Church Lane improvements in Letterkenny near completion.
BY SEÁN P. FEENY
A RECENT initiative to improve the look of Letterkenny’s Church Lane is now nearing its completion following weeks of hard work by volunteers. The Scrape & Paint initiative has been a tremendous success brightening up the whole street.
The initiative came about after the ‘Save The Church Lane’ group decided to paint the window sills of all the houses on the right hand side of the ‘lane. The group then put out a request looking for sponsorship for paint from local businesses or individuals.
Secretary, Donnan Harvey said: “We received great news when the Foley family kindly sponsored paint for the painting of No 11 Church Lane, formerly Church Street Cycles, owned by the late Tim Foley.
“This tremendous boost was soon followed by more good news when Foy’s Paint & Home Interiors in Letterkenny said they would sponsor the remaining houses. Treasurer, Mary Hegarty and Anna Good from Foy’s then picked out the vibrant colours.”
At the start of the initiative getting labour was a challenge but soon the secretary was joined by Max Elliott and Michael Ward from Letterkenny Youthreach.
“The two lads were on work experience for three weeks and during this period a lot of work was completed. They were later joined by Brian Ward in the third week.
“By the end of their work experience, the bottom half of the houses had been painted and now the top half remained. Since then volunteers including Paddy Friel, Przemek Poiwat, Jim Lynch, Daniel Mongan, John Connors and Finnian O’Donnell have assisted in the works.”
Visitors have pitched in as well. “Antoine d’Audigier-Empereur from the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, who was staying with David Faughnan from Universal Books, helped while No 5 was being painted.
“Universal Books on the other side of the Lane also got a fresh lick of paint during this time with Max, Przemek and David working well into the evening to get the job done. As the work has been ongoing, regular updates have been posted on Facebook ‘Save the Church Lane’. Now locals and visitors are pleased with our endeavours.
“The only work that remains is painting the top half of No 3 and the window sills on the top half of No 1. It’s amazing what a lick of paint can do,” he said.
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