Published on Tuesday9thAugust2016
Minister Humphreys launches Town and Village Renewal Scheme
Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys in Clones at the launch of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
Rural Affairs Minister Heather Humphreys today announced that €10 million will be made available to Local Authorities this year to support the regeneration of rural towns and villages across Ireland.
Speaking at the launch of the Rural Town and Village Renewal scheme for 2016 in Clones, Co. Monaghan, Minister Humphreys said:
Rural development is a key priority in the Programme for a Partnership Government. Ireland’s towns and villages are the heart of our rural communities, but the economic downturn had a significant impact on many of these towns and villages. It is incumbent on us to help them achieve a recovery. I am launching the Town and Village Renewal Scheme today to begin breathing life back into our rural towns and villages. It is critical that towns and villages become areas where economic activity can flourish, where people can live and work, and where people can meet at a social level.
The Town and Village Renewal scheme is part of the Government’s commitment to ensuring that the benefits of economic recovery are felt in every part of the country. The scheme also addresses one of the recommendations in the CEDRA report, which was published in 2014.
A particular focus will be placed in 2016 on supporting smaller towns, with populations of less than 5,000. A smaller number of projects can be supported in each county for towns with a population of up to 10,000.