Longford TD Carrigy "extremely confident" funding will be granted for town Family Resource Centre

Longford TD Micheál Carrigy says he is “extremely confident” Longford town will be included in an upcoming list of locations to be granted funding for a new Family Resource Centre (FRC.)  

A government announcement - which is expected to be made this side of Christmas - will see 10 new locations being allocated funding and it is now looking very likely that Longford town will be on that list.

If successful, the new centre will be located in Attic House on the Ballinalee Road.  

The application for funding was made by a voluntary steering committee - members of which include Deputy Micheál Carrigy and Councillor Seamus Butler. 

In the application, which was originally submitted earlier this year, the committee - in conjunction with the local authority and a number of community groups - developed and published a report titled, The Needs Assessment Report for the Development of a Family Resource Centre in Longford Town, to strengthen their request.  

The report proved that Longford has “one of the highest levels of deprivation in the country” with the percentage of child protection referrals among the highest nationally.

The report also reflected the fact that poverty, housing instability, and school avoidance are on the rise.  

Despite the valiant efforts of the group, Longford, was not included in the previous list of 5 locations that were granted funding back in September. Their application was automatically carried over for consideration in the next round of funding.   

With the new announcement now imminent, hopes are high for an early Christmas gift in the form of a positive outcome. 

In the event of Longford being successful, it is expected the necessary funds will be available as soon as January. 

Deputy Carrigy told the Longford Leader, “I’m extremely confident that we will be successful when the announcement is made in the short term. We put a strong case together with the Needs Assessment which was carried out with the local authority, agencies and various people involved in the community. I was delighted to work with them and support them.”  

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme