Lusk Local V8I11-JUNE 2023

Let us appreciate the great work in the community/voluntary sector

We woke up this morning to a bright day and yet do we really appreciate it? No, I am not going to pontificate about religion or nature. Neither are in my realm of thought instead I am thinking of appreciation in general. As a community based magazine group we really do deeply appreciate all out contributors and advertisers without whom the magazines would not be possible. But we also appreciate all the great work that is being done in Fingal by the community/voluntary and charitable sector. We also appreciate the work of carers who sometime are unpaid and to be honest cannot be paid enough for the love and care they give. The recent Darkness into Light Walk brought out people from all sectors of our community. All religions and none, all colours and races, coming together to support those who need it. This showed what community is all about. This showed an appreciation of life, of our own health and happiness and the care for the well being and happiness of others. Only last century we as a society treated people with mental illness as those who should be hidden away, thank God that is not the case today. Today the community sector has hundreds of groups working in that area appreciating those people and caring for them. That is the essence of community, that is about doing all you can to help others whether they have a mental or physical illness. Whether they are elderly, infirm, depressed or just plain lonely we all have a duty to and should support them. So all we can say is get involved in your community. Whether that is in sport, which helps our mental and physical health. Or maybe in one of the many wonderful voluntary, or charitable groups we have in Fingal and do your bit to show you appreciate all that life has given you. The rewards you will get cannot be measured in coins and notes but will be measured in the good mental and physical health you personally will gain from such work. Have a wonderful June, and appreciate it!

The Locals Team.

Cllr O’Donoghue supports expansion of Train Services in Dart+ North

Cllr Rob O’Donoghue has welcomed the opening of the second public consultation on the Dart+ Coastal North project which commenced on the 9thof May and runs until the 23rd of June. Information on the project can be found on the dedicated website dartplus.ie. The project will deliver higher frequency, capacity reliable electrified route to enable an increased DART service between Drogheda and Dublin City Centre. Coming works will provide a sustainable, low carbon and climate resilient design to make use of existing infrastructure and add new infrastructure at key locations. Works to be undertaken will include bridge improvements, continued electrification of the northern line, track reconfigurations and the addition of extra carriages. These works will increase peak passenger capacity and train frequency at the Rush-Lusk Station, facilitate

more frequent public transport for surrounding communities for work, education and leisure purposes and help to alleviate road congestion on the Lusk bypass. Cllr O’Donoghue supported the second public consultation and expansion of service saying that without development of the service the traffic issues facing the North County would continue to exacerbate. “Rush hour traffic along the R127 and R128 is already bumper to bumper, which impact commuting times and quality of life for all commuters in the North County. The expansion of cost effect train and bus routes, in conjunction with the cycling connection from Lusk to the Train Station is vital in order to improve quality of life, reduce carbon emissions from vehicles and provide solutions to residents who need to commute to Dublin City Centre for work or education.”

Lusk Irish Countrywomens Association welcomes new President

Following our recent AGM we are delighted to congratulate Rose Anna Darby who was elected as our new President. We wish her the very best in her new role. We also want to say thank you to our outgoing President Teresa Killoran for her hard work over the past three-years and for keeping us going despite the challenges of Covid On another note a very successful fundraiser was held in aid of The Irish

Cancer Society on Daffodil day with the Guild raising a massive €5,807, thanks to everyone who supported us. We’re always happy to welcome new members so if you are looking to make new friends and learn new skills why not drop in to our monthly meeting which takes place the first Tuesday of the month.

Caroline O’Malley PRO

Well done to all for a wonderful Community Tree Planting Day

Thank you to everyone who came out to support Lusk’s Community Tree Planting Day last Saturday. Three varieties of bare root whips and Holly shrub saplings were planted along the boundary fencing between the Hub and Lusk Community School. Students from Lusk Community College also helped to plant some bare root whips last Friday too.Thank you to Fingal County Council for supplying over 300 bare root whips and for helping to pre-dig so many holes in the ground, it made the job so much easier! In addition to the hedge planting at

the HUB, Fingal County Council also planted: Six mature trees along Minister’s Road, Six mature trees along Dun Emer Drive, Bare root whips at the end of Minister’s Park, and Bare root whips along the railings between Orlynn Park and Remount Estate.The Spring Community Tree Planting Event was a first for Lusk and Fingal County Council hope to facilitate another one in the autumn. Thanks to the sub committee from Lusk Vision 2030, Fingal County Council and Councillor Robert O’Donoghue for coordinating the day.

Lusk Men’s Walk & Talk Group every Monday

The Lusk Men’s walk and talk group meet at the Hub car park at 7:00pm every Monday for their weekly walk. This is open to all men and it’s an opportunity just get out of the house, have a nice walk, clear the head and have a chat if you wish. You can do it as a once off or every week, no joining necessary, just turn up. This group is organised by Ciaran Russell, so if you want to introduce yourself to him and before long you will find you have made new friends. So why not let any friends or neighbours know about it as new members are always welcome

Lusk Tidy Towns Association – working hard for the Community

The Committee have been hard at work cleaning up the flower beds and planting wildflower seeds and generally tidying up the village. Thank you to the pupils of Lusk National School who took part in the annual art competition and the teachers for their support. The flower tubs around the village will be shortly replanted for this year. Our Tidy Towns plaque on the Skerries Road has been replaced and our heritage stone on the Rathmore Road re-lettered, thanks to Fingal County Council for this. Please keep Lusk tidy. ‘Lusk Tidy Towns committee.’

You Need To Know Your Cover Details

By Dave Kavanagh

Having appropriate cover in place for you and your family is obviously important, whether it is Life Cover, Serious Illness Cover or Income Protection. What is equally as important, is knowing the details of the cover that you have in place. As time moves on and circumstances change, what was relevant for you 5 years ago, may not now be appropriate for your needs. I remember giving a talk to a group of about 50 parents, all of whom raised their hands to signal that they all had cover in place. I then asked how many of them knew (without needing to divulge to the group) which Life Company their cover was with, how much was the monthly premium and what the levels of cover were? Of the 50 parents present, not one of them raised a hand, despite paying for these plans for a number of years. Simple changes in circumstances can make it crucial to review cover details. Starting new employment that may include a multiple of annual salary as a death in service benefit, as well as income protection and a pension, could mean that other cover in place could be reduced or removed. The reverse is often seen where someone had great benefits attached to their employment but then moved to a job that does not provide any benefits at all and had not considered that they need to arrange their own cover.

Another issue that people are often not aware of, is whether any cover they have has a Conversion Option. This is an option that allows people to convert to a new, longer term plan, without any further evidence of medical health. This can be crucial if a plan is reaching maturity or if someone has experienced adverse health issues, where they may not be accepted for cover due to their new medical history or may be subject to restrictions and/or premium loadings. Having the ability to exercise a Conversion Option allows you to “future proof” cover to suit your specific circumstances. While not a fun exercise, making some time at least once per year to review the details of any cover you have in place can be a valuable exercise. If you’re unsure about some of the details, contact your advisor.

Dave Kavanagh QFA has been advising people financially for over 25 years. For quotes or information (with no cost or obligation) he can be contacted by emailing info@financialcompanion. ie or use the contact form on financialcompanion. ie or @Davekav_advice on Twitter and Instagram. Combined with his previous role of gym/nutrition adviser, he regularly gives talks and workshops at seminars and events for groups, companies and government departments on financial wellbeing, positivity and motivation. As heard on RTE 2FM , LMFM and TV3.

Lusk Action Group’s Lusk Summer Festival 24th of June

The countdown is on! Saturday the 24th of June will see Lusk Action Group’s second Lusk Summer Festival in Orlynn Park Green and we cannot wait! This year will be bigger and better, with a fantastic music line-up with Eva Campbell, Revolution Remains, Fish in the Sky, Chris Cole, our own DJ Joe and the Redeemed Christian Church and more.

We have a great selection of food vans, with a few new additions, so bring your appetite for pulled pork, falafels, chicken wings, burgers, pizza, ice-cream, fresh doughnuts, crepes, coffee and more! Our kid’s entertainment will keep your children of all ages well entertained, with some new additions for little ones and for bigger kids. There will be face-painting, balloon making and candy floss galore! Grasshoppers International Festival will be there for your little ones earlier in the day and booking is essential so, keep an eye online. And in case your kids haven’t enough to do with all that, there will be a treasure hunt ready from the Information Desk!

Our market is sure to have something to entice you, with great

local crafts and small businesses. We are delighted to be able to support them. The vintage cars, tractors and trucks will be back again, and we will have Junsa Tae Kwando and Lusk Judo Khan with their marital arts display. There will be yoga classes for kids and adults. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages for details.

For children with special needs who may need some downtime from it all, we will have our Inclusion Lusk quiet area. There will be prizes galore, so keep an eye out online and on the day for raffle details. We advise everyone to have cash, however there will be contactless payment available. Please note that there is no parking. We encourage everyone to walk to this very central location, however there will be spaces available for disabled users near the tennis courts. None of this is possible without the support of Fingal County Council, Progressive Credit Union, and our local business donators. We would like to thank them sincerely for helping us to make this great day happen. We look forward to seeing you all there! All in Lusk Action Group and the Summer Festival Committee.

MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT FOOD KIDS ENTERTAINMENT MARKET STALLS VINTAGE VEHICLES

COMMUNITY TUG-O-WAR YOGA MARTIAL ARTS DEMOS AND MUCH MORE!

Lusk Waterways: Palmerstown Stream and Chapelfarm Stream

by Dr Tom McCloughlin, DCU Water Institute

Ask one of the “blow-ins” if there are any rivers in Lusk, and their first answer would probably be no unless they were familiar with Chapelfarm or the north end of the ring road. But all settlements need a water supply! In Chapelfarm you have a short stream that rises on the hill out a little on Quickpenny Road. It winds its way under the housing estate and meanders through the farmland between Chapelfarm and the Carriage House. After that it goes under the main road under a strong bridge and then drops down to Rogerstown Estuary near the Birdwatch Ireland hide joining the Ballyboughal River proper. Unfortunately, this stream does pick up a fair amount of domestic run-off in Lusk and a lot of chemicals end up in the water so we need to be careful that our drains don’t empty into that stream making it stink and killing the life in it.

The other stream which originates way up in Palmerstown and twists its way downhill in two channels - one heading through the Commons while the other comes alongside the ring road after being re-channelled in the early 2000s. The Commons branch passes through Horestown and Rathartan through to Whitestown Mill near Rush. The lower branch pass alongside the ringroad, below Kingstown, then drops down to Effelstown through to Whitestown Mill joining

the other channel and the mill-races out to the estuary at the bottom of Spout Lane. You might be excused for thinking nothing lives in those streams but you’d be wrong since there are a lot of stickleback fish, freshwater shrimp, water slaters, bloodworms, and small shellfish though little of the high-quality pollution sensitive creatures that would indicate a clean stream. You can only see these by actually getting in the stream, though I wouldn’t recommend it unless in full PPE as the stream has a very soft bottom and you sink quite a bit

in places, there’s been quite a bit of dumping too, which this writer has at times taken to extracting with thanks to Fingal CoCo for collecting the piles of junk and rubbish I’ve left for them. Pressures on the stream from pump-ing water out of the stream to spread on farmland, disturbance to the channel and again domestic run-off all conspire to kill what is there but the one we can all work on is to stop drains going di-rectly into the stream.Everything has a consequence, they say, and these streams affect Rog-erstown Estuary, the Irish Sea and all that they bring us.

Lusk Ladies Shed – New Members Welcome!

In March of this year Lusk Ladies Shed launched in the newly renovated Lusk Community Cultural Centre. The goal of Lusk Ladies Shed is to reduce the sense of isolation and increase connections with others in the local community. This non profit initiative was spearheaded by Frances Byrne as she had a wish to have a safe place for women to come find support and to develop a sense of involvement and belonging in the community. The group welcomes all women

regardless of age, background or interests and there is always tea, coffee, chats and some fun for everyone. The groups are run on a Tuesday morning between 10am and 12 noon and a Wednesday evening between 7pm and 9pm in Lusk Community Cultural Centre. For more information you can find Lusk Ladies Shed and Lusk Community Cultural Centre on Facebook. Lusk Community Cultural Centre is at Church Road, Lusk, Co Dublin K45CP40.

Cleaning up the stream.

Lusk Ravens – Lusk’s new Basketball Club

Basketball has finally come to Lusk with the establishment of the Lusk Ravens Basketball Club. Playing out of Lusk National School they currently have two men’s teams, a ladies team and two Academy classes for 5th and 6th class students.

The Lusk Ravens ladies team had the honour of playing the Ravens first ever game against a very experienced Division 3 team - Glasnevin Basketball. In what was a tight game the Ravens lost by only two points in a score of 48-50. Sharon O’Toole made history by scoring the Ravens first ever point and going on to play a storming game of Basketball.

Coaches Brian Clerkin and Gavin O’Neill were delighted with the teams performance as was Director of Coaching Bob Hartigan.

The men’s second team recently got off the mark when they proudly welcomed a Killester Special Olympics team in a friendly. Coaches Ty

Henry, Jeff Errington and Matteo Deidda were delighted to get a tough game under their belts and much needed game time for the players.

Not to be outdone the boys Academy teams travelled to take on St Kevin’s Knights.

Although in its early stages of formation the club has made huge strides in a short space of time and will aim to enter some teams for next season leagues. They have a website luskravens.com and a YouTube channel. The Club are looking for sponsorship from local business, interested parties should contact the club to receive a sponsorship pack. They would also like to hear from any coaches or ex-players in the community who like to come on board and help get this wonderful new club off the ground. ‘Go Ravens Go’

Local Solicitor has moved but still a great service!

Local Solicitor has moved but we are still in your corner. Our bright spacious modern office is located on the Top Floor of the Town Centre in Lusk. The office is wheelchair accessible via the lift from the lobby. There is also plenty of free parking nearby. You can find us when you scan the QR code. As a general practice law firm, Local Solicitor provides legal service in relation to a wide range of legal matters including: - buying and selling property, Landlord and Tenant

matters, Personal Injuries, Wills and Probate, Contract Law, Debt Collection, Family Law, Criminal Law, Employment Law and general legal advice. With more people on board, we can provide a broader range of services in a more efficient manner. Talk to us about your legal matter. You can contact us when you scan the QR Code.We look forward to hearing from you soon. Best wishes to you all.

Liam Fitzgerald

News & Events

Lusk

AC members competing at all levels!

As the days get longer training in daylight is always more pleasant than in darkness. The races and events are coming thick and fast as summer approaches. The graded meetings are a great way for our athletes to test themselves and experience the thrill of competition. Well done to all who have taken part so far. Congratulations to all our juvenile members who have participated in League 1 & 2 of the Dublin Juvenile Outdoor Leagues. There is one league left in June and we would encourage parents to bring their children along. It’s a great day.

Ross Moore at the NI Graded meeting in Belfast

Kia Henshaw, Conor McGuirk & Eoin McGuirk at the Dublin Juvenile League

Jeanette Baird and Olga Brennan at the Limerick Marathon

Sarah Burke at the Dublin Juvenile League

Darren Griffiths, Daniel O’Brien and Conor Doyle at the IMRA event in Ardgillan Tom Summerville at the Connemarathon

Richard & Annette Foy at the Red Kite Challenge in Wales

Daniel O’Brien, Gerry Byrne and Ross Moore at the Dublin Graded meeting at UCD

Ellie McGrath in Shot put action at UCD

Junsa Taekwondo Club News

Summer is here and training is heating up too!

The weather is getting warmer and the Taekwondo training is heating up too. At Junsa we recently took part in all Dublin tournament held in Baldoyle and run by our national governing body Taekwondo Ireland. We are also looking forward to the 2nd Lusk Festival and preparations are under way for some of our students to take part in international competitions abroad.Contact Master Stuart on 087 7775202 or follow us on Facebook @ Junsa Taekwondo for more details on training times and class locations.

Conor D and Darragh in action

Nathan, Billy and Ekam with coaches Stuart and Stephen

Ellen wins 2 out of 3 matches – Well done!

Farrah wins first match

The Master and some athletes

Edward, Farrah and Calum after their wins

Our beginner’s class - Up and coming athletes!

Positive words from coach Stephen for Ekam

Smiles all round as Ekam collects his medal

WIN €50 !!! WIN €50 !!! WIN €50 !!! WIN €50 !!!

BRIAN DENNEHY

Working hard for our community

This is easy… we are offering you the chance to win €50. All you have to do is correctly fill in the crossword and discover the name of an area in Fingal spelt out in the coloured squares. Then send the completed crossword and your answer by email, with your name, address and telephone number to communitylocals@ gmail.com before 5pm on the 16th of this mnoth. The first correct entry to be drawn will win €50..Good

Across

1. Free from roughness. (6)

5. Accept to be true without proof. (6)

10. Capable of reasoning in an orderly fashion. (7)

11. Large champion of the Philistines in the Bible. (7)

12. Wind into rings or spirals. (4)

13. Houses for families. (5)

15. Securely fixed in place. (4)

17. Entered into marriage. (3)

19. A maxim, proverb. (6)

21. Flat-bottomed boats for carrying heavy loads. (6)

22. Rolled and turned smoothly in gymnastics. (7)

23. Come to pass, occur. (6)

25. Large Asian endangered felines. (6)

28. The part of a sofa that supports the elbow. (3)

30. Noisy, clamorous. (4)

31. The food of love. (5)

32. A travelling show. (4)

35. Our second language. (7)

36. Nationality of a native of Naples. (7)

37. The person in charge of a publication. (6)

38. Breathed noisily, as when one is exhausted. (6)

SUDOKU ANSWERS

Down

luck

2. Enlarge in size or significance. (7)

3. Bad guys in Lord of the Rings. (4)

4. A small valley between mountains. (6)

5. Verbally disagreed. (6)

6. The lone fish. (4)

7. The message that is intended. (7)

8. Particular regions. (6)

9. Short poems for children. (6)

14. Projecting body parts. (7)

16. Go into, make a record of. (5)

18. Wireless transmission and reception (5)

20. Portable weapon. (3)

21. Place a stake on an outcome. (3)

23. Aided, assisted. (6)

24. Fell abruptly. (7)

26. Consider in detail, question closely. (7)

27. Reduced in size. (6)

28. Professional writer of books. (6)

29. Blending into one mass. (6)

33. An indirect suggestion. (4)

34. Star rodents. (4)