Lusk Athletic Club juvenile athletes are enjoying their summer break after a long but very rewarding season where they competed in all disciplines from Under 9 up to Under 19 with great success and won a hatful of medals. Even though it is a little quieter at the Hub for the summer months, Lusk AC adult athletes continue to train and excel in races from 100 metres right up to the Marathon and beyond. Our Track & Field athletes compete fortnightly in the Dublin Graded Track & Field meetings and our throwers Colm O’Donoghue and Stephen Fee won team gold at the National championships in July at the Morton Stadium, Santry.Club runners took part in The Docklands 5K, Dunshaughlin 10k, The National 10 Mile championships and a large group of athletes from the club ran in the Fingal 10K in Swords on the 17th of July with almost 30 club members volunteering as race marshals. Many thanks as always to our coaches, officials and volunteers who give their time freely to help make all these events happen.Training continues on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7 PM from the Hub on Rathmore Road and in Ardgillan on Sunday mornings for hill repeats. All newcomers are very welcome to come along and try a session.

Lusk has officially launched its Junior Parkrun at the Lusk Sports Hub. The first event, which took place on Sunday, May 22nd, saw 16 children completing in the 2km course event. The fifth week, June 19th saw this increase to 34 children.The Lusk Junior Parkrun is held every Sunday morning at Lusk Sports Hub at 9.30am, Rathmore Road. Organised by local volunteers it is open to all children from ages 4-14 years, each run is free to enter. The run can cater to children of all abilities and is safe and easy to take part in. Lusk Junior Parkrun is now inviting all youngers from ages 4 to 14 years to participate in future Sunday events. To enter, each child needs to be registered in advance of the run and must bring along a personal, printed barcode received by email after registering directly on the website www.parkrun.ie/register. Parents are free to join their child in running, however, only children will be recorded. Parents and children are also invited for a post junior parkrun coffee/drink in association with the Skinny Batch café in Lusk. Speaker, Resident and Director of Lusk Junior Park Run Siobhan Connor said,“We are delighted to bring Junior Parkrun to Lusk. Our goal is to assist children to get fit outdoors and meet new friends! 66 children have joined at least 1 event, with many now returning weekly. It’s a great place for families to enjoy together. If you would be interested in volunteering while your child/children take part, please come speak to the Run Director at any event or contact us through these links .For more information, please contact (Event Director). Email lusksportshubjuniors@parkrun.com , Facebook: facebook.com/lusksportshubjuniorparkrun and the Website: parkrun.ie/lusksportshub-juniors/.

The Lusk Summer Festival took place recently and was a day-long event filled with cultural experiences, a large variety of home-made craft vendors, food vendors, music, entertainment and kid-friendly activities ranging from Grasshoppers International Early Years Arts activities, fairground games, local sport club demonstrations and so much more.

The main stage hosted music acts such as Eva Campbell off The Voice UK. Buckshot Lariat, Jordan Dennis and Revolution Remains, along with the wonderful Black Raven Pipe band, the local gospel choir and DJ Joe who kept the day ticking along nicely.There were classic cars on display and free yoga sessions for all to enjoy..There was a multicultural area for local groups to show aspects of their cultural backgrounds to the rest of the community. Also to ensure that everyone was able to enjoy the day, the festival organisers together with the recently formed Autism Friendly Towns Working Group and with the support of AsIAm organised a Sensory Friendly Area at the event. This area, with reduced stimulation, was available to autistic individuals and their families to enjoy some quiet time together.

At the July meeting of Fingal County Council Cllr Rob O’Donoghue warmly greeted the announcement of plans to install a cycle track linking Blakes Cross to the Junction of Ministers Road. The proposal will contain protected cycle tracks on both directions of the R132 using the current hard shoulder for protected cycle lanes. There will be delineated cycle lanes with bollards, line markings and concrete islands for safety.O’Donoghue commented ‘This project will improve cycle connectivity to the Corduff School, public transport and residential estates in Lusk. As part of the project Kilhedge Lane will be resurfaced to improve connectivity between the Centra junction in Dun Emer and the R132.’ In the coming months there will be a public consultation to address any local concerns, a tender put out to procure a contractor and further consultation with stakeholders (schools, residents) prior to construction taking place, hopefully in Q1 of 2023.He continued ‘this project is part of phased plans to make the r132 safer for road users and improve connectivity links between towns for recreation and commuting in the North County’

The Lusk Mens 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 alaways welcome

Junsa has been busy training and educating our students it the art of our great martial art and sport. We recently had a number of our older students take part in a corner judges and referees course and then they had the opportunity to test there new skills at an upcoming tournament. The opportunities in Taekwondo are endless, if our students want to further their Taekwondo career they are not limited to just sparring, they can take part in poomsae tournaments, or international refereeing to name just a few.Below is a few photos of what our junior students have doing this month. We are also looking forward to taking part the first Lusk festival. Junsa Taekwondo now has two training venues: 5-7 year olds Lusk scout Den - 8-12s Curduff national school - 12s and above Curduff national school. Please contact master Stuart Russell for more information on 087 7775202 or follow us on Facebook @ Junsa Taekwondo

It has been a remarkably busy and successful time for Lusk Athletic Club over the past month with athletes of all ages competing in the Dublin Juvenile Championships at the Morton stadium in Santry and Junior, Senior and master’s athletes competing in the Leinster championships at the magnificent IT Carlow stadium. Lusk AC members also took part in a wide range of road races, parkruns and a trail run in Ardgillan demesne. We had 54 athletes from the club take part in our neighbour’s race, the LSA 4 mile. Well done to all our athletes who ran, threw, jumped, those who won medals, Many thanks to our fantastic coaches, officials, parents and volunteers.

While many activities take a break over the summer months, the following will be available in the following centres: (1) Cottage Community Centre :Kumon, the learning and development pro-gramme will continue over the summer except July 18th - August 2nd.Lusk Senior Citizens wee kly get together is on Friday mornings. - Yoganamara both Chair and Pregnancy Yoga takes place on Tuesdays. - Prosper Fingal classes are on Tuesday mornings except from June 24th - July 11th (2) Saint Macullins Centre (SMC): Foróige Coastal North Dublin have youth get togethers. - RCCG Assembly of Praise Sunday services. - Yoganamara with Saturday morning Yoga to start the weekend. - In addition to weekly activities the following Summer Camps will be happening. - Bricks4Kidz (SMC) July 4th - July 8th. Daily from 10am - 1pm and 2.30pm – 5.30pm - August 2nd - 5th. Daily from 10am – 1pm Bricks4Kidz (Cottage) - August 15th - 18th Daily from 10am – 1pm - Tina Mation: (SMC) July 11th - 15th. Daily from 10am – 1pm - Aug 15th - 19th. Daily from 10am – 1pm. Contact the Cottage Community Centre for further information Tel. 01 8954180 or email cottagecommunitycentre@yahoo.com

The public consultation for the new development plan closed last month with 1,946 individual submissions made my stakeholders and members of the public to Fingal County Council. Speaking on the matter Cllr Rob O’Donoghue welcomed the large number of submissions from the member of the public from the Rush-Lusk electoral area however, there were a number of issues of concerns he had regarding the large number of submissions relating to land rezoning in the area. He stated ‘that it is my belief that Lusk as a town, needs to consolidate and settle for the duration of the new Development Plan, between the census in 2002 and 2016 the town has grown in population by 217%, by far the largest growth of all the sustainable growth towns in the North County. We have legacy issues with the provision of the social dividend in relation to taking in-charge Lusk Village and the green space associated with The Forge estate which have dragged on for years and need to be prioritised for the provision of amenities for the towns residents and clubs.’ “He continued, to date, in the previous stage of the Development Plan I have fought off attempts from Councillors outside of the electoral area to rezone land in the Rush-Lusk area particularly between the towns of Lusk and Rush. It is with disappointment that I read submissions made seeking large land rezonings in the towns hinterland which would radically alter the character of the town. I can assure the people of Lusk that I will oppose any such proposals that are brought forward at the final phase of the Development Plan later in the year.”