Details of a renewal plan for the Co Donegal village of Creeslough are being revealed at a public meeting tonight.
The plans were drawn up in the aftermath of the tragedy in which ten people lost their lives in an explosion at a local service station, shop and apartment building in the village.
Since the tragedy in October 2022, there have been numerous consultation sessions with local people and the bereaved families led by Donegal County Council, the Creeslough Community Association, and Arup Consultants, who acted pro bono.
The results of those consultations is a village regeneration plan which is being presented at a public meeting in the village.
The plan proposes a number of ways to enhance the local area, deal with dereliction and accessibility, as well as highlighting some climate actions.
However, the main project identified through the consultation process is a new community centre with sporting and many other facilities.
Liam Ward, Director of Services with Donegal County Council, who chaired the working group that came up with the plan, said one of the key things to emerge was that people wanted a place to meet up.
He said that the people of Creeslough are on a healing journey since the tragedy and he hopes this centre will help them through that.
Parish Priest Fr John Joe Duffy said the centre will be a place to give a new beating heart to their community.
He said the healing journey that the people of Creeslough are on is a long one and it may be an inter-generational one, and the new centre will be a place for people to come together on that journey.
As well as having co-working hubs and sporting facilities it will also have meeting areas and rooms for counselling, he said.
Planning permission has already been granted for the centre, which will be built on land already owned by the community behind the local church.
The hope is that an application for Government funding for the project will come through soon so that it can become a reality for the community in the near future.
