Local history, exhibitions, community gardens and street art are just some of the projects which will benefit from Fingal County Council’s announcement of successful grants, showcasing the town’s creativity and helping to develop a sense of identity and social inclusion in Balbriggan.Over €42,000 has been awarded to 16 projects through the Our Balbriggan Placemaking Fund, which aims to inspire people to reimagine and reinvent public spaces in the charming seaside town in North Fingal. Amongst the successful applicants is the Balbriggan Drama Society who were allocated €3,000 to host a photo and memorabilia exhibition celebrating the organisation’s 75th anniversary. Running from March to December 2022, it will be on display in the La La Café at the Irish Institute of Music and Song complex.Celebrating Balbriggan’s maritime heritage and coastal environment, the Balbriggan Playground Group were awarded €4,500 to create visually stunning and effective stone sculpture work created by local artist Darren Rodgers.The good work of Balbriggan Tidy Towns was also recognised with a grant of €1,250 for the ‘Balbriggan is Buzzing’ project, which aims to create natural play areas for children and, encourages them to connect with nature, while also learning about biodiversity.The ‘Community Canvass Project’ under the stewardship of Alison O’Grady was awarded €3,000 and involves an Illustration drawn on sixty canvasses, to combine into one large image. Residents are invited to pick a time and paint one of the canvasses, to form one large image which will be digitised and reproduced for an installation. Projects successful under the latest Placemaking Fund were: Balbriggan Podcast who received €1,667, Castleland Community Centre who received €2,200, Balbriggan Drama Society who received €3,000, Balbriggan Playground Group who received €4,500, Dear Balbriggan Magazine who received €3,500, Grasshoppers Early Years Festival who received €2,800, Newhaven Residence Association who received €2,000, Reach Group who received €2,350, Bremore Educate Together who received €5,000, Balbriggan Tidy Towns who received €1,250, Chapel Gate/Pineridge Residents Association who received €2,000, Foroige who received €2,000, Alison O’Grady who received €3,000, Balbriggan Pumpkin Patch who received €1,260, Taylor Hill Residents Association who received €1,100, and the Irish Institute of Music & Song who received €4,500.