The countdown is on! Saturday the 24th of June will see Lusk Action Group’s second Lusk Summer Festival in Orlynn Park Green and we cannot wait! This year will be bigger and better, with a fantastic music line-up with Eva Campbell, Revolution Remains, Fish in the Sky, Chris Cole, our own DJ Joe and the Redeemed Christian Church and more.

We have a great selection of food vans, with a few new additions, so bring your appetite for pulled pork, falafels, chicken wings, burgers, pizza, ice-cream, fresh doughnuts, crepes, coffee and more! Our kid’s entertainment will keep your children of all ages well entertained, with some new additions for little ones and for bigger kids. There will be face-painting, balloon making and candy floss galore! Grasshoppers International Festival will be there for your little ones earlier in the day and booking is essential so, keep an eye online. And in case your kids haven’t enough to do with all that, there will be a treasure hunt ready from the Information Desk!

Our market is sure to have something to entice you, with great local crafts and small businesses. We are delighted to be able to support them. The vintage cars, tractors and trucks will be back again, and we will have Junsa Tae Kwando and Lusk Judo Khan with their marital arts display. There will be yoga classes for kids and adults. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages for details.

For children with special needs who may need some downtime from it all, we will have our Inclusion Lusk quiet area. There will be prizes galore, so keep an eye out online and on the day for raffle details. We advise everyone to have cash, however there will be contactless payment available. Please note that there is no parking. We encourage everyone to walk to this very central location, however there will be spaces available for disabled users near the tennis courts. None of this is possible without the support of Fingal County Council, Progressive Credit Union, and our local business donators. We would like to thank them sincerely for helping us to make this great day happen. We look forward to seeing you all there! All in Lusk Action Group and the Summer Festival Committee.

The Committee have been hard at work cleaning up the flower beds and planting wildflower seeds and generally tidying up the village. Thank you to the pupils of Lusk National School who took part in the annual art competition and the teachers for their support. The flower tubs around the village will be shortly replanted for this year. Our Tidy Towns plaque on the Skerries Road has been replaced and our heritage stone on the Rathmore Road re-lettered, thanks to Fingal County Council for this. Please keep Lusk tidy. ‘Lusk Tidy Towns committee.’

The Lusk Men’s walk and talk group meet at the Hub car park at 7:00pm every Monday for their weekly walk. This is open to all men and it’s an opportunity just get out of the house, have a nice walk, clear the head and have a chat if you wish. You can do it as a once off or every week, no joining necessary, just turn up. This group is organised by Ciaran Russell, so if you want to introduce yourself to him and before long you will find you have made new friends. So why not let any friends or neighbours know about it as new members are always welcome

Thank you to everyone who came out to support Lusk’s Community Tree Planting Day last Saturday. Three varieties of bare root whips and Holly shrub saplings were planted along the boundary fencing between the Hub and Lusk Community School. Students from Lusk Community College also helped to plant some bare root whips last Friday too.Thank you to Fingal County Council for supplying over 300 bare root whips and for helping to pre-dig so many holes in the ground, it made the job so much easier! In addition to the hedge planting at the HUB, Fingal County Council also planted: Six mature trees along Minister’s Road, Six mature trees along Dun Emer Drive, Bare root whips at the end of Minister’s Park, and Bare root whips along the railings between Orlynn Park and Remount Estate.The Spring Community Tree Planting Event was a first for Lusk and Fingal County Council hope to facilitate another one in the autumn. Thanks to the sub committee from Lusk Vision 2030, Fingal County Council and Councillor Robert O’Donoghue for co-ordinating the day.

Following our recent AGM we are delighted to congratulate Rose Anna Darby who was elected as
our new President. We wish her the very best in her new role. We also want to say thank you to our outgoing President Teresa Killoran for her hard work over the past three-years and for keeping us going despite the challenges of Covid On another note a very successful fundraiser was held in aid of The Irish Cancer Society on Daffodil day with the Guild raising a massive €5,807, thanks to everyone who supported us. We’re always happy to welcome new members so if you are looking to make new friends and learn new skills why not drop in to our monthly meeting which takes place the first Tuesday of the month. Caroline O’Malley PRO

Cllr Rob O’Donoghue has welcomed the opening of the second public consultation on the Dart+ Coastal North project which commenced on the 9thof May and runs until the 23rd of June. Information on the project can be found on the dedicated website dartplus.ie. The project will deliver higher frequency, capacity reliable electrified route to enable an increased DART service between Drogheda and Dublin City Centre. Coming works will provide a sustainable, low carbon and climate resilient design to make use of existing infrastructure and add new infrastructure at key locations. Works to be undertaken will include bridge improvements, continued electrification of the northern line, track reconfigurations and the addition of extra carriages. These works will increase peak passenger capacity and train frequency at the Rush-Lusk Station, facilitate more frequent public transport for surrounding communities for work, education and leisure purposes and help to alleviate road congestion on the Lusk bypass. Cllr O’Donoghue supported the second public consultation and expansion of service saying that without development of the service the traffic issues facing the North County would continue to exacerbate. “Rush hour traffic along the R127 and R128 is already bumper to bumper, which impact commuting times and quality of life for all commuters in the North County. The expansion of cost effect train and bus routes, in conjunction with the cycling connection from Lusk to the Train Station is vital in order to improve quality of life, reduce carbon emissions from vehicles and provide solutions to residents who need to commute to Dublin City Centre for work or education.”

The students at Junsa Taekwondo have been busy preparing for many aspects of our martial art and sport. The summer grading, national development sparring competitions, poomsae training sessions, national and international competitions, referee seminars and the Lusk summer festival all have to be prepared for, and everyone is striving to be the best they can be. That’s why at Junsa we say there is something for everyone in Taekwondo. Our big story this month is one for great celebration. Jack Weldon Murphy has gone from refereeing at local tournaments to international competitions in the UK and Europe. That is outstanding Jack!

There has been a wide range of activity in recent weeks for Lusk AC athletes. Peter Doyle completed the Rome Marathon, Colin Browne and Colm Donoghue represented Ireland at the World Masters in Poland. Our 40-Day 6am challenge came to an end with Jackie Moore completing all of them. Liam Halpin registered his 300th parkrun while Aidan Langley volunteered at his 200th parkrun. There were also large numbers from the club competing at the National Championships for both the 10 mile Battle of Clontarf race in St Anne’s Park and the Great Ireland 10k in Phoenix Park. Congratulations also to all juvenile athletes who competed at the recent Nationals. We encourage all our young athletes to take part in the upcoming Dublin Juvenile Outdoor Leagues.

Best of luck to all our teams as they set out on their 2023 season. All support is welcome at our fixtures. Details on dates, venues and times of home fixtures can be viewed on our website at roundtowerslusk.ie Nursery every Saturday for all children aged 4 to 7 years. 11.00am to 12.00pm. We have had great attendances and as always, new players are always welcome!

LGFA - April - Well done to members of the Under13 girls’ team visited St Sylvester’s GAA club took part in the Skills4Girls Camp with Dublin Senior footballer Niamh McEvoy as Head Coach.

April – The Round Towers u10s has a trip to Croke park and won all 4 games beating St Brigid’sfrom Co Carlow, Truagh from Co Monaghan, Dromand from Co Longford and Bray Emmets from Co Wicklow. We are all very proud of the players and thanks to the ladies’ section in the club for all their support. Also in April, Round Towers Robyn Kendellen U14s played for Dublin Championship squad. Congratulations to Robyn and to all coaching staff involved. Well done to Round Towers Lucy Hayes U13 girls who was nominated by the U10 girls to come and referee in Croke Park and Interviewed post-game! All new players are welcome to join across all divisions! In April our Round Towers Hurling had some fantastic achievements that deserve a special mention and a big well done to the players and coaches involved. Big well done to Round Towers Dylan Mulligan (U15 boys) who played for the Dublin U15 hurlers beating Waterford. Big Well done to Darragh Kilduff from Round Towers U 16’s makes appearances for Dublin Minor Hurling! Great to see the Towers gear proudly worn in Seboka National School, Lesotho, Africa. Pat Codd and Aidan McKenna are down there volunteering with Action Ireland Trust. Many thanks also to Morgan Doran for his donation of Jerseys from Rush National School. Our Round Towers Adult Mens football is proudly sponsored by local solicitors, Liam Fitzgerald, thank you for their continued support. All home games have a new Barista Bandstand coffee and refreshments offerings. Please do visit our GAA Round Towers Lusk club website on the following web address linktr.ee/roundtowerlusk to explore our many social events and the O’Neills shop.

The publication of the AsIAm “Same Chance” report 2023 presented a stark picture of life for many autistic people in Ireland. The report, based on a survey of over 1600 autistic people and family, tells a story of resilience, talent, and pride. It also tells a story of 97 societal barriers to participation in community activities, accessing public services and making friends to name but a few. 90% of those surveyed believe the Irish public do not understand Autism. 91% believe that being autistic is a barrier to making friends. 86% believe that they do not have the same chance in Irish society AsIAm.IE Ireland’s National Autism Charity Same Chance Report 2023).Lusk Autism Friendly Towns is working with local businesses, clubs, and voluntary groups towards becoming an AsIAm Autism-Friendly Town. We were delighted in April to welcome on board this journey towards becoming an Autism-Friendly Town, Rush and Lusk Educate Together Parents Guardians and Teachers Association (PGTA), Skinny Batch Bakery, and Butterflies Creche who have committed to becoming Autism Champions for Lusk. RaLET PGTA have outlined to all parents and guardians of children in the school some of the measures that they will be introducing including participating in autism training, developing social stories for events, and creating sensory activities specific to their events. Staff at Butterflies Creche have already undergone autism training and have created a wonderful social story for children who will be joining them for the first time. Our most recent participant, Skinny Batch Bakery, has been in touch with us to find outwhat they can do to become an autism-friendly café. They are also working directly with AsIAm to spread awareness of autism and to help raise funds for the charity. Finally we would like to say a big thank you to Rush and Lusk Educate Together staff for inviting us to present information about Autism to their senior pupils as part of a wide variety of activities that were organised at the school to mark World Autism Day in April. All of these fantastic initiatives will help towards ensuring that Autistic children will grow up having the same chance as their peers. If you would like to become an Autism Champion for Lusk please get in touch with us at inclusionlusk@gmail.com and we would be delighted to get you started on your journey.