Success
Rural Regeneration Projects Get €75m in Funding
24 restoration projects in rural communities across Ireland have received a total of €75m in funding this week, as part of the Rural Regeneration and Development plan.
Most of the projects focus on repurposing old and abandoned buildings located in town centres, with an emphasis on providing modern, sophisticated spaces that serve the needs of the community. Many of the buildings are to be transformed into community centres, remote working stations and creative hubs.
Many of the finished projects will serve as co-working hubs to support remote workers and the local economy
Projects include turning an old cinema, the 'Ritz' in Ballybofey-Stranorlar, Donegal, into a remote working and enterprise centre. The Portumna Courthouse Arts Centre in East Galway will also receive a facelift, while a vacant hotel in Leitrim will become a library with e-learning facilities. An old school in Co. Westmeath secured €7.6m, and will also be turned into a library and community space that will double as a remote learning, cultural and training hub.
Meanwhile, two other projects in Donegal received the green light, with 8.2 million in funding allocated to the regeneration of an abandoned department store into a digital fabrication laboratory and co-working hub. A further €2m goes towards a regeneration project in the Gaeltacht fishing village of Burtonport.
To date, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund has allocated €243m to 163 projects in towns and villages across the country. It's hoped that the trend will continue, and breathe new life into rural areas that are in desperate need of substantial funding to improve their local amenities.
