Although our weekly meetings are on pause for the summer, our exciting outings certainly are not! Recently, we had an amazing trip to The National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, made possible by the generous funding from Fingal County Council. We enjoyed a captivating and informative tour of the gardens, followed by a delightful tea and cake session at the café. Despite the occasional showers, we had a fantastic time and mostly managed to dodge the raindrops.
Looking ahead, we have an eagerly awaited community trip to Carlingford, the Mourne Mountains, and Newry, with a delicious dinner planned in Bettystown on our way back. All 60 seats are filled, and everyone is buzzing with anticipation for a wonderful day of exploration and camaraderie. Stay tuned for a full report and plenty of pictures in next month’s publication!
As always, feel free to contact us on 0892711406 or rushseniorcitizens@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!
It was quite a surprise to the community of teachers, pupils and parents at St Catherine’s National School when it was announced that the long-standing and much-admired Principal, Ger Ó Sé announced his retirement in the middle of May this year.
Mr Ó Sé had been Principal at St Catherine’s for fifteen years since his appointment in 2009 and had led during a period of significant expansion for the school and established the school as a centre for music and the arts within the area. Notable achievements included the establishment of the Fingal International Festival of Voices, the opening of the brand-new school building which was completed in March 2016 and the growth in student numbers to over 330 pupils.
On 26th June, pupils, parents, teachers and former students gathered for a celebration of Mr Ó Sé’s time at the school and to wish him well for his retirement. Many students sang, performed, read poems and spoke about their memories of how Mr Ó Sé had helped them at school. One recurring theme was fondness at which the children remembered being met at the gate by the principal each morning and the many, many high-fives and fist-bumps. Some even mentioned the occasional request to perform a dance before being allowed into the school on some mornings!
Andrew Mitchell, chair of Board of Management, spoke fondly about working with Mr Ó Sé and thanked him for all his hard work, commitment and dedication – including clearing the path with a shovel on winter morning after a heavy snowfall. On behalf of parents, Matthew Semple, chair of the Parents’ Association, spoke about how Mr Ó Sé had welcomed his family into the school community when they moved to Rush several years earlier and thanked him on behalf of both families from Rush and those who have moved to the town.
Teachers at the school also spoke about their experiences and described how Mr Ó Sé had shown great leadership and inspired their teaching whilst driving up standards and attainment. One teacher, 2nd Class teacher Stephen Hegarty, also spoke amusingly about how such was Mr Ó Sé’s love of music, that some of the staff had learnt to add a musical element to any requests as a way of guaranteeing success!
During the retirement assembly Mr Ó Sé received many gifts from those wishing to express their gratitude, including a 2024 Leaver’s Hoodies that was presented by a pupil in 6th Class, who like their principal will also be leaving the school this year. A very tall cake was also presented to Mr Ó Sé by keen baker Erin Cartlidge and like the story of the loaves and fishes, such was its size that it was sufficient to be shared out to all present after the assembly.
Towards the end of the assembly, Mr Ó Sé, spoke movingly about his time at St Catherine’s National School. He explained how his Mum who had taught him to read, inspired his own love of books and learning and who took him to school on his first day in 1968. Then in a very touching moment, he introduced his Mum who was in the audience and there to see his last day at school in 2024. Mr Ó Sé thanked everyone, including all the parents for the very good behaviour of their children and explained how his job had been so enjoyable that it had never felt like work.
We are sure that Mr Ó Sé, or Ger, will be greatly missed by a large number of students, teachers, staff, parents and the board of management as well as the wider Rush community.
Let’s Play Rush will be hosting it’s third annual Sports and Family Fun Day on 17th August 2024 at Tayleur’s Point. The event will run from 1-4pm and visitors can expect an afternoon packed with free fun and activity. Let’s Play Rush is a European initiative under the Urbact banner which seeks to bring play to the town of Rush.
Let’s Play Rush is sponsored by Fingal County Council and has been running regular events in Rush for the past four years. As Rush Community Council Chairperson Brian Doherty explained, “Let’s Play Rush is a fantastic initiative. Fingal County Council brought some representatives of the Urbact programme to Rush a few years ago. When they pitched the idea of creating stronger community bonds through organising playful events, we were in straight away. Now four years later, the Let’s Play Rush events are fixtures in the Rush community calendar and we’re still getting huge support from the County Council.” Tidy Towns Chairperson Brendan O’Reilly said, “Rush Tidy Towns have been involved from the start of Let’s Play Rush and the Summer Sports Day event is a great day out for everyone. There’ll be races and games, the annual tug-of war, the penalty kick challenge and face painting. Let’s Play Rush brings out a real sense of fun in everyone. If you haven’t had a sock fight with a bunch of grown adults, you haven’t lived. The event is free and everyone is welcome to join in.”
As the cricket season closes in, we hope that you can join us for a game at Kenure during August and support our teams, this year we have seen record number of Juvenile members take part in our Friday night training sessions and some guest appearances behind the BBQ on these nights from the parents. Rush CC would like to thank all those that have helped with the Junior teams, training sessions, attended games and flipped burgers.
Rush CC will host their annual golf classic on Friday 9th August in Rush Golf Club, this is always a great day out and if you would be interested in a tee time or sponsoring a hole on the day, please get in touch with Niall Mullen Ph 086-327780.
The Clubhouse bar is open: Friday 6pm-12.30am - Saturday 4pm - 12.30am and Sunday 4pm – 11pm
The beautiful, serene and location that is Rush Library has provided the perfect location for the revered programme of musical events known as “Meet me at the Altar” for a number of years now.
The wonderful acoustics in the former Church which houses the library means that each musical performance is blessed with a crystal-clear sound. The “Meet me at the Altar” sessions, which are curated by Rush local Pat Burke, recently returned for their summer run with a performance by Shay Dempsey and Sandra Duff. The incredibly talented duo delighted the audience with a set of acoustic originals including their first single “In a Day or Two” which is currently available on Spotify and most streaming platforms. Shay describes their style as “quiet folk music” and there was definitely at least a hint of Simon and Garfunkel style vocal arrangements in the set.
The beautiful and haunting vocals were accompanied by Shay’s delicate and deft fingerpicking style with the sound of his superb jazz-tinged guitar playing reverberating around the hallowed location. Shay and Sandra are in the process of lining up more live performances in the autumn and are in the process of recording more material over the summer months. They are well worth catching if you get the chance. Keep your eye out also for social media announcements on the summer and autumn “Meet me at the Altar” events which have something for all musical tastes.
Thirteen-year-old Ryan Cowzer from Rush Boxing Club clinched the 40kg title at the Monkstown Box Cup. The Rush native triumphed over an All-Ireland finalist in the semi-finals and defeated a formidable English opponent in the final. In other news, fellow Rush BJJ/Martial Arts members Eric Healy and Aaron Maughan both excelled at the Grappling Industries Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament, with Healy securing second place and Maughan earning a silver medal in his category. Next up is the Shamrock Box Cup, where Carson, Ryan, and Sean Cogil are all aiming for gold.
The Rush Parent and Toddler Group held their last playgroup for the 23/24 year on Tuesday 25 June. The theme for the morning was Prom and kids, mums, dads and carers came dressed for the event. The kids loved making their own Prom King or Prom Queen crowns covered in coloured jewels. Mum Madeline did a wonderful job painting the kids faces, and the room was soon full of bunnies, spidermen, tigers and rainbows. After much playing, a lot of photos taken, bubbles and snacks (kindly provided by Rush SuperValu) each child got to go home with a knitted name gift made by Mum Sarah. The morning was a lot of fun and it was wonderful to be able to say goodbye to the toddlers moving on to ECCE. A big thank you to the mums who have helped organise throughout the year, especially Tracy, Sarah, Aine, Elle and Jackie. And best of luck to the new team taking over the organisation of the group for the 24/25 year. New babies and toddlers are encouraged to join the next playgroup happening on the 3rd of September.
It won’t have escaped your attention that there has been a huge amount of work and activity going on around Rush over the last few weeks, as the army of Rush Tidy Towns volunteers swing into action and get the town looking amazing in preparation for the annual Tidy Towns competition. In recent weeks, the Rush Tidy Town volunteer group have been involved in a frenzy of activity with daily litter picks, weeding of flower beds, painting road and street signs, refurbishing bins, scraping kerbs and rejuvenating local landmarks. The difference this group of dedicated and selfless volunteers make to the town cannot be overstated. They have put in an incredible amount of work and it has paid off. Rush looks great. Credit too should also go to the local businesses who keep their premises looking spick and span. The main street is looking all the more welcoming because of it. Even Rush Community Centre has been given a patriotic face lift thanks to grant funding from Fingal County Council. Rush Community Council Chairperson Brian Doherty said, “Rush is truly blessed to have a volunteer group who are as active and involved as Rush Tidy Towns. Under the leadership of their chairperson Brendan O’Reilly they have gone from strength to strength. Rush Community Council wants to thank them for all of their hard work and to wish them all the best in this year’s Tidy Towns competition. They have done the town proud.”
The local elections took place on the 7th of June with 40 seats on Fingal County Council up for election. The Rush-Lusk local election area is one of seven LEA’s in Fingal and saw the election of five Councillors. Heading the poll was Cllr Rob O’Donoghue with 3,185 first preference votes and being deemed elected on the first count for his second five-year term on the Council.
Speaking about the results, Councillor O’Donoghue stated, ‘I would like to say thank you to the people of Rush for your support in the Local Elections. I am genuinely overwhelmed at receiving 26% of first preference votes in the constituency. I am going to continue to work hard for all my constituents and will be available as always for any issues large or small. I would like in particular to thank my canvassers, leafleters and posterers with which I would never have been able to cover the ground that we did, I am eternally grateful for their support.
There is a lot of work to do in the coming Council terms and there are a number of projects that I would like to see continue to be progressed in Rush including, the Rush Sports Hub, the Rush Town Centre First Plan and to aid in the delivery of school facilities for the town. I look forward to representing the town for the duration of the term to the very best of my ability.’
The members of the Rush Parent and Toddler Group move into their summer break after a very eventful 2023/2024 and the children, and parents, are now enjoying their holidays.
From season-themed events to their weekly activities in the Rush Community Centre, the toddlers have had an exciting year. Sarah Smith from Rush Parent & Toddler group gave a brief outline of the year and how other parents can get their toddlers involved.
“We’ve had various other events over the course of the 23/24 year including a Halloween box fort, First Aid course, the Santa van and bauble making crafts at Christmas, and giant hearts for Valentines Day.”
“We do ask a donation of €4 per family to cover room rental at the Community Centre and insurance costs. We provide tea, coffee and biscuits for adults and small snacks for the babies and toddlers. We meet most Tuesdays from 10am to 12pm in Room 2 at the Community Center,” Sarah added.
