A NEW community organisation has been launched in Quin, providing a singular voice and clear vision for the efforts of the East Clare village’s 17 community groups.
Quin Community Progress Group committee member Siobhán O’Sullivan spoke to The Clare Echo on the need for the group as well as its upcoming table quiz on July 24 th in The Monk’s Well to raise funds for its Welcome to Quin Day on the 31 st .
Explaining the group’s origins, Siobhán notes that “I would have been one of the founder members of Quin Heritage Group and every time we went looking for funding from government bodies, there were several groups from Quin doing something similar and we were told ‘Why don’t you just get a central kind of group?’ That kind of spawned the whole idea of the progress group”.
“I called a meeting last September that culminated in four or five meetings. We were looking across at Clooney who had a successful group and got Tom Larkin down to us. We involved Darren Carroll, Rural and Community Development Officer with Clare County Council. He came out and did a few sessions with us and gave us guidance. He helped us to set up in terms of the committee and the constitution. So
we’re up and running now and out of the traps, so to speak, we have a wonderful young man Adrian Fleming as our Chairman.
The new group has been very popular so far in Quin with Siobhán noting that it is helped by great community engagement. “Really what we’re doing is trying to future-proof our parish. We’ve got a good committee, when you’re meeting it’s good to know that you have a good working group with you”, the Quin woman outlines.
In order to raise funds for the upcoming Welcome to Quin festivities on the 31 st , Quin Community Progress Group are encouraging people to enter their pub quiz at The Monk’s Well pub on Friday July 24 th at 8pm. The quiz will feature eight rounds of ten
questions, along with a raffle and spot prizes. Entry is €40 for a team of four. Siobhán says that they’ve seen great engagement so far and people are looking forward to the event.
“It’s to generate funds for our Welcome to Quin Day on the 31 st . Any money that’s left over will be used to fund our first St Patrick’s Day parade in the village in 25 years for next year. The Community Progress Group has reached out to every single club and society and they’ve all come back. We’re looking forward to it, it’s going to be a great day and a great community event”, she adds.
