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The Resource Centre

Teach na nDaóine

(The People's House)

About Us

Mullaghmatt/Cortolvin is the largest council housing estate in County Monaghan and is located on the western edge of Monaghan town, over a mile from the centre of the town.  The estate was built in the early 1970's and consists of around 300 houses and has a population of over 1,200.  A total of 235 houses are council houses with the remainder in a private development.  The estate was under development at a time when the conflict was at it's height in Northern Ireland and it became a place of refuge for many people fleeing the troubles.  At present approximatley one third of the population of the estate are of Northern Irish origin.

The Mullaghmatt/Cortolvin FRC Management Committee emerged from the original Committee that was set up in April 1998.  With funding from the Family Support Agency, the FRC Committee engaged a Community Development worker in 2001 and a range of initiatives have been established.

In the first three years the priorty has been to establish the FRC Community Development project.  Pakie Kelly was appointed as a full time Community Development Co-Ordinator in May 2001. The key ingredients of his work have been:

• To establish relationships between local groups and external agencies.
• To maintain clear boundaries for managing the FRC.
• To provide appropriate support to new and established groups in the area.

Significant progress has been made and the Committee sees a challenging time ahead.  The committee will build upon the work already done and it will play a primary role in  several key areas including:

Teach na nDáoine

The key aim of the project was to expand and develop local community resources.  Following a community audit which identified the need for a new community centre, a two bedroom house was provided by the local authority for temporary use as a community house.  After a long struggle, a cocktail of funding was put in place and  the FRC Group moved in to its newly built premises called Teach na nDaóine in Janurary 2005. The facility has a total floor space of eight thousand square feet which accommodates key projects such as Community Education/Childcare/Community Development to name but a few.

 As of November 2006, 49,834 people have called to the centre to access information or support, to take part in formal or informal education training programmes or to attend community development support meetings.  The FRC project has also developed positive relationships with over 25 external agencies.  Some of the key agencies involved would be FAS, VEC, HSE  & Monaghan Town Council.