NEW CHILD CARE CENTRE FOR ST. ANDREW'S

St. Andrew’s Resource Centre, based on Pearse Street, is the jewel in the crown of community support in the Inner City. Though the Celtic Tiger is roaring loudly for many in our society there are still many families in the inner city who have been left out. The support of local community initiatves is vital to their future.

From humble beginnings back in 1973 as the Social Services Centre on Westland Row, run by Fr. Tom O’Keefe, the concept of community initiative and support arrived at its current home in St.Andrew’s back in 1989.

To mark over twenty-five years of community action, the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, launched their magnificent new Child Care Centre recently.

It is almost a cliché to say that “the children are our future.” Their magnicent new premises is a monument to that hope.

The new Child Care Centre completes the overall package of community support systems that St. Andrew’s can now offer to its own locality. They now cater for all age groups, young and old.

President McAleese paid great tribute to “the get up and go of the many locals involved in running St. Andrews. Their efforts have transformed the lives of all those who avail of the services offered by St.Andrew’s. This will hopefully continue for many more years with their great drive and enthusiasm to make a valuable contribution to their own community.”

The Celtic Tiger will sooner rather than later lose his tail. When he does it will be community organisations of our area who will have to pick up the tab.

The support of the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs as well as the A.D.M. Ltd on behalf of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform provided core funding for the building and running of the new centre.

FÁs Community Employment also provides funding towards running and staffing costs.
Finally, special mention must be made for the very generous bequest made by the late Bridget Dowling, who was a great friend to St. Andrew’s in her lifetime. Her generosity will bear great fruit in the heart of her own community.

For further information on the many services available at St. Andrew’s, from training courses, employment opportunities and of course the new child care centre.

 

A CHRISTMAS WALK IN BARNASLINGHAN WOOD
By Karina Clifford

 

A Christmas Walk in Barnaslingan Woods Has Christmas cabin fever set in yet? Blow the winter blues away with a ramble in Barnaslingan Woods, just half an hour’s bus journey from the city centre!
Sheltered in the slopes around the Scalp, the forest is a mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees, with colour coded trails marked on the trunks to help you find your way.

if you feel like having a gentle stroll, keep to the yellow marked trails, these meander through the beech, mountain ash and holly and then lead gradually upwards. The more demanding trails are marked in purple, leading you directly up the hillside to where all the paths eventually lead – to the top!

From there the most incredible views of the sweep of Dublin Bay can be seen, and a little further on, a dramatic plunge of rock sweeps down to the main Enniskerry road and the far side of the Scalp beyond.

On the days I visited, I could see a small herd of what appeared to be wild goats scrambling around these slopes. Other wildlife you could be lucky to spot are the deer, whose presence can be noticed by the bare look of the saplings planted around – apparently Rudolph and the gang like the taste of young trees!

The wood is managed by ECO, who are an environmental orgamsation that aims to provide a wide range of conservation programmes, specifically aimed at getting young people interested in this important issue.

You will notice wooden boxes attached high up on the tree trunks at certain spots. There are three types: bat, bird and red squirrel boxes. There are also hedgehog hotels in the undergrowth – however will Santy manage to find them all and fill their tiny Christmas stockings?

Barnaslingan Wood has a car park as well as being on the 44 bus route, so is an easily accessible amenity year round.

How to get there? Ask the bus driver to let you off just after the Scalp service station, then walk on towards the Scalp for about twenty yards. To your left you’ll see a gate (unsignposted as yet) and a gap to the side of it. Slip through, and you’re at the entrance to the woods.

By car, you take the main Dublin – Enniskerry road and turn off to your left up Barnaslingan Lane, which is just beyond the tiny village of Kilteran. Follow the lane up to a junction, where the car-park is on the right.

Why not use the Christmas holiday to take the farnily out to see a little bit of wilderness so close to hand? There might be deer in the snowy woods – as close to Toyland as most of us can get!

 


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