Gowna gets a €105k boost

There was good news for Gowna this week with the announcement that a grant of €105,000 has been approved for the Local Housing Association to construct communal facilities for senior citizens in the village. Following ongoing representations by the Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith and Cllr. Danny Brady to the Minister for Housing and Local Services, Michael Finneran, the necessary funding to allow work to begin on the new facilities adjacent to the community hall has now been approved. Minister Smith said he was delighted to have been able to support Loch Gowna Housing Association's application for grant assistance. They have put a big effort into local fundraising to support the project. Cllr. Danny Brady told The Anglo-Celt that the new communal facilities when completed will be beneficial to the local community. The association is a very good example of what can be achieved through local people addressing the needs in their local communities. The chairman of Gowna Housing Association, P.J. Madden, told The Anglo-Celt that they initiated the housing programme around five years ago and the 14 houses were completed three years ago. They were created for the elderly retired people of the area and people who returned to live in Gowna and they are all occupied. "The €105,000 funding announced this week will be used to provide a communal facility, which will be constructed in harmony with the community hall. Not alone will it cater for Gowna Housing Association residents, but it will also be a facility for all the community. It will incorporate new kitchen facilities and a meeting area. Three course meals will be cooked for the elderly residents who frequent the centre each week. Mr. Madden said that while the €105,000 will go a long way towards meeting the cost of the project, they have ambitious plans in mind and local top-up funding will be used to ensure these are realised. A new toilet complex will also be put in place. The new additional complex will effectively be custom-built to cater for the social and recreational needs of the senior citizens in the entire community and hinterland. He commended all the senior citizens in the Housing Association Development for all their support. He revealed that they have a fantastic development committee in the village and Gerry Brady is the chairman. Seamus Madden is the chairperson of the Hall Committee and together with P.J., they all work in unison. P.J. says there are many other tireless workers in the village including Kate Ennals and Gerry Fitzpatrick, who do all the paper work. He also extolled the virtues of Philomena Pearson and Madge Curran, who are joint treasurers and other committed people include Gerry Matthews, Michael McGahern, Martin Kiernan and Rose Leddy. One of the oldest residents in the beautiful housing estate, Kate Barnard, has been in her house for nearly three years. She returned from England and loves living in Gowna again. Kate is looking forward to the new developments and the social activities that will be provided. The senior citizens have started up a community garden on the green area outside their homes and they are all quite enthused by the progress of this initiative. The chairman of the Hall Committee Seamus Madden told The Anglo-Celt that the hall complex is adjacent to the primary school and it was reconstructed in 1993. It is widely used by the primary school pupils and the senior citizens attend there on Tuesdays. It is not conducive to activities for the senior citizens and that is why the new communal facilities will bring an exciting new dimension to their lives. While the church was being renovated, the hall was used for the various ceremonies. P.J. Madden said he wished to thank Minister Smith and Cllr. Danny Brady for securing the funding and the area engineer Philip Coleman for his great support and help along the way.