Skerries Cycling Initiative also reviewed the last year, getting ready for the Skerries Community Association AGM on Fri 11 September 2015. The chairperson, Ray Ryan, writes:
Our activities over the last year or so included:
Bike repair and maintenance course. Ten people attended the bike repair and maintenance course we organised at the Well Fit gym premises at Skerries Shopping Centre over six mornings in May. It was initiated by Skerries Tidy Towns with funding by Fingal County Council and the Department of the Environment under the Local Agenda 21 programme. Bike mechanic Paul Callan from The Rediscovery Centre, a social enterprise based in Ballymun, conducted the sessions. All participants enjoyed the course and now feel confident about tackling bike repairs.
The Rás End Stage street party and the fine weather gave SCI a great opportunity to talk to people about improving cycling infrastructure in and around Skerries. The need for a safer cycling route between Skerries and Balbriggan came up many times. People really want to see this happen soon.
We were delighted that twenty eight new subscribers signed up to our email Newsletter on the day. To receive it yourself, just send an email to cycling@skerriesca.com.
Bike Week Fun Cycle. Our Midsummer Madness Fun Cycle on 21 June was a trip around the town and local housing estates exploring lesser known paths and laneways as well as Town Parks, the Ballast Pit path and Distributor road. We returned from Barnageera Cove via the coast road and finished with a picnic at The Seapole.
Submissions to FCC. During the last year we made submissions on 30 km/h in residential areas, cycling in Town Parks and the draft County Development Plan. We continue to press for the completion of the cycle track from Balbriggan to Skerries, and for greater awareness of the importance of cycling to a number of areas, including the development of tourism in Fingal.
Cycling on South Strand As a group working for better cycling facilities in Skerries we had mixed feelings about the proposal to ban cycling along the South Strand path. However we are convinced, having heard many accounts of accidents involving walkers and cyclists that the path is not suited to adult cycling given the potential for conflicts with other users. However, Fingal County Council accept that young children, properly supervised by a parent, may cycle on the path.
Ray Ryan, Chairperson, Skerries Cycling Initiative.
Contact: cycling@skerriesca.com
We have had a busy time over the past twelve months. Our big undertaking in 2014 was the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the Twinning Ceremony in Skerries in 1994. The festivities took place in August and we welcomed 41 visitors from the Canton of Guichen for a four-day visit. The emphasis was on our common Celtic Heritage and we tried to include a range of activities for them, including workshops in set-dancing, celtic embroidery and traditional music. We had a lovely tour of Ardgillan Castle and Gardens and a guided walking tour of the town. One of the fun items was a boules contest. To commemorate our original twinning events in 1994, we unveiled a plaque on Red Island to mark the anniversary. A day long trip to Kilkenny city gave them a taste of another heritage town. 
Earlier in the Spring 2014 we had organised an exchange of photographers. Three Skerries photographers visited the Canton of Guichen and in return, two photographers from Guichen came to Skerries. This led to a wonderful body of work entitled ‘Through Each Other’s Eyes,’ which we had the pleasure of exhibiting in Skerries Mills.
We had two projects this summer – a return trip to the Canton in July and our participation in an international youth camp held in Laillé in July. We had almost 40 participants in the July trip, including a group of traditional musicians from Rush. Apart from this, six teenage pupils from Skerries Community College travelled to France for a three-week camp, also in July. Their project was to construct a shelter in the public skateboard playground in Laillé, one of the main towns in the Canton of Guichen. They worked with six local teenagers, sharing the work, meals and leisure time activities with their French counterparts. A good time was had by all.
The fifth year of Adopt-a-Patch was re-launched in March 2015, and there are now 50 patches adopted. We do have a few more looking for volunteers to adopt them so if you think you can help contact us through 
This year we purchased extra equipment for children’s activities, such as a bouncy castle, an inflatable 40-foot obstacle course, and ten bubble football outfits. These purchases have been very successful for our camps, which have been full all year. Our children’s parties are also getting very popular. (Contact the Centre at 01-849 0888 for information!) 
