‘THE MINUTE RESTRICTIONS ARE LIFTED WE WILL START WORK’
AN INTERNET cafe, study hub and youth club are all planned for a new look Clongeen Community Hall after €100,000 in funding was approved on Friday.
Marie Mythen of the hall committee said: ‘We are delighted! We got €100,000 in 2018 and that did a certain amount and we got various other funding including from Leader; we’ ll be able to finish it now.
‘It’s going to be finished this year hopefully. The plan was to start in January and do the Leader portion of the works. Now we will reassess it and do them all in the one go.
‘ There is no cafe in the area. We have one shop in Clongeen and nothing in Foulksmills. It would be great but everything is so up in the air. The minute restrictions are lifted we will start work.’
She said the 11-strong committee are overjoyed with the latest funding to help develop the hall so it can provide remote working hub facilities, a training facility, weekend markets, a study hub and a community cafe.
‘It will be enormous because there is nothing like that for the whole Clongeen, Foulksmills parish.’
Treasurer Bernie Whelan said: ‘We have been working on the project for two years and this [funding] will have a major impact on the completion of it. It’s a badly needed facility in the area, especially for secondary school and third level students to engage in their studies.’
Ms Whelan said the hall will be opened up to the young and the elderly and to the wider community.
‘We are absolutely delighted to secure funding in this manner. For us to fundraise that kind of money would be a hard task. It’s something a community wouldn’t want to have long term liabilities hanging over them.’
In May, 2018 a committee was formed to undertake the much need renovations on the local hall to bring it up to the 21st century requirements to facilitate the community of Clongeen from the very young to the elderly.
A grant of €100,000 (80 per cent of the overall cost) was secured from the Department of Rural & Community Development under the Town & Village Scheme to complete Phase 1 of the renovations that year. Phase 1 saw toilets and an extension to include a new stage and youth facility room complete with fire escapes.
Further to this two grants from Wexford Leader were secured for Arts & Culture and Youth Facilities 75 per cent of the overall cost. This work has been completed
Phase 11 of the renovation project to include the roof, a new entrance foyer, disabled parking spaces, upgrade of kitchen and existing meeting room, and new sports floor to main Hall area, all associated works.