Big plans ahead for Belturbet

The renovation of the old Dinkin's cafe building in Belturbet is among a number of projects advancing for the Erneside town.

Speaking to the Celt from the Beara Peninsula in Cork where he was on staycation, Cllr Brendan Fay outlined what is to come for Belturbet.

“There’s a lot of projects that are in the pipeline,” he beamed.

One of the projects which Cllr Fay hopes gets underway before the end of the year is the renovation of the old Dinkin’s cafe building in the town.

“That has gone in for funding,” he said, explaining that a public consultation revealed that there was little space for teenagers in Belturbet. The plan is to turn the building into a community hub with remote working desks, meeting rooms, offices, and spaces for kids and teenagers.

The hub will serve three towns; Newtownbutler, Clones and Belturbet.

“The three towns will be working together,” he explained.

“The good thing about this is it’s going to be funded, there will be staff,” he informed, which he said was “as exciting as the project itself".

Another project coming up in the town is a renovation of the marina along the slipway. The playground received €155,000 to be renovated and is now open to the public again, which is part of a wider plan for Morrissey Park whereby the jetty all the way down to the marina will be upgraded.

“There’s a very very exciting project for the whole of Morrissey Park and along the river,” he revealed.

The Belturbet man said funding has also been secured to upgrade Turbet Island “to get a whole revamp” and a feasibility study complete for the island. The feasibility study will be carried out to make the upgrade geologically and environmentally friendly.

“We have to look at what we can do with something that is really a treasure.

“It’s a very important park for walks in Belturbet and for tourists coming along,” he said.

The plan is to do a feasibility study to get Turbet Island fully upgraded as part of the Geopark.

“There’s a lot of exciting stuff happening, that’s just two or three projects.”

One of the most significant things that happened in the area in recent times, for Cllr Fay, is that the proposed controversial amalgamation of St Mogue's in Bawnboy and St Bricin's is “off the table.”

“That is now good for the town that we have going forward into the future three schools there.

“One of the things that I became a councillor for was to make sure that that merger was taken off the table,” he affirmed.

“Cavan Monaghan ETB have been behind us 100% and at the moment we’re hoping that we might be fit to acquire a piece of property to put a community centre at St Bricins,” he said, explaining that it's hoped to install a community hub and gym there in the future.

However he added this proposal is with the government for approval and may take some time.

Asked how he felt about being re-elected to the area, Cllr Fay responded “fantastic, honoured, humbled, privileged".

“The people had faith in me, my vote went up from the last time.

“I feel I have worked very very hard over the last five years, sometimes it’s not always good news but, when people call you try and work for them and I guess that people have realised and just given me the vote of confidence going forward.”

Cllr Fay thanked everybody who voted for him in the Cavan-Belturbet MD and looks forward to his next term serving on Cavan County Council.