Gaeltacht gets €6.5m roads boost

GAELTACHT counties have been given a €6.5m roads improvement boost to upgrade links between national routes and county roads in Irish-speaking communities.

The Strategic Gaeltacht Roads Scheme funding, announced by Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Eamon Ó Cuiv, is divided between seven counties according to population size and the minister’s home county of Galway comes off best with a €1.79m grant.

New criteria will come into effect from next year and counties will be made to compete for the funding on the basis of how much money they invest in the roads from other sources such as the EU’s specific improvement grant scheme.