We will be starting our town clean up nights again on Tuesday the 12th of April starting at 7pm and meeting at the town park. All equipment will be provided and we’ll work through until 8pm. We had a great team last year and thankfully had some good weather! The main activity is litter clean up and we may have some bits of gardening and other odd jobs. It’s a great way to get out in the fresh air, meet some people and make a positive difference to our environment.

Aside from making our town tidy and pleasant to live in we are also hoping to improve our score in the Tidy Towns Competition this year. If you can’t make the night we would appeal to you to keep an eye out for litter and if there is anything you can do to make your home or business look more appealing that would make a huge difference to our chances in the competition.

If you’ve any questions or suggestions for what type of landscaping we could do around the town please get in touch with us at contact@athtrasna.com or grab one of the committee members. We’ll be putting together a landscaping plan for this year over the coming weeks. One of the key areas we’ll be focusing on is the pump house on Scarteen Street.

The Newmarket Traders Association will be launching a Shop Local Campaign over the coming days. In the current climate it is essential that all members of the community make a special effort to support local businesses and therefore local jobs. There are a wide range of businesses in our town providing a wide range of great quality services and products. You might be surprised at the great value on offer.

Make sure you check out our business directory for a list of many of our local businesses. Watch this space for future developments by the Traders Association.

As ever if you have any suggestions or queries please don’t hesitate to get in touch through the contact form on this site or email contact@athtrasna.com

Áth Trasna Abú!

An update from the AGM of the community development association – the committee for 2011 was formed. We have a number of new members and Liz O’Connor has filled the post of PRO. We would like to thank our outgoing PRO Mary Stack for all her hard work throughout 2010 – she will be greatly missed.

Our first task this year is the Saint Patrick’s day parade. This will kick off from the West End at 12:30 on Thursday March 17th. All are welcome to join in. There will be prizes for Best Float, Best Car, Best Business Window, Best Adult Costume and Best Juvenile Costume. Don’t forget to drop into the Coffee morning in Hourigan’s Lounge, High Street which is in aid of the Irish Cancer Society. Also if you’re looking for something to do the night before the Juvenile GAA club are holding a sports quiz in Hourigan’s also.

La Fhéile Pádraig faoi mhaise dhaoibh go léir

The Newmarket Community Development Association will be holding an AGM on Thursday, 17th February, at 8pm in the IRD. We are really eager to see some new faces this year and would welcome any new ideas and suggestions on the night. This is a great opportunity to make a positive contribution to your community, meet new people and gain some new skills and experience.

We will also be holding a Church gate collection on the weekend of the 12th and 13th of February. Money collected will be used to fund local projects (such as landscaping and town events) as well as funding insurance costs for local town amenities. Your support, as ever, is hugely appreciated.

The Christmas day swim was postponed due to adverse weather conditions. It will now take place New Years Day at 12.30.

The proceeds from this year’s Swim will go to St. Josephs Foundation, Charleville who look after those with Special Needs within our community and Kanturk Community Hospital who care so well for the elderly.

Last year over €8000 was raised for the National Rehabilitation Hospital and the Michael O’ Dea
rehabilitation Fund.

Please come along and support this great cause.

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The swim took place on the 1st of January in the Island Wood. Well done to the organizers of this great event and to the brave 23 men and 1 woman who took a very cold dip!!

You can follow the Christmas Day Swim on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewmarketChristmasDaySwim

Despite the severe weather conditions we had a great turnout at both the carol service and the Christmas disco in Scully’s. The Newmarket choir led the singing and were joined by a large group of well wrapped up locals who had braved the elements. The snowy landscape added to the festive atmosphere and made the night both visually and vocally memorable.

The night continued in Scully’s bar with a Christmas disco with DJ Cal. We were delighted to be joined by the Newmarket Minor Hurling county champions, who celebrated their recent success with enthusiasm! We greatly appreciated their presence. DJ Cal kept the crowd in high spirits throughout the night with a great mix of music and humour.

Photos will be posted to the Gallery over the coming days.

Congratulations to the winners of the competitions: Relish for most festive business and the Murphy Family in Killowen who won best dressed house!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the community for all your support during the year. We’ve been able to complete a number of projects in 2010: creation of a biodiversity garden (outside the protestant graveyard), landscaping, St. Patrick’s day parade, erection of the Christmas lights, painting of the pump house as well as the launching of this website. We had another successful year in the Tidy Towns competition, coming second in our group and managing to improve on our overall score by 5 points from last year. All this would not have been possible without the help of many volunteers who worked so hard this year. Much thanks is also due to the the Newmarket traders who have been extremely generous in contributing towards the cost of the Christmas lights and St. Patrick’s day.

We will be holding an AGM at the start of next year. The more people we have involved the more projects we can undertake for the community, so new members would be very welcome. If you have ideas for events or projects for Newmarket, or would like to get involved please get in touch. More details to follow in the New Year.

Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Dhaoibh.

This evenings events (Carol Service and disco in Scullys) will still be going ahead despite the weather. Please wrap up warm (we won’t be outside for too long) and please take care traveling and only do so if it is safe.

The Newmarket community development association is proud to launch this community website for the town of Newmarket. This website will provide a forum for events in the area and the promotion of the local economy.

We have included basic functionality at present but will be continuously working to provide more content and features. We would really appreciate feedback and suggestions; please use the contact form provided. If you have a business or are a member of an organisation in Newmarket and would like to have your details listed please get in touch; this is a free service.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Sráid Nua Technologies for their tireless work in getting this site up and running, all free of charge.