As most residents know who live in the village, we have no real community facilities except for the handball alley. We have no community centre or resource centre that the community can use and come together to get involved in different projects like a Men’s Shed, Training, Support Groups, Kids/Parents Groups, Hobby Clubs etc, you get the idea.
Other communities like Kilskyre and Ballinlough have purpose built buildings for the community and I’m sure if a community group in Crossakiel wanted access to their community centre, there would be no problem however, it would be nice to be able to walk to a building in Crossakiel rather than having to drive and to have our own centre that services the community of Crossakiel.
Now there is funding available from Meath County Council for community groups, but a local committee would probably have to be setup first to oversee the project. Unfortunately based on past experiences with this idea over the years, a local residents committee never seemed to really get off the ground due one issue or another.
If we did however, manage to get liked minded residents to come together on behalf of the community, then there just might be a way that we can speed up the process of having a temporary building for a Crossakiel Community and Resource Centre. This building would come in the form of a 40ft x 12ft portacabin. There are companies that have “end of line” cabins who are happy to donate them for free to local community groups. Yes, they will need some work, but with the help of volunteers, this could be done. The only cost involved with the cabin would be the shipping cost which would be approx. €1250 depending on where it is being shipped from.
So where could we put the cabin in the village? Well, we do have a community field that belongs to the community and one of the locations that was suggested was beside the Handball alley where the gate and pathway is, on the right hand side. Obviously for transparency reasons, a local community meeting would have to be held and local groups like the handball alley committee, the tidy towns committee, along with local residents would need to attend to discuss this idea. We would also need to discuss the need for access to local services like sewage and electricity which would be required for the portacabin.
I’m sure with the demographic of Crossakiel, there must be electricians and plumbers living locally that could help out the volunteers when fitting out the portacabin. Once the cabin is in place, funding can then be applied for and there are a number of grants available for community groups. This means that if someone did offer to loan the committee the funds to get the cabin shipped and a basic refurbishment done, we could reimburse the person/group at a later stage once the funding comes through. This idea has already been tried and tested, so we know it is possible.
As times are getting harder, the coming together of the community seems to be the way forward.
Feedback regarding this idea from local residents would be a big help, so we would appreciate it if you gave us your feedback. You can email
It’s your community, what would you like to do?