Idle for 30 years, it’s time to bring hall back to life

THE TIGHT-KNIT community of Rathnew is leading efforts to restore the old band hall back to its former glory after sitting idle for at least 30 years.

The band hall was first constructed in 1928 and its primary use was as a home for the now defunct Rathnew Pipe and Drum Band.

It was then used for a period to store bunting and poles for the annual Corpus Christi procession. In the ’60s and ’70s it was used as a dispensary by nurses from time to time.

Rathnew Village Active Forum is heavily involved in the project. Once restoration works are finished, it is planned to initially use the building to host Rathnew Men’s Shed meetings once they are established.

‘It is very much a community led effort,’ said Cllr John Snell.

‘Local residents with a trade such as carpentry have been coming out and helping with the works. The band hall was always a fundamental part of the community. The idea wasn’t just about rebuilding the band hall. It was also about rebuilding some of the local community atmosphere in the village.’

Initially the building’s inside was cleared of any rubbish or debris, while the windows and doors were secured.

Internal works have already taken place, including the construction of new walls to strengthen up the structure.

‘It was never going to be a sprint. It was also about the sense of community spirit. There’s a lot of banter and chat going on while the works take place. In the evening we work under lights from a generator, which gives the whole building a very atmospheric look. We are waiting for ESB to reconnect the power.

‘We kept some of the bricks from the caretakers cottage which was knocked down in Rathnew Cemetery and we will be using them for the fire place in the band hall.

‘We just had the old roof assessed and we are going to secure the type of slate we need to keep in tune with what is already there,’ said Cllr Snell.

The chimney breast also required a lot of work. The next phase of works will revolve around the building’s outside and will likely be the biggest part of the project,

‘ There will be a lot of work involved,’ said Cllr Snell.

‘ The building was in danger of being served with a dangerous structure notice because it was crumbling. We will need to take down the external wall and redo the two gable ends.

‘We are also looking at going with solar panels to keep the electricity and heating costs down. We want as high an energy rating as we can get given that it is such an old building. The type of insulation we use will also determine our energy rating so we will be using the best plasterboard with insulation on it.’

‘Get Involved’ is a sustainable community initiative and competition developed by two local newspaper associations – NNI Local and the RNPAI.

Between them, these two associations represent 51 local newspapers with a combined readership of 1.65 million people, across all the 26 counties in the Republic.

Local newspapers, including this one, are all getting involved to promote voluntary sustainability projects and to ensure that local communities all over Ireland become much more resilient to the many challenges they face.

The projects will compete to be awarded for their work in a national competition, with bursaries for winning and runners-up projects.