What It Means
To Us
“As a local walker, there are two things I am reliant on when walking in this rural area and that is light and good weather, so this becomes an issue during the winter months with the dark evenings and unreliable weather.
Having a lit tracked walkway that I can utilise all year round will be a game changer as it will allow me to do something I enjoy, all the months of the year, which is very important from an exercise, mental health and social point of view, as this will be a great meeting point for friends to meet up and walk together.
What an amazing amenity this will be for our rural community.”
— Margaret Healy, Walking Enthusiast
“My name is Ailish Driscoll, and I am a member of Tuosist Youth Club. We have been using the Parish Hall for years as a place to hold club every Friday night. Many kids have gotten great use out of the hall. It’s a great space for playing games and hanging out, but the new hall will have much better facilities that will be a huge improvement. We’ll be able to use the pitch to play football, which we haven’t been able to do up to now because the space isn’t suitable for it. We’ll be able to play basketball outside. Now we have a hoop at the side of the hall, but there’s very little tarmac space, as it’s right by the grass. It’ll be easier for us to be outside because there will be light, especially in winter, and it will be easier for people to watch out for us from the hall.
Tuosist Youth Club will gain massively from the new hall, and we all can’t wait for the improvements to get started.
— Ailish Driscoll, Youth Club Member & Inbhear Scene Gaels CLG
Member
“Tuosist GAA Club was founded in 1972. It gave local men the opportunity to play football with their parish. Prior to this, they would have played with Kenmare. Their new GAA club gave them an identity and a sense of pride being able to represent their parish.
There is a phrase in the GAA, “Ask not what your club can do for you, but what you can do for your club”. As with many things in life, it is a two-way street. Tuosist GAA Club has given me so much throughout my life. I made many friends, learned valuable social skills and developed a passion for sport. But it’s not just the GAA Club that I love. The parish, that I have been so lucky to have been brought up in, has blessed me with great friends and family, great amenities, and a beautiful location in which to build a home with my wife and three children.
My club and parish have instilled in me a strong community spirit and it is this spirit that is propelling us into the future. My playing days are over, but the playing days of the one-hundred-plus students in our two national schools are only beginning. Tuosist Community Complex will be a state-of-the-art facility.
There will be full-sized Synthetic Pitch comparable only to the Air Dome in Connaught, where inter-county games are currently played regularly.
The Parish Hall will be utilised by young and old, facilitating meetings, bingo, plays, youth club and concerts to name but a few. A sensory area and a beautiful walkway with picnic benches, and ample lighting, will provide a safe and scenic place for all to enjoy. It will be a local amenity that will unite the community and club for many years to come.
Having a facility that all members of the community can use and enjoy is what this project is all about. I hope that my children, along with their friends, will benefit from this facility long into the future.
— Stephen O Sullivan, Chairperson Tuosist GAA
“There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests gets together to work toward the same goals.”
— Idowu Koyenikan