Rural towns and villages to benefit from €18.5m development fund

Rural and Community Development Minister Heather Humphreys: 'Many of the successful projects I am announcing today will see vacant and derelict town centre building such as old banks, Garda stations and convents transformed into community, cultural and arts spaces.' File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The Government has said a new funding drive of almost €18.5m will benefit rural towns and villages across the country.

Rural and Community Development Minister Heather Humphreys outlined how the Our Rural Future fund would boost community services and public amenities, including remote working and e-hubs.

Under the programme, sums from €22,500 and up to €500,000 have been earmarked for specific projects in different counties, through the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.

In Sligo, €1.3m will be spread among six different projects, with Kilkenny and Leitrim receiving over €1.1m and Limerick and Cavan just over €1m.

In Co Cork, the largest of the four projects is in Mitchelstown, where €500,000 has been earmarked for the development of an enterprise hub, featuring hot desks, own-door offices, and a meeting room in the town's library building. 

Other projects include a community enterprise hub in Cobh, the creation of a vertical 'pocket park' in Castletownbere, and a remote working hub in Kiskeam.

There are also projects set for Blarney and Glanmire in the Cork City Council area.

Projects in Co Kerry include €500,000 for the redevelopment of currently disused craft workshops at the famous Blennerville Windmill, to be transformed into a community bakery and bakery school.

In Tipperary town, the redevelopment of the public open space known locally as the ‘The Hills’ is set to cost €500,000, while in Co Waterford old buildings in Ballyduff and Dunmore East are to be repurposed at a cost of €250,000 each.

Ms Humphreys said: "Many of the successful projects I am announcing today will see vacant and derelict town centre building such as old banks, Garda stations and convents transformed into community, cultural and arts spaces.

There is also a strong focus on remote working projects in this round of funding and I am pleased to see that a number of counties have set out ambitious marketing plans aimed at attracting remote workers to relocate.”

The 99 projects covered by the latest round of funding will be administered by the local authorities, who applied for the funds last year.

A spokesperson for the department said it was down to the local authorities to draw down the funding and then deliver each project. It is expected most should be delivered within 18 months.

The Government said since the introduction of the scheme in 2016, almost €94m has been approved for more than 1,300 projects across the country.

The first progress report on Our Rural Future found that of the actions with a due date in 2021, a total of 137, or 78%, were completed at the time of publication. Delivery was incomplete, or delayed, on a total of 38 actions.

"The ongoing pandemic led to delays in a number of actions, such as projects requiring capital works and to planned events, while a significant number of other actions classified as delayed nonetheless showed significant progress towards completion," the report stated. 

"All actions marked as ‘delayed’ will be carried over and will be further reported on in the Second Progress Report midway through 2022."

Ms Humphreys said: "In the coming weeks, I will be announcing a further call for applications under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and I am asking local authorities and communities to come forward with more ambitious plans for their areas.”