West Cork and Kerry towns to get funding to tackle vacancy and aid regeneration

Bantry and Castleisland selected for financial aid under Historic Towns Initiative

Castleisland in Co Kerry will see €250,000 towards regeneration of its main street. Picture: Domnick Walsh

Bantry in West Cork and Castleisland in Kerry are among those to receive financial boosts aimed at tackling town regeneration and vacancy in towns across the country deemed to have historic status.

The library building in Bantry is described by the Historic Towns Initiative (HTI) as "one of Cork’s finest public buildings of the 20th century" and "a significant modernist building of local, national and international architectural interest". 

HTI is a joint initiative between the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Heritage Council.

The library building in Bantry, which will receive €260,000 towards external conservation works including window replacement, was designed in 1962 by Cork County Council architect Patrick McSweeney, according to History Ireland magazine.

"The design is said to have been conceived when McSweeney and his daughter were recovering from the ’flu; to pass the time he made a model of a library building. 

"His excitement with this design led him to present the model to a Convention of Librarians in Dublin, where it was enthusiastically received," the magazine said.

The issue of urban vacancy is a major aim of the €1.3m funding for four towns, plus eight more where "aid is planned" to assist in regeneration.

Castleisland in Kerry will see €250,000 towards regeneration of its main street, the HTI said.

It will "underpin urban revitalisation, promote conservation-led improvements to historic fabric in a number of buildings to ensure occupancy and address vacancy", it added.

The Kerry town, like many throughout the county and Munster as a whole, has felt the scourge of vacant buildings and dereliction in recent years.

'Planned aid' for Macroom

The department said Macroom was one of eight towns where "planned aid" is earmarked for heritage-led regeneration, along with Enniscorthy in Wexford, Ballymote in Sligo, Carlow, and Drogheda. Macroom will receive €40,000. 

Chair of the Heritage Council Dr Martina Moloney said the HTI scheme "will play a pivotal role in facilitating the re-use of vacant buildings in our town centres by tackling dereliction and helping us meet our climate change targets".

Heritage Minister Malcolm Noonan said heritage-led regeneration was aimed at "creating town centres that function as viable, vibrant and attractive locations for people to live, work and visit".

A report from GeoDirectory last month shows there were more than 29,500 empty commercial units in the final quarter of 2022, an increase of more than 4,000 compared to the first quarter of 2013.

It means a record 4% of all premises are now empty. The total number of commercial properties recorded in the country stands at nearly 211,000, down some 850 from a year ago.