Skibb GAA club’s new €180,000 hall

THE opening of a community hall that was refurbished at a cost of €180,000 was a big occasion for O’Donovan Rossa GAA Club in Skibbereen.

Leader representatives, Kay Keegan of Cork County Council’s local community development committee, and Ryan Howard of South and East Cork Area Development saw last week how well their €112,000 investment was spent on a new roof, internal insulation, new electrics, windows, doors and floors, as well as a purpose-built kitchen for the function room.

Elizabeth and Sandra Walsh with Saoirse Connolly of Skibbereen Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Eireann playing before the official opening. (Photo: Anne Minihane)

Ryan Howard spoke of how much form-filling and attention to detail is needed to bring a project like this to fruition. ‘It beats years of fundraising, and years of paying back debt,’ he said.

Kate O’Donovan, Anne Crowley, Jennifer O’Donovan, Michelle Donelan and Christine Fitzgerald, at the event. (Photo: Anne Minihane)

Over the last five years, the Leader programme invested in Ballinadee Hall, Ballinascarthy Hall, Darragh Hall, Clonakilty Youth Centre – which is the first dedicated youth centre in West Cork – Drimoleague Sports and Community Hall, the amenity facilities in Rosscarbery, and the O’Donovan Rossa Hall in Skibbereen, he added.

‘Now we need to invest in social enterprise because the biggest challenge we are facing is loneliness,’ he said. ‘These facilities are only as good as the use of these facilities.’