Ballon Community Centre
By Sarah Slater
TREASURER of Ballon GAA John Gittens likened the failure of Carlow County Council to provide any money to the village through the Community Recognition Fund as “a kick in the teeth” after giving up the use of its centre for two years to accommodate Ukrainian refugees.
Mr Gittens explained that the community and clubs such as the bowls organisation, yoga group, community games, indoor soccer and a wing of the enterprise centre all generously stopped using the centre to do what they could to help.
“There should be a fair recognition of the community effort and the community realises that is not easy to quantify. Yes, we received €300,000 in funding over the two years the refugees were here, but as a result we are marked down when it comes to trying to secure additional funding from other schemes. We should not be ruled out as ineligible. I mean, we are not getting a penny, even after accommodating more than 40 refugees up until recently this year.”
The GAA club’s treasurer continued: “This is a real kick in the teeth. Ballon has just been written off the balance sheet of the council. We should be allowed to apply, even if we don’t get approved … then so be it.”
Fianna Fáil councillor John McDonald looked for an update on the Community Recognition Fund from Carlow County Council at the local authority’s monthly meeting due to numerous representations to him by members of the public. Cllr McDonald pointed out that “Carlow has been allocated €1.17m. Carlow town is getting €550,000, Tullow is getting €200,000 and Bagenalstown is getting €100,000. Where’s Ballon? After two years of being a holding centre, it seems this has disappeared all of a sudden. I propose that Ballon gets a portion of outstanding money, which is more than €200,000. For two years, clubs have done without the community hall.”
Independent councillor Will Paton said he, too, had been contacted about the 2024 Recognition Fund and the fact that Ballon was left off the list for funding. Cllr Paton pointed out: “I think, like John, that Ballon should get a second bite of the cherry. I would plead with the chief executive to look very generously on putting funding towards Ballon. They have actually done some really good work in Ballon and that needs to be recognised with a second round of funding. I ask you, when it comes to looking at round two and round three of funding that you would look at Ballon, give it careful consideration and be very generous with Ballon.”
Independent councillor Charlie Murphy added: “Ballon, I think, was the first in the county to step up to the mark (to look after refugees). There were no questions asked. There was a meeting in (Ballon) hall and they said yes straight away and they were seen to be proactive in this. The government are throwing money at the migrants issue like snuff at a wake. To me, Ballon is being left out here and it’s not fair. There was a big displacement in Ballon in the hall. There were lots of sports activities affected … a lot of meetings that had to be held somewhere else. This should be looked at again.”
People Before Profit councillor Adrienne Wallace backed the calls of her council colleagues. “I would like to commend those in Ballon for stepping up to the plate and showing Carlow is the county of a thousand welcomes.”
Also backing the call for funding to be allocated, cllr John Murphy (FG) said: “We’ll have to split the money allocated to Tullow with Ballon. That’s the only way out of it, as I can’t see any other way because we need to finish the car park in Ballon as the community and the parish have put their hands in their pockets on this.”
However, CEO Coilín O’Reilly revealed that in relation to Ballon and funding that he has visited and seen the great work which has been done by the community. Mr O’Reilly noted: “Really, they’ve stood up to the plate, probably one of the finest efforts by any community in Ireland. We were all very good in this chamber at pointing out what they did in the past, but everybody seemed to neglect that they did get €300,000 in the past, which was 32% of all the funding in the county for 2023 for what they were doing at that time. The reality is we did it (allocation of funding) on a proportional basis throughout the county. We have now moved forward to 2024 and there was a small number of refugees in Ballon for a number of months and it was no more than 48 (people) throughout the 2½ months they were there.
He continued: “Listen, I’m more than happy to work with the community in Ballon, I’ve seen the great work they’ve done, there are other funding schemes that will be available either through LEADER or other programmes and we’ll work with them to get funding they need for that, but the reality is that the 2024 funding is for communities which are hosting refugees and that is what the funding is for.
“The 20% which is retained is a requirement which has to be retained for 2025, so that’s next year’s money, so if we dip into that for next year, we’re taking out of the pot of (an area) that will be accommodating refugees next year, so that’s the reality of where it’s at.
“Ballon did their part and they did an amazing job and they got funding for it while they were doing that job. So now we are moving forward and Ballon is no longer doing that job and funding is being broken down on the basis of where it is being used at this time.”
In response, cllr McDonald said he appreciated everything the CEO had said, but added: “Yes, they got €300,000 for the parish, but that went to the centre. No money went to the clubs which were discombobulated; they had no use of the facility, which was newly built. All the clubs held activities in the centre and we lost everything for two years and I think it’s a small amount to pay back to those clubs. The community is only coming back on stream now and we are four months into this year. But they still housed refugees for part of this year, so they (clubs) have to get funding.
Independent councillor Will Paton added: “The people of Ballon feel they haven’t been recognised enough, particularly around the issue of a children’s playground. They really feel that is something Ballon is due. There has to be funding there. There is a round two and round three of funding coming up. If there are no refugees going to other areas, then some should go to Ballon. We need to support Ballon now that they need a children’s playground.
Mr O’Reilly retorted: “They (clubs) can get funding from other streams, but if councillors really, really want to push me, I will look to make an allocation to Ballon on the number of refugees they had for those months (this year). But it’s a really small amount of money because that’s how it’s done (funding) – by the number of refugees in the community.
“I’m more than happy to go out and meet the people of Ballon to look at a capital programme for the town and for that to work over the next three to four years, but on an equitable basis the funding is divided by the number of refugees in the county and that’s the reality and Ballon did really well. There’s no-one better than me to support kids and GAA, but it also has to be fair and equitable. I am more than willing to help Ballon with a playground. If that’s the unified ask from councillors, we will deliver a playground for Ballon, but it will not be from the Community Recognition Fund.”
