The ongoing Lusk Community Cultural Centre is a major community re-development project for the town and it is the first step in creating new community facilities in the heart of medieval Lusk for the benefit of residents and visitors alike.

Following years of work on planning this project, May 2021 saw the beginning of the construction works and by June 2021 the foundations were being laid. Ongoing updates on the project can be found on Facebook, search “Lusk Community Cultural Centre”.

This unique project will become a new centre for Arts, Culture and Heritage and will be a springboard for marketing and promoting our town within the tourism sector and beyond.

Lusk Community Council is asking businesses, families and individuals to become a “Founding Friend” for the Cultural Centre and have your brand or name displayed in the building on the Founding Friend Sponsorship wall.By becoming a “Founding Friend” of the Cultural Centre, you can assist with making thisproject a reality for our town. All funds raised by the “Founding Friend” sponsorship will gotowards the community contribution required to fund the overall project. While the project is scheduled to be completed by May 2022, the “Founding Friend Sponsorship” will be open from 1st August to 30th September 2021. Full details are available on the Lusk Community Cultural Centre Facebook page or by emailing luskcommunity@yahoo.ie.

The other Community Council strategic project for the town is Lusk Vision 2030. The Lusk Vision 2030 report is currently being finalised by the independent consultants and it is planned that the report will be launched during the last week in August. Details of the launch will be available by mid-August and the September Lusk Local will include a full report.

“Lusk Tidy Town Committee have been busy planting up flower tubs, watering and generally keeping Lusk Tidy despite all the building development. Thank you for your support. “Keep Lusk Tidy. It’s that time of the year again when the National Tidy Town Judges will be out inspecting Lusk. We at Lusk Tidy Towns rely on the community to do their bit by keeping Lusk Tidy and Litter Free and to do all those little jobs that need doing that show a “Pride of Place” Pat Kelly

Cllr. Brian Dennehy has welcomed the progress of the installation of measures that will provide new Health and Safety protection items alongside the Bride stream on the Lusk Ring Road. Cllr Dennehy pursued the issue at the BALBRIGGAN/RUSH-LUSK/SWORDS Area meeting after raising it initially several months earlier and a number of times since at both meetings and with FCC officials individually and was very happy to see the protection measures he requested advance from the contract awarded stage to installation.

“The issue was first brought to my attention when several residents raised concerns initially about potential incidents due to the close proximity of the new playground to an unprotected stream and later separately an incident of a child falling into the stream was reported to me”. After initially requesting Fingal County Council carry out a safety assessment on the area the following works were announced at the monthly meeting. A contract had been awarded for installation of a 1.2m solid round bar metal fence along the stream parallel with the adjacent path. In addition to the new fence new pedestrian access gates also be to be included. Installation dates were to be agreed when COVID-19 works restrictions were lifted, and contractors will be free to schedule work which was a frustration that delayed the delivery of the project. Cllr Dennehy stated “ the new works will go a long way to help enhance the facilities installed by Fingal County Council on the Ring Road, Lusk and allow parents and grandparents alike to relax and enjoy the facilities safe in the full knowledge that the safety of their children is being attended to as a priority.” Thanks are due to Fingal County Council Operations Department and in particular Mr Paul Smyth Senior Executive Officer on his advice and time given to this to very important safety issue for the residents of Lusk and his overall help in getting the issue sorted out.

We are happy to see more bins in problem litter areas around the town. This came from our continued engagement with Fingal County Council and Cllr Robert O’ Donoghue’s representations on our behalf. Monthly litter picks continue to be organised by Wille McGee, so keep an eye out on our Facebook page and other community Facebook pages for details on how to get involved. We are also asking everyoneto Adopt a Patch. You can choose an area close to where you live to keep tidy and litter free. Litter picking packs are available from FCC. Email them at BalSwoOpArea@fingal.ie (nb: not accessible through this medium). Power cuts continue to be a big issue for households and especially for local businesses. LAG are engaging with our public representatives regarding this. We continue to receive a similar response from ESB Networks to that of a year ago, which we do not feel is adequate. We will continue to drive this as an issue of concern, on behalf of the community.We are very pleased that LAG has secured funding from Fingal County Council for a community “St. McCullin’s Bee Garden;. We hope to begin this project in September.The delays in the handover of the sports field and common areas of The Forge to Fingal County Council continue. Our public representatives are assisting in expediting this process. In the meantime, the developers have agreed to properly maintain the sports field until the handover process is complete. We have raised concerns regarding the dangerous state of the playground which remains locked and unmaintained and which encourages anti-social behaviour. Enjoy the rest of the Summer days! All in LAG

At a recent Area Committee Meeting Cllr O’Donoghue inquired on plans for the future use of 6.4 hectare of Council owned Lusk Bypass. The lands which were acquired by Dublin City Council in 1975 were at one stage proposed to house the Fingal Sports Complex to host a number of sporting events and groups, including the now defunct soccer club Sporting Fingal. However, as of 2012 there have been no plans to progress the project.In their response to O’Donoghue’s motion Fingal County Council while asserting they have no proposals for the land currently, the future use of the lands could be considered in the context of the new Development Plan.O’Donoghue stated: ‘It is important that with the high volumes of residential development that have taken place in Lusk, indeed Lusk between the censes in 2002 and 2016, has increased its population by 217%, the largest percentage growth in all large towns in the North County in this time, that a balance is found to provide enhanced public spaces and community infrastructure to improve the quality of life for all residents of Lusk.’ He continued: ‘With this in mind any future use of this land needs to be kept for Community Infrastructure, to provide much needed recreational facilities for current residents. My fear is that with pressure coming from the Department to build housing at all costs, that pressure may come to target this site which should be for community facilities. It’s my intention to submit a motion to the Development Plan, to have this land earmarked for Community Infrastructure.’

While we are really enjoying getting back to training we are very excited about resuming our indoor training sometime very soon. In the meantime we will keep our training going in the Round Towers GAA Astro pitch. Over the last few weeks we have had great support from all our members new and old. We have also had a number of past students returning for a bit of training and pad kicking.

The inaugural Lusk AC ‘Naked Challenge’ took place on Sunday 13th June. Participants had to predict their finish time over a 5k or 10k route from the Sports Hub and then run without the aid of a watch. Hence they may have felt ‘Naked’ without the aid of their watches to keep an eye on their times. The challenge being to get as close to your predicted time based on your own internal pace clock rather than technology. It was a fun event for all and nice to take part in an actual event without the pressure of running flat out. Winners (closest to their estimated times) were Greg Robins and Alex Bell for the 10k, Conor Doyle and Orla Brennan for the 5k.

We are back! Finally we are back. Pitches which were silent and empty are now full of cheers and activity. It has been so long we truly wondered would we ever get back to normal…but we have… and it feels great. So many teams full to capacity and operating waiting lists to join is a testament to the central role Lusk United has in the community. Children as young as 4 join us on a Friday evening and Saturday morning for our ever growing academies…this enthusiasm continues all the way to our senior teams. This past few months we have rolled out our Clubzap app, which allows our managers and coaches to communicate directly with teams as well as make covid procedures manageable. It is only now, when we have been away from matches and training for so long and now are back, we appreciate just how much time and effort our volunteers put in. To all our managers, coaches and parents who help out we say a huge thank you! We look forward to continue in the coming days to put to practise our club ethos #workhard #havefun.

The Lusk Vision 2030 project will deliver its final report in July or August and we will see what recommendations the consultants will present to make the town a better place over the next decade. It has already delivered an important submission for the Fingal County Development Plan 2023-2029 and we hope that Fingal County Council will take on board the many issues raised. However Lusk Community Council has already brought the Lusk Community Cultural Centre project to construction phase and huge progress has been made during May and June.This project is important for a number of reasons. It is redeveloping what was a derelict site on Church Road. In doing so, the Community Council is conserving the façade and gable walls of an important vernacular cottage in the heart of medieval Lusk. It is creating a new cultural centre for the town and this project will significantly add to the ranking of Lusk in the “Tidy Towns Awards”. The Cultural Centre will in turn become a springboard for new ideas and engagements for the community of Lusk as well as for visitors to our town. When Fingal County Council redevelops the adjoining property as five residential units for independent living by 2022, Church Road will have two exceptional improvement projects in the heart of medieval Lusk. Pride in our town is very important for everyone. Willie McGee, a director of Lusk Community Council, has been working tirelessly to clean up the town with your help. He has organised a number of “spring clean” days with great community engagement. This is a simple idea, everyone can play their part, it just involves giving your time to help out. Willie (Tel. 087 6379199) and Fingal County Council (www.fingal.ie) are now promoting the “Adopt A Patch” idea. If everyone plays a small part, then the sum of the parts becomes a game-changer. You too can help build a better Lusk.

The latest milestone in the development of Rathmore Park as a major Active Recreational Hub for Lusk was recently reached with the official opening of the Play Trail.The Rathmore Park Play Trail is a new type of “Play Along The Way” facility which encourages children to move around the half-kilometre trail and visit a range of play equipment that offer a wide variety of challenges and play experiences. Adults accompanying children also benefit from the fully accessible looped walk linking the play facilities around the perimeter of the park.The play equipment provided along the Rathmore Play Trail features a high proportion of “natural“ materials such as wood and stone which are visually sympathetic to the setting of play facilities.About half of the land required for the development of Rathmore Park and the associated recreational hub has now been taken in charge by the Council and a sports pitch, floodlit jogging track and sprint track have been developed in response to the high demand for evening athletics training.Kevin Halpenny, Senior Parks Superintendent with Fingal County Council, said: “The Play Trail has been designed in line with the principles of Fingal’s new “Space for Play” play policy which will be the subject of a public consultation process later this year. It is another important addition to Rathmore Park and we have plans in place for the further development of the Park as soon as the rest of the land is available.” The official opening as depicted in our picture was performed by the outgoing Deputy Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Robert O’Donoghue and was attended by Cllr Cathal Boland, Cllr Brian Dennehy and the Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, as well as Senior Parks Superintendent, Kevin Halpenny and members of the project team..“The Rathmore Play Trail is a great addition to Rathmore Park which is well used by the local community and will provide many hours of enjoyment for children and their parents,” said Cllr O’Donoghue.