Lismore Town Council has €29,500 in its coffers and members want to use it up before they’re abolished in May. What to spend it on was the subject of some considerable discussion at their monthly meeting on Monday night.

All agreed it should be something of community value and lasting. They would seek submissions, have strict criteria and decide themselves on which project to pick after having those involved in shortlisted projects make a presentation to them on the merits of their idea.

Matching funding could be available and that was a consideration particularly in terms of their time limitations. Council officials undertook to investigate that aspect. They don’t want to be bombarded with proposals and some members felt that it shouldn’t be open to local clubs but Cllr Orla Russell disagreed, and in the end that wasn’t opposed by other members, though it was stressed that it is capital funding for community projects.

Cllr Jimmy O’Gorman though asked if anyone around the table was running in the local elections and seemed prepared to suggest some funding could be given to support them as a means of continuing to have a local representative from Lismore. In any event, no one around the table declared their intention to run in the local elections in May.

It was agreed to publicise the initiative through local newspaper reports such as this one and to post notices about it in local libraries and other public places. Submissions must be in by Friday, January 31st and the they will be considered and shortlisted at the town council’s February meeting.