Mayo County Council took the next step in the realisation of the long awaited Ballina Arts Centre when the elected members of the council approved registering a charge of €1.2 million against the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport this week.
The €1.2 million charge is the Government contribution to the scheme on Barrett Street which will see Ballina have a state of the art seated theatre, arts workspace, and exhibition area among other features. The project has seen Ballina Town Council contribute €1.6 million to the project, Mayo County Council €1.5 million, and a further €500,000 has been raised locally by the public towards the project. Proposing the adoption of the charge Fine Gael councillor Michelle Mulherin said: “This represents a major step for the arts centre, things have advanced this far and it’s going to be a great boost to the town. Everyone who has contributed to this from the town council, county council to the people of Ballina have to be thanked for the money.” The proposal was seconded by Cllr Gerry Ginty who told the meeting: “When people see a worthwhile project like this they will put their hands in their pockets, and the people of Ballina have done that. It also shows that if people are willing to help themselves they’ll find help from other sources comes along quickly too.”
