Limerick’s Croom ‘can be envy of every Irish town’

 “I FIRMLY believe that Croom will be the envy of every town in Ireland.”

The words of local retailer Padraig Broderick, who chairs the Croom Community Development Association.

There are big plans for the town on the River Maigue, with several developments in train, chief among them the new Coláiste Chiaráin secondary school, which is due to open in the new year.

“Our new primary healthcare centre is about to open, and the extension to Croom Orthopedic Hospital is almost complete. A new link road to provide ease of access to the new school and hospital has also started,” revealed Padraig, who runs the Spar store in the town’s Main Street.

While Croom is developing at an amazing rate, it still retains its calm rural feel.

Residents there can enjoy the best of both worlds, being less than 20 minutes by road from the city centre.

Founded in 1988, the Croom Community Development Association aims to enhance the town and its surrounds.

Its board of directors are made up of local representatives from the sporting, community and business sectors.

The “explosion” of development in Croom, Padraig says, will bring many new jobs to the area – and hopefully bring some fresh faces to the community.

”The ethos of Croom Development is to make Croom a nicer place to live and work in. Jobs are always welcome to a small community. But it also shows there are huge opportunities for Croom being so close to Limerick, yet feeling so rural at the same time,” he said.

Croom is also “blessed” to have many volunteers doing Trojan work for the community – something evidenced by the fact its Tidy Towns score has improved every year since it entered the contest.

”It’s a testament to a lot of hard work and imagination. We are blessed to have so many volunteers in Croom, everyone takes great pride in the area,” the businessman added.

Croom’s town park, a lovely green space beside the River Maigue continues to go from strength to strength.

”We are very lucky to have this 17-acres right in the middle of Croom and a river running through it. It makes a lovely backdrop,” Padraig said.

Like every thriving community, sports clubs also play a huge role.

For Mike Mangan, Croom GAA’s development officer, the order of the day is “progress, progress progress”.

Over the last number of years, the club has made tremendous steps forward with its redevelopment strategy, including building new dressing rooms and a club house, as well as a 4G astro-training area with an adjacent hurling wall.

Next up is phase three of the strategy, which will see new fencing at its pitches on Church Road.

“It’s been a long journey for us, from where we set out from, to where we have come today. All the hard work, late nights, setbacks and efforts have been worth when we look at what the club has accomplished so far,” Mike said.

Mike, who also chairs the board of directors at Croom Enterprise Centre, said it’s a hugely exciting time to be here.

“There is renewed energy and desire to continue to take Croom to another level and have a motivated board of directors of talented people who have Croom’s collective interest at heart. We are living an an innovative community, a community on the up, From education, medical care, community and enterprise, to our great traditions in Croom GAA, the club members, officers and community have backed our objective and helped us make it a reality,” he said.