Fighting the challenges of rural life in St Johnston-Carrigans areas

Small Donegal villages are painfully aware of the existential predicament they face. Few are strangers to the sobering realities of declining and ageing populations, young people moving to bigger towns and cities, difficulty maintaining infrastructure, and sky-high unemployment.

They’re aware of the odds stacked against them. The rural population has watched years of neglect turn to a place with “no industry, no services”.

Although the prospects for survival seem bleak, residents of some small towns are working to reverse the trend, drawing both on creative ideas and on the good old-fashioned community spirit that tiny towns are known for.

The challenge is most acute in the smallest places. But in St Johnston and Carrigans they're lucky, they've built up a focal point in their Family Resource Centre that acts as a catalyst for change and a one-stop-shop for guiding individuals and groups in both areas.

And as is so often the case, one person can be the driving force. Although she would deny this applies to her, Mary Crossan is one such person. The 66-year-old mother of 13’s input and determination to put St Johnston and Carrigans on the map have won her not only many admirers but many who believe she had helped put down a road map for progress going into the future.

Mary, who retired last Friday as project coordinator at the centre, began her stint in community work back in the early 1980s when the St Johnston-Carrigans Community Playgroup began looking to move from the small one room, one toilet Church Lane premises to something more suitable for the preschool toddlers.

Cornerstone

“A voluntary group was set up with the playgroup as the cornerstone of going forward,” Mary recalled

“We had outgrown what we had and were looking for a childcare facility and some more. There was no proper health centre, nowhere for people to meet, socialise or ask for advice. All this proved there was a real gap in our area.”

Mary Crossan with her family at the retirement function held to mark her retirement as project coordinator from the St Johnston - Carrigans Family Resource Centre after 19 years of service to the community from 2003 to 2022

After a 1997 survey confirmed their needs, the group of about seven members harnessed all their skills and sought out Peace and other types of funding and that's where the foundation for the Family Resource Centre on Chapel Road came from.

She adds they then joined the Family Resource Centre network in 2002 and also applied to be sponsors of the Community Employment Project which has now 24 staff.

“We were all inspired to get better things for our area. As villages, we have been left in no man's land for far too long. The railway line through here closed in 1965 and with growing regulations in the salmon fishing industry on the Foyle and the Troubles just down the road in Derry, our area just went into decline socially and economically,” she said.

But Mary is a great believer if you want something, it's better to go and do it for yourself.
“I realised if we as local people didn't do something, no one was going to do it for us.

“We're off the beaten track, a bit forgotten because over the years there has been more of an emphasis on developing the Letterkenny side. It proved to be our inspiration and drive to have something better here.”

Mary is a proud St Johnston woman, living just two doors up from where she was born. She is very proud of what the locals have achieved through the resource centre.

“It's a very busy centre with a great management committee. Our community development worker, Deborah Clawson will be taking over as project coordinator on Friday which is fantastic. She knows the lay of the land very well.”

Community

Other things in the centre include the Stepping Stone Playgroup, counselling services, administrative services, as well as a fantastic community hall which is used every day and every evening. They also cater for an after school club, a parent and toddler group, a breastfeeding support group as well as community education courses, so there's a lot of stuff going on.

The centre also established three times daily transport run to Letterkenny through the Rural Link service, something unheard of before this. They also lobbied using local councillors Frank McBrearty Jnr and Gerry Crawford to seek out an improved sewerage system which up to this was simply running into the River Foyle.

“Some houses were just thrown up with no thoughts about developing our infrastructure as social houses had not been built here for a long time. We got a few footpaths but still need a lot more,” she says.

“Even during Covid, we were very busy. Some communities found it difficult to connect with essential services but we acted as a catalyst for that so people could come here and make contact with them. Our centre really is the heartbeat of the community.”

She explains when people visit their area they are astounded to find how removed their villages are from everything.

“We're neither north nor south. All our TDs are north, west or south of the county and thanks to the policies for the past 40-50 years we've been left behind and indeed forgotten about. In fact, most of these policies were disastrous for Donegal as a whole.”

Mary describes her tenure as “a fantastic journey”. Indeed she was so committed to making it work that she returned to college and did a degree in community development at the Letterkenny Institute of Technology.

“I thought if I am going to make any difference I'd better take this seriously,” she joked. She is passionate about St Johnston and Carrigans but realises that they have to fight for their future.

“The country is full of community places but here it's different. people see us as the first point of contact. I'm not saying we're the be-all and end-all but we do serve a purpose and as there is no job creation or investment here, we have to constantly lobby for anything.

“All we want is a bit of fair play, sometimes we only get the scraps from the table and not what we should be getting or need. I want to see two towns with the proper services and amenities they need. I think we deserve that. This is a good community with good people and a great place to bring up a family.

“Both St Johnston and Carrigans have a lot going for them. The area has fantastic potential, great walks, historic sites, some of the best land in the country, and a Special Areas of Conservation between the villages along the Foyle.

“Now we want the opportunity to give the community a chance to survive. This is the undiscovered country.”

Farewell function for Mary
Community groups, St Johnston and Carrigans Family Resource centre committee, local clergy, colleagues and friends all gathered at the centre last week for a surprise farewell function for Mary.

They were all there to celebrate her huge contribution to the centre and the community it serves. Glowing tributes were paid to her outstanding work and drive. She promised never to be too far away but said she was confident their voluntary management committee and indeed everyone that uses the centre will keep the shoulder to the wheel in their ongoing journey to improve the quality of life and services for their two villages.