Cork Views: ‘It shouldn’t fall on parents to build our playgrounds’

Around the country, there are groups of parents volunteering their time and energy to upgrade their local playgrounds.

In Cork, a playground committee in Carrigaline recently posted a reel on Instagram, updating a giant thermometer to mark a new milestone reached in their fundraising efforts. They proudly revealed they had now raised €100,000 for a new playground.

After two years of hard work, fundraising events, sponsorship pleas, and grant applications, this was a huge achievement.

You’d be forgiven for assuming this brings them within touching distance of the new playground their town so desperately needs. In reality, they are less than a third of the way there.

A fully inclusive, modern new playground in 2025 costs upwards of €350,000. Similar projects in Cork five years ago were less than half that amount.

Play is an essential part of child development, and is crucial for physical health, mental wellbeing, and social connection. Given its importance, play facilities for children should be directly and proportionately funded in towns and villages around the country. Instead, it’s falling on committees of busy parents to give up their limited time to secure funding for playgrounds and skate parks.

Parents are spending their evenings and lunch hours on Zoom calls, writing grant applications, carrying out site visits, and getting quotes from playground providers.

These voluntary groups have to elect officers, create constitutions, as companies or charities, and set up bank s to even be eligible for some of the funding available.

For professional services, they have to ask local solicitors, ants, and engineers to give their time freely. All this is time and attention they could be giving to their young families.

Projects like this can take a long time to develop. In Bandon, a new playground was opened in 2023 after more than four years of hard work and dedication by the local playground committee. For many parents, by the time they see the results of all their hard work, their children will be too old to get the benefit of the new playground.

I’ve recently ed a committee for a new playground in Midleton. The town has a population of about 15,000 and is continuing to grow. 

Unfortunately, the two existing playgrounds do not meet the needs of a town of this size. The equipment is around 20 years old, and neither playground is wheelchair accessible or tailored towards neurodiverse children.

We have no skatepark or appropriate area dedicated to older children and teenagers, which results in the playgrounds being used as an area for young people to gather. This can lead to litter and damage to the equipment.

There is some funding available. Midleton has recently been allocated €50,000 for playground upgrades through the Government’s Community Recognition Fund. However, this will barely make a dent in the total amount needed to upgrade our existing play facilities.

At the same time, Mogeely playground – a few kilometres away – has just undergone a refurbishment. While this is a welcome boost to the area, it’s not clear why it was prioritised over Midleton, given its most recent upgrade was in 2013.

Around the country, inequalities exist in the allocation of funding for playground facilities. There are parts of Ireland where parents or caregivers have to drive or take public transport out of town to get to the nearest playground.

The biggest source of public funding available for such projects is LEADER, a European Union rural community development fund istered at a local level. The paperwork involved is extensive.

Until recently, community groups could apply for up to €200,000, but this year it was reduced to €100,000. Groups must also demonstrate that they can match the amount awarded through other funding sources.

So what are parents to do, when the cost of playgrounds is increasing, while the funding available is being slashed? As any busy parent knows, we just have to make the best out of what we’ve got and get on with it.

Playground committees have been getting creative and organising events such family festivals, fundraising dinners, raffles and charity swims, to name a few. They are reaching out to local businesses for sponsorship, donations, or skills, and in some cases even new sites for playgrounds to be developed.

I have no doubt that these playground committees will reach their targets. A combination of determination, ion, community spirit, and unwavering positivity will ensure these parents get the playgrounds their children deserve. But the point is, it shouldn’t have to be this way.

Parents shouldn’t be operating within a system where they have to fight for funding for basic amenities. Children and young people shouldn’t have to make do with outdated play facilities that don’t meet their needs. 

Appropriate funding must be made available from Government, and local authorities need to work with government departments and communities to ensure it is allocated on a fair and proportionate basis. 

Childhood goes by so quickly, and no parent should have to spend it waiting for a playground to be built.