November 2023: Our committee is formed and constituted. It is comprised of local residents who have expertise in their fields of work and representatives from CrossCare youth services who are looking for facilities on the peninsula.

We agree our objectives and plan of action. Then roles are assigned and social media pages are created, and work continues still!

We propose a motion to FCC but its deferred to January.

The motion is as follows:

"That this Committee recommends to the Chief Executive that a site within the Ballymastone/Corballis area of Donabate and in the ownership of the Council, be identified and designated as the site for a Cultural/Arts/Youth/Multifunctional Community Facility, in conjunction with an Affordable Housing Scheme, given the limited number of affordable houses planned for the area and given the expanding population of the peninsula (20,000) and to note that the provision of such a facility is: -Fingal County Council policy as far back as 2019. -Objective 6.12 in the current Local Area Plan."

In Jan 2024 the motion is adopted by FCC.
The committee then meet with FCC senior executves in Swords County Hall. Our request is that a site to be identified and provided on FCC owned lands.

In February 2024 the group launch a survey of residents. We are particularly interested in getting views of teenagers and are delighted that 50% of the respondents are teens.

As we are a non-party group, we reach out to all local politicians to meet with them and gain their support for our campaign.

We meet:

• Minister Joe O’Brien

• Alan Farrell TD

• Councillor Ann Graves (representing Louise O’Reilly TD and accompanied by Local Area Rep Patrick Roche)

• Minister Darragh O’Brien

• Duncan Smith TD

(Please note that the above titles refer to the roles of politicians when we met them, and not their current position in government)

March 2024: We start working on our business case which will outline the community needs and propose a model for how a cultural and youth centre could be funded and run.

We meet with community groups such as LEADER to understand funding models and grant applications.

We also meet with all local arts/culture/youth groups that we are aware of, to ensure our plan was for a centre that would truly meet the community’s needs.

On 27th April we hold an information day in the Town Centre where we show our model, discuss our business case, and ask residents to sign our petition.

In early May we meet with FCC to discuss our business case. Unfortunately their response is disappointing; they want us to make do with the spaces we have.

In April 2024 we launch a petition to support our campaign for the provision of the center.

We’re still looking for signatures, so why not sign?

We also launch an iDonate fund raiser to raise money to support our campaign (e.g. printing, admin and website fees!)

Click the underlined text to check them out!