The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Brian Hayes TD will travel to the Breezy Point neighbourhood of New York on Sunday, 3 February where he will attend the reopening of a community centre devastated by Hurricane Sandy last year. The centre is used by 350 young people who are involved in athletics programmes in the area and has been out of action since Sandy struck. Now fully refurbished, it's reopening will mean that the Breezy Point youth athletics programme can be restarted immediately.
The Government funding of $50,000, announced today by Minister Hayes, is part of $320,000 to be provided to community projects in the areas most affected by Hurricane Sandy. The Government has already allocated funding of $60,000 dispersed equally to the three Irish Centres in New York - the Aisling, Emerald Isle & New York Centres – which havebeen pro-actively responding to the impact of Hurricane Sandy. The Centres’ support has ranged from acting as co-ordinators for the distribution of clothes & foodstuffs to the affected communities as well as outreach to people in the various locations.
In Breezy Point, the Minister joined community representatives including Steve Greenberg, Chairman of the Breezy Point Disaster Relief Fund and members of the volunteer fire service in the area. The Minister also met the Gaelic Players Association, led by Donal Óg Cusack, who have been based in Breezy Point since 31 January, working on community projects including the station of the volunteer fire service and the local youth organisation facility. The group have been working on the ground with a range of organisations including the Breezy Point Relief Fund, the Emerald Guild and Catholic Youth Organisation.
Speaking in Breezy Point, Minister Hayes said: “Sometimes it is in adversity that we see the very best of people, and the response of the community to support the recovery efforts in the areas most impacted by Sandy, has been hugely impressive. The two 'Irish Days of Action' organised by the Consulate in the immediate aftermath of Sandy saw over 1,500 people travel out to the Rockaways and other areas to lend a hand in the clean up and recovery efforts. Since then, the focus has moved to rebuilding the community infrastructure. The Government funding for the Irish Centres active on the ground in helping people directly affected, together with the funding for community facilities, is intended to demonstrate the solidarity of the Irish people. In the same way, the presence of the Gaelic Players Association work team has boosted morale in Breezy Point as well as been a practical help in refurbishing community projects that were badly damaged by Sandy. As I saw myself today here in the area known to generations of Irish people as the 'Irish Riviera', the rebuilding and recovery effort will take many years. I hope that the funding and support of the Irish Government for community projects will help in a practical and meaningful way."
The Minister also spoke of his visit on Friday to the Irish Arts Centre in New York where, the Office of Public Works in Ireland has been lending its considerable expertise in architectural design for a number of years to the Arts Centre for its exciting project of the development of a new purpose-built Centre on a site donated by the City of New York. The Minister stated that “I am delighted that significant support has been shown to the Centre by the Mayor of New York, Speaker Quinn, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the Irish community in New York. The support of the local Community Board is also vital to the success of the project and I am confident that the delivery of this project will greatly enhance the Irish cultural programme here in New York city”.
Ends.
For further information and if you wish to interview Minister of State Hayes please contact
Colette Davis, OPW Press Officer at 046 9426128, 087 9475552 or colette.davis@opw.ie
Note to Editors:
The Irish Government funding for the refurbished community centre in Breezy Point is part of the overall funding of €250,000 ($320,000) announced by the Government in December 2012 to assist Irish American communities in New York and New Jersey affected by Hurricane Sandy. The emergency funding to Irish voluntary organisations is being made available from within existing resources in the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and complements the work already being undertaken by the Consulate General in New York, which cooperates closely with the Irish community organisations concerned.
The Irish Arts Centre (IAC) has been active in New York City for some 40 years on West 51st Street and the proposed site for the new purpose-built IAC is around the corner facing onto 11th Avenue; in an area that was commonly known as ‘Hells Kitchen’ and which has been identified for renewal by the City Council. New York City Council has donated the site and the OPW in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade together Culture Ireland has been facilitating the planning and design of the new centre.
The Minister also travelled to Philadelphia where he launched the ‘Succeed in Ireland’ initiative to the business community there. The ‘Succeed in Ireland’ initiative is part of the Action Plan on Jobs 2012, which aims to create 5000 jobs within five years by targeting international companies, and business people, who would otherwise not be reached by the State enterprise agencies, for employment opportunities to Ireland.