The Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, Dinny McGinley T.D., has announced that he is sanctioning an allocation of €435,226 or 80% of the cost, whichever is lower, to Comharchumann Mhic Dara to enable them to carry out renovations on an old factory building in order to make it suitable for use as a public amenity for the area of An Cheathrú Rua and also as accommodation for an Irish language college.

Minister of State McGinley said: "With this considerable assistance the Comharchumann will be able to finish off the development of this community centre which will benefit the whole area. This investment will strengthen the efforts both of the Comharchumann and of the local community to promote the Irish language in the area."

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This grant is being allocated to the Comharchumann so that they can renovate factory accommodation in An Cheathrú Rua. The renovations will make 8 school rooms, 4 offices, a sports hall, toilets, and changing rooms available in one location which will be suitable for use both as a public amenity and as an Irish college.

Two Irish colleges have been operating in the area of An Cheathrú Rua for a number of years, namely Coláiste Chiaráin (1,328 pupils in 2012) and Coláiste Cholumba (709 pupils in 2012). Owing to a lack of suitable space in the area, these two colleges have been depending on a wide range of accommodation — local schools, community halls, as well as other accommodation such as offices in the locality — to function properly.

In order to address this problem long-term the Department announced a grant of €256,000 to the Comharchumann to purchase this building in August 2012. As well as the preschool services which are situated alongside this development, it is hoped that the location will include an Irish language and household support centre as recommended in the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language, which will greatly assist language planning in An Cheathrú Rua.

(CD/H)