St Ita’s Hall in Abbeyfeale is a hugely important facility for the town and wider community but like many a community hall the length and breadth of Ireland it is of old stock, in need of constant repairs, and crying out for a much-needed major renovation to future-proof it well into the 21st century.
The problem up to now is that appropriate funding rounds were few and far between and often only covered certain types of upgrades. However, with the Government’s announ-cement earlier in the year that a dedicated “Comm-unity Centres Investment Fund” (CCIF) was being launched specifically for community halls and centres was just what many a community and/or Parish had been waiting for.
In Abbeyfeale a chance meeting of four repre-sentatives from four different groups and organisations shortly after the government’s  anno-uncement set in motion a ten week long collaborative approach to research, draft and submit the best possible application, each drawing from their own personal and professional backgrounds to produce as strong a case as possible on behalf of the Com-munity of Abbeyfeale. Voluntary only in name, professional in attitude and approach.
The national application process was highly competitive, with a large number of applications, but Abbeyfeale’s collective community-style approach in preparing the application was the key to its success. The hours dedicated to this funding application were long, tedious, and often unsociable. The odds of success were only 50/50 as experience had taught all four organisations involved that funding applications in general are a precarious “hobby”. No one hears about the ones that weren’t approved or the behind-the- scenes effort that went into them while everyone wants to ride on the coat-tails of success. The answer is simple albeit a little tough to deal with, funding applications need to be treated a little like a numbers game – keep looking, keep filling in, keep submitting, and hope that someday one will eventually succeed. Perseverance is what’s  required and better again moral and/or experienced support from like-minded individuals.
And it’s important to remember that no matter how well presented any application is for public funding, the community or group making the submission is then at the mercy of the respective department / agency etc and how they view the application from their perspective along with whether the funding round is oversubscribed which then means that there is only so much to go around. This is why when good news does arrive, don’t be surprised if elected representatives are eager to partake in a bit of positive PR – you never know who might have given a nod of approval somewhere along the evaluation process.
The application team in Abbeyfeale would also like to extend their congra-tulations to all those throughout the county who were involved in any of the other successful CCIF Applications – a great boost for the wider community as a whole.
A huge “Thank You” to all elected representatives who supported the various applications while making their way through the evaluation process.
Funding was approved by the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD), under its Community Centres Investment Fund (CCIF) which was announced earlier in the year. The fund is being managed and administered by Pobal on behalf of the Government.
Hearty congratulations to the hard-working groups who made this funding possible, for the grit and determination shown during the application process, and for leading the way for other communities to do likewise. Never doubt the fact that a small group of dedicated people can make the most positive of changes. Abbeyfeale people are living proof of the fact.