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Tuesday, 20th September Prices quoted are from Swords Village
13th September 2011 • Volume 18, Issue 25 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. • ISDN 8139966 • Tel: 8•400•200
Tidy Towns Volunteers Triumph Again It was yet another outstanding year for the towns and villages of the North County at the recent Tidy Towns competition. The glittering results ceremony was held at the Helix Theatre on Monday last, 5th September. As is usual with our lovely towns, expectation levels were very high, particularly with the success attained in recent years. It is impossible to over- after year, to ensure that state the debt of grati- the North County retains tude which we owe to its status as a special the selfless volunteers place and one of the and imaginative commit- most desirable areas to tees of the Tidy Towns live and to do business around the county. anywhere. These volunThese people give of teers are the cornertheir precious time, year stone of our society and
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By Patrick Finnegan reflect volunteerism at its very best. Without these unsung heroes, our area would be all the poorer. A total of eight Tidy Towns Committees competed this year. All of the towns and villages have been successful in achieving a very high standard and all who competed last year managed to exceed their impressive scores from the previous year. See full report on pages 10 & 11
right up your street
Pictured are Stephen Halpin Programme Commissioner, Beaver Scouts with Andrew O’Neill, Clare Deegan, John Delaney and Carina Batt from 171st Rivervalley Scouts who were recipients of Chief Scout award. See story on page 9
North County Schools Hit By SNA Cuts The newly formed Alliance Against Cuts in Education (ACE) group have been receiving great support from schools across the North County over the past week. This follows the setting up of a campaign which hopes to reverse the current cap on special needs assistants in schools. The group consists of angry parents, teachers and special needs assistants (SNA’s). The aim of ACE is to stop cuts to special need reource hours, assistants, visiting Traveller
By Kieran Dunne teachers and English language support services. Speaking to the County Leader, St Colmcille’s SNA, Sheila Thomas says that the cutbacks are having a huge affect on the pupils she assists: “We’ve been cut to one-and-a-half assistants now where before we had four. When I finish my half day’s work, there’s only one SNA for four pupils. Continued on page 12
Community Of The Year Award For Skerries
Martin Scully (left) and Ollie Grimes, both from Skerries Chamber of Commerce, winners of the Community of the Year Award, pictured here with Grainne Seoige at the People of the Year Awards 2011
Saturday night last proved to be a very rewarding one for the community of Skerries. They were declared the winners of the prestigious ‘Community of the Year’ Award, at the ‘People of the Year’ ceremony. The community of Skerries rallied together in an extraordinary show of empathy and solidarity in the search for two fishermen, Ronan Browne (26) and David Gilsenan (41), who had gone missing at sea while out fishing on 1st April last. The whole town got behind the search, helping to raise €80,000 to fuel lifeboats. Ollie Grimes, Secretary Skerries Chamber of Commerce explained that he appealed Continued on page 12
EVER THINK OF VOLUNTEERING? It is a wonderful way to give something back. SVP urgently needs volunteers for home visitation work in Swords and surrounding areas. If you would like to help contact; Siobhan Tyrrell T: 01 8198414 E: siobhan.tyrrell@svpdublin.ie Please also check our website, www.svp.ie, for further details
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