Established in November 2023, we are a non-party, diverse group of residents working together on behalf of our community to campaign for and work towards a purpose-built arts, cultural, heritage and youth centre for current and future residents of the peninsula.
Art, Culture, Heritage & Youth Centre
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Donabate Portrane
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Art, Culture, Heritage & Youth Centre ✴︎ Donabate Portrane ✴︎
It all began with a public meeting where the community gave us a mandate to campaign for this long promised facility. .
The Local Area Plan (LAP) has a strategic objective to provide a Cultural and Performing Arts Centre for Donabate Portrane since 2016.
We have two core objectives that guide all our activities and ensure we stay focused on our goals of obtaining this facility:
The provision of a dedicated performance space (e.g. stage, theatre, auditiorium) for the arts and cultural groups on the peninsula. This facility should also include purpose built spaces for use by arts/cultural groups – e.g. workshops for artists of all disciplines, studios for rehearsal, dance studios (with proper flooring) and smaller music practicing/tuition rooms (with soundproofing etc).
The provision of a dedicated full-time youth centre with indoor ‘hang-out’ facilities, recreational activities (pool tables, tabletennis etc.) and supporting services (e.g. organized activities, counselling, youth support) provided by a government funded professional youth service. This space should be non-denominational and large enough to facilitate our growing teen population.
Why we need this facility
(and we really do)
There are 4,000 new housing units planned for the Donabate Portrane area.
This means that our population is set to grow by 83% within the next five years.
Where is the community infrastructure to support this exploding population?
In 2005 the population was over 5,000 residents. This equates to 0.60 square metres of indoor community space per person. In 2022 this had dropped to 0.25 sqm per person. This explains the increasing and unsustainable pressure on indoor community space we have experienced in recent years.
In 2024, with the addition of Ballisk House (former credit union building) and its extension, the community space per person will be almost exactly the same; 0.26 per person per sqm. As demonstrated in recent years this provision will not be enough to provide adequate services to our rapidly expanding community.
What was
promised
The Donabate Portrane Local Area Plan (LAP) proposes to establish a framework for the planned, co-ordinated and sustainable development of undeveloped lands on the peninsula. The proposed LAP is consistent with Fingal’s Core Strategy and identifies the quantum, location and phasing of development for the plan period, which correlates with the regional population targets.
It is a key focus of the LAP to ensure that any new development in Donabate is accompanied by the required community, educational, transport, drainage, and recreational infrastructure to ensure the protection and enhancement of local amenities and the continued growth of local services in Donabate.
“2.2 Provide a framework for a growing population with phased development of new housing deliverd in tandem with supporting community and physical infrastructure.”
“6.12 Support the provision of a Community/ Cultural/Exhibition and Performing Arts Centre for Donabate-Portrane and encourage the development of multi-functional community buildings which are not used exclusively by any one group.”
Dedicated Multi-Purpose Arts, Culture, Heritage & Youth Centre
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Dedicated Multi-Purpose Arts, Culture, Heritage & Youth Centre for All
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Dedicated Multi-Purpose Arts, Culture, Heritage & Youth Centre ✴︎ Dedicated Multi-Purpose Arts, Culture, Heritage & Youth Centre for All ✴︎
We represent local arts, culture and heritage groups.
We care about our community and want to ensure that there are facilities to support our arts and cultural activities, as well as the interests of our growing population.
We believe we should have a dedicated youth centre for our large teen population.
31%
of our population are under 19 years old
84%
want a dedicated youth worker for our community
83%
of residents say we don’t have safe places for young people to hang out.
84%
of residents want a dedicated youth centre
