Bluestack Centre

Contact person: RoseMary Ward

 
Legal Status: Drimarone Development Ltd is a company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital. The company was incorporated in the Companies office Dublin in 1998.
Location: The centre is located at Drimarone in the heart of the Bluestack Mountains. Drimarone is approximately 6 miles from Donegal Town. The location of the project is a very quiet one but yet close proximity to Donegal town, which is ideal for tourists.
Established: It was officially opened on the29th April 2004.
Turnover: See Appendix 1.
Employees: 4 Full Time Staff
 
 
Description:
 
The Community centre itself encompasses an impressive main hall, performance stage, and fully equipped catering kitchen therefore enabling the centre to successfully cater for any function required.
 
The centre has recently updated its computer suite with a view to attracting the adult learner market. Functions catered for include: private parties, funeral lunches, dinner dances, concerts, plays and small weddings.

The Centre also caters for training courses, evening classes, teambuilding weekends and meetings and conferences.
 
The centre has recently launched a new venture in catering for Children’s parties, in this a trampoline & bouncing castle is supplied as well as use of kitchen facilities and outdoor sporting facilities. Whatever the function requirements, the Bluestack centre excels in its capacity to successfully cater for all needs and requirements.
 
The manager is readily available to co-ordinate all visits and functions lending a much sought after and unique personal touch. Located at the foothills of the Bluestack Mountains the centre is rich in opportunities, attracting the hill walking and hiking market will be of paramount importance to the Bluestack Centre.
 
The centre has its own keen walking group the Bluestack Ramblers.

The Bluestack Centre also boasts of a luxury 28 bed hostel, complete with family room, dormitory accommodation and an en-suite special needs room, ideal for wheelchair users. Guests can relax and unwind in the T.V. lounge and fully equipped self-catering kitchen provided for their comfort. Tennis and basketball courts are among the facilities on offer.
Laundry service and towel hire service available.
 
Background & History: Drimarone Development Association has been in existence for nearly 40 years and in that period has surpassed many achievements including the construction of a small community hall establishment of a local Co-op store. The Co-op still trades under private management and an annual lease is paid to the Association. The development company leases the site on which the co-op is located for an annual lease of €1270.00. In 1995 the members of the Association decided to undertake the modules of the FAS Community Enterprise Development programme. On completion of modules B, C and D of the FAS Community Enterprise Development programme the members adopted the following recommendations:
To adopt the legal status of a Company Limited by guarantee and not having a share capital
The Company to be registered as Drimarone Development Ltd, which Prepare it did in 1998.
An action plan that would direct the members towards achieving their objectives.
The Objectives of the company are:
To promote the overall regeneration of the area.
To improve and develop the employment potential of the Drimarone area.
To develop an activity centre of excellence which will provide for needs of tourists to the area including accommodation and also for the social, cultural, educational, training and sporting needs of youth, elderly, women and unemployed.
That all developments will be environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing.
The company has completed the refurbishment and extension to the hall as proposed in the initial Plan. The company recognised and is very appreciative of the assistance given by the various funding bodies.
 
The company had a major set back in October 2003 when they were forced to cease operating the Hostel due to problem with safety regulations. This necessitated extensive modifications to the building and also resulted in loss of revenue over a critical period. The Hostel is now fully operational.
 
Impacts on a) people b) community and c) Local services:
This Community Enterprise Centre is a good model in that they do not concentrate on one aspect of development to the exclusion of others. The interdependence of social, cultural, recreational, environmental and economic activities is very evident in the projects undertaken to date in Drimarone.
 
The employment of 4 people in a rural area is a major impact on people community and services. The centre is involved in a FAS Social Economy scheme, which changed depts to become Pobal Community Services Programme. Under this programme the employees are funded. The centre employs one full time manager and 3 full time employees (1 male caretaker and 2 female housekeepers).The centre relies heavily on voluntary support. The committee members and local volunteers get involved in all events.
 
The Playschool though it is privately run, rents the premises from the centre and provides employment and a very necessary service in the area enabling mothers to work part time or just the location in a rural setting enables people to avail of it that may not be in a position to travel a distance to one.
The Centre itself is a meeting point for many people as it caters for the needs of the community let that be at parties, after funeral meals, training functions or camps for school children.
 
Through the Hostel and the hill walking projects tourists will be attracted to this scenic area again impacting on people in local pubs on the community taking out fishing licences for a day or merely by telling someone else of the great experience they had in the area.
 
Sports facilities, which were hitherto non-existent, are now available.
The young people in the locality are involved in the running of the centre and its activities. This gives them improved social skills and a sense of responsibility to other people and to the locality at large.
The Bluestack Centre and Strabane District Caring Services are partners in the “Communities in Contract: Strabane/Donegal Town Networking Initiative”. This Initiative provides both centres to share experiences and difficulties, to explore areas of commonality and to identify how they can work together notably in areas of marketing, financial management, committee skills and possibly develop new policies etc.