A warm welcome to the new members that have joined the club in recent weeks. Some have already been in race action wearing the club colours. It was great to see a good turnout at a wet and muddy St Anne’s park for the Dublin Master’s Cross Country.

The Lusk 4 mile is only a few weeks away so if you’re not helping out on the day make sure that you’ve purchased your race entry as the event sold out last year. It’s on Sunday 2nd March at 3pm.

There’s great news on our athletics facilities. We are delighted to announce that Lusk AC has received notification from Bord Pleanala on the decision to grant planning permission for the Sports Hub development; including an 8 lane athletics track. All going to plan this should be constructed and open in 2026.

Following our hectic couple of weeks in December and a lovely Christmas and New Year, things were much calmer this month of January

At our last guild meeting instead of a Kris Kindle We had a Donation Box and which raised €265, this was passed on by our President Rosanna Darby to Focus Ireland for the Homeless which they gratefully acknowledged.

On the 6th we celebrated the Nollaig Na mBan. Maria O’Sullivan organized a delicious evening meal in the lovely Village Hotel in Bettystown, we were driven home safely in the hands of Damien McKenna.
The best of luck to the Lusk Drama members who are taking part in the ICA Wicklow Federation Drama Festival on 18th January.

Bravo to our sea swimmers Monica Kilby and Pauline Flynn who continue to take a refreshing winter sea dip in Rush and Skerries.

However, many of us prefer the enjoyment of Aqua Aerobics with trainer Margaret Farrell in warmer waters of (smaller) ALSAA sports pool, returning again weekly on Thursday 18th January at 11.45am and is an open session.

A food drive took place on Sunday 12th in the Lusk Soccer Club All donations of unopened sweets, biscuits etc were welcomed and passed to Vincent De Paul.

Many members again enjoyed the monthly Ramblers night which is held on the 2nd Tuesday in the month in Murrays Lounge Bar.

Deirdre Wilson has started up a walking group again which commenced on 7th January. Meeting at Murrays at 10am. This to continue daily at the same time, everybody is welcome to join.

4 lovely Dundee cakes were entered for the annual ICA Federation Gempack Competition On 15th February, they were judged by Alma Farrell and Pauline Flynn - Frances Devane’s cake was chosen to go through to Federation level.

Planning permission has been approved for the proposed Recreational Sports Hub at Rathmore Park, Lusk by An Bord Pleanála.

The Lusk sports group (Lusk Sports CLG) look forward to working closely with the Fingal County Council project team on the next phase of the project, Tender Stage, with the aim of the project going to construction in Spring/Summer 2025.

A big thanks to everyone that has made this significant project milestone possible, particularly all our community volunteers that keep persevering with the project over the last 10+ years, our public representatives and the Fingal County Council project team.

Feel free to share this good news story with family & friends, a key day for the project & we look forward to delivering this community amenity for the benefit of Lusk & its hinterland.

Lusk Community Sports Group / Lusk Sports (CLG)

Recently at Junsa Taekwondo we held our annual belt grading and graduation

When you start taekwondo, you start as a white belt and as time progresses and you learn new skills and new Poomsae’s (a set of moves that must be performed as part of your training) that range from basic to advanced. We use the grading system to set our students goals and improve their skills.

The grading is full of many different aspects so that if one individual is not as good at one skill but is better in other aspects, then this can give them a great sense of accomplishment.

Firstly, we would like to congratulate our newly elected TDs, Louise O’Reilly, Grace Boland, and Rob O’Donoghue. A special congratulations to Rob, who has supported and represented our community for the last five years as a councillor. Rob has been an integral part of LAG’s committee since its founding and has been central to Lusk’s progress. His success in the general elections is testament to how hard he works for our community, and we wish him every success at a national level, and look forward to having his continued support. We thank all our outgoing TD’s, especially Joe O’Brien, who gave such support to our community during his time in Dáil Eireann.

Following on from a recent meeting with community, An Garda Siochana, Fingal County Council and Foroige, Lusk Action Group is looking to support the set-up of resident’s associations in all Lusk estates. Just 2 of our 12 estates are active as associations. The benefits are many, including proper representation in Fingal County Council, access to funding for community days or improvements within estates etc and a great structure in which to have informal sports events for kids and teenagers, to name a few. It is a tool to create positive change in your estate, to find solutions to issues and is a place to create friendship and strong community. This will be supported by Fingal County Council and set-up will be made to be as simple as possible. Having properly formed associations is an advantage for FCC and an advantage for the residents and the wider community.

At least 6 people would be needed to form a committee. Ask your neighbours to get involved. Lusk has a wonderful and strong history of volunteerism. It is the thing that sets us above other communities and is what recently won us the prestigious Pride of Place award.

Get in touch with us by email at luskactiongroup@gmail.com

What a busy month the ladies of Lusk ICA had of celebrations fun and hard work.

We joined Lusk Heritage who invited us to their Christmas Card Launch in GAA. We wish all the best to Pat Kelly and thank her for all her hard work over the years.

10 members travelled by train for four nights to Tracy’s Hotel in Waterford for the Christmas cracker celebration.

We had a really enjoyable time together with the lovely food dancing entertainment every night, and we shopped till we dropped during the day. A special thanks to Marie OSullivan for organizing it.

The ladies enjoyed a lovely meal in The La La Restaurant, followed by the fantastic The Ronan Collins Showband Hits show in the Lark Theatre and he came out and met us all after the show.

Then we held our annual Christmas market on Sunday, 1st December in the Lusk Scout Den. It was a great day of hard work, baking making crafts, jams and chutneys hampers.

Our thanks to everyone in the community who supported it, and of course all the children who came see Santa in his magical grotto.

A number of us joined the Senior Citizens and met all our lovely neighbours and friends in the Glenside Hotel for their annual Christmas dinner.

The Lusk ICA Guild meet on the 1st Thursday every month in the Scouts Den at 8.15pm, we would be delighted for new members to come along and join us.

St. Maurs GAA club in Rush has announced Carroll Estates as the headline sponsor for its ball wall and skills area, which is being upgraded to include a 3G surface, new fencing and improved lighting. With over 1,300 members, 40 juvenile teams, 16 adult teams and an All-Stars section for young adults with special needs, the ball wall is a vital resource for every player to sharpen speed, agility, footwork and hand-eye co-ordination.

To celebrate the sponsorship, Roisin Carroll, director of Carroll Estates visited the club on Sat 7 December to unveil the new wall ball mural commissioned from local artist Sheena Joyce and Darragh Mulryan of Darragh Signs.

Club treasurer Peter Monks said “The Carroll Estates sponsorship is key for St Maurs as it will enable us to fund the upgrade of our vital ball wall area, and we aim to have the project completed by summer 2025. This forms the last infrastructure phase in our development plan, ‘Create the Future’, which was launched in 2018 and sets the club on a good path towards our centenary in 2028.”

It also marks the beginning of an eight-year partnership between the club and the company. To support the amazing work of the staff and volunteers at St. Maurs, Carroll Estates will be providing a ‘Local Hero of the Month’ prize of a €100 One4all voucher to a deserving winner picked by the club in January 2025.
Carroll Estates, which is celebrating 50 years in business, will be building homes in the Rush area over the next eight years. Roisin Carroll, director of Carroll Estates, said, “We are delighted to partner with St. Maurs GAA, a cornerstone of the Rush and Loughshinny communities, as they continue to inspire and empower people of all ages through sport. Supporting the development of the ball wall and skills area aligns with our commitment to fostering community growth and well-being.

The club, which was founded in 1928, has doubled in size over the past ten years as its local catchment area of Rush and Loughshinny continues to grow and also provides playing facilities for five local schools. Recent achievements for the club in 2024 include winning the Dublin Men’s Under 21 Football Championship, ladies football played at Division 1 level, and becoming the crowned champions in the Camogie Intermediate 2 category.

The club was recently honoured at a ceremony in Croke Park on Saturday 9 November 2024 as one of 90 Green Clubs across Ireland taking sustainability action for the club and community.

We would like to wish all club members a very happy and successful New Year. 2024 was another fabulous one for the club with record membership levels and fantastic performances in all races and competitions. Well done to all our athletes and a huge thank you to our hard-working coaches and committee members.

Membership for 2025 is now open and we ask all existing members to please renew as soon as possible. New members are very welcome. The increasingly popular Lusk 4 mile road race is only two months away so register before it sells out. Some of our athletes travelled overseas for December marathons in Valencia and Turin. There was also a Lusk AC parkrun takeover where our latest Fit4Life group completed their graduation 5k runs. The races will be coming thick and fast from January onwards so talk to your coach for a training plan to suit your needs.

153rd Lusk Scout Group with the help of funding from Fingal County Council Activities Fund, recently installed a brand new public access AED at their Scout Den on Chapel Road in Lusk. This new AED has been registered with the National Ambulance Service. It is accessible 24/7 in a heated cabinet. You can access this AED by giving the location of the AED by calling 999/112 and giving the Eircode (noted on the cabinet) and you will be given the PIN code. Lusk Community First Responders are delighted to have supported 153rd Lusk Scout Den with this project. This now brings the total number of Public Access AEDs in Lusk to 5. Centra Lusk, Dun Emer Avenue (K45 XC65); Lusk United Soccer Club, Rathmore Road (K45 RC80); Cottage Community Centre, Church Road (K45 VE83); Round Towers GAA Club, Hands Lane (K45 PY79); 153rd Lusk Scout Den, Chapel Road (K45 PX99).

On Sunday 8th December, the Round Towers GAA Ladies team will host a bake sale with all proceeds going to Lusk Community First Responders. A member of their team Meghan Kiely, who recently suffered from a blood clot leading to a heart attack, is organising this event to raise awareness of heart health and to ensure that people know the signs and symptoms to look out for. Lusk Community First Responders will be joining Meghan and her team on the day and will be giving demos on CPR and recognition of symptoms. Free Blood Pressure and pulse checks will also be available on the day. See you there from 11am.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Lusk Community First Responders this year. Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and New Year.

If you would like to learn more about Lusk CFR, please check out our website www.LuskCFR.ie or find us on Facebook and Instagram. We look forward to welcoming new volunteers.

Fantastic news on winning the Pride of Place award, great job from all in Lusk and all the hard work of our President Rose Anna Darby and her team representing ICA. An invitation was sent to all community groups to celebrate our win for a reception in the sports hall in the national School.

Lusk ICA we’re delighted to host a very enjoyable Ramblers Night, an event of singing and story telling organized by Anne Smithers and sponsored by #FingalInclusionWeek in Murray’s of Lusk. The Guest speakers were as follows:-

Pat McGeeney -winner of Bard of Armagh. Jim Monks local story Teller was Mary Bermingham local story teller Jim Finnegan local story teller Paul Redmond singer song writer

Our Guild held a remembrance Mass celebrated by father Kevin Moore, for the deceased Members in the Scouts Den on the 14th November. All the past members were read out by Margaret Finnegan in the presence of their family members.

The Lusk Choir sang and were accompanied by their young organist Johan Joby who also plays for the children’s choir.

The ladies continue to enjoy their weekly Aqua Aerobics classes in ALSAA on Thursday mornings supported by Fingal Co Co Age and Opportunity.

We are very busy now preparing for our annual Christmas Market for the community which will be held on SUNDAY 1st DECEMBER in the Scouts Den and we look forward to another successful day.

Thanks to Tesco Rush, we have secured a Tesco Community Funding using the Blue Tokens, It will start on Thursday 28th November lasting for 12 weeks. It was great to apply for this funding for Lusk ICA and we would much appreciate your support.

The Lusk ICA Guild meet on the First Thursday every month in the Scouts Den (after beavers)at 8:15 PM and we would be delighted for a new members to come along.