Politics of the Pump Room

the voice of Lisdoonvarna Failte October 2008

A short history lesson...

If you are from the town you might want to skip this bit...

Lisdoonvarna was developed because of the Spa Wells. A peaceful setting today, but in 1867 and 1897 this was the scene of a tussle between the people of the town and the land­lord who was trying to restrict access to the water. After a legal battle, the resolution was that the Spa Wells and the surrounding 100 acres would be held in trust for the people of the area. It sounds great - and it is pretty unusual - but the flip side is that the Trust cannot use these assets as security for a loan, so it has had to look after the historic properties with no conventional way to raise cash to maintain, manage and develop them. Asset rich, but short on the readies (sounds familiar). In 1977, Lisdoonvarna Failte was established as a company, (taking over from the 1943 Improvements Committee); it has a voluntary board of directors and is responsi­ble for the management of the land and prop­erties, and reports back to the Trustees.

And what's happening now?

The board worked hard to try and secure pri­vate sector investment to develop the Spa Wells, but the challenge of planning and the current economic climate makes this unlikely. The grounds are still beautifully kept and the Pump Room opens for the season, selling Sulphur water to people who have been visit­ing the Wells for 40 or 50 years. A tranquil haven and a sharp contrast to the mayhem of the matchmaking festival, it's still an impres­sive attraction, but not often frequented by locals.

The main work over the last couple of years has been the development of the 30 acre Town Park across the road. This has had very little use, just the odd person walking their dog. Now we have a restored Pavilion Hall which dates back to 1913; a new Creche; an impressive playground and the groundwork is completed for the Community Field and Running Track. Securing the grants and over­seeing the work has taken significant effort which has fallen to a small group of people. Over the summer the Directors have been taking stock of Lisdoonvarna Failte, warts and all, to see what needed to change.

North Clare Park and Pavilion Hall

Directors are leading on key areas and this is what they have to say:

Sports and outdoor recreation

Lisdoonvarna Failte Director: Joe Garrihy

The size of the park (30 acres) means it can develop to meet the needs of the various groups from the national school to the older generation. In addition to improving the wood­land, by replacing trees with native species, the work to date includes:

Playground: impressive playground caters for different ages from toddlers to teenagers.

Dressing rooms: 2 fully-equipped dressing rooms and showers which have dual purpose use for hall and sports facilities, and are now used by GAA.

Community sports pitch and 400m run­ning track: groundwork now complete. Should be ready for use in June 2009.

Lighting and landscaping: to provide safe space for play and walking.

Bids submitted:

1km tarmac looped walk: with seats around the park, sports and play area - providing access for pushchairs, wheelchairs and safe walking for children and seniors.

Bids to be developed:

Astro turf pitch: 80m by 40m, with flood­lighting

These facilities are important for everyone, but especially the Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna which has no playing field or outdoor sports facilities of their own.

Pavilion Hall

Lisdoonvarna Failte Director: Marian O'Callaghan

The Pavilion Hall is impressive. Seating 300, it has: a sprung floor - great for dancing; a foyer area with kitchen attached, and a wine license. The potential is huge. The idea is to use it at cost price for community events and to generate an income from private use for re­investment. So far, the hall has been used for concerts, exhibitions and the September dancing. It is also used by the Girl Guides; for dance and drama classes and the Lismorahaun Choir practice on Sunday evenings.

What kind of event would you like to have in the Hall? Do you want to organise an event?

Community Childcare Centre

Lisdoonvarna Failte Director: Birgitta Curtain

Lisdoonvarna Failte submitted a funding bid in 2006, the building was completed over the summer and opened for business in September. This brand new purpose-built Community Childcare Centre, provides full day care from babies to school age, with after-school club. It has the capacity for 50 places and over 30 children are already using the service to date, with more booked in. Spaces available for 1-3 year olds, plus after-school. If you want to find out more contact the manager.

Opening hours: 8.00am-6.30pm; Mon-Fri

Contact: Patricia Darcy, Manager on 087 052 5986 or email info@lisdooncreche.com

F Clement, on the need for shelter and amenities in Lisdoonvarna, 1900

The need for facilities is not new, but over a century to develop them is leisurely, even by Clare standards. Things are now changing, and we hope the Park and Pavilion Hall will become a good meeting place, and social space for young and old, locals and visitors alike.

Community involvement

Community involvement is nothing new: the report of the improvements made in 1951 show that:

"the committee spent £400 on improvements works, but it would have been considerably more only for the amount of voluntary labour"

Not much has changed. Many groups have been involved in the development to the park and pavilion, including:

North Clare Athletics; St Breckans GAA; Girl Guides; Burren Utd; Burren Players; Burren Camogie; Doolin National School; St. Augustine’s National School, St. Enda’s National School, Mary Immaculate Secondary School Lisdoonvarna, the Stella Maris Day Care Centre, Lismorahaun Choir, Active Retirement Group.

At County level the Arts Officer and Clare Sports Partnership have been involved and have expertise to offer and an interest in the future use and development.

Now that the building work is at completion stage, we need people to help take things forward. If you are interested and have the spare time, energy and skills please let us know. This ranges from helping with organising meetings, to PR developing the Pavilion. If you are interested please get in touch.

Fundraising

Want to win €2000?

We have drawn in over €3 million for this work, we still need €200,000 to complete the building work. The Board met with communi­ty groups to discuss this; the outcome was that the Board secured a loan of €200,000 -and the community groups agreed to organ­ise fund-raising to help finish the work to the highest standard. Mary Gardiner has been working with these groups.

500 club draw tickets are now on sale. At €100 a ticket you will be included for two draws, November 14th and December 12th.

Prizes:

1st:    €2,000

2nd:   €1,000

3rd:    €500

4/5th: €250

Tickets from:

Kieran Flanagan 087 2245654

Paula Flaherty 065 7074238

Mary Gardiner 087 9920390

Rita Nagle 065 7074752 or any of the board.

The Board recognised the need to bring in new blood, to get away from the old murky image, and to have a clear statement that explains why Lisdoonvarna Failte exists. We ended up with the following statement:

"To manage the assets and associated amenities, for which it has vested interest in on behalf of the people of Lisdoonvarna and surrounding areas, sustaining and evolving the social, cultural, recreational and economic benefits derived from such assets and amenities for the betterment of the local community and economy"

Priorities to the end December 2008 are:

•   Board development: ongoing

•   Building projects: completion, draw down final funds

•   Creche: work with manager and parents to agree fees and services for 2009

•   Fundraising: community-led to finish work to highest specification

•   Pavilion Hall: get people in there, refine the pricing and terms of use so we can develop plans for 2009

Sports Development: work with Clare Sports Partnership and local groups prioritise funding bids for 2009

Who are the Directors? Do you want to join them?

Longstanding directors Kathleen Gibbons, Tom Connolly, Martin Lafferty and Peter Curtain have a wealth of knowledge about the history of the place, the twists and turns of the work over the years. Marian O'Callaghan and Joe Garrihy are more recent additions and the new blood includes: Martin McMahon, Birgitta Curtain and Tom McNamara.

Given the nature of the organisation we would welcome a new Director with experi­ence of corporate governance, or business/financial analysis. In one way Lisdoonvarna Faílte is a very simple organi­sation: it is there to bring better services and facilities to the local community, the people of North Clare and visitors to the town. But it also needs to be run on a business basis, to generate an income, whilst remaining accountable to a range of public sector fund­ing bodies, and the people of the area. Quite a challenge. This work is voluntary and unpaid, but would give you the opportunity to put something back into the area. Also, the meetings can be entertaining, but sometimes for the wrong reasons.

If you are interested in joining the Board as a Director, or helping in any other way, please get in touch with us. Feedback and donations also welcome. Write to:

Lisdoonvarna Failte c/o the Spa Wells Lisdoonvarna, or email lisdoonspa@gmail.com