A new skate park in Newtownabbey has been hailed as a success for bringing communities together.
One month from its opening on May 7, local Councillor Taylor McGrann said Skate 100 in V36 at the Valley Park has been "money well spent" as it has been bringing young people from different backgrounds together.
At the urban park's official opening, one of the young people in attendance told Cllr McGrann they hoped young people from the Greencastle and Rathcoole communities would now have a place to come together and play peacefully.
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In the past, this site at the Valley Park has been a meeting point for organised fights between young people from each community.
But since the skate park opened it has been enjoyed by people from each area and has attracted skaters from further afield too.
"It’s so important that we as elected representatives ensure there is as much investment as possible in our communities to help our young people enjoy themselves and learn to have respect for all their neighbours regardless of who they are," Cllr McGrann told Belfast Live.
"V36 park was built to bring the neighbouring loyalist and republican areas together, and it's proven to do that.
"In its first month, the skate park has had a positive impact in the park with young people from each of the communities coming together.
"I've spoken to a lot of them and they're all delighted, and asking if more can be done in the park to have more cross-community work taking place so they can make friends from other areas. It really is going well at the minute, and it's great to see."
The youngest councillor on Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council at just 23-years-old, Taylor was involved in the original planning and development of the V36 park in 2015.
He added he's "delighted" to see the addition of the skate park to the park's other facilities including football, GAA, rugby and hockey pitches as long as walking trails.
Cllr McGrann continued: "When I was younger, I was involved in a group called Together Building United Communities which was a cross-community group consisting of young people from Greencastle where I'm from as well as Ratchoole and Monkstown. What we did was we went on a number of trips and gained community development qualifications.
"We were also involved in the planning and development of the V36 park, and were the first group of young people to actually come on and use the park when I was 15. To be on the Council now eight years later and see it all come into play is absolutely amazing.
"It shows the work we put in as young people to come together is going into the future into adulthood and will hopefully have a positive impact on our children and grandchildren."
Skate 100 is described by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council as “one of the largest skate parks in the UK and Ireland”.
The 14,000 sq ft facility located at a site beside the Valley Leisure Centre is suitable for skateboards, scooters, inline skaters, Parkour and BMX freestyle.
Last April, the borough council approved the £750,000 project after European funding was secured.
The V36 Urban Sports Park is a project supported by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
Match-funding has been provided by The Executive Office, Northern Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development, Ireland.
The V36 skate park had been on the council’s Capital Projects Priority List.
The site is free to use and open from 8am to 10pm, Monday to Sunday.
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