Ashbourne children's centre to create almost 60 jobs

A new children's entertainment centre and toy shop will create 58 new jobs in Ashbourne. The Fun Galaxy Centre, which recently opened at the Ashbourne Retail Park, has created 28 new jobs and a further 30 will be employed in jobs to come next April with a new specialised toy shop, which will open in the same complex. The Fun Galaxy Centre features one of the largest play structures in Europe at 19,000 square feet, a teddy-bear factory, spray-on tattoos, a high ropes course and climbing wall. The adjacent specialised toy and party shop and beauty parlour for children will open in the next five weeks. The centre caters for all children aged up to 12 years, but there is also a particular focus for Fun Galaxy will be children with special needs, whether that be through disability, food allergies, or religious requirements. The centre will work with identified support groups for children with special needs to ensure children are welcome and supported through facilitated sessions. Owner, Sharon Farrell, says the centre can accommodate up to 425 children at one time; and can host up to 28 parties in a day. She praised the support of the local community saying: "From the moment it became known that we were opening a new centre we have had nothing but positive support from the local community. The amount of well-wishers has been astonishing. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kind words and to thank all the businesses that have assisted us in the development of this project." The Fun Galaxy has already established itself successfully in Airside, Swords since it opened in 2007.