Clones

Pride of Place

2011

Our Town

• Founded 6th Century by St Tiarnach• Located right along the border

– Border road closures had huge negative impact on the town, both economically and socially

• Busy market town at centre of region, crossroads for railway lines, road routes and canal– Sidelined and neglected with closure of the above

• Highest level of relative deprivation in Co Monaghan– 36% of adults primary education only

• Physical dereliction

• Closure of businesses

• Social divisions– Highest % of ‘other’ religions

Impact of the Border

• Cut our hinterland in two

• Economic, social and religious wedge

• Roads cratered, army checkpoints– Oppressive atmosphere

• Lost 25% of our population between 1991 and 2001

• Lost role as market town for region– Widespread shop closures & dereliction

A Story of Strength

• Town’s decline is being overcome through community partnership

• With other community groups• With local authorities and state agencies• With our neighbours across the border

• Working to re-establish:• Our Economy• Our Natural Hinterland• Our Identity

Our Tradition of Self-Help

• First Co-Operative in the country

• First Credit Union in the country

• Strong ICA – local lady is past national President

• Strong tradition of practical help:– Civil defence very strong in Clones, dealing

with difficult situations all through the Troubles– Regular winners at national level

Where it all started to come together

• 1980’s: first community-led capital project in the country– Clones Development Society asked the question:

‘What can we do to improve our situation?’– Fireside meetings, bringing community together to

discuss the options and buy in to the initiative– Canal Stores bought & refurbished– Funded by credit union shareholders voting to give

over 1% of their dividend– Catalyst for all that followed

• Rekindled our self-belief

Building and Unifying

• Impetus of Clones Dev Society became catalyst for renewed activity across all groups

• 1990’s: all community groups came together to form a Forum

• Joined with the Local Authorities to form a Regeneration Partnership

• 2000’s: formed Clones Erne East Partnership with communities and Council in Fermanagh

• Clones Erne East Sports Partnership

Clones Community Forum

• Over 50 groups, covering everything from youth affairs to disability

• Shared vision for the town• Identified the need for building bridges locally to

re-establish normal social and cultural patterns – Peacebuilding programme– Involving everyone from ex political prisoners to old

age pensioners– Real engagement by people from all sides of society

Clones Regeneration Partnership

• Partnership between– Clones Community Forum– Clones Town Council– Monaghan County Council

• Aims to address physical dereliction in the town– Regeneration of Diamond & Fermanagh St– Working now on 98 Ave and Barry McGuigan

Park

Clones Erne East Partnership

• Aims to re-establish the natural hinterland of the town, which included east Fermanagh

• Bringing back our lost generation• Activity at multiple levels, from Local

Authority co-operation to hands-on community work

• Physical re-connect of the region through visual project – sandstone chairs

Shadow Youth Partnership

• Need to get young people engaged with the community

• Cross-border programme which enables young people to re-connect with their neighbours

• Also promotes the concept of active citizenship and works to involve young people in local decision-making– Joint Policing Committees– ‘Use your Vote’ campaign at election time– Upcoming consultation on Barry McGuigan Park

Our Successes

• We have physical projects we want to show you, BUT

• We are most proud of the Social Capital we have built up over the past 15 years – in what was a geographically and culturally split area– All our physical infrastructure has come about to

facilitate the needs identified by our groups

• Here are some of the capital projects:

Capital projects• Canal Stores

– Clones lace exhibition• John Matthews Business Park

– The first community-led development of its kind in the county• Protestant Hall

– Once stood in isolation, now very much part of the wider community

• Cassandra Hand Centre– Serves as meeting rooms & command centre for Forum

• PPP Largy College– First public private partnership school in the country– Facilities available to community after school hours– Lands given up by local sports group to facilitate the project

• Childcare facility– Developed by ex-political prisoners group, Clones

Failte

• Cluan Mhuire sheltered housing– Developed by local people to facilitate family

members with special needs

• Clones Courthouse– Refurbished with community in mind– Removable court furniture, so space can be used as a

community venue– Becomes a cinema during Clones Film Festival

• Clones Library– Fought hard to keep the county library in Clones– Extra facilities in the library enable additional

community activity to take place– Meeting rooms facilitate much activity

• Ionad na nÓg– Former school, given over to young people– Home to thriving youth club, and also Shadow Youth

Partnership, which does much work around Active Citizenship and rebuilding linkages with youth in Fermanagh

The Programmes behind the Buildings

• Focus on peacebuilding– Clones Erne East Partnership’s ‘Healing Borders

Project’• Sandstone chairs

– Clones Community Forum’s ‘One Year to heal Four Hundred’

– Clones Erne East Sports Partnership’s ‘Peacebuilding through Sport’

– All made possible through the on-the-ground, face-to-face, true peacebuilding work engaged in by the members of Clones Community Forum

Clones People are Creative

• Film Festival • Flat Lake Festival• Home to writers and artists of world

renown• We use this creativity to find solutions to

the town’s problems– Famine Commemoration– Canal Capers– ‘Book Town’

We have a Vision

• Ulster Canal– The dream started with the community, and we have

nurtured it through to reality– Canal Stores refurbished – Waterways Ireland working on re-opening the canal

from Belturbet to Clones– Local community working on regenerating areas of

the town which will be opened up by this development– Clones Canal Capers festival helps to stimulate the

local appetite for the project

We look after our vulnerable people

– Older people• Callcare service run by Clones Development Society• St Joseph’s home

– Ex prisoners• Bringing them into society through Clones Failte

– Young People• Taking a lead role in new town enhancement project

– Foreign Nationals• International Day bringing the whole community together

– Special Needs• Cairde• Cluain Mhuire

We do things Well….

• Our spirit of entrepreneurship/ thinking differently gave the world:– Lipton’s Tea– The Credit Union movement

• We have a Tradition of Sporting Excellence:– James Cecil Parke

• Rugby international, Wimbledon semi-finalist, Olympic silver medallist in men’s doubles tennis

– Barry McGuigan, world boxing champion– Clem McMahon, national showjumping champion– Jonathan Douglas, Irish soccer international

…and We do things Big

– Sport as a Vehicle for Peace-Building– €7 million from Peace III to develop Flagship

Sports facility in the town– Will be one of a handful of Iconic Projects left

behind in the region to mark the Peace Programme

The Finished Facility

• Will include:– Sports pitches for cricket, hockey, bowling as well as

football (soccer and GAA)– Athletics track– Indoor facilities– Changing facilities– Perimeter walking track

• It’s not so much about the facilities, as what will happen IN them that we’re proud of– 2 year lead-in programme of Sport for Peace projects

to ensure we meet our objectives

What Next

• Much work still remains to be done on:– Physical dereliction– Re-establishing linkages with east Fermanagh

communities– Protecting our heritage– Reaching out to isolated members of our

community– Building the tourism product which will ensure

the success of the Ulster Canal

Three upcoming initiatives

• Working with Clones Mart to reach ageing farmers– Combat isolation– Targeted health information

• Revitalise the Market Town– use old Butter Market to bring back Farmer’s Market

• Proposal to become Ireland’s ‘Book Town’– Appropriate for the town which was brought vividly to

life in Pat McCabe’s ‘The Butcher Boy’ – A great way to spend a day, after drifting up the Ulster

Canal!

• We’re re-visiting our Community Development Strategy this autumn, and have a wide consultation programme to ensure all are involved

• A vote of confidence in the people of Clones from Co-Operation Ireland would be a big boost to this process!