< Previous© June 2019 The Meath Coaster 20 Bettystown Tidy Towns - BTT T he volunteers were busy in May en- hancing the town as Bettystown wel- comed the beach volleyball players from Lithuania, Scotland, Ukraine, Denmark, Estonia, Slovakia and our very own Irish women’s and men’s teams. The tournament was part of the 2020 Olympic qualifiers. Bettystown was awarded a silver medal in the annual Councils anti-litter league, just one point off getting a gold! Our thanks to Gary and Paul who works in the town each day to help us achieve this standard, thanks guys, your work is greatly appreciated. Additional planters were installed on the footpath across from the Relish Cafe, by the council, in an effort to stop cars being parked on the footpath. Our thanks to the Relish Cafe who sponsored the bedding plants in the planters across from their cafe, on the Coast Road. The Neptune Hotel, kindly provided us with the flower baskets for the hanging basket poles at the Neptune bus stop. Bedding plants have been planted in all of the town planters and all plants are pollinator friendly as part of our bio-diversity programme. Remember the bees when doing your planting. Planting, painting and other works are being carried out around the town in preparation for the National Tidy Towns competition, with judging taking place in early June. The entrance to Brookside Estate has re- ceived a facelift, thanks to the very hard work of their Residents Association. Brookside residents are fortunate to have such a very pro-active Residents Associa- tion Committee. They have rejuvenated the estate entrance with their planting of trees, shrubs and flowers. A new flower bed at the back of the estate has been cre- ated and a number of trees planted around the estate. They receive great support from the residents, a good example of what can be accomplished if we all assist. To continue our work, we do need more volunteers to assist us with planting bed- ding plants, planter weeding and water- ing, painting and litter picks. Join us any Saturday morning between 10 and 11, even for half an hour. Suggestions and ideas are always welcome and can be sent to us on our Facebook page or speak to us when we are out and about the town doing our work. § Aldi Laytown W ork has begun on the clearance of the site of the new Aldi on the Coast Road in Laytown. Photo by Derek- Cooper.© June 2019 The Meath Coaster 21© June 2019 The Meath Coaster 22 News From Julianstown & District Community Association By Niamh Bn. Uí Loinsigh J ulianstown & District Community As- sociation are delighted to announce that they are holding ‘An Old MacDon- ald Farm’ event in the Village Garden on the 23 rd June from 2 to 4 pm and they are thrilled to have Wooly Ward’s Petting Farm as the main attraction. Admission is €10 per family and you are all very welcome to come along with your family, friends and neighbours. Members of Julianstown & District Com- munity Association took part in Connect with Nature played games while incor- porating the fruit, veg. and herbs grown in Sonairte on 23 rd May and what a lovely time was had by all. Sonairte are always looking for volunteers to help with their organic garden, so if you are interested in helping why not give them a ring on Tel 041 9827572. The Team The farm visit will include a selection of animals from hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, hens, chicks, goslings, ducks, turkeys, sheep and lambs, goats and pigs and children will be able to see them up close and pet them! Our Magician is back by popular demand and he will put on a fabulous puppet show and make balloon shapes for all the children to enjoy. Fun, Games and Light refreshments for all. Julianstown Tidy Towns have entered the Supervalu National Tidy Towns Com- petition this year and have been busy cleaning up the footpaths and verges throughout the village. If you have any free time we really could do with your help. Is there any way you could give us a hand, whether to clean up outside © June 2019 The Meath Coaster 23 your premises, or perhaps help an elderly neighbour with their garden? If you see litter, please pick it up and bin it! Cemetery Sunday Cemetery Sunday takes place in Moor- church Cemetary on Sunday 7 th July at 11.30 a.m .and Friday 21 st June in Stamullen at 7.30 p.m. Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes Bishop Deenihan will lead the 2019 Meath Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes which takes place from 9 th to 14 th Septem- ber 2019. Bookings can be made with Pil- grimage Abroad Ltd, Lower Baggot St, Dublin 2. Tel 01-6359300. email: info@ pilgrimagesabroad.ie . (See Notice boards for more information). Defibrillator placed in Phone box to honour late husband’s memory Sandra Tully from Shal- lon and her late husband John shared a running joke about ‘Why didn’t you ring? And of course the answer to ‘no credit’ was ‘there are public phones’. Sandra now has her own phonebox di- rectly outside her house in memory of her late husband who passed away in 2017 from a heart attack despite Sanrda using CPR until such time as the paramedics arrived. Later she discovered there was a Defibrillator outside The Lime Kiln in Julianstown, and would like people to be aware of where they are situated as you never know when you will need one. There is now one in Shallon, The Lime Kiln, the Community Centre on Sandy Hall Road and another in the Church of Ireland on the Laytown Road (inside the building). Please share these loca- tions with your friends and Sandra thanks all those who contributed towards the one at Shallon (Shallon is half- way between Julianstown & Duleek). § This is Oscar who is always over in the garden …… BeforeAfter© June 2019 The Meath Coaster 24 Loreto Balbriggan As the year draws to a close Loreto Sec- ondary School Balbriggan wants to wish the third and the sixth years the very best June. The end of the year has been marked during May with various cer- emonies and acknowledgements. Transi- tion Year Students completed their year and had a night of music and celebration.. Along with parents and staff, the girls cel- ebrated all the many events and activities that they had participated in to make their year truly memorable. Activities such as Junk Kouture, The Musical, Volunteer for all, Prosper Fingal, trips to Causey and Kippure, Public Access to Law, Lo- cal History, Gaisce and many, many more. The parents and guardians were enter- tained with Samba and choir pieces and a great night was had by all. The nights celebration was equalled on the following Tuesday with 6 th Year Gradua- tion Mass. The sixth years had a great two days of goodbye festivities before the so- lemnity of the Mass on Tuesday evening. They had fancy dress, their own Awards ceremony and a trip down memory lane with speeches and presentations by the 6th Year celebrations head girls and staff. The senior choir sang at the Mass with a phenomenal rendition of Amazing Grace which received a stand- ing ovation. It was an evening of emotion and joy as the school said goodbye to a wonderful cohort of students. As the students face into a very tough few weeks the school are acutely aware of the need to support their mental health. This is evidenced in the recent drive to promote mental well being. This week members of our Amber Flag committee presented €590 to Brian McEvoy from Pieta House, which was raised during Amber events this month. The School has been awarded an Amber flag for this year for its con- scious effort to promote mental wellbeing among students and staff alike. Transition and fifth years competed at Ella O Rourke (Meath) with Sarah Willis (Dublin) Presentation from the Amber Committee to Jigsaw in support of mental health© June 2019 The Meath Coaster 25 The scifest competitors with their various awards the SciFest competition winning Science Foundation Ireland Best Project, runner- up in Abbott Best Project Award and Newstalk Best Communication award. The school also won the ‘ Making a Dif- ference’ award and one of the teams will now go forward to the national finals in November. The Transition Year Justice and Peace in Creation group achieved great success this month. They created a Human Rights board game which won the national final of the Trócaire Game Changers competi- tion. Their game will represent Ireland at the International Development Educa- tion Gathering in Denmark in September. Transition year activities continued The Transition Years in Carliingford to complete their Gaisce© June 2019 The Meath Coaster 26 through May, Gaisce students set off for Carlingford on Friday to complete their Bronze Award tasks which included an overnight stay and a hike in the Mournes on Saturday. All TYs participated in the annual ‘Colour Run’. Congratulations to local student Ella O’Rourke who came first out of almost 200 students. Ella also played for Meath against another Loreto student Sarah Willis who played for Dub- lin in the u16 Leinster Final with Meath winning for the first time in ten years. The Annual Loreto Girls Golf tournament took place on Wednesday in Balbriggan The annual Loreto golf tournament Golf Club in glorious sunshine. This month brings to a close another huge- ly successful year in Loreto Balbriggan. We will be praying for those taking exams and wish the rest of the student body a well deserved and happy and restful break over the summer. § © June 2019 The Meath Coaster 27 Matthew's Bus All Leap Card P assengers will be able to use Leap Cards across all Matthews.ie routes for the first time from Monday June 3. Matthews.ie customers who currently buy their tickets on board can save on fares and avoid fare increases in a restructuring to come into effect on some routes on that day. The most popular Matthews.ie ticket – the ten journey – will remain at the same price but only if purchased on a Leap Card. “The Leap Card is the convenient way to pay for both Matthews.ie and ongoing pub- lic transport services in Dublin, meaning savings in time and fares for commuters,” said Managing Director Paddy Matthews. Matthews.ie passengers will be able to get their Leap Card through www.leapcard.ie and then simply add credit via the Leap website or the Leap Top-Up Android App. The popular transport company are re- structuring their fares for the first time in three and a half years, with increases from Dundalk and Bettystown to Dublin. Prices from Drogheda to both Dublin and Dundalk will stay the same. However, passengers will avoid any in- creases by purchasing their ever-popular ten journey tickets on a Leap Card. “Rising costs have regrettably forced increas- es on some of our services for the first time since January 2016,” said Paddy Matthews “Leap fares are cheaper than cash fares across the board on our services, and represent a €5 saving on our ten-journey ticket price after June 3. “We are also introducing child fares for the first time, with a Leap Card child sin- gle fare dropping from €10 to €8.50. “Detailed fare tables are available on www.Matthews.ie which outline the new structures and the savings to be made on the Dundalk, Drogheda and Bettystown routes by using a Leap Card. “It is important to point out that Leap Card products purchased on the Leap website need to be purchased eight hours before you intend to use the card as there is an eight-hour window before amounts are credited to the card. Leap top ups on the Android App will be reflected on your card instantly. “Leap Cards are faster, cleaner and more environmentally friendly. Unlike paper tickets, when you register your card, your ticket is safe no matter what happens.” For more information see www.Leapcard. ie and www.Matthews.ie. § Pictured at the announcement of the introduction of Leap Card facilities on all Matthews.ie routes from Monday June 3 are (from left):Martina Martinez, National Transport Authority (NTA), Mark O’Brien- Moody Head of Leap Operations NTA, Paddy Matthews, Managing Director Matthews.ie and coach driver Jamie Norton. Matthews. ie customers who currently buy their tickets on board will save on fares which increase in a restructuring to come into effect on some routes on the same day. Picture: Andy Spearman.© June 2019 The Meath Coaster 28 Coláiste na hInse Laragh and Aoife Represent Ireland at Cambridge University C ongratulations to Laragh Phillips and Aoife Forkin for representing Ireland in the most prestigious debating competi- tion in the world at Cambridge University. It was a fitting reward for their work and performances this year, and they excelled in esteemed company. Congratulations as well to our team of Fifth Year dáltaí, Eve White, Aoife Cronin, Ali- son McGrath and Seán Loughrey, for win- ning the Great Debate against Drogheda Grammar School. Students Complete Workshops on Lat- in America Students of 5 th year and IB had workshops about Food development and issues for women in Latin-America. They provided great ideas and practised their Spanish using a wide range of vocabulary. Señor Lynch from LASC will come back next year with more exciting workshops. Idirbliain Dáltaí Earn Gaisce Bronze Medal Intrepid Idirbliain dáltaí earned their Bronze Medal for completing the Gaisce Challenge with a forty kilometre hike in the Mourne Mountains. Over the course CNI Dáltaí in Cambridge University© June 2019 The Meath Coaster 29 CNI Dáltaí are Great Debate Champions! of two days the dáltaí and múinteoirí hiked across a range of challenging ter- rain, cooking meals and camping over night before finishing in Newcastle. Com- hghairdeachas to all involved. Idirbliain Dáltaí enjoy Explorium and First Drive Idirbliain dáltaí are enjoying a busy time of year. This in- cluded a visit to Science and Sports Cen- tre Explorium in Sandyford, where they en- joyed a variety of science ex- periments and rock climbing. Many of the dáltaí also had their first taste of driving at First Drive as they continued to build their life skills. The Fifth Year Italy Trip The Fifth Year Italy trip took place from May 18 th -21 st . The trip included a cruise on Lake Garda and visits to Verona and Ven- ice, before finishing with the ever-popular visit to Gardaland theme park. CNI School Yearbook 2018-2019 On Sale Now The CNI School Yearbook is on sale now. Featuring photographs of students in every rang group, along- side essays, stories, poetry and an exten- sive Sixth Year section. The book can be purchased in the school for €10. §Next >