Enterprise
Spraoi is building a sustainable local community in Inishowen through activities that promote enterprise, create jobs and encourage work. We want to play our part in creating job opportunities, encouraging enterprise, and continuing rural development.
Key areas of enterprise we are involved in include:
- Digital Creative Lab where anyone can make (almost) anything, using digital design, 3D Printers, laser cutting and other advanced technological means. It supports young people to turn their creative ideas into a reality and gain essential digital and team-working skills.
- Co-Work Plus our co-working and remote working facility. We offer flexible office sharing and remote working spaces, which supports local small enterprises and job creation. You can book anything from a virtual address or hot desk to your own office space. You can also choose to book it for as many days per week as you need.
- Fadó our vintage shop which operates both from a physical store in Bridge Street, Carndonagh and online at the not-for-profits shopping platform, Thriftify. We sell women’s, men’s and children’s clothes and shoes, household items, bric-a-brac, furniture books, baby equipment and shoes. We take donations of these items too!
- Siopa Spraoi is our one stop shop for personalised gifts made with love in Carndonagh. We can custom make many beautiful items using wood or maybe you would like a mug or a t-shirt or even a birthday cake topper. All proceeds raised are reinvested in our services.
Social enterprises create employment and support many Government policy objectives
Ambitious Enterprise Plans
Building on our achievements to date, we have ambitious and far-reaching plans for the future. The biggest of these is undoubtedly our rural regeneration partnership with Donegal County Council – Tús Nua. The project was awarded almost €10m in funding for capital and operational costs to revitalise Carndonagh, following the Covid-19 pandemic. It aims to bring people of all generations back into the town centre for community services, education, recreation, housing, enterprise, and jobs. It also aims to act as a catalyst for economic and social change and will open in Autumn 2023.
Specifically, it proposes to convert or restore three properties in the town as follows:
- The former McDonagh Bros shop and site is earmarked for a new Digital Fabrication Laboratory, co-working space, and office space. It will also offer a youth space for teenagers, community kitchen, shed and sensory garden.
- It is proposed to create a new through access and public amenities in The Leprechaun Bar. These include a Changing Places toilet facility.
- It is proposed that the old stone textile factory will be rejuvenated to establish a Creative Makers Hub for lnishowen craft workers. Chairperson of Spraoi agus Spórt, Patricia Lee says the plans “will be a real game-changer for the town centre. Most importantly, they will create much-needed employment and inclusive opportunities for the future. The new Digital & Creative Hub will fulfil several vital functions.
- It will offer a wonderful space for young people to learn the 21st century skills they need in STEAM. This covers the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM).
- It will help people of all ages and abilities to play, create and learn through innovation and invention!
- It will provide a fantastic stimulus for local entrepreneurship as an accelerator for business start-ups. This will add to the wider regeneration and economic development of Carndonagh and the surrounding areas.