State to invest €500m in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny

Other measures include scaling up of start-up businesses to enable them to reach the €1bn “unicorn” valuation

The strategy also includes funding for the delivery of 25,000 new homes by 2030.

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) said it plans to invest €500m in Ireland’s five regional cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny.

The funding will result in investment being targeted to each city in the form of new places to work, places to live and enabling investments resulting in the regeneration of the city centres.