Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity to raise this issue, which is a very important matter locally. I thank the Minister for coming into the House to reply to the debate.

The matter I raise refers to The Moat Club in Naas, County Kildare, which is famous for its traditional fostering of the arts in drama and music and also for the number of people it has assisted, promoted and attracted to its facilities over the years. The centre is renowned locally and nationally for the quality and professionalism of its performances.

Like all voluntary organisations, The Moat Club has ongoing funding needs, and in order to comply with health and safety requirements and to ensure patrons, staff and all associated with it are in a safe environment, the club made an application to the Minister for grant aid in the current year. Unfortunately, due to a number of issues that were beyond my control and that of most others, the club did not qualify for funding. An application had been made for in excess of €180,000 and it was a huge blow to the club that it did not get it, given that it was relying on the funding to continue its performances in the future, to keep the quality and standards high, and to ensure that it operated in a safe environment. However, that was not to be but that is another story. The show goes on and we must find ways and means to ensure the club operates in a safe environment.

The Minister has access to some funding later in the year which could possibly facilitate groups and organisations such as The Moat Club in Naas. It would be money well spent. I ask the Minister to favourably consider an application from the club for funding when the time comes. The town and its environs suffered considerably during the downturn in the economy and it is taking somewhat longer to recover than some of the other towns in the area. In those circumstances, it is of particular importance that we would apply ourselves to the best of our ability to try to ensure that the funding required by the club, or at least most of it, might be made available to it in the shortest possible time.

The club is a local community organisation that has put on shows for generations. It has won awards at national and international level and people of international stature perform at the club. I refer, for example, to Celine Byrne, Rebecca Storm, Tommy Fleming, John Kenny and Mary McEvoy, Ballet Ireland, Neil Delamere and Pat Shortt, who have all performed there with distinction. A total of 23,000 people go through the doors to support those performances on an annual basis. The club provides five to six shows every year and it is renowned for the quality of the performances. The Minister knows the story and I urge her to bear it in mind when the time comes for the allocation of the remaining resources within the Department which could aptly be applied to this organisation.

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