Funding of €500,000 has been announced to continue to support the work of Men's Sheds groups across the country.

The government has nothing to hide in relation to the €3bn National Broadband Plan and will explain its decision and the project costs in due course, the Tánaiste says.

Information for community groups on how to submit effective applications for grant funding will be delivered at a series of events this month.

Stephen Cadogan The Department of Agriculture’s quality service unit received 30 customer service complaints in 2018.

A Fianna Fail TD’s Christmas wish that the Government would provide small farmers or pensioners with vouchers to subsidise their meals in local restaurants was dashed last week.

Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring has described as ‘amazing’ the €19 million spent on administration of the Leader rural development programme, while development project expenditure only amounts to €6 million.

All 36 Local Action Groups (LAGs) in the 2007-2013 LEADER rural development programme were requested to reimburse some of the monies they received in the €340 million programme, because of administration cost claims being deemed ineligible.

Dawn raids and doggedness lifted Listowel to the top of this year’s Tidy Towns competition after 25 years of trying.

The money will go towards buying iPads, tablets and smart devices, as well as software to support design, gaming, coding and podcasting.

The LEADER Food Initiative offers €15m in supports for artisan and small food businesses.

Rural towns and villages across the country are in for a funding windfall to the tune of €15m.

A grant to help first-time buyers refurbish derelict buildings in rural villages and towns has yet to be rolled out, more than a year after being announced.

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring, has been accused of putting rural Ireland “under review” with promised projects still on ice.

The Government is facing into three days of Dáil questioning on its Ireland 2040 plan unveiled on Friday.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has defended his Government’s handling of the Leader rural development scheme, after opposition leader Micheál Martin this week said the previous Fine Gael-led Government undermined and arguably destroyed Leader.

One of the men who died after the car he was travelling in was swept along a river on Christmas morning had already lost a sister in a drowning accident a number of years ago.

A Co Cork farmhouse cheese dairy has been allocated €150,000 in funding under the LEADER programme for a €300,000 construction project.

A year ago it was Ireland’s tidiest village but this year Birdhill occupies an even higher perch after winning the overall national title of the country’s tidiest town.

Rural communities are to receive extra funding for CCTV and text alert schemes to help tackle the scourge of crime.

Places that the boom never reached the first time around now feel they are being forgotten all over again, writes Elaine Loughlin.

The Government has sanctioned €1m to help fund an extension of the Cork Harbour Greenway which could be in place within a year.

More than €40m from dormant accounts will be used to help disadvantage people throughout Ireland this year.

Rathbarry in Co Cork has been named the overall winner of Ireland’s best kept town competition, 2017.