WATCH: Curtains up for new pilot scheme in Bawnboy pub

The sun was shining on Bawnboy last Friday with the announcement local pub The Keeper’s Arms is to take part in a national trial to see pubs used as community hubs. Rural and Community Development Minister, Heather Humphreys, was in the west Cavan village to make the announcement as part of a countywide tour.

The ‘Pubs as Community Hubs’ pilot programme hopes to replicate the success of a similar scheme run in the UK. It will see pubs ‘repurposed’ during quiet trading times as digital hubs, community cinemas, book clubs, arts and crafts workshops and community meeting spaces.

Funding of €50,000 has been provided to the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), which selected the Keepers Arms and four other pubs - in Clare, Cork, Donegal and Kerry. If the pilot proves a success it will be expanded to other parts of the Republic.

Sheila and Bryan McKiernan, owners of The Keeper’s Arms in Bawnboy, have great expectations for the project and are hopeful it will make a difference to the business and the local community.

Sheila says they’re planning to install a community cinema under the new initiative.

“We’re going to put a cinema into our lounge. We’re going to convert it into a pop-up cinema. It’s lovely to have been chosen as one of the pilot projects for it.”

The plan, once the cinema is installed, is to do something to cater for everyone in the wider Bawnboy area.

“We’re going to cater for different age brackets in the community. We’ll show children’s movies on a Saturday morning and have a night with chick-flicks or a night with the old black and white movies and then have another night with the old classic cowboys and Indians.”

Bawnboy’s nearest cinema is in Cavan Town, almost 40km away. It’s hoped the initiative will encourage people to stay in their local community and support local businesses, rather than having to drive to other towns.

Funding of €50,000 has been set aside for the national trial, with The Keeper’s Arms using the money to buy cinema style seating, a projector and screen and blackout blinds.

Speaking at the launch of the scheme, Minister Humphreys said it’s hoped it will help bolster rural communities.

“This is about how we can help pubs and use them for other purposes. It’s about how we can help them because they’re so much a part of the community. It’s about pubs providing facilities that are not normally provided in areas like Bawnboy.”

Sceptics of the trial may question why it’s needed, particularly as most rural towns and villages already have community centres or parish halls, which act as hubs in their areas. Many have been repurposed in recent years as part of the National Broadband Plan with the installation of public broadband connection points.

Minister Humphreys says the trial is not about pitting local facilities against each other for investment.

“It isn’t about competing for these things. Nobody is competing with each other here. This is about bringing new life into the villages and the towns right across this country. It’s about new initiatives.”

CEO of Vintners’ Federation of Ireland, Padraig Cribben, who has long been calling for supports for a sector hit most recently by lengthy COVID-19 lockdowns, welcomed the launch.

“Upon completion, these pilot projects will offer a roadmap for our members as they navigate the coming challenges and opportunities faced by the rural hospitality sector.”