Ballinfoile Mór Residents reactivate Community Centre protests

Please join residents from the Ballinfoile area as they protest for the second time this week outside the gates of the Ballinfoile – Castlegar Neighbourhood Centre angered that the facility is still not open for public use. The protest will take place at 9am this Friday (Sept 22^nd).

Never in our worst nightmares did we expect to find ourselves in September 2017 standing outside the Ballinfoile – Castlegar Neighbourhood Centre with placards demanding its opening for use by the local community.

A number of us protesting this week had ‘hung up their boots’ last November believing the words of the council that the opening was only weeks off. We felt that our role had come to a successful conclusion and that it was  henceforth a question of administration rather than campaigning. But we are back this week because this sadly has not happened. Since last week, the facility is open for two and half days per week to gauge local interest for its use.

This is so insulting and disrespectful to members of the local community. We have shown time and time again in so many surveys over many decades that in one of Galway’s largest suburbs there is a need for such a sports and community facility amongst all ages.

After two years of campaigning, the local authority confirmed in 1989 that the centre will be built. Finally in May 2016, the long awaited state-of-the-art facility was officially opened by the Mayor. Three mayors on it is still not open for use by the local community.

In November 2016 it was confirmed at a council meeting, and later at a council meeting in January 2017, that it was to open in January 2017. It did but for only one day on January 26^th to facilitate a public consultation of the Kirwan Roundabout.

At a public meeting in the Menlo Park Hotel in May we were told that the facility would be fully open by August 31st at the very latest, in time for the beginning of the school year. We were told then that it was expected that the management contract between Galway City Council and SCCUL would be signed the following week. Now we are told that there are still issues of the centre’s maintenance to be sorted out by the council before any agreement can be signed.  Understandably SCCUL will not sign a contract until they are made fully aware of maintenance costings.

There is now a breakdown of trust between local residents and Galway City Council. To us, this opening to gauge local opinion is nothing more than a delaying exercise. If the €150,000 allocated in this year’s budget is not used up by the end of the year, it could well be taken away and used by the council for something else. We are calling on all public representatives especially councillors to get council officials to rectify the situation immediately. Otherwise another year will have passed without the local community getting use of this much needed indoor resource. We intend to keep protesting every week until it is opened.