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

After a short Christmas and New Year’s break Junsa Taekwondo are back in action and are preparing for the new Taekwondo season ahead. Even though we train experienced athletes our main goal is to nurture the young students that are up and coming, while sparring competition is not for everyone Taekwondo has so many components to it that there’s nearly something for everyone in Olympic Taekwondo. If it’s to build confidence, get fit, become a black belt, become a poomsae expert, International athlete, Olympic Champion or just have fun doing a great sport we can do it at Junsa Taekwondo

It’s been a hectic start to the New Year with Round 1 and 2 of the National Indoor League as well as the Master’s Cross-Country event in Raheny all taking place in the first two weeks of January. Welcome to our latest Fit4Life group and if you’re thinking about it there’s still time to sign up. Our 6am 5k runs will start from 14th February so watch our social media for details. The annual Lusk 4 mile event takes place on Sunday 3rd March so why not sign up to run or walk. Well done to Conor McGuirk who competed at the Celtic Cross Country Championships in Scotland finishing in 10th place to help secure a bronze medal for Ireland. Congratulations to Conor and his coaches.

Our Nursery, LGFA, AMFC, GAA Boys and Girls at Lusk Round Towers GAA Club would like to invite new members to play GAA – Please Get in Touch! Great Fun to be had. Check our website for non-player/player membership of the Round Towers roundtowerslusk.ie Parents and Mentors – We need your help and support! Round Towers are progressing through our Club Development Programme with many different initiatives and wider projects to upgrade our facilities for all ages to enjoy the GAA game. We welcome your comments, ideas and or support that you can offer. Please get in touch through our online networks, club website and or Facebook. Community Facilities: ManO’War and Round Towers Lusk GAA clubs are calling on all members and friends in our communities to support our campaign for the inclusion of an all-weather floodlit facility incorporating a full-sized GAA pitch in the development of community facilities by Fingal County Council. This is an essential community facility to help our teams play, train and develop throughout the year. Round Towers Minor Boys Great achievement by the team and coaching staff on reaching the championships Final this year. [pic] Round Towers Girls U13 Congratulations to the girls and management on their hard work in their championship efforts for Round Towers. It was a hard-fought battle right the very end and it was not to be. Thanks to everyone from the team, coaches, parents and all who are involved. The Adult Men’s Football: The Round Towers Adult men’s fist team won their final game against Fingallians Football team on the 3rd December in an epic game. They have achieved promotion to the top in division for the first time in Round Towers history. Well done to all the team, coaching staff and Management. A special thanks to our sponsors Local Solicitor, Mr Liam Fitzgerald. We also have a Traditional Music Night - The Traditional Music on the last Tuesday of the months has been a huge success and would like to continue these nights and enjoy a musical evening with Friends and new members of the Round Towers Club. Lotto – Our Weekly Lotto is in excess of €12,500. This is a crucial fundraiser for the club and you can play here at klubfunder.com/Clubs/Round_Towers_Lusk/lotto Draw in Club Thursday @9pm.

There was a wonderful turnout for the launch of ‘Lusk Faces and Places’ local history publication by Lusk natives Dermot, Patsy and Christy Russell. The formal launch at Lusk Community, Cultural Centre by local man Mr. Jim Finnegan was a huge success, with Mayor of Fingal Mr. Adrian Henchy in attendance and a great gathering of local people and original Lusk people returning to renew acquaintances, and many more from local towns and villages and from further afield, all enjoyed a lovely afternoon at the launch of what has become a very popular publication. Books are available in Howley’s Butchers Lusk, Boylan’s Butchers Rush and Skerries Mills Gift Shop or by contacting us on line at: dpr.dub@gmail.com patsyrussell3@gmail.com or russmcken@gmail.com.

Rush Tidy Towns committee launched their 2024 calendar on Friday the 17th of November in the Strand Bar Rush. Minister Joe O’Brien did the honours and Councillor Rob O’Donohue was also present on the night. The calendar is in its third year now, was put together through a photography competition and depicts scenes from many aspects of Rush from coastal views to agriculture. There were 10 winning photographers each receiving a calendar as a prize. Project manager Diana O’Donohue tells us that the calendar is now available for sale in several shops around the town and also the Community Centre. Diana added that this is an important fundraiser for Rush Tidy Towns and every cent of profit goes back into the community through our projects in the town. Please buy one and maybe one also for friends or family who are abroad as a reminder of the beauty of this part if Fingal,

Cllr Rob O’Donoghue tabled a motion at the January Area Committee seeking an update on the environmental screening and plans for the build out of sporting facilities at the Lusk Sports Hub. The report to the motion stated that “an “Appropriate Assessment” process for the proposed Recreational Hub at Rathmore Park in Lusk concluded that the Hub did not “Screen Out”. Accordingly, the Council has arranged for the preparation of a Natura Impact Assessment (NIS) with a view to having the Hub proposals submitted for approval to An Bord Pleanála in Quarter 1 of 2024.” O’Donoghue stated that ‘I am delighted that the assessment was returned quickly, and that the Hub was found to have not ‘screened out’. The clubs and stakeholders on the Lusk Sports Group have been working hard towards the development of the Hub for sporting activities for the best part of a decade and their patience and dedication to the cause is something to be commended. That we have been given a timeline for applying for planning permission to build out the Hub makes me feel as if there is light at the end of the tunnel for this much needed project to service the community in Lusk. It is my fervent hope that this timeline can be realised, and the needs of the committee can come to fruition as soon as possible. As my motion wasn’t taken at the January meeting, I will be keeping the pressure on when I get to speak to the motion in the next meeting in February.’