The newly refurbished Town Hall in Loughrea will become a cultural and economic flagship for the whole region.
That’s according to East Galway TD Ciaran Cannon after the announcement of €1.63m in funding for the Town Hall.
The Minister said that it is a ‘historic moment’ in the life of Loughrea and thanked LARC, Loughrea Chamber of Commerce, Loughrea Credit Union and Galway Co. Council who worked closely with me in making the case for this funding”.
Minister Cannon said: “In 2018, I invited Rural Development Minister Michael Ring to visit Loughrea to meet with Cllr. Michael Maher, Cllr. Jimmy McClearn, Shane Donnellan and others. We outlined to him the very ambitious plans we had for the development of the town both economically and culturally”.
The redevelopment of Loughrea Town Hall will include a 158 seated theatre and multi-functional space for arts, culture, creative and community endeavours making it the cultural core of the town.
It will also include a tourism information office which will connect tourists and our community to tourism assets and an active events calendar.
A Digital + Creative Enterprise Hub will also create 74 jobs within three years with an injection of €3.5 million additional spend into the local economy, according to Minister Cannon.
The Fine Gael TD said: “Minister Ring has confirmed to me that he is allocating a grant of €1.63 m to Loughrea Town Hall under the Rural Regeneration Development fund.
“This is an historic moment in the life of Loughrea. Our newly refurbished Town Hall will now become a cultural and economic flagship for our whole region.
“I want to say a very sincere thanks to all of the great people in LARC, Loughrea Chamber of Commerce, Loughrea Credit Union and Galway Co. Council who worked closely with me in making the case for this funding.
“This is how communities succeed, by working together, by pooling our expertise, our wisdom and our energy. We were also fortunate to be able to avail of the expertise of Orla Casey of Momentum Consulting in preparing a superb application for funding.
“As a child I cycled to Loughrea cinema to see many movies. To see this wonderful building being brought back to life in my fifties will be something very special indeed.”
