CONNA CASH IN ON COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTRE

On Monday night, the residents of Conna were witness to what is set to become an historic event for the community and its children.
Over forty men and women gathered in the local community hall for the signing of the contracts for the €1 million construction of the childcare facility, which is to be added to the existing community centre in the coming year.
Over the past two years, John Leahy, chairman of Conna Childcare committee along with a number of other committee members carried out a survey among the residents of the area to enquire what facilities were most needed in the community.

As expected, the provision of a community childcare facility topped the list. Over the months a number of different childcare facilities were visited throughout the country.
"By doing this we could learn from the mistakes of others and take on board all of the aspects that seemed to work well", Mr Leahy told The Avondhu.
Once all of the necessary information and plans were in place a submission was made to the Government under the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme. Unfortunately in 2005, the Conna proposal was shot down.
In the interest of the community and its needs, Conna was not prepared to take no for an answer and they were granted €1,005,000 last December. The new childcare facility will be completely community owned, run and managed.

Local contractors, Dave Feeney and Sons have been drafted in to carry out the building works. This has been met by great approval from the local community, as Dave has been involved in a number of the previous building projects at the hall.
Chief engineer and architect for the project is Fermoy man, Sean McCarthy who has a great reputation throughout the Conna community.
"Because it is a community childcare centre run and owned by the community, the community' needs will be first and foremost. A lot of the other childcare centres throughout the country are privatised and often fail due to high rental and maintenance costs. Because the centre here is State subsidised we are sure it will flourish", added Mr Leahy.

He also went on to thank Susan Sheehan for all her hard work and guidance over the last couple of years.
"She was really great, pointing us in the right direction every time. We were able to overcome all the obstacles and complications and now we can help the community to really benefit from such a facility".
John Martin, chairman of Conna Community Council told The Avondhu: "We are delighted to have the Community Childcare Centre sorted and also that Dave Feeney is once again involved. It will really add to the facilities we already have such as the sports complex and the social centre. We are looking forward to a bright future here in Conna", he concluded.