New childcare facility opens at former Before 5 centre on Cork's northside 

Northside Community Enterprises (NCE) officially opened a new childcare facility at Churchfield Hill on Cork city’s northside earlier this week. 

The new centre, NCE Little Hands Childcare and Early Education Centre, aims to deliver high-quality full-daycare services for the local community.

An afterschool service, which was previously operated by NCE Little Hands at Padre Pio School, has now transitioned to Little Hands at Churchfield also.

Highlights of the new facility include a dedicated sensory room, a modern outdoor playground, self-sufficient childcare rooms, full-daycare services and afterschool provision.

The creche is on the site of the former Before 5 Family Centre, which closed suddenly leaving more than 100 children without childcare places in August 2023.

After the closure, which led to protests, NCE began to look into the prospect of resuming childcare services at the premises.

The project began two years ago incorporating an additional energy upgrade programme to further improve the sustainability and efficiency of the unit.

This included the installation of solar panels, a heat pump system, enhanced wall insulation, EV chargers and new windows and doors.

The new facility will have 49 full-time places and 24 after-school places, and employ 10 to 12 staff. 

Fr John O’Donovan, chairperson of the board of management of NCE, said: “Over the past two years, we have worked tirelessly to bring this new childcare facility to life and we are delighted to see the project come to fruition.

“We are sincerely grateful to everyone who has contributed to making it possible, in particular the board of management at NCE.”

He thanked the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, Pobal, and Cork City Childcare, the Tomar Trust, Cork City Council, and SE Systems Community Fund.

“This project represents a significant investment in the future of childcare provision in Cork’s Northside, supporting families and strengthening community infrastructure,” Fr O’Donovan said.