Our major fundraising event at Peacock’s Bar was a resounding success. There was a capacity crowd, which thoroughly enjoyed the evening. We may need to hire a larger room at Peacock’s next year! Thank you to Fiona and staff for looking after us so well.

STT member, Noel Cosgrave, was our quizmaster for the night, and he did a magnificent job. He was ably assisted by his wife Teresa, with whom he’d written the quiz questions.  Fellow STT member Georgy helped to check the scores. Members Debora, Deborah, Kay and Mary took charge of the raffle. 

Fingal County councilors Ann Graves, Joe Newman and Darragh Butler attended with their teams. Ann’s team came second, losing out to last year’s winners.

In the weeks leading up to the quiz Chairman Ken Duffy and member Georgy Hughes had visited businesses in the Swords area. Judging from their generous responses, they really value the dedication of our hard-working group. There was no shortage of prizes for our quiz winners and for our raffle.

We thank the following sponsors for their wonderful support: SuperValu Boroimhe, SuperValu at Pavilions, The Betsy, Indie Spice, The Arch Bar, Cupcakes and Counting, The Old Schoolhouse, Lynott Jewellers, Pavilions SC Management Company, Peacock’s Lounge and Bar, FCC Councillor Brigid Manton, Wrights Bar, The Cock Tavern, The 44, Swords Shoe Repair, Platinum Bakers, Howrad Studios, Paradise Nails, Coffee Works, The Breakroom, The Hair Lounge, Hairs Another Salon, The Cottage, Saks Hair Salon, Beauty Lounge, Boyles Sports, Loaf’d, Integrity Fitness, Glam Salon, Paddy Powers, Gadget Plus, Hanleys, Swords Barbers, Pure Pharmacy, Peter Mark Hairdressers, Gilsenan’s Allcare Pharmacy, Swords Eye Centre, The Pound Bar, K67 and McNamara’s Pharmacy on Swords Main St. 

STT members Ramune Kuzminiene and Emma O’Toole, the force behind our Clothes Swap events, decided to use the same venue for their first ever seed and plant swap on February 3. They were delighted with the turnout of keen gardeners on the day. 

Two hundred euros was raised for Meals On Wheels via the sale of books donated by STT members.

Swords Tidy Towns was invited to send representatives to the opening of the newly refurbished Carnegie Library on North St. This building, funded by Scottish/American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, was built in 1908. For many years it was home to Swords Historical Society. 

It will now house the Art Department, whose brief is to promote the arts within Swords and the Fingal region.

During speeches by Fingal Council members, kudos were given to STT for their interest in local history and their dedication to the community. 

Our chairman Ken Duffy and members Rose Brennan, Georgy Hughes and Matt Cullen enjoyed the opportunity to see the newly completed renovation, and to hear about the new uses for this well-known building.

Ramune Kuzminiene, whose particular interest is in nature and biodiversity, took time out from her regular Saturday morning sessions with STT to attend a hedge-laying training day in Skerries. This is an initiative of Fingal County Council. 

STT members Grace Dunne, George Mongey, Catherine Napper McDonagh and Mary Maxwell, under the direction of fellow member Ramune Kuzminiene have been involved in monthly water monitoring at particular spots along the Ward River, the Broadmeadow and the Estuary since May 2023. STT was one of only 6 groups chosen to take part in an joint project funded by ChangeX and Fresh Water Watch. Their aim is empower people to measure the health of their local waterways using sound scientific methods.

We were pleased to read that Ramune’s impact report, plus Catherine’s personal account about her water watching experiences, formed the basis of Water Watch’s promotional article on January 17th, 2024. 

On January 13, STT held the first of its popular Clothes Swap Shop events for 2024. 

This time there was an added attraction. STT member Teresa had well over 100 good quality novels, which she wanted to donate to charity. It was decided to sell these at €3 each, and to donate the takings to the local Meals On Wheels. 

The clothes swap was successful once again, and €100 was raised for charity.

Rose Brennan, our polytunnel and flower manager, has been busy overseeing the growing of spring bulbs by her team. She then supervised the planting at various locations around the town. These will provide a wonderful display of colour in the coming months.

In the pictures below, Darren, Sean and Stuart getting the bulbs ready for planting next day.

A mixture of spring bulbs were planted on Forest Road and by St Colmcille’s school. Our newer volunteers were assisted by longtime members Malachy and Marie.

A few weeks later on January 21, another team of our wonderful volunteers were planting spring bulbs on Dublin Rd and Pinockhill Roundabout.

Peacock’s Bar in Rivervalley was the venue for our end-of-year celebrations on December 8, where Fiona and staff ensured that we had a wonderful evening. 

Andy, the DJ, worked his magic with the dance music and karaoke. As usual there was no shortage of volunteers wanting to  perform their songs either individually or in groups. 

Guests included several members of the Women’s Shed and the Men’s Shed. Councillors Brigid Manton and Joe Newman, generous donors and supporters of STT joined in the fun too. 

We appreciate the kind donations to our Chrismas hamper by SuperValu Boroimhe and Pavilions Swords.

Our 8th clothes swap shop took place at the very beginning of December, and was, of course, Christmas themed. We had a great selection of Christmas jumpers (some vintage) and dresses for both adults and children. We had some great fun as always!