Glen Hansard to play Dundalk Women’s Aid fundraiser this Sunday

After securing their future earlier this week by signing a Service Level Agreement which will see them receive €50,000 a year in funding from Louth Local Authorities, Dundalk Women’s Aid got more good news today.

It has emerged that former The Frames frontman Glen Hansard has signed up to play at their fundraiser in The Spirit Store this Sunday.

News of the Oscar winner’s participation on the bill was revealed this afternoon by Spirit Store owner, Cllr Mark Dearey (see Tweet above).

Tickets for the show are on sale this Friday, with all donations going towards the refuge. The tickets are now priced €20 with 100 going on sale online at www.spiritstore.ie at 9am tomorrow, 25 going on sale at 9am tomorrow in the Food House, Clanbrassil Street, with 75 available from the bar of The Spirit Store at 4pm tomorrow.

The fundraiser, which gets underway at 5pm until late, will also feature performances from the likes of Lisa O’Neill, Redtwelve, Manifesto, Sophie Coyle, Jinx Lennon, Kirkface Killah, DJ Conan’s Disco and more.

Glen Hansard

Future of Dundalk Women’s Aid officially secured

The future of Dundalk Women’s Aid was officially secured yesterday evening after the centre’s Council of Management signed a new Service Level Agreement, which will allow them to receive funding of €50,000 per year from Louth Local Authorities

The funding had been agreed by Louth County Council and Dundalk Town Council earlier this month but was only officially signed off on yesterday – 32 days before the refuge was due to close.

Dundalk Women’s Aid had announced that they had no option but to close their doors on Friday June 27^th because of cutbacks in funding.

However, having survived that scare they are now looking forward to a bright future of helping women.

The Council of Management released the following statement yesterday welcoming the funding and thanking all those who had supported them over the last few difficult weeks.

The statement read: “We received the signed and sealed Service Level Agreement from Louth Local Authority for €50000 per annum today. We are delighted to announce that we will NOT be closing our much needed refuge on the 27th of June 2014.

“We want to extend our deep gratitude for the overwhelming support that has brought us to where we are today. Thanks to all of you who followed, liked, shared and retweeted. To those who wrote to us and in support of us to challenge the decision to allocate a maximum of €20000 for the running costs of our refuge.

“Thanks to all of the media in Louth, Cavan and Monaghan and to our local media for keeping the conversation going, in particular Michael Reade and his team at LMFM, Marissa and Edel and the team at Dundalk FM. Thanks to our local newspapers for their continued coverage, in particular Olivia Ryan who has been reporting on the story since last year.

“Thanks to our local representatives who understood the gravity of the situation, organised emergency meetings of Louth County Council and Dundalk Town Council unanimously voted no confidence in the National Directive, undertaking to petition central government and allocating €15000 from each council as an emergency support.

“Thanks to our public representatives for their invaluable support, particularly Councillor Edel Corrigan, Councillor Tomás Sharkey and Senator Mary Moran who have been supporting us since we first raised awareness of this pending crisis in July 2013.

“On behalf of the women and children who are currently using our refuge and for those who will now continue to have refuge in the future, we thank you and invite you to join us as we move forward.

“We will be hosting an open information evening on the 5th of June. For further information please contact 042 9333245.”

As well as that open evening, a fundraiser for Dundalk Women’s Aid will take place in The Spirit Store this Sunday evening from 5pm until late.

The fundraiser will feature performances from the likes of Redtwelve, Manifesto, Sophie Coyle, Jinx Lennon, Kirkface Killah, DJ Conan’s Disco and more.

Admission is €5, which is the minimum donation on the day, but all amounts above this are most welcome.

Future of Dundalk Women’s Aid looks secure after funding allocation from Louth County Council

The future of Dundalk Women’s Aid looks to have been secured after Louth County Council committed to allocate funding of €50,000 per year to the refuge.

Despite an offer of €15,000 each from Dundalk Town Council and Louth County Council last month, this was rejected by the Women’s Aid group, who said they wanted a long term solution to keep the facility open.

The Women’s Aid centre announced at the start of April that they would be forced to close its doors at the end of June due to a cutback in funding.

A national directive meant that a maximum of €20,000 was allocated to the refuge this year – down €75,000 on the level of funding from 2012.

The €50,000 funding from Louth County Council towards the running cost of the service is subject to the signing of a new Service Level Agreement.

Nevertheless, that is not expected to be a major hurdle, with local Labour Party Senator Mary Moran welcoming the news in a statement last night.

She said: “’I am delighted that the future of Women’s Aid Dundalk is now secure pending the signing of the new SLA with Louth County Council.  Over the course of the last year I have worked with the staff of Women’s Aid Dundalk to deal with these ongoing funding issues. This news is a testament to the hard work of the staff in the service and is well deserved.

“The future of Women’s Aid Dundalk is now secure. I was delighted to be able to support this service over the last year and I will remain supportive into the future. Women’s Aid Dundalk provide a service which is very hard to replicate and I will fight to ensure it remains in our community. I am delighted that the incredible value of this service to the community has been recognised,” she said.