Situated in the picturesque village of Malahide in North County Dublin, Malahide United currently field approximately 60 schoolboy/girl and senior teams. With over 1,200 registered players we are one of the largest clubs in Ireland. Our home ground is Gannon Park, which comprises of two 11-a-side pitches, one 7/9-a-side pitch, one 11-a-side floodlit all-weather pitch and one 5-a-side/warm up floodlit all-weather pitch, floodlit warm up area with full clubhouse facilities, Gym (members) and Coffee Shop. We also have three 11-a-side and two 7/9-a-side pitches in Malahide Castle and one 11-a-side pitch and one 5-aside pitch in Robswall Park, which is accessible from Gannon Park. By following an ethos of encouragement, equality and participation we provide an environment to enable all players to develop their potential. As a club we are investing a considerable amount of time and resources in developing our coaching programme for both players and managers. Welcome to the Malahide United AFC Web Site. Situated in the picturesque village of Malahide in North County Dublin, we currently field approximately 60 schoolboy/girl and senior teams. With over 1,200 registered players we are one of the largest clubs in Ireland. Our home ground is Gannon Park, which comprises of two 11-a-side pitches, one 7/9-a-side pitch, one 11-a-side floodlit all-weather pitch and one 5-a-side/warm up floodlit all-weather pitch, floodlit warm up area with full clubhouse facilities, Gym (members) and Coffee Shop. We also have three 11-a-side and two 7/9-a-side pitches in Malahide Castle and one 11-a-side pitch and one 5-aside pitch in Robswall Park, which is accessible from Gannon Park. By following an ethos of encouragement, equality and participation we provide an environment to enable all players to develop their potential. As a club we are investing a considerable amount of time and resources in developing our coaching programme for both players and managers. We would love you to be part of our team! We promise, you’ll get more out of it than you’ll put in! Help nurture the futures stars of tomorrow in the best facility in the country! New volunteers and coaches are always welcome. Want to get involved? Give Alan a shout on +353 (87) 240 4664 and he’ll be delighted to help.

The Master Mariner competition is an annual seamanship event for Ventures & Rover Scouts.
It is supported and sponsored by the Irish Institute of Master Mariners.The 2023 Master Mariner Competition will be held on Sunday 5th March at the National Maritime College of Ireland, Cork Harbour. Hosted by 9th Port (Malahide) and 1st Port (Ringsend) Sea Scouts. Here are the forthcoming details of the competition programme for 2023 - 4th March – Competitors Experience Day. Venue - Irish Naval Headquarters, Haulbowline Island, Cork Harbour. Meet and greet with the examiners and fellow competitors alongside experience some of the facilities and operations of the Irish Naval Service. (This day is optional). Competition Day - 5th March – Master Mariner Competition. National Maritime College of Ireland, Cork Harbour. Competitors move between checkpoints and meet different examiners. At each checkpoint they run through the topic, using practical tests and tools as much as possible. It is not only for Sea Scouts? It is organised by Sea Scout groups but members of all Scouting Ireland groups may attend. Non-Sea Scouts have won the event in the past.

It’s been a very busy time in St. Mary’s Secondary School, Baldoyle. Here are some of the highlights. Junior Cycle results: After over a two month wait, the Junior Cycle results arrived in St. Mary’s in late November. Transition Year students gathered in the Canteen awaiting for the Principal, Dr. Edel Greene, to arrive at 10 am. Despite the wait, there was still a strong feeling of anticipation and excitement as students were called up individually to collect the envelope with their results enclosed. Cries of joy were common as students opened their envelopes. The results were exceptional and we are absolutely delighted with everyone. All the students were then photographed and students then visited classes to tell teachers about the results they had achieved. We are very proud of them all.

Irish Badminton Open: Our Transition Years took part in the prestigious Irish Badminton Open where they were line judges. The event was held in Sport Ireland’s National Sports Centre in Abbotstown. The girls had been preparing to be line judges for five to six weeks and were ready to make all those important calls when required. It’s a tournament that carries Olympic and world ranking points so the pressure was on. Everything went well and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves as regardless of helping out, it’s a great event to attend. The girls were also delighted to meet the Taoiseach, Micheal Martin TD who dropped in to see the event. The Mayor of Fingal, Howard Mahony and the Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, Ann Marie Farrelly also dropped in. It was also great to see John Treacy, Ireland’s Olympic silver medallist and two time World Cross Country Champion. Some of the teachers were more than delighted to have a photo taken with him. A Happy New Year to all our students, their families and you all!

The Casino Model Railway Museum won Best Leisure/Tourism Service in the Customer Experience Section at the Fingal Business Awards recently, as voted by an independent panel of judges for the Cyril Fry Corner at the museum. These awards celebrate the best of Fingal business across all business sectors so the museum are beyond thrilled! A visit to the award winning Cyril Fry Corner is a must for anyone who is interested in trains, engineering or modelling. It’s a corner at the Model Railway Museum that pays homage to the intricacies of Cyril’s hand-made models. They have recreated a work space that demonstrates the scale and complexity of how Cyril worked. A loving insight into his skillset, as if he just stepped into the space. Cyril Fry’s hand-made models are possibly one of the most important private collections of miniature railway engines, wagons and carriages ever created. Marvel at his creations at the Casino Model Railway Museum and be transported to his workbench. The building alone is a draw enough! And…less than 5 mins walk from Malahide Dart station. Come visit it soon!

Malahide President Declan Berkeley and Ladies Lunch Committee presenting Linda Keating with a cheque from our recent Ladies Lunch in association with Marie Keating Foundation. Thanks to everyone who attended and made the day possible.

Also Malahide RFC would like to welcome Reconair. Reconair has taken out a new pitch side advertisement board, and we are also delighted to see them sponsor the U15 jerseys. Website: www.reconair.ie If you wish to take an advertising board out on the main pitch, please don’t hesitate to get in touch for more details.

In proper maritime tradition, we sat down for an evening of sharing and celebration looking back at another fantastic year on the water at our annual Laying Up Supper recently.2022 was a brilliant year afloat with over 3,100 bums on the water! Each week, our scouts could be found sailing, paddling, rowing having a great time learning new skills and creating adventures on the water. Collectively with over 16,074 nautical miles logged at sea! While we definitely saw the quantity, it was certainly matched with the quality as we saw x2 new Master Mariners, x12 new qualified instructors and an extensive haul of medals and trophies won by the scouts throughout the competition season. We are very proud of everyone for working very hard and supporting each other on the water to create another safe and successful year afloat.Over 100 members from the x4 Troops dined on the Maindeck to recognise and remark on the great year alongside presenting some outstanding awards and certificates of achievement. Thanks to the Ventures for hosting a great evening with lots of presentations and very tasty food!

All tickets sold go back to the club. €10 a ticket. Please support for a chance to win some fantastic prizes and help raise funds for your Club.

St Cronan’s Junior National school is preparing to celebrate 50 years this year. The school was established in 1972 and while the building on the Brackenstown Road did not open until 1974, the school took in its first class into temporary accommodation on North Street 50 years ago.The school has been led over the years by wonderful principals, Mrs Garvey, Anne McMahon, Brigid Manton and Edel Moloney and is now in the capable hands of Edel Blake. This year of celebration is a chance for our community to remember the wonderful work and dedication of the leaders and staff who went before us and who laid the foundations of the great school we have today. It is also a chance to remember and celebrate the pupils who have attended our school throughout the 50 years while also celebrating the wonderful school we are today. None of the great work achieved in our school would be possible without the support of the parents and the team of teachers, SNAs, secretaries, cleaners, bus escorts and caretaker who all work so hard together to be the best they can be for our children. All of this hard work is done under the guidance of the Board of Management who volunteer their time. As part of the celebrations, we would love to collect lots of photographs of the school and pupils over the years. If you have any photos you would like to share with us which we hope to display in the school hall please email them to anniversary@stcronansjns.ie and tell us something about the people in the photos. Follow our school on social media to keep up to date with celebrations @stcronans_jns Sarah Boylan, Deputy Principal.

This Christmas why not send a special ‘Greetings from Malahide’ card to all your friends at home and abroad. In doing so you will be helping us to fund needy projects in our area. The Christmas Cards, with six beautiful views of Malahide painted by local artists, have been professionally printed and are ready to go. The cards are of the finest quality and fantastic value at a pack of six for €5. You won’t get better value this year! If you’d like to get your order in early, contact us:-WhatsApp or text 0858172660 or you can email us at lionschristmascards@gmail.com or We will deliver locally FREE - pay on delivery.

Heidi Bedell
Malahide Tidy Towns

Mould is not something people commonly aspire to but when you’ve decided to become more ‘environmentally friendly’, a lot of preconceptions get challenged. At a time when Heidi Klune can thrill the world dressed as an earthworm and the Baron of Dunsany is applauded for letting his extensive grounds go completely wild, it’s a small thing to start to recognise ‘mould’ as one of the big players that run the world, essential to our lives.Malahide Tidy Towns began collecting leaves for leaf mould in 2019 and I thought I’d share our learnings over the last 3 years. Contained in wire mesh bundles at St. Sylvestors Church and beside the Tennis Courts, the first year we just left them there. This was not based on ‘reliable scientific research’ but more that we hadn’t really got a plan when we set them up. In 2020 we simply added to the, now reduced, pile and it wasn’t until Autumn 2021 that we got organised enough to dig out the piles to explore the results.Thankfully we had lots of help from volunteers including some students from Scoil Íosa. (See photo 1). Of note was the large number of earthworms (Lumbricus terristris).These were larger and healthier than I’ve seen in normal soil and there was a large number of worm eggs too. The compost was spread on flower beds around the village – mostly the bed on Railway avenue, which some might have noticed was looking particularly good this year!Recently we dug out the compost from 2021.Volunteers have been collecting up leaves over the last couple of weeks but our big push on leaves was Saturday 12th November. We got 4 bags of compost from 2021, which some might feel is a poor return for all the effort involved but they’d be very much mistaken. Our 4 bags of leaf compost are 10 times more valuable than compost imported from outside the area as they’re full of the microorganisms present in the local soil. If you want to do something good for the earth, a leaf compost pile is a good way to start!