Donore Avenue Youth and Community Centre News
The Donore Avenue Youth and Community Centre, which was built on the site of the original dilapidated community centre and was completed in May 2004, was part of the wider Saint Theresa’s Garden’s regeneration project, which entailed the demolition of Saint Theresa’s Gardens Flats complexes and the building of new residential complexes such as the one now at Margaret Kennedy Road. The centre was a very valuable asset to the local community and it has been sorely missed since it was badly damaged in the fire which occurred more than four years ago. Although staff at the community centre and the locals who used it had been initially optimistic that it could be reopened within a year, they have been left disappointed time and time again by delays to its renovation.
The Fire and its Aftermath
The centre had only briefly reopened after the Covid lockdown when the fire broke out. The fire, which a Garda investigation found was not malicious, broke out on Tuesday 22nd of June 2021 at approximately 9pm. Some 30 firefighters were involved in extinguishing the blaze. The flames, which were plainly visible shooting out of the upper floor windows, engulfed the building. Fortunately, nobody was injured in the incident but the fire caused extensive damage to the community centre, leaving it unusable for the local community for whom it had been built.
Crucial community services which operated out of the Donore Avenue Youth and Community Centre included the Targeted Response Youth Project and the Donore Community Drug and Alcohol Team. It was also used to host other activities, such as yoga classes, which were popular with older residents of the community, a breakfast club where local children could have breakfast and a homework club where they could do homework together after school. The centre had been open from 7.30 am to 22.00 on weekdays and had provided a comfortable and safe place for members of the community to meet and interact with each other on a daily basis.
The community centre, which had a large hall and a roof garden, was also used as the venue for Saint Catherine’s School end of year concert venue where up to 200 parents would be in the audience to see their children on-stage. There is not enough room in the school for that today or for the physical education activities which the school also used the community centre hall for.
Anger and Frustration at Delays
Although Dublin City Council have committed to beginning work on refurbishment and repairs to the centre, it still remains closed and there is still no date firmly set as to when work will begin to make it useable again for the local community. Delays in beginning this work have caused anger and disappointment among local residents and their representatives for whose use and enjoyment the centre was built.
Jen Cummins TD, who is the Social Democrats TD for Dublin South-Central and who was a Dublin City Councillor from June to November 2024, outlined her opinion on the delays in renovation and repairs to the Donore Avenue Community Centre by email as follows.
‘It is a disgrace that the centre is taking as long as it has taken to be renovated. There is excuse after excuse. As a local resident and user of that centre since it was opened, I hear people express their sadness, frustration and anger that the community appears to be ignored, forgotten and disrespected. It is not good enough that the one community space we had is not usable. Every year on the anniversary of the fire the community gathers to mourn the loss and express our anger.’
When Will Work Begin?
At a meeting of the South Central Area Committee meeting on Wednesday the 19th of February last, Councillor Ciaran O’Meachair of Sinn Fein, who represents the South West Inner City electoral area, called for the urgent refurbishment of the community centre, which has suffered many delays and requested that a timeline outlining the resumption and completion of the project be outlined.
In response, Dublin City Council project manager Don Daly said that he was committed to get the project out to tender on March 7th of 2025 and that tenders would be returned within a month. He also said that once tenders had been received, pressure would be put on various contractors to expedite the matter and he hoped that centre would be back open by the late summer of 2026. According to Mr. Daly, once tenders had been returned, Dublin City Council would come back with a definite program.
Issues concerning the Donore Avenue community have also been raised at the Donore Project Consultative Forum (DPCF), where all matters concerning development of the local community are discussed.
The Donore Project Consultative Forum will also continue asking DCC for timelines for various stages of the refurbishment process and it will provide this information on its website as it becomes available. You can keep up to date with the latest news concerning this and other local matters at the DPCF online newsletter below.
Latest News – Donore Project Consultative Forum
For those who wish to avail of the services of the Donore Community Drug and Alcohol Team, it is today based at 78B Donore Avenue, which is behind Saint Teresa’s Church. They can be contacted at (01) 416 4339 or 087 214150 or by email at fearghal@donorecdat.ie
