The Fund In Your Area

Rowanberry Centre, Co. Leitrim

In the early 1990s, north Leitrim was devastated by the closure of several of the biggest employers in the area. However, cross-community group Drumkeerin Community Council refused to be beaten by the situation and started to develop projects that would create job opportunities for people in the town.

The group’s biggest project to date is the Rowanberry Centre. Opened in August 2005, the Rowanberry Centre is a hub of activity that is home to a successful restaurant, office space for the local Community Development Plan and Jobs Initiative organisations, a conference suite that is regularly utilised by local organisations and State bodies, a computer suite used by the local groups for the young and old, and a highly popular Internet Café.

“This area of Leitrim is very disadvantaged, but the Centre has put the heart back in the village. There is now a buzz about the place and there is a great sense of ‘all for one and one for all’,” said Hubert McHugh, PRO, Drumkeerin Community Council.

According to Hubert, the International Fund’s support for the project was crucial to it coming to fruition. “Without the International Fund, the Centre would never have been built. And it wasn’t just the funding, their expert advice every step along the way was vital to the Centre’s successful development,” he said.

The total cost of the project was €397,690 / £272,390 with the International Fund providing €230,721 / £158,028 in funding. Other funding came from Drumkeerin Community Council, and the Arigna LEADER Programme.