This article is from page 31 of the 2008-02-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 31 JPG
WHEN Una Kierse decided to send her eldest child to a pre-school play- eroup in Killaloe, she discovered that there wasn’t automatically a place for every child and community facilities were scarce on the ground.
Joss Lowry, Michael Culhane and Michael Glesson all had similar con- cerns and together the four set up the Killaloe Community Development Company with the aim of providing a community creche which would cater for all needs, including pre-
school and after-school care.
That was almost two years ago and this month, the endless filling in of forms and making a case were rewarded when the company was awarded €1.2 million, the maximum that can be awarded under the Na- tional Childcare Investment Fund.
The group worked closely with Clare County Council to apply for the funds through Pobail and Una says they are “just delighted. Now we can start looking at a premises or a site.”
The aim of the development com-
pany is to provide community facili- ties, which will cater for 35 full-time childcare places and 15 after-school je ENerone
“It’s wrong that some children get to go to pre-school and others don’t. The child who doesn’t have that year before going on to primary school is at a disadvantage from the start. If there are any difficulties like ADD, these are often picked up on in pre- school. Without it there 1s a year lost.”
“The new facility is still in the early stages and the company will have to
find a site or premises, get a contrac- tor on board and work through the planning process, but the grant was the start.
“We want to provide services across the board, including school holiday times, which can be very difficulty for working parents. Every child and every parent is entitled to have quali- ty childcare facilities where children can be encouraged and cared for. This is a facility which is very badly needed in Killaloe and now we have the money to get started on provid- ing one,’ said Una.