This two-day event, with exhibition, talks, music and film, will commemorate the 170th anniversary of the tragic sinking of the RMS Tayleur ship off the coast of Lambay Island in 1854 with the loss of nearly 400 lives. The Tayleur has been referred to as the “First Titanic Shipwreck”. The event will be held on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd this month (February 2024). Donabate Parish Hall and Donabate Portrane Historical Society have come together to put on this special event. We will be charging €5 for each evening event and will sell tickets in advance to all interested groups. A limited number of tickets will be available to individuals and will be available for buy from 7pm to 8pm on Tuesday, 6th February in Committee Room in Donabate Parish Hall. We are delighted and very grateful that we have sponsorship to cover the main costs of the event from Martin Harte CEO of Temple Bar Company, who runs the hugely popular TradFest, which came to Donabate for the first time last month and was a great success. Any surplus from ticket sales will be donated to the RNLI Lifeboat. The Programme of the Event in Summary is as follows: Wed 21st February - 11 30am - 12 00noon: Eithne O Connell who lived on Lambay & Laddie De Jong a diver will open the exhibition of artifacts from the Tayleur Ship & chat with adults present. Light Refreshments. 12 00noon - 2 00pm: Playing & Singing by Men’s Shed “Gerry & the Plonkers” to include Sea Songs. 7 00pm - 8 00pm: Reception & Viewing artifacts, with historians and divers present, opened by the Mayor of Fingal, Adrian Henchy. (Ticket Only) 8 00pm - 10 00pm: Talks on Lambay Island Eithne O’Connell raised on the Island and Edward Bourke author & diver on the Tayleur. Cormac Lowth and Laddie De Jong will also be there on the night. Local historian, Peadar Bates, will close proceedings on the night. (Ticket Only) Thurs 22nd February 11 00am - 2 00pm: Local Primary School visits (By Invitation Only) – 7 00pm - 8 00pm: Viewing of artifacts, with historians and divers present (Ticket Only) – 8 00pm - 10 00pm: Screening of “A Night to Remember” (1958 Film), reputed to give the best account of the Titanic Tragedy. The Tayleur has been called “White Star Line’s First Titanic”. For general information about Donabate Parish Hall, please contact the Parish Office at 01- 8434574.

January was a very busy month with Registration for classes and classes starting. Registration was very successful with some classes full in the first 30 minutes. We had online Registration for the first time and many managed this very well. But still it was nice to see everyone at our in-person Registration days. We still have some places left in Yoga, Art, Singing & Music Functional Yoga (Chair Yoga) and our language classes Intermediate French and Beginners and Intermediate Spanish so please contact us if you are interested, see our website for details activeageforall.com We held our AGM on the 19th of January and we had a very good attendance! A new Committee was elected and Mary Farrell wished them well for the future as she finished her term as Chairperson Breda Dockrell, a founding member of Active Age gave a very interesting presentation at the meeting, titled The Beginnings of Active Age - A Record for Posterity, as we are now just 10 years since the first seeds of Active Age took root. This presentation was very well received by her audience. It is amazing how we have grown from such small beginnings, mainly through the foresight of those early founders and carried on by other dedicated members of the Community. We have gone from strength to strength with 250 members at the last count. If you would like to help or serve on the Committee, we are always looking for willing volunteers, please contact us. As always for any information about AAfA please email activeagefor@gmail.com. TEXT only 0868806808 or view our website activeageforall.com.

A lack of facilities is a significant concern for residents in Donabate and Portrane. The Donabate Local Area Plan allows for 4,000 additional residential units to be built in the coming years. While increased housing supply is very welcome, we should equally be pushing for better facilities. Our local authority should approve planning applications by developers on the condition that adequate sporting and social infrastructure are part of their application. Fingal currently has no public swimming pool. There has been an ongoing campaign to have a public swimming pool built in Fingal for many years. With the population of Fingal now at over 170,000, this is not an unreasonable or overly ambitious proposal. And given that a significant number of houses that are being built in north county Dublin are planned for Donabate, we have as good a claim as any other area for a pool to be located on the peninsula. By comparison, Leitrim has a population of 35,000 and has two public swimming pools. A pool in Donabate could cater for residents here and nearby towns. While the pop-up pool that was in the car park of the community centre in Donabate was a great temporary addition, we should be advocating for a permanent facility. The pop-up pool demonstrated that there is huge interest in swimming on the peninsula. I have written to the Minister for Sport making enquiries regarding the Large-Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) and how communities can best access funds under this scheme. A public pool is a proposal I will continue to advocate for at local and national level. If you want me to keep you updated on this campaign or if you would like me to share with your correspondence or responses I receive from State Agencies, please email me: eoghandockrellfg@gmail.com.

Corina Johnston, the Labour Party Local Area Representative for Donabate and Portrane said recently, “I am pleased that a Motion submitted on my behalf by my colleague Cllr O’Donoghue and co-signed by Cllrs. Mulville and Henchy was unanimously passed at a recent Council meeting. The motion recommended that a site within the Ballymastone/Corballis area of Donabate and in the ownership of the Council, be identified and designated as the site Cultural/Arts/Youth/Multifunctional Community facility meeting. I am however disappointed with the Council’s response and while acknowledging the council’s commitment to relocate the library from the Community Centre to the recently acquired Credit Union site to free up additional community space this will not meet needs of the current and future residents of our peninsula. Duncan Smith TD and I held a public meeting in October 2023 to outline our ongoing campaign for the provision of such a facility within the Ballymastone/ Corballis lands. The well attended meeting endorsed our objective and a committee (DP Crossroads) has since been formed. At the meeting we outlined that the Donabate LAP facilitates the growth of the population of the peninsula to 20,000 with 3000 housing units in Ballymastone and Corballis within the next decade. The LAP supports the provision of a Community/ Cultural/ Exhibition and Performing Arts Centre for Donabate/Portrane and encourage the development of multi - functional community buildings which are not used exclusively designed for any one group. According to Census 2022 41% of the population of the peninsula are under 30 years of age. There are over 30 active Arts, Cultural and Youth groups on the peninsula who have no permanent home. It is apparent from the response that FCC are not in favour of providing a site for the Centre. It seems that it is acceptable to FCC that Donabate can grow to a population of 20,000 people but not provide the necessary infrastructure to support the needs of the current and future population. This is totally unacceptable to me and contrary to the LAP. It is imperative that a site for this much needed community infrastructure be ringfenced as a matter of urgency before there’s not a suitable blade of grass not built upon. FCC undertook to meet the Crossroads group on this matter in the near future.”

Recently Balbriggan FC had the pleasure of hosting Balbriggan native Diane Caldwell, the talented and experienced Republic of Ireland and FC Zürich Frauen defender. Diane generously shared her knowledge and expertise with the players, providing invaluable insights and tips on the game. She also took the time to take pictures and sign autographs. It was fantastic to have such an outstanding player visit the club and a memorable experience for all of us.

Well done to Balbriggan men’s youth players Conor O’Grady, Max Downey and Seamus Whelan who represented Leinster North East in the Shane Horgan Cup against Leinster South East at Energia Park recently. It was a cracking match which saw both sides level, 22 v 22 with just minutes to go. A penalty kick saw the North East take the lead 25 v 22. And with seconds on the clock, the North East went over for their final try of the day, which, with the conversion added, brought the full-time score to 32 v 22 for the North East. Well done to the North East Squad and their coaches and the Balbriggan players on a great performance. Not to be outdone the U18AB girls played their first match of the 23/24 league recently with a win on the road against a strong Barnhall side. A very competitive game with strong carries, defensive lines and great communication. The girls kept their heads, worked very hard for each other and secured the well-deserved win. Special mention to Fiona Odige who went off injured in the last 10 minutes after a stand-out performance and we wish her a speedy recovery. Congratulations girls and keep up the good work. Last but definitely never least, congratulations to The Stingers Tag Team who lined out at half time at the Aviva Stadium recently. Many of the Stingers team also are members of Remember Us Balbriggan and are very special players within the club.

Balbriggan Youth Theatre is looking for facilitators. Do you have a theatre related talent and are interested in forming part of a creative team? Location will be Balbriggan Library. Email Raquel.MurilloDiestro@fingal.ie for more information.

Councillor Brendan Ryan (Labour) has been highlighting the additional problems facing housing applicants with larger families in the Balbriggan area over the last number of months. “It is bad enough having to wait up to ten or twelve years on a waiting list to get to an offer zone before being told that you have to wait several years longer because there are no four bedroom units available” he said. “This is the reality for many housing applicants in Balbriggan today” he added. Cllr Ryan added, “I am pushing for more four bedroom units to be provided in every housing development that is planned for Balbriggan in the near future to ensure that applicants with larger families are not disadvantaged. I have also made the case that three bedroom houses could be offered, at least on a temporary basis, until the bigger houses come on stream.”

Balbriggan Feis syllabus and Bracken Court Hotel accommodation offer is now available (please see our attached photo) The Timetable of events will be confirmed on FB when WeFeis entries close on February 2nd 2024. The Organisers have also asked if all perpetual prize winners can please arrange to return their prizes to Damien & Ann before the Feis please? They have also asked that teachers are reminded to pre-enter figure teams.

Balbriggan Meals on Wheels were thrilled to be awarded 2023 Community Heroes of the Year at Balbriggan Town Awards at the end of the year. We would like to extend a huge gratitude to everyone involved in the Town Awards for this recognition. It is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work of our wonderful team of Volunteers who work tirelessly to help us out at all levels within our organisation. Our volunteer directors, drivers, kitchen assistants and our fundraising committee all donate their very valuable time to contribute to the smooth running of Balbriggan Meals on Wheels.We also would like to extend an enormous thank you to all those who, throughout the year, fundraised for us, gave us monetary donations, attended our fundraising events and contributed to our food appeals. To all those local businesses, organisations and individuals who helped us in any way, we are extremely grateful. Without your help we could not keep the service going. We look forward to serving the community of Balbriggan throughout 2024.