Kilkishen kids have cause to celebrate

THE wait is finally over for the children of Kilkishen as the village is to open its first community playground on Thursday.

Fr Harry Bohan will officially cut the ribbon at 2pm while Fr Hugh O’Dowd will bless the playground. Also present will be local councillors and the Mayor of Clare Tony Mulcahy.
Speaking about the project to date, Mike Hogan, of the playground committee said, “We’ve had a huge amount of community spirit in the community. There’s a real upbeat feel about this. I have a list of 30 people that donated equipment or materials and we had a pool of 26 people that worked since the machines finished on January 25. We have had on average six to 10 people here every day including Saturdays. All we had to do was put a call out and we got people out. Some people took time off work. The young parents especially see the benefit of this. This whole area was just derelict site and we got permission from the landowners to clean it up and have it all paved off.”
Mike explained that before lodging their plans for the playground, the community had identified seven sites for the playground but this particular site won out in the end due to its location opposite the school and as it was owned by the council.
“The area was just wild but you wouldn’t believe the community spirit to get this finished. The weather was a big thing, since Christmas we have been working on this in -5 and –7 degrees some mornings. We didn’t mind once the day was fine,” he added.
The playground caters for the very young up to age 15 and has a range of activities for each age group. A particular feature of the playground is the climbing block, while other additions include four chair swings and bird nest swings. Meanwhile, good use was made of the space as hop scotch games were illustrated on the tarmac.
There will be an evening celebration for the community in Donnellan’s Hall in Kilkishen that night at 9pm, where musician Alan Kelly will play and light refreshments will be served. All are welcome to attend.
The community will now be turning their attention to developing more amenities to cater for teenagers in Kilkishen.