< PreviousDecember 2017 The Meath Coaster10Réalt Na Mara Girls SchoolHands-On ScienceThe children had such an exciting Sci-ence Week in our school which was enhanced by lots of visitors. We started our Science Week activities with a visit from Orla, a Scientist, from the company Anyone 4 Science. She did workshops with 3rd, 4th and 5th classes based on the topic of acids and bases. The girls had some hands-on fun while using their scientific skills at the same time. In second class the girls were busy finding out about Forensic Science from Garda Sergeant McCartan. They found out how the gardaí use Science in their job and the girls got a chance to examine their own fingerprints closely too!Science coordinator with Discover Prima-ry Science Kathy Haigney visited junior infants to do a workshop on The Science of Sound. The girls had great fun investi-gating vibrations and how sound travels. In 6th Class some of the girls were busy working on their electricity skills, mak-ing electronic quizzes and they worked on making geysers and rockets too, with the help of carbon dioxide.Other 6th class girls were busy working on their project on Heart, Health and Fitness for the RDS Primary Science Fair where they will exhibit their findings in January 2018. Finally senior infants and 1st class were given the opportunity to discover kinetic The Joy of ScienceCan you see the water ripple......Operation Blast OffFifth Class experimentingDecember 2017 The Meath Coaster11energy through looking at roller-coasters. Scott Ziglinsky (Mr. Z) from Elementary Engineering gave this fun and exciting workshop in the school hall and the girls thoroughly enjoyed experimenting, hy-pothesising, testing and concluding while having loads of fun. What a fantastic way to finish Science Week 2017 in Réalt na Mara G.N.S. FutsalRéalt na Mara 4th class girls were out in force at the recent Meath Annual Futsal competition in Gormanston College. The girls played a total of three matches, all low scoring games. Some great skill ex-ecuted by the team along with some ex-ceptional saves from our keeper which led to very enjoyable games. §Working together as a team to find out which is best.CLLR. SHARONFresh Thinking, Straight Talking, Hard WorkingWishing you all a safe and happy Christmas!SharonTOLANwww.sharontolan.ieDecember 2017 The Meath Coaster12News from JulianstownJulianstown & District Community As-sociation would like to wish all our res-idents a very Happy Christmas and speak-ing of Christmas we would like to invite you and your family along to The Lime Kiln to meet Santa, Mrs. Claus and all the elves at 6 pm on Tuesday 12th December. The Mornington Gospel Choir will be singing carols to get us all in the mood. There will be Mince Pies and Mulled Wine (Adults only) and a gift for the children. Santa will of course be arriving with Mrs. Claus by Vintage Red Tractor whiles all the Reindeer are munching on Carrots in Stella & Stephen Hoey’s Barn. Admission is free, but a donation towards our plant-ing for next year would be greatly appre-ciated. Many thanks to The Lime Kiln for hosting this event and supplying the light refreshments. We would also like to thank our Councilors’ and Meath County Coun-cil who are funding the Christmas tree and Lights and soon all our Santa Suits will be appearing throughout the village to give a Christmas Cheer! Daffodils, that come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty by William Shakespeare Folks, you will be in for a great surprise next Spring when all the Daffodils (do-nated by Darragh McCullough) 4,000 of them and 2,000 mixed colour Tulips (Sponsored by Meath Heritage and sup-plied by Blacks Nurseries) begin to ap-pear throughout the village. Many thanks to our Volunteers who dug the holes and planted them; they did a wonderful job! The support and commitment of our pas-sionate volunteers is vital to ensuring the ongoing survival of our village. By vol-unteering you will have the opportunity to share your skills and experience for the benefit of all our residents. You will also have the opportunity to: meet new, expand your skills and potentially explore new career opportunities and gain a sense of self-motivation and achievementIssues in our VillageThe growing Traffic Chaos is a major con-cern in our village. The JDCA recently had a meeting with Nicholas Whyatt, Senior Executive over Transport with Meath Co. Council who has assured us that the €300,000 has been ring fenced for Julianstown and it is hoped to have a design to hand by mid 2018 for a traffic calming solution. The JDCA had a further meeting with Fergus O’Dowd, T.D., and 4 Senior Officers of Meath Co. Co. Fiona Lawless, Deputy CEO, Nicholas Whyatt Snr. Exec Officer, Wendy Bagnall, Snr. Planning Officer, and Jarlath Flangan, Snr. Environment & Community Officer. Matters raised at this meeting were Traf-fic, the continued dereliction of the Old Mill Hotel and CCTV. The next meet-ing is planned for February 2018. We will keep you posted as to developments. TIDY TOWNS – We have been advised by Michael Ring T.D., Minister for Rural and Community Development that he is December 2017 The Meath Coaster13giving us a grant of up to €1,000 towards a project for our village in 2018. Do you have any ideas as to what you would to see? Please Facebook us at Julianstown Tidy Towns Group or email us at julians-towndca.gmail.com Autism Support Louth & Meath, Duleek ASD Parents & Julianstown Parent Sup-port Group would like to invite all par-ents, friends and families of people with Autism to join us for a Complimentary Christmas Coffee Morning in Julianstown on Thursday December 7th 10 - 12 noon. All Wel-come.HOLLY/CUILEANN In Ireland, the Ilex Aquifoli-um, or Common Holly, is a native shrub, slow grow-ing, typically reaching only 1 or 2 metres in height, but which, when left to itself, can grow up to 15m tall. In Irish it is known as Cuileann. Its wood is very hard and white, and used to make white chess pieces.To our ancient ancestors, Holly was seen as a powerful symbol of hope and protec-tion, perhaps even of their very survival; it was a plant sacred to the druids, with many magical and medicinal properties. On the Celtic Tree Calendar, Holly represents the 8th month, and also is symbolized by the 8th letter in the Ogham Alpha-bet known as Tinne, mean-ing ‘fire’.Wishing all our residents a very Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year .No-llaig Shona & Athbhlianin fé Mhaise DaoibhDUENDE GASTRO BAR South Gate Centre Christmas party nights every Friday and Saturday for the month of December with live music.Christmas Menu 2 courses €22.90, 3 course €27.90 with complementary appetizersNow showing all major sporting events on big screen.SEASONS GREETINGS FROM ALL OUR STAFF. Booking 041 9818725 Bar DuendeCuileann – HollyDecember 2017 The Meath Coaster14LoughcrewThis week as part of learning through play the children participated in dress up. §Scoil Oilibheir Naofa.Christmas FairOur Annual Christmas Fair was a fantas-tic day. A huge thank you to all spon-sors, businesses and families who donated amazing raffle prizes. Thank you to won-derful singer Maedhb Hunter and our hard working volunteers. A wonderful day was had by young and old in the community whilst raising funds for our school. Thank you to everyone who made it happen. School LibraryMr. Harrington’s class love going to the library. It is a great resource for children to practise their reading skills. We have a huge book collection and are delighted to use it as part of our literacy time. December 2017 The Meath Coaster15LOCAL CLINIC TIMEAlverno House, Laytown.2nd & 4th Monday, 3.30pm - 4.30pmPhone 041 987 3823 for appointmentWorking with Cllr Eimear FergusonFor an appointment please contact me atSinn Féin Constituency Office84 West St., DroghedaMonday - Friday 9.30 - 5pmTel: 041 987 3823Email: imelda.munster@oireachtas.ieLouth & East Meath T.D. Imelda MunsterChristmas Fair in JulianstownA great Christmas Fair was held in Julianstown Community Centre Sandy Hall. December 2017 The Meath Coaster16Laytown Village Enhancement CommitteeLaytown Village Enhancement Com-mittee is delighted with the good news that we are in line for a large grant to finish the work that we had already be-gun with the provision of landscaping and tables at the former library site (now the Commemorative Garden), The application for assistance is under the RAPID programme. Having heard that each County Council was getting a one-off grant for special community development under the programme which included a call for the development of community gardens, LVEC decided to seek this assis-tance. Thanks to McKevitts Architects, on a pro-bono basis, we already had a set of drawings prepared which we were able to use in the application. At the November meeting of the Meath LCDC in Navan three applications were considered (2 from Navan and our pro-posal) and thanks to the input of Cllr Sha-ron Tolan and Cllr Sharon Keoghan and others on the committee we managed to pull off this significant win which should now be approved at the full meeting of Meath County Council in December.The Chair of the LCDC, John Higgins, who is also secretary of LVEC and who prepared the application expressed delight at the award which will now see work commence immediately on the site. The chair of LVEC, Ben Bailey told the Meath Coaster “We have been waiting a few years to get something like this over the line and we are delighted that this is now coming our way. It justifies our on-going efforts to enhance the village and we will continue to raise funds and press for fur-ther such initiatives for Laytown”.LVEC is working with representatives of Marian Villas Residents to ensure that the development plans meet with their agree-ment. P J Collins, who is a former chair of LVEC, is liaising with the committee on behalf of the residents and he has ex-pressed his delight at what is now planned for what is effectively the front lawn of Marian Villas. Adult Education InformationA new year and a fresh start – education and training opportunities for adults. The Adult Education Guidance and In-formation Service of LMETB will hold their monthly drop-in morning on Tues-day 19 December 9.30am to 12.30pm in the Alpha Centre, old Coláiste na hInse, Bettystown. To find out more about your options; ap-plication procedures and funding supports call in to us or telephone ahead to make an appointment if this date does not suit. The Adult Education Guidance and Informa-tion Service of LMETB, Louth and Meath Education and Training Board can be con-tacted on 041 98 42030, 087 2300195 or email laegis@lmetb.ie. §December 2017 The Meath Coaster17F. Watson & Son LtdFuneral Directors Complete Funeral ServiceLAYTOWN, CO. MEATH Tel: 086 0275440 • 041 98382279 DYER STREET, DROGHEDAwww.droghedafunerals.ieServing the Entire East Meath Area and Drogheda since 1921The SanctuaryUpstairs @ Riverside Home & Gifts MorningtonSANCTUARY HAIR & BEAUTY MARTINA 0876009845December 2017 The Meath Coaster18The Stamullen Roundup By Grace TierneyThe cycle club’s annual Christmas Poker Classic will be held on the 1st of December in Whyte’s pub and their annu-al Monster Draw will take place on Friday 22nd December in Whyte’s also – tickets available locally. After the draw there will be the annual auction to raise funds for the parish. More details on how to donate new items from any club member or Brendan at Whyte’s.Franciscan College Gormanston held its first Christmas Fair last weekend and it was a great success. The variety of stalls was excellent, the students and parents’ association volunteers worked hard, and the queue for Santa had a lot of happy lit-tle faces in it. Here’s to next year. The funds raised will be spent on equip-ment for the students and a donation will be made to Stamullen Tidy Towns too. They’d like to thank everybody who came along and the many local businesses and parents who donated items for the raffles and baked goods etc.There will be a Vincent de Paul “Giving Tree” in Stamullen church again this year. The idea is simple – take a tag and return it with a gift, at Mass times, for that age and gender of recipient. Add-ing an extra person to your gift-list this year, if you can, is a great way to honour the season.On Wednesday 6th December at 8p.m. in City North Hotel there will be a Bingo Night fundraiser for Stamullen Parish. If you’re not in…The Dublin Gospel Choir will be singing in the Bracken Court Hotel, Balbriggan on Sunday the 3rd of December in aid of Balbriggan Cancer Support. Doors open at 7.30p.m. and tickets cost €15 from the hotel. The interval show will be the stand-out performance of course as it features the choir of St. Patrick’s National School.As we go to press there will be an impor-tant public meeting about the proposed local playground hosted by the Stamullen Playground and Community Alert groups on the 30th of November in the GAA club at 8p.m. All are encouraged to attend.The Hope For Homeless Operation Christ-mas Backpack is in full flow. Final dona-tions by 15th of December, please. Full de-tails of what they need are listed at https://www.facebook.com/Hopeforhomeless-Dublin/ and all donations so far are very much appreciated.The GAA Club’s Boxing Night was a blast by all accounts. Well done to all who took part, attended, and sponsored the fighters.Hearty congratulations to the residents of Mountain View who won the Medium Housing Estates category of the Pride of Place contest in November. It came as no surprise to any-body as they put in huge work to keep their living space looking amazing year round.Got Stamullen news? Send it to Grace (087-9074145) or grace@meathcoaster.com December 2017 The Meath Coaster19CityNorth Hotel Wins Best Tourism Award Drogheda & District Chamber held their 13th Annual Drogheda Business Excellence Awards in the CityNorth Ho-tel, Gormanston on Saturday 18th of No-vember for the second year. It was a very special occasion full of glitz and glamour that celebrated small, medium and large enterprises across the region. With over 300 local business people and dignitaries in attendance, it was a fantastic night of celebration for both new and long-stand-ing businesses. CityNorth Hotel won the “Best Tourism Business” Award category. General Man-ger Cyril Laffan “We are delighted to win this prestigious award, this is a testament to all the hard work and dedication from all the staff at CityNorth Hotel”. “This special Tourism Award offers so many opportunities to increase visitor numbers from the Chinese market and further afield to the Boyne Valley Region, Gateway to Ireland’s Ancient East.” §Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise01 - 618 3310 / 01 835 7 075THOMAS.BYRNE@OIREACHTAS.IE *Constituency Office: Turnpike House, Bridge Street, Ashbourne. Regular Clinics in your area. THOMAS BYRNE T.D.MEATH EASTNext >