Councillors back plans to create new youth and arts centre in Donabate
Fine Gael councillor Eoghan Dockrell, Labour councillor Corina Johnston, and Social Democrats councillor Paul Mulville, have all welcomed proposals from Fingal County Council to provide a 'much-needed' multi-functional centre.
The three local councillors are working with the local community, youth groups and council management to urgently progress the project, which would be located at Ballisk House in Donabate.
'As councillors representing the Donabate–Portrane area, it became abundantly clear to us during the local election campaign in 2024, that the community needs a multi-functional youth and arts space, given our rapidly growing young population,' they said.
'The council's recent Community Sports and Recreation Audit backs this up.
'Such vital community infrastructure must be provided in tandem with residential development, and many in our community feel angry this has not been happening.
'The 2016 Local Area Plan for lands at Donabate, provided for an additional circa 4,000 homes, and also contains an important objective for the provision of a multi-purpose community, arts and youth centre.
'Following a very well-attended public meeting in 2023, the Donabate–Portrane Crossroads Campaign was formed with a mandate to campaign for a multi-functional arts, youth and cultural centre for our area.
'As local councillors working together, we kept this campaign on the agenda at council level and also during meetings with the CEO and senior officials.
'We greatly welcome the fact that Fingal County Council acquired Ballisk House when the credit union closed the facility.
'Previously, the proposals were to move the local library from the existing location in Donabate–Portrane Community Centre and provide a standalone library in Ballisk House.
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'However, we feel these proposals did not have the benefit of targeted community consultation and engagement around the various possible uses of the building, nor were the proposals brought before the previous elected council for formal approval.
'The council will now be working to get the views of local Donabate–Portrane residents in the coming weeks around these new proposals, and we hope that the community at large will agree this is the best use for the site.
'We are confident this new space can be open for the local youth and arts community by the end of the year,' they added.
Fingal is the fastest-growing part of the country, and the local authority sees the region as one of the main areas for residential development in Dublin in the years to come.
The council said it believed the region has the capacity to facilitate the development of more than 16,000 residential units over the course of its current development plan, which runs until 2029.
It said that in the first seven months of 2024, work had commenced on more than 3,300 units.
The council said that in Donabate, about 1,200 homes were being provided in one of the largest developments in the country.
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