by Alan Jacques
(Pic: Brendan Gleeson)
THE development of Mungret Park can act as an attraction for people thinking of establishing new enterprises in Limerick.
And it’s vital that people realise its importance as one of the city’s biggest social developments of recent times with €1million local authority funding already committed for the next three years.
That’s the view of Limerick City West Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler who says that although they live in the most populated area of Limerick, the people of Raheen, Dooradoyle and Mungret have few amenities for a growing population.
“It has always been a talking point and it has really come to the fore now. The key reason is demographics. People are having young families, growing families, and have nowhere local to bring them for a quite, safe walk or to play on a swing,” he explained.
However, he insists there is more to the Mungret development than swings and roundabouts.
“There is a growing realisation that for Limerick to grow economically, we need to attract the top talent in terms of engineers, science professionals and such. The way to do that is make Limerick an attractive place to live and bring up a family. We are competing for talent on an international stage, so we are not just competing with Cork but also Berlin or London,” the Raheen-based councillor told the Limerick Post.
As part of the development on the grounds of Mungret College, there are also plans for two primary schools, Gaelscoil Rathin and Limerick East Educate Together that are due for completion and opening in September 2016.
A large playground is also planned and tenders are currently being prepared for this aspect of the development.
“If you think of the size of the area and then consider we only have one public swing set in the whole area, it shows you the need of the playground and why there is such an interest in this.”
Mungret College itself is a protected structure and Cllr Butler hopes the historic building will serve as a community hub for a scout hall, athletics club and older persons clubs.
“It is part of an historic location with settlements that were monastic in nature going back centuries on the site. As a community, we need a central hub, a heart which we lack locally and this is our chance for that and I think people locally feel strongly about that,” he said.
