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Author Archives: SMcK
Thank You from the Rás Committee
The Skerries End Stage Rás Committee would like to say a massive THANK YOU to all who supported and helped this year with the An Post Rás End Stage and Street Party. It was a triumph of community spirit and cooperation. Thanks to all the marshals and stewards, to Fingal Tri Club and all the stallholders, the schools, community and sports groups, to our photographer Michael Johnston, the Sphinx ladies cycle group, to St Patrick’s Church, Skerries Community Association, to Coca Cola for the bottled water and to Ollies Place for the packed lunches for stewards, to Skerries Mills for their car park, Holmpatrick School for the Race Centre, to the local businesses and residents, and anyone inconvenienced by traffic restrictions, and to the spectators who turned out in droves for this great event. We could not have done it without you.
Fingers crossed for a record 10th in Skerries in 2015!
Greg Reddin, Skerries End Stage Rás Committee
Greg Reddin on Rás Day
Skerries Tidy Towns are Asking For Your Help
Maeve McGann of Skerries Tidy Towns writes:
Now we are in judging season for the national Tidy Towns Competition. This begins every year on 1st June and continues until the end of August. We have no idea when the adjudicators will arrive, so we need to be prepared every day.
Please lend us your support during the coming months.
Now is the time to get the window boxes and hanging baskets out. Make sure you keep them watered.
Stephen from Wisteria is offering a deal which includes a watering service – check it out.
Some premises in the town could do with a touch of paint. Check yours out and see if there is anything you can do to improve the presentation of your business. Ensure that the windows are clean and free of posters.
A well-presented business encourages customers and certainly helps us to gain more marks in the competition.
If there are any weeds near your home or business, in the kerb or at the base of buildings, please remove them.
Grass verges in front of houses need to be neat and tidy.
No litter is acceptable to the adjudicators.
Let’s all work together to show what a great town we have to live, work and grow up in.
Contact details for Skerries Tidy Towns are on their page here.
You could, of course, also join one of the regular work parties which meet every Monday evening at the old fire station on Quay Street at 7 p.m. until further notice.
Skerries South Beach – now with Blue Flag and Green Coast Award!
What a great day for Skerries when the Blue Flags and Green Coast Awards 2014 were announced on our South Beach!
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SCA and TT Blue Flag 2014
Blue Flag flying 2014
Blue Flags 2014
All the greater because that very same South Beach was awarded both these awards.
This is mainly due to the people of Skerries, the pride they take in their place, and of course the work they put into keeping beach and town neat and pleasant for locals and visitors alike.
Skerries Adopt-a-Beach were singled out by Minister Hogan, Minister for the Environment, who commended Emily Diebold and her volunteers for their great work.
The audience consisted of representatives of Skerries community groups, such as the Adopt-a-Beach people, the Tidy Towns Committee (part of the Skerries Community Association), and Skerries Community Association itself.
Apart from that, there were visitors from practically every coastal local authority in Ireland, who had come to Skerries to pick up their Blue Flags and Green Flags. We’d like to think they were well impressed with our great little town.
And even the weather held up!
National Bike Week
Skerries Cycling Initiative are preparing some great events for the 2014 National Bike Week (14-22 June), including a “Cyclist Photo Safari” (Sunday 15 June, 9 a.m., South Strand, little bridge), a “Rediscover your Bike” cycle (20 km) along quiet roads (Saturday evening, 21 June, from 7.30 p.m.), and their much-loved Family Fun Cycle to Ardgillan Park and back (Sunday 22 June). Send them an email at cycling@skerriesca.com for details and to be added to their email Newsletter (first issue coming soon), or like their Facebook page to stay in touch.
Skerries Cycling Initiative are a committee of the Skerries Community Association.
Cycling photo safari on Sunday 15 June-meet South Strand 9 a.m.
Aimed at photographers who cycle and cyclists who photograph, the cycling photo safari will entail a leisurely ride with stops to capture landscapes, beaches and walled gardens in the environs of Skerries. This event will be a nod/celebration in the direction of the Victorian era when the two activities of cycling and photography merged as cycling clubs set up photography sections and photography clubs set up cycling sections to accommodate their crossover members.
Meet on South Strand, Holmpatrick end, near the little bridge, at 9 a.m..
After taking some shots here we can cycle to Barnageeragh beach and then take our bikes over Lady’s Stairs and into Ardgillan where the Walled Garden will open at 9.30 a.m. and the Tea Rooms at 10 a.m.. for well-deserved tea/coffee and scones. After that the world, or at least the environs of Skerries, is our oyster!
Rediscover Your Bike – Saturday 21 June – meet at Sea Pole at 7.30 p.m.
A tour on the day of the Summer Solstice – shall we call it the Giro d’Romance? – along some of the quieter roads around Skerries. This is aimed primarily at adults, including those who have bikes but may not have used them for a while. Starting from the Sea Pole at 7.30 p.m on Saturday evening 21 June; we anticipate returning there at around 9.30 p.m.
Map of route below. Black line shows route out of Skerries to Loughshinny via Lusk and red line shows return route. Hopefully we can stop and enjoy the view of Loughshinny on a pleasant summer solstice evening.
Family Fun Cycle to Ardgillan with a picnic by the Rose Garden. Meet Skerries Mills 12 noon on Sunday 22 June.
Bike Week in Skerries would not be complete without the Family Fun Cycle to Ardgillan. All cyclists are welcome on the Fun Cycle, but children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Please note that there is some hill-climbing involved so gears must be working and children should be instructed in their use. (Please check that the bike is in roadworthy condition including brakes, gears, tyre pressure and saddle height).
Children must be capable of using brakes on their bikes as the route includes significant descents in both directions.
The SCI will provide stewards to assist the riders in getting through junctions along the way.
Route to be followed (see Map): from the Skerries Mills car park via Millers Lane to the railway roundabout (1st catch-up pause), under the bridge followed by an immediate right turn up Togher Hill to Milverton Gates (2nd pause) and right again along Ardla Rd. to Ardgillan (3rd pause at the gates). We will have our BYO picnic by the Rose Garden.
For those who want it, a stewarded return to Skerries Mills Car Park will be offered in the early afternoon.
Treasure Hunt TV Show in Skerries
The treasure hunt TV show coming to Skerries this Summer!
Adare Productions sent us the following information and application form:
Calling all treasure hunters!
Adare Productions are looking for families to SHAKEDOWN THE TOWN (SKERRIES), in a brand new TV series for RTÉ One.
SHAKEDOWN THE TOWN command base will roll into Skerries and two teams, each consisting of 5 family members, will compete against each other to crack the clues and be the first to unlock the safe.
Each team will have 3 code breakers, aged 8-14 years old, in the command base. Meanwhile 2 adults will be chasing around their local town trying to gather the numbers for the safe’s combination lock.
Clues will lead each team to several locations in and around Skerries. At each location the teams must complete a challenge to retrieve a number for the safe’s combination lock.
Each family team must have 3 youngsters, aged 8-14 year-olds. So maybe you, your brother or sister and cousin can join forces with two adults, whether that’s your parents / guardians, uncles or aunts.
So if you want to SHAKEDOWN YOUR TOWN, we will be interviewing potential families.
If you would like to apply, please email us at: criona@adareproductions.ie or yvonnekinsella@gmail.com
In the email you need to tell us your name, your contact number and address, along with the names and ages of the other members of the treasure hunt team.
Alternatively, you can call us on 01-284 3877 or 085 8073003.
Giro d’Italia – a Thank-You
On behalf of the SCA, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the Giro D’Italia transit through Skerries.
Photo: Ciarán McKenna
I would like to thank all the Fingal Councillors and those running in the European election for their support in making the route through Skerries poster free. I would also thank all the volunteers for their hard work before, during and after the event.
For the contribution made by Skerries Community Centre to the Cycle against Suicide event, a big thank you.
Photo: David Diebold, Skerries News
To An Garda, Fire Brigade and Ambulance service for their support through the day another big thank you all.
The people of Skerries who came out in large numbers, in such bad weather, and gave great support to all the cyclists.
Photo: Still from a video by M. Russell
Our local media and photographers recorded the event and are very much appreciated.
My biggest thanks goes to the Chamber of Commerce for the manner in which they led the make-over of Skerries to welcome the Giro. This will put Skerries on the map with a world wide audience and will be a big help with future tourism.
My best regards
—
Martin A. Russell
Giro 2014: The world’s second-biggest cycling race is coming to Skerries!
Sunday 11 May 2014 will be a great day for cycling enthusiasts, and a chance to show off your pink and orange T-Shirts!
First the Cycle against Suicide ending in Skerries, thanks to the Skerries Cycle Against Suicide people (ORANGE for that, please, around 11.45 / 12 noon), and then on with the PINK for the Giro Start 2014 hitting Fingal County Council from 1.30 p.m. (though probably a little after that for Skerries).
And all this just two weeks before the annual Irish Cycling Road Race, The An Post Rás, celebrates its 9th consecutive year of ending in Skerries!
Tidy Towns Safari Trail launch: Sat April 26, Skerries Mills
Tidy Towns inform us:
Safari Trail. Launch of the Safari Trail at 12 midday in Skerries Mills on Saturday 26th April. All welcome. Launch will be by Frank Prendergast from BirdWatch and introduction by Sharon Eastwood from Woodrow Sustainable Solutions.
For more information on Skerries Tidy Towns, a committee of Skerries Community Association, go to the Tidy Towns Facebook Page
