A YOUNG Balbriggan boy who has been told by doctors he will not live beyond his teenage years is working along with his family to raise money for research into the rare genetic disease that has taken over his body. The family of nine year old Balbriggan boy Nikita Pilipenko are raising money for the research into the mysterious but deadly Sanfilippo Syndrome. Nikita was diagnosed with the rare condition at the age of three. Read the full story here

The family are now asking for you to help with a donation or fundraising ideas. You can get more information from http://www.teamsanfilippo.org/

A LOCAL authority has warned householders to beware of burglars posing as council officials after another spate of thefts. Fingal County Council issued the warning after residents in north county Dublin were robbed by thieves pretending they were there to carry out water maintenance. It is the second area to be targeted after a wave of similar incidents in Donnybrook earlier this month.

In the latest thefts, bogus council workers called to doors in Balbriggan, Swords and Blanchardstown. A spokesperson said victims had reported complaints to the council and gardai. Read the full article here

THE council is continuing to investigate claims from a number of residents on a Balbriggan estate that defects found in their homes amount to a breach of building regulations by the developer of the estate. A number of residents in Martello Estate in Balbriggan have been pursuing the issue for some time and the council has undertaken to investigate their claims. The building control section at Fingal County Council has updated local councillors on the investigation which has so far determined that there has been no breach of building regulations in terms of the buildings resistance to moisture and weather. Read the full article here

Local TD and Junior Minister, Trevor Sargent, speaking at the Balbriggan Community Policing Forum, thanked a group of local volunteers for their work in combating drug abuse in the area. Commenting on the origins of the Balbriggan Awareness of Drugs (BAD) group, he said “the women who were the catalyst for BAD being established are the real heroines today”. He went on to further praise the work of the local Gardaí and to point out the important role the Balbriggan Community Policing Forum plays in identifying and addressing drug-related issues in the area. Read the full article here

BALBRIGGAN played their best rugby since September when they comprehensively beat Birr to go top of Division 3B – a point ahead of North Meath who went down in a close encounter with Arklow. Having lost to Birr back in November, the seasiders had something to prove and they did it in some style. What was the difference? Well, talisman Con Casey, returning for his first game after a nine-week absence, got his backs running smoothly, and in the pack the addition of Alan Egan to the second row has brought a stability to the Balbriggan scrum.

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