2009 got off to a very happy start for one Skerries family as they welcomed Ireland's first baby of the new year into the world. Mary and Martin Cruise were glowing with pride in Holles Street Hospital as they celebrated the arrival of their baby girl and a new sister for their children, Ben, Adam, Jake and Sam. The couple were sure another boy was on the way and said: 'The boys are just dying to see her. She was going to be called Dan! She won't be called that now, but she's gorgeous, she's beautiful.'

Mary also found it hard to believe that her daughter was the 2009's first by a single minute, and said that various clippings from newspapers carrying the tale would be a good memento for her daughter to keep as she grows up.

Later that month, a mother and three children were lucky to escape with their lives from a burning house in Swords, thanks to the quick actions of emergency services as well as the brave efforts of the mother herself and her boyfriend to get the children out of the burning home safely. When gardaí arrived at the house on Hilltown Close, Rivervalley in Swords at about 4.15am they found a woman trapped in a first floor back bedroom.

A garda tried to enter the house by the front door but was beaten back by smoke and flames. Gardaí then used a ladder from a neighbouring house to rescue the woman.

Earlier three children aged 10, four and one were rescued from the house by the woman's boyfriend - who she had telephoned. It's understood the woman lowered the children down to him. Emergency services and their heroic efforts was once again brought into sharp focus in June of 2009.

The quick action of fire and ambulance crews from Swords saved the life of a new-born baby in Holywell estate in Swords. The crew were met with a distressed mother on the bathroom floor of the Holywell home who had just given birth to twins, one of whom was not breathing. The mother was in shock and spoke little English but the paramedics from the Swords station got to work immediately and succeeded in saving the life of the struggling twin.

In August, three young women from Rush and Swords became the focus of national attention as they got caught up in a dramatic plane crash in Thailand but thankfully, all of them returned home safely to Fingal in the end.

Aoife Creamer (25) from Rush and her sister Orlagh (20) and friend, Lesley Dowdall (23), both from Swords, finally touched down, almost a week after they survived the Thai crash that killed the pilot and left several passengers with serious injuries.

Relieved to be back in the welcoming arms of her family again, Aoife told the Fingal Independent: 'I am absolutely thrilled beyond believe to be back home - I've never been so glad to see Dublin Airport.' A relieved Aoife said: 'It was only when we turned to look back at the crash from the runway, we realised, Jesus, we've just ran away from a plane crash.'

Later that month there were school celebrations in Balbriggan Loreto as it celebrated double-tops with not one but two of its students returning a perfect score of 600 in their Leaving Certificate.

Ruth O'Toole was delighted with her perfect score and said: 'It was a bit of a surprise, really. I needed 550 to do pharmacy but I never expected to do this well.'

Joining Ruth with the other perfect 600 was Katie O'Reilly who was anxious to thank all her 'outstanding teachers' at Balbriggan Loreto for their support in achieving the magnificent result. Katie said it was a 'huge shock' to find out she had scored 600.

In September, Fingal said hello to its newest school when Ardgillan Community College opened its doors for the first time. The state-of-the-art school building was constructed at a cost of around € 3.5 million with three-storeys of space and 18 classrooms containing the most modern science labs and computer facilities.

October saw Hollywood come to Swords in the shape of the hit TV series, 'The Tudors'. The show's second unit took over the castle walls in a series of daring stunts that entertained locals and made best use of the wonderfully restored medieval chapel and walls of the castle.

October also saw an uplifting story of triumph in the midst of family tragedy with the inspirational tale of a Balrothery man who has built his own boat in his back yard while caring for a son with Cerebral Palsy and a wife with MS. Add to all that the fact that Fergal Butler has no background whatsoever in boat building and thought himself the age-old craft from the internet, then you realise that there was something very special going on behind the garden fence of this Balrothery bungalow. He successfully launched the boat a few short weeks after it was completed and a year of hard work and dedication sailed off into the sunset off the Skerries coastline.