Scariff Teagasc building not for sale

TEAGASC has entered into a new leasing arrangement with Clare Local Development Company for its Scariff base, which will mean the decision to close and sell this Teagasc office by January 2012 will not take place.
The proposed closure was announced earlier this year and it had been intended to sell the Teagasc building redeploying staff to its Ennis base thereby cutting a service in East Clare.
However, a five-year lease has been signed by Clare Local Development Company to take up residence in the building, while Teagasc is to lease a room within the building to maintain an advisory service at the centre.
The advisory service previously offered at the Teagasc centre will be cut but the organisation will still maintain a presence for farmers by holding appointment-based clinics, with an advisor in Scariff, on a number of days each week.
The new arrangement came about after the initial decision to close the Scariff facility was met with public outcry in the East Clare and South Galway areas and resulted in the setting up of a local steering committee in May of this year. Together with public representatives, the steering committee, headed by Sean Bugler, lobbied Teagasc and met with its director to discuss an alternative to cutting the Scariff service.
Following discussions with Professor Gerry Boyle, director of Teagasc, this summer it was agreed that Teagasc would lease the existing building in Scariff and would then rent a room from the lease holder to carry out weekly clinics.
In a statement issued to The Clare Champion this week, Teagasc confirmed it has leased its building in Scariff to Clare Local Development Company “under a five-year lease arrangement”.
“Teagasc, in turn, will lease back a room within the building to maintain an advisory clinic for Teagasc clients. Under the Teagasc Change Programme agreed in 2009, the organisation is reducing its network of advisory offices down by 40 to 51 offices. The majority of these will have closed by the end of 2011. The advisory office in Scariff is closing at the end of the year with most staff relocating to Ennis. A clinic is being set up in Scariff so that farmers can make an appointment to meet an advisor on a number of days each week. Through this arrangement, farmers can avail of the range of Teagasc services. The building, which was due to be sold, will now be retained by Teagasc,” a Teagasc spokesperson confirmed.
Doreen Graham, chief executive of Clare Local Development Company, described the new arrangement as “the first of its kind in the country”.
“The Scariff office is the only office that was listed for closure that has managed to escape closure and has come up with an alternative model, which the Teagasc board were happy with,” she said.
Ms Graham confirmed that CLDC, formerly based in Tuamgraney, will move to the office in Scariff and will use the building for training purposes, as well as for events and activities happening as part of their work in Leader, the local and community development programme and the Clare Wood Energy project.
While they will hold a five-year lease on the building, Ms Graham said the building won’t be a full-time office for CLDC but she hoped the building could be utilised by community groups and organisations and could become a community hub for East Clare.
“The Teagasc building offers a good training facility, which we don’t have in Tuamgraney and, in fact, is something that is in short supply in the East Clare area. We have just started a local training initiative in horticulture based at the Teagasc office and this runs for nine months. We hope to get more of those training programmes up and running in the future. We are happy with the move and believe this will be a good training base for activities we would be running in East Clare and it is also helping the farming community to retain a service so it is a win for the farmers and a win for the community,” she said.
Ms Graham also acknowledged “the strong effort” made by locals in bringing this arrangement about.
“We were always a willing partner but what I would say is we want the building to be used by the community. This vision for the building is not just about CLDC using it but it’s about the broader community using it too and making it a hub for Scariff and the East Clare area. It is an opportunity to hold on to the building to use it for different organisations, voluntary and community groups and that’s what we’d like to see happening,” she concluded.
Councillor Joe Cooney, who got behind the steering committee in their bid to retain services in Scariff, said there was widespread “dismay and disbelief among the farmers and business people in the East Clare and South Galway area” at a public meeting following the announcement of the proposed closure.
“The belief on the night was that no way should the centre be sold and we should look for an alternative,” he said.
“Sean Bugler as chairman of the steering committee, with the help of the local councillors, organised a meeting with Gerry Boyle in Scariff in June. At that meeting, it was asked of him if other bodies got involved and would rent the building would he look at leasing, rather than selling or rent a room for clinics and that’s where that idea came from. We said we would look to see if someone would rent it and it did happen and now CLDC have taken out the lease from Teagasc,” Councillor Cooney said.
He described the new arrangement as “a big asset for Scariff and East Clare and a major asset for the farmers”.
“Both the farmers and the business people of Scariff were very disappointed when they heard it was closing. Now with the retention of the building and CLDC in there, it is a boost and will also bring more business in around Scariff. I’m happy we have retained the building and retained a Teagasc service in Scariff for five years and hopefully things will improve,” he concluded.
Mayor of Clare Councillor Pat Hayes said he is disappointed that Scariff was losing its advisory services and there is still a downgrading of the offices but he said the retention of the building is welcome news for the community.
“I hope the CLD will provide extra services for the community and that Teagasc will be able to retain a credible service in County Clare,” Councillor Hayes concluded.