The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin T.D and the Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, Patrick O'Donovan T.D., today announced that the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media is providing an allocation of €314,280 to Údarás na Gaeltachta for the purpose of preparing and making an application for planning permission in relation to a new Education and Youth Centre to be built in Indreabhán. The centre will be built on Údarás property in An Cnoc, which is used by Coláiste Lurgan and community groups.
The centre will consist of a multi-purpose hall, classrooms, kitchen, offices as well as an outdoor play and parking space. Assuming planning permission will be granted to Údarás na Gaeltachta, it is expected that the centre will be built by around autumn of 2025.
It is expected that an application for permission will be ready to be submitted to Galway County Council by the summer of this year.
The centre will be owned and managed by Údarás, and will be an educational, youth, sports and community facility outside the summer period - when it will be used by Coláiste Lurgan as the main tenant. Údarás will appoint a person in time when the centre is built to manage the centre on a daily basis as well as an advisory committee which will be made up of local interested parties.
Minister Martin said:
"I am delighted that this point has been reached in relation to the development of this Education and Youth Centre in the Cois Fharraige area. Many thanks to everyone who worked diligently in partnership over recent years to reach consensus regarding the project, thereby facilitating the preparation of an application for planning permission. The facilities associated with the new centre, which will be built with significant assistance from my Department, will serve to further underpin the ongoing implementation of the language planning process and the objectives contained in the Government's Action Plan for Irish and the overarching 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030.”
Minister of State O’Donovan said:
"This project is one of the most significant community and language projects that the Department has ever been involved with. I have no doubt that this Centre will benefit the community of Cois Fharraige as well as learners of Irish throughout the country. This modern centre will be an important resource for learning Irish and for educational and training courses, including Irish language training courses in the public sector and in the community. Of course, the arts, crafts, technology, sports and especially the youth - one of the most important target-groups in terms of the future of the Irish language - will be catered for there."
Chief Executive of Údarás na Gaeltachta Tomás Ó Síocháin said:
"We are very pleased that a huge step forward has now been taken in this project. I would like to express my gratitude to Minister Martin and Minister of State O'Donovan, to officials of the Department, and to all those who have worked diligently on this proposal since 2020 for the benefit of the community, the interests of the Gaeltacht and the interests of the Irish language. We believe that this is a proposal that is vital for the future of the Irish language, not only in Cois Fharraige but nationally. It was a long and complicated process to get us to this point, but we are fully confident that the Education and Youth Centre will be a national model, serving the youth of the Gaeltacht and the Irish speaking and learning community throughout the country. Údarás will continue to work closely with the Department and the Cois Fharraige community to ensure that a centre is developed to the highest standard that will benefit future generations"
It is in accordance with measures 2.13, 2.14 and 2.15 in the Irish Language Action Plan 2018-2022 that the Departmental funding is being provided for this project under its Community and Language Supports Programme.
ENDS