UH/1274

FUNDING BOOST TO AID LOCAL PROJECTS
BY: ROSETTA DONNELLY

Community House on bomb site given
THE SECOND round of European peace money was announced in Omagh this week with over three quarters of a million pounds going to local groups.
Omagh District Partnership unveiled the second tranche of funding which will see a wide selection of groups receiving a major financial boost.
And the flagship project chosen by the Partnership is the restoration of the bomb site and the building of a Community House.
At Omagh Library on Monday evening, Harry Parkinson, Project Manager, revealed the planned spend and said he was delighted to be able to support the rebuilding of the Market Street area.
The Partnership is to donate over £170,000 towards the cost of rebuilding which is estimated to be in the region of £2.4 m. The money is expected to act as a lever which will release a flow of money from other funding bodies.
Mr Parkinson told the 'Herald' that not only is the Omagh Partnership Board making the development of Omagh its priority, but it is expected that the NI Partnership Board will do likewise.
Each year the NI Partnership Board selects four or five projects as "Flagship Projects" and donates over £l m to each of them.
Although confirmation has not been received, there is real optimism that Omagh has been selected as a recipient.
This would secure the Community House project which is ambitious and imaginative in its proposals. The Community House will be on the third floor of the restored buildings on the right hand side of Market Street. It will curve round onto Drumragh Avenue and part of the building will run down the river bank.
According to Mr Parkinson, the building will be very attractive and impressive. The entrance to the Community House of the building will be on the site of the toilets at Drumragh Avenue.
The first floors of the Market Street area will be retail-outlets' once again and the second floor used for office space.
The other side of Market Street will be restored as retail areas as well.
The Community House will cost between £1 - £1.5 m and it will become home to a number of voluntary groups in the area including Mencap, Omagh Independent Advice Centre, Omagh Women's Area Network, Omagh Ethnic Community Support group to name but a few.
The Partnership said that 76% of this year's money is being targeted at larger projects, which it felt would go some way to promoting peace and understanding within the community.
The first round of funding made by the Omagh Partnership was in 1996 when £l m was allocated to 100 small projects.
But this time around, Mr Parkinson says the Partnership is supporting 'more strategic projects' for larger sums of money.
There are fourteen programmes which have been identified and funded to the tune of £577,000. The small projects 26 in all -received £126,300. Under the title Cross-Partnership Collaboration Projects £57,500 was paid out on four projects.
When funding was made in 1996 to local groups, some of them went on to make vital contributions in the Omagh area. They include Omagh Women's Aid, Homestart West Tyrone, Tara Counselling etc.
To allow these groups to continue benefiting the community, the Partnership has grant-aided them small sums of money.
SUSTAINABLE
The Partnership feels that by selecting strategic themes, it is making itself more sustainable in the long term, and in that way it will continue to receive EU funding.
Speaking at the launch on Monday evening, Drew Baxter, Omagh councillor and Chairman of the Partnership said "The evaluation process over the past six months has been long and difficult, but at the end of the day we feel that the total package of actions, targets social need and promotes peace and understanding between our two communities.
"Perhaps most importantly, the funding decisions have been taken by a local partnership board to be implemented by local people for the benefit of local people on the ground" said Mr Baxter.