Cllrs to get report on state of Trim Town Hall

Trim Town Manager Kevin Stewart is to bring a report before local councillors on the current state of Trim Town Hall at their next meeting. The town hall is used by local drama groups to stage productions but is in a poor state of repair. Cllr Gerry Reilly raised the issue at last week's meeting of the town council and said they "had to get something done with the town hall for the local groups". He said: "We need to put our heads together and do what has to be done for the groups of the town." Meath County Council purchased the former St Patrick's School on High Street with a view to developing a theatre on the site in May 2007 for €675,000. The idea was to combine the site of the library and St Patrick's School to develop an arts centre and library on the site. Draft plans were drawn up but lack of funding means they are unlikely to be progressed for some time. The listed building, which dates back to 1857, is a former Methodist Church and was home to St Patrick's School from 1909 until 2007. The former school building is 1,400sq ft in size and sits on a site of 0.25 acres. With this theatre likely to be some years away, councillors want to look at making improvements to the local town hall which is the current venue for local drama and musical groups. Meanwhile, Cluain an Dúchas, an umbrella group of arts organisations which is seeking to establish a theatre/teach ceol in Trim, reformed in recent months. The group which includes Trim Musical Society, Trim Drama Group, Scurlogstown Olympiad, Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, Carney School of Dance and Meath Writers' Group, was established 15 years ago with the aim of bringing a theatre and arts space to the town. Fundraising went on over several years and some €111,000 was raised towards the project through a weekly lotto. The group had not been active in recent years but representatives from each of the organisations recently held a meeting with a view to progressing their plans.