€150,000 to transform playground development on Friar Street, Cashel

Cashel Playground Development Group were delighted to have received news on Monday of funding of €150,000 for the installation of the new playground facility in Friar Street.

Cashel Playground Chairperson Darren Ryan welcomed the news from South Tipperary Development Company of the Leader Grant which will enable phase II of the development to commence.

“I am absolutely over the moon with this wonderful news,” said Mr Ryan. “The committee has been working tirelessly to raise funds to install a much needed new playground in Cashel and this is literally the icing on the cake for us. The people of Cashel and surrounding areas have been so generous to us and have donated over €50,000 to date. This grant allocation will now allow us complete Phase II of the development which is the installation of the new playground.

“As a committee we have worked hard to bring this to fruition, but I do want to pay special thanks to Aine Knightly, Odharnaith Ní Allúin and our grants officer Mary Newman Julian who worked exceptionally hard on the application process, the committee in sincerely thankful to them for all their work. On behalf of the committee we would also like to sincerely thank the wonderful team at South Tipperary Development Company, Sara Burke and Mary Kinane, for recognising the need for this development and it is important that their hard work is recognised.”

The redevelopment of the playground would not be possible without grant aid from both Tipperary County Council and the South Tipperary Development Company. Mary Newman Julian, grants officer on the Cashel Playground Committee said, “All the members of the playground committee are absolutely thrilled with this funding.

“This is a project that began over four years ago, and by working together as a community we have now reached the stage that a fantastic new playground will be achievable for summer 2019. We are very grateful to all the people within the community who have helped and supported us with this really great project, from all the families who filled and returned their money boxes, to the fantastic fundraising team who coordinated the Kevin Dundon cookery demo last year, raising over €10,000. That very successful event was supported by Zero Waste Cashel, SuperValu and Tipperary County Council.”

Phase 1 of the development which is funded from a grant from the County Council is currently in progress, with the removal of the old hedging and installation of new security fencing on the perimeter of the site, as well as car park resurfacing and landscaping of the site. Phase II will be the removal of the old playground equipment and installation of a new state of the art destination playground for all the families in Cashel and surrounding area, as well as visitors and tourists alike.

“The grant aid from both Leader and Tipperary County Council makes the new playground a reality. Cashel is one of the only towns in Tipperary that does not currently have a safe and inclusive playground for children of all ability and the installation of the new playground will also support Cashel’s gold star status,” added Mr Ryan.