Boherlahan Community Association held a well attended inaugural meeting on Friday April 23rd . Over 30 people attended a Zoom meeting to learn about the aspirations for this new organisation and to support its establishment.
The association’s immediate priority will be to undertake the redevelopment of Boherlahan Hall. The latest plans for the hall redevelopment and the requirement for additional car park facilities were outlined. This project is being undertaken with the help of funds secured through the Department of Justice Immigrant Investor Programme.
The first stage of the development work has seen an all-weather playing field installed behind the Hall and Scoil San Isadóir in recent months. All involved in this work were thanked. These included : Fr. Joe Egan, The Diocesan Trust, Dualla Community Association and Scoil San Isadóir Board of Management for helping to secure the land and facilitating access; the local workers and contractors especially John Tarrant of Tarrant Engineering and Groundworks; and FRS fencing for going the extra mile to create a wonderful community facility. Fergus O’Dwyer, Liam Burke, Sean Trainor and others on the Development Committee were also thanked for their efforts to date.
The meeting heard that during the school day the All Weather Pitch is being used to great effect by the children attending Scoil San Isadóir. When the current restrictions lift it will be available for community use. A fulsome discussion about the proposed development plans helped everyone in attendance gain a better understanding of the proposed project and the meeting gave its support to the redevelopment plans subject to feedback from the community.
It was agreed that the association’s first task will be to undertake widespread community consultation about the plans. A flyer outlining the designs will be printed and circulated to all households and feedback will be sought. It is expected that a planning application will be submitted to Tipperary County Council in May.
Officers elected on the night include Corrie Dwyer from Ballytarsna as Chairperson of the new Association and Liz Moynihan as Vice Chair. Almost 20 people have joined the Community Association Committee to date and volunteers are sought to help with the ambitious development agenda. Four working groups were established to oversee specific tasks. These are:
A) Development Committee (Responsible for Liaising with Architects, Contractors and Department of Justice Officials.)
B) Finance/ Grant Applications (This group will be responsible for overseeing Fundraising and applying for relevant funding opportunities)
C) Association Organisation (This group will be charged with preparing the structures and rules of the running of the Association)
D) Facilities Operations (Responsible for the day to day running of the facilities and processes for its facilities)
Some officer positions were left vacant at the General meeting and these will be filled at the next meeting of the committee on Thursday May 13th at 8.30pm, also via Zoom. Anyone interested in joining the committee should email boherlahancommunityassociation@gmail.com. Comments and questions about the proposed development work can also be sent to this email address.
The Community Centre plans can be viewed on-line at: https://boherlahandualla.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Boherlahan-Community-Centre-Carpark-Development.pdf
