A BEAUTIFUL building, full of life and space, which is now home to seven former pupils of the Little Angels School, was officially opened in Letterkenny on Friday afternoon last.

Fiona House, 72 Ballyraine Park, is the new permanent home to Maura O’Donnell (Ballyshannon), Shaun McHugh (Glenties), Mary T O’Hara (Laghey), Keelan Mooney (Buncrana), Hugh McConalogue (Carndonagh), Nigel Porter (Letterkenny) and Conor Gallagher (Lough Eske).

The house is named after the late Fiona Murray, daughter of Dr John and Phil Murray, Middle Road, Ballyraine, who passed away two years ago last week. “We could not have done this without Fiona. She was our inspiration,” Dr Murray said.

The retired Letterkenny dentist and his wife promised a number of families that they would provide permanent accommodation for their children – for life.

Now, following years of fund-raising and collections, that promise has been made good in the shape of Fiona House.

“Phil was the leading person behind the project but we could never have got off the ground without parents agreeing to send their children to the hostel while attending the Little Angels School. Without those parents and children – who have now grown into the adults who will live in the house – we would not have had the numbers to start the school,” he said.

Carah Funston is House Manager of Fiona House and she is joined on the staff by Mary Thompson, Elaine Thompson, Rhona Crossan, Mary McKinney, Marie Morris, Joanne McElhinney and Jenny Dunleavy.
Dr Murray also paid tribute to his daughter Roni (England) and sons Barry (Cork), Johnny (America) and Emmet; members of the Little Angels Association, volunteers and fund-raisers for their continued help and support.

Mrs Geraldine Doherty, sister of Shaun McHugh, presented a bouquet of flowers to Phil Murray on behalf of the families. “On behalf of the families I would like to say a sincere thank you for providing what is now – forever – their home,” she said.