merrion street

New video encourages communities to engage in Town & Village Renewal Scheme

The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys TD, has today (Wednesday) published an Interim Progress Report on Realising our Rural Potential, the Government's Action Plan for Rural Development. The Minister has also launched a video to encourage communities nationwide to engage with 2017 Town and Village Renewal Scheme, which is making €20 million available for small rural towns. The video can be viewed here.

The Action Plan contains 276 actions for delivery across Government, State agencies and other bodies over the next three years to support the economic and social progress of rural Ireland. Each action has been assigned to a lead body which will be responsible for implementation of the action within a definite timescale.

Formal progress reports on the Action Plan will be published every 6 months, with the first report due to be published in July. Ahead of the first formal report, the Interim Progress Report outlines the achievements to date under the Plan and highlights some of the positive developments which have taken place to support rural Ireland.

Some key achievements across Government Departments since the Action Plan was launched include:
2017 Town and Village Renewal Scheme launched by Minister Humphreys with funding of €20 million over 15 months to support up to 300 towns and villages
A Framework for Town Centre Revival launched by Minister Mitchell O’Connor, to assist with the regeneration of rural towns
2017 CLÁR programme launched by Minister of State Michael Ring, with funding of €5 million to support disadvantaged rural communities
The Taoiseach and Minister Ring announced the establishment of the Atlantic Economic Corridor Taskforce to drive economic development along the Western Seaboard
Minister Varadkar announced an additional 500 places on the Rural Social Scheme in January 2017 and these places are being rolled out across the country
A new 46km Greenway from Waterford to Dungarvan was opened in March, along the former Great Southern and Western Railway
Minister Naughten published the NBP Intervention Area map on 4th April and announced that eir will provide high speed broadband to an extra 300,000 premises on a commercial basis by end-2018, thereby accelerating the roll out to many rural premises
Innovation hubs are now operational in the Donegal and Kerry Gaeltacht areas to support entrepreneurship and start-up companies

Speaking today, Minister Humphreys said:
"Work is well underway across a wide range of Government departments and agencies to deliver on the actions contained in the Action Plan for Rural Development, which will make a real difference to people who live and work in rural Ireland. This interim report provides a headline view of achievements to date just over three months into the implementation of the Action Plan.

"A key aspect of the Action Plan process is that actions will be closely monitored, to ensure they are delivered on time, for the benefit of rural communities. Through my own Department, I have already announced a series of initiatives, such as the enhanced €20 million Town & Village Renewal Scheme, that will have a positive and tangible impact on rural communities in the coming months. Today we are also launching a video to encourage communities to fully engage with their Local Authorities and bring forward ideas for their own rural town or village.

“I would like to thank my Government colleagues who have shown a willingness to fully engage with the Action Plan for Rural Development. The revitalisation is not the job of one government department or one minister; only through an all-of-government approach we will deliver real and lasting improvements for rural communities.”

Note to Editors

The Interim Report on the Action Plan for Rural Development is available online at www.ahrrga.gov.ie and www.ruralireland.ie

The Interim Report provides a headline view of key achievements to date, just over three months into the implementation of the Action Plan. Some key achievements across Government Departments to date include:
2017 Town and Village Renewal Scheme launched by Minister Humphreys on 13th April, with funding of €20 million over 15 months to support up to 300 towns and villages (Action 1).
A Framework for Town Centre Revival launched on 25th April by Minister Mitchell O’Connor, to assist with the regeneration of rural towns (Action 4).
In February, Minister Coveney commenced the publication of status lists for social housing schemes underway nationwide, allowing people to see the progress achieved on social housing construction in their individual counties (Action 5).
2017 CLÁR programme launched on 31st March by Minister of State Michael Ring, with funding of €5 million to support disadvantaged rural communities (Action 10).
Minister Varadkar announced an additional 500 places on the Rural Social Scheme in January 2017 and these places are being rolled out across the country (Action 50).
The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality announced a new grant-aid scheme for community groups to assist with the establishment of community-based CCTV systems which help deter crime and assist in the detection of offenders (Action 60).
Ministers Bruton and Halligan announced 50,000 apprenticeships and traineeships by 2020 (Action 122).
Establishment of an Inter-Departmental Group chaired by Department of An Taoiseach on the strategic development of Ireland's Bioeconomy (Actions 116-118).
€11.5m in funding announced by Fáilte Ireland for 10 key heritage sites within Ireland's Ancient East region, with €8.2m of this funding for 8 sites outside of the Dublin region (Action 191).
A new €46km Greenway from Waterford to Dungarvan was opened in March, along the former Great Southern and Western Railway.
Minister Naughten published the NBP Intervention Area map on 4th April and announced that eir will provide high speed broadband to an extra 300,000 premises on a commercial basis by end-2018, thereby accelerating the roll out to many rural premises (Action 232).
Minister Canney outlined significant progress on maintenance activity by the Shannon Flood Risk State Agency Co-ordination Working Group (Action 266).
Minister of State Breen announced an additional €4m in funding in January for the Local Enterprise Offices to stimulate new start-ups and jobs across the country and to help micro businesses to cope with challenges in the year ahead.
Innovation hubs are now operational in the Donegal and Kerry Gaeltacht areas to support entrepreneurship and start-up companies, with others to follow in Mayo and Galway (Action 85).
€28m was announced in February 2017 by the Department of Agriculture and Food for on-going capital investment in Ireland's 6 fishery harbour centres and smaller harbours to support safety, maintenance and fisheries processing and development (Action 111)