One million customers have used Letterkenny's Public Service Centre

Letterkenny Public Services Centre has provided services to over one million customers over the past 20 years.

That was just one of many impressive achievements made public at this afternoon's celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the opening of the facility affectionately known locally as the 'grass roof'

The iconic structure situated on Nail T Blaney Road was ahead of its time and had proved its worth to the people of the area in so many ways, according to the speakers at today's event.

The centre was officially opened on Monday, November 4, 2002, and was part of the government decentralisation programme to help improve the delivery of core council service to the community in what was then the Letterkenny electoral and town council areas.

Four other centres - Carndonagh, Dungloe, Donegal Town and Milford - were also developed and opened between 2002-2003.

Letterkenny Public Service Centre is still a one-stop shop that provides Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District services along with housing a community welfare office, a citizens information bureau and a HSE help desk.

As well as staff and officials, a number of the current councillors were in attendance at this afternoon's ceremony including current mayor Donal Mandy Kelly, Donal Coyle, Kevin Bradley, Jimmy Kavanagh, Gerry McMonagle, Ian McGarvey, Liam Blaney and current deputy mayor and the only councillor who was there when the centre opened Ciaran Brogan.

Missing were councillors, John O'Donnell and Michael McBride. 

Three councillors from the past also attended namely James Pat McDaid, Pascal Blake and Tom Crossan.

MC for the occasion was Eamon Browne, the housing and corporate services manager in the Letterkenny MD who thanked everyone for attending and spoke of the importance of marking the anniversary and the contributions made by everyone connected.

Mayor Kelly said the 'grass roof' building as it was known locally, provided a service for 95,000 customers the first year it was open.

"Initially the office had 40 staff but over the 20 years, up to 200 staff have worked in the building. Over one million customers have now availed of services provided by the council from this building over the past 20 years."

He praised staff past and present for their contributions over the period.

That theme was also touched upon by deputy mayor Ciaran Brogan who said the council staff delivered all manners of services that were by that time decentralised from council headquarters in Lifford with a personal touch and a wealth of local knowledge.

He said it was important to remember the staff and councillors who were either retired or no longer with them too and the valuable contributions they made to the ongoing development of the centre and the services.

"To have this presence was a huge statement 20 years ago and one that pushed us well ahead of most other counties in Ireland. It was a massive investment and I want to pay tribute to the people who had the vision to provide these centres throughout the county.

Cllr Brogan added he had seen a lot of changes in local government over the past number of years but at the end of the day it was all about providing services for the people.

"The success of this building over the years is its personal touch and the service you the staff have provided. It might be the simple things like a housing grant, a road opening or getting a car taxed but the service people received thanks to so many great people in our offices over the last 20 years has been above and beyond the call of duty. It is our greatest strength and that is something we can be very proud of," he said.