Lusk Local V8I7-FEB 2023

This Valentine’s Day will be yet another one unlike others in the past, whether we are teenage lovers or more mature partners. That is obviously because of the continued threat of the new variant of Covid 19 and the new threat posed by the current virulent flu which is doing the rounds at present. However that does not mean that we cannot show love to those who mean the most to us. Remember, chocolate shops, jewellers shops, florists, restaurants and hotels are all still open. Unlike any other period in history we now have the means to stay in touch and communicate without meeting in person, whether that be through a mobile phone call or Face time or Zoom or whatever technology we have at hand. The worldwide communications structure is so vast now that we need never feel alone and we can send messages of love and support to those we care most about. Mind you, its still nice to get Valentines cards with their quirky rhymes. However,.we should also remember to all shop locally and ensure the local jobs of our neighbours and friends. We all know the dangers of not wearing face coverings, not regularly washing our hands thoroughly and not keeping our distance when meeting others. We all also know how boring our lives were during lockdown so lets continue to meet our family and friends and especially those we love on the 14th but lets be careful and safe. Simply put, we all want this to decrease again as soon as possible. We all want to reduce the number of people in hospital and worse, so lets all pull together once again as we did before and turn this around quickly, get back to as near normal a society as soon as possible and stay safe and enjoy our lives while being responsible. So please stay safe, lets pull together and keep supporting our HSE workers, our local shopping outlets. Our neighbours and most of all our families and those we love.

Have a happy and safe Valentine’s Day from all of us in the Locals team.

STRICT DEADLINE FOR NEXT EDITION:

by the 15th for inclusion in next months edition

BRIAN DENNEHY

Working hard for our community

Five stars for the film called ‘8½’

By Jack Shanley

‘8½’ is a strange title but one appropriate for the 1963 classic. Approaching its 60th anniversary, we look back as fondly as ever at the Federico Fellini masterpiece. Gaining its title simply from the number of films in which the Italian maestro had made to date, it really is a must-watch movie. It follows a troubled Italian filmmaker, Guido (Marcello Mastroianni), who struggles with the creative stasis of his next project. Overwhelmed by his struggles, he retreats into a world of fantasy, both past and present, resulting in his next project being very autobiographical. This bonafide classic is a study of male fantasy and fear of the creative mind. Throughout, we are constantly struck with wonderful dream-like imagery from Guido’s mind overlooking the past and present, most of which involves his association with women, the impact of women on his life and his true feelings for them. We also study the true horror of one suddenly losing their creativity for their craft. Fellini at his very best tended to bond a balance between fantasy and reality and never has it

been more evident than in ‘8½’. The film is a messy ball of confusion as our hero (Guido), a self-regarding man, finds himself lost and utterly empty as the film itself. Midway though, a friend of Guido turns to him, speaking the true essence of the film when saying: ‘I’ve figured out what your story is about. It’s a man’s inner confusion.’ This speaks volumes not just for ‘8½’ but for the majority of Fellini’s filmography, films like ‘La Dolce Vita’, ‘La Strada’ and ‘Nights of Cabiria’ which all fall into the themes of fantasy, dreams and desire. ‘8½’, still regarded as one of the finest films ever made, is on many lists and polls as one of the greatest and most influential films of all time. It is truly an astonishing, masterful and electrifying spectacle of optimism as we step into the dreams and world of Fellini. As the material is still so fresh, it’s only right to give it a score of FIVE stars.

•You can watch ‘8½’ on Prime Video or buy it on Blu-Ray for €21.37 on Amazon. Director: Federico Fellini

– Rating:15 – Genre: Fantasy/ Drama – Run Time: 2h 18m –

Language: Italian English. For more film content please follow @ movies4fanatics on Instagram.

So how are those changes going?

By Dave Kavanagh

So, February 2023. The time when many “New year, new me” changes may have faded into memory. So many great intentions of life improvements were planned: get healthier, spend more wisely, have more money, relax more, stress less, start a new hobby. All noble intentions, with one thing in common – they require you to make some changes and make time for those changes. For some aspects, this is easier than it is for others. Relax a bit more? Sure. Spend some “Me Time” in the gym? Absolutely. Do some work on planning the finances? “Errrrr…maybe I’ll start on that next week”! Without realising it, many people subconsciously view dealing with financial planning as “negative”. Understandably, who wants to sit discussing the potential loss in the event of a fatality, or a serious illness, or not being able to work, or thinking forward to the last third of your adult life? If any of these type of events would cause a financial loss to you or those dependent on you, making some time to at least establish what options are available, is the least you should consider. There are so many other benefits to reviewing your finances, not least of which, it can leave you with more money! Two of the tips I constantly tell people is to examine 3 months’ bank statements and to do a monthly spending exercise. Going through the bank

statements can help identify things that maybe you should no longer be paying for, or that you are duplicating. Keeping a spending diary for a month will give you a clear picture of detailed outgoings, allowing you to identify spending that you could possibly do more efficiently and permit you to make any changes necessary. The end result of making the time for such an important topic, will not only usually leave you better off financially, but put you more in control of your finances, thereby reducing the stress/anxiety often associated with money. One hour is 4% of your day. Make the time.

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 him at info@ financialcompanion.ie or use the contact form on www.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.

O’Donoghue welcomes Works Programmes in Lusk

At the January Council meeting Cllr Rob O’Donoghue welcomed a number of initiatives coming forward in the Lusk area for 2023.The procurement for the incorporation of the wasteland on Chapel Farm Drive into the adjacent Class 1 Open Space which was supposed to happen in 2022, but was unfortunately delayed due to the site being used as a pyrite remediation storage area will now be commenced as a priority during 2023.A meeting has been arranged with the relevant Developer to progress the Taking in Chare of the Open Space and facilities related to the Forge estate as quickly as possible. It is ‘imperative for both sports clubs and residents of Lusk that this much needed space is given over fully for community use’, according to O’Dongohue. Cllr O’Donoghue noted “I look forward to the

implementation of these projects and the forthcoming Programme of Works for 2023 which is presented to Councillors in February outlining the remediation works on roads and footpaths in the town to take place in the coming calendar year, I will as always keep people informed.”At the meeting Cllr O’Donoghue also passed a motion requesting that the ESB come to address the elected representatives with solutions to the ongoing power outages in the town of Lusk. As part of the his contribution he noted that the power outages ‘drive the people of Lusk up the wall’ as they have been occurring for years and implored the semi-state company to provide better information to the public on how the company intends to address and future proof the problems in the system.

Cathal BOLAND

Rush Tidy Towns working hard for their community!

(FOR THOSE WHO BOUGHT A CALENDAR)

It has come to our attention that there are three printing errors in the Rush Tidy Towns calendar.

Good Friday should read Friday the 7th of April, not Friday the 14th, Easter Monday should read Monday the 10th.of April, not Monday the 17th and, October Bank Holiday should read Monday the 30th of October, not Tuesday the 31st of October. Sincere apologies for these misprints and we hope this doesn’t inconvenience anybody. Meanwhile the hard work of

keeping the Rush community tidy continued recently. RTT are delighted to see the new big belly bins finally arriving in Rush this week. There will be 14 in total and we will also get bins at the new locations which are on popular walking routes. These are higher capacity so should cope with a lot more litter which will be great for weekends and the summer period in particular. Thank you Fingal County Council. Also as ever the wonderful volunteers have been out litter picking in recent days and a great job done at the entrance to Tesco by them as these pictures show.

ALL CONTRIBUTORS PLEASE NOTE**

Due to increasing demand for space in our magazine could all contributors please note OUR STRICT DEADLINE FOR ARTICLES AND PICS IS THE 16TH OF THE MONTH PRIOR TO PUBLICATION ** Thank you.

Love is in the air – Wedding Planning

by Siobhan O’Neill White

Valentine’s is a popular time for engagements and while weddings can be hugely expensive, with some savvy shopping and careful planning, you need not go bankrupt!

I was recently helped my sister plan her wedding. She shopped local as much as possible, but unfortunately still got scammed on a dodgy wedding website ‘claiming’ to be Irish. It had a .ie Irish domain and looked legit. She spent €200 but after a few days without updates, she discovered this company was fake. Thankfully, her bank was able to refund her the money but the best advice when ordering from a company you have not used before is to research them first. Check Trustpilot, Irish wedding chat boards or our wedding section on mams.ie. For wedding dresses, Alexander Bridal, Parnell St Dublin are wonderful. Tina is professional and experienced, and the dresses are bang on trend without hefty price tags. Our family has bought 3 wedding dresses, 2 bridesmaids dresses and 3 Communion dresses there over the years. Highly recommended for the fellas, Bestwear, Shop St. Drogheda is well known for stylish, affordable suits for men and boys. Excellent quality and superb value, like the one in our

picture. Aisling and Kieron are very helpful and can arrange alterations if necessary. The difference in price between them and some shops we perused in Dublin is drastic. Well worth a visit and to get a further 10% off in store, use promo code Mams.ieBest23 WeddingCreations. ie make personalised products like Bridal Planner boxes, wedding invites and keepsake gifts. Caroline is so helpful and every month she runs a different discount offer. The wedding day personalised bridal robes, as pictured, are beautiful. Another wonderful Irish company is karenedellmillinery.ie for hair accessories and fascinators. We picked a beautiful Mother-of-thebride fascinator from Karen for €79 and it’s very similar (but even nicer) than one we spotted in another store for €400!!! For wedding guest style, the website MyKindOfDress. com is fantastic. Get 20% off when you join their newsletter and check their sale section, its jammed with fabulous items at bargain prices, like wedding guest dresses from €10 and faux fur jackets from €25.Keep an eye on mams.ie and our socials for wedding related competitions including Tan Organic sets, iGlow nail & lash products, Carter Beauty make-up, Belleek Living Gifts and lots more!

Balbriggan/ North County Dublin Branch of Irish Guide Dogs News

In 2022 we held 11 events throughout the year from which a fantastic total amount of €7,602.49 was raised. We would like to thank all who supported us and all the volunteers for their work throughout the year. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Specsavers, Balbriggan for sponsoring the Santa Grotto in Millfield Shopping centre during November and December, of which a total of €1,119.95 was raised. Would you like to support our local Balbriggan/ North County Dublin Branch of Irish Guide Dogs this February? Why not attend the Balbriggan Feis being held in Clann Mhuire GAA Hall, Naul, Co. Dublin on the 11th and 12th February with musician Kevin Warren.

Pre-registration through WeFeis is €5 or €8 per family (siblings only) and pre-registration is open on Monday 23rd January until Friday the 3rd of February. Or you can pay on the day for all dances with solos being €5 and Championships, confined and cup competitions being €10. A great time will be had and all proceeds go to our Balbriggan/ North County Dublin Branch of Irish Guide Dogs. You can also support us by using our ‘Tap to Donate’ machine in Specsavers, Millfield Shopping Centre, Balbriggan, where a tap of your card donates €3 to us. Since July 2022 we also have a new machine in Oakes Pharmacy, Skerries. This one is slightly different than Specsavers, as in it allows for a minimum donation of €2 by the

tap of a phone but when you tap, it prompts you to open an app and select the amount you would like to donate.We are also involved in the current round of Community Fund at Tesco, Millfield Shopping Centre and we would appreciate if you would vote for us using your blue token. We appreciate all your support. If you are interested in volunteering with us please feel free to contact our Balbriggan/North County Dublin Branch of Irish Guide Dogs

Phone/text: 085 7663107 -

Email:GuideDogsBalbriggan@gmail.com or Find us on Facebook: Balbriggan Branch of Guide Dogs

CommunityLocals.ie

Anne Mulligan, Gemma Kane with assistance dog Marco, Tom O’Neill with Guide Dog Qeb and John Burke Corporate Manager with Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind outside Specsavers, Millfield Shopping Centre, Balbriggan.

Home Cook Recipes Healthy

Niamh’s Super ‘7 a Day’ Roasted Veg

With Wintry weather and the season for colds and flu, the below recipe is a simple way to help achieve ‘ 7 a day’ for fruit and vegetables and boost intakes of the all important nutrients for our immune systems including Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Make a big batch and use leftovers the following day or to make a ‘veggie’ tasty soup!!! Please feel free to use whatever vegetables you like or are available/in season.Although as the saying goes “Variety is the spice of life”!!!

Ingredients:

• 3 Sweet potatoes

• 2 Carrots

• 1 Courgette

• 2 Red onions

• 4 Cloves of garlic

• 1 Green pepper

• 1 Yellow pepper

• 1 Red pepper

• 10 Cherry tomatoes

• 1 Chilli (or 2 depending on if you want it hot!)

• 4 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

• 2 tablespoons dried Basil or other herbs

of your liking

• Black pepper to season. Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200’c.

2. Prepare all vegetables by washing, peeling and chopping as appropriate. I diced, sliced and roughly chopped my vegetables into chunks as in the image.

3. Place the sliced sweet potatoes with x2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar onto a large and long baking tray. Bake in the oven for 20minutes at180’c (160’c fan oven) Gas mark 4.

4. Remove tray from oven. Turn the sliced sweet potatoes around on the tray and add the carrots, red onions, garlic, chilli, herbs, spices and the other x2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar. Ensure all the vegetables on the tray are coated in the herbs, spices and Balsamic vinegar

5.Place tray back in the oven for another 15minutes.

6. Remove tray from oven. Turn vegetables around to ensure even cooking. Add the

remaining vegetables left (peppers and tomatoes). Place back in the oven for another 15minutes or until the vegetables are cooked how you like them!

(Tip: Some vegetables take longer to cook than others hence the different lengths of baking time for the different vegetables)

Please follow’Biabites’Facebook for other food ideas especially in the ‘Fun food’ and ‘Recipes’ albums.

Please follow @BiaBites on twitter. For nutrition talks/workshops at events or in schools/workplaces/ community groups= please email: niamh@biabites.net.

Niamh Arthurs BSc, Msc

Registered Dietitian

Lusk AC – A very successful January

Lusk AC had an actioned packed start to the New Year with multiple events taking place in early January. The annual Tom Brennan 5k kicked off the year on 1st January and then a week later it was over to Abbotstown for the first round of the National Indoor League. It was with great pride that the club entered two teams at this event for the first time since reforming in 2009. There were PB performances from Ross Moore, Max Lara and Daniel O’Brien and no doubt the whole team gained valuable experience from the event. A few miles away in St Anne’s park, Raheny another 23 club members were taking part in the Dublin Master’s Cross Country. Weather conditions were ideal although cross country is never easy and our athletes all performed admirably, fighting for every place. The weekend of Jan 13th & 14th was also full of action starting with Matt Bush taking part in the attritional Art O’Neill challenge which involved 60km of road and open mountain starting in Dublin Castle and finishing in Glenmalure, Wicklow. As Matt was completing his overnight challenge, 5 of the club were starting a half marathon in Donadea Forest. We also had athletes competing well again in the National Indoor arena at the Junior & U23 championship as well as club members officiating. We would like to welcome all of our new members to the club and for those of you who haven’t taken that step yet it’s not too late. We have a Fit4Life forever group which will continue all year with opportunities to achieve many goals. As always it will be fun, easy running designed for complete beginners or those returning to fitness. We also have a Fit4Youth group aimed at teenagers. Both groups train at 7pm on Tuesday & Thursday at The Hub, Rathmore Road. Register at Luskathleticclub.ie. Finally, the Lusk 4 mile takes place on Sunday 5th March. Don’t forget to sign up or volunteer.

News & Events

Men’s Indoor relay team

The Lusk contingent at the World Half Marathon festival in Donadea Forest

Cross country Masters at St Anne’s park

Women’s Indoor relay team

Matt Bush during the Art O’Neill challenge

Daniel O’Brien was in top form at the Indoor arena

Junsa Taekwondo Club News

Our recent club gradings at Junsa Taekwondo

Recently Junsa Taekwondo held there bi annual club grading. The club gradings are the highlight of our calendar. The grading is where our students get to display their skills, of technical ability, sparring skills, knowledge of Taekwondo, fitness and the traditional aspects of Taekwondo. Each grading is to progress our students and between each one the students learn new aspects of Taekwondo plus new skills and moves. It’s all about progression and building confidence and self esteem at Junsa. Please take a look at these photographs of our recent gradings. A very happy new year to all our students, supports and our Taekwondo friends around the world. Junsa Taekwondo is always accepting new students both experienced and completely beginners of all ages. Please contact Master Stuart Russell or follow us on Facebook @ Junsa Taekwondo

Beginner grading

Grading number 2 our intermediate group

Aidan and David

Pad kicking skills

The future of Taekwondo is bright

Advanced group

Sparring skills is part of all our grading

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 drawnwill win €50..Good luck

Across

1. Make a high-pitched, screeching noise, as a rat. (6)

5. Cold seasoned vegetable dishes. (6)

10. Eastern is closest. (7)

11. Suggests something forgotten. (7)

12. Few and far between. (4)

13. Further down. (5)

15. A collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawn. (4)

17. Not worn or used. (3)

19. The colour between green and orange. (6)

21. Made noises like a pig. (6)

22. People who guide and inspire, (7)

23. Worthy of religious veneration. (6)

25. Pass or go by, like time. (6)

28. Social insect who lives in a colony. (3)

30. A list of names showing the order in which people should work. (4)

31. Sweet stuff. (5)

32. Small fragments. (4)

35. A relatively flat highland. (7)

36. Put something back where it belongs. (7)

37. Constituent of concrete and mortar. (6)

38. Vocal artiste. (6)

SUDOKU ANSWERS

Down

2. Argue with a crossbow bolt. (7)

3. The original garden. (4)

4. A young domestic cat. (6)

5. Great sadness.. (6)

6. A young sheep. (4)

7. North European country. (7)

8. It’s needed to get up and go.. (6)

9. A land mass that is surrounded by water. (6)

14. Occupying the front in a race. (7)

16. Openings on a golf course. (5)

18. A passage between shelves in a supermarket. (5)

20. Dew get married. (3)

21. A metal-bearing mineral valuable enough to be mined. (3)

23. Discarded food from a kitchen. (6)

24. Quaint Irish dwelling. (7)

26. The lowest rank in the army. (7)

27. Happens as a result. (6)

28. Month named after the first Roman Emperor. (6)

29. The second sign of the Zodiac. (6)

33. An outdoor fundraiser. (4)

34. Peon is a tournament for amateurs and professionals. (4)