Author Archives: SMcK

The 2020 Jim Quigley Award

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Michael McKenna, Chair of the Skerries Community Association, writes: Last Monday, 19 October, on the day of the 2020 Skerries Community Association AGM, I had the pleasure of presenting Ronan O’ Callaghan with the Jim Quigley Volunteer of the year award for 2020, on behalf of the Association. Ronan was given the award for “his exemplary initiative and proactivity in starting the community response in our town” in setting up a volunteer group response group here in Skerries at the beginning of the Covid Pandemic.

After considerable arm-twisting Ronan accepted the award with the words ”All I’ll say is  I just hope I’m making it clear how the Skerries Volunteer Group was in every way a team effort that literally couldn’t have been done without many volunteers, and you can kick me if I ever say it wasn’t. I want to specifically say that others did the same share of work, especially in getting the concept out there. It’s an example of how people are willing to do to help when needed.”

Well said and fair enough Ronan, but you were the one that kicked it off.

https://scontent-dub4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-0/p480x480/121967655_346905199897697_3431470518905402379_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=2&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=XeaFNaX_xzkAX_Xkh_Q&_nc_ht=scontent-dub4-1.xx&tp=6&oh=dd39a691bb940cc506f8b88648e39b7d&oe=5FBA2741

So who was this Jim Quigley guy anyway?

Jim Quigley came to live in Skerries with his wife Brigid in the late 1970s, purchasing their home in the newly built Hillside Estate. He joined the local residents association and was drawn to the Skerries Development and Community Association where his involvement lasted 22 years. Jim was Chairperson of the SDCA (now SCA) for ten of those years and worked on many, many projects.  Perhaps the most visible legacy of his work in Skerries is the Community Centre. His skills in community building came to be recognised further afield and he became the first full-time President of Muintir na Tíre in 1994. He was proud to be named Tipperary Man of the Year in 1999. Jim died on the 29 August 2001. We remember him and celebrate his life’s work with an annual award. You can read more about him here.

Skerries Covid Community Response Group

When Ronan started the Response Group last March, he was quickly joined by other individuals and groups and together with voluntary services such as Meals on Wheels, they delivered a valuable service to those confined to their homes. 

Leaflets were printed (with the contact numbers for the group) and delivered widely in Skerries. Volunteers were registered and many of them Garda vetted. Google groups and WhatsApp made it possible to respond rapidly to requests in a way that kept personal information private. As local businesses geared up to meet the demand for home deliveries, the need for the volunteer service lessened and the group was able to wind down operations after some months.

It is great to know that there is a reservoir of people out there who are ready and willing to give their time and energy to making life better for others.

SCA Accounts 2019

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For information about the AGM on Monday 19 September, and the report for 2019/20, go to AGM 2020: The 2019/20 Report.

AGM 2020: The 2019/20 Report

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This year, the annual report about the work of the Skerries Community Association and its committees will not be distributed to every household in Skerries. A limited number of printed copies will be available from 10/10/2020 in the Community Centre, in local shops, and on request by email to chair@skerriesca.com.

Click on the thumbnail below to see the full report with turnable pages.

SCA and Committees: Our 2019/20 Report

And if you’d like the links to be clickable, open the PDF here:

Flyer-2020-Oct-2020-Final-VersionDownload

SCA AGM 2020

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NOTICE OF THE SCA AGM TO MEMBERS

NOTICE is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of The Skerries Community Association CLG (SCA) will be held online via Zoom on Monday the 19th of October 2020 starting at 8 pm to transact the Ordinary Business of the Company, that is to say: –

1. To confirm the Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting

2. To receive and adopt the Directors’ Report and Financial Statements for year ended 31 Dec. 2019

3. To elect Directors to the Board

4.. To elect Members to Skerries Community Centre Board of Management

5. To reappoint Dempsey Mullen as Auditors and to authorise the Directors to fix their remuneration

6. To transact any other business proper to an Annual General Meeting of the Company.

Dated this the 15th Day of September 2020, by order of the Board, Secretary.

Members wishing to participate in the online AGM should register on the SkerriesCA Eventbrite page.

NOTE 1. No person other than a Director of the Company retiring at the meeting shall, unless recommended by the Directors, be eligible for election to the office of Director at any general meeting unless, not less than three (i.e. 14th October 2020) nor more than 21 days (i.e 21st September 2020) before the date appointed for the meeting, there has been left at the registered office notice in writing, signed by a member duly qualified to attend and vote at the meeting for which notice is given, of his/her intention to propose such a person for election, and also Notice in writing signed by that person of his/her willingness to be elected. [A Nomination Form is provided below].

NOTE 2. The names of candidates who have consented to stand for election to the Board of Management of the Community Centre, together with the names of their proposers and seconders, shall be given in writing to the Secretary, and shall be posted on the Community Centre Notice Board at least three days prior (by 14th October 2020) to the holding of the Annual General Meeting. [See Nomination Form hereunder].

Ø  NOTE 3. Copies of the Directors’ Report and Financial Statements will be available to members at the Community Centre and at www.Skerriesca.com at least seven days prior to the holding of the Annual General Meeting .

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Nomination Form

For election to the Board of Directors of  SCA CLG or to the Board of Management of Skerries Community Centre [please underline the Board for which you are nominating]

I wish to nominate ____________________________________ for election to the Board of:

Skerries Community Association CLG OR Skerries Community Centre (underline one)

Printed name and signature of Proposer: ____________________ ___________________

I consent to my nomination for election

Signature of nominee _____________________ Date: __________________________

NB: Please return signed Nomination Form to the Community Centre by 14th October, 2020.

Cycling News June 2020

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Where will our bikes take us from now on?

bike at Skerries South Strand

Now that society has begun to open up a bit again, wouldn’t it be great if some of those more positive things that happened in the last few months continue? I’m thinking of the fact that there are now so many more people out on bikes and walking. People nipping down to the village on their bike. Families out together for a spin. Cycling has become so much more normal, it is great. And is it just Skerries, or is there more mutual respect between road users everywhere?

The challenge now is to keep the momentum going and build on this increase in cycling!

This is where Skerries Cycling Initiative could play a truly important role – especially if you help us in this!

Continue reading →

Adopt a newly planted tree! 🌳

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Just like new residents, new trees want to put down roots!

Many new trees have been planted throughout Skerries this year. And they need our help! It has not been raining much, and the forecast indicates very little rain on the way.

Earlier this year we saw many newly planted trees appear in the new housing estates (Ballygossan, Barnageeragh, Hamilton Hill) and alongside what are now known as Barnageeragh Road (previously the Distributor Road) and Harrison Cove Road (previously Northcliffe Heights). There are also some recently planted trees near Prosper Fingal that need watering.

It’s great to have lots of trees but they all need minding, especially in the first year.

Fingal County Council tell us that in more normal times they would always water newly planted trees over the first two summers after planting.  Regrettably the Council  is not in a position to carry out watering at this time as it is not a work task that can be done on the scale required while maintaining the recommended physical distancing.

These are very unusual times and Skerries must look to the great volunteering spirit of its residents to help.  If we can water the new trees outside, or near our homes we can save these trees, but it must be done in a way that keeps people safe.

Let’s adopt a tree!

tree being watered

Give one of the newly planted trees some water (at least 5l at a time, ideally 1.5 gallons) every second day. You could, for instance, fill an empty large water container (or 2-3 two-litre bottles), put them in your backpack and bring them with you when out on your walk, then water a tree that seems to not have been watered yet by another adopter. Let’s keep our trees healthy! But keep ourselves healthy too, by keeping our distance.

Good to see that residents in Barnageeragh Cove have got the ball rolling on this as have residents in the town centre and a number of individual tree water bearers around the estates.

Skerries Community Association

Skerries Tidy Towns

Sustainable Skerries

The Skerries Tree Preservation Group

COVID-19 Help Information

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Self-Isolation Skerries volunteer group

  • Are you self-isolating owing to health concerns from the Coronavirus?
  • Home alone and unable to go to the shops / chemists?

If so, we are here to help.

We are a group of local Skerries residents, working with the Skerries Community Association and Age Friendly Skerries, willing to help you.

Our services include:

  • Shopping service / collection
  • Prescription collection

If you are in need of some assistance please text or call

085 81 28 509

083 01 05 946

Phone lines are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Disclaimer:

In using this service, clients understand that this is an informal group of local volunteers. We will be strictly adhering to health guidelines as outlined by the HSE in order to protect both the volunteers, and those we will be helping, from any spread of the virus.

Leaflets with the above text are being delivered by volunteers to Skerries households from 14 to 16 March and are kindly sponsored by the Image Depot Skerries and the Skerries Community Association.

Image of the COVID-19 leaflet being delivered to Skerries households (text is the same as this post).

Two Tree Talks in Skerries on 12 March 2020

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Skerries welcomes Éanna Ní Lamhna (The Tree Council) & Kevin Halpenny (Fingal County Council) for a Tree- and Biodiversity- Focused Evening

About this Event

Are you interested in trees and how they can contribute to life and biodiversity in our town?

On Thursday 12 March, at 8 p.m. sharp (doors open at 7.40), in the Little Theatre, well-known environmentalist and media personality Éanna Ní Lamhna (Vice Chair of The Tree Council) will talk about “The Importance of Trees” – followed by a presentation by Fingal County Council’s Parks Superintendent Kevin Halpenny.

Kevin is in charge of the current review of Fingal’s Tree Strategy and will be talking about “Biodiversity and the Draft Fingal Tree Strategy.”

After the two presentations, there will be time for discussion and questions and answers. 

This promises to be a very interesting evening. It is organised by a number of groups with an active interest in trees in Skerries: The Skerries Community Association, Skerries Tidy Towns, Crann Padraig, and Sustainable Skerries. The organisers hope it will inform significantly their input into the draft Tree Strategy, which is currently being drawn up.

Bus Connects and Skerries

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The following is a copy of the comments made by Skerries Community Association in the recent round of consultations.

Skerries Community Association CLG
Registered Office:
Skerries Community Centre
Dublin Road
Skerries, Co. Dublin

www.skerriesca.com

10 December 2019

 

To: BusConnects

 

KEY ISSUES IN RELATION TO BUS CONNECTS AND SKERRIES

On behalf of Skerries Community Association [www.skerriesca.com] I welcome the opportunity to comments on the revised BusConnects proposals for north Fingal in particular the likely effects on service quality they imply for people in this area.

 

The revised proposals are:

  • Retain 33x as it is, peak weekdays only direct to city via Dublin Tunnel
  • Retain 33a Balbriggan – Skerries – Swords – Airport, every half hour all day every day
  • Cancel all 33, no bus from Skerries/Rush/Lusk to Dublin city other than 33x; no off-peak service; no service via Santry, Whitehall and Drumcondra; so no service to key places such as DCU

 

Please note the following

  • In the last consultation, 33 was the route in the whole city/county that got most submissions, 698 in all, and 33x was 3rd highest with 645. So this area (Skerries/Rush/Lusk) is about 2.5% of Dublin population; and maybe 1.5% of bus users, but it generated 9% of submissions. As there were more submissions for 33 than for 33x,  restoring the 33x does not meet people’s needs. NTA said “you spoke, we listened” when they produced the second plan, but they don’t appear to have heard people in this area.
  • All other rail-based communities have good bus services. There will be “Spine” routes  to Howth, Dun Laoghaire, Bray, Blanchardstown and Maynooth. All rail towns. This recognises that the bus plays a supplementary role in all parts of the city/county. This is mainly due rail stations not being close enough for many users and/or bus taking a different route to the city. Both factors are relevant for Skerries.
  • NTA has stated that they have restored direct service to the city for all places within the M50 but have not done so for all outside. The latest plan is, by and large, good for Dublin city, but not for Fingal. We wish to point out that on the first round of consultations the area with the most negative response was Fingal.
  • As an example of mixed thinking, NTA has just doubled service from Newbridge/Naas to Dublin and cancelled local trips between these towns. For us, they want to do the very opposite.

Does Skerries need the 33?

  • It is used for trips to city centre by some people from Downside, Rush Rd. end of the town, who are too far from station to walk, and can’t get parking at station for off-peak travel, or else don’t have a car. Some town centre residents use it for the same reason
  • It is used for trips to third level colleges (DCU, St. Pat’s Teacher Training College) and hospitals (Beaumont, Highfield and Bons Secours)
  • Trips to employment in Turnapin/Santry area
  • There are a very significant number of people using this service who travel south of Airport, perhaps most are Rush and Lusk residents rather than Skerries, but there are certainly some from Skerries

What happens if the 33 service is withdrawn?

  • The alternative is to make a connection in Swords to the Spine route A4, which will run every 12 min. This means you must wait in Swords for the next A4 bus, adding up to 12 min to your journey. There could be loading problems, as so many people getting off the Skerries bus could fill the next A4 and leave some waiting longer.
  • Coming home is worse. Now, you get a 33, which leaves Abbey St. at a known time. Under BusConnects, you will get an A4 in city, but as it leaves Rathfarnham every 12min, it will be impossible to predict exactly what time it gets to your stop.  It will also be impossible to predict how long it takes to get to Swords. Bus from Swords to Skerries will be only every 30 min, so you could be waiting on the street in Swords for up to 29 min. Just to continue your journey home, whereby now you are simply staying on the one bus.

The need to provide really good bus (and rail and metro and tram etc etc) services has never been greater as the era of unlimited car transport is gradually coming to an end.

Realistic alternatives must be provided for people, especially those who do NOT have cars or do not want cars or cannot use cars.  Those who point to the train service that Skerries has, and claim that all is well therefore, do not live in Skerries and do not appreciate that the train does not serve all key destinations for the citizens of Skerries (not to mention the grotesque overcrowding on trains that will continue for years).

Yours sincerely,

 

Michael McKenna

Chairperson
Skerries Community Association