To get an overview of what is happening locally regarding welcoming and assisting our Ukrainian guests, we will hold an online meeting next Wednesday evening (Wed 6 April, 8 pm) to allow people to share information on local initiatives, and to hear from people hosting accommodation or providing other services to assist Ukrainian guests. We would also like to hear from any Ukrainians already living in Skerries. Please contact us at skerriesukraine at gmail.com and we will forward a link to the Zoom meeting.
The Skerries Ukraine working group is a group of local volunteers who are helping to coordinate efforts to welcome and assist our Ukrainian guests. You can contact this group by email on skerriesukraine [at] gmail.com and you can find more details on skerriesca.com/ukraine
“Make Skerries Wheelie Safe”: Get on your bike for the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade!
Skerries Cycling initiative (SCI) wants you, your friends and family to dust off your wheels for this year’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade, and to hit the streets of Skerries with you and your machine decked out in your brightest and funkiest colours.
Will you join them? Let them know you’re coming here.
Kick-off at 3 p.m. on 17 March on South Strand. Assemble from 2.30 p.m. (tbc, they’ll send an email to all interested before the end)
Once upon a time, there was a thriving CoderDojo in Skerries. Ninjas (youngsters) aged 7 to 17 met once a month for a busy, creative Sunday afternoon in the Little Theatre. Skerries CoderDojo was both part of the overall CoderDojo organisation and a committee of the Skerries Community Association. We had lots of fun, as you can see from this post from 2015.
Ninjas grew up, mentors and champions moved on…
And now there is hope that we can find people who are ready to start Skerries CoderDojo anew! There are still some funds in the coffers. All that’s needed is a handful of parents / mentors were to come forward!
I myself was the Champion of the group (as the person sort of leading it is called) from 2014 to 2017. As I’m involved in other things, I won’t be able to be part of the new CoderDojo committee again, but am happy to help and would host and attend a first Zoom call to explore possibilities.
Interested? Send am email to Sabine@cccSkerries.com please!
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 in the Community Centre, in local shops, in the week before the AGM (4th October 2021) and on request by email to chair@skerriesca.com.
Click on the thumbnail below to see the full report with turnable pages.
Skerries Community Association & Committees 2020/21 Report
And if you’d like the links to be clickable, open the PDF here:
Recognition of couple’s volunteering contribution to Skerries life.
On Saturday 9 October 2021 Skerries Community Association (SCA) and Skerries Town Football Club jointly recognised the immense contribution of Michael (Mick) and Noeleen Bolger to community sporting activity in the town. The occasion was the presentation of the Jim Quigley award for volunteer of the year and it took place in the grounds of Skerries Town FC after the weekly Kids Academy coaching session.
Every year SCA invites nominations from residents for the Jim Quigley Award which are then passed to independent judges for assessment.
This year the Judges selected Mick and Noeleen as the winners of the Jim Quigley Award for their years of dedicated work with Skerries Town Football Club. In their written comments, the judges said, “running Saturday morning coaching sessions (the Kids Academy) for up to ninety under-tens for seven months of the year is not an easy task. To do this for eighteen years coupled with involvement with other sporting and community activities including the Community Games at Mosney and the Special Olympics at Croke Park in 2003 requires dedication and commitment second to none.”
Mick and Noeleen set up the ‘ Kid’s Academy” on Saturday mornings with Skerries Town Football Club in September 2003 to provide coaching in basic football skills for five to nine year olds. They felt that children in the early years of their football life need an environment of non-competitive football to learn the basic skills. The Kid’s Academy, or KA as its better known provides such an environment.
The judges remarked that the real winner is the community of Skerries who get such wonderful benefit from the work done by people like Michael and Noeleen.
Accepting the award, Mick said that many others are and were involved in making the Kids Academy a success.
Michael McKenna presented the Jim Quigley award on behalf of the SCA and Owen O’Brien, Chairperson Skerries Town F.C. made a presentation of flowers and champagne on behalf of the club to Mick and Noeleen.
Jim Quigley Award Winners 2021 Michael (Mick) and Noeleen Bolger with Michael McKenna (SCA) and Owen O’Brien, Chairperson, Skerries Town Football Club.
Skerries Cycling Initiative’s first cycling festival took place on 22 August. It was a lot of fun and definitely something to build on it, going forward. We started off the day – a lovely one weatherwise – with a 5km and a 25 km cycles from Skerries Mills carpark. People of all ages and abilities, just as we hoped for, took part. This was to be a day for celebrating cycling as a healthy normal way of getting around, whether by you chose a simple one speed bicycle or something sleeker.
Undoubtedly the most eye catching and eyewatering entrant was Robin of Donabate’s Alpha-7 Velomobile, seen below as he chats with Brendan Grimes and Dermot Higgins.
Let’s celebrate cycling! Skerries Cycling Festival 22nd August
A festival to celebrate the Freedom Machine!
The good news: There will be a one-day Skerries Cycling Festival, even though the four-weekend Skerries Summer Festival had to be cancelled for 2021. Skerries Cycling Initiative (SCI), part of Skerries Community Association, with support from Fingal County Council and Skerries Mills, is holding its first ever cycling festival and invites you invites you to come along.
The Skerries Cycling Festival will be all about encouraging people to integrate more active travel into their daily lives so that they can enjoy the fun and other benefits of cycling.
