by Alan Jacques
(Picture: Brian Gavin Press 22)
WITH not as much as a shop to buy a loaf of bread or a pint of milk, the people of Tournafulla joined forces to inject new life into their struggling community.
“You pay for progress. When the bubble burst, Tournafulla practically died. We lost all our shops and were left with just two pubs,” Helen Broderick of Tournafulla Sustainable Living told Newcastle West councillors at their monthly meeting.
“We were no longer a prosperous and thriving community,” she continued.
Local business people and community members came together three and a half years ago to form a co-operative in the hope of kickstarting the economy in their small village on the southwest of Limerick.
Ms Broderick said they used agricultural co-operative pioneer Horace Plunkett’s model as inspiration and have gone from “strength to strength” through coffee mornings, Christmas markets and the establishment of a country cafe in the village.
“The spirit of the people has come round again. We saw there was the potential to do something different and we are getting people out and engaging again,” she explained.
“We have no bus service, no taxi service, we are just a small community on the Limerick border with Cork and Kerry. All the money we raise goes back into community projects. It also offers people the chance to get out and meet other people. We have gradually seen the spirit return into the community and we need to get back people back into work. We need enterprise,” she concluded.
Since its establishment, Touranfulla Sustainable Living has seen the establishment of three successful businesses (one landscape gardener and two bakers). The co-operative now needs investment of €25,000 to upgrade its community centre where the cafe is open four hours a day, twice a week.
Fianna Fail councillor Michael Collins proposed that the local authority should allocate the €25,000 from its general municipal fund.
“They are ready to go,” he said.
“They are an energetic and committed group in a very rural area. The whole parish has been decimated since the downturn. They lost their post office, which was a great meeting place, especially for the elderly. They have nothing to stimulate economy in the whole area,” Cllr Collins added.
His party colleague Cllr Francis Foley, seconded the proposal to allocate monies from the general municipal fund and described the venture as a “fantastic idea”.
“Anything that helps the community is important. It is great to see people coming together to form an initiative and a meeting area is needed. I fully support them,” said Cllr Foley.
Cllr John Sheahan (FG) complimented the co-operative for “striving for some semblance of community spirit in their village”.
“They’ve lost everything. If you don’t partake in a drink, there is nothing else for you,” he declared.
Cllr Sheahan proposed that a special meeting be called on the structure of the general municipal fund.
“We will be snowed under with requests and won’t be in an ass’s roar of meeting them. We need a longterm plan,” he told council members.
District director for Newcastle West, Paul Crowe, agreed that the “mechanics” of how applications could be made to the general municipal fund needed to be looked at.
