The Best Business Frontage Competition for 2026 was a collaboration between the Fingal Horticultural Society (FHS) and Swords Tidy Towns (STT). This year it was decided to have two categories; one for the Best Business Front Window and the other for the Best Public House Frontage. The judging and organising was carried out from beginning to end by our own Georgy Hughes (STT) and Matt Cullen (STT) they put in a trojan amount of work from beginning to end.

The businesses that were awarded by the judging panel are as follows: Perpectual Cup - Old Schoolhouse; Silver Cert - The Pound; Bronze Cert - The 44; Best Business Front Window Perpetual Cup - McNamara’s Pharmacy (Dublin Rd.); Silver Cert for BFF Cake Boutique; Bronze Cert – Greenstraw.

Many congratulations to this year’s winners. Georgy and Matt said the judging this year was hard as the standard this year was very high which was wonderful to see. A big thank you to all who entered, we look forward to seeing you all entering again next year.

Meanwhile the Swords Tidy Towns Best Presented Estates awards 2026, generously sponsored by Member First Credit Union saw the following estates taking home awards. 1st prize Carlton Court; 2nd prize Rivervalley; 3rd prize Brackenstown Road & Park Ave ; Best Small Estate: Seatown Terrace; Most Improved Estate: Castlegrange; Best Biodiversity Enhancements: The Nurseries
A big thank you to our member Grace Dunne who put in a trojan effort to bring it all together. And not forgetting Mary Maxwell, George Mongey and Michael Connolly for all their input and support.

Congratulations to all the winners. A wonderful community effort by all who entered was evident as our judges travelled all around Swords. Hope we will see you all entering again next year.

Swords Tidy Towns

Mental Health Ireland in association with Malahide Lions Club are launching a Malahide Connect Café. It will give the community an opportunity to connect, support your mental health and wellbeing and chat over a cup of tea/coffee. It will be run every two weeks covering various topics and commencing on Wednesday 9th September until the end of December 2026. The Connect Café will be taking place upstairs in Malahide Library (lift available).
Everyone is welcome and bring a friend. For further information:
malahidelions@gmail.com
www.mentalhealthireland.ie
malahidelibrary@fingal.ie

The 3rd annual Fingal Sports Festival welcomed thousands of Fingal residents to Malahide Castle & Gardens on 9 August. Attendees partook in a variety of sports and activities ranging from rugby and basketball to weightlifting, disc golf, and GAA handball. A total of 25 Sport Ireland National Governing Bodies represented their sport at the festival, which provided the Fingal community with endless free sporting opportunities at none other than Dublin’s biggest sports activity day.

The Fingal Sports Festival transformed Malahide Castle into a place of sport, wellness, and fun. This free, inclusive event was open to all ages and abilities, with something for all children, parents, and athletes.

Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Tony Murphy, attended the event and engaged with many of the festival goers and NGB representatives. “It’s fantastic to see Malahide Castle and gardens come alive with sport, energy and community spirit. The Fingal Sports Festival gives people of all ages and abilities the chance to try something new, get active and have fun together. It’s a wonderful example of how sport can bring communities together, and I want to congratulate the Fingal Sports Office for making it such a successful event.”

As well as many sporting activities, the festival offered a Pedal Parade which started at New Street, courtesy of the Fingal Active Travel Department. Throughout the day, live classes took place including; a ParkFit demonstration, Yoga as Gaeilge, Family Fitness, and Dance Fit.

For the third consecutive year, the Fingal Sports Festival was a huge success, Fingal Active Cities Coordinator Nuala Casey said: “This is now the Fingal Sports Office flagship event and gives us a chance to showcase the activities Fingal has to offer and what better way to conclude our outdoor Summer Series of programmes for 2026 with this fantastic event!”

By Bríd the Cow, County Dublin

I read with great concern (Malahide Local, June 2026) that my sisters and I are once again being blamed for climate change. Apparently, after 10,000 years of providing milk, cheese, butter, leather, fertiliser, and the occasional scenic postcard, we have become Public Enemy Number One.

Now, I don’t wish to point a hoof at anyone, but while you humans are busy counting my burps, perhaps you could glance over the hedge at a few other developments.

Before I continue, let me be fair. Methane matters. No sensible cow would deny it. But climate debates become rather lopsided when cows are singled out while other major producers of emissions receive far less attention.

For example, data centres now consume 22% of all metered electricity in Ireland. Twenty-two percent!

That’s as if one greedy heifer guzzled more than a fifth of the farm’s silage all by herself. Even the sheep would start asking questions.

Those big blinking computers also need vast amounts of water for cooling.

I ask you: when was the last time a meadow needed air-conditioning?

A data centre may process information. We process grass.

And that grass, which humans cannot eat, becomes milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt, and countless other foods. Along the way, we help support farming families, rural communities, local businesses, and landscapes that millions of visitors come here to admire.
By all means, let’s talk about methane. Let’s invest in cleaner farming and reduce emissions wherever we can. All I ask is that the conversation be balanced.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a patch of clover over yonder with my name on it.

Portmarnock Community School had its annual Sports awards Ceremony on Thursday 14th May. The guest speaker was Ciara Peelo who is an Olympian, sports commentator and coach. She spoke to our students of the importance of trying out different sports as a young athlete, sticking to it to build resilience and believing in yourself.

The sports awards ceremony is an annual event and it is to recognise the positive impact that sports can have on a young person’s life, which we all value and wish to acknowledge here in PCS. The awards ceremony is a celebration for all our students who participate in sports throughout the year - not just the athletes receiving awards.

Amid sunshine and showers Malahide Lions Club had a fantastic 13th Malahide Classic & Vintage Motor Show on Sunday 17th May at Grand Hotel Malahide with good crowds, and a simply glorious collection of cars.

Car makes displayed included Audi: Austin: BMW: Caterham: Chevrolet: Daimler: Fiat: Ford: Jaguar: Jeep: Jensen: Lotus: Mazda: Mercedes: MG: Morris: Nissa: NSU: Porsche: Renault: Riley: Rolls Royce: Rover: Saab: Sunbeam: Toyota: Triumph: TVR and Volkswagen.

Admission was €10 with entire proceeds going to charities including Barnardo’s childrens’ charity and Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless. Children under 16 were free and families were catered for with ice cream and a games tent.

The hotel’s state-of-the-art lecture theatre had motoring nostalgia videos running all day and drew big interest, especially when the showers came.

Awards were made for the best kept and most attractive cars, and the judges had a difficult time deciding on worthy contenders for the Carole Nash Insurance trophies.

After much debate and deliberation, the ‘Car of The Show’ was declared to be the immaculate Renault 5 GT Turbo, restoration of which was completed by the family of late Stephen Malone in his memory. Many congratulations to Gillian, Ted and Emma.
‘Runner-Up Car of the Show’ was the beautiful 1973 Ford Mercury Cougar of Robert Campbell all the way from Belfast.

The drivers themselves get to vote too, for ‘My Dream Car’ and the winner was the magnificent 1986 Chevrolet Camaro of Kacper Duzewski.

Well done to all the car owners who joined us yesterday. The quality and variety on show was exceptional.

Our thanks go to judges Geraldine Herbert, motoring editor with Sunday Independent, to rally and classic car veteran Rory Dooley and Amanda O’Reilly of our sponsors Carole Nash Insurance Ireland and whose sponsorship helps ensure a safe and quality event.
As always we are indebted to the fantastic team at Grand Hotel Malahide who provide us with excellent all-weather facilities (which were especially welcome during the showers), great catering and service with a smile

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all the drivers and Vespa scooters owners, the bikers, the owners of the huge American fire engine and the hundreds and hundreds of spectators who enjoyed the day and helped raise significant amounts for Barnardos childrens’ charity and Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless as well as Lions charities.

Malahide Lions Club

We Irish love our cows as evidenced in our language. The Irish word for road is bo-thar (cow-way), coin is bo-nn (replacing the cow as currency) and even inflation is bo-ilsciú (a lot of cows!) Many cultures revere cattle, it shows how mixed up our histories are. How ‘global’ humans have always been.

These days though, our cows are killing us, but we’re having difficulty adjusting. Our brains are chronologically challenged. Some of us have met a great grandparent and others might meet a great grandchild but beyond that is hard for us to imagine. It may be our grandchild’s grandchild that will suffer most from our choices today?

They will struggle for food, water and somewhere to live as the whole world competes for the last few habitable areas. The world’s forests will have died due to rising temperatures and the oceans will be too acidic for life (we crossed that Global boundary last November!).

The longer we delay in addressing climate change, the longer the world will suffer before the planet starts to come back but we’re looking at hundreds or maybe thousands of years.

Our illogical cow-love is not serving us. The politicians who stand ‘behind’ the Meat and Dairy industry, making it the exception to every attempt to reduce carbon, methane and nitrogen, are not doing the farmers, Ireland or the world any favours. They need to stand ‘in front’ of the farmers and be the leaders that the role of TD requires.

It’s not easy being a politician and, as we know throughout history, good leaders are rarely thanked, which is why, as the people, we must support them. Let politicians know that we stand with them in decisions to reduce our emissions.

No one likes to hear that the party is over and it’s time to tidy up, but the world is in a mess and we don’t have any other bóthán to go to!

Tidy Towns Malahide supports Sustainable Development Goal No. 13 Climate Action

Malahide Lions Club were delighted to present a cheque for €1500 to Skerries Youth Support Services (SYSS). The project was set up 10 years ago in response to a tragic suicide in the area. SYSS provide free counselling to young people between the ages of 12 to 25 as part of an early intervention initiative to young people who may be experiencing challenges to their positive mental health. Although the group is based in Skerries their services are open to all at-risk young people in the general Fingal area including Malahide.

SYSS provide 1-6 free counselling sessions to at-risk young people and will refer them to other services if the counselling offered has not sufficiently addressed their issues. About 185-190 young people are helped every year. Currently there is a waiting period of approximately 7 weeks to access counselling so the demand for the service is huge.

The group also produce a booklet called Myself, My Life which includes information about mental health and issues such as bullying, gambling and drugs and alcohol abuse. The booklet includes useful advice and useful contact information, and it is also distributed to local schools.

SYSS is run by volunteers and does not receive any state funding; it raises the funds it needs for its service and booklet publication. Malahide Lions Club were very happy to be able to provide funding to assist in paying for counselling hours.

Dancers from all over Dublin helped launched The Golden Dance Awards Ireland at The Grand Hotel, Malahide, spotlighting the next generation of Ireland’s most talented dancers. The launch featured 20 exceptional performers, selected from hundreds of entries, representing a wide range of schools and dance styles, celebrating not just excellence, but dedication, commitment, and the artistry that drives the dance community.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Brian Kennedy attended the press launch and shared his excitement at being part of the Awards, praising the platform for recognising the hard work and talent of dancers across Ireland and the UK.

The main awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, September 5th, 2026, at The Grand Hotel, Malahide, hosted by Ireland’s dynamic media personality James Patrice. The judging panel will include Dancing with the Stars judge and radio presenter Brian Redmond, professional dancer from Dancing with the Stars Kylee Vincent, acclaimed Irish choreographer Sean Taaffe of Taaffe Training, and Inna Mazurenko of Team Ireland Dance World Cup. They will evaluate entries in June and crown winners across a range of categories, including Dancer of the Year, Dance Teacher, Choreographer, and Dance School of the Year.
Founded by co-founders Catherine and Danielle, the Awards are dedicated to uplifting the dance community, offering scholarships, bespoke trophies, and prizes, while celebrating all dance styles. Headline sponsors include Dance World as official retail partner and Class for Kids.

Entries for 2026 open Friday, April 3rd, giving dancers, teachers, choreographers, and dance schools and businesses nationwide the chance to be recognised at this prestigious event.
For more information and to enter, visit www.goldendanceawards.ie.

Members from the Fingal Volunteer Centre were honoured to attend the cheque presentation from the wonderful volunteers at Malahide Lions Club to the Skerries Youth Support Services team. Through their incredible fundraising efforts, Malahide Lions Club generously donated €1,500 to support this important work.

Skerries Youth Support Service is a volunteer-led organisation providing free counselling for young people aged 12–24, offering vital support to those who need it most.

“Our Volunteer Centre is all about connecting the community, and moments like this remind us why it matters. When we first met with the Lions Club, we shared the fantastic work that Michael and Dave are doing in the community. That conversation led to an introduction to SYSS — and ultimately to this generous support. This is community connection in action: volunteers supporting volunteers to make a real difference for young people in our area. Thank you to Malahide Lions Club for your generosity and commitment to helping local youth thrive,” the group stated.