Community funding still available from council coffers

Councillors in the Ballyjamesduff Municipal District area will nominate community groups to benefit from funding, writes Michelle Taite.

The opportunity arose after it was revealed that €10,000 was set aside to assist community and voluntary groups in the district with just over €4,000 allocated so far.

Senior Executive Officer John Donohoe updated the members on the community and voluntary grants scheme at the last meeting of the MD.

Those to benefit were Ballyjamesduff Gun Club, €600 for clay pigeon shooting equipment; Ballyjamesduff Bowls Club, €500 for scoreboards, €1,000 to Arva Active Age for administrative equipment, €1,000 to Arva Tidy Towns for plants and flowers, and €950 to Cavan/Virginia Scouts for equipment. The Cavan Centre, meanwhile, was refused €950 in grant aid for paint as it didn’t qualify under the scheme.

Cavan County Council announced the community and voluntary grants scheme earlier this year, inviting organisations in the area to apply for funding with €10,000 made available to each of the three MDs in the county. However, the council was not “inundated with applications” revealed Mr Donohoe.

Members decided against readvertising the scheme or allowing the outstanding money to roll into next year.

Cllr Shane P. O’Reilly put forward the idea of splitting the funds and allowing each councillor to nominate organisations they believe would benefit from the money. All councillors agreed.

It also emerged that only half of the Festival Grants Funds were distributed this year, with few applications yet again.

The total funds allocated to the festival grants was €7,000. With only €3,500 distributed, €3,500 was left over.

€1,000 was awarded to the Mullahoran Country Music Festival, which ran in July. €500 was allocated to Virginia Rugby Club to stage a Halloween Festival at their clubrooms in Virginia. Mullagh Fair also received funding of €1,000, as did the recent Folly Fest in Ballinagh.