A COMMUNITY group based in Co Offaly has been granted a licence for the recreational use of one of Ireland’s most infamous industrial schools.
A portion of the notorious Daingean reformatory, a complex synonymous with the abuse of children, is to be handed over to the Daingean Sports Complex Committee.
The Office of Public Works granted the 10-year licence to the committee, who hope to use the establishment as a sports facility for local children.
Committee chairman Donal Milne acknowledged the industrial school’s “horrific past” and said the reformatory now has the potential for a “terrific future”.
Although the reformatory was once a place of dread for children, “now it is going to be used as a means of giving children something to look forward to,” said Mr Milne.
Committee treasurer Nicola Martin said a portion of the facility had been used by children from the town of Daingean for a couple of years in the 1980s.
“I’m from Daingean, I grew up in Daingean so it’s great to think my kids will get the opportunities we had when we were growing up,” she said.
The group will begin a fund-raising drive in coming months and are hopeful the facility can be used for basketball, handball, tennis and football.
Thousands of young boys endured abuse, cruelty and brutality at Daingean reformatory until it closed in 1973. Those sent there included Dublin musician Don Baker, who spent two years at the reformatory after arriving in 1963 at the age of 13.