New dawn beckons for Doughiska as plans lodged for community centre and preschool

The DRA (Doughiska, Roscam and Ardaun) Community Development Company is looking to build a new community centre, new preschool, and an all-weather pitch on the site of the existing preschool on Doughiska Road.

It has asked Galway City Council planners to approve the removal of the five existing single-storey prefabricated buildings and their replacement with a new community centre to include a sports hall, changing rooms, gym, multi-purpose meeting rooms, a kitchenette, and a community room.

It will build a five-classroom, single-storey preschool with car and bicycle parking and a new synthetic all-weather or MUGA playing pitch with six floodlights.

The DRA is a charitable organisation and the facility will be community owned.

Galway City Councillor Alan Cheevers (FF) said this proposal would be a welcome addition to the east side of the city.

He said the developments would strengthen the community by improving local infrastructure and providing quality facilities for children, families, and sports clubs.

“It’s great to see continued investment helping to create better opportunities and amenities for everyone in Doughiska and Roscam,” he said.

The plans lodged in City Hall have their roots in the story of the new parish of Doughiska, according to Dan Hurley, company manager of DRA Community Development Company Limited.

In 2005, the then Bishop of Galway James McLoughlin created a new parish, Good Shepherd Parish, to serve this new burgeoning suburb in Galway City East that emerged during the Celtic Tiger.

Fr Martin Glynn was appointed administrator and he in turn set up a committee – including Mr Hurley, director of ARD FRC (Family Resource Centre) – to address infrastructure deficits in roads and buildings in the area.

The committee enlisted the help of academics at what was then NUIG to conduct a needs analysis of the Doughiska and Roscam areas. Launched in 2009, it highlighted a clear action list for works that needed to be done, including schools, a community centre, parks, and finishing roadways.

“The community profile really opened doors for us – when the Board of the DRA approached the Department of Education they were convinced of the need for a primary school from the profile we presented,” recalled Dan Hurley this week.

The process was not straightforward but after much lobbying and toing and froing two schools were built in the area as part of a Public Private Partnership.

The primary school Merlin Woods started in 2010 with just 16 pupils. It moved to its existing site in 2014 and now has 450 children plus an autistic unit. In the same year, the co-located Merlin College opened and it now has 700 students.

Mr Hurley jokingly recalls approaching parents with buggies in the area in the late Noughties to secure children for a new preschool.

In 2010, they got the required seven enrolments and opened a preschool in a spare room in the primary school in its initial year.

It then moved to a house owned by Galway City Council in An Sean Bhaile, which was also leased to Foróige. And from there it moved to a room where the café is now located at ARD/FRC. This was in the converted hotel—formerly known as Blackrock House Hotel, The Racing Lodge and Amber House Hotel—which ARD purchased in 2013 for €520,000 thanks to financial help from the local authority and the Galway Diocese in a deal that almost fell through.

The preschool then moved to prefabricated buildings on its existing site, which was owned by a developer who went into receivership.

It was far from straightforward, and it took years of waiting – and negotiations – before the 3.5 acres of land was purchased by ARD for the community.

Despite being valued at €3.5m during the boom, they bought it for the community for €55,000, in a sale that only closed in 2023.

The preschool caters to 80 children and 85 after-school students, proving it has outgrown its current temporary buildings.

“There’s a huge need. We’ve never advertised for pre-school and we have packed numbers every year,” said Dan Hurley.

He’s aware of the financial and possible planning hurdles that lie ahead, but is confident the facility can be delivered for the community.

“Nothing ever stalled us before,” he added.

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