ISSUE #004 · TUESDAY 27 OCTOBER 2026
Morning, Bray. Carlisle Grounds has a big night ahead, while a restaurant-use proposal at Strand View has entered the planning process.
Away from the headlines, we have local lunch collection, a printer-cartridge rescue and some useful support for families and young people.
Today’s local profile is about making friends through walking and running—not just getting the kilometres in.
In Today’s Craic
🏗️ Strand View’s restaurant proposal—and the dates that matter
🍽️ Local collection, cartridge refill and practical family support
🗓️ Today’s camp and match, plus different picks for the diary
🤝 Meet Bray Sanctuary Runners—and a football-night Meme of the Day
Showers and gusty westerlies
Met Éireann’s Leinster forecast for Tuesday is blustery or windy, with sunshine and showers, some heavy or prolonged. Highs are 10–13°C, with fresh to strong, gusty westerlies. Bring the layer you will be glad of later.
📰 The Local Lowdown
🏗️ Strand View restaurant-use proposal is still at application stage
A planning application has been submitted for Commercial Unit 1 at Strand View Apartments. It seeks to change the use from a restaurant limited to an ice-cream and waffle parlour to a restaurant, alongside proposed signage, mechanical ventilation and associated site works.
The council register records the application as received and validated on 12 October. There is no decision recorded, so this is not an approval and it is not a restaurant-opening announcement.
Planning files can feel like paperwork from another planet, but the important local point is simple: the proposal has entered the public process, not opened its doors.
Observations are due by 15 November and the decision date on the register is 6 December. For neighbours and curious passers-by alike, the council file is the sensible place to follow the proposal.
🍽️ Food & Drink Around Bray
Collection at The Pantry, Bray Central
The Pantry at Unit R2, Bray Central, Main Street offers click-and-collect and gift cards. Its regular hours are Monday–Saturday, 9am–5pm, and Sunday, 10am–5pm. A collection option is handy when the day needs feeding but the schedule has got ideas of its own.
🛍️ Shop Local
Cartridge Green: refills on Novara Avenue
Cartridge Green on Novara Avenue refills, tests and returns printer cartridges. Its regular hours are Monday–Friday, 9am–5.30pm, and Saturday, 10am–5pm. It is a small reuse service worth keeping in the mental drawer marked “try this before buying a new one”. Contact the shop about cartridge compatibility, price and turnaround.
💼 Local Opportunities
💼 Free Civil Service careers taster at Intreo Bray
Looking a little further ahead, a free Civil Service careers taster is scheduled for Tuesday 10 November, 2.30–4pm, at Intreo Bray.
It covers entry-level jobs, apprenticeships, inclusive employment and work-placement routes, plus using PublicJobs. The session is for SICAP—the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme—target groups.
For registration and eligibility guidance, contact Jennifer Jones on 083 393 6923 or [email protected]. A useful afternoon for anyone wondering where to start rather than where to scroll next.
🗓️ Today’s Bray Guide
Tuesday 27 October · Bots & Boos camp begins · Bray School Project, Killarney Road · 9am–3pm
Bots & Boos runs today to Friday at Bray School Project National School, Killarney Road, with battle bots, games, crafts and a Friday costume-party finish.
The four-day camp costs €128 and runs 9am–3pm daily; this is a pre-booked programme, not a daily drop-in. Suitable for children in 2nd–6th class. Families of 1st-class children should confirm eligibility with Heartbeat before booking.
Tuesday 27 October · Bray Wanderers v Kerry FC · Carlisle Grounds · 7.45pm
Bray Wanderers host Kerry FC tonight in the second leg of the First Division promotion play-off semi-final, with Bray 2–1 up from Saturday.
Kick-off is 7.45pm. Tickets are €15 adults, €10 seniors and students, €7 teens and €5 under-12s, with family options available; season tickets do not cover this match.
If you are going, use the ticket link to check the latest availability and give yourself time to get in before kick-off.
Next up in Bray
Wednesday 28 October · Aliens · Mermaid Arts Centre · 8pm · €20
Aliens brings live electronic music, video and a mother-and-daughter journey from Donegal to southern Italy to Mermaid on Wednesday. The 80-minute piece is performed in English, French and Italian with surtitles. A thoughtful midweek choice when the usual film-or-pub question could use a third answer.
Friday 30 October · Wicklow Craft Foundation Showcase reception · Signal Arts Centre · 7–9pm
The Wicklow Craft Foundation Showcase has its opening reception at Signal Arts Centre, 1a Albert Avenue, on Friday from 7–9pm. The exhibition runs from 26 October to 8 November. A craft-first evening plan, with the work itself providing the conversation starter.
Dates to bookmark
Thursday 19 November · Bray Cualann Historical Society · Royal Hotel · 8pm
Bray Cualann Historical Society has a history night on Thursday 19 November at 8pm in the Royal Hotel on Main Street.
The programme is “40 years since Hurricane Charlie” and “The Last Days of the Local Defence Force in 1946”.
Admission is €8, free for members, and all are welcome. A properly local evening for anyone who likes a story with its roots firmly in the town.
Book ahead · Family nature wreath and eco-decoration workshops · Festina Lente
Festina Lente’s family Christmas nature-wreath and eco-decoration workshops run on 28 and 29 November and 12 and 13 December, 10–11.15am, at the Walled Gardens on Old Connaught Avenue.
It is €40 for a family of up to four with participating children aged three and over; materials and take-home kits are included.
The dates are far enough ahead to plan without the usual December panic, but check live availability before making it the family craft mission.
Useful Bray resources
🤝 Free support for parents and caregivers: SPECS
SPECS—Supporting Parents and Early Childhood Services—offers free support across greater Bray around family conflict, stress and children’s development and learning.
If home life has been feeling more fraught than festive, a first conversation can be a useful place to start. Contact SPECS at [email protected] or 01 211 6481 for current routes into the service.
🧭 Crosscare Youth: several Bray access points
Crosscare Youth offers developmental groups, one-to-one support and activities including LGBTI+ and outdoor groups, ECO-UNESCO, drugs education and diversionary work.
In Bray, its access points are St Bricin’s on Herbert Road and The Seomra Youth Centre, Unit 1 Carlisle House, Adelaide Road.
The programme mix gives young people and families more than one possible door in; contact Crosscare directly for current age ranges, times, referral routes and programme availability.
🧶 Pulling Loops: craft company on Quinsborough Road
Pulling Loops at 6 Goldsmith Terrace, Quinsborough Road runs regular Wednesday craft groups from 11am–1pm and 6.30–8.30pm, at €10 per visit. All levels are welcome.
These are social sessions, not lessons: bring the half-finished scarf, crochet project or brave new beginning. Confirm the holiday-week session and places with the shop before heading over.
🎨 Art Lab: a make-something option
The Art Lab in Bray welcomes drop-ins for pottery, canvas and mosaic painting, with no experience needed; weekends are best booked ahead.
Projects start from €15, plus a €4 studio fee per person. Allow around two hours.
Pottery is recommended for ages six and over, and children under 10 need an adult.
Canvas and mosaic projects can go home the same day; glazed pottery is ready to collect in 3–5 days.
A make-something option to keep for the next rainy-day plan.
🤝 Meet the Locals: Bray Sanctuary Runners
Original editorial illustration.
Bray Sanctuary Runners brings people from different countries, cultures and backgrounds together through running and walking. In an East Coast FM conversation after the National Solidarity Run on 11 October, members spoke about friendship, integration and belonging.
That is the local story worth holding onto: exercise can be a route into community as much as a lap around a route.
The national run is over, but the conversation introduces a Bray group making room for people to meet across backgrounds. You do not have to be interested in race times to be interested in that.
Meme of the Day
Missed an Issue?
Catch up with Issue #002 · Sunday 25 October · Bray’s Sunday Catch-Up — community news, local plans and Bray’s business-history appeal.
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