With all sport back in action, Swords Tennis Club has celebrated a return to the courts by being presented with a Tennis Ireland Bronze Clubmark Award. The Award aims to identify, develop, accredit and recognise high quality tennis clubs in Ireland and their contribution to the development of tennis in Ireland. Mayor of Fingal Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh commented: “I would like to say a huge Comhghairdeas ó chroí libh to Swords Tennis Club on the Tennis Ireland Bronze Clubmark Award. The club committee and volunteers have put in a lot of time and hard work over the past number of months and years and this award celebrates that passion and dedication.”Presenting the Award, Shane Cook, President of Tennis Ireland said: “It was a great pleasure to present Swords Tennis Club with this accolade. Their enthusiasm and energy is infectious and shows how much the Club strives to be the best in its field.” Swords Tennis Club Chairperson Stephen Girvin commented: “What we thought might be an arduous task turned into one of the most rewarding club experiences. The process of putting together the requirements for the award, many of which we already had and guarded by former committee members, gave us a growing confidence in the way we were running the club.” Swords now takes its place amongst the other Tennis Ireland Clubmark accredited Fingal Tennis Clubs including Portmarnock Tennis Club, Donabate Portrane Tennis Club, Castleknock LTC, Sutton LTC, and Grove LTC. Tennis is a sport for life so if you are thinking of giving it a try, get in touch with the Fingal Tennis Development Officer to find out how you can get involved in your local area, Contact:tara.rdo@tennisireland.ie

It has been a very busy and fruitful 2021 for Swords Tidy Towns considering the country is going through a major pandemic. We worked on and completed our Frontline Workers Commemorative Garden. We linked up with both Fingal and Swords Community Colleges to accommodate 23 of their TY students each Saturday for a 20-week period. We were finalists in this year’s Pakman National Awards, our mural on the Brackenstown Road is on its way to completion. Swords Tidy Towns linked up with the Swords Woodland Association on a 3000-tree planting project. The Rock Garden on the Rathbeale Road which is a collaboration between ourselves and Fingal County Council achieved yet another Green Flag Award. The icing on the cake for us was winning yet again a Silver Medal in the National Tidy Towns Competition making it four in a row, maybe Gold next year, fingers crossed.Swords Tidy Towns are very grateful for all the financial support received through the year from local business, without whose generosity we would have had to cut back on our projects. Thanks must also go to Fingal County Council and the various Dept Heads who have worked with us and who have provided us with their expertise when needed. A big thanks to our local Public Representatives for always being there for us. Finally, to you the wonderful Joe Public who have at all times been complimentary to our members when out working on our streets and for doing the same on our Facebook and Twitter pages. It is the support we get from all of you that feeds us, uplifts us and empowers us to do better things. To all the aforementioned, the volunteers of Swords Tidy Towns wish you all A Very Happy Covid Free Christmas and New Year.

Cllr Darragh Butler said recently that, “ MetroLink has been in the news quite a lot in recent days and weeks and unlike the national media and many other commentators, I would like to take the positives out of what was announced. The good news is that the planning application should go in next year, 2022, better late than never and depending on permission being granted, if work could then potentially start by 2025 with a delivery as early as 2031, that would be as good as we could hope for at this stage and I’d do cartwheels down Swords Main Street if this could be delivered as media reports back in October were saying 2034 or later. The positive news is that MetroLink remains a committed part of the National Development Plan and I will continue to work as hard as I can to get this project back on track and delivered as soon as possible. In terms of COP26 and getting to net zero carbon omissions and achieving the 1.5C temperature goal set, MetroLink and other large scale transport projects are vital as part of these solutions, to get traffic off our roads and to make public transport more attractive to commuters.”

Councillor Darragh Butler, Eilish Monaghan (Cousin), Councillor Brigid Manton and Councillor Cathal Boland attended the unveiling of a plaque on Sunday 7th November 2021 at Prosper Fingal School, Swords to honour Pte. Matthew Farrell who lost his life in the service of peace at Niemba, Congo on 8th November 1960. Prosper Fingal School, Swords.

In 1960, a civil war broke out in the former Belgian Congo. The United Nations intervened and an international force of army peacekeepers were sent there. This force included a contingent of Irish Army troops. On 8 November 1960, a patrol consisting of 11 members of the 33rd Battalion of the Irish Army, was ambushed by the local secessionist Baluba tribesmen. 8 of the patrol were killed, some clubbed to death and three survived by hiding in the bush. 1 was killed the following day, and 2 survivors were found later that day. Those who died at the spot were: Lt Kevin Gleeson from Terenure; Sgt Hugh Gaynor, Leixlip; Cpl Peter Kelly, Templeogue; Cpl Liam Dougan, Cabra; Pte Matthew Farrell from Swords; Pte Thomas Fennel, Donnycarney; Pte Gerard Killeen, Rathmines and Pte Michael McGuinn from Carlow were posthumously awarded medals in 1998.The two survivors were Trooper Thomas Kenny and Private Joseph Fitzpatrick.

The news that Riot Games, the developer and publisher best known for League of Legends, has chosen a location in Swords for its new Remote Broadcast and Content Production Centre has been welcomed by Fingal County Council. Announcing that the new digital broadcast and production facilities will open in Airside Retail Park by January 2022, the decision by Riot Games to expand their operations means over 120 new jobs will be created locally. Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly said: “This is a fantastic win for Fingal. It helps highlight the fact that we are well placed to attract international business and reaffirms our ambitions to provide sustainable economic growth and opportunities across the county. Our team have worked hard to secure this as a viable option for Riot Games as they look to expand their global esports capacity, so we are thrilled that they have chosen Swords as the first of three facilities that they will establish around the world as part of their follow-the-sun model.”

Swords Tidy Towns have been working very hard on their Bio Diversity agenda plan. We have planted Wild Flower Meadows and when putting down bedding plants we try always to use Bee and Insect Friendly plants. We are lucky to have a very dedicated team within our group who have taken on this invaluable work. They are currently looking for volunteers with a keen interest in gardening to help them by adopting one of their patches and tending to it. We are also seeking volunteers who are good at Bricklaying, local Artists who would consider giving up some of their free time to help with our Art Projects, people who are good with machinery for maintenance and repair of our machines.Our volunteers were busy this month in their homes to measure NO2 levels at different address areas around Swords, it will be really interesting to see the different air quality in those areas. Swords Tidy Towns are very excited to participate in yet another Citizen Science project. If you are interested in offering some of your free time to help with any of the aforementioned, please contact Ken on 0866008313 We continue to have a problem with graffiti in and around the Swords area. We have a very keen team of Graffiti Cleaning Warriors who have made it their mission in life to go out several days a week to combat this scourge, very successfully I might add. Swords Tidy Towns Mascot is a large Teddy Bear, we would love to have it fitted for a Swords Tidy Towns outfit just for him. If there is a talented seamstress who could help us out with this, we would love to hear from you. If your estate has a Residents Association, please register it with Swords Tidy Towns. We have a designated Res Ass Liaison Officer who would be only too happy to hear from you. Many estates have registered with us already and have benefited from their link up with us.Swords Tidy Towns volunteers continue to give up their free time to make their town a better experience for everyone, you can help, please bin your litter.

Like all clubs within the community we had a numbers of jobs on our long lists to accomplish during restrictions. One of these was sprucing up the clubhouse dressing rooms for all club players for when they come back into operation. Swords Celtic would like to sincerely thank our local Colourtrend Paints store here in Swords for their generosity in helping make this task possible. It’s companies like you that make our life easier in trying to run our club. As always we ask club members and the local community to shop local and if your thinking of paints then please support businesses that support the local community like Colourtrend Paints.

Swords Division was established in 2014. Since then we have grown and have One ambulance, first aid tent and a Cycle Response Unit (CRU). We have 25 adult members from basic first aid, EMT to Nurses. In 2019, our cadet division was formed. Our division is lead by our Officer in Charge Mr Jamie Bollard MStJ, assisted by our senior NCO’s Michael, Noel, Jock and Claire (cadets). Our Cycle response unit was donated to us in 2019 by One4All gift cards. We are a very active division with a wide area to cover in North Co. Dublin.We provide professional event medical cover for any event, providing our Ambulance, CRU, Tent, First aid patrols and more. Our division provides First Aid courses, demos, talks and more, with our experienced instructors Noel, Jamie, Michael, Gerard and Declan. Our training equipment is of the highest standards including our full body CPR, Airway and Trauma manikin.

Work commenced recently on the construction of a new €1.5million All-Weather Sports Pitch Facility at Ward River Valley Regional Park in Swords.The new third generation synthetic all-weather pitch will be a full sized GAA & Soccer pitch which will be similar to the facility at Bremore Regional Park in Balbriggan. The new floodlight facility will be accompanied by car, coach and bicycle parking to service the needs of the pitch users as well as improving access to the park.The project is being led by the Council’s Parks & Green Infrastructure Division and the contract for the works has been awarded to Haffey Sports Grounds Ltd following the conclusion of the competitive tender process. It is anticipated that the facility will be completed by the Second Quarter of 2022. Earlier this year the limited removal of some screen tree planting took place to create space for the pitch and facilitate construction works. This followed consultation with the public to ensure the layout of the pitch would allow for the retention of a landmark mature tree on the site. Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Seána Ó Rodaigh said: “I welcome the news that contractors have gone on site to begin construction of what will be a valuable sporting amenity for the people of Swords and wider area. A lot of work has been done by councillors, staff and other stakeholders over the last few years to make this project a reality and this is a significant milestone in the journey.” Kevin Halpenny, Senior Parks Superintendent with Fingal County Council, said: “In any project there are a lot of steps that must be completed before we can get to construction stage and I want to thank the local councillors and stakeholders for their patience as we moved through the various stages. Following the development of the new Recreational Hub facilities, a major community tree planting project will add to the tree cover in this part of the park and improve the landscape setting of the Hub.” Funding for the €1.5m project has been provided by Fingal County Council and also by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to address a requirement for community gain that the airport authority is providing as part of the development of the North Runway at Dublin Airport.

Fingallians G.A.A. club in Swords hold a weekly Irish language conversation group that recently celebrated its 10thbirthday. Irish Language promotion is central to the ethos of the G.A.A. and particularly Fingallians G.A.A. club.The Grúpa Comhrá was established by the club’s Irish language and Culture Officer Liam Ó Culbáird. Liam said “we felt we needed to create our own opportunity where we could use, practice and improve our Irish. We wanted something different from a classroom setting so we established a relaxed, welcoming and encouraging environment that was supportive of all levels. The emphasis has always been on enjoyment of the language and nobody is overly concerned about intricate grammar or ultra-precise pronunciation. Our group has always been a setting where everybody is learning from everybody else.”The Grúpa Comhrá has seen hundreds of people come and go through the years and the fact that it is still going strong ten years down the road is, according to Liam, as a result of the emphasis on fun while learning. “We have seen hundreds of people from all sorts of backgrounds, some came for two or three weeks while others have stayed for years. Because there is no cost involved and it is a bar setting we have people that come for a pint, others will have a coffee or whatever takes their fancy. We ‘shoot the breeze’ about whatever is going on at home, at work, what is happening in the news, plans for the weekend, etc… The conversations can go in any direction and this exposes us all to new vocabulary and ways to phrase sentences.”C.L.G. Fhine Ghallainn (Fingallians G.A.A.) would like to say “Go raibh míle maith agat” to all that attended and supported the group through the 10 years and we hope that you benefited from the service. The group meets every Wednesday night at 9pm. Further info is available from Liam-086 3814422.