At the May Area Committee Cllr Rob O’Donoghue brought a motion discussing the phasing of amenities transfer to the Council related to residential developments in Lusk. As part of conditions set down for residential developments Class 1 Open Space or Commercial buildings may be phased so that they are completed in a timely manner in order to provide amenities for the people in the town to utilise. O’Donoghue commented ‘that while I accept that phasing is not an exact science, and it needs to be flexible there is a perception that in Lusk, time and again that the social dividend that comes with residential development is back ended. The Class 1 Open Space associated with the Forge was conditioned that it should be developed in tandem with the residential development and should be available to future residents of the development prior to the occupation of any dwelling in the last phase of the development. This has unfortunately not happened to date and the space is consequently not available for use by the residents and local sporting organisations.’ ‘It is vital now that that as highlighted by An Bord Pleanala in August of 2018, that the safeguards put in place around the Class 1 Open Space associated with the Station Road Development at the northern section of the Lusk Sports Hub is transferred in an expedient manner to ensure the delivery of amenities for clubs at the Hub. I welcome the Council managements assurances that the delivery of the site has been subject to ongoing monitoring by the Planning Authority’

Junsa Taekwondo recently took part in our first international tournaments since the pandemic , while at home we have been training hard for our upcoming local competition. We have also been training up our more senior members to be corner judges and referees. It’s been busy! Junsa Taekwondo trains in Lusk scout den. For more information on class times contact Master Stuart Russell on 087 7775202 or follow us on Facebook @ Junsa Taekwondo.

During March and April Lusk Athletic Club athletes took part in a wide range of Indoor and outdoor events with remarkable success. Our Juvenile, Senior and Master’s athletes competed brilliantly in Track and Field events taking home a large haul of medals from the Dublin, Leinster and National championships at the National Indoor Arena and at the highly impressive TUS arena in Athlone. At Parkrun and on the roads many of our athletes continued to set new PBs and major credit is due to the athletes for their dedication in training and to their coaches in Lusk AC who give so freely of their time to help improve all our athletes. In March we had 33 members complete the Bohermeen Half Marathon and close to 100 members took part in the Lusk St Patricks Day Parade. On the 2nd April our latest Fit 4 Life group graduated by running 5k at the Donabate Parkrun some running a 5k for the first time after only two months of training. Well done to all and we hope that this is the start of your running journey. Apart from all the success on the running front, club vice chairperson Aidan McKenna, Kate, Cara and Pat travelled to Lesotho on the 1st April. Aidan and Lusk AC want to thank everyone who took part in events to raise funds for Lusk for Lesotho.

Here we have a few St. Patrick’s Day photos of some of our Juvenile members, who took part in the Lusk St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Our Adult Hurlers and 2011 Boys teams are looking for new recruits, so we have included 2 photos for them. Our U16 Footballers & U14 Footballers and the Lusk players from the U15 Ros Lusca team finally got to receive their medals from last season. The players enjoyed their Awards Night on Friday 8th April in the clubhouse with all their coaches. The medals were presented by our Senior Footballer, Adam Caul. Well Done to all the players and their coaches and we wish them all the best for the season ahead.

Lusk Tidy Towns Association have expressed their thanks to Fingal County Council regarding the tidy towns work programme for 2022, ie for cutting back shrubbery on our Black Raven bed area on the Dublin Road, for agreeing to re-letter our Market Square Sculpture, and also to replace the old flower bed on the green area. The committee are running a school competition on “Be Kind to the Planet”. A clean-up of the Balrothery union graveyard has taken place. This is a yearly project run by Lusk Tidy Towns and Mass is held every November for the deceased that are buried there. As always thank you to everybody who helps ensure Lusk is kept looking well as we head towards the summer. Remember Keep Lusk Tidy and bin that Litter.”

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

There is a lot of community attention recently on the development of Lusk. Recent years have seen vast amounts of residential development around the area. While residential development is positive in so far as it provides housing, brings us new friends, and grows the community, it must be matched or preceded by the necessary infrastructural, social, recreational and commercial development that is required in order to have a balanced development of the town.Fingal County Council currently have their Development Plan open for consultation. If you have anything to say about how your town develops in the future then please submit an observation on fingal.ie/development-plan. You could submit an observation on anything including (but not limited to) litter, bins, traffic lights, speed signage/traffic calming measures on approaches to the town, proper road and footpath maintenance, blake’s cross junction improvement, lighting, housing, sports facilities, youth clubs, library, planning condition enforcement, no further residential development being permitted until the rest of the required development catches up, schools, council engagement with the community, etc. Lusk is our town. It’s up to us as a community to let the decision makers at local and national levels know what we want for our town. It is only through active engagement with the community that positive change can be delivered.Remember that the Summer Festival is coming up in June. LAG is looking for sponsorship from any local businesses and support from members of the community to help out on the day. As always, we are on the look out 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 and we will get back to you on luskactiongroup@gmail.com.

At the April Council meeting Cllr Rob O’Donoghue welcomed the progression of plans for upgrading the cycling infrastructure in the Lusk area. As part of the Sustainable Transport Grants Lusk received €550k for cycling infrastructure from between Blakes Cross to Ministers Road. The design process for which is advancing to provide protected cycle paths for cyclists. Discussions are now ongoing with the Operations Dept. in relation to reducing the speed limit for the section between Kilhedge Lane and Ministers Road junction. The Active Travel Dept and Operations are collaborating to investigate if cycle paths can also be introduced on the section north of Ministers Road junction to Murtaghs Pub. Cllr O’Donoghue stated that ‘the identified works are much needed in order to improve the safety for road users in the Ministers Road area and the new ramps to be installed on Ministers Road will make commuting safer for all residents using the roads.’ In other Council news, Cllr O’Donoghue welcomed the recently installed pedestrian access gate within the Lusk Recreational Hub which will provide access to the adjacent schools. O’Donoghue continued “This installation should help in reducing the parking along the Lusk Bypass during busy school times as parents will able to use the carpark at the recreational hub and allow children to walk safely within the Hub to school. The connecting paths in the Hub will also be upgraded this year to facilitate safer travel to the schools for students in the town.”

In recent months our National Governing Body , Taekwondo Ireland, in conjunction with Junsa Taekwondo and other member clubs have put together a series of small tournaments for beginners right through to the higher grades. As an NGB we are starting to focus on the grass roots players and hopefully future Olympians. Have a look at our clubs competition preparations here!

Junsa Taekwondo train in the Lusk scout den three times a week and we have Specific classes for each age group and also programs that suit everyone. At the moment our beginner and intermediate classes only have a few spaces and the advanced is filling up fast.Please contact Master Stuart Russell for further class details. We hope that everyone had a well deserved St. Patrick’s holiday and are all looking forward to Easter.

It has been a very busy and successful February and March for Lusk Athletic Club as our Juvenile and master’s athletes competed Indoors in Abbotstown and Athlone in various Track and Field events with great success. Lusk AC athletes also competed in cross country in Dunleer on what was a memorable day for the horrible weather conditions, on the road at the Dungarvan 10 Mile and we had an amazing 33 athletes run the Bohermeen Half Marathon on the 13th March. Sunday 6th March saw the welcome return of the LUSK 4 Mile race with close to 600 runners taking part on what was a fantastic day for the club. Lusk AC had close to 60 members running the race and another 100 members volunteering to ensure the race went smoothly. The club received many compliments on the great hospitality afforded to all competitors and on the excellent Medal, T-Shirt and goodie bag for all finishers. Lusk AC would like to thank everybody who helped with the race, the local community, race sponsors and most especially the athletes who came and ran the race.