Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to raise the issue of the campaign that is just over a year old now in Drumcondra to save our hall. The Corpus Christi Hall, on Home Farm Road, has been a parish resource for the people of Drumcondra for decades. It was a place where young children and not-so-young adults learned to dance. Women got together in breast-feeding clubs and knitting clubs. All sorts of activities took place. Well over a year ago, the hall was closed. A group of local residents and parishioners who live and work in the area, and care for it, came together to save the hall. The hall remains closed today, despite a very strong campaign.

There has been a recent indication that the diocese is in conversation with the Department of Education. We welcome this development. I want to particularly thank the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, for her engagement on the issue and her meeting last November with the Save Our Hall community campaign group. I ask the Minister for Education to update us on the progress the Department of Education is making in its discussions with the diocese on the reopening of the hall. My understanding is that those discussions are taking place and that the hall would be used for educational and community purposes. I want to commend everybody who has engaged in the campaign so far. I want to thank everybody for their support, but we really need to push on now and reopen the hall both for the school community and the local community.