Balbriggan has awoken now the work begins to rejuvenate its heart - a personal blog about the launch
I stood listened and watched last night the launch of Our Balbriggan, a sight to behold in the Ardgillan Suite of the Bracken Court Hotel, all colours, creeds and class of Balbriggan people, a jam packed room of Public reps, business leaders, volunteers and community workers united to get behind Our Balbriggan, a fully funded initiative, a community led strategy to set a precedent to a nation.
I stood and listened to our Deputy Mayor Cllr Grainne Maguire illustrate how our three local councillors including herself, Cllr Malachy Quinn and Cllr Tony Murphy took the initiative and worked together with Fingal County Council to deliver this strategy. This approach was also welcomed by Fingal County Council chief executive Paul Reid who said having the Balbriggan councillors on board from inception was a key driving factor in starting the project. Paul Reid went on to say €10m of the allocated money will go towards the completion of the Balbriggan to Skerries Greenway, the development of Bremore Castle and upgrades to cycleways and amenities in the town.
Then Paul Reid, introduced the chair of Balbriggan Leadership Group, Professor Brian McCraith who said the town has several features that make it unique. He said It is the youngest town in Ireland, with an average age of just over 30. There has been massive population growth, over 70% in the last decade, and a very diverse population with over 28% born outside of Ireland.
Prof MacCraith said the project is now at the stage where they have narrowed down the areas they want to work on and now the community will have a unique opportunity to prioritise what happens over the coming years.
I too am very happy with this project and look forward to a better Balbriggan. Today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking Our Balbriggan, This project is something to be proud of and will deliver for Balbriggan a rejuvenated hart of the town. I will endeavour to help in anyway I can and I will commit to step up and help begin the work. Balbriggan is now awake we can all get involved with many events and activities in the coming days, see below a time table of events. Get Involved, attend events and most of all complete the survey. Click HERE for Survey
