Funding of €1m to help groups enhance local areas

COMMUNITY groups in Co Cork will be able to enhance their local areas with financing from a €1 million a special fund set up by the county council.

The Community Fund, as it is known, will be divided equally around the county, with €100,000 being made available to each of the council’s 10 electoral areas.

The fund was set aside from money the council received through the tax on second homes.

It will be open to those involved in voluntary organisations that deal with youth or the elderly, sporting groups, those involved in health and education and community associations.

Some criteria will be associated with the applications.

Conditions include that those applying for the grant have a current tax clearance certificate from the Revenue Commissioners and that communities carrying out work on any building ensure they are covered with a fire insurance policy that indemnifies the local authority.

Cllr Paula Desmond (Lab), who chaired the Special Purposes Committee in charge of the fund, said it would operate differently from the amenity/community grants the council gives out every year.

She said applicants would have to provide their own matching funding when seeking money for projects.

Some organisations were not able to raise this amount of money and could therefore not avail of the grants they had sought.

Ms Desmond said that matching funding would not be required under the terms of the €1m fund.

Cllr Alan Coleman (FF) said he was concerned that the matching funding criteria was being dropped, as it “could lead to a lot of mad-cap proposals”.

County secretary Maurice Manning said the council would not put a ceiling on the maximum grant it would provide.

Instead, he said, the officials would look at each application “on its merits”.

Cllr Kevin Murphy (FG) thought a ceiling on the amount of grants paid out should also be agreed.

Cork county mayor, Cllr Tim Lombard, said the money would prove vital to getting more people involved in improving their communities.

Applications can be made by community groups, and council officials say they hope to make recommendations on which organisations will benefit as quickly as possible.