€3m upgrade for community hub on Limerick’s northside

ONE of Limerick’s regeneration areas has received a massive boost with plans for a multi-million euro redevelopment of its community centre.

Environment Minister Alan Kelly joined Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan in Moyross this Monday night after €3m was confirmed for the redevelopment of the area’s Community Development Centre at Moyross Avenue.

The investment, which will secure the jobs of the 97 people working in the facility, includes a €250,000 grant aid from the JP McManus benevolent fund.

Further jobs are expected to follow, said Paddy Flannery, who manages the centre, saying it will make the building “more open and welcoming”.

Opened in 1994, the centre provides a range of services to the community including childcare, meals on wheels, catering courses, secretarial support, jobs preparation and sporting facilities.

The long-awaited extension and refurbishment of the building will see four new enterprise units built, new public meeting rooms, a multi-purpose community hall, training rooms, plus new offices for the Moyross Credit Union.

“It is going to really enhance the facilities we have and the working environment of the staff. It will provide much better facilities for the community including a community cafe. It is going to remove the industrial facing from the front of the building, and make it more open and welcoming. It will open straight onto the street-scape, so it is going to be a significant improvement in how we present ourselves to the local community,” Mr Flannery told the Limerick Leader.

Ms O’Sullivan hailed the investment as “a really important announcement for Moyross”.

“The new Centre will be a fantastic resource for the local community. This redevelopment was included as part of the overall Regeneration Masterplan that I was proud to play a role in as Minister for Planning and it is a very real sign of the role that social regeneration projects play in our overall vision of Limerick,” she said.

The Education Minister described Moyross as “a great community that I have had the privilege of representing for more than a decade and a half”. “This significant investment is testament to the commitment and perseverance of so many local people in recent years and will be a great boost for a great community,” she added.