People who have escaped jail sentences have helped to transform a Co Donegal town.
Several projects have been undertaken by people who have been given community service sentence by the court service in Letterkenny
People who have been found guilty of a range of crimes from assault to motoring offences have tackled the projects.
They include the upgrading of the local boxing club, painting cottages belonging to elderly people as well as the planting of allotments.
Cllr. Jimmy Kavanagh has congratulated the probation service on the important contribution they are making to the local community.
Cllr. Kavanagh referenced the recent jobs carried out by the service in the town including painting the local boxing club and painting the cottages at Beechwood Road.
He said “I have seen at first hand the hard work and dedication of the probation officer Tim Coughlan and the local supervisor Danny McNulty and all of those doing community service hours.
“They play an important role in the local community and in getting work done that the council would otherwise not have the resources to tackle. This is not only beneficial to helping our local communities but contributes to the tidy towns effort.
“The residents of Beechwood are delighted with the job that has been done in painting the council cottages as it improves the look of the entire area and compliments the work being done by the local resident’s association.
“The painting of the Boxing Club is of huge assistance to all the volunteers who put so much effort into running the club.
“The probation service has also been looking after the site in Newmills of the Battle of Scarrifholis and have helped with various other projects including preparing the allotments at Ard O’Donnell.”
Cllr. Kavanagh had a motion agreed at Donegal County council last year proposing that the council work with the probation service to tackle work in the community that otherwise would not get completed due to lack of resources at council level.
“I’m delighted that this co-operation between the council and probation service is proving so successful, at Beechwood for example, the council provided paint and equipment whilst the probation service provided the labour, this is helping enhance local communities as well as giving people a chance to contribute in a meaningful way to their community, I hope this co-operation can continue to be developed in the years ahead”. Cllr. Kavanagh concluded.
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