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With the onset of the restrictions now in force due to Covid 19 we at Locals Magazine are asking you to please stay indoors, stay safe and when you need to shop, shop local. We are being asked to consider others at this time and we are all here considering you, our loyal readership and hope that each and every one of you will keep safe and well in the time ahead.Our magazines rely not only on our brilliant team but are only possible because of our loyal advertisers, our loyal readership and of course our wonderful contributors. We value each and every one of you, and at this time, we hope all of you reading this and all of us are still healthy and happy when this has passed. So, please stay safe and well. Sean, Martin,Tim and all the Locals Team. Balbriggan Local Disclaimer

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BALBRIGGAN LOCAL-APRIL 2020

Local News

FINGAL COUNTY COUNCIL and COVID-19: Help us to help you. Fingal County Council wants to ensure the health and well-being of everyone in our County. To do this, we need your help. We are asking residents to call our Customer Care Unit at 01 8905000 BEFORE visiting our public offices. We want to ensure that no unnecessary visits are made during this unprecedented time as much of what we do can be completed over the phone, by mail or online. Paperwork can be sent by e-mail. E-mail addresses may be found on our website at www.fingal. ie Forms can be dropped off at a special drop-box in County Hall, Swords and Civic Office, Blanchardstown. Currently our playgrounds, museums, libraries and the archives are closed to the public. Your co-operation is greatly appreciated. Phone services: Fingal County Council offers a number of services which can be dealt with by phone. To pay by phone: housing rents, mortgage payments, parking fines. Ph 890 5309 and 890 5154. You may contact our Customer Care Unit by e-mail CustomerCareUnit@fingal.ie For any other information visit www.fingal.ie Our Parks remain open but we would remind you to exercise Social Distancing of 2 metres when visiting and heed our signage and find a quiet time or quieter place to visit. While our Libraries are closed many Online Courses and Eservices are still accessible https://www.fingal.ie/fingallibraries Our recycling centres have become very busy so in order that we can implement Social Distancing we would advise to visit Monday to Thursday rather than Friday and Saturday when they are extremely busy. Health Information: To ensure access to the most up to date and accurate information on the Coronavirus, please use the HSE website https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus. html Stay safe! (Please note: you cannot acesss this website by clicking on here.)

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BALBRIGGAN LOCAL-APRIL 2020

Local News

How To Get Children Actively Learning at Home Here are some practical ideas for your young children that will keep them engaged, focused and broaden their learning. It will hopefully keep them busy while you try to work from home too! Lego and construction toys are great, jigsaws, drawing, painting, singing, dancing, imaginative play and cooking are great ways for children to learn.Learning outside; get into the garden and search for minibeasts, dig up a patch of weeds/ soil, plant some seeds, go on a nature walk and look for signs of spring. Do a litter pick on your road, build a fort or den, get them to wash the car, learn how to cycle, hang out clothes, paint some big flat rocks. Extend any of these activities by asking children to draw or write about what they found/created.Teach children practical maths skills, like estimating and measuring (weight, length, time, capacity). For example, show them how to use the weighing scales to find 1kg, then send them on a mission to find a number of things in the house that weigh more than/less than or exactly 1kg. Do the same for 1litre and 1metre. Search for 2-D and 3-D shapes in the home and garden. Trace around the shapes to make a pattern or picture. Search the recycle bin for 3 D shapes and construct a building/bridge/robot...Try to integrate writing with a purpose into the daily routine. Ask your child to write a shopping list, a letter for their friend or neighbour, write a list of jobs they have

completed in the house (and do loads of jobs!) keep a diary, write a book/movie review.When reading, encourage your child to retell the story in their own words, imagine new endings or tell the story from a different character’s perspective. Ask your child to make illustrations for a story they have listened to. Do research for a project.I

would recommend www.supertroopers.ie and www.dabbledoomusic.com for music and indoor activities. Be creative and mind yourselves! (Please note: you cannot access these websites by clicking on here)Best of luck, Deirdre Hurley Rush and Lusk ETNS

Fingal LEO commits all resources to help Fingal businesses survive Covid 19

CROSSWORD COMPETITION WINNER Congratulations!! Jackie Early

Orlynn Park, Lusk, County Dublin YOU ARE LAST MONTHS COMPETITION WINNER HIDDEN WORD WAS: Oldtown

Fingal County Council’s Local Enterprise Office is committing all its resources to help Fingal businesses survive the current Coronavirus crisis.Some businesses have been forced to close or have seen their sales and income drop significantly in the past week but Fingal LEO has issued a message that they are still there to support them.Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Eoghan O’Brien, said helping the local business community was very important in the current circumstances. “Most of the business in Fingal are SMEs and provide a lot of jobs so it is important they get every support they can. The Local Enterprise Office in there to support Fingal businesses and will be a valuable resource for our SMEs in the weeks and months ahead as they deal with this unprecedented crisis,” said the Mayor.“All businesses have been massively impacted by the COVID-19 emergency,” said Oisin Geoghegan, Head of Fingal LEO. “It is imperative that our clients know that the LEO Office is still available to support them and our services will be available to them through this emergency.”In its efforts to help businesses Fingal LEO is expediting payments due to clients and to suppliers and is proactively contacting clients that have been approved to get their payments processed quicker if they are in a position to drawdown. All repayments due to the Enterprise Office from repayable grants are now suspended and clients are being advised they may defer repayments for an initial three month period. All training courses have been cancelled and refunds will be issued. “We have cleared the decks and are now recalibrating with the focus being on helping businesses to manage the crisis,” said Mr Geoghegan. “We are offering suitable training courses like digital marketing which can be rolled out online and are looking at other online initiatives.”“We are also offering one-to-one business continuity mentoring to clients, principally in the areas of HR, Financial Planning and Online Selling.”LEO is also seeing an increase level of interest in the new MFI Loan Scheme which is offering up to €50,000 with 0% interest for six months and a six month moratorium on repayments.

BALBRIGGAN LOCAL-APRIL 2020

Local News

International Women’s Day in Donabate/Portrane

Ukulele Hussies playing at International Women’s Day in Café Natural

Café Natural

Cathy O’Connor - local artist setting up

The Bleeding Pig Cultural Festival celebrated International Women’s Day in Donabate Portrane Community Centre on Sunday 8 th March. The celebration was opened by Jacinta Lowndes, Community Centre General Manager and began with a Coffee Morning in Café Natural with entertainment by The Ukulele Hussies, Brid Staples sang “Grandma’s Hands”, and Cliona O’Reilly and Eleanor Ronan played a violin duet “Por una Cabeza” – tango from Scent of a Women. Peig Mc Manus read her short and hilarious story “Pendulous” and Cliona read a short piece from two new books about Portrane women “Margaret Evans Poet from Portrane” and “ Sophia Parnell Evans Feminism, Politics and Farming in 19 th century Portrane” by Gerry Ronan. 6

BALBRIGGAN LOCAL-APRIL 2020

Eleanor Ronan (left) and Cliona O’Reilly (right) in Café Natural

Scoil Pharaic Cáilíní abstract portraits

Mary Derwen and her team from Mark and Spencer provided their bra fitting service.The talks this year centred on Women’s Health and Wellbeing with“ Healthy Ageing” – a talk and presentation by nutritionist Gaye Godkin, “ Reflexology -Good for the Sole” demonstration and talk by Catherine Connolly, “Women and Mental Health” presented by Anna Maria Luddy Co-ordinator in the Centre for Nurse Education St Ita’s Campus and Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown and “A Woman’s Heart” – Gender Differences in Heart Attack “ a slideshow prepared by Joe Pryme and presented by Margaret McCarthy. Thank you to Fergus O’Reilly and his colleagues in the Library for providing a selection of books about inspirational women.The theme

Flower arrangement by Maura Quirke

Brownies collaborative art display

for our exhibition was “Women Painters of the Peninsula “ -Éalaíontóirí Mná na Leithinse and we had a selection of paintings by the very talented women of the peninsula.Thank you to the girls from 6 th Class in Scoil Phadraic Cáilini for their incredible portraits and congratulations to the winners.The local Brownie group with leader Emer Weston produced a collaborative art display based on the Leo Tolstoy quote “Women, in your hands lies the salvation of the world.”There was also an informative exhibition on the almost invisible and unknown Irish women artists of the 20 th .century. Thank you to Fingal Co. Co. for their support for International Women’s Day. Contact us: communitylocalseditor@gmail.com

Local News

Books on Margaret Evans and Sophia Parnell-Evans Launched

Cllr Paul Mulville, Mayor of Fingal Cllr Eoghan O’Brien, Director of Housing & Community Margaret Geraghty, Author Gerard Ronan, Senior Executive Librarian Helen O’Donnell, Cllr Adrian Henchy

Mayor of Fingal, Councillor Eoghan O’Brien officially launched two new books by local author Gerard Ronan entitled Margaret Evans – Poet of Portrane and Sophia Parnell-Evans – Feminism, Politics and Farming in 19th Century Portrane recently in Donabate Library. These books have been published in collaboration with Fingal County Council.The Author Gerard Ronan is a 60 year old retired civil servant and the author of three previous books He lives in Donabate. MARGARET EVANS (1750-1846) - Poet of Portrane Arrested on charge of high treason for his role in the rebellion of 1798, Hampden Evans of Portrane House was facing the death penalty until a reprieve saw him exiled for life. His wife (Margaret) and daughters were forced to follow him and spend 12 difficult years moving from Germany to France and rented house to rented house, until finally allowed to return. Separated from her sons and sisters, Margaret Evans had to develop new friends, in a new city, where attitudes to female emancipation were far more progressive than in the city of her birth. Her poems betray the thoughts of a woman battling to appreciate her blessings in the face of continuous re-settleme t and the deaths of her children. The type of comfort and emotional support that she cannot extract from her husband, she seeks in the friendship of other women, the pages of her Bible, and the mental discipline of poetry. Written, almost entirely, to or for other women, these poems speak not just to her affection for her children and her female friends, but to the

pivotal role of poetry in the lives of eighteenth and early nineteenth century women. Her poems give us a unique insight into the life and exile of a Protestant, and very prominent United Irish family. SOPHIA PARNELL-EVANS (1780-1853) -Feminism, Politics and Farming in 19th Century Portrane Sophia Parnell-Evans was the only daughter of Sir John Parnell and the great aunt of Charles Stewart Parnell. She ran a large and successful farming enterprise at a time when few women had done so.She met two Queens, the ex-wife of Napoleon and was a friend of the radical feminist Margaret King. A friend of both the Darwin and Condorcet families, she was daughter and sister to three of the most prominent politicians of her day, and wife to another. A radical and liberal thinker in her own right, she founded two primary schools in Donabate and helped to mitigate the effects of the Great Famine in her locality.She funded and encouraged the agricultural experiments of William Kelly of Portrane. The memorial round tower and marble bust she built in memory of her devoted husband, the MP George Evans, revived a tradition of tower building that had lain dormant for seven centuries. As the great aunt of Charles Stewart Parnell, she even made it into the pages of Joyce’s “Finnegan’s Wake” as the practical joker “greataunt Sophy”. The bust she had made of her husband which was originally housed at the tower now sits in garden of her husband’s great nephew in North Wales. Pitman Training Swords is committed to continued and uninterrupted service for our students while looking after our staff at this difficult and challenging time. At Pitman Training Swords we have an advantage over other colleges and training centres in Ireland in that we have a state-of-the-art education platform on which our students are able to study remotely.All our

students are currently studying from home but our administration is open and working remotely; to enrol online, process payments, activate courses, and offer home support. So if you have time on your hands, and don’t we all, now is your chance to take a course from our portfolio of three hundred courses and fifty diplomas. Contact: Maria Lalor on 01 840 4075

BALBRIGGAN LOCAL-APRIL 2020

Easter Recipes ! y t p m u D y t p m u H

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‘Egg-centric’ mice

1. Slice 1 boile d egg in half. E ach half will m mouse. ake up the body of a 2. Place the 2 halves on a serv ing dish in fron 3. Use a sharp t of a chunk of knife (adults) ch to make 2 slits and place a pi on the top of th eese. ece of carrot in e egg side each slit as 4. Make 2 smal ears. l holes a bit lo wer down from green peas in the ears and pl them as eyes. ace 2 5.Make a smal l hole at the ba ck of the egg an of the end of a d stick in a sm green bean for all piece the tail.

‘Egg-travagant’ flower

1. Slice hard bo iled eggs in ha lf and gently sc of the eggs to oop out the yo make the cent lk of one er of the flower 2. Assemble th . e hard boiled egg halves arou petals. You can nd the yolk as use as many eg flower g ha 3. I used aspara gus for the stem lves (flower petals) as you lik e. but if you don’ green leaves co t have this, cele uld work for th ry and e stem.

BALBRIGGAN LOCAL-APRIL 2020

For nutrition and healthy eating talks in preschools or workshop , primar y or s secondar y sc workplaces, h ools, sports or com munity grou email: niamh ps please @biabites.ne tSee my ‘Fun ‘Recipes’ alb food’ and ums on ‘Biab ites’Faceboo food ideas. N k fo r other iam Health and C h Arthurs BSc, MSC Pu blic linical Nutrit ionist Contact us: communitylocalseditor@gmail.com

Local News

Tom meets the Dublin Stars By Tom O’Neill Having a guide dog like myself or indeed an assistance dog or a puppy in training to become a guide dog or an assistance dog can bring you into company that without the dog or puppy one would be unlikely to find themselves in that company.One such incident happened to myself in December of last when I attended the A.G.M. of the Progressive Credit Union in St Maurs G.A.A. Club rooms in Rush with my friend from Balbriggan Vincent BrennanI was one of the lucky 5 people present in the room to have their attendance number pulled out of the virtual hat this time around The Sam Maguire Cup no less. So naturally I had to go up front and accept my voucher of €100 from Dean Rock on my right in the picture and James McCarthy on my left both very well-known Dublin Senior team football players.I was born in Co Mayo and have been a lifetime supporter of the green and red so for the fun of it on the night I told the lads “I couldn’t take the Sam Maguire from them on the night as I could only take it from them in Croke Park” we had a great laugh and they wished me well as a mayo man going forward to get my wish of taking the cup from them. We left the cup on the ground as it was neutral space!!Dean then said “I believe my aunt Pauline McGrath and her late husband Billy are two volunteers for guide dogs” I was delighted to say that Pauline his aunt and his cousin Peter Ennis keep the flag flying for guide dogs in the GarristownBallamadun-oldtown area of north county Dublin.Meantime you might consider volunteering with us in guide dogs but do all keep safeTom O’neill guide dog owner Balbriggan.To contact the Balbriggan\NCD branch of guide dogs Tel 085 7663107, email:guidedogsbalbriggan@gmail.com

Library Events Balbriggan Library March 2020 Imeachtaí i Leabharlann Baile Brigín Márta 2020 All Events are FREE!! / Gach Imeachtaí Saor! Phone/Fón: 01 8704401 Email/Ríomhphoist: balbrigganlibrary@fingal.ie

Machnamh Yoga/Yoga & Meditation ClassDeardaoin 2 Aibrean 6.30in-7.30in/ Thursday 2nd April 6.30-7.30pm Relieve stress & rejuvenate with a Yoga and Meditation class on Thursday 2nd of April 2020 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. For more information and to book a place please contact the Library on 01 8704401 or email balbrigganlibrary@fingal.ie Seó Puipéad/Puppet Show Dé Luain 6 Aibrean 3in-4in/Monday 6th 3-4pm Custard Pie Puppet Show for children of all ages.For more information and to book a place please contact the Library on 01 8704401 or email balbrigganlibrary@fingal.ie Tús a chur le scéalaíocht/Spring into Storytime. Deardaoin 23 Aibrean 3.30in4.30in/Thursday 23rd 3.30-4.30pm Spring into Storytime is a family story session for children

of all ages. For more information and to book a place please contact the Library on 01 8704401 or email balbrigganlibrary@fingal.ie

Ongoing Events Club Leabhar Linbh / Baby Book Club Dé Ceadoain 1 Aibreán 10.30rn/Wednesday 1st April 10.30am Join us on the first Wednesday of the month while we read stories for babies & toddlers, all welcome. Club Scánnan & Leabhar i Baile Brigín/ Balbriggan Film & Book Club Dé Sathairn 25 Aibrean 2in/Saturday 25th 2pm The Balbriggan Film & Book Club is a book club with a difference! Simply borrow this month’s book and/or pop along to the screening of the film at the end of the month.

Grúpa Cniotála & Cróiseáil 6.30-7.30in / Knitting & Crochet Group 6.30-7.30pm Ar an Máirt /Tuesdays The Balbriggan Knitting Group will meet every Tuesday at 6.30pm in Balbriggan Library. Adults of all ages and abilities welcome. Club Scrabble / Scrabble Club Gach Luain 11in / Mondays 11am Scrabble club for adults: Mondays at 11am. All are welcome, scrabble boards supplied. Grúpa Scríbhneoir Baile Brigín/ Balbriggan Writer’s Group Gach Satharn 11.00 -1.00rn / Saturdays 11.00-1.00pm The Balbriggan Writer’s Group meets every Saturday in the library from 11am until 1pm. New members are always welcome – just come along on the day! Fón/Phone: 01 8704401 Ríomhphoist/Email: balbrigganlibrary@fingal.ie

BALBRIGGAN LOCAL-APRIL 2020

WIN €50 !!! WIN €50 !!! WIN €50 !!! WIN €50 !!! 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 April 16. The first correct entry to be drawnwill win €50..Good luck Across

Down

2. Put something back where it belongs. (7) 5. Pushed roughly. (6) 3. Became larger, expanded. (4) 10. Occurs, comes to pass. (7) 4. Paper used to construct lies. (6) 11. John Lennon album was a 5. Protect, conceal from danger. (6) Gemini. (7) 6. Round like an egg. (4) 12. Soil that is plastic when moist 7. Clearly apparent or obvious to the but hard when fired. (4) mind or senses. (7) 13. Create by combining materials 8. Unpleasant or disappointing and parts. (5) surprises. (6) 15. A pause for relaxation. (4) 9. A dog trained to point out game. 17. Finish, conclude. (3) (6) 19. Found in conjunction with fly, 14. The first letter of a word. (7) 16. There goes the anaesthetic. (5) lightning and balance. (6) 18. Perhaps, possibly. (5) 21. Christian celebration of the 20. Term of address for a man. (3) Resurrection. (6) 21. A major division of geological 22. Male accounts of the past. (7) time. (3) 23. Bow and arrow user. (6) 23. Counting the cost. (6) 25. In a foreign country. (6) 24. A book still read and studied after 28. A joke to cause to retch. (3) many years. (7) 30. A beloved person comes with a 26. Invitation to engage in fisticuffs high price. (4) in the open air. (7) 31. Food for tossing. (5) 27. Harm, impair. (6) 32. Slender structure which supports 28. Sacred river of India. (6) a plant. (4) 29. Four quarts. (6) 35. Tensing, living like a bird. (7) 33. One of two or more contesting groups. (4) 36. Searching visually. (7) 34. Division of the day. (4) 37. Slang for prison guards. (6) 1. Capable of learning easily. (6)

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SUDOKU ANSWERS

38. Hospital carers. (6)

Quality Foods on Your Doorstep We’re incredibly lucky to live in the heart of the ‘Market Garden of Ireland’, surrounded by some of the best growers in the country. This gives us access to the freshest of in-season local vegetables in our Farm Shop. And to save you time, we can deliver direct to your door. Choose from fresh fruit and vegetables, craft meats, a wide range of artisan, organic and gluten free foods, and wines. We’re offering free, same day delivery, to surrounding towns and villages, on all orders over €25.00. T. 01-8107493 with any questions, or to place an order.

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