REVIEW OF THE YEAR: AUGUST 2023

Sinéad O’Connor: a trailblazer who was a voice for the voiceless

The term “iconic” gets thrown around with liberal abandon in this day and age, but Sinéad O’Connor is more than deserving of the title.

The singer, who passed away on Wednesday July 26, aged 56, generated an outpouring of grief on social media upon her death that seemed different to the usual wall of remembrance that greets a celebrity’s passing.

Our first edition in August carried news of Sinead O’Connor’s passing and described her as “the face of an Ireland that was finding it’s voice on the global stage, and represented everything that we like to think Ireland stands for; the nation of druids and poets.”

Coolock’s Princess Graham is the Local Champion for Dublin Bay North

THE National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI), which represents organisations working with young people nationwide, launched its Local Champions initiative, a campaign aimed at ensuring increased investment in young people and youth work locally and nationally.

Eighteen-year-old Princess Graham (pictured above) from Coolock was selected as the Local Champion for the Dublin Bay North constituency.

The stunning photo (above), entitled ‘Winter Rose’, taken by Martin McCormack from Glasnevin, was one of the judges’ top-rated images in the Reach for the Stars competition.

The image was captured in Dublin city and shows the Rosette Nebula, also referred to as the Skull Nebula – a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros constellation.

The Nebula sits in the Milky Way about 5,200 light-years from Earth.

Massive stars at its core have blasted a hole in the cloud of material with radiation and flows of charged gas particles, called stellar winds.

THE VINTAGE PICNIC

Fingal Age Friendly hosted the Vintage Picnic, Arts Creativity, and Music Festival for over 55’s in the beautiful venue of Swords Castle on July 27. The Vintage Picnic festival was a fantastic fun-filled afternoon, packed full of workshops, activities, music and dancing. It was a celebration of creativity, music, and camaraderie specifically designed to cater to the vibrant generation of over 55’s in Fingal.

Jackies win the All Ireland

Dublin defeated Kerry 0-18 to 1-10 in the 2023 All-Ireland Senior Ladies’ Football Championship final to win a sixth title.

An outstanding first-half display from the Dubs, with the superb Hannah Tyrrell scoring eight of Dublin’s 11 points, was the bedrock for Dublin’s latest All-Ireland ladies senior football title victory, their fifth in eight seasons.

Airport can continue to fly by night

The High Court granted an application by Dublin Airport operator daa for a temporary stay on an enforcement order which would have led to restrictions on the number of night-time flights at the airport. The previous month, Fingal County Council issued an enforcement order against daa in relation to the planning conditions attached to North Runway. Planning permission for North Runway was granted in 2007 subject to 31 planning conditions, including that it not be used for landings between 11pm and 7am and placing a 65-aircraft movement cap right across the airport from the same times

Work begins on 1,200 homes in Donabate

Construction work began in Donabate this month at one of the largest residential housing developments in the country.

1,200 homes are due to the delivered on a phased basis by homebuilder Glenveagh at the 32 acre site. The first phase of 432 affordable, private, cost rental, and social homes at Balmoston is due to be completed within two years. The start of work at the site was marked with a sod-turning ceremony attended by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD; the Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Adrian Henchy; and representatives of Fingal County Council and homebuilder Glenveagh.

Balbriggan boy wins prize for Predator costume

A great movie can inspire creative minds, and Balbriggan boy Sean Ryan (pictured above) has took his love of the Predator movies and spun it into homemade gold.

The 13-year-old won top prize at the Dublin Comic Con costume contest earlier this month, and his father Declan spoke to Northside People about how Sean emulated the famous sci-fi baddie.