‘Much needed’ community centre extension to be built

“You’ll see great things out of there once it is delivered.”

A community centre in Tallaght is lined up for a new extension worth over a million to be built over the coming years.

Dominic’s Community Centre in Avonbeg Gardens, Tallaght is set to get an extension, with €1.25m allocated to the new wing of the local facility by the council.

The allocation is part of an investment into community centres across South Dublin worth almost €20.5m, including six new locations at Kilcarbery, Citywest, Killinarden, Clonburris, Newcastle and Ballycullen all set to be completed in the coming years.

Ballyroan and The Park community centres are also lined up for extensions to be delivered.

€50k will be pumped into the Dominic’s extension project this year, with a further €200k set aside for 2027 and a final injection of €1m expected in 2028 to help deliver the plan.

Dominic’s Community Centre said: “We are so grateful to be getting the chance to expand and improve the services that we offer to the community.”

Councillor Niamh Whelan described the expansion of Dominic’s as a “much needed” move and noted that the local community centre will offer so much to the community with the new development.

Cllr Whelan is involved with the centre and is “delighted” with the news and noted that the funding is the same figure that she had been pushing for.

The Tallaght councillor said: They do great work down there, they offer so much to the community, but they’re so limited in space.

“I feel like there’s a whole lot more they could be doing and, in fairness to them, they want to provide more for the community in that regard.

“They do want to open it up and do as much as they can for the area, and it’s an area that does need that as well…you’ll see great things out of there once it is delivered.”

The team at Dominic’s currently facilitate a range of activities such as crochet nights, bingos, arts classes and preschool and afterschool opportunities for the youth and their working guardians.

Cllr Whelan noted that the afterschool opportunities are very busy and other activities fill out the centre’s calendar, but that the team at Dominic’s want to offer more.

Seasonal activities such as Christmas fairs have been put on in the centre, but the extra space will allow the team to do more for young people in the area and help quell anti-social behaviour in the locality.

“There is anti-social issues around that area as well, so it should go a long way to help them try and combat that and try and target people that are getting dragged into [anti-social behaviour] and offer them a space that they can go…

“…If you offer communities spaces, they will come. Unfortunately, some area’s can’t offer that and for Dominic’s, they couldn’t.

“So, hopefully now in the future, you’ll see more of that.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.