Rural community spirit soars as Glenade Development Association unveils new initiatives

Glenade Development Association, based in the old National School building in Aghanlish has recently gone through an exciting refresh. Established in 1999, the Association has hosted occasional events. This Summer, some Glenade locals were inspired to enhance the sense of community and belonging in the area.

"A lot of us would be parents and would have to travel outside of Glenade for activities such as football and scouts, when we have a facility here where we could hold these things," Chairperson Mary McGowan, explained. 

"As well as that, it is rural. You could probably say it's a bit disadvantaged, as in we don't have a shop or a post office, you have to travel for everything. 

"The population is aging, there's a lot of people who have been here all their lives or have gone away and come back. There isn't really anything social for them. 

"Especially since Covid, and there would've been a time where everyone knew their neighbours and that's not really the case anymore. Children don't necessarily go to the same school so they mightn't know their neighbours either. 

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"We just thought, we have to do something with the facility and get something started up."

In June, the group held their annual bonfire night.

"That was a really big success, we did our best to make it bigger and better. We were surprised at the amount of people who showed up even though the weather was atrocious," Mary enthused. 

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On July 8, the North Leitrim group held their first AGM in years, with around thirty people in attendance. A new committee of seven local women was elected. 

The committee includes Mary McGowan as Chairperson, Siobhan McGloin as Vice Chairperson, Winifred Branley-Nealis as Secretary, Caroline Brennan as Vice Secretary, Olivia Branley as Social Media Manager, Sarah Church as Treasurer, and Bernie McGloin as Assistant Treasurer. 

"We started to put things in place then. We're actively looking for funding because we need all the money we can get, just to try get things going. 

"We're hoping to organise something at least once a month. We're having a visual arts display on August 11 for children, funded by The Ark in Dublin. 

"It's something to get the kids active and get them together. The kids are great at socialising and it's great to see them mixing, everyone's included," Mary said. 

There has been an outpouring of local support and excitement for the group since they revamped. 

"Everyone's really enthusiastic. So many people want to be involved and it's great because it's things like this that keep communities going. 

"Hopefully by this time next year, it will be a completely different place." 

The group are starting off small, but have already garnered an abundance of ideas, and are hoping to take off for everybody, old and young. 

"We're doing a six week healthy eating and cooking course in September, and anyone can enrol for free. It'd be great for anyone who's living on their own or lack confidence in cooking," Mary explained. 

The Association will also be holding a car wash this Saturday, July 27 from 2 to 4pm at Aghanlish National School, where people can get their car washed at a small fee. 

Glenade Development Association are making strides with their renewed focus on community engagement, and their efforts supported by strong community involvement, aim to bring positive changes to Glenade. 

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Information on upcoming events by Glenade Development Association can be found on their Facebook page.