Minister officially opens €2.47m ‘The Junction’ in Ballinamore

Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, yesterday afternoon, (Friday, 16th February) visited Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, to officially open The Junction, which received €2.4m under the Rural Regeneration Development Fund.

Officially opening the project, Minister Humphreys said: “As Minister for Rural and Community Development, I’m absolutely delighted that my department was able to support this project with funding of €2.4m under the Rural Regeneration Development Fund.

“I know that this is a really important project for Ballinamore and its surrounding areas, particularly because it brings a derelict and vacant building back into community use.”

The Junction Project promotes the regeneration of Ballinamore town and surrounding areas by restoring two protected buildings and a derelict site at the former Station House.

This preserves local heritage assets for future generations to enjoy and improves the public realm space in Ballinamore. It provides opportunities for employment, digital technology, arts, culture and youth services.

The Junction is fully operational with the hosting of youth services by the North Connaught Youth and Community Services, by the provision of arts programmes by the Leitrim School of Art and in the Junction hub, flexible hot desking and
office space for enterprises.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Justin Warnock, Minister Heather Humphreys T.D and Joseph Gilhooley, Chief Executive, Leitrim County Council

Cathaoirleach Councillor Justin Warnock stated that the Junction is a great example of the council and the community working together to develop a project that brings real community benefit. He acknowledged the critical support from the Rural Regeneration Development Fund in bringing the project from vision to reality.

Chief Executive, Joseph Gilhooly acknowledged the important role of the allocations of funding by Minister Heather Humphreys through the Rural Renewal Development Fund to the County supporting numerous projects of scale. In this context the Council wish to acknowledge the significant funds from the RRDF to facilitate the delivery of the fabulous
investment in Ballinamore.

The CE commented on the important role the community in Ballinamore played in this project. In collaboration with Leitrim County Council, Ballinamore Area Community Council developed a Town Plan that identified the potential for the vacant
and derelict Station House buildings.

He thanked all those who contributed to the project including Shay O’Connor, Head of Capital Projects in Leitrim County Council as well as Cooney Architects and McKelvey Construction.

He concluded that the council looks forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the local community for further town centre enhancement.