< PreviousThe Stamullen Roundup By Grace TierneyRegistration is now open for the Mi-chelle McKiernan 5K and Fun Run hosted by Star of the Sea AC on Tuesday 28th of May at 8p.m. in Stamullen. This annual event, sponsored by Centra, is a highlight of the local running calendar.Playground Update The Stamullen Needs A Playground committee is delighted to hear the council are in talks with a lo-cal landowner. Recently members of the group visited Lobinstown playground to see their facilities. The 2016 census fig-ures for both areas emphasise the need for such in our area too. Stamullen has 1,044 children aged 12 or younger while Lobin-stown has 93. According to a recent DCU study Meath is at the bottom of the table for playgrounds with 1 for every 2,490 children whereas Leitrim has 1 for every 278 children.Do you knit, crochet, dye, or weave? Ireland’s yarn festival, Woollinn (www.woollinn.com), is coming to the City North Hotel on 14th -16th June this year. Organised by ThisIsKnit, the family-run wool shop in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre (whose roots are in Bettystown), the event features workshops, a market-place, and plenty of interaction between crafters and artisan Irish wool producers and dyers. This year there will even be a Ravelry Lounge (www.ravelry.com is like facebook for yarn fans, with more than a million users and free patterns galore). In related woolly news – Stamullen now has its own knitting and crochet group. A friendly bunch, they meet in the Daily Bread Café at 10.30 on Monday morn-ings and new members are very welcome. Bring along whatever you’re working on and join the chat.Fr. Robert McCabe, formerly of Stamullen parish, hit the headlines recently when he urged people to reduce their mobile phone usage during Lent so they could increase the time and attention they spend on their families and friends. A tough challenge for most of us.Congratulations to the children who made their confirmations on the 20th of March.Meath Beo, a traditional fiddle and accor-dion duo, are playing in Dardistown Cas-© March 2019 The Meath Coaster11tle, Julianstown, on Sunday 14th April from 5.30-7.30p.m. Tickets are €15 and are avail-able from Event Brite (www.eventbrite.ie/e/meath-beo-april-2019-celebrating-tradition-in-meath-tickets-56638655744). The castle was built originally as a medi-eval tower house in 1465. It’s said that the Battle of Julianstown in 1641 was fought on its front lawn.A walking group for cancer survivors in the East Meath area has been created by DCU student Sarah O’Neill. It’s open to all ages and for those recently diagnosed and those diagnosed much longer term. If you’d like to participate you can con-tact her at sarah.oneill78@mail.dcu.ie for more information.Well done to the East Meath Hospice group who raised a stunning €6,900 this year at their pancake day event in the City North Hotel. The group is very grateful for all the donations which well be spent locally.Got Stamullen news? Send it to Grace (087-9074145) or grace@meathcoaster.comPhoto by Kelly Clifford of the Drogheda Mill Fire© March 2019 The Meath Coaster12C.U.'s International DevelopmentCooperation among cooperatives is one of the operating principles of credit unions. Nowhere is this more evi-dent than through the support received by the Irish League of Credit Unions International Development Foundation (ILCU Foundation) from Drogheda Cred-it Union. The ILCU Foundation is shar-ing the ethos and knowledge of the Irish movement with credit union movements in Africa in the spirit of ‘people helping people’. Drogheda Credit Union gener-ously donated €30,000 to the ILCU Foun-dation as part of their international social responsibility commitment to support the development of credit unions’ in develop-ing and low-income countries. The ILCU Foundation is providing finan-cial and technical support to help develop strong, sustainable and secure credit un-ion movements in Ethiopia, The Gambia and Sierra Leone and countries in Eastern Europe. As the charitable arm of the Irish credit union movement, the ILCU Foun-dation is helping to support credit unions in the same manner that the American and Canadian credit unions movements helped to support the founders of the Irish credit union movement when they were setting up the first credit unions back in the 1950s. The work of the ILCU Foun-dation focuses on building the capacity of the staff and volunteers in our partner movements and also providing financial literacy training for members in rural communities. Last year the ILCU Foun-dation supported almost 500 credit unions that serve over 140,000 members, their families and their communities. Geraldine Gilsenan, Chairperson of Drogheda Credit Union noted that “We are proud to support the ILCU Founda-tion. Our support will allow the Founda-tion to educate and upskill the credit un-ion staff and volunteers to develop their respective credit union movements. We know the value of the credit union in our communities and it’s good to be able to help others and give them the opportunity to be able to save and borrow money as a means to reducing poverty. Regardless of the continent or country the credit union ethos is the same the world over – it’s not for profit and it is people helping people.” Geraldine Gilsenan and Tom Kiely from Drogheda Credit Union present cheque to Frank Maher, Drogheda Community Services. Photo by Jenny MatthewsPatricia White and Geraldine Gilsenan from Drogheda Credit Union present cheque to Alan Moore of the ILCU Foundation.Photo by Jenny MatthewsDrogheda Credit Union Supports International Credit Union Charity© March 2019 The Meath Coaster14Bettystown Tidy Towns - BTTMarch was a very busy month for the BTT volunteers and we were delight-ed when the Laytown Races Committee presented us with a financial donation, at one of our Saturday morning litter picks. These funds are greatly appreciated and will go towards the financing of works we conduct in the town. Our thanks to Joe Col-lins, Chair of The Laytown Races Com-mittee, and his colleagues Paul Kerbey and Niall Delany for recognising the work that we carry out to enhance the town.The project was part funded with grant aid from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe, Investing in Rural Areas, Dept. of Rural and Com-munity Development and Meath Local Community Development Committee. In addition to this grant, we received a con-tribution from Cllr. Eimear Ferguson and a significant contribution from Cllr. Sharon Tolan, from their Council Discre-tionary Funds. Our thanks to them both for supporting this and previous projects. The trees were planted by local landscaper, John Lynch, owner of Elite Landscape Services. Our thanks to John and his crew for their work. Flowers will be planted in the planters lat-er in Spring. If you are interested in help-ing us with planting or maintaining the trees or flowers please contact us on Fa-cebook or meet us any Saturday morning between 10.00 and 11.00, when we carry out our weekly work around the town. §Other works are planned in the coming weeks and months. To continue our work we do need more volunteers to assist us with planting bedding plants, planter weeding and watering, painting and lit-ter picks. Join us any Saturday morning between 10 and 11, even for half an hour. Suggestions and ideas are always wel-come and can be sent to us on our Face-book page or speak to us when we are out and about in the village doing our work. §Mr. Joe Collins, Chair of The Laytown Races Committee presents BTT with a donation.Cllr’s. Ferguson & Tolan admiring the new planters and trees in the town.We have been working on the Street Enhancement project for a number of months and this month we are delighted to have installed the large planters and trees along the main street. In addition to their environmental benefits, we hope, that in time, they will grow and create a more aesthetically pleasing feature and soften and screen the concrete walls along the main street. The planters are manufactured in Ireland from 100% high quality recycled plastic residue, mainly from the nutrition and packaging industry. They are mainte-nance free, wear-resistant, very durable and non-rotting. The planters have two 24 litre water reservoirs placed at the base of each planter to effectively and efficiently irrigate the tree rootball. It is the most effi-cient method of ensuring quick establish-ment and a healthy start for the trees. © March 2019 The Meath Coaster15041 98 444 98 041 98 111 98086 838 4444www.eastcoastcabs.comEAST COAST CABS SERVICING MEATH COAST & DROGHEDA REGIONS CABS - 4, 6 & 8 SEATERSNEW RANGE OF MINI-VANSCOACHES - 16, 24, 36 & 54 SEATERS AVAILABLE© March 2019 The Meath Coaster16Council Update By Cllr. Eimear FergusonThe March Municipal District meet-ing was a very busy one for pro-jects on the East Coast. A busy and exciting one for projects which started as seeds and we are now going to see them starting to bloom. Not immediately, mind you, but they’re putting their heads above the parapet. Happy days.Boyneside TrailWe had a presentation to update us of pro-gress. As approx 2km of the project is in Co Louth, it will be done in conjunction with Louth County Council. Engagement with the landowners has begun and there will be a public consultation evening/s with the design team at a later date/s. Environmental studies have been carried out, with some mitigation measures to be taken, so it will be ready to go to planning. A huge thank you has to go to the volun-tary committee who started this project. Their work is invaluable. It’s great to see it finally progressing and long term plan to link to Newbridge House in Donabate to the Boyne is getting closer. Our own East Coast Greenway. Beach Facility Building at Seaview TerraceWe got to meet the architects who have been appointed to design the seafront building, Robin Lee Architecture. Beach management and visitor experience will be the main focus and they will work alongside, and within, the Public Realm Plan. There will be a preliminary design drawn up, public consultations and when a design is agreed it will then go for Part VIII planning with a detailed de-sign, contractor appointed through tender and then…. we’re good to go. This is a project I’ve been so proud to have worked on since 2015 and I’m really looking forward to working with the architects and to see it get off the ground.Seafield Lands and Sports GroundsSo many of us have, at one time or anoth-er, been standing on the sideline, playing GAA or soccer in Seafield while changing facilities were in a car or pitch side so, it will be fantastic to have proper facilities. We met with Stuart from Park Hood who are the consultants given the task to devel-op the council lands at Seafield, Laytown. The feasibility study was submitted seek-ing funding for the development. The © March 2019 The Meath Coaster17 Continued over....study, while not written on stone, was an excellent use of the lands. Realignment of pitches, a running track, changing and toi-let facility hub, walkways, play areas and a structured car parking area are just some of the ideas put forward. I must stress that hub/building is NOT a community centre, just sports changing and toilet facilities.Provision of a Community and Library buildingAs we found out in February, ACC Bank was unwilling to engage with Meath County Council with a view to the Coun-cil purchasing O’Donovans in Bettystown for the use of the community and, final-ly, a library. I was very happy to second Cllr Tolan’s motion to engage with the Minister to see if it can be released. It is disgraceful that a bank can sit on a prop-erty while it goes further and further into disrepair when there is a genuine client to purchase it for community use.Public Realm PlanThe consultants, BDP, held an evening in Colaiste Na hInse with the groups (Tidy Towns, businesses and other stakehold-ers) and other stakeholders to see what is needed in the area. Parking, and lack of, was the biggest issue in the area fol-lowed by lack of community amenities. The results of the traffic/parking manage-ment survey (soon to be carried out by the Council) will be passed on to the consult-ants and they will work with them for the plan.It is important that there is as much input as possible from the public so I would encourage everyone to try to attend the public consultations. These will be open to everyone. Keep a look out for notifica-tion of dates in Meath Coaster, on social media and on LMFM. That way there will be less chance of misinformation and will benefit all.Environment SPCOnce again we pushed for a Fire Station for an ever growing area and not be de-pendent on our two neighbouring stations.Beach Management Plan The plan was discussed and, once again, I stressed that the current by-laws are good as they are; they just need to be en-forced. There is not much point going to the trouble of changing them if there is no enforcement. It was stressed, very clearly, that the idea of removal of cars from the beach is – entirely dependent on alterna-tive provision of parking. Until then, busi-ness as usual. Environmental initiatives and waste. I, again, asked for a date for our promised mobile recycle day and hopefully it will be announced soon. If you are interested in reducing your waste and help the environment at the same time, log on to www.mywaste.ie to get loads of tips. You might even save some money!© March 2019 The Meath Coaster18May ElectionsAt this stage I’m sure you’re aware there are elections (and a referendum) being held on Friday May 24th. I have really en-joyed being your councillor for the past 5 years and I have been lucky enough to be selected to run for Sinn Fein again. To be able to vote on May 24th, make sure you are registered by checking www.check-theregister.ie If you are not, forms can be downloaded and returned to Meath County Council before May 7th, 2019 or contact me and I will get one to you. If you would like to help out with my campaign, get in touch (details below). Every little helps.It has been a pleasure writing the reports for the Meath Coaster. It has also been a pleasure working with the groups who make our East Coast a better place to live.eimear.ferguson1@gmail.com Phone or text: 0864068270Parents Plus AdolescenceWell done to all the parents who completed the Parents Plus Ado-lescence programme and the Swings and Slides middle years Programme in the Family Resource Centre, 1 Somerton Tri-ton Road, Bettystown. The Parents Plus programme is a positive practical course for parents who want to develop a close relationship with their teenagers and solve problems in a positive way and manage difficult behaviour. The Swings and slides Programme focus-es on the importance of fun, play, routines and managing behaviour for children aged between 1 and 10. We would also like to thank Cllr Sharon Tolan who presented the parents with their certificates of completion here on the morning of the 20th of March. The next up and coming programmes are the Incredible Years Infant and Parent Programme and Family Communications. You can contact reception on 0876443364 to book a place on any of the programmesCorrectionCllr. Sharon Tolan has asked to pub-lish a correction as follows: “The Charge holder for the old Donovan site in Bettystown is in fact ACC Bank, and not Ulster Bank as stated in last month's article.”© March 2019 The Meath Coaster19The SanctuaryUpstairs @ Riverside Home & Gifts, Coast Road MorningtonSANCTUARY HAIR SALON MARTINA 0876009845Pancake Morning ThanksEast Meath Hospice Association Pan-cake Morning in City North HotelThanks to all who supported our an-nual fundraiser. Management and Staff were as always, so supportive,,and played a large part in our success. To all who came on the day, it was great to see you all,To all who donated, with prizes, plants, home baking and items for sale, thank you.We had volunteers who help out ever year, manning stalls selling tickets and car park attendants, they make great contribution on the day With your support we raised E7,100, on the day, All money raised will be spent locally to provide services for people who have been diagnosed with cancer. We are a vol-untary group serving East Meath, Volun-teer drivers provide door to door transport to Hospital appointments for Chemothera-py and Radiotherapy,free of chargeThe service can be contacted on 0872100036, as soon as you have your appointment,date and time. The coordi-nator then contacts drivers to check avail-ability, for the week ahead. You will then be contacted with and given details of pick up and drivers name. You can find more about us on FacebookCystic Fibrosis DinnerThe Glenside Hotel is hosting a dinner in aid of Cystic Fibrosis on Tuesday 9th April in Henrys. Tickets are priced at €65 for two and in-clude a 4 course dinner and glass of Pur-ple Prosecco. All profits on the night will go to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland.Next >