St Colmcilles GAA club are privileged to have been chosen by the Dublin LGFA to run this fantastic 10-week programme, aimed at girls who currently do not play Gaelic Football, aged between 8-12. This is a great opportunity for young girls to get involved in a sport. It’s all about having fun, meeting new people, and learning the sills of Gaelic Football. Please contact Aaron 0863888944 for more information.

We’re also Building our Teams at present for the new season. As the Go Game season is starting soon and teams are back in full swing training each week.

We are looking to build our teams; previous Gaelic football experience is not necessary. Training takes place on various evening throughout the week at 6.30pm and Saturday Mornings at 10.30 am. We are welcoming boys and girls born 2013-2016

By Ken Duffy

There was a fantastic turn out for our annual Table Quiz Night upstairs in Peacocks Bar on Thursday Feb 8th. We wish to thank everyone who turned up on the night to support us, hope you all had as good a time as we did.The Executive Committee of Swords Tidy Towns are very grateful for the support and donations to us by local businesses for our annual Quiz Night in Peacocks Restaurant and Bar. Without the good will and community spirit of local business this much needed fund raiser would not be possible, for your support we thank you. Also, a big thank you must go to Fiona and her Peacocks Bar team for taking such good care of us all on the night.

The following is a list of those who donated :SuperValu Boroimhe, SuperValu The Pavilions, The Betsy, Indie Spice, The Arch Bar, Cupcakes and Counting, The Old Schoolhouse, Lynotts Jewellers, Pavilions Management Company, Peacocks Lounge and Bar, Wrights Bar, The Cock Tavern, The 44, Swords Shoe Repair, Platinum Barbers, Howard Studios, Paradise Nails, Coffee Works, The Breakroom, The Hair Lounge, Hairs Another Salon, The Cottage, Saks Hair Salon, Beauty Lounge, Boyles Sports, Loaf’t, Integrity Fitness, Glam Salon, Paddy Powers, Gadget Plus, Hanleys, Swords Barbers, Pure Chemist, Peter Mark Hairdressers, Gilsenans Allcare Pharmacy, Swords Eye Centre, The Pound Bar, K 67, McNamara’s Pharmacy Main St

Credit Unions are set to be a key provider of Community Banking in Fingal under new legislation. The Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022 will allow credit unions expand their membership and services in Fingal, a Fine Gael Councillor said. “Fine Gael is committed to ensuring more people own their own homes. It is expected that through this legislation, credit unions will be able to compete more effectively in the mortgage and SME (Small Medium Enterprises) lending market. The Legislation will enhance the ability of Credit Unions to collaborate, share resources and generate economies of scale. This will be significant for local credit unions in Fingal that service the needs of thousands of members and their families in Skerries Balbriggan Rush Lusk Swords and at Dublin Airport.” said Cllr Tom O’Leary. Credit unions like Progressive Credit Union with Branches in Balbriggan, Rush, Swords, Members First Credit Union based in Swords and Aviate Credit Union at Dublin Airport will benefit from these legislative changes. Mortgages at Credit Unions are competitive, for example €381,000 over 35 years. Repayments €1,380 per month at Progressive Credit Union. Cllr Tom O’ Leary was speaking to the people of Fingal following the official commencement of the Credit Union Amendment Act 2023.

“Credit Unions are central to life in Fingal and in Ireland, with approximately 3.6 million members throughout the country,” Cllr Tom O’Leary said. “The commencement of the Act will be phased with Phase 1 having come into effect on Thursday 22nd February 2024, while the commencement of Phase 2 will come into, effect on Monday 8th April 2024.“This Act represents a very significant piece of legislation that will have far-reaching positive implications for Fingal and Ireland overall in the years to come.” Cllr Tom OLeary concluded. The Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022 is the first substantive credit union legislation since 2012, which followed the Commission on Credit Unions.

After a year of extensive works, the Carnegie Free Library in Swords has been officially reopened, marking a key advancement in the extensive Swords Cultural Quarter project currently underway by Fingal County Council. The building, originally established in 1908 and recognised as a Protected Structure, will now function as a dynamic centre for community and arts-related activities. It features a new two-story extension which will enhance accessibility and services. It comes as part of the broader development of the Swords Cultural Quarter. The significant renovation of the site, located on North Street, was made possible thanks to a grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Southern Regional Assembly helped secure €1.5m under the Southern and Eastern Regional Operational Programme for the Swords Castle Cultural and Civic Quarter Project. This grant, together with match funding from Fingal County Council has facilitated much of the conservation and improvement works carried out at Swords Castle and North Street over the past seven years. Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Adrian Henchy, expressed great enthusiasm for the project, saying: “The Carnegie Free Library is a cherished landmark that has stood as a beacon of knowledge and culture in Swords since its inception in 1908. Now as a beautifully refurbished space, we are not just reopening a building but we are investing in the intellectual and artistic future of our community.” Helping to open the Carnegie, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien said: “The Carnegie refurbishment work is a great example of how local authorities can leverage ERDF grants to support the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings and breathe new life into buildings and town centres.” The project received planning approval from the Council in September 2021, with works carried out by the primary contractor for the project, Kelbuild Ltd.

Elite Basketball are delighted to host their Easter basketball camp for all levels, in Gormanston Park Co Meath. It will take place on April 2nd & 3rd for players aged 6-17yrs old. Each player will receive the best class coaching from European professionals as well as US pros. Bring your own ball if possible! We are also delighted to announce that this summer the NBA comes to Ireland and will hosta residential Basketball camp in Dublin and Meath. We will have two of the top current NBA skills trainer in the business who work daily with the top NBA players in the business as well as coaches from the NBA and NCAA flying in to work our camps. Without doubt it promises to be the best camp in the country and already we have bookings from France, Spain, Italy Holland and a group from California already committed. Book your you place ASAP as spaces are limited! Reserve from as little as €100 with payment plan options. euroelitebasketball.com

Fingal County Council is delighted to announce a fantastic new traditional music series “TradFest - the Fingal Sessions”, which is set to air on RTÉ for six weeks which began (Friday 23rd February). It will showcase the spectacular Malahide Castle venue in Fingal. The series was filmed during TradFest 2023 and has already showcased Fingal to an international audience in the United States.The series where you can take a journey through the sounds and stories of Ireland, can be viewed on the primetime RTÉ1 slot of 8.30pm on Friday evenings, and will be available on the RTE Player. Hosted by Fiachna Ó Braonáin and featuring legendary guests Judy Collins, Moya Brennan from Clannad, Eddi Reader, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh from Altan, Ralph McTell, Gemma Hayes, Liam Ó Maonlaí from Hothouse Flowers, Actor Stephen Rea reading the words of Seamus Heaney, Cathy Jordan from Dervish, De Danann founder Frankie Gavin, Niamh Regan and many more come there is certainly a treat in store for traditional music fans with this series. The series was filmed as part of TradFest 2023 when the Ireland’s largest traditional and folk music festival expanded to Fingal for the first time. The TradFest Fingal programme was expanded greatly in 2024 with many sold out events in our historic sites and picturesque locations in the Fingal region as we celebrated and experienced extraordinary live Irish music and culture as well as the new FingalFringe. The pinnacle of the festival was the premiere of “Ocean Child” a newly commissioned musical narrative, composed by Neil Martin based on the tragic tale of the RMS Tayleur and featuring Stephen Rea, Neil and his West Ocean String Quartet, and Louise and Michelle Mulcahy. The wonderful Mulcahy sisters and acclaimed actor Stephen Rea will also feature in the Fingal Sessions series.

We’re delighted to announce the appointment of Paul Farrell and Joe O’Grady as managers of our Junior A and Junior B Ladies football teams respectively. They are looking for players! If you played football before with Syls and would like to return, or you’re new to the area, drop us a line at stsylvesters.dublin@lgfa.ie.

Brilliant effort from A-Team as double door ‘challenge’ is met with a resounding success.

Take a bow John, Frank, Paddy, Noel and Brian for a tremendous day’s work on the allotment canteen. The work involved cutting the shape of double doors out of the existing prefab wall, framing up the opening to accept the double doors and then after lifting them into place, making the doors element proof with expanding foam and weatherproof cladding. Not as simple as it sounds because this required a lot of measuring, cutting, lifting, levelling, spacing, shaving and a little bit of jiggery pokery to ensure that everything lined up and the doors opened and closed as they were meant to do. This was the A-Team performing at its’ best. a tough challenge met with professionalism and no little amount of humour to ensure that despite the challenge, there was plenty of banter and enjoyment. Giving up a day’s work to help improve the lot of everyone demonstrates genuine benevolence and generosity on the part of the A-Team members, however but once again, they delivered a great result for all to see. That’s the A-Team, set them a task and they lap it up and deliver the goods time after time! Well done gents on a stellar day’s work from all of you!

By John Moore, Deputy Principal

The teachers and staff were delighted to welcome the Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD, to St Mary’s recently. Minister Foley came to officially launch our new administration wing ahead of our transition to Co-Ed this September when boys will be welcomed in First Year. During her visit, Minister Foley was given a tour of the school and initially visited our brand-new Pink Home Economics room, which had been officially launched by Celebrity Chef, Donal Skehan. The new kitchen was recently featured on RTE’s Operation Transformation programme when our Transition Year Students cooked a healthy and delicious dish. We were delighted to be able to showcase our brand-new toilets to the Minister and also show her our brand-new Digital Media Room, for which we have received an extremely kind donation of 29 high-spec Apple iMac computers. She then visited various classes to speak to students. In one particular class, she asked a general question – What did students like about St Marys? She received a one-word answer, “Everything”. The Minister was absolutely delighted to hear this answer and the staff couldn’t have been more proud of our students.

Caves Marsh is a very special area in Malahide on the Estuary Road beside the Malahide Dinghy Club. It is an example of a ‘Raised bog’ and very few have survived in Europe. It takes an extra few thousand years for a ‘Bog’ to develop into a ‘Raised Bog’ and most of them have been drained for use in farming etc. Our Caves Marsh is part of a Special Protection Area (SPA) because of the birds that can be found there. Every year the Tidy Towns judges tell us off because we’re not protecting this precious habitat and they are right to do so. We’ve asked the Council to help us to put in measures to better protect this area so that it’s still there for future generations. Unfortunately, that might mean that it is no longer available as a place for walking dogs (or people). The path at the top though is used a lot by pedestrians, especially kids getting to the national school, so we’ve asked that this is kept open. It will mean putting fences around the areas that need protecting - especially near the water. We would beg people to support these changes and respect the need to protect this area from further destruction. We hope to hold some talks over the summer with more information on the rich biodiversity of this small area. We plan to survey it to establish a baseline, compare it to previous surveys with a plan to survey it again in a couple of years to monitor any changes. We are blessed in Malahide with so many beautiful areas, we hope it will be possible to leave this small area aside for nature. As Tidy Towns volunteers, we feel an obligation to attempt to protect this area, people are welcome to disagree but I would ask that they resist the urge to attack members. Thank you.