Praise for Ballindaggin group
MINISTER Paul Kehoe visited Ballindaggin last week to meet with members of the local community and find out about their plans for a Community Park in the centre of the village.
The Ballindaggin Development Group has been provided by the parish with a long-term lease of the field, which will now be transformed into a state-of-the-art amenity for the local community featuring an underage soccer pitch, playground, adult gym equipment and a walking track.
Minister Kehoe was very impressed with the proposal and commended the group on their hard work and the community for their support.
A recent dog night fundraiser in Enniscorthy race track, held by the Development Group in association with St Colman’s NS, was a great boost to the project, raising in the region of €14,000 towards the project.
According to Aileen Lambert: ‘ The response from the local community was terrific – the local business community were very generous with their support in sponsoring the races and taking out ads in the race programme. Huge thanks to everyone who supported it in any way from selling tickets to buying tickets and donating prizes for the raffle.
‘ There was a great turnout from people of all ages for the race night and it was a lovely social occasion.’
The Development Group have just submitted an application for funding under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme 2017 which will potentially provide the remainder of the funding needed for the project, while the outcome of the planning application is expected in about three weeks time.
This is the largest project which the group have embarked on to date although they have undertaken a wide variety of projects in recent years. These include the development of the church car park, restoration of the ‘Priest’s Well’, re-surfacing of the ‘Mass Path’, foothpaths and lights from the old post office to St Colman’s Park, hanging baskets in the village each year, clean-up of Templeshambo graveyard, annual litter-picking, hedge-cutting, the 1916 Monument, Christmas tree and lights and the May Bush.
Ballindaggin Community Development Group is a voluntary group dedicated to enhancing the village and improving the quality of life for people in the area by undertaking various projects throughout the year.
Anyone interested in getting involved with the group can get in touch with Joe Walsh, secretary, at 085 8891923.
The group would like to thank the community in the Ballindaggin and wider area for their continued support.