EDERNEY is getting a well-deserved boost with new developements getting under way in the village.
Housing developments are currently under way at Main Street and New Street with a former shop, hardware yard and residence which has served several generations of the Maguire family since the 1840s being redeveloped for new semi-detached houses.
Ederney, like all rural villages has noticed a shift in trends. Previously small businesses played a vital role contributing to employment and vibrancy in the village, however commercial life in rural villages has changed considerably in the last few decades.
There is a growing trend to develop larger commercial outlets to meet today’s needs and redevelop older shops and pubs for the residential uses.
The Ederney Community Development Trust, established in October 1990, aims to reinvigorate and stem the economic decline facing Ederney village and surrounding area.
Many of the other community and voluntary groups in the area are represented on the Trust and there are countless volunteers involved across the area.
One project which the Trust has been involved in is the redevelopment of historic buildings.
Currently Pat Murphy’s house, a listed building on Ederney Main Street, is moving through the planning and funding stages with decisions on both due before the end of the year.
In partnership with Ederney Credit Union, owners of the building, the Development Trust plan to restore the building to create a tea room orcoffee shop and also provide health and well being and business space.
The project has been funded to date by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Architectural Heritage Fund.
It is hoped that the redevelopment of this historic building will bring back some of the hustle and bustle to Main Street.
Another historic building in the area, Montiagh Chapel, understood to date back to approximately 1900, has benefited from a number of grants and work has just finished restoring and protecting the external guttering and down pipes with funding provided by Airtricity.
Previously the chapel benefited from a grant from the National Churches Trust for weather proofing of the windows and a new sound system has also been installed.
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