Author Archives: SMcK

Tidy Towns Annual Awards Night 2014

Posted on by
The annual awards night of Skerries Tidy Towns (one of the most active committees of Skerries Community Association) was held recently in Joe Mays. A large crowd came to see the prizes being presented and celebrate a great year for Tidy Towns in Skerries.
Tidy Towns Awards 2014 01The best-presented business went to The White Cottages, sponsored by Tom and Denyze from Skerries Art School.
The best floral display went to Ollie’s Place, sponsored by the Tidy Towns committee, who also sponsored the best signage, which went to Da Vino’s.
The best window display went to VIP (Very Important Parties) and was sponsored by the Red Bank.
The award for the best-presented private house in the town went to O’Leary’s in the Square and was sponsored by Tidy Towns.
The best-presented house in an estate went to Gerry Boardman at 16 Mill Hill Park, sponsored by Shay Kelly Auctioneers.
The best estate award was shared by the Heights, Jetty, Tide, Harbour and the Rise areas of Kelly’s Bay, sponsored by Skerries Community Association.
 Photographs by Skerries Tidy Towns / Brendan Sherlock.

 

Skerries CoderDojo looking for mentors!

Posted on by

Skerries CoderDojo, the free, volunteer-led monthly coding club for kids from 7 to 17 (and their parents), is going from strength to strength. After two meetings in the lovely upstairs of Joe May’s, that venue became too small, and they have now taken over the Old Schoolhouse (part of Skerries Community Centre), where they will be found one Sunday every month from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Advanced Group November 2014 CoderDojo

Advanced Group November 2014 CoderDojo

Now they need more mentors so they can continue coaching the young computer enthusiasts and fill all the space they now have at their disposal. If interested, please contact Sabine at coderdojo@skerriesca.com – you will be offered training if necessary. At the moment, the club is using Scratch and JavaScript. Additional Parent Helpers / Organisers are also welcome.

Intermediate Group November 2014 CoderDojo

Intermediate Group November 2014 CoderDojo

One of the advantages of being in the Old Schoolhouse is that the volunteers can now set up a Café Dojo, where parents (who have to stay on the premises if their children are under 12) can sit and chat and have some coffee / cake. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Café Dojo November 2014 CoderDojo

Café Dojo November 2014 CoderDojo

While the club is free to attend, ninjas (participants) must book in and bring a laptop, and a parent if they are under 12. Bookings for each CoderDojo opens a week before  the event and is done online only, through the Skerries CoderDojo EventBrite page.

Contact coderdojo@skerriesca.com if you would like to be added to their email list, so that you will automatically be alerted when booking opens.

Skerries CoderDojo would like to thank their main sponsor, Ian Cleary of RazorSocia.com, a Rush-based company / website of international renown that evaluates social media tools.

Brendan Sherlock – our Community Person of the Year

Posted on by

Congratulations are due to Brendan Sherlock, one of the Directors of the Skerries Community Association and a long-standing & very active volunteer, for being the recipient of a Fingal County Council Community Person of the Year Award recently.

Apart from his involvement as a Director of the SCA, in our tree-planting committee Crann Padraig, and now the new Age Friendly Skerries Committee, Brendan is an active member of the Loughshinny Motorcycle Supporters Club and the Skerries representative on the Fingal Community and Voluntary Council.

Our Chairperson, Ciara Leonard, writes:

We are very proud to announce that our fellow SCA board member, Brendan Sherlock was honoured at the Community Person of the Year Awards, held by Fingal County Council on Wednesday 5th November 2014 in the Draíocht, Blanchardstown, hosted by Mary Kennedy. Brendan received his award from the mayor of Fingal, Cllr. Mags Murray. Brendan was nominated by ourselves, Crann Phádraig and Loughshinny Motorcycle Club for his many years of service to our community. 

Brendan Sherlock receiving Community Person Award

Brendan receiving his award from the Mayor of Fingal, Cllr. Mags Murray; far left: Paul Reid, CEO, Fingal County Council; far right: Mary Kennedy.

At Community Person Award 2014 Photo by Kevin Mcfeely

The Skerries Community Association Delegation at the Awards Ceremony, from left to right: Paul Reid, CEO of Fingal County Council; Martin Russell, SCA; Ciara Leonard, Chair, SCA; Brendan Sherlock himself; Mary Kennedy; Mary Conway, SCA; Brendan’s nephew Paul Sherlock; Nunce McAuley, SCA.

At the Community Awards Reception 2014 Photo by Kevin Mcfeely

Ciara Leonard, Nunce McAuley (back to us), Brendan’s nephew Paul Sherlock, Brendan Sherlock, Martin Russell

Photographs of the event: Kevin McFeely Photography, Swords.

Can you help Age Friendly Skerries?

Posted on by

logo of Age Friendly IrelandSkerries is an Age Friendly Town, i.e. a town where the community understands and responds to the needs of older people.

In December 2013, Skerries received its Age Friendly Town Charter. As part of the process a number of activities were undertaken in the town including:

  • A Walkability Survey
  • Consultation days with older adults and service providers
  • Audit of signage in the town

The Skerries Chamber of Commerce and Prosper Fingal Piercetown undertook to participate in the Business of Ageing programme, which is also being rolled out in the town.

Feedback from the all of this consultation was used to develop an Action Plan for the town, which will be launched shortly.

An Age Friendly Town Committee of Skerries Community Association is in the process of being established. This group will – among other things – be collating all existing relevant information; developing a new user friendly information database; and deciding on how disseminate this information to all the relevant stakeholders and older people themselves.

The Age Friendly Town Committee need your help!

Mary Conway and Brendan Sherlock of Skerries Age Friendly Town need your input.

They say:

We need people in the town to be champions for older people, especially
those who find themselves socially isolated due to health problems

Service Providers:

We need up-to-date information on your services for older people.

Clubs:

We need up-to-date information on the club. What are you doing for older people or former members and / or would you consider hosting an event for older people in the town at least once a year?

With your help we would like not only to update information in the town, but also to put together a calendar of events for older people in the town.

Please send your ideas to mary.conway@skerriesca.com or brendan.sherlock@skerriesca.com.

Facebook SCA card image

Age Friendly Town Skerries – A new committee!

Posted on by

Making Skerries a better place in which to live, work and grow old

In 2013, Fingal County Council, in association with Age Friendly Ireland, selected Skerries as the town in which to pilot the Age Friendly Town process in Fingal. This was something that Skerries Community Association had been wanting to do for many years.
The aim is to make Skerries a better place in which to live, work and grow old. As part of the process, a number of activities were carried out in the town including:
  • A walkability study
  • Consultation days with older adults and service providers
  • An audit of signage in the town
  • Participation in the “Business of Aging” programme on the part of Skerries Chamber of Commerce and Prosper Fingal.
Limerick December 2013, Skerries received its Age Friendly Town Charter

Limerick December 2013, Skerries received its Age Friendly Town Charter

Feedback from the consultation was used to develop an action plan for the town which includes:
  1. The upgrade and enhancement of the Town Park making it more accessible for all.
  2. Roll out of OPRAH (Older People Remaining at Home) initiative by the HSE.
    In conjunction with the HSE 26 people are being cared for in their own homes by the provision of extra care services. This is organised by the District Nurse, the patient’s doctor and the HSE.
  3. Roll out of befriending programmes to alleviate social isolation.
    Crosscare are organising visits to people’s home once a week for a chat for an hour where people have indicated the need for such a visit.  Both the client and the visitor are visited by Crosscare first and the visitor is Garda vetted.  There were 17 volunteers in August 2015, and Cross Care were in the process of getting more volunteers.
  4. Setting up of, and support for, Carers’ Meetings in association with the Carers’ Association.
    Carers meet regularly in Skerries Mills. See The Carer’s Association
  5. “Message in a Bottle” Initiative
    This project, launched with the support of Skerries Fire Brigade, helps to save the emergency services valuable time identifying someone in difficulty. It is a potential lifesaver and provides peace of mind to the user, their carer, and their family. A white plastic bottle with specific markings has been given to older  people, especially those living alone.  The idea is that their medicines and other important next-of-kin details are in the bottle and the emergency services will search for the bottle  automatically
  6. Making Skerries more accessible to older people:
    In conjunction with the Liaison Committee two seats have been placed in Strand Street.A walkability study was done with a number of people to identify hazards and some repairs were carried out and some more need identifying to the Council.
  7. Older people and hospitals:
    The Fingal Alliance group and the Skerries group attended a meeting with Beaumont  hospital with a view to making it more user friendly.
    The vantastic bus to the hospitals is working well. You do need to register first and then book your seat on time 5 euro each way.
  8. Provision of information on services and social clubs.
    An information Pack was launched in August 2014 and will be distributed to all of the established estates in the hope to reach will get most of the older people.
    The information pack is also available in Skerries Library and in the Citizens Information Office, New Street, as well as at Reception in our Community Centre.
    Citizens Information in New St are updating their local file of information in addition to all the other information and will be happy to help with Age Friendly information.   It is our aim  to have a full internet-enabled data base for everyone in Skerries when we get more resources.

Skerries Age Friendly Committee

The committee is working on addressing a number of the action items above and currently focuses on:
  • Building and maintaining a database of all services available in Skerries (for everyone including the over 55s).
  • Promoting and facilitating greater inclusion in the social, cultural and sporting life in Skerries on the part of older adults.
  • Building up and maintaining a network of older people who can be contacted in person or via the phone as well as via online or print means.
We are doing the above in partnership with FCC (Eithne Mallin) who is coordinating the delivery of other age friendly services in Skerries by a number of organisations.
FCC is supporting us by providing information about sources of funding and useful contacts etc. The committee is part of The Skerries Community Association Ltd.
 
If you or someone you know would like to get involved, please email agefriendly@skerriesca.com.
Contact: Mary & Brendan at agefriendly@skerriesca.com

Skerries Liaison Committee October 2014

Posted on by

The Skerries Liaison Committee met on the 14th October. This was the first meeting since the local elections and was a good opportunity for the new councillors to familiarise themselves with some of the work that goes on in Skerries and for the contribution of former councillors to be acknowledged.

The meeting received submissions from residents regarding the provision of disabled parking spaces and the use of Irish in the town. There was also a presentation from Skerries Rowing Club on their need for increased facilities as the club has grown in membership. The meeting also received an update on the Floraville community garden and had a discussion on the results of the Tidy Towns competition.

tidy towns 2The provisions for Halloween were also mentioned. The Council advised that any burnable materials that are being stored on public property be reported to the Council as soon as possible for removal. Contact: Operations Section 890 5826

fingal logo

The Liaison Committee is an informal meeting of community groups (including the SCA) and Fingal County Council officials. The committee meets four times per year and any resident of Skerries can request for a topic to be discussed.

The SCA representatives on the committee are Jane Landy (jane.landy@skerriesca.com) and Geoff McEvoy (geoff.mcevoy@skerriesca.com)

A Community Food Garden for Skerries?

Posted on by
This month, Sustainable Skerries (one of our Skerries Community Association committees) hosted a public meeting about setting up a Community Food Garden in Skerries.
Skerries Community Garden logo

The Skerries Community Garden logo looks promising.

A Community Food Garden is land gardened by and for the benefit of the community. Following an informative presentation from a representative of Santry Community Garden, and a lively discussion, a steering team has  been put together to drive the project forward.
If you are interested in getting involved in the initial stages, please email Zaneta on zanetawright@gmail.com

Fingal County Council Launches Green Dog Walker Campaign in Skerries

Posted on by

In September, Fingal County Council came out to Skerries to launch the Green Dog Walker Campaign. The Mayor, a Dog Warden, an Environmental Officer and lots of dogs, as well as Skerries folk and their dogs, and of course our Chairperson all were at the South Strand on the day to help with the launch.

Green Dog Walkers 2014 (7)

Fingal Co Co launches its Green Dog walkers campaign in Skerries. From front left, clockwise: Tiger. Fingal’s Mayor, Mags Murray. Ciara Leonard, Chairperson, Skerries Community Association. Fingal Litter Warden Tony Law, and his dog Roxy. Photo by Kevin Mcfeely

Let’s hope that this initiative will contribute to a safer, doggy-do-accident-free walking environment in Skerries!

Green Dog Walkers is a regional programme. It is a non-confrontational, friendly way to change attitudes about dog fouling.

Volunteers wear a Green Dog Walkers armband which signifies that they have “taken the pledge” to always:

  • clean up after their dog
  • wear the armband or put the Green Dog Walkers collar on their dog when walking
  • carry extra dog waste bags
  • be happy to be approached to ‘lend’ a dog waste bag to those without
  • be a friendly reminder to other dog walkers to clean up after their dogs

Sounds good, doesn’t it?  And you can still join! All you have to do is sign the  Green Dog Walkers Pledge – either online (follow the link) and return by email to enviraware@fingal.ie or post to the Environment Department, Fingal County Council, County Hall, Swords, Co. Dublin. A Green Dog Walker armband and a bone dog bag dispenser will then be posted to you.

Green Dog Walkers 2014 (9)Green Dog Walkers 2014 (2)
Green Dog Walkers 2014 (6)
Green Dog Walkers 2014 (8)

Tidy Towns Success 2014!

Posted on by

Maeve McGann from Skerries Tidy Town writes:

“We won the county award and a gold medal. We went up 7 points and are now only 4 points behind the overall winner, Kilkenny. This is the highest we have ever been in the competition.” Well done indeed!

tidy towns May 2014 terns

The following is an extract from the 2014 report, which we have also posted in full on a separate page:

Skerries is a lovely coastal town that is a pleasure to visit. Its charms are numerous, but its buildings, coastal location and beach, harbour and high quality open spaces stand out.

The high level of participation of volunteers is a reflection of the pride that local people take in the town

It was a very great pleasure to revisit Skerries and experience its many delightful charms on a perfect summer’s day.

tidy towns May 2014 oyster cormorant

Over the past number of years, the projects of Skerries Tidy Towns have included:

  • Commissioning sculptures of The Cormorant, Terns, Oyster Catchers and, in conjunction with Skerries Tourism, the Percy French seat
  • To commemorate the centenary of the opening of the Carnegie Library in Skerries, they commissioned a three-faced clock for the library tower
  • They erected three plaques to mark areas of local interest: “Walker’s Corner,” “The Bay Wall” and “The Ovens”

The very successful Adopt a Beach initiative by Skerries News – which got a well-deserved special mention in the adjudication report – and Adopt a Patch initiative by Skerries Tidy Towns ensure that the beaches and green spaces in the town are kept virtually litter free, thanks to the involvement of local residents.

Do find their Facebook page, and see what else they do!

Skerries Community Association would like to congratulate the Tidy Towns committee – also all those mentioned in it (we hope we didn’t miss anyone):

Skerries Tourism & Town Information Office, Skerries Mills, Skerries Adopt-A-Beach, Olive Skerries, Parachute Cafe-Skerries, Foróige Skerries, Fingal County Council, Fingal Leader Partnership, the Skerries Community Association – SCA (that’s us), Skerries Cycling Initiative, Sustainable Skerries, Skerries Guerrilla Gardeners, Skerries Reaching Out, Skerries Bookshop, Venezuela, The Shoe Horn ltd, EBS Skerries, Blooms, Rockabill Restaurant, Divino, Present Company, Nealons Pub, Gladstone Inn, Kelly’s Solicitors, @Red Island Wine, The Parlour Bar, Ritz, The Steakhouse, SuperValu, Skerries, The Church of Ireland, Bring Back The Pole , Sea Memorial Skerries, BirdWatch Ireland, Irish Seal Sanctuary, schools, youth groups, scouts

… and of course all the people living and working in Skerries.

flower display at the monument

The flower display at the monument – one of the many things the adjudicators liked!