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!

A cross party group of local councilors submitted a motion to the September LAC meeting. The motion called for a site for the cultural & youth center to be identified by FCC. This motion was unanimously passed by the council chamber.

We were delighted to be featured on Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show on Monday 7th October. We highlighted our concerns and called on FCC to honor their objectives as set out in the LAP. LISTEN HERE

On Monday 14th October we submitted our community petition requesting the implementation of Objective 6.12 from the Donabate Local Area Plan; the provision of a multi-functional center.
The petition with over 2,000 signatures, was accepted by Mayor Brian McDonagh on behalf of FCC.

On 2nd December ‘24 we met with CEO of FCC Annmarie Farrelly and some of her executive team. Three of our local Councilors were also present. Despite outlining the real need for this center and calling on FCC to fulfil their LAP obligations Ms Farrelly continued to insist that Donabate has lots of facilities and that the library move was going ahead.
We were very disappointed with this response and it is clear to us that FCC do not believe there is a need for this and other indoor facilities.

In January 25 we held our first AGM. Donabate Community College kindly agreed to host us.
We outlined our campaign to date and discussed possible next steps for the coming year. Thanks to all residents who came out and supported us!