A Mill almost 200 years old, youth support services and a community resource centre received Community Initiative Awards from the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, in Cork yesterday. The three winning projects chosen from FAS supported schemes in Cork and Kerry will compete with those from the other 10 FAS regions in this year's national competition.
Bealick Mill, the winner in the environment/heritage category, is about a mile from the Co Cork town of Macroom. It had continued supplying the town with electricity until the arrival of the ESB supply in 1935. Its main purpose had been as a grain mill.
Those involved in the project have restored it to working order, having rescued parts buried in the undergrowth around the stone building. They intend to install a bakery, craft shop, restaurant, pottery and lecture hall in the mill as the second stage of their work, which employed 36 people on a FAS community youth training programme since 1994.
The Community Service category winner was the Kerry Diocesan Youth Service in Tralee. They provide a range of youth and related services, including information, training programmes for early school-leavers, a creche, and a developmental programme for young members of the travelling community.
Currently, 68 FAS Community Employment workers are involved in the service, with 16 in Listowel, 17 in Tralee and 35 in Killarney. The Annascaul Community Development Company Ltd was the winner in the Community Enterprise Category. They operate a local community resource centre which includes office, computing, internet and e-mail services for the local community.
They also cultivate flowers for their area between Tralee and Dingle and hope to develop this commercially. Another aspect of their project is the maintenance and sign-posting of local sections of the Dingle Way tourist walk and the renovation of stone walls along the walk.
They provide tourist information services, including a directory and accommodation. A total of 26 FAS community employment workers have been involved in the projects. The Minister for Education, Mr Martin, said that while there had been a rapid growth in employment, the labour force was also growing rapidly. Unemployment, particularly long-term unemployment, still presented a serious challenge.