The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and local Fingal TD Darragh O’Brien recently granted approval to Fingal County Council for a foreshore licence, foreshore lease and foreshore consent, paving the way for the full development of the Broadmeadow Way. Enabling works are underway at the Broadmeadow Way, a new greenway between Malahide Demesne and Newbridge Demesne via the railway causeway across the Malahide Estuary, and the Ministers consent concludes a detailed application process by Fingal County Council ensuring the shared footpath and cycleway can be developed. Commenting Minister O’Brien said, “This coastal greenway has been a priority for Cllr Eoghan O’Brien, Cllr Ardian Henchy and I for many years. I’m delighted to see it progressing. “Each of us have seen the potential for this project and having recently visited the site and talked through the plans with Fingal County Council I know it will be a magnificent amenity for locals and tourists alike when completed. “Today’s approval is another boost for the project and follows a detailed application by Fingal County Council who must be commended for all their work on this project. “I look forward to the day when I am walking this greenway alongside the families and individuals from our communities,” he concluded.

This past month at Junsa has been busy in our preparation for our upcoming local competition. There will be clubs from all over Dublin and the surrounding areas. This tournament will be a decider to see if some of our players will travel abroad to compete for Junsa. If their performances are good, then they could make the next step to international competition. We have also been focusing on our under 6’s age group, teaching them the basic fundamentals of Taekwondo and hand, foot and eye coordination, skills that will stand to them in life.

The club had without doubt its biggest ever travelling numbers at the end of January when over 90 took part in the Raheny 5 mile. This was followed in February by great participation at the Trim 10 mile, Dungarvan 10 mile and the Donadea 50k. The latter was also the occasion of Peter Doyle’s 100th marathon. It was fitting that he crossed the line with another member of the 100 club , Eddie Hamilton. Daniel O’Brien has been in fine form with multiple podium finishes in recent cross country races. Our 40 day 6am runs started in February so why not join us for a few of the early morning 5k’s this month. Finally, we’re looking forward to the annual Lusk 4 mile on Sunday 3rd March at 3pm. Thanks to all who have been working on the preparations and to those helping out on the day.

The recent weeks have proven to be yet another busy time for our ladies with lots of activities: Nollaig Ña mBan -We thoroughly enjoyed a lovely Nollaig Ña mBan night out in the Shoreline Hotel. We also had a brilliant night bowling in ALSAA and congratulations to one of the winners our own Mary Hickey. Also, recently our Lusk ICA drama ladies did us proud in the recent ICA Wicklow Federation 68th Drama Festival. The adjudicator Alan Howley was very kind to us and our play “Dinner ladies”. Congratulations to Angela O Brien who received a meritorious award. Thanks to Mary Hagan Director, Alma Farrell stage Manager, and Caroline O’Malley on the music and all who helped backstage. Regarding our Swimming ladies, a big thank you to Mary Hickey for the “fascinating dinner evening” on the 10th of February which she hosted for the swimming ladies - who all wore their colourful fascinators and brought along their delightful desserts. We will be back swimming again in May to join the brave ladies who swim most weeks, in Rush and hopefully welcome new members to join us for 2024. Oh and not forgetting our recent Chow Mein and laughter nigher with a superb Chinese meal hosted by Maria Baird following our success in the drama. Our future plans are very exciting too. Plans are in place for Lusk ICA to take part in Fingal County Council’s. International Women’s Day in the Lusk Cultural Centre on 8th March. We are all looking forward our invitation to Farmleigh House and Estate which is being organized by Eoghan Dockrell of Fine Gael. In April, 20 of our ladies will travel for 2 nights to the European Parliament in Brussels which is being organized by Senator Lorraine Clifford Lee together with Darragh Gallagher, assistant to Barry Andrew’s MEP.

On January 21st the Lusk Ladies Shed took part in the ICA Wicklow Federation Drama Festival with a comedic sketch written by Anne Quane titled ‘Pilgrimage to Knock’. Tracy O’Mahony and Catherine Hogan played the parts of ‘Mary’ and ‘Bridie’, two faithfully religious women endeavouring on their yearly trip to Knock Shrine, County Mayo. Sandra Conlan and Mary Bermingham played the part of ‘Shelly’ and ‘Denise’, two brazen women who believe they are going to watch a Chippendale performance. Samya Berridjdal acts as the Travel Agent working in the agency where all the ladies arrive into to venture on their trip, and to her shock they have completely different ideas of what the trip to Knock will entail. The comedic sketch won a meritorious award for the script writer Anne Quane and the Lusk Ladies Shed performers won an award for ‘Best Costumes’. Special thanks to Director Anne Smithers and prompter Leona Donagher for their support in ensuring the ladies’ successful performance.

Cllr Brian Dennehy has welcomed the FCC strategic land acquisition at Blakes Cross. He said, “At the February full council meeting of Fingal County Council under item 19A it was agreed that Fingal County Council take possession of 12.32 acres adjacent to Blakes Cross. The land acquisition is very welcome, and it is an action I had requested FCC to carry out due to the strategic positioning of the site along with the potential to carry out the badly needed road upgrades required at the junction.

The positive potential the site offers is both seismic and potentially life changing to the commuters who use the junction daily. A firm of consultants, Roughan and O’Donovan consulting engineers have recently been appointed to provide engineering, planning and environmental services for the Blakes Cross Junction Upgrade, to provide a safer junction layout that caters for both motorised traffic and active travel modes of transport such as walking and cycling.

This will also include the areas along the R132 encompassed by the Road Safety Audit carried out in 2022. The acquisition of the land is very timely considering the appoint of the Consultants and the new acquisition will allow the area required to carry out the major upgrade required by giving safety to the residents of Lusk, Rush and Skerries as they transverse the junction on their commute as well as providing further safety to residents of traveling north to the Rural villages including Ballyboughal and Oldtown. In time this acquisition will be seen as one of the key and most important actions carried out in the north county area by Fingal County Council in order to bring safety measures to the enormous volume of commuters who pass through the extremely dangerous junction on a regular basis.”

Cllr Rob O’Donoghue tabled a motion at the February Area Committee seeking that provision be made to widen the footpath from the Rush Roundabout in Lusk to the Rush-Lusk Train Station. Residents have been vocal in their concerns that the footpath is narrow and dangerous to walk on and unsuitable for parents and children accessing the local childcare facility on Station Road. At the meeting O’Donoghue was informed that works on the delivery of the Rogerstown Estuary Masterplan are ongoing and the provision of a walking/cycling link between Lusk and Rogerstown Park via the Rush/Lusk Train Station is being pursued in association with the master planning process for the park in line with the Fingal Biodiversity Action Plan 2023 – 2030.The draft masterplan is currently being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency in the context of an Aftercare Plan for the park as it used to be a landfill. The EPA’s response will inform the next stages of the master planning process for Rogerstown Park and the walking/cycling link to Lusk. Fingal County Council is also currently seeking consent from the EPA to open Rogerstown Park to the public on Saturdays and Sunday hopefully in 2024.Commenting on the issue, Cllr O’Donoghue stated, ‘it is good news that the cycle/walkway link to Lusk is included in the Rogerstown Masterplan. The walk from Lusk to the station currently can be treacherous, particularly in the winter due to its narrow nature. This masterplan will give us scope to make the pathway safer for pedestrians and cyclists looking to access both to the station and the park. I look forward to to keeping the pressure on to have the Parks opening hours extended to a Sunday, and the response from the EPA, so we can finally look to upgrade the link to the train station for pedestrians and cyclists.’

Fingal County Council recently announced plans to build 18 houses on the green space in Orlynn Park. The site was zoned for residential development back in 1999. A campaign and motion to redesignate the area as Green Space in last year’s development plan failed. Under the Minister’s new Planning & Development Bill 2023 (Section 179A) this piece of land is exempt from the regular planning process which means that there is no opportunity for the public to make observations. We currently have nearly 500 houses under construction in the town with an existing population of 10,000, 3,300 under 17’s and are the fourth most densely populated town in Ireland. The facilities to support this population have not been provided. In a survey we conducted last year was stark reading with Lusk coming bottom of the list in every single category when compared to towns of similar sizes in the country.

Education, community facilities, sports facilities, medical, legal, supermarkets, shops, restaurants, bars, things to do, tourism, theatres, libraries, festivals, Lusk came last in every category. Communities need spaces for social interaction, cultural activities, and community gatherings to thrive. Insufficient facilities can lead to a decline in community engagement and cohesion. A town of 10,000 people without a single restaurant is an indictment of our local authorities’ poor planning. People in the community have been working hard for years to improve our town, the one barrier that we always meet is the lack of any space left. Mens shed, community gardens, basketball nets, farmers markets ( given our location as one of the biggest food producers in the country) to name but a few that cannot be accommodated.

In this context, the taking of this green space is nonsensical. Lusk Action Group will be opposing this in the strongest possible way. Our LAG AGM will take place on Monday 4th March at 7.30pm in the Cottage community centre. All are welcome to attend. If you are interested in joining our committee, please contact us at luskactiongroup@gmail.com

LSA Juvenile athletes did our club proud in the recent Dublin Indoor Championships, with superb performances and two Dublin titles amid a host of of personal bests from our participating athletes. Michelle Branigan opened the LSA medal table with a Bronze in the Under 19 400m. There was more excitement as Sinéad Farrell took Silver in the 1500m with a new Personal Best of 4:57. 83. This was soon followed by Éabha O’Farrell who set a Personal Best in the Under 18 400m heats, backed up by another Personal Best of 1:02.8 to take the gold in the final. Éabha went on to add a bronze medal to her collection with a third place finish in Under 18 High Jump! Suzie Linkiewicz brought the LSA medal tally to five with a Bronze in the Under 19 200m and a superb Gold in the U19 60m with a Personal Best of 7. 95s.Michelle, Sinéad, Éabha and Suzie now progress to the National Championships in April. Our youngest competitor, Kate Jones, continued to show great promise as she took on the full range of indoor run, jump and throw events in the Under 12 age group. We were also very proud to see Frank Richardson, Maria Sheridan, Lily Maher, Laoise Farrell, Leon Capocci, Mark Kelly, Daniel Minto, Leá Hubert and Francesca Marchanka represent LSA on the track, and Leá also take on High Jump. We look forward to seeing everyone progress as the Outdoor season approaches. We always welcome new members and volunteers. If you want to help please contact us anytime at lambaysportsathletics@gmail.com Little Athletics and Juvenile athletes (from age 7-18) please contact lsajuvenilereg@gmail.comKeep up to date on all the events by following LSA on our social media pages! Facebook - facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy Instagram instagram.com/lsadonabateportrane/ - twitter.com/LSARunning Please also visit our website lambaysportsathletics.ie/

Community Engagement: EggHeadz hosted Suicide or Survive (SOS) Wellness Workshop for adults. The free daylong event provided attendees with the knowledge, skills and tools to help them take charge of their own mental health. International Women’s Day (IWD 2024) – EggHeadz will celebrate ‘Women’s Mental Health, Well-being and Sport’ at our event on March 8th. All are very welcome to attend, so please register now or very soon online.

Activities, Events & Services: Youth Active Social Sessions - EggHeadz hosts weekly social sessions for young people that take place outdoors and are free to attend. Social runs take place on Sunday mornings 10am at Newbridge House, led by Jason Dignam. It’s free, fun and everyone is welcome.

Darkness Into Light – VOLUNTEERS and Save The Date. Donabate Portrane is now an official participant of Darkness Into Light for Pieta House. We are seeking volunteers, so please get in touch to help marshal on the day. This a truly uplifting event which takes place in communities nationwide on 11th May 2024. FREE Youth Counselling takes place every week. Contact Mairead on 086-329 6812 or by email eggheadzcounselling@gmail.com to book an appointment. Tween & Teen Workshops: Our ‘Tween Love and Kindness Workshop’ on 15th February (11 – 14 yrs) took place over midterm, 17 young people attended and enjoyed the afternoon. EggHeadz hosts a variety of workshops monthly for Tweens and Teens focused on relaxation, health and wellness. Workshops include jewellery making, kayaking, yoga, wellness workouts, crystal energy, pottery painting, nutrition, meditation and exam anxiety. NEW Website: We’re delighted to announce we have a NEWcalled Egghead website. Visit eggheadz.ie to learn all about us and everything we do.