New home for Mulranny Gift of Hands craft group

THE Gift of Hands craft group in Mulranny is to get a new home.

Planning permission has been granted for the construction of a new single storey modular studio at the rear of the Old Irish Goat Centre in the village to accommodate the group.

Gift of Hands is a social enterprise which has been running for the past 10 years.

They are currently renting in a sports hall outside the village. The new studio will provide a new home for the group, which meets at least twice a week and has 20 members.

It will also provide more space for the Gift of Hands craft shop, which is currently based in the Old Irish Goat Centre and provides a retail outlet for up to 18 different craft workers from all over Mayo.

It will also allow the group to offer tea and coffee to visitors to the goat centre, especially as they have added an audio visual room and will be showing a short documentary on the Old Irish Goat Project and other local environmental and heritage videos to visitors.

Last year, pre-Covid, there were approximately 400 visitors to the centre, both Irish and international, from May to September, many of them families.

The Gift of Hands group has provided funding to many voluntary groups in Mulranny over the years.