Sod turning... (l-r): Colm Devin (vice-chair), John Finnegan, Jimmy O’Brien, Dr. Conor Brady (archaeologist); Middle row: (l-r): Cllr Wayne Harding, Gregory O’Hara and Declan Bolger. Front row: (l-r): Maeve Carbin (chairperson), Joanne Maguire.

Sod turned on new €1m Slane community centre

Sally Harding

Published: Tue 25 Aug 2020, 8:53 PM

Last updated: Tue 25 Aug 2020, 8:55 PM

It was an historic day last week when the first sod was turned on a new €1m state of the art community centre for Slane.

The project that was started six years ago by a voluntary group in the village will see a brand new facility next to St Patrick’s NS open to the community and will give opportunities to 30 voluntary groups in Slane that’s according to Maeve Carbin, chair of the Community Centre Committee who commented:

“It is a really exciting day to see progress on our new community centre, it is going to be a really good addition to the village.

“We started this project six years ago from nothing just a group of people from the community who got together and wanted to create something that would benefit everyone in the village.

“You are looking at a one-million-euro project and we started off with nothing but through hard work and fundraising it has come to fruition.

“We obtained a long lease from the dioceses for a plot of ground right beside the national school so it is perfect because it means that during the say the school will have the use of the hall.

“There will be a large sports hall there, seven metres high. We will also have a kitchen and meeting room at the front and good reception area and space in that as well.

“At the moment there are about 30 voluntary organisations operating in Slane and this will become the centre and the home for all of them, everything from the historical society right down to the parent and toddler groups and soccer and GAA clubs.

“It will take at least 12 months to complete but we are not finished fundraising.”

Local Fianna Fail councillor Wayne Harding welcomed the development, he said:

“It is a brilliant day for the community, there has been years of fundraising and years of going through the planning process, they had to work really hard to get this far and it’s not over we have to keep going.

“The school can use it during the day and the community can use it in the evening time, it will be a fantastic asset to the village.”