'95
At the end of May 1995, the project with detailed information and drawings was submitted to Clare County Council for approval under the Urban and Village Renewal Scheme. When the application was posted, there was a total letting go of the project, a release wherein it was recognised that there was nowhere else to turn to. Everything that had been possible to do had been done.
In August 1995, the Community Council were notified by Paddy Bugler M.C.C. that the application was successful. The members met to discuss the next stage in the process. A meeting was organised in the Mountshannon Hotel. At the meeting were members of the Community Council, Egill Schnack, who was the owner of the Rectory Field, Mr. Pat Mulcahy, Auctioneer, Killaloe and Bridgette Meehan, Solicitor, Limerick. Egill was informed of the progress made. He supported the concepts of the project and agreed to sell to the Community at a reasonable price.
In the ensuing weeks, issues arose around the purchase of the land – the Urban and Village Renewal Scheme could not be used to purchase property. The group were in regular contact with Ciaran Lynch and made him aware that the project could not go ahead if the County Council could not provide the purchase money. The County Council found a mechanism to facilitate the purchase of the field. The community still had to provide substantial funding, ₤20,000 in cash and materials, before the project could go ahead. Eventually the way forward presented itself when Clare County Council provided the funds. The Community Council’s application became one of the first six projects in County Clare to be approved under the Urban and Village Renewal Scheme. Finance was awarded on condition that the local community provided matched funds for the first stage of development. A major consultation programme was quickly organised. Contact was made with the eighteen voluntary organisations in the parish of Whitegate and Mountshannon. An initial series of three public meetings were held to discuss the project with the members of the community. The Community Council felt it was a “now or never” situation.
In early October 1995, a public meeting was held in the Community Hall, Mountshannon.. The Community Council members, Dr. Eoin Grogan and Neil Hill were present to outline the proposal for the field and answer any questions that arose. The hall was packed to capacity for the meeting. The project was presented, the immediacy of the project was highlighted and the stance taken by the people who had signed the petition fourteen years earlier was recalled.
In the intervening years, thirty nine of the people who had signed the petition against housing development in the Rectory Field had died. The names of those who had signed the petition and who had died were displayed on acetates on the walls of the Community Hall. They were all well known local people who shared in the common dream of retaining the field as a green area.
At no other stage had there been an opportunity where there was an organised group willing to undertake the purchase of the field. So an immediate decision was required. The community were invited to choose if they wanted to avail of the opportunity. Since matched funding had to be sourced within the parish of Whitegate and Mountshannon, a unanimous decision was required before it could be undertaken. The parish has long been known for its community spirit and this came to life at the meeting. The people agreed to support the Community Council with the purchase of the field. On the night, pledges came immediately from the floor and donations were received.
A strategy to collect the matched funding was put in place and in the following weeks the Community Council worked intensively. The participants of the Community Response Training Programme, who were responsible for the Mountshannon 250 Journal, and the FÁS Community Employment Scheme (CEP) supported them. Community Council members were also working on the production of a brochure, which would depict the project and were assisted by local artist John Cleary and Architect Neil Hill.
The production of "Aistear InisCealtra - A Journey Through Time"
In August 1995, the Community Council were notified by Paddy Bugler M.C.C. that the application was successful. The members met to discuss the next stage in the process. A meeting was organised in the Mountshannon Hotel. At the meeting were members of the Community Council, Egill Schnack, who was the owner of the Rectory Field, Mr. Pat Mulcahy, Auctioneer, Killaloe and Bridgette Meehan, Solicitor, Limerick. Egill was informed of the progress made. He supported the concepts of the project and agreed to sell to the Community at a reasonable price.
In the ensuing weeks, issues arose around the purchase of the land – the Urban and Village Renewal Scheme could not be used to purchase property. The group were in regular contact with Ciaran Lynch and made him aware that the project could not go ahead if the County Council could not provide the purchase money. The County Council found a mechanism to facilitate the purchase of the field. The community still had to provide substantial funding, ₤20,000 in cash and materials, before the project could go ahead. Eventually the way forward presented itself when Clare County Council provided the funds. The Community Council’s application became one of the first six projects in County Clare to be approved under the Urban and Village Renewal Scheme. Finance was awarded on condition that the local community provided matched funds for the first stage of development. A major consultation programme was quickly organised. Contact was made with the eighteen voluntary organisations in the parish of Whitegate and Mountshannon. An initial series of three public meetings were held to discuss the project with the members of the community. The Community Council felt it was a “now or never” situation.
In early October 1995, a public meeting was held in the Community Hall, Mountshannon.. The Community Council members, Dr. Eoin Grogan and Neil Hill were present to outline the proposal for the field and answer any questions that arose. The hall was packed to capacity for the meeting. The project was presented, the immediacy of the project was highlighted and the stance taken by the people who had signed the petition fourteen years earlier was recalled.
In the intervening years, thirty nine of the people who had signed the petition against housing development in the Rectory Field had died. The names of those who had signed the petition and who had died were displayed on acetates on the walls of the Community Hall. They were all well known local people who shared in the common dream of retaining the field as a green area.
At no other stage had there been an opportunity where there was an organised group willing to undertake the purchase of the field. So an immediate decision was required. The community were invited to choose if they wanted to avail of the opportunity. Since matched funding had to be sourced within the parish of Whitegate and Mountshannon, a unanimous decision was required before it could be undertaken. The parish has long been known for its community spirit and this came to life at the meeting. The people agreed to support the Community Council with the purchase of the field. On the night, pledges came immediately from the floor and donations were received.
A strategy to collect the matched funding was put in place and in the following weeks the Community Council worked intensively. The participants of the Community Response Training Programme, who were responsible for the Mountshannon 250 Journal, and the FÁS Community Employment Scheme (CEP) supported them. Community Council members were also working on the production of a brochure, which would depict the project and were assisted by local artist John Cleary and Architect Neil Hill.
The production of "Aistear InisCealtra - A Journey Through Time"
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