A large crowd attended the opening ceremony and in addition to Minister Michael Ring, Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr Pat Nugent and Minister John Halligan also spoke of the importance of the campus for the development of the Carrickphierish area. The opening ceremony was followed by an open day during which visitors could tour the full campus comprised of two schools, Gaelscoil na nDeise and Waterford Educate Together, a state of the art library and a large sports hall which is shared by the two schools and the community.
Waterford Sports Partnership’s involvement in the campus development began in late 2015 when we
successfully applied for funding from Dormant Accounts via Sport Ireland which was matched with funding from Waterford City & County Council to set up a Community Sports Hub at the campus. We have received funding each year since 2015 to continue the work in developing participation opportunities at the hub.
Our core objective in setting up the Community Sports Hub was and is to maximise the opportunity presented by this fantastic new facility for the local community to participate in sport and physical activity. The sports hall is shared by the two schools during school term and available for use by the community in the evenings, at weekends and during school holidays.
Many local sports and community groups are now benefiting from the use of the sports hall outside schools hours which is being co-ordinated very successfully by Waterford Sports Partnership Hub Development Officer, Louise Barry. Speaking at the opening event Louise said ‘As Hub Development Officer with Waterford Sports Partnership, it is an immensely proud occasion to have the Sports Hub facility of the Carrickphierish Community Campus officially open. This is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication to provide a facility that will benefit all members of the surrounding community.’
The Carrickphierish Campus Steering Group was formed in 2016 and it includes representation from Waterford Sports Partnership, Waterford City & County Council Community Department, Sports Facilities and Library Services, Waterford Educate Together, Gaelscoil na nDeise, St. Brigid’s Family Resource Centre, Waterford Area Partnership and Northern Suburbs Youth Project. The group has prioritized a partnership approach to the development of this campus as an inclusive, welcoming, place of activity, learning and development. This can be seen in the many collaborations between the various partners to date.The opportunity to participate in sport and physical activity in your own local community is very important today and we are delighted that, for the young people of this community in particular, the centre is now a home for the newly formed Deise Dragons Multi sport club for children and young people with physical disabilities, the Waterford Vikings Basketball club and also Roanmore GAA, Mount Sion GAA and De la Salle GAA use the facilities to cater for their juveniles and to engage local participation during the Winter and Spring months. There are Irish dancing classes for young people and fitness classes for adults as well as support for training an education for teachers, coaches and volunteers. High quality sports equipment has been purchased for use by the schools and community.
We now have a full and varied schedule of timetabled activities for the community outside school hours. The opening of the library in May 2017 was also significant as it brings new visitors to the campus and access to two additional function rooms presents an opportunity for the Hub for more daytime activities in the future.
Rosarie Kealy, Sports Co-ordinator with Waterford Sports Partnership said ‘This is a really great day for all involved in this wonderful new campus. For us in Waterford Sports Partnership we can see the positive impacts of the work over the last two years in developing the Community Sports Hub. There are now many and varied opportunities for the local community to participate in sport and physical activity using the equipment and facilities at Carrickphierish. We have worked in collaboration with Waterford City and County Council, local sports clubs, NGBs and local community organisations and it is those partnerships that will make this a sustainable facility. Thank you to all our partners for their great work.’
For more information on activities and booking for the sports hall, please contact Louise Barry at 0761 10 2619 or lbarry@waterfordsportspartnership.ie.
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