Cathedral Quarter: Piecing together a powerful statement in Letterkenny

Two years ago, Shane Toolan and I visited the Rath Mor Centre run by the Creggan Enterprises in Derry. For those unfamiliar with the Rath Mor Centre, it was opened in 1995 and accommodates retail and community enterprises that service the local area.

Among its main functions are owning and administering community resources such as land and buildings for the benefit of the local community, and to be a catalyst for change and regeneration within Creggan and the surrounding areas.

When we met their representatives and told them about our mission and the challenges we faced, they stated that they believed that we were letting Donegal County Council off the hook by not giving us more support.

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But speaking to local councillors, they told us that the local authority's hands were tied because they did not have an actual building in Letterkenny Cathedral Quarter.

Under the Letterkenny 2040 plan, the Regeneration section of Donegal Council wants to develop a Creative Hub and Cathedral Quarter Park in the land between Church Lane and Upper Main Street that stretches as far over as Speers Lane. If Donegal County Council does put a building in the area, then they will have a responsibility to support our organisation.

There are many similarities between ourselves and Creggan Enterprises and it is only right that our organisation be the main partners in the development of the area. While the Creative Hub is a very important aspect to the project, it is not the only one, as regular readers of the column know.

The best analogy of the whole project is the Cathedral Quarter mosaic, in that part might seem small and insignificant when by themselves, but when you might all the pieces together, it creates a powerful statement.

Budget 2026
Like many people, I normally zone out when the Budget makes the news cycle, as in my experience, ‘What they give you with one hand, they take away with the other’. Therefore what is the point in getting worked up about something that will really not affect me one way or the other?

As someone who is long-term unemployed and is currently on a CE scheme, they have increased the Social Welfare rates by €10 per week but that increase will be cancelled out by the cost-of-living increases. Plus, the Government has constantly failed to support me in gaining employment through the Cathedral Quarter initiative. My recent debacle with the Department of Social Welfare and People First is only further proof of this.

One initiative introduced by the Minister of Finance, Pascal Donohue, is the extension of the Living City Initiative to Letterkenny Town Centre, is very much welcomed. The Living City Initiative will provide financial incentives to owners of historical commercial buildings to convert ‘Above the shop’ units into residential. Living above the shop is something that we have been advocating for a very long time and has happened in Letterkenny before.

While it is good to see this move, we were disappointed that the Government has failed to introduce a Basic Income Scheme for people involved in Community Development. They have made the Basic Income Scheme for Artists permanent but it is only right and proper that a similar scheme be developed for people in our Sector. As mentioned many times before, the Community Social Programme operated by POBAL is simply not for the purpose for smaller groups and they find themselves languishing on the Dole with no support from the Central Government despite the work that they do.

Our Literary Festival Tenth Anniversary
Last weekend, we hosted our tenth Literary Festival and I want to take this opportunity to thank our own main committee, the Literary sub-committee, all the participants, funders, sponsors and venues that have been associated with the festival in the past decade. It has been quite a journey.

I have written an article in the Letterkenny Christmas Annual, which will be out in shops for the festive period. But keep an eye out for the opening sentence and how the article ends. Just some things are meant to be.