THIS WEEKEND people of Aughakillymaude will come together to celebrate 30 years of community spirit.
With traditional music, sean nos dancing, story telling, bouncy castles, photo exhibitions, boat tours, barbecues and a range of other entertainment, including the famous mummers of course, the Aughakillymaude Community Centre will be the place to be this weekend.
Current chairman Brian McManus was one of the founding members of the Community Association back in 1988, along with Maureen McManus and Betty Leonard. He said the fact the Association was still thriving after three decades was testament to the community spirit in the area.
“Community is important in as far as it it’s the bringing together of people. In our case here it’s people of all persuasions, irrespective of class, colour or creed.
“We have never made any distinction. The door has always been opened and welcoming,” he said. “Down the years the very fact of having the centre there and available to people to come to organise events is important.”
Those events have covered almost every aspect of life from music, events for the elderly and the young, public meeting by various local groups and organisations such as the Council and Waterways Ireland, as well as funeral lunches.
“We’ve even had a couple of weddings, local people who decided they’d like to have their wedding in a very nice setting over looking Lough Erne,” Brian added. “There are at all kinds and aspects of life. It’s great to have such a facility in any community. It’s just about bring people together.”
When asked what their secret to success was, he said: “Whatever it is, it’s down to people themselves, the community commitment. I found people here in this community, we had a core of people who wanted to be involved. They just wanted to get things done.”
Brian added: “We came up in a time when the Troubles were pretty strong. We would’ve battered on and we acknowledged they were there but it didn’t reflect in any way on our community life. We still got on with the bits and pieces and people came together and did their bit.”
He concluded: “I would be hoping there’d be somebody there for the next 30 years to continue that work.”
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
