Facility built at no cost to locals

'These offices have been built at no cost to the local community; I organised the funding and materials from Gypsum Industries free of charge and Kingscourt Bricks supplied all the bricks free of charge. These offices are for the community,' said Cllr. Clifford Kelly, chairman of Kingscourt Community Development Council prior to the official opening of the new Community Centre offices last Thursday evening. The new offices are part of a campus of facilities developed by Kingscourt community council and sporting organisations over two decades, which include the community centre itself, the handball and racquetball complex, the children"s playground and the tennis courts. Close by are the playing pitches and sports facilities of Kingscourt Stars GFC. The new offices were officially opening by Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith and blessed by Rev. Father Daly and Canon Ronnie Burke. Cllr. Kelly said the construction of the facility was part of a FÁS community project. The new offices include an administrative office as well as a separate tourist office and a citizens information office. Upstairs there is the boardroom, used for community council meetings and for meetings of Cavan VEC and Cavan County Enterprise Board on occasions. Adult education classes are run there as well. Also on the first floor are catering facilities while downstairs there is a changing room with toilet and shower facilities to accommodate the nearby tennis courts. At the opening ceremony, Cllr. Clifford Kelly said the building of the new community offices was something that the community council had in mind for a number of years. He extended gratitude to Kingscourt Brick and Gypsum for providing the materials, and praised the FAS workers, especially thanking Marie Smith who manages their project. 'These offices are part and parcel of the community centre and as things go on it will be shown how necessary it was to provide offices away from the centre itself. Because of the development there it wouldn"t suit to have offices built around the centre,' said Cllr. Kelly. Minister Smith said the new offices revealed the strength of community spirit in Kingscourt. He complemented Cllr. Kelly and the community council on their initiative and remarked that the new offices were there for the use of voluntary organisations and agencies. 'They are a great addition to this campus; you"d have to go far in Ireland to get a better campus with so many facilities on the one site,' said the minister. Like Cllr. Kelly he thanked the two companies who supplied the materials, adding that they were always great supporters of community endeavour in Kingscourt. It gave him great pleasure to declare the community offices officially open and to wish the committee continued success. Winding up the opening ceremony before inviting those present upstairs for refreshments, Cllr. Kelly paid tribute to the members of the original community council that built the community centre. He mentioned the vision of people like Brendan Murtagh and the late Philip Carolan. He said Mr. Murtagh was a true friend of the community council and was always willing to help it. He acknowledged that Mr. Murtagh couldn"t be present for the occasion.