Congratulations to Lusk ICA drama who are very proud to have been awarded the first place for best Sketch “The Big Surprise” written and directed by Anne Smithers in the ICA Wicklow Drama Festival 2026
We made mobiles valentine trinket boxes and surprise crackers.

We had a truly fantastic and insightful morning at An Grianán Adult Education College. The morning featured an opening address from ICA National President Mary D’Arcy.

We were privileged to hear thought-provoking contributions from:
Anna Ryan from Public Participation Networks
Ejiro Stratton from Hands For Unity
Ivica Milicevic from SOLAS Learning Works
Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, MEP
Alice Doyle of the Irish Farmers’ Association
Katherine O’Leary from the Farmers’ Journal
Siobhán Matthews of Soroptimists
Christine Lodge from Safe Ireland
Mairéad Phelan, ICA National Treasurer and Chartered Engineer

Commoning invites residents of Lusk to take active part in a series of collaborative design and building sessions to create a small social space for, and by, the town of Lusk.

In this project, all members get to be part of the design. No experience in construction or design is necessary, only a willingness to work with and understand others. Join the group, have a cuppa, and be a part of the future of the town! This is an inclusive project and everyone over 18 is welcome. A small pot of funding from the Arts Council and Create has been secured for the initial “research and development” phase, and there are opportunities for more in the near future.

The project is facilitated by architecture[vb] in collaboration with Lusk Community Council.

Architecture[vb] is a partnership between two recent architectural graduates, Jamie and Irene. Our work focuses on collaboration, vernacular materials, sustainability, and shared authorship in architecture. We have both worked with or studied Lusk during the course of our education and are now keen to build on that!

Jamie’s thesis, ‘Understanding the Everyday’, included a workshop with community members in Lusk. He now works for an architecture practice in Dublin that focuses on public architecture. Irene’s recent work includes a collaboration with residents of St Michan’s House in Dublin while specialising in sustainable and vernacular materials, collective ways of building, and permaculture.

The name commoning comes from the Commons - an area of land or resources that belong to and affect a community who manages them collectively. Many of these commons existed in Lusk, as the names of townlands show! commoning builds on this idea and uses ‘bottom-up thinking’ to create something truly by and for the community of Lusk.

Design Sessions: March 28th, April 11th+18th
Prototype Building Sessions: April 25th+26th
Location: Lusk Community Cultural Centre

To let us know about how we can make the sessions more accessible for you or for any questions, please email us at architecture.verb@gmail.com

This project is funded by the Arts Council Artist in the Community Scheme, managed by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts.

Community Led Project to Transform Historic Passage into Biodiversity & Food-Growing Hub

A once-forgotten laneway in the heart of Lusk is set to become the town’s first Urban Park, with the design unveiled at a public meeting on Saturday 21st February in the Lusk Cultural Centre.

The Forgotten Laneway Project began over two years ago when local resident Mark Boland envisioned transforming the neglected passage into a vibrant community space. He was soon joined by two other Lusk residents, Colin Browne and Tara Ryan, and together they set about turning the idea into a deliverable project with the help of Fingal County Council.

The laneway itself forms part of Lusk’s layered history. Over the decades it served multiple purposes within the town including its use by the British Army to access the local remount farm, where horses were trained and prepared for service across the British Empire. Following the construction of the town’s ring road, the route fell into disuse and gradually became forgotten. Now, it is being reimagined as a future-focused community space.

The project team have worked closely with Fingal County Council community department and were granted a licence for the laneway in 2025. A key element of the initiative is the development of a genuine circular economy model. Food scraps from the adjacent HSE community facility will be converted into nutrient-rich compost and used in the park’s raised growing beds where local families will get to grow food sustainably within their own community. This approach reduces waste, supports soil health and promotes sustainable growing practices. After extensive consultation and planning, the team secured €52,000 from the Climate Action Fund, which will be used to enhance biodiversity and promote food growing within the new park. The Climate Action funding also included €12,000 for sustainable lighting for Lusk Athletics, allowing winter training to continue under energy-e icient floodlights. A further €50,000 was secured under the Community Recognition Fund, providing the capital required to start the transformation of the laneway.

With initial funding in place, the group commissioned award winning garden designer Peter Donegan MSGLD to create a design that is inclusive, accessible and biodiversity-rich. The proposed park includes raised growing beds, native planting, pollinator friendly features and community gathering spaces. Accessibility has been central to the design, ensuring the space can be enjoyed by people of all abilities.
Also, as part of the development, a competition will be launched among local art students in the town of Lusk to design a permanent centrepiece for the new Lusk urban park. A donation of €5,000 from the local Tidy Towns has been allocated to create an installation celebrating their 45 years in Lusk and honouring the extraordinary work of the original committee whose e orts helped shape the town.

The unveiling of the designs was held on the 21st of February in the local Cultural centre in Lusk and gave residents an opportunity to view the design, meet the project team and learn how to become involved. The Forgotten Laneway project team hopes the park will serve not only as a green space, but as a wonderful example of sustainable urban regeneration.

Through the Lens camera club are pleased to report very successful sales of our 2026 calendar, and we are delighted to have been able to donate €600 to the Donabate/Portrane Special Olympics group to help them on their way to competing in the 2026 Irish Special Olympics in June ( 18th to 21st ).

The Special Olympics group provides year round sports training, athletic competitions and developmental programmes for their members giving them the opportunity to participate in the sharing of skills and friendships with their families and other Special Olympic groups.

Through the Lens members look forward to cheering them on in the Irish Special Olympics, and getting some good photos, when they compete in June.

Through the Lens provides an informal, friendly and supportive environment to anybody interested in photography, whether it’s learning how to use your camera or how to get better pictures with your smart phone, all levels of photographic skills are catered for. The club is open to all over 18yrs, we meet every second Tuesday in Donabate Golf Club at 7.30pm and anyone interested is welcome to come along and give us a try. Look up our website www.thoughthelens.ie for further information.

Every year, International Women’s Day celebrates the social, cultural, economic and political achievements of women. To mark this year’s event, Lambay Cinema Club will be showing Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story on Thursday March 5th at 8:00pm.

This 2024 documentary features iconic, taboo-breaking Irish Novelist, Edna O’Brien, who definitely made a big cultural and social impact. In archive footage from throughout her career, including her final interview at the age of 93, she reflects on her life and what many would call, extraordinary career, alongside contributions from Jessie Buckley, Gabriel Byrne and Anne Enright.

Defying Ireland’s patriarchal, religious constraints with her 1960 debut novel, The Country Girls, she became a literary sensation. Vilified in Ireland and escaping an abusive husband, O’Brien was a prolific, controversial, taboo-breaking powerhouse who made a fortune and lost one. This film tells the whole story of this remarkable woman.

Tickets cost €10 (€8 for OAPs / Students).

For more information and to get your tickets please go to www.lambaycinemaclub.com.
The Lambay Cinema Club holds monthly screenings at St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Church at The Square, Donabate, K36 Y521.

Members of Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed were saddened to learn of the recent passing of Willie Walsh. We remember Willie as a quiet, but wise man, always cheerful and a true gentleman. He was a regular at our Thursday morning get-togethers until he moved to Beechtree Nursing Home a couple of years ago.

e were proud to be asked by his family to form a guard of honour at the entrance to Donabate Cemetery as the funeral cortege arrived. Willie will be sadly missed by all who had the good fortune of knowing him. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

On a lighter note, Gerry and the Plonkers, the Men’s Shed music groups, have two gigs coming up in March after a quite time since Christmas. The first is a celebration of International Women’s Day in Parlickstown Community Centre. The second, closer to home, is part of the St. Patick’s celebrations in Donabate on Saturday 14th March, which is being organised by Donabate St. Patrick’s Festival Committee. This promises to be a great event for all; so get out and get involved.

Donabate Portrane Men’s Shed had our AGM at the end of last month, too late to include a full report in this article. We’ll have more information for next month’s issue.

The Men’s Shed is in the process of acquiring additional new equipment for use in our weekly exercise classes, led by our own Fintan Delaney. We also continue our weekly croquet outings in Newbridge Park, weather permitting, our regular music practice sessions and our Thursday morning get-togethers in the Scouts’ Den on the Portrane Road. So, if you or someone close to you would like to join us, please call Jim on 086-3694316.

Saturdays:
Feb 28th-NO walk took place due to weather conditions.
Mar 21st-Planned the Royal Canal
April 25th-Planned the Leitrim Blue Way
May 16th-Planned Dunlaoghaire to Dalkey (OR the
Newry Greenway if possible to do a successful reckie before the date!)
Special Day Walking Tour of Dublin City: Tuesday June 16th 2026
(for James Joyce Bloomsday Events)
This year we have some new leaders who have done the GetIrelandWalking 1 Hour Course for to Lead Group Walks!
New! Margaret O’Brien, Rosaleen O’Reilly
Join! Des Carthy, Carolyn Smith, Breda Dockrell, Jim O’Donohoe

Walking is the cheapest and best form of exercise!

A meeting was held recently to finalise routes & details of the Slí na Sláinte project hoping to come to Donabate in the near future.

This initiative started in 2019, then covid hit & we were also waiting on three situations to be resolved - the lights to cross at the entrance to the Links, the lights & new footpath on Turvey Ave & the new footpath at the corner of The Hand Ballisk & Beaverstown.

This small focused group came together for this project to be achieved - so hopefully we are nearly there! Thanks to the hard work in particular of Jennifer Tanner & Dara Carr from Lambay Sports & Athletics Club who have been involved since the start and a number of other people who have put the effort in since the beginning Eilish McDermot, Gerry Kirwan, Peader Bates, and some who have come on board recently to help get the Slí na Sláinte across the line - namely the three local Cllrs Corina Johnson, Eoghan Dockrell & Paul Mulville. Key to bringing this project forward are the Irish Heart Foundation formerly Tara Curran & now Dáire Conway Health Promotion Officer. FCC formally Lourda Darcy and now Aileen O’Connor Parks Superintendent are also instrumental in the success of the project. We will keep you updated!

Funding has been secured for the installation of a Rock Armour Revetment at Burrow Beach, Portrane, to prevent further erosion of this section of coastline which is threatening homes in the area.

The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien TD, and the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Kevin Boxer Moran TD, announced today that €622,703 in funding will be provided by the Office of Public Works towards the €700,000 cost of the emergency works.

Meanwhile, a long-term solution for the protection of the coast at The Burrow will move a step closer on Wednesday when Fingal County Council submits the Burrow Coastal Flooding and Erosion Risk Management Plan (CFERM) to An Coimisiún Pleanála for approval. The CFERM plan has already been the subject of a significant level of analysis and local consultation, and the Council has already received approval for the plan from the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA).

The two ministers were joined by the Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Tom O’Leary, local councillors, the Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, and officials from both the Council and the OPW when they visited Portrane this afternoon to view last week’s damage to the coastline from Storm Chandra and announce the emergency works funding.

The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Tom O’Leary, said: “I am delighted that the Ministers have agreed to provide funding through the OPW towards the €700,000 cost of emergency works at the Burrow. This will hopefully provide further protection for the homes that are under threat until the permanent solution can be constructed.”

The decision to proceed with the emergency works follows consultation between Fingal County Council, the OPW and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage with specialist advice from the Council’s consultants Tetra Tech RPS.

Approximately 300 metres of coastline at the southern end of The Burrow Beach has been identified as the most vulnerable section of the coastline on the peninsula and the rock armour will be installed here.

Donabate Village is getting ready for the very first St Patrick’s Festival and Parade which will be held on Saturday 14 March.

Residents of all ages are warmly invited to come out, line the streets and take part in what promises to be a lively and colourful afternoon for the whole community. The parade will begin at 1.30 pm and will feature local schools, sports clubs, community groups and musicians, all coming together to celebrate our national day and the spirit of Donabate Portrane.

Following the parade, the festivities will continue in the village with music, entertainment and a welcoming festival atmosphere for families and friends to enjoy. This year will also see an Artisan Food Village on the green at St Patrick’s Church, showcasing local food producers, sweet treats and quality coffee, the perfect place to gather and soak up the celebrations.

The St Patrick’s Festival is a special occasion and a wonderful opportunity for neighbours, new residents and long-time locals alike to connect and celebrate together. Organisers are encouraging everyone to walk into the village where possible, wear a splash of green and join in the fun.

Come along, support your local community and help make this year’s St Patrick’s Festival in Donabate a memorable day for all.

Donabate St Patrick’s Festival Committee