< Previous© June 2020 The Meath Coaster 10 Council Update By Cllr. Sharon Tolan - ! I hope everyone is staying well during this worrying time. It has been a challeng- ing time for all of the commu- nity….children, parents, the el- derly, businesses, Leaving Cert students, those who are ill, but I want to offer my sincere con- dolences to those in our com- munity who have lost a loved one during this pandemic. I think I speak for all of the community when I say, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your fami- lies, and despite the public health guide- lines, I hope you do not feel alone! I’d also like to acknowledge all of our local businesses who have really shone throughout, implementing new measures to ensure the safety of staff and custom- ers! Well done & thank you! To the Class of 2020 who didn’t get the opportunity to finish their school days in the traditional way, and complete their Leaving Certificate….remember, there are so many different pathways to get to where you want to go, enjoy the journey! If I can help in any way, let me know. Spine Road Set To Start At Last! I am continuing to progress this important project for the area, and I am delighted to say that the contract for constructing the R150 Laytown to Bettystown Spine Road has been awarded! I know I’m not the only one excited about seeing construc- tion begin in the coming weeks!! Bus Shelters I am delighted to say that I have managed to secure another 3 bus shelters for the area! Not enough, I know, but due to Covid-19, a full sur- vey could not be carried out of all of the locations that I requested. This year we will have 2 shel- ters installed at Coney Hall in Mornington, and 1 on the north- bound carriageway outside Deep- forde, Drogheda. The others will remain on the list, and I will do my best to deliver more in the next round. Mornington Pedestrian Crossing I have championed the provision of a pe- destrian crossing at Harry’s Garage for the past 6 years, and I am delighted and relieved to say that the design is now com- plete, and the contract for it’s construction is now out to tender. There will also be some improvement works to the footpath in the area to en- sure it is accessible for wheelchair users. Good news for Mornington this year! (And about time too, I know!) Beach Days Many of you have been in touch asking can the beach remain car-free forever, and I know that everyone who is lucky enough © June 2020 The Meath Coaster 11 to live within 5km of it, has appreciated just how spectacular it has been without vehicles. I have requested that Meath County Council reopen the car parks in Mornington and Laytown, and that they investigate options for additional off- beach parking in the area. The beach really is the only space we have to exercise, play safely as families, and for older people to enjoy, while en- suring social distancing can be adhered to. Every week I post the tide times on all of my social media platforms, so please fol- low me on Facebook (Cllr Sharon Tolan East Meath), Twitter (@sharontolan), Ins- tagram (Cllr. Sharon Tolan), to receive all updates on what’s going on locally. Obvi- ously low tide is the best time to visit the beach to ensure there is plenty of space for everyone. Dogs can be walked off leash (we’ve al- ready had this public consultation!), but please respect other walkers and only al- low your dog off lead if you have an ex- cellent recall. Beach Wardens and Lifeguards will be re- turning this summer, but in the meantime, please do not leave your dog dirt or litter behind on the beach! Leave Nothing But Your Footprints! I am busy attending online meetings daily, and responding to constituents, so if you have a question or an issue I can help you with, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Social media is not the most effec- tive way to contact me, so please drop me a text or a call on 086-3669852, or email me at sharontolan132@gmail.com Stay safe, Sharon© June 2020 The Meath Coaster 12 The Stamullen Roundup By Grace Tierney I hope you are all keeping well. Stay safe and keep washing those hands. It is amazing what you can do with a lawnmower and some creativity. I was out for my walk the other night and I found a huge game of bingo in progress in Kil- breck-Glasheen. The green area had been mowed into socially distant squares and families were spaced out and enjoying the sunshine along with the bingo on rugs and garden chairs. Brilliant idea! The annual Star of the Sea 5km run is an- other fantastic idea which has been adapt- ed to be a virtual, socially-distanced event this year and is taking place as I write. Runners in the area are out in the sunshine in memory of Michelle McKiernan. The idea is to register for €5, nominate five others, and walk or run, or just do- nate. The run is in aid of Balbriggan Can- cer Support Group which is a community volunteer group established in May 2010. If you missed supporting this event you can donate directly to them at www.bal- briggancancersupport.ie/. Congrats to local healthcare professional Fiona Tallon who raised €266,822 with her 5km challenge for hospitals around the country. The gofundme page is still live at www.gofundme.com/f/run-for-our- hse-heroes if you’d like to contribute. As the restrictions gradually ease it’s great to see local entrepreneurs being inventive in re-opening. The Lime Kiln and Gib- neys at the Huntsman are offering takea- way services while Stitch It Brand It are sewing face masks. Now the Stamullen owners of the popular Storm in a Teacup ice-cream shop chain are now delivering packs of their products to north county Dublin, East Meath and the Drogheda area. www.thestorminateacupstory.com. Thank you to all the little artists of the vil- lage who have painted colourful stones and put them on display around the hous- ing estates. They brighten up everybody’s day. Well done! Useful Services for Supplies / Advice • The Meath County Community Re- sponse Team - freephone 1800 808 809, email covidsupport@meathcoco.ie. • The Stamullen CA Volunteer Group - 087-6355519, stamullenca@gmail.com • O’Connor’s Pharmacy 01-8418018 • Centra’s Tick & Collect - www.face- book.com/dunnescentrastamullen, 01- 8834202 • Meath Partnership Employment Support Coaches 085-834 2378, 089-4366800, martina.mccabe@meathpartnership.ie, patricia.lynch@meathpartnership.ie • Fr. Declan Kelly’s online masses are available at www.youtube.com/channel/ UCMaC1cpFBS-qQ8JGKYPvkOw Got Stamullen news? Send it to Grace (087- 9074145) or grace@meathcoaster.com © June 2020 The Meath Coaster 14 News From Julianstown & District Community Association By Niamh Bn. Uí Loinsigh June – Bealtaine. The month of June is usually a lovely month in Ireland with all our trees and plants bursting forth with colour, but did you know Midsummer, or Saint John's Eve (Oiche Fheile Eoin) is a magical night in the traditions and folk- lore of Ireland. Traditionally at sunset on June 23 rd , an ancient fire festival began, and this was known at Saint John’s Eve. We look at some of the traditions around this festival of merriment: • A fire used to be lit exactly at sunset and had to be tended until long after midnight. Prayers were then said to bestow God’s Blessing on the crops and to prevent mid-summer flooding. • Dancing, fun and music then started for both young and old and men com- peted in competitions of strength and agility. • Fire jumping was customary, and people jumped over the flames from side to side. Young men used to walk through the fields carrying lit torches and then cast them into the fire to pro- tect the crops from harm. • A special dish called ‘Goody’ was made. This was ‘shop bread’ which was soaked in hot milk and flavoured June -with sugar and spices and passed around. • Children would walk around the vil- lages asking for ‘a penny for the bon- fire’ and use the money to buy candy and cakes. • The men of the village would pool their resources to buy a barrel of beer or porter which was shared all around. Midsummer was a merry time in the his- tory of Ireland and the celebrations con- tinued well into the following day! Julianstown tidy Towns Julianstown tidy Towns volunteers have been busy over the last month weeding, mowing, and giving the village a bit of a spruce up. Ma ny thanks to Jackie, Eileen, Aisling, Leo, David, Ann, Tom, Don- agh Chris, Mary and Brendan who have helped in different ways for our lovely village. Thanks also to Ed who did tro- jan work cleaning the bridge and to Larry who removed all the ivy. Julianstown Vil- lage Garden is looking great and has lots of families calling in to chill out, play and © June 2020 The Meath Coaster 15 have picnics during this beautiful weather. Nice to see walkers, joggers and cyclists meandering through the garden as well. There is plenty of seating and toys for the younger children to play with. Great to have Kevin back and we also have John, Andrew and Karl who are also on the East Meath Community Employment Scheme helping for a wee while. They have been busy mowing, strimming, and weeding. This helps keep our garden in tip top shape and is good for the soul. We would also like to thank Meath Coun- ty Council for awarding us €100 towards our litter clean ups of the village and to supplying bags, gloves, and litter pickers. If anyone would like any of these items to clean up their own areas of the village, please give Niamh a call on 086 3477283 or call into the garden on Monday or Tues- day and ask Kevin. Thanks also to our lo- cal council staff – Michael, Johnny, and the Environmental Dept. for picking up litter which was dumped around the vil- lage. We understand that some of Com- munity Grants will be awarded to us to- wards the cost of Flowers for our Planters on production of receipts and are delight- ed that we will also be awarded a grant towards the upkeep of the cemetery on the Moorechurch Road. Work has already begun there, and cemetery is looking very well. A work of thanks to Ann Woods for organising this every year Laytown/Bettystown Municipal Dis- trict. I am sure you are aware that two of our councillors Sharon Keogan and Annie Hoey were successful in being elected Senators. Sharon’s replacement will be revealed on the 11 th June, but word has it that this person will also be a great com- munity worker. Elaine McGinty of Legavooren Manor has been selected to replace Annie. Mean- while, we are delighted to welcome Cllr. Stephen McKee as Cathaoirleach of the district when the AGM of Meath County Council takes place on the 11 th June in Navan. We wish both our Senators and Councillors all the best for the future and trust in them to look after East Meath and its environs to the best of their ability. Local Businesses Good News stories are always welcome and firstly it’s from Black’s Garden Cen- tre who you may have seen recently on RTE have opened their doors to the public and are doing us a roaring trade in supply- ing us with our summer bedding plants. Elmgrove Farm are also back supplying home grown farm flowers on Friday (2-6 pm), Saturday and Sunday (10-6pm). © June 2020 The Meath Coaster 16 The Lime Kiln Deli and Shop have been open for the duration of the lockdown giv- ing us a chance to savour their beautiful breads and deli foods and this is most ap- preciated by the residents of Julianstown. Now they have added a takeaway menu and Cocktails which can be ordered by phone 041 9829001 or 9829002 for col- lection. This Week we had a visit from Matthew, Daniel and Andrew with their mum Mi- chelle and these lovely boys brought along 3 Sunflowers which they raised from the seeds of a sunflower they had planted last year. This is a lovely photo of them plant- ing the Sunflowers in the garden and they are also coming into the garden every day now to water them. Well done boys! The Box Hedging has just got a haircut! Bet we would all like one of those! The Mound has been strimmed and all around the rocks (Woof Woof Oscar)© June 2020 The Meath Coaster 17 Whitecross Nations School News Agatha in 1 st class did an amazing project all about her grandfather #welldone #fami- lyhistory © June 2020 The Meath Coaster 18 Laytown Tidy Towns W e observed the lockdown for the last two months, and really missed getting out on Saturday mornings to do our bit in the village! We attempted to re- turn to work on Saturday 23 rd May, but the weather had other ideas.....between the strong winds and the rain it was impos- sible to do anything. Hopefully we will resume operations on Saturday 30 th ! Although most people did abide by the lockdown, sadly some people still in- sist on dumping their rubbish, expecting someone else to clean up after them. fore the lockdown was implemented. We are sad to report that someone dug them up and took them away. Is nothing sa- cred?? If anyone is that desperate to have some trees for their garden they could al- ways ask..... The week before lockdown Meath Co. Council were donating saplings to Tidy Towns groups. We got our fair share, but had to plant them in a garden until these strange times pass! We will be transplant- ing them in the next few weeks.......maybe our tree thief would like to ASK for a cou- ple more trees? But please do ask, don’t just help yourself! As always we would welcome new vol- unteers. We meet at the Coast Tavern at 10am every Saturday and work for about an hour. It's great that we are having such glorious weather during the easing of lockdown restrictions. Teenagers are once again able to meet up with friends in the sun- shine! However, if you have a teenager who plans to meet friends and possibly take a swim it might serve you well to note what they are taking with them. This week our CE participant went to clean up after a large group had left the Nanny estuary.......he picked up NINE bags full and at least half of these bags were full of towels, underwear, trousers etc. He even found a pair of Nike runners which looked almost new. We went to clean up the same spot on Sat- urday and found endless pairs of socks, two pairs of shorts and four more towels. All the clothes and towels are put in the recycle bin § This mess was left at the bottle banks on 7 th May. We are delighted to welcome back our C.E participant. He was really missed during the few weeks of lockdown and is making his presence felt now that he is back in ac- tion! Great job Will! We had planted two weeping willows on the bed at the back of the carpark just be-Next >