Fermanagh House RMGFH18
The woman tipped to be Northern Ireland’s next First Minister was on her home patch recently to share in the ongoing success of one of the county’s best-known community organisations, the Fermanagh Trust.
Minister Arlene Foser was joined by Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at the launch of the trust’s £875,000 expansion to its headquarters, Fermanagh House in Enniskillen. The extension to the building which was first opened in 2007 will create an extra 800 square metres of space. The project is funded through the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister’s Social Investment Fund.
Frank McManus, chairman of the Fermanagh Trust explained, “Fermanagh House has a proven track record as a successful social enterprise, an effective one stop shop for the community and voluntary sector, making services more accessible for local people. Currently the building hosts over 50 different user groups each month meeting the needs and demands of a wide range of interests.”
Lauri McCusker from Fermanagh House said, “It was a terrific afternoon and people were delighted with the plans. There has been a lot of positive feedback. It is exciting as at the minute we are operating at full capacity and this will increase space to cope with demand next autumn.”
So far Fermanagh House hosts over 50 organisations each week and is also providing space for regional groups to come and work in the area. He also noted that the significance of the day was couple with the news that Arlene Foster would be DUP’s next leader, “There was quite a few comments referring to that on the day. But as this is a shared space, it was quite fitting that both ministers coming would be there as the news was breaking.”
Commending Fermanagh Trust on the development project Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness said, “This extension will increase the Fermanagh House floor space by over 70 per cent and include a range of new services and facilities with a dedicated community education resource and space for new and fledgling initiatives and enterprises. “This investment enables Fermanagh Trust to continue making a much valued contribution to Fermanagh and drive the economic, social and emotional benefits for the entire community.”
Minister Foster welcomed the investment saying, “Initiatives such as the Fermanagh House project are central to our shared purpose. This has been reinforced very recently in the ‘Fresh Start’ Agreement, to build a better, fairer, more inclusive society across Northern Ireland.
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