Newsletter
Roundstone Community Hall Refurbishment Project
Update July 2nd 2025 - More Progress
Community Hall Refurbishment
As you know we recently received a grant of €50,380.00 from the climate Action Programme which is administered by Galway County Council.
The primary focus of this grant was towards the upgrade of the heaters, doors, windows etc and the installation of Solar Panels on the Roof, in order to reduce energy costs (Stage 1 only). We installed 60 solar panels on the roof in early January of 2025. Because of the backlog of work that the E.S.B had after Storm Eowyn the panels are only due to be connected to the grid within the next week or so. This will greatly reduce lighting and heating costs.
This grant also covered the replacement of the internal and external lighting with more energy efficient LED units.
In August of last year we submitted an application to the Community Centres Investment Fund. We are pleased to report that we received the highest grant in country of €100,000. This grant is mainly to cover the internal wall and roof insulation, rain water treatment and guttering. Work on this project will start in September 2025.
As part of the Project 2030 Vision for Roundstone, and to honour one of its primary objectives, we have also engaged a firm of architects to carry out a feasibility study for the expansion of the Community Hall and the development of a Cultural Centre in Roundstone. We expect to have the results of this feasibility study in the coming months and will have full community engagement on future plans.
It’s all about improving things for the community in general!!
SEAI Energy Master Plan
Roundstone has been designated a ‘Sustainable Energy Community’ by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and as such we are also embarking on the development of an Energy Master Plan for the community. We are currently in the process of selecting a consultant to carry out this work. This will enable us to develop an energy baseline for the community and comes with a €20,000 grant for BER ‘s for 10 premises and 5 community buildings.
Background
The RoundstoneForFun project was started by Greig and Anna Sweeney for the purpose of raising money for medical research and for the local community. Initially it was intended to fund an extension on the front of the Community Hall to build a balcony overlooking Roundstone Bay. Annual events were organised over a six year period starting in 2017. During that period RoundstoneForFun raised approximately €140,000, 50% of which was donated to medical research supporting Cancer, Motor Neurone Disease and Parkinsons Disease Research bodies.
It became obvious that the Community Hall was more in need of refurbishment than extension so the Roundstone Community Development Council asked the RoundstoneForFun group to continue their efforts but to refocus on the restoration of the Community Hall.
A Community Hall Project task Force team was set up in early December 2023, consisting of seven members for the complete refurbishment and development of the Roundstone Community Hall. This committee was appointed by Roundstone Community Development Council and reports directly to the Council. The recently elected Council also renewed the mandate of this group to continue its efforts. The group consists of some members of the Council along with others who give their time on a voluntary basis.
The voluntary team consists of R de S, (submissions, meetings etc) Anne Conneely, (Ideas, mentoring), Diarmuid Vaughan, (support on construction) David Scott (Legal). Des Cullen (Social Media), Greg and Anna Sweeney (Fundraising Input), Noel Thompson (Building Consultancy), Barry O’Brien (Grant Applications). Essentially this is a group of like-minded individuals with a love for Roundstone and its environs.
In early Summer of 2025 we engaged Michael Killeen of TheCXAcademy to engage with the wider community to develop a master plan for the Roundstone area. We had a community workshop event and a further gathering to select general directions for the community over the next five years. The results of this are published on our home page and constitute the bedrock for our future plans.
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Why No Party This Year?
We have been very busy with the various grant applications and administration of work in progress but we have a nice surprise planned for next year so watch this space!!!