In the realm of sport, the birth of a new club is an exciting time and such is the case as Lusk Ravens Basketball embarks on its inaugural season. Six new teams will complete their first ever season in Dublin leagues this year, Men’s senior team, Women’s senior team, Masters team, Boys under 14, Girls under 14, Boys under 13 in addition to an academy catering for younger players. An extraordinary amount of work has gotten the club to this point and we are delighted to be able to provide Basketball to our community. Thank you to all the coaches and volunteers who have made this happen. We would like to thank Lusk National School for hosting the club. Basketball is an expensive sport and none of these teams would be possible without our sponsors: Murray’s Pub - David Mulcahy Engineering - The Top Shop - North County Fitness - KP Windows -Ciuin Wellness - Showbiz Academy - Aidan Cullen Home Renovations - M.R Concrete - Apollo Electrical and Film Equipment Hire Ireland. Thank you so much for your support which is deeply appreciated. Go Ravens Go!

As we say goodbye 2023 it is worthwhile looking back at progress made in the town during the year. There were a number of highlights on the Council side of things. After much turmoil and debate the new Fingal Development Plan came into effect in the Spring. Despite a number of motions that would seek to massively expand the town, with no benefit to social infrastructure for the people of Lusk, I was able to lead the charge in defeating all of these motions and leaving the zoning map as it had been in the previous Development Plan. I couldn’t have done this without the tenacity of our great community organisations in the town coming together to oppose these motions. Following on from this, I was able to advocate for Lusk to be chosen for the Town Centre First Scheme and we have now established the Pillar Groups from community organisations in the town. We will receive the new Town Centre First Plan in January of 2024 and can use this a map for the provision of much needed additional infrastructure for Lusk, which will be guided by Lusk organisations for Lusk people. The Town Plan will allow us to apply for funding streams to deliver a number of projects outlined in the document. It was also great to see the handover of the lands to the north of the Lusk Sports Hub. This land, now that it is in charge of FCC will allow us to finally develop out the long-promised sporting facilities that the Lusk Sports Group have been working diligently towards for many years and I look forward to 2024 to champion this project.
Finally, I would like to pay tribute to our wonderful Community Organisations in the town, based on their hard work and dedication to the town that makes me optimistic for delivering for Lusk in 2024.

2023 saw the Community Council develop and extend its services across its community facilities while also making major strides in Town Centre First planning for our town. Our current activities focus on Health & Wellbeing, Art & Creativity, Biodiversity and Sustainability, Community Networking, Cultural and Historic Events, Education Grinds, Youth Services, Dance, Judo and Martial Arts as well as Corporate Events and Training. The Cottage Community Centre, Saint Macullin’s Centre, the Carnegie Library Community Hall and our newly developed Cultural Centre host this array of activities and we want to thank all our customers for their support and commitment. Activities in our community facilities typically happen 7 days a week. This represents huge commitment and hard work by our staff and volunteer directors who make things happen. Special thanks go to our staff and all our volunteers who deliver when needed. Christmas Tree Lights Ceremony, Halloween, Fingal Inclusion Week, International Women’s Day, Saints & Scholars St. Patrick’s Weekend, St. Brigit’s Day, Africa Day and Culture Night, are just some of the highlight events that the Community Council organised during the year. 2023 saw our Lusk Vision 2030 being updated to create a Town Plan and the establishment of a new Town Team being supported by Community, Enterprise and Public Realm pillars. This new Town Plan will be critically important in driving future investment and development of new facilities for our growing population. The Community Council has developed Phase 2 plans for the Cultural Centre site. The aim is to develop a community campus which will extend from the Cottage Community Centre to Saint Macullin’s Centre and Round Tower complex to the Cultural Centre site. The phase 2 Cultural Centre design includes a multi-purpose performance space and outdoor market courtyard. Moving this project forward to development will be a key 2024 priority. Safety and anti-social issues continue to be a major concern in our community. In 2023 the Community Council applied to a Community Safety Innovation Fund and was successful. This project will look to new ways to address anti-social issues in Lusk.

2023 was another successful year for LSA. We are an Athletics club based on the Donabate/Portrane peninsula, founded in 2011. We now have almost 460 members, over half of those are children and teenagers. Last year our athletes competed in Dublin, Leinster, Schools and National Championships; European U20 Championships; World and European Masters Championships; numerous road races, mountain races, and marathons at home and across the world. We also have a National Record Holder Under 20. Other notable events were a successful road race in May, a Summer Camp in July, and the first sod turned on our future home in August. We are a friendly growing club, run by volunteers. Our members log thousands of kilometres across the peninsula and beyond, at a wide range of paces and there is a big welcome for everyone who likes to keep active. We always welcome new members and volunteers. If you would like to get involved please contact us - details below: For any Adult memberships queries please contact us 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! On Facebook please contact us on .facebook.com/lambaysportsacademy or contact us on Instagram at our Instagram site on instagram.com/lsadonabateportrane/ Twitter twitter.com/LSARunning Please also visit our website lambaysportsathletics.ie/

Leithinis Donabate Portrane CCE held their Annual General Meeting on November 20th. We would like to thank the members who attended and who also volunteered to join the Committee. We are a small branch and are delighted with the extra help. The meeting was also attended by Mary Whelan, outgoing Cathaoirleach of Dublin County Board CCE. Mary was presented with a bouquet of flowers as a thank you for all the guidance and advice she gave us since our very first meeting and over the past few years. We wish Mary the very best of luck. Some of our Junior and Adult Members played at the Annual Christmas Fete in the Educate Together National School on the 26th of November. It was a great opportunity for us to showcase our branch and for our members to play some tunes together. We also played a few tunes at the turning on of the Christmas Tree Lights on Portrane Green. Well Done to all the volunteers involved, the tree looked fantastic. The Dublin ‘Tradfest’ will be held on the 24th to the 28th of January. Some of Ireland’s best traditional musicians will be playing in venues across Dublin including our Parish Hall on the 28th when our very own Donabate Portrane local Gerry O’Connor, Banjo player with the Dublin Legends will be playing in the Parish Hall on the 28th. Our classes are back up and running in January. If you are interested in learning to play a traditional Irish instrument such as the Fiddle, the Tin Whistle .and the Bodhran, Banjo, Flute, Concertina, and Accordion. You can please contact us on line at leithinis@comhaltas.net and we will get back to you.

At the end of November, Gerry and the Plonkers (the Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed music group) played a free lunch-time concert in Donabate Parish Hall. All who attended enjoyed the music, the sambos and the tea. Many thanks to the Parish Hall Committee for sponsoring the wonderful sandwiches from Cate’s Café and to Evaleen, Tatiana, Breda, Kay and Martina, who made and served the tea and coffee. Although between 30 and 40 people attended, we trust these lunch-concerts will become regular events and for bigger audiences next time. Great oaks from little acorns grow. Last month, the Men’s Shed had their once yearly Christmas Dinner in Keeling’s pub. A great night was had by all, a hearty meal followed by a fabulous after-dinner sing-song of all our old favourites, ably led by Peter Cooney, Tony McArdle and Willie Cahill. Although things are relatively quiet at our allotments, our usual weekly activities continue - our exercise classes, croquet, musical jam sessions and our regular Thursday morning get-togethers in Donabate Scouts’ Den. Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed wishes our community and all who have supported us over the past year, a peaceful and healthy New Year. If you’d like to join us, please call our PRO, Jim, on 086-3694316. New members are always welcome.

What a busy year this has been. A full year without Covid or Lock downs. We started the year on a sad note with the death of our Chairperson Philippa Coady RIP. Her wisdom and kindness were sorely missed. A new Committee was elected and we Registered members for classes. What a response, we had queues out the door, everyone anxious to get back to normal. Here are some of the highlights of the year: the first would be our Bealtaine Celebration – The Bealtaine Miscellany - our choir the Caintóirí gave a short concert with the Rosemount Singers from Julianstown followed by readings from the Chinkwell writing group and Peig McManus who read from her brilliant memoir I Will Be Good. It was a most enjoyable celebration. We had a wonderful Fun Croquet Day with The Men’s Shed in the summer, refreshments were served and a rematch has been promised. Then in October we had Positive Aging Day where we invited people to come and sing with the Caintóirí and we were joined by Gerry & the Men’s Shed Plonkers and writers from Chinkwell & Peig McManus. The Ukulele group also played. Inclusion Day in November was a great success. A Dementia Friendly Coffee Morning. It was organised with DPCC with presentations from The Alzheimer Society who gave a most informative talk. Followed by music from The Cáintoiri and the Plonkers and refreshments were served. Our Carol Concert as usual was a welcome start to the Christmas Celebrations with a Raffle in aid of St Francis Hospice. It was standing room only! The non-alcoholic Mulled Wine and Mince Pies were much appreciated. So Happy 2024, and we have some dates for your diary: ONLINE REGISTRATION for current members will open from the 5th to the 8th of January for those who wish to register early. REGISTRATION for everyone will be DPCC on the 10th & 11th of January from 11.00 to 14.00 AGM is on the 19th of January at 11.00 a.m. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and we look forward to 2024. For any information about Active Age email activeageforall@gmail.com.

Happy New Year to all our walkers! Most of our walks are between 8-12km and mainly on the flat. We do once a month walks for about 8 months of the year, we try hard to use public transport mainly trains but sometimes we must use cars. We repeat walks as it is as much about - fitness & fun as the route taken! We have been to e.g. Poolbeg, Bull Island, Howth, Virginia, Boyne Board Walk, Rush Beach, Donabate Portrane Peninsula & the recent walk below in Clogherhead. Our next walk is Carlingford on Sat 6th Jan 2024!

I am Eoghan Dockrell, a first-time local election candidate and I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and set out my priorities. I grew up on the Portrane - Donabate peninsula and have recently moved back to Donabate. I count myself very fortunate to have grown up here; however, many of the problems we now face should have been foreseen by those planning the development of our community. Fingal County Council has a central role to play in how our peninsula is developed. I believe too much emphasis has been put on the development of large-scale housing estates, yet we still don’t have adequate social and cultural infrastructure. For a population our size, we should have better, more reliable transportation links. We should have better childcare facilities and not have young families traveling long journeys to drop off their children. We should have a dedicated cultural centre and performance space for local groups to use (musicians, artists, our drama society). We should have more Community Gardaí given how rapidly our area is growing. These are the issues that I’m prioritising. Our elected councillors are responsible for holding the executive of our local authority to account and this includes pushing for developing our community in a balanced and sustainable way. In my view, that hasn’t happened; In other areas of Fingal, outside of Portrane and Donabate, you see towns with similar populations that have more social and cultural infrastructure. If elected, I promise to bring new energy to the Council. I’ve already started working on the issues I’ve mentioned by making representations to the Council on behalf of residents of Donabate and Portrane. I have also been in contact with An Garda Síochána to discuss policing matters on the peninsula and how we can have more community Gardaí assigned to our area. In the coming months I will continue to meet as many people on the peninsula as possible in the hope of earning your support. Please contact me at: eoghandockrellfg@gmail.com if you have any issues, you need help with.

The newly formed Community Singing Group rocked around Donabate Villages Christmas Tree in early December, as Mayor of Fingal, Cllr. Adrian Henchy turned on the Christmas lights. The group only began singing together in October and entertained everyone with a medley of Christmas Favourites, under the musical direction of Aine Daly. Meeting every Wednesday evening in Donabate Community Centre, the group welcomes everyone who enjoys a sing song, no auditions or talent required just a willingness to have fun and meet new friends The group also helped to raise funds for the Simon community by singing in Powerscourt Townhouse and St, Stephens Green Shopping Centre later in December.