridge Park, with the support of a huge team from the LSA Events committee and our various training groups. The sun shone as Paudie completed his final laps, over €7100 (at the time of going to press) for the Cystic Fibrosis Ireland 65 Roses campaign. Dara Carr and Michal Kowalski represented Ireland in the European Masters Athletics Championships Indoors in Torún, Poland. Dara is a sprinter, and the powerhouse behind much of our club, especially our Little Athletics programme and Summer Camp. Dara was part of two Bronze medal winning relay teams in her age category: Women’s 4 x 200m and Mixed 4 x 200m. Meanwhile on the roads, our members had a great outing at the Bohermeen Half Marathon. This was followed by Leinster Senior medals and Dublin Masters Gold at the 10 mile Championships event at the Battle of Clontarf for our women’s team (Eimear Caulfield, Sinead Kiernan and Mary McNamara) on Easter Monday. The following week our Masters Men’s team (Shane O’Farrell, Keith Byrne, Fintan Counihan, Ken Spratt) won Gold in the Dublin 10km Championships at the Garristown Windmill run. Next it is our turn to host a road race - please join us at the scenic LSA 4 mile race on Sunday 26th May 2024. We always welcome new members and volunteers. If you would like to get involved please contact us - details below: Adult memberships queries please contact lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com Little Athletics and Juvenile athletes (from age 7-18) please contact lsajuvenilereg@gmail.com Keep up to date on all the events by following LSA on our social media pages!

Donabate Basketball celebrated our league win with the U14’s boys team.

We swapped the basketball for a spot of bowling. A truly Great evening was had by one and all. We continue with our training for next season over the coming weeks with some friendly games set on the calendar. We are delighted to have U14 Div 2 team and U15 Div 1 team for next season. The boys and girls academy is also in operation. Training takes place in DP Community Centre evenings and weekends. So, if you are interested in joining us please make contact: Our Key Contacts: Paul Mitchell – Club Secretary, U17 Girls - Con O’Leary & Alan Proctor – Coaches of Under 14 & 15 Boys Marie O’Leary – Child Protection Officer - Frank Koenicke & Serge Nyange – Boys Academy Coaches - Sophie Mitchell & Katelyn Byrne– Girls Academy Coaches. We urge any people living locally to contact us if they have interest in getting their children involved or volunteering to help with coaching. Contact can be made in DPCC where there are information boards that have relevant contact information.

EggHeadz will host several ‘Hello How Are You’ community events in the buildup to A Mental Health Ireland’s, National Mental Health Promotion Day on 15th May. All events are Free to attend. See www.eggheadz.ie or www.hellohowareyou.ie for event information.

Parents Support – EggHeadz successful Connect Café continues each week. A Mental Health Ireland initiative, the group meet weekly on Wednesday’s at 10am at the community centre. Parents are supported by psychotherapist Kim Cromwell. FREE Professional help, advice and neighbourly support is on hand.

Young Adolescents - EggHeadz FREE weekly 5km #mentalmiles social session is growing every week. Participants range from 16 – 26 years, a social run is followed by hot beverage and an opportunity to talk with peers. Led by Jason Dignam, it takes place on Sunday mornings 10am at Newbridge House, everyone is welcome.

Teen and Tween Workshops – Teen Art Therapy spring retreat took place over the Easter holidays. It was attended by 15 teenagers whom enjoyed a FREE two-day workshop with teen trauma expert Ivy Baretto. Thank you to Tesco Community Fund for sponsoring the fantastic workshop. Tween Jewellery making workshop took place over Easter holidays with a theme of Spring and Renewal. Led by Roisin the 10 attendees explored self-care, self- esteem, mindfulness, well-being habits and created beautiful gemstone jewellery and unique craft. - After School Activities – Term 3 ‘Spring Summer’ classes are taking place in schools each week. Junior and Senior Infants 1.30pm – 2.30pm and 1st – 6 th Class 2.30-3.30pm. Each School has a different day, our activities include ‘Fitness & Games’, ‘Yoga, Mindfulness and Creative Crafts’, ‘Nutrition and Cooking - FREE Youth Counselling EggHeadz FREE of charge and confidential counselling service for young people aged 12+ takes place weekly in the Community Centre on Mondays, email us anytime on our email address at eggheadzcounselling@gmail.com to book an appointment. Darkness Into Light – for Pieta House. The countdown is on with weeks to go, sign up and join us on the inaugural Donabate Portrane Darkness Into Light walk. Please remember the Date: Saturday 11th May Time: 4.15am Start: St. Pat’s Boy’s National School, Donabate.

Well, here we are nearly at the end of the AAfA spring term, where has the time flown to? All our classes and activities have been well attended and the latest offering ‘Ageing Dis-Gracefully’ was very popular. We will be running this again in the autumn term, places are limited to 10 so if you would like to attend, please get your name in at registration in September. In fact if anyone, be they AAfA members or not, have ideas for subjects that they would like included in our programme please let us know, email: activeageforall@gmail.com Valerie and her team for trips and tours have been busy and two proposed trips before the summer break are Farmleigh on 22nd May and The National Stud and Japenese Gardens on 26th June. If any AAfA members are interested in either, or both, trips please email a/a for further information. We have seen a few changes on the AAfA committee recently, our Chairperson Mary Farrell and Secretary Carmel Carey have retired. On behalf of the committee I would like to take this opportunity to thank both of them for their years of hard work and dedication to the association…ladies you were SUPER !! And a big welcome to our new committee members Eilish Timony and Mary Agnew, great to have you both on board.

The DP Crossroads Committee has strongly refuted recent Fingal County Council claims that their investments in community infrastructure is sufficient. FCC have stated in Council meetings that the move of the library to the former credit union will open up additional community space for use of all groups. While acknowledging that the Council are investing in the library move, the group questions why that move was necessary in the first place. “The Council’s purchase of Ballisk house for community infrastructure is commendable but we question why this is being designated for the library.” Said Ann Hogan, Chair of local campaign group DP Crossroads. “The library is functioning well where it is – there are no demands for additional space for it. However, many local cultural groups are unable to find suitable space to conduct their activities. Plus we have a desperate need for non-sporting youth facilities. This will not change with the library move”. Hogan went on to highlight that with high local population increases the per capita indoor space allocation per person has dropped significantly. “Because we’ve so many residents the amount of available community space has fallen. We have forecast 85% population increase by 2029 and no extra indoor facilities – its really unacceptable”. “We are calling on FCC to live up to their own strategic objective to build the centre and more importantly build community infrastructure IN TANDEM with large scale housing development.”