KICKSTART 2012

An outdoor family activity day in the People’s Park
Sunday 22nd January from 12 to 3pm

With Christmas and New Years officially, over there’s no more excuses to ignore all the resolutions. So why not banish those winter blues and come and kick-start 2012 with a free family activity day that promises to get the whole family moving & put some much needed colour in back in everyone’s cheeks!

Once again Kickstart 2012 aims to get people out and about after the excesses of Christmas to having some fun. If your New Year Resolution is to get fit and healthy for 2012 then make sure you come to the Peoples Park, Dun Laoghaire on Sunday 22nd January from 12 to 3pm.

The DLR Sports Department will be on hand with some sporty fun and DLR Leisure Services will be in the park and ready to offer their fitness assessment as well as information on the DLR leisure centres in the county.

There will be bouncy castles and inflatable games with an active theme, the old favourites will also be there – face painters and the DLR Events DJ will be spinning the tracks to get you moving.

The Peoples Park in Dun Laoghaire is a beautiful place to be on a crisp winters Sunday, along with the award winning CoCo Market there are the tea rooms where you can get one of the best coffees or hot chocolates in South Dublin, the fountains a children’s playground. Easily accessible by DART (Dun Laoghaire or Glasthule) The Peoples Park is only a short walk from the shops, restaurants and piers of Dun Laoghaire. The ever-popular CoCo Markets will also be in the park on the 22nd.

For full details & the most up-to-date information about all DLR events, visit us on www.dlrevents.ie/ or email info@dlrevents.ie

This event will help families get active by introducing them to some new sports and local clubs in a fun environment, at no cost. All the activities on offer will be ones that you can pick up easily and where families can join in together including archery, trampolining, dance, badminton, and Olympic handball – plus a selection of retro games including three-legged and wheelbarrow races.”

Experts will be on hand for each activity to help out and show you – plus, activities will be indoor and outdoor, so the event will go ahead rain or shine!

Participants will receive a map showing the location of all the activities – people should come early and be prepared to participate in sports they’ve never tried!

This event is just one of many free or very affordable sporting programmes organised by dlr Sports Partnership this autumn, including the dlr Community 5k on October 8th at 2pm in Kilbogget Park.

Interested in taking part? Please contact Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Sports Partnership at 01-271 9507 or sportspartnership@dlrcoco.ie.

“Two other initiatives which are aimed at Local Authorities have also been announced. Under the first initiative, the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport has invited local authorities to apply for funding for sports facilities that will improve participation in sport. This is not a new round of the Sports Capital Programme. The emphasis will be on ‘shovel-ready’ projects that will create construction jobs and that can be completed before the end of the year.

“Under the second initiative, the Department has written to local authorities interested in applying for grant aid towards the upgrading of energy and water conservation measures, and/or disabled access, for swimming pools. Local authorities applying for such funding will need to satisfy the Department that they can draw down the grant monies this year, and the emphasis therefore is very much on projects that can be completed before year-end.

“Given the planned sporting developments in the County due under the Capital Building Programme, I am hopeful that Dun Laoghaire Rathdown can make the most of these initiatives and deliver the much needed such as the new Samuel Beckett Civic Centre in Ballyogan and the upgrade of Glenalbyn Swimming Pool facilities as soon as possible.”

“There is a lot of positive news for the County in this Programme especially in the area of leisure services. However, there is no point building these facilities if there is no comprehensive and public strategy in place that will target local sports clubs & community groups who can benefit from these developments. Both DLR Leisure Services and the DLR Sports Partnership are working tirelessly in this area but there needs to be a solid document for the Councillors who do not sit on these bodies and the members of the public who are active in this area can refer to.

“I am delighted that a number of projects local to my area namely further development of sports facilities in Marlay Park and in particular the flag ship Samuel Beckett Civic Campus in Ballyogan have been given the go ahead. The Civic Campus is desperately needed in an area of the County that has undergone huge levels of commercial and residential development but is lacking in social infrastructure.

This development when completed will provide the following facilities:

1. Community Centre & Childcare Facility

2. Sports Building

3. Swimming Pool

4. Public Library

5. Playground

6. Synthetic & Natural Grass pitches and

7. Skate Park.

“The Part 8 scheme for the entire development was approved by the Council at its meeting on 8 February 2010. Phase 1 of the Scheme consists of the sports building, the swimming pool, the skate park and the synthetic and natural grass pitches. The latest cost estimate for Phase 1 of the project is €25.3m (incl. VAT). To date the Council has incurred costs of €3.4m on the project. The detailed design has been completed. Phase 1 of the project will be ready to proceed to tender by end Summer 2011 to coincide with the welcome reopening of the Sports Capital Grant Programme.

“Added to the promising planned developments at Loughlinstown Swimming Pool and Glenalybn Swimming Pool, the County has a fantastic opportunity to provide a much needed boost to the many local sports who are struggling: struggling financially, struggling with the upkeep of facilities, struggling to maintain memberships and struggling to compete with modern sedentary past times.

“The successes of facilities such as Meadowbrook and Monkstown in financial and social terms are ones which need to be followed and expanded in a coherent manner.”