Lusk Athletic Club would like to wish all our members and their families a very Happy New Year and we hope that 2023 will be a great year for you in life as well as in athletics. The biggest wish for Lusk AC is that 2023 brings us closer to achieving our main goal i.e., having a home of our own with a track for all club members to train on. Committee members are in constant contact with Fingal County Council on this issue. In the last few weeks of 2022 Lusk AC members competed in the Clontarf Half Marathon and 5-mile race, The Jingle Bells 5k in the Phoenix Park, The GOAL mile and in the local Parkruns and the year ended with our own Holly Berry 10k and Turkey Trot 5k on the 28th of December. As we look forward to 2023 the Leinster Intermediate, Masters and Juvenile Cross Country Championships will take place in Raheny on Sunday the 15th of January. This is followed two weeks later by the first big road race of the year the Raheny 5 Mile on Sunday 29th of January where Lusk Athletic Club will be well represented by upwards of 50 runners. Our Track and Field athletes have the immensely popular NIA Track and Field indoor meetings to look forward to. The Lusk 4 Mile race is on Sunday the 5th of March and we are working hard to make 2023 the biggest and best race yet. Registration is open on eventmaster.ie, The OTC is available to all club members who want to improve their conditioning over the winter months. A strength and conditioning class takes place every Friday 8pm.

2022 saw Lusk finished in fourth place in their category at the Tidy Town awards just missing out on a third place bronze medal. The town increased it’s points total from the previous year to 334 from a maximum of 500 in Caregory E to take a very impressive fourth place finishing ahead of the likes of Blackrock, Howth, Portmarnock, Castleknock and Dun Laoghaire. The adjudicators concluded by saying “Congratulations to the committee and volunteers in Lusk for a great performance in this years tidy towns competition. Keep up the good work and we look forward to seeing your lovely town again in 2023.” The Lusk Tidy Towns had their annual Christmas Card and Calendar Launch hosted by the wonderful Murray’s Pub (see pics). This is the main fund raiser for the Tidy Towns committee each year and everybody’s support would be grateful so please buy your calendar asap. Congratulations to The Lusk Tidy Towns committee for your continued hard work and to all the volunteers on the Lusk Community Clean Up Group who do so much to keep the town looking well. Here is hoping for even greater success for you in 2023.

Local autism advocates were delighted when Lusk was chosen for the AsIAm Autism Friendly Town’s project 2022! Over the next few years Lusk will be supported by AsIAm to introduce autism-friendly measures into community organisations, healthcare services, businesses etc that will improve participation in community life for autistic people in Lusk.

Following their first meeting with AsIAm in May, the committee set about collaborating with Lusk Action Group to organise a Sensory Friendly Area at the inaugural Lusk Summer Festival. Thanks to the many volunteers and businesses who kindly donated their time and equipment, autistic children and their families could attend the festival reassured there was somewhere quiet to go if they needed a break. There was a great turn-out in October for the talks held at Lusk Community Hall. Guest speakers included Adam Harris of AsIAm, Elaine McGoldrick autistic advocate and member of Clonakilty AFT committee, Steven Peet from Clonakilty GAA – an autism-friendly club, Lusk parent and advocate Justin Dawson, Rush and Lusk Educate Together – participant in the AsIAm Autism Schools Project, and Loraine Power and Sophie Brown of Power Drama School. All spoke very passionately about what it means to be inclusive, how this is achieved and the positive impact that autism-friendly practices have not just on autistic people but on the whole community. November saw the launch of Lusk AFT website, a great resource for anybody wishing to find out more about what is available in the community and beyond (www.inclusionlusk.ie) . Congratulations to Lusk Junior Park Run which recently became the first club to sign up with Lusk AFT to become ‘Autism Champions’. A Social Story containing pictures and words to describe the weekly run and warm-up exercises was created to help children who benefit from being able to predict what is going to happen at an event. Creating a Social Story is one of the criteria for becoming an Autism Champion. If your organisation would like to become an Autism Champion or you would like to get involved with Lusk AFT, please contact inclusionlusk@gmail.com. Thank You for your support in 2022. - Happy New Year!

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.

2022 has been a busy year on the Lusk front with a lot of frenetic developments taking place. The second round of the Fingal Development Plan had Lusk heavily targeted by outside interests for mass rezonings which were only fought off by a robust response from local residents and groups. Cllr O’Donoghue stated, ‘I would like to thank all of the community groups, clubs and local residents that took the time last Autumn to make their voices heard loud and clear to the elected representatives in Fingal. By working together we were able to ensure that not a blade of grass was rezoned in the town and there is now breathing room for the town to develop sustainably over the course of the new Development Plan and work toward having facilities develop for the residents of Lusk similar to other self-sustaining towns in the North County. I could not be prouder of how the town reacted.’ On developments for 2023, O’Donoghue continued, ‘we have a number of schemes coming forward for Lusk in the next year, that I will be fighting to ensure are delivered for the benefit of the town. These include but are not limited to, cycle linkage from Lusk to the station and Rogerstown Park proposals for which should come forward shortly as well as the full opening of Rogerstown Park. The safe implementation of the cycle track on the R132 and down Kilhedge Lane. Redevelopment of the waste ground adjacent to the green space on Chapel Farm Drive. The implementation of the Lusk 2030 Vision. Delivery of the green space adjacent to the Forge estate for use by the community and clubs, delivery of the park at the Hub and continued engagement with FCC to develop facilities at the Lusk Sports Hub. 2023 is looking to be a busy year and I look forward working with all community groups and residents to ensure the town goes from strength to strength and I would like to wish everyone a happy New Year.’

With the end of the year fast approaching, it’s a busy time at Junsa Taekwondo. We are preparing for the last tournament of the year and the club grading. The club grading is probably the highlight of the club calendar. This is where the students preform there skills both in Kyrougi (sparring) and the traditional part of Taekwondo, stances, blocks , strikes and kicks. It’s a wonderful time in the club. Have a look at our preparation in our pictures. We at Junsa Taekwondo work hard to provide a safe and happy environment for our students we also encourage our students to take part in all aspects of our martial art and help promote their confidence, fitness and their own individual talents. A Happy Christmas to all our friends, supporters, our participants and their families and to you all!

It is hard to believe that we are almost at the end of 2022 which has been a remarkably busy and successful year for Lusk Athletic Club on all fronts with so many great performances in Track and Field events, in road and cross-country races by so many of our adult and juvenile athletes.Lusk Athletic Club had a phenomenal 50 club members complete the Dublin Marathon on Sunday 30th October with no less than 4 athletes breaking the 3-hour barrier. Across the pond another 3 club members completed the New York marathon on the 6thof November in very unseasonal temperatures (22 Celsius).Well done to Alex Bell, Dan Cronin and Fiachra Beirne. Great credit is due to all the coaches and athletes who diligently followed a 20-week marathon programme from June onwards. Congratulations to Cara McNally on a great run to finish in the top 10 of the Under 19 race at the Dublin Junior cross country championships which took place at Citywest golf course in November and to our Fit 4 Life group who graduated by completing the Donabate Parkrun 5K in November with great support from their coaches and club members who either ran the 5K with them or volunteered at the event.Thanks to the club committee and club members who put a huge amount of work into setting up the OTC which will be of massive benefit to all club athletes training over the winter months. Strength and conditioning every Friday evening open to all. The Lusk Athletic Club Christmas Party and awards night took place in the Man O War Gastro Pub on Saturday 3rd December and was another great club occasion. Well done to all who helped to organise this event and to all the award winners for 2022.

There was great excitement for members of the local Fingal Old IRA Commemorative Society 1916-1921 last week. The Society won a Special Achievement Award at the Underground Independent Film Festival which is in its thirteenth year on the International circuit. The Award was presented to the well known Deputy Mayor of Fingal County Council Cathal Boland at the Awards Ceremony held in Dun Laoghaire recently. Cathal directed the forty-five-minute long Dramamentary of an event which occurred in Ballyboughal in April 1921. Cathal based the film called “Who shot Sergeant Kirwan” on newspaper accounts of the event and the witness statements now stored in the Military History Archives along with the stories told by the relatives involved on the day. Many play the roles of their Grandparents in this Award-Winning film. It was a first and unique experience for the Director, Cast and Production team. Cathal said when receiving the Award that it was a great community event which drew people in and got them engaged. He added that while the Award was made to him the achievement was only possible by the collaborative work of the whole team. He said much of the credit must go to Eric Campbell who filmed, edited, and provided the special effects and his wife who composed the soundtrack. There were no professional actors involved and indeed this was a first also for Cathal. The Society has another film lined up and Cathal says they will go into production early next year.

Our Christmas lights were turned on the other day and we marked the occasion for the community with some hot drinks served by Top Shop and festive carols sung by the Lusk Choir. Many thanks to all who helped put the lights up, to Conrad and staff at Top Shop, to the Choir and to those of you who came to enjoy the moment with us.Did you know that Lusk has a new sports club? The Lusk Ravens basketball club is now in operation out of the Lusk National School Hall and has a weekly academy for 5th and 6th class primary school children as well as ladies’ and men’s training sessions. Check out their Facebook page for more details. This is sure to be a great addition to already very sporting community. Well done to all involved in getting it off the ground.It’s not just basketball that’s available as an extracurricular activity in and around Lusk. Lusk has art classes, an athletics club catering for all track, field, road & off road disciplines, dance classes, a football club, a GAA club, the ICA, various martial arts classes (Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Kickboxing & Taekwando), pilates classes, beavers, scouts and girl guides, yoga classes, walking groups and many more. If you’d like to know more about any of them or would like to set up a new Chess, Cards or even Tiddlywinks club or have a query on Adult Education and the likes then please contact us and we will help to direct you. Now that the dark evenings are upon us it’s important to have something to keep us active and in touch with others.As always, we are on the lookout for new members of Lusk Action Group. If you have drive, enthusiasm, care about the future of our town and have some time to spare, please consider joining us. You can email us on luskactiongroup@gmail.com.

The Lusk Guild day and time for future monthly meetings has changed. The monthly meeting will now take place on the first Tuesday of the month in Lusk Scout Den from 3.30pm until 5.30pm. In addition to our monthly meetings we also have a range of activities for ladies who like to keep fit. Mon, Tue and Thurs – Tai Chi -Tuesday 11.00 - 12.00 – Chair Yoga - Tuesday 11.30 - 12.30 - Exercises in the Hub /when weather is bad we do exercises in the old church. - Saturday 11am – meet Rush South Beach car park for sea swimming. This is just a small selection of our activities so join us for some fun as new members are always welcome. You can also contact us through our Facebook page. The Lusk ICA Guild is busy preparing for our Christmas Market which takes place on Sunday 4th of December in Lusk Scout Den from 11am to 4pm. We are very happy to welcome back Antoinette with her selection of Christmas Crafts and novelties, Cistín Chic who have a range of festive Homewares, Jacinta with her handmade cards for all occasions , and Linda with her range of jewellery.A warm welcome also to our new stall holders who have a wide variety of crafts and gifts. Doris who has a selection of Embroidered tableware, Jennifer with her knitted hats. From Me To You with a range of Christmas crafts, Linda with her Macramè Fairy’s and Mushroom light sticks, Kate with her Christmas crafts, Milk Bath with their range of Self care and gift products, and Sarah with her woolly knits. No ICA event would be complete without delicious home baking, preserves and chutneys , there will be lots to choose from.. Make sure to pick up tickets for our fabulous raffle and you can also pick up a cup of tea or coffee while you hrowse the stalls.Santa will be joining us at noon so all the boys and girls can let him know how good they have been all year and tell him what they would like. For any further information please contact us through our Facebook page. Caroline O’Malley PRO