The Maritime Heritage Centre in Castletownbere, Co Cork, which opened at the weekend, is the first such centre in the State to be staffed by adults with learning disabilities.
The centre is a joint initiative involving the CoAction group in west Cork and the Beara Historical Society and has been supported by the West Cork Leader Programme.
CoAction is a voluntary organisation established by parents of children and adults with learning disabilities in 1971. Its aim was to provide services in their own locality for those in need, to avoid making long journeys to Cork and elsewhere.
Nowadays, the group provides help for 220 children and adults with special learning needs throughout west Cork, covering a huge area from Castletownbere to Clonakilty. Its headquarters is in Bantry.
As well as offering paid employment to people with learning disabilities, the new centre will be a valuable tourism asset to Castletownbere and will create a direct link with CoAction and the wider community. Towards the end of next month, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, will perform the official opening of the centre, which uses multi-sensory equipment to tell the story of the Beara Peninsula from earliest times to the 1930s.
From small beginnings, driven by local needs, CoAction has become a vibrant group, providing a range of services from early childhood to adulthood in all parts of a diverse region.