Clare Champion, Friday, 6th July 2001

The Church of Ireland Conservation Project in Sixmilebridge is not alone a flagship project in the Mid-West Region but stands as a testimony to the enthusiasm of a local community as much as it does to the innovative partnership involving FÁS and Clare County Council. 

Under the driving force of Chairman, David Deighan, the Committee, set up in June 1995, set about renovating the derelict Church of Ireland building into a state of the art library which now has 14,000 volumes, six computers with Internet access and already over 1,000 members. The end result is that St. Kilfinaghty Public Library in Sixmilebridge has been immaculately renovated at a cost of £500,000 and was officially opened earlier this year by Environment Minister, Noel Dempsey. The project has received critical acclaim and in 1999 was awarded an AIB Better Ireland Award. But the accolades don't end there.  

This week Committee members David Deighan, Vincent Delaney, Rita Higgins, Angela McNamara and Eilish O'Nuallain, who was also the project architect and conservation consultant, travelled to Adare to pick up a 2001 FÁS Community Initiative Award. At a presentation function in the Woodlands House Hotel on Monday afternoon, Mr. Deighan accepted the award in the Community Services Category from Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Síle de Valera. Clare County Librarian, Noel Crowley also attended the presentation as did Chairman of Clare County Council, Sean Hillery.

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