Annaghdown Parish Council

ANNUAL REPORT 2014

ANNAGHDOWN PARISH COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2014

Contents

1. Organisational Profile of Annaghdown Parish Council

2. Development Plan 2007

Current Activities of Annaghdown Parish Council 3. Development Plan Update 4. Sports Centre 5. Dressing Rooms 6. Renovation of Corrandulla Community Centre 7. Membership of Board of Directors/Election of Officers a. Recruitment of new volunteers 8. Child Protection Policy 9. Placenames 10. Website www.annagdown.ie 11. Graveyards 12. /Annaghdown Community Employment Scheme

FUNDING ISSUES 13. Audited Accounts 14. Defibrillators 15. Annaghdown Handball and Racquet Ball Alley 16. Old Girls School and the Community Library 17. Bridging Loan 18. Astro Turf Pitch 19. Clothes Collection

Appendices 1. Structure of Annaghdown Parish Council Ltd 2. Directors of Annaghdown Parish Council since 2006 3. Extract from Annual Accounts of Annaghdown Parish Council 4. Website Visits 5. Map of Annaghdown Parish area. 6. in Parish Council Area

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ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE

ANNAGHDOWN PARISH COUNCIL Annaghdown Parish Council was established in May 2006, following public consultations which were organised both individually and jointly by the existing Annaghdown and Corrandulla Community Councils. After some discussion it was agreed that the Community Councils would be disbanded and a new Parish Council would be founded in their stead and that all existing funds belonging to both bodies would be transferred to the new Council.

VISION Annaghdown Parish Council seeks to develop within its local area, an inclusive and caring community where all members feel valued, respected, and safe in their homes, and are able to access the supports they require to live a fulfilling and satisfying life.

MISSION Our Mission is to ensure the proper development of essential services and facilities by statutory bodies, to proactively support the establishment of new and responsive services by special interest groups and where necessary take a lead role in service provision where a general need is identified in the community.

VALUES

Democracy & Community Everyone has the right to participate in decisions that affect them and to have the opportunity to be part of an inclusive community.

Respect & Acceptance Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect, accepted as they are and given the support to grow to their full potential. Diversity is to be valued.

Quality Everyone has the right to expect services to be accessible, hospitable, provide choice, and be of a high quality to meet the needs and aspirations of people who use them.

Voluntarism The gift of giving one’s time or resources as an act of solidarity with our neighbours is vitally important, enriching both the giver and the receiver.

MEMBERSHIP OF ANNAGHDOWN PARISH COUNCIL Membership of Annaghdown Parish Council is open to all people, resident for the time-being, in its area.

ANNAGHDOWN PARISH COUNCIL AREA The area where Annaghdown Parish Council functions is contained with four electoral districts, Annaghdown, Eanach Dhúin, Liscananaun, and Killower. The entire population of Annaghdown and Eanach Dhúin reside in the area while local knowledge would suggest that approximately 90% of the population of the Liscananaun and 25% of the Killower reside within the parish area. (Appendix 1 presents a detailed list of the townlands contained within the parish area).

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OBJECTIVES OF ANNAGHDOWN PARISH COUNCIL The main object for which Annaghdown Parish Council is established, is to represent the best interests of the local population, through assisting with the organisation and delivery of such environmental, pastoral, social and structural services as are required in the area at any given time.

Specifically, the Annaghdown Parish Council will; i) Advise and make recommendations to the Trustees of St Jarlath's Trust, in relation to the best use of any properties owned by the Trust in the Parish Council area. ii) Manage local community resources to the best advantage of the local community. iii) Identify evolving need for the provision of amenities and services in the area and make representations to the appropriate statutory agencies to ensure that the fullest range of services possible, are available to the local Parish. iv) Promote voluntary activity by supporting the work of existing voluntary groups, and assisting the establishment of new groups responding to emerging needs identified by the Parish Council. v) Monitor planning proposals within the Parish Council area to ensure that planned developments do not constitute a threat to the health and well being of the local population and to represent concerns held by the community in relation to such developments to the Planning Authority where appropriate.

Legal Status Annaghdown Parish Council Limited was registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee Not Having a Share Capital on April 5 2007, for the purpose of advancing the objectives of the Annaghdown Parish Council.

Charitable Status Annaghdown Parish Council is registered for tax purposes with the Revenue Commissioners and is in the process of applying for Charitable Status.

Directors of Annaghdown Parish Council The Directors of the Annaghdown Parish Council are appointed annually from those members who attend the Company’s Annual General Meeting.

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DEVELOPMENT PLAN

In 2007, a “Community Profile and Analysis of the Parish of Annaghdown” was prepared with the support of County Council, which highlighted the need for an indoor sports centre in the parish area, and the inadequacy of Corrandulla Community Centre in meeting the needs of up to 67% of those who use it. Following on from this analysis Annaghdown Parish Council created a Development Plan to address these identified needs.

Facilities Planned: 1. Multi purpose playing area for basketball, badminton, volleyball, judo, keep fit classes, indoor soccer and indoor hurling etc. Actual size of playing area will be 28m (91ft) x 15 m (49ft). 2. Showers, changing rooms, lockers, toilets and equipment storage spaces for various sporting disciplines to be provided in Community Centre. 3. Corrandulla Community Centre to be renovated and sub divided to provide a number of different size meeting rooms that will be available at affordable rates to all local community groups. 4. All facilities to be fully accessible to people with disabilities. Due to space and financial constraints the development will be progressed in three stages.

Phase One Phase One of the plan is the construction of indoor playing area.

Phase Two Phase Two of the plan entailed the upgrading of existing changing rooms, showers toilets, and equipment storage spaces within the adjacent Corrandulla Community Centre.

Phase Three Phase Three of the plan will entail the adaptation of the existing playing area in the Corrandulla Community Centre into a number of smaller meeting and activity rooms to facilitate a greater range of activities for all sections of the community including, youth clubs, social groups, and day centre facilities for the elderly of the parish.

The new Sports Centre sits behind the Community Centre and between the National School and the Old Girls School in Corrandulla.

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CURRENT ACTIVITIES

DEVELOPMENT PLAN UPDATE

Sports Centre In October 2012, the Board of Annaghdown Parish Council was informed that €105,000 had been received from the Galway Rural Development Ltd, as stage 1 of a three stage grant process. The meeting was also told that approximately €250,000 had been paid out on the project to date, and the job should be completed on schedule at the end of June 2013. However from November 2012, progress on the development of the Sports Centre was painfully slow. Due to problems with a grant elsewhere in the country, our grant application became the subject of review first by Galway Rural Development Ltd, and then independently audited by an official from the Department of Agriculture. While these reviews were underway the Parish Council could not guarantee the contractor that funds would be available as needed to pay for materials and so work was almost at a standstill for lengthy periods at a time. Fortunately, we have now progressed satisfactorily through these delays and the long overdue second instalment of funds has been received in the past two weeks and it is hoped that the Sports Centre will be ready for use by the end of June 2014.

Dressing Rooms Work on delivery of this element of the Development Plan commenced in November 2013.

The plan will involve the renovation of a section of Corrandulla Community Centre to provide:  2 x 15 Person Dressing Rooms each containing 4 shower cubicles and 1 WC  3 x Female Toilets  3 x Male Toilets  1 Wheelchair Accessible Bathroom / Official's Changing Room.

The Dressing Rooms will be linked by a corridor to the Sports Centre and will also be accessible from the Community Centre. It is planned that work on construction of the Dressing Rooms will be commence after the Corrandulla Show Is over at the end of June 2014 and be completed within six to eight weeks.

Renovation of Corrandulla Community Centre In 2007, it was envisaged that Phase Three of the Development Plan would entail the adaptation of Corrandulla Community Centre to provide a number of smaller meeting and activity rooms. The proposed purpose of this work was to facilitate a greater range of activities for all sections of the community including, youth clubs, social groups, and day centre facilities for the elderly of the parish.

A presentation on potential options was prepared by the Parish Council and Public Meeting was held on March 28th 2012 to start the process of planning the renovation of the Community Centre. However there was a very small attendance at the meeting and no significant suggestions for change arose from the meeting. It is hoped that with the imminent completion of Phases 1 & 2 of the Development Plan, the potential for developing the remaining space may become clearer.

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Membership of Board of Directors The new Board elected in October 2012 had an inauspicious beginning as

"there were not sufficient members in attendance to fill all the officer posts required for the proper running of the organisation. It was agreed to that the Parish Council needed to urgently undertake recruitment drive for new members and that the election of new officers should be deferred pending the outcome of this process". (Minutes of Meeting October 2012)

This situation persisted throughout the entire lifetime of this Board and although in theory membership comprised of ten people the usual number present at meetings each month was seven.

Recruitment Of New Volunteers The major part of the meeting was focussed on the potential to recruit new members. It was agreed that we should use an issue based approach to encouraging people to become involved in the work of the Parish Council.

Some of the Key Issues which the Council needs to advance in the coming period are:

Needs of different Age Groups Graveyards Community Alert Heritage Community Development Placenames Community Facilities Parish Magazine Education Public Relations Environment Parish Council Website, Fundraising Spring Clean Financial Management Sports Facilities

Efforts to recruit new members over the past two years have met with little success despite a combination of public appeals and one to one approaches to targeted individuals. New ways of recruiting members will continue to be a priority for the new Parish Council.

Child Protection Policy As the range of facilities and services being provided or supported by Annaghdown Parish Council grows, so also does our responsibility to be pro-active in ensuring the safety of all people who use our service. This is particularly true in relation to the protection of children who use our facilities. Annaghdown Parish Council is currently in the process of finalising a Child Protection Policy which will apply to all groups using our facilities.

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Placenames The proposal to erect stone plaques marking the various townlands in the Annaghdown Parish Council area was identified as a long term objective when the Council was first established in 2006. However this is not a project that the Council could undertake on their own. The potential scale and costs of this project requires that there has to be local commitment in each for it to succeed. Each townland will have to decide how many markers are needed, and agree a method to pay for and erect them.

Picture shows a placename plaque erected by Caherlistrane Community Council .

In the past year, a working a group to take the lead on this project has been established and proposals are currently being developed to carry out pilot projects in a small number of areas to determine if there is a sufficient level of interest for the project to be expanded throughout the area.

Website www.annaghdown.ie Our new website went live in June 2013. On this website, you will find up to date information about, the role and work of Annaghdown Parish Council, what’s currently on our agenda and how you can get involved.

This website aims to enhance the life of our community by providing up to date information about the full range of community activities and events taking place in our area on an ongoing basis. On our Community Groups, Gallery, Calendar, and, Latest News, Pages, we offer the opportunity for Annaghdown Parish Council and other voluntary community groups to promote their activities and highlight their achievements.

At the moment the Calendar Pages has the capacity to show usage and availability of the Parish Council Office, Corrandulla Community Centre, The Sports Centre, and the Astro Turf Pitch. There is also scope for the addition of other calendars should any group wish to advertise their important dates on the website.

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Administrative control of the As Gaeilge page, has been given over to Coiste Gaeilge & Cultúrtha Eanach Dhúin and similar arrangements can also be considered for other groups. In the coming year it is intended to promote the website widely throughout the area and fund the website by selling advertising to local businesses.

Picture shows road signs erected to help promote the website around the area.

Graveyards The provision and management of local graveyards has been a regular topic of discussion at meetings of Annaghdown Parish Council since it's establishment. In particular, the future development of Annaghdown Graveyard, where it was recently calculated there is only sufficient space for four graves remaining in the graveyard. Once these graves are filled the only space for new graves available in the parish area will be in Cregg Graveyard.

During 2013, renewed efforts were made to find space for additional graves in Annaghdown and a representative from the Parish Council, along with Fr Hugh Loftus and Councillor Mary Hoade visited An Forbacha to see how a Community Graveyard was established. Annaghdown Parish Council for its part agreed that it would provide the legal structure to facilitate the expansion of the graveyard if such was required.

A meeting at Annaghdown to discuss a possible extension to the graveyard was told that there would be land available for an extension if the funds could be raised to purchase it. The group organising this action held a meeting with an archaeologist from Galway County Council to advance the process but this official ruled that the proposed land could not be used due to its heritage designation.

Claregalway/Annaghdown Community Employment Scheme The Claregalway/Annaghdown Community Employment Scheme has provided a number of personnel to work in facilities owned/managed by Annaghdown Parish

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Council, including Corrandulla Community Centre and the Annaghdown Parish Council Office. This scheme is an important resource for the local community, providing as it does both employment for the Scheme participants and also associated funding to pay for at least some of the costs of the work carried out.

FUNDING ISSUES As with all organisations, the capacity to carry on our activities is directly affected by the availability of funds. The following is a synopsis of the funding related issues dealt with by Annaghdown Parish Council since the last AGM.

Audited Accounts As required by Company Law, Annaghdown Parish Council submit its accounts to Audit on an annual basis. The current Auditor Mr Kevin Higgins who was appointed in May 2011. The most recent set of accounts will be presented at the AGM.

Defibrillators Annaghdown Parish Council received a donation from the family of the Late Sergeant Michael Smyth to provide a Defibrillator in the Parish. It was agreed that the Parish Council should supplement this funding in order to purchase two new Defibrillators and site them in Corrandulla Community Centre and at Annaghdown Handball Alley in Annaghdown.

Annaghdown Handball and Racquet Ball Alley Annaghdown Handball Alley is run on a day to day basis by the Annaghdown Handball Club. The Club is provided access to the building through a leasing arrangement between Annaghdown Parish Council, and St Jarlath's Trust. The Trust manages the legal affairs of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of and owns a number of properties in the parish council area, most of which are leased to Annaghdown Parish Council. The day to day role of Annaghdown Parish Council is to ensure that facilities are accessible to people who want to use them and where appropriate that people using the community facilities are adequately insured.

The only sources of funding available for the management of the handball alley are club membership fees and any excess income gathered through the electricity meter in the building. As the Handball Club doesn't have its own insurance, Annaghdown Parish Council received a bill of €600 for insurance at Annaghdown Handball Alley. This was a good deal more than the funds being generated in the alley. In the coming year, charges for the use of the Handball Alley will need to be reviewed with the Handball Club as the Charitable Status of Annaghdown Parish Council doesn't permit it to contribute to the ongoing cost of running a sporting organisation.

Old Girls School and the Community Library Discussions took place with the Corrandulla/Annaghdown Community Library with regard to establishing a sub lease for the Library group and that it would be able to take on the full cost of the service provided in the Old Girls School Corrandulla. It was envisaged that if the Parish Office moved to an alternative room the Community Library would be able to double its operating space. Unfortunately the Community Library would not be taking over the lease of the Old Girls School from the Parish Council, as the group did not think it could sustain the management costs.

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Bridging Loan In July 2012, a Bridging Loan of up to €90,000 was arranged to enable building work to continue on the new Sports Centre whilst the GRD grant payment was being processed. Despite the fact that Annaghdown Parish Council has the legal status of a Company Limited by Guarantee, the Bank of Ireland also required personal guarantees from 3 Directors as part of the application. Originally intended to be a requirement for a one year period the slow pace of development has meant that the Bridging Loan facility had to be renewed again this year.

Astro Turf Pitch In January 2013, Annaghdown Parish Council agreed to support the development of an Astro Turf Pitch by Corrandulla National School as a quid pro quo for the sizeable contribution made by the Board of the National School towards the development of the Sports Centre. It was explained that the Astro Pitch Development would be the property of the school and all charges raised will help fund school activities. The fundraising target for Annaghdown Parish Council was agreed at €20,000. We organised a Scrap Metal Collection over an eight week and the response across the community has been very positive and generated funds in excess of €14,146. A follow up event entitled Rags to Pitches was initiated after the Scrap Collection with Corrandulla Community Centre being used as a drop off centre for clothing, shoes etc which were collected by a recycling merchant. In the early days, the Rags to Pitches clothes collection generated an average income of €1200 every fortnight and the overall Astro Turf fundraising target was achieved by September 2013.

Clothes Collection Following the success of the collection of clothes and goods as described above the Parish Council decided that there was potential to collect clothing on an ongoing basis to help fund the work of the Parish Council and a Clothes Bank was subsequently provided on the site of the Old Girls School.

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Appendix 1 Annaghdown Parish Council Ltd The following are the registered details of the Board of Directors of Galway Simon Community as of October 31st 2012.

Registered Number: 437519 Registered Office: Corrandulla Community Centre, Corrandulla, Co Galway Tax Number:

Board of Directors:

Chairperson: Brian Heavey Company Secretary: Noel Daly Treasurer: John Harkin PRO: Tom Creaven

Other Directors: Mary Cunningham Mary Furey Aidan Callinan Padraic Concannon Leo Murphy Noel King

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Appendix 2 Directors of Annaghdown Parish Council since establishment of company in 2006

Name 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2014 Mary Appointed Resigned Due Cunningham Director /appointed to resign Tom Appointed Resigned Due Creaven Director /appointed to resign John Harkin Appointed Resigned Due Director /appointed to resign Leo Murphy Appointed Resigned Due Director /appointed to resign Padraic Appointed Resigned Due Concannon Director /appointed to resign Noel Daly Appointed Resigned Due Director /appointed to resign Noel King Appointed Resigned Due Director /appointed to resign Brian Appointed Resigned Due Heavey Director /appointed to resign Mary Furey Appointed Due Director to resign Aidan Appointed Due Callinan Director to resign Lisa Appointed Resigned Fenwick Director Permanently Joe Fenwick Appointed Resigned Director Permanently Anita Appointed Resigned Malone Director Permanently Padraig Appointed Resigned Forde Director Permanently Margaret Appointed Resigned Walsh Director Permanently

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Appendix 3 Extract from Annual Accounts of Annaghdown Parish Council

Selected Extracts from Audited Accounts 1/04/2012 to 31/03/2013

Opening Balance 1/04/2012 €66,177

Capital Expenditure (Sports Centre) €171,695 Government Grant €105,593 Net Capital Expenditure from Existing Resources €66,102

Income Expenditure Hall Rental 10,116 Donations and Sponsorship 3,000 Fundraising Table Quiz 1,132 Bank Deposit Interest 815 Grants (bottle banks) 636 Light and Heat 4,133 Repairs and Renewals 2,609 Telephone 932 Audit and Accountancy 800 Insurance 498 Bank Charges 278 Sundry Expenses 1,324 Total 15,699 10,574

Excess income over expenditure 5,125

Closing Balance at 31/03/2013 4,674

Full Audited Accounts available on www.annaghdown.ie.

Appendix 4 Website Visits

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Most popular pages on Annaghdown.ie in first year.

Home Page 4539 Corrandulla Church 2454 Croi na nOg 1476 Tidy Towns 1140 Annaghdown NS 773 Corrandulla NS 605 About US 588 Golf Society 504 Bawnmore NS 432 Annaghdown GAA 425 Parish Council Minutes 409 Contact 371 Corrib Celtic 344 Currandrum NS 323 New Sports Centre 296 Community Library 294 Scrap Metal Collection 285 As Gaeilge 279 Corrib Celtic Summer Camp 266 Corrandulla Show 250 Castlehackett NS 237 Credit Union 225 Community Alert Groups 224 Annaghdown Judo Club 209

Appendix 5 Townlands in Parish Council Area

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The townlands within the Parish Area and from where the membership of the Council is drawn are as follows:

Addergoole, Annagh East, Annagh West, Annaghdown, Ardgaineen, Auclogeen, Balroebuck Beg, Balroebuck More, Ballylee, Barranny, Barravilla, Baunmore, Biggera, Beg, Biggera More, Bolisheen, Bunnahevelly Beg, Bunnahevelly More, Bunoghanaun, Bunnatober, , Caherlea, Cahermorris, Carraghy, Carheeny, Cartron, Carrowbeg North, Carrowbeg South, Carrowrooan, Castlecreevey, Castlequarter, Cloonagh, Cloonleenaun, Cluidrevagh, Corbally, Corrandrum, Corrandulla, Coteenty, Cregduff, Cregg, Drumbaun, Drumgriffin, Gardenham, Gealcarraig, Glebe, Gortroe, Grange, Glenrevagh, Illaunaneel, Illaunaneel West, Illaunaveetry, Kilgill, Kilcahill, Lisheenanoran, Mace, Mullaghdrum, Muckrush, Nineacres, Park, Racona, Rabbit Island, Rinnaharney, Shanbally, Shankill, Slievefin, Tonnagarraun, Tonamace, Tomnahulla, Woodpark.

Appendix 6 Map of Annaghdown Parish Area.

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