Annual Report 2000

The Trust is a legally constituted registered charity (CHY12393) dedicated to the improvement of the social, educational, environmental and economic infrastructure of the parish of Churchtown in the Ballyhoura area of north Cork.

 Auditors:

O’Donovan Stewart Accountants
The Mews, 10 Pembroke Place
Dublin 4

Tel 01 662 4877
Fax 01 661 1717

 Bankers

AIB Bank
Buttevant
Co Cork

Tel 022 23 165
Fax 022 23 486

Legal Advisers

Cusack McTiernan Solicitors
6 Fitzwilliam Place
Dublin 2

Tel 01 676 2833
Fax 01 676 8031 

Keaney Design
I Brookfield
Rush
Co Dublin

Tel 01 843 7729
Fax 01 843 9296 

Reference number CHY 12393

The Churchtown Declaration

Churchtown will become an example to rural Europe that small communities can become sustainable by developing "bottom-up" strategies that are implemented locally with regional agreement and financial support.

We have resolved to renew our own parish with or without outside support. External support will be gratefully accepted and will allow us to do it faster.

The Churchtown Declaration was issued on 26^th January 1999 at an information briefing entitled "Facing the Millennium with Confidence" organised by the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust and the Churchtown Development Association in the Community Centre on Kerry Lane. The meeting was attended by a range of key people representing various regional bodies.

A registered charity (CHY12393) set up to support the social, environmental, educational and commercial development of the parish. The Trust operates as the strategic planning and national fundraising organisation for Churchtown. The Trust operates in close liaison with the Churchtown Development Association.

A registered charity (CHY13202) incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 1999. The directors are made up entirely of parish residents dedicated to improving the whole parish. The Churchtown Development Association owns, on behalf of the people of Churchtown, the "Old School" which is operated as a Community Hall and has Conference facility potential.

A limited company controlled by Maurice Gilbert who was responsible for the building of Padre Pio Nursing Home, the refurbishment and building of Boss Murphy House and is now the builder on the Bruhenny new homes development.

An organisation, also based in Kilfinane, that administers a number of EU and State grant programmes and is headed up by Carmel Fox.

A Kilfinane-based organisation that supports tourist initiatives in the Ballyhoura area.

The company formed to develop a holiday facility in the centre of the village. This commercial enterprise is controlled by Gerry Murphy and consists of 18 en suite bedrooms, restaurant, common rooms and leisure suite. Boss Murphy’s has also applied for planning permission to develop a pub, micro-brewery and leisure centre.

The trading name used by the developer - Gerry Murphy - of a 10.5 acre site at Kerry Lane which received planning approval in February 2000 for up to 72 houses. Phase 1 consists of 17 houses facing on to Kerry Lane all of which should be completed by December 2001.

A Mallow-based government sponsored organisation dedicated to developing enterprise and jobs in the North Cork area headed up by chief executive Rochie Holohan.

An EU initiative managed by Cork County Council. This programme has made a huge contribution to the renewal of the parish with grants in 1998 and 1999.

An Internet company founded in Churchtown that operated from Boss Murphy House in George’s Street from April 1998 to September 2000. This company is no longer controlled by Gerry Murphy and Michael Barry and is now located at Brookfield House, Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.

The chairman of the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust, Gerry Murphy, declares his commercial business interests in the Boss Murphy holiday facility, George’s Street Technology Ltd and the Bruhenny housing development. These commercial developments are part of the renewal of Churchtown but are outside the scope of the Trust. For information purposes some details about these initiatives are included within this annual report.

Gerry Murphy has informed the Trustees that he intends to resign as chairman and a trustee having served five years on 31^st December 2001. He will continue to support the Churchtown Development Association in a less formal way going forward from 2002.

Foreword

Churchtown is a Georgian village with great potential. The village was rebuilt between 1832 and 1849 and much of what was created at that time remains intact.

Churchtown is a community in North Cork whose people have decided that the best way to renew their parish and surrounding areas is by spending as much time as possible planning and then implementing decisions as quickly as possible. The Churchtown Development Association and the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust are working together with a wide range of public and private bodies to create a model for Europe in village renewal. The key initiatives since the Trust was founded in 1997 include:

• Our Tidy Towns mark has improved from 147 to 207 or 41% and we received an Endeavour Award as the most improved village in the South West.
  
• A village community and conference centre has been developed in the old school at a cost of £300,000. This rural conference centre initiative was supported by a Leader 2 grant of £45,000. The EU’s Social Fund administered by FÁS supported the development under their Community Youth Training Programme (CYTP) and this amounted to £138,449 up to 30.6.2000. Local funding made up the balance and a debt of £15,000 is outstanding.
  
• Over 75% of all houses in the village have been painted and decorated. This, and other street improvements such as hanging baskets, new signage and footpaths, was supported with grants of £30,000 under the EU’s Urban & Village Renewal Scheme programme.
  
• We have launched and maintained our own most comprehensive web site.
  
• We were a regional winner in the AIB Better Ireland competition and received a prize of £5,000.
• We are about to start building a Community Sports Stand with dressing rooms underneath at a total cost of £300,000. Phase 1 will be completed in 2001 and we have been supported with a Department of Sports "Lottery" grant of £80,000 in this regard.

• We are working on a telemarketing initiative and the creation of a village Enterprise Centre and Eircom have agreed to provide 500 high speed telephone lines and a broadband link into the national network at a cost of £50,000. The actual "switch" is expected to be installed this Summer. Leader 2 have already grant aided this project with a feasibility grant of £11,000.
  
• An £8 million development called "Bruhenny" of up to 72 new houses aimed at first time buyers has started and 14 houses are now sold. The developer was obliged to provide a contribution to Cork County Council of £125,000 towards water and sewage improvements. The Council recently announced that it was supplementing this contribution and that £300,000 would be invested in sewage and water improvements in Churchtown. A new supermarket has been opened in the village by the O’Flaherty family in a building that has been restored for the purpose.
  
• A new commercial holiday development (Boss Murphy’s) has opened in the village in a series of what were derelict buildings at a cost of £850,000. Boss Murphy’s received an ERDF grant of £150,000.
  
• Boss Murphy’s has also applied for planning permission to develop a pub, microbrewery and leisure centre which will represent a further £1 million investment in Churchtown when completed. Boss Murphy House will also be marketed as an "International Residential Management Centre".
  
• Seven different country lane loop walks have been identified and are now being marked as "The Churchtown Trails". This initiative has been sponsored by Boss Murphy’s. An "Introduction to the Ecology of Churchtown" brochure has been produced by the Trust.
  
• Three bronze plaques detailing the history of the parish and costing £1,200 each together with a limestone plaque at the site where the creamery stood have been erected by the Trust.
  
• A covered "Welcome and Information" display unit is under construction on the Burton Road.

Minister for Education Micheál Martin TD and Dan Flinter, Chief Executive of Enterprise Ireland both visited the parish in 1999. President Mary McAleese accepted our invitation to visit on 14^th July 2000 and a souvenir brochure and video of the occasion was produced by the Trust.

Minister for Rural Development, Noel Davern TD attended the Ballyhoura Development annual dinner in December 2000 in Boss Murphy House and on Tuesday 23rd January 2001 Jim McDaid TD, Minister for Tourism, Recreation and Sport turned the sod on our community sports field development. An invitation has been extended to An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD to visit the parish in Summer 2001.

The last five years have seen great improvements in Churchtown. The next five years will be even more exciting.

The objective of the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust is to support the social, economic, educational and environmental infrastructure of the parish of Churchtown. Welcome to our third annual report.

The Churchtown Village Renewal Trust held its inaugural meeting in the Community Hall in Churchtown village on the 4th of July 1997 when Michael O’Driscoll and Peter Stewart (as the nominees of the founder Gerry Murphy), Oliver Byrne and Margaret O’Brien (as representatives of the Churchtown Development Association) were appointed Trustees. Michael O’Driscoll was appointed chairman and Gerry Murphy, agreed to act as treasurer and secretary of the Trust.

At the Trust’s first AGM on 30^th June 1999 Eileen Ahern O’Connor, incoming chairperson of the Trust’s sister organisation the Churchtown Development Association, was appointed a Trustee and Michael O’Driscoll and Peter Stewart resigned. The Trust is grateful for the on-going support of Peter Stewart.

Noel Lenihan was appointed chairman of the Churchtown Development Association for a two-year term beginning in December 2000. The Churchtown Development Association has re-appointed Eileen Ahern O’Connor and Margaret O’Brien as their representatives on the Trust. In addition they have appointed Peggy O’Flaherty as the representative of their chairman on the Trust.

It is important to the Trust that the working committee remains small and that new blood is introduced on an annual basis. In 2001 we will welcome at least 14 new families into our parish as they have purchased new homes on the Bruhenny site and it is inevitable that these people will begin to involve themselves in the further development of the village by getting involved in the Churchtown Development Association and the Trust.

It will be very clear to readers of this our third report that Churchtown has received much support for its renewal plans from a wide range of State bodies many of which are funded with European Union support. If people want evidence of the relevance of the European Union in the lives of ordinary citizens it is all within these pages.

The Trust is also extremely grateful to a wide range of individual people who supported its objectives over the last four years.

The Churchtown Village Renewal Trust was founded in 1994 and its first chairman was Noel Linehan. The combined work of the Churchtown Development Association and the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust will ensure that the wonderful heritage and legacy that history has bestowed on our beautiful parish will be preserved and enhanced for future generations.

In our last report we identified that the largest task the Churchtown Development Association faced was the redevelopment of the community hall. Work commenced in June 1998 on this major task and it was completed in time to be opened by President Mary McAleese on 14^th July 2000.

The Churchtown Village Renewal Trust is very conscious of the need to give Churchtown a much higher national profile and has invested considerable time and financial resources in promoting the parish to key decision makers at national, regional and county level. This, in essence, is the difference between the Trust and a typical local parish association. The Trust is also conscious of its role as a national advocate for rural renewal.

A key part of the communications strategy has been to produce high quality printed and other promotional material and this served to heighten awareness of Churchtown among key decision makers. Our 1999 annual report presented the parish in a very positive light.

FÁS have made a huge contribution to the development of our parish facilities. All work on the new Community Centre was carried out under the auspices of a FÁS training scheme lead by Paddy O’Connell. The Trust is also indebted to the following FÁS executives - John Murphy who supervised the project in Churchtown and Paddy Carlton, Manager of Community Services in FÁS’s Cork office. FÁS invested over £135,000 in the development of our hall by covering the cost of the staff trainees who carried out the work. FÁS also supports the general upkeep of the village and this work is supervised by Gerry Farrissey.

In 2001 FÁS will be supporting the development of our new Community Sports Stand. The Trust is grateful for this continued support.

The County Council supported the renewal of our village with an EU Urban & Village Renewal Grant in 1998 of £12,652.60 and in 1999 with a grant of £14,552.46. A special discretionary grant of £15,000 (£7,500 in 1998 and 1999) was approved by the Council. The Trust is grateful for the support of the County Council and is convinced that we have invested the funds we have been granted wisely.

The Trust was disappointed as were many other communities in the county that the Council was not in a position to offer any financial support in 2000.

The County Council acquired a site capable of taking up to 10 houses across from the Church a number of years ago and after some time built a block of two houses. Two further houses were added two years ago and the Council has now almost completed a block of three single storey houses at the front of this development. The Trust welcomes this initiative by the County Council.

The Trust is committed to supporting the children of the parish with appropriate educational equipment and will continue to work with the headmaster and the school’s board of management in this regard.

Ballyhoura Development has added very valuable support to the work of the Churchtown Development Association and the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust. The Trust would like to thank chief executive, Carmel Fox, and her colleagues for their wonderful work over the years.

Ballyhoura Development supported the proposal to create the "Greater Churchtown Enterprise Park" at the Parish Sport Ground with both planning and marketing grants. Creating jobs in Churchtown is a priority for the Trust and it will continue to develop proposals in this regard.

Mary Harney TD, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment announced on 29^th October 1998 that the Government had approved Kostal’s Ireland proposal for a £75 million, IDA backed investment at its Irish operation that will result in the establishment of a new £40 million facility at Twopothouse leading to 850 jobs over the next seven years.

The Kostal Ireland plant just seven miles from the village that is now under construction has huge potential for Churchtown and all of North Cork. One of the first employees of Kostal Ireland has purchased house number 7 at Bruhenny and it is expected that further Kostal employees will be located in Churchtown.

The Nivita Foundation was founded following a tragic and fatal car accident in which all of the members of the band "Nivita" were fatally injured along with little Emma Conroy on the 27th of October 1999. The Foundation was founded by Karen O'Herlihy sister of Niamh and Anita.

The Foundation held a most successful Song Contest in Churchtown to commemorate the first anniversary of the accident. Song writers and artists including Billy Treacy, Frank Stephens, Lisa Stanley, Tommy Meehan, Raymond J Smith, Pat Moloney, Donal Clynch, Martin Drennan, Deuces Wild, Paudie Barry, Nagle Rice – Samhlaiocht participated in the competition. The master of ceremonies was Aongus McNally and the winner was Deuces Wild. The interval segment was provided by the Duhallow Choral Group.

Churchtown Sports Field was purchased in 1984 by the GAA club with huge support from the local community and almost £100,000 has been invested to date creating a

magnificent playing surface. Over 90% of this vast sum was collected locally.

The Trust prepared a Lottery grant application in 1999 for the Trustees of the Parish Sports Field and presented this to the Department of Tourism where sports grants under the National Lottery are now allocated. The Trust made personal presentations to the Minister for Tourism and Sport, Jim McDaid and the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy. These application was unsuccessful but our application in June 2000 was successful and we were approved a "lottery" grant of £80,000 towards our development.

Churchtown has made great strides in the Tidy Town competition in recent years rising 60 points from 147 points to 207 in the three-year period ending Summer 2000.

The community is now setting itself an ambitious five-year target to increase its points by 5% per annum or 53 points in total which would bring Churchtown up to 260 points where it would be in contention for a national award level. During this period the population of Churchtown village is projected to rise to 240 from its present level of 60 which means we are likely to be competing in category B in 2005.

In our Tidy Towns adjudication in the year 2000 Churchtown came in eleventh place in County Cork villages as per the attached list of villages who exceeded 200 points.

Our target for 2001 is to move into the top seven villages in the County with a score of 217.

Results 2000

Our Tidy Town adjudication took place on 22^nd June 2000 and our results were as follows;

Our target in 2001 is to improve our overall score from 207 to 217. The following table shows the categories where we intend to concentrate.

The plan to restore the old creamery did not reach fruition and the owner decided, with planning permission, to knock the creamery and so after 111 years on 28th September 2000 the creamery was finally tumbled. To his credit the owner quickly erected an appropriate stone wall in front of the site and this was part grant aided by the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust.

The Trust also erected a limestone inscription to acknowledge the presence of the creamery on this site. This inscription reads:

Churchtown Dairy Factory Company was founded on 23^rd March 1889 and stood on this spot until 28^th September 2000. This plaque commemorates all who supplied and delivered milk to this creamery and all who served the company faithfully over the years. They may be gone but they are not forgotten. Ar dheis De go raibh an n-anam.

Erected by the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust

December 2000

The Churchtown Village Renewal Trust grant supported the erection of a beautiful stone wall to replace the wire fence across from the Church. A limestone plaque was also inserted into this wall to read as follows:

This wall was restored with support from the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust and built by Neil Ellard

October 2000

The footpath in front of Boss Murphy’s on Kerry Lane was completely replaced and the wall in front of Boss Murphy’s on the same location was cleaned and re-pointed.

The galvanised gate into Boss Murphy’s on Kerry Lane was replaced with a much more pleasing timber gate. A new stone wall was erected in front of The Market House in order to continue the visual line of Kerry Lane.

A third heritage plaque has been erected at the entrance to Bruhenny Graveyard in the village. The first two heritage plaques are at the Pound Corner (Marble Monument), and beside the Post Office. The limestone plaque at the old creamery site adds to visitor and residents’ understanding of our long history.

The on-going restoration of the first two houses to the east of O’Brien’s pub together with the last house in this row greatly enhances this fine terrace.

An ‘Environmental Programme’ has commenced under the auspices of the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust. An initial habitat survey was completed in September 2000 by two UCD PhD students which has resulted in the production of a full colour brochure entitled "A brief introduction to the Ecology of Churchtown". This brochure concentrates on two key areas that visitors and residents can enjoy:

• the peace and solitude in Bruhenny Graveyard
• our lovely hedgerows

Boss Murphy House has produced a wonderful map and brochure outlining seven loop walks that take in the best of our hedgerows.

The combination of the Trust’s "Ecology" brochure and Boss Murphy’s "Walking" brochure is a great addition to the range of promotional material supporting Churchtown’s renewal. As well as having these brochures freely available laminated copies are also on public display in the village.

Churchtown Web Site Development

An updated web site was launched in late 1999 and it can be found at www.churchtown.net. The web site carries lots of information about the Churchtown Development Association, the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust, and other parish related plans. A selection of the late Jim McCarthy’s articles on Churchtown are included together with back copies of our parish Newsletter. You can also take a virtual tour of the parish where you can see lots of pictures and read an accompanying narrative. There is also a section on "Things to do" in the greater Churchtown area.

Our web site had over 5,000 unique visitors in April 2000. During the house lottery we received very substantial hits.

All work on the web site was carried out voluntarily by Tom Martin. The Trust is indebted to Tom Martin for this huge task he has undertaken. We believe our web destination is one of the best parish sites and a model for other parishes in Ireland.

New Homes at Bruhenny

Planning permission N/99/4421 which was granted on 17.2.2000 is facilitating the development of up to 72 new homes on the southern side of Kerry Lane on the edge of the village.

The proposed 72 new houses at the Bruhenny site are now under construction. The houses were designed by Gerry Cahill Architects to complement the existing Georgian buildings in the village. Special features include:

• interesting 70 degree angled slated roofs
• dormer style
• timber sash windows and doors
• stone featured front wall to actual house
• stone walls to front

It is expected that all 17 houses that front onto Kerry Lane will be completed and landscaped by the end of 2001.

A key feature of the housing development is the new village green that will be created across from the Market House. This new public space represents a planning gain for the village. The developers of Bruhenny also plan to erect a giant sundial on this green and this has been designed by local sculptures Liam Lavery and Eithne Ryan.

A permanent Christmas tree was also planted in the centre of the Village Green in December 2000.

The local Churchtown & Liscarroll Ploughing Association, lead by chairman P J O’Driscoll held a most successful one day ploughing championship in 2000.

The Trust offered to support improvements to the historic Village Graveyard by way of a grant for all material costs and in this connection the ruined church and graveyard (Ref SMR CO016-056) was assessed by consultant archaeologist Jacinta Kiely.

Work on this project has been delayed and is again scheduled for attention in 2001/2.

The Trust intends to support the following works in the area of the graveyard in Churchtown.

• Trim the grass and vegetation in the area of the graveyard.
• Erect some seating in the northeastern corner of the graveyard
• Lay a path way around the perimeter of the graveyard.

A special medal of honour was designed and minted by the Trust to recognise those people who have made a significant contribution to Churchtown. Four medals were presented in April 1998 to:

Oliver Byrne, Chairman of the Churchtown Development Association

John Lowe, for his voluntary work in organising the Golf Classic.

Noel Dillon, former Cork County Manager

Derek Quinlan, for invaluable assistance with the initial fundraising.

On 23^rd September 1998 at an Institute of Directors lunch in Dublin the Trust presented a medal to Northern Ireland Secretary of State Mo Mowlam MP to recognise her role in bringing peace to Ireland. It is the Trust’s intention to recognise other national and international figures at appropriate times.

On 26^th January 1999 at our "Facing the Millennium with Confidence" information briefing three further medals were presented to:

Greg Collins, Architect, Cork County Council

Paddy O’Connell, FÁS Supervisor/Foreman

Eileen Ahern O’Connor, Chairperson, Churchtown Development Association

Two further medals were presented on the occasion of President Mary McAleese’s visit in July 2000. These medals were presented to recognise contribution to the parish over the years. The recipients were:

Patrick Irwin

Noel Linehan

Carmel Fox of Ballyhoura Development presented the medals in the presence of President McAleese.

The Trust is continuing to work on the development of our parish history which will entitled"A Proud History". Caroline Hennessy, a masters history graduate from University College Cork is researching and part writing the book which has been delayed due to work pressures. We are hoping to be ready for publication in 2002.

The Trust helped the Churchtown Development Association prepare a number of parish newsletters which are also posted to our web site. The Trust is very conscious that communications is one of the cornerstones of successful parish renewal and for some months has supplied material which has been inserted in the "Churchtown Notes" in the Vale Star.

Eircom have agreed to provide 500 high-speed telephone lines by installing a 34Mb ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) link to Churchtown but only breaking out 2Mb initially to support a proposed telemarketing job creation initiative instigated by the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust and grant-aided by Ballyhoura Development Ltd. This investment by Eircom is expected to cost over £50,000. The technology will be housed in a small unit that will be located in the eastern side of the car park of the community sports grounds and it will be linked directly into a reception facility in Ballyhoura. The high-speed lines will be available to subscribers who reside within one kilometre of the unit which is expected to be in place in 2001.

Churchtown has a long and proud history when it comes to horses and so it was appropriate when the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust purchased an almost life size bronze sculpture of a horse and jockey for £6,000 which is being presented to the people of Churchtown.

The Churchtown Development Association will be organising the installation of the bronze sculpture in an appropriate location in the village in 2001. The horse is currently on display outside Boss Murphy House.

Planning approval is still awaited for the new pub and craft micro-brewery proposed by Boss Murphy's Ltd for a site on the edge of Kerry Lane. Additional information mainly in relation to water usage and treatment of storm water was required by the County Council and this has now been submitted by the developers.

Planning approval was sought for a development of 20 detached houses on a 3.5 acre site on Kerry Lane North in mid 2000. The Council sought additional information from the developers in connection with the plans they submitted and no decision has yet been made on this proposed development.

Following representations by the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust the Mallow

Vintage Car Club has agreed to include Churchtown as a lunch stop on Saturday 30th June 2001. This will bring over 200 vintage cars to our village which should be a spectacular sight in our lovely Georgian village.

New road signage was erected on the N20 as you approach the railway crossing and similar signage was erected at Buffer’s Cross. A lobbying exercise also took place with the AA, Ordnance Survey and Bartholemew’s in relation to having Churchtown featured on maps.

The proposed giant sun dial would be 14 feet high and 28 feet in diameter and would be located on the new Bruhenny village green about two thirds of the way up the field on Kerry Lane and will be a gift to the people of Churchtown from the developer and builder on the Bruhenny site. It will cost over £20,000 to complete and subject to final approval from Cork County Council should be in position in late 2001.

The objectives of the house lottery were to:

• raise at least £20,000 after costs for the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust
  
• raise public awareness of the renewal taking place in Churchtown
  
• present Churchtown as a dynamic place.

The Trust purchased a semi-derelict village house in Churchtown village for less than the £10,000 which is the maximum prize allowed under Irish lottery legislation, secured Court approval in August 1999 to run a lottery and set about selling tickets at £25 each. The main initiatives in relation to the draw were as follows:

• printed 35,000 full colour brochures incorporating a ticket application.
  
• created a target data base of 500 friends and relations of Churchtown living outside the parish. Direct mailed this target group in September 1999 with two follow up reminders to people who had not purchased.
  
• "Publicity" posted 20,000 leaflets in selected areas of Dublin and Cork
  
• created a "Lottery" section within the existing parish web site including a comprehensive six page FAQ (frequently Asked Questions) about the draw so as to automate the sales process as much as possible.
  
• organised a secure internet server to facilitate tickets being purchased off the web site using a range of credit cards.
  
• organised banner advertising on a number of third party web sites including Ireland.com, Examiner.ie, Stockex.ie, Emigrant Ireland, Local Ireland and Virtual Ireland. The Irish Times’ Ireland.com was by far the most successful in terms of actual follow through ticket sales. Lottery story carried on web distributed ElectricNews issue of 4^th May 2000.
  
• registered a number of lottery oriented web domains – such as www.win-a-house-in-ireland.net and www.registered.charity.net - and promoted these on the various banners we were using on third party sites.
  
• member-get-member series of emails to existing purchasers resulting in sales of additional 250 tickets in last four weeks before draw.
  
• purchased a multi-million database of emails from a US supplier and tested 50,000 emails with little success. Initiative dropped after test.
  
• issued a series of press releases outlining progress to date. Substantial cover in most national papers such as Irish Independent, Sunday Tribune, Irish Examiner, Evening Herald culminating in securing 4.5 minutes on Nationwide on RTE 1 TV on Sunday evening 18^th June 2000. Story also carried on local papers such as Vale Star and Evening Echo and a number of US newspapers.
  
• ran a direct response radio campaign on Lite FM in Dublin.
  
• ran a series of small classified advertisements in The Mail on Sunday’s Irish holidays section.
  
• took a large display box in the David Lloyd RiverView Club in Dublin to promote the Lottery with a ticket dispenser beside the display.
  
• organised Magill magazine to insert a Churchtown Village Renewal Trust Lottery leaflet within its June issue.
  
• widespread promotion of the actual draw event on 14^th July 2000 including a four minute interview on News at One with Sean O’Rourke and an interview broadcast on the 2FM hourly news on 18.8 2000. Also interviewed for five minutes on Lite FM Sunday morning review by Michael Comyn on the draw and rural renewal in general.

Share number 0198 bought by Dublin-based attorney Felix McTiernan won the house.

We were sorry that everyone could not win as we made so many new friends during the period of the lottery. One purchaser wrote on the day of the draw as follows: "I believe that I have more than gotten my money's worth just daydreaming about winning the house and what I would do.  Thank you so much for such a unique opportunity.  I wish you all the best of luck in your restoration of Churchtown, it sounds like a wonderful place!"

There were 2,051 tickets sold in total and 5 of these were voided because the credit card was unpaid. The Trust had hoped to sell 5,000 tickets and while disappointed was happy to have made a surplus on the draw and gained many new friends. Of the 2,051 tickets sold 50% were on the internet. North America accounted for 30% of all sales, the UK 6%, Ireland 58% and other countries 6%.

The draw was witnessed by over 100 people in the Community Hall in Churchtown at 11.00pm on August 12^th 2000. The auditor of the draw was John Collins, of O’Brien Cahill & Co, Accountants, Mallow, Co Cork, Ireland.

The draw raised just over £30,000 after costs for the Trust.

The winner of the lottery house decided to take a cheque instead of the prize. The Trust decided to sell the house by tender and advertisements have been placed in the Vale Star to this effect in March 2001. The tender closing date was set at 20^th April 2001 and a full report on this process will be included in the 2001 annual report of the Trust.

It was a red letter day for Churchtown on 14^th July last when President Mary McAleese visited the village to review all the renewal work completed over recent years and open the newly renovated Community Centre on Kerry Lane.

At the Opening Ceremony Gerry Murphy, chairperson of the Trust said: "there is more to life than money and there is far more than money involved in what has happened in Churchtown. What is happening here is built on a dream of people serving their community at local level supported by local government, other regional and national State sponsored organisations and most importantly the European Union’s various support programmes.

President McAleese in her address said: "It is a tribute to the people of Churchtown that you have met the challenges so well. It is absolutely astonishing what has taken place and continues to take place here in this most amazing community".

Three presentations were made to the President on her visit – a CD and tape recorded by Nivita, a set of Father Twohig’s published works and a bouquet of flowers presented by Michelle Bourke on behalf of the pupils of the local national school who also provided a guard of honour for the President.

Eileen Ahern-O’Connor, chairperson of the Churchtown Development Association said in her address to over 300 people who welcomed the President that: "We would also like to thank the people and the friends of Churchtown who have generously supported this project. Whenever there was fundraising you never let us down and we hope you will agree that your financial contribution has been well spent". She went on to talk about FÁS’s contribution to the overall renewal effort and thanked Gerry Farrissey, John Murphy and Paddy O’Connell for their contribution.

Peggy O’Flaherty, secretary of the Churchtown Development Association, also spoke at the reception saying: "Every parish needs people who are prepared to make sacrifices in terms of their free time for the benefit of the greater community and it is important that we should recognise such effort". The Bruhenny Choir led by Mary Wilson provided the music for the event and were selected for special praise by the President.

Many other dignitaries attended to event in Churchtown including Theresa White, County Manager for North Cork, local TD Michael Moynihan, Tom Sheahan, MCC represented the Chairman of Cork County Council, Dan Joe Fitzgerald MCC, Brian Quinlan of Enterprise Ireland and Pat O’Callaghan and Paddy Carlton of FÁS.

President McAleese also visited Padre Pio Nursing & Convalescent Home.

Inspector Michael J Keogh, of Mallow and Sergeant George Finch of Charleville were responsible for local security on the day which ran extremely smoothly. The event concluded with a light buffet provided with the compliments of the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust.

A full souvenir brochure and a video of the Presidential visit were produced by the Trust in August 2000.

The trustees have vested considerable discretion to the chairman in terms of day-to-day decision making on the understanding that all expenditure falls within the terms of the comprehensive Trust deed and it is properly vouched and audited.

Financial Report

The Trust issued its inaugural report for the year 1.7.1997 to 30.6.1998. In order to bring reports into line with the Churchtown Development Association which reports on a calendar year basis the second report covers an 18 month period to 31.12.99. This financial report covers the calendar year 2000.

The Trust raised £62,789 in the year 2000. The Trust invested £60,900 in developing the parish of Churchtown and showed a surplus of £1,889 for the period.

The Trust maintains its bank account with AIB Bank in Buttevant where the overdraft permission of £10,000 was secured by way of a personal guarantee from the Trust founder. The Trust is grateful for the support of AIB Bank which has facilitated bridging various grants and the purchase of the Lottery property.

The Trust has incurred minimum administrative costs as all overheads are provided by the Trust’s chairman. Some exceptional expenses were incurred in relation to the house lottery.

All invoices and the accounts have been audited by Pat O’Donovan, FCA of O’Donovan Stewart, Accountants, 10 Pembroke Place, Dublin 2.

While the Trust has charitable status it is not allowed under current legislation to recover VAT which means that in most cases between 12.5% and 21% of the Trust’s expenditure goes back to the Exchequer in tax.

Foot and Mouth Animal Health Crisis

Due to the foot and mouth crisis it was not possible to hold a formal meeting to approve the accounts. However the draft annual report and accounts following their audit by O’Donovan Stewart was circulated to each trustee and following telephone communications the accounts were signed on 31^st March 2001.

Notes to Accounts

The Churchtown Village Renewal Trust was founded in 1997 by Gerry Murphy, who was born and raised in the parish of Churchtown in North Cork. The Trust is a legally constituted registered charity under Revenue Commissioner rules and is dedicated to the improvement of the social, educational, environmental and economic infrastructure of the parish. The trustees in 2000 were:

Margaret O’Brien was nominated to the Trust by the Churchtown Development Association where she acted as vice chairperson. As well as contributing to the local community as a Trustee of the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust she is also District Commissioner for the Duhallow Pony Club. Margaret and her husband farm at Clashganiff House in Churchtown.

Eileen Ahern O’Connor was nominated by the Churchtown Development Association where she is current chairperson. Eileen is an artist who returned to her native Churchtown in 1997 having lived and worked in the USA and Australia where she was actively involved in supporting the Aborigine community in Newman, NW Australia as a voluntary worker with the local Shire (county).

Oliver Byrne was nominated by the Churchtown Development Association of which he is a former chairman. He has wide business experience including 30 years working with the Ford Motor Company in Britain. He resides in Coolcaum, Churchtown.

Gerry Murphy founded the Trust in 1997 and is its chairman. He is Dublin based and a director of a number of public and private companies. His voluntary work has included acting as chairman of Guaranteed Irish, the national body promoting Irish goods and services, acting as chairman of Thermie, a pan European project aimed at reducing the emission of CO² and serving as a council member of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland and the Association of Advertisers in Ireland.

Please tick the documents you require.

_____ Development Plan for Churchtown (Draft 2) *

_____ Greater Churchtown Enterprise Park proposal to IDA (edited) **

_____ Slide Presentation: Churchtown - Facing the Millennium with Confidence **

_____ Annual Report 97/98 Churchtown Village Renewal Trust *

_____ Annual Report 98/99 Churchtown Village Renewal Trust *

_____ Objectives of the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust *

_____ Boss Murphy’s Churchtown Trails brochure

_____ Boss Murphy’s Spirit of Cork CD (IR£9.99)

_____ Residential Management Centre brochure

_____ The Ecology of Churchtown brochure

_____ Business & Finance article August 1999 * (text only)

_____ Corporate Roll of Honour (sponsorship brochure)

_____ Bruhenny New Homes brochure (www.bruhenny.com)

_____ Other (specify) _________________________________________________

Please outline your interest in these documents and in Churchtown...

_________________________________________

Documents marked with * are available only at web site.

Documents marked with ** are available by email only.

I would like a copy of the following documents delivered electronically to the following email address...

Churchtown has a long and proud history. The area was settled over 4,000 years as evidenced by the discovery of a bronze axe head in the parish. More recently we know that, for instance, in the year 1291 at the (now ruined) Church behind George’s Street one Odo de Barry presented the Revd Robert Cheusner to the vicarage of Bruhenny.

Sir Richard Cox, Baronet, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, writing in the year 1688 describes Churchtown village as follows:

Churchtown village is situated in a fertile corner of north County Cork. The village, which formerly contained a number of thatched houses, was attacked and the greater part of it including the police barracks burned in the year 1822. It was rebuilt between the years 1825 and 1849.

In the years following the attack and the burning, Sir Edward Tierney, agent to the Earl of Egmont, the landlord, cleared away all the thatched houses and rebuilt the village in the form it is in today. Samuel Lewis reporting on the state of the village in the year 1837 says the village contains several neat slated houses, a good inn and a constabulary police station.

A fine Market House was built in 1845 and the primary school was built in 1846. In the year 1849 the village of Churchtown was completed. To this day it remains largely intact.

Churchtown creamery was built in the year 1889. It was owned and worked by a number of farmers known as the Churchtown Creamery Co. In those far off days the amount of milk taken in daily amounted to 3,000 gallons.

The village was built around a triangle. One side of it was named Egmont Row, the main street of the village was named George's Street and that running west was named Kerry Lane. The double row of houses on the Buttevant road was named Chapel Lane and the road leading in the direction of main Cork/Limerick road to the east was named Lodge (now Burton) Road.

At the Eastern edge of the village stands the entrance lodge to Burton Park. At the northern end of George's Street are the entrance gates and lodge to Churchtown House. About three hundred yards to the west of the village at a place called Maryfield, stood the Church of Ireland parish church. The tree-lined road that led from Burton to the Church at Georgian Village runs through the field on which the new housing development is now under construction.

Churchtown village celebrated the 150th anniversary of its rebuilding in 1999.

Congratulations on your Super Valu Endeavour Award last year, this was very much deserved. The ‘Objectives 2005’ plan supplied last year was an excellent document, which should be followed. The working relationship with FÀS, the Local Community and Schools should be continued. Keep an eye to categories such as Wildlife and Natural amenities, which may need a little more focus.

The main public buildings continue to hold their high levels of maintenance, namely the Church and the School. Padre Pio’s nursing home and O’Keeffe’s, Cunningham’s and O’Flaherty’s look very good. The works on Boss Murphy’s, the Community Hall and Market House is complete and this section of the village is very strong and those responsible are to be commended. The plan to restore the old creamery will greatly enhance the Charleville approach as will the restoration of the buildings on Kerry Lane and Chapel Lane.

The new cut stone flower beds on the Charleville approach look very well and brighten this approach considerably. The ‘Endeavour Award Plaque’ looks very well in the flowerbed area near the marble stone. All the planted areas mentioned last year are being well maintained as are the hanging baskets. The Church grounds are very well tended. The informative plaques at the ‘red marble’ monument and opposite give new visitors an excellent insight into the history of the village.

The Committee should consider conducting an ‘Environmental Programme’. This could be the focus of youth or school groups. There are five headings Habitat Survey, Developing a Management Plan, Access and Community Involvement, Interpretations, Carrying out the work. More detailed information is contained in sheet 6 ‘Wildlife and Natural Amenities’ in the Tidy Towns Handbook.

Congratulations again this year, your diligence in relation to litter control is really paying dividends. The help of local school children is obviously a major aspect of this work and the children are to be highly commended for their role. Please supply any information on anti-litter campaigns you may be running in the village with the Tidy Town Application Form.

Kerbside weed and other problems seem to be under control in Churchtown. There is obviously a lot of effort being put in to keep the village looking so well. Fly posting should be removed, when advertised events are over. Fly posting should be avoided if possible.

The private houses in the village are well kept. The occupied houses opposite the Church have made a great effort, with one in particular (left corner house) making a very good display. The grass behind the new houses being built here should be cut. These houses should have a name to help identify them. The planned renovation of the houses on Chapel Lane and Kerry Lane will improve things also.

It is nice to see the new housing development using the old name of Churchtown ‘Brugh Thuinne’ for its name. More floral decorations could be used on private houses to enhance them further.

The advance signage for Churchtown on the Charleville approach is very clear and indicates very clearly the facilities in the village by the use of symbols. The Banner Signs in the village are very good and the use of the old name Brugh Thuinne is nice. The repair of lettering in the blue signs is commended.

The wall opposite the bedding plants on the Charleville approach needs to be repaired. The Liscarroll approach has a lovely new landscaped area with a seating bench. The hedgerows on this approach may need a trim and the village signs needs cleaning (in the long- term it would be nice to co-ordinate this sign with other new banner village signs).

The approach near the Padre Pio Nursing Home would need to be cut and the growth around the 30 mile speed limit sign on the approach by O’Flaherty’s Shop would need to be cut. The speed limit sign on the Charleville approach would need to be cleaned and capping stones replaced on the wall opposite Burton Park. The new footpath into the village from Burton Park is a great addition and should improve safety for pedestrians. The co-ordinated street furniture continues to impress.

Churchtown is still making great strides in the Tidy Towns Competition. There is a good feeling of a village in touch with its past, present and future by virtue of the history plagues and the Internet address.

 Churchtown Village Renewal Trust
Churchtown, Mallow,
Co. Cork, Ireland
Telephone: +353 (0)1 283 1061
Fax: :+353 (0)1 283 3275
Email: trust@churchtown.net
Web: www.churchtown.net