DUNLOY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
Dunloy is a rural area situated six miles from Ballymoney and twelve miles from Ballymena, with a view of the Antrim Hill and Slemish Mountain. Dunloy and Cloughmills form the same parish with around 800 families. The village boasts the historic burial site of Dooey’s Cairn, which is now owned by the National Trust as well as the scenic beauty of the Long Mountain.
Dunloy Development Association was formed in 1994 to bring the residents of the village together collectively to improve the quality of life in the village and surrounding area and address the economic, social education, cultural, community and environmental needs of the village. The Association is a voluntary group and some of the founder members were involved with the Action for the Community Employment. The group started as an umbrella group for the different youth, senior citizen and art and cultural groups and continues to support some of these group especially through administration.
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The Association elects a management committee on an annual basis, which is representative of the community, as well as different age groups. The Management Committee provides leadership and direction for the organisation and brings a range of skills and expertise to the Management of the organisation. The Committee, which has up to twenty members, meets one a month to discuss ongoing and future projects.
COMMUNITY SERVICES AND INITIATIVES
The Association is currently providing a service to the local community through administrative support for the various groups within the village as well as photocopying facilities for the community. Our main initiatives are Community Education and Environmental Projects. We host I.T. courses through the Causeway Institute as well as Creative Writing class and a Yoga Class. We also produce a fortnightly newsletter named “Dunloy News & Views” which facilitates the business and community sectors through advertising and community information.
The “Village Garden Feature” in the centre of the village was designed and completed by Dunloy Development Association, as was the Townland Standing Stones naming all the Townland Bounderies. We have recently completed a natural stone feature at New Road in Dunloy and also added a rockery to the feature. We have also organised the building of natural stone plant holders on all the approach roads to the village and have added barrels of flowers to the “Village Garden Feature” to enhance the village.
Flowers have been planted in concrete planters around the village as well as at the rockery at the “New Road Feature”. Our most recent project was an environmental project cleaning up the Ballymacaldrick Mountain which is a local beauty spot, and had previously been used as a local dumping ground. An annual Countryside Walk is held every year through the mountain in association with Ballymoney Borough Council and the Bank of Ireland who sponsor the walk and it attracts a large entry.
Our funding for other project in the past two years have been through the L.S.P.,
Ballymoney Borough Council, The John Moore Foundation, Lloyds T.S.B.Foundation, and Awards for All.
Our Association has strong links with Ballymoney Borough Council, Ballymoney Resource Centre, Rural Community Network and North Antrim Community Network.
We are members of Ballymoney Community Network who meet monthly to exchange ideas and information.
Our long-term projects include research towards a better Community Facility for the village. We are also lobbying for access to a Community Transport Scheme for the village and will continue with all the services we currently provide.
We would like to thank all the organisations, which support us, especially North Antrim Community Network and all the funding bodies who continue to support our projects.
