Ireland ‘risks losing €100m funding’

Ireland could lose €100m in community funding if the EU withholds a new bonus, according to the CEO of a rural development company.

Under a new measure introduced to give financial autonomy to community groups, future EU payments will incorporate a 10% bonus for governments who surrender financial control of local development funds to community-led groups.

“The European Commission tends to be very measured in what it says,” said Maura Walsh, chief executive of IRD Duhallow in Co Cork.