Ecology centre loses €1m in funding

ONE OF the State’s pioneering green projects has suffered a major financial setback with the withdrawal of its main sponsor.

The National Ecology Centre in Laytown, Co Meath, also known as Sonairte, says it will continue to operate despite the loss of €1 million in funding from a private donor. The centre, which promotes environmental awareness and sustainable living, says ambitious plans for expansion will have to be put on hold unless a replacement sponsor is found.

Its donor for the past two years, a Meath businessman who wishes to remain anonymous, says his original commitment is a victim of the financial downturn. “I was delighted to fund an environmentally sustainable project run largely by volunteers and with such laudable aims. Then the world changed and turned my finances upside down. I had to – indeed, I was told to – withdraw.”

Now over 20-years-old, Sonairte was one of the first organic farms in the State and says it was the first centre to teach organic farming methods.

Set up by local people in Co Meath and committed environmentalists, including Green Party TD Trevor Sargent, it is located in a farm complex on the banks of the river Nanny near Laytown. The 10-acre site is leased to the centre by a local farmer for a peppercorn rent. Today, the site includes an information centre, exhibition hall, eco shop and cafe, as well as nature trails and an adventure playground. Farmers’ markets are held there and school tours visit regularly.

The centre expanded rapidly in the 1990s and at one point employed up to 50 people, mostly on Fás Community Employment Schemes (CES).

Funding also came from Bord Fáilte and some business provided support in kind. However, the centre contracted sharply after the CES schemes were cut back in 2001. It currently has no paid staff but is run by about 20 regular volunteers. Sonairte has drawn up ambitious plans for a €3 million refurbishment of the premises and has received a small grant from Meath County Council to work up initial drawings.

It hopes to replicate the success of other ecology centres, such as the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, in attracting visitors.

However, Cathy Quinn of Sonairte says these plans cannot proceed unless a new source of funding is found. “Having a donor over the past year took so much pressure off us and allowed us to plan for the future. We urgently need to replace that source of funding.” Ms Quinn appealed to philanthropists and other possible donors to consider supporting the centre, but added: “If we don’t get it this way, we’ll manage some other way”.

The centre is closed currently for the winter break, but plans to reopen on February 11th.

Demand for organic produce, often sold through farmers’ markets such as the one at Sonairte, grew significantly over the last decade, but the recession has seen this growth tail off, as consumers become more price-conscious.